The Constitution provides a set of Basic Rules that allow for minimal coordination amongst members of a society.
The Constitution provides Who has the power to Make Decisions in a society. It decides How the Government will be Constituted.
In the Indian Constitution Parliament gets to decide laws and policies
In Monarchical constitution → Monarch decides
The Constitution set some Limits On what a Government can impose on its citizens. These limits are Fundamental in the sense that government may never trespass them ==> Limited Government
The most common way of limiting the power of government is to specify certain Fundamental Rights that all of us possess as citizens and which no government can ever be allowed to violate.
Citizens will be protected from being arrested arbitrarily and for no reason. This is one basic limitation upon the power of government.
Citizens will normally have the right to some basic liberties: to freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom of association, freedom to conduct a trade or business etc.
In practice, these rights can be limited during times of national emergency and the constitution specifies the circumstances under which these rights may be withdrawn.
The Constitution enable the government to fulfil the aspirations of a society and create conditions for a just society
Many 20th Century Constitution, including Indian Constitution also provide an enabling framework for the government to do certain Positive Things, to express the aspirations and goals of society. == > Enabling provisions
Societies with deep entrenched inequalities of various kinds, will not only have to set limits on the power of government, they will also have to enable and empower the government to take Positive Measures to overcome forms of inequality or deprivation. [Eg. Reservation for Certain Classes]
This means the people as a collective entity come into being only through the basic constitution.
It is by agreeing to a BASIC SET OF NORMS about how one should be governed, and who should be governed that one forms a collective identity.
One has many sets of identities that exist prior to a constitution. But by agreeing to certain basic norms and principles one constitutes one‘s basic Political Identity.
The constitution sets authoritative constraints upon what one may or may not do.
It defines the fundamental values that we may not trespass. So the constitution also gives one a Moral Identity.