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Full Idea
A constitution is not the act of a government, but of a people constituting a government, and a government without a constitution is power without right.
Gist of Idea
A people, not government, creates a constitution, which is essential for legitimacy
Source
Thomas Paine (Rights of Man [1792], Ch.7), quoted by A.C. Grayling - The Good State 5
Book Ref
Grayling,A.C.: 'The Good State' [Oneworld 2021], p.127
A Reaction
A constitution looks like the ultimate focus of a social contract (though Greeks had them long ago). It is hard to say why a government should consider itself to be sovereign if it hasn't got it in writing.