adjective
constituent
Having authority to create or amend a constitution.
The constituent assembly has authority to draft the country's new constitution.
Etymology
The Latin verb means to establish. Constituent authority is the power that establishes or reshapes the constitutional order itself, rather than merely operating within it.
More examples
- The court rules that only the people hold constituent power.
- Delegates exercise constituent authority when they amend the nation's fundamental law.
- The convention meets as a constituent body, empowered to replace the constitution.
Forms
constituent
constitution noun — The fundamental laws and principles governing a state.