The centrality and diversity of the invisible constitution

A constitution – considered as a visible, written legal text – exists within a broader social and political context. This chapter argues that, to a significant extent, it is this context that gives the constitution and the laws made under it whatever legal force they have; but that this context is not (and cannot be) contained within it. Every constitution, therefore, has a crucial yet invisible aspect.
The argument of the chapter is a philosophical one. Its goal, however, is not purely philosophical. Rather, it is to show that considerations of analytic jurisprudence, and analytic philosophy more generally, suggest a sociological conclusion, namely, that each constitutional order must be its own particular thing, by virtue of its distinctive invisible elements.