The Fundamentals of the Theory of Constitution and Constitutionalism. Part One: Textbook for Students

Petro Stetsyuk

The textbook has been developed and published within the framework of the Oregon-Lviv University Partnership. It is based on the selected lectures taken from The Fundamentals of the Theory of Constitution and Introduction into Modern Constitutionalism specialty courses. The author has been teaching these courses for the last several years in Lviv Ivan Franko National University. The textbook puts emphasis on the conditions in which early constitutions emerged and reasons for their creations. It also describes the process of constitution development and clarifies how the concepts of ‘constitution’, ‘constitutional state’ and ‘constitutionalism’ are related. The book considers the history of constitutional and legal doctrines in Ukraine and describes the characteristics of the present constitution of the state as a normative and legal act as well as its specific features as a document. It highlights the question of the legal protection of the constitution, the problems of establishing constitutionalism in Ukraine and transformation of Ukraine into the democratic and lawful state.