Abstract: This article examines three topics that have persistently arisen in connection with discussions of constitutions: What is the relation between a constitution and a ‘nation’ or a ‘people’, understood as those who reside within the territory for which the constitution is a constitution? What is the relation between written and unwritten principles of a constitution? And, to what extent must constitutions and their constituent elements be more permanent than ‘ordinary’ legal rules, and by what mechanisms is the requisite degree of permanence maintained?