Daily: BORN IN CRISIS How constitutions are created

<p>Constitutions are the rulebooks of government, but how does each country get its own peculiar arrangements? <strong>Linda Colley</strong>, author of <em>The Gun, The Ship, And The Pen: War, Constitutions And The Making Of The Modern World</em>, tells Ros Taylor about the extraordinary circumstances – from Napoleon to Catherine the Great to America’s Founding Fathers –&nbsp;that produced the operating systems for states. Why was America’s sacred Constitution less of a high-minded document and more of “a grimly necessary plan by a group of men who felt themselves under siege”? And does a British Constitution even really exist?&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><ul><li><em>“The US Constitution was driven by short-term necessity rather than highfalutin’ ideas.”</em></li><li><em>“One Law Lord once described the British Constitution as a trackless desert.”&nbsp;</em></li></ul><p><br></p><p><em>Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. </em><strong><em>The Bunker is a Podmasters production</em></strong></p> &#10;&nbsp;<br /><hr><p style='color: grey; font - size: 0.75em; '>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>