Constitutions put controls on the people who run countries - but how are they created and how well do they work?

In ordinary times constitutional debate often seems an abstract business without very much relevance to the way we live our lives. But political turmoil can operate like an X-ray, lighting up the bones around which the body politic is formed.

Drawing on recent political events, Edward Stourton explores the effectiveness of the constitutions of the United Kingdom, the USA and France and asks are they doing what they were meant to do?

CONTRIBUTORS

Lord Peter Hennessy, Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary University of London

Alison Young, Professor of Public Law, University of Oxford

Professor Tom Ginsburg, University of Chicago Law School

Sophie Boyron, Senior Lecturer, University of Birmingham Law School

David S Bell, Professor of French Government and Politics, University of Leeds

Presenter: Edward Stourton Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith.