The frequently expressed view that written constitutions are inherently more liberal than unwritten ones is false  No written constitution is more than a paper with words on it until those words are both interpreted and applied  Properly understood, then, a constitution is the sum of those procedures through which the power of the state is legitimately exercised and limited
Ttherefore, even a written constitution becomes a liberal constitution only when it is interpreted and applied in a liberal way
written constitutions are no more inherently liberal than are unwritten constitutions