Constitution of 3 May 1791 3 May. Consistently with the U.S. Constitution, some background features, such as the order of the governmental Articles firstly distinguished the legislative power (Article VI), next the executive power (Article VII), and the judiciary power (Article VIII), with independent judges to be elected in small constituencies. Others have called it the world's second-oldest codified national governmental constitution after the 1787 U.S. Constitution; the U.S. Constitution was the first governmental constitution introducing a clear division of the executive, legislative and judiciary powers, accordingly with the legal and philosophical values influential in the Enlightenment. Polish constitutionalism can be traced to the 13th
Constitution of Nigeria British order in council so as to come into force immediately upon independence, on 1 October 1960. Under this constitution Nigeria retained Queen Elizabeth II as titular head of state. Independent Nigeria's second constitution established the country as a federal republic. It came into force on 1 October 1963 (Nigeria's third anniversary as an independent nation). The 1963 constitution, which was based on the Westminster system, continued in operation until a military coup in 1966 overthrew Nigeria's democratic institutions. The 1979 constitution, which brought in the Second Republic, abandoned the Westminster system in favour of an American-style presidential system, with