constitutionalism
noun
con·sti·tu·tion·al·ism ˌkän(t)-stə-ˈtü-sh(ə-)nə-ˌli-zəm 
-tyü-
: adherence to or government according to constitutional principles
also : a constitutional system of government
constitutionalist
ˌkän(t)-stə-ˈtü-sh(ə-)nə-list
noun -tyü-
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Tocqueville’s account of American constitutionalism especially fit these themes. 
Jedediah Britton-purdy, The New Republic, 22 Apr. 2022 In their view, my arguments are fully reconcilable with common-good constitutionalism. J. Joel Alicea, National Review, 3 May 2022 New Deal constitutionalism is clever but misguided. WSJ, 15 May 2022 Tocqueville believed the Americans had headed off this trajectory with their localism, their culture of rights, and their constitutionalism. Jedediah Britton-purdy, The New Republic, 22 Apr. 2022 In other words, American constitutionalism emerged in a decidedly anti-relativist philosophical context. Samuel Gregg, National Review, 6 Feb. 2022 The first and perhaps foremost reason for the Founding’s ongoing centrality for American conservatism is that the Founding represents a type of apotheosis of Western constitutionalism. Samuel Gregg, National Review, 6 Feb. 2022 Because originalism and common-good constitutionalism, despite their differences, remain two sides of the same coin demarcated in a medieval currency that post-Reformation consensus liberals have never previously learned to trade. Peter Hammond Schwartz, The New Republic, 3 Feb. 2021 Reclaiming the public schools will require a sustained movement akin to the modern pro-life movement or the effort to supplant living-constitutionalism with originalism. Anthony Kinnett, National Review, 20 Sep. 2021 See More
Jedediah Britton-purdy, The New Republic, 22 Apr. 2022 In their view, my arguments are fully reconcilable with common-good constitutionalism. J. Joel Alicea, National Review, 3 May 2022 New Deal constitutionalism is clever but misguided. WSJ, 15 May 2022 Tocqueville believed the Americans had headed off this trajectory with their localism, their culture of rights, and their constitutionalism. Jedediah Britton-purdy, The New Republic, 22 Apr. 2022 In other words, American constitutionalism emerged in a decidedly anti-relativist philosophical context. Samuel Gregg, National Review, 6 Feb. 2022 The first and perhaps foremost reason for the Founding’s ongoing centrality for American conservatism is that the Founding represents a type of apotheosis of Western constitutionalism. Samuel Gregg, National Review, 6 Feb. 2022 Because originalism and common-good constitutionalism, despite their differences, remain two sides of the same coin demarcated in a medieval currency that post-Reformation consensus liberals have never previously learned to trade. Peter Hammond Schwartz, The New Republic, 3 Feb. 2021 Reclaiming the public schools will require a sustained movement akin to the modern pro-life movement or the effort to supplant living-constitutionalism with originalism. Anthony Kinnett, National Review, 20 Sep. 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1832, in the meaning defined above