For any state to achieve a sense of order and identity, it requires a shared set of values to be recognized and accepted by its subjects. Such values tend to be instilled by a system of fundamental laws and principles, and upheld by parliaments, courts, and other institutions established to maintain and reinforce them. This notion of shared membership, of collective rights and responsibilities as common to commercial companies and supranational organizations such as the European Union (EU) as to organs of any individual government is known as a ‘constitution’.
