Abstract: The effect of the Constitution is the basic concept of constitutional law and an important theoretical tool for analyzing the fundamental-law role of constitutional phenomena in state life and social life. The effect of the Constitution is a complicated effect system, including political effect and legal effect, but only the legal effect of the Constitution is its substantive connotation. The legal effect of the Constitution can be divided into personal effect, temporal effect and spatial effect. As a legal norm, the Constitution has a normative effect and can restrict the effect and connotation of general laws and administrative regulations. At the same time, the normative effect of the Constitution is manifested at three different levels, namely the determinative force, the executive force, and the binding force of the Constitution. In practice, the constitution can have both direct and indirect effects. In the relationship between the constitution and international law, the scope of effect of the constitution of a sovereign state involves both the personal effect and the intersection of spatial effect. Strengthening the research on the effect of the Constitution is conducive to improving China's level of independent theoretical research on constitutional law as a whole and enhancing the guiding role of constitutional law knowledge in the implementation of the Constitution. 

Key Words: constitutional effect; the personal effect of the Constitution; the temporal effect of the Constitution; the spatial effect of the Constitution; the normative effect of the Constitution 

Author: Mo Jihong, Ph. D. in Law, Professor and doctoral supervisor, Law School of University of CASS; director, CASS Institute of Law;

Source: 7 (2024) Journal of University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.