Definition
A way of governing automated systems built on recorded grants of authority, limits on jurisdiction, a recognized right for the people who bear errors to challenge them, and enforceable remedy. It is set against behavioral alignment. Alignment asks whether an automated system intends what its creators intend. Constitutional governance asks what authority the system holds, what happens when it is wrong or incomplete, and who has standing to compel correction.
Constitutional governance starts from three premises. Authority cannot rest on the absence of observed failure. Evidence and authority must stay coupled. A system's politics show in the rights people hold when its model fails.
AgencyStructural
Tests that show it is in place
- Authority is bounded in an explicit grant object with expiration dates and invalidation conditions rather than open-ended permissions.
- Error-bearing parties hold procedural standing to initiate review and compel state transitions when systems fail.
References
- Laws for engineering delegated intelligence · Doctrine
- STD-02 — Contestability and recourse · Standard