Since spirit is actual only as that which it knows itself to be, and since the state, as the spirit of a nation Volk is both the law which penlleates all relatiOlls within it and also the customs and consciousness of the individuals who belong to it, the constitution of a specific nation will in general depend on the nature and development BildulIg of its self consciousness; it is in this self consciousness that its subjective freedom and hence also the actuality of the constitution lie.