Final answer:
Longer constitutions such as those of France and China provide a detailed governance framework, ensure long-term stability, and reflect a country's philosophical heritage. They can emphasize collective values over individual rights and are designed to be enduring, encapsulating the vision of the constitution's authors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The benefit of having a longer constitution like those of France and China might include a more comprehensive framework to govern by. Detailed constitutions tend to outline the structure of government, its duties, rights of the people, and also enshrine social obligations and the common good. They are often made difficult to alter, ensuring long-term stability and continuity, attempting to protect the writers' vision of governance for future generations.
This detailed approach contrasts with countries that operate with unwritten or less detailed constitutional frameworks. In societies that value the communitarian over the individual, such as China, longer constitutions with specific directives can serve to assert and maintain the government's stance on societal organization, often emphasizing collective over individual rights. In the case of France, the constitution guarantees basic human rights and addresses the separation of powers, aiming to prevent tyranny.
Longer constitutions also serve to articulate philosophical and ideological positions derived from influential historical figures and thinkers, providing a sense of continuity with a nation's intellectual and moral heritage. This is exemplified by China's current leaders' reliance on classical philosophers like Confucius, just as the American founding fathers drew from their European philosophical precursors.