The Differences Betweek the UK and US Constitutions
The constitution of a state, at its most basic, can be described as the fundamental principles from which it is governed, usually defining how power is split up within it and thereby constructing a framework within which it operates (www.oed.com). In this essay, I will first provide a brief summary of the UK and US constitutions and then attempt to outline the key differences and similarities between the two and discuss whether the differences really do pale in comparison with the fundamental similarities.
Queen Elizabeth the 2nd once said, “The British constitution has always puzzled me” (Hennessy, 1996) and this certainly becomes
…show more content…
parliamentary government under a constitutional monarchy, meaning that parliament has a supremacy over the monarchy but the Queen still has certain powers (Jones et al., 2004). Since the 1970’s the traditional constitution has been challenged and had two major changes, which I will talk about later.
The US constitution, unlike the UK constitution, is codified. It has a clear written primary source and one could say that its secondary source is the interpretation by the Supreme Court, which can change the meaning of specific phrases written in the primary source (Singh, 2003). A central principle to the constitution is that government should be limited and the powers split up. To insure this, the institutional arrangements are set up in a federal way, with matters of direct relevance to the people in the hands of each state and local politicians (Singh, 2003). The government is separated into the legislature (Congress), the executive (President) and the judiciary (Supreme Court) to provide checks and balances for the prevention of tyranny and the misuse of power. Finally, there is a Bill of Rights, which restrains governmental excesses through written documents and gives clear rules which are supreme over ordinary legislation (Singh, 2003).
The first noticeable difference between the two constitutions is that the US constitution
On September 17, 1787 framers in Philadelphia signed “The Constitution of the United States in which it was approved on June 21, 1788 by the ninth state. Once confirmed, along with the addition to the Bill of Rights it developed a mutual standard by which Americans determined the responsibilities and limits of their government. Looking to the Constitution to decide political discrepancies has helped to substitute and preserve a general agreement among people that are otherwise diverse. The Constitution, although two centuries of complications and trials of the American experiment in self-government, is a testament to the cleverness and anticipation of its framers.
Constitutions are ordinances set forth by a legislative body to establish the foundations of a government. The United States of America wrote their constitution to set the rules in place for the branches of government, their separate powers, and the limitations of the federal government. Since the United States operates under a federalist government, each state is responsible for establishing their own governments. There arise the states’ constitutions. There are inevitable differences between the content of a constitution of a state versus that of the federal government.
One strength of the UK constitution is the flexibility that it has, for the reason that the constitution is uncodified or unwritten and is therefore not entrenched in law. Due to the fact that the UK’s constitution is uncodified or unwritten, it has an opportunity to modernise itself to the ever changing society or any other new circumstances that may arise. An example of the flexibility of the UK’s
There are lots of similarities and differences between Iowa’s state Constitution and the united states Constitution. Some of the similarities are found in the structure of the Constitution, both have preambles and they both have articles. In the document structure there are differences. The states articles are much longer and they have many more than the US. Similarities and differences can also be found in the Government structure. Both the US and Iowa have three branches of government, they both also have bicameral legislators. Also having differences these include legislators have different names and jurisdiction in courts are different.
A constitution is a written document that sets forth the fundamental rules by which a society is governed. Throughout the course of history the United States has lived under two Constitutions since the British-American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776. First in line was the Articles of Confederation (1789-1789) followed by the Constitution of United States of America (1789-present). The Articles of Confederation was the first formal written Constitution of America that specified how the national government was to operate. Unfortunately, the Articles did not last long. Under the words of the Article’s power was limited; Congress could make decisions, but had no power to enforce them. Also the articles stated
One of the three main theories that work as basis of the organisation of the United Kingdom is the Doctrine of separation of powers, such as Parliament sovereignty and the rule of law. This essay is going to critically discuss whether the United Kingdom needs and have the clear separation of powers.
State governments are set up through state constitution, which usually have four sections. These sections are the: preamble which states the purpose and that the authority of the government comes from the people. Another section is the bill or declaration of rights which includes many of the same rights as in the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights. To expand on this the states constitution are different due to the fact that many voter initiatives take the form of a constitutional amendment. States constitution varies in length and sizes. In fact California's constitution is one of
The Advantages and Disadvantages of an Unwritten Constitution in the UK The UK has an unwritten constitution unlike the U.S.A. Instead Britain's laws, policies and codes are developed through statutes, common law, convention and more recently E.U law. It is misleading to call the British constitution unwritten; a more precise form of classification would be un-codified. This means that the British constitution has no single document, which states principles and rules of a state. However, The British constitution clearly sets out how political power is allocated and where it is legally located. The British constitution is still visible and it defines composition and powers of the main offices and
Federalism and the checks and balances of the three branches of government prevented any abuse of power to rise in the new government. The division of responsibilities and the flexibility in the Constitution allowed for an effective and efficient way of regulating the system. The Constitution gave the people what they wanted in the first place from breaking away from Great Britain through a Bills of Rights and amendable Constitution, a system that served the best interest of the people. Because the Constitution provided a barrier against power abuse, was effective and efficient, and served the best interest of the people, it should be
The United States Constitution better represented and fulfilled the ideals of the American Revolution then the Articles of Confederation. Democracy and rights were all earned in the Revolutionary war and were enforced by the United States Constitution. Freedom is given to all free citizens in the country through the Bill of Rights. Government is divided into three branches to balance out
Rules would be the new topic of discussion at the end of the American Revolution amongst the newly formed Free states that won their independence from Britain. One huge question loomed over the Free states, how could they conduct a civilized way of living without another ruler such as the king of Britain here in America? There needed to be some sort of system that would generate a control to create a unified country. States were acting and conducting business as if each state was its own country and this left the America vulnerable on many fronts. Some of the main issues that surfaced were; How to divide powers between local and national governments? Which laws should be made, and by whom and who would enforce them? I will address some of the differences between the Constitution and The Articles of Confederation.
Constitution. Both of the constitutions contain the separations of powers, which consist of the legislative, judicial, and executive branch. They also have restrictions on which government actions cannot be done due to being unequal. Both constitutions have the, “Separation of church and state, due process for the criminally accused, and freedom of speech and of the press,”(Newell, Prindle, and Riddlesperger 47-48). The U.S. constitution allows the government officials to have more say in their work than the State constitution. In both the state and national level there are many things that the some branches of the government can do that others cannot, that is why some people say, ”Powers are not truly separated, but overlapping and shared,” (Newell, Prindle, and Riddlesperger
Certain powers are granted to the state and central government, and certain power are shared between the two governments. Some examples of this are presented in Document A. It tells that the central government is able to, “regulate trade, conduct foreign relations,print and coin one, set up post offices, make immigration laws, and declare war.” Meanwhile, the states can, “set up local governments, hold elections, pass marriage and divorce laws, regulate in-state businesses, and establish schools.” James Madison states, “The different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” Federalism protects against tyranny by making sure the state nor national governments have too much power.
In the USA and in each of the fifty states, the most basic fundamental is a constitution, which is a relatively simple document and is the self-designated supreme law of the land. As the supreme law of the land, Constitutional Law texts are generally divided into two parts. The first part is about the allocation of powers. This entails two basic principles of American Constitution:separation of powers and division of powers. The former one discusses the interaction among the three constituent elements of national goverment, while the latter one refers to the extent of power possessing by the federal goverment and specification of states' power. Both of the two principles function under one
The UK’s unwritten constitution, formed of Acts of Parliament [AoP], Royal Prerogative [RP], Constitutional Convention [CC] and Case Law [CL], prompts much debate about the ease of which constitutional change can be introduced. A written constitution is, by definition and practice, hard to alter however it remains to be seen whether it is any easier to change an unwritten