The Differences Betweek the UK and US Constitutions

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

understandable when studying it. The traditional UK constitution is

un-codified. This means that it lacks the primary source of a clear

written document and is derived solely from four sources- statute law

(laws made and passed by the government), common law (legal principles

which have been developed and applied by the courts), conventions

(rules of behaviour which are considered binding by those who operate

the constitution) and works of authority (these are written works used

for guidance on aspects of the constitution) (Jones et al., 2004).

Statute law has precedence over the other three sources. The

traditional constitution is therefore based upon four essential

components; 1.parliamentary sovereignty, which makes parliament the

supreme law making body and gives it the absolute legal right to make

the laws it chooses, 2. the rule of law, which says that laws must be

interpreted and applied by an impartial and independent jury with fair

trails ...

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...overnment/constitution-1.htm).

This is a huge difference to anything in the UK or US constitution

and, coming back to the title of this essay, the fact that there is

not such a major difference like this between the two shows that yes,

both the US and the UK constitution certainly do have fundamental

similarities.

Bibliography

* Hennessy (1996), The Hidden Wiring: Unearthing the British

Constitution, Gollancz

* Jones, Kavanagh, Moran, Norton, (2004), Politics UK, 5th Edition,

First Edition published 1991, Pearson Education Limited

* Singh (2003), Governing America, The Politics of a Divided

Democracy, Oxford University Press

* Websites: www.history.uk.com, www.iranonline.com, www.oed.com-

Oxford English Dictionary Online, www.statistics.gov.uk,

www.usgovinfo.about.com