The Constitution

• Constitution


  A set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed
• USA constitution

  • Codified and contained within one written document
  • Written by the founding Fathers after America gained independence
  • Sets out the federal system of government and the rights US citizens have
  • Article Four outlines the relation between the states and the federal government
• UK constitution

  • Uncodified and does not have a single document
  • Derived from a number of sources such as common law, statute law, EU treaties etc.
  • Has evolved over hundreds of years
  • The Scotland Act 1997 changed the constitutional arrangements by creating the Scottish parliament
• Unitary constitution


  • There is only one source of legality which is the UK Parliament
  • All political and legal power is with the UK parliament
  • Other bodies like local governments or devolved parliaments only exercise power given to them by the UK Parliament
• Federalism


  • A key principle of the US constitution
  • Based on the concept of dual sovereignty
  • Guarantees constitutional independence for the individual states and the areas they are responsible for
  • Powers laid out by the constitution cannot be taken by the national/federal government
• Parliamentary sovereignty

  • The UK Parliament is supreme over all other forms of institutional power
  • Parliament can pass any law it wishes to
  • Any law passed in one parliament could be undone or overturned by the next
• Checks and balances


  • A principle of the US constitution
  • Provides a system of checks and balances on each branch of government
  • Mechanisms built into the constitution to put a check on the power of the government institutions
  • Powers of the three main branches of government are balanced against one another
• Rule of law


  • Requires that the makers of law and the guardians of the law are themselves bound by the law
  • The government, the police and the legal system are all under the same rules and regulations as the rest of society
• Bill of Rights


  • Main purpose is to define the scope of individual freedom and make the political system more democratic
  • Rights in the US are more protected as the constitution outlines rights that cannot be violated by the government