Difference Between Uk And Us Constitution 1r5g1f

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BRITISH AND AMERICAN CONSTITUTION

USA and the UK are two different conglomerate of states in the world. USA, completely known as United States of America has a federal and constitutional republic form of government while the UK (United Kingdom) instills the constitutional monarchyparliament governance. In this regard, the head of the state along with the representatives are elected into office by the people in the US. They do their roles as government officials under the code of an already set constitution. Conversely, the UK has its monarch who acts as the head of state and absolute power is not vested unto this monarch because there is usually a duly elected separate head of the government that 1

exercises political powers. These leaders, like in the US, uphold a set of laws in the form of a constitution.

• Perhaps the most fundamental difference between the American and British political systems is the constitution - or the lack of one. The United States has a written constitution as does the vast majority of nation states. The UK does not have a single document called the constitution but instead its constitutional provisions are scattered over various Acts of Parliament. 1

• Codified constitutions are those with one central document. They also have mechanisms in place to make changes extremely difficult. Additionally, one institution, often a court, has the final say in how to interpret the document. As a compendium of various sources of law, the British Constitution is not codified. The American Constitution is a prime example of codified law.

• The US President holds the position of Head of State as well as Head of Government. The UK Prime Minister, it would appear, has more influence in domestic, able to dominate his part, legislature and executive branch. The US President, on the other 1

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hand, appears to have the position of supremacy in domestic politics, He does not hold the same position of power in domestic affairs as the UK Prime Minister, but his position of strength appears to be in the realm of foreign and international matters.

• The U.S. has a Congress, with a Senate and a House of Representatives that are completely separate from the executive and judicial branches of government. In the U.S. system, each of the three branches of government acts as a check and balance on the others. Both the House and Senate are elected bodies, and their powers are outlined in the Constitution The British have a Parliament, with the upper House of Lords and the lower House of Commons. of the House of Commons are elected by their constituencies, and the leader of the dominant party in Commons is appointed by the queen to be prime minister. The House of Lords is an unelected body of peers that can check the power of the Commons by reviewing and amending bills. Before 2009, Britain had no supreme court, and the House of Lords also acted as the final court of appeal.

• A defining feature of the American constitution is the strict separation of the powers of the executive, the 3

legislature and the judiciary. The British political system has no such formal separation of the powers indeed one person is actually a member of all three arms of government, since the Lord Chancellor is a member of the Cabinet (the executive), a member of the House of Commons of the House of Lords (the legislature) and the head of the legal system (the judiciary).

• While both these nation states fall within the democratic framework, they differ in some significant ways. For one, while the American system is essentially a two-party democracy, the British system is a multi-party one. Also, the American system is “federal”, meaning that there are two levels of government, both of them being equally powerful and have separate designated roles to play. On the other hand, the British system is what is called a “unitary” one, the parliament being the sole legislative body. While the federal system of the United States, assigns specific roles for the Senate and the Congress, the British parliamentary system can “make laws on any matter, local government has whatever powers the national government delegates to it”.

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• In the United States, political discourse frequently makes reference to the constitution - typically Republicans arguing that Democratic initiatives are 'unconstitutional'. Besides the fact that the UK does not have a constitution as such, it is rare for British politicians to argue that the actions or proposals of their opponents are illegal or ultra vires.

• Although the American political system has a strict 'separation of the powers' meaning that nobody can be a member of more than one of the three arms of government, of the Supreme Court (the judiciary) are nominated by one of the other arms of government (the President) and approved by one part of another arm of government (the Senate which is part of the legislature). In the UK, almost all of the upper chamber of the legislature (the House of Lords) are effectively chosen by the political party leaders in the lower chamber of the legislature (the House of Commons). 2

• While the U.S. has two major political parties that dominate the country's politics, British politics has a multitude of parties representing diverse constituencies. Elections in the two countries also vary, with most U.S. federal elections happening on a regular schedule: The president is elected every four 2

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years, senators every six, and congressional every two. Previous to 2011, general elections in Britain were not fixed. With the age of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, Parliament is required to hold elections every five years, beginning in 2015. However, elections may occur before the five-year schedule if the House of Commons es a vote of no confidence.3

• In of the number of states, the US is composed of fifty different states and a federal district (the seat of governance). The UK is a unitary or single state nation that is composed of four separate countries namely: Northern Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland.

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