���COMPARITIVE STUDY OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF UK AND USA

  United Kingdom

United Kingdom

• The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign country in north-western Europe, off the north-­western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-­eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland.

United Kingdom

• Otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland. The total area of the United Kingdom is 93,628 square miles (242,500 km²), with an estimated population in 2020 of over 67 million.

USA

USA

• The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or simply America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, 326 Indian reservations, and nine minor outlying islands. At nearly 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million square kilometers), it is the world's fourth-largest country by land area and third-largest by total area.

USA

• The United States shares land borders with Canada to the north and Mexico to the south as well as maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, and Russia, among others.  With more than 331 million people, it is the third most populous country in the world. The national capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city and financial center is New York City.

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COMPARATIVE STUDY OF

USA & UK

UNWRITTEN

V/S

WRITTEN

The constitution of England is unwritten�

The United Kingdom does not have one specific constitutional document named as such. "unwritten" or un codified constitution

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• Image of Magna Carta

• By far the most important feature of British constitution is its unwritten character. There is no such thing as written, precise and compact document, which may be called the British constitution. The main reason for this is that it is based on conventions and political traditions, which have not been laid down in any document. (1689), Parliamentary Act of 1911 & 1949 etc.

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• However, it has some written parts too which includes Historical Documents, Parliamentary Statues, Judicial Decisions and Constitutional Characters, e.g. Magna Carta (1215), Petition of Rights (1628), Bill of Rights.

The constitution of USA is written�

• The USA Constitution adopted on September 17,1787.This constitution came into force in 1789.
• This is worlds first federal system.
• American constitution is a written constitution framed in 1787 and enforced in 1789. It consists of seven articles; three of them related to structure and powers of separation.

• Legislative (Article 1), Executive (Article 2) and Judiciary (Article 3) and the other four dedicated to position of states (Article  4), modes of amendments(Article 5), supremacy of national power (Article 6) and ratification (Article 7).

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MONARCHY

v/s

REPUBLIC

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In England there is Monarchy�

• The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Isle of Man) and the British Overseas Territories. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who ascended the throne in 1952.

Queen Elizabeth II

In America there is Republic�

• From September 5, 1774, to March 1, 1781, the Continental Congress functioned as the provisional government of the United States. Delegates to the First (1774) and then the Second (1775–1781) Continental Congress were chosen largely through the action of committees of correspondence in various colonies rather than through the colonial governments of the Thirteen Colonies.

• The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States. It was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late 1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early 1781. The Articles of Confederation gave little power to the central government.

• The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked enforcement powers. Implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all 13 state legislatures.

Unitary

v/s

Federal

In England there is Unitary form of government

• The British constitution has unitary character as opposed to a federal one. All powers of the government are vested in the British Parliament, which is a sovereign body. The executive organs of state are subordinate to it and exercise delegated powers and are answerable to it. There is only one legislature. England, Scotland, Wales etc. are administrative units and not political autonomous units.

Unitary features of UK

• No separation of powers

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• Single administration

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• Flexible constitution

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• Single citizenship

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In America there is Federal System�

• The U.S constitution provides for a federal system of government which means that powers are divided among centre/federal government and the states.
• Written Constitution
• Rigid Constitution
• Separation Of Powers
• Judicial Review

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FLEXIBLE CONSTITUTION

v/s

RIGID CONSTITUTION

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The constitution of USA is Rigid

• It is one of the most rigid constitutions in the world which means that for amending it, a special and difficult procedure has to be followed. It consists of 2 steps;

Proposal for Amendment:

Either two-third of both the houses (Senate and House of Representatives) shall propose for amendment to constitution or on the application of legislatures of two-third states shall call a convention for proposing amendment.

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Ratification of Proposal:

The amendment shall be ratified by the legislatures of three fourth (75 %) of all states or by the convention of three fourth of states.�It is because of this rigidity that American constitution has been amended only 27 times in over 200 years.

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The constitution of UK is flexible

• The British constitution is a classic example of flexible constitution. It can be passed, amended and repealed by simple majority of Parliament since no distinction is made between a constitutional law and an ordinary law. Both are treated alike. The element of flexibility has length the virtue of adaptability and adjustability to the British constitution. This quality has enabled it to grow with the needs of time.

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