The Differences Between the UK and US Constitutions Essay -- Politics

The Differences Between the UK and US Constitutions The question invites an analysis of how the differences between the UK and the US constitutions establish the political systems in both countries, and further whether there is distinction between the political systems. Initially I will define what a constitution and a political system are. Subsequently in the main body of the text I shall analyse the differences between the constitutions, and how they influence each separate political system. Loosely defined, a constitution creates institutions and should state any definite power, indicates the relationship between different state institutions, and how the constitution can be amended. In my essay I shall illustrate the differing state institutions in America and Britain, who has the power according to the constitution, and accordingly which state institutions wield the power and authority, and additionally if the difference in ease of changing the constitution is responsible for a difference in political system. In my conclusion I shall assess whether my investigation is corresponding to the statement. Friedrich (1937) believed a constitution should be 'a system of effective regularised restraints on government action, therefore should be a statement of individual rights.'[1] This leads to the question, should a constitution include a Bill of Rights like the American constitution's amendments? In America there are freedoms in religion, speech and the press for example, yet Britain has no enforceable Bill of Rights in its constitution. There are essential rights and freedoms in the European Human Rights Act but this is at the h... ...rnment and Politics: An Introduction (Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001), p. 186. [2]James Q. Wilson, American Government (Boston: Houghton, 2000), 54. [3]Simon Hix, "Britain, the EU and the Euro," in Patrick Dunleavy, Andrew Gamble, Ian Holliday and Gillian Peele, eds., Developments in British Politics, (Hampshire: Macmillan Press Ltd, 2000), p.54. [4]Wilson, American, 32. [5]Vernon Bogdanor, "Britain: The political constitution," Vernon Bogdanor, ed., Constitutions in Democratic Politics (Aldershot: Gower, 1988), 56. [6]Hailsham cited in Bogdanor, "Britain," 66. [7]Richard Hodder-Williams cited in Joseph Hogan, "The no-win Presidency and contemporary presidential-congressional relationships," in Robert Williams ed., Explaining American Politics: issues and interpretations (London: Routledge, 1990), p. 48.