US Constitution - Differences in UK & USA Constitution

The Origins Of The Two Constitutions:
  • The British Constitution was shaped by evolution whilst the US Constitution was shaped by revolution.
  • The American version burst onto the political scene almost full whilst the UK Constitution has emerged over centuries.
  • Both are a product of the culture and societies that have shaped them
  • US is largely shaped by: Expectations, fear and culture of America in the late 18th century. It is shaped by the expectations for such ideas and beliefs as liberty, individualism, equality, representative democracy, limited government, and the rule of law. All of these shape the core values of America.
  • Was shaped by a society that had broken free from an autocratic Monarchy.
  • As American cultural changed, the Constitution was also amended to reflect these changes e.g the 13, 14 and 15th amendment to stop slavery.
  • The British Constitution is different because the UK has a different culture as the UK is dominated by a belief in a Constitutional Monarchy such as the power of the Monarchy, heredity peers in the HOL, and the Bishops in the Church of England and in the HOL.
The Nature Of The Two Constitutions:
  • Not just different in nature but also in source.
  • UK has uncodified, USA has a codified Constitution.
Advantages & Disadvantages Of A Codified Constitution:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
All the constitutional provisions can be found easily in one document
Tends to elevate the importance of unelected judges over elected officials
The provisions without the constitution are entrenched and therefore protected from arbitrary change
Can be inflexible and therefore fail to change as society changes
Provides more significant and effective checks and balances between the various branches of government
The enumeration of rights and liberties does not necessarily mean that those rights and liberties are safeguarded in reality
Can be made surprisingly flexible by judicial interpretation
Tends to be less evolutionary.


Democracy And Sovereignty In the Two Constitutions:
  • The two have evolved at different speeds to different conclusions.
  • The two are based on democracy but the shared ideas and beliefs that have shaped them are different.
  • US Constitution allows American a much greater role in the electoral processes of their nations than the UK Constitution allows
  • Between the 1780s and 1880s the US HOR was elected on a far wider franchise than the UK HOC.
  • Senate has been elected been 1914 whereas the HOL is never elected
  • Election of the US president has evolved from an indirect election to a virtually direct election.
  • UK Con emphasis on representative democracy and Parliamentary Sovereignty.
  • Citizens have fewer opportunities for democratic participation than their American counterparts
The Provisions Of The Two Constitutions:
  • The two make some very similar broad provisions
  • Both have three branches of government and both provide for a bicameral legislature.
  • Both have federal governments, SCs and fixed-term elections
  • Both branches of government share power or are fused or separate.
  • USA has a pure fixed term election, UK in theory does but this was seen to be weak in April 2017 when May called an election.
  • The relationship between the devolved states and the UK parliament is weak whilst the relationship between Washington and the federal governments are good in the USA.
Separation/Fusion Of Powers:
  • USA has a separation of powers but some say that they share powers instead.
  • In the US, the legislature and the executive is completely separate whereas in the UK, the PM and Cabinet are in the legislature and the executive.
  • If the US President was to quit, then the Vice President would take over but the in the UK another election would be called.
  • Before the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, in the UK the Chancellor was in all three branches of government but after the act was passed, Law Lords became Judicial members and were separate from the legislature and the executive.
Checks And Balances:
  • More checks in the USA Constitution because the Founding Father were scared of tyranny of the government over the people
  • The US Constitution was written to protect the rights of the governed whilst the UK Constitution evolved to protect the powers of the government
  • Checks and balances are the means by which the Americans would be protected, it often ends in gridlock because there are so many checks
  • In the UK, whilst there are checks there aren’t many on the executive because the PM can pass a bill into legislature without much trouble because he/she has a working majority
  • Some argue that the UK is an overly autocratic government that is careless of the rights of individuals and minorities.
Federalism/Devolution:
  • USA has a federal system of government in which political power is divided between a national government and state government
  • It is important in America because it is large and diversified in race and culture etc.
  • Also adds another layer of checks and balances and thereby further limits governmental power.
  • Whilst the UK used to be a unitary system, it is now a devolved form of government where Parliament hold reversed powers and Parliament is sovereign but the devolved bodies can still legislate.
  • Both want to give power and legitimacy to the local communities in the nation and to give voice to the growing regional or in the case of Scotland nationalist pressures.
  • Both answering calls that the government should be ‘close to the people’
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