One could be its ability to prevent abuse of power. The amendment process in American was made deliberately complicated by the founding fathers to prevent rash changes being made. A two thirds majority is needed in both houses and a further ratification from three quarters of states. This may appear to make it outdated as it would not adapt as society evolved it still maintains the ability to be interpreted in order to be moulded to fit certain situations and viewpoints. It is claimed that the founding fathers worded certain parts of the constitution vaguely and in general terms in order to prepare for future changes without needing to make an amendment.
UK citizen are more informed and able to make analytical judgements in their best interest, this in turn, challenges the authority of the state to decide what is in our best interest. In light of these developments many UK citizens now want to be protected from the frequently exposed dangers of an uncodified constitution. On this basis it is fair to evaluate citizens need for safety overcomes the need for flexibility, thus a codified constitution is now needed to a large extent. Some argue the UK does not currently need a codified constitution because they already have a fragmented constitution. Where large parts of it are written down, in the laws passed in Parliament - known as statute law and ‘The Doctrine Of Parliamentary Sovereignty’ all of which clearly outline the laws, principles and established precedents according to how the UK is governed.
There are further features of a Liberal Democracy which need to be held by the UK for it too fall into the category; Elected representatives and the government should be held to account by the people, something which is true within the UK as members of parliament are held accountable to the people, if they don’t do what they promise the people will not re-elect them, they are also held to account by legislature. Civil liberties must also be protected, this is done in the UK under the Human rights act, as well as the Human rights covered by the European Convention in 1953. There is some debate here as
In order to accomplish their goal they decided it was necessary to divide the governmental functions into three: legislative, judicial, and executive. They believed these three functions should be handled by three separate institutions in order to avoid tyranny. They believed the separation of powers would protect the people from being completely controlled by the government. It would also eliminate the same person from being able to judge the fairness of their own ideas. This way one group would come up with an idea and
Additionally, it exercises power independently to avoid conflicting with the other branches. The Judiciary, legislative and the executive are the commonly known branches of government and which the constitution ensures that they do not conflict but work together to unify the country (Amar 39). Checks and balances is another aspect that explains the view of a constitution as a living document. This idea ensures that there is no branch within the government acting as though it is the most supreme than others. In this case it provides protection to the minority from being exploited or manipulated by the majority.
In doing so, they formed the great country that became the United States of America. There are many ways that the Magna Carta and the U.S. Constitution are similar in the ways they lay out the government. One example of this is that the Magna Carta forced limitations on the King of England, and established a parliament form of government, to represent the people. This form of government split the lawmaking between an institution of individuals, and the King. This prevented the King from creating selfish laws as he pleased.
There seems to have been a very strong opposition towards democracy at the Constitutional Convention, although the framers were in the midst of creating democratic principles to appeal to the majority of the country. This led to the creation of democratic principles such as separation of powers, checks and balances, bicameralism, and the electoral college. Article I of the US Constitution establishes the legislative branch- Congress. Article II of the US Constitution establishes the executive branch - the presidency. Article III of the US Constitution establishes the judiciary branch - the Supreme Court.
This amendment covers the freedoms, for example, to belong to and attend functions for politics, religion, athletics and any other interests to a citizen. “The significance of the Bill of Rights and subsequent notable amendments to U.S. democracy is a government run by the people, for the people and of the people is only successful if the people have inalienable rights.” (Bill of Rights Institute) Even in a democracy, where people can vote for their leaders, the elected
An unwritten constitution is where a country follows constitutional conventions rather than follow a specific legal document. This constitution can be made up of several different written laws, but at its core, it is simply enforced through common practice and may not be applicable in court. Within a liberal democracy, the government acts to support liberty and equality among the nation such that citizens are equal in their political decisions to free and fair elections (Bollen, 1993, p. 1209). Also minimal government interference impedes their views, which is protected by human rights and freedoms outlined in a constitution (Bollen, 1993, p. 1210). With two distinct forms of constitutions it can be seen that a written constitution is more conducive to the liberal democratic tradition as it limits the government’s ability to amend the constitution arbitrarily to their needs.
It is through the inspection of the balancing forces between government and citizenship that I have come to appreciate both the brilliance and the gravity of the Constitution. As outlined in our Constitution, our government is divided into three equal branches. To ensure the status of this equality, our Constitution also provides a system of checks and balances which will serve to guarantee that no part of the government will ever be allowed too much power. It also ensures the power of the citizens by means of regular elections. As it is impractical for all citizens to directly participate in running the government, the election process asserts the voting power of the people every time.