SALIENT FEATURES OF US & UK CONSTITUTION
US CONSTITUTION
Written Constitution:
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 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). It also holds that
constitution is the supreme law of the land. Article one is the
longest and cannot be amended. Like other constitutions, it
also consists of preamble; a single sentence that introduces
and defines purpose of the document.
Rigid Constitution:
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 (67%) of both the houses (Senate and House
of Representatives) shall propose for amendment to
constitution or on the application of legislatures of two-third
(67%) states shall call a convention for proposing
amendment.
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.
Popular Sovereignty: Bicameral
Legislature:
The constitution of USA provides for bicameral legislature
i.e. two houses in the centre. According to Article 1, “All
legislative powers are vested in Congress.” Congress consists
of two houses i.e. Lower House or House of Representatives
and the Upper House or Senate.
House of Representatives:
The House of Representatives has 435 members who are
elected by the people through adult franchise method for a
period of two years on population basis i.e. state with larger
population gets more seats in this house like California has
53 members.
Senate:
The members of Senate are elected by the state legislatures.
Each state has two senators meaning that each state has two
votes in senate. These senators are elected for a period of six
years on parity basis. The total number of senators is 100 as
the total states are 50. In U.S, the people rule i.e. they have
delegated their powers to the government and the
UK CONSTITUTION
Mostly Unwritten and Partly Written:
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. It was really this aspect of the British constitution
that led De Tocqueville to remark that English constitution
does not really exist. The main reason for this is that it is based
on conventions and political traditions, which have not been
laid down in any document. 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
(1689), Parliamentary Act of 1911 & 1949 etc.
British Constitution is Evolutionary:
The British constitution is a specimen of evolutionary
development. It was never framed by any constituent
assembly. No precise date of its birth can be given and no
definite body of persons can claim to be its authors, because it
is the product of gradual growth and development. It has an
unbroken continuity of development over a period of more
than thousand years. Its sources are several and the course of
its development has been sometimes guided by accidents and
sometimes by high designs.
Flexible Constitution:
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.
 SALIENT FEATURES OF US & UK CONSTITUTION
government owes its authority to the will of the people. The
principle of popular sovereignty is stated in the Preamble of
constitution as “we the people……..do ordain and establish
this constitution for United States of America.”
Separation of Powers: Unitary:
The doctrine of separation of powers divides power between The British constitution has unitary character as opposed to a
the three pillars/institutions of government to prevent federal one. All powers of the government are vested in the
interference of one institution in the affairs of another. The British Parliament, which is a sovereign body. The executive
powers are divided among Congress, President and the organs of state are subordinate to it and exercise delegated
Judiciary. powers and are answerable to it. There is only one legislature.
Congress has the power to make laws which outline England, Scotland, Wales etc. are administrative units and not
general policies and set certain standards. President can political autonomous units.
enforce, execute and administer law. He is assisted by his
cabinet but is solely responsible for all actions of Executive
branch.Judicial Powers are exercised by the Supreme
Court which interprets laws and decided cases and
controversies in conformity with the law and by the methods
prescribed by law.
Checks & Balances: Parliamentary Executive:
England has a Parliamentary form of government. The King
The system of Checks and Balances laid down by the
who is sovereign has been deprived of all his powers and
separation of powers prevents misuse of powers. The
authority. The real functionaries are Ministers who belongs to
powers are provided in such a way that it provides a check
the majority party in Parliament and remain in office so long
upon other institutions.
as they retain its confidence. The Prime Minister and his
Examples:
Ministers are responsible to the legislature for their acts and
a) President can veto a bill passed by the Congress. The
policies. In this system the executive and legislature are not
congress can pass legislation over president’s veto by two
separated as in the federal form of government.
third majority.
b) President has the power to appoint judges of the Supreme
Court subject to approval of the Senate.
c) The constitution has vested the powers of “Judicial
Review” in Supreme Court. Supreme Court can approve,
reject or review any action taken by the President or laws
made by the Congress as it did in Marbury vVs
Madison Case.
All this creates a system which makes compromises
necessary which is a sign of healthy democracy. It prevents
the rise of dictators as well.
Federal System: Sovereignty of Parliament:
A very important feature of the British constitution is
The U.S constitution provides for a federal system of
sovereignty of Parliament. Parliament is the only I4slative
government which means that powers are divided among
body in the country with unfettered powers of legislation can
centre/federal government and the states. According to
make, amend or repeal any law it likes. The courts have no
Article 1, the federal government has jurisdiction over 18
purer to question the validity of the laws passed by British
matters and residuary powers are vested in states. States are
Parliament. It can also amend constitution on its own
autonomous bodies and centre cannot meddle in their
authority like ordinary law of the land. It can make illegal what
affairs. In case of conflict, Supreme Court decides or settles
is legal and legalize what is illegal.
the dispute.

Presidential System: Rule of Law:

Another important feature of the British constitution is the
The constitution provides for a presidential form of
Rule of Law. It implies equality or all before supremacy,
government. Article 2 provides the powers, election and
 SALIENT FEATURES OF US & UK CONSTITUTION
their matters related to president. President is elected for a
term of 4 years and is not answerable to Congress but
cannot dissolve Congress. He has a cabinet to assist him in
running his executive powers.
Republicanism:
The constitution calls for a republican system with President
as elected head of the state. The constitution derives its
authority from the people and is supreme law of the land.
Neither centre nor states can override it.
Bill of Rights:
The first ten amendments to the constitution are called “Bill
of Rights”. The BOR provides for the rights of a person’s
property, liberty, freedom of speech, press, religion and
assembly.
Dual Citizenship:
The constitution provides for dual citizenship i.e citizen of
United States and the state where one is domiciled. Britain
and Pakistan provides for single citizenship.
System of Spoils:
When a president is elected, he does appointment of public
offices. If in elections, President elected is of the opposition
uniformity and universality. It has three implications:
 All persons are equal before jaw irrespective of their
position or rank.
 This doctrine emphasizes the supremacy of the law
and not of any individual.
 No one can be detained or imprisoned without a fair
and proper trial by a competent court of law. Nor can
a person he punished or deprived of his life, liberty or
property except for a specific breach of law proved in
an ordinary court of law by an ordinary procedure. A
corollary to this principle is the doctrine that, “the
King/Queen can do no wrong”.
Gap between Theory and Practice:
Unlike other constitutions there is a great gap between theory
and practice in English political system. This fact results largely
from the unwritten character of the Constitution, which is
mainly based on conventions. As for instance, in theory, it is
the King and Queen who is sovereign, but in practice it is the
Parliament, which is sovereign. The King and Queen cannot
veto any bill passed by the Parliaments, although he/she has
the right to do so in theory. The Queen in theory is the
fountain-head or patronage but in practice all honors and
titles are conferred by the Prime Minister. This also justifies
the remarks of Lord Sankay that “theory has no relation to
realities in British constitution”.
Mixed Constitution:
The British constitution is a queer mixture of the monarchical,
aristocratic and democratic principles. The institution of
Kingship shows that there is monarchy in England. The
existence of House of Lords gives an idea that .England has an
aristocratic type of government. The House of Common
reflects actual working of a Full-fledged democracy in this
country. But all these diverse political elements have been
beautifully welded together to produce the final effect of
perfect representative democracy.
Role of Conventions:
A necessary corollary to the unwritten character of the
constitution is that the conventions play a vital role in the
British political system. For example, while the Queen has the
prerogative to refuse assent to a measure, passed by
Parliament, but by convention, she cannot do so and the same
has become a rigid principle of the constitution itself. By
Convention, again, the Queen cannot go against the advice of
the cabinet. Likewise, there are dozens of conventions, which
do not have any force of law yet they are scrupulously
adhered to and constitute the very blood and flesh of the
constitution.
Independence of Judiciary:
The Rule of Law is safeguarded by the provision that judges
can only be removed from office for serious misbehavior and
 SALIENT FEATURES OF US & UK CONSTITUTION
party, he dismisses the public office bearers and makes fresh
appointments. Under this system, a civil servant appointed
by one president on political consideration cannot retain his
office when an opposition President secures victory in polls.
according to a procedure requiring the consent of both the
houses of the Parliament. So, the judges are able to give their
judgments without any fear or favor.
Besides these, there are some other features of the British
constitution, which are as follows:
 Constitutional Monarchy
 Bi-Party System
 Referendum etc.