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ÍNDICE DE CONTENIDOS

TEXTO 1A: How the U.S. Government Is Organized

TEXTO 1B: Narrative description of the infographic
TEXTO 2A: The Constitution: What Does it Say?
TEXTO 2B: The Bill of Rights
TEXTO 3: What is the UK Constitution?
TEXTO 4: Britain's unwritten constitution

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TEXTO 1A: How the U.S. Government Is Organized

The Constitution of the United States divides the federal government into three branches to
make sure no individual or group will have too much power:

● Legislative—Makes laws (Congress, comprised of the House of Representatives

and Senate)
● Executive—Carries out laws (president, vice president, Cabinet, most federal
agencies)
● Judicial—Evaluates laws (Supreme Court and other courts)

Each branch of government can change acts of the other branches:

● The president can veto legislation created by Congress and nominates heads of
federal agencies.
● Congress confirms or rejects the president's nominees and can remove the
president from office in exceptional circumstances.
● The Justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws, are
nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

This ability of each branch to respond to the actions of the other branches is called the system
of checks and balances.

Legislative Branch of the U.S. Government

The legislative branch drafts proposed laws, confirms or rejects presidential nominations for
heads of federal agencies, federal judges, and the Supreme Court, and has the authority to
declare war. This branch includes Congress (the Senate and House of Representatives) and
special agencies and offices that provide support services to Congress. American citizens have
the right to vote for Senators and Representatives through free, confidential ballots.

Congress
Congress is composed of two parts:

○ Senate—There are two elected Senators per state, totaling 100 Senators. A Senate
term is six years and there is no limit to the number of terms an individual can serve.
○ House of Representatives—There are 435 elected Representatives, which are
divided among the 50 states in proportion to their total population. There are
additional non-voting delegates who represent the District of Columbia and the
territories. A Representative serves a two-year term, and there is no limit to the
number of terms an individual can serve.

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Executive Branch of the U.S. Government

The executive branch carries out and enforces laws. It includes the president, vice president,
the Cabinet, executive departments, independent agencies, and other boards, commissions,
and committees.

American citizens have the right to vote for the president and vice president through free,
confidential ballots.

Key roles of the executive branch include:

● President—The president leads the country. He or she is the head of state, leader
of the federal government, and Commander in Chief of the United States armed
forces. The president serves a four-year term and can be elected no more than
two times.
● Vice president—The vice president supports the president. If the president is
unable to serve, the vice president becomes president. The vice president can be
elected and serve an unlimited number of four-year terms as vice president, even
under a different president.
● The Cabinet—Cabinet members serve as advisors to the president. They include
the vice president, heads of executive departments, and other high-ranking
government officials. Cabinet members are nominated by the president and must
be approved by a simple majority of the Senate—51 votes if all 100 Senators vote.

Executive Branch Agencies, Commissions, and Committees

Much of the work in the executive branch is done by federal agencies, departments,
committees, and other groups.

Judicial Branch of the U.S. Government

The judicial branch interprets the meaning of laws, applies laws to individual cases, and
decides if laws violate the Constitution. It is comprised of the Supreme Court and other federal
courts.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. The Justices of the Supreme
Court are nominated by the president and must be approved by the Senate.

○ Nine members make up the Supreme Court—a Chief Justice and eight Associate
Justices. There must be a minimum or quorum of six Justices to decide a case.

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 ○ If there is an even number of Justices and a case results in a tie, the lower court's
decision stands.
○ There is no fixed term for Justices. They serve until their death, retirement, or
removal in exceptional circumstances.

Federal Courts and Judicial Agencies

The Constitution gives Congress the authority to establish other federal courts to handle cases
that involve federal laws including tax and bankruptcy, lawsuits involving U.S. and state
governments or the Constitution, and more. Other federal judicial agencies and programs
support the courts and research judicial policy.

○ Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

○ Bankruptcy Courts
○ Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
○ Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
○ Court of Federal Claims
○ Court of International Trade
○ Federal Court Interpreters
○ Federal Judicial Center
○ Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
○ Supreme Court of the United States
○ Tax Court
○ U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
○ U.S. Courts of Appeal
○ U.S. Sentencing Commission

Fuente Texto 1: https://www.usa.gov/branches-of-government

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TEXTO 1B: Narrative description of the infographic

How the Supreme Court Works

The Supreme Court is:
● The highest court in the country
● Located in Washington, DC
● The head of the judicial branch of the federal government
● Responsible for deciding whether laws violate the Constitution
● In session from early October until late June or early July
How a Case Gets to the Supreme Court

Most cases reach the Court on appeal. An appeal is a request for a higher court to reverse the
decision of a lower court. Most appeals come from federal courts. They can come from state
courts if a case deals with federal law.

Rarely, the Court hears a new case, such as one between states.

1. Dissatisfied parties petition the Court for review

Parties may appeal their case to the Supreme Court, petitioning the Court to
review the decision of the lower court.
2. Justices study documents
The Justices examine the petition and supporting materials.
3. Justices vote
Four Justices must vote in favor for a case to be granted review.

What Happens Once a Case is Selected for Review?

1. Parties make arguments
The Justices review the briefs (written arguments) and hear oral arguments. In
oral arguments, each side usually has 30 minutes to present its case. The Justices
typically ask many questions during this time.

2. Justices write opinions

The Justices vote on the case and write their opinions.

The majority opinion shared by more than half of the Justices becomes the Court’s
decision.

Justices who disagree with the majority opinion write dissenting or minority
opinions.

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 3. The Court issues its decision
Justices may change their vote after reading first drafts of the opinions. Once the
opinions are completed and all of the Justices have cast a final vote, the Court
“hands down” its decision.

All cases are heard and decided before summer recess. It can take up to nine
months to announce a decision.
Every year:

The Court receives 7,000-8,000 requests for review and grants 70-80 for oral argument. Other
requests are granted and decided without argument.

About the Justices:

There are nine Justices:

● A Chief Justice, who sits in the middle and is the head of the judicial branch.
● Eight Associate Justices

When a new Justice is needed:

● The President nominates a candidate, usually a federal judge.

● The Senate votes to confirm the nominee.
● The Court can continue deciding cases with less than nine Justices, but if there is a
tie, the lower court’s decision stands.

Justices are appointed for life, though they may resign or retire.

● They serve an average of 16 years.

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TEXTO 2A: The Constitution: What Does it Say?

The Constitution of the United States contains a preamble and seven articles that describe
the way the government is structured and how it operates. The first three articles establish
the three branches of government and their powers: Legislative (Congress), Executive (office
of the President,) and Judicial (Federal court system). A system of checks and balances
prevents any one of these separate powers from becoming dominant. Articles four through
seven describe the relationship of the states to the Federal Government, establish the
Constitution as the supreme law of the land, and define the amendment and ratification
processes.

Article I
Article I assigns the responsibility for making laws to the Legislative Branch (Congress).
Congress is divided into two parts, or “Houses,” the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The bicameral Congress was a compromise between the large states, which wanted
representation based on population, and the small ones, which wanted the states to have
equal representation.

Article II
Article II details the Executive Branch and the offices of the President and Vice President. It
lays down rules for electing the President (through the Electoral College), eligibility (must be
a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old), and term length. The 12th and 25th Amendments
modified some of these rules.

Article III
Article III establishes the Judicial Branch with the U.S. Supreme Court as the federal court
system’s highest court. It specifies that Federal judges be appointed for life unless they
commit a serious crime. This article is shorter than Articles I and II. The Federal Convention
left much of the work of planning the court system to the First Congress. The 1789 Judiciary
Act created the three-tiered court system in place today.

Article IV
Article IV outlines states’ powers in relationship to each other. States have the authority to
create and enforce their own laws but must respect and help enforce the laws of other states.
Congress may pass Federal laws regarding how states honor other states’ laws and records.

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Article V
Article V explains the amendment process, which is different and more difficult than the
process for making laws. When two-thirds of the Senate and two-thirds of the House of
Representatives vote to change the Constitution, an amendment goes to the state legislatures
for a vote. Alternatively, two-thirds of the state legislatures can submit an application to
Congress, and then Congress calls a national convention at which states propose
amendments. Three-fourths of the state legislatures or state conventions must vote in favor
of an amendment to ratify it.

Article VI
Article VI states that Federal law is supreme, or higher than, state and local laws. This means
that if a state law conflicts with a Federal law, Federal law takes precedence.

Article VII
Article VII describes the ratification process for the Constitution. It called for special state
ratifying conventions. Nine states were required to enact the Constitution. Rhode Island
became the 13th state to ratify the Constitution in 1790.

Fuente texto 2A: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution/what-does-it-say

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TEXTO 2B: The Bill of Rights

One of the principal points of contention between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists was
the lack of an enumeration of basic civil rights in the Constitution. Many Federalists argued,
as in Federalist No. 84, that the people surrendered no rights in adopting the Constitution. In
several States, however, the ratification debate in some States hinged on the adoption of a
bill of rights. The solution was known as the Massachusetts Compromise, in which four States
ratified the Constitution but at the same time sent recommendations for amendments to the
Congress.

James Madison introduced 12 amendments to the First Congress in 1789. Ten of these would
go on to become what we now consider to be the Bill of Rights. One was never passed, while
another dealing with Congressional salaries was not ratified until 1992, when it became the
27th Amendment. Based on the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the English Bill of Rights, the
writings of the Enlightenment, and the rights defined in the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights
contains rights that many today consider to be fundamental to America.

The First Amendment provides that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion or prohibiting its free exercise. It protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly,
and the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The Second Amendment gives citizens the right to bear arms.

The Third Amendment prohibits the government from quartering troops in private homes, a
major grievance during the American Revolution.

The Fourth Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. The
government may not conduct any searches without a warrant, and such warrants must be
issued by a judge and based on probable cause.

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The Fifth Amendment provides that citizens shall not be subject to criminal prosecution and
punishment without due process. Citizens may not be tried on the same set of facts twice and
are protected from self-incrimination (the right to remain silent). The amendment also
establishes the power of eminent domain, ensuring that private property is not seized for
public use without just compensation.

The Sixth Amendment assures the right to a speedy trial by a jury of one’s peers, to be
informed of the crimes with which one is charged, and to confront the witnesses brought
forward by the government. The amendment also provides the accused the right to compel
testimony from witnesses, as well as the right to legal representation.

The Seventh Amendment provides that civil cases preserve the right to trial by jury.

The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual
punishments.

The Ninth Amendment states that the list of rights enumerated in the Constitution is not
exhaustive, and that the people retain all rights not enumerated.

The Tenth Amendment assigns all powers not delegated to the United States, or prohibited
to the States, to either the States or to the people.

Fuente texto 2B: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/the-

constitution/

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TEXTO 3: What is the UK Constitution?

Constitutions organise, distribute and regulate state power. They set out the structure of the
state, the major state institutions, and the principles governing their relations with each other
and with the state's citizens. Britain is unusual in that it has an 'unwritten' constitution: unlike
the substantial majority of countries there is no single legal document which sets out in one
place the fundamental laws outlining how the state works. Britain's lack of a 'written'
constitution can be explained by its history.

In other countries, many of whom have experienced revolution or regime change, it has been
necessary to start from scratch or begin from first principles, constructing new state
institutions and defining in detail their relations with each other and their citizens. By
contrast, the British Constitution has evolved over a long period of time, reflecting the relative
stability of the British polity. It has never been thought necessary to consolidate the basic
building blocks of this order in Britain. What Britain has instead is an accumulation of various
statutes, conventions, judicial decisions and treaties which collectively can be referred to as
the British Constitution. It is thus more accurate to refer to Britain's constitution as an
'uncodified' constitution, rather than an 'unwritten' one.

It has been suggested that the British Constitution can be summed up in eight words: What
the Queen in Parliament enacts is law. This means that Parliament, using the power of the
Crown, enacts law which no other body can challenge. Parliamentary sovereignty is
commonly regarded as the defining principle of the British Constitution. This is the ultimate
lawmaking power vested in a democratically elected Parliament to create or abolish any law.
Other core principles of the British Constitution are often thought to include the rule of law,
the separation of government into executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and the
existence of a unitary state, meaning ultimate power is held by 'the centre' - the sovereign
Westminster Parliament. However, some of these principles are mythical (the British
constitution may be better understood as involving the fusion of executive and legislature) or
in doubt (Parliamentary sovereignty may now be called in question given the combined
impact of Europe, devolution, the Courts, and human rights).

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The British Constitution is derived from a number of sources. Statutes are laws passed by
Parliament and are generally the highest form of law. Conventions are unwritten practices
which have developed over time and regulate the business of governing. Common law is law
developed by the courts and judges through cases. The UK's accession to the European
Communities Act 1972 has meant that European law is increasingly impacting on the British
Constitution. The UK is also subject to international law. Finally, because the British
Constitution cannot be found in any single document, politicians and lawyers have relied on
constitutional authorities to locate and understand the constitution.

An uncodified constitution creates two problems. First, it makes it difficult to know what the
state of the constitution actually is. Second, it suggests that it is easier to make changes to
the UK Constitution than in countries with written constitutions, because the latter have
documents with a 'higher law' status against which ordinary statute law and government
action can be tested and are only amendable via elaborate procedures. The flexibility of the
UK constitution is evident from the large number of constitutional reforms since 1997,
including the abolition of the majority of hereditary peers in the House of Lords, the
introduction of codified rights of individuals for the first time in the Human Rights Act 1998,
and devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Arguably, however, these recent
constitutional reforms may have made the constitution less flexible in some respects: it is
debatable, for instance, whether the devolution settlements could ever be repealed.

Fuente texto 3: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/what-uk-constitution/what-uk-constitution

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TEXTO 4: Britain's unwritten constitution

Unlike most modern states, Britain does not have a codified constitution but an unwritten
one formed of Acts of Parliament, court judgments and conventions. Professor Robert
Blackburn explains this system, including Magna Carta’s place within it, and asks whether the
UK should now have a written constitution.

For most people, especially abroad, the United Kingdom does not have a constitution at all
in the sense most commonly used around the world – a document of fundamental importance
setting out the structure of government and its relationship with its citizens. All modern
states, saving only the UK, New Zealand and Israel, have adopted a documentary constitution
of this kind, the first and most complete model being that of the United States of America in
1788. However, in Britain we certainly say that we have a constitution, but it is one that exists
in an abstract sense, comprising a host of diverse laws, practices and conventions that have
evolved over a long period of time. The key landmark is the Bill of Rights (1689), which
established the supremacy of Parliament over the Crown following the forcible replacement
of King James II (r. 1685–88) by William III (r. 1689–1702) and Mary (r. 1689–94) in the
Glorious Revolution (1688).

From a comparative perspective, we have what is known as an ‘unwritten constitution’,

although some prefer to describe it as ‘uncodified’ on the basis that many of our laws of a
constitutional nature are in fact written down in Acts of Parliament or law reports of court
judgments. This aspect of the British constitution, its unwritten nature, is its most
distinguishing characteristic.

Features of Britain’s unwritten constitution

Another characteristic of the unwritten constitution is the special significance of political
customs known as ‘conventions,’ which oil the wheels of the relationship between the ancient
institutions of state. These are unwritten rules of constitutional practice, vital to our politics,
the workings of government, but not committed into law or any written form at all. The very
existence of the office of Prime Minister, our head of government, is purely conventional. So
is the rule upon which he or she is appointed, being whoever commands the confidence of
the House of Commons (the majority party leader, or head of a coalition of parties).

The Monarchy is one of the three components of Parliament (shorthand for the Queen-in-
Parliament) along with Commons and Lords. In legal theory, the Queen has absolute and
judicially unchallengeable power to refuse her assent to a Bill passed by the two Houses of
Parliament. However, convention dictates the precise opposite and in practice she
automatically gives her assent to any government Bill that has been duly passed and agreed
by Parliament. Another important convention is that government ministers must have a seat

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in Parliament (and, in the case of the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer,
specifically in the House of Commons) in order to hold office. This is a vital aspect of what is
known as the ‘Westminster system of parliamentary government,’ providing a direct form of
executive responsibility and accountability to the legislature.

The written documents of our unwritten constitution

There is irony in the fact that the United Kingdom today does not have a written constitution,
yet historically it has had a rich heritage of pioneering constitutional charters and
documentation. First and foremost is Magna Carta (1215), the ‘Great Charter of the Liberties
of England’. This established the principle that our rulers, at that time the king, could not do
whatever they liked, but were subject to the law as agreed with the barons they governed.
This simple concept laid the foundations for constitutional government and freedom under
the law. Insofar as Magna Carta was ‘the first great public act of the nation,’ it also established
the direction of travel for our political system towards representative institutions and, much
later, democracy itself.

In 1258, the Provisions of Oxford, sometimes referred to as the first ever written constitution,
provided for a Council of twenty-four members through whom the King should govern, to be
supervised by a Parliament. This was convened for the first time in 1264 by Simon de Montfort
(d. 1265). During the constitutional conflicts of the 17th century, the Petition of Right (1628)
relied on Magna Carta for its legal basis, setting out rights and liberties of the subject including
freedom from arbitrary arrest and punishment. The Bill of Rights (1689) then settled the
primacy of Parliament over the monarch’s prerogatives, providing for the regular meeting of
Parliament, free elections to the Commons, free speech in parliamentary debates, and some
basic human rights, most famously freedom from ‘cruel or unusual punishment’. This was
shortly followed by the Act of Settlement (1701) which controlled succession to the Crown
and established the vital principle of judicial independence.

Over the past century there have been a number of Acts of Parliament on major constitutional
subjects that, taken together, could be viewed as creating a tier of constitutional legislation,
albeit patchy in their range and with no special status or priority in law. They include:

o The Parliament Acts (1911–49) that regulate the respective powers of the two
Houses of Parliament.

o The Representation of the People Acts (1918) (as amended) providing for
universal voting and other matters of political representation.

o The European Communities Act (1972) making the UK a legal partner in the
European Union.

o The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland devolution Acts of 1998 (as amended)
creating an executive and legislature for each of those three nations in the UK.

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 o The Human Rights Act (1998) establishing a bill of rights and freedoms actionable
by individuals through the courts.

Recently, too, some conventions have been subject to an ad hoc codification, such as the
principles of ministerial responsibilities in the Ministerial Code.

Should the UK have a written constitution?

The question then arises in this 800th anniversary year – should the UK now take steps to
codify all its laws, rules and conventions governing the government of the country into one
comprehensive document, ‘a new Magna Carta’? The case for a written UK constitution has
been debated at our universities and by politicians of all parties for several decades and has
been the subject of a House of Commons committee inquiry during the 2010–15 Parliament.
If a written constitution for the future is to be prepared, it must be one that engages and
involves everyone, especially young people, and not simply legal experts and
parliamentarians. Some of the mystique and charm of our ancient constitution might be lost
in the process, but a written constitution could bring government and the governed closer
together, above all by making the rules by which our political democracy operates more
accessible and intelligible to all.

Fuente texto 4: https://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/britains-unwritten-constitution

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