Contitutions Compared

Question 1

Similarities between the UK and US constitution?

Answer 1

-Both constitutions are to an extent judiciable: the USA’s through the Supreme Court; the UK’s through acceptance of the Human Rights Act.
-Both have separation of powers to some extent,
especially after the UK’s Constitutional Reform Act
of 2005.
-US states are reliant on grants from the government
to supplement their budgets in the same way that
the four UK nations are reliant on money from central
government. E.g. 9/11 US UK COVID-19 furlough scheme

Question 2

Differences between the UK and US constitutions?

Answer 2

-The US Constitution is codified, while the UK’s constitution is uncodified.
-Rights protection in the USA is far more extensive, with an entrenched Bill of Rights and an effectively
sovereign Supreme Court. In the UK, rights are
effectively given and taken by the government, despite
acceptance of the Human Rights Act.
-Each state in the USA can have a vast array of varying legislation and criminal punishments; most of the UK criminal law is centralised or strikingly similar across all four nations. E.g death penalty in Texas