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A Comparison of the UK & US Constitutions and Government Systems

  • Writer: Správne Právne
    Správne Právne
  • Oct 6, 2024
  • 8 min read

Dear reader,

If you've ever wanted to know how the United Kingdom and United States of America constitutions and governmental systems are similar, you've come to the right place. Of course, there is a historical connection between the two states that had influence on the US' constitution. What is now known as the United States of America, was until 1776 a group of 13 colonies, sometimes referred to as United Colonies. Over time, however, the US has evolved independently, creating a system that draws its foundation from the UK's but still has its own distinct features.


Areas of Similarity in Their Constitutions

  • Representative (elected) Government

    Both countries have some form of a representative government/legislative branch of government.

In the UK this would be the Parliament with its two houses. The House of Commons (HOC) is elected through the First Past the Post system. Simply put, this means that the candidate with the most votes within an area gets the seat. For the purpose of the election, the UK is divided into 650 areas or constituencies. Each area is represented by one MP (Member of Parliament) in the House of Commons. As for the House of Lords, the members are NOT elected. It is a body independent from the HOC. Read more on the UK's Parliament here.


The US has Congress that is somewhat the equivalent. Just like the Parliament, it has two parts. In the House of Representatives, there are 435 members. There is one Representative per 1 congressional district. In each district, the candidate with most votes gets the seat (similarly to the First Past the Post system). In the case of the Senate, there are 100 Senators – 2 Senators per state. There are 2 so that the Senate can reach quorum (the smallest number of people needed to be present at a meeting before it can officially begin and before official decisions can be taken), even if one of them is incapacitated. In every state, the people elect their Senator. Read more on the Congress here.


  • Independent Judiciary

    The UK officially has an independent judiciary. To ensure the impartiality of judges, they are selected by the Judicial Appointments Commission (for England and Wales, and some tribunals with UK-wide powers). The process is an open competition and the judges are selected on the basis of merit.


    In 2005, the Constitutional Reform Act (CRA 2005) was enacted, bestowing upon the government ministers the duty to uphold the independence of the judiciary. It barred them from trying to influence judicial decisions through any special access to judges.


    The Changes to the Role of Lord Chancellor in the CRA 2005

    The Lord Chancellor is usually a member of the Cabinet and has a responsibility for upholding the rule of law and protecting judicial independence.

    The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 removed the judicial functions of the Lord Chancellor, and his former role as head of the judiciary is now filled by the Lord Chief Justice (head of the judiciary in England and Wales).

    The role of Lord Chancellor is now combined with that of the Secretary of State for Justice. In addition, the Lord Chancellor no longer sits as Speaker of the House of Lords, which now elects its own Speaker.

    (Source: https://www.supremecourt.uk/docs/separation-of-powers-worksheets-for-teachers.pdf)


    On the other hand, the US's judiciary is considered to be semi-independent. The judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president and are subject to the approval of the Senate (as a part of checks and balances). Generally they serve life term, according to the Constitution they serve during "good behaviour".


    Separation of Powers and Checks and balances in the US:

  • The president can veto legislation created by Congress. They also nominate heads of federal agencies and high court appointees.

  • Congress confirms or rejects the president's nominees. It can also remove the president from office in exceptional circumstances.

  • The Justices of the Supreme Court, nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, can overturn unconstitutional laws.

    (Source: https://www.usa.gov/branches-of-government)


    Separation of Powers and Checks and balances in the UK:

Judicial Review

If a citizen or a group of citizens feel that the government (including local councils and civil servants individually) or government-run institutions have wronged them, they can file a lawsuit. Judges then decide whether the citizens were treated unfairly or otherwise unlawfully and, if needed, order to rectify the situation or remedy it in other ways.

In the House of Commons, the government may be questioned regularly by the Members of Parliament (not part of the government) and Members of the House of Lords about matters for which they are responsible.

Judges

Judges are prohibited from standing for election to Parliament under the House of Commons (Disqualification) Act 1975.

To protect their independence, judges in the higher courts have life tenure. To remove a High Court judge the resolution of both Houses is needed. On the other hand, disciplinary proceedings are enough to remove judges from the office at the lower levels. Judges also have immunity in relation to their judicial functions. Even if constitutionally judges are subordinate to the Parliament and cannot challenge the validity of Acts of Parliament, they have some leeway when it comes to interpreting statute law. Because of this, some speak of judge-made law.


  • Protection of Rights of the Citizens

In the UK, since there is no singular codified constitution, the protection of the rights of the citizens relies on other Acts, such as the :

  • Human Rights Act (1998) – Sets out rights that everyone in the UK (regardless of their citizenship status) is entitled to. It incorporated the rights from the European Convention on Human Rights into British domestic law (back when the UK was part of the EU). Read the latest version here.

  • Freedom of Information Act (2000) – Its goal is to provide British citizens with full access to government work (all research, documents, government records etc.), including government-owned companies and institutions. Read the latest version here.

In the US, the document that sets out the fundamental rights of everyone in the US (regardless of their citizenship status) is entitled to is the American Constitution. More specifically, the first 10 amendments, also referred to as The Bill of Rights. The rights in the Bill include: freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly etc.


Areas of Difference in Their Constitutions

  • Codification

    The US has a codified constitution which means some parts of it are more entrenched, so they cannot be amended easily. The codification also makes higher law clearer and provides a foundation for strong judicial review (review by the Supreme Court of the constitutional validity of a legislative act).


    The UK's constitution is uncodified which makes all the law more flexible and easier to amend. The higher law of the UK consists of multiple different sources and is not nearly as clear as in the US. The same goes for judicial review in the UK (a procedure by which a court can review an administrative action by a public body and (in England) secure a declaration, order, or award).

  • The Sovereignty Issue

    The concept of sovereignty pretty much describes the supreme legislative authority over a polity (in this case a country). The supreme legislative authority is an organisation that is responsible for creating law.

    In the UK, Parliament is sovereign. Parliament is the supreme legislative authority. Because of this the UK Supreme Court is weaker in judicial review. In essence, the Parliament can, in theory, create or end almost any law.


    In the US the Constitution of the United States is the supreme legislative authority. All laws in the US must be in accordance with the Constitution. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest legal authority. It is the equivalent of the UK Supreme Court. However, there is stronger judicial review thanks to the codified Constitution.


A Comparison of the Parliament (UK) and the Congress (US)

These are both legislative branches of government, meaning that they concern themselves with the creation of legislation. Let's take a brief look at their similarities as well as differences.


Areas of Similarity

  • They are both bicameral (have two chambers). In the Parliament, it's the House of Commons and the House of Lords. In US' Congress, the two chambers are the Senate and the House of Representatives. Read more on all of these here.

  • Both are representative in nature – their members are all (or partially) elected. Read more here.

  • They check the executive. In the US the Congress checks the Presidents' nominees for judicial office, and may, in exceptional circumstances, remove the president from the office. In the UK there is a fusion of branches of power where the government (executive) sits in the Parliament (legislative), which means different checking mechanisms. The MPs (Members of Parliament) who are not part of the government may question the government about matters for which they are responsible during Question Time regularly.

  • Both are political in nature. This means that they have political parties within them. In the US, there is a two-party political system. The two parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. In the UK, there are multiple political parties with the two most prominent ones (in terms of no. of MPs and voters) being the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. Other parties include: the Liberal Democratic Party, the Green Party, the Sinn Féin, the Scottish National Party etc. There are also MPs who are not members of any political party, they are Independent.


Areas of Difference

  • Because of the difference in codification of their constitutions, there is a difference in what they are beholden to as well.


    As the UK does not have a codified constitution, there is no literal document that the Parliament is confined to in terms of its rights and responsibilities. Instead what is referred to as the UK Constitution is actually a collection of various statutes, conventions, judicial decisions and treaties. So officially speaking, the Parliament is sovereign, and is not beholden to anything.


    As for the US, there is a codified constitution that gives the foundation for how the US is to be run. So the Congress is beholden to the American Constitution.


The US system sometimes runs into problems because in Congress the House of Representatives and the Senate have similar levels of power and sometimes this means that issues take longer to resolve as they just bounce back and forth.


In the UK's Parliament, the House of Lords (HOL) is significantly weaker in terms of power. This would, for example, mean that the HOL cannot block any bills for a significant amount of time. It does, however, supplement the House of Commons work by considering bills, considering public policies in specialised committees and holding the government to account.


Devolution and Separation of Powers

Devolution is official granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to a government at a sub-national level (regional, local or state etc.). It decentralises powers and allows local areas to rule themselves.


The United Kingdom

From 1998, some powers have been devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the Houses of Parliament. This way, the Scottish Parliament, National assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly were established. They have power over some legislation in health, education and prison sectors.


The United States

There is the Federal government with its three branches. Federal laws apply to everyone (in every state) in the United States. State governments create laws that apply to the state. For example, some states in the US have capital punishment and others don't – it's decided on state level, not on a federal level.


In both the UK and the US, there are local governments (for counties, cities, towns, villages, etc.) that have some powers on a local level.


I hope you enjoyed this blog although it was a bit more technical with all the terms and the jumping back and forth from one country to another. Until we read again.


Additional resources to check out:

 *Please note that at no point in this blog am I providing legal advice or claiming to be a professional. These blogs are for entertainment and educational purposes only. If anything is misinterpreted or there's additional information that wasn't included, feel free to contact me through the Contact section of the website.*



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