The British Constitution
British Constitution that exists is a set of rules and regulations constituted by jurisprudence and laws (English and Scottish law), and by various treaties and international agreements to which the United Kingdom has signed up. This uncodified constitution has largely developed out of historic English law, since many of its founding principles and essential laws go back to charters and bills that were drawn up by the English parliament long before the creation of the United Kingdom.
Although England's parliament, often called "the mother of parliaments" has existed for over seven centuries, the founding document of England's "constitution" is generally considered to be the Magna Carta, or Great Charter of the Liberties of England, which the barons drew up and forced King John to sign in the year 1215. The spirit of this document has guided the evolution of English law over the centuries, as well as inspiring numerous constitutional documents drawn up by other countries, including notably the Constitution of the United States of America, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Among other landmark bills that have established major new principles in the British Constitution are the English Bill of Rights, passed after the Glorious Revolution of 1689, and the Acts of Union, of 1707, establishing the linking of England and Scotland within a United Kingdom.
Parliament and the constitution
Parliament and Brexit.
The absence of a written constitution caused a major constitutional argument about what a government can do without the consent of Parliament.
Constitutional experts tended to agree that Parliament had to be consulted, and vote, before the Prime Minister could activate Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, to take the UK out of the European Union.
However Theresa May and her government thought differently. The Prime Minister did not want a debate, or a vote, in Parliament before Britain left the European Union at the end of the long process of negotiation.
In July 2016, a group of citizens appealed to the High Court to stop the government activating Article 50 without Parliament's consent. On 3rd November, the High Court delivered its verdict. This verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 24th January. Parliament must vote before Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty could be triggered. It did so.
Nevertheless, Parliament was not bound by the result of the Brexit referedum, which was consultative, not legislative. Before the referendum, three quarters of elected MPs were against Brexit, and until the 2019 General Election, it remained possible that Brexit would not actually take place; Parliament had the power to veto it. In the end, Parliament held up the Brexit process, but could not stop it. While some Conservative MPs rebelled against their party and tried to block it, enough remained loyal to their party to ensure a situation of stalemate (impasse) in Parliament, where MPs could not agree on a way forward. Eventually there was a new General Election in the autumn of 2019, and Boris Johnson secured a majority of 80 , promising to "get Brexit done". With a big Conservative majority, Parliament approved Brexit, and the UK left the European Union on January 31st 2020.
Vetoing Brexit, however, would have been a dangerous step. If Parliament had vetoed a process that was approved (however marginally and on the basis of however many lies) by a popular referendum, it would have sparked a massive constitutional crisis and possibly serious trouble on the streets.
The debates and arguments did not stop when Britain technically left the EU on Jan. 31st 2020. Later in 2020, Johnson proposed a law that would allow the UK to renege on parts of the international agreement signed with the EU concerning Britain's terms of exit from the Union (the Withdrawal Agreement) .
Johnson's action was severly criticized by all of Britain's living former Prime Ministers (3 Conservatives, 2 Labour), and by another former leader of the Conservative Party. It is likely that the House of Lords will, at least on the first reading, refuse to ratify Johnson's bill to override some parts of an international agreement that Johnson himself signed earlier in the year.
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, 326 Indian reservations, and some minor possessions.[h] At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million square kilometers), it is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area.[c] The United States shares significant land borders with Canada to the north and Mexico to the south as well as limited maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, and Russia.[21] With a population of more than 331 million people, it is the third most populous country in the world. The national capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago, and European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Disputes with Great Britain over taxation and political representation led to the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which established the nation's independence. In the late 18th century, the U.S. began expanding across North America, gradually obtaining new territories, sometimes through war, frequently displacing Native Americans, and admitting new states; by 1848, the United States spanned the continent. Slavery was legal in the southern United States until the second half of the 19th century, when the American Civil War led to its abolition. The Spanish–American War and World War I established the U.S. as a world power, a status confirmed by the outcome of World War II. During the Cold War, the United States fought the Korean.War and the Vietnam War but avoided direct military conflict with the Soviet Union. The two superpowers competed in the Space Race, culminating in the 1969 spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. The Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991 ended the Cold War, leaving the United States as the world's sole superpower.
The United States is a federal republic and a representative democracy with three separate branches of government, including a bicameral legislature. It is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, NATO, and other international organizations. It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Considered a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, its population has been profoundly shaped by centuries of immigration. The U.S. ranks high in international measures of economic freedom, quality of life, education, and human rights; it has low levels of perceived corruption. However, the country has been criticized for inequality related to race, wealth, and income; use of capital punishment; high incarceration rates; and lack of universal health care.
The United States is a highly developed country, accounts for approximately a quarter of global GDP, and is the world's largest economy by GDP at market exchange rates. By value, the United States is the world's largest importer and second-largest exporter of goods. Although its population is only 4.2% of the world's total, it holds 29.4% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share held by any country. Making up more than a third of global military spending, it is the foremost military power in the world and a leading political, cultural, and scientific force internationally
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