The Existence of the UK Constitution

  The Existence of the UK Constitution by <Your Name> <Date> <Lecturer's Name and Course Number> The Existence of the UK Constitution Introduction The rules that allocate and control powers in the United Kingdom are diverse in nature, sometimes uncertain in content, and nearly all of them are easy to change; thus, it is doubtful that there is a thing as the United Kingdom's constitution. Constitutions organize, distribute, and regulate the state's power and responsibilities (UCL, 2020) while setting out rules and regulations that govern the conduct of citizens and how the state conducts relations with foreign entities. The fact the UK has statutes and laws may suggest that a constitution exists, especially for foreigners and a majority of UK citizens who may have insufficient knowledge of what entails a constitution. In this paper, I argue that the UK has a constitution in the form of sets of statutes and laws. Further, I will say that just because the UK laws can easily be changed does not mean the laws do not exist, only that there is no superior document that dwarfs regional and local legislative bodies. In discussing these variables, I will allude to the country's historical perspective along with the principles of allocation and separation of powers and the sovereignty of the parliament. Reaffirming that the government does not have a constitution opens new questions about whether the country should have one. I will address this question as part of the advantages and disadvantages of not having a constitution. Defining the Term ‘Constitution’ A constitution is a framework and principles, and legislation that governs a state or a country (Delaney, 2014). The US’s constitution is arguably the most-well know constitution in the world since its ratification in 1788. It is often referred to as the Supreme Law of the Land because when state or congressional laws are found to conflict with constitutional laws, they have no force. The Supreme Court has reaffirmed and strengthened the doctrine of constitutional supremacy over the course of the past two centuries through a series of landmark rulings (Endersby & Overby, 2018). Only the American people, and not any branch of the government or political leadership, have the final say on who can change the fundamental laws enshrined in the constitution. Therefore, any person interested in reading the American constitution can obtain a booklet and peruse through the set of legislative and principles because all the laws have been 'codified' in a single document called the Constitution of the United States of America. Constitutional Moment On the contrary, the United Kingdom has never experienced a constitutional moment. A constitutional moment is when an institution, country, or state undergoes or, at any rate, requires radical and profound change (Dixon & Baldwin, 2019). Over the last 800 years, the UK constitution evolved gradually from a feudal monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, with the parliament gaining sovereignty over time. Throughout this period, the country has never experienced a moment where the current order of things was unanimously considered un...