The Uk

Background

The United Kingdom is made up of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The British constitution is one of last remaining unwritten constitutions in the world. Only Israel and New Zealand share this distinction. This constitution has been in existence since 1215, when King John signed the Magna Carta which had him sharing power with his barons. This is regarded as the first statement of citizen rights in the world. This constitution is one of the oldest in the world although the workings of it have changed throughout the ages. The single most important fact in understanding the nature of the British political system is the fundamental continuity of that system. This largely because it Britain has not experienced any revolution of the kind like so many other countries.

Britain has not, of course been free from major upheavals. The civil war and the subsequent restorations of the monarchy (1642-60) and the Glorious Revolution (1688) were both significant turning points in British political history but they came at the very beginning of talk of written contracts between government and citizens and did not present an opportunity to codify the constitution. In the absence of a written constitution having the status of fundamental, or higher law, the concept of Parliamentary sovereignty or legislative supremacy represents the cornerstone of the British constitution. Even though the constitution is not drawn up in a single codified document and as such, it is often described as an ‘unwritten constitution, much of the constitution does exist in written form. Many acts of Parliament – such as the European Communities Act 1972 providing legal basis for British membership of the European community and the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 constitute formal, written and binding documents. Being relatively free from upheavals has allowed the British to sustain a stable political system.

Political Culture

Britain has a long history of independent...