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Anglophone Constitutions - Coggle Diagram

- - - - constitutional = lawful
      - unconstitutional = unlawful
  - - - An official list of citizens’ rights, often part of a codified constitution.
    - - A system where government powers are restricted by laws and checks and balances.
- - - - written in one single document
      - called “The Constitution”
- - - - Americans fought Britain for independence.
  - - - declared independence from the UK
      - united the 13 states
    - - Created:
        
        a federal government
        
        stronger unity between states
        
        rules for how the US government works
    - - protects individual freedoms
      - first 10 amendments to the Constitution
- - - - is not contained in one document
      - comes from different written and unwritten sources
- - - - it is not in one document
  - - - Acts of Parliament (laws)
    - - Common law and judicial decisions
    - - International agreements
  - - - Unwritten political rules
    - - Traditional powers of the monarch
    - - What the government is generally believed allowed to do
- - - - wars
      - independence
      - authoritarian rule
    - - The US Constitution (1787)
  - - - royal prerogatives = very old
      - Scottish Parliament = recent
- - - - In a codified system, these laws may have been challenged as unconstitutional.
      - In the UK, Parliament could pass them easily.
  - - - elections continued because protected by the Constitution
    - - elections postponed by simple Act of Parliament
- - - - segregation
      - racism continued until the 1960s.
    - - Debates still exist about:
        
        voter rights
        
        same-sex marriage
- - - - clearly defines rights
      - protects against tyranny
      - easier for citizens to understand
    - - judges gain strong interpretative power
      - can be inflexible
      - difficult to amend
  - - - flexible
      - evolves with society
      - democratic systems can still work well
      - Examples:
        
        UK
        
        New Zealand
        
        Israel
    - - governments can exploit flexibility
      - difficult for citizens to understand
      - civil liberties can be overridden