The British and American constitutions are similar in the fact that they both have checks and balances. This is due to the separation of powers (or lack of) that the two systems have. In the United Kingdom, the executive and legislative powers are merged. The Prime Minister heads the executive and his government proposes and passes laws based on a majority in the House of Commons. There are also committees that check the work of the government and hold it accountable. In the United States, the three branches are completely separate and cannot interfere in each other's area of ​​control. The only exception is the vice president, who acts as president of the Senate and can cast a tie-breaking vote. In theory, the American president has much more power than the British prime minister - he is commander of the Senate. in chief and has the power to issue decrees which have the full force of law. However, due to the constitutional system of "checks and balances", the power of the US president is seriously reduced and it will often be very difficult to pass legislation through Congress. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'?Get an original essayIn contrast, a British Prime Minister typically leads a government with a majority of seats in the House of Commons and the ability to pass almost all the laws they want and there aren't many checks and balances stopping them. In the United States, due to the separation of powers, all legislation is introduced by a member of Congress, so even signed legislation is attributed to President Obama's speech on health care reform was actually presented by a member of Congress. In contrast, almost all legislation in Britain is introduced by the government with only a very small number of bills - usually on social issues with minimal implications for public finances - introduced by individual members of Parliament (one calls them private members' bills). . This is due to the checks and balances these constitutions have. In the United Kingdom, due to the lack of a written constitution, there are laws rather than formal checks and balances as there are in the United States. Analyze the amendment processes in the UK and US. Constitutions (12)In the United Kingdom, the amendment process is quite simple. The current government can simply repeal any existing law or bill created by previous governments and create any new law or bill provided it obtains a yes majority vote in the House of Commons, which he will do if he has a majority government. The amendment process to create a new bill is as follows: first there is simply a reading of the title of the bill. This is called first reading and no debate takes place. There is a vote on the basic principle of the bill. Then comes the second reading, where the main principles of the bill are debated and voted on. Next comes the committee stage in which a detailed review of the bill takes place by a public bills committee. Each article of the bill is examined and decided. Next comes the report stage, where MPs can consider further amendments to the bill after the committee stage. Finally, there is the third reading where the entire bill is voted on in its final entity. If the Bill has been tabled in the Commons, it will then be returned to the House of Lords for its first reading and the sameprocedure will take place. However, in the United States the procedure is completely different. Article V (which discusses the procedure for amendment) provides two methods for amending the US Constitution. The first method authorizes Congress, "whenever two-thirds of both houses deem it necessary" to propose constitutional amendments. If accepted, the proposed amendment is then sent to state legislatures for ratification. Three-quarters of state legislatures must approve the amendment for it to become part of the U.S. Constitution. The second method requires that Congress, "at the request of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States," "call a convention to propose amendments." Each time the amendment process has been initiated since 1789, the first method was used. The 33 amendments submitted to the states for ratification originate from Congress. The second method has not yet been used successfully. The structural differences between the US and UK Constitutions are that the constitutions are completely different in the way amendments are made. This is due to the cultural differences of the time, as the United States feared that a tyrannical government would be capable of creating undemocratic laws. To prevent this from happening, they made the amendment process very difficult. This is why there have only been 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. since its creation. Assessing the extent of federalism in the United States today (30) It can be said that the United States is no longer a federal system. Indeed, although this is stipulated in the Constitution, the States still do not have sufficient freedom and powers of their own. An example of this is that income tax is levied by both the federal government and some state governments, when it should be levied only by state governments and a proportion of it then remitted to the central government. Additionally, federalism in the United States has declined due to the fact that when crises arise, such as war or terrorist attacks (September 11), the central government seizes more power. The problems that caused crises tend to be too big for individual states to solve alone, so the central government takes more power to solve these problems. However, it can also be said that the United States is still a federal system. . The American federal system is guaranteed by the codified Constitution, which defines the powers that belong to the central government and those that belong to the states. For example, the Constitution grants states the right to equal representation in the Senate, jurisdictional integrity, the right to a republican form of government, and protection against invasion and internal conflict, while granting the central government the power to “levy and collect taxes”. , to pay debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare.” The fundamental principle of multi-level government where power is exercised jointly remains enshrined in law through the Constitution. Relations between national and state governments are governed by this legal framework, which can only be changed through the complex process of constitutional amendment. This is one of the reasons why federalism is still alive and well in the United States today. The Tenth Amendment states that "those powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited thereby to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people", meaning that any power not explicitly stated in the Constitution.