Unit 7.1        Essay Preview

Look at this examination question about constitutional law. The student has to write a short answer explaining the idea of an 'unwritten constitution' in relation to the UK.  The answer is well-structured, but some of the words here don’t fit in with the academic style of the rest. First of all, think for yourself of a more academic way of saying it - then, you can double-click on the words to find a more academic word from the generator. Some of these words are practised in this unit, but there are also several words which you'll find in other units.

It is often said that the United Kingdom has an ‘unwritten constitution’. What is meant by this?

The constitutions of many countries are made up of a single document limiting the powers of governments over their citizens. In the US, for example, certain policies couldn't be put into practice, even by elected bodies, without changes to the constitution. Those looking for such a document in the United Kingdom will be disappointed. So, it might be guessed that there is no legal limit on the power of the British Government. 

However, more than 100 years ago, writers such as Walter Bagehot argued that this lack of a written constitution shouldn't be seen as something left out since what seems to be an entirely unregulated system actually hides a basic set of conventions and documents which have evolved over the centuries and can be considered an 'unwritten constitution'. Although some of its bits, such as Acts of Parliament and European Union Laws, are written, the ‘Constitution’ as a whole is not written down and many questions of government in the UK are open to be understood in different ways. It could be said that the British constitution has got more of a written character over the last thirty years because of the indirect effects of Britain’s membership of the European Union - a thing created by treaties rather than the slow evolution which characterised the British system.

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]