Chapter 4 Article Reflection §

Class: IS307 Created Time: April 22, 2021 10:08 AM Database: Assignment Database Last Edited Time: June 11, 2021 11:20 AM Status: Done Type: 📑

Constitutions create systems of checks and balances between different bodies of government, so no one has all the power. Most commonly its divided into the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch. Constitutions are a set of laws defines important institutions and offices, and define formal powers. It has features like Fundamental laws that constitutions act as ‘rules about how to make rules’, Entrenched Status that constitutions have strict rules and conditions in which it can be amended, Codified document meaning its written on a paper, and Allocation of power which specifies ‘who can do what, to whom and under what circumstances’. Constitutions treat all groups and interest in society the same with its 7 basic principles. The separation of power divides government into three bodies. The executives is responsible for doing the government’s actions for decision making implementing policies, and coordinating affairs of state. The legislatures is the law-making branch. It is legitimate because it’s directly elected by the citizens. Legislatures can have one or two houses. For bicameralism, if both houses have equal strength, the strong bicameralism will create conflict and deadlock in decisions. If one house is stronger than the other, the weak bicameralism have the lower house that start legislations and control finances, and there’s the upper house that is weaker to only delay and recommend amendments. Judicial review allows the court to interpret laws and the constitutions to override executive or legislative actions. Some democratic countries reject it because judges might be biased consciously or unconsciously and that democratically elected legislatures must do their job. Sometimes courts do more than they should through Judicial activism in which the courts have broad and active roles in the government due to more and more legal and complex pollical actions. In a federal state a unitary state handles the constitutions and higher laws of the country while each states further divide government into executive, legislative, and judicial bodies. There are also limitations to constitutionalism. Constitutions can exist in dictatorships and politicians often try to break them. Constitutions might either be incomplete, rely on other documents, change over time, or be vague. Constitutions have also failed in history. The ‘old constitutionalism’ comes from the constitutions of Athens which failed to theories and generalize, was culture-bound by western origin, and was a legal document rather than for everyday politics. The ‘new constitutionalism’ however, tries to protect citizens and limit government, to balance governmental power and accountability of government over citizens, and to adapt a different constitutional design for each country.