In Britain there is currently no written constitution, instead we have a collection of laws that have built up over the years. This means that although there no one single document which shows all of our rights etc, we still, to a large extent, enjoy the same rights and privileges as most 'western' democracies, including the Americans. There are people however, who believe that Britain would benefit from drawing up it's own written constitution and adopting many of the principles of American law e.g. freedom of information.

In the U.S their constitution decrees that there must be a 'division of powers'. This means that a member of the executive (e.g. the President) cannot simultaneously hold a position in the Legislature or Judiciary. There is no division of powers in Britain, which means that Tony Blair is a member of the executive (Prime Minister) and is also a member of the Legislature (MP). As in the case of Lord Irvine some people are members of all three branches of the government. By having a division of powers people cannot be involved in all levels of government and therefore do not hav

Obviously if Britain were to adopt a written constitution then it would not be exactly the same as the American one. The process for drawing up a completely new one from scratch would take a considerable amount of time, but it would allow us to make changes to things that seem absurd in the American one e.g. the right of everyone to own a gun.

e as much influence over the political process. For example, Bill Clinton can authorise a Bill, but this can still be rejected by the Senate, or ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court. In Britain Lord Irvine would be able to influence people and make decisions concerning a Bill in each branch of government, this is clearly not very democratic- for one person to be able to have so much influence over a country. By having a written constitution that included a division of powers Britain would become far more democratic, as the influence that certain people have over the country would be greatly reduced.

The American constitution operates in a federal system, where the individual states are given a lot of responsibility. If the American Constitution was to be applied to Britain then the County Councils would be given far more influence over the way in which their area is run, which can only be a good thing because they are likely to know far more about the specific needs of their community than the national government does. Also, the constitution protects the states right's and would make it far more difficult for the government to overrule judgements made by the states/counties.

The average citizen would find themselves more aware of their rights and would be more prepared to stand up for what they believe in. The justice system would be fairer with knowledge ripped from the grasp of the few into the hands of the many. Overall Britain would benefit so much that we will wonder why we mocked the Americans for their large appetites, stupid accents and sil

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1284
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)