Public Law in the UK - Assignment Example

Topic: Public Law It has been argued that the UK does not have a codified constitution, because its population lacks interest in such a radical constitutional reform. But it has also been argued that the UK population lacks interest in constitutional matters because it does not have a codified constitution. To what extent does the evidence suggest that these propositions are valid And, in your scholarly opinion which of the two has more weight The British Constitution is uncodified and can be found in a variety of documents. Advocates of this form of constitution believe that the uncodified system encourages flexibility and changes can be made easily. The advocates of a written constitution argue that if it's a written document, every citizen will have access to it instead of only constitutional experts who can interpret it to suit their own convenience . There are two basic principles to the British Constitution: The Rule of Law and the Supremacy of Parliament. The development of U.K's uncodified constitution has been quite haphazard , taking inputs from experts like Walter Bagehot and A.V Dicey, Magna Carta, Act of Settlement of 1701, common law, case law, historical documents, Acts of Parliament and European legislation. There are various opinions on why the U.K does not have a written constitution. Some observers feel that the U.K does not have a codified constitution because it has been politically stable for too long. The royal families in other European countries like France and Germany have had to step down and draw up constitutions as a result of revolt by the masses. In contrast, Great Britain never faced any revolt or rebellion against the crown during the 19th century. Instead, it has transformed itself into democracy over the years. [Nigel Morris,2008] In the process of drafting a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities outlining citizens' rights and codifying the political system last year, Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Justice remarked that "The constitution of the United Kingdom exists in hearts and minds and habits as much as it does in law." This statement provides a good enough reason as to why there is no codified constitution on the U.K. He also points out that the passing of this Bill could bring U.K in line with the most progressive democracies in the world. [Nigel Morris,2008]. Morris however argues in favour of a written constitution stating that British democracy is in a crisis as citizens eye politicians with cynicism and the turnout in general elections has been falling over the years. This could be due to a lack of interest on the part of citizens as there is no written code of law stating their rights and responsibilities. The true essence of a democracy is the manner in which its elections are held. Since democracy is the rule by representatives of the people, a larger voter turnout could mean an active interest on the part of citizens in the affairs of the State. An alarming trend has been observed in the turnout in elections in Britain in recent times. Each time, the number of voters keeps decreasing from the previous one. Other than the general elections in 2001, where the turnout was 59.2%, only a miserable 23% of the population of U.K voted in the European elections in 1999.This was the lowest turnout among all European countries. The following table shows the voter turnout over time in British elections. While the turnout in local elections saw regular fluctuations between 1979 to 1992, it seemed to follow a downtrend from 1992 onwards. The General Elections saw a marginal decline in turnout from 1979 to 1983 , though it was a respectable 75% till 1992, after which it appears to have declined to 70% in 1997 and crashed to below 60% in 2001.Similarly, while the turnout in bye-elctions was almost 55% in 1979, it had declined to almost 40% in 2001.The European elections saw the response improving from around 30% in 1979 to 38% in1992 and falling to around 23% in 2001. The results show a steady decline in the participation of citizens in the electoral process in recent times. Turnout over time of British elections. Source: Professor Thrasher, University of Plymouth On the eve of the General elections in 2001, BBC polled a few people who had decided not to vote . While 77% said there was no point in voting because it would not change a thing, 65% said they did not trust politicians. More than 50% said they were sure of the results as the Labour Party would win.[Kitcat,2005].Faced with low voter turnout in The General Elections in 2001, the Commons Public Administration Select Committee blamed the Government for being 'extremely complacent' about the civic crisis of voter apathy.[Kitcat,2005]. Anthony King, a Professor at Essex argued that falling voter rate was actually a sign of a good democracy. He argued that when extremes of party politics are absent and people are content, they would not go to vote. However, this has been contradicted in various MORI polls that reflected the citizens' dissatisfaction with various government policies [Kitcat,2005]. Professor Michael Thrasher from the University of Plymouth Elections Centre categorizes the reasons for citizens' lack of participation in the electoral process on the basis of resources, motivation and mobilization. He feels that voters might be under the impression that they do not have enough time or resources to analyze the agendas of the contending parties, lack civic or party obligation to vote and do not feel the need to bring about a change in society. Heath and Taylor (1999) attributed low voter turnout in the 1997 elections to increased working class and trade-union apathy. They felt there was lack of enthusiasm with the Labour Party. In my opinion, both the statements that the UK does not have a codified constitution, because its population lacks interest in such a radical constitutional reform and the UK population lacks interest in constitutional matters because it does not have a codified constitution hold good to some extent. While the above arguments and works demonstrate both sides of the argument, I personally feel that a codified constitution is always better than an uncodified one. It is not true that the population lacks interest in constitutional matters, on the contrary, it might certainly want to reform it, provided it knows of the procedures and steps involved in the same. A lowering voter turnout cannot be interpreted as an indicator of a happy and content population, on the contrary, it might indicate a lack of interest in the election process and a subsequent apathy towards constitutional reforms. While for the past few decades, the population might have been happy with the uncodified system, I feel it is time to have a written constitution. While the demand for a codified constitution might not be in the form a rising or a rebellion , people are slowly waking up to the need for one to prevent misuse of power by politicians. Citizens Charters are being formed, awareness about citizens' rights is being spread by NGOs and other organizations. Any change needs time for the results and repercussions to set in. Similarly, in this case, the country did not have a codified constitution all these years because its population lacked interest in such radical reform, but today, the population seems to be waking up and ready to pass Bills about Citizens Rights and Government's Responsibilities. References: 1. Morris, Nigel.The Big Question: Why doesn't the UK have a written constitution, and does it matter The Independent, 14th February, 2008. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-big-question-why-doesnt-the-uk-have-a-written-constitution-and-does-it-matter-781975.html 2. Kitcat, Jason. TURNING ROUND TURNOUT Turnout - the reasons why it's falling and the potential solutions, December 2005. http://www.planet-thanet.fsnet.co.uk/nps/voter_turnout.htm 3. news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_1641000/1641572.stm news.bbc.co.uk/vote2001/hi/english/newsid_1376000/1376575.stm news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/events/euros_99/news/newsid_368000/368908.stm news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_906000/906877.stm politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,640281,00.html www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4201622,00.html politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,640281,00.html www.icmresearch.co.uk/reviews/2001/guardian-article-nov-2001.htm www.idea.int/voter_turnout/ http://www.gallup.com/ 4. About the Citizens' Convention Bill, Unlock Democracy, Charter 88. http://www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/page_id=2033 5. Heath A & Taylor B (1999).New Sources of Abstention In G.Evans & P.Noris (eds) Critical Elections: British Parties and Voters in Long Term Perspective, pp.165-180,London,Sage Publications. 6. David Cutts et al. ,(2007).Voter Turnout in British South Asian Communities at the 2001 General Election. British Journal of Politics & International Relations. Volume 9 Issue 3, Pages 396 - 412 Read More