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Comparative Politics and Government
Notes the country regardless of their private or public positions. Every individual is under the control of
the law made by the Parliament or common law emanating from judicial decisions and under the
jurisdiction of ordinary courts. Last, the rule of law means that the general principles of the
English constitution are a result of judicial decisions determining the rights of private citizens in
particular cases’ brought before the courts, Simply stated, it implies that the legal rights of the
people are not protected by the terms of a written constitution as in a country like the United
States, they are safeguarded by the operation of ordinary laws and remedies available under these
ordinary laws against those, whether public officials or private persons who interfere with these
freedoms unlawfully.
All the three implications of the rule of law, as explained by the eminent English jurist,
signify the existence of a democratic government operating on the maxim that the welfare of the
people is the supreme norm of the land. Not only various fundamental freedoms are guaranteed
to the people, free access to the courts is also assured to prevent and punish the wrong-doers. The
peculiar thing about this is that the rule of law makes an unwritten charter of the essential liberties
of the English people. It demonstrates that in Britain, it “is not necessary that in order to exist, a
given right or liberty be expressly guaranteed in a statute or other formal act; by common law, it
exists if in and so far as, it is not expressly forbidden and does not conflict with the rights of
other.” It is rightly commented that the rule of law “involves the absence of arbitrary power,
effective control of and proper publicity for delegated legislation, particularly when it imposes
penalties; that when discretionary power is granted and the manner in which it is to be exercised
should, as far as practicable, be defined; that every man should be responsible to the ordinary law
whether he be private citizen or public officer, that private rights should be determined by impartial
and independent tribunals; and that private fundamental rights are safeguarded by the ordinary
laws of the land.”
What is Virginia’s Plan?
American Constitutionalism
Like Englishmen, the Americans have the credit of being the constitution-worshippers with this
line of difference that while the former do so without having a constitution in the form of an
enacted document, the latter do it otherwise. However, the common point between the two is their
conviction in this celebrated maxim that there should be a ‘limited government’, or the political
organisation of the country should be circumscribed by a set of restrictions conducive to the
protection of the essential liberties of the people. In other words, both the Englishmen and the
Americans have their unflinching faith in the principle that certain prescribed procedure must be
followed by the political decision-makers in making authoritative decisions and in the sense that
there are certain decisions they may not make at all. Allied to this is their strong faith in this
constitutional maxim that there is no single means of achieving a limited, or, correctly stated,
constitutional government and that a strong and well-written constitution in and by itself is no
guarantee of limited government. But neither is it meaningless.
Making of the Constitution: As the occurrence of a war seemed inevitable after the proclamation
th
of the historic Declaration of Independence on 4 July, 1776 it was also felt necessary by the great
leaders of the Second Continental Congress to establish a strong Central government working
according to some precise documentary rules. Thus, the Congress that set up a committee to draft
a Declaration also appointed another committee of one representative from each colony to prepare
and digest the form of confederation to be entered into between all of them. As a result of this, a
sort of formal Constitution came into being called the ‘Articles of the Confederation and Perpetual
Union’ that was adopted at the next Congress on November 17, 1777 and that was subsequently
ratified by all the 13 colonies.
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