World Constitution - A Comparative Study

Book excerpt: This ninth revised edition of World Constitutions, a monumental work by seasoned authors, portrays the conceptual and legal framework of parliamentary democracies like the UK, Japan, Canada and Australia as well as of a presidential democracy like the USA. Tony Blair’s exit and making way for Gordon Brown as Prime Minister of UK, the spectacular triumph of Barack Obama as President of US and his sincere efforts to usher in an era of all-round peace and tranquility in hitherto strife-torn world, confronted with recession and morass of economic instability and insecurity have been covered while revising the book. The victory of Nicolas Sarcozy at the hustings in France has further given a flip to the concept of peace which has been on the last leg during the preceding regimes in some of the top democratic countries of the world. The Communist China which was vying with erstwhile Soviet Union sometime back has been given a prominent place in the book, portraying its considerably liberalised and substantially modernised socialistic infrastructure. The Swiss Constitution, the only direct democracy in the world, which is a judicious combination of presidential and parliamentary forms of democracy has been analytically presented. An incisive and comparative study of these constitutions will enable the reader to obtain an unbiased and dispassionate view of their working. Where necessary, eminent authorities on the subject have been quoted copiously. The book has been updated by incorporating the latest amendments to the constitutions. The Constitution of the Russian Federation has also been included while giving a synoptic reference to former Soviet Union, which was once a super power to reckon with.