Introduction
The constitution, which is one of the essential texts in Western history, governs federalism in the United States. The constitution establishes the core institutions of government, their powers, and citizens’ fundamental rights[1]. Since its inception, it has acted as the country’s formal constitution. The US Constitution is the supreme law of the country. It was drafted in 1787 by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The “Founding Fathers,” or “Farmers,” were a group of people who authored the constitution, with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, and Franklin D. Roosevelt among the most well-known. A new constitution was established because it was discovered that the Articles of Confederation could not effectively safeguard the young nation of the United States of America[2]. Congress was tasked with forming the executive and judicial branches of government, raising revenue, declaring war, and crafting the necessary legislation to carry out these obligations. Overriding a presidential veto on a single piece of legislation requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress. Furthermore, the Senate is empowered by the constitution to provide advice and consent on presidential and judicial nominees and treaty ratifications. Taiwan is an East Asian island nation situated at the confluence of the East and South China Seas. On December 25, 1946, the National Assembly in Nanking passed the ROC Constitution, making it the Republic of China’s first constitution[3]. The National Government signed it into law a few days before Christmas in 1947, making it effective. The constitution has 14 chapters and 175 articles, including the preamble. Therefore, this paper will compare the Constitutions of the United States with Taiwan (the Republic of China).
Adoption of the United States Constitution and Taiwan Constitution
The United States Constitution is the founding document of our federal government and a watershed moment in the Western world’s history. Besides, the constitution is the world’s oldest written national constitution, outlining people’s fundamental rights and obligations. In the summer of 1787, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hosted a Constitutional Convention ostensibly to amend the Articles of Confederation (1781–89), making it the first written constitution. Besides, the constitution was written by the convention’s 55 delegates. The constitution resulted from a long and sometimes heated debate on issues like slavery, states’ rights, and representation. If a state has a large enough population, it should have the same number of congressional representatives as under the Articles of Confederation. If a state is small enough, the number of MPs should be reduced. A few Northern delegates also campaigned for the abolition of slavery or, in the absence of that, a representation based on the number of free persons living in a state. The Connecticut delegation presented a compromise, which the framers subsequently accepted. The Great Compromise, which established a two-senate legislature with equal representation for all states in the Senate and three-fifths of the state’s free and enslaved population in the House of Representatives, is one of the most famous compromises in American history.
Taiwan lacked a centralized government when the Dutch landed in the 1620s. Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945, and it had previously been part of China for two centuries. The Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912[4]. Because the Qing had ceded Taiwan to Japan, the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895 resulted in Japanese colonial governance over Taiwan at the time. The ROC administration assumed control of Taiwan after Japan surrendered at the end of WWII. In 1949, the ROC government fled to Taiwan after the Chinese Communist Party launched a civil war against it[5]. The government has maintained sovereignty over Taiwan’s main island and several smaller islands, allowing Taiwan and China to be governed separately. The Chinese government has never had control over Taiwan or the other ROC-controlled islands. On December 25, 1946, the Republic of China’s National Assembly met in Nanking and adopted the ROC Constitution. On January 1, 1947, a national government edict was published, and it took effect on December 25, 1947. The constitution contains 175 articles divided into 14 chapters. The constitution’s main ideas include a central government with five branches and a balanced distribution of powers between the central and local governments. Instead of the three branches present in most Western governments, China has five: judicial branches, the executive, legislative, Control Yuan, and Examination Yuan. Provisions passed in 1948 gave the presidents emergency powers and suspended the two-term presidential limit[6]. Even after so many rounds of constitutional change, the current constitutional order lacks the broad-based legitimacy that consolidated democracies have.
Separation of Powers
In the United States Constitution, the founders developed the separation of powers. Separation of powers is necessary to prevent the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government from exerting undue influence on one another. The legislative branch of the United States government is known as Congress[7]. Besides, the legislative branch of the US federal government is made up of the House of Representatives (Congress) and the Senate. The United States Capitol in Washington, DC, hosts congressional sessions. Congress passes legislation at the federal level. A member of Congress can propose a new law. It’s referred to as a bill. When the bill has passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives, it is sent to the President. The President can sign the bill if they approve it. After that, it’s legally binding. If the President doesn’t like it, they can use their veto power. It is feasible for Congress to vote again to reverse the President’s veto[8]. Congress can revise the law and send it back to the President for his approval after making the changes. The lower and higher branches of government are represented by the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively. On the other hand, the Executive Branch is led by the President, who also acts as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. Federal agencies govern all federal agencies under the President’s authority, and he nominates the heads of these agencies to carry out this mandate. The Vice President is a member of the Executive Branch who is prepared to assume the presidency if the Oval Office becomes vacant[9]. The Cabinet and independent federal agencies implement and administer federal laws daily. The judicial branch is in charge of evaluating whether federal laws are constitutional and addressing other challenges to federal law. Judges rely on the government’s executive to carry out court orders.
The Republic of China’s present administration was established in 1948, according to the constitution agreed upon in the winter of 1946. The Legislative Yuan, the Control Yuan, and the National Assembly are all democratically elected. The National Assembly chooses the President and Vice President of the Republic. It is the first democratically elected government in the country. The federal government comprises the president and five important departments known as yuans. The Executive Yuan, China’s upper body of government, comprises the premier and the president. The president of the Republic appoints the premier. The chiefs of the several government ministries and agencies that report to the Executive Yuan make up the ROC Cabinet. China’s legislative branch comprises the unicameral Legislative Yuan and the unicameral National Assembly. Taiwan’s primary legislative body, the Legislative Yuan, is in charge of passing legislation. It keeps an eye on legislation, budgeting bills, audits, and the Executive Yuan’s operations. In China’s Legislative Yuan, 168 seats are up for grabs, with 41 chosen based on the percentage of national votes received by participating political parties, eight chosen from overseas Chinese constituencies based on the percentage of national votes received nationwide, and eight chosen by popular vote from among the aboriginal population. Justices of the Judicial Yuan, on the other hand, are appointed by the president and selected with the agreement of the National Assembly[10]. It is the state’s highest judicial body, with jurisdiction over criminal, civil, and administrative matters and situations involving public officials’ conduct. The Council of Great Judges, which consists of 17 great justices, is the central governing body, according to Article 3 of the Judicial Yuan’s Organic Law. The number was reduced to fifteen by Article 5 of the Constitution’s Additional Articles. Members of the organization must comprise a president, a vice president, and a secretary-general to choose the president and vice president. The Judicial Yuan is made up of another 17 justices[11]. The Republic of China’s Examination Yuan is in charge of confirming civil servant qualifications. According to the People’s Three Principles, as a separate and independent arm of government. The Examination Yuan is based on Imperial China’s former imperial examination system, which was used until it was disbanded. The Control Yuan is a conventional Chinese censorship-based investigative body. It keeps an eye on the other branches of government. For example, it could be compared to an administrative ombudsman or the European Court of Auditors. It’s similar to the Government Accountability Office in the United States. It was the upper house of the tricameral parliament until it was disbanded in the 1990s.
Human Rights and Democracy
A fundamental human right is a right to life, liberty, and the protection of one’s person. The right to life, liberty, and security for oneself and one’s loved ones. This document’s second article. As stated in this Declaration, you have the same rights and obligations regardless of your race, gender, language, or creed[12]. In 1791, the Bill of Rights was signed into law. These amendments were enacted to protect citizens’ rights in the United States. One of the fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights is the right to free expression, protected by the first amendment. Religion and press freedom are also protected. The First Amendment is a blessing to American residents in a culture where people can freely express themselves, speak their thoughts without fear of retaliation, pray, and peacefully demonstrate. The first amendment is the most critical part of the US Constitution since it guarantees citizens freedom of speech, religion, and the right to peaceful assembly. As a result, the amendment requires the separation of church and state[13]. It was created to prevent the government from interfering with citizens’ lives. The states and their leaders could not sign the constitution because of the importance of the amendment’s rights. It has developed over time, and Supreme Court Justices have defined the constraints and regulations of the First Amendment to enable Americans better understand the restrictions and requirements of the First Amendment. Because it is a representative democracy, this country is likewise a democracy. In other words, we have a democratically chosen administration[14]. Citizens in this country have the right to vote for their representatives. There are those in government who represent the public’s concerns and opinions. We currently have a Federal democratic republic as a result of this constitution. It is a federal government system that is democratic since the people govern themselves and republican because the government’s power is derived from the people.
In the Republic of China, there are numerous political parties. Taiwanese citizens can vote, and according to a Freedom House assessment from 2004, they have access to the vast majority of their constitutionally given liberties[15]. According to Freedom House, Taiwan is one of Asia’s most “Free” countries, receiving a 1 in political and civil liberty. This represents a significant improvement in quality above the 1973 grade of 6.5, which rose to 2.1 by 2000. When Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) government first came to power in 1949, it was highly dictatorial and repressive of political and civil liberties[16]. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was also considered and adopted by the Legislative Yuan on March 31, 2009. The people’s core civic rights and responsibilities are outlined in Chapter 2 of the Constitution[17]. The four political rights of the people stated in Chapter 12 are election, recall, legislative initiative, and referendum. The constitution was challenged in the late 1980s by Taiwan’s growing democracy and the aging of the 1947 delegates. Democratic reforms in the 1980s led to the country’s first direct presidential election in 1996, thirty years after the KMT acquired control of Taiwan and the islands of Kinmen, Wuqiu, and Matsu. Many foreign organizations have recognized Taiwan’s status as a stable democracy. Taiwan has risen 20 places to 11th place globally, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s “Democracy Index 2020” assessment released in February 2021, making it the year’s “biggest winner[18].” The United Kingdom was ranked 16th in the same index, a substantial decline. After upgrading Taiwan from a “flawed democracy” to a “full democracy,” the report praised it as a “beacon of democracy in Asia.” They continued:
Conclusion
It became the ROC’s fifth and current constitution after the Kuomintang accepted it on December 25, 1946, in Nanjing, and the National People’s Congress confirmed it on December 25, 1947. On the other hand, the Constitution of the United States of America is the highest legal authority in the country. The US first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was repealed and replaced with this one. It initially had seven articles and outlined the structure of national governance. The constitution, the world’s oldest written national constitution, outlines people’s fundamental rights and obligations. China has only ever had power over Taiwan and the other ROC-controlled islands. In addition to the preamble, the constitution contains 175 articles divided into 14 chapters. The federal government’s legislative, executive, and judicial divisions are divided by the United States Constitution into three equal but different departments (interprets the law). Taiwan has a democratically elected legislature, a bicameral legislature, and a bicameral legislature. The National Assembly chooses the President and Vice President of the Republic. Governmental authority divisions can be seen in China’s legislative and executive yuan. Among these are the rights to life and liberty, freedom of expression, freedom from slavery and torture, and the right to work and learn. Everyone has the same rights, regardless of race, ethnicity, or national origin. Taiwanese citizens can vote, and according to a Freedom House assessment from 2004, they have access to the vast majority of their constitutionally given liberties.
References
Bush, Richard C. “Taiwan’s Democracy and the China Challenge.” Brookings. Brookings, March 9, 2022. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/taiwans-democracy-and-the-china-challenge/.
Chen, Weitseng. “Interactions between Constitutionalism and Authoritarianism in Asian Democracies: A Japan-Taiwan Comparison.” Available at SSRN 3560723 (2020). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3560723
Constitution, U. S. “The Constitution.” Constitution 2, no. 3 (2012): 4.
Ginsburg, Tom. “Constitutional choices in Taiwan: Implications of global trends.” Illinois Public Law Research Paper 06-01 (2006). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=877154
House, Freedom. “Freedom in the World 2018-Taiwan.” CIVIL LIBERTIES 56, no. 60 (2018): 2.
Leung, Dennis Ka Kuen. “Who gets the rights to newsgathering? Media credentialing and press freedom in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.” Social Transformations in Chinese Societies (2021).
Rigger, Shelley. “The politics of constitutional reform in Taiwan.” In Taiwan’s Democracy, pp. 47-60. Routledge, 2013.
Robinson, James Harvey. “The original and derived features of the constitution.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 1, no. 2 (1890): 203-243.
Sajó, András, and Renáta Uitz. The constitution of freedom: An introduction to legal constitutionalism. Oxford university press, 2017.
United States Senate. “Constitution of the United States.” U.S. Senate: Constitution of the United States, July 21, 2021. https://www.senate.gov/civics/constitution_item/constitution.htm.
[1] Robinson, James Harvey. “The original and derived features of the constitution.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 1, no. 2 (1890): 203-243. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1008806.pdf
[2] United States Senate. “Constitution of the United States.” U.S. Senate: Constitution of the United States, July 21, 2021. https://www.senate.gov/civics/constitution_item/constitution.htm.
[3] Chen, Weitseng. “Interactions between Constitutionalism and Authoritarianism in Asian Democracies: A Japan-Taiwan Comparison.” Available at SSRN 3560723 (2020). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3560723
[4] Chen, Weitseng. “Interactions between Constitutionalism and Authoritarianism in Asian Democracies: A Japan-Taiwan Comparison.” Available at SSRN 3560723 (2020). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3560723
[5] Rigger, Shelley. “The politics of constitutional reform in Taiwan.” In Taiwan’s Democracy, pp. 47-60. Routledge, 2013.
[6] Rigger, Shelley. “The politics of constitutional reform in Taiwan.” In Taiwan’s Democracy, pp. 47-60. Routledge, 2013.
[7] Constitution, U. S. “The Constitution.” Constitution 2, no. 3 (2012): 4.
[8] Constitution, U. S. “The Constitution.” Constitution 2, no. 3 (2012): 4.
[9] Constitution, U. S. “The Constitution.” Constitution 2, no. 3 (2012): 4.
[10] Rigger, Shelley. “The politics of constitutional reform in Taiwan.” In Taiwan’s Democracy, pp. 47-60. Routledge, 2013.
[11] Rigger, Shelley. “The politics of constitutional reform in Taiwan.” In Taiwan’s Democracy, pp. 47-60. Routledge, 2013.
[12] Robinson, James Harvey. “The original and derived features of the constitution.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 1, no. 2 (1890): 203-243.
[13] Sajó, András, and Renáta Uitz. The constitution of freedom: An introduction to legal constitutionalism. Oxford university press, 2017.
[14] Sajó, András, and Renáta Uitz. The constitution of freedom: An introduction to legal constitutionalism. Oxford university press, 2017.
[15] Leung, Dennis Ka Kuen. “Who gets the rights to newsgathering? Media credentialing and press freedom in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.” Social Transformations in Chinese Societies (2021).
[16] Leung, Dennis Ka Kuen. “Who gets the rights to newsgathering? Media credentialing and press freedom in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.” Social Transformations in Chinese Societies (2021).
[17] Bush, Richard C. “Taiwan’s Democracy and the China Challenge.” Brookings. Brookings, March 9, 2022. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/taiwans-democracy-and-the-china-challenge/.
[18] House, Freedom. “Freedom in the World 2018-Taiwan.” CIVIL LIBERTIES 56, no. 60 (2018): 2.
write