Parliament is the supreme legal authority under the UK's constitutional system

The supremacy clause establishes federal law as the highest authority

The supremacy clause states that the United States Constitution and federal laws enacted under it supersede conflicting state laws, ensuring national authority prevails when federal and state governments disagree.

How presidential systems differ from parliamentary governments

In presidential systems like the US, the executive and legislature are separately elected, giving presidents fixed terms and independent authority. In parliamentary systems, executives are elected by legislatures and can be removed by a simple vote of no confidence.

The separation of powers is a pivotal component of the US Constitution

Explore how the three branches interact through the Supreme Court case of US v. Alvarez. The Supreme Court first struck down a law, then Congress and the president later revised it—illustrating how judicial review can reshape legislation and executive action.

Read the majority opinion that established judicial review

In his opinion in Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall argued that a written constitution is "paramount law" and that courts must refuse to enforce statutes that conflict with it. He declared that "it is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is."

In 1215, the Magna Carta declared that even the king was not above the law

Forced on King John by rebellious barons, the Magna Carta established limits on royal power and the principle that rulers are subject to law. Discover how this foundational text later influenced the development of constitutional government and modern human rights traditions.

Hear about the secret room where your rights are decided

A court designed to be the least powerful branch became one of the most influential institutions in history. 1440 Explores host Sony Kassam dives inside the Supreme Court of the United States, with help from Yale law professor Akhil Reed Amar, to uncover how it gained extraordinary authority, what really happens behind closed doors, and why its power has become one of the most fiercely contested questions in modern democracy.

The powers of local government are rooted in state law, not the Constitution

Unlike the federal government or the states, local governments have no constitutional standing—they exist only because state law allows them to. A state legislature can redraw a city's boundaries, strip its powers, or dissolve it entirely.

Explore the specific authorities granted to Congress: the 'enumerated powers'

The Constitution grants Congress a list of powers—including taxing, regulating interstate commerce, and declaring war—while powers not explicitly listed are reserved to the states or the people, defining the federal government's scope of authority.

Germany's Constitutional Court can review laws without waiting for a specific case

The German court follows a model of "abstract judicial review"—meaning it can assess the constitutionality of legislation in the abstract, rather than only in concrete disputes. Its binding decisions apply to all German courts.

Congress has the power to enact laws related to bankruptcy, thanks to the US Constitution

It has done just that since 1800. This legislation, which outlines the various types of bankruptcy filings, has evolved over time. The most recent iteration is the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, which introduced Chapter 11 filings in an effort to make the process easier for businesses and individuals.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

In the UK, foreign sovereign wealth funds can claim diplomatic immunity

In 2025, a court in London found that sovereign wealth funds and their executives can claim diplomatic immunity in legal cases, given the funds' foreign ownership and their role in the private sector. The ruling furthered speculation about the ethics of these funds, particularly from countries accused of human rights violations.

The House of Representatives controls the $7T federal budget

The House holds the exclusive "power of the purse" to initiate revenue bills, a provision in the US Constitution designed to divide power with the Senate and give states with larger populations greater influence over federal budgeting.

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer established the framework courts use to evaluate presidential war powers

When Truman seized US steel mills during the Korean War, the Supreme Court ruled that he had overstepped his authority. Justice Jackson's concurring opinion held that presidential power is strongest when Congress authorizes action, uncertain when Congress is silent, and weakest when Congress explicitly refuses authorization.

The 5 permanent Security Council members can veto resolutions

The UN Security Council veto is a power held by its five permanent members—China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US—allowing any one of them to block resolutions, regardless of international consensus. It has been used over 300 times since the UN's founding.

The Supreme Court blocked states from setting term limits for Congress

In US Term Limits v. Thornton (1995), the Supreme Court struck down state laws that tried to impose term limits on their congressional delegations. The court ruled such restrictions unconstitutional unless added through a federal amendment.

The Supreme Court curbed the EPA's power to regulate carbon emissions in 2022

In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the EPA exceeded its authority by requiring industrywide carbon cuts. Chief Justice Roberts' opinion invoked the "major questions" doctrine, which limits the ability of federal agencies to act without explicit congressional approval.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

Compare how justice ministries and courts are structured around the world

The Federal Judicial Center's "Judiciaries Worldwide" series provides clear and accessible comparisons of how various countries organize their justice ministries, prosecutors, courts, and judicial councils—emphasizing global models of independence, oversight, and institutional structure.

The US Constitution grants protection for satire

The First Amendment protects satire, though it does not protect defamation. The key distinction is that satire—evident by its hyperbolic language and comedic portraits—is not intended to be believed, even if it's being malicious.

Hamilton proposed one of the strongest visions of national government

At the Constitutional Convention, Alexander Hamilton advanced a plan modeled partly on Britain's system, calling for a powerful national executive and for senators to serve for life (with good behavior)—proposals that failed to gain widespread support.

'No taxation without representation' was championed by British lawmaker William Pitt

British parliamentarian William Pitt laid out the argument supporting “no taxation without representation,” a major feature of the colonial debate around the Stamp Act in 1765. Arguing taxes are valid, Pitt acknowledged they aren’t if those taxed don’t have representation in the body that passes the tax laws.

Iran became a constitutional monarchy in 1906

A popular revolution forced the ruling Qajar Shah—a dynasty that had governed Iran since the late 18th century—to sign a constitution and establish a parliament, marking Iran's first major step toward democratic governance and limiting the monarchy's absolute power.

See the list of monarchs who have addressed a joint session of the US Congress

Only 11 monarchs have ever addressed a joint meeting of Congress, beginning with Hawaii's King Kalakaua in 1874. King Charles III of the United Kingdom became the most recent in April 2026.

How the British Empire transformed into today’s voluntary Commonwealth of Nations

This video explains how former British colonies—now independent states—evolved into the modern Commonwealth, a loose association representing nearly one-third of the world’s population. It traces the shift from imperial rule to a cooperative forum with no legal obligations to Britain or its monarch.

The president has the sole authority to call for a nuclear strike

Under current US policy, the president alone can order the use of atomic weapons at any time without requiring prior approval from Congress—a power rooted in the president's role as commander in chief.

Pierce v. Society of Sisters limited state power over how parents educate their children

In striking down Oregon’s attempt to ban private schools, the Supreme Court held that forcing children into public education violated substantive due process, affirming that parents—not the state—have a fundamental right to direct their children’s upbringing and education.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.