Two interesting articles on Judicial Review in the UK

'Judicial review process to be made tougher' - The Daily Telegraph, July 2013

The Ministry of Justice is to make it tougher for judicial reviews to be brought to court, following concerns that the procedure is being abused by pressure groups and campaigners.

'Judicial review is increasingly essential, judges warn government' - The Guardian, Feb 2013

Gridlock and divided government

A collection of recent news articles on gridlock and the political impact of divided government in the US.

• The New York Times - 'The Real Price of Congress's deadlock' Aug. 2013
• The Hill - 'Obama blames Boehner for gridlock' Sept 2013
• NBC News - 'Washington still in gridlock 11 days before shut-down deadline' Sept 2013
• RealClearPolitics - 'The Premature Burial of Divided Government' Oct 2012

Checks and balances in the US Constitution: Presidential vetoes

Article I of the US Constitution requires every bill, order, resolution or other act of legislation by the Congress of the United States to be presented to the President of the United States for his approval.

When the President is presented the bill, he can either sign it into law, return the bill to the originating house of Congress with his objections to the bill (a veto), or neither sign nor return it to Congress after having been presented the bill for ten days exempting Sundays (if Congress is still in session, the bill becomes a law; otherwise, the bill does not become a law and is considered a pocket veto).

Occasionally, a President either publicly or privately threatens Congress with a veto to influence the content or passage of legislation. There is no record of what officially constitutes a "veto threat," or how many have been made over the years, but it has become a staple of Presidential politics and a sometimes effective way of shaping policy.

Here is a list of recent presidential vetoes. 

President	Regular vetoes	Pocket vetoes	Total vetoes	Vetoes overridden	Percentage vetoes overridden[2]	Percentage regular vetoes overridden
Total	1497	1067	2564	110	4%	7%
Richard Nixon	26	17	43	7	16%	27%
Gerald Ford	48	18	66	12	18%	25%
Jimmy Carter	13	18	31	2	6%	15%
Ronald Reagan	39	39	78	9	12%	23%
George H. W. Bush[3][4]	29	15	44	1	2%	2%
Bill Clinton	36	1	37	2	5%	6%
George W. Bush	11	1	12	4	33%	36%
Barack Obama	2	0	2	0	0%	0%

Barack Obama 

December 30, 2009: Vetoed H.J.Res. 64, Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2010, and for other purposes. Override attempt failed in House.

October 7, 2010: Vetoed H.R. 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010. Override attempt failed in House.

Divided government in the US - the last 45 years

The checks and balances between the three branches of the federal government have important consequences for US politics. Gridlock can result when the Senate disagrees with the President. For most recent presidents have accused the Senate of either rejecting or blocking their judicial nominations for partisan reasons.

This raises the issue of 'divided government', a term used to refer to the situation in which one party controls the presidency and the other party controls Congress. Of late, this has become the norm. 

The 40 years between 1969 and 2009 have seen 22 years of divided government when both houses of Congress were controlled by the party which did not control the White House.

Year	President	Senate	House
1969-1971	R	D	D
1971-1973	R	D	D
1973-1975	R	D	D
1975-1977	R	D	D
1977–1979	D	D	D
1979–1981	D	D	D
1981-1983	R	R	D
1983-1985	R	R	D
1985-1987	R	R	D
1987-1989	R	D	D
1989-1991	R	D	D
1991-1993	R	D	D
1993–1995	D	D	D
1995-1997	D	R	R
1997-1999	D	R	R
1999-2001	D	R	R
2001-2003	R	D*	R
2003–2005	R	R	R
2005–2007	R	R	R
2007-2009	R	D	D
2009–2011	D	D	D
2011-2013	D	D	R
2013-2015	D	D	R

*The 2000 election resulted in a 50-50 tie in the Senate, and the Constitution gives tie-breaking power to the Vice President. The Vice President was Democrat Al Gore from January 3, 2001 until the inauguration of Republican Richard Cheney on January 20. Then on May 24, Republican Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican Party to caucus with the Democrats as an independent, resulting in another shift of control.

A good website on the US Constitution

This site is designed to help the user understand the United States Constitution. It contains vocabulary, information, graphics, resource links, activities and quizzes to help the user learn the tenets of the United States Constitution. The site is accessible for use by persons with and without disabilities.

It has some pretty good quizzes as well. 

Book Review of 'The Blunders of our Governments', A. King and I. Crewe by Peter Wilby in The Guardian

Professor Anthony King and Sir Ivor Crewe two of the most prestigious writers on British Politics alive today have released a new book on the blunders of the British Government over the last sixty years. You can read a review by the guardian here. You can buy a copy of the book from amazon, though perhaps wait till its out in paperback.

British Government and the Constitution - A Blog

Worth a quick peak at Professor Adam Tomkins's blog: http://britgovcon.wordpress.com/ on the subject of British Government and the Constitution. Has many posts on Constitutional Reform, Judicial Review, Human Rights and Civil Liberties.