In political science , a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variations to this definition. For instance, one describes it as the crisis that arises out of the failure, or at least a strong risk of failure, of a constitution to perform its central functions. The crisis may arise from a variety of possible causes. For example, a government may want to pass a law contrary to its constitution; the constitution may fail to provide a clear answer for a specific situation; the constitution may be clear but it may be politically infeasible to follow it; the government institutions themselves may falter or fail to live up to what the law prescribes them to be; or officials in the government may justify avoiding dealing with a serious problem based on narrow interpretations of the law. Specific examples include the South African Coloured vote constitutional crisis in the 1950s, the secession of the southern U.S. states in 1860 and 1861, the dismissal of the Australian federal government in 1975 and the 2007 Ukrainian crisis . While the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland does not have a codified constitution, it is deemed to have an uncodified one , and issues and crises in the UK and its constituent countries are described as constitutional crises.
31-522: The King–Byng affair was a Canadian constitutional crisis that occurred in 1926, when the governor general of Canada , Lord Byng of Vimy , refused a request by the prime minister , William Lyon Mackenzie King , to dissolve parliament and call a general election . The prime minister (leader of the Liberal Party ) and the governor general agreed in October 1925 that, prior to a new election being called,
62-525: A motion of no confidence on 2 July 1926, and the governor general agreed to dissolve parliament immediately. Following the election on 14 September , King again assumed the office as prime minister, with a minority government. The crisis came to redefine the role of governor general throughout the Dominions of the British Empire , becoming a major impetus in negotiations at Imperial Conferences held in
93-684: A chance to form a government before an election was called. For the next two days, the Prime Minister and the Governor General discussed the matter, with Byng asking King not to request a dissolution which he could not give and King twice requesting that Byng consult the British government prior to making any decision. Byng again refused, saying the matter should be settled in Canada, without resort to London. With Byng remaining steadfast, King formally presented
124-405: A constitutional crisis can lead to administrative paralysis and eventual collapse of the government, the loss of political legitimacy , or to civil war . A constitutional crisis is distinct from a rebellion , which occurs when political factions outside a government challenge the government's sovereignty, as in a coup d'état or a revolution led by the military or by civilians. This covers
155-534: A constitutional watchdog, but the role was shorn of its previous imperial duties. In September 1925, William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister of Canada , advised the Governor General, the Lord Byng of Vimy , to dissolve parliament and drop the writ for a general election , to which Lord Byng agreed. In the subsequent election , held on 29 October, Arthur Meighen 's Conservative Party won 116 seats in
186-657: A contingent of American commissioners who were sent to preserve peace between France and the United States. The incident was published in the American press and created a foreign policy crisis, which precipitated the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts . Opposition to these acts in the form of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions cited that they violated freedom of speech and exhorted states to refuse their enforcement since they violated
217-460: A dissolution of parliament, which was granted by Byng on 2 July, and an election was called for 14 September. King's Liberals won a plurality of seats in the House of Commons, while Meighen lost his seat. Upon returning to power, King's government sought at an imperial conference to redefine the role of the governor general as a personal representative of the sovereign in his Canadian council and not of
248-580: A tenuous mandate, later stated he told the Prime Minister: "Well, in any event you must not at any time ask for a dissolution unless Mr Meighen is first given a chance to show whether or not he is able to govern", to which Byng believed King acquiesced, but King denied took place. While Meighen and other Conservatives expressed public outrage at what they viewed as a desperate attempt on the part of King to cling to power, some Conservatives were privately relieved by King's decision; they seriously doubted whether
279-594: The Colonial Office in London over the matter. Byng said: "I have to await the verdict of history to prove my having adopted a wrong course, and this I do with an easy conscience that, right or wrong, I have acted in the interests of Canada and implicated no one else in my decision." The Colonial Secretary, Leo Amery , privately informed Byng that had he appealed to the British government for an answer, "I could only have replied ... that in my view it would not be proper for
310-534: The Conservative Party should be given the chance to form a government because it had a plurality in parliament. The Conservatives were not given this chance by 26 June 1926, when the prime minister asked the governor general to dissolve parliament anyway. This request was refused. The prime minister resigned and the governor general invited the Conservative Party to form a government. This government lost
341-608: The House of Commons to 101 for King's Liberals . The Progressive Party , an agrarian centre-left party, won 22 seats. Meighen declared victory, but King did not resign. The previous parliament , formed after the 1921 general election , had seen King frequently cooperate with members of the Progressive Party to maintain a majority. Although the Progressives' numbers had also been substantially reduced (from 58), they continued to hold
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#1732837647263372-660: The Kingdom of Scotland , which became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain after 1707. For constitutional crises since then, see United Kingdom below. While the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland does not have a written constitution, it is deemed to have an unwritten one , and issues and crises in the UK and its constituent countries are described as constitutional crises. Jacques Bureau Jacques Bureau , PC KC (July 9, 1860 – January 23, 1933)
403-460: The balance of power in the chamber, and King was confident this informal arrangement could continue even though the Liberals were no longer the largest party. On 30 October, King visited Byng after consulting with the rest of Cabinet and informed the Governor General that his government would continue until parliament decided otherwise. Byng, who had suggested to King that he ought to resign with such
434-536: The British government (the king in his British council). The change was agreed to at the Imperial Conference of 1926 and came to be official as a result of the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and Statute of Westminster 1931 . In a letter to King George V , whom he represented in Canada as governor general, Byng expressed surprise that Mackenzie King, a staunch nationalist , had requested that Byng consult
465-457: The Constitution. When the crisis arises because the constitution is legally ambiguous, the ultimate resolution usually establishes the legal precedent to resolve future crises of constitutional administration. Such was the case in the United States presidential succession of John Tyler , which established that a successor to the presidency assumes the office without any limitation. Politically,
496-518: The Governor General with an Order in Council for the dissolution of parliament on June 28, which Byng declined to sign, on the grounds that the House of Commons should first be given the opportunity to decide if it could support a different government. Having been refused his formal request, King resigned. Byng then invited Conservative leader Arthur Meighen to form a government. Although many Conservatives privately preferred an election, Meighen believed he
527-581: The Secretary of State to issue instructions to the Governor with regard to the exercise of his constitutional duties." Byng returned to the United Kingdom, leaving Canada on 30 September 1926 a much respected man in both countries, despite the political crisis. Some authorities have held that Byng was constitutionally obligated to refuse King's request; for example, Eugene Forsey argued that King's advice to Byng
558-565: The Tories could convince the Progressives to support a Conservative minority government, were confident that King's attempt to remain in power would eventually fail, and thought the expected debacle would be so damaging to the Liberals' reputation that the Conservatives would then be swept into office with a majority. A few months later, one of King's appointees in the Department of Customs and Excise
589-539: The United Kingdom in 1950, the Lascelles Principles expressed the relevant constitutional conventions in the matter, citing the King–Byng controversy as one of the underlying precedents. Other authorities agreed with King, since, by custom, the Lord Byng of Vimy was obligated to heed the Prime Minister's request to call the election. In 1997, the governor-general of New Zealand , Sir Michael Hardie Boys , expressed
620-477: The course of government, the crisis results when one or more of the parties to a political dispute willfully chooses to violate a law of the constitution ; or to flout an unwritten constitutional convention ; or to dispute the correct, legal interpretation of the violated constitutional law or of the flouted political custom. This was demonstrated by the XYZ Affair , which involved the bribery of French officials by
651-576: The full support of the government. A Progressive MP, W. R. Fansher, then proposed that a Royal Commission be combined with the original motion of censure. The Speaker of the House ruled the motion out of order, but, on division , the members over-ruled the speaker and the Cabinet was defeated again. After a motion that the House adjourn, put forward by a Progressive member at King's behest, was subsequently also voted down, King announced that he would accept Fansher's amendment and secured an adjournment. To avoid
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#1732837647263682-446: The government because of its failure to transfer control of Alberta 's natural resources from the federal government to the province. The Progressive Party's support was temporarily retained by the formation of a special committee to investigate the corruption in the customs department. Its report, which was presented to the House of Commons, acknowledged that there was widespread fraud in the department but did not specifically criticize
713-526: The government extremely vulnerable in the event of a vote of non-confidence. Meighen circumvented this by advising the appointment to Cabinet of ministers without portfolio , who were not required to run for re-election. Progressives and Liberals saw the use of "acting ministers" as against the spirit of the convention, and moved for no-confidence in Meighen's government, which lost confidence by only one vote at 2 am on 2 July 1926. Meighen subsequently requested
744-406: The government. A Conservative Member of Parliament , H. H. Stevens , proposed an amendment to the report which would effectively censure the government and compel it to resign. However, Labour MP J. S. Woodsworth proposed amending Stevens' amendment to remove the censure of the government and set up a Royal Commission to investigate the customs department further. The motion was defeated, despite
775-489: The inevitable vote on the Fansher amendment, which would either force his government's resignation or bring his administration into disrepute, King went to Byng on 26 June 1926 seeking a dissolution of parliament. Byng, citing his reserve powers , stated he was inclined to refuse the request, reminding King of their agreement made the previous October and arguing that the Conservatives, as the largest party in parliament, should have
806-571: The late 1920s that led to the adoption of the Statute of Westminster 1931 . According to constitutional convention until then, the governor general represented the sovereign both in his imperial council and in his Canadian council , but the convention evolved afterwards into a tradition of non-interference in Canadian political affairs on the part of the British government. After 1931, the governor general remained an important figure in Canadian governance as
837-757: The opinion that Byng had been in error in not re-appointing King as prime minister and then granting the dissolution of parliament to King instead of Meighen. The King–Byng Affair was the most controversial use of a governor general's reserve powers until the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975 , in which the Governor-General of Australia , Sir John Kerr , dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam . Constitutional crisis Constitutional crises may arise from conflicts between different branches of government, conflicts between central and local governments, or simply conflicts among various factions within society. In
868-479: Was "utterly unprecedented" and said further: "It was tantamount to allowing a prisoner to discharge the jury by which he was being tried ... If the Governor-General had granted the request, he would have become an accomplice in a flagrant act of contempt for Parliament." The relatively brief time that King had served in office prior to seeking a dissolution has also been cited as a reason for denying his request. In
899-528: Was a Canadian politician. Born in Trois-Rivières , Canada East , the son of J. Napoleon Bureau and Sophie Gingras, Bureau was educated at Nicolet College and received a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1881 from Laval University. A lawyer, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the riding of Three Rivers and St. Maurice in the 1900 federal election . A Liberal , he was re-elected in 1904 , 1908 , 1911 , 1917 , and 1921 . From 1907 to 1911, he
930-448: Was bound by honour and convention to accept Byng's invitation and formed a Cabinet. At that time, convention dictated that the ministers of the Crown drawn from the House of Commons were obliged upon appointment to resign their seats in parliament and run for re-election in by-elections. This posed a problem for Meighen: his and the other ministers' temporary absence from the House would make
961-513: Was revealed to have taken bribes, after which the Conservatives alleged that the corruption extended to the highest levels of government, including the prime minister. King had already replaced the Minister of Customs and Excise, Jacques Bureau , with Georges Henri Boivin , but recommended that Byng appoint Bureau to the Senate . This alienated Progressive members who were already distancing themselves from