Inpolitical science, aconstitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that thepolitical 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.[1] 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.[2][3] Specific examples include the South AfricanColoured vote constitutional crisis in the 1950s, thesecession of the southern U.S. states in 1860 and 1861, thedismissal of the Australian federal government in 1975 and the2007 Ukrainian crisis. While theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland does not have a codified constitution, it is deemed to havean uncodified one, and issues and crises in the UK and its constituent countries are described as constitutional crises.
Constitutional crises can range from minor to requiring a new constitution.[4] A constitutional crisis can lead to administrative paralysis and eventual collapse of the government, the loss ofpolitical legitimacy,democratic backsliding or tocivil war.
A constitutional crisis is distinct from arebellion, which occurs when political factionsoutside a government challenge the government's sovereignty, as in acoup d'état or arevolution led by the military or by civilians.
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 the course of government, the crisis results when one or more of the parties to apolitical dispute willfully chooses to violate a law of theconstitution or to flout an unwrittenconstitutional convention; or to dispute thejudicial interpretation of a constitutional law or of the flouted political custom. This was demonstrated by theXYZ Affair, which involved the bribery of French officials by a contingent of American commissioners who were sent to preserve peace betweenFrance and the United States.[5] The incident was published in the American press and created a foreign policy crisis, which precipitated the passage of theAlien and Sedition Acts. Opposition to these acts in the form of theVirginia and Kentucky Resolutions cited that they violated freedom of speech and exhorted states to refuse their enforcement since they violated the Constitution.[5]
When a 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 ofJohn Tyler, which established that a successor to the presidency assumes the office without any limitation.[6]
A constitutional crisis occurred in Malawi in 2012 with regard to the succession ofBingu wa Mutharika. The President and Vice-President were from different parties which led to deliberations over who the rightful successor would be and theconstitutional crisis. Vice-PresidentJoyce Banda eventually succeeded wa Mutharika.
2024–2025 Georgian constitutional crisis: Leading up to the2024 Georgian parliamentary election, oligarchBidzina Ivanishvili establishedde facto control over government institutions. The elections resulted in a majority for his party,Georgian Dream, amid widespread reports of irregularities and suppression, and presidentSalome Zourabichvili announced that they would be re-run. Despite this, the new parliament convened and electedMikheil Kavelashvili as president with opposition parties boycotting. Zourabichvili vacated her official residence on 29 December 2024 but maintained, along with opposition parties, that she was the legitimate president.
1966 Sarawak constitutional crisis started by a group of politicians who were dissatisfied towardsStephen Kalong Ningkan's leadership as chief minister. Ningkan was later removed from the chief minister post by the Governor of Sarawak in June 1966.
The2020 Malaysian constitutional crisis was a series of events that began when Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad and associates attempted to replace his coalition partners and form a unity government supported by opposition parties.
Supreme Court Chief JusticeSajjad Ali Shah clashed repeatedly with Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif in late 1997, accusing him of undermining the court's independence. After Ali Shah suspended a constitutional amendment that prevented dismissal of the prime minister, Sharif ordered PresidentFarooq Leghari to appoint a new chief justice. When Leghari refused, Sharif consideredimpeaching him, but backed down after a warning from the armed forces. Faced with a choice of accepting Sharif's demands or dismissing him, Leghari resigned. Ali Shah resigned shortly afterward, establishing Sharif's dominance.
Following ano-confidence motion againstPrime Minister Imran Khan on 8 March 2022, aconstitutional crisis occurred when the deputy speaker of theNational Assembly rejected the no-confidence motion on 3 April 2022. PresidentArif Alvi subsequently dissolved the national assembly, upon advice from the Prime Minister,[14][15][16] which constitutionally could not be done by a Prime Minister who is facing a no-confidence motion.
On 26 October 2018, PresidentMaithripala Sirisena appointed former PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister and dismissed incumbent Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe. Ranil Wickremesing refused to accept the dismissal while stating that it was unconstitutional and undemocratic.
In 1990,King Baudouin refused routineRoyal Assent to the law onabortion in Belgium. The issue was resolved by (constitutionally but controversially) having Baudouin temporarily declared incapable of reigning, the Council of Ministers giving assent as provided for in theBelgian Constitution, and Baudouin declared capable again.
For events after the formation of the United Kingdom in 1707, see§ United Kingdom below.
John of England signs Magna Carta. Illustration fromCassell's History of England (1902)
The 1215 Barons' revolt against the rule ofKing John, which led to theMagna Carta. Immediately, John repudiated Magna Carta, leading to theFirst Barons' War.
The Brittany Affair of 1765: The king's court inBrittany forbade collection of taxes to which the provincialEstates did not consent. After KingLouis XV annulled the court's decree, most of its members resigned. The chief prosecutor,Louis-René de Caradeuc de La Chalotais, was accused of writing letters denouncing the king's action and charged with treason. A court convened to try La Chalotais reached no conclusion due to questions of jurisdiction and the weakness of the evidence. The king then transferred the case to his own council, further inflaming fears of absolutism to the point that he was obligated to release La Chalotais and yield to the provincial authorities.
Crisis of theWeimar Republic (1930–1933): A series of conservative chancellors appointed by PresidentPaul von Hindenburg were unable to secure legislation from theReichstag, dominated first by theSocial Democratic Party and later theNazi andCommunist parties. These chancellors increasingly turned to legislation by emergency presidential decrees, thereby laying the constitutional foundation ofAdolf Hitler's dictatorship.[17]
The1981 election, when, due to a quirk in that country'sSingle Transferable Vote system, the party winning more than half the votes won fewer than half the seats in parliament.
In December 2016Matthew Festing, Grand Master of theOrder of Malta, dismissed its Grand ChancellorAlbrecht von Boeselager for allowing the distribution of contraceptives in violation of the Catholic Church's policy. Boeslanger protested that the dismissal was irregular under the Order's constitution and appealed toPope Francis. Francis ordered an investigation of the dispute, then demanded and received Festing's resignation. The Order electedGiacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto as Festing's successor on a program of constitutional reform and promoting religious obedience.
Theconstitutional crisis of 1993:PresidentBoris Yeltsin ordered the dissolution of theSupreme Soviet when it refused constitutional reforms that would allow him to implement his privatization program. After the Constitutional Court struck down Yeltsin's order, parliament impeached him and recognized a rival government of dissenting officials. Yeltsin used military force to disperse parliament, established a government by presidential decree, and pushed through a new constitution that increased the power of the presidency.[21]
2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis: The government ofCatalonia underCarles Puigdemont held anindependence referendum against instructions of the Spanish courts. The referendum passed by an overwhelming margin, albeit with limited voter participation, whereupon the Catalonian governmentdeclared independence. The Spanish government dissolved the Catalonian government, arrested pro-independence politicians and imposed direct rule from Madrid for more than half a year.
The regency crisis of 1788: A newParliament was convened whileKing George III was unable, due to illness, to charge it with its responsibilities or to assent to any bills. Parliament nonetheless submitted an irregular bill that provided forGeorge, Prince of Wales to act as regent, and theLord ChancellorLord Thurlow affixed the royal seal to it without the King's signature. This precedent was repeated in 1811 after the King again fell ill.
TheKing–Byng affair of 1926 occurred whenPrime MinisterWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King, anticipating that his minority government would imminently lose amotion of no confidence, askedGovernor GeneralLord Byng to hold a new federal election. Byng, who had viewed King's government as illegitimate on the basis of not being the largest party in Parliament, refused the request, dismissed King, and appointed opposition leaderArthur Meighen as Prime Minister, leading to accusations from King and other prominent politicians that he had overstepped the boundaries of his office by doing so. Meighen's new government lost a vote of no confidence within days, forcing anelection in which King won close to a majority government and Meighen lost his parliamentary seat.
In 1968, the government ofLester B. Pearson lost a vote on a tax bill, leading to several days of confusion over whether this counted as aMatter of Confidence in the government, which would have compelled Pearson to resign and call a new federal election. Governor GeneralRoland Michener was eventually required to intervene and stated that he could not find a legal precedent for treating a tax bill as a matter of confidence, leading to opposition leaderRobert Stanfield tabling an explicit motion of no confidence in Pearson's government, which the government won.[29]
The Electoral Commission was a panel that resolved the disputed presidential election of 1876.
TheNullification Crisis: Often viewed as a precursor to theU.S. Civil War, sectional divisions flared when the state ofSouth Carolina declared the controversial and highly protectiveTariff of 1828 and1832 unconstitutional and therefore null and void within the sovereign boundaries of the state. South Carolina initiated military preparations to resist anticipated federal enforcement. Jackson eventually responded by signing theForce Bill to assert federal authority, and South Carolina agreed to the compromiseTariff of 1833.[30][31]
In 1841 presidential duties passed to Vice PresidentJohn Tyler upon the death of PresidentWilliam Henry Harrison. The Constitution was unclear as to whether Tyler should assume the office ofPresident or merely execute the duties of the vacant office. Tyler insisted that politicians recognize him as President and returned, unopened, all mail addressed otherwise. Despite opposition from someWhig members of Congress, includingJohn Quincy Adams andHenry Clay, both houses passed a resolution confirming Tyler's position. This precedent was later codified in theTwenty-fifth Amendment.[6]
The secession crisis (1860–1861): Sectional divisions in the Democratic Party resulted in the election ofAbraham Lincoln. Alarmed by Lincoln's intention to prohibit slavery in western territories, eleven southern slaveholding states withdrew from the federal union and formed aconfederacy. Lincoln refused to recognize the secessions and restored the states to the union by force in the conclusion of theCivil War.[32]
Theassassination of James A. Garfield: PresidentJames A. Garfield was shot byCharles J. Guiteau in July 1881, and left bedridden and incapacitated in the months that followed. This resulted in much debate over whether to have Vice PresidentChester A. Arthur assume Garfield's duties, and the mechanism by which he might do so, given the Constitution's ambiguity over a situation in which the President was incapacitated, but not deceased. The cabinet eventually decided to wait and give Garfield the opportunity to recover, but his condition further deteriorated and he died in September 1881, leading to Arthur succeeding him.
The1952 steel strike: PresidentHarry S. Truman nationalized the country's steel industry on the basis of hisinherent powers in order to prevent a strike by theUnited Steelworkers that would impede theKorean War. This action reopened the "Great Debate" of 1950–51 regarding the extent of Truman's authority to counter the spread ofcommunism. TheSupreme Court annulled Truman's order inYoungstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, holding that presidential actions must proceed from constitutional or legislative authority. Truman used the threat of a second nationalization to push steel workers and management to an agreement.[33][34]
In theWatergate scandal (1972–1974), PresidentRichard Nixon and his staffobstructed investigations into their political activities. Nixon resigned, under threat ofimpeachment, after the release of anaudio tape showing that he had personally approved the obstruction. Congressional moves to restrain presidential authority continued for years afterward.[35][36]
Some politicians and commentators have argued that actions taken by theadministration of President Donald Trump in early 2025 have created a constitutional crisis, including attempts to shut down agencies, such asUSAID, without congressional authorization, to refuse to spend money in ways appropriated by Congress, and to defy court orders.[b]
The1975 Australian constitutional crisis saw thePrime MinisterGough Whitlam and his government dismissed by the nation'sGovernor-GeneralSir John Kerr, in response to a prolonged budget deadlock inParliament. Whitlam'sLabor government had the confidence of the lower house, theHouse of Representatives. In theAustralian Constitution, theSenate has equal powers with the House of Representatives, except it may not initiate or amend asupply bill. It can, however, reject or defer consideration of such a bill, and that is what it did on this occasion. The Constitution permits the Governor-General to dismiss the government if they cannot command theconfidence of Parliament and will not call an election. Though the government lacked the confidence of the Senate, they commanded the confidence of the lower house, where government is formed, and confidence motions introduced. Whitlam also stated his intention to call an election, but Kerr nonetheless dismissed him without prior warning and installedMalcolm Fraser as Prime Minister, despite Fraser's inability to command the confidence of either house of Parliament. After Fraser'sLiberal government passed several important appropriations bills, Kerr declared adouble dissolution of Parliament and the1975 federal election, which Fraser won in a landslide.
In theFiji constitutional crisis of 1977, the winning party in a general election failed to name a government due to internal conflicts. TheGovernor-General intervened, appointing a prime minister from the opposition party.
TheTuvaluan constitutional crisis of 2013 occurred when Prime MinisterWilly Telavi sought to continue governing after having lost his parliamentary majority. He deferred allowing Parliament to sit, and his ally SpeakerKamuta Latasi did not allow amotion of no confidence to be tabled when it finally did sit. The Opposition accused the government of acting unconstitutionally, andGovernor General SirIakoba Italeli intervened, removing the Prime Minister from office so that Parliament could decide who should form the government. Telavi sought in vain to ask theQueen of Tuvalu,Elizabeth II, to remove the Governor General. Parliament elected Opposition LeaderEnele Sopoaga to the premiership.
1973 Chilean coup d'état: AccusingSalvador Allende's government of increasing authoritarianism, theSupreme Court,Comptroller General and Chamber of Deputies[46] declared him out of order, and the Chamber urged the military to put an end to constitutional breaches. The military deposed Allende a few weeks later and abolished the constitution.
2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis andVenezuelan presidential crisis: The constitutional chamber of theSupreme Tribunal of Justice ruled that the country's legislature, theNational Assembly, was operating in contempt of the constitution due to prior rulings that some members had been improperly elected and assumed legislative power for itself. Politicians opposed to the government of PresidentNicolás Maduro, as well as Maduro's Prosecutor General, denounced the ruling for undermining the constitutional order, and the Tribunal rescinded it the following day. Maduro summoned a Constituent Assembly, nominally to draft a new constitution, but in practice to assert his authority against that of the National Assembly. After an irregular presidential election the following year, National Assembly PresidentJuan Guaidó was recognized as interim president in opposition to Maduro, which he continued to claim through the end of 2022.
^abSinopoli, Richard (1996).From Many, One: Readings in American Political and Social Thought. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. p. 185.ISBN0878406263.
^Paulson, Stanley L. (2016). "Chapter 19: Hans Kelsen and Carl Schmitt: Growing Discord, Culminating in the "Guardian" Controversy of 1931". In Meierhenrich, Jens; Simons, Oliver (eds.).The Oxford Handbook of Carl Schmitt.
^Joyetter Feagaimaali'i (22 May 2021)."Head of State suspends Parliament".Samoa Observer. Retrieved22 May 2021.Samoa has been thrown into a constitutional crisis
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