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A constitutional crisis is a situation in which separate parties of a government disagree over who has the
authority to carry out various acts.
A constitutional crisis can lead to government paralysis, collapse, or civil war.
Famous Constitutional Crises
- The secession of the southern US
states prior to the American Civil War.
- The 1973-74 Watergate scandal in the United States. Resulted in the first ever resignation of an American president, and the subsequent succession
of America's first ever un-elected president.
- 1975 parliamentary
dispute in Australia that saw Prime Minister Gough Whitlam get fired by the nation's normally apolitical Governor General.
- 2002 succession crisis in Argentina. Following a massive economic meltdown,
Argentina's president resigned, followed by a mass of cabinet members, leading five different men to reluctantly assume the
presidency for extremely brief periods over the course of three weeks.
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