Other Subjects Inspirations Provided By the U.S. Constitution
The development of the constitutions of the western European nations emulated the guaranteed freedoms contained in the United States constitution. Nation after nation, even though some were reluctant to set aside their royal families, aspired to provide freedom, under law, for their citizens. The U. S. constitution set the standard and these nations, one way or another followed that example. I could find no evidence that these nations, in creating their constitutions, prayed to the God of the Bible for guidance and used the life giving Biblical values that the framers of the U. S. constitution were very familiar with Freedom for the citizens of the nations was the goal for the development of their varied methods. The following are excerpts of some of the European nation's road-maps that resulted in their individualized constitutions. After looking at those constitutions I was prompted to make the very strong statement made on the last page of "Ephraim My Firstborn"; --- "our Constitution represents the first time and through evidential research the only time a government looked to the God of the Bible for the establishment and welfare of a nation".
The Kingdom of Norway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Norway
It is considered one of the world's most liberal and democratic constitutions. It is the fourth oldest written single-document national constitution in Europe after the Constitution of Poland, the French constitution of 1791, and the Spanish Constitution of 1812. The document is also the second oldest working national constitution in the world, after the Constitution of the United States.
The Norwegian constitution was inspired by the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the French Revolution in 1789, and the subsequent U.S. and French constitutions. A deviation from the republican constitutions of France and the United States was the retention of monarchy.
The retention of a king, a constitutional church, defined as Evangelical-Lutheran, and the banning of Jesuits, monastic orders, and Jews, which latter were not allowed to travel to Norway, in the face of Republicanism was a traditionalist move.
France: from the AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL PRECEDENTS IN THE FRENCH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Long before the Revolution began many Frenchmen had care-fully studied the constitutions of the new American states. The earliest collected translations of these documents appeared in 1778,and contained the constitutions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina, together with the Declaration of Independence, the Act of Confederation, and various acts of the Continental Congress.'
Laïcité ([la.i.si.te]; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. It is best described as a belief that government and political issues should be kept separate from religious organizations and religious issues (as long as the latter do not have notable social consequences). This is meant to both protect the government from any possible interference from religious organizations and to protect the religious organization from political quarrels and controversies.
Sweden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Riksdag
The Riksdag is the national legislature of Sweden. However, when it was founded in 1866 Sweden did not have a parliamentary system of government.
The 1435 meeting in the city of Arboga is considered the first Riksdag, however only three of the estates were probably present; the nobility, the clergy and the burghers.[1] This informal representation was formalized in 1527 by King Gustav I of Sweden to include representatives of all the four estates, which historically reflected the lines of division in Swedish society: the nobility, the clergy, the burghers and the peasantry. Under the Instrument of Government of 1809 the Riksdag shared the powers of government with the King.
In one sense, Sweden follows the general pattern of constitution-making. The major shifts in the constitutional history have occurred in the aftermath of great crises. Constitutions have been important as descriptions and justifications of the prevailing forces of power. On the other hand, the constitutions of Sweden have been relatively insignificant as norms regulating political and public life. Constitutions have been important as history writing but relatively unimportant as normative principles shaping society, and, indeed, profound changes such as the introduction of parliamentary government have taken place without constitutional reform. The Swedish welfare state was built upon negotiations and practical trade-offs rather than constitutional arguments.
Finland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Finland
Due to the Northern Crusades and Swedish colonisation of some Finnish coastal areas, most of the region became a part of the Kingdom of Sweden and the realm of the Catholic Church from the 13th century onwards. After the Finnish War in 1809, Finland was ceded to the
Russian Empire, making this area the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. The Lutheran religion dominated. Finnish nationalism emerged in the 19th century. It focused on Finnish cultural traditions, folklore, and mythology, including music and—especially—the highly distinctive language and lyrics associated with it
The original Constitution Act was enacted in 1919, soon after Finland declared its independence in 1917.
The fundamental principles of the Constitution Act of 1919 and the Parliament Act of 1906, amended in 1928, remained unchanged during the first fifty years of Finnish independence, as there was little pressure or need for any amendments to the Constitution Act.
In the 1990s, the need to integrate and update the constitutional legislation was seen as urgent. For instance, while in most other European countries constitutional provisions are all contained within a single constitutional act, in Finland, they were fragmented and contained across several acts.
Switzerland:
https://www.parlament.ch/en/%C3%BCber-das-parlament/how-does-the-swiss-parliament-work
The basis for the present day Federal Constitution is the Constitution of 12 September 1848, which established the Swiss federal state. This document was heavily influenced by the US Constitution and the ideals of the French Revolution.
The first total revision came into force in 1874. It introduced wider powers for the federal government and gave more democratic rights to the electorate. This total revision also introduced the referendum at federal level.
In the 1990s, the Federal Constitution was revised and updated, with the codification of unwritten constitutional law (contained in decisions of the Federal Supreme Court) and the ‘downgrading’ of provisions that did not belong at constitutional level.
https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2023/03/switzerlands-rocky-road-to-religious-freedom
Dr Josef Lang is a freelance historian in Bern and former national councilor in the canton of Zug.
In June 1870, the Federal Council wrote the following in its dispatch on the complete revision of the Federal Constitution: “The notion of religious freedom emerged in the free land on the other side of the Atlantic; it has come to Europe as an unfamiliar guest that is viewed with great suspicion, and it is not the first.” While Switzerland was “a land of political freedom”, it read, religious freedom had “always been very restricted though laws and customs”.
Denmark: https://denmark.dk/society-and-business/government-and-politics
The framework for Danish democracy is the Danish Constitution of 1849, making it one of the oldest constitutions in the world. The Danish Queen is the official head of government in Denmark, but her role is largely ceremonial
This Grundlov, or basic law, is a set of fundamental principles and rules for society that other laws must comply with, such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
The system of governance in Denmark is a parliamentary democracy. The Parliament in Denmark is called the Folketing, and it has a multi-party structure. Since no single party has enough of the 179 votes to rule on its own, several parties negotiate on goals to form a multi-party coalition..
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: https://www.britannica.com/place/Luxembourg/History
French domination ended with the fall of Napoleon in 1814, and the allied powers decided the future of Luxembourg at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The congress raised Luxembourg to the status of a grand duchy and gave it to William I,
William I negotiated a customs union for Luxembourg with Prussia, and his successor, William II, ratified this treaty in 1842. Against its own will, Luxembourg had thus entered into the Prussian-led Zollverein (“Customs Union”), but the grand duchy soon realized the advantages of this economic union. Luxembourg subsequently developed from an agricultural country into an industrial one. The restricted constitution that William II enacted for Luxembourg in 1841 did not meet the political expectations of its citizens. The Revolution of 1848 in Paris had its influence on the grand duchy, and William II that year enacted a new and more liberal constitution, which was in turn replaced by another constitution in 1856. In 1866 the German Confederation was dissolved, and Luxembourg became an entirely sovereign nation.