The Constitution is not a suicide pact such time that a proven vetting mechanism is in place. When asked if this was a rollback to his previous stance, he denied it was, saying, "Our constitution is great, but it doesn't necessarily give us the right to commit suicide, okay?" The Constitution is not a suicide pact "The Constitution is not a suicide pact" is a phrase in American political and legal discourse. The phrase expresses the belief that constitutional restrictions on governmental power must be balanced against the need for survival of the state and its people. It is most often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, as a
Constitution of the United Kingdom for a written constitution for the UK, but still refers to the 1688 compromise and resulting Acts of Parliament as a constitution. A. V. Dicey identified that ultimately "the electorate are politically sovereign," and Parliament is legally sovereign. Barendt argues that the greater political party discipline in the House of Commons that has evolved since Dicey's era, and the reduction in checks on governmental power, has led to an excessively powerful government that is not legally constrained by the observance of fundamental rights. A Constitution would impose limits on what Parliament could do. To date, the Parliament of the UK