Abstract
Saudi Arabia is one of the major producers of oil, which in turn improves it economy. Despite the huge oil deposits, its economy is quite unstable with many of its citizens being low-income earners. There is a small fraction of the population that enjoys the luxurious life, creating a huge gap between them and the common citizen. One of the lucky citizens is the royal family, as they tend to rule over the country and manage most of its resources. The current constitutional law tends to favor them as they have control over the judicial, legislative, and executive entities in the government. Having such laws in the current times will bring down the country’s economy and chances of making better progress with the international market. The United States and other democratic nations progressed further after the separation of its powers. It created avenues that will focus on dedicated goals and govern each other through checks and balances. Such a system would be beneficial to Saudi Arabia’s government and change it to an economically stable country.
The constitutional laws present in Saudi Arabia and the United States are quite similar though they differ when it comes to powers, checks, and balances. These three entities provide the citizens a chance to participate in its country’s governance. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia runs under a monarchy system, where the king has authority over the laws present and governs the kingdom as he pleases. Such a system only favors a few in the government and oppresses the citizens. The United States runs under three governing bodies; legislative, judiciary and executive. Each body runs separately but under one main law set by the national government. Apart from that, the citizens have the ability to question any of the three bodies in the instance where they are underperforming. The laws and background success of the American constitutional law is the motivation behind the research and its application in Saudi Arabia will be beneficial to the whole country.
The monarchy system in Saudi Arabia began back in the 1932 and since then, the country still lacks a written constitution or avenues for public participation (Albassam, 2011). These channels block the decision-making, policy process, and freedom of speech. These factors placed the rulers in a tight spot, fearing a civil war would be underway if they did not make immediate changes to the system. They began enacting new laws from 1992, with the hopes of creating a constitution for the country (Hershorin, 2012). However, most of the reforms were empty promises made by the rulers, as they keep postponing them. The country continues to fail because of the rulership by the royal family and the few supporters.
Problem Statement
The monarchy rule, which bases itself on the Islamic law, might hinder international relationships between the country and other nations (Benwell & Gay, 2011). Most of the non-Islamic nations will not comprehend to the Islamic laws because they differ in their practice and enactment. Another problem would be the princes taking over power. The country will not progress due to the current passing over of the crown from the king to his prince (Benwell & Gay, 2011). Laxity becomes a major issue to the next kin as they lack proper focus in life. Hence, once on the throne, his selfish character might harm the country’s economy.
However, the research focuses on the lack of constitutional laws in the separation of power, checks, and balances. The separation of powers acts as a political doctrine for the development of a government that has separate branches, as is the case with the United States (Staff, 2015). The three branches will have defined abilities that will co-exist with the others. Hence, the association of these separate powers brings about the checks and balances system. Such a system lacks in the Saudi Arabia government. The sole rulership power lies in the King’s hands. One hindrance to the separation of powers is the use Quran and Sunnah (Albassam, 2011). The Islam’s holy book and the actions and speeches of the Prophet Mohammad act as the country’s source of laws. Hence, the current constitution borrows most of its laws from the two sources.
Another hindrance is the royal family (Albassam, 2011). Due to their history in ruling the country, they would not want a constitution that would limit their rulership ability. They want to have command over most of the entities in the government. For instance, the public has a right to choose its ruler but they cannot because there lies no power greater than God’s power. The Saudi people tend to support the current system indirectly through their conservative nature (Lange & Reed, 2007). Their religion makes them conservative on how they speak or act. However, their religious figures have an influence on the public’s opinions, which they could air to the rulers. Their relationship with the rulers is according to the Quran’s law though it limits them to the extent of advice they could provide for the royal family. Hence, the religious leaders can only enforce a few things to the rulers. Lastly, the rulers are using the country’s wealth and resources to create their luxurious lifestyles (Lange & Reed, 2007). Oil revenues back the country’s economy, but most of it goes to the royal family’s pocket. The rulers tend to keep a few individuals and families in their circles by buying their royalty.
Objective
These issues tend to puncture the country’s economic progress. The proposed research will help eliminate some of the issues highlighted in the problem statement. The main objective is convincing the rulers that a constitution does not in any way hinder their chances of retaining their powers. Introducing the separation of powers enables the royal family to supervise the three branches making their work easier as they will not have the mandate to create better laws since they will appoint people to look over these issues. Introducing a democratic government will be beneficial to the people since that is what they seek to have in the country. However, there is no assurance that the royal family will retain the presidency seat, as it will be a decision that all citizens will make. Lastly, the research will provide a better solution and framework for future studies by other scholars.
Methodology
The first step in creating the research methodology is to outline the problems facing the current Saudi Arabia constitutional laws. The outline will be a guide to finding the proper research materials required in completing the paper. The next step is to conduct research on the internet and collect different scholarly sources that look into the issues outlined. Good research requires proper citation from other scholars as it might not be the only existing problem. Another research method is conducting a survey especially in the political avenues such as market places and official meetings. People in these areas tend to know more about the political issues and solutions to the country. However, they lack a proper channel to air their views. The research paper will act as one of the channels to bring out the talks in the political avenues. The last step will be to conduct a case study that will present the research, findings, and surveys done, then provide solutions. In conclusion, the enactment of separation of power, checks, and balances will be beneficial to Saudi Arabia in the end.
References
Albassam, B. A. (2011, August 8). Political Reform in Saudi Arabia Necessity or Luxury? Retrieved from Middle East Studies: http://www.middle-east-studies.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/8-research-Political-Reform-in-Saudi-Arabia.pdf
Al-Rasheed, M. (2009). Kingdom Without Borders: Saudi Arabia's Political, Religious and Media Frontiers. West Sussex, England: Columbia University Press.
Al-Sulami, M. (2008). Reform in Saudi Arabia: The Case of Municipal Elections. Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Arts and Humanities, 113-135.
Basic Law of Governance. (1992, March 1). Retrieved from University of Minnesota: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/research/saudiarabia/saudi-constitution.html
Benwell, R., & Gay, O. (2011, August 15). The Separation of Powers. Retrieved from United Kingdom Parliament: http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn06053.pdf
Hershorin, B. J. (2012). The Separation of Church and State: Have We Gone Too Far? Expert Law.
Lange, B., & Reed, J. (2007). The Saudi Royal Family (Modern World Leaders) 2nd Edition. New York: Chelsea House Publications.
Sahli, N., & Lu, W. (2012, December 17). A Rose By Any Other Name: United States and Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from Prezi.com: https://prezi.com/dslss6o73m8z/copy-of-a-rose-by-any-other-name/
Staff, C. (2015). Legislative Department. Retrieved from Cornell University Law School: https://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/
Staff, M. (2011, September 20). The Basic Law of Governance. Retrieved from MOFA: http://www.mofa.gov.sa/sites/mofaen/ServicesAndInformation/aboutKingDom/SaudiGovernment/Pages/BasicSystemOfGovernance35297.aspx
