Constitutional crisis

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.