Enabling act facts for kids

An enabling act is a special law that gives power to a government group or person to do certain things. It's like a permission slip from the main law-making body (like a parliament or congress) to another part of the government. For example, these acts often create new government offices to help carry out specific plans for a country. The effects of these acts can be very different depending on when and where they were used.

Enabling Acts in Germany

In Germany, the word for an enabling act is Ermächtigungsgesetz. People usually think of the Enabling Act of 1933 when they hear this word. This act was a key step in Adolf Hitler taking full control of the country.

Early Acts (1914–1927)

Germany's first enabling act was in 1914, at the start of World War I. The Reichstag (Germany's parliament) allowed the government to make quick economic decisions during the war. Other countries also used similar acts at this time. The parliament still had to be told about these decisions. They could even cancel a decision if they disagreed. This made sure the government used its new powers carefully.

After the war, during the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), there were many more enabling acts. These acts often had a time limit but not clear limits on what they could do. They led to many important changes in daily life, money, and taxes. For example, Germany's money system was fixed after a time of very high prices. The national railway system was also created using these acts.

These early enabling acts were not really allowed by the Weimar constitution. But experts accepted them because they were passed with a two-thirds vote. This was the same number of votes needed to change the constitution. The government often got these votes by saying they would use emergency powers if they didn't get their way.

Later, it became harder for governments to get the two-thirds vote. This was because new political parties, like the Nazi Party, grew stronger.

The 1933 Enabling Act

The most famous German Ermächtigungsgesetz is the Enabling Act of 1933. Its official name meant "Law to Fix the Problems of the People and the State." This act was a major part of Adolf Hitler taking over power.

Hitler's act was different from earlier ones in several ways:

• It lasted for four years, not just a few months.
• It allowed the government to create not just rules, but actual laws and even deals with other countries.
• It allowed new laws to ignore the Weimar Constitution.
• It had no limits on what topics the government could make laws about.
• No group, not even parliament, could check or cancel these new laws.

Hitler's Nazi Party and its partners already had a majority in parliament after the March 1933 elections. These elections and the vote on the act happened in a scary atmosphere. Right-wing groups, like the Nazi Sturmabteilung, used threats and violence. The Communist Party members were already banned or jailed. Only the Social Democrat members voted against the act. Other parties voted yes, hoping to prevent worse things from happening.

The Enabling Act of 1933 was renewed by the Nazi parliament in 1937 and 1939. It was renewed again by special order in 1941 and 1943. After 1933, Hitler rarely called his government ministers together. He preferred to rule through his own orders and special rules.

Modern Germany

Since 1949, Germany's current constitution, called the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, does not allow enabling acts. The constitution says it can only be changed by clearly changing its words.

Enabling Acts in the United Kingdom

Church of England Act (1919)

The Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 gave the Church of England more power to manage its own affairs. Before this act, almost every small change to the Church's rules needed a specific law passed by Parliament. This took a very long time. For example, it took nine tries just to approve a church leader's salary! Many important changes never happened because Parliament was too busy.

This act created the Church Assembly. This group could prepare new rules for the Church. Parliament could then approve or reject these rules, but they could not change them. This made it much easier for the Church to update its own laws. This system still works today with the General Synod of the Church of England, which replaced the Church Assembly.

Past Ideas for Enabling Acts

In the 1930s, some politicians like Sir Stafford Cripps and Clement Attlee suggested an enabling act. They wanted a future Labour government to pass socialist laws that Parliament could not easily change. Cripps even said his "Planning and Enabling Act" would be impossible to cancel.

During the Great Depression and World War II, a group called the British Union of Fascists also wanted an enabling act. Their leader, Oswald Mosley, said it would create a government where a Prime Minister and Cabinet could rule by special orders. He claimed Parliament could still fire the government if it failed.

Modern Examples of Similar Powers

In 2006, a law called the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 was introduced. Critics said it was like an enabling act because it would let government ministers change or cancel any law without Parliament's full approval. After some changes, the law was passed.

Another example is the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, also known as the Great Repeal Bill. This law was for when Britain left the European Union. Critics worried it gave the government too much power to change British laws that came from the EU, again without fully asking Parliament. These powers are sometimes called "Henry VIII clauses" because they give a lot of power to the King (or government) to change laws.

Enabling Acts in the United States

In the United States, an "enabling act" is a law passed by the United States Congress. It gives people in a territory permission to write their own state constitution. This is a step towards that territory becoming a new state in the country. Each act explains how the territory can become a state after its constitution is approved and state leaders are chosen.

These acts can include rules. For example, acts for Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma said that polygamy (having more than one spouse) was not allowed. Nevada had to agree to end slavery and allow religious freedom.

Some famous US enabling acts include:

• Enabling Act of 1802: For Ohio to become a state.
• Enabling Act of 1811: For Louisiana to become a state.
• Enabling Act of 1864: For Nevada to become a state.
• Enabling Act of 1889: For North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington to become states.
• Enabling Act of 1894: For Utah to become a state.
• Enabling Act of 1906: For Oklahoma to become a state.
• Enabling Act of 1910: For Arizona and New Mexico to become states.

Sometimes, territories have written constitutions and become states without a specific enabling act first.

State Enabling Acts

At the state level, states can pass their own enabling acts. These acts allow local areas (like cities or towns) to make laws about certain things on behalf of the state. For instance, many states passed laws that let cities create their own zoning rules to control how land is used.

Enabling Acts in Venezuela

In Venezuela, enabling laws have given the president the power to make laws by special order in certain areas. This power was given to presidents like Rómulo Betancourt (1959), Carlos Andrés Pérez (1974), and Hugo Chávez (2000 and 2007). President Pérez issued over 3,000 special orders using these powers.

In 2000, a law allowed President Chávez to make laws about the economy and government for one year. In 2007, a new enabling act gave him similar powers for 18 months. This allowed him to make laws about the economy, social issues, defense, and science, among other things.

See also

In Spanish: Ley habilitante para niños

• 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum which some media outlets have compared to an "enabling act".