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47 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Legitimacy |
The right to govern and to make laws that will be enforced and are likely to be obeyed by the people, refers to the right of an individual to be recognised and have the right to excercise power |
Right of government |
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Role of Constitution |
-Establish distribution of power -Establish relationships between political institutions and individuals -Define and establish limits of gov power -Specify the rights of citizens and how they're protected -Define nature of citizenship and how it can be obtained -Establish the territory that comes under the jurisdiction of gov -Establish and describe arrangements for amending constitution |
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Codified Constitution |
-Single document -Single source -Constitutional laws superior to other laws (dualism) -Special arrangements to establish new, amend or repeal constitutional laws -Entrenched |
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Uncodified Constitution |
-Not in single document -Different sources - Constitutional laws not superior - No special arrangements for changing laws -Develop over time -More flexible -Unentrenched |
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Nature of Sovereignty |
-Ultimate power in political system -Ultimate source of political power -Legal sovereignty is where power lies theoretically -Political sovereignty is where power actually lies -Political sovereignty more flexible than sovereignty |
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Unitary Constitution |
Legal sovereignty lies in one place, any powers not assigned assigned by law automatically fall to body with legal sovereignty |
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Federal Constitution |
Legal sovereignty divided between centre and regional bodies, any powers not specified in constitution fall to regional bodies |
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Parliamentary Statutes |
These are laws passed by UK Parliament, which have a constitutional effect, like the Human Rights Act 1998 |
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Conventions |
Rules that are not legally enforceable, but are considered binding, like Salisbury convention |
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Common law |
Unwritten laws which are enforced in courts, many individual rights are established this way |
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EU treaties |
UK has signed a number of treaties, mostly concerning the transfer of power to the EU, like the Maastricht treaty |
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Works of authority |
Writings of constitutional experts which become constitutional practice, like the 2010 O'Donnell rules |
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Traditions |
Customs and practices that have grown over a period of time, and tend to persist, like the Queens speech being the annual announcement of the governments legislative programme |
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UK Constitution |
-Uncodified -Constitutional law not superior -Parliamentary sovereignty -Constitutional monarchy -Rule of law -Unitary -Fusion of powers |
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Sovereignty in the UK |
-Parliament is legally sovereign -Shares sovereignty due to peoples mandate -Electorate sovereign at elections -Referendum results sovereign in practice, but not binding on Parliament in law -EU sovereign in areas of its jurisdiction -Devolved administration's have quasi sovereignty |
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Sovereignty since 1997 |
-Political sovereignty transferred to devolved administration's -Sovereignty transferred to EU -Increased use of referendums -Power of executive increased -ECHR effectively transfer of sovereignty over civil liberties |
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EU and the UK Constitution |
-EU laws superior to UK laws -In conflicting laws, EU law prevails -UK courts must enforce EU law -Final appeals on EU law in UK may go to ECJ -EU sovereign in some policy areas, known as pooled sovereignty, like in consumer law -Parliament ultimately sovereign as can leave the EU at any time |
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UK codified😊 |
-Clarity -Limiting gov -Safeguard constitution -Rights -Strong judiciary |
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UK codified😣 |
-Flexibility -Strong gov -Accountability -Popular control -Weak judiciary |
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Labour Devolution |
Power transferred to Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, and NI assembly |
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Labour Elected Mayors |
Introduced in Greater London, and 11 other places due to referendums |
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Labour HRA |
ECHR became part of British law, binding on everyone except UK Parliament |
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Labour Freedom of Information |
Gave citizens right to view info being held about themselves, as well as public documents and records which had previously been unobtainable |
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Labour HofL reform |
All but 92 hereditary peers lost voting rights, new Appointments Commission set up to regulate appointment future peers |
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Labour Elections |
Proportional election systems introduced in devolved assemblies |
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Labour Judicial reform |
HofL lost power of highest court of appeal, changed to supreme court to make judiciary more independent |
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Why Labour reformed Constitution |
-Modernisation -Electoral advantage -Democratic -Anti-Conservative |
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Coalition Electoral Reform |
Referendum held in May 2011 whether to introduce AV system as electoral system, produced a 'no' vote |
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Coalition Fixed term Parliament |
Agreed in 2010 that elections were fixed to every 5 years, so the prime minister no longer had the power to decided when the election was held |
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Coalition HofL reform |
Legislation to be introduced to make the HofL partly or fully elected |
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Coalition Bill of Rights |
Consideration to be given to get rid of the HRA and create a British Bill of Rights to prevent ECHR involvement |
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Coalition Equal Constituency Sizes |
2011, legislation passed and began to redraw boundaries of constituencies to ensure they are all of equal size |
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Coalition recall of MP's |
Constituents had power hold a vote on whether to recall MP's who had abused their position |
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Coalition Devolution |
Welsh referendum on whether to give Welsh Assembly more power, produced a 'yes' vote in Feb 2011 Scottish referendum on increased powers to Scottish gov and Parliament |
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Coalition EU |
Any proposed transfer of sovereignty could only go through following a 'yes' vote in a referendum |
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Coalition Elected Mayors |
Referendums to be held in cities on whether to have a mayor, if they didn't already have one |
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Key changes of the Constitution |
-Gov decentralised through devolution and elected mayors -Rights better protected through HRA and Freedom of Info Act -HofL become more effective in checking gov -Electoral systems of devolved assemblies have become more proportional -Judiciary more independent, can check gov power & protect rights better -Fixed terms mean gov can't manipulate election time to their advantage -Constituency reform and recall of MP's make them more accountable |
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Criticisms and Failed Reforms |
-UK arguably weakened by devolution -HRA & judicial independence have led to conflicts between gov & court -Parliamentary sovereignty means rights can't be properly protected -Electoral reform has failed -HofL future remains uncertain, and still undemocratic -UK still no codified constitution -Executive too strong, Parliament too weak |
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Evaluate flexibility |
😊uncodified so can evolve with modern beliefs 😣can be amended by temporary gov to benefit itself |
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Evaluate strong Gov |
😊strong, decisive gov with clear mandate 😣too much power, as no constitutional safeguards in place |
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Evaluate Age of Constitution |
😊stood the test of time, part of British tradition 😣old fashioned, allows for undemocratic institutions like HofL |
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Evaluate Protection of Rights |
😊independent judiciary ensures rule of law is maintained 😣individual rights not protected as Parliament not subject to constitutional control |
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Evaluate Centralised Power |
😊unitary nature helps to maintain national unity 😣power too centralised, threatens democracy |
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Evaluate Citizen understanding |
😣its uncodified, so citizens find it difficult to understand |
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Evaluate Collective Gov |
😊doesn't put too much power in the hands of one individual |
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Evaluate Parliamentary Sovereignty |
😊makes gov accountable |
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Evaluate Representation |
😣Parliament too weak compared to gov, making it sufficiently unrepresentative. Electoral system also unrepresentative |
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