Component 2: The Constitution

Question 1

Constitution

Answer 1

a set of laws and guidelines
setting out how a political
system works, and where
power is located within
the system. It defines the
powers and functions of
government and the rights
of ordinary citizens in
relation to the government.

Question 2

Entrenched

Answer 2

a constitution protected by
a higher court and requiring
special procedures to
amend it.

Question 3

Codified

Answer 3

a constitution in which laws
and practices are set out in
a single document.

Question 4

Unitary

Answer 4

a political system where
all legal sovereignty is
contained in a single place.

Question 5

Parliamentary sovereignty

Answer 5

the principle that
parliament can make,
amend or unmake any
law, and cannot bind its
successors or be bound by
its predecessors.

Question 6

The rule of law

Answer 6

the principle that all people
and bodies, including
government, must follow
the law and can be held to
account if they do not.

Question 7

Statute law

Answer 7

laws passed by parliament.

Question 8

Common law

Answer 8

laws made by judges where
the law does not cover the
issue or is unclear.

Question 9

Conventions

Answer 9

traditions not contained
in law but influential in
the operation of a political
system.

Question 10

Authoritative works

Answer 10

works written by experts
describing how a political
system is run, which are
not legally binding but are
taken as significant guides.

Question 11

Treaties

Answer 11

formal agreements with
other countries, usually
ratified by parliament.

Question 12

Devolution

Answer 12

the dispersal of power, but
not sovereignty, within a
political system.