Constitution Definitions

Question 1

Constitution

Answer 1

The rules that govern a government. The rules may be written (laws) or unwritten (customs or conventions). Constitutions vary from country to country, and no constitution is entirely written or unwritten due to legal precedent

Question 2

The state

Answer 2

The collective name for the institutions which administer the country. Normally these are permanent and non-political, like the civil service, police, military. They can also be political and temporary, like MPs, Mayor of London etc

Question 3

Codified

Answer 3

A single written authoritative legal document which is the highest law in the land

Question 4

Uncodified

Answer 4

Not codified, not the highest law in the land, it may have some aspects that are written down, some aspects may be conventions and customs, that have evolved over time like the UK general election always being on a Thursday

Question 5

Unitary constitution

Answer 5

One unified state under one central government

Question 6

Federal constitution

Answer 6

An association of states with their own state government

Question 7

Rigid constitution

Answer 7

A constitution which is hard to change, like the US Constitution

Question 8

Flexible constitution

Answer 8

A constitution which is easy to change, like the UK

Question 9

Absolute Monarchy

Answer 9

A state in which the monarch has sovereignty and rules alone

Question 10

Constitutional Monarchy

Answer 10

A state in which the monarch rules, but agrees to abide by the rule of law and to certain limits on their power

Question 11

Parliamentary Democracy / Parliamentary Government

Answer 11

A system in which Parliament is sovereign, and government comes from Parliament, government governs and not the monarch

Question 12

Extradition

Answer 12

The act of handing a person over to the judiciary of their legal origin because of a crime they have committed under a foreign judiciary

Question 13

Unentrenched

Answer 13

A constitution with no special procedure for amendment

Question 14

Unitary (federal)

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Parliamentary sovereignty

Answer 15

The principle that Parliament can make, amend or unmake any law, and cannot bind its successors or be bound by its predecessors

Question 16

The rule of law

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Statute law

Answer 17

Laws passed by Parliament

Question 18

Common law

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Conventions

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Authoritative works

Answer 20

Works written by experts describing how a political system is run; they are not legally binding but are taken as significant guidelines

Question 21

Treaties

Answer 21

Formal agreements with other countries, usually ratified by Parliament

Question 22

Devolution

Answer 22

The dispersal of power, but not sovereignty, within a political system

Question 23

Liberal democracy

Answer 23

A modern democracy under which the personal rights and liberties of citizens are codified, laws or legislation are enshrined, religious and political tolerance is exercised, the governments’ power is limited by constitutional laws, and the judiciary, legislature and executive are separate, everyone is equal and has the right to a fair trial

Question 24

Judicial review

Answer 24

How case law is created, it is the process in senior courts where judges have to interpret, re-interpret or clarify constitutional rules

Question 25

Modernisation

Answer 25

Progressive change of a system of government in keeping with or catching up to social or cultural changes amongst the demographic/electorate