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government- the constitution Flashcards

1
Q

main ideas

A
  • the constitution
  • parliament
  • prime minister and executive
  • relations between institutions
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2
Q

the UK constitution

A
  • unlike the US, the UK constitution is not contained in a single document
  • emerged over time in laws/statues, conventions, authoritative texts, common law, custom and tradition
  • parliament is supreme
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3
Q

USA

A

constitution= supreme
parliament= can’t pass laws that go against constitution

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4
Q

UK

A

parliament is supreme to constitution

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5
Q

functions of a constitution

A
  • determines how political power is distributed within the state (levels of authority)
  • determines balance of power between government and parliament
  • determines balance of power within legislature
  • determines political processes
  • limits government power
  • UK is unusual, no competence of parliament
  • asserts the rights of citizens
  • rules of nationality
  • contains ability to amend itself
  • in the UK this requires a new law/emergence of new unwritten rule (become a convention)
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6
Q

parliament

A

no limits to its power
can take power people have away

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7
Q

stages in the development of UK constitution

A
  • magna carta (1215) elements and principles turned out not statue, most notably rule of law and limits to power monarch
  • bill of rights asserted supremacy of parliament over monarch
  • act of settlement succession to the throne
  • acts of union abolished scottish parliament, established the united kingdom and supremacy of westminster
  • parliament acts limit power of the lords over public finances and power delay
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8
Q

nature and theory of the constitution: codification

A
  • a codified constitution (USA) will be written in a single document @one moment in history
  • makes clear what are constitutional and non constitutional laws
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9
Q

nature and theory of constitution: entrenchment

A
  • entrenchment protects a constitution from a short term amendment by a temporary government
  • human rights, for example would typically be set out in a constitution to make it difficult for a temporary government to change
  • to change, a constitution should require widespread popular support and be in the long term interests of the country, measured by using special arrangements
  • in UK there is a constitutional requirement to hold a referendum an proposed change to the constitution
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10
Q

henry claus (VIII)

A
  • clauses in bill that enable ministers to amend or repeal provisions in an act of parliament using secondary legislation
  • concern in henry VIII powers shift power to executive
  • expression is a reference to king henry’s VIII supposed preference for legislating directly by proclamation rather than through parliament
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11
Q

sovereignty

A
  • supreme power/authority
  • legal sovereignty: the legal source in US it’s the unwritten constitution in UK its parliament
  • political sovereignty: the political ability to exercise sovereignty
  • in UK, parliament is legally sovereign political sovereignty arguably lies in government not parliament
  • key to understanding how constitutions work
  • constitutions are mostly concerned with legal sovereignty
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12
Q

sovereignty and power

A

power= ability to make someone do something
- unlike sovereignty which is fixed, power is flexible
- power of US president is depend on congress and supreme court
- in UK, parliament is politically more powerful than government only if the government lacks a majority in parliamentary

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13
Q

fixed and flexible constitutions

A
  • france, spain, italy and china - unitary constitution, UK differs from that it’s not entrenched
  • in UK sovereignty lies in parliament - changing body
  • means that it’s relatively easy to change the constitution of UK, requiring act of parliament
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14
Q

sources of UK constitution- conventions

A
  • accepted unwritten rules
  • most prime ministerial powers are granted by convention not law
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15
Q

statute

A

establish principle laws

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16
Q

common laws

A

judges representation

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17
Q

historical principles and authoritative writings

A
  • similar to conventions these principles and texts have become effectively binding because they have been established over a long period of time
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18
Q

common laws

A
  • development of law through use and tradition, rule of conduction that is well established
  • rights of free movement and participate in demonstrations are ancient freedoms
  • prerogative powers of the prime minister never codified exercised on behalf of the monarch
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19
Q

customs and traditions

A
  • like common law, these govern many rituals of parliamentary government e.g parliamentary procedures
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20
Q

principles of constitutional reform

A
  • democratisation (tackling undemocratic aspects of political system)
  • decentralisation (devolving power away from westminster)
  • protection of individual rights (incorporation of european convention on human rights in to UK law)
  • modernisation (uk has sought to update arrangements in line with other democracies)
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21
Q

reform (1997-2010)

A

labour arrived in power committed to modernisation of the UK, including its political system
bold plans
the time labour left office in 2010 it had completed most of its reform programme

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22
Q

constitution

A

set of rules deciding where sovereignty (power) lies in a political system
establishes relationship between government and governed

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23
Q

uncodified constitution

A

contained in MORE THAN 1 single document

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24
Q

codified constitution

A

IS CONTAINED in one single document

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25
Q

unitary system

A
  • all legal sovereignty (power) is contained in ONE place
  • singular power
  • ultimate source of all political power
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26
Q

federal system

A
  • all legal sovereignty (power) is SHARED between governments (central and state)
  • protected power
  • only way to change distribution of power is to change constitution
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27
Q

parliamentary sovereignty

A
  • principle that parliament can make, amend or unmake any laws
  • not bound by constitution
  • parliament can do what it likes
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28
Q

common law

A

laws made by judges when the laws of cases aren’t clear - laws that provide clarity

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29
Q

rule of law

A
  • a principle that’s applied
  • no one is above the law
  • everyone, including government must follow the law
  • people who break the law will be held accountable
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30
Q

conventions

A

traditions not contained in law but are influential in the operation of political systems

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31
Q

unentrenched constitution

A
  • has no special amendment for procedures
  • easier to change
  • goes hand in hand with uncodified constitutions
32
Q

entrenched constitutions

A
  • needs separate rules and procedures for amendment (change and improvement)
  • harder to change
  • comes hand in hand with codified constitutions
33
Q

quasi federalism

A
  • system of revolution where it’s unlikely for power to be returned to central government so becomes a federal system, even though it’s not in strict constitutional terms
  • set up despite having two clear sets of governments (central and state)
34
Q

devolution

A
  • power is dispersed within political systems
  • power can be returned to parliament - a transfer of power
  • transfer of power to a lower level
35
Q

legal sovereignty

A
  • legal source of sovereignty (in UK its parliament)
  • constitutions are most concerned with this
  • ultimate power and source of all political power enforced with legal system and state
36
Q

political sovereignty

A
  • political ability to exercise sovereignty
  • lies in government
37
Q

5 main sources of UK constitution

A
  1. statute law (human rights act, codified european convention on human rights into UK law)
  2. constitutional conventions (collective responsibility, all members of government should support policy and be in agreement)
  3. authoritative works (constitutional monarch, monarch can’t be involved in politics)
  4. common law (principles of rights and justice)
  5. treaties (treaty of lisbon 2007, gave power and agreed to an effective EU constitution)
38
Q

parliamentary reform

A
  • house of lords act 1999
  • abolish almost all hereditary peers (family members becoming lords) - replaced by ‘life peers’ which wasn’t v successful but better than before
  • failed to introduce system for elections
39
Q

human rights reform

A
  • human rights act 1998 (HRA) introduced by Labour (was a successful reform)
  • incorporated european convention on human rights into UK law (primary legislation)
  • binding on all public bodies, including government
  • laws must abide by the convention unless government declares overwhelming reason to do so (anti terrorism legislation)
  • parliamentary sovereignty retained - parliamentary can do anything it likes not bound by constitution
  • key articles of EHCR (european court of human rights)
  • life, liberty, privacy, fair trial
  • expression and association
  • marry
  • redress against state
  • states which adopt ECHR must abolish death penalty, hold free and fair elections and grant foreigners same legal rights as citizens
40
Q

electoral reform

A
  • persistent issue since 1960’s
  • the franchise
  • voting method: compulsory voting, postal and online voting
  • the electoral system: alternatives for FPTP introduced under devolution, failure of 2011 referendum
41
Q

freedom of information

A
  • UK lagged on citizens rights to obtain publicly held info
  • data protection act 1998
  • freedom of information act 2000
42
Q

reform of the judiciary

A
  • constitutional reform act 2005
  • supreme court challenges governments rwanda policy
  • supreme court overrules HM treasury regarding suspected fund raising for terrorism
43
Q

statute law

A

law passed by parliament

44
Q

popular sovereignty

A

the will of the people must be listened to and acted upon in order to keep peace and ideas of british democracy

45
Q

pooled sovereignty

A

parliament may choose to share its legal authority with other bodies (EU, UN or NATO)

46
Q

british political system

A

has ‘twin pillars’
- rule of law
- parliamentary sovereignty

47
Q

judicial reform - key principles

A
  • increase separation of powers
  • improve independence of judiciary
  • eliminate the ambiguity regarding the role of lord chancellor
  • bring UK into line with modern constitutional practise
48
Q

data protection act 1998

A
  • act of parliament to protect personal data stored on computers
  • put provisions from the EU data protection directive 1995 into action
49
Q

expenses scandal (2009)

A
  • disclosure of widespread misuse of expenses permitted to members of parliament - resulted in mass resignations, sackings and retirements
  • several members of both houses of commons and lords were persecuted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment
  • a result of the freedom of information act
50
Q

constitutional reform act (2005)

A
  • modified the office of lord chancellor and changes the way some of the sanctions of office are exercised
  • intended to modernise the UK’s constitutional arrangements and strengthen the independence of the judiciary
  • creation of the judicial appointments commission (JAC) - responsible for appointing judges to the supreme court, the court appeal
  • establishment of the supreme court
  • before JAC appointments were made by the lord chancellor criticised for being opaque and potentially prone to political interference
  • strengthened the independence of the judiciary
51
Q

recall of the MPs act 2015

A
  • makes provision for the constituents to recall their member of parliament and trigger a by election - doesn’t allow constituents to initiate proceedings
  • proceedings are only infuriated if an MP is found guilty of wrong doing
  • requires 1 in 10 voters to sign a petition causing an MP to vacate a seat
52
Q

devolution

A
  • aside from leaving the EU, most significant area of constitutional reform
  • encompasses democratisation, decentralisation and modernisation principles
  • key element of labours pitch to the public
  • power can be returned to parliament
  • devolved powers are not entrenched
  • devolved powers are asymmetric
53
Q

devolution definition

A

a process of delegating power from parliament to specific regions of the UK

54
Q

3 types of devolution

A
  • legislative powers
  • administrative powers
  • financial powers
55
Q

legislative powers

A

devolved assemblies/ parliaments can make laws enforced within their territories

56
Q

administrative powers

A

to implement and administer laws, organise delivery of services

57
Q

financial powers

A

in addition to central government funding, scotland can also raise revenue through tax

58
Q

scottish devolution referendums (general knowledge)

A
  • elections held every 5 years
  • voting age is 16
  • personal care for elderly is free
  • prescriptions are free
  • don’t have any uni tuition fees
  • heading to full independence as a country
  • most executive power is exercised by scottish government
  • has small population of about 5.4 million
  • SNP is dominant party and primarily supports scotland becoming an independent nation
59
Q

scottish referendum results 1997

A

74% voting in favour of scottish parliament
63% voting for parliament to have powers

60
Q

scotland act 1998

A
  • implemented in 1999 with first elections to new scottish parliament
  • scottish governments formed from party with largest number of seats
  • matters not reserved by the scotland act are devolved to the scottish parliament
  • scottish parliament has primary legislative powers
  • powers previously exercised by secretary state for scotland and other UK ministers were transferred to scottish ministers on july 1st 1999
61
Q

scottish referendum 6th may 1999

A
  • one of the first elections to new scottish parliament
  • labour formed largest minority then formed a coalition government with lib dem’s to form 1st scottish executive
  • labour won 56 seats, SNP 35 seats and conservative 18 seats
  • constituency vote: labour 38.8%, SNP 28.7% and conservative 15.6%
  • use a mixed member proportional representation electoral system (combo of FPTP constituencies and proportional constituencies)
62
Q

scottish independence referendum 2014

A
  • should scotland be an independent country: yes 44.70%, no 55.30%
  • turnout of 84.6% was highest recorded for an election/ referendum in UK since 1910 election
  • independence proposal required simple majority to pass
  • all EU citizens in scotland age 16 or over can vote
  • younger voting age produced total electorate of 4,300,000 people
  • first time it was extended to include 16 and 17 year olds
  • major parties vowed to devolve further powers to scotland after referendum in an effort to persuade scot’s to stay in the union
63
Q

scotland act 2016

A
  • set out the scotland act 1998 and devolves more power to scotland
  • growing scottish nationalism led to 2016 act
  • act represents a large transfer of power to scotland
  • gives extra powers to scottish parliament and government
  • gives ability to amend sections of scotland act 1998 and ability to use amendments to devolve powers of scottish parliament and ministers
  • has control over income tax
64
Q

electoral success of SNP in scotland

A
  • SNP campaigns for scottish independence
  • has controlled scotlands devolved legislature since 2007 election as a minority government then a majority government from 2011 election and have been a minority government since 2016 election
65
Q

general knowledge of welsh devolution referendums

A
  • government is led by first minister
  • welsh government is the executive, meaning it takes most day to day decisions
  • welsh government was established in 1999
  • use FPTP
  • voting age is 16
  • free prescriptions for under 25s
  • free school milk for under 7s
  • more free care for elderly
66
Q

welsh devolution referendum 1997

A
  • stipulated that a welsh assembly would be created if supported by 50% of votes cast and 40% of total electorate
  • welsh referendum was defeated by 4:1 majority
  • was a labour manifesto commitment and held their first term after the 1997 election
  • resulted in a narrow majority in favour led to passing of the government of wales act 1998
67
Q

government of wales act 1998

A
  • act of parliament in the UK
  • passed in 1998
  • created a national assembly for wales
  • transferred devolved powers to assembly
  • under the act, welsh assembly received powers to legislate on powers previously held by the secretary of state for the wales
  • assembly has no powers to make or pass laws, no financial autonomy
68
Q

government of wales act 2014

A
  • as lib dem’s were part of welsh coalition after 2010 there was a push for greater decentralisation
  • welsh government granted control over some taxes including business taxes
69
Q

northern irish devolution referendums general knowledge

A
  • since 1998 northern ireland has devolved government within the UK
  • government and parliament are responsible for reserved and expected matters representatives elected from 18 parliamentary constituencies
  • co operation between republican and loyalists
  • greater restrictions on abortion
  • free prescriptions
70
Q

history of northern ireland politics

A
  • complex
  • modern devolution designed to resolve 30 years of violent conflict
  • devolved government had existed in NI involving a parliament and government
71
Q

the belfast agreement 1998

A
  • the good friday agreement
  • restored devolved powers
  • assembly elected using PR (proportional representation) to ensure all communities gain representation
  • NI executive based on power sharing
72
Q

future reforms: brexit

A
  • most significant and recent change in the UK constitution
  • status of parliament and UK courts
  • threat to unity of UK
  • assertion of executive power over parliamentary power?
73
Q

assessment of reforms since 1997 - successes

A
  • REFORM OF THE JUDICIARY: establishment of the supreme court, independent of government which strengthens protection of human rights
  • DEVOLUTION: popular in scotland and brings peace in northern ireland
  • FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: unpopular with governments, enabled media to launch investigations into work of government and public bodies
74
Q

assessment of reforms since 1997 - partial successes

A
  • HOUSE OF PORDS: appointed not elected, some improvements in lords scrutiny of government
  • HOUSE OF COMMONS: greater select committee independence but increasingly dominated by the executive
  • HUMAN RIGHTS ACT: government can still by pass through primary legislation
75
Q

assessment of reforms since 1997 - failures

A
  • electoral reform: FPTP continues to reward two main parties
  • house of lords: still packs genuine legitimacy
76
Q

arguments supporting UK’s uncodified constitution

A
  • FLEXIBILITY: an ‘organic’ constitution can adapt quickly to rapidly changing world, when society changes so can the constitution
  • EXECUTIVE POWER: lack of constitutional safeguards enables government to act decisively when necessary
  • CONSERVATIVE PRAGMATISM: UK has avoided violent revolution and major political unrest, change occurs when necessary
  • POLITICISING THE JUDICIARY: avoids bringing court into political debate, protecting independence of judiciary
77
Q

arguments supporting a codified constitution

A
  • HUMAN RIGHTS: would prevent parliament passing legislation that breached human rights
  • EXECUTIVE POWER: protect against drift towards growing executive power, create meaningful system of checks and balances
  • CLARITY: build public awareness, prevent apathy and ignorance

politics (10 decks)

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