Paper 1 UK Politics

Question 1

What is common law and why is it significant

Answer 1

Common laws refer to the ways that the judiciary interprets the statute law. It varies depending on the area and precedents. It is significant as it helps to complete the statue law due to it being more precise.For example RvR ,this established that husband can be guilty of raping his wife,which wasn’t stated in the statute law. This contributes to the development of the case laws and it’s especially important when statute law is lacking.

Question 2

What are individual and collective rights?

Answer 2

Individual rights are the rights that belong to each citizen for example the right to speech or to practice their religion. Collective rights are rights that lie with the gorup of people for example members of trade unions or people with disabilities.

Question 3

What is the rule of law and why is it significant?

Answer 3

The rule of that means that everyone will follow the law including the government.This is significant as it means that no one is above law no matter the position.

Question 4

What is the Magna Carta (1215) and why is it significant?

Answer 4

Royal Charter of rights agreed between King John and his barons during the Baronial rebellion.
One of the most important clauses was the right of all ‘free men’ to justice and a fair trial. Also enforced rule of law.
Significant as it codified human rights and limited the power of the monarch.
The principle of equal access to justice for all remains central to the UK’s judicial system.

Question 5

What is the Bill of Rights (1689) and why is it significant?

Answer 5

Illustrates the rights of all men.
Some terms include free elections, freedom of speech in parliament, and frequent parliaments etc.
Significant as it further limited the power of the monarch. It established parliamentary sovereignty (monarchy —> representative democracy).

Question 6

What is the Act of Settlement (1701) and why is it significant?

Answer 6

Ensured Protestant succession to the throne.
Example of legislation in action was when line of succession conferred to descendants of electress Sophia of Hanover as all close relatives of James I were dead or Catholic.
Significant as it showed the power of Parliament over monarchy, an institution that valued lineage highly.

Question 7

What are the Parliament Acts (1911 and 1949) and why were they significant?

Answer 7

Ended the absolute veto of the House of Lords and restricted their powers to delay bills, ‘money bills’, or budgets.
Any bill passed by the House of Commons would be passed and become law after 1 (1949) or 2 years (1911).
Established the power of the House of Commons over the House of Lords. Also increased democratic accountability of Westminster.

Question 8

How did the Great Reform Act 1832 change suffrage?

Answer 8

At the beginning of 1932, only 2.7% of the population was allowed to vote.
⅕ of male adults could vote, this comprised 5.6% of the total population.
Abolished ‘rotten boroughs’ like Old Sarum.

Question 9

How did the Second Reform Act 1867 change suffrage?

Answer 9

Allowed many working-class men in cities to vote. It doubled the size of the electorate. ⅓ or all men could vote.
Retained the franchise between cities and countryside.

Question 10

How did the Third Reform Act 1884 change suffrage?

Answer 10

Established a uniform franchise cross the country for men.
All working men with a qualification could vote.
40% of adult men still excluded - mainly men working in rural counties.

Question 11

How did the Representation of People Act 1918 change suffrage?

Answer 11

All men over the age of 21 (or 19 for veterans) could vote.
Women over 30 who met the proper qualification could now vote.

Question 12

How did the Representation of the People Act 1928 change suffrage?

Answer 12

Women received the vote on equal terms to men.
All men and women over 21 could now vote.
Property qualifications removed.

Question 13

How did the Representation of People Act 1969 change suffrage?

Answer 13

Voting age lowered to 18.

Question 14

acieding to a gov poll what is the % of the public who believe that there is corruption

Answer 14

80%

Question 15

voter turnout in 1964-1997

Answer 15

74.5%

Question 16

current voter turnout

Answer 16

68.7%

Question 17

What is a convention and why is it significant.

Answer 17

A convention is a rule that is followed but is not legally binding. An example of this would be the convention that a PM chooses a cabinet member from the house of commons. This is significant as although these laws aren’t legally binding they are still followed

Question 18

What is authoritative works and why is it significant

Answer 18

Authoritative works are texts of political significance that contribute to the constitution of the UK. An example of this would be Erskine May’s Parliamentary practice. This is significant as it demonstrates parliamentary procedures.

Question 19

What was the European communities act (1972) and why was it significant

Answer 19

The European communities act was when the UK joined the EU and had to comply with all of the rules of the EU. This is an example of the UK lending sovereignty to a higher power. This is significant as if the UK never left the EU they would have given up power.

Question 20

Modernisation of political institutions (constitutional changes after 1977)

Answer 20

Success (2/5)
- constitutional reform act (creation of the supreme court / abolition of law lords and lord chancellor)
- reduced size of house of lords

Failure
- UK is still the only modern democratic nation with a hereditary house.
-house of lords reform incomplete
-unelected judges in the supreme court may have increased power now.

Question 21

Democratisation (constitutional changes after 1977)

Answer 21

Success (3/5)
- The direct election of police and crime commissioner have provided increased chances for political participation

Failure
- Fix term parliament act (Pm cannot last five years and hence the law was scrapped)
-First Past the post is still used which is not proportional and doesn’t take smaller parties into account

Question 22

Human rights (constitutional changes after 1977)

Answer 22

Success (3.5/5)
-increased awareness of human rights and unfair treatment in the UK

Failure
- no higher law to entrench human rights
- individual rights usually triumph over collective rights due to ECHR

Question 23

Devolution (constitutional changes after 1977)

Answer 23

Success (4/5)
- turned the UK from a unitary to a quasi federal state
-worked well in Scotland and wales

Failure
- England doesn’t have a devolved parliament (uses the house of commons)
-Did not succeed in Northern Ireland and was suspended for 3 years

Question 24

Trustee Model. Theories of representation

Answer 24

-MP’s Should Vote on what they think is right instead of the political party or constituency (atypical)
-Example is during Brexit MP Nick Boles represented a leave constituency but personally voted to stay.
- significant as it shows the majority of the constituency isn’t always represented by the elected MP.

Question 25

Delegate Theory. Theories of representation

Answer 25

• MP’s Vote Based on what the constituency wants instead of the party or their personal opinions. (atypical)
• An example would be the MP of Richmond voting against opening a new runway at Heathrow as local residents had noise complaints.
  -Significant as it shows the power of an MP

Question 26

Mandate Theory.Theories of representation

Answer 26

-MP’s vote based on what the political party wants and not what they or their constituency wants (most typical)
-Example Frank Field left the labour party as he didn’t agree with their views
-Significant as it is the way that majority of MP’s vote.

Question 27

Select Commitees

Answer 27

• Most significant parliamentary committee
  -Packed with people with expertise
• Scrutinizing bills before they are passed e.g dangerous dogs act
  -example Public accounts committee evaluates how efficiently the government spend money.

Question 28

Public Bill Committees

Answer 28

• membership to participate is by majority size
  -opposition MPs change and undermine legislation to best suit their manifesto
  -Both parties aim to try and improve legislation

Question 29

What % of oposition amendments to a bill are accepted

Answer 29

0.5% as opposition amendments try to weaken the bill

Question 30

How is legislation passed

Answer 30

1st, 2nd, 3rd and committee stages
-carefully reading and scrutinizing legislation e.g dangerous dogs act when committees were ignored and was poor legislation

report stage
-government goes over any changes or amendments proposed by the select committee e.g not amending the dangerous dogs act

review stage
legislation is reviewed by the house of lords to see if they disagree (they can only send legislation back once)
e.g prevention of terrorism act had to be reviewed multiple times.

Question 31

Features of the House of Lords

Answer 31

• can create legislation (very atypical)
  -reviews legislation by the house of commons (HOC)
  -less power than the HOC
  -scrutinizes legislation
  -over 792 members
  -less democratic legitimacy
  -not elected
• can veto but cannot strike down legislation

Question 32

Features of the House of commons

Answer 32

• can create legislation (typical)
  -government has majority seats and tries to pass legislation while opposition tries to strike down legislation
  -most important house
  most democratically legitimate
  -650 elected mps
  -dominated by the executive

Question 33

Features of Parliamentary Debates

Answer 33

• low attendance
  -government doesn’t have to listen to debates
  -e.g Brexit debate or Iraq war debate

Question 34

Features of Prime minister question time

Answer 34

-Used to heavily scrutinize the executive and the government
-happens weekly
-PM is given tough questions from opposition and easy questions from their own party.
e.g Boris J. covid or Theresa May Brexit had tough time answering these questions

Question 35

What is the core exectutive

Answer 35

The core executive is that part of government that implements policy. This covers the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, the Cabinet Committees, the Cabinet Office, the government departments and the Senior Civil Service.

Question 36

How do PM’s choose their cabinet

Answer 36

1. Who the PM wants. e.gTheresa May removed 15 ministers when she first became a PM
   2.inclusion of Big beasts. e.g Blair including Gordon Brown
   3.Diversity. e.g Borris Johnson including Priti Patel as she was of colour
2. Including members from different wings of the party. e.gTheressa May including leave and remain MP’s in her cabinet

Question 37

types of individual responsibility failures and examples

Answer 37

—-> when there is an individual minister to blame as something goes wrong (atypical)

1. administrative failure (least common) - e.g Thomas Thugdale resigned as his department forgot to return borrowed land to the rightful owner
2. Policy failure (uncommon)- e.g Thatcher’s foreign secretary, lord Carrignton resigned after the invasion of the Falkland islands sparked criticism.
3. Personal failure(most common) - e.g Matt Hancock kissing his co-worker during Covid.

Question 38

Collective responsibility failures and examples

Answer 38

—–> when cabinet members publicly criticize the PM and their cabinet

1. Brexit saw more UK gov. ministers resign due to collective responsibility than any other event in history e.g Boris Johnson resigning from Theresa May’s Government due to disagreement with her withdrawal proposal.

2.Robin Cook resigned from Tony Blair’s government as he didn’t believe that it was the right decision to invade Iraq

3. Gregory Howe, leader of the house of commons, resigned as he couldn’t work under a eurosceptic PM like thatcher.

Question 39

Factors to be a Presidential PM and examples

Answer 39

1. Size of Majority- Boris large majority(strong government), Theresa May small majority(weak government)
2. current events - Sunak, underperforming economy, Boris with covid.
3. Personality of the prime minister- Thatcher with the poll tax and Blair with his decision to invade Iraq without consulting his cabinet.(the most presidential thing a PM has done in UK history)

Question 40

PM Profile Magaret Thatcher (conservative)

Answer 40

• Had a complex relationship with her cabinet as she believed her ideas were always best. (presidential style)
• first female PM
  -popular with the working class as she privatized British industries which made them richer.
• increased popularity after the successful invasion of the Falkland islands
  -removed by her cabinet after poll tax riots and protests.
• strong personality, she was known as the iron lady
• advocated for the right for council tenants to buy their own home

Question 41

PM Profile Tony Blair (labour)

Answer 41

• worked closely with the important cabinet members so the less important roles had to follow what he was saying
  -bought in the new labour government which transitioned from a socialist government to one that focused on improving state resources for the working class
  -blocked key documents about the Iraq war from the court
  -established the supreme court (constitutional reform act 2005)
  -removed from PM by his cabinet after his failed Iraq invasion

Question 42

PM Profile Boris Johnson (conservitive)

Answer 42

-won by a large majority
-promised to “get brexit done” and succeeded
- had a very unpopular special advisor dominick Cummings
-tried suspending parliament but it was considered illegal by the supreme court
-could be described as mannerless by others

Question 43

3 main policies of the conservative party

Answer 43

1. One nation conservative (nobelse oblige) - e.g Borris Johnson would often refer to a one nation government in his speeches
2. maintaining traditional values - e.g John Major’s back to basics campaign

3.Thatcherism - e.g aim for council tenants to buy homes

Question 44

3 main policies for the labour party

Answer 44

1. economic socialism - e.g Corbyn’s aim to redistribute wealth
2. support of trade unionism - e.g trade unions fund most of the labour party’s elections
3. new labour/ third way socailism - e.g bought in by Blair to increase funding to state services like the NHS and state schools

Question 45

3 main polices for the lib dems

Answer 45

1. rejoin the EU e.g leaders campaigning to remain in the EU since 2016
2. reform the electoral system e.g they are unable to compete with other parties due to FPTP.

3.establish a federal government e.g lib dems have been advocating for increased devolution

Question 46

3 ways political parties determine their leaders

Answer 46

1. conservative party MPs vote in a series of ballots to narrow down the options to two candidates who then compete with a series of hustings for the final vote e.g Boris and Hunt
2. labour party - must gain the backing of 10% of labour MPs and also 5% of constituency parties or at least three affiliates. e.g Jeremy Corbyn
3. lib dems- candidates must gain at least 10% of votes from all other Lib dems and be supported by at least 200 members from more than 20 local parties

Question 47

factors determining electoral success

Answer 47

1. Electoral system - least significant
   - uses FPTP that creates a bipartisan system, making it harder for smaller parties to win e.g in 2019 lib dems had 11% of votes but just 1.7% of seats in the House of commons
   - however follows the basic principle that the majority wins the seat in each constituency.
2. Media - Middle significant
   -average citizen doesn’t get it’s election information from factual resources but instead from the media like newspapers, news and nowadays social media
   e.g Tony Blair’s campaign being labeled as ‘new labour’
   - also keeps approval ratings high when the u.k invaded the Falkland islands The Sun wrote a positive headline about Thatcher.
   However if the people are unhappy the media will report it and decrease the approval rating of the PM.
3. Leadership and policies - most significant
   - They are the face and what drives the political party e.g young, charismatic Tony Blair chosen to be the face of the new labour.
   -Strong leaders can help influence MP’s to vote for them and allow them to progress their manifestoes. e.g Boris Johnson’s ‘get Brexit done’ stance. This allowed him to win with a large majority.
   however Brexit is an atypical case