Sovereignty - UK Constitution

Question 1

Popular sovereignty

Answer 1

• Liberal Democracy
• Through the process of elections, the people can decide how Parliament is made up and who governs the country
• In recent years significant constitutional issues have been passed to the people to vote on directly e.g. the AV Referendum (2011), the Scottish Independence Referendum (2014) and the EU Referendum (2016).
• Brexit is a good example of popular sovereignty being respected (whilst around 60% of MPs were in favour of remain, Parliament voted to trigger Article 50 in order to respect the will of the 17.4 million people who voted to leave the European Union)

Question 2

Parliamentary sovereignty

Answer 2

• Parliament is the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law.
• Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation
• No Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change

Question 3

Legal sovereignty

Answer 3

• The legal right to exercise sovereignty - i.e. sovereignty in theory
• Legal sovereignty is defined in terms of absolute legal authority
• Supreme power with legal issues
• Unrestricted power of the state; no one can disobey it

Question 4

Political sovereignty

Answer 4

• The political ability to exercise sovereignty - i.e sovereignty in practice
• Defined in terms of unlimited political power
• Supreme power over decision making on certain political issues