The Constitution

Question 1

A constitution (5)

Answer 1

• Set of rules setting out:
  
  • Duties, powers, functions of gov institutions
  • Regulate institutional relationships e.g. American constitution divides sovereignty between states and central gov
  • Define extent of civil liberties e.g American Bill of Rights
• No constitution is entirely written/unwritten e.g part of ours is statute law and part is convention
• Main types: codified, uncodified, unitary, federal, rigid and flexible

Question 2

Constitutionalism (1)

Answer 2

• Adherence to a constitutional system of government

Question 3

Codified constitution (3)

Answer 3

• Key constitutional provisions collected together in single legal document.
• This is popularly known as a written constitution/the constitution
• e.g the US constitution collates rules on federal powers, judicial powers and executive powers in one legal document

Question 4

Uncodified constitution (2)

Answer 4

• Made up of rules from a variety of sources e.g UK constitution is drawn from a variety of sources: statute law, convention, works of constitutional authority etc
• Absence of a single legal document/written constitution

Question 5

Unitary constitution (3)

Answer 5

• Constitution concentrates sovereign power in single body of national gov
• Done by vesting national legislature with sovereignty
• e.g the French Parliament is the sovereign legislature

Question 6

Federal constitution (2)

Answer 6

• Sovereignty is shared e.g US constitution defines powers of federal states and central gov in Washington DC
• Two autonomous levels of gov: national/federal, regional/state e.g 16 german states mostly have autonomy on internal matters

Question 7

Parliamentary sovereignty (6)

Answer 7

• Absolute and unlimited legal authority of Parliament
• Can make, amend and unmake any law
• Based on four conditions:
  
  • Absence of codified constitution/higher law e.g UK has uncodified constitution
  • Supremacy of statute law
  • Absence of rival legislatures (no others have independent law making powers) e.g although we have devolved assemblies their powers are granted and can be taken away by parliament
  • No Parliament can bind a future parliament e.g 1919 Acquisition of Land Act tried to bind future Parliaments but was overruled in 1934

Question 8

Pooled sovereignty (3)

Answer 8

• Combination of national sovereignties of member states
• Intended to enhance their power and influence
• e.g EU pools the national sovereignty of member states in order to form a more powerful body - EU is a powerful body at WTO meetings

Question 9

Devolution (6)

Answer 9

• Transfer of power from national gov to subordinate regional institutions
• Devolved bodies constitute an intermediate tier of gov - between central and local
• Devolved bodies have no share of sovereignty and therefore devolution differs from federalism
• Responsibilities and powers determined by central gov (can in theory abolish assemblies) e.g 2015 St David’s day agreement grants Welsh Assembly primary legislative powers; granted by central gov
• Different forms of devolution:
  
  • Administrative - regional assemblies implement policies
  • Legislative - elected regional assemblies invested with policy making responsibilities and some tax powers e.g Scottish Parliament can vary income tax by 3p to the pound

Question 10

Quasi-federalism (3)

Answer 10

• Division of powers between central and regional gov
• Has some features of federalism e.g all UK devolved assemblies will soon have primary legislative powers
• But no formal federal structure e.g Westminster retains sovereignty and could cancel devolution whenever it liked

Question 11

Elective dictatorship (7)

Answer 11

• Electoral imbalance
• Executive power is checked only by need of gov to win elections
• Reflected in UK in gov’s ability to act as it wishes as long as it retains support of the House of Commons
• Occurs for a number of reasons:
  
  • Absence of a codified constitution means Parliament is sovereign
  • House of Lords is subordinate so sovereign power is effectively exclusively wielded by HoC e.g amendments to Article 50 bill on rights of EU nationals overruled by HoC
  • FPTP means HoC is usually dominated by single majority party e.g Conservatives have majority of 6
  • Tight party discipline = gov have majority control of HoC and can use Parliamentary sovereignty e.g only two Tories rebelled on Article 50 Bill