The location of sovereignty in the UK political system 4.4

Question 1

legal sovereignty

Answer 1

the right to ultimate legal authority in a political system; in the UK, this belongs to parliament.

Question 2

political sovreignity

Answer 2

the ultimate political power; in the UK’s democracy, the electorate holds this power, which it delegates to parliament.

Question 3

what are the debates to which the question could be asked that parliamentary sovereignty is put into jeopardy

Answer 3

• devolution
• referendums
• Human Rights Act
• was the old EU membership

Question 4

what are the arguments for that ‘parliamentary sovereignty is still a reality’

Answer 4

• ultimate legal authority in the UK = pass laws
• right to abolish devolved bodies = transferred power not sovereignty
• can overrule on HRA infringements
• voluntarily could have limited EU sovereignty though 1972 European Communities Act

Question 5

what are the arguments for that ‘parliamentary sovereignty is not a reality’

Answer 5

• derives its legal sovereignty from the political sovereignty
• parliament is to a large extent controlled by the government
• Legal sovereignty is a theoretical concept
• globalisation makes sovereignty a less meaningful concept