The UK constitution

Question 1

Devolution

Answer 1

The dispersal of power, but not sovereignty, within a political system.

Question 2

Treaties

Answer 2

Formal agreements with other countries, usually ratified by parliament.

Question 3

Authoritative works

Answer 3

Works written by experts describing how a political system is run, they are not legally binding but are taken as significant guides.

Question 4

Conventions

Answer 4

Traditions not contained in law but influential in the operation of a political system.

Question 5

Common law

Answer 5

Laws made by judges where the law does not cover the issue or is unclear.

Question 6

Statute law

Answer 6

Laws passed by parliament.

Question 7

Rule of law

Answer 7

The principle that all people and bodies, including government, must follow the law and can be held to account if they don’t.

Question 8

Parliamentary sovereignty

Answer 8

The principle that parliament can make, amend or unmake any law, and cannot bind it’s successors or be bound by it’s predecessors.

Question 9

Unitary

Answer 9

A political system where all legal sovereignty is contained in a single place.

Question 10

Uncodified

Answer 10

A constitution not contained in a single written document.

Question 11

Unentrenched

Answer 11

A constitution with no special procedure for amendment.

Question 12

Constitution

Answer 12

A set of rules determining where sovereignty lies in a political system, and establishing the relationship between the government and the governed.

Question 13

Magna Carta

Answer 13

1215, limits were placed on the power of the monarch. Habeas corpus meant that one could not be punished without due process of law.

Introduced rule of law.

Question 14

Bill of rights

Answer 14

1689, gave legal force to ‘certain ancient rights and liberties’. Included the summoning of regular parliaments and free elections. Freedom of speech.

Question 15

Act of Settlement

Answer 15

1701, Confirmed the primacy of parliament to the crown, by establishing that parliament had authority over succession to the throne.

Agreed judicial independence by saying that parliament could agree on the removal of a judge.

Question 16

Act of Union

Answer 16

1707, United the parliament of Scotland with that of England and Wales. The independence of Scottish law was preserved,.

Question 17

Parliament acts

Answer 17

1911, Lords lost the right to veto.

1949, Reduced the Lords’ right to veto bills from two years to one year. Lords could not have influence over financial bills.

Question 18

The European Communities Act

Answer 18

1972, Allowed the UK to join the European Economic Community.

Question 19

What effect did the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 have on the UK constitution?

Answer 19

Laws and regulations made over the past 40 years while the UK was a member of the EU would continue to apply after Brexit. EU retained law.

Question 19

What effect did the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 have on the UK constitution?

Answer 19

Laws and regulations made over the past 40 years while the UK was a member of the EU would continue to apply after Brexit. EU retained law.

Question 20

What did the Treaty of Rome do?

Answer 20

1957, Brought about the creation of the European Economic Community.

Question 21

what did the Maastricht treaty achieve?

Answer 21

Introduced the European Citizenship and the EU.

Question 22

What did the Lisbon treaty do?

Answer 22

Gave the EU full legal personality.

Question 23

What is an example of an authoritative work?

Answer 23

1844, Erskine May

Question 24

What are the twin pillars of the UK consitution?

Answer 24

Rule of Law and parliamentary sovereignty.

Question 25

What did Tony Blair say in his 1997 manifesto?

Answer 25

“Overcentralisation and lack of accountability was a problem in governments of both left and right.”

Question 26

The Human rights act

Answer 26

1998, incorporated the ECHR into British law. For the first time, rights that British citizens could positively claim were stated.

Question 27

Constitutional reform act

Answer 27

2005, Ended the house of lords judicial function and established the supreme court which opened in 2009.

Question 28

How did the constitutional reform act make appointment of judges more transparent?

Answer 28

The Lord Chancellor’s right to nominate judges was transferred to a judicial appointment committee, which now makes recommendations to the justice secretary.

Question 29

How did Blair reform the House of Lords?

Answer 29

The government wanted to remove the right of hereditary peers as it undermined legitimacy. However, in order to persuade the house of lords to accept this reform they were allowed to elect 92 of their number to remain.

Question 30

What did critics of Blair say about the reforms?

Answer 30

Enthusiasm for reform quickly waned.

The reforms were piecemeal.

The reforms did not address deeper problems, e.g., ‘elective dictatorship’.

Question 31

Fixed term parliaments act

Answer 31

2011, Legislated that a general election should be held exactly 5 years after the last general election, as well as providing the government with greater stability, the act made it more difficult for prime ministers to call a snap general election.

Question 32

Electoral reform under the coalition government.

Answer 32

The coalition government stated that the government would call a referendum offering the public the opportunity to replace FPTP with AV. Turnout of 42% with 68% voting for FPTP. Cameron called AV “Undemocratic, obscure, unfair and crazy.”

Question 33

Elected police commissioners

Answer 33

Introduction of elected police and crime commissioners, accountable to the public for regional policing. Low turnout, lack of a sufficient mandate.

Question 34

Recall of MPs act

Answer 34

2015, in 2019 a labour MP Fiona Onasanya was convicted of perverting the course of justice and jailed for 3 months. First successful recall petition.

Question 35

Elected Mayors

Answer 35

Cameron was in flavor of decentralizing power to local government. Powers of mayors were extensive covering areas such as housing, welfare and transport.

Question 36

The West Lothian Question

Answer 36

2015, English Votes for English laws

Question 37

What were regional development agencies?

Answer 37

Promoted economic growth in England.

Question 38

What did the coalition government do to RDAs?

Answer 38

Replaced RDAs with smaller scale partnerships between local authorities and businesses known as local enterprise partnerships.

Question 39

Why has an ‘English’ parliament, replicating the Scottish and Welsh examples, never been established?

Answer 39

Because England has 84% of the UK’s population, there were concerns that a devolved English parliament would remove a lot of powers and responsibilities from the UK parliament, and might weaken the UK as a political union.

Question 40

How have new powers affected devolution?

Answer 40

The way in which Scotland and Wales have acquired new devolved powers suggests that devolution is an ongoing process, which could result in the unitary nature of the British State being replaced by a quasi-federal arrangement.

Question 41

What additional powers did Scotland get as a result of the Scotland Act 2016?

Answer 41

Air passenger duty. Scotland can set it’s own income tax rates. Scottish parliament cannot close down without the consent of 2/3 of the Scottish people.

Question 42

Why have demands for independence in Wales had less impact than in Scotland? How did this relate to the powers granted to Wales in the 1997 Government of Wales Act?

Answer 42

Because Wales was absorbed into the English state in the medieval period and so did not develop a distinct legal system.

In the 1997 referendum Wales was offered less extensive devolved powers than Scotland. The government of Wales established a Welsh National Assembly and a Welsh executive, but was not granted legislative financial powers.

Question 43

What further powers did Wales gain in the Wales Act 2014?

Answer 43

Provided a referendum on whether Wales should be given partial control of income tax.