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politics (britain) > UK Consitution > Flashcards

UK Consitution Flashcards

1
Q

What is the bill of rights?

A

Statement of the rights of citizens, often entrenched as part of a codified constitution

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2
Q

What is a constitution?

A

Set of laws, rules and practices that create the basic institutions ad the relationship between the different institutions and between those institutions between those institutions and the individual

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3
Q

What is limited government?

A

A system in which powers of government are subject to legal constraints as well as checks and balances within the political system

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4
Q

What is a codified constitution?

A

A single authoritative document that sets out the laws rules and principles by which a state is governed

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5
Q

What sort of laws are they in codified constitutions?

A

Fundamental law

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6
Q

What is fundamental law?

A

Constitutional law that is deliberately set above regular statute in terms of status, and given a degree of protection against regular laws passed by the legislature

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7
Q

How many times has the US constitution been amended since the bill of rights?

A

17 times

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8
Q

How many times has the 1958 constitution of the French fifth republic been amended?

A

17 times in 50 years

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9
Q

How can the UK constitution be amended?

A

Through a simple act of parliament

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10
Q

What are the five sources of the UK constitution?

A 
Statute law
Common law
Conventions
Authoritative works
EU laws and treaties
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11
Q

An example of statute that has been of historical importance in constitutional terms?

A

The human rights act 1998 and the fixed terms parliaments act 2011

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12
Q

What is common law?

A

Law derived from general customs or traditions and the decisions of judges

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13
Q

What is an example of common law?

A

Royal prerogative

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14
Q

What can the crown do?

A

Appoint ministers
Royal assent to legislation
declare war

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15
Q

What are conventions?

A

Established norms of political behaviour; rooted in past experiance rather then the law.

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16
Q

What are authoritative works?

A

Handful of long established legal and political texts that have come to be accepted as the reference points for those wishing to know precisely “who can do what” under the UK constitution. E.g Walter bagehot

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17
Q

What are the four principles that underpin the UK constitution?

A

Parliamentary sovereignty
Rule of law
Unitary state
Parliamentary governments under a constitutional monarchy

18
Q

What is an example of a convention?

A

That the monarch should not reject a bill by not giving it royal assent

19
Q

What is a unitary state?

A

A state where sovereignty is located at the centre. Central government has supremacy over other tiers of government, which it can reform or abolish.

20
Q

What is devolution?

A

The process by which a central government delegates power to another, normally lower, tier of government, while retaining ultimate sovereignty.

21
Q

What is parliamentary sovereignty?

A

The doctrine that parliament has absolute legal authority within the state. It enjoys legislative supremacy.

22
Q

What is Sovereignty?

A

Legal supremacy; absolute law making authority that is not subject to a higher authority.

23
Q

What did the European communities act do?

A

Made Parliament subservient to European law

24
Q

What is the rule of law?

A

Theory that the relationship between the sate and the individual is governed by law, protecting the individual from arbitrary state action.

25
Q

What are the 3 main strands of the rule of law?

A
  • no one can be punished without trial
  • no one is above the law
  • general principles of the constitution result from judge made common law
26
Q

What are civil liberties?

A

Fundamental individual rights and freedoms that ought to be protected from interference or encroachment by the state

27
Q

What is a unitary constitution?

A

Government holds most of the power, subnational governments hold very little power

28
Q

What is a federal constitution?

A

Whereby power is shared between national and regional governments

29
Q

What is a constitutional monarchy?

A

Where the monarch is the formal head of state but the the monarchs legal; powers are exercised by government ministers.

30
Q

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the UK constitution?

A

Strengths - adaptability

  • strong government
  • accountability

Weaknesses - outdated and undemocratic

  • concentration of power
  • lack of clarity
31
Q

What were the four themes of labours constitutional reform after the 1997 election?

A
  • modernisation
  • democratisation
  • decentralisation
  • rights
32
Q

What reforms to Rights did new labour bring in?

A
  • HRA 1998

- freedom of information act 2000 gives greater access to information held by public bodies

33
Q

What constitutional reforms to devolution did new labour bring in?

A
  • Scottish Parliament with powers
  • Northern Ireland assembly
  • welsh assembly
  • directly elected mayor of London and a London assembly
34
Q

What electoral reform did new labour bring in?

A

new electoral systems for devolved assemblies, for the European Parliament and elected mayors

35
Q

What power does the HRA have over legislation?

A

It requires all legislation to be compatible with it

36
Q

What happened to article 5 of the HRA after 9/11?

A

Forced the UK government to request derogation (a temporary exemption) in order to allow the detention of foreign nationals suspected of terrorist activity

37
Q

What is asymmetric devolution?

A

A form of devolution in which the political arrangements are not uniform, but differ from region to region

38
Q

As a result of devolution what sort of legisalitve powers was Scotland given?

A

Primary legislative powers across a range of policy areas such as tax varying powers.

39
Q

What is the west Lothian question?

A

Basically its “why should Scottish MPs be allowed to vote on English matters but not the other way round”

40
Q

What is quasi federalism?

A

Where the state has features of unitary and federal state

politics (britain) (13 decks)

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