UK Government - The Constitution Flashcards
Constitution…
Principles and precedents by which a country is run.
Codified Constitution…
A constitution which is written down in one document.
Uncodified Constitution…
A constitution which is not contained in single document.
Separation of Powers…
The division of a states government into branches.
Checks and balances…
The theory that each branch of government is able to check the power of the other two branches.
An example of a codified constitution….
The USA
Codified constitutions are…
Authoritative
Entrenched
Judicable
Entrenched…
The constitution is difficult to change
Authoritative…
The constitution is the higher law and binds all political institutions
judicable…
The judiciary can declare if a law or action is constitutional or not.
The 3 branches of government are…
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Not authoritative….
Constitutional laws have the same status as normal laws
Not entrenched…
The constitution can be enacted by the normal process of enacting law
Not judiciable
Judges do not have a legal standard by which to declare things constitutional or not
Example of uncodified constitution…
United Kingdom
Sources of UK constitution…
Statute law
Works of authority
European Union law?
Treaties
Common law
Conventions
Statute…
A written law passed by a legislative body
Statute Law…
The principles and rules of law laid down in statutes.
Common Law
Law that is derived from judicial precedent and custom
Primary legislation…
The main laws passed by a legislative body of the UK - inc parliament
Secondary legislation…
Laws created by ministers using powers given to them by an act of parliament (primary legislation)
The SNP became more popular in the 60s and 70s thanks to the…
‘It’s Scotland’s Oil’ campaign
The 1978 Scotland act was to create a Scottish assembly, but required…
A post-legislative referendum that needed approval be by 40% of the total registered Scottish electorate.
In the referendum 51.6% voted in favour, but…
the turnout was only 32.9% of the total registered electorate
Labour committed to a pre-legislative referendum which took place in….
September 1997
The 1997 Scottish referendum had two questions…
- Should there be a Scottish parliament?
- Should it have tax raising powers?
The percentage in favour of both questions in the 1997 Scottish referendum were…
Question 1: 74%
Question 2: 63%
Following the 1997 Scottish referendum Labour introduced…
The 1998 Scotland Act
Following the 1998 Scotland Act…
Scotland had tax varying powers
Scotland could legislate on all non reserved matters
In the Scottish parliament…
The executive is drawn from the legislature.
The First Minister is drawn from the executive
Some Scottish reserved powers are…
The constitution, foreign affairs, civil service, defence, immigration, treason. benefits
‘The West Lothian Question’ is
Should Scottish, NI and Welsh Westminster MPs be allowed to vote on English matters only.
The MP who raised The West
Tam Dalyell
Consociational
A political system formed by different social groups on the basis of shared power
The agreement that set up both the Northern Irish Assembly and Executive
The Good Friday Agreement
The NI Assembly is…
Unicameral and has 90 members elected by STV
The NI Assembly has…
18 constituencies that elect 5 members each
Most decisions in the NI Assembly are taken by simple majority vote. Except for…
Key areas such as the budget that require cross community support
The NI Assembly is responsible for electing…
The NI Executive
The NI Executive is led by
A first and deputy first minister made up of the largest parties of both loyalist and nationalist block
Strand 2 of the GFA deals with…
issues and institutions created by Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
Strand 3 of the GFA deals with…
issues and institutions created by Ireland and Great Britain
NI Executive ministers have responsibility for include…
agriculture, environment, rural affairs, community, economy, education, finance, health.
NI Assembly is weaker than devolved bodies in Wales and Scotland…
because it does not have revenue raising powers.
Another weakness of the NI assembly is that it has been…
Suspended on at least 5 occasions.
The growth of Welsh Nationalism in the 60s was a response to
The building of the Treweryn dam.
The 1979 Welsh referendum resulted in…
A heavy defeat for those in favour of devolution (80% voted against)
Even though Wales returned a majority of Labour MPs between 1979-1997…
Wales were still governed by a Conservative government
The Welsh devolution vote of 1997 was…
incredibly close with Yes winning by less than 1%
At the start the Welsh Assembly had…
Powers previously held by the Secretary of State for Wales
Since 1997 the Welsh Assembly has…
gained more powers
The Wales Act 2014 granted…
the Assembly taxation and borrowing powers
2020 Senedd and Elections Wales Act…
Recognised a fully fledged parliament with the official name Senedd Cymru
How many members make up the Senedd?
60
Since it’s creation the leading party in the Senedd is…
Labour
The Senedd is elected using…
AMS
Local Authority…
An organisation that is responsible for public services and facilities in a given area
Borough…
A town or district that has an administrative unit.
Which government tried to devolve more power to the regions…
1997 Labour
In 2000 the government established which two institutions in London?
London mayor
Greater London Assembly
The London Mayor and Assembly share oversight of…
areas such as policing, transport and economic devt
The London Assembly elects…
25 members using AMS
The Assembly is elected…
every 4 years
The role of the Assembly is to…
scrutinise the work of the Mayor
All mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections take place under which system?
FPTP
London Mayor responsibilities…
Strategic planning inc housing
Planning permission
Transport policy
Fire and emergency planning
Police and crime
Economic devt
By 2015 how many more urban area had elected mayors?
16 - including Greater Manchester, Bristol, West Midlands
One of the problems with elections for Police and Crime Commissioners is…
Nobody cares. It is a very low turnout at elections
The House of Lords Act 1999 reduced the number of hereditary peers to…
92
The Constitutional Reform Act (2005)…
Reformed the office of Lord Chancellor
Created the Supreme Court
Regulated the appointment of judges
