page 72 - UK Government 1. The Constitution

constitution

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

Unentrenched (entrenched)

A constitutional with no special procedure for amendment.

Uncodified (codified)

A constitutional not contained in a single written document.

Unitary (federal)

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

Parliamentary sovereignty

The principle that Parliament can make, amend or unmake any law, and cannot bind its successors or be bound by its predecessors.

The rule of law

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

Statue law

Laws passed by government

Common law

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

Conventions

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

Authoritative works

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

Treaties

Formal agreements with other countries, usually ratified by Parliament

Devolution

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