politics half term revision

1997 welsh devolution referendum results

50.3% yes

turnout of the 1997 welsh referendum

50.22%

1998 Northern Ireland good Friday agreement results

71.1% yes

1998 Northern Ireland good Friday agreement turnout

81.1%

1997 Scottish referendum results

74.2% yes

1997 Scottish referendum turnout

60%

what years was the Northern Irish assembly inactive

• 2002-2007

• 2017-2020

• 2022 →

how could you counter the argument that devolution was unsuccessful due to the Northern Ireland assebly

• the welsh assembly has never been suspended

• it is very difficult to set up an assembly where both unionists and nationalists can work together, therefore the problem is not devolution but rather the structure of Northern Irelands government

• it depends on your criteria, if Northern Ireland could settle an agreement, their power could be just as equal

paragraph structure 30 marker

PEACE

P - point

E - evidence

A - analyse

C - counter point

E - evaluate

statute law

this is law made by Parliament, and is one of the most important sources of the UK constitution, as statute law overrides other laws, (EU laws excepted) due to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty.

which group in the uk have sovereignty

parliament

examples of a statute law

European community act 1972, human rights act 1998

common law

this is ‘judge-made law’- laws based on precedent and tradition. When deciding on the legality of a case, judges will use previous decisions on similar cases

conventions

these are non-legal established rules of conduct and behaviour- what is ‘expected’.

examples of conventions

• the monarch granting Royal Assent (royal approval) to each bill passed by Parliament

• the appointment of the Prime Minister (the leader of the Commons’ largest party)

• and collective responsibility (all government ministers openly support all government policy).

• the salisbury convention

• collective ministerial responsibility

• parliament will only legislate on reserved matters

• monarchs must follow the advice of ministers

what is the salisbury convention

the House of Lords will not oppose the second or third reading of any government legislation promised in its election

what is collective ministerial responsibility

It is convention that all ministers publicly support decisions of Cabinet (even if they disagree in private) or its committees or resign

works of authority

works written by scholars seen as experts in the constitution- they outline what is ‘correct’ for the UK constitution. For example, Bagehot’s The English Constitution (1867), Dicey’s An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885).

order of importance for constitution

1. EU law

2. Statute law

3. Common law

4. Conventions and works of authority

what are the sources of the uk constitution (sccrew)

• statute law

• common law

• conventions

• royal prerogative

• EU laws

• works of authority

which bill established the supremacy of parliament over a monarch

the bill of rights 1689

constitution

a set of principles and rules by which a country is organised and it is usually contained in one document

advantages of a codified constitution

• people have entrenched rights

• citizens know their rights as it is all written in one document

• amendments can still be made, it just has to have popular support.

in the us, how many people need to vote for a right to be changed

• ¾ of the state

• 2/3 of congress

disadvantages of an codified constitution

• it is inflexible

• it gives huge power to judges

• it is very vague, which may be a danger. e.g. article ten → no cruel or unusual punishments inflicted

advantages of an uncodified constitution

• it is flexible

• as there are many more acts, it can be less vague

• democratic control as changes are made by parliament rather than judges

disadvantages of an uncodified constitution

• not in a single document, therefore can be difficult to understand

• rights are unintrenched, therefore they can more easily be removed

federal

laws are different in dirrerent states. law is divided between a central authority and a number of other units

unitary

a single government is in charge, all the power resides in a central govenrment

quasi federal

a federal set-up where despite having two clear sets of government – central and the states, more powers are given to the Central Government. “like federal” e.g. UK

prerogative power

power that can be used without the intervention of the house of lords etc

precedence

when they refer back to a court case for court rulings

branches of the government

• legislative

• executive

• judicial

who makes up the house of lords (origionally)

• lords spiritual → archbishops etc.

• lords temporal → hereditary peers

• life peerages act → life peers appointed by the queen/ prime minister

what is the lords appointment commission

the ability to block peerages

examples of sources of the constitution

• the magna carta

• the bill of rights

• the scotland act

what did the Magna Carta state

It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits of royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself.

doctrine of implied repeal

if any laws contradict each other, the newer one replaces the older one

ignored conventions

• the peoples budget

• Nigel Farage challenges the speaker

• House of lords tax credits vote

convention about general elections

fixed general elections every 5 years

aim of the constitutional reform of the conservative lib dem coalition (2010-2015)

impliment the wright committees proposals, allow constituents to recall their MP, establish a committee to agree proposals for an elected lord.

what changed in the house of lords reform (lib dem conservative coalition)

• select committee chairs are elected by MPs and paid more so there are more independant MPs

• other select committee members selected by MPs, not leader of party

• E petition system created

• allocated 35 days each session to schedule debates etc

how many signatures in an e petition do what?

• 10,000 signatures → government response

• 100,000 signatures → scheduled for debate

why might the house of commons reform (lib dem conservative coalition) have gone far enough

e petitions allow the public to have a greater say in matters and committee chairs are more fairly voted for

recall petition (lib dem conservative coalition)

• allows constituents to remove MPs before the end of their term

how can an MP be removed

• convicted of a crime and given a sentence of 12 months or less

• if MPs vote to suspend them for at least 10 sitting days

• if they make false or misleading expenses claims

• if 10% of constituents sign the petition, they loose their seat

why did the recall petition (lib dem conservatives coalition) go far enough?

allows constituents to remove their MP if they are not doing a sufficient job and they can replace them

house of lords reform aims (lib dem conservative coalition)

• planned to phase in elections and new appointed members over 10 years

• by the end, they wanted 360 elected members, 90 appointed members, 12 bishops and 8 ministers

house of lords reform what changed (lib dem conservative coalition)

• members can now retire

• removal of members who do not attend/ get arrested

• if code of conduct is broken, members can be expelled

why may the house of lords reform (lib dem conservative coalition) not have gone far enough

aims were far too optimistic, and this was a ten year plan, but the coalition was only in place for five years

who makes up the executive branch

• the prime minister

• the cabinet

who makes up the legaislative branch

• commons

• lords

• monarch

individual ministerial responsibility

when something goes wrong in the department of someone in the cabinet, they ought to resign

aim of the house of lords reform 1999

to make the house of lords more democratic and representative

two stages of the house of lords reform 1999

stage 1 → remove conservative hereditary peers for more representation, removed all but 92 hereditary peers (from 467)

stage 2 → agree a new process for electing/appointing peers to produce a more democratic chamber. labour was divided over whether they should be elected or appointed so it never happened

aim of constitutional reform act 2005

modifies the office of lord chancellor and changes the functions of some offices

what changed in the constitutional reform act 2005

• established a new UK supreme court

• reformed the role of lord chancellor → divided job into three separate positions

• reformed the process for selecting judges. positions are now advertised and each member of the board is allowed one veto

devolution act 1998 aims

decentralisation; to transfer powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

what changed due to the devolution act 1998

• Scottish and Welsh parliament and Northern Ireland assembly

• Scotland has the most power as they had the highest majority in favour

• also appointed a London mayor

what was the aim of electoral reform (labour reform)

to change how the public desires are expressed in election results

what changed due to the “political parties, elections and referendums act 2000”

• limited donations to political parties

• electoral commission to oversee elections and referendums and regulate political finance

how much money is dedicated per person in England

£9296

how much money is dedicated per person in Scotland

£11,247

how much money is dedicated per person in Wales

£10,656

how much money is dedicated per person in Northern Ireland

£11,590

which formula determines how much money per person is dedicated in each country

the Barnett formula

what happened in the 1998 Scotland act

• devolved power to new Scottish parliament

• Scotland was given primary legislative powers (3% above or below taxes)

what powers have been received since the Scotland act 1998

Scotland act 2012

• gave them power to raise or lower taxes by 10%

• devolved control of stamp duty, land tax and landfill tax

Scotland Act 2016

• signed the vow which devolved more legislative powers

• devolved income tax power

• recognised Scottish parliament as a permanent feature off UK constitution

how has devolution to Scotland impacted voting

SNP is now more dominant in Scotland, voting is more polarised

labour

1999 - 56 seats → 37 now

SNP

1999 - 35 → 69 now

what powers were wales given originally

• secondary legislative power (1998 welsh act)

• no financial power

• conferred model

what new powers has wales received since the 1998 welsh act

government of wales act 2006

• confered power model

• wales could only make legislation in one of 20 specific policy ‘fields’

welsh devolution referendum act 2011

• 63.5% → want welsh assembly to make laws on all maters

• from conferred to reserved model

wales act 2014

• stamp duty, business rates, landfill tax

• devolved power for income tax

2017

• income tax powers

• recognised welsh assembly as perminant

impact on voting of devolved powers to wales

from 1999 to now

• labour - 27 → 30

• conservatives - 1 → 16

• Plaid Cymru - 9 → 13

What powers were originally devolved for Northern Ireland

• executive and legislative powers

• 90 members

• 3 categories

  • excepted matters → reserved to Westminster

  • reserved matters → can legislate with permission

  • transferred powers

• no tax raising powers

• largest party of largest community is 1st minister and largest of second largest community is 2nd deputy but they have equal position

what new powers were given to Northern Ireland after devolution

none

how has voting changed in Northern Ireland from 1999 to 2011

• UUP - 28 → 16

• SDLP - 24 → 14

• DUP - 20 → 38

• SF - 18 → 29

summary of Northern Irish parties

UUP and SDLP moderate

DUP and SF more extreme

sinn fein has been previously recognised as a terrorist group (?)