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Edexcel Government & Politics - Unit 2 Governing the UK (09/06/16)

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Original post by guppal21
how would people answer: To what extent can the Prime Minister control the Cabinet?

Anybody got notes or essay plans on that?


June 2014 25 marker hope this helps!

No. 2 (c) To what extent do prime ministers control the decisions
made by their government?
AO1 Knowledge and understanding
Key knowledge and understanding
The following are the methods of control :
The PM exercises various controls over the cabinet including agenda
control, patronage, control of cabinet committees, sofa politics,
quad government etc.
The PM has higher authority than others and is considered to be
chief policy maker. Policies are rarely accepted without their
approval.
The PM has an extensive department comprising the Cabinet Office
and other policy units, advisers etc.
The PM has many prerogative powers that give arbitrary decision
making power over foreign and military policy.
The media tend to treat the PM as chief government spokesman.

The limitations to this powers include :
Some ministers have their own power base, notably the Chancellor.
The PM can be overruled by the cabinet.
The PM can only control policy and decision making if parliament
will approve.
The PM made be constrained by events, foreign affairs and
domestic crises
The PM may be constrained by their party
Under coalition the PM must consult with the Lib Democrats
This unit is so hard
Argh
someone help. im not motivated and know nothing except constitution. 40 markers will euin me
Original post by AllanSmith22
someone help. im not motivated and know nothing except constitution. 40 markers will euin me



Its essential you revise parliament and try to do a third. You still have tomorrow morning :smile:
I feel like giving up lol
Any predictions on the questions?
Original post by AllanSmith22
someone help. im not motivated and know nothing except constitution. 40 markers will euin me


Revise Judges and Civil Liberties, it's one of the shortest units with lots of examples - and it might be a 40 marker = easy to get full marks for AO1
Can someone give me an essay play for significance of constitutional reforms since 1997
Do you think that Edexcel will surprise us with a different style of questions like the Unit 1 25mark democracy one on Monday?
Original post by AhsanIqbal14
Do you think that Edexcel will surprise us with a different style of questions like the Unit 1 25mark democracy one on Monday?


I think Constitution and Parliament will both be 40 markers this year, which would be a surprise for most I imagine
Original post by alevelpain
Could say taking power away from the PM from appointments is undemocratic since he is elected and accountable. Also i'll ask again, does anyone have any recent examples of select committee success in terms of scrutinising the government?


True that true that we do give him a mandate to do so on our behalf and I don't have any sorry mate I don't have specific ones, there's a whole list of them on the parliament website, what about the recent bhs scandal or sports direct? They're on going at the moment


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Reply 971
Original post by xxvine
Can someone give me an essay play for significance of constitutional reforms since 1997

Your 4 main points would be
Modernisation - codification
Democratisation - electoral reform etc
Decentralisation - devolution
Restoration of rights - hra + foia
you're such a legend tysm!!!!!!!!!
Original post by jjbloomy
Parliament was, and still is, an irrelevant institution to a large extent. Parliament is largely an irrelevant institution, because of the increasing transfer of power to other bodies, such as the EU, devolved assemblies and the ECHR problems of the democratic process, as well as low levels of trust of politicians and elitism. On the other hand, it can be argued that Parliament is still relevant, as in theory it is to be an ideal of Parliamentary democracy, they can call the government to account, and can create legislation, although these have a small effect on making it an irrelevant institution.

To a certain extent Parliament is an irrelevant institution as it has given a significant amount of power away to other bodies. These include the EU, in which any UK laws that conflict with EU laws are overridden by the EU; the same also applies with the ECHR. Parliament could choose to not implement EU law or ECHUR, but this could be more trouble than it is worth. An example of the EU is the Factortame case (1988), in which UK law regarding fishing rights breached EU laws, and were ultimately repealed. A case of conflict with the ECHR is the Belmarsh Prison case (2005) in which the indefinite detention of foreign prisoners without trial was incompatible with the ECHR. The fact that a law can straight away be deemed worthless due to incompatibility with the ECHR shows that the UK Parliament can be seen as becoming an irrelevant institution. Another way in which parliamentary power, or sovereignty, is transferred away, is through devolution, in which the Scottish Parliament, as well as the Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies can create legislation on certain issues, tough as long as it does not conflict with EU, ECHR, as well as UK law, thus Parliament is largely an irrelevant institution.

However, Parliament is still somewhat relevant in a theoretical sense, in that it is suppose to act as a democratic and representative system. This is due to the fact that the House of Commons is an elected chamber, and the MPs that sit in the House of Commons represent their constituency, as well as adhere to their party policies. Through this, ideally, all citizens get a chance to participate in the democratic process and be represented in parliament. MPs will represent their constituents by voting in Parliament in the way their constituents want them to vote. For example, in December 2012 Labour MP Steve Reed, the Croydon North representative showed that Parliament is effective in carrying out its representative role as he said that he would listen to his constituents in his decision on whether to support British air strikes against Isis in Syria despite Jeremy Corbyn heavily opposing the air strikes. This therefore shows that to a certain extent Parliament is a relevant institution, to the very least relevant to those who close to participate and are eligible to vote.

Furthermore, it can be said that Parliament is no longer a relevant institution due to major problems within the system. FPTP fails to establish a reliable link between the proportion of votes won by parties and the proportion of the seats they gain. This happens because the system is primarily concerned with the election of individual members, not with the representation of political parties. An example of this is that it it possible with FPTP for the ‘wrong’ party to win an election. This is what happened in 1951, when the Conservatives formed a majority government but won fewer votes than Labour. This shows that to a certain extent Parliament can be seen as an irrelevant constitution as the system in which politicians get elected into Parliament can be seen to be disproportionate which can lead to the public not having a Parliament which represents them.

However, Parliament can hold the government to account and oppose the government. This is in effect, democracy in action, where the supposed will of the people is carried out, though sometimes MPs vote on Party principle, rather than on their constituents views. Either way, they can defy the government if they oppose the group they represent. An example of the government being defeated is the 2013 Military intervention in Syria, defeated 285-272, a very close result. David Cameron complied and respected the will of Parliament. Parliament also holds the government to account by scrutinising proposed legislation as well as having sessions in which the PM and minister answer questions. Therefore it can be assessed that in this regard Parliament can still be regarded as a relevant body.

Subsequently, there is a large amount of distrust in politicians, as well as elitism. This distrust has come from scandals, such as the expense scandals, false promises and parties that the people simply believe do not stand for them. Consequently it is to no surprise that elitism exists, a lot more than other European countries. Those from upper or middle class backgrounds tend to dominate Parliament, including Labour, traditionally the party of the working class. Recent figures have shown that over 30% of MPs went to Oxbridge. It is seen that there are hardly any parties that stand for the British working class and therefore there is underrepresentation in Parliament. The fact that only 29% of women make up Parliament also shows that there is a huge problem with representation, and if Parliament fails to represent the electorate than it poses the question as to how relevant it really is.

The magnitude, not just the frequency of these defeats is changing too. A good example is the case of a motion, not a Bill In 2013, constitution-changing precedent was set when Prime Minister David Cameron sought Parliament’s permission, in the form of a motion (that is, a non-binding vote) to order British military forces to attack Syria. Observers were agreed that David Cameron did not technically need Parliament’s support, but he felt that he needed the backing of the people’s representatives. The House of Commons voted against intervention, and the Prime Minister was forced to abandon his policy. For the first time, it was Parliament, not the Prime Minister, which was dictating Britain’s military policy. This point alone proves that Parliament is relevant: there are few bigger decisions made by a nation than on whether to engage in war, and it was Parliament, not the executive, that had the decisive say on the matter.

In conclusion, it can be said that Parliament is an irrelevant institution, mainly due to the fact that the EU and ECHR seems to take precedence over UK law and devolution has taken power away from Westminster. In theory it can be seen that Parliament is relevant as it is a body that was created to represent the people, but in modern day loyalty to the party leader more often than not means that representation can fall. Therefore, in reality it is becoming a irrelevant institution.
omg wait do you think they'll **** up the paper this year??
Original post by popcornjpg
I think Constitution and Parliament will both be 40 markers this year, which would be a surprise for most I imagine
Original post by alevelpain
Could say taking power away from the PM from appointments is undemocratic since he is elected and accountable. Also i'll ask again, does anyone have any recent examples of select committee success in terms of scrutinising the government?


Wasn't there the example in 2013 where the Education Select Committee told Micheal Gove to slow down on reforms and plans to scrap GCSE which the government responded to going back on it's plans to scrap GCSEs showing the Committee was successful.
Original post by jd_xox
Your 4 main points would be
Modernisation - codification
Democratisation - electoral reform etc
Decentralisation - devolution
Restoration of rights - hra + foia


Could you not format it as 4 paragraphs, 2 for the Blair-Brown Era and 2 for the 2010-Present?
Reply 976
Original post by Nightcall
Could you not format it as 4 paragraphs, 2 for the Blair-Brown Era and 2 for the 2010-Present?

I don't see why not, this was just the way I've been taught it: image.jpg
Original post by jd_xox
Your 4 main points would be
Modernisation - codification
Democratisation - electoral reform etc
Decentralisation - devolution
Restoration of rights - hra + foia


Huh lol
Super confused
Only good questions can save me
Just hoping but doubt it

Still can't believe that democracy Qu
I don't think they will be that harsh on unit 2 because you really can't select revise unit 2 like you can unit 1
I feel like I don't know any examples for Unit 2

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