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AQA AS Politics GovP2 09/06/16 Official Thread

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Reply 60
Also, for parliament - how would you answer the question, 'Is parliament still sovereign?'
Would you talk about the EU, devolution, the HRA and referendums?
Original post by TB99
Also, for parliament - how would you answer the question, 'Is parliament still sovereign?'
Would you talk about the EU, devolution, the HRA and referendums?

That's a constitution question, not parliament.
Just talk about the EU, devolved bodies etc which have undermined the parliamentary sovereignty and the unitary state respectively. then say ultimately parliament can withdraw these powers

I don't know what else id say.
Anyone??
Reply 62
Original post by BirdIsWord
That's a constitution question, not parliament.
Just talk about the EU, devolved bodies etc which have undermined the parliamentary sovereignty and the unitary state respectively. then say ultimately parliament can withdraw these powers

I don't know what else id say.
Anyone??


In the specification for parliament it lists parliamentary sovereignty - what possible things can come up for this?
Original post by TB99
In the specification for parliament it lists parliamentary sovereignty - what possible things can come up for this?


What exactly does it say??
Parliamentary sovereignty is definitely more to do with the constitution and its principles than the parliament topic itself
Original post by TB99
Also, for parliament - how would you answer the question, 'Is parliament still sovereign?'
Would you talk about the EU, devolution, the HRA and referendums?


Original post by BirdIsWord
That's a constitution question, not parliament.
Just talk about the EU, devolved bodies etc which have undermined the parliamentary sovereignty and the unitary state respectively. then say ultimately parliament can withdraw these powers

I don't know what else id say.
Anyone??


here guys
Original post by BirdIsWord
That's a constitution question, not parliament.
Just talk about the EU, devolved bodies etc which have undermined the parliamentary sovereignty and the unitary state respectively. then say ultimately parliament can withdraw these powers

I don't know what else id say.
Anyone??


Could talk about our constitution being increasingly codified as a way to back up your point on devolution undermining Parl sovereignty. (i.e. the Scotland Bill established the Scottish Parliament in 1998; because it is of huge constitutional significance + has the backing the majority of Scots, - due to the referendum in 1998 - it is de facto fundamental law - i.e. it is VERY unlikely the government would think about repealing it, even though they are entitled to due to Parl sovereignty)

Another example of de facto fundamental law is the HRA; the HRA has embedded the rights of citizens into their consciousness, making it hard to remove without harming the government's electability (although there are talks of replacing it with a British Bill of Rights).

In addition, although Parl doesn't have to agree with Supreme Court rulings, due to the judges' independence and the sheer amount of training + expertise they have, the government is unlikely to bypass such a respected institution, even though in theory they can.
Reply 66
Original post by BirdIsWord
What exactly does it say??
Parliamentary sovereignty is definitely more to do with the constitution and its principles than the parliament topic itself


Page 8:
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/specifications/alevel/AQA-2150-W-SP-14.PDF
Original post by BirdIsWord
Yeah but most of them are pretty easy though no? What are the harder ones?


yeah they are, but I guess its just that it feels like two topics in one with there being stuff on both constitution and judiciary..
I like feel its important to get the 5 and 10 markers as high as possible so you can afford to drop the odd mark in a 25 mark...

not sure of any hard ones of the top of my head,,
Original post by rebirth61213
Could talk about our constitution being increasingly codified as a way to back up your point on devolution undermining Parl sovereignty. (i.e. the Scotland Bill established the Scottish Parliament in 1998; because it is of huge constitutional significance + has the backing the majority of Scots, - due to the referendum in 1998 - it is de facto fundamental law - i.e. it is VERY unlikely the government would think about repealing it, even though they are entitled to due to Parl sovereignty)

Another example of de facto fundamental law is the HRA; the HRA has embedded the rights of citizens into their consciousness, making it hard to remove without harming the government's electability (although there are talks of replacing it with a British Bill of Rights).

In addition, although Parl doesn't have to agree with Supreme Court rulings, due to the judges' independence and the sheer amount of training + expertise they have, the government is unlikely to bypass such a respected institution, even though in theory they can.

Also remember to contract with the USA. Once you contrast with the USA you see that the Supreme Court is weak. It can't strike down acts of Parliament but can only issue declarations of independence.
I guess this is where doing the A2 and AS exams in the same year comes in handy



Ah ok I think it just wants an understanding though. I doubt they'd ever ask a question directly on it in the Parliament topic.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 69
Any predictions for the 10 marker on constitution
can anyone explain the difference between parliamentary sovereignty and political sovereignty?
Original post by LenniesRabbit
I don't believe it has, to be honest. In most cases they ask if there is a prime ministerial government or presidential, but it would require you to also mention that there is a cabinet government. There hasn't been one specifically of cabinet government though, no.



What exam board are you with because in edexcel, there has previously been a question on the cabinet, it came up in June 2012
Guys, what do we need to know about the roles of the House of Commons and House of Lords in scrutinising legislation and holding the government into account?

It is in the spec but I can't find the info anywhere
Original post by sidrah97
What exam board are you with because in edexcel, there has previously been a question on the cabinet, it came up in June 2012


AQA, this thread is for AQA politics not edexcel
Original post by LowkeyLogical
Guys, what do we need to know about the roles of the House of Commons and House of Lords in scrutinising legislation and holding the government into account?

It is in the spec but I can't find the info anywhere


House of Commons scrutiny device -
Select Committees
Backbenchers /Private members bills
PMQ
Legislative Process

HO Lords
Legislative Process
Delays/Veto of bills
Debates
Original post by lascelles101
whats edm again??


Early day motions
Original post by govandpolitics
what are the constraints on parliamentary soverignty


- executive power
- membership of EU
- Human Rights Act (1998)
- devolution
- referendums
what mark would you give this?
The British constitution has become increasinglycodified, discuss. A constitution is a set of rules that defines themanner a country is run. The British constitution is said to be an unwrittenconstitution, more accurately it is uncodified as much more of the British constitution is written down, however, theyare not all written down in a single document like a codified constitutionwould require as how the US is, however draws from several different sourcessuch as; statutes laws, common law, conventions, EU laws, authoritativedocuments etc. Statute law, is a written law passed down by parliament forexample the human rights act of 1998 which brought the European convention onhuman rights into British law, conventions is another source of the Britishconstitution, they are unwritten laws considered binding on members of thepolitical community for example the Salisbury convention which made sure thatthe house of lords does not obstruct proposals contained in the governmentsmost recent manifesto. Has the British constitution become increasinglycodified? Its not the case that the British constitution is being written in asingle document but in fact that more of the constitution is being written downas there is increasingly more written statutes that have great constitutionalimpacts as they are passed by parliament making them more rigid therefore harder to change as parliament has ultimatesovereignty, however you could say the EU laws are exempt from this, thesignificant examples of statute law with great constitutional impacts are suchas the TheHuman Rights Act [1998]which was put inplace under Tony Blair, the Human Rights Act enshrined into constitutional lawbasic human rights that appear as articles of the European Convention of HumanRights, However does allow for changes to be made by the government to theseterms. The Act's terms include: Article 2 (Right to Life), a citizen's right tolife is protected by law. No citizen can be deprived of their lifeintentionally, except in the case of serving a criminal sentence. Article6 (Fair Trial), all citizens are to be tried fairly and equally in a court oflaw, and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Article12 (Marriage and Family), all men and women have the right to marry and start afamily. Anotherexample that could be used is Devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as much of it hasthe character of fundamental law, it has limited the powers of Westminster itcontributes to the case that the British constitution has becomemore codified in the sense that it is more rigid and hard to change because itis derived through referendums, defying this means that the government is againstthe wish of the people. Another statute that supports that indeed theBritish constitution is becoming more codified is the 2005 constitutionalreform act which separate the judiciary form the executive and legislature bycreating a supreme court court which more adopts the idea of separate powersmostly found n codified constitutions like the US for example , it also tookover the judicial work of the house of lords, establishing the judicialappointments commission. The prospect of a coalition government in 2010 opensup the discussion even more as it led to the coalition agreement for stabilityand reform and called for constitutional clarification by the cabinet secretary,which demonstrates that indeed the constitution is becoming more codified asthere was a need for ‘clarification’ which without a doubt a codifiedconstitution does establish. Authoritative documentation has undoubtedlybeen imbedded into the constitution for example the ministerial code firstpublished as questions of procedure for ministers in 1992, and now as a set of‘rules’ for ministers. The cabinet manual also demonstrates hugely the changeof the British constitutions as traditions are being replaced as it set out howthe government and civil service relate to the monarchy, devolvedadministrations and international institutions such as the EU. In conclusion there is no doubt that theBritish constitution is becoming more codified not in the sense that everythingis written down on piece of authoritative document making it highly entrenchedbut in the sense that there is a growing body of codified statute la, that aremaking the constitution more rigid, however it is still a far cry from a completecodified constitution as laws and be flexibly changed by the sovereignty ofparliament just needing a majority.
Original post by govtandpolitics
- executive power
- membership of EU
- Human Rights Act (1998)
- devolution
- referendums


could you just briefly explain them?
Original post by LenniesRabbit
House of Commons scrutiny device -
Select Committees
Backbenchers /Private members bills
PMQ
Legislative Process

HO Lords
Legislative Process
Delays/Veto of bills
Debate

Thankss, what is the definition of private members bills and how does it scrutinise government?

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