This detailed study guide covers key comparative aspects of US and UK politics, tailored for AQA curriculum students. The document includes:
(1) Constitutions and Legislatures: Examines constitutional arrangements, federalism vs devolution, and the nature and authority of both governments.
(2...
how can a government be determined as being legitimate
Answer: if they have won a free and fair election
2.
how has suffrage changed since the great reform act 1832
Answer: before 1832
- only rich, male, landowners could vote
- less than 4% of the population
great reform act 1832
- 1/5 male adults could vote
- 5.6% of the population
representation of the peoples act 1918
- product of the social and political changes caused by WW1
- all men over 21 (or 19 for veterans) could vote
- women over 30 who met the property qualifications could vote
representation of the peoples act 1928
- women finally received the vote on equal terms to men
- all men and women over 21 could vote
- property qualifications removed
representation of the peoples act 1969
- voting age lowered to 18
3.
debates regarding universal suffrage focus on:
Answer: (1) gender
(2) class
(3) ethnicity
(4) age
4.
debates about universal suffrage:
1. gender
Answer: - women traditionally seen as the \"weaker sex\", both physically and mentally
- opponents of women\'s suffrage in the 19th and early 20th century argued that women were \"too emotional\" to vote rationally
- traditionalists felt that a women\'s place was in the home, tending to her family. Politics would distract her. => after ww1 and the role of women on farms and in factories proved this is not the case!
5.
debates about universal suffrage:
2. class
Answer: - the wealthy elite who held the franchise before 1832 worried that their power would be reduced if people from other classes had the vote
- fears that working class men were too poorly educated to understand politics; some feared the working class would support socialism, threatening economic welfare of upper classes
- HOWEVER, the contribution and sacrifice of working class men during ww1 meant denying them the vote could no longer be justified.
Answer: - police and crime commissioner
- general election
- local council elections
- devolved parliaments/assemblies
- bi-elections
- mayoral elections
-referendums (direct democracy)
2.
what is a representative democracy?
Answer: system of government in which people freely elect representatives to represent their views and opinions
(1) may conform to one of 3 models: mandate, delegate, trustee
(2) most liberal Western democracies practice representative democracy
(3) may be direct, presidential democracy (e.g. USA) where people directly vote for the executive or indirect parliamentary democracy (e.g. UK) where the executive is formed from the largest single party in the HoC chamber
3.
define suffrage
Answer: the right to vote
4.
define participation
Answer: involvement in the democratic process of a country
e.g. lobbying mps, signing petitions, holding protests
5.
what is voting behaviour?
Answer: describes how people tend to vote
- the study of voting behaviour (psephology) includes looking at patterns of how people vote and analysis of why they vote that way.
advantage and disadvantages of funding through individual donors
Answer: + large and small parties are both able to raise generous sums
.conservatives raised £5.67m in large donations in 1st week of 2019 campaign
. brexit party raised £2m from business man lord harborne during 2019 campaign
- reliance on a few wealthy donors has the potential for corruption and undue influence
2.
what is a political party
Answer: a group of like-minded individuals who seek to realise their shared goals by fielding candidates at elections and seek to hold public office
3.
what are the different types of political parties
Answer: (1) mainstream
- conservative
- lib dem
- labour
(2) national
- snp
- plaid cymru
- sinn fein
(3) single issue
- brexit party
- green
4.
factors that make a party successful
Answer: - unity
- inspiring leader
- media presence
-relevant policies
- strong campaign
- widespread support
-profitable backing
5.
why were the brexit party more successful than change uk
Answer: - strong leader in nigel farage
- strong media presence (due to energetic rallies)
- leadership of change uk was ununified (blamed each other for their poor performance in 2019 eu election)
Answer: organised group of people that aim to influence the policies or actions of government
-differ from poltiical parties
- many pressure groups are part of broader social movements
2.
what are social movements?
Answer: long-term campaigns for the improvement of an aspect of society.
- e.g. Black Lives Matter; LGBTQ+ rights; the environment
- social movements are less structured and organised than pressure groups and may include pressure groups within them e.g. the environmental movement includes PG such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.
3.
what are the 3 key features of pressure groups
Answer: - seek to exert influence over government policy
- typically have a \"narrow issue\" focus
- members united by a shared belief or common self-interest
4.
what is the main difference between pressure groups and political parties
Answer: pressure groups don\'t tend to seek political office, parties do
5.
differences between political parties and pressure groups
Answer: political parties
- seek to win government power
- appeal to voters on all issues
- organised to fight elections
- if succesful will grow and have a long term future
pressure groups
- seek to influence government policy
- focus on one single issue or a narrow range of issues
- organised to fight campaigns
- if successful will have achieved their aim and have no further raison d\'etre
Answer: - 27 members
- different EU institutions are responsible for executive (government) legislative (making laws) and judicial (interpreting and applying the law) actions
- the EU\'s aims include peace, removing internal borders, and achieving freedom and economic growth while promoting different cultures and languages.
2.
what are the key institutions of the european union
Answer: (1) european commission
(2) council of the european union
(3)european council
(4) european parliament
(5) court of justice of the european union (CJEU)
3.
role and significance of the european commission
Answer: role
- initiates EU legislation, drafts the EU budget and allocates funding
- represents the EU in international negotiations
significance
supranational body
- 27 commissioners, one from each country
- commissioners are not directly elected: national governments nominate commissioners
4.
role and significance of the Council of the European Union
Answer: role
-main decision-making body of the EU [together with the European Parliament]
- approves legislation and EU budget (as does the european parliament)
significance:
intergovernmental body
- government ministers from each of the member nations attend and make decisions together
5.
role and significance of the European council
Answer: role:
- decides the direction of the EU and policy priorities
significance
intergovernmental body
- heads of government (or state) for all EU nations meet 4 times a year
Answer: two chambers (HoC and HoL) parliament is a bicameral legislature
2.
what is the house of commons
Answer: the elected chamber, where most of the power lies
- by convention all PMs and most gov ministers in modern times sit in the HoC
- 650 members, elected in a single constituency using FPTP
- nearly all MPs are members of a political party: important implications for he scrutiny of government
3.
what is the house of lords
Answer: the unelected and largely advisory chamber
- lacks any democratic mandate: reflected in its lack of real power
- the size of membership varies
- 2021 consisted of around 800 peers
4.
example of MPs being elected as independents
Answer: - health campaigner Dr. Richard Taylor represented wyre forest 2001-10 for the independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health concern party
5.
what are the 3 different types of lords in the House of lords
Answer: (1) lord temporal:
- approx 800
- hereditary peers (92), reduced from approximately 700 by the House of Lords at 1999
- the majority are Life peers, Life Peerages Act 1958
(2) lord spiritual:
- 26 church of England bishops
(3) lord speaker
- oversees proceedings in the lord\'s chamber
- current lord speaker = Baron McFall of Alcluith
Answer: The PM is the head of the executive [government], chair of the cabinet and in charge of the civil service.
2.
define core executive
Answer: The collective term for the key players in government policy making
- it comprises the prime minister, the cabinet and its various committees, the cabinet office and senior civil servants
3.
define primus inter pares
Answer: the traditional notion that the prime minister is merely \"the first among equals\" among fellow members of the cabinet. In reality, modern prime ministers have far more power.
4.
EXAM TIPS be careful to distinguish between the terms \"executive\" and \"core executive\"...
Answer: executive = prime minister and cabinet
core executive = prime minister, cabinet and its various committees, cabinet office and senior civil servants
=> the core executive is a more wide ranging term and usefully sugests how power is spread beyond the immediate circle of minister and prime minister
5.
what is the cabinet
Answer: - a team of just over 20 senior government ministers and other key officials, such as the chief whip, who are directly appointed by the PM
- they normally meet once a week on Thursday morning, these meetings are chaired by the PM, who also largely determines the agenda
- much of its detailed work is done in cabinet committees
- most members are MPs, although there are normally a couple of peers (e.g. David cameron)
Answer: the transfer of political power from central government to sub-national government
2.
define unitary state in terms of the uk
Answer: all power derives from central government, the westminster parliament is sovereign and the most powerful law making body in the country. any power given to the regions is delegated not transferred permanently
3.
define federal state in terms of the uk
Answer: division of sovereignty between two or more levels of government. each level of government is, in theory, sovereign to its own sphere e.g. USA, Germany
4.
define quasi federalism in terms of the uk
Answer: many of the powers now delegated to the regions are now politically entrenched and would require a referendum to remove them. therefore, the uk now has elements of a federal state
5.
define asymmetrical devolution
Answer: the regional governments are not identical bodies and have developed and evolved at varying speeds
Content preview
Comparative US and UK politics.
[AQA]
,Constitutions and Legislatures.
(1) Constitutional Arrangements.
SIMILARITIES DIFFERENCES
Embrace representative Government and Sources and structures
Democracy.
UK = uncodified (several sources);
UK = elected MPs in the House of Commons unentrenched; Monarchism.
US = elected senators and representatives US = codified; entrenched; Republicanism
Independent judiciary and some separation
Nature and authority
of powers.
UK = parliamentary sovereignty; fusion of
UK = supreme court created in 2009 by
powers (executive Gov sits in legislative
2005 Constitutional reform act is an
parliament); unentrenched rights
independent branch
US = constitutional sovereignty; separation
US = 3 branches, stated in articles 1,2 and 3
of powers; entrenched rights
in the original 1787 constitution
Checks and balances
UK = no formal checks and balances:
opposition parties in parliament may
scrutinise government; Supreme Court can
offer declarations of incompatibility with
HRA and rule against actions of the
government BUT governments with large
majorities can easily quash opposition, and
due to parliamentary sovereignty rulings by
the Supreme Court can be easily overruled
by parliament.
US = clear, entrenched checks and
balances, very difficult to overrule SCOTUS
as it would require a formal constitutional
amendment.
(2) Federalism v Devolution
, SIMILARITIES DIFFERENCES
Both enable local cultures to flourish
UK = Scotland typically has more left-wing
views. Devolution legislation i.e. 2012
Scotland Act, gave them certain tax-raising UK = asymmetric devolution, not all regions
powers, and as such they used this to raise have experienced devolution to the same
the additional income tax rate to 46p to the extent e.g. 1997 Scotland Act granted
£1, above the 45p to £1 in the rest of the Scotland significantly more devolved
UK. powers than the 1997 Wales Act granted
Wales; lack of any English devolution.
US = Southern states typically have more
conservative social views, 2022 Dobbs v US = All 50 states have the same rights and
Jackson (WHO) ruling extended federalism powers, federalism is symmetrical
by granting states the right to choose their
stance in abortion legislation, which has
allowed many southern states to reflect
their views by banning abortion.
systems moving closer together
UK = devolution legislation is not
entrenched and, as such can easily be
UK = Since 1997 devolution has been
repealed or reduced. Devolution is fairly
extended particularly in Scotland and
recent.
Wales e.g. 2012/16 Scotland Act; 2014/17
Wales Act.
US = entrenched in the constitution [article
4 and 6, article 1 section 8, 10th
US = arguably less federal given the growing
amendment]. The federal system was
role and presence of central government:
2001 patriot act, 2020 COVID stimulus. envisaged by the Founding Fathers in 1787.
(3) comparing legislatures [congress v parliament]
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