POLITICS 101:

AN OVERVIEW TO POLITICAL SYSTEMS

Politics
Power

How do the two relate?

POLITICS 101:
AN OVERVIEW TO POLITICAL SYSTEMS
The people with the power
The ability to A focus on conflict

Politics
Power

How do the two relate?

in a country are the
achieve a favoured resolution, politicians - they have
outcome, be it negotiation and power over the people.
However, in a democracy,
through coercion or compromise. they only have the power
the exercise of due to the people, meaning
the power ultimately
authority. Politics resides in them. The
studies who makes people with the power in a
country are the politicians -
the rules and where they have power over the
their authority people. However, in a
democracy, they only have
stems from the power due to the
people, meaning the power
ultimately resides in them.
11/03/202011/3/20
POLITICS 101:
AN OVERVIEW TO
POLITICAL SYSTEMS
Define Explore Answer

• Politics, • The • A mock

power and structure of exam
authority constitution question
s
Howard Lasswell: Politics: Who Gets What, When and How (1935)
The process by which individuals and groups with divergent interests
and values make collective decision, based on two features of society:
Scarcity of Resources: Certain goods from material wealth to knowledge and
influence are in short supply, so there will be disputes arises over their
distributions
Competing Interests and Values: There are competing interests, needs and
wants in complex societies, as well as different views on how these should be
distributed

Questions

1) What divergent interests can you think of in the UK?

2) In the 21st century Western World, what might constitute scarcity of resources?
3) If you apply the competing interests and values to Philip Morant, what results do you come up with?
Power
Power (the ability to do or to make something happen) can be
divided into four strata:
- Absolute power: unlimited power to do what one wants
(theoretical)
- Persuasive power: persuading others that a course of action is
the right one
- Legitimate power: others accepting an individual’s rights to
make a decision (e.g. elected)
- Coercive power: pressing others into complying
Authority
- Authority is the right to take a particular course of action. The
German Sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920) identified three
sources of authority:
- Traditional authority: based on established traditions and
customs
- Charismatic authority: based on characteristics of leaders
- Legal-rational authority: granted by formal processes, such as
elections
- In the UK only parliament has the authority to make and
unmake laws. The L-R A is ratified through elections.
WHAT IS A CONSTITUTION?

‘A body of fundamental principles or

established precedents according to
which a state or other organization
is acknowledged to be governed.’
● A constitution is the conglomeration of the principles and policies that determine how a country will be
governed
● Constitutions are often intended to be flexible - only half function continuously for more than 19 years
● Constitutions function to set out how a state will be organised but also enshrine the fundamental rights of
citizens by limiting the powers of the state
● Actions considered to fall within the limitations of a constitution are said to be intra vires (within power);
those that aren’t are ultra vires (beyond power)
CONSTITUTIONAL NATURE AND IMMUTABILITY
“The earth belongs to the living, and not to the dead”
Thomas Jefferson

● If a constitution is codified (i.e. written and recorded in a single document) it dominates over
statute law - if a law is unconstitutional, it is considered to be null ab initio
● If a constitution is uncodified (i.e. unwritten) its various aspects are capable of being overwritten
via legislation
● On the nature of a constitution, Scott Gordon defined it as containing ‘institutionalized
mechanisms of power control for the protection of the interests and liberties of the citizenry,
including those that may be in the minority" - we will be exploring the nature of constitutional
protection and the potential for elective dictatorship later on today
 Other
Consti
tu t io n
nstitu ti o n
UK Co

● Parliamentary sovereignty - Parliament is the

ultimate source of power and law
● Equality of federating units (subjects)
● Principle of self-determinism of the people
● Rule of law
● Internationalism
● Uniform distribution of power in the state
● Democracy
UK Constitution

● Parliamentary sovereignty - Parliament is the ultimate source of power and law. The law itself
is centralised in Acts of Parliament, and Parliament cannot ‘bind itself’ - it is capable of making
and unmaking any laws that fall within its democratic mandate
● Rule of law - the law is the highest form of authority and applies to everyone, irrespective of
status. Lord Bingham stipulated that this means the law is predictable and equally applicable to
all.
● Democracy - working in tandem with the above, democracy is a cornerstone of the UK. FL
Neumann (1957) stipulated that ‘true’ democracy lies not so much in electing representatives, or
in referendums, but ‘ in the making of politically responsible decisions" and in "large-scale
social changes maximising the freedom" of humankind’.
● Internationalism - stemming back to the Magna Carta, internationalism stipulates the
importance of both trade and international oversight of our laws.
Structure of the UK Government
Westminster model – strong, centralised government run by disciplined
parties. Features include:
- Uncodified and easily amendable constitution
- Doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty concentrates central power
- Executive (implementation of policy) and legislature (passing laws) are fused,
with former being dominant
- Government ministers are bound by collective responsibility – party
discipline is imposed
- An independent judiciary upholds rule of law (the relationship between the
individual and state is governed by law, not arbitrary state action) but cannot
strike them down
- Sub-national government is largely absent and local government is weak
- Representative democracy means government is accountable by elections
NOW: You have fifteen minutes to research your given
country’s political model. You should look at:

- Do they have a written (codified) constitution?

- How does the executive (the people who makes
Person Nation
legislature) work?
- How does the legislative (the people who pass the Beverly A France
laws) work?
- How does the judiciary oversee the process? James Sweden
- How often are elections? What kind of voting system Sophie USA
is used?
- Is the government federal or is power centralised in Beverly O Germany
one place?
Sam China
THEN: Be prepared to summarise at least three ideas
back to the group
Aspect of System Positive, Negative or Why?
Both?

Multi party system

Parliamentary sovereignty

Uncodified and amendable

constitution

Executive and legislative

are fused

Rule of Law

Independent judiciary

Lack of sub-national
government

Representative democracy
 EXPLAIN, WITH
EXAMPLES, THE What Makes Good Explanation?

STRENGTHS AND ● Accurate relevant knowledge of the

question focus
WEAKNESSES OF THE ● Explanation that is developed
UK POLITICAL ● Selection of appropriate examples to
SYSTEM. (6 MARKS) support explanation
 The UK political system is one of both strengths and weakness. For
EXPLAIN, WITH example, it has an uncodified constitution. This is advantageous
because it means laws are easily changeable. This allows for
EXAMPLES, THE Parliament to deliver effectively and quickly on legislature of its
STRENGTHS AND choosing, without being bound by historic decisions. For example,
David Cameron was able to legalise gay marriage in 2012, despite it
WEAKNESSES OF THE being unpopular with his party. However, there is also the problem
UK POLITICAL that the executive and legislative are fused. This can lead to issues like
elective dictatorship. In giving too much power to the Executive, this
SYSTEM. (6 MARKS) can lead to threats in civil liberties and rights – for instance, the right
to a fair trial is founded on common law and could theoretically be
struck down by parliament.

What Why Example

11/3/20
POLITICS 101:
PARLIAMENTARY
SOVEREIGNTY
Investigate Analyse

• Threats to • These threats

parliamentary
sovereignty
The Constitution
● Unusual, as uncodified – major principles aren’t found in a single authoritative
document
● Principles are instead found in various Acts of Parliament, court decisions and
conventions
● The major implications of this are:
○ The constitution lacks the status of fundamental or higher laws – it has the same status
as legislature
○ No special procedures for amending the constitution – it can be amended by any Act of
Parliament
○ It is parliament, not a constitutional court, that determines what is potentially
unconstitutional
Constitution Legitimacy Sovereignty
The laws, rules and practices that Rightfulness: a political system is Legal supremacy or absolute law-
determine the institutions of the legitimate when it is chosen by the
state, and the relationship between consent of the people and actions making authority
the state and its citizens stems from agreed laws
Parliamentary Sovereignty
● A cornerstone of our constitution – Westminster is the supreme law making
authority.
● Hence, Westminster is constructed around three propositions:
○ Parliament can legislate on any subject of its choosing
○ Legislation cannot be overturned by any higher authority (i.e. the courts)
○ No parliament can bind its successors – all legislation is of equal status: major
constitutional change is of equal status as any other law and can therefore be
overturned
● Reality is different from theory: since the executive dominates the legislative, it
is Government that dominates, not the House of Commons.
● This being said, there are some limits: a government that systemically ignores
the will of the people will see its legitimacy damaged.
CASE STUDY – MAJORITARIAN OR CONSENSUAL
DEMOCRACY?
● Dutch political scientist Arend Lijphart located liberal democracies on a spectrum with
majoritarian democracy on one end and consensual on the other.
● M.D sees over concentrated in the centre, with few limits to its exercise. Features
include flexible constitution, plurality electoral system, two-party system, dominant
executive and unitary state.
● C.D sees political power diffused, rigid constitution, proportional representation,
multiparty politics, separation of powers and a federal system.
● Difference in culture are seen as M.D fosters conflict between two main parties of
ideological opposition; power sharing is the norm in C.D.
● Westminster is archetypal M.D; Switzerland is archetypal C.D
● Blair instituted elements of C.D through devolution and the Human Rights Act, and
multi-party politics and coalition governments are more apparent
● Nevertheless, parliamentary sovereignty is still the guiding factor, fusion of legislature
and executive isn’t not distributed greatly and first-past-the-post is still used.
 Rigid and can only
Flexible and easily
Constitution be amended via
amended
special procedures
CASE STUDY – MAJORITARIAN
Executive- Executive is Balance of power
OR CONSENSUAL DEMOCRACY?
dominant and between the
Legislative controls the executive and
Relations legislature legislature
NOW: Summarise the main differences
between majoritarian and consensual
Constitutional court
Judiciary Courts cannot undo
of legislation
can strike down
legislation
democracies
Then: Be prepared to state how far you think
Federal state with
the UK remains a majoritarian democracy
Territorial Unitary state with

Politics
centrally
concentrated power
power divided
between tiers of
government
Achieve More! On a spectrum, how far do
you think the UK has moved from a
Electoral Majoritarian system
Proportional majoritarian extreme to a degree of
representation
System
produces single-
party governments
produces coalition
government
consensual democracy?

Adversial two-party Cooperative

Party System system multiparty system
RECENT THREATS TO
PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY
Membership of the EU
● The EU law dominated British law; this challenged the notion that there was no
higher authority that Parliament. This was juxtaposed by our ability to leave the EU.
● One of the fundamental principles of the EU was the freedom of movement for
people, goods and services between member states
● The extension of the EU’s policy competence, the removal of the national veto in
many policy areas, and strengthening of EU Parliament were domestically
contentious
● Nevertheless, the UK retained a degree of autonomy - for example, in 1979 the UK
opted out of the European Monetary System
● By 2010, between 14 and 17% of laws in the UK stemmed from the EU. Issues
stemmed with the difference between the UK and the rest of continental Europe
● Withdrawal from EU restores supremacy to the UK, but constraints on sovereignty
remain in terms of cross-border challenges like migration and climate change
RECENT THREATS TO PARLIAMENTARY
SOVEREIGNTY
Devolution
● Scottish Parliament, Welsh assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly have primary legislative authority on
devolved matters, such as education and health.
● Westminster still reserves authority on ‘reserved matters, such as the UK economy, foreign policy and the
constitution.
● The Scotland Act 2016 states that the Scottish Parliament and government are permanent institutions that cannot
be abolished without a referendum. This could be considered de facto ‘higher law’ due to the difficulties
Westminster would face trying to abolish it.
England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland
Prescription charges - £9.15 Prescription charges abolished as of Prescription charges abolished as of Prescription charges abolished as of
2011 2007 2010
NHS internal market – major Restructuring – NHS internal market Restructuring – NHS internal market Restructuring – limited NHS internal
restructuring of 2013 abolished abolished market
Tuition fees None for Scottish students Grants Lower fees for NI universities
School league tables Abolished in 2003 Abolished in 2001 Abolished in 2001
SATs for primary school pupils Abolished in 2003, new in 2017 Replaced by national tests for 7-14 No national tests
year olds
RECENT THREATS TO PARLIAMENTARY
SOVEREIGNTY
The Human Rights Act 1998
● This incorporated elements of the European Convention on Human rights (EHCR) into UK statute
law. All new legislation must be compatible with this and UK courts decide cases brought under the
EHCP.
● The courts cannot automatically strike down laws – only Parliament (i.e. MPs) can amend or make
an appeal.
● It has enshrined various principles as the abolition of the death penalty and the rights of the public
to appeal convention contravention - notably, these rights already existed in the British constitution
● The act was, and continues to be, contentious. Michael Howard, in 2005, criticised excessive rights
protected in the act; Paul Dacre criticised the right of privacy in English Law, something he stated
was a European principle, unpassed in Parliament; conversely some have argued that since article
15 allows for derogation, there are no ‘true’ rights guaranteed in the act; Baron Reid was critical of
the act in limiting terrorist responses and the courts’ declaration of incompatibility in the legislation
 EXPLAIN AND
ANALYSE THREE
THREATS TO
Examples w.
PARLIAMENTARY What Why
exploration

SOVEREIGNTY. (9
MARKS)
 EXPLAIN AND Devolution – granting primary legislative powers to member states of the United Kingdom. This
means that Parliament doesn’t have total legislative control over some aspects – 2016 Scotland

ANALYSE THREE Act, which stipulated the need for a referendum. This means that there is a fundamental block to
Parliament being able to undo this Act – this is relatively unprecedented, and also places
ultimate control not in Parliament but in the people.

THREATS TO
PARLIAMENTARY Referendums – requiring the people to vote on a particular issue. This threatens Parliamentary
Sovereignty since it allows for popular power. Reform of the Electoral System in 2010 – had a

SOVEREIGNTY. (9 turnout of 60%. However, Parliament can technically ignore these, meaning they are not a total
threat to their power (although doing so will damage their legitimacy and authority).
Furthermore, Parliament isn’t bound from campaigning in these, meaning the Executive can

MARKS)
have some say in how they proceed.

Examples w.
What Why
exploration
 INDEPENDENT STUDY
● WRITE UP ESSAY RESPONSE
● CREATE A CONSTITUTION FOR YOUR OWN COUNTRY
● READ ‘THE UK CONSTITUTION: A SUMMARY, WITH
OPTIONS FOR REFORM’ (CAN BE FOUND HERE)
1. Citizenship
How is citizenship determined in your nation? Can citizenship be revoked? Will there
be citizens with different rights?
2.Who is allowed to vote NOW: In small groups you need to
What is the criteria for the right to vote? What is the age for voting? Is there a literacy
test or some other qualification for voting? Is voting mandatory or voluntary?
create a country and its constitution.
3.How are the leaders chosen Obviously, it will need a name, but also
Are the leaders chosen through voting? Are there hereditary positions? What are the
elected positions? Does the strongest rules? need a constitution - use the eight
4.What basic rights do people have principles to the left to construct this
What rights are guaranteed by the government?(freedom of speech, freedom pf press,
right to private property, etc.)
5.How is the judicial system organized THEN: In your group, be prepared to
Is there a jury system? Is there a judge who decides cases? Are there different levels of
courts? How can you appeal a conviction? What happens to the rights of those present your country’s constitution to
convicted of crimes, do they lose their citizenship? the class
6.How is the government funded
Will the government have the right to make taxes? Will the government control
businesses and use that money to run the Island?
7.What property rights do people have
Achieve More! Be prepared to analyse
Can people own homes, businesses, land, etc.? your country’s constitution - what are its
8.What provisions are there for changing the constitution?
Can the constitution be amended? If you want to change things do you have to scrap the
relative strengths and weaknesses?
whole thing and start over? Who decides on changes?