The Changing Constitution
- Created by: belle-madeleine
- Created on: 24-08-17 20:39
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- The Changing Constitution
- The Constitution Under Blair and Brown
- Reforms
- A Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly were created in 1999
- A Northern Ireland Assembly was created in 1998
- A Greater London Authority was set up in 2000
- Referendums were held to approve the creation of each of the new government bodies
- PR electoral systems were used for each of the created bodies
- The Human Rights Act was passed in 1998
- All but 92 hereditary peers lost their right to sit and vote in the House of Lords in 1999
- The Freedom of Information Act was passed in 2000
- The 2005 Constitutional Reform Act provided for the creation of the Supreme Court in 2009
- Criticisms of Labour's Constitutional Reforms
- Enthusiasm for constitutional reform quickly started to fade
- The reforms were piecemeal
- The reforms reshaped existing constitutional arrangements but didn't address deeper problems
- Reforms
- The Constitution Under Cameron and Clegg
- Constitutional Implications of Coalition Government
- Government formation
- Collective responsibility and "agreements to differ"
- Coalition partners were allowed to adopt different positions
- AV referendum
- University funding
- Renewal of Trident nuclear weapons
- Coalition partners were allowed to adopt different positions
- Internal organisation of the executive
- Alternative arrangements are put in place to reconcile the disputes
- Powers of the prime minster
- Obligations of the House of Lords
- Constitutional Reform Under the Coalition
- Fixed-term Parliaments
- Five-year Parliaments
- Made the coalition more stable and enduring
- Prime minster lost the ability to decide the date of the next election
- Reform of the Westminster electoral system
- House of Lords reform
- Devolution
- Bill of Rights and the judiciary
- Fixed-term Parliaments
- Constitutional Implications of Coalition Government
- A Codified Constitution?
- Obstacles
- There is no process through which a written constitution could be introduced
- The major parties disagree about the nature and the contents of the constitution
- What Would Constitution Affect?
- The power of government
- The relationship between judges and politicians
- The relationship between the executive and Parliament
- The relationship between central government and devolved and local bodies
- Individual rights and freedoms
- Obstacles
- For or Against a Codified Constitution?
- For
- Clear rules
- Limited government
- A solution to elective dictatorship
- Neutral interpretation
- Policed by senior judges
- Act neutral and impartial
- Policed by senior judges
- Protecting rights
- Individual liberty would be more protected
- Education and citizenship
- It highlights the central values and overall goals of the political system
- Clearer sense of political identity
- Against
- Rigidity
- It can easily become outdated
- Fails to respond to an ever-changing political environment
- Judicial tyranny
- Judges are not the best people to police the constitution as they are unelected and socially unrepresentative
- Legalistic
- Political bias
- They only enforce one set of values
- Unnecessary
- Not the most effective way of limiting government power
- Rigidity
- For
- The Constitution Under Blair and Brown
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