It seeks to establish the duties, powers and functions of various institutions in government, regulates their relationships and defines the relationship between the state and an individual
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What are the three features of our constitution?
It is uncodified, flexible and unitary
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What does codified mean?
That something is all written down in one document
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Is the USA's constitution codified or uncodified?
Codified
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What does unitary mean?
That all power resides with parliament
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What are the three features of the USA's constitution?
Codified, rigid and federal
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What does federal mean?
That power is split between the national government and the individual states government
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How many amendments has the USA's constitution had over 200 years?
Just over 27
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What are the three different parts to our government?
The legislature, the executive and the judiciary
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Do we have separation of powers in the UK?
No
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What does separation of powers mean?
That you can only sit in one area of government (i.e you cant be in the executive and the legislature at the same time)
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Does the USA have separation of powers?
Yes
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Give an example of the USA enforcing separation of powers
When Obama was senator for Illinois he had to give up this seat to run for president
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Are government ministers allowed to sit in the judiciary?
No
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What do we have instead of a separation of powers?
A fusion of powers
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What do we lack from not having a codified constitution?
Entrenched rights
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Name the 6 sources of the UK's constitution
Common law, royal perogative, treaties and laws of the EU, works of authority, statute law and conventions
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What is statute law?
Every single act of parliament that has been passed and can be enforced in the judiciary
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Give an example of a statute law and what it does
The habeas corpus law- that protects us against wrongful imprisonment
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What is common law?
Law made by judges and are customs e.g civil liberties that are not written down
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Give an example of a royal perogative
The declaration of war (changing in 2015)
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What are conventions?
Traditions
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Give an example of a convention
That if a minister makes a mistake, he should resign
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What are works of authority?
Documents that we draw from to help work out appropriate constitutional procedures
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Give an example of an EU law or treaty that is a source of the EU constitution
The Maastricht treaty
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What did the Masstricht treaty do?
Created the European Union and the Euro
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What is the tori viewpoint on reforming the constitution?
"If it aint broke, don't fix it"
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
What does a constitution do?
Back
It seeks to establish the duties, powers and functions of various institutions in government, regulates their relationships and defines the relationship between the state and an individual
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