Constitution exam style questions

• Strengths of the British Constitution

  Adaptability

  • uncodified
  • Can change to reflect current political landscape
  • Firearms Act 1997, Dunblane Massacre
• Strengths of the British Constitution

  Strong Government

  • We get strong governments with clear majorities
  • power is with parliament, parliamentary sovereignty
  • FPTP means the vast majority of policies can be implemented
• Strengths of the British Constitution

  Accountability

  • government is accountable to parliaments
  • government is only accountable to the electorate during general elections
  • when governments act against the interests of the public they lose massively at the polls
• Weaknesses of the British Constitution

  Outdates & undemocratic

  • House of lords is completely unelected
  • royal prerogative, power exercised by parliament in the name of the crown
  • Monarchy itself is outdated
  • Many parts of the constitution are just there because they always have been
• Weaknesses of the British Constitution

  Concentration of Power

  • power is very much concentrated on the PM and Cabinet
  • effectively unlimited power in theory
  • human rights act can be repealed
  • devolved governments can be dissolved
  • 'elected dictatorship'
• Weaknesses of the British Constitution

  Lack of clarity

  • conventions
  • a codified constitution would rule out ambiguities that exist in current constitution
  • Boris Johnson tried to trigger Article 50 (no deal Brexit) without consulting the cabinet, a complaint was made and Supreme Court ruled in favour of the complaint
• Should the UK adopt a codified constitution?

  Providing Clarity

  • codified constitution would make it easier to determine what is and isnt constitutional
  • would make it easier to hold governments accountable
  • Make clear which conventions to follow

  Protection of Rights

  • Protection of devolved governments
  • Human rights of citizens enshrined in law

  Limiting Power

  • prevent 'elected dictatorship'
  • Protect devolved governments from removal
• Should the UK adopt a codified constitution?

  Rigidity

  • would be difficult to make future amendments to the constitution
  • A codified constitution reflects the values of when it was written ie American Constitution written in the late 1700s

  Parliamentary Sovereignty

  • there can be no parliamentary sovereignty in a codified constitution
  • Incompatible with current British politics
• Should the Uk adopt a codified constitution?

  Increased Judicial Powers

  • Supreme Court in a codified constitution provides strict limitations on how a government is to act
  • unelected judges would be making major decisions and they cannot be held accountable by the public
  • judges may become too political reducing faith in the political system as they are supposed to be unbiased