Citizenship paper1

• Factors that create identity


  • Religion
  • Culture
  • Sexuality, gender, lifestyle choice
  • Political views
• Factors that create identity include religion, culture, sexuality, gender, lifestyle choice, and political views
• Local government

  Elected in local elections, deal with smaller issues in local area like social housing, funded through council tax
• Factors causing immigration


  • High standard of living
  • Peace
  • Political stability
  • High human rights and freedom
• Factors causing emigration


  • Low standards of living and poverty
  • Political instability
  • Dictatorship
  • Lack of freedom
• Changing nature of the UK population includes increasingly urban population and ageing
• Role of developed government


  Represents significant challenges and changes
• Changing perceptions of women's role in society represents a significant challenge
• Views on tax and spending

  • Taxes should be low, people should keep more of their wages (right wing)
  • Taxes should be high, people should contribute more to public services (left wing)
• First Past the Post (FPTP) system


  UK is divided into 650 constituencies, a candidate winning the most votes in a constituency becomes the MP, tends to result in strong, stable governments
• Disadvantages of FPTP


  • Smaller parties are underrepresented
  • Millions of votes may be 'wasted' as they don't contribute to the final result
• Alternatives to FPTP

  • Proportional representation - percentage of votes equals percentage of seats
  • Alternative vote - each person chooses a first and second choice
• Devolved governments


  • Have power over most matters like education, health care, criminal justice
  • Elected by those nations
• Requirements to stand for election in the UK

  • Over 18
  • British or Commonwealth citizen
• Citizenship

  Legal status of an individual recognised by a state, grants certain rights and responsibilities
• List system

  Candidates are ranked, votes are distributed accordingly
• 3 parts of government

  • Executive - Prime Minister and Cabinet, take action, set policies
  • Legislative - Parliament, votes on and amends legislation
  • Judicial - Courts, interpret law, pass judgement
• Bicameral parliament


  • Lower house - House of Commons, elected
  • Upper house - House of Lords, appointed
• UK political parties

  • Conservative - right wing, blue
  • Liberal Democrats - centrist, orange
  • Labour - left wing, red
• The trend of the population is towards increased diversity and inclusion of underrepresented groups in politics
• Moral rights


  Rights that are considered fundamental, like the right to education, freedom of thought and expression
• Legal rights

  Rights granted by law, like the right to a fair trial, presumption of innocence
• Candidate selection


  Only 1 candidate per party, large parties carry out interviews, existing MPs often selected by default
• Role of House of Commons Speaker


  Manages debates, Black Rod responsible for security
• Voting in Parliament


  Candidate receiving most votes becomes MP, Parliament votes on passing legislation, amending and updating it
• Arguments against lowering the voting age to 16 include that young people may not be as informed or experienced to make decisions
• Role of Prime Minister


  Acts as experienced advisor, meets weekly with the monarch
• International treaties on human rights


  • UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
  • European Convention on Human Rights (1953)
  • UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
• Purpose of criminal law


  • Deals with issues between individuals and the state, like murder, assault
  • Deals with issues between individuals, organisations, like theft, unemployment
• The purpose of sentencing is public safety, proportionality, and preventing re-offending
• Trade unions


  Represent workers in a specific industry, provide advice and guidance, can make sentences more lenient
• International law


  Governs relationships between nations, sets out basic rules like non-targeting of civilians, treatment of prisoners