The Constitution Notes
Key Terms
• Constitution - A set of rules determining where sovereignty lies in a political system and
establishing the relationship between the government and the governed.
• Unentrenched (entrenched) - A constitution with no special procedure for amendment
• Uncodi ed (codi ed) - A constitution not contained within a single written document
• Unitary - A political system where all legal sovereignty is contained within one place
• Federal - Sovereignty is divided between di erent levels e.g. USA
• Parliamentary sovereignty - The principle that parliament can make, amend or unmake any
law and cannot bind its successors or be bound by its predecessors
• The rule of law - The principle that all people and bodies, including government, must follow
law and be held to account if they do not.
• Statute Law - Law passed by parliament.
• Common law - Law made by judges where the law doesn’t cover an issue or is unclear.
• Conventions - Traditions not contained in law but in uential in the operation of a political
system
• Authoritative works - Works written by experts describing how the political system works, they
are not legally binding but are taken as signi cant guides.
• Treaties - Formal agreements with other countries, usually rati ed by parliament.
• Devolution - The dispersal of power, but not sovereignty, within a political system.
• Quasi-federalism - A division of powers between the central and regional government that has
some features of federalism without possessing a formal federal structure e.g. UK
• Pooled sovereignty - A departure from unanimous decision making and sharing of decision
making between states in systems of cooperation.
1.1. The Nature and Sources of the UK constitution
The UK constitution
Functions
• It is the rules of how to amend the constitution, and asserts the rights of citizens against the
state
• It establishes the rules in which nationality is established
• It contains the limits of what government power should be
• It determines how political power should be distributed within the state
• It determines the balance of power between government and parliament
• It establishes the political process that enables the system to work e.g. how laws are made and
enforced
• It sets out the principles in which the constitution is based e.g. Rule of Law
fi fi fffi fl fi
, Features - The 3 U’s: Unentrenched, uncodi ed, unitary
Unentrenched
- It is highly exible and can be changed easily through an act of parliament - both positive as it
means we are not stuck with old laws (e.g. US gun law), but negative as it means parliament
hold the power to change historical, important laws.
- There are not special safeguards to protect constitutional law (unlike in the US where a 2/3
majority in both houses and an agreement of 3/4 states must occur in order to amend the
constitution)
- The UK process means that historical laws are not continued but also that signi cant historical
acts can be quickly taken away.
Uncodi ed
- Not written down in one single document unlike the US
- The downsides is that citizens do not have a singular document entailing the details of the
political system and citizen rights
- Constitutional law has no special qualities separating them from higher laws or giving them
higher status
Unitary system
- Legal sovereignty lies in one place only (parliament)
- Parliament can delegate power to other bodies e.g. Scottish Parliament but ultimately the
power resides there.
• Statutes can amend the constitution
• This means any laws passed in parliament that a ect how the country is run or the rights of
citizens or any other functions of how the constitution is considered to be an amendment.
• E.g. The constitutional reform act 2005 established a new judicial body (supreme court), and
the human rights act 1998 forced all public bodies (except the UK parliament) to abide by
the ECHR.
• Conventions can amend the constitution
• Unwritten practices and rules develop over time and these unwritten rules are adhered to by
everyone in the political system. Over the past 70 years there have been a number of
changes as a result of new conventions;
• e.g. The house of lords should not obstruct any proposals contained in the governments
most recent election manifesto ‘Salisbury convention’.
• Referendums that can con rm amendments to the constitution
• Referendums are increasingly used to con rm constitutional change.
• e.g. 1997: 2 referendums to decide whether power should be devolved to Scotland and
Wales & in 2011: referendums to decide wether or not to adopt the AV voting system in UK.
fi fl fi fi fi ff fi
, • Constitutional monarchy and royal prerogative
• Prerogative powers of the monarch have been eroded.
• All law making passed to Parliament and the o ce of the PM instead of the monarch
• A sense that the monarch is constrained by constitutional principles, monarch still has
powers as the head of state but the PM carries out the monarchs functions.
• Parliamentary sovereignty
• Critical to how the political system works
• The constitution is not bound by any past governments and cannot bind any future Govs
• Parliament can dismiss a gov through a vote of no con dence e.g. 1979 Callaghan gov
• No separation of powers
• Government is not separately elected but instead is drawn from the parliamentary majority
• The lack of separation of power means the parliament doesn’t control gov but supports
them
• A strong executive
• The constitution gives rise to relatively strong executive branch and a relatively weak
legislature to parliament
• Thus is the result of; the lack of separation fo powers between the two branches, the FPTP
electoral system moved the gov a majority in the HOC and the extensive arbitrary
(unrestrained) powers
• The rule of law
• All are equal under the law and all are entitled to a fair trial if accused of a crime and the
government itself is subject to laws and cannot exceed them.
The twin pillars of the constitution (according to AV Dicey)
1. Rule of Law
2. Parliamentary sovereignty
Key Historical Documents
Magna Carta (1215) - The prevention of an all powerful monarch
- King John signed this agreement with those that had rebelled against him
- It set up the principle of due process of law where no one could be deprived of liberty and
property
- Set out the idea that the king alone could not raise tax without consulting nobility (parliament)
- Remains a symbol of English freedom although many clauses have been repealed since.
ffi fi
Key Terms
• Constitution - A set of rules determining where sovereignty lies in a political system and
establishing the relationship between the government and the governed.
• Unentrenched (entrenched) - A constitution with no special procedure for amendment
• Uncodi ed (codi ed) - A constitution not contained within a single written document
• Unitary - A political system where all legal sovereignty is contained within one place
• Federal - Sovereignty is divided between di erent levels e.g. USA
• Parliamentary sovereignty - The principle that parliament can make, amend or unmake any
law and cannot bind its successors or be bound by its predecessors
• The rule of law - The principle that all people and bodies, including government, must follow
law and be held to account if they do not.
• Statute Law - Law passed by parliament.
• Common law - Law made by judges where the law doesn’t cover an issue or is unclear.
• Conventions - Traditions not contained in law but in uential in the operation of a political
system
• Authoritative works - Works written by experts describing how the political system works, they
are not legally binding but are taken as signi cant guides.
• Treaties - Formal agreements with other countries, usually rati ed by parliament.
• Devolution - The dispersal of power, but not sovereignty, within a political system.
• Quasi-federalism - A division of powers between the central and regional government that has
some features of federalism without possessing a formal federal structure e.g. UK
• Pooled sovereignty - A departure from unanimous decision making and sharing of decision
making between states in systems of cooperation.
1.1. The Nature and Sources of the UK constitution
The UK constitution
Functions
• It is the rules of how to amend the constitution, and asserts the rights of citizens against the
state
• It establishes the rules in which nationality is established
• It contains the limits of what government power should be
• It determines how political power should be distributed within the state
• It determines the balance of power between government and parliament
• It establishes the political process that enables the system to work e.g. how laws are made and
enforced
• It sets out the principles in which the constitution is based e.g. Rule of Law
fi fi fffi fl fi
, Features - The 3 U’s: Unentrenched, uncodi ed, unitary
Unentrenched
- It is highly exible and can be changed easily through an act of parliament - both positive as it
means we are not stuck with old laws (e.g. US gun law), but negative as it means parliament
hold the power to change historical, important laws.
- There are not special safeguards to protect constitutional law (unlike in the US where a 2/3
majority in both houses and an agreement of 3/4 states must occur in order to amend the
constitution)
- The UK process means that historical laws are not continued but also that signi cant historical
acts can be quickly taken away.
Uncodi ed
- Not written down in one single document unlike the US
- The downsides is that citizens do not have a singular document entailing the details of the
political system and citizen rights
- Constitutional law has no special qualities separating them from higher laws or giving them
higher status
Unitary system
- Legal sovereignty lies in one place only (parliament)
- Parliament can delegate power to other bodies e.g. Scottish Parliament but ultimately the
power resides there.
• Statutes can amend the constitution
• This means any laws passed in parliament that a ect how the country is run or the rights of
citizens or any other functions of how the constitution is considered to be an amendment.
• E.g. The constitutional reform act 2005 established a new judicial body (supreme court), and
the human rights act 1998 forced all public bodies (except the UK parliament) to abide by
the ECHR.
• Conventions can amend the constitution
• Unwritten practices and rules develop over time and these unwritten rules are adhered to by
everyone in the political system. Over the past 70 years there have been a number of
changes as a result of new conventions;
• e.g. The house of lords should not obstruct any proposals contained in the governments
most recent election manifesto ‘Salisbury convention’.
• Referendums that can con rm amendments to the constitution
• Referendums are increasingly used to con rm constitutional change.
• e.g. 1997: 2 referendums to decide whether power should be devolved to Scotland and
Wales & in 2011: referendums to decide wether or not to adopt the AV voting system in UK.
fi fl fi fi fi ff fi
, • Constitutional monarchy and royal prerogative
• Prerogative powers of the monarch have been eroded.
• All law making passed to Parliament and the o ce of the PM instead of the monarch
• A sense that the monarch is constrained by constitutional principles, monarch still has
powers as the head of state but the PM carries out the monarchs functions.
• Parliamentary sovereignty
• Critical to how the political system works
• The constitution is not bound by any past governments and cannot bind any future Govs
• Parliament can dismiss a gov through a vote of no con dence e.g. 1979 Callaghan gov
• No separation of powers
• Government is not separately elected but instead is drawn from the parliamentary majority
• The lack of separation of power means the parliament doesn’t control gov but supports
them
• A strong executive
• The constitution gives rise to relatively strong executive branch and a relatively weak
legislature to parliament
• Thus is the result of; the lack of separation fo powers between the two branches, the FPTP
electoral system moved the gov a majority in the HOC and the extensive arbitrary
(unrestrained) powers
• The rule of law
• All are equal under the law and all are entitled to a fair trial if accused of a crime and the
government itself is subject to laws and cannot exceed them.
The twin pillars of the constitution (according to AV Dicey)
1. Rule of Law
2. Parliamentary sovereignty
Key Historical Documents
Magna Carta (1215) - The prevention of an all powerful monarch
- King John signed this agreement with those that had rebelled against him
- It set up the principle of due process of law where no one could be deprived of liberty and
property
- Set out the idea that the king alone could not raise tax without consulting nobility (parliament)
- Remains a symbol of English freedom although many clauses have been repealed since.
ffi fi
