ESSAY PLANS - POLITICS - AQA

9 MARKERS - GOVERNMENT AND UK POLITICS - ANS Explain and analyse three circumstances under which referendums have been held in the UK. - ANS P1 - TO FULFIL PLEDGES MADE BY PARTY MANIFESTOS E1 - Labour in 1997, promised to hold a referendum on a mayor of LONDON. 2015 Tories said they would hold an IN/OUT ref on the EU P2 - TO SATISFY TERMS OF AN AGREEMENT E2 - AV in 2011, Lib Dem/Coalition Agreement P3 - WHERE GOV ITSELF IS DIVIDED E3 - EU Referendum (2016) with parliament and other members of the government e.g Boris Johnson BREXIT - Also to fight off UKIP Explain and analyse three influences upon individual MPs when voting in the House of Commons. - ANS POINT 1:- Party Whip, issues instructions on how MPs should vote on a weekly basis- a three line whip is a strict instruction to attend and vote according to the party line EXAMPLE 1:- Boris Johnson's expelled multiple rebel Conservative MPs because they voted against the whip and voted against a no-deal Brexit ANALYSIS 1:- a Party Whip influences MPs largely when voting in the House of Commons because the consequence of voting against the whip is disciplinary action, which could end in expulsion ------------------------------------------------ POINT 2:- Constituency representation, MPs represent everybody in their constituency EXAMPLE 2:- Jeremy Corbyn represents everyone in Islington North ANALYSIS 2:- in the delegate model of voting, some people view MPs and some MPs act as a mouthpiece for their constituents, therefore they will vote along with what their constituents want, further influencing them. ------------------------------------------------ POINT 3 :- Public responsibility, where constituents trust their MP to make the right decision and vote for what they feel is best, not the mandate model EXAMPLE 3:- free Labour vote over Syrian air strikes ANALYSIS 3:- MPs may feel pressured to vote for what is right and go against what the party or their constituents want, therefore influencing them. Explain and analyse three ways in which judicial independence is upheld in the UK. - ANS Judicial independence: this is the principle that the actions and decisions of judges should not be influenced by pressure from other branches of government. ---------------------------------------------- p1: Judges are chosen by an independent commission, and only 'signed off' by the Lord Chancellor p2: Once appointed, judges can't be sacked unless they break the law, so they can't be threatened with removal for making the 'wrong' decision p3: Judges' pay is decided by an independent pay review body, without interference from ministers Explain and analyse three long-term factors, other than class, that can influence voting behaviour. - ANS p1: Ethnicity - The Labour Party has tended to benefit more from the votes of people from ethnic minority groups. most ethnic minority groups experience lower income levels and higher unemployment