...unit 1 government and politics past questions: 2011 1) Explain the term turnout used in the extract. (5 marks) 2) Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, consider why some commentators have spoken of a ‘participation crises in recent years. (10 marks) 3) ‘Deciding which party to vote for is now essentially a rational exercise.’ Discuss. (25 marks) 4) Explain the term wasted votes used in the extract. (5 marks) 5) Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, consider why the first-past-the-post system disadvantages some parties. (10 marks) 6) ‘The use of referendums in the UK since 1997 has done little to strengthen democracy.’ Discuss. (25 marks) 7) Explain the term party conference used in the extract. (5 marks) 8) Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, outline the ways in which the Conservative Party and the Labour Party select their leaders. (10 marks) 9) ‘The main UK parties differ on economic policy alone.’ Discuss. (25 marks) 10) Explain the term cause groups used in the extract. (5 marks) 11) Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, consider why direct action could be said to undermine UK democracy. (10 marks) 12) ‘The most successful UK pressure groups still tend to focus on lobbying the Westminster Parliament, despite the availability of numerous other access points.’ Discuss. (25 marks) January 2012 13) Explain the term class dealignment used in the extract. (5 marks) 14) Using your own knowledge as well as the...
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...Northern Consortium United Kingdom – Politics Past paper questions for June exam < Module 1 > Section A 1a What are the differences between Public Bills Committees and Select Committees? [5] Public Bills Committee is part of legislative process, whereas Select Committee is part of scrutiny process. In the former committee, the bill is examined by line by line to ensure that its wording and language is clear to allow any amendments on the bill. In the latter committee, there are two departments – governmental and non-governmental. They examine government departments’ expeditures , policies and policies. There are between 16 to 50 members in the PBC who are selected by Committee of Selection whose 7 out 9 members are ships. On the other hand, there are 11 members in the SCs and to eliminate “the conflict of interest, all the members are backbench members who are elected using the Alternative vote system. 2a What are the main functions of Parliament and how well does it perform them? [5] < This question is a 20-mark question > 3a What are the differences between direct and representative democracy? [5] In direct democracy, people are directly involved in decision-making processes, whereas in representative democracy, people elect MPs who will represent and form a government in Parliament. For instance, some qualified members of Athenian society were involved in decision-making and a referendum is a limited form of direct democracy. Also general elections...
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...To what extent do different electoral systems produce different outcomes? In this essay I will assess the outcomes of Additional Member system, First Past the Post system and the Closed Party List system. The F-P-T-P system is used to elect the members of House of Commons and local government in England and Wales. Voters select candidates, and do so by marking his or her name with an ‘X’ on the ballot paper. This reflects the principle of ‘one person, one vote’. The Additional Members system is used in Scottish parliament, Welsh assembly, and Northern Ireland Assembly and Greater London assembly. It is a mixed system made up of F-P-T-P and party-list elements. The Regional party list (or the closed party list) is used to elect the European Parliament. There are number of large multimember constituencies. Political parties compile lists of candidates to place before the electorate, in descending order of preference. Electors vote for parties not for candidates, parties are allocated seats in direct proportion to the votes they gain in each regional constituency. In this essay I will argue that electoral systems produce different outcomes. One of the ways in which first-past-the-post voting system produces different outcomes to other parties is that it leads to no clear correlation between number of vote’s casts and seats won. For example in 2005 general election Labour received 40.7% of the votes but won 413 seats and also during the 2010 general elections Conservatives won...
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...Summary : I. The United Kingdom 1. The Make-Up of the UK 2. Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy 3. The Electoral System and Political Parties in the UK 4. The Current Political Situation 5. Devolved Administration in the UK II. The United States of America 1. The Make-Up of the USA 2. The Federal and Constitutional Republic of the USA 3. Political Parties in the USA 4. The Current Political Situation in the USA I. The United Kingdom 1. The Make-Up of the UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state. It is made up of four individual countries, which are England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is governed by a parliamentary system and its seat of government is in London. There are also three devolved powers outside of the capital, located in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh (the three capital cities of Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively). There are also a number of islands that are constitutionally tied to the United Kingdom constitution, but that are not part of the UK. They are the bailiwicks (headed by a bailiff, appointed by the crown to administer) of Jersey and Guernsey (to the south of the UK) and also the Isle of Man, which is off the north-east coast of the British mainland. However, it is true to say that the majority of British might even get confused as to the difference between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the British Isles...
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...To What Extent Are Policies and Ideas Between Labour and The Conservatives Similar? Labour and the Conservatives are without a doubt the two biggest parties in our political system however there is not as big of a divide between the two parties as it is visible that they do both share some ideas and policies between them. For example, one area in which the two parties are in agreeance is on the monetary policy which is currently set by the Bank of England and this is the process by which the monetary authority controls the supply of money and they often target inflation or interest rates to ensure that the price and general trust in the pound stays stable. The way that both parties are in agreeance here is that they both agree that as parties they are better off leaving the duty of care over the monetary policy to the Bank of England and both parties agree that it is entire up to the Bank of England to set the monetary policy in the UK meaning that if a looser monetary policy is put in place the two parties will reluctantly accept. That is not the only topic related to money in which the parties are similar as the parties are also in some agreeance on the European Economy with the two parties having some different views on the European Referendum they both do agree that it is best to attempt to resist letting the UK be draw further in to the European Economy and also to eliminate the possibility of joining the Euro for the foreseeable future. So the two parties are in agreeance...
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...To what extent does the PM dominate the UK political system? Some say that the Britain has entered an era of elective dictatorship; this is when a government that is elected but has won so many votes that it can do what It likes1. In the UK we have a first past the post voting system so theoretically speaking once elected government can do as they please as they have been given the power to do so by the majority of voters who voted them in. The Prime Minister is the head of government and as head of the executive he has powers that can portray him as a dictator not someone representing the ideas of the general population. For example the conservative government introduced ‘the bedroom tax’ if this was David Cameron’s idea he has the power to ensure that his party vote for this law even if they disagree. In this essay I will evaluate evidence on how much the PM dominates the political system in the UK and conclude by giving my opinion on to what extent he controls the political system. The PM is head of the executive and seen as the most important figure of UK politics, with this comes powers and responsibility’s that arguably makes him the most powerful man in the country. The ability to hand pick your cabinet is a key factor on how much the PM controls the political system of, being able to choose who does what job in the country means the PM holds the careers and more importantly the livelihoods of the ministers in his hand because he has the ability to hire and fire ministers...
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...1. What are the main sources of Scots Business Law? A: The main sources of Business Law are UK Parliament (West Minister), European Parliament and Scots Legislation. Also, the others are Judicial Precedent, Institutional Writers and Custom. 2. Judicial Precedent is Superior to Statutory Law. Do you agree with this statement? A: I disagree; the judicial precedent is formed from a case law, it’s known to be the most important source in common law. A law which is implemented by the judges from a case outcome, if the case law from past outcomes is regularly used in future cases in court, then it is foreseen as ‘in active use’ by the court, therefore, the law is presented to the Superior | Common Court for proceedings. A Statutory Law is the Highest of all binding laws, and this law is made by Parliament in Superior Courts. A Judicial Precedent law is made in Common Court | Superior Court, the Superior Court has higher authority over the common court. 3. Give an example of Judicial Precedent? A: My example for Judicial Precedent Law is the (1932) Donogue V Steveson case. 4. Which is superior Legislative Body: The Westminster Parliament or The Scottish Parliament? A: All main Laws from Scottish Parliament are regulated by UK Parliament (West Minister), Scottish Parliament are then given authorisation for a new legislative act. The legislations are then stated as statutory Laws. So, against Scottish Parliament, Westminster Parliament is the more Superior...
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...1) Coalition government is one in which two or more parties take part in running a country. On paper it looks simple, but it is a whole lot more complicated. For example one issue that can arise is disagreement between the partners on their policies and proposals. In the case of the UK, Conservatives and Liberals sometimes disagree. An example is, the proposal of AV to be used in a general election, but the Conservatives disagreed. However in the end the two coalition partners agreed that they will hold a referendum. 2) One problem that might arise if the cabinet contained both Conservatives and Lib.Dems is that the government is not stable. It is very possible that the two partners may disagree on their policies and proposals. For example the Liberals opposed the further use of nuclear energy, but it was agreed between the leaderships of the two coalition partners that more nuclear power plants can be build. This can build conflicts between the two parties and result in government failure. Furthermore in the UK coalitions are formed in a time of crisis and the country may be seen by other international countries as weak and this can damage their international competitiveness and foreign investment, which are very important in order to keep the economy running. Furthermore coalition government is actually less democratic as the balance of power is inevitably held by the small parties who can barter their support for concessions from the main groups within the coalition...
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...“How can UK democracy be enhanced?” Democracy is a political system where decisions are made in the interests of the people by decision-makers who are elected, accountable and can be got rid of peacefully. There 2 types of democracy: direct and representative ones. In the UK there is a direct democracy which gives every citizen the right to participate, the opportunity to express their views, thoughts and where voters determine specific policy outcomes. There is a constant debate whether the UK is a truly democratic country or not and to what extent. It is believed that nowadays Britain has a massive issues: the electoral system is totally unfair, there are unelected political members and the lack of parties, Civil Rights are in danger, citizens no longer have a wish to participate in elections, the media is prejudged and, finally, the UK is not representative. This essay will evaluate how to make the Great Britain more democratized. The major point is that there is a low rate of political participation in the UK that might lead to an arbitrary and autocratic government. It is significant element because it makes the government more accountable. There are some ways which can prevent this undemocratic style. Firstly, the UK government can introduce the compulsory voting which is nowadays enhanced in Australia. This method would force citizens to affect the outcomes of elections and make them more politically aware of issues. The second way is to increase the use of referendums...
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...Political Parties Short Questions 1. What is a political party? • A political party is a body that seeks to gain power in Parliament • Exercise government power by putting themselves up for election and gaining the support of the public. • They are grouped together by sharing common values and ideologies • Offer policies across a range of issues. • Examples include Labour and the Conservatives 2. Distinguish between a political party and a faction • A faction is a group of like-minded politicians, formed around a key leader or in support of a set of preferred policies, and operating within the House of Commons. E.g Cornerstone within the Conservatives • Political parties are more disciplined versions of factions • Have wider membership and organisation outside of parliament. 3. What is party government? • A system through which single parties are able to form governments • Parties have clear ideological convictions and develop rival programmes • Governing party is able to claim popular mandate and enjoys sufficient unity and cohesion to make government policies • Government is accountable to electorate through its mandate and opposition parties. E.g Labour won landslide victory n 1997, but in 2005 its majority was decreased 4. What is a two party system? • A two-party system is where there are only two major political parties dominating the system. E.g Labour and Conservatives • Only 2 parties...
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...unit 2 Constitution Outline two constitutional reforms proposed by David Miliband. * Replacement of the current House of Lords with a second chamber elected using PR, this would strengthen the representative function of the legislature by providing more representatives who have genuine legitimacy by the use of PR- making the composition accurate to the votes cast. * The introduction of AV would to commons would not change the current constituency structure of the UK, and would also be a bit more proportional than the current Westminster system FPTP. Explain the arguments in favour of a codified constitution. * Codification is the only way of protecting individual rights and freedoms, the current quasi-entrenched HRA fails to do this, reflected in the conservative plans to replace it with a less powerful British bill of rights with will neither enjoy quasi-entrenchment nor a direct association with the ECHR. This shows how the government of the day can tamper with our rights in the absence of codification. * It may help prevent any further drift towards excessive executive power, codification will surely constrain possibly over-mighty governments who are easily able to alter to constitution. However, it may not necessarily be entrenchment de jure but possibly de facto, which would be unnecessary and fail to curb excessive executive power. * Codification will bring Britain into line with other modern democracies, the UK is one of three, including Israel...
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...How has Coalition Government affected Party Politics in the U.K? The arrival of a coalition government formed between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party in 2010 has affected UK party politics in various ways, the nature of which is looked into below. The governing of a country by a coalition of two political parties with differing political stances will involve negotiation between and some degree of compromise on behalf of the two parties. This is necessary in order to come to some form of agreement on key policies, such as those affecting the economy, unemployment, crime, environmental concerns, welfare, law and order and education, amongst other policy areas. The agreements reached are also, to a certain degree, in a balance of compliance with key political beliefs or philosophies of both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in terms of their respective guiding principles on areas such as social justice, the appropriate degree of state intervention and the importance of equality and availability of opportunity within society. The rise to power of a coalition government has made Consensus politics a key feature of UK party politics, since the nature of a coalition involves broad agreement on most basic policies between the two major political parties forming the coalition; the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. The ability and will to negotiate and agree is of key importance if a coalition is to be able to govern effectively, in an organised...
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...Politics Understanding the Examination and Exam Technique Choosing your questions In this unit you are presented with four questions. They are of equal value and each question covers one of the four sections of the specification. These are: Democracy and political participation Party policies and ideas Elections Pressure groups There is no significance to the order in which questions appear. Each question is divided into three sections (a), (b) and (c). When choosing which questions to do, the following principles are recommended: It is almost certain that you will be better off choosing your strongest question to do first. You should choose questions on the basis of how well you can answer the section (c) part. The (c) part carries 25 of the 40 marks available for the whole answer. Do not choose a question simply because you can do part (a) especially well. The (a) question is only worth 5 marks. It would be illogical to choose your strongest (a) part if you cannot do well on section (c). If you cannot decide between several (c) parts, i.e. you can do more than one equally well, make your choice on the basis of part (b) which carries 10 marks. But remember, it is the (c) parts that will determine most what your overall mark will be. So, when you first look at the exam paper, look at the (c) sections first. Assessment Objectives Each question is divided into three sections, as follows: carries 5 marks carries 10 marks carries 25 marks The way you answer questions should be determined...
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...topic that people often find very hard to agree on. Though some parts of what may be a codified constitution have been introduced, such as The Human Rights Act which established a codified set of rules and the introduction of devolution, Britain is currently uncodified and so this brings up the arguments of whether update the system or not The initial argument for the change is it was remove the transparency of rules and laws, the key constitutional are collected into a single document all clearly stated with great difficulty of alteration. This portrays exactly what the beliefs of Parliament are and restricts law breaking. Not only does this deter people from committing offences but also makes it simple to enforce as every charge wish be on the same wavelength. An argument to contradict this however would be that's not every crime committed is the same so the variation in the punishment given would also have to vary and with the defining of the law there is actually potential for it to become less democratic. Along with this as times are forever changing and technology is being updated, the demand for laws to be amended is crucial as without it people could technically exploit the system ‘legally’. Another bonus of a codified Constitution is the fact that it is authoritative meaning it is a higher-level and so it lines all political institutions including those that make ordinary law, such as the two chambers. The provisions of the constitution are also said to be entrenched...
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...looks to analyse the costs and benefits of regulations and thus assess whether more or less regulations should be implemented; according to the SGI codebook, a high quality sustainability assesses the short and long-term impact on social, economic and environmental issues when regulations are implemented.. The 2014 Country Report of the United States concedes that "there is no separate check required for “sustainability” per se" (p34 Quirk, 2014) since the definition of the term sustainabilty can be interpreted in many ways. According to other Country Reports, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom don't have a seperate check for 'sustainability' either, only it is written less blatently due to the different authors involved in the reports. What is initially peculiar about this is that all four countries were awarded a score of at least 7 out of 10 for the criteria of sustainability checks despite none of them actually having a seperate check. This is because the scores are derived from the quality of each country's regulatory impact assessment (RIA) which assess a regulation’s impacts on socioeconomic and other indicators; according to the SGI codebook, a strong RIA "analyses consistently involve stakeholders by means of consultation or collaboration, results are transparently communicated to the public and assessments are effectively evaluated by an independent body on a regular basis" ( p57 Codebook, 2014). RIAs can include cost assesments of social, economic and environmental...
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