Edexcel Politics 10. Comparative Approaches

Question or Term

Answer

That which the Prime Minister has more of than the President in that they have significant influence over the legislature in the form of patronage, whips, and party loyalty, often manage to act free of Cabinet restraint, do not face such strong constitutional checks from the Supreme Court, face no term limits, and require no approval for executive appointments

That body that changed with the extension of the franchise in that it lost much of its power and hereditary nature under the 1911 and 1949 Parliament Acts and 1999 House of Lords Act, becoming subservient to the elected lower house

Those two factions that have most divided the Labour Party, alphabetically

Those parties the similarities between which are that they both oppose big government, favour lower taxation, support strong law and order and high defence spending, and promote equality of opportunity rather than equality of outcome, alphabetically

That UK body the defining powers of which are that it is the final court of appeal for UK civil and non-Scottish criminal cases, can interpret but not strike down Acts of Parliament, rules on whether ministers' actions are ultra vires, and is subject to a higher authority in the form of the European Court of Human Rights

That which differs in the US and UK as in the former the powers of the branches of government are diffused, often leading to gridlock, while in the latter it is concentrated in a usually majority government that can dominate Parliament

That the basis for which in the US is the expectations, fears, and culture of the country in the 18th century, shaped by beliefs in liberty, individualism, equality, representative democracy, limited government, states' rights, and the rule of law

That approach to comparative politics which is perhaps most salient in comparing elections and voting

That type of party system which exists in the US and UK at the regional level such as in states (i.e. Wyoming having not had a Democratic Senator since 1977) and constituencies (i.e. East Devon (and its predecessors) having been held by the Conservatives since 1835)

That body that changed with the extension of the franchise in that it became directly elected per the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, thus preserving the equal powers of the two chambers

Question or Term

Answer

That form in which representative democracy is being increasingly challenged by direct democracy in the UK

Those two parties the origins of which are differentiated in that the former arose out of the landed aristocracy while the latter arose in opposition to slavery and in the turmoil of the civil war

That court which in the UK lacks the fundamental ability to overrule Parliament or strike down Acts of Parliament unlike its US counterpart

That which is differentiated between the US and UK in that the former is codified and entrenched while the latter is uncodified and not entrenched

Those, five of which are used in the UK, namely; first past the post (general elections), additional member system (Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Greater London Assembly), single transferable vote (Northern Ireland Assembly), alternative vote (Scottish local by-elections), and the supplementary vote (Mayor of London)

That over the executive which is mostly undertaken in Parliament in the form of Question Time, committee hearings, and policy debates

That which the President has more of than the Prime Minister in that he is; directly elected and has constitutional authority over the executive branch, is unrestrained by Cabinet of party, and can use executive orders and executive agreements to largely circumvent checks and balances

The only US Supreme Court Justice to be impeached (in 1804) though he was acquitted at trial

That which the Prime Minister is described as being relative to the rest of the executive (mostly Cabinet) that the President is not due to there being a 'collective executive' in the UK

That which the UK Supreme Court has more of than its US counterpart in that appointments are made via an independent and apolitical Judicial Appointments Commission