Recapping Unit 2

DO NOWExplain what is meant by the term English Parliament. How do proposals for an English Parliament differ from George Osborne’s ‘Cities Devolution Bill’, announced today, which promises a “revolution in the way England is governed”?

Unit 2: Basics - UK

Executive(Prime minister &

Cabinet, Govt Depts, Civil Service)

Legislature(House of Commons

& House of Lords)

Personnel Accountability

ElectorateLegitimacy & Accountability

Judiciary(Supreme Court)

Accountability

Unit 2: Basics - EU

Executive(European Commission,

European Council)

Legislature(European Parliament,

European Council)

Personnel Accountability

ElectorateLegitimacy & Accountability

Judiciary(European Court

of Justice)

Accountability

Our mark scheme

Level Key descriptor Out of 10 Out of 254 “Excellent” 9-10 21-253 “Good” 6-8 16-102 “Limited” 4-5 11-151 “Basic” 1-3 ≤100 “No relevant response” 0 0

Parliamentary scrutinySelect committees have proved effective at scrutinising the actions of the executive and holding it to account. Select committees decide which issues they are going to examine. They have wide powers to summon witnesses and to examine restricted documents. Committees spend much of their time questioning ministers, officials and outside experts. Membership of select committees reflects the party balance in the Commons. Chairs of committees are allocated to parties according to their relative strength. Candidates from that party are then elected by all MPs in a secret ballot using the alternative vote system. Successful candidates often have a reputation for independence. Members of select committees are elected by secret ballot within party groups.Since a unanimous select committee report is likely to carry maximum weight, members aim to strike compromises across party lines. Over time, committee members can become more expert in their chosen fields than the relevant ministers, who usually have short tenures in a specific office.

Adapted from Lynch and Fairclough AS UK Government & Politics (2013)

• Define the term party balance as used in the extract. (5)• Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, consider two ways in which Parliament can scrutinise the

executive and hold it to account. (10) • ‘The experience of coalition government has made Parliament a more independent body.’ Discuss. (25)

Topic 2 Parliament

Appointment to the cabinetThe prime minister may be left with rather little choice in appointing a cabinet. That is not to say that there is no room for manoeuvre. Some powerful figures have been kept out of the cabinet by their prime minister, or out of the cabinet post they really wanted. Thatcher and Blair contrived to put their own supporters into important government positions, and cabinet sackings and promotions are fairly frequent, as prime ministers try to balance the demands of political circumstances and groups jockeying for power. Equally, two very successful post-war prime ministers, Macmillan and Thatcher, seem to have signalled weakness rather than strength when they engaged in major ‘cabinet reshuffles’ in 1962 and 1989. Both were soon out of power. The prime minister’s powers to hire and fire government members are, as are many other functions of the office, a mixture of freedom and constraint. There is often little choice, and some ministers choose themselves by virtue of their political position and stature. At the same time, some prime ministers have juggled the careers of powerful people and have shaped governments to their own taste.

Adapted from Budge et al, The New British Politics (2007)

• Define the term cabinet reshuffles as used in the extract. (5)• Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, explain why a prime minister’s power to hire and fire

government members is ‘a mixture of freedom and constraint’. (10) • Discuss the view that the UK executive has too much power. (25)

Topic 3 The core executive

Political groupings in the European Parliament

The members of the ‘European Parliament’ (MEPs) are elected by proportional representation from within member states to represent their countries, their constituencies and their parties. This means that they can be torn by conflicting loyalties. Although MEPs do not confront each other in the semicircular chamber like a government and opposition, they do form political groupings, ranging from left to right, that cut across national boundaries. Although often terming themselves parties, the groupings are not like the parties found in national political systems. They do not have mass organisations or fight elections with clear manifestos. However, in joining a political grouping, MEPs are expected to broadly accept its ideological position. The Euroscepticism of British Conservatives has often created major problems within the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) group. For example, after the 2009 elections, to some dismay of moderate centre-right leaders such as Germany’s Angela Merkel, David Cameron fulfilled a controversial pledge to leave the EPP and join a new anti-federalist grouping. Not all his MEPs were enthusiastic about this.

Adapted from J Kingdom, Government and Politics in Britain (2009)

• Define the term European parliament as used in the extract. (5)• Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, explain why Members of the European Parliament can ‘be

torn by conflicting loyalties’. (10) • ‘The case for an English Parliament is now overwhelming.’ Discuss. (25)

Topic 4 Multi-level governance

Executive Legislature Judiciary Constitution

Parliament Election Representation Scrutiny

Participation Liberal Policy Cabinet

Devolution Plurality Sovereignty Unitary state

Unit 1: Key topics

• Choose one past paper essay question from either Participation and Voting Behaviour or Electoral Systems.

• Re-write the question. The explanation focus of the question should remain the same but your wording needs to change.

• Plan an answer to your re-drafted question.

Participation and voting behaviour‘There is no participation crisis in the UK.’ Discuss.

‘Stability, rather than volatility, now characterises voting behaviour at UK general elections.’ Discuss.

‘Voting behaviour at UK elections is determined more by issues of personality and image than on the basis of policies or performance in office.’ Discuss.

‘The election campaign is now more important than long-term factors in shaping voting behaviour.’ Discuss.

‘Low levels of turnout at recent general elections to the Westminster Parliament result from political apathy alone.’ Discuss.

Electoral systems

‘The case for retaining the First-Past-the-Post system for use at UK general elections is overwhelming.’ Discuss.

‘The UK would benefit greatly from the wider use of referendums.’ Discuss.

‘The first-past-the-post system used in elections to the Westminster Parliament should be replaced with a more proportional system.’ Discuss.

‘There is no such thing as a perfect electoral system.’ Discuss.

‘The wider use of referendums would pose a threat to the form of representative democracy traditionally practised in the UK.’ Discuss.