constitution terms

Question	Answer
bill of rights	an authoritative statement of the rights of citizens, can be entrenched as part of a codified constitution
Limited government	a system in which the powers of government are subjected to legal constraints and checks and balances within the constitution
constitution	the set of rules, laws and practices that create the basic institution of the state and its component and related parts, and stipulate the powers of those institutions and the relationships between them
constitutionalism	the theory and practice of government according to the rules and principles of a constitution. A constitutional democracy is one which operates within the framework of a constitution that limits parliaments power and protects the rights of people
codified constitution	a single document that sets out all of the rules, principles and laws of how a state should be governed. Are all on one authoritative document
uncodified constitution	All of the rules, principles and laws are not gathered on one single document. They are found on a variety of sources some written or unwritten
fundamental law	the law which forms the foundation of the government of a state
judicial review	the power of senior judges to review the actions of government and public authorities and can declare them unlawful if they have exceeded their authority
statue law	law derived from the acts of parliament and are formed in the legislative process. e.g great reform act 1832 European communities act 1972 fixed term parliament act 2011 human rights act 1998 Scotland act 1998
common law	law which comes from decisions made from court cases and form general customs
royal prerogative	powers of the crown which are excerised in the monarchs name by government ministers
conventions	established norms of political behaviour rooted in past experience rather than the law e.g. appointing the prime minister ministerial responsibilities Salisbury convention-house of lords should not veto an act which is the governments manifesto
authoritative works	a number of established and political texts that have become a part of our constitution e.g. Walter Bagehot's the English constitution 1867 v. diceys an introduction to the study of the law of the constitution 1884
eu law	as a part of the eu law we must accept some legislations into our constitution
parliamentary sovereignty	parliament has absolute authority with in the state. it has legislative supremacy. however due to devolution and eu law it is debatable to how meaningful this theory is
rule of law	all uk citizens must obey all laws. the rights of citizens are protected from arbitrary state actions
civil liberties	fundamental individual rights and freedoms that ought to be protected from interference with the state
unitary constitution	one in which sovereignty is locate at the centre. central government has supremacy over other tiers of government
union state	a state in which there are cultural differences and where, despite a strong central, different parts of the state are governed In different ways
constitutional government	a political system in which the monarch is head of state but all political decisions and the monarchs legal powers are exercised through government
separation of powers	principle that the legislative, executive and judicial branches pf government are independent from each other
fusion of powers	the intermingling of personnel in the executive and legislative branches of government
pooled sovereignty	the decision making authority of the member states of an international organisation combined. achieves joint interests of the member states
devolution	this is the transfer of political power from central government to regional or subnational governments seen in 1999 with the scottish and welsh assemblies
quasi federalism	this is when a central government of a unitary state devolves some of its power to subnational states. centre government no longer makes all of the domestic policies for the whole state
consolidated fund	these are the salaries of the judges which have been protected so politicians cannot manipulate judges
European convention on human rights	established by the council of Europe and allowed uk citizens to pursue cases under the ECHR in uk courts

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	Created by Isabelle Klein about 8 years ago