Key term
AQA A-Level Politics 7152
The Nature and Sources of the British Constitution
The Structure and Role of Parliament
The Prime Minister and Cabinet
The UK Judiciary
Devolution
Democracy and Participation
Topic overviewDemocracy, Legitimacy and Direct DemocracyDirect and Representative Democracy ComparedThe Reform Acts of 1832 to 1884 and the ChartistsSuffragists and SuffragettesWho Can Vote Today, and Votes at 16Forms of Political ParticipationTurnout, Apathy and Proposals for ReformPartisan and Class Dealignment
Elections and Referendums
Topic overviewMajoritarian and Proportional SystemsThe Additional Member System, STV and Other SystemsThe 1945 and 1979 General ElectionsThe 1997 and 2010 General ElectionsModels of Voting BehaviourLeadership, Manifestos, Campaigns and the MediaThe Nature and Use of ReferendumsRegulating Referendums, and the Case For and Against
Political Parties in the UK
Pressure Groups in the UK
The UK and the European Union
The Constitutional Framework of US Government
Congress
The US Presidency
The US Supreme Court
US Elections and Direct Democracy
Topic overviewCongressional Elections and Electoral College VotesThe Electoral CollegeThe Invisible Primary, Primaries and CaucusesSuper Tuesday, Momentum and DelegatesWhat Decides a US ElectionCampaign Finance RegulationParty Coalitions and Voting BehaviourRealignment, Dealignment, Split-Ticket Voting and TurnoutDirect Democracy at State Level
Political Parties in the USA
Pressure Groups in the USA
Civil Rights in the USA
Comparative Politics: Theoretical Approaches
Constitutions and Legislatures Compared
The Executives Compared
The Judiciaries Compared
Electoral and Party Systems Compared
Pressure Groups Compared
Civil Rights Compared
Liberalism
Conservatism
Socialism
NationalismIdeology
FeminismIdeology
MulticulturalismIdeology
AnarchismIdeology
The Nature and Sources of the British Constitution
- 6 subtopics
- 20 things to know
- Paper 1
What The Nature and Sources of the British Constitution covers
The British constitution has no single document: it is drawn from statute, common law, convention, authoritative works and the prerogative, and can be changed by an ordinary Act. Runs from Magna Carta to the reforms since 1997 and the arguments over codifying it.
The 6 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Codified and Uncodified ConstitutionsRecall questions on what makes a constitution codified or entrenched, why the British one is neither, and its five main sources.Open →
- The Rule of Law and Parliamentary SovereigntyRecall questions on what the rule of law requires in the UK and on why no Parliament can bind its successors.Open →
- Magna Carta and the Early ConstitutionRecall questions on who forced Magna Carta on the king in 1215, where it was sealed and what it established about royal power.Open →
- The Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949Recall questions on the removal of the Lords' veto, the delay left on money and public bills, and what 1949 changed.Open →
- Individual and Collective RightsRecall questions on the difference between individual and collective rights and on cases where they agree and where they conflict.Open →
- Constitutional Change since 1997 and CodificationRecall questions on the constitutional reforms since 1997, from freedom of information, the Equality Act and Lords reform to the Supreme Court and fixed-term Parliaments, and on the arguments for and against codification and a British Bill of Rights.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
What is a constitutional convention?
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Define the royal prerogative.
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What is meant by the rule of law?
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Define parliamentary sovereignty.
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In what way does devolution place a practical limit on parliamentary sovereignty?
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Who compelled the king to accept Magna Carta?
Numbers
Which revolution produced the Bill of Rights 1689?
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State two other limits the Bill of Rights placed on the Crown.
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How long could the Lords delay a money bill after 1911?
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How long could the Lords delay other public bills under the 1911 Act?
Numbers
Name one Act forced through using the Parliament Acts.
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What are individual rights?
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How can press freedom collide with an individual's privacy?
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Name three rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.
Numbers
Which Act gives the public a right of access to information held by public bodies?
Key term
Name three protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
Numbers
Which 2011 Act fixed the timing of general elections, and what has replaced it?
Process
Identify the sources of the British constitution, including its major statutes and common law.
Process
What does the rule of law require, and where does ultimate legal authority now rest?
Take The Nature and Sources of the British Constitution further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Codified constitution vs Uncodified constitution
Codified constitution: rules collected in one authoritative document. Uncodified constitution: rules distributed across several sources.
Unitary state vs Federal state
Unitary state: ultimate authority remains at the centre. Federal state: authority is constitutionally divided between levels.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What does it mean to describe a constitution as codified?
Model answer
Its rules are gathered into a single authoritative written document that stands above ordinary law.
- 2
Why is the British constitution described as uncodified?
Model answer
Its rules are scattered across several different sources rather than being collected in one authoritative document.
- 3
Explain what is meant by calling the UK constitution unentrenched.
Model answer
Any part of it can be altered by an ordinary Act of Parliament, with no special majority or additional procedure required.
- 4
Name the five main sources of the British constitution.
Model answer
Statute law, common law, conventions, authoritative works and the royal prerogative.
- 5
What is statute law, and why does it outrank the other sources?
Model answer
It is law made by Act of Parliament, and it is supreme because parliamentary sovereignty obliges the courts to apply it over any competing source.
- 6
Give two statutes of major constitutional importance.
Model answer
The Human Rights Act 1998 and the Scotland Act 1998.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
The Nature and Sources of the British Constitution revision questions
- What does The Nature and Sources of the British Constitution cover in AQA A-Level Politics?
- 6 subtopics: codified and uncodified constitutions, the rule of law and parliamentary sovereignty, magna carta and the early constitution, the parliament acts of 1911 and 1949, individual and collective rights and constitutional change since 1997 and codification. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is The Nature and Sources of the British Constitution organised?
- By the AQA 7152 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in The Nature and Sources of the British Constitution, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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