Key term
CCEA A-Level Government and Politics 4830
The Northern Ireland Assembly
Topic overviewThe Good Friday Agreement: origins and principlesThe three strands of the AgreementRights, equality, policing and prisoners under the AgreementImplementing the Agreement: referendums, devolution and suspensionSubsequent agreements from St Andrews to New Decade, New ApproachComposition, elections and designationCross-community voting and the petition of concernThe Assembly's representative functionThe Assembly's legislative functionThe Assembly's scrutiny functionThe Assembly's independence of the Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive Committee
Topic overviewThe composition of the Executive CommitteeAppointing the Executive and the d'Hondt formulaThe First Minister and deputy First MinisterThe Office of the First Minister and deputy First MinisterThe Pledge of Office and the Ministerial CodeHow the Executive determines legislationThe Programme for Government and the budgetDivisions within the ExecutiveEvaluating the Executive's policy makingThe Executive as a power-sharing governmentCollapse, restoration and reform of the Executive
The Northern Ireland Political Parties
Topic overviewThe role and functions of political partiesThe Northern Ireland party systemThe Democratic Unionist PartySinn FéinThe Ulster Unionist PartyThe Social Democratic and Labour PartyThe Alliance PartySmaller parties and independentsChanging party strategies since 1998Changing electoral support since 1998Explaining electoral change
The UK Parliament
Topic overviewRepresentation in the House of CommonsLegislation and the passage of a bill through the CommonsScrutiny of government on the floor of the CommonsSelect committees and the scrutiny of governmentThe effectiveness of the House of CommonsComposition and representation in the House of LordsThe House of Lords and the legislative processScrutiny and committee work in the House of LordsThe effectiveness of the House of LordsThe fusion of powers and executive control of ParliamentParty discipline, backbench independence and parliamentary privilege
The UK Executive
Topic overviewThe role of the Prime MinisterThe powers of the Prime MinisterThe Cabinet and its roleCabinet committees, the Cabinet Office and the core executiveMinisterial responsibilityLimitations on the powers of the Prime MinisterThe Executive and its control of the legislaturePrime ministerial government or cabinet governmentThe civil service, special advisers and the centre of government
Option: The British JudiciaryJudiciary
Topic overviewThe judiciary, the rule of law and the separation of powersThe courts and the United Kingdom Supreme CourtJudicial review and its groundsJudicial review and the Human Rights ActLandmark rulings against the ExecutiveJudicial inquiriesWhat secures judicial independenceTensions between the judiciary and the ExecutiveThe effectiveness of the judiciary in holding the Executive to account
Option: Pressure Groups in the UKPressure groups
Topic overviewThe concept of a pressure groupCause and sectional pressure groupsInsider and outsider pressure groupsSocial movementsPressure groups and the policy-making processInsider tactics: lobbying, consultation and the courtsOutsider tactics: protest, direct action and the mediaWhat makes a pressure group successfulPluralist, elitist and New Right interpretations of impactRegulating lobbying and the debate about influence
USA Option: The Legislative BranchUSA
Topic overviewThe constitutional basis of CongressMembership, elections and termsThe representative role of CongressThe legislative processThe committee systemScrutiny, oversight and impeachmentThe exclusive powers of the SenateParties, leadership and polarisationAssessing the effectiveness of CongressPressure and lobby groups and CongressCongress and the President
USA Option: The Executive BranchUSA
Topic overviewThe constitutional role of the PresidentThe roles the President performsThe formal and informal powers of the executiveThe Cabinet and the executive departmentsThe Executive Office of the PresidentExecutive orders, agreements and unilateral actionConstraints on the exercise of executive powerHow amendments and the courts have shaped the presidencyLobby groups and the executive branchThe executive and CongressPower, responsibility and accountability in the American executive
USA Option: Comparative Government and PoliticsUSA
Topic overviewSeparation of powers and fusion of powersStructures of the two legislatures comparedPowers of the two legislatures comparedParty discipline and the operation of the two legislaturesRepresentation compared across the four chambersLegislation compared across the four chambersScrutiny compared across the four chambersEvaluating the effectiveness of the four chambersAppointment and removal of the two executives comparedThe powers of the two executives comparedConstraints, accountability and the effectiveness of the two executives
Ireland Option: The Legislative BranchIreland
Topic overviewBunreacht na hÉireann and the role of the OireachtasDáil Éireann: composition, election and termSingle transferable vote in multi-seat constituenciesSeanad Éireann: composition and selectionHow a bill becomes law in the OireachtasThe Oireachtas and representationScrutiny, questions and the committee systemThe effectiveness of Dáil Éireann and Dáil reformThe effectiveness of Seanad Éireann and the reform debateThe judiciary, the courts and the legislative branchThe Oireachtas and the executive
Ireland Option: The Executive BranchIreland
Topic overviewBunreacht na hÉireann and the executive powerThe Taoiseach: appointment, powers and constraintsThe Tánaiste, ministers and the shape of the GovernmentCabinet government and the executive processThe President and the executive branchCoalition government and how it shapes the executiveMinisterial responsibility and accountabilityThe executive and the OireachtasThe judiciary and the executive branchFormal constitutional amendment and the executiveInformal constitutional change and the executive
Ireland Option: Comparative Government and PoliticsIreland
Topic overviewCodified and uncodified constitutions comparedThe structures of the Oireachtas and Parliament comparedElecting the Dáil and the Commons: PR-STV and first past the postSeanad Éireann and the House of Lords comparedRepresentation comparedMaking law: the legislative process comparedScrutiny and accountability comparedAppointing the two executivesThe powers of the two executives comparedConstraints on the two executives comparedEvaluating the power, accountability and effectiveness of the two executives
Political Power: The Exercise of Political PowerPolitical Power
Topic overviewPower, authority and influenceLegitimacy and the grounds of obedienceSocial, economic, religious and international factors in legitimacyCreating and maintaining legitimacy across political systemsCoercion and its effectivenessDictatorship, authoritarianism and oligarchyThe nature and effectiveness of authoritarian ruleDemocracy and democratic legitimacyHuman and civil rightsState survival and state collapse
Political Power: Theories of Political PowerPolitical Power
Topic overviewStudying the origin, nature and distribution of powerPluralism and the diffusion of powerCriticisms of pluralism and elite pluralismMarxism, the ruling class and the capitalist stateNeo-Marxism, hegemony and the relative autonomy of the stateClassical elite theoryModern elite theory and elite ruleFeminism, patriarchy and political powerThe theories applied to different political systemsEvaluating the four theories of power
Political Ideas: Mill, on LibertyPolitical Ideas
Topic overviewMill, On Liberty and the one very simple principleThe harm principleSelf-regarding and other-regarding conductThreats to individual libertyThe tyranny of the majorityLiberty of thought and discussionIndividuality and experiments of livingHuman rationality, progress and Mill's exceptionsThe role of the state in On LibertyCriticisms of On Liberty
Political Ideas: Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FrancePolitical Ideas
Topic overviewBurke, the Reflections and the occasion of the bookBurke's view of human natureReason, prejudice and prescriptionCustom, tradition and the partnership between generationsThe attack on abstract rightsGradual change and the case for reformSocial inequality, property and natural aristocracyPolitical authority, religion and the role of the stateBurke's critique of the revolutionaries' methodCriticisms of the Reflections
Political Ideas: Marx and Engels, the Communist ManifestoPolitical Ideas
Topic overviewThe Manifesto, its authors and its occasionClass struggle and the materialist view of historyThe bourgeoisie as a revolutionary classThe nature of capitalism and its crisesThe exploitation of the working classSocial divisions, the other classes and class consciousnessThe demise of capitalism and the proletarian revolutionPrivate property and the ten measuresThe nature of socialism and the role of the stateCriticisms of The Communist Manifesto
Political Ideas: LiberalismPolitical Ideas
Topic overviewThe core ideas of liberalismThe liberal view of human nature and human reasonNegative and positive freedomThreats to individual libertyLiberal equalityThe liberal stateClassical liberalismModern liberalismLiberalism and democracyEvidence for and criticisms of liberal principlesLiberalism compared with conservatism and socialism
Political Ideas: ConservatismPolitical Ideas
Topic overviewThe core ideas of conservatismThe conservative view of human natureCustom, tradition and prescriptionThe need for gradual changeThe organic societyAuthority, hierarchy and social inequalityOne-nation conservatismLibertarian conservatism and the New RightEvidence for and criticisms of conservative principlesConservatism compared with liberalism and socialism
Political Ideas: SocialismPolitical Ideas
Topic overviewThe core ideas of socialismThe socialist view of human natureThe socialist critique of capitalismSocialist equalityIndividual liberty in socialist thoughtFraternity, community and co-operationThe role of the state in socialist thoughtRevolutionary socialismReformist socialism and social democracyEvidence for and criticisms of socialist principlesSocialism compared with liberalism and conservatism
The UK Parliament
The effectiveness of the House of Commons
- 3 things to know
- AS Unit 2
Overview
Payroll vote, how control of the timetable strengthens the government's hand and programme motion.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Why does the size of a government's majority matter for scrutiny?
Numbers
What has happened to the level of backbench rebellion since the 1970s?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What did Lord Hailsham mean by an elective dictatorship?
Model answer
Lord Hailsham argued in 1976 that a government with a Commons majority faces so few effective checks between elections that it can govern almost as it pleases. The phrase has since become the standard shorthand for executive dominance of Parliament.
- 2
What is the payroll vote?
Model answer
The payroll vote is the bloc of ministers and parliamentary private secretaries who are bound by collective responsibility to support the government in divisions, and it delivers a large guaranteed vote before any backbencher is persuaded.
- 3
How many ministers may sit and vote in the House of Commons?
Model answer
No more than 95 ministers may sit and vote in the House of Commons at one time, a limit set by the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975.
- 4
Explain how control of the timetable strengthens the government's hand.
Model answer
Standing orders give government business precedence at most sittings, so ministers decide what the Commons debates and for how long. Backbench and opposition time is carved out of the exceptions.
- 5
What is a programme motion, and why do critics object to it?
Model answer
A programme motion sets a timetable for each stage of a bill. Critics object that whole groups of clauses can reach the end of their allotted time undebated, so parts of a bill leave the Commons without scrutiny.
- 6
Why does the size of a government's majority matter for scrutiny?
Model answer
A large majority means the number of rebels needed to defeat a government is high, so ministers can discount backbench opinion. A small majority or a minority government makes every vote a negotiation.
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