Comparative Politics– This textbook provides a comparative analysis of political systems, with case studies that can aid in comparing US and UK politics. Debate Chapter 1 Historical context of the UK political systemDid the Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement mark a significant change in the powerof parliament?Yes NoQ The monarch was now of parliament’s choosing, rather Q Parliament remained only advisory in nature. Q The monarch remained the dominant force in British than ruling through divine right.Q They established the principle of regular and free politics. Q Parliament itself only represented the wealthiest elections.Q They restricted the monarch’s ability to interfere with 2% of the country. laws.Q They meant taxation could only be passed by parliament.The creation of the United Kingdom England and Wales had developed as one country since the conquest of Wales by Edward I in the 1270s. Wales still retained its own language and customs for many years, but politically it was run from Westminster and was often referred to as part of England, though, more accurately, England and Wales together were ‘Britain’. Scotland remained an independent kingdom until 1707, with its own monarch, laws and institutions. In 1603, King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. The two kingdoms were still legally separate but they now shared the same head of state, which brought a period of peace and stability to Anglo-Scottish relations. In 1155, Pope Adrian IV had offered the crown of Ireland to King Henry II if he could bring the Irish under control. Following his own break with Rome in the sixteenth century, King Henry VIII began a more formal subjugation of Ireland, first by persuading the Irish Parliament to pass the Crown of Ireland Act in 1542. This formally made the Kings of England also Kings of Ireland. Therefore, by the start of the eighteenth century, the same monarch ruled the three separate kingdoms, but England (and Wales), Scotland and Ireland all had separate parliaments, laws and customs, and were still separate countries. The Acts of Union 1707 The Act of Settlement allowed the English Parliament to decide who should be the monarch in England and there was a real possibility that the Scottish Parliament might choose a different monarch to rule their country. This would lead to the breakup of the informal union between the two kingdoms and the possibility of future wars. In 1698 and 1699, Scotland attempted to establish its own colony in Panama in the Gulf of Darien. The expedition proved disastrous and effectively bankrupted the country. Urged on by King William III, the Scottish Parliament was forced to accept terms from the English 9 Essentials of Political Ideas– an A Level book that looks into the political ideas, their thinkers and other revision tips. The Communist Manifesto– the most notable work of socialist literature by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

The Liberal Tradition in America– Explores the historical roots and characteristics of liberalism in the United States and its implications for international relations. Essentials of UK Politics and Government is the go-to textbook for all A-level Politics students studying the Edexcel specification. Building on Andrew Heywood's signature accessible style, this new fifth edition has been thoroughly updated by Kathy Schindler and Adam Tomes who draw on their experience to provide an innovative guide to UK Politics. This book covers all the core topics from Democracy and Participation, Elections and Referendums and Voting Behaviour, to the Constitution, the Prime Minister and Parliament. This Land– written by Owen Jones, a columnist for the Guardian and activist for Labour, this book looks to build a more equal society using figures from across the political spectrum. UnPresidented– written by the BBC’s North America correspondent, this book looks at the 2020 presidential election from behind the scenes, an election like no other. AO1 and AO2 presented little difficulty and they have appeared on the legacy specification in a similar format – as such they are not new demands. This does differ when we come to AO3. Unlike on the legacy specification where this was a lesser mark for communication – AO3 is now an equal partner for marks with the other two AOs. It demands that the candidate forms a judgment and reaches a verdict.

Chapter 5 Parliament 82 The House of Commons: structure and members . . . . . . . . . . . 83 The House of Lords: structure and members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Comparative powers of the Commons and the Lords . . . . . . . . 89 Functions of parliament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 The relationship between parliament and the executive . . . . . 110Chapter 6 The prime minister and executive 117 The executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 The prime minister and cabinet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Ministerial responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 The relative power of the prime minister and cabinet . . . . . . . 142 The power of the prime minister and cabinet to dictate events and determine policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Chapter 7 The Supreme Court 158 The role and composition of the Supreme Court . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Key doctrines and principles that underpin the work of the Supreme Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 The power of the UK Supreme Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 The overall impact of the UK Supreme Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 The potential impact of Brexit on the jurisdiction, power and authority of the UK Supreme Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Chapter 8 The European Union 178 The development of the European Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 The aims of the European Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 The roles and functions of European Union institutions . . . . 184 The European Union political system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 The impact of the European Union on British politics . . . . . . 189 The decision to leave the European Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Component 2 Political participation in the UKChapter 9 Democracy and political participation 202 What is democracy?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202 Forms of democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204 How effectively does democracy operate in the UK?. . . . . . . . .207 Extending the franchise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Political participation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223 How do pressure groups and other organisations promote democracy and political participation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 The protection of rights in a democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 What could be done to improve democracy in the UK?. . . . . .243 v

harder to explain precisely what politics is. This is not surprising, given the Chapter 2 The UK political system range of definitions and interpretations in common usage. Definitions of politics One of the most memorable and effective definitions of politics is found in the title of a book by US political scientist Howard Lasswell: Politics: Who Gets What, When and How (1935). Politics is, in essence, the process by which individuals and groups with divergent interests and values make collective decisions. It exists because of two key features of human societies: Q Scarcity of resources. Certain goods, from material wealth to knowledge and influence, are in short supply, so disputes arise over their distribution. Q Competing interests and values. There are competing interests, needs and wants in complex societies, as well as different views on how resources should be distributed.Key terms Power or conciliationAuthority The right to take a There are two broad perspectives on the conduct of politics: particular course of action. Q Politics is about power. Power is the ability to achieve a favouredPower The ability to do outcome, whether through coercion or the exercise of authority. The something or make something study of politics thus focuses on the distribution of power within a happen. society: who makes the rules and where does their authority come from? Q Politics is about conciliation. Here the focus is on conflict resolution, negotiation and compromise. Politics can be a force for good, a way of reaching decisions in divided societies without resorting to force.In focusPowerPower is the ability to do something or make something happen. It can be subdivided into four forms:Q Absolute power is the unlimited ability to do as one wishes and this exists only in theory.Q Persuasive power is the ability to persuade others that a course of action is the right one.Q Legitimate power involves others accepting an individual’s right to make decisions, perhaps as a result of an election.Q Coercive power means pressing others into complying, using laws and penalties.In a democracy, governments exercise legitimate power, with elements of persuasive and coercive power.In focusAuthorityAuthority is the right to take a particular course of action. The German sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920) identifiedthree sources of authority:Q Traditional authority is based on established traditions and customs.Q Charismatic authority is based on the characteristics of leaders.Q Legal–rational authority is granted by a formal process such as an election.Only parliament has the authority to make and unmake laws in the UK. This legal–rational authority is legitimisedthrough free and fair elections.Authority and power may be held independently of one another: a bomb-wielding terrorist may have power withoutauthority; a teacher might have authority without genuine power; and a police officer in a tactical firearms unit mayhave power and authority. 17 Prisoners of Geography– a book detailing the big powers in global politics, and how maps can explain them. Theory of International Politics– Introduces structural realism or neorealism, focusing on the anarchic structure of the international system. Case study Majoritarian or consensual democracy? Dutch political scientist Arend Lijphart located main parties with opposing ideological positions. Power liberal democracies on a spectrum with majoritarian sharing is the norm in a consensual democracy. democracy at one extreme and consensual democracy at the other (see Table 2.1). The UK Westminster model is the archetypal majoritarian democracy, while Switzerland is a In a majoritarian democracy, political power is leading example of consensual democracy. The Blair concentrated at the centre and there are few limits to its governments’ constitutional reforms introduced exercise. Common features include a flexible constitution, elements of consensual democracy (e.g. devolution a plurality electoral system, a two-party system, a and the Human Rights Act), while multiparty politics dominant executive and a unitary state. In a consensual and coalition government have also become more democracy, political power is diffused. Typical features apparent. But the UK is still close to the majoritarian are a rigid constitution, proportional representation, position. Parliamentary sovereignty remains the guiding multiparty politics, the separation of powers and a constitutional principle, the fusion of the legislature and federal system. There are also important differences in executive has not been disturbed greatly, and the first- political culture. Politics is adversarial in a majoritarian past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system is still used for democracy, characterised by conflict between two Westminster elections. Questions Q What are the main differences between a majoritarian and a consensual democracy? Q Is the UK still a majoritarian democracy? Table 2.1 Majoritarian and consensual democracyUK Government and Politics for AS/A-level Aspect of political Majoritarian democracy Consensual democracy system Flexible constitution is easily amended Rigid constitution can only be amended through Constitution special procedures Executive is dominant and controls the legislature There is a balance of power between the Executive–legislative executive and legislature relations Courts cannot challenge the constitutionality of Constitutional court can strike down legislation Judiciary legislation Unitary state with power concentrated at the Federal system with power divided between tiers Territorial politics centre of government Majoritarian system produces single-party Proportional representation produces coalition Electoral system government government Adversarial two-party system Cooperative multiparty system Party system Activity Key term Using the information in Table 2.1 and the rest of this chapter, assess the extent to which the UK has moved from the majoritarian democracy extreme towards the consensual democracy end of the spectrum. Constitution The laws, rules and practices which determine the The constitution institutions of the state, and the The British constitution is highly unusual as it is uncodified. This means relationship between the state that the major principles of the political system are not found in a single, and its citizens. authoritative document. Instead they are located in various Acts of20 The Life of an MP– Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, discusses the role of an MP and the occurrences that happen in their personal and political lives.

Specification

We’re Living Through the Breakdown– this book is written by Tatton Spiller of Simple Politics, and looks at how we can understand politics in an age of huge change. Pearson Edexcel does not insist or recommend that there is only one form of essay writing in which to frame responses. There are a wide range of approaches and methods all of which are perfectly valid and creditworthy. Essay style and composition does vary from centre to centre and within centres from candidate to candidate – that is borne out in the vast range of scripts we mark. We do not seek common uniformity but instead celebrate the different and unique approaches which we see.