Assess The Strengths Of The UK Constitution
Assess the strengths of the UK constitution (25marks)
The constitution of the United Kingdom is the sum of laws and principles that make up the body politic of the United Kingdom. It concerns both the relationship between the individual and the state, and the functioning of the legislature, the executive and judiciary.
One strength that is highlighted in the source which is a strength of the UK constitution is that it is flexible. This is a strength as it therefore means the government and people can actually make things happen without having to stick to one kind of rule and one way of doing things. An example of the flexibility of the UK’s constitution is the recent implementation of the Same Sex Marriages Act (2013). However, the flexibility that is expressed by the fact that it is unwritten may in fact be manipulated if the ability to change the constitution were to “fall into the wrong hands”. For example, if somebody completely left wing or completely right were to come into power, they could effectively manipulate the system and change the constitution to suit them and their supporters.
Another strength of the UK constitution is that there is sovereignty of Parliament. This is a strength as its elected body is accountable to the people. For example, MP’s are elected by the people whop stand in Parliament, which therefore means that the people in power have the general publics support to make decisions. But the nature of our constitution means that the location of sovereignty is a bit of a muddle.
Additionally, another strength is that the rights of the people are pretty well protected despite the un-codified nature. For example, the rule of law and also the human rights act which was created. However this is not water tight as the human rights act is only statute and rights aren’t entrenched as there is no bill of rights which therefore means it doesn’t actually really exist.
Furthermore, another strength is that our constitution does not give too much
The constitution of the United Kingdom is the sum of laws and principles that make up the body politic of the United Kingdom. It concerns both the relationship between the individual and the state, and the functioning of the legislature, the executive and judiciary.
One strength that is highlighted in the source which is a strength of the UK constitution is that it is flexible. This is a strength as it therefore means the government and people can actually make things happen without having to stick to one kind of rule and one way of doing things. An example of the flexibility of the UK’s constitution is the recent implementation of the Same Sex Marriages Act (2013). However, the flexibility that is expressed by the fact that it is unwritten may in fact be manipulated if the ability to change the constitution were to “fall into the wrong hands”. For example, if somebody completely left wing or completely right were to come into power, they could effectively manipulate the system and change the constitution to suit them and their supporters.
Another strength of the UK constitution is that there is sovereignty of Parliament. This is a strength as its elected body is accountable to the people. For example, MP’s are elected by the people whop stand in Parliament, which therefore means that the people in power have the general publics support to make decisions. But the nature of our constitution means that the location of sovereignty is a bit of a muddle.
Additionally, another strength is that the rights of the people are pretty well protected despite the un-codified nature. For example, the rule of law and also the human rights act which was created. However this is not water tight as the human rights act is only statute and rights aren’t entrenched as there is no bill of rights which therefore means it doesn’t actually really exist.
Furthermore, another strength is that our constitution does not give too much