Study sheet: UK, USA and Political Ideologies

📋 Course Outline

1. British Constitution and Rights
2. UK Parliament and Representation
3. UK Prime Minister and Cabinet
4. UK Judiciary and Devolution
5. UK Democracy and Participation
6. UK Elections and Parties
7. UK Pressure Groups and EU
8. US Constitutional Framework
9. US Congress and Presidency
10. US Supreme Court and Rights
11. US Elections and Parties
12. US Pressure Groups and Civil Rights
13. UK–US Comparative Politics
14. Liberalism Conservatism Socialism
15. Nationalism and Other Ideologies

📖 1. British Constitution and Rights

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Parliamentary sovereignty : the principle that Parliament is the supreme law-making authority in the UK

★ Must-know

📌 The British constitution is uncodified because its rules are not contained in one authoritative document, although it includes statutes, common law, conventions, authoritative opinions and the royal prerogative.

• Significant constitutional documents include:
  • the Bill of Rights, enacted in 1689
  • the Act of Settlement, enacted in 1701
  • the Parliament Acts, enacted in 1911 and 1949

Further detail

• The Magna Carta was issued in 1215 and is significant in the historical development of rights in the UK.

💡 Memory Hook

Documents sequence: Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Act of Settlement, Parliament Acts

📖 2. UK Parliament and Representation

★ Must-know

📌 The House of Commons consists of elected MPs, whereas the House of Lords consists of unelected or appointed peers.

• Parliamentary scrutiny uses:
  • debate
  • legislation
  • committees
  • opposition activity
  • redress of grievances

Further detail

• Government influence over Parliament is strengthened because party discipline routinely enables the government to outvote the opposition, civil servants' appearances before Select Committees are controlled by government, and committee membership is largely controlled by the Whips' offices.

💡 Memory Hook

Commons versus Lords; delegates versus trustees

📖 3. UK Prime Minister and Cabinet

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Collective responsibility : the convention that cabinet ministers must publicly support agreed government policy or resign
• Core executive : the Prime Minister, cabinet and other central institutions involved in making government policy

💡 Memory Hook

Individual responsibility versus collective responsibility

📖 4. UK Judiciary and Devolution

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Judicial review : the process through which courts assess whether public authorities have acted lawfully and within their powers
• Devolution : the transfer of powers and responsibilities from the UK government to elected bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

💡 Memory Hook

Judicial review limits government, while devolution redistributes authority

📖 5. UK Democracy and Participation

📝 Essential Points

📌 Direct democracy allows citizens to decide political questions themselves, whereas representative democracy allows elected politicians to decide on their behalf.

• The Great Reform Act of 1832 began a major process of change in the development of suffrage in the UK.

💡 Memory Hook

Suffrage develops from the Great Reform Act through Chartists, Suffragists and Suffragettes

📖 6. UK Elections and Parties

★ Must-know

📌 Majoritarian electoral systems tend to reward the party with the most concentrated support, whereas proportional electoral systems seek to distribute seats more closely according to votes.

Further detail

• The 1997 general election is one of the three elections selected for detailed study, alongside one election before 1997 and one election after 1997.

💡 Memory Hook

Majoritarian systems contrast with proportional systems

📖 7. UK Pressure Groups and EU

📝 Essential Points

📌 Insider pressure groups have established access to government, whereas outsider pressure groups lack regular access and generally rely on public campaigning.

💡 Memory Hook

Insider groups work within government, whereas outsider groups campaign from outside

📖 8. US Constitutional Framework

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Federalism : a constitutional division of governmental authority between the national government and state governments
• Checks and balances : institutional controls through which each branch of US government can limit the power of the other branches

💡 Memory Hook

SCP: separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism

📖 9. US Congress and Presidency

📝 Essential Points

📌 The House of Representatives and Senate together form Congress, which exercises legislative, oversight and power-of-the-purse functions.

📌 Presidential formal powers are enumerated or inherent constitutional powers, whereas informal powers include agenda-setting, party leadership and world leadership.

💡 Memory Hook

Congress legislates and oversees, whereas the President executes and leads

📖 10. US Supreme Court and Rights

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Judicial review : the Supreme Court's power to assess the constitutionality of laws and government actions

📝 Essential Points

• Brown v Topeka Board of Education was a landmark Supreme Court ruling from 1954.

💡 Memory Hook

Judicial activism expands interpretation, whereas judicial restraint limits it

📖 11. US Elections and Parties

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Electoral College : the system through which presidential electors determine the winner of a US presidential election

📝 Essential Points

• 🔄 The presidential nomination process proceeds through:
  1. primaries
  2. caucuses
  3. national nominating conventions
  4. the general election

💡 Memory Hook

Primaries and caucuses lead to national nominating conventions and elections

📖 12. US Pressure Groups and Civil Rights

★ Must-know

📌 Promotional groups advance broad causes, whereas interest groups represent the interests of particular members or sectors.

Further detail

• Political Action Committees and Super PACs are significant mechanisms of electoral finance and pressure-group influence in the USA.

💡 Memory Hook

Resources and electoral finance increase pressure-group access and influence

📖 13. UK–US Comparative Politics

📝 Essential Points

📌 The UK constitution is uncodified and parliamentary, whereas the US Constitution is codified, federal and based on presidential separation of powers.

💡 Memory Hook

The UK is generally uncodified and parliamentary, whereas the USA is codified and presidential

📖 14. Liberalism Conservatism Socialism

📝 Essential Points

📌 Liberalism prioritises individual freedom, conservatism emphasises authority and tradition, and socialism focuses on class analysis, equality and collective goals.

💡 Memory Hook

Liberal freedom, conservative order and socialist equality provide competing ideological anchors

📖 15. Nationalism and Other Ideologies

📝 Essential Points

📌 Nationalism centres on the nation, feminism on gender equality, multiculturalism on cultural diversity, anarchism on individual autonomy, and ecologism on sustainability and the relationship between humanity and nature.

💡 Memory Hook

Nationalism prioritises the nation, feminism gender equality, multiculturalism diversity, anarchism autonomy and ecologism sustainability

📊 Synthesis Tables

UK and US Constitutional Systems

Dimension	UK	USA
Constitution	Uncodified	Codified
Executive	Prime Minister and cabinet	President
Territorial structure	Devolution	Federalism
Courts	Judicial review of legality	Constitutional judicial review