GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Parliamentary and Presidential Government

• Parliamentary government implies the following features: parliament is the main source of authority, government must be drawn from Parliament either the Commons or the Lords, no strict separation of powers, government must be accountable to Parliament.
• Presidential Government implies the following features: legislature and executive have separate sources of authority, president is not part of the legislature, president is directly accountable to the people not the legislature, clear separation of powers, clear constitutional agreement which separates those powers.

Parliamentary sovereignty

• Parliament is all source of political power, Parliament may restore its powers which have been delegated to others, Parliament may make any laws it wishes and they may be enforced, Parliament is not bound from its predecessors (laws passed by previous Parliament's are not bound on the current Parliament) and Parliament cannot bind its successors.
• Erosion of Parliamentary sovereignty: a great deal of power has been moved to the EU as EU law is superior to British law, executive power has grown greatly in recent decades, referendums are increasingly being held when important constitutional changes are being proposed, devolution to Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish assemblies.