Historical Background of Political Systems

A constitution where laws, rules and princlples are not gathered in a single document.

A process when a person can appeal against unfair or illegal imprisonment.

When 12 members of the public hear evidence and decide if the accused is gulity.

A medeival technique which involves putting the accused through an ordeal to determine gulit.

The governement minster responsible for calculating, collecting and distrubuting governemnt funds.

The chamber where elected members of the UK parliament sit.

The second unelected, chamber of the UK parliament.

Originally the royal palace attached to Westminster Hall, today it is the seat of the goverment and comprises Westminster Hall, House Of Commons and House Of Lords.

The British legislative body that is made up of the House of Commons,the House of Lords and the monarchy.

A large chamber where the early Norman kings would meet with the nobility.

Laws that have been passed by parliament and have been given royal assent by the monarch.

A single documnet that sets out the laws, rules and principles.

The control of power and the ability to distrubite it and reclaim it in a politcal system.

A statement of the rights of the subject which also declared that the monarch could not act without the consent of parliament.

A group of senior politians/ advisors who had the job of advising the monarch on the use of royal perogative.

The right to take a particaular course of action.

The ability to do something or make something happen.

A form of decsicion making which involves a wide range of institutions and relationships.

The set of institutions that exercise authority and make rules of a political unit.

OR

The activity or system of governing a political unit.

The branch of government reponsible for implementation of policy.

The branch of government responsible for passing laws.

A form of government exemplified by the British political system in which parliament is soverign, the executive and legislatuve branch are fused and political power is centralised.

The branch of government responsible for interpreting the law and deciding upon legal disputes.

 A principle under which all persons, institutions, and entities are accountable to laws that are: Publicly promulgated. Equally enforced. Independently adjudicated.

Fundamental human rights and freedoms that ought to be protected from interfrences or encroachment by the state.

Where there is excessive concentration of the executive branch of government.

The rules, laws and principles which determine the institutions of the state, and the relationship between the state and its citizens.

Rightfulness: a political system is legitimate when its pased on the consent of the people and actions follow from agreed laws and procedures.

A general vote by the electorate on a single political question which has been referred to them for a direct decision.

A system of government in which a monarch shares power with a constitutionally organized government.

When the executive and legislative branches of goverment are intermingled.

The chief public representative of a country.

The vesting of the legislative, executive and judiciary powers of government in separting bodies.

The process by which judges determine whether public officals or public bodies have acted in a manner that is unlawful.

A sysytem in which the central government of a unitary state devolves some of its powers to subnational governemnts.

The transfer of some policy-making powers from the centre to sub-national institutions.

A system of decision making in which policy making competences are shared between local, regional and national institutions.

The set of political parties in a political system and the relationship between them.

A homogeneous state in which power is concentrated at the political centre and all parts of the state are governed in the same way.