The Act of Settlement 1701UK Government and Politics for AS/A-level Synoptic links The Act of Settlement in 1701 marked another step in the changing relationship between the crown and parliament. When it became clear that The prime minister’s neither William III nor his heir, Queen Anne, would have any children, the power of patronage succession should have gone to one of the heirs of James II or Charles I. However, these heirs were Catholic and the Protestant Westminster Today, the prime minister can parliament objected to a Catholic monarch. The Act of Settlement was appoint any MP or peer to the passed to settle the succession problem and parliament decided to offer government. A return to the the throne to George of Hanover. While there were nearly 50 closer principle of cabinet appointees relatives to Queen Anne, George was chosen as the closest relative who having to stand again in a by- was not a Catholic, despite having never been to England and not being election would limit the power of able to speak a word of English. the prime minister and perhaps force MPs to consider the wishes So when George I became king in 1714 it was the result of an Act of constituents rather than of Parliament, not through any divine right of inheritance. In addition seeking career advancement, thus to granting parliament the power to choose the monarch, the Act of improving democracy. However, Settlement also established several principles that had been suggested it may lead to a less effective during the debates over the Bill of Rights: government and make the prime Q Judges could not be removed without the consent of parliament. minister unwilling to make Q Royal pardons were to be irrelevant in cases of impeachment. necessary changes to the cabinet. Q The monarch could not take England into a war to defend their home country, without the consent of parliament. Q In governing Britain, the monarch could not make decisions alone and had to consult the full Privy Council. Q No foreign-born man could join the Privy Council, sit in parliament, hold a military command or be given lands or titles in Britain. Q The monarch had to be a member of the Church of England. Q The monarch could not be Catholic or married to a Catholic. Key term Privy Council A group of senior political advisors who have the job of advising the monarch on the use of the royal prerogative. The Act contained a provision that, after the death of Queen Anne, ‘no person who has an office or place of profit under the king, or receives a pension from the Crown, shall be capable of serving as a member of the House of Commons’. Had this clause not been repealed by the Regency Act of 1706, the UK would have seen a strict separation of power and the idea of cabinet government would not have become established. After the Act of Settlement, anyone appointed to the cabinet had to resign their seat in the House of Commons and stand in a by-election, a practice that continued until 1918. This meant the power of the monarch, and then the prime minister, to appoint cabinet ministers was limited by the fear of losing a by-election. The Act also established the principle that the monarch could only choose ministers who could command a majority of support across both Houses of Parliament. This meant the king had to choose a ‘king in parliament’ who could control both chambers, rather than appointing the minister of his choice.8

US Politics Annual Update 2023– similar to the UK edition, this book is written for A Level Politics students, and includes updates about the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA, and the 2020 presidential election. 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. The use of referendums to settle brought under the ECHR. The courts cannot automatically strike down constitutional issues marks a shift from laws: if they find legislation to be incompatible with the Act, it is for parliamentary sovereignty to popular parliament (i.e. ministers) to decide whether to amend the law or sovereignty launch an appeal. Key term Devolution Referendum A vote on a single The Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly issue put to a public ballot by the have primary legislative authority on devolved matters such as education government. and health. Westminster can no longer makes laws in these areas, but has sole authority over ‘reserved matters’ such as the UK economy, foreign policy and the constitution. The Scotland Act 2016 states that the Scottish Parliament and government are permanent institutions which cannot be abolished without approval in a referendum. Some commentators regard the devolution legislation as de facto ‘higher law’ given the difficulties Westminster would face if it sought to abolish the devolved institutions without their consent. The increased use of referendums Governments have used referendums to settle constitutional issues such as devolution, electoral reform and EU membership. This marks a shift from parliamentary sovereignty to popular sovereignty. In most cases, referendums are advisory rather than binding but the legitimacy of parliament would be damaged if it ignored referendum outcomes. Changes to the traditional constitution are examined in detail in Chapter 3. The parliamentary systemUK Government and Politics for AS/A-level Key terms The constitution establishes a parliamentary system of government. The key features of a parliamentary system are: Constitutional monarchy A Q The executive and legislative branches are fused. There is a fusion form of monarchy in which the monarch is head of state but in of powers due to overlap between membership of the two branches, which powers are exercised by with the government consisting of members of the legislature. parliament and by ministers. Q The legislature can dismiss the executive. The government is accountable to parliament, which can remove the government through Fusion of powers The a vote of confidence. The government can dissolve parliament by intermingling of personnel in calling a general election. the executive and legislative Q Parliamentary elections decide the government. Governments are branches found in parliamentary formed according to their strength in parliament. The person who systems. commands a majority in parliament, usually the leader of the largest party, becomes prime minister. Head of state The chief public Q Collective government. The executive branch is led by a prime minister representative of a country, such who chairs a cabinet of senior ministers. Collective responsibility requires as a monarch or president. ministers to support government policy once it has been agreed. Q Separate head of state. The head of the executive branch (the prime Separation of powers The minister) is not the head of state. The UK is a constitutional monarchy principle that the legislative, in which the monarch is head of state. The modern monarchy has a executive and judicial branches primarily ceremonial role but does retain prerogative powers such as of government should be choosing the prime minister and assenting to Acts of Parliament. independent of each other. Presidential government is the main alternative system to the parliamentary system. Here, there is a clear separation of powers22 Key term Electoral systems Chapter 2 The UK political system Party system The set of political The party system is shaped, in part, by the electoral system. The single- 31 parties in a political system and member plurality (first-past-the-post) electoral system used for general the relationships between them. elections has tended to reward the major parties and give a parliamentary majority to the party that secures most votes. This, its supporters claim,The media play an important role in ensures strong and responsible government. Smaller parties (e.g. theelection campaigns Liberal Democrats and UKIP), whose support is thinly spread rather than concentrated in a region, are disadvantaged — there is no reward for coming second in a constituency. With the exception of the SNP, third and smaller parties have not won the number of seats that their share of the vote merited. First-past-the-post has thus acted as a life-support system for the two-party system. However, the way the first-past-the-post system works is changing. With the number of marginal seats decreasing and smaller parties winning more votes and seats, the system is now less likely to produce single- party governments with comfortable parliamentary majorities. Beyond Westminster, proportional representation and mixed-member electoral systems have accelerated the trend towards multiparty politics. The mechanics of the different electoral systems used in the UK, plus their strengths and weaknesses, are explored in Chapter 10. Voting behaviour and the media The rise of multiparty politics also reflects changes in voting behaviour and the support bases of the main parties. In the early postwar period, most people voted for their natural class party — middle-class voters supported the Conservatives and working-class voters supported Labour — and had a strong identification with that party. Class voting has fallen sharply in the last 40 years as a result of changes in society and in the parties. Elections are now decided by valence politics: with little ideological difference between the main parties, voters make a judgement based on the party they think is most likely to deliver a strong economy and good public services, and the leader they prefer. Changes in voting behaviour are examined in detail in Chapter 11. Print media The media also play an important role in election campaigns. Newspaper coverage is partisan rather than neutral. Most newspapers support a political party, and there are more Conservative-supporting newspapers than Labour-supporting ones. Anticipating no clear winner of the 2015 general election, some newspapers supported a continuation of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition (see Table 2.3). Newspaper owners such as Rupert Murdoch (who owns the Sun and The Times) can exercise significant influence. There are three broad perspectives on the political significance of the media: Q Influence. Newspapers have a direct influence over the voting behaviour of their readers. Research shows that, allowing for class and existing attitudes, readers of Labour-supporting newspapers are more likely to vote for Labour than are readers of pro-Conservative newspapers. The Sun claims to have influenced the outcome of recent elections, notably when running hostile campaigns against Labour in 1992 and 2015, or switching support to Labour in 1997.

Specification

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.

Comparative Politics– This textbook provides a comparative analysis of political systems, with case studies that can aid in comparing US and UK politics. 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. Conservatism: The Fight for a Tradition– an exploratory book that looks at the history of conservatism and the different strands that it encompasses. AS/A-LEVEL FIFTH EDITIONUK GOVERNMENT AND POLITICSPhilip Lynch Teacher planning copy.Paul Fairclough The final published bookToby Cooper will include 2017 election coverage.Editor: Eric Magee 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.

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.

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.After Victory– A liberal perspective on how international institutions can create a lasting peace after conflicts. Theory of International Politics– Introduces structural realism or neorealism, focusing on the anarchic structure of the international system.

An A Level Politics Reading List is important due to the breadth of topics covered in A Level Politics. Keeping on top of politics can be difficult, so we’ve created an A Level Politics Reading List we recommend so you can keep engaged over the summer and during your studies. There are lots of different subjects that you can study at A-Level. Some of the most popular A-Level subjects are Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Sociology and Business.A-Levels are linear, which means all the content you’ve studied in both Year 12 and Year 13 will be assessed in exams at the end of the course. Exams for A-Level students usually take place in May and June, so it’s important to make sure you plan ahead and start early to give yourself plenty of time to revise. If you look across the entire Principal Examiner Reports one common theme which emerges is the demand placed on candidates to reach out and gain AO3 marks. This was a fault line across all papers. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace– a fundamental work in the realist school of international relations. The Liberal Tradition in America– Explores the historical roots and characteristics of liberalism in the United States and its implications for international relations. The Communist Manifesto– the most notable work of socialist literature by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.