Edexcel Politics 10. Comparative Approaches

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Answer

That court which in the UK lacks the fundamental ability to overrule Parliament or strike down Acts of Parliament unlike its US counterpart

That approach to comparative politics which is most useful for comparing legislatures and executives

That which is criticised in the UK as Labour is reliant on and beholden to large trade unions (85% of income in 2014) while the Conservatives are likewise to large businesses and wealthy individuals

That approach to comparative politics which is perhaps most salient in comparing elections and voting

That the weaknesses of which are that executive branch officials can appear only before committees, the President very rarely gives direct evidence, it shares legislative power with the Senate, and it experiences short election cycles, as well as gridlock, partisanship, and divided government

That body that changed with the extension of the franchise in that it became directly elected per the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, thus preserving the equal powers of the two chambers

An approach to comparative politics focused on shared ideas within a political group or system, useful for comparing the role of value held by; religious group, pressure groups, party factions, parties, etc.

That the strengths of which are that is has exclusive power over confirming appointments, ratifying treaties, and trying impeachment cases, is a common recruitment pool for the presidency and vice presidency, has long terms, and shares equal power with the House

Those that have become constitutionalised in the US though not necessarily codified by amendments, examples being two-term limits for the President (codified in the 22nd Amendment), judicial review by the Supreme Court, the Executive Office of the President, congressional committees, etc.

The percentage difference between voting percentages for each party in the US and their subsequent representation in the House of representatives, having increase by 2% since the 2010 reapportionment

Question or Term

Answer

That Supreme Court case the aftermath of which saw accusations of partisanship and a lack of judicial neutrality and independence as a result of the presence of conflicts of interest, the fact that both majority and dissenting justices ruled inconsistently with their past voting records, while also drawing up their opinions before oral arguments even began

That which is regulated in the UK in that parties must register with the Electoral Commission per the PPERA, while groups may only spend £9,750 per constituency per the Lobbying Bill which further requires any group spending over £20,000 in England to register with the Electoral Commission

That which the Prime Minister can make that the President cannot such as the Chairman of the BBC, Anglican Bishops (subject to church and crown involvement), chairs of certain committees and life peers (both subject to commission approval), etc.

Those two bodies which are similar in that they are both bicameral with the houses sometimes being controlled by different parties to each other or the executive, they both engage in legislating and oversight, do much work through committees (oversight via standing committees in the US and select committees in the UK) and are elected via first past the post, alphabetically

That which is regulated in the US in that FECA introduced maximum donations with loopholes closed by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act many regulations of which were overturned by Citizens United v FEC, allowing for the formation of Super PACs which can make unregulated party donations

That the basis for which in the US is the expectations, fears, and culture of the country in the 18th century, shaped by beliefs in liberty, individualism, equality, representative democracy, limited government, states' rights, and the rule of law

That which is more prevalent in Parliament than in Congress in that Parliament can question and debate executive officials before the whole House on a weekly basis - being drawn from and thus answerable to the legislature, the two not being entirely separate

That UK body the defining powers of which are that it is the final court of appeal for UK civil and non-Scottish criminal cases, can interpret but not strike down Acts of Parliament, rules on whether ministers' actions are ultra vires, and is subject to a higher authority in the form of the European Court of Human Rights

The country in which a Supreme Court ruling can only be overturned by a constitutional amendment or a subsequent Supreme Court ruling

That approach to comparative politics the basis for which is the assumption that individuals will act with rational self-interest to achieve or encourage particular political aims and outcomes, possibly by resisting structural and cultural factors