CCEA A2 1 Comparative Government and Politics overview quiz quiz

The UK is codified and entrenched; the USA is uncodified

The UK is based on parliamentary sovereignty and is uncodified; the USA is codified, entrenched and based on the separation of powers

Both are uncodified

Both are codified and entrenched

By an ordinary Act of the Oireachtas

By the President alone

Only by a referendum

By the Supreme Court

Separately elected and independent of Parliament

Head of state and head of government

Serves a fixed four-year term

Leads the largest party in Parliament and depends on its confidence

Judicial review to strike down unconstitutional legislation

The power to interpret statutes

The power to rule on devolution

The power to hear appeals

Because the President always controls Congress

Because the President is separately elected, is head of state and government, and serves a fixed term

Because the President can be removed by his party at any time

Because the President leads the largest party in Congress

The Commons and the Lords

The House and the Senate

The Dail Eireann and the Seanad Eireann

The Assembly and the Executive

A hereditary monarch

The Taoiseach

The Chief Justice

A directly elected President

Because its proportional STV system rarely gives one party a majority

Because the constitution requires coalitions

Because the President chooses the government

Because it uses first-past-the-post

To prove one system is always best

To reveal what is distinctive and what is common and to test explanations across cases

To describe each system in isolation

To avoid making any judgement

It cannot examine more than one country

It always produces identical conclusions

Systems shaped by different histories and cultures can make surface similarities misleading

It can only compare constitutions

The Lords is far more powerful than the Senate

Both are equally powerful

The Lords is unelected and can only delay, while the Senate is elected and co-equal in legislation

Neither can amend legislation

A codified constitution

An elected head of state

A proportional electoral system

A parliamentary system where the head of government depends on the lower house's confidence

They have stronger whips than UK parties

Legislators are more independent and candidates rely on primaries and personal funding

They never vote along party lines

They are appointed rather than elected

Referendums are constitutionally required to amend the constitution

Referendums are always advisory

Referendums have never been held

Referendums are decided by the courts

Describe the UK fully, then describe the other country fully

Compare point by point, drawing out similarities and differences and explaining their causes

Discuss only the UK

List facts about both without analysis