According to British constitutional theory Parliament is sovereign. How far is this really the case in the UK today?
AS Politics
According to British constitutional theory Parliament is sovereign. How far is this really the case in the UK today?
Parliamentary sovereignty suggests that parliament has all the power within a state, so to say that it is above all other institutions. I feel that, constitutionally, the answer is clear; parliament is sovereign, since it is the only institution elected by the people, the people's representative.
There are many aspects of parliamentary sovereignty that can justify why it is in fact sovereign, such as the executive is fused with the legislature since members of the government are traditionally members of either house of parliament. Also the government gets legitimacy for its actions from its majority in the House of Commons whilst at the same time one of the functions of parliament is to make the executive accountable or answerable at the very least for its decisions and policies. This is as well as the party with the majority of MPs in the House of Commons forms the government, its leader becomes the PM and constitutional tradition and practice ensures that this majority delivers extensive political power and significant control of both parliament's authority and the power privileges associated with the monarch.
According to British constitutional theory Parliament is sovereign. How far is this really the case in the UK today?
Parliamentary sovereignty suggests that parliament has all the power within a state, so to say that it is above all other institutions. I feel that, constitutionally, the answer is clear; parliament is sovereign, since it is the only institution elected by the people, the people's representative.
There are many aspects of parliamentary sovereignty that can justify why it is in fact sovereign, such as the executive is fused with the legislature since members of the government are traditionally members of either house of parliament. Also the government gets legitimacy for its actions from its majority in the House of Commons whilst at the same time one of the functions of parliament is to make the executive accountable or answerable at the very least for its decisions and policies. This is as well as the party with the majority of MPs in the House of Commons forms the government, its leader becomes the PM and constitutional tradition and practice ensures that this majority delivers extensive political power and significant control of both parliament's authority and the power privileges associated with the monarch.