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Which is the elected House of Parliament?

The House of Commons.

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When did the UK join the European Community (the precursor to the EU)?

1973.

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What is the relationship between the UK Parliament and UK government?

Ministers sit in one or other of the two Houses of Parliament.

Most ministers come from the House of Commons, some from the House of Lords.

Parliament holds government to account.

A given government requires the confidence of the House of Commons to its existence.

Voters elect the House of Commons, which provides a democratic link between the public and the government.

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What are the main features of the UK constitutional monarchy?

The head of state in the UK is the monarch.

The monarch possesses key legal authorities, including those that make up the Royal Prerogative.

The monarchy has, by tradition, certain rights to discuss business with government ministers.

But real political power rests more with ministers.

There is a strong principle that the monarch avoids public involvement in matters of party politics, and that politicians seek to prevent the monarch from being drawn into public controversy.

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Is direct or representative democracy the better way of governing the UK?

Direct democracy is arguably more viable in small communities than a large contemporary state such as the UK.

Representative democracy is generally a more suitable way of governing a country on the scale of the UK. Given the complexity of business, it is better for full-time politicians to take decisions on behalf of the wider public, who cannot realistically be expected to engage continuously in matters of detail.

Representative democracy can lack legitimacy, and lead the public to feel disengaged from politics, and governed by a distant elite.

But it is possible to integrate direct democratic devices, in the form of referendums, into a representative system, as the UK does.

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How relevant is the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty in the contemporary UK?

The UK lacks a ‘written’ or ‘codified’ constitution. If the UK had such a text, it could be the ultimate source of legal authority within the UK system. Because it does not, something else must perform this function, which the UK Parliament fulfils with its doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty.

The idea of the UK Parliament as central to the UK system is deeply embedded within UK constitutional tradition. In the contemporary context, it ensures that an institution, part of which – the House of Commons – is elected, has supreme authority, an important principle from a democratic standpoint.

The judiciary has taken on an increasingly assertive role, particularly through the Human Rights Act 1998, under which it can review but not strike down Acts of Parliament.

Devolution has created rival sources of legal authority in the UK which arguably in practice present a challenge to parliamentary sovereignty.