The Judiciaries Compared | AQA A-Level Politics (7152)
The Judiciaries Compared
- 25 questions
- 2 subtopics
- Paper 2: comparative politics
- Paper 2
Two supreme courts of different size, appointment and tenure, and why one can strike down a statute while the other can only declare it incompatible..
It covers the Two Supreme Courts: Appointment, Tenure and Powers and judicial Impact, Activism and Restraint.
Sample questions from The Judiciaries Compared
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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The Two Supreme Courts: Appointment, Tenure and Powers
When and how was each court created?
Show the answer
The US Supreme Court was created by the constitution itself in 1787, while the UK Supreme Court began work only in 2009 after legislation moved the highest judges out of the House of Lords. -
The Two Supreme Courts: Appointment, Tenure and Powers
Explain a declaration of incompatibility and contrast it with a US ruling of unconstitutionality.
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A UK court may declare a statute incompatible with human rights law, but the statute stays in force and only Parliament can change it, while a US ruling of unconstitutionality strikes the law down at once. -
Judicial Impact, Activism and Restraint
Which protections of judicial independence do the UK and the USA share?
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Both give judges security of tenure and salaries protected from political interference, and both bar ministers from interfering in individual cases. -
Judicial Impact, Activism and Restraint
Why have both courts grown more politically significant in recent decades?
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The US court has decided a run of landmark constitutional questions, while human rights legislation and devolution have given UK judges far more government action to rule on.
The 2 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| The Two Supreme Courts: Appointment, Tenure and Powers | Recall questions comparing the UK and US Supreme Courts in size, appointment and tenure, how each was created, the powers each holds, what judicial review means in each country and their roles on rights and federalism. | 12 |
| Judicial Impact, Activism and Restraint | Recall questions on why US rulings endure longer, a UK ruling of major impact, the activism-restraint distinction and why only US justices are labelled. | 13 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA A-Level Politics Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,215 questions with their answers.