Politics and Law flashcards

66 WACE Politics and Law cards across 2 modules (18 definitions, 48 key facts, 0 fill-the-gap, 0 formulas). Each session gives you 20 cards, due cards first. Swipe right for easy, left for hard, down for again. Keyboard: Space to flip, 1 to 4 to rate.

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Definition
Comparison with a Non-Westminster System: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law
Define Westminster system
A system of government, inherited from the United Kingdom, in which the executive is drawn from the legislature and remains accountable to it through responsible government, with a constitutional monarch as head of state.
Definition
The Bill of Rights Debate: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law
Define Statutory bill of rights
A bill of rights enacted as an ordinary Act of Parliament, which directs courts to interpret laws consistently with listed rights but leaves Parliament able to amend or override it, rather than entrenching the rights in the Constitution.
Definition
Constitutional Interpretation and Landmark Cases: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law
Define Literalism
The interpretive approach, dominant since the Engineers' Case, of reading the words of the Constitution according to their natural and ordinary meaning, rather than reading down Commonwealth powers to protect the states.
Definition
Comparing Rights Protection with Another Country: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law
Define Entrenched right
A right protected in a constitution so that it cannot be changed or removed by ordinary legislation, but only by the special constitutional amendment process, and which courts can enforce by invalidating inconsistent laws.
Definition
Division of Powers and Federalism: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law
Define Federalism
A system of government in which a written constitution distributes power between a central government and regional governments, so that each level has an independent and constitutionally protected area of authority.
Definition
Express Constitutional Rights: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law
Define Express right
A right that is stated in the words of the Constitution itself (such as the right to trial by jury in section 80), as distinct from an implied right that the High Court derives from the structure or text of the Constitution.
Definition
Parliament and the executive: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law
Define Cabinet and the executive
The formal executive under Chapter II is the Governor-General acting on advice. The real political executive is the Cabinet, the senior ministers who decide government policy.
Definition
Open Government and Administrative Law: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law
Define Freedom of information
A statutory right of access to documents held by government agencies and ministers, subject to defined exemptions, designed to make government more open and accountable.
Definition
The Changing Federal Balance: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law
Define Vertical fiscal imbalance
The mismatch between the revenue-raising capacity of the Commonwealth (which collects most tax) and the spending responsibilities of the states (which run most services), which forces the states to rely on Commonwealth grants and gives the Commonwealth leverage.
Definition
Statutory and Common Law Rights: WACE Year 12 Politics and Law
Define Principle of legality
The interpretive presumption that Parliament does not intend to interfere with fundamental common law rights unless it expresses that intention in clear and unambiguous language, so ambiguous statutes are read to protect rights.