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Related Flashcards
Related Topics
Cards In This Set
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Codified constitution
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A constitution in which key constitutional provisions are collected together in a single legal document, popularly known as a ‘written constitution’ or ‘the constitution’.
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Statute law
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Law that is enacted by the legislature.
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Uncodified constitution
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A constitution that is made up of rules drawn from a variety of sources, in the absence of a single authoritative document.
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Common law
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Law based on custom and precedent; law that is supposedly ‘common’ to all.
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Popular sovereignty
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The principle that there is no higher authority than the will of the people, directly expressed.
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Treaty
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A formal agreement between two or more states, on matters of peace, trade or some other aspect of international relations.
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Limited government
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Government operating within constraints, usually imposed by law, a constitution, or institutional checks and balances.
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Negative rights
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Rights that mark out a realm of unconstrained action, and thus check the responsibilities of government.
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Positive rights
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Rights that make demands of government in terms of the provision of resources and support, and thus extend its responsibilities.
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State of emergency
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A declaration by government through which it assumes special powers, supposedly to allow it to deal with an unusual threat.
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Law
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A set of public and enforceable rules that apply throughout a political community; law is usually recognized as binding.
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Legal positivism
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A legal philosophy in which law is defined by the capacity to establish and enforce it, not by its moral character.
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Soft law
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Law that is not binding and cannot be enforced; quasi-legal instruments that impose only moral obligations.
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Hard law
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Law that is enforceable and so establishes legally binding obligations.
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Reciprocity
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A relationship of mutual exchange that ensures favours in return for favours or punishments in return for punishments.
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