KSLU Solved Question Papers
Political Science (Major World Governments)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 3
2024 Aug Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 3 Political Science (Major World Governments) 2024 Aug Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2024 Aug examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2024 Aug examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2024 Aug examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit I
(a)Explain the powers and functions of the Chief Executive in U.K.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: who the chief executive in the United Kingdom is (the King as nominal head, the Prime Minister and Cabinet as the real executive); the sources of executive power (statute and prerogative); the powers and functions grouped as administrative, policy, legislative, financial, foreign and defence, judicial-related and appointing; the limits (ministerial responsibility, the Commons, the courts, the Human Rights Act); a conclusion.
Who is the chief executive?
In law the executive power of the United Kingdom belongs to the Crown, and the King is its head. Every executive act, from making a treaty to appointing an official, is done in his name. But by convention the King acts on the advice of his ministers. So there are two levels:
- The nominal chief executive is the King. He reigns but does not rule. Bagehot said he keeps only "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn".
- The real chief executive is the Prime Minister, at the head of the Cabinet. The Cabinet Manual (2011) says the Prime Minister "is the head of the Government" and that the Cabinet is "the ultimate decision-making body of government".
So the powers of the "Chief Executive" in the United Kingdom are the powers of the Crown. In practice the Prime Minister and the Cabinet exercise them.
Sources of executive power
- Statutes. Most powers of ministers today come from Acts of Parliament.
- The Royal Prerogative. This is what remains of the monarch's own old powers. It covers foreign affairs, the armed forces, honours, the prerogative of mercy, and the dissolution and summoning of Parliament.
How the executive is organised
- The Cabinet is a committee of the most senior ministers, chosen by the Prime Minister. It meets regularly and works through Cabinet committees.
- Ministers outside the Cabinet run parts of departments or assist senior ministers.
- The departments are each headed by a minister who answers to Parliament for them.
- The civil service is permanent and politically neutral. It serves whichever Government is in office and does not change after an election.
- Fusion with Parliament. By convention every minister sits in one of the two Houses, so the executive is drawn from the legislature and leads it.
Powers and functions
1. Administrative. The executive enforces the law and runs the government departments. Each department is headed by a minister, usually a Secretary of State, and staffed by a permanent civil service. The Prime Minister has been Minister for the Civil Service since 1968.
2. Policy-making. The Cabinet decides the Government's main policies, often through Cabinet committees. Ministers then carry them out in their departments.
3. Legislative.
- The Government prepares almost all important bills and controls most of the time of the House of Commons.
- The King's Speech at the opening of each session announces the Government's legislative programme.
- Ministers make delegated legislation, rules made under powers given by Acts of Parliament.
- The Prime Minister may advise a dissolution of Parliament. The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 revived this prerogative and made it non-justiciable (ss.2, 3).
4. Financial. The Government prepares the Budget. The Chancellor of the Exchequer presents tax and spending proposals to the Commons. By long practice only ministers may propose new public spending.
5. Foreign affairs and defence. Under the prerogative the executive conducts diplomacy, makes treaties and commands the armed forces. But the prerogative cannot be used to change the law of the land. In R (Miller) v. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, [2017] UKSC 5, ministers wished to begin leaving the European Union under the prerogative. The Supreme Court held that this would change domestic law and rights, so an Act of Parliament was required.
6. Judicial-related functions. The prerogative of mercy is exercised on ministerial advice. Judges are appointed through the independent Judicial Appointments Commission (Constitutional Reform Act 2005, s.61), with the Lord Chancellor's involvement.
7. Appointments and honours. The Prime Minister recommends senior Church of England clergy, senior judges, certain civil appointments and most new life peers (Cabinet Manual, para 3.5).
Limits on the executive
- Collective responsibility. The Cabinet stands or falls together and must keep the confidence of the House of Commons.
- Individual responsibility. Each minister answers to Parliament for his department.
- Parliamentary scrutiny through questions, debates and select committees.
- The courts. Executive action is open to judicial review. In R (Miller) v. The Prime Minister, [2019] UKSC 41, advice to prorogue Parliament for five weeks was held unlawful and the prorogation "null and of no effect".
- Human rights. "It is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right" (Human Rights Act 1998, s.6(1)).
Conclusion. In the United Kingdom the King is the nominal chief executive and the Prime Minister with the Cabinet is the real one. Using statutory and prerogative powers, they run the administration and decide policy. They lead the legislative and financial programme, conduct foreign and defence policy and make key appointments. Yet the executive depends on the confidence of the Commons, answers to Parliament and acts under the law, as both Miller cases show.
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