KSLU Solved Question Papers
Political Science (Major World Governments)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 3
2025 Jan Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 3 Political Science (Major World Governments) 2025 Jan 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 2025 Jan examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2025 Jan examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2025 Jan 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
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note/problem is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English/Kannada completely.
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)What is the significance of conventions in the English Constitutional framework ? And how do they influence the functioning of its political system ?[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what conventions are (Dicey); why they are significant in an unwritten constitution (working rules, democracy within a legal monarchy, flexibility); how they shape the Crown, the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Parliament and the two Houses, the Opposition and devolution; why they are obeyed; their weaknesses and the trend to write them down; Miller (No. 1); a conclusion.
What conventions are
The British constitution is made of two kinds of rules. A. V. Dicey called the first "the law of the constitution": rules enforced by the courts. The second kind consist of "conventions, understandings, habits, or practices" which regulate the conduct of the Crown, the Ministry and other officials, but "are not in reality laws at all since they are not enforced by the Courts". He also called them "constitutional morality".
So a convention is a binding political rule without a legal sanction. Its breach brings political, not legal, consequences.
Why conventions are significant
1. They are the working rules of an unwritten constitution. Britain has no single constitutional document. The law alone describes a monarchy in which the King appoints ministers, assents to bills and summons and dissolves Parliament. Conventions explain how the system really works: the King acts on ministers' advice, and ministers answer to the House of Commons. Without conventions, the legal constitution would give a false picture.
2. They make a legal monarchy work as a democracy. Dicey said conventions are rules meant "to ensure the ultimate supremacy of the true political sovereign, or, in other words, of the electoral body". The legal powers of the Crown are exercised by ministers who depend on the elected House. So the voters, not the monarch, decide who governs.
3. They give flexibility. Conventions change with practice, without a formal amendment. The rise of the Prime Minister, the decline of the Crown's personal power and the supremacy of the Commons all came about largely through convention.
4. They fill gaps. Statutes say nothing about how a Cabinet works or when a Prime Minister must resign. Conventions supply the answers.
How conventions shape the political system
1. The Crown. The King must assent to a bill passed by both Houses; in law he may refuse, by convention he never does. He appoints as Prime Minister the leader who commands the confidence of the Commons. He acts on ministerial advice in almost everything.
2. The Prime Minister and Cabinet. By convention the Prime Minister sits in the House of Commons. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to Parliament: ministers argue in private and support decisions in public, or resign. Each minister is also individually responsible for his department.
3. Parliament and the two Houses. A Government that loses a vote of confidence in the Commons must resign or seek a dissolution. Financial measures begin in the Commons. The Salisbury convention dates from 1945. Under it the House of Lords does not vote down, at second or third reading, a Government bill promised in its election manifesto. These rules make the elected House supreme.
4. The Opposition. The second largest party forms the official Opposition and a "shadow" Cabinet. This gives voters a ready alternative government.
5. Devolution. The Sewel convention says the Westminster Parliament will not normally legislate on devolved matters without the consent of the devolved legislature.
How courts treat conventions
In R (Miller) v. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, [2017] UKSC 5, the Scottish Government argued that the Sewel convention required the Scottish Parliament's consent before withdrawal from the European Union. The convention had even been recognised in section 28(8) of the Scotland Act 1998. The Supreme Court still held that it is "a political convention" whose policing "does not lie within the constitutional remit of the judiciary". So courts may recognise a convention, but they will not enforce it.
Why conventions are obeyed
Dicey's answer was that breaking a convention would soon lead to breaking the law. If Parliament were not summoned, for example, the Government could not lawfully raise taxes or spend money. Public opinion, the fear of losing the next election and respect for tradition also keep politicians within the conventions.
Weaknesses and the trend to codify
- Uncertainty. It is not always clear whether a practice has become a binding convention.
- Dependence on goodwill. A Government willing to ignore a convention can strain the system, as the five-week prorogation of 2019 showed.
- Conversion into law. When conventions fail, Parliament writes them down. The Parliament Act 1911 replaced the Lords' customary restraint over finance with legal limits. The Cabinet Manual of 2011 recorded many conventions in one official guide.
Conclusion. Conventions are significant because they turn the legal constitution of a monarchy into the working constitution of a parliamentary democracy. They decide how the Crown acts and how the Prime Minister and Cabinet are chosen and held to account. They also make the Lords defer to the Commons and govern how devolution works. They are not enforced by the courts, as Miller confirms, but they are obeyed because breaking them leads to illegality or political defeat. Their flexibility is their strength. Their uncertainty is why Britain increasingly writes them down.
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