10 mark section B comparative Flashcards
public bill committee vs standing bill
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One difference between public bill committees in the house of commons compared to standing committees in the house of representatives is that standing committees are permanent compared to public bill committees that are ad-hoc and only exist until a bill becomes an act of parliament. This difference allows standing committees to maintain further expertise that are developed due to a permanent membership in contrast to public bill committees that have an inability to ensure committees are staffed with expertise. Further, permanency within a standing committee provides greater accountability in the legislative process as they are subject to regular review allowing them to operate efficiently which is opposite to public bill committees that can be restricted to time causing legislation to be rushed and not as effective.
Another difference within public bill committees and standing committees is that standing committees have the ability to subpoena persons, papers and reports forcing information to be given as well as legally requiring witnesses to attend investigations to allow for better scrutiny for example, the house judiciary committee in 2020 used their power of subpoena on Trump over the 2020 capitol riots. However, in public bill committees they cannot force a witness to attend questioning and can only ask them to join for example, in 2023 Mark Zuckerberg refused to attend questioning which he was able to do in the UK. This provides a lack of effective scrutiny compared to standing committees as they are able to have full legal access to information within their hearings.
Representative role of senate and lords
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One difference between the house of lords and the senate is their appointments procedure. The senate is composed of 100 senators who are elected directly from their constituents however, the members of the lords are appointed by the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and are selected due to expertise this can be said to lack representativeness as they are often chosen on political connections instead of representativeness. This allows the senate to be seen as more representative as they hold direct accountability to their constituents whereas, the house of lords are seen to lack legitimacy as they aren’t elected by the people with the last Lords being appointed in 2019.
Another difference between the house of lords and senate in terms of representative powers is the difference between size and length of term. While the house of lords is a larger body than the senate with over 800 members compared to 100 senators, the lords can be seen to be not as representative as the senate as they serve for life with no regular turnover meaning the lords don’t accurately reflect changing public opinions or diversity allowing them to be seen as unrepresentative of the UK population with only 3% of the house of lords being from ethnic backgrounds. Whereas the senate allows 6-year terms to be served allowing elections every 2 years for one third of the senate. This allows for more representation as they constantly update to reflect public views while being directly accountable in fear of dismissal.
Legislative role of senate and Lords
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One difference between the legislative role of the senate and house of lords is that the senate has equal legislative power to the house of representatives whereas the house of lords can be said to have inferior power to the commons. For example, the senate has exclusive powers to ratify all treaties negotiated by the president with a 2/3rds majority for example in 2010 the senate voted 71 votes to 26 to ratify the new strategic arms reduction treaty by Obama. Whereas the Lords cannot shape the Prime Ministers decision to sign international treaties with other nations despite being able to delay legislation up to a year, the prime minister can always invoke the parliament act. Senate can pigeon hole(kill bill) lords can only delay a bill allowing executive to invoke parliament act becoming untouchable
Another difference between the legislative role of the senate and house of lords is that senate has a role of approving executive appointments including cabinet members, judges and other officials through advice and consent while only needing a simple majority for example, Obamas appointment of Merrick Garland was denied allowing for there to be a further separation of powers as this power is to ensure a candidate doesn’t tilt the political balance. However, the Lords do not have any formal role in the appointment of executive officials while they can scrutinise and question governments appointments, they do not have the power to approve or reject them while the president has their own power to choose their cabinet as the lords don’t work on an elected manner.
