C & C Flashcards
What is a parliament
A group or assembly of representatives who have been elected by the people to make laws on their behalf.
4 roles of government
- making new laws and altering existing ones (reflecting the views of people to benefit society)
- discussing and debating matters that affect the voters
- examining problems that exist within society
- reviewing perceived injustices in the law
why is Aus’s government referred to as federal?
because there is one central or federal parliament which has the power to make laws for the entire country.. the commonwealth parliament located in Canberra.
what are the three levels of government in australia
commonwealth (federal), state, local
law making powers of the commonwealth (federal) government
currency, defence, marriage, customs and border protection, Australia citizenship
law making powers of the state government
primary and secondary education, health services, water, electricity, public transport
What is a liberal democracy
it is a system that aims to protect the individual rights and freedoms, and place limits on the level of government control or interference.
explain two other principles upon which the Australian system of government is based
1) governments must make laws that reflect the views and values of people
2) governments must be accountable to the people
3) there must be a separation of powers
how does Australia achieve representative government
Australia achieves this by holding regular free and fair elections where the people can vote for individuals to represent them in parliament
why can’t judges be elected as members of parliament
so they are free from political bias.. and they are impartial when applying the law
what is the separation of powers
to ensure that no single group or body within our parliamentary system (the government, the parliament or the courts) has power over both the political and legal systems.
The structure of the commonwealth parliament
- consists of two houses and the Crown - that is the Queen, who is represented by the governor-general.
- the lower house of Commonwealth Parliament is called the House of Representatives and the upper house called the senate
main roles of the house of representatives
- to determine the government of the day - in simple terms, the government is the political party that has a majority of members in the lower house
- discuss, debate and scrutinise proposals for creating and changing Commonwealth laws, in fact most of the proposals for introducing new or changing existing laws commence in the lower house
main roles of the senate
- to represent the interest of the states, given the senate consists of an equal number of senators from each state. in theory, equally representing the interests of each state - can stop laws that discriminate against other states
- initiate, discuss and review new laws. like the house of reps, most proposals for creating new Commonwealth law can be initiated and discussed in the senate. though as more commence in the lower house, the senate is usually a ‘house of review’ as such.
what is meant by the Westminster parliamentary system
a system that consists of the upper house, the lower house and a reigning monarch or the ‘crown’.