Committees Essay Flashcards
Committees are…
Elected members across different political parties whose role it is to scrutinise gov bills of a particular subject issue
The roles of committed which this essay will compare between UK and USA committees are…
The role of inquiries which in the UK is select committees and the USA is congressional select committees, scrutinising gov action in the Uk is joint committees and the US is senate committees and scrutinising legislation in the UK is general committees and USA is congressional standing committees.
This essay will argue that…
The USA and the UK committees have a key role in scrutiny through enquiries, scrutinising the actions of government and scrutinising legislation
One role of committees is the role of enquiries. In the UK…
This role is select committees who gather evidence, interview experts, cross examine witnesses and then present their findings in the House of Commons publicly.
Select committees example is…
For example, the UK business select committee held an enquiry into the near collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS and the UK government bailed out why this occurred
Analysis of select committees
This shows that the are effectively scrutinising the actions of the government through the role of enquiries as they were able to hold the government accountable by enquiring how the government could have prevented this collapse from happening
Similarly in the USA congressional select committees also carry out enquiries. This role could be…
Temporary or permanent who call witnesses to attend hearings under oath, however they focus scrutiny on a particular area.
Example for congressional select committees
For example, comedian Stephen Colbert, gave evidence to a congressional committee on immigration after highlighting the issue on his show
This shows that congressional select committees are scrutinising the actions of the government through the role of enquiries as…
these committees can involve the insight and expertise of external parties which can improve the quality of the final decision made
Overall, it is clear that committees in both the UK and USA do you have a key role in scrutinising the actions of the government through enquiries as…
UK select committees have the power to question the governments position on the near crash of HBOS and RBS and the US congressional select committees use outside sources to bring new opinions to question government actions to improve effectiveness
Another role of committees is scrutinising gov action. In the uk this is done by…
Joint committees and involves focusing on four subject areas and consisting of lords and MPs therefore are not mirroring government departments.
Joint committees example
For example, the UK joint select committee on human rights questioned the secretary of state defence on its inquiry into the UK governments policy on its use of drones for targeted killing
This shows that joint committees are scrutinising the decisions of the government as…
They can bring any issues to light with the actions taken by the government by asking about their involvement, so that they can take responsibility to improve it
Similarly in the USA Senate committees also carry out the role of scrutinise in government decisions. This role involves…
Effectively scrutinising the executive government when they want to appoint nominees including Supreme Court justices
Senate committees example
For example, in 2016 Barack Obama had his Supreme Court nomination of Marick Garland rejected due to him having less than 200 days left by the republican majority senate to have more liberal judges
