comparing congress and parliment Flashcards
What are examples of excessive checks and balances in the US?
ability of the supreme court to strike down legislation established by Marbury vs Madison (e.g.-brady bill)
legislative gridlock created by checks and balances- congress considers thousands of bills each session and only passes 2%
presidential failure.- Kennedy (civil rights)
Examples of rapid and significant change happening in the USA?
Johnson- Civil rights act (1964)
Roosevelts first hundred days in which he sent congress into 3 month (almost hundred days) session and successfully passed 15 major bills intended to counter great depression
Examples of the inability of congress to legislate- due to constitution?
equal rights amendment- first proposed in congress in 1972, pressure group campaign in 1978. ratified in 2020.
labour amendment- been pending since 1924, and currently has 28 states approving of it, but still falling short of required total.
gun control- protected by 2nd amendment.
What is an example of an unsuccessful constitutional amendment?
every vote counts amendment- introduced to congress in 2009 in order to abolish electoral college and have president elected by popular vote. Amendment died in congress
What are examples of parliamentary sovereignty showing the ease of change?
gun control post-Dunblane-1997
devolution, 1997-2017
HRA-1998
constitutional reform act 2005
fixed term parliament act 2010
Brexit (article 48)-2017
What are the limits to parliamentary sovereignty in the UK?
not entirely flexible- there are clearly limits to what parliament would be allowed to legislate on e.g.- passing discriminatory laws
good Friday agreement 1998- NI can only leave the union through a referendum.
Hunting act 2004- has at least established the principle that the courts can consider validity of an act of parliament.
Explain referendums in Uk?
seems to now be a convention that certain types of constitutional decision-making requires approval by referendum.
2010 supreme court ruling- Scotland act of 1998 cannot be repealed.
Explain the Scotland act of 2016 and its contribution to the argument of referendums in UK?
1- Scottish parliament and govt are a permeant part of UK’s constitutional arrangements.
2- in view of that commitment it is declared that the Scottish parliament and the Scottish govt are x to be abolished except on basis of a decision of people of Scotland.
How can we incorporate the referendum of Brexit into the argument of referendums in UK?
opposition to the outcome of Brexit ref claimed to be “undemocratic”- govt attempted to enact article 50 w-out a vote in parliament. Over-ruled by supreme court.
What is the revolving door syndrome?
key criticism of congress, high turnover of members of congress from the public sector and private sector
generally seen as unhealthy/undemocratic
What is the representative function in terms of MPS and their constituents?
general viewed weakness of UK’s parliaments representative function is the tendency of MPs from all sides to vote in line w party whip x views of constituents
could argue that this is fine as voters mostly vote on national party manifestos x local issues.
Brexit voting indicated stronger representation of constituency views than thought.
What is the representative function in terms of US congress?
stronger evidence of “consonant pressures” on US members of congress voting behaviour
e.g.- gun control, abortion etc
However, much stronger tradition of voting with constituency above party
“Obamacare”- 45 house democrats voted against it in 2010- many of whom were in swing seats
How effective is legislation in Congress?
does x fail Olsen test and can be given credit for rubber stamping decisions, fails to legislate especially over gun control, average passes 2% bills considered, loses influence through federalism
How effective is legislation in Parliament?
passes it too easily and exec dominates it, significant laws passed include- adoption of HRA, devolution to Scotland, Wales and NI, gun control following Dun-Blane, const reform act 2005, reform of HoL and withdrawal from EU
How effective is oversight and scrutiny in congress?
excessive checks and balances that cause gridlock and dispute effective govt, strong scrutiny of exec- veto override, advise and consent powers and “purse strings”, however Trump failed impeachement
How effective is parliament at oversight and scrutiny?
exec dominates legislature through large majorities and party whips, PMQ criticised for being “political theatre”, Lords have limited power, relatively weak committees
What is representation like in Congress?
“revolving door” in HoR, senate terrible record of diversity, representatives have to act more as delegates (Burke)- 2yr re-election cycle, senators can follow trustee model (Burkee)- 6yr re-election cycle
What is representation like in Parliament?
increasingly diverse HoC and range of party representation, parliament follows party line rather than delegate model, HoC- good diversity, HoL- contains hereditary peers, CBI- influence on Conservatives and unions with Labour
What is recruitment like in congress?
incumbency leads to low levels of “churn”
majority of members are lawyers or business people, 2 out of the last 3 presidents were former senators however before this it was JFK/Johnson in 60s.
cabinet rarely recruited from congress
What does parliaments key strengths include?
ability to question members of the executive directly e.g.-PMQ’s
government can implement its programme w relative ease
What would parliaments critics argue?
the second chamber is weak-HoL
its committees remain either dominated by party (public committees) or relatively toothless (select committees)
What do congress’ mains strengths include?
2 powerful chambers which reduces the chances of one party dominating over the executive
several important checks on the executive such as veto override and “advise and consent” powers
What would congress critics argue?
congress is too often a “bastion of negotiation and negation”_ it is very effective at stopping things happening.
effectively only two parties represented.
