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UK Parliament > Definitionzzz > Flashcards

Definitionzzz Flashcards

1
Q

Parliament

A

Consists of both the legislative and executive branches of the UK

Consists of:
> House of Commons
> House of Lords
> The Crown

Fusion of powers

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2
Q

Zombie Parliament

A

A result of fixed term Parliament

The government can become complacent and run out of things to do

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3
Q

Royal Assent

A

Agreeing to pass laws

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4
Q

Parliamentary Sovereignty

A

Parliament is legally sovereign

Parliament is the source of all legal power
> No individual or body may exercise power unless it has been granted by Parliament

Parliament may restore to itself any powers which have been delegated to others

Parliament can make any laws as it wishes which shall be enforced by the courts
> Courts can force Parliament to re-look over a legislation, but it is very hard to restrict that power

Parliament is not bound by its predecessors and can’t bind its successors

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5
Q

Private Member’s Bills

A

Private Member’s Bills are Public Bills introduced by MPs and Lords who aren’t government ministers
> Their purpose is to change the law as it applies to the general population
> A minority of Private Member’s Bills become law
> May indirectly affect legislation by creating publicity around an issue

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6
Q

White Paper

A

A statement of policy by the government outlined in terms of legislative proposals

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7
Q

Green Paper

A

A consultative document that usually outlines a range of legislative options

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8
Q

Committee of the Whole House

A

A meeting of the full chamber of the House of Commons to consider the committee stage of a government bill

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9
Q

Public Bill Committee

A

A committee set up by the House of Commons to consider the details of a particular Bill

All Bills, other than monetary bills, are automatically sent to the Public Bill Committee following their second reading
> Unless they are committed to a committee of the Whole House

Membership of the Public Bill Committee mirrors that of the House of Commons
e.g. If a party has 60% of seats in the HofC, it will have 60% of seats in the Public Bill Committee

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10
Q

Life Peers

A

Members of the House of Lords who are appointed for their lifetime only
> Titles aren’t passed on to their children

The Queen formally appoints life peers on recommendations from the Prime Minister

Not hereditary but for their whole life

The largest group of Lords

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11
Q

Archbishops and Bishops

A

26 Church of England archbishops and bishops sit in the House of Lords
> Their membership is passed onto the next most senior bishop when they retire

The archbishops of Canterbury and York traditionally get life peerages on retirement

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12
Q

Hereditary Peers

A

92 Hereditary Peers
> Elected internally to remain until the next stage of the HofL reform process
> The next stage never happened, so the 92 hereditary peers have remained in the HofL

The right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords ended in 1999
> The 92 peers remain in the HofL

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13
Q

House of Lords Appointments Commission

A

Set up May 2000

Independent public body
> Recommends non-political Lords appointment to the Queen
> Checks the suitability of all nominations
> Including those made by political parties

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14
Q

New Year and Birthday Honours

A

Awarded twice a year

Announcement of life peers are often made at the same time

Become rare since the Appointments Commission

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15
Q

Frontbenchers

A

MPs appointed to act as ‘shadow ministers’ who must scrutinise and chalenge their respective government minister

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16
Q

Backbenchers

A

MPs in the opposition party who don’t hold positions in the shadow cabinet

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17
Q

Party Whips

A

Each party appoints a number of MPs to act as the party whips

They enforce discipline within the party
> Make sure that the party’s backbench MPs vote alongside the front bench MPs

They issue weekly instructions - three line whip
> An important vote that must be attended and follows the party line

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18
Q

Carrot

A

Try to persuade MPs that the government’s position is correct and tempt them with the prospect of promotion into a ministerial position

19
Q

Stick

A

Threaten MPs with losing any chance or promotion or even withdraw the whip (expel them from the party)

20
Q

Parliament Act (1911)

A

Restricted the power of the Lords to delaying bills for up to two years

Prevented the Lords from blocking money bills
e.g. laws about taxation

21
Q

Parliament Act (1949)

A

Reduced the power of Lords by limiting the power to delay a bill by 1 year

22
Q

Revising Chamber

A

Peers can scrutinise bills from the House of Commons and make amendments

23
Q

Ballot Bills

A

A type of Private Member Bill

At the beginning of the Parliamentary year, all MPs who wish to introduce a PMB, enter their names and 20 names are selected at random

The order that the 20 names are drawn shows the priority for timetabling the PMB for debate
> First drawn = priority for debate

The most successful of the three PMBs
> They have priority for debating time

24
Q

Ten Minute Rule Bills

A

A type of Private Member Bill

MPs make a short speech of no more than 10 minutes outlining their proposed Bill after question time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays

If the House agrees, the Bill will then have its first reading
> Very few Bills receive Royal Assent

25
Q

Presentation Bills

A

A type of Private Member Bill

Has the least chance of success of the three PMBs
> Mainly used to spark interest or a debate on a particular subject

Members introduce the title of their Bill, but they don’t speak about it
> The Bill stands little chance of progressing to the next stage

26
Q

Filibustering

A

Opponents often filibuster
> Endlessly talking to waste time

The only way to prevent this is through a closure motion

27
Q

Closure Motion

A

A vote which ends the debate and triggers a vote

> Requires the support of 100% MPs

28
Q

Procedural Reform

A

Reform to the operational structure of the House of Lords occurred largely as a result of the Wright reforms
> Backbenchers have more say in setting the House of Commons’ agenda
> Establishment of the Backbench Business Committee and House Business Committee
> Introduction of election for chairs and members of select committees
> Improvements in the petition system

29
Q

Backbench Business Committee

A

Established in June 2010
> Meets weekly on Tuesdays at 3pm

Hear representatives from backbench MPs for debates on 1 day a week

All the members are elected at the beginning of a parliamentary session
> The chair must be an opposition member
> Natasha Engel has been the chair since May 2012
> The other 7 members are elected according to the party representation in the House of Commons

30
Q

E-petitions

A

Any petition that reaches 100,00 signatures can then be considered for debate in the House of Commons
e.g. An e-petition proposing to ban Donald Trump from the UK got enough signatures to be debated in the Commons
> Was debated but no vote was held

31
Q

Supply Days

A

20 days that are reserved for the opposition

The official opposition gets 17 opposition days
> The second biggest party gets three days

32
Q

Question Time

A

Government ministers answer questions on the floor of the House of Commons

Also government ministers answer written questions raised by MPs beforehand

33
Q

Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQ)

A

Held every Wednesday for 30 minutes

Prime Minister is questioned by the leader of the opposition (currently David Cameron being questioned by Jeremy Corbyn)

34
Q

Departmental Select Committees

A

For each government department there is a dedicated select committee to examine their:
> Expenditure
> Administration
> Policy

There are 19 departmental select committees
> With between 11 and 14 members

Permanent

Scrutinise government departments

35
Q

Liaison Committee

A

Often referred to as a super committee

Contains the chair of each of the 32 select committees in the Commons and the chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights

Considers general matters in the Commons

Chooses which select committee reports will be debated in the Commons

Question the Prime Minister twice a year since 2002
> Request evidence on the government’s current policies

36
Q

Lord’s Questions

A

Each sitting day, the Lords start by questioning government ministers in the Chamber on a particular subject

37
Q

Red Princes

A

MPs who have won their party’s nomination through family name and connections, not just merit
e.g. Stephen Kinnock (son of former Labour Leader Neil Kinnock and Labour MEP Glenys Kinnock) was selected as the candidate for a Labour safe seat in Wales - March 2014

38
Q

Descriptive Representation

A 
The idea that elected representatives should represent not only the views of constituents but also their descriptive characteristics reflecting the balance in:
> Gender 
> Ethnicity
> Occupations 
> Education
39
Q

House of Lords Reform Bill (2012)

A

Gradual transition - by 2015, the HofL should have had:
> 360 elected members - serving 15 year terms
> 90 appointed members
> Up to 12 Bishops
> Up to 8 additional ministerial members appointed to serve as Minister of the Crown

Abandoned in August 2012 after opposition from backbench MPs

40
Q

Delegate Theory of Representation

A

The idea that a representative should strive to pursue the will of their constituents
> MPs act simply as a mouthpiece - vocalising the views of their constituents who are unable to attend Parliament

41
Q

Trustee (Burkean) Theory of Representation

A

The idea that representatives should still excercise their own judgement whilst making decisions in Parliament
> Representatives should make a reasoned judgement even if it conflicts with the views of their constituents

42
Q

Free Vote

A

Often referred to as the conscience vote

Many MPs rely heavily upon their own personal and moral views when deciding how to vote
> Acting more as representatives with their own views than delegates

43
Q

Salisbury - Addison Convention

A

Constitutional convention under which the House of Lords should not delay bills if they were included in the party’s election manifesto

Began after the Labour party won a landslide victory in 1945

At the time there were only 16 peers from the labour party in the Lords
> Likely that bills would be delayed by the Conservative majority

UK Parliament (3 decks)

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