Definitionzzz Flashcards
Parliament
Consists of both the legislative and executive branches of the UK
Consists of:
> House of Commons
> House of Lords
> The Crown
Fusion of powers
Zombie Parliament
A result of fixed term Parliament
The government can become complacent and run out of things to do
Royal Assent
Agreeing to pass laws
Parliamentary Sovereignty
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
Private Member’s Bills
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
White Paper
A statement of policy by the government outlined in terms of legislative proposals
Green Paper
A consultative document that usually outlines a range of legislative options
Committee of the Whole House
A meeting of the full chamber of the House of Commons to consider the committee stage of a government bill
Public Bill Committee
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
Life Peers
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
Archbishops and Bishops
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
Hereditary Peers
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
House of Lords Appointments Commission
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
New Year and Birthday Honours
Awarded twice a year
Announcement of life peers are often made at the same time
Become rare since the Appointments Commission
Frontbenchers
MPs appointed to act as ‘shadow ministers’ who must scrutinise and chalenge their respective government minister
Backbenchers
MPs in the opposition party who don’t hold positions in the shadow cabinet
Party Whips
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
Carrot
Try to persuade MPs that the government’s position is correct and tempt them with the prospect of promotion into a ministerial position
Stick
Threaten MPs with losing any chance or promotion or even withdraw the whip (expel them from the party)
Parliament Act (1911)
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
Parliament Act (1949)
Reduced the power of Lords by limiting the power to delay a bill by 1 year
Revising Chamber
Peers can scrutinise bills from the House of Commons and make amendments
Ballot Bills
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
Ten Minute Rule Bills
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
Presentation Bills
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
Filibustering
Opponents often filibuster
> Endlessly talking to waste time
The only way to prevent this is through a closure motion
Closure Motion
A vote which ends the debate and triggers a vote
> Requires the support of 100% MPs
Procedural Reform
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
Backbench Business Committee
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
E-petitions
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
Supply Days
20 days that are reserved for the opposition
The official opposition gets 17 opposition days
> The second biggest party gets three days
Question Time
Government ministers answer questions on the floor of the House of Commons
Also government ministers answer written questions raised by MPs beforehand
Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQ)
Held every Wednesday for 30 minutes
Prime Minister is questioned by the leader of the opposition (currently David Cameron being questioned by Jeremy Corbyn)
Departmental Select Committees
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
Liaison Committee
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
Lord’s Questions
Each sitting day, the Lords start by questioning government ministers in the Chamber on a particular subject
Red Princes
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
Descriptive Representation
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
House of Lords Reform Bill (2012)
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
Delegate Theory of Representation
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
Trustee (Burkean) Theory of Representation
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
Free Vote
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
Salisbury - Addison Convention
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
