Facrots That Affect The Ability Of Parliament To Make Law

Question 1

Role of lower house

Answer 1

• initiate laws
• determine government
• publicise and scrutinise government administration

Question 2

Role of upper house

Answer 2

• act as a house of review
• examine bills through its committees
• initiate laws

Question 3

Majority government

Answer 3

• the party or coalition that holds the majority of seats in the lower house forms gov
• if gov holds majority of seats in lower house, it’s legislative policies will generally be accepted
• majority gov has ability to reject bills, with no debate when they were introduced by a private number

Question 4

Minority government

Answer 4

• hung parliament is where neither major political party wins a majority of seats in lower house at an election
• minority government must constantly negotiate with minor parties and independents
• bills are thoroughly discussed and debated in lower house

Question 5

Hostile upper house

Answer 5

• upper house is considered hostile when gov does not hold majority seats
• gov may have difficulty implementing its policy agenda
• diverse upper house can be seen as a more effective parliament

Question 6

Rubber stamp

Answer 6

• majority gov in both houses - upper house approves decisions made by gov at lower house
• rubber stamp may prevent upper house from adequately fulfilling its role as a house of review

Question 7

Law making process strengths

Answer 7

• bills need to be passed down both houses - ensures opportunity to review bills and propose amendments
• both houses debate proposed bills so all members get the chance to say what they like and don’t like about proposed law

Question 8

Law making process weaknesses

Answer 8

• legislative process is complex - slow
• most bills introduced by gov - private member bills are only rarely introduced as they normally aren’t passed

Question 9

Committee system roles

Answer 9

Examining and evaluating the need for law reform

Question 10

Evaluating bicameral parliament

Answer 10

• effectiveness lower house - minority gov ensures discussion and debate of bills - requires negotiation with cross-bench - secure passage of bills
• effectiveness upper house - gov with majority in x2 houses can readily implement legislative program - pass bills, less debate
• law making process - encourages debate, opportunity to review bills, suggest amendments, enables law reform

Committee system - allows thorough review as well as input from community

Question 11

Definition: representative government

Answer 11

Parliament and gov makes laws on behalf of people who elect them

• if they no make laws reflecting people’s views no re-elected

Question 12

Views of majority

Answer 12

• difficult for gov to predict needs of future laws
• gov may avoid law reform - expensive
• members of parliament - reluctant to initiate law reform where there is a highly vocal group of people

Question 13

Regular elections

Answer 13

• held to achieve representative nature of government
• Cth parliament - call early election when political climate suits them - late election require referendum

Question 14

Evaluating the representative nature of parliament factors and summary:

Answer 14

• the views of the majority - parliament elected by people - views and values of majority, community pressure gov to change law, gov change law where popular and avoid vocal groups opposed to changes, sometimes difficult to see which view is majority

Regular elections - fix time periods - gov time to implement reforms CAN discourage gov from Pershing longer term reform programs, gov do not represent majority may be voted out, compulsory voting ensures they represent majority of all people BUT forces those who are ill-informed to vote

Question 15

Judicial activism:

Answer 15

Expression used when judges consider a range of social and political factors when interpreting acts of parliament and deciding cases

Question 16

Judicial conservatism:

Answer 16

Expression used when judges adopt a narrow interpretation of the law when interpreting acts of parliament and deciding cases - avoid controversial changes

Question 17

Doctrine of precedent

Answer 17

Common law principle by which the reasons for the decisions of higher courts are binding on courts ranked lower in the same hierarchy in cases where material facts are similar