Legislatures Compared

Question 1

Powers of the legislative branches

Legislation based on what? Scrutinising executive? Removal of government?

Answer 1

◾️UK: Passes legislation based on the leading party’s manifesto US: Passes legislation based on the president’s, and its own, electoral platform
◾️UK: scrutinise govt which (usually) holds a majority in Commons e.g. PMQs. US: scrutinises executive, separate from Congress e.g. oversight powers such as investigation of executive actions like, the ‘Russia’ investigation 2016
◾️UK: vote of no confidence can be held to remove govt (e.g. James Callaghan), forces an election to be held US: president can be impeached (e.g. exercised 3 times) , fixed-terms mean vice will take over

Question 2

Strengths of the House of Commons and House of Lords

Answer 2

HoC:✅more powerful chamber,✅strong backbench power,✅strong constituency links
HoL:✅more time to debate,✅reduced party discipline,✅willing to challenge HoC, post-reforms

Question 3

Weaknesses of House of Commons and House of Lords

Answer 3

HoC:❌strong party whip,❌executive dominance, ❌government majority in committees
HoL:❌unelected and included hereditary peers, ❌Salisbury convention, ❌size of HoL membership

Question 4

Strengths of the HoR and Senate

Answer 4

HoR:✅strong constituency links,✅representation by population,✅effective control by the majority party
Senate:✅power of the filibuster,✅6 year terms enable continuity,✅representation of state interests, not just the electorate

Question 5

Weaknesses of HoR and Senate

Answer 5

HoR:❌short election cycle,❌power of the speaker means the minority party can be ignored,❌shared legislative power
Senate:❌shared legislative power,❌unanimous consent can cause gridlock,❌over representation (smaller states) and under representation(big ones)

Question 6

Some similarities of the legislatures

Answer 6

• Bicameral nature of the two legislatures (HoC and HoL, HoR and Senate)
• Limited powers to scrutinise, with outcome, the executive branch (HoL delay a bill for up to 1yr, The executive can veto legislation Trump vetoed 10 bills, legislature can override this with a 2/3 majority which uncommon)
• Strong constituency links in the lower chambers (HoC has 650 MPs represent each constituency, HoR has 435 depends on the population size of the state)

Question 7

Some differences of the legislatures

Answer 7

• Level of party discipline (US:Republicans turning on eachother during Trumps era, (2016-2020), UK: level of party discipline is high due to the whip system)
• Equality of power between the chambers (US: the two chambers equal power, UK:HoC dominates, for example the HoL Sailsbury convention (1945) severly undermines their influence over legislation)
• Legislative output (US: Thousands of bills are introduced in any one session few of these bills are passed into law, UK: A limited number of bills are introduced in any session most of these bills are passed into law (as they originate from the government)