Paper 2: parliamentary law making

Question 1

What is the Government?

Answer 1

Prime Minister leads the Government with the support of the Cabinet and ministers and runs the country

Question 2

Who is the head of the Government?

Answer 2

Prime Minister- Theresa May

Question 3

What is meant by the cabinet of the Government?

Answer 3

The cabinet is the collective decision-making body of the Government, This is made up of the Prime Minister and approx. 21 cabinet ministers, the most senior of the Government ministers

Question 4

What is the separation of powers?

Answer 4

Judiciary- power to make judgements on the law
Executive Government- power to put law into action
Parliament- power to make and change the law

Question 5

Who makes up the House of Commons?

Answer 5

Made up of 650 members of Parliament, we vote for our MP’s, and whoever wins represents everyone in our area even if we voted for someone else

Question 6

Who makes up the House of Lords?

Answer 6

Has over 700 members who are not elected, some known as ‘peers’, or other members are selected by the Prime Minister

Question 7

Who makes up the Monarch?

Answer 7

Our Queen opens and closes Parliament every year, asks the winning party in a General Election to become the government, and officially signs for all the law Parliament votes for

Question 8

Political influences

Answer 8

Each political party has its own policies and drafts a manifesto before a general election. When elected, these will be a major influence on the law it introduced into Parliament

Question 9

Public opinion/media influences

Answer 9

• Strong public opinion on a current issue may lead to a change in the law
• TV, radio, internet, social media brings to light high profile issues which can affect the public opinions and brings it to the attention of the Government

Question 10

Pressure group influences

Answer 10

• Sectional pressure groups: represents the interests of a particular group of people
• Cause pressure groups: promotes a particular cause
• Brings issues to the attention of the public and the Government

Question 11

Lobbyist influences

Answer 11

People who meet MPs in the lobbies of Parliament in order to persuade them to support their cause, often by getting the MP to ask a question in the House of Commons so the issue get publicity

Question 12

What is a white paper?

Answer 12

A paper which had firm proposals by Government for new law

Question 13

What is a green paper?

Answer 13

A consultative document on a topic in which the Government’s view is put forward with proposals for law reform

Question 14

What are private member bills?

Answer 14

Introduced by an individual MP

Question 15

What are public bills?

Answer 15

Usually involve matters of public policy and will affect the whole country (e.g. LASPO)

Question 16

What are private bills?

Answer 16

Will only affect certain individuals or groups of people/corporations

Question 17

What are hybrid bills?

Answer 17

Cross between a public and private bill, introduced by the Government but will only affect certain individuals or groups of people/corporations

Question 18

What happens in the first reading? (1)

Answer 18

Purely a formal procedure in which the title of the Bill is read and the date set for the second reading. No discussion takes place, but a vote will be conducted on whether the House would like to discuss the Bill further

Question 19

What happens in the second reading? (2)

Answer 19

Here, the main debate on the general principles of the Bill takes place which may be amended and a vote is taken. The whipping system in the commons almost always ensures that the Bill get through this stage

Question 20

What happens in the committee stage? (3)

Answer 20

Each clause of the Bill is discussed in detail by a committee, of 16-50 MPs. Members of all parties represent those on the Committee which is known as standing committee. The majority party will also have a majority on the committee. The sections of the Bill are discussed in detail line by line, clause by clause and amendments made

Question 21

What happens in the report stage? (4)

Answer 21

The committee reports back to the House any changed, which have been made. These may be debated and voted on and either accepted or rejected

Question 22

What happens in the third reading? (5)

Answer 22

This is the final vote on the Bill where no debate takes place at this stage unless 6 or more MPs request it. The final version of the Bill is approved and passed by hand, bound in Green Ribbon the the Lords

Question 23

Passage through the Lords

Answer 23

• Bill goes through the same process
• If anything is altered, it goes back to the commons, creating the ‘ping pong’ effect
• Lords have the power to block a bill, but this is limited
• If all is well, the bill will be passed back to the Commons bound in Red ribbon