Parliament Flashcards
What are confidence and supply?
-a type of informal coalition agreement in the event of a hung parliament where minority partners agree to vote with the government on key issues, usually in exchange for policy concessions
What are some exclusive powers of the house of commons?
- gives consent to taxation and public expenditure
- confidence and supply
What is the Salisbury convention?
-the convention whereby the house of lords does not delay or block legislation that was included in a government’s manifesto
What are the Parliament Acts?
- Parliament act 1911: cannot interfere with money bills, can delay bills
- Parliament act 1949: put a time constraint on-time bills can be delayed for (1 year)
What are the main powers of the House of Lords?
- acts as a revising chamber for legislation
- can delay non-financial legislation for 1 year
- can veto the government if they try to prolong parliament for more than 5 years. HoL can trigger a general election
In what ways is HoL becoming more important?
- removal of most hereditary peers means the Lords challenge government
- no dominant party rule
- crossbench peers are more likely to question the government
How does the Commons maintain its supremacy?
- can use its majority to overturn the Lords
- can use the Parliament Acts to force through bills (equalizing the age of consent for gay and straight people)
- Lords back down as they are not democratic
What are legislative bills?
-proposed laws passing through parliament
What are the types of bills passed through parliament?
- government/public
- private
- hybrid
- private members
How does a bill become law?
-origin, first reading, second reading, committees, report, third reading, opposite house, royal assent
What is a public bill committee?
-committees responsible for looking at bills in detail
What is Parliamentary privilege?
-the right of MPs or Lords to make certain statements within parliament without being subject to outside influence, including law
Why are backbenchers significant?
- in committees where they discuss things in detail
- can rebel if they don’t agree with government measures
- use ‘urgent questions’ to raise important matters in the Commons
Why aren’t backbenchers significant?
- not much action gets taken when MPs raise an issue
- government rules committees
- party loyalty is enforced by the whips
What is the role of a select committee?
- scrutinize policy
- administration snd spending of each government department
What makes up a select committee?
- 11 backbench MPs
- chairs are elected by fellow MPs
- may appoint a special adviser
- write up a report which the government has to respond to within 2 months
Why are select committees important?
- work is evidence-based, with hearings televised and reported in the media
- scrutinize legislation
- long-serving members acquire a lot of knowledge of policy area
- have a direct influence on government policy
Why are select committees not important?
- the majority of members of the government
- have a limited range of topics to discuss in-depth
- government only listens to 40% of recommendations
- cannot unlimitedly bring in witnesses
What is the role of HoL select committees?
- don’t shadow government departments
- scrutinize legislation and investigate particular issues
- seek to not copy the work of the commons
What is the role and significance of the opposition?
- hold the government to account if they can
- criticize ministers
What are PMQs?
- prime ministers questions
- held every Wednesday for 30 minutes at 12 pm
What are some arguements for PMQs?
- PM has to engage with opposition
- allows MPs to question and scrutinize the government
- attracts media attention
What are some arguments against PMQs?
- more about personalities than policy
- described as messy and unorganized
- not much policy gets scrutinized
Are ministerial questions helpful?
- better scrutiny when ministers are talking about their own department
- give more detailed responses as civil servants help
- MPs can write to civil servents to inform themselves on government policy
