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Politics > Parliament > Flashcards

Parliament Flashcards

1
Q

define legislature

A

the body that has the power to make, revoke and change laws (parliament)

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2
Q

define executive

A

the body that runs the country and proposes laws to the legislature (government)

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3
Q

define judiciary

A

body that interprets and applies the law (courts and justice system)

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4
Q

what makes up parliament

A

house of commons, house of lords, monarchy

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5
Q

who is the speaker

A

chair of the commons and runs the proceedings, who was previously an MP who was elected by fellow MPs and had to be impartial

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6
Q

what is a problem with the speaker

A

may show bias in choosing who speaks depending on their political views

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7
Q

what is the cabinet

A

governing party that have a main role

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8
Q

who are government ministers

A

junior ministers who work under the cabinet minister in a specific department

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9
Q

who are whips

A

an MP responsible for enforcing discipline on back benchers so they vote with their party

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10
Q

what is a whip

A

an email which shows the voting agenda for the week, with three line whips being the most important

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11
Q

define pairing whip

A

pair up with opposition when someone can’t attend so their votes get cancelled out

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12
Q

who are backbenchers

A

not part of government but are apart of governing party

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13
Q

who are cross benchers

A

lords with no party affiliation

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14
Q

who are Lord’s spiritual

A

church of england bishops in the HoL for moral and spiritual guidancr

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15
Q

who are life peers

A

appointed by PM and are lords for life

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16
Q

disadvantages of life peers

A
  • might not like the job
  • could only be involved when it suits them
  • PM picks who they want to put in (based on loyalty)
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17
Q

define hereditary peers

A

lords who were born into the title so they can pass it down

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18
Q

disadvantages of hereditary peers

A
  • come from wealthy background
  • are unrepresentative
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19
Q

how many hereditary peers are there

A

the Lords act 1999 cur down to 91

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20
Q

what is the monarchy’s role

A

officially appoint a government by choosing a PM

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21
Q

what are the functions of parliament

A

passing legislation, scrutinising the executive, representing the electorate, providing ministers

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22
Q

features of passing legislation

A
  • passing and amending laws
  • both house review the laws the government wishes to pass
  • commons are the only with “money” bills and can amend and veto legislation
  • lords can only suggest amendments and delay them for a year
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23
Q

how is legislating effective

A
  • allows MPs to vote and debate
  • May government was defeated in Lords over 14 times in 2018 on EU bill
  • May’s working majority was 13 so had to work hard to win over her MPs
  • government doesn’t always get their way- like Cameron’s rules on referendum
  • government were voted in so should have majority say
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24
Q

how is legislating not effective

A
  • whips stop MPs expressing their honest opinions
  • backbenchers can rarely defeat legislation
  • mostly considers what the government wants to put forward
  • government usually have majority and can pass what they want
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25
Q

features of scrutinising the executive

A
  • holding the government to account
  • minister have a duty to explain and defend their policies
  • most departments are represented in Lords by junior ministers
  • PMQs, select committees, legislative committee, no confidence vote
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26
Q

define select committee

A

backbenchers to scrutinise different departments

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27
Q

what are PMQs

A

direct questione towards PM

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28
Q

what are legislative committees

A

scrutinise bills and consider amendments

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29
Q

advantages of legislative committee

A
  • public bill committee were strengthened in 2007
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30
Q

disadvantages of legislative committee

A
  • les independent than select committee
  • amendments rarely accepted
31
Q

what are no confidence votes

A

with majority votes the minister has to resign

32
Q

how is scrutiny effective

A
  • different methods of scrutinising
  • debates in Lords are high quality
  • backbench business committee allow backbenchers to have more control over parliamentary agenda
  • PMs are reluctant to imitate military action without Parliament
33
Q

how is scrutiny not effective

A
  • limited time for genuine debates
  • questions can be avoided or off topic
  • select committee are proportionate to HoC
  • no action from Lords
  • no action has to be done from criticism
34
Q

features of providing ministers

A
  • recruiting ground for future ministers
  • whips help make recommendations
35
Q

how is providing ministers effective

A
  • choose people who are somewhat educated and experienced
  • help to run the government more effectively
  • MPs have democratic legitimacy
36
Q

how is providing ministers not effective

A
  • PMs can put in who they want, and may not be the best choice
  • based on connections and loyalty
  • do not need experience to lead a department
37
Q

features of representing the electorate

A
  • commons only as they are the elected house
  • Lords not dominated by a single party
  • Burkean idea of representation- MPs deciding what they think is best for their constituency
  • delegate model- MPs being mouthpieces for their constituency
  • doctrine of the mandate- MPs representing their party
38
Q

how is representing the electorate effective

A
  • approval of the people-
  • social media increase pressure on MPs
  • 44 MPs voted against HS2 in 2014 in the interest of their constituency
39
Q

how is representing the electorate not effective

A
  • MPs may be loyal to party
  • not truly representative, only 4% are from minority ethnic and 22% are women in HoC
  • parties are voted instead of the candidate
  • Lords are unelected and unrepresentative
40
Q

which house is more powerful

A

Commons

41
Q

powers of the Commons

A
  • exclusive authority to taxation and public expenditure
  • confidence and supply
  • veto and amend legislation
  • reject legislation, even manifesto pledges
  • approves government budget
  • no-confidence votes
42
Q

define no confidence vote

A

when MPs vote to dismiss the government

43
Q

define hung parliament

A

government is the biggest party but does not have majority

44
Q

define confidence and supply

A

when minority government have an agreement with other parties to keep majority when there is a hung parliament

45
Q

example of confidence and supply

A

May government in 2017 were 8 seats short and had an agreement with DUP to vote with them in return for small concessions

46
Q

define full coalition

A

when parties govern together and some cabinet roles are given to the other party

47
Q

powers of Lords

A
  • revise and propose amendments to legislation
  • veto government if they want to extend their term more than 5 years
  • delay legislation for a year
48
Q

what does the Parliament Act (1911 and 1949) stop the Lords from doing

A
  • interfering with matters of taxation
  • only delay legislation for a year
49
Q

what event led to the Parliament Act

A

People’s budget in 1999 caused aristocratic outrage where the Lords had too much power to stop them being taxed, and thus led to limiting their powet

50
Q

what happened after the 1945 Salisbury convention

A

stopped the Lords from opposing bills suggested in the manifesto of the winning party at a general election

51
Q

example of Commons power over the Lords

A

use the parliament act to force important bills through like banning hunting dogs (2004) and equalising age of consent for all relationships (2000),
however only been used 3 times

52
Q

examples of Lords power over Commons

A
  • defeated Commons in April 2033 over the minimum service levels bill strikes that tried to take away people’s right to strike
  • 2021-2022 128 government defeats under Johnson
    -HoL turned down Rwanda bill amendments
53
Q

define legislative bill

A

proposal for a new law or change to an existing one either introduced in the Commons or Lords

54
Q

define act of parliament

A

bill that has completed all its stages in parliament and has become law

55
Q

define government/public bill

A

brought forward by government ministers to change public policy

56
Q

define private bill

A

sponsored by an organisation right the intention of changing the law as it affects the organisation

57
Q

define hybrid bill

A

characteristics of public and private bill and proposes changed to the law which affects the general public

58
Q

define private members bill

A

introduced by an individual backbencher or member of Lords, but often there isn’t enough time for these to be heard and complete all stages

59
Q

legislative process

A

1) origin- bill originates as green paper (general policies) or white paper (specific policy)
2) first reading
3) second reading- full debate and vote
4) committee stage- bill is scrutinised by public bill committee and changes are proposed
5) report stage- whole house consider amendments and can accept or reject
6) third reading- amended bill is debated and voted on
7) second chamber- repeats in other chamber and goes back and forth
8) royal assent- monarch signs the bill and makes it law

60
Q

how does parliament interact with the executive

A
  • backbenchers
  • select committees
  • opposition
  • questioning
61
Q

define backbench business committee

A

gives backbenchers more power to propose topics for 35 days a year

62
Q

define parliamentary privilege

A

MPs are free to speak without fear of prosecution for slander when within Parliament

63
Q

features of the opposition

A
  • biggest party opposing the government (Conservative)
  • present themselves as suitable party in waiting
  • 20 days per parliamentary year to propose topic
64
Q

forms of questioning

A
  • PMQs
  • MQT
  • MPs submitting questions to be answered by civil servants
65
Q

how are select committees effective

A
  • MPs have more independence to speak their mind
  • works is respected and televised
  • long serving members have more knowledge on a particular area
66
Q

how are select committees ineffective

A
  • majority come from governing party
  • government accept 40% of select committee recommendations
  • only cover a limited range of topics in detail
  • MPs don’t attend regularly
  • government do not have to act
67
Q

how are backbenchers effective

A
  • ten minute rule bills
  • private members bills
  • parliamentary privilege
  • 70 conservatives against new covid restrictions in 2021
68
Q

how are backbenchers ineffective

A
  • private members bills rarely go through
  • whips limit
69
Q

how are the opposition effective

A
  • constant scrutiny so government can improve
  • highly televised
  • 20 days to propose their own topic for debate
70
Q

how are the opposition ineffective

A
  • Conservative only have 17 days as they have to share with other parties
  • government have majority
  • lack of resources
71
Q

how is questioning effective

A
  • obliges PM to engage with opposition
  • regular and significant
  • MQT have more detailed questions and answered
  • urgent questions allow ministers to be demanded to answer
72
Q

how is questioning ineffective

A
  • MPs will deliberately plant questions to make the PM look good
  • ends up becoming theatrical
73
Q

Starmers bill for HoL

A

remove the right for hereditary peers to sit and vote, increase the number of female Lords, and set a retirement age of 80

Politics (14 decks)

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