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Politics Component 2 > Parliament > Flashcards

Parliament Flashcards

1
Q

What is legislature?

A

Parliament

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2
Q

What is government?

A

The ruling party

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3
Q

What is the executive?

A

The cabinet of the ruling party

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4
Q

What is a backbencher?

A

Anyone in Parliament who is not either in cabinet or shadow cabinet

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5
Q

What is the official opposition?

A

The 2nd largest party has the title ‘her majesty’s official opposition’. This party has a cabinet of its own, called the shadow cabinet.

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6
Q

What are the functions of parliament?

A

Both the Commons and the Lords perform 3 main functions:
- passing legislation
- scrutiny of the executive (including debating)
- providing ministers

The Commons also has the role of representing the electorate

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7
Q

Passing legislation

A
  • The House of Commons has the exclusive power to give consent to taxation, because the commons are an elected chamber that represents the public
  • Most legislation is initiated by the government, and there is an limited opportunity for backbench and opposition MPs to propose their own measures - they mostly react to measures put forward by the executive - sometimes this rule is broken e.g. Cameron’s defeat in 2016 on his plans to extend sunday trading
  • A party whip is a person responsible for ensuring that MPs attend parliamentary votes, and for granting a leave of absence when their vote is not required. They issue MPs with a written instruction to attend, known as a ‘whip’
  • The most important votes are underlined 3 times, and are known as a 3 line whip
  • Governments can use the argument of overriding necessity to push through legislation e.g. the 2005 Prevention of Terrorism Act, completed all stages in 18 days, as well as covid lockdowns
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8
Q

Make up and appointment of the lords

A
  • 809 members
  • 92 hereditary peers
  • Appointed (life) peers
  • 26 lords spiritual (Bishops of the church of england, representing the official state religion.
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9
Q

What are the main functions of parliament?

A
  • Scrutiny
  • Passing legislation
  • Providing ministers
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10
Q

What is a bill?

A

A bill is a proposed law

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11
Q

What is a government bill?

A
  • The most important type of proposal that can be debated in parliament
  • Brought forward by government ministers to change public policy
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12
Q

What is a private bill?

A
  • Less common
  • Sponsored by an organisation with the intention of changing the law as it affects that organisation
  • A group affected by the bill has the right to petition parliament against it
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13
Q

What is a hybrid bill?

A
  • Has characteristics of a public and private bill - government sponsored, but companies are also interested
  • Proposes to change the law, which would affect the general public, but certain groups or areas in particular
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14
Q

What is a Private Member’s Bill?

A
  • Affects the whole population
  • Introduced by an individual backbench MP, or a member of the Lords
  • Less likely than a government bill to become law as they depend in time being found for them to complete all their stages in parliament
  • In the Commons, at the start of each session, the names of MPs applying to introduce a private member’s bill are drawn in a ballot
  • An alternative is for a member to make a proposal using the ‘10 minute rule’, but this allows for little more than the airing of an issue in a speech which must last no longer than 10 minutes
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15
Q

What is the process of a bill being passed?

A

First Reading
Second Reading
Committee stage
Report stage
Third reading

Same process in Lords
Royal assent

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16
Q

What is the first reading?

A

The bill is made available to MPs, but not debated or voted on

17
Q

What is the second reading?

A

The principle of the bill is debated and a vote may be taken if it is contested

18
Q

What is the committee stage?

A

The bill is scrutinised in detail by a public bill committee, and amendments may be made

19
Q

What is the report stage?

A

The whole house considers amendments made, and may accept or reject them

20
Q

What is the third reading?

A

The amended bill is debated and voted on by the whole house

21
Q

What is royal assent?

A

The monarch signs the bill, making it law. This stage is a formality, as the sovereign is a constitutional monarch who wouldn’t get involved with politics by refusing to sign a bill

22
Q

What does a bill originate as?

A

A bill may originate as a Green Paper (a document setting out options for legislation and inviting consultation) and/or a White Paper (a more detailed statement of the government’s intentions) - but this whole stage is not compulsory

23
Q

What are the exclusive powers of the Commons?

A
  • Representative of the electorate
  • Financial legislation
24
Q

What are the problems with the representation in Parliament?

A
  • 50% (the Lords) are unelected and thus unrepresentative
  • 40% of MPs are women, whereas 51% of the population are women
  • 14% of MPs are ethnic minorities, whereas 18% of the population are
  • The is not accurate representation of the lower class - Guardian says 7% of MPs are from the lower class
  • 25% of MPs are from a background in politics
  • 22% of MPs from business backgrounds, and 15% from finance backgrounds
  • Very few MPs from manual labour - 25.7% of population
25
Q

What is parliamentary ping pong?

A

The process where a bill goes back and forth between the two houses

26
Q

What can the Commons do if the Lords maintain their opposition to the bill?

A
  • If clashes occur, the government can use its majority to overturn critical Lords amendments
  • If the Lords maintains its opposition, as a last resort, the government can use the Parliament Act to force a bill through
27
Q

On what 3 occasions did the Blair government use the Parliament Act to force a bill through?

A
  • Changing the voting system for European parliament elections (1999)
  • Equalising the age of consent for gay and heterosexual people (2000)
  • Banning hunting with dogs
28
Q

Why will the Lords usually drop its opposition after making its point?

A

It recognises that it lacks the democratic legitimacy needed to push its case further

29
Q

What are the ways the opposition parties can hold the government to account?

A
  • Exclusive powers of the opposition
  • Prime Ministers Questions
  • Questions to ministers
30
Q

What are the exclusive powers of the opposition?

A
  • Allocated 20 days a year to propose subjects for debate
  • 17 of these days are chosen by ‘official opposition’
  • Such days rarely result in legislation being passed due to government majority
31
Q

How will the opposition criticise the government?

A
  • The opposition will usually use the media to criticise government policy
  • They have to tread a fine line between criticism and projecting themselves as statesman like as they have to present themselves as a government in waiting
  • Angela Rayner called the Tories ‘scum’ and David Lammy called Trump names, and now both are in office and embarrassed
32
Q

What is PMQs?

A
  • Every Wednesday at 12pm
  • Lasts for one hour
  • Leader of the opposition gets the first 6 questions
  • Supportive questions are asked from the government benches - 1/2 the questions
  • Has been criticised for its theatrical, point scoring nature
  • The government plants supportive questions for balance
33
Q

Is PMQs effective scrutiny?

A
  • PM doesn’t know the questions in advance, so can’t prepare, meaning he needs to know his brief
  • Cries of support or anger could be offputting and not allow for a proper response
  • Gives opposite parties the chance to voice their concern
  • Very short - doesn’t allow for detailed scrutiny
  • PM puts himself out there - not comparable with other democracies
  • Scrutinises how good the opposition is
  • Can make relatively low profile things more high profile
  • Doesn’t give a good image of those running the country - shouting and name calling

Politics Component 2 (2 decks)

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