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Politics > Parliament > Flashcards

Parliament Flashcards

1
Q

parliament definition

A

the uk legislature
parliament is located in the palace of westminster
it compromises of hofc, hofl (bicameral) and the monarch

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2
Q

Composition of hofc

A

650 MPs
front bench - minister + senior figures (about 80 for gov vs 30 for opposition)
back bench
HM gov vs HM opposition
Ministers are members of governemnt and parliament = fusion of powers
speaker = neutral = john bercow
legislative committees - formed for every proposed piece of legislation (from back bencher, around 15-40 MPs) suggest ammendments
departmental select committees - permanent (11-13 members roughly reflecting parliament make up) 2011 = 19 committees, elected chairs
public accounts committee - examine governemnt finance
whips office

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3
Q

7 functions of parliament

A 
legislation
scrutiny
accountability
representation
rights protection
redress of grievances
deliberation
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4
Q

functions of just the hofc

A

granting popular consent to proposed legislation (as is elected)
refusing to approve items of legislation
representing constituency interests
bringing attention to grievances of constituents

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5
Q

functions of just hofl

A 
deliberation at length of important issues
provide specialist expert advice
delaying legislation (cannot veto) = gov must reconsider
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6
Q

functions shared by hofl and hofc

A 
grant formal consent to legislation
calling gov to account
scrutiny
debate
representing the interests of different sections of society
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7
Q

types of members in the lords and their numbers

A 
life peers - 698
hereditary peers - 89
archbishops and bishops of church of england - 26
lord speaker
total - 813
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8
Q 
party make up of the hofl
conservative
labour
lib dem
cross bench
A

conservative - 249
labour - 212
lib dem - 108
cross bench - 178

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9
Q

structure in hofl (front,back…)

A

front bench
back bench
public bill committees - for each new piece of legislation (12-16 members in each), any amendments must be approved by hofc
whips office - very little real power

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10
Q

strengthes of House of commons departmental select committees

A

largely independent (helped by the fact backbenchers now elect their chairs)
call ministers, civil servants, outsiders as witnesses
time to extensively question and research (eg NI affairs committee help Tony Blair to account over his dealings in On the Runs letters which gave some suspected terrorists in NI immunity from prosecution)
respected by policy makers

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11
Q

weaknesses of House of commons departmental select committees

A

little research back up (whereas ministers have entire departments
no ability to enforce their recommendations (but gov looks bad if they don’t listen)
can be put under pressure from whips

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12
Q

public accounts committee make up

A 
labour chair (by tradition) - Meg Hillier MP for hackney south and shoreditch
8 tories
5 labour
1 snp
1 lib dem
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13
Q

public accounts committee strengths

A

has always been independent (chair by tradition from opposition)
has full accces to details on gov finance
highly respected by policy makers

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14
Q

public accounts committee weaknesses

A

cannot enforce recommendations

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15
Q

what public committees have successfully achieved and then failed

A

The Public Accounts Committee report says Government’s management of contracts must improve more quickly to address concerns about value for money and accountability.
failure = the NHS National Programme for IT, which was described as one of the worst fiascos ever in the history of public sector contracts

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16
Q

house of commons legislative committees (mostly public bill) strengths

A

can examine legislation extensively

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17
Q

house of commons legislative committees (mostly public bill) weaknesses

A

nearly always divide on party lines (not independent)
lack expertise + research
take too much time so debate can be cut off by gov
decisions can be overturned by house

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18
Q

strengths of house of lord public bill committees

A

members ave specialist knowledge, experience and expertise
relatively independent
can be obstructive so gain concessions from government

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19
Q

weaknesses of house of lord public bill committees

A

proposed amendments can be overturned in hofc

gov can represent proposed legislation in next parliamentary session so committees are powerless

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20
Q

relationship between government and parliament in hofc

-factors in government favour

A

gov enjoys majority of support as had a majority of seat
patronage as PM chooses ministers = loyalty
whips
legislative committees have gov majority
gov controls most of commons timetable (so can cut short and avoid certain debates)

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21
Q

relationship between government and parliament in hofc

- factors in house of commons favour

A

commons can still vote against gov proposals (eg august 2013 cameron defeated on bombing syria)
departmental select committees tend to act independently (can be crucial and force gov to u-turn)
gov is accountable to parliament from which it is drawn (eg PMQTs)

22
Q

relationship between government and parliament in hofl

-factors in government favour

A

lords have more limited power than commons (under parliament act 1949 - cannot interfere with finances + only delay legislation)
salisbury convention - no vetoing manifesto (grey area over working tax benefits)
gov maintains much control over timetable
no departmental select committees = less independent
gov can appoint members, eg cameron has appointed over 200 lords - 83 of whom were tories

23
Q

relationship between government and parliament in hofl

- factors in lords’ favour

A

gov does not have a majority
many are not/no longer professional politicians = independent
lords can delay = gov rethink = change in policy (eg working tax credits
peers often have vast experience / top of their field so influence / have weight behind them. tricky for gov to ignore

24
Q

evaluation of hofc - 6 factors to evaluate

A 
representation
calling gov to account
scrutiny
legislating
deliberation
checking gov power
25
Q

evaluation of hofc - representation

A

good
- active in constituencies often holding clinics
- often also represent sections of society / certain interests (pressure groups)
- aren’t mere lobby fodder, since 1970s have become more independent (eg before coming to power JC defied the whip 148 times since 2005)
bad
- are mere lobby fodder
- payroll vote / party whips
- not socially representative
- FPTP = large parties very large whilst small parties very small

26
Q

social make up of commons

  • which social class are biggest
  • how many women
  • how many ethnic mionorities
A

middle class professionals
191 women
only 6% are not white - in population of britain 18.1% are not white

27
Q

evaluation of hofc - calling government to account

A

good
- have power to question minister, civil servant
- PMQT
- Liason committee questions pm twice a year
- ministers by tradition present policies to commons before media
- departmental select committees
bad
- PMQT big show, making the other side look silly, planted questions
- MPs reluctant to criticise0

28
Q

evaluation of hofc - scrutiny

A 
good
- departmental select committees (publish shortcomings and failures
bad 
- little time for proper scrutiny
- laws are often poorly drafted
- legislative committees are whipped
29
Q

evaluation of hofc - legislation

A

good
- commons does legitimate laws
- laws are generally well respected
- power to block government legislation if against public interest / abuses power (eg Blair blocked on amount of time allowed to hold terror suspects)
bad
- legislative practice ancient and ineffective
- lord salibury - lords = ‘Commons Housemaid’ as legislation so poor

30
Q

evaluation of hofc - deliberation / debate

A

good
- good at holding all day debates (eg on whether to bomb syria 2nd december 2015 lasting around 11 hours, also university tuition fees, war in iraq, how to deal with terrorism)
bad
- commons given little time with such a packed schedule so happens very rarely
- tend to follow party lines? (Hilary Benn’s speech going against corbyns stance and was a free vote for labour)

31
Q

evaluation of hofc - checking government power

A

good
- retains power to veto
- gov doesn’t always win (eg so far dc defeated 9 times, callaghan 34 times)
bad
- Party discipline means they are rarely defeated
- payroll vote / patronage = unlikely to challenge

32
Q

evaluation of hofl - 6 functions to evaluate

A 
scrutiny
representation
calling gov to account
legislation
deliberation
checking gov power
33
Q

evaluation of hofl - representation

A 
good
- more socially representative
- many sections of business represented / professions / are the top of their field represented
- specific knowledge
bad
- unelected so unaccountable so not representative
- high average age
- few working class
- still not socially correct enough
34
Q

social make up of lords

- women

A

207 women (34% vs 29%) (4 of past 6 leaders have been women vs only 1 women PM and never been a woman speaker)

35
Q

evaluation of hofl - calling gov to account

A

good
- peers = more independent
- more active in questioning (dont have to worry about consequences of criticisng gov)
bad
- no departmental select committees
- no PMQT
- as unelected, looses legitimacy / weight to question

36
Q

evaluation of hofl - scrutiny

A

good
- much more effective than commons (housemaid) as has time and experience
- specific, detailed knowledge from most peers over one particular aspect
- less part lines
bad
- if lords do try to amend, commons has to agree

37
Q

evaluation of hofl - legislating

A

good
- laws must be passed by lords to be passed
bad
- illegitimate
- many conventions and acts standing the lords way (salisbury convention, parliament acts)

38
Q

evaluation of hofl - deliberation / debate

A 
good
- time
- knowledge
- better debates than commons
bad
- weak legislation powers
- debates for show more than anything else
39
Q

evaluation of hofl - checking gov power

A 
good 
- members cannot be controlled by gov
- no patronage
- much less whipped
- independent
- can cause u turns in gov policy (working tax credits)
bad
- can bypass lords
- they can only delay for a year
- commons will always win over lords
40
Q

2010 reform of house of commons

A

june 2010 - back bench business committee set up with chair elected by MPs
- committee controls debate in the chamber for 27 days a year (debates have ranged from afgan war to big society concept), also schedule 8 days of debate in westminster central hall
2010 onwards select committees chairs now elected by MPs taking the power away from the whips

41
Q

2010 proposed reform that didnt occur under the coaltiion

A

house business committee to oversee day to day running of house
constituency boundaries to be redrawn so constituencies the same (and to make house smaller) some as big as 92,000 (illford south) then as small as 44,000 (scunthorpe)
recall MPs
change to AV

42
Q

pre coalition reform to commons

A

expenses scandal

= parliamentary standars act 2009 - independent parliamentary standards authority replacing fees office

43
Q

recall of MPs

A

received royal assent march 2015
MP sent to prison or suspended for 21 sitting days
petition open for 8 weeks and must receive 10% of electorate
by election follow (MP allowed to stand)
Zac Goldsmith = big supporter

44
Q

advantages of abolishing hofl

A

save money
streamline legislation
remove obstructions from efficient gov
force commons to face up to its responsibilities

45
Q

disadvantages of abolishing hofl

A

important check on gov power
deny many experts a position in politics
expertise lost

46
Q

advantages to making hofl entirely appojnted

A

useful and knowledgeable people brought into politics
could manipulate members so so social balance
result in greater independence

47
Q

disadvantages to making hofl entirely appointed

A

patronage into pms hands
tonies cronies
just become huge as parties appoint too many to support their party

48
Q

advantages to fully elected hofl

A

democracy
accountable
greater authority
proportional representation = reflect party balance more accurately

49
Q

disadvantages to fully elected hofl

A 
house too influential
just a repeated of hofc
unnecessary
lose the experts
only get second rate (all the good politicians go to commons, lords left with the second best)
50
Q

attempts at reforming the lords timeline

A

1999 - house of lords act removing all but 92 hereditary peers
report on the royal commission in report of the house of lords = wakeham commission, made recommendations on mixture of elected and appointed an no hereditarys
2001 white paper proposing 20% elected, too small so dropped
2007 white paper series of votes for differing amounts of electedness but none got a majority (couldn’t agree on percentages)
2011-2012 house of lords reform bill to make a senate but rebellion by tories
house of lords reform act 2014 allowing peers can now be expelled, retire and remove unattendees

Politics (7 decks)

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