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AS Politics > Parliament > Flashcards

Parliament Flashcards

1
Q

What are the five key functions of Parliament?

A
  • Holding the government to account
  • A debating chamber for key issues
  • Granting formal approval for legislation
  • Scrutiny of legislation & Proposing amendments
  • recruitment pool to cabinet
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2
Q

How is commons limited in its capacity as a debating chamber?

A

Increasingly there is little time in the parliamentary schedule for debates to be scheduled in and when they are partisan divides remain and its style is still distinctly adversary.

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3
Q

Which form of committee is most independently minded?

A

Departmental

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4
Q

What other element of independence is there in the parliament other than departmental committees?

A

Peers, although there are no departmental committees in the Lords.

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5
Q

How do MPs question ministers?

A

In regular question time lessons

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6
Q

How many times a year does the PM get questioned by the liaison committee?

A

twice

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7
Q

What has PMQs become?

A

Irrelevant form of holding the government to account and increasingly media-centric

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8
Q

What term can be used to describe the parliament’s job regarding passing legislation?

A

Rubber stamping

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9
Q

Is parliament effective at passing legislation?

A

Yes, but not as much scrutiny

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10
Q

Why are Lords committees far better than commons ones?

A

The committees are split far less along party lines and peers may have significant specialist knowledge, however commons still retains the power to overturn this.

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11
Q

What two things are departmental committees very good at?

A

Scrutiny and holding the government to account

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12
Q

What do departmental committees publicise?

A

Shortcomings

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13
Q

What are there four exclusive functions of the commons?

A
  • Vetoing legislation in extreme circumstances
  • Represents constituents and constituencies
  • Redress the grievances of citizens and groups
  • Removing a government from power if it has lost legitimacy
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14
Q

What does the government in practice rarely loose?

A

A major vote in government due to a party needing a majority to become a government

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15
Q

What represents a discipline amongst governments?

A

The commons retains the power to retain the power to vote legislation

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16
Q

What hampers efforts to represent constituents?

A

Party Loyalty and social misrepresentation

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17
Q

What are the three exclusive functions of the Lords?

A
  • Proposing amendments to legislation in order to improve ti and protect minority interests
  • Representing various interests and causes in society
  • Delaying legislation for up to a year in order to force government to reconsider it
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18
Q

As an unelected body what is not added, even eroded, by the house of Lords to pieces of legislation?

A

Legitimacy

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19
Q

What is a convention that allows the government to bypass the Lords?

A

Lords should not interfere with the economic policies of the government

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20
Q

What does the Lords being unelected mean?

A

Whilst they are independent they are not accountable

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21
Q

What are the three functions of the whips system?

A

1) Maintain discipline
2) Provide Information
3) Act as a communication channel

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22
Q

What is significant about the speaker of the house?

A

Neutral

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23
Q

Roughly how many elected MPs are there?

A

650

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24
Q

Who are MPs supposed to represent?

A

The views and interests of their constituents

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25
Q

Who forms the government?

A

The majority in the commons

26
Q

What group of people controls most of the agenda in commons?

A

The front bench, the cabinet

27
Q

What are MPs who do not sit on the front bench know as?

A

Back benchers

28
Q

What do legislative committees do?

A

Look at legislation and improve it through amendments

29
Q

What do departmental and select committees do?

A

Evaluate the work of the government

30
Q

In a presidential system does the president sit in the legislature?

A

No

31
Q

In a presidential system what does the constitution do?

A

Impose limitation son the president’s power

32
Q

In a presidential system to whom is the president accountable to?

A

The people not the legislature

33
Q

In a presidential system what is significant about the executive?

A

Separate from the legislative government

34
Q

In a parliamentary system what is there no separation between?

A

Powers between the government

35
Q

In a parliamentary system, where does government draw its authority from?

A

The parliament not the people

36
Q

In a parliamentary system, what is the government not separately elected from?

A

Parliament

37
Q

In a parliamentary system to whom is government directly accountable?

A

Parliament

38
Q

In a parliamentary system, who must sit in parliament?

A

Members of government

39
Q

What is a Bicameral system?

A

A situation where parliament is made up of two chambers such as in the UK

40
Q

Which party has a majority in the Lords?

A

No one party has a majority

41
Q

What is good about cross benchers?

A

Highly independent

42
Q

Who presides of proceedings in the Lords?

A

A neutral “Lords Speaker”

43
Q

What type of committees do the Lords have?

A

Legislative

44
Q

Which two types of committees do the Lords not have?

A

Select and Departmental

45
Q

How many archbishops and bishops sit in the lords?

A

26

46
Q

How many hereditary peers sit in the Lords?

A

92

47
Q

When was the last significant Lords reform?

A

1999

48
Q

When was the backbench business committee set up?

A

June 2010

49
Q

On how many days a year can the back bench business committee control debates in the main chamber?

A

27

50
Q

On how many days a year can the back bench business committee control debates in westminster hall?

A

8

51
Q

What topics were promoted for debate by the BBBC?

A

Big Soc and Afganistan

52
Q

When did backbench committee chairs become elected by backbenchers?

A

2010

53
Q

What did backbench committee chairs becoming elected by backbenchers do to the balance of power int he commons?

A

removes power from the party leaders and whips

54
Q

What are three proposed reforms?

A

1) Constituents to be given power to recall MPs- effectively forcing a by-election by petition
2) Size of HOC to be reduced by 10% to reduce cost and streamline commons
3) Constituency boundaries to be redrawn to make them all of equal size.

55
Q

What is good about constituency boundaries being redrawn?

A

Voting power becomes more equal

56
Q

Why were reforms designed to restore respect?

A

There was widespread disillusionment with politics

57
Q

What would parliamentary reform do?

A

Make HOP and ministers more accountable

58
Q

What kind of forum can parliament be for the government?

A

The official forum where it can introduce proposals into the public arena.

59
Q

On a recruitment level why does government need parliament?

A

Needs it to recruit new ministers

60
Q

What does the parliamentary opposition and scrutiny do to the government?

A

Justify publicly its actions and decisions, whilst improving the quality of legislation by identifying problems and lack of clarity.

AS Politics (4 decks)

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