Parliament Flashcards
House of commons
COMPOSITION:
- 650 MPs- due to be reduced to 600
- MPs elected by single-member parliamentary constituency using FPTP voting system
- MPs are representative of party
- Most MPs are backbenchers (MP that does not hold a ministerial position)
POWERS:
- House of commons has supreme legislative power
- make, unmake, amend any law, lords can only delay those laws
- legal sovereignty of parl excersized by commons
- HOC can remove gov of the day- based on convention of collective ministerial responsibility
house of lords
LIFE PEERS- entitled to sit in HOL their lifetime. Appointed under life peerage Act by PM. Dominate HOL (678/792)
HEREDITARY PEERS- Inherited titles- dukes, barons etc. Only 92
LORD SPIRITUAL- Bishops, archbishops of C of E. 26 but proposals to reduce number to 12. appointed by PM on CofE recommends.
POWERS:
-Can delay bills passed by HOC for up to 1 year (not money bills though)
-Salisbury convention- Lords cannot defeat measures outlined in the gov election manifesto
-Lords posses some veto powers- Delays of general election, sacking of senior judges (w/ consent of both Houses of Parl) and introduction of secondary, or delegated legislation
(House of Lords Act 1999)- Removed all but 92 hereditary peers
(2005 constitutional reform act)- removed law lords from HOL and set up supreme court (2005)
monarchy
- appointing a government
- opening and dismissing parliament- at request of PM
- queens speech- informs parl of govs legislative programme - written by PM
- Royal assent- queen signs a bill to make it an Act, never refuse
- More of a dignified than effective constitution
functions of parliament (legislation)
Legislative- Branch of gov that has the power to make laws or unmake laws
-Parliament makes laws (legislature branch)
-Parliament is supreme legislature in UK (its sovereign)
-Devolved assemblies, local authorities etc can only make laws if parliament lets them
-not restricted by codified constitution
BUT
-Most of parls time spent considering govs legislative programme
-lords play subordinate role in legislative process. essentially a revising chamber- most of its time spent cleaning up bills not adequately scrutinized in the commons.
functions of parliament: representation
-Representative function carried out by elected HOC
-relationship between MP and their constituent
HOWEVER
-HOL is unelected- no representative role- undermines the democratic responsiveness of Parliament
-FPTP voting system is not representative of the pop
-MPs and peers are socially unrepresentative of larger society.
functions of parliament: scrutiny and oversight
-most important function= call gov to account by scrutinizing and overseeing what gov does
-by doing so parliament ensures responsible gov.
BUT
-majority of MPs in HOC belong to governing party so their primary role is to support gov of the day not criticise it
-question time is weak and ineffective - used to personally embarrass minister than scrutinize
-select comittees are good but:
1)gov has majority on each comittee
2)individual comittee appointments influenced by whips- ensure loyal BBs sit on key comittees
3) select comittees have no executive power to change gov - policy they can only criticise it.
functions of parliament: training of ministers
-before becoming frontbenchers, they must ‘cut their teeth’ on backbenches= they will have understanding of how gov works and of how policy is developed.
BUT
-Ministers recruited from limited pool of talent: mainly the MPs of largest party in HOC
-Dont gain bureacratic or management skills
-Fewer and fewer ministers have experienced careers outside of politics
functions of parliament: legitimacy
-Parliament ‘stands for the public’ being a representative assembly
BUT
-Unelected HOL has no democratic legitimacy
-respect for parliament has been undermined by cash for questions scandal. (MPs being paid for asking parliamentary question)
how laws are passed
1) PREPARATORY STAGE- Before bill passed their provisions outlined on a white paper or a green paper.
2) FIRST READING- Bill introduced to Parl
- No debate or vote yet
3) SECOND READING- Full debate that considers the principles of the bill
- First stage bill can be defeated
4) COMMITTEE STAGE- Details of the bill considered line by line by Public Bill committee
- most ammendments made now
5) REPORT STAGE- Committee reports to HOC on any changes
- commons may amend/ reverse changes at this stage
6) THIRD READING- Debate in full chamber of bill in its amended state
- no more amendments to be made
7) THE OTHER STAGE-Before going to monarch for Royal Assent
social background of MPs
SOCIAL CLASS -Predominantly middle class -manual working class underrepresented GENDER -Women underrepresented -1980s-3% -2010-21%- due to labours efforts to increase women MPs ETHNICITY -ethnic minorities underrepresented -2010 only 27 black/asian MPs AGE -Predominantly middle aged -70% between 40-59 -average age= 50 EDUCATION -Over 2/3 graduates -especially conservative - 2/3 attended private school SEXUAL ORIENTATION -11 openly gay MPs- mainly Labour
how does parliament call ministers to account
QUESTION TIME
-PMQs
-PM forced to answer Qs on the TV
SELECT COMMITTEES
-Scrutinise government policy
-19 select committees shadow the work of each major government departments
DEBATES AND MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS
-Legislative debates
-emergency debates
-adjornment debates allow B.B to initiate debates at the end of parliamentary day
OPPOSITION
-Given privileges at debates, question time and in management of parliamentary business to help carry out its role of opposing
-opposition days
WRITTEN QUESTIONS AND LETTERS
-Ministers must respond to letters received from MPs and peers
Parliamentary gov
-Parliamentary system if gov one in which gov governs in and through parliament
-based on the fusion between legislative and executive
FEATURES
-Gov formed as a result of parliamentary elections
-personel of gov are drawn from parl
-gov responsible to parl
-gov can dissolve parl
-asa parliamentary officer, PM is head of gov but not head of state
parliamentary gov VS presidential gov
PARLIAMENTARY GOV
- Fusion of powers
- gov formed through parl elections
- overlap if personnel
- gov removeable by legislature
- flexible- term elections (usually)
- cabinet gov
- separate head of state and head of gov
PRESIDENTIAL GOV
- separation of powers
- gov are separately elected
- separation of personnel
- legislature cant remove gov
- fixed term election
- presidentialism
- presidents are both head of gov and head of state
factors that affect parliaments relationship to government: party unity and its decline
-Stronger party unity= gov can always rely on its loyal troops in HOL to approve its legislative programme and to maintain power (elective dictatorship)
BUT
-BB revolters on the rise as party discipline has relaxed- disunity by BBs who vote against their party on an unwhipped vote
-examples of disunity- torie gov under john major
why?- mps more critical and openly minded
-Mps carreer politicians so have more time and resources to take political issues more seriously.
factors that affect gov: size of majority
- FPTP system over represent large parties
- larger the majority the weaker backbenchers will be.
