Parliament's policy-making role Flashcards
what is the ethnic and social composition of the HOC?
Commons- In 2015 contains 650 MPs representing single-member constituencies, the youngest being SNPs Mhairi Black (20), average age 50. women make up 29% of the new intake, up from 22% in 2010, 19% in 2005 and 6% in 1987, and 6% of MPs were ethinic minorities, up from 4.2% in 2010. Resemblance theory holds that those in the legislature should be typical of communities they serve so they can reflect constituents beliefs, but women and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in commons.
what is the ethnic and social composition of the HOL?
prior to 1999 conservatives 471 peers, labour 179. most only appear in times they are needed to block legislation, and composition changed radically after 1999 (see later). Tyhe majority are white, middle class and over 50.
what are the two opposing and defending views of representation theory?
Yes– helps better understand issues, more faith in legislature
No– cannot represent everyone, and a good MP will represent people anyway
How are the Lords appointed?
From Life Peerages Act (1958) monarch, or in practice PM, can appoint life peerages, leading to alleged ash for peerage scandals in the Blair gov. PM is obliged to invite nominations from opposition, nominees scrutinised by HOL Appointments Commission. In 2005 Blair accused of using HOL appointments to get unelected Andrew Adonis in the cabinet by making him a lord first. Appointments also used to get rid of potentially troublesome backbenchers, and reward for public service.
what are the two different types of bills?
Public bills affect the entire population. Government bills: seek to fulfil manifesto commitments and are most likely to succeed because the gov controls the parliamentary timetable. Private Member’s bills: introduced by any MP on any issue, but rarely succeed without gov support. Can be good for legislating tough issues (1967 Abortion Act). Private bills affect particular policy areas or organisations rather than public as a whole. Some personal bills only affect one or two people (e.g granting dispensation for an existing law)
what is the normal passage of legislation through parliament?
- first reading (in commons)
- second reading (debate)
- standing committee (scrutinise and amend bill)
- third reading (pass or reject bill)
- house of lords (same process, send amendments to commons, who approve or reject bill. Parliament act used at this stage)
- royal assent
How can the government override the normal legislative passage?
The government can speed up this process by making effective use of whips, formally guillotining committee action, limiting time for commons debate, making concessions to backbenchers and either using or threatening the parliament act.
(see 2005 Terrorism Bill)
what are the relative powers of the HOC and HOL?
Commons is now dominant chamber. 1911 Parliament act resulted in attempted blockage of 1909 budget by lords. Lords no longer allowed veto but could delay bills by 2 years, whilst commons given highest power and can over-rule the Lords where agreement can not be reached (see hunting act 2004). Lords not allowed to veto, amend or delay money bills. Parliament act 1949 reduced power of delay to one parliamentary session. Acts rarely used but threat often make lords back dow. Salisbury doctrine (1945) said lords could not oppose gov bills at 2nd reading if the bill was in the party’s manifesto. Has come into question during coalition. However Lords not entirely powerless, security of tenure and weak party ties make it serious obstacle for gov. Were particularly good at holding gov to account 1979-1997, creating barrier for new labour bills.
what happened after the passage of the 1999 HOL Act?
aimed (as proposed in Labours 1997 manifesto) to remove rights of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the HOL. In practice 92 hereditary peers remained.
what white papers were made in regards to HOL reform?
following Wakeham commission Labour 2001 proposed a 20% directly elected 2nd chamber. After much debate the commons rejected the 8 models it was presented with. 2007 White paper proposed 50% elected HOL with fixed 12 year terms, elections using regional list system and no single-party majority. Lords rejected the free vote, in commons there was bipartisan support. Efforts to reform the HOL have mostly come to a standstill (although see Lib dem manifesto 2015)
How does parliamentary sovereignty work in practice?
Parliament, thanks to constitution, is sovereign, the only place that can make or unmake UK law. Recently some have questioned whether EU law, increased referendums and devolution since 1970s have undermined this, but in theory parliament still has the power to revoke all of these, meaning it is still sovereign.
what is executive dominance?
in 1976 Lord Hailsham described the British system of government as an ‘elective dictatorship’. What he meant was that the government, once elected, is able to behave like a dictator owing to the weakness of Parliament. Because the executive is made up of the majority in parliament, it rarely loses votes. In modern academic parlance, this is known asexecutive dominance. The government did lose votes on the 90 day detention orders and also the Gambling Order, but such defeats are few and far between. There has not been a successful Commons vote of no confidence in a government since 1979.
what is an elective dictatorship?
a phrase popularised by the formerLord Chancellorof the United Kingdom,Lord Hailsham, in a Richard Dimbleby Lecture at the BBC in 1976.It describes the state in whichParliamentis dominated by the government of the day. It refers to the fact that the legislative programme of Parliament is determined by the government, and government bills virtually always pass theHouse of Commonsbecause of the nature of the majoritarianfirst-past-the-postelectoral system, which almost always produces strong government, in combination with the imposition ofparty disciplineon the governing party’s majority, which almost always ensures loyalty. In the absence of a codified constitution, this tendency toward executive dominance is compounded by theParliament Actsand Salisbury Convention which circumscribe theHouse of Lordsand their ability to block government initiatives.
