Parliamentary Law Making Flashcards
What does the parliament consist of?
- The House Of Commons
- The House Of Lords
What are the qualities of the house of commons?
- Members of parliament
- Elected by public
- Divided into constituencies
- General election every 5 years
What are the qualities of house of lords?
- Non elected body
- Originally dominated by Hereditary Peers
- 92 Hereditary Peers, 26 Senior Bishops, 640 Life Peers
What is a hereditary peer?
- When the peerage has been passed down from a parent to their child.
How do political influences influence the parliament?
- Political influence sets out the party manifestio which sets out the reforms it intends to carry out.
- Public vote the manifestio in the General Election.
How does the public opinion and media influence the parliament?
- Strong public opinion influences a change in law and government will listen as they want electorate vote.
- Media can bring matters to public attention quickly and effectively.
How do pressure groups influence the parliament?
- Sectional represents a particular section of the society.
- Case promotes a particular cause.
What is lobbying?
- Pressure groups may persuade an individual member of parliament to support their cause.
- Member of parliament will ask question in house of commons to get publicity.
What are the advantages of political influences?
- Majority of electorate will have voted the government into power therefore electorate have voted who they wanted.
What are the disadvantages of political influences?
- New governments are not bound by previous laws therefore they can be repealed which will be costly.
What are the advantages of public and media influences?
- Public opinion is influenced by a specific event such as The Dunblane Massacre.
- Social media allows issues to be bought to public attention immediately.
What are the disadvantages of public and media influences?
- Government may respond too quickly as a result of a knee jerk reaction and therefore poorly draft a new law such as Dangerous Dogs Act.
- Media can manipulate the public opinion such as the ‘Name and Shame Campaign’.
Advantages of pressure groups and lobbyists?
- Pressure groups are powerful and raise important issues.
- Lobbysits are able to bring issues to attention of Members of Parliament which could lead to a debate in the parliament and publicity of the cause.
Disadvantages of pressure groups and lobbyists?
- Pressure groups may only be interested in furthering their own cause therefore may be biased.
- Professional lobbyists may abuse the system and suggests that ordinary individuals have no power.
What is the pre-legislative process?
- Green paper states government’s view and proposals for reformation of law.
- White paper has firm proposals for the new law.
How can bills be introduced?
- Ballot is during each parliamentary session a bill can be presented to the parliament by 20 private members.
- Ten minute rule of back benchers under the rule that any member of the parliament can make a speech for up to ten minutes.
What are the three types of bill?
- Public bill which focuses on public matters.
- Private bill only focuses on individuals.
- Hybrid bills are introduced by the government but only affect particular person or group.
How can bills be sponsored?
- By individual Members of the Parliament which are viewed as back benchers.
What are the stages of the legislative process?
- The first reading.
- The second reading.
- The committee stage.
- The report stage.
- The third reading.
- Opposing house.
- Royal assent.
What is the first reading?
- Formal procedure.
- Name and aims of Bill read out.
- No discussion.
- Vote taken.
What is the second reading?
- Debate main principles of the Bill.
- Vote taken.
What is the committee stage?
- Detailed examination of each clause.
- Standing committee.
- Opposition and minority parties represented proportionally but government will take majority.
What is the report stage?
- Amendments made.
- Amendments reported to the House.
- Stage ensures committee can’t amend the Bill.
What is the third reading?
- Final vote.
What is the opposing house stage?
- Goes through the same 5 stages.
What is the royal assent stage?
- Monarch gives approval.
- Becomes a formality.
- Act comes into force at midnight therefore it is officially a law the next day.
What are the advantages of the legislative process?
- Democratic as law is made by the elected representative which the electorate chose.
- Full reform as whole areas in one act can be reformed.
- Broad policy and detailed rules set by the parliament allowing experts to add detail.
- Consultation and taking into consideration the subjects of the Bill.
What are the disadvantages of the legislative process?
- Lack of time to consider all the proposals to law reformation.
- Long process as stages can take several months.
- Government control therefore own agenda prioritized and important issues can be missed as lack of time.
- Complexity makes the acts difficult to understand.
