Parliamentary Models

Question 1

What countries have a parliamentary model?

Answer 1

Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain

Question 2

By which territories is the UK formed?

Answer 2

It is a group of islands of the western coast of Europe. The UK is a union of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The Crown dependencies (the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) are largely self-governing with the UK as the responsible for their defense and international relations; they are not part of the United Kingdom.

Question 3

Who is the Head of the State in the UK? And the Prime Minister?

Answer 3

The United Kingdom has as head of State Queen Elisabeth II and as current Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who is the head of the government (head of the executive).

Question 4

By what chambers is the UK Parliament composed? What is the purpose of this bicameral system?

Answer 4

The House of the Commons and the House of the Lords. In this way the two-chamber system acts as a check and balance for both Houses.

Question 5

What are the responsabilities for the House of the Commons and the House of the Lords (UK)

Answer 5

Their work is similar, making laws (legislation), checking the work of the government (scrutiny), and debating current issues.
The House of Commons is also responsible for grating money to the government through approving Bills that raise taxes. Generally, the decisions made in one House have been approved by the other.

Question 6

How are the members of the House of the Commons elected?

Answer 6

The Commons are publicly elected. The party with the largest number of members in the Common forms of the government.

Question 7

What is the job and the responsabilities for the members f the Commons (MPs)?

Answer 7

Members of the Commons (MPs) debate the big political issues of the day and proposals for new laws. It is one of the key places where government ministers – like Prime Minister and the Chancellor, and the main figures of the main political parties – work.

The Commons alone is responsible for making decisions on financial Bills, such as proposed new taxes. The Lords can consider these Bills but cannot block or amend them.

Question 8

What is the job of the House of the Lords?

Answer 8

The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It is independent from, and complements the work of, the elected House of Commons. The Lords shares the task of making and shaping laws, and checking and challenging the work of the government.

Question 9

Which system is the UK’s electoral system? How does it work? What parties are there?

Answer 9

The United Kingdom has majority electoral system, in which two parties, the Labor Party, and the Tories (conservative party), rule the country alternating in power depending on the outcome of the parliamentary elections.

Question 10

What is the Supreme Court in the UK and what is it purpose?

Answer 10

The Supreme Court is the final court of appeals in the United Kingdom for civil cases, and for criminal cases from England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population.

Question 11

What is the name given to the Head of the State and the Head of the Government in Germany?

Answer 11

In Germany, the Head of the State is the Federal President, and the Head of the Government is the Federal Chancellor

Question 12

Who is the Federal President in Germany? And the Federal Chacellor?

Answer 12

Currently, the Federal President is Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the Federal Chancellor is Angela Merkel.

Question 13

What is Germany and how is it ruled?

Answer 13

Germany is a federal parliamentary democracy governed under the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (“Basic Law”), the Constitution of Germany.

Question 14

What is the Basic Law? Which countries does it belong to? What does it enshrine?

Answer 14

The Basic Law consists of 11 chapters which set out the rights of the German people and outline in considerable detail the political and legal system of Germany. In particular, the President is the Head of the State and the Federal Chancellor, the Head of the Government. The Basic Law also enshrines the principle of the tripartition of powers into the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Question 15

By which chambers is the German Parliament composed of?

Answer 15

The German Parliament is a bicameral legislature that consists of the elected Bundestag (the lower house), and the appointed Bundesrat (upper House of the German Parliament).

Question 16

What are the powers of the Bundestag?

Answer 16

• Enact and amend legislation
• Elect the federal chancellor
• Monitor the performance of the federal government based on the rights and instruments set out in the basic law, including interpellations and debates on matters of public interest.
• Approve federal budget and scrutinize its implementation by the federal government.
• Determine the amount of public funding that parties are entitled to receive under the act on political parties.
• Elect the president together with the appointed members from the state legislatures at the federal convention.

Question 17

By what is the Budesrat composed?

Answer 17

The Bundesrat is composed of appointed Members representing the 16 states of Germany at the national level.

Question 18

What are the powers of the Bundesrat?

Answer 18

To counterweight the power of the Bundestag, the Bundesrat is granted with a number of legislative and scrutiny powers. For example, the Basic Law provides for the Bundesrat to make initial comments on the draft law before it is submitted to Parliament for scrutiny and vote. The Bundesrat may also veto a bill that substantially affects the state’s interest.

Question 19

What happens when there is a conflict between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat?

Answer 19

Since bills must be approved by both Houses to become legislation, the Constitution allows for convening a mediation committee with 16 members of the Bundestag and an equal number of Members of the Bundesrat to resolve the difference between the two Houses.

Question 20

What is the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht)?

Answer 20

It is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law (Grundgesetz) of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-World War II republic, the court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe, which is also the seat of the Federal Court of Justice.

Question 21

What is the name given to the Head of the State and the Head of the Government in Italy? Who are they?

Answer 21

Italy has as Head of the State a President of the Republic, who is nowadays Sergio Mattarella and a President of the Council of Ministries who is currently the Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Question 22

By which chambers is the Italian Parliament composed of? How many members do they have?

Answer 22

The Italian Parliament (Parlamento) is bicameral, consisting of two chambers or assemblies: The Senate of the Republic (Senato della Repubblica) with 315 members (called senators) and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) with 630 members (deputies).

Question 23

Do the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies in Italy have equal power? How are their members elected?

Answer 23

The assemblies enjoy equal power and are both elected by universal suffrage.

Question 24

What do senators represent in Italy? And deputies? What is the main difference between them?

Answer 24

Senators represent Italy’s 20 regions whereas deputies come from 26 constituencies, but the most important difference between the chambers is the minimum age required for the electorate and the candidates: 18 and 25 respectively for deputies and 25 and 40 for senators.

Question 25

How often are there elections to the Italian Parliament? What is the average lenght of office?

Answer 25

Parliament is elected every 5 years, although few Italian governments run their course, the average length of office being less than a year.

Question 26

What must Italian senators and deputies declare? Which political group has the right to be represented in Parliament?

Answer 26

• The senators and deputies must declare to which parliamentary group they intend to belong, and any political group consisting of at least 10 senators and 20 deputies has the right to be represented in parliament.

Question 27

How is the Italian government appointed? Who leads it?

Answer 27

The government is appointed by the President and is led by the president of the Council of Ministers (il Presidente del Consiglio), more commonly referred to as the Prime Minister

Question 28

What are the functions of the government in Italy?

Answer 28

Although the government carries out the executive function of the state, in emergencies it also has powers to approve laws by decree. Parliament can be dissolved by the Parliament; i.e.: when the Prime Minister loses a vote of no confidence.

Question 29

What is the vote of confidence in Italy?

Answer 29

• Ministerial appointments are negotiated by the parties constituting the government majority and each new government must receive a vote of confidence in both houses of parliament within ten days of its appointment. If at any time the government fails to maintain the confidence of either house, it must resign. Splits in the coalition of two or more parties that have united to form a government have caused most resignations on the past.

Question 30

What is the most important function of parliament in Italy?

Answer 30

Ordinary legislation

Question 31

In which ways can bills be presented in Italy?

Answer 31

Bills may be presented in parliament by the government, by individual members, or by bodies such as the National Council for Economy and Labor, various regional councils, or communities, as well as by petition of 50,000 citizens of the electorate or through a referendum.

Question 32

How are bills approved in Italy?

Answer 32

• Bills must be approved by both houses before they become law; thus, whenever one house introduces an amendment to a draft approved by the other house, the latter must approve the amended draft. The law comes into force when published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale.

Question 33

How is Italy divided?

Answer 33

Italy is a regional country divided in 20 regions (15 ordinary autonomous regions, and 5 autonomous regions with special statute).

Question 34

What is the name given to the Parliament in Spain? How is it compsed?

Answer 34

Cortes Generales. They are composed of the Senate (Upper House) and the Congress of Deputies (Lower House)

Question 35

What is the nature of the Cortes Generales according to the Constitution?

Answer 35

The Cortes Generales are a complex body of a representative, deliberate, inviolable and continuous nature

Question 36

What does the Spanish Constitution establish on order to guarantee the individual freedom of action of the members of the Cortes Generales and to facilitate the fullest possible dedication to the parliamentary tasks by the represnetatives of the people?

Answer 36

No one may be a member of the two chambers simultaneously, nor accumulate the minutes of an Assembly of Autonomous Community with that of Deputy to Congress

Question 37

Are the members of the Cortes Generales bound by an imperative mandate?

Answer 37

No, they can freely express their opinion and vote at their own discretion even if it is contrary to the wishes of their respective political parties and the voters.

Question 38

Can members of the Cortes Generales be easily arrested?

Answer 38

Procedural immunity that prevents their detention except in case of flagrante delicto and their indictment or prosecution without prior authorization of the respective Chamber

Question 39

What is the Senate in Spain? What does it represent?

Answer 39

The Senate is the territorial representation chamber, in which the representation of the autonomous communities and of the provinces is combined.

Question 40

How often is the Senate elected in Spain? What does that imply?

Answer 40

The Senate is elected for four years, so that the term of the senators ends four years after their election or the day of dissolution of the House.

Question 41

What is the figure of deputies allowed in the Congress of Deputies in Spain? How many of them are there now? How are they elected?

Answer 41

The Congress consists of a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 400 deputies – currently 350 – elected by universal suffrage, free, equal, direct and secret, under the terms established by law. All Spaniards who are in full use of their political rights are electors and eligible.

Question 42

How often is the Congress elected? What does that imply?

Answer 42

The Congress is elected for four years, so that the mandate of the deputies ends four years after their election, or the day of dissolution of the House.

Question 43

Where can be the fundamental regulation of the Cortes Generales be found?

Answer 43

• The fundamental regulation of the functioning of the Cortes Generales is found in the Constitution and in the regulations (rules of procedure) of each of the chambers.

Question 44

What is the legislature in Spain?

Answer 44

• The legislature is the normal time of the life of each House, which lasts for four years, except in case of early dissolution.

Question 45

What are the sessions in Spain?

Answer 45

The session is each of the stages of work within each legislature. It is pointed out that the Chambers will meet annually in two regular sessions, one from September to December, and one from February to June.

Question 46

Where are the Cortes Generales located? Why is that? What is the common privilege for the chambers?

Answer 46

According to the Constitution, which establishes Madrid as capital, the seat of the Cortes Generales is in that city, for both the Congress and the Senate. Both places enjoy the privilege of inviolability of art. 66.3 of the Constitution.

Question 47

Fuctioning of the Chambers in Spain. Meetings

Answer 47

• The plenary is the meeting of all the members of a Chamber, under the chairmanship of its respective Bureau.
• The commissions are each of the operative sections into which the deputies or senators are divided, under the direction of a proper Bureau.

Question 48

Can the President of the Government propose the dissolution of the Cortes Generales?

Answer 48

Yes, after deliberation with the Council of Ministers

Question 49

In which cases can the Cortes Generales be dissolved?

Answer 49

• For constitutional requirements
• Expiration of the term of the four-year term in which the Cortes will be dissolved and the election of the general elections to be held immediately.
• When the total revision of the Constitution or a partial reform of those provided for in art. 168 of the Constitution is proposed, approval shall be given by a 2/3 majority of each House and the immediate dissolution of the Cortes.
• For other special causes

Question 50

What are the functions of the Parliament in Spain?

Answer 50

• Legislative power – Consists of drafting and voting laws. Traditionally, the practice and the text of various constitutions have laid down the principle that “the power to make laws resides in the Cortes with the king.”

Question 51

A parliamentary regime is characterized by the division of powers and…

Answer 51

By the maintenance of a series of mechanisms to ensure communication between the legislative branch and the executive branch. This object is fulfilled through the empowerment of the legislature to control the political action of the Government, forcing it to have the confidence of the Cortes to further develop its activity.

Question 52

What is the question in Spain?

Answer 52

• The question is an important element of control and information. It arose in England and consists of seeking clarification from the Government to ascertain whether a fact is true, whether information has reached the executive, or whether it is accurate, whether the Government has adopted or will take action on certain issues.

Question 53

What are interpellations in Spain?

Answer 53

• Interpellations constitute the normal, broader, and more energetic means of control. They are of French origin and differ from the questions in that the request for clarification refers specifically to the conduct or intentions of a minister or the whole cabinet and are intended to determine a debate on the political orientation they follow

Question 54

Which powers do the Cortes Generales exercise?

Answer 54

• The Cortes Generales exercise political powers such as the constitution of commissions of investigation, the appearance and interrogation of authorities and individual matters of general interest and the approval of non-legislative resolutions.

Question 55

Which function does the Congress of Deputies have that the Senate doesn’t in Spain?

Answer 55

It has been entrusted with the function of sustaining the Government, expressing the granting and withdrawal of confidence of the president of the Government and through motions of censorship and questions of confidence. The loss of the confidence of the Congress of Deputies forces the Government to present its resignation to the king.

Question 56

Who has to present the proposal for the General State Budgets in Spain? To whom? What is the purpose of it?

Answer 56

The Government must present the proposal for General State Budgets to the Cortes Generales where they must approve them. In case the support of the Cortes doesn’t exist for their approval, they must be extended.