Politics and Participation Flashcards
UK CABINET
The cabinet is a group of people that meet with the president on matters about the duties of their respective departments. The role of the Prime minister at a cabinet is to sum up views of its members and state what he/she thinks the agreed position is. If minsters speak out in public against the cabinet decision, they must resign.
VOTING
To vote in a UK General Election a person must be registered to vote and also: -
- 18 or over
- Be a British citizen.
- Not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote.
In England, Northern Ireland and Wales, you can register to vote when you are 17. However, you can only vote when you are 18. In Scotland, you can register to vote when you are 15. The Electoral Commision has published reports looking at changes that might encourage more people to vote. Some have been tried out in some local elections. These include: -
- Allowing weekend voting
- Changing polling hours
- Opening polling stations in different locations
Others have suggested online voting or telephone voting
ELECTIONS
If you want to be a candidate in a local election in the UK you must be at least 18 years old, a british citizen, an eligible Commonwealth Citizen or a Citizen of any other member state of the EU. You must be registered elector for the local council area for which you wish to stand. You cannot stand in more than one constituency at the same UK Parlimentry General Election.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
The House of Commons is the elected element made up of 650 members of parliament who each represent a constituency, each with about 65,000 electors. They are elected at a General Election and remain in office until the next General Election. For the past 150 years, the House of Commons has been dominated by the party system, whereby almost all MP’s are elected to represent a political party. The party that wins a majority of the seats forms the government.
HOUSE OF LORDS
The House of Lords is made up of over 1000 appointed life peers. The role of the House of Lords is to debate and revise legislation from the House of Commons. It can also propose legislation and it carries out scrutiny functions similar to the House of Commons. At times, there are joint committees of both houses. The house of Lords does not vote down proposals from the government if they were in its election manifesto.
VOTING AGE
Currently, the voting age in General Elections is 18. In Scotland for some elections it is now 16. To vote in a local council election you must be on the electoral register. Also have a voting age on the day of the election and or a british citizen. To vote in a UK General Election a person must be registered to vote and:
- aged 18 or over.
EU Citizens resident in the UK although, the can vote at elections to local authoirities, developed legislatures and the European Parliament.
TRADE UNION
An organization whose membership consists of workers and union leaders, united to protect and promote their common interests.
