Scrutiny Essay

Question 1

Although legislatures have an important…

Answer 1

‘Law making’ role, one of their most important functions is to scrutinise the government.

Question 2

In this essay, one political party focused on is UK Parliament and their…

Answer 2

Parliamentary committees, 2nd chamber House of Lords and prime ministers question time (PMQ)

Question 3

This other political system focused on is the USA and their…

Answer 3

Congressional committees, senate approval and publicity/media.

Question 4

This essay argues…

Answer 4

That both the UK and US legislatures can effectively scrutinise the action of the government to a certain extent.

Question 5

One way the UK legislature can effectively scrunches the actions of the government is through Parliamentary committees. This is because…

Answer 5

A parliamentary committee will scrutinise a bill when it goes through parliament by researching it and suggesting possible amendments.

Question 6

Example
Parliamentary committees

Answer 6

For example, the gov in the UK will follow around 40% of committee recommendations

Question 7

Analysis of parliamentary committees…

Answer 7

This shows effective scrutiny from committees on the actions of the government as a large proportion of gov bills are being changed to suit the population’s needs but may not reflect what the gov initially wished to do.

Question 8

However US congressional committees can have limited effectiveness due to…

Answer 8

Bias membership. This is because in the USA, committees will often have the same congressional members over many years meaning bias and a lack of new ideas when scrutinising a bill can occur.

Question 9

Example
US committees

Answer 9

For example, Joe Biden as a senator was a member of the foreign relations committee for 30 years.

Question 10

Analysis of US committees

Answer 10

This suggests ineffective scrutiny of gov actions by committees and if Biden haves the same idea across 30 years, it is preventing new ideas from being heard when scrutinising bills.

Question 11

Overall
Committees

Answer 11

Overall, committees are more effective in scrutinising gov action in the UK than the US to a certain extent as UK committee are more likely to challenge and amend gov bills in compared to the bias in the USA committee system.

Question 12

One way the UK can ineffectively scrutinise the actions of the government is through…

Answer 12

The 2nd chamber, the House of Lords. This is because the House of Lords are unelected and therefore have a lower public profile meaning they have a less significant role in Parliament.

Question 13

Example
House of Lords

Answer 13

For example, in the war power act 1991, the lords asked commons to reconsider, however commons didn’t listen to their recommendations

Question 14

Analysis
House of Lords.

Answer 14

This shows ineffective scrutiny of the action of the government as the House of Lords can suggest amendments and improvements and can be an obstacle but can ultimately be ignored by commons which leaves the bill unchanged

Question 15

However, senate approval is more effective at scrutinising the actions of government. This is because…

Answer 15

Whilst the President complete power over appointing his vice president and White House staff, he is limited when appointing a Supreme Court justice as it requires 2/3 Senate approval.

Question 16

Example
Senate approval

Answer 16

For example, in 2016 Barack Obama had his Supreme Court nomination of Marick Garland rejected due to him having less than 200 days left by the republican majority senate to have more liberal judges

Question 17

Analysis
Senate approval

Answer 17

This shows effective scrutiny by senates approval of the actions of the government as the republican-controlled senate can reject democrat nominations, block presidential nominations and force them to nominate someone else.

Question 18

Overall
Senate approval and House of Lords

Answer 18

Overall, senate approval is more effective in scrutinising the actions of the government to a certain extent as they can effectively prevent a presidents Supreme Court nomination if a majority isn’t in favour whereas the House of Lords is ineffective as their suggestions can be blocked by commons meaning no scrutiny is able to be implemented.

Question 19

Another way the UK legislature can ineffectively scrutinise the actions of govemrent is through…

Answer 19

Prime ministers question time (PMQs). This is because the prime minister is often briefed by the government departments which allows them to be prepared.

Question 20

Example
PMQs

Answer 20

For example, Rishi Sunak announced the eat out to help out scheme in his summer economic update plans to boost the economy due to the pandemic.

Question 21

Analysis
PMQs

Answer 21

This shows ineffective scrutiny of the actions of the government as Boris Johnson could anticipate he would be asked questions on the economic update which allowed answers to be formulated prior.

Question 22

However, US publicity and media is effective in scrutinising the actions of government. This is because…

Answer 22

Congressional hearings can receive a lot of publicity which can lead to heavy media scrutiny over certain issues

Question 23

Example
Media and publicity

Answer 23

For example, Joe Biden had to shut down criticisms that he was too old and unfit to be president.

Question 24

Analysis
Media and publicity

Answer 24

This shows effective scrutiny of the action of government as journalists are more open to asking questions without fearing the effect it has on their jobs to really put the president on the spot and feel flustered.

Question 25

Overall
Media and PMQs

Answer 25

Overall, the media is more effective in scrunching the actions of the government to a certain extent as presidents cannot prepared for interviews or queens asked and the articles published will be seen by more poeple in comparison to PMQs that aren’t viewed as much and contain some bias as the prime minister can prepare for some questionnaire they’re asked

Question 26

In conclusion, UK parliamentary committees are more effective in scrutinising the action of the government than US congressional committees to a certain extent as…

Answer 26

In the UK, committees have been seen to make more of an impact on the final bill with more amendments being used unlike in the US, due to the lack of change and fresh ideas from the long term committee members.

Question 27

Conclusion for House of Lords and senate approval…

Answer 27

The House of Lords is less effective in scrunching the actions of government than senate approval to a certain extent as the lords are seen as more of an obstacle with no meaningful output if they are ignored as no change is made whereas the senate can block Supreme Court nominations if the majority is against it.

Question 28

Conclusion for media and PMQs…

Answer 28

Finally, the media is more effective in scrutinising the actions of government to a certain extent because they receive more attention and the president is unaware of questions asked by journalists which allows them to be challenged and caught out if unprepared unlike PMQs due to questions containing bias as they can be predicted and therefore answers can be planned which reduces effectiveness.

Question 29

Overall conclusion

Answer 29

Overall, the legislature in the USA is more effective in scrutinising the actions of the government than the legislature in the UK to a certain extent.