structure and role of parliament Flashcards
1
Q
executive
A
- pm
- cabinet
- civil servants
- spads
2
Q
legislature
A
parliament
- create laws (statute)
3
Q
judiciary
A
interpret laws
- judiciary
4
Q
house of commons
A
- gov (lead gov departments)
- backbenchers
- master at arms
- speaker
- formal opposition (shadow cabinet)
5
Q
house of lords
A
- life peers
- hereditary peers (92)
- lord spirituals (bishops) (26)
- monarch
- 700 members
6
Q
structure of parliament
A
- monarch
- house of lords
- house of commons
7
Q
four functions of parliament
A
- debate
- make/amend laws
- hold gov to account
- represent constituents
8
Q
three functions of the house of lords
A
- scrutiny of legislature
- debate laws
- look into debates in parliament
9
Q
six ways executive can be scrutinised
A
- select, public bill and house of lords committees
- pmqs
- early day motions
- e-petitions
- vote of no confidence
- through the opposition
10
Q
describe the legislative process
A
- green paper
- white paper
- bill
- first reading
- second reading
- committee stage
- report stage
- third reading
- house of lords
- royal assent
11
Q
describe how debates work
A
- statements to parliament on significant issues
- half-hour debates at end of each day
- poorly attended
- backbencher business committee created 2011 determining agenda for debates during the week
12
Q
backbencher business committee 2011
A
- determines agendas for debates during the week
13
Q
green paper
A
- document setting out issues and options for legislation
- first draft
14
Q
white paper
A
- gov document setting out detailed plans and proposals for legislation
- second draft, more refined
15
Q
what happens to a white paper before it is drawn into parliament?
A
- approved and drawn up into a bill
16
Q
public bill and example
A
- created by gov
- affects everyone with its jurisdiction
17
Q
private member’s bill
A
- backbencher introduced it
18
Q
private bills
A
- promoted by groups or organisations
- normally an amendment as they only affect single persons or groups
19
Q
hybrid bill
A
- affects particular individual or organisation
- generally used to secure powers to construct and operate major infrastructure
20
Q
first reading
A
- bill introduced, no debate
21
Q
second reading
A
general debate on bill
22
Q
committee stage
A
- line by line examination of the bill
- sent to public bill committee
- amendment could be made
23
Q
report stage
A
- amendments are made/debated
24
Q
third reading
A
- debate on amended bill
- last chance for amendments
25
six strengths of statute creation
- provide legal certainty by establishing clear and specific rules
- serves as basis for the rights and responsibilities of individuals, companies and other entities
- democratic legitimacy, created by elected representatives
- democratic accountability
- ability to address modern concerns
- flexibility and adaptability
26
five weakenesses of statute creation
- ambiguity issues, have to interpret if unclear
- subjective to political influence
- time consuming and complex process
- risk of overregulation
- impact on legal tradition
27
representative function of parliament lord birkenhead quote
‘the noble lord represents no one but himself, and I don’t think much of his constituency’
28
weakness of lobbying
- those that have higher incomes than their second jobs may indulge more time into sed job
- leading to poorer level of representativeness
29
strength of lobbying
- bringing more experience to being an mp
30
example of lobbying
- owen patterson used lobbying to his financial advantage
- personal interests over actual representation
- worked for randox, paid £8k a month for 16 hours work
- investigated for not declaring some of the work/money
31
three theories of representation
- burkean/trustee theory
- delegate theory
- mandate theory
32
burkean
- founder of modern conservatism
- thought mp has been elected to use their political wisdom and use their own judgment
33
burkean/trustee theory
- reps should take into account constituent views but ultimately use their own judgement
- constituents entrust their elected officials to represent them fairly
34
evaluation of burkean/trustee theory
- weakened by whipping system
- ‘vote of conscience’ mps vote on own belief or conscience for common good
35
example of burkean theory in practice
- nick boles supported remain but had a leave constituency
- argues he was putting perceived national interest before party and constituent interest
36
delegate theory
- elected officials are the mouthpiece of their constituents
37
example of delegate theory in use
tory zac goldsmith promised to resign if gov backed third heathrow runway
they did and he reigned from richmond park seat
38
mandate theory
- elected officials primarily there to carry out party policy and manifesto
- argues it is the party and not the mp personality that secures their election
- therefore mps have a duty to the party
39
evaluation of mandate theory
- leaving party and standing as an independent never proves successful
40
examples of mandate theory in practice
- (party duty)
- frank field stood as independent after leaving labour party and was defeated
- however, douglas carswell elected to tory in clayton, defeated to ukip in 2014 and then defended seat as ukip
41
which theory of representation usually prevails?
- mandate theory
42
43
individual ministerial responsibility
- ministers accountable to parliament
- must examples and justify politices and actions
44
pmqs
- very wed 30 mins at midday
- leader of opposition, 3rd largest party leader and backbenchers question pm
- backbenchers ask about pm constituency matters
- ask questions that flatter their parties
- punch and just politics
45
ministerial question time
- gov ministers from each department face questions from mps
46
select committees
- 11 mps
- research certain areas in detail
- advice given
- scrutinise major world/national organisations that influence gov and their decisions
- also scrutinise actions/behaviours gov
47
role of select committees
- to hold minster and departments to account for their policy and decision making and support the house in its control of the supply of public money and scrutiny of legislation
48
example of select committee scrutiny
- dominic cummings scrutinised for breaking covid restrictions
49
how do select committees hold minsters and departments to account?
- launching investigations
- calling witnesses
- publishing reports with their findings and key recommendations
50
structure of select committees
- current structure set up in 1979, makes it more legitimate
- every gov department is ‘shadowed’ by a corresponding select committee
- often chaired by an MP with a strong background in that field
51
example of a select committee
- pac (public accounts committee) 1857 (oldest one)
- overview how effectively government spends money, can launch enquiries in major government projects (HS2 rail)
52
who sits on select committees?
- 28 committees in 2020
- 11 MPs on a committee
- reflects party balance in commons
- since 2010, chairs elected by secret ballot
53
select committee effectiveness
- provides an alternative level of scrutiny
- increasingly high profile
- chairs elected via secret ballot
- many have expertise in specific area provided
- operate in a cross-party manner
- reports often implemented and influence gov policy
54
select committee ineffectiveness
- some chairs avoid scrutinising topics they know are highly politicised
- party loyalties are still important
- gov doesnt have to act upon the report
- answers are mainly vague
- media can negatively effect their work
- cannot directly veto gov appointments
55
public bill committees
- 16-50 mps sit
- scrutinise proposed bills in committee stage of legislative process
- temporary and last the lifetime of the bill
- gov ensures MPs are in favour of bill therefore unlikely to suggest major changes
- do not benefit from ‘collective wisdom’ as they are not permanent
- majority in commons replicated in committee
56
advtanges of public bill committee
- allow backbenchers to scrutinise legislation in greater detail than when debated
- joint chairs (one gov and one opposition)
- can make effective amendments
- allows for pressure group input and involvement of evidence
- expert witnesses can be called
57
disadvantages of public bill committees
- membership included relevant gov minster
- membership decided in proportion to party strength within commons
- major amendments are unlikely
- membership temporary
- committee membership decided by party whips, loyalists likely to be chosen
58
lord committees
- least significant parliamentary committee as lords has less power than commons
- do not shadow gov departments
- specialise in policy areas, taking advantage of the breadth of experitise of the lords
59
6 permanent lords committees
- eu committee
- science and technology committee
- communications committee
- constitution committee
- economic affairs committee
- international relations committee
60
ad hoc committees
- established as short term committees
- lords liaison committee decides if a short term committee should be set up (e.g. covid committee)
61
composition of lords committees
- 11-12 members
- reflects proportions of parties in the lords
- therefore gov party doesn’t necessarily have majority on committee
62
role of lords committees
- conduct enquiries
- takes evidence from witnesses
- produce reports with recommendations
63
effective scrutiny by lords committees
- permanent hence collective wisdom shared
- ad hoc committees can be set up in times of need
64
ineffective security by lords committees
- only advisory so no chnage guaranteed
- less power than select committees, hence sometimes by passed
65
example of parliamentary debates: syrian air strikes
- isis present in syria
- cameron decided against bombing
- criticised for not doing so
- parliament wanted to debate
- 2015 issue raised again
66
parliamentary privilege
- since bill of rights 1689, mps are protected by parliamentary privilege
- allows them freedom of speech which they cannot be prosecuted on
67
emergency debates
- can be called by mps
- granted at speakers discretion
- mp has 3 mins to put request on the house
68
how many emergency debates where there between 2017 and 2019
- 22
69
when are petitions discussed?
mondays
70
significance of debating
- can lead to gov policy changes (defeat of motion of air strikes in syria)
- often poorly attended
- few MPs change their minds
- use of whip means gov will usually win anyway regardless of debate
- lords debates are more effective with high quality and informed contribution, gov however doesnt have to listen to contributions
71
intra-party opposition
- opponents within governing party or, when in coalition between governing parties (2010)
72
opposition days
- all opposition have 20 opposition days a year
- during which they choose topics for debate
- 17 set aside for formal opposition
73
intra-party scrutiny
- select committees often produce reports suggesting recommendations of gov policy
- collation 2010 lib dem opposition led tories to drop proposals lowering inheritance tax
- during brexit debates, tory rebels vote against may’s deal
74
significance of opposition
- stronger the gov, more power to push through legislation means a less effective opposition
75
strengths of opposition
- gets extra funding and privileges to enable better scrutiny, receive finding for policy research
- positions themselves as an alternative government
- opposition can check/change gov policy
- backbench rebels from within governing party can present problems for gov
76
weaknesses of opposition
- gov has better resources, chooses topics for debate and has control of parliamentary business
- depends on quality of shadow cabinet
- opposition successes are rare
- successful gov rebellions are also rare when govs are strong
