The Origin and Passage of Legislation Flashcards
The origin and passage of legislation in…
Both the UK Parliament and US Congress consists of several stages before a bill can become a law.
In this essay, the stages that will be compared are…
The origin stage and where the bill comes from, the committee stage and for the UK Parliament Royal Assent being compared to Presidential Action in US congress
This essay argues that…
Describing the origin and passage of legislation as remarkably similar is inaccurate for the UK parliament and US congress
One way the origin and passage of legislation isn’t remarkably similar in the UK and the USA is…
Is the origin and where the bill comes from. This is because in the Uk a bill is introduced to all MP’s in the House of Commons at the first reading, usually by the governing party or prime minister.
Example for introducing the bill in the UK…
Sir Christopher Chope MP of the Conservatives introduce the BBC Licence Fee Civil Penalty Bill at its first reading.
Analysis for introducing the bill UK…
This shows that the origins of a bill often in the UK lies with an MP of the governing party who add to the government legislative agenda.
However in the USA party loyalties…
Mean the governing party doesn’t always introduce the bill. This is because in the USA, the senate and the House of Representatives may not both have majorities belonging to the governing party, as both hold separate elections, meaning bills could be introduced by the opposition party in congress.
For example… introducing a bill USA
The House of Representatives currently has a republican majority with 222 seats and the senate has a republican lead with 49 seats.
Analysis of USA introducing a bill
This shows that the origins of who introduces the bill can be completely different to the party that’s in the White House as currently reflected by the republican congress majority
Overall introduction of a bill…
Overall, it is clear that the origins of legislation in the UK and USA are not remarkably similar as the governing party in the UK Parliament tends to hold majority and set legislative agenda whereas in US congress, it can be controlled by the opposition party.
One way the origin and passage of legislation is remarkably similar in the UK and USA is…
The committee stage. This is because in the UK, a bill will be referred to a public bill committee for detailed, clause-by-clause scrutiny.
Example for UK committee stage is…
For example, the public bill committee will consist of 16 to 50 MPs chosen to reflect the balance of parties represented in the House of Commons.
Analysis of UK committee stage is…
This shows that the committee stage can heavily scrutinise and make recommendations of amendments as MPs are from different parties which means more opinions are being represented in discussions and therefore the bill will fit the needs of more people.
Similarly in the USA…
The bill will also go to the committee stage. This involves scrutinising a new bill before sending it back to the floor of the house of reps or the Senate or using their power to kill the bill
For example… USA committee stage
For example, Shiela Jackson Lee’s leading Against White Supremacy act 2023 is currently at committee stage in the USA.