...House of Commons Most powerful of the two Houses of Parliament. Made up of 650 MPs, each elected in one of 650 constituencies throughout the UK. Almost all MPs are elected as members of a political party. Functions of The House of Commons Representation: MPs represent constituents and may represent 'interests' such as trade unions, or particular professions, provided these interests are declared. Almost all MPs represent political parties, and usually vote according to the party line (the whipping system). Government Personnel: Although parliament does not appoint the government, it provides a forum in which budding ministers can demonstrate and hone their political skills, while serving ministers can make or break their career depending on their performance at the Commons' dispatch box. Legitimisation: Permits the elected assembly, acting on the people's behalf, to grant (or withhold) its approval for most actions of the government, including legislation and the grant of money. Scrutiny of the Executive: The role in scrutinising the policies and actions of the government, in debates, parliamentary questions and within the influential cross-party select committees. The Powers of the Prime Ministers Power to appoint, reshuffle or dismiss ministers Power to create peers Power to give out honours Power to appoint chairs of nationalised industries Power to make other appointments (e.g. top civil servants, ambassadors, bishops, judges). Power over ministerial conduct...
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...hereditary peerages? What is currently proposed for the House of Lords? This article states what Labour’s proposal is, then assesses the strengths of an unelected house (as it is at the moment). Right, now you need to assess the arguments in favour of an elected (partly or wholly) House of Lords! It might make the House of Lords more representative! Explain why this is a good thing. Explain how the House of Lords composition is now (look it up). Then EVALUATE: Would it being an elected house actually make it more ‘representative’? Composition of House of Commons is still rather unrepresentative, despite being elected (call on data from Unit 1). More democratic! Means more legitimate! (be sure to explain what these words mean) Explain why this is a good thing. However: Potentially want more power; likely to exercise its current powers more (Delay -1 year) DEADLOCK – lack of legislation Elected chamber may remove continuity of service – continuity allows for building of expertise and experience of government However, staggered elections can solve this But these make it less democratic Could an elected and more legitimate Lords counterbalance the political dominance of the House of Commons – is Britain actually bicameral right now? Could this reform make Britain truly bicameral? Would it not just mirror the commons? If elected at the same time, would look the same. Will depend on the electoral system, but how will Commons agree on that – they argue over their own electoral...
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...independence in 1867 both the House of Commons as well as the Senate have been in place to represent the citizens of Canada as well as to pass bills and new reforms. The House of commons, made up of those who were voted into their respective positions and the Senate, made up of those who were appointed by the governor general with assistance from the Prime Minister. These two systems working in tandem with each other sounds as though it would be a very efficient and effective way to pass new legislation and to ensure proper representation from all over Canada. The issue in 2015, 148 years after the conception of these houses things do not look the same way that they may have in the past. The senate is no...
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...There is no doubt that whether the House of Commons really represent community or not has become controversial. In my opinion, the House of Commons not really represent the community in the UK due to MPs are not diversified. Matt Walker (October 21, 2009) pointed out that: “In 2005 only 23% of the House of Commons were women, despite making up over half the UK population. Furthermore, ethnic minorities constitute only 2.3% of the House of Commons, despite being 9% of the entire UK population.” Therefore, how can the House of Commons becomes more socially representative is an important problem which parliament must deal with. As is well-known that most MPs are male with middle-age and high educated, apart from this, most part of them are middle class and white. Here has some information shown about MPs: There are approximately 90% of MPs had studied in universities; even most of them came from Oxford or Cambridge. There are about 4% of MPs represent ethnic minority groups. Besides, almost half of MPs are drawn from three professions—business finance and law. So it is obvious that MPs are not representing the nation as a whole. How can the parliament change this situation? In my point of view, the House of Commons should increase more females, people whose educational level is not high or low-yield class, and some young ethnic people. If there are more female MPs in the House of Commons, the more attention will be pay on the women than before. For example, there are...
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...Common house crickets, Acheta domesticus, were provided by the instructor in three colonies in three separate containers based on their size, small, medium, and large. Ten crickets were retrieved from the small colonies and placed into a beaker. The crickets were individually removed from the beaker and placed into separate small capped vials. The weight of the vial containing the cricket was weighted using a balance scale. The cricket was then removed from the capped vial and placed into a beaker that has been placed in an ice bath. The cricket was observed until it stops moving. To verify that the cricket has stopped moving, the sensory structure located at the rear of the cricket was gently touch with a probe. After probing the cricket three times in 30 second intervals for 90 seconds after it had stopped moving, the initial time that it had stopped moving was recorded. If the cricket move again when touched, then observation is continue until it had fully stopped moving....
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...a large uproar on their hands. ▪ Central government, The central government is the main layer of government that operates across the whole of the country; the central government is always located in the centre of the country in that country’s capital city and it handles very specific responsibilities that no other group or government can carry out. Some of these responsibilities include signing treaties or certain types of agreements with other nations, making up laws (which would affect the whole country), defending their nation, distribution of the police forces, etc. Our central government is based in Westminster in London. London contains the most important political institutions for the Government, ‘The House of Lords’ and ‘The House of Commons’,...
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...Parliament is also known as the legislature, it has several roles including legitimizing legislation, passing laws, calling government to account well as scrutinizing and amending legislation. It is made up of representatives who are voted in order to represent the needs of their constituencies in the House of Commons. The UK parliament stands in the Centre of the British political system, as it is the source of all political power as well as being legally sovereign. Government has to be drawn from parliament as well as being accountable to it; accountability means that parliament must justify its policies to parliament as well as referring to representatives who are accountable for their electorates. Parliament main function is not to obstruct and control the government, as it will only do this if the government is seen to be abusing its power by not acting in the public’s interest. The main role of parliament is to support the government and to legitimize its proposals. Parliament is also bicameral, separated in to the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Representation is a crucial function of parliament; in the UK we use a system called Representative democracy where most decisions are made by elected representatives rather than the people themselves. There are arguments that representation in parliament is strong. Peers who have more expertise in particular areas of policies and can help to improve legislation, therefore represent many sections of society and associations...
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...but you could argue that parliament places restraints and controls certain aspects of it. Parliament can be considered weak in different ways. One of those is the presence of party loyalty in the commons. MP's are elected and will have a strong mandate to support the party's policies. Defying the party leadership would prove too difficult and could be seen as a betrayal of the mandate. In turn, MP's will feel bound to the mandate made, encouraging them not to challenge the executive and support it's decisions. Another party factor is the overall majority the government has in parliament. The first past the post system guarantees this majority . The conservative party in the current House of Commons has 101 more seats than Labour. This demonstrates the vast majority of Conservative MP's from the 2015 general election. More importantly, for parliament to build momentum against the executive it would be difficult as roughly half the chamber are in the Prime Ministers party. In summary, party loyalty and is a beneficial to the executive's hold of power. However, Parliament does remain effective in different ways and can constrain power of the executive. One of the biggest ways Parliament puts pressure on the executive is via select committees. Select committees work in both houses. They check and report on areas ranging from the work of government departments to economic affairs. The results of these inquiries are public and many require a response from the government. Select...
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...How has Coalition Government affected Party Politics in the U.K? The arrival of a coalition government formed between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party in 2010 has affected UK party politics in various ways, the nature of which is looked into below. The governing of a country by a coalition of two political parties with differing political stances will involve negotiation between and some degree of compromise on behalf of the two parties. This is necessary in order to come to some form of agreement on key policies, such as those affecting the economy, unemployment, crime, environmental concerns, welfare, law and order and education, amongst other policy areas. The agreements reached are also, to a certain degree, in a balance of compliance with key political beliefs or philosophies of both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in terms of their respective guiding principles on areas such as social justice, the appropriate degree of state intervention and the importance of equality and availability of opportunity within society. The rise to power of a coalition government has made Consensus politics a key feature of UK party politics, since the nature of a coalition involves broad agreement on most basic policies between the two major political parties forming the coalition; the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. The ability and will to negotiate and agree is of key importance if a coalition is to be able to govern effectively, in an organised...
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...“How can UK democracy be enhanced?” Democracy is a political system where decisions are made in the interests of the people by decision-makers who are elected, accountable and can be got rid of peacefully. There 2 types of democracy: direct and representative ones. In the UK there is a direct democracy which gives every citizen the right to participate, the opportunity to express their views, thoughts and where voters determine specific policy outcomes. There is a constant debate whether the UK is a truly democratic country or not and to what extent. It is believed that nowadays Britain has a massive issues: the electoral system is totally unfair, there are unelected political members and the lack of parties, Civil Rights are in danger, citizens no longer have a wish to participate in elections, the media is prejudged and, finally, the UK is not representative. This essay will evaluate how to make the Great Britain more democratized. The major point is that there is a low rate of political participation in the UK that might lead to an arbitrary and autocratic government. It is significant element because it makes the government more accountable. There are some ways which can prevent this undemocratic style. Firstly, the UK government can introduce the compulsory voting which is nowadays enhanced in Australia. This method would force citizens to affect the outcomes of elections and make them more politically aware of issues. The second way is to increase the use of referendums...
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...Should FPTP continue to be used for elections to the House of Commons? The first reason that FPTP should continue to be used for elections to the House of Commons is that it produces effective constituency representation because there are single member constituencies, meaning that people know which MP represents them in the House of Commons, and thus who they can take their grievances to. This is a strength because it results in a strong working link between an MP and a geographical area, thus connecting communities to central politics. For example, Greg Barker, the Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle, has worked with his constituents, since he won 51.6% of the vote and was thus elected to the House of Commons in 2010, to represent their need in Parliament. For instance, in September 2014, Barker advocated for the expansion of free childcare for 2,200 two-year-olds in East Sussex, as a result of the 2006 childcare act. Moreover, due to the fact that under FPTP only one MP is elected per constituency, the public can easily hold their representative directly accountable for their actions, and consequently can vote them out of power at the next general election. For example, the labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, Oona King, lost her seat in the 2010 general election, when her predominantly Muslim constituents voted her out of power, after her support for the Iraq war. Consequently, since under PR systems the link between constituents and representatives is significantly weakened...
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...The Election Process 2010 General Election The last UK General Election was held on 6th May 2010. No single party won an overall majority of the 650 House of Commons seats. The conservatives won 305 seats, representing 10.7 million votes (36%). Labour won 258 seats, representing 8.6 million votes (29%). The Liberal Democrats won 57 seats, representing 6.8 million votes (23%). The Liberal Democrats and The Conservatives joined together to make a coalition because no one had enough votes to win on their own. The Process of a General Election Fixed Term Parliament Act was passed on 15 September 2011, meaning that General Elections are now held on the first Thursday in May every five years. The date of the next general election is set at 7 May 2015. There are two situations in which a General Election will be called earlier than at five intervals. (i) A motion of no confidence has been passed by the House of Commons against the Government and 14 days has passed without the House of Commons passing a confidence motion in any newly formed Government; or (ii) A motion for a General Election is agreed by two thirds of the total number of MP’s in the House of Commons (currently 434 out of 650). You don’t do that unless you’re confident you can win that election. Once the Government has decided to call a General Election (either because the five years is up or an early election is needed), the Prime Minister will ask the Monarch to dissolve Parliament by Royal Proclamation...
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...How and why should parliament be made more effective? Parliament is the sovereign body in the United Kingdom and so it is vital, for the wellbeing of democracy, that parliament not only exists but is also effective. Parliament plays the role of the Legislative and, as a result, is required to be as effective as possible to assure that laws are well thought out, benefit the whole of society and most of all maintain democracy. However, many people feel that certain aspects within Parliament limit its effectiveness and they feel these features need to be reformed in order for Parliament to carry out its function correctly. Firstly, the most obvious way to make Parliament more effective would be to reform the electoral system. Currently, Westminster elections use the system of First-past-the-post where the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins the seats. However, this system is highly disproportionate in both terms of the word as it exaggerates winning votes for example, the Conservatives received 36.1% of the vote and won 47.1% of the seats in the 2010 general election, whereas it penalises small parties such as the Liberal Democrats who won 23% of the vote but gained only 8.8% of the seats. Particularly as FPTP produces landslide majorities, it makes Parliament less effective as the party that wins the general election forms the government and therefore has a large majority in most cases. If MPs belonging to the party vote along party lines all the time, in...
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...party and participating in physical and e-petitions (McNaughton: 2012). Vlassopoulos (2009:29) mentions that direct popular participation in making decisions is the vital aspect in definition of democracy. One of the main functions of Parliament is representation. This means that elected MPs should represent and defend the interests of their voters. However, in real life citizens have no significant impact on the activities of legislators. Another important function is that it is the origin of political authority and exercising of power is impossible without Parliament’s sanction. Furthermore, the UK government membership depends on it: the members have to be from the House of Lords or House of Commons. McNaughton (2012:65) says the Blair government created variety of reforms for House of Lords and House of Commons after election in 1997. It included changes in organization of Prime Minister’s Question Time; Prime Minister’s rights; number of hereditary peers (it was reduced to 92 people), life peers (527...
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...INTRODUCTION According to Erskine May, "Parliamentary privilege is the sum of the peculiar rights enjoyed by each House collectively... and by members of each House individually, without which they could not discharge their functions, and which exceed those possessed by other bodies or individuals. Thus, privilege, though part of the law of the land, is to certain extent an exemption from the general law. Certain rights and immunities such as freedom from arrest or freedom of speech belong primarily to individual members of each House and exist because the House cannot perform its functions without unimpeded use of the services of its members. Other such rights and immunities such as the power to punish for contempt and the power to regulate its own constitution belong primarily to each House as a collective body, for the protection of its members and the vindication of its own authority and dignity. Fundamentally, however, it is only as a means to the effective discharge of the collective functions of the House that the individual privileges are enjoyed by members. "When any of these rights and immunities is disregarded or attacked, the offence is called a breach of privilege and is punishable under the law of Parliament. Each House also claims the right to punish as contempt actions which, while not breaches of any specific privilege, obstruct or impede it in the performance of its functions, or are offences against its authority or dignity, such as disobedience to its legitimate...
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