...Parliament Source Questions (6/10) Specification a) Describe three functions of Parliament b) With reference to the source, and your own knowledge, explain why government needs an effective Parliament c) Analyse the main factors that limit the effectiveness of Parliament Jan 2010 a) With reference to source, what changes to the second chamber are proposed? b) With reference to the source, and your own knowledge, explain the arguments for a fully or partly elected chamber c) Make out a case against an elected second chamber Jan 2011 a) With reference to the source, describe two functions of the House of Commons b) With reference to the source, and your own knowledge, explain how the House of Commons can control the power of government c) To what extent is the House of Commons effective in carrying out its various functions? May 2011 a) With reference to the source, describe three proposals that seek to strengthen parliamentary representation by increasing popular participation b) With reference to the source, and your own knowledge, explain how three of these proposals seek to make government more accountable to Parliament c) To what extent will the coalition government’s proposals bring about an effective reform of Parliament? Jan 2012 a) With reference to the source, why are legislative committees needed? b) With reference to the source, and your own knowledge, explain the ways in which backbench MPs can call government to account c) To what extent has the...
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...To what extent does parliament control executive power? Parliament remains the center of debate for MP's and parties, however it's the executive government that has overhauling power of formulating and executing policies. As head of the executive branch of government the Prime enjoys considerable power. The executive would be commonly known to have considerable power 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...
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...Government is, in theory, accountable to Parliament, however it is difficult for this to be the case when government makes up a large part of Parliament. So when examining how effective Parliament is at controlling the power of the executive, all of the below has to be considered. The role of select committees and departmental select committees are very important in the control of government’s power. These committees scrutinize government policy, as well as raising public awareness of it, in great detail. The line of questioning is very different, and considerably more in depth, than if the queries were raised in the House of Commons; this is because evidence is gathered in advance and the committees demand answers with substance, opposed to filibustering or rhetoric. Evidence has shown that 40% of committee recommendations to government has then been applied to policy. However, it is not so much that the recommendations are a control of the executive, but the fear the committees induce in the government; the government knows that, if they make a policy that is not in the public’s interest, they will be exposed. That being said, in a legal sense, select committees have no control or power over government, which could be argued makes them ‘watchdogs without teeth’. The committees are also, in part, made up of MPs belonging to the governing party and may not want to scrutinize their party as it may be damaging to their career prospects. The House of Lords cannot block government...
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...To What Extent Have Constitutional Reforms Since 1997 Reduced the Powers of the UK Government? (40 Marks) The UK government has a lot of power and is able to make and abolish laws. Human Rights Act 1998, Freedom of Information Act 2000 and devolution are examples of constitutional reforms that have in some ways decreased the power of the UK government. Devolution is where the supreme power (in this case Westminster) distributes some power to other regions. For example; the UK government decided to give devolved power to Scotland to form the Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland to form The Northern Ireland Assembly and to Wales to form the Welsh Assembly. Scotland has statistically more devolved power than Wales or Northern Ireland as Scotland is able to decide the amount of tax that it demands off its citizens. Scotland is able to raise or lower the tax rate in Scotland by 3% which decreases UK government power over Scotland. On the contrary, the UK government does not have its power reduced. The UK government has the power to take away the devolved power that it has given to these regions. This has been previously conducted in the past with Northern Ireland in 1972 when Northern Ireland was stripped of its devolved power due to constant violence and lack of control that the Northern Ireland Assembly had over its people. Within the early years of Northern Irelands devotional power there was riots and verbal fights between politicians from unionist parties and nationalist/republican...
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...Trinidad and Tobago has for some time been in a state of political crisis, characterised by ethnic tensions and by an increasing lack of confidence, on the part of the population, in the institutions of State. Many people and groups see the prospect of a lessening of tensions, and the beginnings of a return to social harmony and economic progress, in Constitutional reform. In response to these pressures, the present government has appointed a commission to review the constitution, and the work of that commission is now open for public comment in a series of open meetings. Response to the official draft has been sporadic but largely negative. The best informed commentators have unanimously seen in it an increase in the power of the Executive, although excessive executive power without adequate checks and balances was said to be the major problem of the existing Constitution. Some human rights organisations have detected in it the beginning of sever erosion of fundamental rights. In addition, other groups, including one newly-formed national political party, have prepared their own drafts, and suggestions for reform of particular aspects have been bandied about for some years. All these proposals, however, are subject to the accusation of catering to the desires of particular groups. This is natural and not to be condemned. Politics is, precisely, the process of conciliation of diverse interests. Such conciliation, however, can only be successful if it takes place within a universally...
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...Northern Consortium United Kingdom – Politics Past paper questions for June exam < Module 1 > Section A 1a What are the differences between Public Bills Committees and Select Committees? [5] Public Bills Committee is part of legislative process, whereas Select Committee is part of scrutiny process. In the former committee, the bill is examined by line by line to ensure that its wording and language is clear to allow any amendments on the bill. In the latter committee, there are two departments – governmental and non-governmental. They examine government departments’ expeditures , policies and policies. There are between 16 to 50 members in the PBC who are selected by Committee of Selection whose 7 out 9 members are ships. On the other hand, there are 11 members in the SCs and to eliminate “the conflict of interest, all the members are backbench members who are elected using the Alternative vote system. 2a What are the main functions of Parliament and how well does it perform them? [5] < This question is a 20-mark question > 3a What are the differences between direct and representative democracy? [5] In direct democracy, people are directly involved in decision-making processes, whereas in representative democracy, people elect MPs who will represent and form a government in Parliament. For instance, some qualified members of Athenian society were involved in decision-making and a referendum is a limited form of direct democracy. Also general elections...
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...------------------------------------------------- Top of Form SearchSearch forums Bottom of Form Graded Discussion 2 Second graded discussion question: Graded Discussion 2: Opens June 13 closes June 17, 2016 @ 3:30 pm (EC Time) (15 marks). Question: Evaluate whether the Westminster model system of government adopted by English speaking Caribbean countries accommodates corruption Graded Discussion 2 by Sophia De La Rosa Williams - Wednesday, 15 June 2016, 9:05 AM Westminster system of Government can be defined as a democratic,parliamentary system of Government modelled after that of the United Kingdom system , as used in the Palace of Westminster (the Parliament of the United Kingdom).This system is a series of procedures for operating a legislature.It is used in most commonwealth nations.Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It can be classified as grand,petty and political,depending on the on the amount of money, lost and the sector where it occurs.According to Arnold Heidenheimer corruption is "perversion or destruction of integrity in the discharge of public duties by bribery or favour".I think it is safe to say that corruption and the Westminster system go hand in hand, the Westminster system has an inbuilt lack of checks and balances,this system is also based on majority rule, which is the rule of first pass the post method of election.In Trinidad and Tobago the use of ones office as a bargaining tool is becoming more apparent each day,we have the Housing...
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...Constitution What is a constitution? • Set of rules seeking to establishing the duties, powers and functions of the various institutions of government • To regulate the relationships between and among the institutions • Define the relationship between the state and the individual, define extent of civil liberty Types of Constitution • Codified and uncodified o Codified – enshrined in law and based on 1 single authoritative document outlining powers of institutions + government, as well as a statement of the rights of citizen’s ▪ Document is authoritative, highest law of the land. Binds all political institutions – leads to 2 tier legal system ▪ Provisions of it are entrenched, difficult to amend or abolish ▪ It is judiciable, all political bodies are subject to authority of the courts, in particular a supreme court. o Uncodified – increasingly rare, UK one of few ▪ Not authoritative, constitutional laws treated same as ordinary laws ▪ Not entrenched, constitution can be changed through the normal process for enacting statute law. ▪ Not judiciable, judges do not have legal standard to declare that actions of other bodies are constitutional/not constitutional. o However: ▪ No constitution is entirely written, written documents do not encompass all aspects of constitutional practice ▪ No constitution...
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...NONE, ONE OR SEVERAL? PERSPECTIVES ON THE UK’S CONSTITUTION(S) DAVID FELDMAN* An inaugural lecture is the occasion when the University of Cambridge can look its gift horse in the mouth, weighing the new professor in the balance against his or her distinguished predecessors. The Rouse Ball Professorship of English Law has been held in the past by a long series of distinguished scholars, from Sir Percy Winfield to my immediate predecessor, Sir Jack Beatson whom we are delighted to welcome back today. Their work has influenced generations of lawyers. They certainly influenced me. Before I encountered Criminal Law: The General Part,1 a great little volume by Professor Glanville Williams, Learning the Law, was my ‘Guide, Philosopher and Friend’ (as it still says on the cover of the latest edition, now edited by my colleague Professor Tony Smith)2 as I approached the study of law. Another Rouse Ball Professor, the late Sir William Wade, had a formative effect on my understanding of land law and administrative law both through his famous books, Megarry and Wade on the Law of Real Property (now edited by a former Fellow of Downing College, Dr. Charles Harpum)3 and Administrative Law (now in the hands of my colleague Dr. Christopher Forsyth),4 not to mention the lectures that I attended as an undergraduate in (softly be it said) the University of Oxford. Two wonderfully stimulating and enjoyable books by the Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor and * Rouse Ball Professor of English Law in...
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...To what extent is the Uk’s government becoming more Presidential? Discuss A presidential system is a republican system of government where a head of government is also head of state and leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch. The United States, for instance, has a presidential system. Whereas, a prime ministerial system adopts a fused system, in which the three branches of government are fused together and the monarchy is head of state. The Uk, for instance has a prime ministerial government, where Queen Elizabeth is head of state and David Cameron is the Executive. One could argue that the Uk’s government has become marginally presidential, as the need for a cabinet has become less over time. However, the UK are still a fused government in which powers are shared within parliament, unlike a presidential system. The tendency of Prime Ministers to distance themselves from their party and government has increased, developing a personal ideological stance. Prime Ministers such as Blair and Thatcher are key examples. Both Prime Ministers have developed their own stances: “Blairism” and “Thatcherism’. Blair, for example, had really bad attendance at Parliament and his Cabinet Ministers have been quoted as saying that: “Cabinet meeting sometimes lasted only fifteen minutes.” also, Blair decided a lot of his policies within the Pm’s office, rather than discussing it with his cabinet. For example, the decision to go to war with Iraq was seen as...
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...minutes. Spend 40 minutes on Section A and 40 minutes on Section B SECTION A QUESTION ONE PRIME MINISTERIAL POWER “For too long the big political decisions in this country have been made in the wrong place. They are not made around the Cabinet table where they should be, but they are taken on the sofa in Tony Blair’s office. No notes are kept and no one takes the blame when things go wrong. That arrogant style of government must come to an end. I will restore the proper process of government. I want to be Prime Minister of this country not a President (Source: David Cameron, The Times, 5th October 2006) “The Cabinet is the committee at the centre of the British political system. Every Thursday during Parliament, Secretaries of State from all departments as well as other ministers meet in the Cabinet Room in Downing Street to discuss the big issues of the day. The Prime Minister chairs the meeting, selects its members and also recommends their appointment as ministers to the monarch. The present Cabinet has 23 members (21 MPs and two peers). The secretary of the Cabinet is responsible for preparing records of its discussions and decisions”. (Source: From a modern textbook) (a) What criticism is David Cameron making of Tony Blair’s style of decision making in source 1? [5] (b) Explain the main functions of the cabinet [10] (c) To what extent have UK Prime Ministers become “presidential”? [25] Or 2 QUESTION TWO THE JUDICIARY A powerful coalition...
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...administrative sphere & they have led to most slanderous accusation against executive functionaries and decision makers. It is an area in which seemingly detailed provisions of the Constitution have not helped much. In the modern administrative age, administration plays a very significant role by way of enforcing the law of promoting socio-economic welfare of the people. The pattern of administrative relationship between the Centre and the State, therefore, assumes a great significance in developing country like India. The Indian Constitution contains more elaborate provisions regarding the administrative relation between the Centre and the States than are to be found in any of the three federation of the U.S.A., Canada and Australia. The Constitution lays down a flexible and permissive and not a rigid scheme of allocation of administrative responsibilities between the Centre and State. The scheme is so designed as to permit all kind of co-operative administrative arrangement between the two levels of Government. It is notable, however, that though legislative and judicial power is defined by the Constitution, this is not the case with the executive in our Constitution. Some Constitutional experts like Wade & Philips, try to define executive functions by including in it "not only the direction of national policy, but also the execution of effectuation that policy by administrative acts." The executive functions so understood include the initiation of legislation, the maintenance ...
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...quasi-entrenched HRA fails to do this, reflected in the conservative plans to replace it with a less powerful British bill of rights with will neither enjoy quasi-entrenchment nor a direct association with the ECHR. This shows how the government of the day can tamper with our rights in the absence of codification. * It may help prevent any further drift towards excessive executive power, codification will surely constrain possibly over-mighty governments who are easily able to alter to constitution. However, it may not necessarily be entrenchment de jure but possibly de facto, which would be unnecessary and fail to curb excessive executive power. * Codification will bring Britain into line with other modern democracies, the UK is one of three, including Israel and New Zealand to not have a codified constitution. However, we would be exchanging flexibility for rigidity, many people argue our organic constitution is a great advantage of our current system. To what extent have the coalition government’s proposals to reform the UK been controversial? * In 2011 the coalition introduced the fixed term parliament act as a result of the...
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...and Parliamentary Democracy 3. The Electoral System and Political Parties in the UK 4. The Current Political Situation 5. Devolved Administration in the UK II. The United States of America 1. The Make-Up of the USA 2. The Federal and Constitutional Republic of the USA 3. Political Parties in the USA 4. The Current Political Situation in the USA I. The United Kingdom 1. The Make-Up of the UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state. It is made up of four individual countries, which are England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is governed by a parliamentary system and its seat of government is in London. There are also three devolved powers outside of the capital, located in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh (the three capital cities of Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively). There are also a number of islands that are constitutionally tied to the United Kingdom constitution, but that are not part of the UK. They are the bailiwicks (headed by a bailiff, appointed by the crown to administer) of Jersey and Guernsey (to the south of the UK) and also the Isle of Man, which is off the north-east coast of the British mainland. However, it is true to say that the majority of British might even get confused as to the difference between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the British Isles. In fact, it should be remembered that there is a difference between nationality and citizenship...
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...works of political theorists such as Montesquieu and Locke. The Founding Fathers favoured a government that prevented any individual or particular group becoming tyrannical. Furthermore, they strongly opposed the notion of excessive government power, seen as the potential threat to individual freedom, wanting to protect minorities as well as the population as a whole, from arbitrary or unjust rule. Consequently, the Founding Fathers outlined main provisions within the US constitution in order to avoid tyranny: the separation of powers, a federal structure of government and also providing citizens inalienable and entrenched rights through the implementation of the Bill of Rights. Arguably, these provisions as a result mostly ensure, as the Founding Fathers had hope to achieve, limited government, in so much as the size and scope of the federal government is limited to an extent in which it is necessary only for the common good of people. The separation of powers prevalent in the USA, whereby political power is distributed between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary branches of government, were adopted from the Founding Fathers by the principles of Montesquieu, who argued for a separation of powers into legislative, executive and judiciary branches in order to avoid tyranny. This framework of government implies not only the independence of government, therefore a separation of personnel (for example, both Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama had to give up their senate...
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