1. Politics – AS Parliament

2. What is parliamentary government?
• A political system in which the Government
governs in, and through, the legislature.
• Britain is the oldest parliamentary system in the
world, and Westminster has been described as
“the mother of all Parliaments”
Politics – AS Parliament

3. Comparison of UK & US System
UK US
• In a parliamentary government, the • In the United States, the chief
executive derives from the executive (the President) is directly
legislature elected by the people. The USA is
• The executive is formed by the party therefore a Presidential system
with the most seats in the House of • The President is not a member of
Commons the legislature (called Congress),
• Fusion of powers and neither are any of his Cabinet
• The PM chooses his cabinet from members
the legislature (Lords and • Separation of powers
Commons) • Fixed term elections
• Parliament can remove the • Also bi-cameral, but equal powers
Government on a vote of no between the two chambers
confidence • US system can result in legislature-
• Date of the election is called by the executive deadlock
PM
• Bi-cameral, but the Commons
predominates
Politics – AS Parliament

4. What is Parliament?
• A term used to describe the UK’s legislature (or
law-making body)
• 2 branches; the elected House of Commons, and
the unelected House of Lords
• 646 MPs are elected to the House of Commons.
Each one holds legitimacy, because they have
gained consent to legislate from the people (or
demos) via an election
• There are over 700 peers in the House of Lords
Politics – AS Parliament

5. Six Main Roles of Parliament
• Representation
• Lawmaking
• Scrutiny
• Legitimacy
• Recruitment of ministers
• Deliberation
Politics – AS Parliament

6. Legitimacy
• Parliament awards legitimacy to the government via the
following four steps;
• The people elect representatives to the House of
Commons, …
• … who thus gain legitimacy from the people.
• The Government derives from Parliament, thus …
• … the UK Government is legitimate
• Also bear in mind that Parliament can remove the
Government on a vote of no confidence. The last
successful motion was called in March 1979 against the
Labour government of James Callaghan
Politics – AS Parliament

7. Scrutiny
• One element of a representative democracy is the ability to
hold the executive to account. As such, the members of the
legislature must be able to scrutinise the actions of the
executive
• The Modernisation Committee looks at ways to improve
accountability and scrutiny, and the Committee on
Standards in Public Life considers allegations of sleaze
• There are 6 ways in which the legislature scrutinises the
executive;
– Standing Committees
– Select Committees
– Ombudsman
– Opposition Days
– PMQs
– House of Lords
Politics – AS Parliament

8. What is the difference between standing,
and select committees?
• Standing Committees • Select Committees
• Examine every Bill that • Permanent committees
passes through Parliament made up of MPs appointed
• Every MP will be assigned on the basis of party
to a standing committee at strength
some stage • More powerful than
standing committees
• Can ask ministers to
attend their meetings
Politics – AS Parliament

9. Are Committees effective?
• YES • NO
• Backbench MPs have the • Limited powers, and few
opportunity to scrutinise the resources
executive and bills passed • The government often ignores
through Parliament the reports published by select
• Select Committees can be committees
effective (e.g. the government • Some ministers (e.g. Brown)
was forced to do something have refused to attend Select
about the ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ Committees
due to pressure from the • Party whips hold the upper hand
Defence SC), and in some
cases prestigious (e.g. the • There is always a majority from
Public Accounts Committee, and the Government of the day
the EC Committee in the Lords) • The more able (and ambitious)
MPs tend not to get involved
with committee work
Politics – AS Parliament

10. Representation
• MPs are elected to represent the people
• As they are not delegates, an MP is expected to
follow his / her conscience (the Burkean notion)
• However in practise, an MP may also be
influenced by party whips, the national interest,
self – interest, etc.
• Whilst members of the Lords are not elected, they
can represent certain interests. In recent years, the
Lords has taken a particular interest in defending
civil liberties against an increasingly authoritarian
government
Politics – AS Parliament

11. Does Parliament scrutinise the executive
effectively?
• YES • NO
• A great deal of Parliamentary • Strong party discipline makes
time is spent on scrutiny effective scrutiny very difficult to
• Select Committees have been achieve
relatively effective in holding • Parliament suffers from limited
ministers to account, even in the powers, and few resources
House of Lords • Parliamentary sovereignty has
• A bad performance by a Minister been transferred to the EU
or PM can weaken their power • Referendums undermine
• Backbench Labour MPs have Parliamentary sovereignty
become more rebellious since • The House of Lords has few
2001 (e.g. over education powers
reforms, and the Iraq war) • Since 1997, certain powers
have been transferred to the
devolved assemblies
Politics – AS Parliament

12. How representative is Parliament?
• In theory, the Commons should represent all the
people (i.e. “Government for the people”).
However in practise, the Commons and the Lords
is dominated by white, male, middle-class
members of society
• Women, ethnic minorities, the young and the
working – class are heavily underrepresented in
the UK Parliament. This has always been the
case, although the situation in the Commons has
improved in recent years
Politics – AS Parliament

13. Some facts on representation
• There are 126 women MPs, just under 20% of the House of
Commons
• 18% of the Lords are women
• Some parties do better than others. Just 9% of Tory MPs
are women, which has led Cameron to place pressure on
local associations to select more women candidates (the A
list)
• There are 15 ethnic minority MPs, or just over 2%. In
contrast, 8% of the population is non-white
• The youngest MP is Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire).
She was born on the 5/2/1980
• The average age of an MP is 51
Politics – AS Parliament

14. Lawmaking
• A great deal of Parliamentary time is spent making laws
• Most Bills derive from the Government, but some are
instigated by backbench MPs. They are called Private
Member Bills
• Both the Commons and the Lords are involved in the
legislative process
• The Commons is the predominant body because it’s
members are elected (and therefore hold democratic
legitimacy)
• The power of the Lords is limited by the;
– Salisbury convention (where the Lords will not block a commitment made in
the Government’s manifesto)
– Power of delay limited to just 1 year
– Lords cannot consider a Finance Bill
Politics – AS Parliament

15. Recruitment of ministers
• All ministers derive from Parliament
• The overwhelming majority are taken from the
House of Commons
• Only members of the governing party can join the
executive
• The members of the executive are appointed by
the Prime Minister. He / she can also fire them
(e.g. Charles Clarke in 2006). These powers are
called patronage powers
Politics – AS Parliament

16. Deliberation
• Deliberation is the defining role of Parliament (a
word that derives from the French verb ‘parle’ – to
speak)
• Many people have criticised the way in which
Parliament performs this role. For example, the
decision to send troops to Afghanistan was made
at 2 am, and Parliament spent over 700 hours
debating the issue of fox hunting
Politics – AS Parliament

17. What is the difference between an MP, and
a peer?
• MPs • Peers
• Elected during a General • Unelected. Most peers are
Election (or by-election in appointed by the PM, although
some cases) there are 92 hereditary peers
• The Lords is home to some of
• Anyone over the age of 21
the finest legal minds in the
can stand as a candidate country
• All bar 2 MPs belong to a • 181 peers sit on the cross-
political party benches (i.e. they are
• MPs have been dismissed independent)
as little more than “lobby • The main power of peers is the
fodder” due to their weak ability to amend legislation.
powers vis-à-vis the party They also spend a great deal of
whips time scrutinising the executive
Politics – AS Parliament

18. What powers are held by the House of
Lords?
• Legislative powers (albeit limited). In practise, the
Lords is more concerned with the revision of bills
• Judicial powers – Law Lords are the highest court
in the UK (although a case can go to the European
Court of Human Rights)
• Powers of deliberation
• Clearly, the Lords is much weaker than the
Commons, although no Government can
completely ignore the House of Lords
Politics – AS Parliament

19. Arguments in FAVOUR of the Lords
• Can act as a check on the power of the executive
• Peers are more independent of party whips than MPs
• The quality of committee work is often high
• An opinion poll taken in 2005 revealed that 72% believe the Lords did a
‘fairly good’ or ‘very good’ job
• Part of British tradition
• Peers hold a wide experience of public life, sometimes more so than
their elected counterparts
• Final constitutional safeguard against the Government of the day
• The Lords can be an effective agent of scrutiny
• Last court of appeal in the UK
• The traditional conservative with a small c argument against change;
Politics – AS Parliament

20. Arguments AGAINST the Lords
• Unelected, unaccountable, and therefore undemocratic
• Life peers owe their loyalty to the PM of the day, thus
weakening the independence of the Lords
• Idea of hereditary peers is out-of-date
• The “loans for peerages” scandal of 2006 raised
considerable doubts over the integrity of the whole process
of appointing members of the Lords
• Under-representation of women (around 18% of peers are
women) and ethnic minorities
• Power of the Lords is weak (e.g. power of delay, Salisbury
convention, can’t get involved with Finance Bills, etc.)
Politics – AS Parliament

21. Is the Westminster Parliament effective?
YES NO
• Parliament does represent the people on a • EU / the Government are more important
variety of issues sources of legislation than Parliament
• The House of Commons holds democratic • Referendums tend to undermine
legitimacy parliamentary sovereignty
• Parliament can remove the Government on a • MPs have been described as “lobby fodder”
vote of no confidence due to strong party discipline
• Laws are passed in a democratic and fair • Ministers often ignore Select Committees
manner • The power of the Lords is weak, and its’
• Parliament can often scrutinise the executive members are unelected
in an effective manner • PMQs is little more than a “point-scoring
• It is a useful recruiting ground for government exercise”
ministers • Parliament is weak in comparison to the
• Legislation is often improved via amendments “elected dictatorship”
made by Parliament • The government has often bypassed
• Opinion polls suggest that the public consider Parliament in favour of the media
Parliament to be an effective institution • Certain law-making powers have been
transferred to the devolved assemblies
• Parliament can often appear “out of date” with
modern Britain
Politics – AS Parliament