Parliament

• executive and legislative branches are fused
• legislative can dismiss executive
• parliamentary elections decide the government
• collective government = PM is "first among equals"
• head of state is separate from parliament. this is the UK monarch who has little political power.
• parliament: an assembly that has the power to debate and make laws

• clear separation of powers
• executive cannot dissolve legislative. legislative can only dissolve executive in special circumstances
• executive power is concentrated in the office of the president
• president is elected by the people

This explains how the British political system should work in theory.

• representative government where MPs are elected to vote on behalf of the people
• responsible government where they are accountable to parliament for its actions. voters can remove the government at general elections

In reality, the executive is able to dominate parliament because:

• they control the parliamentary tiemtable
• party discipline
• parliamentary majority

• bicameral legislature with two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons
• traditionally, the crown is considered part of the legislature but doesn't actually wield very much political power.

House of Commons:

• can remove government via motion of no confidence (made possible by Fixed Parliament Act 2011)
• elected
• lower house
• dominant chamber
• 650 MPs - backbenchers (MPs that don't hold shadow ministerial / ministerial positions) and frontbenchers (MPs that hold shadow ministerial / ministerial positions)
• division: a vote in parliament
• whip: a party official that ensures that MPs show up to votes and vote as instructed (otherwise they face disciplinary action)
• parliamentary sovereingty gives Commons legislative supremacy. the laws it makes cannot e overturned by any other higher authority.

House of Lords

• hereditary peers - after the House of Lords Act 1999, all but 92 remain. these are peers who sit in the House because of their family ties
• life peers - peers who sit in the House for life. this is the largest category of members. life peerage cannot be inherited
• had a judicial role until 2009. its Law Lords were replaced by the Supreme Court
• can delay bills for up to a year (except for money bills). after a year, a bill can be passed without the Lords' consent and amendments. this has happened four times: War Crimes Act 1991, Eurpean Parliamentary Elections Act 1999, Sexual Offences Act 2000, Hunting Act 2004
• Salisbury convention states that Lords should not block bills included in a party's manifesto. This has been in place since the 1940s but has come under strain in recent years: e.g.: 2004 - peers vote against ID cards bill despite it being in Labour's manfiesto
• unelected
• In 2013, women made up 23% of the house compared to just 9% before 1999

Technically a part of parliament, as aforementioned

• provides royal assent

This is when a bill is signed into law. Only then can it become a fully-fledged law. Convention dictates that royal assent is always given.

• Appoint prime minister

This used to be an important power, but this is now just a formality. The monarch avoids involvement in the process of forming a government when there is a majority.

• Prerogative power to dissolve parliament

This was ended by the 2011 Fixed Parliament Act

• The Queen's Speech

Here, the monarch sets out the bills that the government wants to introduce. This is drawn up by hte government and not the monarch!

• legislation
• scrutiny and accountability
• representation
• recruitment of ministers
• legitimacy

• Green Paper - a document that sets out options for legislation
• White Paper - a document that sets out objectives of government policy
• making law is parliament's primary function
• executive contols the timetable which determines which bills they debate
• legislative program set out in Queen's Speech

The bill starts in Commons.

first reading --> second reading --> committee stage --> report stage --> third reading

The Bill is sent to the Lords

first reading --> second reading --> committee stage --> report stage

First reading:

• formal presentation of the bill by responsible department
• no debate or vote at this stage

Second reading:

• debate
• government minister explains and justifies the bill's objectives. shadow minister responds
• a vote is taken if the bill is contested
• defeats at this stage are very rare. this has only happened twice since 1945

Committee stage:

• public bill committee assesses bill - detailed scrutiny of each clause; amendments made

Report stage:

• entire House of Commons considers the committee's amendments
• options: accept, reject or alter

Third stage: no further amendments allowed

Lords stages:

• same procedure as Commons
• a bill can go back and forth between the two chambers
• if an agreement can't be reached, the government can either accept the Lords' changes, drop the bill or invoke the Parliament Act which passes the bill without the Lords' consent

Royal Assent:

• Crown rubberstamps Act as required by Salisbury Convention
• Since 2017, 12 bills have been gratned royal assent and been turned into Acts of Parliament

Private member bills:

• made by backbench MPs
• most fail at an early stage because of time constraints and the difficulty of persuading MPs
• examples: Abolition of Death Penalty Act 1965 and Abortion Act 1967. Both of which are landmark bills. Also: Autism Act 2009

Secondary legislation:

• laws made by ministers who hav e been granted this authority by an Act of Parliament
• about 2000 are issued yearly on matters such as immigration, tax adn education
• also known as statutory instruments

The three types coined by academic Phillip Norton:

• policy-making legislatures
• policy-influencing legislatures
• legislatures that lack policy influence

• UK parliament is a policy-influencing legislature. law-making occurs through it, not by it
• in theory, parliament is supposed to be able to make, amend or repeal any law it chooses
• parliament's effectiveness in making and scrutinising law is limited by executive's dominance

Executive's dominance:

• government bills - most bills that come before parliament originate from the government. private member bills are unlikely to succeed without government backing
• parliamentary timetable - executive controls this and can curtail debate using guillotine motions
• whip system ensures that he government's proposals are rarely defeated

• Question Time: government ministers asked by MPs on the house floor. the most high profile of which is Prime Minister's Questions (provides theatre rather than effective scrutiny)
• Opposition: formed by the largest party that isn't in the government. opposes government's legislative proposals. pressures government during legislative process through amendments and forced votes. appears as government-in-waiting so ust develop its own policies. limited state funding to fund researchers. opposition days = opposition gets to choose debate topic for 20 days in the parliamentary year
• Debates: MPs get the chance the raise particular issues. At times of crisis, these can provide a lot of drama. e.g.: PM Chamberlain resigns in 1940 after losing party support in a debate about the German invasion of Norway. However, they are usually poorly attended. Backbench Businesss Commitee (established 2010) gives MPs greater opportunity to shape parliament agenda
• Select committees: created in 1979 to scrutinise policy. there were 19 in 2013. these are elected by secret ballot within party groups. examples: Public Accounts Committe - oldest parliamentary committee that ensures value of money. Liasion Committee - holds two yearly sessions when PM is questioned on public policy.

They make detailed assessments on controversial issues and scrutinise the government’s policies and actions

Government with commons majority also has a majority in committees

They question ministers and civil servants and can request access to government papers

Ministers and civil servants can dodge questioning. Access to documents can be denied.

Many committee recommendations are accepted by the government

No power to propose policy. Recommendations can be ignored.

Proposing policy is a legislative function and does not facilitate scrutiny. Evaluation: This is a weak argument. Furthermore, it would be unreasonable to expect the government to accept all recommendations: they can be hostile to their interests or simply be poor.

Its independence has been enhanced by the election of chairs and members via MPs

Some members don’t attend regularly

• Commons contains 650 MPs elected from single-member constituencies based on the universal suffrage of adults over 18
• Geographical nature of representation ensures that individual MPs can be identified as exclusive representatives of their cosntituents as opposed to multi-member constituencies used in proportional representation systems
• Constituency work takes up a greater portion of an MP's time than it did in the recent past. A 2005 Hansard Society study says it takes up almost half of their time. A strong MP-constituent link is formed.

Methods:

• Regular surgeries where constituents can discuss problems. 
• Constituency work to get a decent personal vote in general elections

The Electoral Commission's 2007 Audit of Political Engagement showed that 41% of people were satisfied with how their local MP was doing his/her job.

This occurs when a legislature mirrors the society it represents. For instance, if a constituency has a predominately Asian population, its representative would be Asian too. 

Women are thought to be an under-represented group in Parliament. They only make up 22% compared to 51% of the population. The number of female MPs is increasing in recent decades, though.

Parties' methods to increase the number of female candidates:

• all-women shortlists - used by Labour in 1997, 2005 and 2010 elections. The Sex Discrimination Act 2002 allows positive discrimination in order to reduce inequality in the number of women elected to parliament. These shortlists are therefore "equality guarantees".
• priority lists - an equality promotion iniative that sets a target of more female MPs but does not guarantee women will be selected. e.g.: David Cameron's 'A list' in 2005

• Ethnic diversity - 2010: 26 BME (black and minority ethnic) MPs elected. This is just 4% of the house, compared to 14% of the population
• Age - younger nad older people are under-represented in the Commons. Most MPs are 35-55.
• Sexual orientation - 45 openly gay MPs elected in June 2017 general election (6.9% of parliament)
• Education - 9/10 MPs have been to university with over a quarter going to Oxbridge. More than a third of elected MPs in 2010 attended a fee-paying school (compared to just 10% of voters).
• Social class - There are fewer MPs that used to be manual workers. Only 10% of Labour's MPs in 2005 were manual workers. Jobs in law, financial services and public services are well (or perhaps over) represented.

Government ministers need to be members of either the Commons or Lords. This means that parliament is a recruiting ground for government. 

Desired characteristics of a minister:

• communications skills - especially important with the rise of televised parliamentary procedures
• experience - necessity for managerial, leadership and organisational skills which are obtained through experience. In 2010, 20% of MPs worked in politics before entering parliament.
• conformity - voting along with the party and obeying party whips. however, backbenchers can have an alternative career route in select committees (especially since their role is strengthening)

Parliament helps to maintain the legitimacy of the political system. This is done by:

• scrutinising and discussing government policies
• holding the executive accountable
• representing their constituents' interests
• parliamentary debates

Limits to the legitimacy of parliament:

• House of Lords has limited legitimacy because it is unelected
• Reputation has been damaged by sleaze - e.g.: "cash for questions" 1990 scandal (MPs accepting money to ask specific questions in debates) & the scandal over the misuse of constituency money (e.g.: Jacqui Smith - buying adult movies, Douglass Hogg - cleared a moat)

There have since been reforms to the allowances system:

• Parliamentary Standards Act (2009) creates Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority to run expenses system
• Kelly Report (2009) recommends that MPs cannot claim towards buying a second home. They can now only collect rent up to the value of a one-bedroom flat.

• They have an unequal relationship - executive is dominant (executive dominance)
• Government has significant control over the legislative process in order to fulfil its manifesto commitments and govern effectively

However, parliament has some checks and balances against the government. 

• power to dismiss government
• select committees have enhanced parliament's ability to scrutinise the government and hold it to account

This relationship is shaped by political context. Three important contextual factors are:

• government's parliamentary majority
• level of party unity
• assertiveness of House of Lords

This is the size or absence of a majority for the governing party in the House of Commons. FPTP usually (but not always) delivers a working majority for the party that wins the most votes (via simple plurality). 

The larger the government's majority, the less likely it is that the other parties in the Commons can defeat/amend government bills. Backbenchers are also limited because a government with a large majority can squash dissent within its ranks. e.g.: Blair government had a majority of 167 in the 2001 election which allowed it to survive large rebelliosn from Labour backbenchers on Iraq, tuition fees and foundation hospitals.

Parties with slim or non-existent majorities must find parliamentary majorities on a bill-by-bill basis and must persuade smaller parties not to vote against it. This minority/hung government is un-sustainable.

Post-war minority governments:

• Wilson government [L]1974
• Callaghan government [L] 1976-79
• Conservative government 1996-97
• Conservative government 2017-

In a coalition government, two or more parties form the government after reaching a formal agreement on a legislative programme and the distribution of cabinet posts. e.g.: 2010 Conservative, Lib Dem coalition. This was the first coalition in Britain since the one led by Winston Churchill in 1940-45. This is the first one in peacetime since the National Government in the 1930s. 

• party unity can be strained but this majority is sufficient to allow the government to get its legislation through the Commons
• can break up because of disputes between the parties or within them. this happened in the 2010 coalition after rebel Conservative MPs voted against the Lords reform
• collapse of government doesn't necessarily bring about an immediate general election - the party can form a minority government (Conservatives in the 2010 example)

• MPs vote with their party on most Commons divisions
• parliamentary rebellions are usually small and can be absorbed by a government with a working majority
• rebellions have become more frequent in recent elections and some have been dramatic

Examples:

• Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government (2010-): rebellions occurred on 44% of divisions. This dissent can be explained by the ideological differences between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats
• Conservative minority government (2017-): key Brexit vote lost after 11 backbenchers rebel

The 1999 reform of the Lords strengthened the upper house and helped it become more assertive in the legislative process. 

Examples of government defeats in the House of Lords

• Lords blocked the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act in 2000 and the 2004 Hunting Act which forced the government to use the Parliament Act (1949) to establish the legislation without he Lords' cosnent after a year's delay.
• In 2005, lords amended proposals on control orders for terrorist suspects and insisted that the legislation has a limited lifespan
• Proposals to introduce a new offence of incitement to religious hatred amended/blocked by Lords in 2001 and 2005
• Lords block Labour's proposals to restrict the right to trial by jury in 2000 and 2007

The increased effectiveness of the Lords in checking the powers of the executive is a result of a number of factors:

• No party has a majority in the House of Lords so governments must win cross-party support for their legislation
• The reformed Lords is more confident of its legitimacy so it's more willing to operate on legal and constitutional issues
• Backbench support for Lords' amendments limits the prospects of the government overturning the changes

Yes:

• the executive's control over the parliamentary timetable has been weakened by the creation of the Backbench Business Committee which determines the Commons' timetables for a day a week
• backbench MPs provide greater checks on government policy than in the past - more rebellions = constraint on government action
• Reformed Lords is more effective at amendments. Now, amendments force the government to rethink legislation
• Select committees have become more influential in recent years. Governments accept around 40% of their recommendations

No:

• Executive wields significant control over the legislative timetable
• MPs attempting to steer legislation through parliaemnt face obstacles
• Government defeats are rare. Backbenchers tend to obey the whip on most votes
• Government is able to overturn hostile amendments made in the Lords and can use Parliament Act 1948 to bypass opposition
• Select committees have little power - the government is not required to accept their recommendations and often ignore proposals that counter its preferred policy

Labour's 1997 consitutional reform agenda did not plan to extensively reform the Commons. The changes it introduced aimed to modernise its outdated procedures rather than shift power from the executive to the legislature.

A Select Committee on reform of the House of Commons (Wright Committee) was established but its recommendations weren't implemented until after the 2010 election. 

Changes made to the Commons:

• Pre-legislative scrutiny: greater scrutiny of draft bills before formal legislative process
• Bills that don't get through the legislative process in one parliamentary session can complete the process in the next as long as they pass in one year
• Changes to working hours
• Greater scrutiny caused by Liasion Committee
• Westminster Hall sittings to deal with non-controverisal issues, select committee reports and motions chosen by the Backbench Business Committee
• Select committees have held pre-appointment hearings for public appointments for 60 positions since 2008
• Devolution means that Westminster no longer makes laws on devolved policies
• Questions on devolved matters can no longer be addressed to Westminster ministers
• Westminster can make laws for Scotland when it is requested to through the Sewell motion procedure

• All but 92 hereditary peers removed
• No significant changes to their powers
• The second stage of reform hasn't come to fruition: there has been no consensus on what the Lords should look like

Failed reform proposals:

• Wakeham Report, 2000: the majorityy of peers should be appointed with 20% recommended by an independent body. 12-35% elected by proportional representation. Remaining hereditary peers removed.
• White Paper, 2001: 20% of peers elected
• White Paper, 2003: All peers appointed
• White Paper, 2007: 50% appointed, 50% elected
• White Paper, 2008: Wholly elected or 80% elected house

Yes:

• This would give the Lords the legitimacy that can only be derived from democratic elections
• Lords would be more confident in its work scrutinising and amending government bills which would improve the quality of legislation
• Lords could challenge the dominance of the executive if no party has a majority
• If elected by proportional representation, it would represent the electorate

No:

• Would come into conflict with the Commons because both would have democratic legitimacy
• Would produce legislative gridlock
• Problems with party control in Commons would be duplicated in an elected upper house