PARLIAMENT TOPIC 7 PAPER 2 REVISION NOTES

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MAIN FEATURES OF A PARLAIMENTARY GOVERNMENT:

·         The executive and legislative branches of government are fused

·         Parliamentary elections decide on the government, government is therefore accountable to parliament, can remove with a vote of no confidence

·         Collective government, executive branch is led by a prime minister who in theory is “first among equals”

·         Separate head of state, the head of the executive branch (PM) is not the head of the state. The latter is a ceremonial role in this case the monarchy

Head of state: The chief public representative of a country, such as monarch or president

Legislature: The branch of government responsible for passing laws

Parliament: An assembly that has the power to debate and make laws

The Westminster model: Key features are parliamentary sovereignty (supreme law making authority), an uncodified constitution, cabinet government, FPTP, two-party system and a unitary state

BICAMERALISM:

·         Two chambers in the legislature, the house of lord and the house of commons. The lower is usually elected in a general election and tends to be the dominant chamber. The composition of upper hours varies: can be directly elected or indirectly elected.

Benefits: upper house provides checks and balances, provides greater scrutiny and revision of legislation and can represent different interests

Problems: Institutional conflict between the two houses may emerge, producing legislative gridlock, indirectly elected upper house may frustrate the will of the democratically elected lower house

HOUSE OF COMMONS:

·         Lower house in parliament - dominant chamber for over a century

TWO KEY POWERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS:

·         Parliamentary sovereignty: Gives parliament legislative supremacy. Parliament has ultimate law-making authority in the UK. Parliament can legislate on any matter of it's choosing and these laws cannot be overturned by higher authority

·         Motion of no confidence: This is when the House of Commons can remove the government by a vote of no confidence. The convention of collective ministerial responsibility states the whole government must resign and parliament must dissolve itself. Only been four since 1895

·         Most recent one: 1979 James Callaghan's Labour government, did not have majority, initiated by the opposition

COMPOSITION OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS:

·         Consists of 650 MPs

·         MP is elected from a single-member constituency

·         140 MPs hold ministerial power in government in 2009

·         Main opposition appoints 'shadow ministers'

·         Ministers and shadow ministers are known as frontbenchers as the occupy the benches closest to the floor of the chamber

·         Backbenchers are those who do not hold a ministerial or shadow ministerial position

·         Each party appoints a number of MPS to act as whips.

3 main roles:

·         Ensure MPs attend parliamentary divisions (votes) or approve absence of MPs when their vote is required

·         Issue instructions to MPs on how to vote. A 'three-line whip' is a strict instruction that an MP must attend and vote according to the party line,

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