1. Parliament

• Bicameral


  a system with two chambers - elected HoC and unelected HoL which is usually seen in a federal government system
• Unicameral


  system of government where a single central unit has the wholesale right to make laws and decide on policies
• Unicameral case study - Israel's knesset

  they have the right to pass any law even if it is in conflict with the lands basic laws and only the supreme court has the powers to challange.
• Members of the monarchy

  • queen/king - usually ignored as their role is a ceremonial symbolism of the crown
• Monarchs powers

  • appointing a government
  • opening and dismissing parliament in october/november
  • the queens/kings speech which is given at the start of a parliamentary session to inform parliament of government's legislative programme
• House of Commons members

  • 650 MPs
  • each member represents one constituency and is elected by FPTP
  • usually a representative of a party and thus are subject to a system of party discipline
  • categorised as backbenchers with the minority being frontbenchers
• House of Commons powers

  • legally its the dominant chamber of parliament
  • supreme legislative power - theoretically they can make or unmake any law they wish as the lords are only able to delay these laws - they exercise the sovereignty of parliament
  • only subject to higher authority of EU laws and treaties
  • they can theoretically remove a government
• House of Lords members

  • not an elected body
  • Constitutional Reform Act 2005 created the supreme court and removed law lords from the house of lords
  • life peers - peers who sit in the lords for their entire life and were appointed under the Peerages Act 1958
  • hereditary peers - peers with an inherited title in descending order of rank, they existed in the 'unreformed' HoL
  • lords spiritual - bishops and archbishops of the church of England (opposed to other peers who are lords temporal)
• House of Lords powers

  • they can only delay bills passed by the commons and this does not extend to money bills
  • Salisbury convention means they can't defeat measures outlined by a governments election manifesto
  • lords hold supreme veto powers which cannot be overriden by the commons
• what are the functions of parliament

  • passing legislation
  • scrutiny of the executive
  • providing ministers
  • legitimacy
  • commons have the function of representing the electorate
• why does governing through parliament make actions seem more 'rightful'?

  • parliament supposedly stands for the public as a representative assembly - the public feel they have approval of their actions
  • parliamentary approval is based on the assumption their actions have been properly debated and scrutinised - this exposes any weakness or issue
• what is an example of governing through parliament making actions more rightful

  MPs vote to trigger Article 50
• why can legitimacy be in doubt?

  • HoL has no democratic legitimacy as its unelected
  • respect for parliament is undermined by scandals such as partygate, expenses scandals and a series of harassment cases in westminster
• define scrutiny


  parliaments relationship with the executive
• define legitimacy


  whether parliament is deemed trustworthy and representative of the people
• how effectively does parliament perform its representative function?

  • MP’s loyalty to their party may come into conflict with the need to represent a constituency as they are ultimately aiming for a promotion
  • the commons is still not entirely representative - as of 2015, 29% were female which does not represent the UK population where 51% are female, 6% are ethnic minorities as opposed to the real 13%
  • Ministers are restricted by a code of conduct, meaning that they cannot raise certain matters in the House of Commons
• what is a surgery?

  in their constituency, MPs can hold a surgery where anyone can come and discuss matters important to them which provides the MP with an idea of what the locals want discussed in westminster
• scrutiny of the executive - function

  • parliament has the responsibility to excise an oversight of the executives decisions, within this the opposition seeks to hold the government accountable for its errors in judgement
  • ministers have the duty of explaining and defending their policies within parliament - senior ministers usually sit in the commons where the main action is
• questions to ministers - scrutiny

  • may call for oral or written answers, proposed weekly by the PM proposes a weekly question and answer session in the chamber of commons
  • criticism is that these are often unduly theatrical and almost a point scoring exercise which is dominated by PM or OL which undermines the say of party members or deputy's
• select committees - scrutiny

  • shadow individual government departments in the commons
  • criticism is that their power is limited to just 'sending for persons, papers and records' relevant to their case
• debates - scrutiny

  • Backbench Business Committee in 2010 granted MPs more power in shaping the agenda - they pick the topic of debate one day per week
  • debated in the lords are often given credit for higher quality as participants have expertise in a particular field although they rarely influence the course of events
  • criticism - Gov and Opp debates are usually on topics which divide parties so they create party arguments more often than carrying real investigation
• example of gov being defeated in a debate

  David Cameron in 2013 - proposal to undertake military action in syria was rejected
• how representative is the HoL

  • unelected body
  • does not reflect wider composition of the UK
  • 3 in every 4 members is male
  • average age is 71
  • 86% were born in the UK and most in London
  • 70% of lords had private school education
• is the purpose of the lords to be representative?

  • it is a function of parliament as a whole
  • the lords is a body of specialism
  • it allows an educated body to influence but not decide on scrutiny
• how does the whip system hinder the commons ability to be representative?

  • whips have a large amount of power as the throw threats at MPs and can manipulate information
  • MPs are told what to say in maiden speeches instead of addressing the issues important to their constituents
  • whips often are used to manipulate MPs into voting in line with the party - they are told how to vote on legislation meaning MPs sometimes don't read it
• exclusive powers to the commons

  • commons retains exclusive authority over taxation and public expenditure
  • confidence and supply - can occur during a minority government in which the government favours a limited agreement with another party over a coalition
• main constraints on power of the lords

  • due to increase in democracy the lords power has lessened and they are denoted to the 'second chamber'
  • parliamentary acts of 1911 and 1949
  • 1911 - ended lords interference in taxes as they can no longer veto non-financial bills but delay them and money bills can't be delayed
  • 1949 - halved the amount of time lords can delay non-financial bills for
  • Salisbury convention 1945 - lords would not oppose a bill that was based on a government manifesto pledge
• what are the 3 distinct powers of the lords

  • revising chamber which offers amendments for government to decide on
  • delay non financial legislation for up to a year
  • only scenario it still has veto power is when government attempts to prolong life of parliament beyond its legal 5 years
• Why is the Lord's deemed to be a more legitimate body since reforms made by New Labour?

  • There are far less hereditary peers than before
  • the upper house is now dominated by life peers who were appointed due to experience in a particular field
  • this improves legitimacy
• What does Lib Dem rebellions against Labour manifesto promises suggest regarding the power of the Lords?

  • lords dominated by conservative peers
  • introduction of new labour reforms allowed lib dems to become more independent as they were granted more power to prevent bills
  • this gave them a greater ability to effectively scrutinise
• Why does the presence of cross-bench peers further increase the legitimacy of the Lords?

  • cross-bench peers are more successful in holding the government to account because of their neutrality
  • this means they only assess bills on merits and thus decide accordingly if they support government or opposition
• how can the advisory element of the lords be used ot the commons advantage?

  the government can use its majority in the commons to their advantage
• how is the preventuon of Terrorism Bill 2005 an example of commons supremacy?

  • government compromised that legislation would be reviewed after a year and the lords eventually backed down
  • prevention of the terrorism bill created a sticky point between houses and was passed by the commons of the grounds of a 'sunset clause' being added which meant it would automatically expire in a year unless renewed
  • advice can be given but its largely ignored when from the lords
• what can the commons utilise if the lords don't compromise?

  the parliament act as they can use it to force a bill through
• why might advocates of commons supremacy oppose the idea of an elected house of lords?

  • results from parliamentary elections form governments
  • the HoL doesn't need to be representative as its function is to be specialised not generalised
  • commons is said to be legitimate and have the peoples interest in mind
• define parliamentary privilege 


  the right of MPs or lords to make certain statements within parliament without being subject to outside influence including law

  • this does not mean MPs are exempt from the law - 2009 expenses scandal
  • the principle is so that they can enjoy their historic right to freedom of speech
• examples of parliamentary privilege

  • Ryan Giggs named by MP as injunction footballer
  • MP names 'amoral' British lawyers for silencing press for Vladimir Putins 'henchmen'
  • Hugh Edwards was a case where this privilege was not used
• strength of backbench business committee

  • considered one of the biggest developments in parliaments ability to scrutinise
  • allows for debates to be held on topics that otherwise may not be brought up in parliament
  • topics can qualify through a petition with over 10,000 signatures - this applies to 35 days of the year
• weaknesses of backbench business committee

  • MPs can be ignored by the executive
  • there are cases such as an 'adjournment debate' where no action is taken
  • after official business is over there is a chance for the MP to say their concern in the debate
  • this happens in cases of powerful executives when there is a government majority and a strong whip system
• strengths of backbench rebellions

  • stifled recently
  • been a rise in the number of backbench rebellions even though MP participation declined
  • this allows them to prevent certain government legislation
  • decreased dye to whips as they may be suspended from their party
  • governments can drop bills if they are nit sure it will pass through a backbench rebellion