Government Roles

• Parliamentary democracy


  Most of the country's laws are made by passing Acts of Parliament
• Laws made by parliament


  Also referred to as 'statutes' or 'legislation'
• Parts of Parliament

  • The Monarch
  • The House of Lords
  • The House of Commons
• Monarch's role in law-making

  Formal - gives the Royal Assent (agreement to the new law)
• House of Lords


  • Members are called peers
  • About 800 peers
  • Historically all were noblemen, now only about 92 hereditary peers
  • Also includes 26 Church of England bishops and archbishops
  • The rest are life peers who cannot pass their position on to their children
  • Main job is to act as a 'double check' on new laws
• House of Commons


  • Most important part of Parliament
  • Made up of the elected representatives of the people
  • 650 Members of Parliament (MPs)
  • Each MP is elected at a general election to represent a constituency (a geographical area of the country)
• Government


  • Formed by the political party which has the majority of the 650 MPs
  • The prime minister is the leader of the majority party
  • Most proposals for new laws comes from the government
• Proposal for a new law

  • Called a Bill
  • Must be agreed by both the Houses of Parliament and receive Royal Assent before they can become laws