🏦 Structure of parliament
, What are the components of Parliament?
The UK parliament is made up of three parts: the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarch (known
as the Crown-in-Parliament). This means the UK system is bicameral, as it has two chambers of parliament. A
parliament that only has one chamber is known as unicameral.
Unicameral Parliament Bicameral Parliament
Israel ,New Zealand Germany, United States, Australia
Some countries have experimented with a tricameral legislature. An example was South Africa in the 1980’s.
However tricameralism has been widely seen as a failure when attempted.
Advantages of Bicameralism:
● Second chambers can act as a check upon first chambers, particularly if there is a dominant executive.
● The executive can be checked more effectively.
● There is a broader basis for representation. This is particularly the case in Federal Countries, like Germany
and the USA, in which the rights of states are accentuated.
● Allows more time for a close examination of legislation.
● They can act as a constitutional check, making sure that the constitution is followed.
● A more diverse range of people can be represented.
● They may become more specialist in making and scrutinising legislation.
Disadvantages of Bicameralism:
● They can be unnecessarily costly.
● Second chambers can sometimes have no useful role.
● They can sometimes slow down the government.
● They sometimes don’t represent the electorate and tend to be conservative in outlook.
● They can lead to constitutional gridlock, with conflict between the two houses.
● They can sometimes reduce accountability of elected officials, with someone else being offered for blame.
What are the roles of parliament?
Parliament has 5 key roles:
Representation: MPs in the commons serve a constituency. One of their duties is to represent the views of their
constituents within the chamber.
Offering government ministers: Parliament provides the recruitment pool from which ministers must be drawn.
Unlike the USA and other countries, government ministers in Britain must be either a member of the Lords or the
Commons.
Legislation: One of Parliament’s primary functions is to make laws: to legislate. Although most of the bills proposed
will be proposed by the government, they still must go through both houses of parliament to become laws.
Legitimisation: The government of the UK is not directly elected. Therefore, its legitimacy rests on having the
support of the House of Commons. If the House of Commons passes a motion of no confidence, the government will
be dissolved and a new election may need to be called.
Scrutiny: One of parliament’s roles is also to scrutinise and question the work of the government. There are a
number of ways that it does this, for instance through question ministers and having its members serve in
committees.
ROLLS - representation, offering ministers, legislation, legitimisation, scrutiny
What are the distinct roles of each chamber of Parliament?
Both chambers of parliament have roles that are distinct to them and roles that they share with the other chamber.
Roles distinct to the commons include: approval of money bills and taxation, the ability to block government
legislation entirely, to remove a government through a vote of no confidence or to represent constituents. However,
roles shared by both houses include to debate legislation, suggest amendments, debates on issues of national
security and scrutinise actions of the executive. The role distinct to the lords is to examine secondary legislation in
detail.
,The house of lords, although still informally called the ‘upper chamber’, has much less power than the commons. This
is because of…
● Democratic legitimacy. The fact the commons is democratically elected gives it greater legitimacy and
means the lords will likely back down in any showdown with the commons.
● Statutes. There are several laws that help enforce the dominance of the house of commons. Most notable
of these are the Parliament Acts that means that the lords can only delay and not block legislation.
● Conventions. There are several conventions limiting the lords’ power. Most notably is the Salisbury
convention that dictates that the house of lords will not vote against something that is in the manifesto of
the governing party.
● Financial privilege of the commons. The lords do not by convention vote against bills relating to supply or
taxation. This is a significant power that the commons has over the lords.
How has Parliament changed between the 20th and 21st century?
The biggest changes to parliament include the …
● Life peerages act 1958
● The parliament acts of 1911 and 1949
● Human rights act 1998
● The devolution acts of 1998
● The house of lords act 1999
However, there have also been a number of procedural changes since 1997. These include:
● The sitting times of the commons. This was changed to become more ‘family friendly’
● More office space was provided through the £235 million building of portcullis house
● Prime minister's questions were moved from 2 15 minute slots to one 30 minute slot.
● The commons liaison committee made up of all the chairs of the commons committees, has been able to
regularly call upon the PM to answer questions on the behalf of the select committees.
● More time has been set aside for pre-legislative scrutiny of bills to make sure they are more carefully
considered.
● Westminster hall has now been used for debates to allow more MPs to have their say on major issues.
, 🟩 House of Commons
, What are the components of Parliament?
The UK parliament is made up of three parts: the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarch (known
as the Crown-in-Parliament). This means the UK system is bicameral, as it has two chambers of parliament. A
parliament that only has one chamber is known as unicameral.
Unicameral Parliament Bicameral Parliament
Israel ,New Zealand Germany, United States, Australia
Some countries have experimented with a tricameral legislature. An example was South Africa in the 1980’s.
However tricameralism has been widely seen as a failure when attempted.
Advantages of Bicameralism:
● Second chambers can act as a check upon first chambers, particularly if there is a dominant executive.
● The executive can be checked more effectively.
● There is a broader basis for representation. This is particularly the case in Federal Countries, like Germany
and the USA, in which the rights of states are accentuated.
● Allows more time for a close examination of legislation.
● They can act as a constitutional check, making sure that the constitution is followed.
● A more diverse range of people can be represented.
● They may become more specialist in making and scrutinising legislation.
Disadvantages of Bicameralism:
● They can be unnecessarily costly.
● Second chambers can sometimes have no useful role.
● They can sometimes slow down the government.
● They sometimes don’t represent the electorate and tend to be conservative in outlook.
● They can lead to constitutional gridlock, with conflict between the two houses.
● They can sometimes reduce accountability of elected officials, with someone else being offered for blame.
What are the roles of parliament?
Parliament has 5 key roles:
Representation: MPs in the commons serve a constituency. One of their duties is to represent the views of their
constituents within the chamber.
Offering government ministers: Parliament provides the recruitment pool from which ministers must be drawn.
Unlike the USA and other countries, government ministers in Britain must be either a member of the Lords or the
Commons.
Legislation: One of Parliament’s primary functions is to make laws: to legislate. Although most of the bills proposed
will be proposed by the government, they still must go through both houses of parliament to become laws.
Legitimisation: The government of the UK is not directly elected. Therefore, its legitimacy rests on having the
support of the House of Commons. If the House of Commons passes a motion of no confidence, the government will
be dissolved and a new election may need to be called.
Scrutiny: One of parliament’s roles is also to scrutinise and question the work of the government. There are a
number of ways that it does this, for instance through question ministers and having its members serve in
committees.
ROLLS - representation, offering ministers, legislation, legitimisation, scrutiny
What are the distinct roles of each chamber of Parliament?
Both chambers of parliament have roles that are distinct to them and roles that they share with the other chamber.
Roles distinct to the commons include: approval of money bills and taxation, the ability to block government
legislation entirely, to remove a government through a vote of no confidence or to represent constituents. However,
roles shared by both houses include to debate legislation, suggest amendments, debates on issues of national
security and scrutinise actions of the executive. The role distinct to the lords is to examine secondary legislation in
detail.
,The house of lords, although still informally called the ‘upper chamber’, has much less power than the commons. This
is because of…
● Democratic legitimacy. The fact the commons is democratically elected gives it greater legitimacy and
means the lords will likely back down in any showdown with the commons.
● Statutes. There are several laws that help enforce the dominance of the house of commons. Most notable
of these are the Parliament Acts that means that the lords can only delay and not block legislation.
● Conventions. There are several conventions limiting the lords’ power. Most notably is the Salisbury
convention that dictates that the house of lords will not vote against something that is in the manifesto of
the governing party.
● Financial privilege of the commons. The lords do not by convention vote against bills relating to supply or
taxation. This is a significant power that the commons has over the lords.
How has Parliament changed between the 20th and 21st century?
The biggest changes to parliament include the …
● Life peerages act 1958
● The parliament acts of 1911 and 1949
● Human rights act 1998
● The devolution acts of 1998
● The house of lords act 1999
However, there have also been a number of procedural changes since 1997. These include:
● The sitting times of the commons. This was changed to become more ‘family friendly’
● More office space was provided through the £235 million building of portcullis house
● Prime minister's questions were moved from 2 15 minute slots to one 30 minute slot.
● The commons liaison committee made up of all the chairs of the commons committees, has been able to
regularly call upon the PM to answer questions on the behalf of the select committees.
● More time has been set aside for pre-legislative scrutiny of bills to make sure they are more carefully
considered.
● Westminster hall has now been used for debates to allow more MPs to have their say on major issues.
, 🟩 House of Commons
