House of Lords/ representation/ referenda
lecture notes – Dr J Hunter
House of Lords cannot really ‘speak for’ the people; unelected
Bringing to light all relevant opinions and possible views
Dawn Oliver – the house of lords is a body of voices
Surveys suggest there is strong public support for an elected upper
chamber but also strong antipathy towards party political allegiance
being a dominant feature in the lords
Lords is not a ‘microcosm of the people’- John Adams
Symbolic representation is valuable
Legitimacy?
Proposals for reform tend to be conflicted between democratic
legitimacy and the purpose of non-partisan legislative scrutiny
Bingham’s – Council of the Realm – best of both worlds
Upper and lower house may begin competing if upper has
legitimacy
Can legitimacy be achieved without popular election?
Is it better to have one chamber that is representative and another
which has integrity and freedom from bias?
D Oliver suggests a completely independent appointments
commission; take this power away from the political influence from
PM
Meg Russell- House of Lords has had a sense of perceived
legitimacy
Representative democracy
Minimalist view of democracy – accountability comes through
election
Those in power can be removed
2 points of challenge to this view of democracy
1. Referendum
1975 - EC
2011- AV
2016- EU
Many argue that referendums are out of place in. Representative
democracy; others say that they complement them
Stand-alone pre legislative referendums are problematic; voters do
not know what they are voting for
2. Recall of MPs Act 2015
Allows constituents to be able to recall MPs
MPs are protected against purely political challenges
lecture notes – Dr J Hunter
House of Lords cannot really ‘speak for’ the people; unelected
Bringing to light all relevant opinions and possible views
Dawn Oliver – the house of lords is a body of voices
Surveys suggest there is strong public support for an elected upper
chamber but also strong antipathy towards party political allegiance
being a dominant feature in the lords
Lords is not a ‘microcosm of the people’- John Adams
Symbolic representation is valuable
Legitimacy?
Proposals for reform tend to be conflicted between democratic
legitimacy and the purpose of non-partisan legislative scrutiny
Bingham’s – Council of the Realm – best of both worlds
Upper and lower house may begin competing if upper has
legitimacy
Can legitimacy be achieved without popular election?
Is it better to have one chamber that is representative and another
which has integrity and freedom from bias?
D Oliver suggests a completely independent appointments
commission; take this power away from the political influence from
PM
Meg Russell- House of Lords has had a sense of perceived
legitimacy
Representative democracy
Minimalist view of democracy – accountability comes through
election
Those in power can be removed
2 points of challenge to this view of democracy
1. Referendum
1975 - EC
2011- AV
2016- EU
Many argue that referendums are out of place in. Representative
democracy; others say that they complement them
Stand-alone pre legislative referendums are problematic; voters do
not know what they are voting for
2. Recall of MPs Act 2015
Allows constituents to be able to recall MPs
MPs are protected against purely political challenges
