Parliament

Question 1

Primary legislation

Answer 1

Legislation introduced by the government which has to receive parliament’s approval

Question 2

Secondary /delegated /subordinate legislation

Answer 2

• legislation that is made as a result of powers that has been delegated to that of the particular institution under the primary legislation
• For the most past, a power that is conferred on ministers
• Include only Statutory instruments (order in council regulations, rules and orders)

Question 3

Act of Parliament

Answer 3

An Act of Parliament creates a new law or changes an existing law.

Question 4

What are the branches of the UK Parliament?

Answer 4

House of Commons
House of Lords
Monarch

Question 5

Parliamentary Sovereignty

Answer 5

Parliament is the supreme legislative body. It is free to enact any legislation for which it has a parliamentary majority since there is no authority greater than Parliament which could veto. Each parliament is also sovereign over the last one.

Question 6

Bicameral legislature

Answer 6

A government where the legislature comprises two houses

Question 7

What are the roles of MPs?

Answer 7

Representation
Scrutiny
Debate

Question 8

What are the functions of the HoC and HoL?

Answer 8

Legitimation
Legislation
Debate
Scrutiny
Representation
Recruitment
Select Committees
Providing a Government

Question 9

What is the Salisbury Convention?

Answer 9

A constitutional convention in the United Kingdom under which the House of Lords will not oppose the second or third reading of any government legislation promised in its election manifesto.

Question 10

The rule of law

Answer 10

The principle that the same laws apply equally to every citizen and that the government is subject to the same law as everyone else.

Question 11

How many members, hereditary peers and bishops are in the House of Lords?

Answer 11

Around 780 members
Around 90 hereditary peers
24 bishops

Question 12

How many members has the House of Commons?

Answer 12

650, elected through First-Past-The-Post

Question 13

Life Peerages Act 1958

Answer 13

• life peers can be appointed by the Prime Minister
• Their titles cannot be inherited by their children

Question 14

What are the 3 types of bill?

Answer 14

• Public bill
• Private bill
• Private member bill

Question 15

What are other ways rather than bills to introduce legislation in the HoC?

Answer 15

Green paper - consultation document in which ideas about a particular topic will be discussed
White paper - a more definite proposal of the green paper
General committee/bill committee - a group of people who work on the bill from the first reading to the vote on the bill

Question 16

Name reforms of the House of Lords

Answer 16

1911 and 1949 Parliament Act
1958 Life Peerages Act
1999 House or Lords reform Act
2015 House or Lords (Expulsion & Suspension) Act

Question 17

What is the 1999 House of Lords Reform Act?

Answer 17

Removed all but 92 hereditary peers from the House of Lords.

Question 18

What is the 2014 House of Lords (Expulsion & Suspension) Act?

Answer 18

Allows the House to expel or suspend members

Question 19

What are some exclusive powers of the House of Commons?

Answer 19

• Vetoing legislation
• Approving the government´s budget
• A vote of no confidence can dismiss the government and trigger a general election
• They are representatives of constituencies

Question 20

Name the 3 types of representation

Answer 20

• Trustee model
• Delegate model
• Mandate theory

Question 21

Explain the Trustee Model of representation

Answer 21

Electors should trust their MP to work in their best interest. An MP should take views of constituents into consideration, but ultimately use their own judgement in decision-making.

Question 22

Explain the Delegate Model of representation

Answer 22

The opposite of the Trustee Model
MPs should be delegates for their constituents and echo exactly their opinion.

Question 23

Explain the Mandate Theory of representation

Answer 23

The primary role of an MP is to carry out the manifesto pledges they have a mandate for.

Question 24

Explain what a private bill is

Answer 24

Sponsored by an organisation with the intention of changing a law.
A group affected by the law, has the right to petition against parliament.

Question 25

Explain what a public bill is

Answer 25

Introduced by government ministers for their respective department.
By far the most important and most common type of bill.

Question 26

Explain what a private member´s bill is

Answer 26

Affects the whole population and introduced by a backbencher or Lord.
MPs who have applied for a private member´s bill are drawn from a ballot.
Usually introduced on backbench days, of which there are 7.

Question 27

Explain what a hybrid bill is

Answer 27

A hybrid between private and public bill.
It affects the whole population but specifically a certain group or area.

Question 28

What are the stages of the legislative process

Answer 28

• First reading: the bill is introduced to the house and read for the first time.
• Second reading: the bill is debated and voted on.
• Committee stage: a bill committee is established made up of cross-party MPs, who look closely at the bill and suggest amendments.
• Report stage: the bill returns from the committee with the new suggestions and is debated again.
• Third reading: the final vote after all discussions are concluded.

The bill then moves to the opposite House and must be approved by all members.

After that Royal Assent is necessary.

Question 29

What does “Parliamentary ping-pong mean”?

Answer 29

A bill gets returned to the opposite house of they make changes. This happens until there are no more changes.

Question 30

What are ways in which parliament can scrutinise the government?

Answer 30

• Select committees
• Question Time
• The Opposition
• Vote of no confidence
• Early day motions

Question 31

Why could select committees be considered effective and why not?

Answer 31

Pro:
- More time can be taken to scrutinise ministers and their departments
- A more open discussion with the ability to look at several areas of a department
- Members are free from influence of party whips or cabinet members

Con:
- often retrospective in their scrutiny (looking at past events)
- The decisions made by select committees and their outcomes are not legally binding

Question 32

What are the types of Question Time?

Answer 32

Prime Minister´s Questions
Departmental Question Time

Question 33

Why could question time be considered as effective and why not?

Answer 33

Pro:
- ministers directly answer question
- Urgent questions requested by the Speaker allows Secretaries of State to face scrutiny at relatively short notice
- Ministers need to keep up to date with developments

Con:
- becomes more theatrical in recent years
- Many questions from the governing party do not scrutinise the executive, rather they praise them
- The PM does not have to answer the question asked

Question 34

What are the roles of the opposition?

Answer 34

• Ensure government justifies its legislative and executive decisions
• Debate
• being a government-in-waiting
• The shadow front benches scrutinise specific areas of the government

Question 35

Explain the term “short money”

Answer 35

A term for money give to parties to help them fund Westminster offices, due to a lack of civil servants

Question 36

Explain what a “Early Day Motion” is

Answer 36

A 250-word statement submitted by a member for debate, with no fixed date. However, they do not actually have to be debated but should rather draw attention to a specific issue.

Question 37

What is a vote of no confidence

Answer 37

Voting on whether members of all parties have confidence in the ability of the government to fulfil its duties (simple majority necessary).
This can be put forward by any MP

For example: James Callaghan lost a vote of no confidence in 1979 with 311 to 310. Parliament was dismissed and a general election held the following month.

Question 38

How did the role of backbenchers increased in recent years?

Answer 38

• The Backbench Business Committee was established in 2010 and allows backbenchers to choose topic for debate for 35 days a year.
• Backbenchers increasingly defying whips and voting according to their own opinion. This makes the government lack certainty on whether it has the support for a bill.

Question 39

What are limits to the power of backbenchers?

Answer 39

Party whips - they work as a coordinator to tell the backbenchers how to vote

Resources - backbenchers have less resources to gather information

Majority - If the party has a strong majority, a backbench rebellion will not make a big difference

Question 40

What is the Liaison Committee?

Answer 40

A committee made up of the chairs of all select committees who question the prime minister twice a year over the whole field of government policy

Question 41

During which stage is the bill debated and voted on?

Answer 41

Second reading

Question 42

What is the public accounts committee responsible for?

Answer 42

Examining government expenditure

Question 43

Define parliamentary privilege

Answer 43

Parliamentary privilege grants certain legal immunities for Members of both the House of Commons and House of Lords to allow them to perform their duties without interference from outside of the House. Parliamentary privilege includes freedom of speech and the right of both Houses to regulate their own affairs.

Question 44

What are the public bill committees?

Answer 44

A Public Bill Committee (PBC) is a committee set up by the House of Commons to examine the details of a particular Bill. All Bills, other than Money Bills, are automatically sent to a Public Bill Committee following their second reading unless they are committed to a committee of the Whole House. The composition of the committees must match the size of the parties in the House.

Question 45

What are select committees?

Answer 45

Select committees are small groups of MPs or members of the House of Lords that are set up to investigate a specific issue in detail or to perform a specific scrutiny role. They may call in officials and experts for questioning and can demand information from the government. Select committees publish their findings in a report and the government is expected to respond to any recommendations that are made.

Question 46

Does the House of Lords fulfil its functions?

Answer 46

Yes:
- superior to other institutions such as devolved bodies (making laws is easier)
- Peers can submit questions to ministers, which must be responded to

No:
- The Lords rarely proposes its own legislation (cleans up government bills)
- Entirely unelected (unrepresentative; illegitimate)
- biased by social economic backgrounds, class and gender

Question 47

Does the House of Commons fulfil its function?

Answer 47

Yes:
- it is sovereign (make and unmake any law it wants)
- elected through regular elections (legitimacy)
- greater representation through MPs and their constituencies
- Debate can be held and select committees are used
- all ministers are MPs and so will have spent time as backbenchers (learning)

No:
- mostly considers government-made bills rather than private members´ bills (government dominates parliament)
- FPTP creates an unproportional parliament
- mostly upper class, white and male
- Question Time is not effective
- Westminster Bubble/political elite/lack of life experiences

Question 48

Why could parliamentary privilege be seen as important?

Answer 48

It ensures that MPs are able to speak freely in debates, and protects Parliament´s internal affairs from interference from the courts

Question 49

Why could parliamentary privilege be seen as controversial?

Answer 49

Because of its potential for abuse; a member can use privilege to make damaging allegations that would ordinarily be discouraged by defamation laws, whether or not those allegations have a strong foundation.