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Parliament - Coggle Diagram

- - - - They can introduce Private Members’ Bills which may become laws
        
        'Ten Minute Rule Bills'
        
        Carry out detailed scrutiny of government bills and policy, through working on public bill and select committees
        
        Pose questions to government ministers during Question Time
        
        Examine government actions through debates in the Commons
        
        Write questions to ministers, who must provide a response
        
        Raise concerns of their constituents and bring them to the government’s attention
        
        Parliamentary Privilege
    - - 1.Private Member’s Bills very rarely become law, so most of a backbencher’s time is spent considering government bills
        
        When it comes to scrutiny, government whips limit role of their backbenchers, limiting their independence and significance
        
        When debating, there is a limited time available to discuss issues in detail, and debates often have little direct impact on legislation
        
        MPs could represent the people better- they are often elected with less than 50% of the vote in their constituencies, and the views of women and minority groups could be argued to be not properly represented
        
        Question Time is often weak and ineffective
  - - - They scrutinise government policy, shadowing the work of major government departments
    - - The government has a majority on the committees, reflecting their Commons majority, so can dominate them
        
        Whips control individual appointments to the committees, meaning loyal MPs can be placed on them
        
        Select committees can criticise government policy, but cannot change it
  - - - The Minister must answer questions on subjects which they are not aware of, and must justify and explain their actions, which holds them to account
        
        During PMQs, the opposition leader can ask supplementary questions, allowing them more opportunity to scrutinise the PM
    - - Questions are often not properly answered by the PM/ministers 2. The raucous nature of Question Time damages the reputation of Parliament and politicians in the eyes of the public 3. It is often described as an example of ‘Punch and Judy’ style politics, whereby the PM and opposition leader try to embarrass each other and score cheap political points, rather than it being proper meaningful scrutiny
  - - - It is given privileges at debates, for example during PMQs the opposition leader can ask the Prime Minister more questions
        
        On ‘opposition days’ opposition parties can choose subjects for debate, and often use the day to criticise and scrutinise government policy and actions
    - - They have no real ability to initiate legislation
        
        The government usually has an overall majority, giving them dominance of the Commons
        
        They have a lack of resources relative to government (for example, the civil service is duty bound to support and enact government policy)
        
        The opposition party is often in a position of weakness and may be divided, as they will have lost the election
- - - - Selection
        
        Leader of the Opposition: leader of the largest opposition party (the party with the second-largest number of MPs) with responsibility for leading scrutiny of and opposition to the Government.
        
        Whips: party members responsible for enforcing discipline, particularly on backbenchers, ensuring that they vote in accordance with their party line. The system used is a ‘line’ system- if a reading/voting of a bill is underlined three times, the MP must vote according to the party line.
        
        Speaker: a party-neutral officer elected by the Commons to preside over debates and ruling on parliamentary rules and procedures. Sits in the middle of the House.
    - - selection
        
        800 members
        
        Lords Act 1999 reduced the hereditary peers to 92, the vast majority of Lords is now life peers (appointed by the Prime Minister)
        
        The House of Lords Appointments Commission can also propose life peers
        
        26 Lords Spiritual - high ranking members of the Church of England
  - - - F: no codified constitution, parliament superior to other institution (devolved bodies), can make and unmake any law
      - A: parliament mostly considers government-made bills, rather than private members’ bills (which are created by individual MPs). Therefore, it is government, rather than Parliament, which is legislating, governments typically have majority in HoC so their laws often pass, the Lords rarely proposed its own legislation and usually just ‘cleans up’ government bills that pass through the Commons
    - - F: HoC is elected and superior to Lords, each MP acts on behalf of their constituents
      - A: HoL entirely unelected, makeup of Commons does not reflect how the population voted, Parliament does not reflect the percentage of females, ethnic minority groups and so on in society
    - - F: Question Time, select committees, debates, opposition party is given time to challenge the government, MPs and Peers can submit questions to ministers which must be responded to
      - A: the governments majority of MP's in the Commons means they tend to be supportive of the government, Question Time is not an effective form of scrutiny, government has majority on select committee and they have limited policy changing powers
    - - F: All ministers are MPs and will have spent time as backbenchers ‘learning the ropes’, Backbenchers learn how government and Parliament work before progressing further
      - A: Ministers only come from the pool of MPs of the largest Commons party, the skills learned in Parliament may be more debating and speaking rather than managing and organising, Ministers increasingly have no experience of a career outside politics (the ‘Westminster bubble’)
    - - F: because it is elected the Commons has the approval of the people, Government actions are scrutinised and challenged by Parliament making those actions better
      - A: Lords is unelected and therefore not democratically legitimate, scandals have undermined public faith and trust in Parliament
- - - - ‘Draft Bills’ are issued for consultation before being formally introduced to Parliament.
    - - the bill is introduced (read out) to Parliament, with no debate or voting.
    - - a full debate takes place considering the details of the bill, which can be defeated at this stage.
    - - the bill in considered in detail by a public bill committee
    - - the committee reports its findings, and any amendments, to the Commons, which can amend or reverse any changes.
    - - another full debate of the bill, but no amendments can be made. Usually bills will be passed at this stage.
    - - once passed by the Commons, the same process takes place in the House of Lords. Sometimes bills may start in the Lords before going through the Commons.
    - - once passed by both chambers, the bill is given to the monarch to grant Royal Assent. Once this happens, the bill becomes law.