Most of congresses oversight comes from congressional committees as unlike in Britain congress cannot hold question time as the executive is not present in congress so it is only in committees that members of congress can directly question the executive. There is much evidence to suggest that congressional oversight is only effective when the controlling party in congress and the presidents party remain distinct due to that idea that when they are not, oversight and the scrutiny that comes parallel to it, would do the executive unnecessary harm, in the words of David Broder 'no Republican committee chairman wanted to turn over rocks in a Republican administration'. This argument is highlighted by the fact that almost all of the senates rejection of presidential appointments existed in a time when the presidents party did not control congress, for example, the democrat senate's rejection of George H W Bush's appointment of John Tower to secretary of defence and the republican senate's rejection of Clinton's nuclear test ban treaty. The most noticeable example however comes from George Bush JNR's time in office where for the majority of his first 6 years in power he held a republican congress. During this time of lapdog congress, congressional oversight was practically non existent with a measly 37
This contradicts a democratic society and is seen as a dictatorship because elections are the cornerstone of a democracy. So if two out of three powers that are running the UK are not elected, this itself questions whether or not we are living in a democracy. Furthermore, having a monarchy is very important yet traditional but not in the same aspects of Parliament, as they have more authority over
It means that the government’s justification of power is derived from the people in the society. If the people consent, the government has the right to rule. * Social contract theory- The view that people create agreements that result in the formation of government or an organized society that defines and limits the rights and duties of the individuals in the society. * Describe the major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation * Congress had little powers besides maintaining army and navy, and did not even have $ for that. They had no power to tax.
Judicial power is separate from legislative power and executive power. Statute: Also known as an Act of parliament, this is another term for legislation. Supremacy of Parliament: Also referred to as sovereignty of parliament. This refers to the concept that the final law-making power rests with parliament. Parliament can repeal and amend its own previous legislation and can pass legislation to override common law.
1. Direct Democracy: A democracy in which the power to govern lies directly in the hands of the people rather than being exercised through their representatives. 2. Representative Democracy: form of democracy in which citizens allow others to represent them in government processes and are not necessarily directly involved in any of the processes of legislation or lawmaking Quote Analysis: “The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but cannot do, at all, or cannot, so well do, for themselves- in their separate, and individual capacities”- Abraham Lincoln, 1854 How does the political cartoon above show the idea of an oligarchial government? The is held by a small groups thats what is showing on the picture
Referenda are a general vote put upon the electorate on a single political issue and are a direct form of democracy; referenda usually allow the voters to choose between yes/no option or two alternatives. The UK uses a form of representative democracy, the principles of which elected officials represent a group of people to make a decision on their behalf (Burkean model of representation). Referendums have been sparsely used in the UK as there is no established tradition of them and some political leaders argued strongly against the use of referendums. Clement Attlee (labour party leader from 1935-55 and prime minister from 1945-51) felt that “referendums are just not British” because he stressed they were too often used by dictatorships. The delegate model of representation poses a threat to the form of representative democracy used on the UK as the public will have more say on issues which undermines the Burkean model.
At a glance it is obvious that a major part of UK democracy is parliamentary democracy as this is our chosen form of government, having the houses of parliament which consist of the house of commons and the house of lords. In the UK we have the government which is drawn from parliament as well as the monarchy who are now concerned primarily with ceremonial roles within governing the country. However it is key to note that although the monarchy does have a part in the governing of the UK it is not elected and so this damages the argument of the UK being fully democratic. However the majority of parliament is elected at least. In the UK parliament all members of the house of commons are elected in free and fair elections by their local
The first issue was that of what people would be involved in the government. This problem was centered on the idea of different classes of people that were in the nation. By limiting the types of people in the government however, it would limit the types of personalities that would play a role in the government. Some argued that the private men, the working class individuals who represented the majority, had no business being involved in politics and government. Thomas Gordon argued against this because he thought that if anyone would know how the government worked, it would be the private men.
Government Essay A Constitutional republic is a state where the officials are elected as representatives of the people, and they use govern according to exiting constitutional law that limits the government power over the citizens. In a constitutional republic, executive. Legislative and judicial powers are separated into branches and the most population is to make sure that no individual or group has all of the power, and because the fact that a constitutional exists that limits the government’s power make the state constitutional. The head of the state and other people will be chosen by election rather than getting the positions from previous family that was there. A Constitutional Republic is the current form of government in the United States.
Congress Versus Parliament * The U.S. along has a congress, while Great Britain has a parliament. * Differences affect two important aspects of lawmaking bodies: how one becomes a member and what one does as a member. * A person becomes a member of parliament by persuading a political party to put his or her name on the ballot. Made up of people loyal to the national party leadership who meet to debate and vote on party issues. * A person becomes a candidate