The majority of new laws or changes to existing laws come from government but the can also come from MP’s, Lords or even a member of the public. E.g. ‘Sarah’s Law’. Both the House of Commons and House of Lords must debate and vote on the proposals. 2.
Arguably the elected MPs are the reason that a representative democracy flourishes with the elected MPs superseding the knowledge of the public. However, it could be argued that MPs have the interest of toeing the party line, or even acting in their own interests rather than the constituent’s interests. Nevertheless, MPs are learned individuals who would make the correct decisions with the interests of their party, their constituency and themselves, effectively fulfilling the role of an MP. The government within a representative democracy is advantageous as it is held to account for its
A voter could switch from voting for the Conservatives to vote for the Labour Party at the next election because they decide according to single issues. In general the public today is not really aligned to parties anymore. I would say that party allegiance is something which is nearly vanished in Britain’s voting behavior. There are still groups which are strongly related to one or the other party but that is not as common as was in the 50s and 60s. The important things today are which party has at the moment the right promises for the single voter and which party is better in delivering policy goals.
In addition, the elections are held at regular intervals, which ensures that the representatives are accountable to the electorate. Furthermore, there is a pluralistic system which means that the electorate have a choice of candidates and political parties, regarded as an essential element of a genuine democracy. For example, in the General Election of May, 2010, the UK electorate had the opportunity to vote for candidates from minority parties, such as the Greens and UKIP, as well as the major parties such as Labour, Conservative and
Its origins traced to the King’s council which essentially was an assembly of advisers to the King which also decided on appeal cases. This assembly, under one house, together with the crown made up what was known as the Parliament. The separation of the house into two houses as we know it today, the House of Lords and the House of Commons, occurred during the fourteenth century, although some scholars believe that the houses were separate since its origin. Functions of the houses at the time as juxtaposed with today were different. At the time, the Lords gave advice to the King, while the Commons consented to the King’s proposals.
The extent to which an electoral system is PR-based depends on the number of candidates elected per constituency and the existence of any thresholds for successful election. A number of electoral systems combine elements of both, such as the single non-transferable vote and cumulative voting systems. Background PR is a relative novelty in British politics, although it has long been used in Europe and went through a spell of popularity in some circles in the late 19th century. There were several attempts to introduce PR voting for the UK parliament during the early 1900s and there were several more reviews of the topic. The University members of the UK parliament were elected by STV-PR until this special
How effective is Parliament? The House of Parliament is made up of both the House of Commons and The House of Lords, Parliament has six main functions that they must carry out. The main functions are; Legislative, Scrutiny, Recruitment, Legitimation and Representation .This essay will discuss what these functions entail and whether they are performed effectively. Firstly, Parliament must fulfil its legislative function. This is the means by with parliament passes the government’s legislation.
Proponents of the UK and US voting methods also often cite the lack of a credible alternative as a reason for the retention of the current systems. In the UK, national elections are held when the incumbent government chooses to call an election. This differs significantly from the USA where political office is held on a fixed term basis. When a general election is called each constituency holds an election to decide their Member of Parliament (MP) using the first past the post system. If a party gains a majority it will be offered the chance to form government by the Queen.
They are then implemented by the executive and enforced by the courts. Statute Law is the most important source of the principles and rules making up the British constitution because parliament is the sovereign body. An example of Statute law include: The Parliament Act (1911), which established the House of Commons as the dominant chamber of parliament. More recent example is The Human Rights Act (1998), which enshrined key rights in UK law. Secondly there is Common Law, Common law includes legal principles that have been developed and applied by UK courts.
Sometimes this can conflict with their party’s policy, but there are many occasions when such MPs can protect their constituents and take it up further with the party, and any other government bodies. It is a key part of the democratic system that each individual feels that there is an elected representative who will listen to their problems, and try to resolve them. Also to some extent both Houses of Parliament are expected to act as representatives of society as a whole, as the MPs/Peers express their concerns to them and they have to make final decisions. The second main feature of the UKs democratic system is direct democracy, more precisely referendums: to some extent Britain is becoming more of a consultative democracy which is a limited kind of direct democracy, but the true meaning is where the citizens themselves make critical decisions, the device used for this is a referendum: this is an occasion when citizens, either all or just in a specific region, are asked to determine a question of public importance. A referendum is