The names of Members applying for a Bill are drawn in a ballot held at the beginning of the parliamentary year. The first seven ballot Bills get a day's debate. There are also Ten Minute Rule Bills which is a speech of ten minutes outlining a position. The majority of PMBs fail because the government doesn’t provide the support necessary for their successful passage through the House and it is also held on Fridays which reduces the attendance. This shows that backbencher serve little purpose, other than acting as lobby fodder.
The filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure that allows one or more members to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal and thus the debate on the bills can be extended. Therefore, it can be interpreted as a tool that provides not only compromise but also obstruction. The two parties in the Congress have become more polarized and the majority party are more likely to introduce legislation that the minority party might not accept. Under those circumstances, the minority party can use the filibuster to check the majority party, promoting real debate and compromise to find the common ground with some on the other side. However, the filibuster can block the legislation process if it is not used properly.
With the rise in the professional politician many prefer to remain loyal in order to gain power and move up in the hierarchy as opposed to become a rebel who remains in the back benchers. This can be seen after the vote on tuition fees and the liberal democrats. Despite the fact that they had campaigned for this cause endlessly only 26 (including a few Conservatives) chose to vote against the bill. Whips play an important part in removing efficiency from Parliament. By having whips who ensure that MPs behave in accordance to the decisions of the executive both Parliaments ability to scrutinise and hold the executive to account is diminished, but also their role as representatives of their individual constituency is also compromised.
There are many arguments that a lot of the laws being passed through the House of Commons don’t have approval of the people. The first reason for this is that government has a majority in the House of Commons. This means that if the government backbenchers and ministers vote with the party they will certainly pass the legislation through. The reason that the ministers are loyal to the party is something called “collective responsibility”. This is when a minister has to publically support the party’s policies and have to vote with the party or they get fired.
Even though it might seems as a small problem, comparing to all other troubles that the nation has experienced, nonetheless it must be addressed in a timely matter because any delay in making the decision will make the issue even more severe. It might cause people’s choice of government to become much skewed. If some area has a majority of supporters for a certain party and the conditions for them to vote are beneficial, the community will be able to include all their votes, and comparing to a place that has supporters of the opposite party but has no opportunity to vote. The candidate for the election will lose that majority of votes and people will be faced with the government that only minority wanted to see in
Can you identify any impediments to the effective operation of the select committee system in performing their role? Select committees play a vital role in Parliament's scrutiny of Government. Their hearings and reports are highly effective examples of Members working together on behalf of the public to hold Government to account for its policies and actions, and to inform parliamentary and public debate on the key issues of the day. They have an increasingly high public profile, with their work regularly attracting significant media attention. The core tasks provide the central scrutiny framework for committees as they hold ministers and their departments to account.
The oral questions are sometimes dominated by loyal backbench government supporters, and it is often suggested that the media provide a more effective form of scrutiny than does parliament. MPs have remarkably limited access to resources, partly because of the largely secretive nature of UK government. They can sometimes contribute to the pressure that might ultimately lead to the resignation of an incompetent
This means that it is very important to choose a nominee who would be reflecting president’s political philosophy in the Court. However, if Senate decides that candidate is far too ‘extreme’ in their views or has been working with the president in the past, they might decide to strike the nominee down. For example Robert Bork’s critics regarded him as being both too conservative and too closely associated
Some pay more attention than others, but they all have to consider the views of the folks back home. Congress is also organized primarily along party lines, so party membership is an important determinant of a member’s vote. Each party develops its own versions of many important bills, and party leaders actively pressure members to vote according to party views. It is not surprising that representatives and senators vote along party lines about three-fourths of the time. Finally, what if a representative or senator seriously disagrees with the views of his or her constituents on a particular issue?
With reference to the source, describe two limitations on prime ministerial power. (5 marks) Prime ministerial power has strengths as well as limitations. One of the limitations to prime ministerial power is that the members of cabinet may turn against the Prime Minister, as happened in 1990 to Margaret Thatcher. The cabinet’s support for the prime minister is conditional on the prime minister being popular and successful. If he is not successful or popular, he will not have the cabinet’s support, making it harder for him to control the cabinet, therefore making his job as prime minister harder.