British Parliament

A parliamentary system of government is one in which government governs in and

through the assembly of the parliament, thereby fusing the executive and legislative
branch of government. Heywood (2000:313). Although they are formally distinct, the
assembly and the executive are bound together in a way that violates the doctrine of
separation of power. The British Parliament is one of the oldest parliaments in the
world. This study is concerned with understanding the efficiency and effectiveness of
the parliament in producing legislation.

It should be noted that the United Kingdom operates an unwritten constitution which
implies that its laws are contained in Acts, conventions and legislation; this made the
parliament the supreme.
This implies that the laws are made by the parliament and suggests parliamentary
supremacy. Recently, there has been argument that the British parliament are
inefficient and ineffective in legislative duties this was born out of the fact that the
European Union have over shadowed the activities of the many European countries
such that EU laws override that of the individual nations.
The members of British parliament refer to the two chambers made up of the
popularly elected House of Common and non elected House of Lords. In the view of
Almond et al (2000: 136), within the British parliament, the prime minister occupies a
unique position sometimes refers to as Primus inter pares i.e first among equal. But to
become a prime minister, a politician must first be elected leader of his/her political
party, which qualifies him/her to be prime minister if his/her party wins the majority
seat.
The is some logic in this, as in some areas of law, European law over-rules British
law, even if it is not ratified by the supposedly sovereign parliament or even by an
elected body.

Introduction to British Politics

The appointed legislature is the House of Lords, and they constitute the unwritten
constitution, acting as an extra safety measure, also with the ability to criticize and
approve laws. The judiciary upholds the law and represents such as the UK courts of
law. The crown is the monarch, and Her Majesty’s role is to represent the United
Kingdom as a symbol of ceremony and tradition, and sign bills into law. The most
essential element that distinguishes the Westminster model is the executive power
that is given to the largest party after a first past the post election. Additionally, with
the fusion of powers, the party that controls the legislature also directs the executive
branch.

Controlling the Parliament and the House of Commons

It is perhaps largely the power of Blair's mandate in conjunction with the vice-
like control of the party whips over MPs that has led to comments such as that of Lord
Hailsham that we live under an "elective dictatorship." The power of the executive
however, is based on long-standing constitutional principles and practise. The concept
of 'Queen in Parliament' has long been used to describe the legislative sovereign
created in the fusion of parliament and the executive. The executive has come to
govern through parliament, requiring in effect its assent for legislation, while drawing
from it, as the nation's chief representative body, the legitimacy it requires to sustain
its authority. It comes as a surprise to many, given the ostensible thirst for power of
the Blair administration, that since coming into power in 1997 it should have
undertaken admittedly moderate reforms with the aim... ... middle of paper ... ... to
hold the government to account - if it were able to tie it down to its mandate - but the
government's domination of parliament has led it to control parliament's means of
scrutiny and opposition.

How effective is the Westminster Parliament in holding the executive to

account?
Though it is unelected, the Lords fulfill a fundamental democratic requirement; as the
upper chamber within a bicameral legislature, it acts as a constitutional check and
balance on executive power. This being said, Tony Blair forced the Hunting Bill of
2004 through the Lords as a Parliament Act; the very rarely used route by which Bills
can become law without the assent of the House of Lords. In this way Westminster
Parliament failed to ensure executive accountability. In terms of scrutinizing the
executive and actions of government, the House of Commons has a number of
opportunities at its disposal, mainly in the form of debates and questions. The
Commons is notorious for its constant debate; the Commons can express its views on
foreign policy and international crisis, for example the 1956 debates of the Suez crisis
and the emergency debate on the Falklands following the Argentinean invasion in
1982.
The Parliament was an elected organization set up by the king to manage the country
to save the King the effort. Although officially ruled by the King, Parliament was
increasing it’s power so rapidly that by the 1600s it could no longer be relied on to do
what the King wanted. King Charles 1st came into conflict with his Parliament in 1629
when he ordered Parliament to raise taxes and it refused. His response was to abolish
Parliament and he ruled Parliament on his own for 11 years.

The Main Functions of Parliament

The Main Functions of Parliament Parliament has many functions. A political scientist,
Philip Norton outlined these functions in to five categories. The five main functions of
parliament are legislature, representation, recruitment, scrutiny and legitimacy. Each
one is as important as the other however the main two functions of parliament are
scrutiny and influence. The predominant role of parliament is scrutiny. Scrutiny is
when parliament needs two look over.

History:
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of
the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of
England (established 1215) and the Parliament of Scotland (c.1235), both Acts of
Union stating, "That the United Kingdom of Great Britain be represented by one and
the same Parliament to be styled The Parliament of Great Britain." At the start of the
19th century, Parliament was further enlarged by Acts of Union ratified by the
Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland (1297) that abolished the
latter and added 100 Irish MPs and 32 Lords to the former to create the Parliament of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Royal and Parliamentary Titles
Act 1927 formally amended the name to the "Parliament of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland", [12] five years after the secession of the Irish Free
State.
Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created on 1 January 1801, by

the merger of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union
1800. The principle of ministerial responsibility to the lower house (Commons) did not
develop until the 19th century—the House of Lords was superior to the House of
Commons both in theory and in practice. Members of the House of Commons (MPs)
were elected in an antiquated electoral system, under which constituencies of vastly
different sizes existed. Thus, the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, could
elect two members, as could the borough of Dunwich, which had almost completely
disappeared into the sea due to land erosion.
Many small constituencies, known as pocket or rotten boroughs, were controlled by
members of the House of Lords, who could ensure the election of their relatives or
supporters. During the reforms of the 19th century, beginning with the Reform Act
1832, the electoral system for the House of Commons was progressively regularised.
No longer dependent on the Lords for their seats, MPs grew more assertive.
The supremacy of the British House of Commons was reaffirmed in the early 20th
century. In 1909, the Commons passed the so-called "People's Budget," which made
numerous changes to the taxation system which were detrimental to wealthy
landowners. The House of Lords, which consisted mostly of powerful landowners,
rejected the Budget. On the basis of the Budget's popularity and the Lords'
consequent unpopularity, the Liberal Party narrowly won two general elections in
1910.
Using the result as a mandate, the Liberal Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, introduced
the Parliament Bill, which sought to restrict the powers of the House of Lords. (He did
not reintroduce the land tax provision of the People's Budget.) When the Lords
refused to pass the bill, Asquith countered with a promise extracted from the King in
secret before the second general election of 1910 and requested the creation of
several hundred Liberal peers, so as to erase the Conservative majority in the House
of Lords. In the face of such a threat, the House of Lords narrowly passed the bill.
The Parliament Act 1911, as it became, prevented the Lords from blocking a money
bill (a bill dealing with taxation), and allowed them to delay any other bill for a
maximum of three sessions (reduced to two sessions in 1949), after which it could
become law over their objections. However, regardless of the Parliament Acts of
1911 and 1949, the House of Lords has always retained the unrestricted power to
veto any bill outright which attempts to extend the life of a parliament.
Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 created the parliaments of Northern
Ireland and Southern Ireland and reduced the representation of both parts at
Westminster. The number of Northern Ireland seats was increased again after the
introduction of direct rule in 1973. The Irish Free State became independent in 1922,
and in 1927 parliament was renamed the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland.
Further reforms to the House of Lords were made in the 20th century. The Life
Peerages Act 1958 authorised the regular creation of life peerage dignities. By the
1960s, the regular creation of hereditary peerage dignities had ceased; thereafter,
almost all new peers were life peers only.
The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in
the House of Lords, although it made an exception for 92 of them to be elected to
life-terms by the other hereditary peers, with by-elections upon their death. The
House of Lords is now a chamber that is subordinate to the House of Commons.
Additionally, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 led to abolition of the judicial
functions of the House of Lords with the creation of the new Supreme Court of the
United Kingdom in October 2009.