9. The House of Commons

2019 ◽  
pp. 181-206
Author(s):  
Anne Dennett
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
The Public ◽  
Core Business ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
The Commons ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

This chapter explores the membership and functions of the House of Commons. The Commons' membership consists of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are democratically elected by the public to represent their interests in Parliament. The key functions of the House of Commons include sustaining the government; legislating and scrutinising government actions; authorising taxes and voting for supply to provide the government with the finances it needs to run the UK; facilitating a credible opposition; and ensuring that the voices of citizens are heard. The chapter then considers the operation of Parliamentary privilege. Parliament needs parliamentary privilege to conduct its core business effectively, independently, and without fear of outside interference, and to protect everything said or done in the transaction of parliamentary business. Indeed, Parliament is self-regulating and, as a sovereign body, operates outside the jurisdiction of the courts except for the criminal law.

10. The Legislature: membership, privileges, and standards

2021 ◽  
pp. 207-242
Author(s):  
Anne Dennett
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
The Public ◽  
Core Business ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Standards Of Conduct ◽  
The Government

This chapter explores the role and membership of Parliament’s two chambers, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the operation of parliamentary privilege; and accountability of members. The key functions of Parliament include controlling national expenditure and taxation; sustaining the government; legislating and scrutinising government actions. The House of Commons is the pre-eminent chamber and dominates Parliament. The Commons’ membership consists of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are democratically elected by the public to represent their interests in Parliament. The membership of the House of Lords largely relies on patronage. Members of the Lords are appointed by the Queen on the Prime Minister’s advice. The House of Lords is an important revising and scrutinising chamber, and while it is subordinate to the democratically elected House of Commons, it is also a check on constitutional change by the Commons. The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 redefined the Lords’ legislative powers over public bills and established the Commons’ primacy. The chapter then considers the operation of parliamentary privilege. Parliament needs parliamentary privilege to conduct its core business effectively, independently, and without fear of outside interference, and to protect everything said or done in the transaction of parliamentary business. Indeed, Parliament is self-regulating and, as a sovereign body, operates outside the jurisdiction of the courts except for the criminal law. Each House has its own standards of conduct and disciplinary powers which ensure accountability.

10. The House of Lords

2019 ◽  
pp. 207-228
Author(s):  
Anne Dennett
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
The Public ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
The Commons ◽  
The Government

This chapter studies the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Lords largely relies on patronage. Members of the Lords come from a variety of backgrounds with wide-ranging expertise, and are appointed by the Queen on the Prime Minister's advice. They can be nominated by political parties, by the public, or by themselves. The House of Lords is an important revising and scrutinising chamber, but it is also subordinate to the democratically elected House of Commons. The Lords' main functions are scrutinising and challenging the government, investigating and debating issues of public interest, and scrutinising and revising legislation. While it respects the primacy of the Commons, the House of Lords is also a check on constitutional change by the Commons. The chapter then looks at the Parliament Act 1911, which established the Commons' primacy over the House of Lords.

30. Parliament and Petitions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Caygill ◽  
Anne-Marie Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
The Public ◽  
System P ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines how the UK Parliament has used the e-petitions system to address some of the common criticisms about the relationship between the institution of government and the public. In May 2014, the House of Commons agreed to establish a ‘collaborative’ e-petitions system which would enable the public to petition the House of Commons and to call for action from the government. A Petitions Committee was created on 20 July 2015, and the new e-petitions site was launched the following day. The chapter first provides an overview of the changing nature of participation with Parliament, especially voting in elections, before discussing contemporary developments in petitioning Parliament. In particular, it considers public (paper) petitions and compares it to the e-petitions system. It also analyses the impact of e-petitions on Parliament and public participation and concludes with an assessment of challenges facing the e-petitions system.

The United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
pp. 775-800
Author(s):  
Jack Blumenau ◽  
Roberta Damiani
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Setting ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Parliamentary Debate ◽  
The Commons ◽  
The Government ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Over Time

We describe the institutional setting of parliamentary debate in the UK House of Commons and assess the determinants of participation in Commons’ debates using data on more than two million speeches from 1979 to 2019. We show that the main determinant of participation in parliamentary debate in the UK is whether an MP holds an institutionally powerful position in either the government or opposition parties. In addition, we describe two patterns in the evolution of debate behavior in the Commons over time. First, although MPs in government and opposition leadership positions give more speeches than backbench MPs in all periods that we study, the speechmaking “bonus” these actors enjoy has decreased over time. Second, MPs have increasingly employed constituency-oriented language in their parliamentary speeches over the past forty years, a finding we link to theoretical accounts of legislative competition in personal-vote-seeking electoral systems.

17. Questioning the Government

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Bates ◽  
Peter Kerr ◽  
Ruxandra Serban
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
Important Means ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Written Questions

This chapter examines how accountability is carried out in the UK Parliament through various questioning procedures which enable ministers and the government to explain and defend their decisions. Questioning the government provides an important means for Members of Parliament (MPs) and peers to hold the government, the prime minister, ministers, and departments to account. There are two main types of parliamentary questions: oral questions and written questions. Oral questions are both asked and answered on the Floor of the House of Commons or the House of Lords, whereas written questions are ‘often used to obtain detailed information about policies and statistics on the activities of government departments’. The chapter first explains these two types of parliamentary questions before discussing their purposes. It also considers debates over the issue of reforming parliamentary questions, and more specifcally Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs).

3. Debating Politics and Making Laws

2021 ◽  
pp. 63-97
Author(s):  
Peter John
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

This chapter evaluates the institution of the UK Parliament, where parliamentarians have a chance to debate issues of the day and to make laws. It reviews classic arguments about the power of Parliament in relation to the executive, before looking at the role of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The account is still influenced by the Westminster system of government, whereby the executive in the form of the government is sustained in power by having a majority in the House of Commons. The chapter then considers what Members of Parliament (MPs) and other representatives do in office, and how their behaviour links to other features of the political process, such as public opinion and constituency interests. It also compares other legislatures, such as the Scottish Parliament, with the UK Parliament.

12. Private Members’ Bills

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hazell ◽  
Fergus Reid
Keyword(s):  
House Of Commons ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
The Commons ◽  
A Priority ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Uk

This chapter considers the ways in which backbench Members of Parliament (MPs) exploit their right to introduce legislation — known as private members' bills (PMBs). The PMB process has been criticized for allegedly being opaque, misleading, and virtually discredited inside and outside the UK Parliament. Yet, each session, more than 450 backbenchers enter the Commons PMB ballot for a priority slot. The chapter first explains the terms ‘hybrid bill’, ‘private bill’, and ‘public bill’ before discussing the difference between PMBs and government bills. It also examines the importance of time when considering PMBs, the three routes to a PMB in the House of Commons, a typical second reading Friday in the Commons, and the PMB ballot in the House of Lords. Finally, it analyses efforts to reform PMB procedures and why, despite flaws and frustrations, PMBs are seen by many MPs as a useful tool for advancing their agendas and campaigns.

scholarly journals The Origins of the Mental Health Act 1983: Doctors in the House

1984 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bluglass
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
The Commons ◽  
The Government ◽  
Legislative Changes ◽  
Law Making

The role played by the House of Commons in the legislative process has been steadily changing since the Reform Acts of the nineteenth century. Previously, most of the Commons' legislative work consisted in passing private measures initiated and introduced by individual Members of Parliament concerned with, and knowledgeable about, local issues which required change. The growth of an increasingly vocal and educated mass electorate, the pressures of mass-membership political parties, and the increasing specialization of an industrial society, all increased the need for wider legislation, particularly for public social measures, and its initiation passed from the hands of individual members to the Government Parliament as a law-making body moved towards a more formal constitutional and legal role. Its twentieth century task is more often the legitimation of legislative changes originating elsewhere.

scholarly journals Disability, Rights and Vulnerability in British Parliamentary Debate

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Odell
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Parliamentary Debate ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Disability Movement ◽  
The Welfare State

This paper examines discussion of disability and disabled people by Members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK House of Commons from 1979–2017. It examines general trends in the number of speeches mentioning disability, including the parties and MPs most likely to mention disability issues, and examines how disability is used in conjunction with two keywords: ‘rights’ and ‘vulnerable’. It uses these keywords to explore two conceptions of how the state should engage with disability and disabled people: a paternalistic conception (which post-2010 has become more common) and a rights-based conception (which has been in decline since the 1990s). I conclude with a discussion about how this reflects the disability movement in the UK, and what it means for the future of disability politics, the welfare state and how disabled people themselves might view paternalistic government policies.

scholarly journals Holding the government to account for its finances: the “Unsung” heroes of the UK parliament scrutiny unit

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Ferry ◽  
Larry Honeysett ◽  
Henry Midgley
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Accounting Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Secondary Literature ◽  
Vital Part ◽  
Financial Cycle ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

PurposeThis paper describes the role and remit of the Scrutiny Unit, which assists members of parliament (MPs) with the analysis of accounting data.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is developed through an understanding of the secondary literature and practical experience of the work of the Unit.FindingsThe Scrutiny Unit is an unappreciated and yet vital part of the way in which financial scrutiny operates within the UK parliament. It translates to MPs key financial and economic documents including the budget and accounts. It is a unique institution, covering the entire financial cycle of approval and accountability within parliament.Originality/valueThis is the first descriptive piece on the Unit in an accounting journal and contributes to our understanding of how financial accountability works within the UK parliament.

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