Revision topic: Parliament

DO NOWDavid Cameron may be forced to vacate Downing Street on May 8th, even if the Conservatives are the largest party in the House of Commons. Why? And, if this should happen, what will be Cameron’s political legacy?

Learning objectives• To consolidate our understanding of the functions of

parliament• To explain the impact of coalition government on

parliament• To relate these to other key topics studied to-date

Key concepts and required readingDates Topic Key concepts Required reading

Apr 17-24

Parliament • Parliamentary sovereignty in theory and practice

• The composition and main roles and functions of Parliament: representation, legislation, scrutiny.

• The relative powers of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

• The influence of backbenchers, frontbenchers, whips and the Opposition.

• The influence of coalition government on parliament.

• ‘Parliament: What does it do and how effectively does it do it?' Politics Review November 2013

• ‘The House of Commons: A rejuvenated institution?' Politics Review November 2014

• ‘The Coalition in Parliament’ B. Young in Hazell and Young The Politics of Coalition (2015)

• Heywood, Essentials of UK Politics (2011) Ch.7 ‘Parliament‘

• Watts, British Government & Politics (2012) Ch.3. 'The legislature‘

• Grant, The UK Parliament (2009) Ch.1 & Conclusion

• Heffernan, Cowley & Hay, Developments in British Politics (2011) Ch.4 'Changing parliamentary landscapes‘

• McNaughton & Magee UK Government & Politics Annual Update – 2015 (2015), Ch.4

How effective is parliament?Copy and complete the following table based on the two articles from Politics Review.Key function How effective?

1-4Changed by coalition?

Representation 2 – relatively effective at representing part of UK society but not all of it, e.g. ethnic minorities, women

Legislation

Scrutiny

The role of parliamentThe adversarial Westminster model of robust debate has been lost. There is no debate [in parliament] on matters of substance. One reason for this is that so many MPs depend so directly on the party leaders. At the last count, there were roughly 150 ministers, parliamentary undersecretaries and parliamentary private secretaries. If you add a similar number for those shadowing them on the opposite benches, that brings you close to half the lower house. Everything is coordinated by an army of special political advisers – the so-called “spadocracy” – and heaven help the aspiring politician who departs from their script. As the former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve observed, debates in parliament are “angry exchanges but with very little content”.

Adapted from T. Garton Ash The Guardian (2015)

• Define the term Westminster model as used in the extract. (5)• Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, consider the extent to which the

payroll vote compromises parliament’s effectiveness. (10)

Topic 2 Parliament

Longer questions

Plan an answer to the following question:

“The House of Commons has been rejuvenated by the experience of coalition government.” Discuss. (25)

Read and make detailed notes on B. Young ‘The Coalition in Parliament’ for homework.

Plenary

How fair is it to characterise the Westminster Parliament as a ‘weak’ legislature?

Has the experience of coalition significantly changed this?

Longer questions 2

“The failure of reform has left the House of Lords irrelevant to modern government.” Discuss. (25)

Parliament under the coalitionEvery form of government, single or multi-party, comes at a price of some sort. Each has its own form of dividend too. Thanks to coalition, there has been a revival of cabinet government after the years of Labour centralisation. And parliament has become more independent-minded, with stronger select committees and a Speaker more ready to defy ministers. An Electoral Reform Society poll last week found that voters in marginal seats still believe that “parliaments work best when no party is too dominant so that cross-party agreement is needed to pass laws”. On the other hand, the power of each party to veto anything not in the coalition agreement has meant the coalition has achieved less, on Europe or civil liberties, than a benign single-party government might have done.

Adapted from editorial The Guardian (2015)

• Define the term cross-party agreement as used in the extract. (5)• Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, consider the extent to which

‘parliament has become more independent-minded’ under the coalition. (10)

Topic 2 Parliament

Parliamentary traditionAny attempt to drag parliament into the 20th century, let alone the 21st, is treated by a certain cadre of MPs as a heresy akin to taking a leak on the Bayeux Tapestry. Woven into the very fabric of Westminster are assumptions about who the building – and, by extension, our democracy – is intended to serve. Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg takes to Parliament’s regulations like an impeccably suited duck to water, while other backbenchers who had been, say, bricklayers or heads of charities cheerfully admitted that they found the whole thing completely barmy. All the by-laws, the prayer cards to mark your seat, the juvenile heckling in the chamber . . . that comforts a certain type of person, because it reminds them of public school, the Oxford Union, the Travellers Club. Some Commons traditions are definitely worth preserving: every time on Queen’s Speech day that Black Rod is turned away from the House, it reminds us that we have a democracy only because our ancestors fought to disobey the monarch.

Adapted from editorial The New Statesman (2014)

• Define the term Commons traditions as used in the extract. (5)• Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, consider how far the legitimacy

of parliament is affected by its lack of descriptive representation. (10)

Topic 2 Parliament