WEaknesses of the UK Parliamen
What accounts for the weakness of the UK Parliament?The UK Parliament has certain weaknesses. This essay will identify and analyse five of the major weaknesses. Firstly, I will argue that the Parliament is not a true representation of the electorate. Then, I will look at claim that the strong party system and the whip system cause weaknesses within Parliament. Thirdly, I shall argue that the committee system within Parliament does not effectively scrutinise the workings of government departments. Fourthly, I will address the claim that because of the House of Lords only having limited powers and because it is not sufficiently independent or representative, it is unable to legitimate the actions of the government and finally, I will argue that external bodies reduce the strength of Parliament. The primary role of the Parliament is that of "manifest legitimation- giving the formal seal of approval "ii. The weaknesses in Parliament cause inefficient procedures and in the end may cause the Parliament to be unable to effectively legitimate the actions and policies of the government.Parliament is not a true representation of the electorate, regarding both the electorates' choice of MPs or the representation of the needs
For example, in 1910 the government threatened to "swamp the Lords with Liberals" to enable a specific bill to be passed i. The government is under scrutiny by debates, questioning and select committees in Parliament. The Parliament has lost its role of legitimising the legislation. It "exaggerates the lead of the winning party"i, for example in the 1992 General Elections, the Conservative Party won 42 per cent of the votes nationally, but 52 per cent of the seats in the Commons. When FFP system is being used, it can be argued that the all votes are not equal. The majority of the electorate is not actively involved in politics and so rely on what they learn from the media to make an educated decision regarding their vote. In 1989 the Green Party won 15 per cent of the vote nationally, but due to their vote being thinly spread over the country no seats in the House of Commons were won. The electorate in the UK play no role in the selection of candidates running for Parliament, thus Adonis believes that " the electorate. The problem of the Tory majority has been caused by the populace not being proportionally represented in the Lords. The Lords have the right to delay primary legislation for one session and the power to veto subordinate legislation; they have the right to veto a private bill and they hold the right to agree extend or refuse to extend the life of a Parliament for longer than five years (e. In the USA, there would be this amount of staff allocated to the running of one standing committee. There are external bodies that reduce the strength of Parliament. Although the select committee system has greatly improved scrutiny of government departments, there are great limitations in their impact. The European Union (EU) is the only body that's policies take precedence over Parliament's own policies. This system is can give absolute majorities in Parliament to parties with considerably less than 50 per cent of the vote.
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Health Committee,
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Acceptance Essays
