202 BRITAIN: Area Studies Outline
Chapter 12 Pages
30-32
Parliament -> is the supreme
legislative authority and consists of 3 separate elements: 1. The Sovereign, 2.
the House of
Commons
and 3. the House of Lords. Through the centuries the balance of power has
changed between them.
Mother Parliament -> of
Britain has been copied among the world’s legislatures.
Parliament -> consists of the Queen, the House of Commons,
and the House of Lords. In theory, the Queen functions as the
supreme legislative authority through Parliament. In practice,
however, the Queen and Parliament rarely come together, except at the openings
of Parliament sessions.
650 Members -> of Parliament (MPs), each member represents one
of the 650 geographical areas (constituencies) into
which the country is divided
for electoral purposes: England 523, Wales, 38, Scotland 72, Northern Ireland
17.
Members do not have to live
in the constituencies that they represent. If an MP dies or resigns,
a by-election
is held to elect a new MP.
-> Members receive a salary and hold their
seats for the duration of a Parliament. A general election for all members must
be held every 5 years. Example; a government may face a general election if tit
is defeated in some major issue by a vote in Parliament.
The speaker -> of the House of Commons is elected by the members and
acts as the president of the House. Other elected and appointed officials look
after the running of the House.
Party Whips -> (title for men that) control the Members of Parliament
who round up members before a vote and organize debates in the Commons.
Parties -> Members belong to one of the political
parties, the party that wins the majority of Parliament seats forms a
government wit the party leader as Prime Minister. The seats of the largest
remaining party will become the official Opposition.
The Speaker -> is the person who chairs and controls discussion
in the House, decides which MP is going to speak next and makes
sure that the rules of procedure are followed. If they are not, the
Speaker has the power to demand a public apology from an MP or even to ban an
MP from the House for a number of days.
Important position -> the Speaker is the 2nd most important
“Commoner” (non-aristocrat) in Great Britain after the Prime Minister.
History of the Speaker -> hundreds of years ago, the job of the Speaker began to communicate the decisions of the Commons to the King. The King was often displeased with what the Commons decided, it was not pleasant, thus, it was a difficult task. As a result, nobody wanted to be the Speaker because of the pressure and discomfort of the King, so many were “forced” to take the job. Today, the job is much safer, but the tradition of dragging an unwilling Speaker to the chair has remained.
1992 -> was
the first time that a woman had been appointed Speaker, so the MPs had to
address her as “Madam
Speaker”.
Once Appointed -> the Speaker (he or she)
must give up all pary politics and remains in the job for as long as he or she
wants
it.
Most Parliaments -> provide each member with
a seat an often a desk in which papers can be kept. There was a time that
came to build a rebuild the House of Commons that was bombed
during the war, but the decision was
rejected deliberately. The new House of Commons has
many improvements like, air conditioning, microphones. However, seats for only
about 2/3 of its members.
It is Oblong -> with seats for
Government supporters on the Speakers “right”, and seats for the Opposition on
the
Speakers “left”. Facing the
Speaker are “cross-benches” for independent members, those who do not belong
to either of the two great
political parties.
Disadvantages -> to this arrangement are; after an election, the two parties are
about equal in number is the least of difficulties,
but if the Government has an
large majority, seating becomes a problem. If the Government has 400
members and the Opposition
has 230, it is difficult to have them facing one another, only with low
attendance
is it possible to face one
another “eye to eye”.
The 3 Benches -> are in the House of
Commons, there are 1. “front benches”, 2. “back benches”, 3. “cross benches”,
the
Speaker is in the center at
the end of the oblong chambers. The “front” benches represent two benches, one
on each side of the House.
The Front -> bench on the
Speaker’s right is for the Prime Minister and the leading members of the
Government. The
front bench on the Speaker’s left is for the
Leader of the Opposition and those members of the Opposition who have formed,
or likely to form an alternative government.
The Back -> benches are
those seats occupied by members who have no right to front benches seats.
The Cross -> benches may be
used by those Independent members who do not vote regularly with the Government
or
with official Opposition.
Only Four -> members of the
House of Commons have reserved seats. One, of course is the Speaker, another
seat for
the longest unbroken period or the “Father of the
House of Commons”. The other reserved seats are on each side of the Clerk’s
table, one for the Prime Minister and the other for the Leader of the
Opposition.
Ministers sit on the front
bench but have no right to any particular seat there.
When speaking -> a member of the House of commons is facing and addressing
the Speaker (not the whole House). When a member ends his speech, other members
stand up and face the Speaker. The try to catch “his eye” or attention, the
Speaker decides who is to speak next (because there is no arrangement of
order of who will speak). The
member who is named, remains standing an speaks from his place where he
has been sitting.
The Clerk’s Table ->only members who speak from the Clerk’s table are the Government
and Opposition Leaders.
For Voting -> in the House of
commons members have to leave their benches and walk out into 2 corridors
called the
“Lobbies”. As they pass by,
there are 4 men, 2 from
each side, and it may take
ten to fifteen minutes for them to calculate the votes given to them.
The Woolsack -> the seat of office in
the House of Lords of the Lord Chancellor of England is called “Woolsack”,
because it is
a large bag of wool covered
with red cloth. The story
goes back to Queen Elizabeth
I days to remind the judges at that time the importance of woolen manufacture
in England (a source of
wealth), thus judges sit upon these “Woolsacks”.
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WORDS AND PHRASES: Writhe the words and translation in your copybook.
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READING FOR INFORMATION: Write your answers in your copybook, they will be
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Upper House -> of Parliament. It
was onede the stronger house, but today has little power. It can “delay” but
not defeat any
bill that he House of Commons
is determined to pass. They have 1,100 members. It is probably the only upper
House in the democratic world whose members are not
elected.
800 members -> are nobles by birth
and other hereditary peers. Their right to sit in the Houses passes with their
title, usually
to their oldest sons.
Archbishops -> There are 2
archbishops and 24 of the bishops of the Church of England have seats in the
House. There
are also 20 Law Lords, who
are appointed for life to handle legal matters that come to the House. The
remaining members are life
peers an peeresses. They have been given the rank of “baron or baroness” in
honor of some accomplishment.
Life Peers -> are named by
the Sovereign on th advice of the Prime Minister. Their titles die with them.
Lord Chancellor > presides over the House of
Lords. In prctice no more tan about 380 peers regularly attend sessions.
The Bill -> is given 3
readings in the house in which it is introduced; if passed, it is sent to the
other house, where it is
subitted to the same
procedure. If a bill is passed by both houses, it becomes law. In theory, the
Sovereign
has a right to veto a bell,
but this has not occurred since the 18th century.
Abolishing > the House of Lord has been talked about for several years, because of the limitations and lessening of
powers. Since it is not an elected and it’s representations are very little. Perhaps one day this may happen, until that day comes, it remains.
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