Student Resources - Chapter ten
- Chapter Summary
- Matching Exercise
- Further reading
- Internet links
- Multiple Choice Quiz
- Internet links
Chapter 10: Parliament: The House of Commons
SETTING THE SCENE
At the centre of the British political system is Parliament, or, as we should now emphasize, the Westminster Parliament. This is where the citizens of the United Kingdom are represented by their Members of Parliament or MPs. Is this where the real power in the country is found? Or is Parliament in decline and in fact so dominated by the government and Prime Minister that it is little more than a rubber stamp for decisions made elsewhere?
KEY TOPICS
- What is Parliament and how is it composed?
- Parliamentary sovereignty and the Westminster model
- The functions of Parliament
- Representation
- Legislation
- Taxation and finance
- Scrutiny of the executive
- Legitimation
- Recruitment and training of members of the government
- Recent reforms of the House of Commons
- Does Parliament matter?
Are any of the terms below unclear to you? If so, perhaps you should look over this chapter or use the searchable glossary to familiarise yourself with these terms.
- Westminster Parliament
- Backbenchers
- Frontbenchers
- Whips
- Representation
- Legislation
- Private Members Bills
- Scrutiny
- Legitimation
Matching Exercise: Chapter Ten
| Westminster Parliament | MPs who are also government ministers or opposition shadow ministers. |
| Backbenchers | Party officials whose main concern is that MPs support the party line. |
| Frontbenchers | The United Kingdom's supreme legislative and representative assembly. |
| Whips | MPs who have not been given a government or shadow role to play. |
| Representation | In politics, describes how elected officials nominally speak for their constituents in the legislature. |
| Legislation | The act of overseeing or examining the work of one of the branches of government by another. |
| Private Members' Bills | Bills initiated by MPs in their own right. |
| Scrutiny | Law-making; laws, especially those passed by Parliament. |
| Legitimation | The process by which political 'power' is transformed into 'authority', by which force is made legitimate or morally acceptable. |
Further reading for Chapter One
Philip Cowley, The Rebels: How Blair Mislaid his Majority (Politico’s, 2005): lively academic study of party loyalty in Parliament.
D. Judge, The Parliamentary State (Sage, 1993): fascinating academic defence of Parliament’s importance.
David Judge, Political Institutions in the UK (Oxford University Press, 2005): goes well belong Parliament, setting it in its wider context.
P. Norris and J. Lovenduski, Political Recruitment (Cambridge University Press, 1994): in-depth analysis of this important issue.
Philip Norton, Parliament in British Politics (Palgrave, 2005): the standard work on the topic – tends to be very favourable towards Parliament.
P. Riddell, Parliament Under Blair (Politico’s, 2001): analysis of recent trends by a high-class journalist.
Websites
- www.parliament.uk (official site of Parliament)
Multiple Choice Quiz 10
Click here to access the Multiple Choice Quiz for this Chapter.
Worksheet 1
Download Worksheet 1 Whips - handout
