Most of the UK’s legislation originates from the government. It is presented to parliament in the form of a draft Bill. The Bill must pass through a number of stages. Amendments can be made to a Bill or it can be rejected by the Commons. MP’s are given the opportunity to debate a Bill before a vote.
Smaller groups will look at specific policy issues and legislation in detail. There are different committees with different roles e.g. offering advice, producing reports and altering legislation. Parliament has the responsibility to pass new legislation. The majority of new laws or changes to existing laws come from government but the can also come from MP’s, Lords or even a member of the public.
There are 18 departmental select committees who shadow the work of major government departments, for example the Defence select committee. They carry out enquiries and write reports, and analysing governmental documents, scrutinising them as they do. A third way parliament carries out its scrutiny function is through the opposition, which is made up by the second biggest party in the House of Commons usually, and is
The term Congress can also refer to a particular meeting of the legislature. Congress has 535 voting members, 435 Representatives and 100 senators. Although the House of Representatives and The Senate are both within congress, they are very different and
The purpose of the House of Representatives is to create legislation. Bills are presented and voted on first in the House of Representatives. If the bill is passed then it moves to the Senate and then on to the
The committee system, the core of Congress’s organization, consists of standing committees, each of which has its own policy jurisdiction, membership, and authority to act. Committees’ policy jurisdictions allow legislators who are members of those committees disproportionate influence on the policies that matter most to them and their constituents. Considered as agents of the overall House or Senate chamber, committees are delegated, first, the authority to act as gatekeepers to determine what policies will be considered, and second, the after-the-fact authority to follow up on the fate of policy proposals by serving on conference committees and, subsequently, overseeing the policy’s implementation. Congressional power is, in part, a function of its capacity to effectively represent important groups and constituencies in society, but its position and power have suffered as presidents came increasingly to be seen as
However, this branch also deals with the levying of taxes and approving budgets of government expenditure. This branch is made up of the two houses of Congress - the Senate and the house of Representatives (http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0774837.html). The Judicial Branch has the Supreme Court, who is the head of it. The Supreme Court decides if something is constitutional or unconstitutional. All this means is, is it permitted under the Constitution or not.
The primary role of the legislative branch is to create laws. Representatives meet to discuss ideas (bills) and determine if they should become laws (Truman Library, 2009). The proper focus for lawmakers is on the nature of the actions in question, not their own personal preferences (Ruggiero, 2008 pg. 4). The President of the United States administers the Executive branch of our government (Truman Library, 2009).
The president is also accorded the powers to seek opinions from officers in the service. Further, the president through the consent of Congress has been given the powers to join treaties and appoint public servants such as ambassadors and ministers. Within this section, the president is also allowed to appoint officers during recess. Section 3 of Article II expounds on the role of the president in Congress and his powers to convene and adjourn Congress. It is also in Section 3 where the president is expected to ensure that the
Understanding the different levels of government in the UK and he democratic election process at each level. In this assignment I will be outlining the responsibilities for the different levels of government in the UK which are- local government, regional government, devolved government, central government and European government, I will explain in detail about the responsibilities of the different levels of government in the UK, write about different institutions in the government process such as the monarchy, house of commons, and house of lords. I will also include the main roles of the government such as prime minister, government ministers, members of parliament, mayors and council members. The government departments that is responsible for the public services such as Ministry Of Defence. Local Government, the local government are responsible for a number of different things which include the registration of births, deaths and marriages, cemeteries and crematoriums, education, emergency planning, environmental health, highways and traffic, housing, libraries, planning and development, public transport, and tax and council tax collections.