The Components of U.K Parliament.docx

the components of u.k parliamentintroduction: the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland is unquestionably the oldest representative democracy in the world, which can be traced back to several hundred years ago. theparliament of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, commonly known as the uk parliament, thebritish parliament, and thewestminster parliament, is the supreme legislative bodyin theunited kingdom,british crown dependenciesandbritish overseas territories. it alone possesseslegislative supremacyand thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the uk and its territories. the britishparliament is known as the mother of parliament because the british parliament has been the model for most other parliamentary systems. the legislative authority has three separate elements: themonarch, thehouse of lords, and thehouse of commons. and in this article, we are gonging to discuss the three components of the u.k parliament.the monarch: as the most typical democratic country, the united kingdom still remains the monarch, which seems not suits democracy at all but is regarded as a long-established tradition and national pride by most english people. locating on the palace of westminsterinwestminster,london, the parliament is headed by sovereign of the united kingdomthe monarch of the country (currently the queen elizabeth ii). the monarch is the head of the state, the head of church of england, and the head of the u.k parliament, commander-in-chief of the armed forces and head of commonwealth. indeed, it is informed and consulted on every aspect of national life. the members of parliament and cabinet should take oaths to show loyalty to monarch. it is the monarch who summons the parliament and introduce the mew session with a speech and who dismisses the parliament when the government has been defeated or has reached the end of its term. it also gives royal assent to the bills passed by parliament and makes them laws. laws are not laws until they are admitted by monarch. monarch appoints the prime minister and ministers in cabinet and offices of the church. moreover, it has the right to award a common man nobility titles. despite it has so much power, it is true that monarch has no power. in a sense, the monarch reigns, but it doesnt rule. in fact, it acts only on the advice of prime minister and must be completely impartial and above party politics. it wont and cant refuse its assent because that is unconstitutional. but we have to admit that monarch in u.k is not a dispensable puppet. english people are so conservative that they do not want to change from monarch to republic. thus the monarch is the only unchangeable symbol of britain. politicians come and go according to the elections won or lost. but the monarch is always here, above party quarrels, representing the nation as a whole, and lending dignity and significance to all issues done in her name.the house of lords: the house of lords, also known as upper house, includes two different types of members: thelords spiritual and the lords temporal whose members are not elected by the population at large, but are appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the prime minister. the lords spiritual and lords temporal are considered separate estates, but they sit, debate and vote together. the lords spiritual formerly includes all of the senior clergymen of the church of englandarchbishops, bishops, abbots. the members of lords temporal are all thepeerage. formerly, they were hereditary peers. and the house of lords is made up of around 825 members from a variety of professions and walks of life today.the house of lords is the second chamber of the uk parliament. it is independent from, and complements the work of, the elected house of commons. it plays an essential role in u.k democracy and is entitled to a range of crucial rights. first, it can make laws. bills start in either the house of lords or house of commons. they go through set stages of approval in both houses before they become an act of parliament. second, it has the right to check and challenge government. the lords plays an important role in questioning the decisions and actions of the government through questions and debates. third, members use their extensive individual experience toinvestigate public policy. much of this work is done in select committees -small groups appointed to consider specific policy areas. since theparliament acts 1911 and 1949, the powers of the house of lords have been very much less than those of the house of commons. all bills exceptmoney billsare debated and voted upon in house of lords; however by voting against a bill, the house of lords can only delay it for a maximum of two parliamentary sessions over a year. after this time, the house of commons can force the bill through without the lords consent under the parliament acts. more recently, thehouse of lords act 1999removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the upper house. the house of lords is now a chamber that is subordinate to the house of commons. additionally, theconstitutional reform act 2005led to abolition of thejudicial functions of the house of lordswith the creation of the newsupreme court of the united kingdomin october 2009.the house of commons: the house of commons is a democratically elected chamber withelectionsheld at least every five years. the house currently consists of 650 members, of which the great majority represents english constituencies and only a few of them represent scotland, wales and northern ireland, respectively. each member of parliament or mp is chosen by a single constituency. byconstitutional convention, allgovernment ministers, including theprime minister, are members of the house of commons.as the first chamber of the u.k parliament, the house of commons takes the most important part in parliament. the uk public elects members of parliament (mps) to represent their interests and concerns in the house of commons. mps consider and propose new laws, and can scrutinize government policies by asking ministers questions about current issues either in the commons chamber or in committees. law making is one of parliaments essential roles. find out how new laws are made and learn how a bill passes through parliament and becomes an act. debating, supervising and questioning government offices including prime minister is another function of the house of commons. whats more, it controls taxation and the supply of money to the government. much of the work of the house of commons takes place in committees, made up of around 10 to 50 mps. there are two major political parties (the conservative party and the labor party) in the house of commons, between which the new prime minister and cabinet are chosen. the head of the majority party in the house of commons will be the prime minister and receive monarchs appoi