Parliament and Congress (AQA A-Level Politics): Revision Notes

Parliament and Congress

Key similarities between the legislatures

Both the UK Parliament and the US Congress share several fundamental characteristics as national legislatures. Understanding these similarities provides a foundation for comparing their distinctive features.

Both institutions pass laws that hold legislative supremacy over any state or devolved measures, meaning their legislation takes precedence over regional law-making bodies. Each legislature fulfils a vital representative role, primarily through political parties and geographical constituencies, ensuring that diverse interests across their respective nations are heard.

Both bodies serve as important checks on the executive, with committees playing a crucial role in this scrutiny process. Additionally, both institutions are bicameral, meaning they comprise two chambers (the House of Commons and House of Lords in the UK; the House of Representatives and Senate in the USA). Political parties dominate proceedings in both Congress and Parliament, shaping debates, voting patterns, and legislative outcomes.

Evaluating the two legislatures

When comparing Parliament and Congress, several key criteria help assess their effectiveness:

• How closely do legislators resemble those they represent?
• How effectively and broadly do they represent voters?
• How powerful are their executive scrutiny mechanisms?
• How efficient is their law-making process?
• How positively are they viewed by the public?

Legislators resembling their voters

Both legislatures struggle with descriptive representation - neither fully reflects the demographic composition of their populations. Both Parliament and Congress remain disproportionately male, white, and older than the general population, though gradual improvements are occurring.

Following the 2019 general election, a record 220 women (34%) were elected to Parliament. Similarly, just over a quarter of Congress was female after the 2020 election. Record numbers of candidates from minority ethnic backgrounds were also elected in recent elections, with approximately 25% of Congress and around 10% of MPs coming from these groups.

However, these figures remain significantly lower than their respective populations. Women make up just over half the electorate in both countries, while around 14% of the UK population and 33% of the US population are from minority ethnic backgrounds.

An important distinction exists in partisan gender disparity. This is more extreme in Congress - after the 2018 midterms, of 101 women elected to the House, 88 were Democrats and only 13 were Republican (though Republican female representation roughly doubled after 2020). By contrast, Labour and Conservative MPs show less divergence: after 2019, a quarter of Conservative MPs were women compared with just over half for Labour.

Legislators as political representatives

Both countries use majoritarian electoral systems (first-past-the-post), which means the two largest parties are considerably overrepresented whilst third parties are underrepresented. This situation is more pronounced in the USA, where no third party is represented in Congress. Independents are usually aligned with a major party - for example, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders caucuses with the Democrats despite his independent status.

Parliament contains a broader range of parties, including the Liberal Democrats (who shared power with the Conservatives in the 2010-15 coalition government) and nationalist parties like the SNP. This wider party representation arguably provides more diverse political viewpoints in the UK legislature.

Legislators as checks on the executive

The power dynamics between legislatures and executives differ significantly between the two countries.

In the UK, prime ministers must carefully manage their backbenchers - MPs who are not ministers. The fates of Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May demonstrate how backbench rebellions can end a premiership. This is because all prime ministers must enjoy 'the confidence of the House of Commons' - without majority parliamentary support, they cannot continue in office.

In the USA, this situation cannot occur because the president enjoys their own separate mandate from direct election. Only impeachment can remove an unpopular or corrupt president, requiring a supermajority of two-thirds in the Senate. This has proved virtually impossible to achieve, partly due to strong partisanship. During Trump's first impeachment in 2020, only one Republican senator (Mitt Romney) voted to convict, though ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump in January 2021.

However, congressional scrutiny can be extremely powerful through other mechanisms. Congress's committees can launch inquiries and investigations into all areas of executive action, such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan under George W. Bush or alleged political bias at the Internal Revenue Service during the Barack Obama presidency.

In Parliament, whilst select committees can draw attention to government failings and policy mistakes (such as the Windrush immigration scandal), they lack direct powers to enforce their findings on government. Parliament does have the distinct advantage of Prime Minister's Question Time (PMQs), where ministers and prime ministers can be questioned directly and regularly.

Legislators as effective lawmakers

Parliament is generally more efficient and effective than Congress at passing legislation. This stems from several structural factors:

Commons dominance, parliamentary sovereignty, and the norm for healthy parliamentary majorities combined with strong party discipline usually enable Parliament to 'get stuff done'. The government can reliably pass its legislative agenda without extensive negotiation or delay.

Congress operates differently. Bills progress more slowly because they must pass both chambers, and neither can prevail without the other's agreement. This is a consequence of both chambers being democratically elected (unlike the UK's House of Lords). Even crucial legislation like the annual budget can be fiercely debated and stalled, potentially leading to a government shutdown, as occurred in 2018-19.

In the UK, any government struggling to pass its budget would simply cease being the government, since a budget vote effectively serves as a confidence vote. This contrast suggests that whilst Westminster is more efficient, Congress may be more effective at thoroughly scrutinising important fiscal issues.

Both legislatures can, however, act swiftly during crises. This was demonstrated by emergency packages passed during the COVID-19 pandemic in both countries, and security legislation passed following the 9/11 attacks and 7/7 London bombings.

Legislators as viewed by voters

Congress is historically unpopular with very low approval ratings. One must look back to 2003 to find approval ratings exceeding 50%. In October 2020, Congress's approval languished at just 19%, meaning over 75% of Americans disapproved of their national legislature.

No equivalent approval figures exist for Parliament as a distinct institution, which itself reveals something significant. In British political culture, parliament and government are traditionally viewed as inextricably linked, reflecting the fusion of powers in the UK system compared to the separation of powers in the USA.

Conclusions: strengths and weaknesses

Parliament's key strengths

Parliament's main advantages include:

• The ability to question members of the executive directly through mechanisms like PMQs
• A broader range of parties represented in the chamber, providing diverse political perspectives
• Government can implement its policies with relative ease due to parliamentary sovereignty and party discipline

Parliament's weaknesses

Critics argue that Parliament:

• Does not provide sufficiently effective checks on the executive, especially regarding fiscal policy
• Has a weak second chamber (the House of Lords) with limited powers
• Has committees that remain either dominated by party loyalty (public bill committees) or relatively powerless (select committees)

Congress's key strengths

Congress's main advantages include:

• A strong and established committee system with significant investigatory powers
• Two powerful chambers, reducing the chance of one-party dominance over the executive
• Several important checks on the executive, including veto override and impeachment

Congress's weaknesses

Detractors argue that Congress:

• Is too often a 'bastion of negation' - highly effective at blocking action but less effective at facilitating it
• Has become overly partisan in recent decades, reducing committee objectivity. Republican-controlled committees investigate Democratic executives with partisan intensity, and roles reverse when Republicans control the White House and Democrats control congressional chambers.

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