A-Level Edexcel Politics Prime Minister and Executive: With reference to the source, ou

Question

With reference to the source, outline three ways in which Parliamentary power has been strengthened:

Parliament came under heavy criticism in the 20th century and was seen to be failing in its core functions. However, much has changed in the last twenty years and the topic of 'Does Parliament matter?' needs to be revisited and reconsidered. In this period, we have seen Parliament reassert its power.

Parliament has benefited from a decline in the cohesion of political parties, which were constraining its independence. Next, there has been a growth in the independence and importance of Select Committees, whose reports make a difference to policy decisions. Also, the changes in the structure of the House of Lords since 1999 have made that House much more dynamic by removing the in-built Conservative majority. Finally, the role of backbench MPs has been improved through their ability to set agenda items. All of these factors make a difference to Parliament and how it functions.

In addition, we have seen subtle changes to the process of passing legislation. The actual process remains unchanged, but the approaches to the same mechanisms. However, there have emerged 'handing strategies' with legislation, whereby there are a series of consultations between both houses of Parliament emerging as problems around certain bills. In particular, a department is to submit a bill knowing that this means the government will accept its proposals in advance. This demonstrates how much more Parliament will be able to influence the House of Lords. Furthermore, the referendum on the UK’s membership in the EU demonstrates how legislation of the Commons has strengthened the House of Lords, who have become more assertive.

The evidence of Parliament's revival can be seen in the defeats of both Blair and Brown administrations and their control over what they let through to legislation. Cameron suffered a significant defeat as he had to let the Commons agree to the intention. Peter Hain has made parallels saying that he has not done enough to unite the party on key issues, which in turn means that Cameron knows he has not gathered enough backing support to reform human rights legislation as the manifesto promise had been omitted from the first Queen’s Speech in summer 2015.

With reference to the source, outline three ways in which Parliamentary power has been strengthened: Parliament came under heavy criticism in the 20th century and was seen to be failing in its core functions - Edexcel - A-Level Politics - Question 2 - 2017 - Paper 2

Worked Solution & Example Answer:With reference to the source, outline three ways in which Parliamentary power has been strengthened: Parliament came under heavy criticism in the 20th century and was seen to be failing in its core functions - Edexcel - A-Level Politics - Question 2 - 2017 - Paper 2

A decline in the power of political parties and their internal cohesion in parliament, empowering more autonomy for parliament

The growing importance and independence of Select Committees whose reports carry more respect

The improved position of backbench MPs

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