Questions tagged [parliament]
Questions related to that of a legislative, elected body of Government known as Parliament. Use this with a country tag if asking about a specific country's Parliament
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Were three-line whips more (or less) common before the Fixed-term Parliaments Act?
Before the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA), there was a convention that the Government effectively underwent a confidence vote on substantive issues:
Confidence attached to substantive issues
The ...
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Could a UK political party place a Three Line Whip on all votes in Parliament?
A three line whip is an ultimatum: "Show up and vote the party line, or suffer the consequences." source
What's stopping the leaders of a party from three line whipping every single vote? Is there a ...
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Brexit Amendments
Recently, in the news, there has been much talk of Brexit votes. In particular, the votes of the House of Commons on specific amendments, like amendments in which the Commons supports the PM's deal, ...
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Aren't, in practice, the executive and legislative powers oftentimes nearly unified?
As far as I'm aware, according to the theory of separation of powers, which is considered one of the foundations of democracy, prescribes the three government powers: executive, legislative, judiciary ...
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How has the division of power worked, between govt and parliament, in modern Britain?
In the last few months, the UK has seen what might be called an "activist parliament". There have been comments on TV/radio in the context of Brexit, that MPs have been setting their own agenda, not ...
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What will happen if Parliament votes "no" on each of the Brexit-related votes to be held on the 12th, 13th and 14th of March?
It is being reported that there will be a series of votes on the 12th, 13th and 14th of March:
The prime minister said she will put her withdrawal agreement - including any changes she has agreed ...
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What are the consequences of MP's resigning from Government
Excuse my ignorance, but I don't get what the significance is of a few of MP's threatening the Prime Minister to quit if she doesn't do something (example: currently if she doesn't assure UK won't ...
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Has a British political party ever had more women MPs than men before The Independent Group?
"The Independent Group instantly has a majority of female MPs"
Esther Webber,
Other than where the group of MPs is a single person (such as Caroline Lucas), has a party ever had more women MPs ...
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Have the UK Conservatives lost the working majority and if so, what does this mean?
The Conservatives in the UK are in a confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP in order to have a working majority in Parliament.
Yesterday, three Conservatives left the party to become ...
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Money bills cannot be sent back by president in India's parliamentary system
In Indian parliament, the president cannot send the money bills back for reconsideration of the houses but he can withhold them permanently (pocket veto).
What is the logic behind this rule? What is ...
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Post 1999 will anyone be entitled to sit in the House of Lords by heredity alone?
Post 1999 will anyone new be entitled to sit in the House of Lords by heredity alone?
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Why do some German MPs hold cards up whenever there is a vote in the Bundestag?
You can see here for example https://youtu.be/mKn4Pi3qXjU?t=3594 that members of the Bundestag holding cards up during a vote on a bill. Is this a special kind of voting? How does it work?
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How does nobility status affect modern Britain's social and power structures?
Unlike most other European countries, Britain had no noble-destroying revolutions in history, so its noble class appears to be present. But are there limits based on noble/not noble in modern Britain? ...
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How does a minority motion in the House of Commons take priority over Government business?
It is being reported in the press today that "rebels" opposed to Brexit "have drawn up an amendment that would allow a motion backed by a minority of 300 MPs to take precedence over government ...
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How many people actually visit MPs surgeries?
In the United Kingdom, a political surgery is a series of one-to-one meetings that a member of parliament may have with his or her constituents. A typical constituency has in the order of 75k ...
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How did Theresa May remain PM after her Brexit deal was rejected?
As far as I understand, Theresa May was elected to the leader of the Conservatives (and consequently Prime Minister of the UK) to make a Brexit deal (source):
She [May] said there was a "big job&...
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Have any MPs ever voted against their own government in a no confidence vote?
After Theresa May's defeat on her Brexit deal, Labour tabled a motion of no confidence. The government could have lost the vote if either DUP MPs and/or ERG/Brexiteers (these being from the ...
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Has there ever been a larger UK Parliamentary defeat than on Brexit tonight?
I have just watched, live, Theresa May lose the vote on her deal by an unprecedented margin, 432-202. Every UK news source is quoting that this is the largest ever defeat "in the democratic age", or "...
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Does the Brexit deal being voted down imply that Brexit is not going to happen?
Just looking at the TV and I am seeing that the British Parliament rejected the Brexit deal (cannot find an online source yet for this, although multiple sources show this vote result as very ...
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What rule has John Bercow allegedly broken and in what way shall he have done that?
Today, John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons in the UK allowed an amendment by MP Dominic Grieve to a business motion. This decision has been discussed as being very controversial where "a ...
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Can a parliamentary system function properly with a prime minister acting as both head of government and head of state?
The system I am describing is currently only used in South Africa.
After every election or when there is a vacancy, the parliament elects a person (in the same way that prime minsters are elected in ...
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Would the Parliament of the United Kingdom have the legal power to change the monarchy?
I am referring to a hypothetical scenario where parliament tries to make the heir to one of the alternate successions to the English throne the monarch. I know that Queen Elizabeth has royal ...
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How long can a vote of no confidence against the prime minister be delayed or avoided?
A motion of no confidence in Theresa May has been tabled.
"On Monday night, he tabled a motion calling on MPs to declare they have no confidence in the prime minister" : "No 10 has refused to make ...
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What if the House of Commons votes no confidence in the Prime Minister?
If the House of Commons votes No Confidence in the government then a general election follows (IIRC the last time this happened was 1979, resulting in the election of Mrs Thatcher).
But Jeremy Corbyn ...
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Could a coalition government not include the plurality party?
Back during the German elections, I remember a bunch of parties saying they would be unwilling to form a coalition with AfD. That made me wonder--what if AfD had won the most votes without getting a ...
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Are MEPs intended to vote in the national interest, regional interest, EU interest, or some combination?
What is the intended role of MEPs?
Should they vote in the national interest, their regional interest, or the European Union's interest?
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How does "giving way" in the UK parliament work?
In UK parliamentary debates, an MP from the Government or Opposition gives a speech on the topic (e.g. see here). Yet, frequently, the person speaking "gives way" to another MP (called "right ...
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What is the meaning of grabbing the mace in the British parliament?
I gather from this tweet that grabbing the mace lying on the table of the British House of Commons is an act of protest and has some kind of significance.
What significance does this gesture have?
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Public policy for air pollution in India
Pollution in New Delhi is constantly on national headlines.
The last piece of legislation done relating to air pollution, as far as I could tell was in 1980. If I am not wrong, the ministry ...
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What are the constitutional and broader implications of today's vote by Parliament, finding that the govt was in contempt?
According to the BBC, today's vote by the UK Parliament that finds the government in contempt, is said to have "huge" constitutional and political significance".
Setting aside the immediate issue ...
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Why are there so few impeachments in western democracies and so many votes of no confidence?
Impeachment seems to be presidential democracy's equivalent of parliamentary democracies' votes of no confidence. Why such a large disparity in numbers of them then?
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Why does Belgium seem to have a more diverse legislative body that other EU countries?
Taking a look upon how legislative bodies are split between parties within Europe I have noticed that Belgium has a legislative body containing numerous political parties without one or two clearly ...
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How does the German Bundestag election system work?
Can someone describe for me if this election system is a majoritarian system or a system of proportional representation? And how does it work?
user23641
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What does Nicholas Watt mean that May has “enough tellers for her Brexit vote”?
From journalist Nicholas Watt on Twitter:
With two Tory MPs supporting Theresa May’s deal she has one breakthrough: enough tellers for her #Brexit vote
I believe this is a reference to some system ...
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Backsliding (Parliamentary v. Presidential)
Is a parliamentary system less likely to backslide into electoral authoritarianism than a presidential system just because of the PM being accountable to the legislature and the ease of a no ...
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What are the reasons behind discriminating between votes inside the country and those from diaspora in regard of proportional representation?
According to this article (original in Romanian, automatically translated), there is rather high discrepancy between representation in Parliament for Romanian citizens that live in Romania and those ...
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Is there a name for a system where representatives are not party affiliated, but issue affiliated?
The current UK (and other) political stems work on the concept of “proxying” my vote on all issues to a local representative, which I would pick by choosing one that represents my beliefs as closely ...
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What happens if Members of Parliament defect causing a Government to lose a majority?
If enough Members of Parliament defect causing a Government to lose their majority, is the process that the incumbent can try to form a new Government via coalition or confidence and supply? If this ...
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Whips in India and democracy
The parliament of India enacted the Anti-Defection Law in 1985.
The stated purpose was
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
The evil of political defections has been a matter of national
concern. If it ...
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Why isn't it mandatory for elected members of parliaments to have knowledge on the constitution?
In most democracies, elected members of parliament are representatives of people who elect them. They are also supposed to pass laws, make amendments and perform other functions. Being representatives,...
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How does the Alliance motivate their claim to have a mandate (Swedish parliamentary elections, 2018)?
The Swedish parliamentary elections, 2018 has resulted in a deadlock:
The centre-left Red-Green block, outgoing minority government, has 144 seats (was: 159).
The centre-right Alliance block, ...
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What are the limits to the power of the City Remembrancer?
I was re-watching the video from CGP Grey about the City of London.
At 3:07 he mentions the City Remembrancer
In the video he says:
The City of London also has a representative in Parliament, The ...
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Could (in theory) the British government or some other British entity "neuter" the British MEPs before Brexit (Spring 2019)?
http://www.lindamcavanmep.org.uk/other-issues/brexit.php says
The government has decided that both British Ministers and MEPs will continue to play a full role in EU affairs up until Brexit. I was, ...
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In the UK, what is pairing?
In The Guardian on July 19 2018 I found this under the headline "Tory MP casts doubt on claim pairing breach was honest mistake as row escalates - Politics live".
Up to five Tory MPs were told to ...
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Where can I find which MEP voted for which laws?
As the title says. Specifically I am interested to know if my local Member of the European Parliament voted in favor or against the controversial copyright law that was rejected, but their personal ...
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Is there a precedent of an European Party from European Parliament excluding a member party in the last 20 years?
Justice law changes have quite a history in Romania and European officials have warned Romanian officials about the side effects:
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and First Vice
...
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How does a British Prime Minister 'sack' Ministers?
I was reading another question and it got me thinking:
Are ministers protected by laws against unfair dismissal?
Under what circumstances can the PM 'sack' members of their cabinet?
What happens to a ...
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Why can a bill be blocked by one MP saying the word "object"?
In regards to this story
"New upskirting law blocked by Tory MP"
A single MP in the Houses of Parliament can say the word “object” and prevent a bill being passed.
Why can one MP block proposed ...
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Why are some MPs referred to as "Mr"/"Mrs"/"Ms"
Why are some MPs referred to in the Order Paper with an honorific, while the majority are not?
For example, in the Order Paper for Wednesday 6th June 2018, the MPs asking questions of the Prime ...
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Can the prime minister resign during a no-confidence vote?
On May 31 and June 1, there will be a no-confidence vote on the Spanish Parliament against the current prime minister Mariano Rajoy. It was registered by PSOE, currently the biggest party in the ...
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