(5) How effective are the functions of Parliament? Continued

(5) How effective are the functions of Parliament? Continued

1. Scrutiny & oversight

   • Strengths
     • Parliament does not govern the UK, but it checks and constrains the government – referred to as ‘calling the government to account’.
     • Ultimately this creates a ‘responsible government’ and so Parliament identifies any mistakes the government may make.
     • The oversight is underpinned by conventions of individual and collective responsibility (e.g. Ministerial Code, 1999 & Cabinet Manuel, 2011).
       • Ministerial Code 1999
       • Cabinet Manuel, 2011).
   • Weakness
     • Majority of MPs in the Commons belong to the majority party and so their primary role is to support the government of the day rather than scrutinise it.
     • Question time is often weak – oral questions often lead to short responses which are aimed at embarrassing ministers rather than careful scrutiny of their policy or actions. Prime Minister’s questions is often a party-political battle between PM and leader of the opposition.
     • Select Committees are seen as more effective than Question time – but, the government has a majority on each committee. Individual committee appointments are influenced by the whips who ensure that loyal backbenchers sit on key committees BUT – committee chairs have been elected by the Commons since June 2010;
       • Select Committees have no executive power – they can criticise government, but they cannot change government policy

2. Recruitment and training of ministers

   • Weakness
     • Ministers are recruited from a limited pool of talent: mainly MPs of the largest party in the Commons.
     • Parliamentarians require speech-making skills and learn how to deliver sound bites, but the not necessarily acquire the bureaucratic and management skills to run a government
     • Fewer ministers have experienced a career outside of politics.
   • Strengths
     • Parliament acts a major channel of political recruitment. In the UK, all ministers MUST be MPs or peers.
     • Before becoming frontbenchers, they must be backbenchers so that they experience debating, asking parliamentary questions and sitting on committees to learn their political trade.
     • This helps ministers to understand how government works and how policy is developed.

3. Legitimacy

   • Strengths
     • When governments govern through Parliament, their actions are seen as ‘rightful’ and to be obeyed. This is for two reasons:
       • the first, Parliament, in a sense, stands for the ‘public’ as a representative assembly and as such, when a measure is approved, there is the sense that this has been approved by the people.
       • Secondly, Parliament’s approval leads one to assume that government’s actions have been debated and scrutinized and weaknesses have been exposed.
   • Weakness
     • House of Lords is not elected and therefore has no democratic legitimacy.
     • Parliament has been undermined by scandals ‘cash for honours’ and ‘cash for questions’