In simple words the term Parliament means a country’s law-making body. Forms of government differ substantially from country to country. E.g., The United States of America has the Presidential form of Government whereas United Kingdom has the Parliamentary form of Government. It is remarkable that the U.S. Congress which is the law-making body in the United States of America still retains a lot of powers and functions as intended by the framers of the U.S. Constitution.
The British empire has contributed to a very great extent when it comes to introducing the Parliamentary form of government in many of the countries that it had colonized in the past. Once upon a time the Kings and Queens ruled with absolute power and authority. They were unquestionable but history has taught us that no one can be perfect and with changing times England adopted the Parliamentary form of Government and gave a chance to the elected representatives to make laws on behalf of the people. Being representatives of the people, it is easier to understand the wants, concerns and interests of the people.
Today, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has a constitutional monarch with Parliamentary Government. The constitutional monarchy is also known as parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy because this form of monarchial governance is based on authority that is in accordance with the law and the powers that are exercised by the monarch are limited. The system of government in Britain has developed over many centuries. With time the progress of democratic ideas led the people to elect members from the society to make laws for them.
The British Parliament is a bicameral legislature. The two houses of the British Parliament are the House of Lords (Upper House) and the House of Commons (Lower House). They work on behalf of the citizens of U.K to make and shape effective laws for the betterment of the people of U.K. Members of Parliament (MPs in short) are elected by the people of UK in-order to present the interests and concerns of the people in the House of Commons. The Parliament of U.K checks, monitors and challenges the work of the government. The Parliament passes effective laws and there are various debates in the Parliament in-order to pass effective laws and scrutinize the government. It discusses various important issues that affect the public.
The Parliament is very symbolic to the people of U.K. It symbolizes the democracy in the country. The live streaming’s of the Parliament is also available on YouTube depicting the transparency and accountability that the Parliament shows to its people. One can watch the debates online and learn a lot from such debates.
Through the general elections in U.K the people in every part of U.K get to choose their MP (Member of Parliament). The people get a choice of several candidates in each constituency. The candidate who receives the highest number of votes becomes the MP from that constituency. The term constituency means an area whose voters elect a representative to represent their interests, needs and concerns to the law-making body.
The Parliament of United Kingdom comprises of the constitutional monarch who is also known as the Crown, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The members of the House of Lords are appointed by the constitutional monarch of U.K on the advice of the Prime Minister. The political party which wins the most seats in general election forms the Government in UK.
The Government formulates various policies and introduces legislation in Parliament to serve the people of UK and have a good governance in the country. The main functions of the U.K Parliament are to scrutinize the work of the government, make new laws and amend laws as and when required, debate on important issues that concern the people of U.K and to check and approve the government spendings along with various other activities with the goal to have the best of governance.
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for the House of Lords and the House of Commons. It is a seat of the bicameral British Parliament. The Palace of Westminster is also known as Houses of Parliament and it is located at London, England. It is from this place that the system of governance in U.K and many other countries get the name as Westminster system. The Parliamentary form of Governance is also known as Westminster system.
As per the Westminster system there are democratic elections that are held for the people to choose their members and the party which secures the support of majority members in the lower house forms the government. There is formally an opposition which is led by the leaders of the parties which have been elected by the people but have second largest number of seats in the lower house. The opposition generally scrutinizes the government and is meant to hold the government accountable and at the same time equally represent the interest of the people.
The House of Commons which is the Lower House is the source from where the members of the government including the Prime Minister come. The House is an important arena of public debate where the political skills are put to test through various debates and questions. The House represents the voice of the people. The House elects a speaker to act as the presiding officer. The Speaker chairs the debates by keeping order in the House and calling the MP’s during the debates and questionings.
The role of a speaker is to act neutral and ensure that rules and orders are maintained by being politically impartial. Once elected as Speaker they have to resign from their political party so that the neutrality is maintained but yet they can continue to represent their constituency and deal with issues relating to their constituency. The House of Lords is presided over by the Lord Chancellor who is appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister and is the senior member of the Cabinet.
Thus, the Parliamentary form of Government in U.K is not just restricted to the country itself but many other countries may find a lot of similarities in their governance as well. Countries that were once British colonies may find similarities in their form of governance because a lot of counties have the Westminster system.