What is the role of parliament?

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What is the role of parliament? 
Walter Bagehot declared that ‘parliament is nothing less than a big meeting of more or less idle people.’ The term parliament is in fact taken from the French meaning ‘speaking’ and was first used in 1275 under Edward I.  The British parliament has infact evolved over centuries and is very different to the first parliament, even toady is still evolving with Blair’s proposed reforms for the House of Lords.  By the 15th century there was a clear two chambers and the House of Commons contained Knights of the realm. The Civil war expanded the power of parliament which was codified into authority when William III came to the throne accepting conditions set out by Parliament. The power of the Commons rose continuously from 1832-67 with the Reform Acts and by 1868 there was an emergence of the cabinet. The 2oth century has seen the enfranchisement of women and all over the age of 18. It has also seen power mover from the Lords, to the Commons and then to the Executive. The principles of parliamentary democracy were rooted in the 17th century.

‘Assemblies and parliaments occupy a key position in the machinery of government.. they are respected, and act as a national debating chamber and public forum in which governmental policies and major issues of the day can be openly discussed’.

Parliament has broadly six functions. These include legitimisation. Parliament gives legitimacy to the political process due to the democratic elections which send Members of Parliament to the house. A government is formed form the largest party from these democratically elected members. The MP’s, by supporting government proposals realise the manifestos of the parties. In addition legitimacy is given to the new laws of the land. These laws have the support of elected representatives of the country’s people and therefore are legitimate.

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The second role is of scrutiny and influence, which includes the role of delivering a responsible and accountable government. Parliament will scrutinise the government’s expenditure as well as all policy proposals and executive actions. This ensures all policies and actions of the government are legitimate in the eyes of most people of whom MP’s represent. A fine example of this is Prime ministers ‘Question Time’ in the UK which allows the Prime minister to be cross-examined once a week.  This scrutiny is the prime responsibility of the opposition party  but backbenchers are also expected  to participate in this process as ...

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