Parliament
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
A parliament is a type of legislature . The most famous parliament is probably the one in the United Kingdom, which is sometimes called the "Mother of all Parliaments". It is called this because it was one of the first parliaments and many other countries have set their own up in the same way. The word "parliament" comes from the French word parlement, which means a talk.
Contents |
[edit] How the British Parliament works
The British parliament is split into three separate parts, the House of Commons (the lower house), the House of Lords (the upper house) and the Monarch. The most important and powerful is the House of Commons. It is made up of 646 Members of Parliament (MPs). These people are elected by the people of the United Kingdom to stand up for their views in Parliament. The leader of the political party who has the most MPs is usually made the Prime Minister and the head of government. It is the House of Commons that proposes new laws and decides things like how much tax will be collected and how it will be spent. Once the House of Commons has voted on and passed new laws they are passed on to the House of Lords. These people are made up of men and women who are either chosen by the House of Commons or because their families have been in the House of Lords for many generations (hereditary lords). The House of Lords has the power to say no to new laws and ask the House of Commons to look at them again. If the House of Lords does this three times then the House of Commons can force them to agree to the new law using the Parliament Acts. The monarch (now HM Queen Elizabeth II) is mostly for show and has little real power. She has to sign new laws before they are made the law of the land and agree with the Prime Minister about when to have an election. In the modern age the monarch never says disagrees.
[edit] Other parliaments
Other parliaments have copied the UK and are a lot like it. They have three levels - a lower house which makes the law, an upper house which reviews the law (Decides if they like it or not, and suggest changes to it), and a head of state who is mostly for show and who starts and ends each year of parliament. The Prime Minister is almost always the person whose party has the most seats, but if the lower house does not think he is doing a good job they can call a vote of no confidence and ask him to leave his job as Prime Minister or have an election.
[edit] The word "parliament"
Sometimes people use the word "parliament" to describe a legislature, even if it is not a real parliament. The word "parliament" means other things besides legislature, like it has a Prime Minister.
[edit] Similar to a congress
A parliament is a lot like a congress but a congress cannot ask the head of the government to leave his job. Also, a congress runs for a number of years according to the countries constitution, but a parliament can be stopped as long as enough members agree. Elections are held after this happens.
[edit] A list of countries with parliaments
- United Kingdom
- France
- Italy
- Australia
- Canada
- New Zealand
- India
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Fiji Islands
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Republic of Ireland
The European Union is not a country, but it also has a parliament.