How effective is the legislature at scrutinising the executive in the Uk - Coursework Example

This means that the absolute power lies within the parliament. Nonetheless, the reality of the matter is most of the power would appear to be exercised by the Government which is the Executive branch. In order to understand the distribution of power within the British constitution, it is fundamental to understand the doctrine of the separation of powers. This is a doctrine that can be traced back to the era of Aristotle. This doctrine claims that the power of the government or the state should be equally dispersed among three separately constituted institution .

Government (Executive) the law making body (legislature) and the courts ( the courts). This prescriptive theory claims that the abovementioned bodies must be separate and and be subject to checks and balance so that no individual body can have the vast majority of the power or abuse of power. A renowned psychologist, John Locke addresses the need for an equitable distribution of power so that it may not be a great temptation to human frailty for those making the laws and those who have to execute them.

If one institution is given much power, it is able to use its powers as it wishes and this can result to dictatorship thus leading to inequality and oppression. This is the type of governence that is being practiced in U.K. However, it can be critically percieved that the separation of powers is a mere ideology which can not be achieved in a realistic manner .First, a complete separation would lead to a legislative deadlock thus creating a communication barrier and lack of cooperation between the executive and the legislature.

Regardless of the fact that the legislature has the power to pass, amend and repeal any law, there is a great deal of communication from the executive thus having an adverse effect on what the legislation has passed. This means that they have to work hand in hand in hand for the British constitution to show fairness and equity(GREAT BRITAIN 2007,pg. 56). It should follow the footsteps of the complete separation of power like the American constitution. WATTS asserts that this is a classical example of a democratic style of leadership (2007).

There is a complete distribution between the the President (executive) congress( the legislature) which are being separately elected with two parties, Democrats and Republicans . This means that the the leader that is elected will be a Democratic leader in the executive position(President ) and Republic leader dominant in the congress. On the other hand, observing the British constitutional arrangement, one can witness a totally different scenario. The U.K constitution is marginally different in the sense that rather than having a complete separation there is utter dominance of one body or branch of government.

Parliament in the the U.K. is made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The executive in this case would be compared to the the President if U.S.A. So the main issue is how effective is the government to account for the house of Lord and Commons. JOHARI asserts In the UK, holding the Government to account is one the main functions that the parliament has (2002). The parliament has other responsibilities by force the government to justify bills, defend their actions , explain their motives and policies.

This is only applicable before the elections., during the election the electorate holds the government t