Fair and Equal Representation in the House of Commons - Essay Example

House of Commons representation of Great Britain The Great Britain has two houses of legislature; the House of Commons and the Senate. While the house of commons constitutes the centre of power, the senate on the other hand is in place to regulate such power. In order to wild the power vested in the House of Commons, any prime minister of the Great Britain is and must always maintain a majority of the elected members of the house. In this way, the prime minister is able to rule adequately, without the numbers the opposition in the house may always take their agenda. The government can also be held ransom in case they do not have the numbers an act that is likely to curtail government operations. The functions of this house are vast given it is the platform upon which the government can be held accountable and responsible. Therefore, its functioning, composition and operations must reflect the will of the people in terms of gender and ethnicity for the sake of a fair rule (Cass, Shove and Urry 2005). Over the years, the Great Britain electorate has been subjected to an electoral process after every four years to choose those they wish to lead them and make laws for them in the house. This is a sovereign authority upon which the electorate bestows their power, this they do in a competitive and democratic way to make a choice of those they want to be members of the house (Geddes 2008). The validly elected members are required by law to be the mouthpiece of the regions or districts they represents which may be geographical or demographic. Demographically, we have those representing the women voice as well as those representing the tribal groupings. The law requires a balance among the group representation, a requirement that has been quite hard to attain over the years (Cass, Shove and Urry 2005). In this way fair representation of all will be ensured to the government of the day; therefore, the citizens will feel equality in the manner they are being governed. Because it is not possible that each member of the society can voice their needs to the government, democracy supports such modes of representation where the members of the common house act as a bridge between the citizens and the government. Such members are able to speak on behalf of the people through debates and passing of bills on the floor of the house, to address their concerns and make their voice be heard they can vote for or against the bills depending on whether they are for or against such bills. In expressing the demands by their electorate, the members have the right of introducing bills on the floor of the house and arguing for such bills (Breitenbach 2006). In the House of Representatives, there is normally active lobbying by parties in favor of their policies and this is the sole reason that a prime minister needs a majority in the house in order to rule. When it comes to policies and issues that are directed towards a specific member or group, a substantial number from that demographic category is required as a base before lobbying to ensure policies affecting such groups are articulated well (Cass, Shove and Urry 2005). Therefore, the fair representation of each group in the house in terms of all the demographic elements is necessary and most specifically, in terms of gender and ethnicities given these are the factors at the focal point. All the groups in the society starting from the men, women and the youth are important and are all required hence must be well represented at decision-making. The members from either gender or ethnic groups is responsible for the articulation of the issues of their respective constituents and it is through a fair representation of each that equal and equitable development can be realized. Because of this, the House of Commons has been transforming continuously over the years to ensure the members are diverse based on gender and ethnicity with factors such as education and occupation given lesser weight (Cracknell 2010). Talking of gender, women have been marginalized in the past with the number of males being more than that of the females in the house. This has been largely attributed to the physical nature of women and the notion that political participation is a men’s’ activity. In the early 1900’s the number of women in elective positions was barely 10% and this trend remained the same until recently when the number increased and surpassed the 10% margin by a considerable percentage (Breitenbach 2006). This is a progress worth appreciating as the system strives to create equality and equity for women representation, but still needs to be done to increase the number of women in the elective positions. Due to the policies and enacted regulations, the number of women being elected has drastically increased with a highest of 22% realized in the most recent general elections (Childs 2008). Ethnicity has also been an issue in the past where only a member of a particular tribe was favored because of their numbers but this is also being neutralized in the modern House of Commons. Previously, leadership was only viewed as the whites’ affair with the blacks being taken as underdogs. With the occurrence of several revolutions against the white in the past, the trend has and is changing with a good number of blacks and people from the other tribes or ethnic groups being elected to the house as well. This increase in number has also enabled these other ethnic groups’ voices to be heard. With the first election of a minority ethnic groups being in 1987, the number has fast risen with the 2010 elections recording a highest number of 27 in the house (Geddes 2008). Despite the changes and the advances made by the people’s representatives in terms of policies, amendments and debates in the house, there are still a number of obstacles, which need to be cleared. Issues of pluralism of the society need to be addressed to create an ample environment for the members across the divide are in the position of addressing challenges of the people they represent adequately (Cracknell 2010). The political, economic and social policies of any electoral district have to be streamlined as well since their current existence presents a great difficulty to the members to articulate them adequately. The challenge created by such poor policies is the misunderstanding of the electorate and hence an over expectation from the members. From the members during their aspirations, they also find themselves making promises they are not able to fulfill, as they as well do not understand the policies. The record of performance has though increased consistently over the years from a mere 18% in the year 2005; to a record 35% currently (Breitenbach 2006). The number of women have been recorded in the parties with the conservative party recording the highest increase of over 7% from the initial percentage making the strength of women in terms of numbers in the house of representatives go up. The other smaller parties did not receive much increase in terms of the number of women but still they recorded an increase. The level of ethnicity also recorded a reduction with a good number of the ethnic minority being elected in the most recent polls, this is the largest ever increase of the ethnic minority being elected. The elections ensured that the number elected from the non-white improved drastically despite the fact that only around 8% of the population comes from the non-white community in the Great Britain (Cass, Shove and Urry 2005). The number of ethnic minority just as the gender also recorded an increase in terms of the parties with the top two major parties; Conservative party and the Labor Parties recording the greatest beneficiaries of realizing a de-ethinisized group of legislators (Geddes 2008). This is good for the progress of the country due to the recent harsh discussions regarding the issue of ethnicity and unfair representation of the minor tribes in the House of Representatives. This matter also affects the women in terms of gender balance since the women from the minority ethnic groups are hardly represented with only 2 women from the Asian community getting representation during the recent polls. This was considered an improvement since the previous elections saw none of such women elected, and a further increase was realized in the by elections (Childs 2008). This issues of gender and ethnic balance is not only an issue in the Great Britain but as well critical in governments around the world. In African countries, it is even propagated by male chauvinism, with France in Europe exhibiting the poorest representation of the minority ethnic group. The superpower has though tried to lead the world in the fight against gender imbalance in positions of power and ethnicity as a scourge against general development. Despite the earnest fight of the US government through enactment of policies towards fighting such scourge, the two issues remain a challenge due to the adamancy of the electorate. It is therefore wise for the electorate to realize that the government also needs support to fight such issues for the sake of equal representation of all the interest groups (Cass, Shove and Urry 2005). The house of representatives does not still reflect equality even after the numbers of women are realized to have increased in the most current polls. The representation has though doubled in lieu of the two considered factors even when the house still does not show the diversity of the entire population (Cracknell 2005). The women who are the marginalized in terms of gender must pull up their game and be strong to win favor from the electorate during elections as opposed to the manner they have portrayed themselves of being unable. In this way they will as well earn their respect from the men, women have been known to be their own enemies giving men a breakthrough hence it is time they stayed together to beat the men (Childs 2008). It worth noting that the correction of the underrepresentation in the House of Commons in terms of gender and ethnicity; calls for the urgent measures like the ones proposed above. The overhaul of all the policies is also an act that must be given due consideration as the current modes will take the country centuries to correct the vice that is eating up the society. A society or any group within the society whose voice cannot be heard is as good as dead. The Equalities review also advocates for a change in strategy, which would incorporate more efficient and competent modes of handling such cases. This procedure starts by identifying what has lead to the increased levels of representation considering these two demographic factors and after this, they can consider what needs to be done to further the increase (Breitenbach 2006). To support in the fight it is also important to first identify the factors responsible for the underrepresentation. Women and tribes, which are not well represented, have in the past been disadvantaged by culture and economic power. Secularism had realized that the length that the women are allowed to participate in the elections and paid employment is less since they were expected to be minor as compared to men (Childs 2008). The negative cultures such as racism also made it difficult for the population from the other races to maneuver their way into the political powerhouses (Cracknell 2005). Fair representation has therefore been achieved within the struggles of the parties; proportional electoral systems have also been a factor as well as the requirements of the selection rules, which are inclined toward supporting a fair representation within gender and ethnicity. It is also recommended that the policies adopt the gender quotas representation; these exist as party or legislative quotas, a strategy that has worked worldwide (Cass, Shove and Urry 2005). Party quotas are dependent on the parties’ top brass and hence it is voluntary while legislative quotas are well laid down within the constitution. The party quota is therefore more realizable as compared to the legislative since the legislative component depends on the popularity of the candidates (Cass, Shove and Urry 2005). In developed countries popularity is based on the policies and ideology of the candidates while in the developing countries, it is just a form of wave that is created. Fair and equal representation in the House of Commons is a crucial issue that must be handled with the urgency it deserves. References Childs, S, 2008, Women and British Party Politics: Descriptive, Substantive and Symbolic Representation. London: Routledge. Geddes, A, 2008, ‘Explaining Ethnic Minority Representation: Contemporary Trends in the Shadow of the Past’, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 11 (1), 119–135 Breitenbach, E, 2006, Gender Statistics: An Evaluation. Equal Opportunities Commission Working Paper Series no. 51. Manchester: EOC. Cass, N, Shove, E, and Urry, J, 2005, ‘Social exclusion, mobility and access, Sociological Review, 53, 3: 539-55 Cracknell, R, 2005, Social Background of MPs. House of Commons Library, Standard Note 1528 Cracknell, R, 2010, Women in Parliament and Government. House of Common Library, Standard Note SN/SG/01250 Read More