Parliamentary Affairs Advance Access originally published online on August 27, 2008
Parliamentary Affairs 2008 61(4):694-708; doi:10.1093/pa/gsn030
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Rubber Stamp or Cockpit? The Impact of Parliament on Government Legislation
Arguably the Westminster Parliament's prime function—and its best known—is to make law. More accurately, it is to scrutinise and approve bills put forward by the government, which is almost always able to command a majority in the House Commons. Taken together with the conventional dominance of the Commons over the House of Lords, Parliament usually passes the government's legislation. To some, this relationship is the inevitable and correct method by which the government exercises its mandate; to others it is indicative that Parliament is simply a rubber stamp, a mechanism without clout or meaning. But even if Parliament usually enacts the government's bills, to what extent does it have an impact on their content? While a great deal of public attention is regularly given to the operation and effect of individual laws, there is less understanding of the detailed process by which policy ideas evolve into legislation.