Parliament Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Parliament - Essay Example The UK parliament is constituted by members who belong to various political parties but mainly in three divisions namely the government, opposition and the cross benchers who are also referred to as independent members, who are not affiliated to any major political party (Grant, 2009). The government is formed by the political party which manages to acquire the highest number of seats after an election while the position of official opposition is taken by the party with the second highest number of seats in parliament (Ware, 2000). The government is entrusted with the responsibility of formulating strategies and effecting economic plans as well as accounting for the country’s wealth. The opposition on the other hand has the role of criticizing the government in all decisions which it makes, concerning governance that may be deemed to be unethical or insufficient, through constructive contributions so as to ensure that only the best comes from the agreed decisions. In addition, the opposition has the powers to oppose government proposals which they are not contented with and which may not be for the best of the country’s development. This form of parliament has its advantages and disadvantages. This is due to the fact that its performance depends on the relationship existing between the government and the opposition. For example, the political parties may lack the ability to agree on crucial bills due to political differences which may arise from future political aspirations of members, who may gang against the government to try and sabotage the government by opposing proposals which may put the government at an advantage over them in the public eye thereby winning their political good will, which may be a disadvantage to the opposition (Kenneth, 1997). This may slow the passing of important bills and amendments, which may be at the expense of