An Introduction to Parliament

 

VOCABULARY

scrutinize - examine or inspect closely and thoroughly.

constituent - being a voting member of a community or organization and having the power to appoint or elect.

constituency - a body of voters in a specified area who elect a representative to a legislative body.

manifesto - a public declaration of policy and aims, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate.

lobby (v.) - seek to influence (a politician or public official) on an issue.

lobby (n.) - a group of people seeking to influence politicians or public officials on a particular issue.

petition - a formal written request, typically one signed by many people, appealing to authority with respect to a particular cause.

 

1) What two events in the history of the United Kingdom played a major role in starting the process of creating Parliament as a representative legislature?

2) What are the three parts of Parliament?

3) What is the House of Commons and how many members does it have?

4) How are members of the House of Commons chosen?

5) What is an MP?

6) What is the other House of Parliament?

7) How is the monarch involved in Parliament?

8) What do Select Committees do?

9) What are the seven stages in making a law?

10) How often do elections for MPs occur?

11) What are the elections for MPs called?

12) At what age can citizens of the United Kingdom begin to vote?

Authoritarian vs. Representative Liberal Democracies

 

Power Distribution Homework: Complete in Longhand

 Answer the following on a sheet of paper.  Complete in your own handwriting.

 

1) What type of power is being described when the term “power distribution” is mentioned?

 

2) What are the three ways in which “power” is distributed?

 

3) What are the regional authorities in the United States of America? 

 

4) How is power distributed in each of the following:

 

a) federal -_

 

b) unitary -

c) confederation -

 

5) In a unitary system, where does power come from?

6) In a confederation, who/ what possesses most if not all power?

7) Which system allows for the greatest amount of self-government for regional authority?

8) Which of the systems comes closest to creating equal sharing of power between regional and national authority?

9) Which type of system does the United States have?

Preamble to the United States Constitution

Homework: copy the preamble to the U.S. Constitution three times.  Complete this assignment on a sheet of paper in your own handwriting. Do not use abbreviations.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

CLASS RULES AND EXPECTATIONS

 

1) Come to class on time.

2) Come to class prepared (notebook, any assignments that are to be turned in, pencil, pen, sharpener, eraser).

3) Electronic devices are prohibited. You should not have any electronic device with you upon entering class.  Store them in your locker.  We will go through "Disconnect to Reconnect.

4) Cheating on any assignment results in a zero; this may result in previous assignments receiving a zero as a result of cheating (e.g. plagiarism).

5) Avoid any unusual behaviors when testing because such behaviors will be suspected to be an attempt to cheat.

6) You must make me think you are paying attention.

7) What I think is more important than what you tell me.

8) Do not interfere with classroom instruction.

9) The only beverages permitted in class are water and coffee.  In order to have coffee in my class you must have your parent's permission.  If you choose to have coffee please remember that it is too expensive to drink the varieties of chilled coffee. It is cheaper to learn to make your own and bring it to and from school in a thermos.

10) Use the bathroom between class periods.  During class, bathroom passes are given during the last ten minutes of class.

11) First and second periods: Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.  If you have religious objections then that is acceptable as you are exercising your right of conscience which is protected by Georgia's Bill of Rights: "Freedom of conscience. Each person has the natural and inalienable right to worship God, each according to the dictates of that person’s own conscience; and no human authority should, in any case, control or interfere with such right of conscience."

This is not a demand I am making a request.