Powers and limits of the House of Commons and House of Representatives

Differences

Electoral mandate

In the United States there are separate mandates for the president and Congress via separate elections for each branch. In the United Kingdom, the prime minister and MPs are elected in the same general election. Voters have a single vote that determines both the make-up of the House of Commons and who becomes prime minister and therefore controls the executive branch. This gives significantly more power to the House of Representatives than the House of Commons. In the United Kingdom, the prime minister claims the mandate with backbench MPs having to follow the nationally determined manifesto. This is in contrast to the United States where representatives can claim an equal mandate to the president with members of the president's own party often pursuing an alternative agenda to the president.

Legislative power

The House of Representatives arguably has much greater control over bills than the House of Commons. Executive domination over the UK Parliament tends to make MPs more accepting of the legislative goals of the government than their US counterparts. To gain promotions in government, backbenchers will often follow the party line. In the House of Representatives, on the other hand, politicians from the president's own party will often be far more proactive in proposing their own legislation or rejecting and demanding the president's agenda. It is far more common for the House of Representatives to reject executive legislation than is the case with the House of Commons in the United Kingdom.

Executive checks

The House of Representatives will typically be far more effective at restricting the executive branch compared to the House of Commons. The underlying difference between the separation of powers (in the United States) and the fusion of powers (in the United Kingdom) creates different power relationships between the executives and legislatures in each country. The House of Representatives is highly independent from the president and willing to challenge the political agenda particularly when the president lacks a majority in the House. By definition, the UK government will always have some kind of majority in the House of Commons making the lower chamber less likely to challenge government policy and action. The power to remove the executive branch (and force an election) is held exclusively by the House of Commons, which can remove the government through a vote of no confidence. In the United States, the president can only be removed from office if they have committed a high crime or misdemeanour but the ability to remove the president, via the impeachment process, is shared by the House and the Senate.

Similarities

Electoral mandate

Both the House of Representatives and the House of Commons are directly elected by the public. In each country the lower chamber can claim sufficient democratic legitimacy to have the right to have a major voice on political issues. Politicians from both chambers can and often do promote the interests of their constituents within the lower chamber even when this conflicts with the wishes or interests of their own political party. Representatives and MPs will raise local issues, propose legislative

amendments or even oppose whole bills which damage the interests of their constituents.

Legislative power

A basic similarity can be seen in the ability of the House of Commons and the House of Representatives to play a significant role in the legislative process. Both chambers can initiate legislation through the use of private members bills in the United Kingdom and via individual members of Congress or congressional leaders in the United States. In addition, politicians in both the House of Representatives and the House of Commons can vote to amend or reject legislative proposals initiated by the executive branch.

Executive Checks

The lower chambers in both countries have several mechanisms that allow them to provide executive scrutiny. As well as being able to vote on executive bills, they both have committees that specialise in the investigation of the executive branch. Departmental select committees in the United Kingdom and policy-based standing committees in the United States regularly investigate executive departments by requesting departmental documents and holding committee hearings that require members of the executive branch to attend.