Analyse the Differences Between Congressional and Parliamentary Representation

The most significant difference between parliament and the constitution are the separate elections for congress and the executive, which provides the most significant contribution to high levels of congressional representation, allowing the electorate to have separate votes for the legislature and the executive- maximising voter choice. This contrasts hugely to the parliamentary system which only allows the voter to choose which party during a general election every 4 years and the leader of the party is decided by people within the party and not by primaries. The Member of Parliament is only held into account every 4 years rather than 2 dues to the Senate being an elected chamber as well. Whereas, the electorate in the U.S are held accountable for more and thus have to represent the electorate as they have to respond to their wishes and interests or the electors will not get back in, in the next election. As a result of the general election in the UK MP’s represent their parties whereas congressmen represent individuals/people.

Furthermore, congressional election 0.

takes place every two years (mid-term elections), meaning that congress is highly representative. This is a significant different to every 4 years of parliament following the parliament act in 1911 meaning that it’s less representative than the US system. In the U.S the frequency of elections can lead to voter apathy. An example of this is the 115th congress had a turnout of 40.8% of eligible voters. In congress, there is a high level of sensitivity to public opinion directly pushing Congresspersons to be highly representative of constituency views, and a strong level of accountability means that public opinion is reflected in the house. Public opinion is also represented in parliament;