by Algy Moncrieff

Created on: July 21, 2009   Last Updated: July 22, 2009

For two institutions that serve roughly the same purpose, Congress in the US and Parliament in the UK are incredibly different institutions. Although both are democratic, they are differently democratic. Although they both make laws, they both do so very differently. Although the US President is the most powerful man in the world, the UK's Prime Minister (PM) has far more control over his country's legislative agenda than his colleague across the Atlantic. To examine just what it is that causes these huge differences, it will first be worthwhile to describe what exactly the institutions of Congress and Parliament are.

Congress:

Congress, like Parliament, operates on a bicameral system, that is, with an upper and a lower house, the upper house acting as a brake on the main legislative force of the lower. The lower house is known as the House of Representatives, and contains politicians elected every two years from their respective states. A larger state is allowed a larger number of representatives.

The upper house, the Senate, is comprised of Senators, two from each state, and these are elected once every six years, which has the effect of making them (slightly) less worried about public opinion compared to the Representatives, who pretty much have to start campaigning for their next election as soon as they enter office.

The passage of legislation in the US is a lengthy and difficult process, with numerous checks and balances, and that means that a bill must have a great deal of support to be passed. After a bill is proposed, it is given to a committee or multiple committees to consider. If they go ahead with it, the rules committee must decide how it will be debated and what amendments may be made to it.

It is then handed over to the House of Representatives, possibly amended, and then passed on to the Senate who may amend it again, before it reaches a conference committee to try and reconcile the amendments of the two houses.

Then the bill goes before the President, and if it is not vetoed, or not successfully vetoed (i.e. if it is overridden by 2/3 of both houses), it becomes law. One bill therefore could pass through as many as four or five different committees, each of which may well take a different view of which amendments are necessary.

Parliament:

Parliament, at first glance, takes a similar format to Congress, with a lower house known as the House of Commons and an upper house known as the House of Lords. The House of Commons is elected roughly

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