A lot of comparing and contrasting the British and United States governments as the students toured Parliment. After gathering at Westminster Hall (built in the eleventh century), we visited the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The tour was followed by a one-hour talk and Q&A with Member of Parliment, Sir Peter Viggers.
Parliament was an intriguing visit solely because of the eomparison to our own legislative branch. Parliament is comprised of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, similar to the House of Representatives and the Senate in our Congress. Parliament has a lot of history concerning disagreement between teh King of Britain and Parliamentary Houses. The blanace of Power between the legislature and the Monarchy was ofent erratic, especially with King Charles I, who was beheaded by Parliament. The Parliamentary building itself is immaculate and seems more befitting to be a cathedral rather than a government building. Overall this was an enlightening experience.
ReplyDeleteJoe Coletta
The visit to Parliament along with the lecture from Parliament member Sir Peter Viggers was extremely interesting. The building itself was incredible. The House of Lords, in particular, was lavishly decorated. It was interesting comparing that to the House of Commons, which was much plainer. It was a little surprising to learn just how different Parliament is from our bicameral legislative branch. I had not realized the House of Lords only how the power of revision and that the House of Commons and most importantly the Prime Minister had almost all the power. Comparing the “evolutionary” style (as our tour guide put it) of the British government to the “revolutionary” style of the U.S. and France helped to explain how Britain still has a royal family, despite their almost complete lack of power and influence on the government.
ReplyDeleteIt was also intriguing to hear our tour guide’s stories about the Clintons’ visits and how Bill remembered the name of his original tour guide from when he visited as Governor when he visited as President. Sir Peter Viggers speech was informative and helped explain what goes on in the House of Commons and the difference in running for office in Britain and the U.S. It was especially interesting to me to hear the British government explained from someone with British bias as opposed to the American point of view. The only disappointment was that we could not take pictures inside of Parliament.
Sean Donahue