http://www.willhowells.org.uk/blog/2005/07/29/why-you-shouldnt-rush-legislation/ Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:17:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7-RC1 hourly 1 http://www.willhowells.org.uk/blog/2005/07/29/why-you-shouldnt-rush-legislation/comment-page-1/#comment-334 No geek is an island » Blog Archive » 94 years is long enough to wait Wed, 10 Aug 2005 08:50:07 +0000 http://www.willhowells.org.uk/blog/?p=360#comment-334 [...] Why do we need a second chamber at all? Revising legislation to make it better written and less open to loopholes would surely be better done by civil servants qualified in law, employed to check the wording of new bills and reporting to the legislature. In America, the bicameral federal congress consists of the House of Representatives, based on population, and the Senate, where power is divided equally between states. The second chamber should, then, perform a role that requires a democratic basis - be that making substantive changes to laws or holding the executive to account - and either have a role distinct from the Commons or represent the population in a different way. [...] [...] Why do we need a second chamber at all? Revising legislation to make it better written and less open to loopholes would surely be better done by civil servants qualified in law, employed to check the wording of new bills and reporting to the legislature. In America, the bicameral federal congress consists of the House of Representatives, based on population, and the Senate, where power is divided equally between states. The second chamber should, then, perform a role that requires a democratic basis - be that making substantive changes to laws or holding the executive to account - and either have a role distinct from the Commons or represent the population in a different way. [...]

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