"Evaluate the view that the House of Commons is a more effective institution than the House of Lords?"

overall: come to the conclusion that the Commons is more effective than the lords, using the themes of scrutiny, representation and attitude. Scrutiny (critical observation of government work) The House of Commons: do show poor and ineffective methods of scrutiny, such as PMQ's which are highly adversarial, and aimed at embarrassing the opinion, as well as being easy to deflect important questions. However, select committees can be a useful and unbiased form of scrutiny. These were improved by the 2010 Wright Reforms which required the chair of the select committees to be elected. Moreover, Backbench Business Committee (BBCOM) allow for backbench MPs to have their voices heard and further scrutinise the government. House of Lord: They are experts in their fields which allows for detailed scrutiny, and also can spend more time on the detail of legislation. Yet, the Salisbury Convention meant that the Lords can not reject a 2nd reading of legislation, and also can not amend bills related to taxation/government spending = no real scrutiny Representation Commons: Elected members from the public. Yet, electoral system is disproportionate, and they lack representation of females and ethnic minorities. Lords: They are more diverse than the commons (ethnic minorities). But, have 26 Bishops which is archaic and unrepresentative of over half of the population who are not religious. They are unelected, and appointed by Prime Ministers mostly, Cameron appointed 236 peers. Attitude Commons: Elected, and thus are obligated to do things correctly, will not retain their seats if they fail. Backbenchers have the ability to get much more involved (BBCOM and PMB's). However, arguably toO busy to do their job properly and scandals such as the expenses scandal show a poor attitude coming from many MPs. Lords: 1999 act reduced the number of hereditary peers to 92 making the institution much more credible and rebellious (Blair suffered 450 blocks from the Lords). But, low attendance, 5% never turn up, and 61% turn up less than half the time. Many accused of clocking in and out within minutes in order to claim £300 pay. Conclusion: Commons as more effective, as although perhaps not that effective at representation, there presence is much larger and thus have much more legitimacy for effective scrutiny, and the institution has much more involvement than the Lords, allowing for a better attitude and usefulness overall.