British Prime Ministers - 1721-2010

BRITISH PRIME MINISTERS  1721 Sir Robert Walpole   (Whig) 1742 Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington   (Whig) 1743 Henry Pelham    (Whig) 1754 Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle   (Whig) 1756 William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire   (Whig) 1757 Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle   (Whig) 1762 John Stuart, Earl of Bute   (Tory) 1763 George Grenville   (Whig) 1765 Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham   (Whig) 1766 William Pitt the Elder, Earl of Chatham   (Whig) 1767 Augustus Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton   (Whig) 1770 Frederick North, Lord North  (Tory) 1782 Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham   (Whig) 1782 William FitzMaurice, Earl of Shelburne   (Whig) 1783 William Bentinck, Duke of Portland    (Tory) 1783 William Pitt, the Younger  (Tory) 1801 Henry Addington  (Tory) 1804 William Pitt, the Younger  (Tory) 1806 William Grenville, Lord Grenville   (Whig) 1807 William Bentinck, Duke of Portland  (Tory) 1809 Spencer Perceval  (Tory) 1812 Robert Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool  (Tory) 1827 Frederick Robinson, Viscount Goderich  (Tory) 1827 George Canning  (Tory) 1828 Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington  (Tory) 1830 Charles Grey, Earl Grey   (Whig) 1834 Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington  (Tory) 1834 Sir Robert Peel  (Tory) 1834 William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne  (Whig) 1835 William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne  (Whig) 1841 Sir Robert Peel  (Tory) 1846 Lord John Russell   (Whig) 1852 Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby (Conservative) 1852 George Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen (Conservative) 1855 Viscount Palmerston  (Liberal) 1858 Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby (Conservative) 1858 Viscount Palmerston  (Liberal) 1865 John Russell, Earl Russell   (Liberal) 1866 Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby (Conservative) 1868 Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative) 1868 William Ewart Gladstone  (Liberal) 1874 Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative) 1880 William Ewart Gladstone   (Liberal) 1885 Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative) 1886 Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative) 1886 William Ewart Gladstone  (Liberal) 1892 William Ewart Gladstone  (Liberal) 1894 Earl of Rosebery  (Liberal) 1895 Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative) 1902 Arthur Balfour (Conservative) 1905 Henry Campbell-Bannerman  (Liberal) 1908 Herbert H Asquith  (Liberal) (Coalition 1915) 1916 David Lloyd George  (Liberal) (Coalition) 1922 Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative) 1923 Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1924 James Ramsay MacDonald  (Labour) 1924 Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1929 James Ramsay MacDonald  (Labour) 1931 James Ramsay MacDonald   (Labour) (Nat Govt) 1935 Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) (Nat Govt) 1937 Neville Chamberlain (Conservative) (Nat Govt) 1940 Winston Churchill (Conservative) (Coalition) 1945 Clement Attlee  (Labour) 1951 Winston Churchill  (Conservative) 1955 Sir Anthony Eden (Conservative) 1957 Harold Macmillan  (Conservative) 1963 Sir Alec Douglas-Home  (Conservative) 1964 Harold Wilson   (Labour) 1970 Edward Heath (Conservative) 1974 Harold Wilson  (Labour) 1976 James Callaghan  (Labour) 1979 Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) 1990 John Major (Conservative) 1997 Tony Blair  (Labour) 2007 Gordon Brown  (Labour) 2010 David Cameron  (Conservative)  [Source - Politics Resources - here]

US CONGRESS - LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT - OVERVIEW

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH - CONGRESS

Main US legislative body is Congress

Congress consists of:

• Senate (100 Members, 2 Senators each State)
• House of Representatives (435 Members, elected every 2 years) ... State represented according to its population.

 
Legislative proposals may be in the form of:

Bills Most common form of proposed legislation. Originate in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. In practice, legislative proposals of any form are mostly introduced to the House of Representatives. All REVENUE RAISING bills must originate in House of Representatives, but Senate can propose or agree with amendments) To become law: bills must be agreed in an identical form by House of Representatives; and  Senate;  AND must receive presidential approval.

Joint Resolutions Similar to bills. Can originate in either the House of Representatives or in the Senate. However, joint resolutions that propose amendments to the constitution are not presented to the President for approval. Two-thirds of both Senate and House of Representatives must approve JOINT RESOLUTIONS AND they must be submitted to the States for ratification (confirmation of adoption).

Concurrent Resolutions Bypass the President House of Representatives and Senate approval required. Concurrent resolutions usually regulate administrative issues ( operations of both the House of Representatives and the Senate).

Simple Resolutions Bypass the President.  Regulate issues related to the operation of either the House of Representatives or Senate. [ Presumably become law when approved by both House of Representatives and Senate (not expressly stated in source) ]

Introduction and Referral to COMMITTEE Bills can be introduced by any Member in the House of Representatives. Can have an unlimited number of 'co-sponsors' (proposing parties). Proposed bill is assigned a LEGISLATIVE NUMBER. Then it is referred to the COMMITTEE which has jurisdiction over specific area of law. Then it is printed in its INTRODUCED FORM.

Consideration Initiated by PUBLIC HEARING. Committee members hear debate proposed legislation. A transcript of the TESTIMONIES is taken during the hearings. TRANSCRIPT is  made available for inspection in the COMMITTEE OFFICE. After HEARING (mentioned above), bill is considered in detailed in a session. Detailed session known as:  the 'MARK-UP' SESSION. Now, at this point, members of the COMMITTEE can propose amendments and a vote is taken for or against amendments. COMMITTEE then determines by vote what further action should be taken on the proposed legislation. It can be REPORTED (with or without amendments) or TABLED ( which means that no further action will occur). If extensive amendments needed, Committee REPORTS A NEW BILL (which incorporates the all the approved changes (“clean bill”)). The COMMITTEE REPORT is the document that explains the purpose and the scope of the bill, and the reasons for its approval.

House Floor consideration  (ie House of Representatives) Legislation mostly gets to this stage after REPORTING by Committee. EXCEPTION:  sometimes brought to the Floor directly. The procedure in the FULL HOUSE is regulated by “rules”. 'Rules' are resolutions that determine the debate time and whether amendments will be offered. After the debate, the House of Representatives votes (for or against the bill). Alternatively, it may decide to  RECOMMIT the proposed legislation to a committee for consideration.

Senate stage Following House of Representatives approval: Proposed legislation submitted to Senate for consideration. Both Senate and House of Reps must AGREE on SAME final draft, before presenting to PRESIDENT. Any changes to draft by Senate, must therefore go back to the House of Representatives for consideration. House of Representatives and Senate  appoint a CONFERENCE COMMITTEE  with both House and Senate members to deal with this lengthy process. CONFERENCE COMMITTEE is charged with NEGOTIATING and RESOLVING what is at issue between the bodies. FINAL VERSION of the bill returns to the House and the Senate for VOTE on FINAL PASSAGE.

Presidential action Bill then resented to the President for approval. If the President signs the bill, it becomes law.  The President has the right to refuse to sign. In this case, the President must return a bill with objections to Congress (10 days [excl Sundays]). Otherwise, Bill becomes law as if it had been signed -- if president fails to return it to Congress. Congress has the right to prevent a bill’s return by adjournment. In this case the bill cannot become law, even if the President has not sent objections to the Congress. This procedure is known as “pocket veto”. The extent of pocket veto authority is disputable and it has not yet been determined by US courts.

ABOVE SOURCED AT:  http://www.out-law.com/page-7767

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COMMENT



Largely for my benefit, as I didn't know exactly how laws are passed in the US.

I'll probably forget the ins and outs of this, but it's a useful guide to tuck away.