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Przegląd Europejski – European Studies Quarterly

The method of voting in the British Parliament – between tradition and functionality.

2019, No. 1

Łukasz Danel

0000-0001-9715-3377

Krakow University of Economics (Cracow, Poland)

DOI

10.5604/01.3001.0013.5172

Publication date

05.10.2019

Publishing model

open access

License type

CC BY 4.0 Int.

Field

Humanities

Discipline

political and administrative sciences, international relations, sociology, law, economics and finance, management and quality studies, social communication and media studies

Language of publication

Polish, English

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Article

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Abstract

The paper is devoted to the method of voting, which is typical for the British Parliament. This method is referred to as “division”, because both Members of Parliament (MPs) and Lords are literally divided into two groups – supporters and opponents of the issue being voted – and cast their vote in special rooms called division lobbies. The author presents the process of such “division” and explains some additional issues related to voting and the rules that are used to determine its final results. The paper also describes successful and failed attempts to change this system that took place at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Using legal and institutional analysis method, the author explains why this system is so persistent, and proves the thesis that despite some minor modifications that have been made to it, one should not expect it to be replaced by some form of electronic voting.

Keywords:

voting,division,House of Commons,House of Lords,parliament,United Kingdom

Bibliography

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