1. Speaker's Election
After a new House is elected, its first duty is to organize
itself. The clerk of the last House presides. The roll call is taken to
determine the presence of quorum. Then the oath of office is administered.
Thereafter he House proceeds to elect its Speaker. In Great Britain, the
Speaker is returned unopposed from his constituency as many times as he intends
to be returned. But in America his election is always contested and he is never
returned unopposed from his constituency. He is elected on party lines and
remains partisan throughout his term.
2. Procedure of
Election
Though the constitution does not require the Speaker to be a
member of the House. Yet only a member of the House makes choice. In practice,
it is always agreed upon by a caucus composed of members of the majority party.
If the same political party gets Majority in the House, and the Speaker of the
last Congress is returned, it is customary to re-jig election him. If same
party not returned in majority and there is a change in the relative strength
of the parties as the result of an election, the next Speaker is likely to be
the man who served as floor leader of his party when it was in minority. Thus,
the Speaker is always: the choice of the majority party. The House merely
ratifies the choice.
3. Powers of the speaker.
The powers of the
speaker may be summed up As under:
a. The power to Preside and recognize.
The Speaker conducts the proceeding of the, House and
recognizes the members. The rules of the, House provide that if two or more
members' rise, "The Speaker shall name the member who is first to
speak."
b. The power to maintain order
The Speaker maintains order and decorum in the House. The
rules of the House in this respect are strict. The members must address the
chair respectfully, must not wear hats or smoke in the H6use, and must obey the
Speaker's rulings. If the Speaker calls any member to order he must immediately
sit down. In case of disturbance or disorderly conduct the Speaker may either
suspend business or instruct the Sergeant-at-arms to quiet any disorder in the
House. But the Speaker Cannot censure, expel or punish a member. Only the House
can do that.
c. The power to interpret the Rules
The Speaker interprets the Rules of the House and applies
them. Before 1910 the Speaker used to be the Chairman of the rules committee.
d. The growth of the Speaker's authority
The growth of the Speaker's authority and his denial of the
right to against his legislative dictatorship in many cases led to a revolt in
1910 against his legislative dictatorship. In that year a group of insurgent
Republicans combined Committee Democrats and deprived the Speaker of the power
to appoint the ineligibility on Rules and provided that the Speaker should
henceforth be e for membership of the Rules Committee.
e. Other function of the Speaker
(i) The deputies can take the floor only on the permission
of the Speaker who allocates time for such speeches.
(ii) This is the discretion of the Speaker to decide when
the vote is to be taken during the deliberations he may ask for division and
announce the results.
(iii) The Speaker of the House can nominate Conference
Committees and Select Committees. In case the clerk of the House faces
difficulty in deciding as to which committee a particular bill should be
referred, the Speaker makes the final decision in this respect.
(iv) All the bills passed by the House, all petitions, joint
resolutions and warrants got to be signed by the Speaker.
(v) Generally, the Speaker avoids casting his: vote in the
House but in case of tie he may use his casting vote to break the dead lock.
(vi) The Speaker of the House is fully authorized disallow
the" initiation of such moves as aim at obstructing the business of the
House.
(vi) The speaker of the House is fully authorized disallow
the imitation of such moves as aim at obstructing the business of the House.
4. Comparison with the British Speaker
The following points
of difference may be noted:
(i) The American Speaker does not enjoy the prestige and
honor which a British Speaker has since he is a partyman.
(ii) The decision of the British Speaker is final. But the
decision of the American Speaker is final. An appeal, against his decision can
be made to the House.
(iii) The office of the British Speaker is not contested.
The Speaker is re-elected. In America, the, office of the speaker is contested.
Both the parties put up their candidate.
(iv) The British Speaker does not take part in the debates
within the House. The American Speaker takes part in the debates, casts his
vote and exercises his casting vote not impartially but as dictated by the
interests of his party.
(v) The American
Speaker openly favors his party in the House of Representatives. The British
Speaker is an impartial person.
(vi) The Speaker of the American House of Representatives is
a partyman. The British Speaker is a non-partyman.
(vii) The American Speaker does not have the power to decide
as to whether a Bill is a Money Bill or not. The Parliament Act of 1911 has
given such a power to the British Speaker.
(viii) The British Speaker possesses the full disciplinary
authority over the members of the House. The American Speaker cannot expel member
who is rowdy and does not obey the chair.
(ix) The British Speaker can recognize the member, i.e., he
can ask anybody to speak. The American Speaker was deprived of this power in
the 1910-11 revolt against him. Now, this is the privilege of the House itself.
(x) The British Speaker's authority is final regarding the
interpretation of the rules of the House, but in U.S.A. final authority in this
matter rests with the House itself.
0 comments:
Post a Comment