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In a dictatorship it may be just one person who makes the decisions and determines how the people will be governed.

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We know from our study of the federal government in the United States that the people elect representatives to pass the laws. This is a republican form of government (a republic).

These representatives get their authority from the people and must answer to the people when they run for re-election.

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The legislative branch of the federal government was based on the British Parliament. The framers of the Constitution had been governed by the Parliament as British citizens. In addition, many of these men had served in the legislatures in their own colonies and later states.

The Parliamentary form of government gives most of the power to the legislature.

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The people elect the members of Parliament, and the members in turn select the executive or Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will remain in office only as long as he/she is supported by a majority of the members of the Parliament. Sometimes a Prime Minister will ask the members for a vote of confidence to see if the representatives in Parliament support his/her policies.

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The Prime Minister may not get the vote of confidence, and he/she can resign to let the leader or the Opposition party form a new executive government. A leader of the opposition party may be asked to try to form a new government. This new government would have to represent a majority of the members of Parliament.

The leader of the opposition party may need more than the members of his/her political party to form the new government. This gives some of the minor and smaller parties a great deal of influence in the formation of a new government. The new Prime Minister would have to constantly work with the members of these small parties to maintain his/her majority in Parliament.

The Prime Minister can also ask the monarch, king, or queen, to dissolve Parliament and call for new elections. Through the use of this political tactic, the Prime Minister can take his/her political policies and programs directly to the people. A majority of the supporters of the Prime Minister would have to be elected to the new Parliament for him/her to stay in office.

The Parliamentary form of government differs from the Presidential form of government in many areas.

Look at the graph on the next screen to determine some of these differences.

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In a Presidential form of government the people select the executive and not the members of the legislature. There is a system of checks and balances of power between the executive and legislative branches of government.

In a Parliamentary form of government, the legislature holds the center of political power. How did the legislature become so powerful when the British still had a king at the time of the American Revolution?

The modern Parliament developed during the reign of Edward I (1272-1307). It was during this time that the members of the nobility, religious leaders, the advisers to the king would meet to discuss taxes, laws and judicial issues.

The Parliament grew out of this king's council, in which the monarch originally consulted with the great leaders of the realm and later with commoners who represented the people in the small villages and towns.

Parliament was, and is, a place to debate, initially, the crown on the one hand and the Lords, the nobility, and the Commons on the other.

The conflicts were settled in Parliament so that its original main function was that of a court.

In fact, the Parliament was known as the "the High Court of Parliament" as late as the 16th century. How did the Parliament become so powerful?

The Parliament was eventually divided into two different areas: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. This two house or bicameral legislature was a model for the U.S. Congress.

In 1215 AD, King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta.

This document restricted the power of the king and created a limited monarchy (an autocracy that was not all-powerful).

The Magna Carta required the king to have Parliament's permission for:

• taxation,
• raising an army,
• suspension of laws

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The Magna Carta

The Magna Carta represented to the English nobility a written guarantee of the traditional rights and privileges they had always enjoyed. The concessions in the Magna Carta were given by King John because he needed money to fight a war.

King John also agreed to consult the Great Council before imposing any new feudal taxes. Eventually the Great Council evolved into the modern Parliament, the legislative branch of the British government.

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King John also granted other rights to the nobles or free men because he needed money so badly. By signing the Magna Carta in 1215, King John also gave up:

• The right to imprison without a trial
• The right to inflict cruel and unusual punishments
• The right to charge excessive fines and bail

The one great principle that the Magna Carta did proclaim in 1215 was that the king is and shall be below the law.

In other words, the principle that even the king had to obey the law of the land was firmly established.

Also from England came the Petition of Right.

In 1625, Charles I inherited the English throne from his father, James I. Charles I was in debt and desperately needed money to support his monarchy.

When Parliament refused to give him money, Charles sent the members of Parliament home.

Charles tried to force individuals and merchants to give him loans. By 1628, Charles had to summon Parliament back into session because he needed new sources of money to support his kingdom.

Parliament refused to consider the king's demands until he signed the Petition of Right. By signing the Petition of Right the King promised not to collect forced loans from individuals or levy taxes without the permission of Parliament.

Charles I also agreed not to put a person in prison without a legitimate charge and to not house soldiers in private homes without the owners' consent.

Once Parliament gave Charles I the money, he again sent the members home and ignored the Petition of Right. The members were outraged, and the conflict between the Parliament and the King Charles I would escalate until 1640.

In that year, Charles again called Parliament into session because he needed money to fight a war against Scotland. The members of Parliament were more concerned with limiting the power of the king. The Parliament actually put two of Charles' ministers on trial. Both of these men were found guilty and were executed.

The Parliament also passed a bill that condemned Charles as a traitor to the English nation. Charles actually came into Parliament and arrested some of the members.

In 1642, the king and Parliament both raised armies and the English Civil War began. This Civil War lasted ended in 1649 with the defeat of the king's army. The Parliament put Charles I on trial and found him guilty of Treason. In January, 1649, King Charles I, the sovereign ruler of England was put to death.

The power of the Parliament was increased with the passage of the English Bill of Rights.

In 1689, the British monarchs, William and Mary, were forced to sign the English Bill of Rights which restated some of the provisions in the Magna Carta.

1. The king could not suspend the laws, erect special courts of justice, maintain a standing army, or levy taxes without consent of Parliament.

2. The Parliament should meet frequently, and the members were to be freely elected and allowed freedom in their debates.

3. The British people could not be refused a trial by jury nor could they be exposed to cruel or unusual punishments.

Parliament was an elected body that contained members for the nobles and the common people.

This was a political freedom and right that was denied the English colonists in North America.

The king or queen could not collect or spend taxes without the consent of Parliament.

Taxing citizens is also called "levying money." Also forbidden to the king were:

• Cruel and unusual punishments
• Excessive fines or bail
• Violating known laws of the country

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Many of these provisions were included in the United States Bill of Rights.

This system of government was very familiar to the American colonists by the 1700s, and they expected these rights as British citizens.

When King George III of England did not follow these laws, the colonists became dissatisfied and finally were ready for a change in their government.

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The colonists believed that Parliament and

King George III did not have the right to pass legislation that would deprive them of their political rights.

Many of these same problems and arguments could be traced to a political dispute between King Charles I and the English Parliament in 1628.

By 1787, the colonists had suffered through 20 years of social, political, and economic upheaval because of basic disagreements over their rights as British citizens.

The Articles of Confederation, based on a Parliamentary model, had failed to provide an effective central government.

During the summer of 1787, delegates from most of the states convened in Philadelphia to rewrite the Articles of Confederation.

Only five days into the meetings, a Federalist resolution was passed that changed the purpose of the Constitutional Convention. This resolution to write a new constitution was introduced by Edmund Randolph of Virginia.

George Washington was elected President of the Constitutional Convention. The Federalists scored many initial victories.

Virginia was the first state to offer a plan of organization under a new constitution.

1. Three branches - executive, judicial, legislative

2. Legislature - bicameral (two houses)

3. Both houses based on population

4. Lower house - elected by the people

5. Upper house - elected by lower house

6. Judicial and executive - both could veto laws

7. Congress could force a state to obey national law

Smaller states believed the Virginia Plan gave too much power to the large states, so they developed the New Jersey Plan.

1. Unicameral (one house) legislature - all states equal.

2. Federal government - slightly increased power

3. Plural executive - elected by Congress

3. Only one federal court

These two plans were argued and debated on the floor of the Convention. Again the stature and presence of George Washington impressed everyone.

The Connecticut Compromise was offered that would break the stalemate between the large states and small states.

This combined elements of both plans is sometimes referred to as the Great Compromise.

The Connecticut Compromise

This compromise proposed:

1. A two house legislature;

2. A lower house based on based on population;

3. An upper house with equal representation for each state;

4. That all bills to raise money would originate in the lower house.