POLI 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Andrew Scheer, Government Executive, Iranian Revolution
Document Summary
Pass laws: government cannot pass laws by decree, open to public scrutiny. Approve expenditure: key role of parliament. Public debate: very rarely are there secret debates, as it is only done under extenuating circumstances, example: iranian revolution in 1979. Scrutiny of public expenditure: public accounts committee chaired by opposition. Powerful democratic check that would be in an otherwise undemocratic system. Government is massive federal government has a billion annual budget. Institution of o cial opposition evolved to help e ectively scrutinize government and give population a viable alternative government: allows for greater specialization / expertise in di erent aspects (industries) Scope of government is so large that parliament has outsourced some of the responsibility for scouting to selected o cers of parliament: example: auditor general. All members of the legislature who are not part of the government are part of the opposition.
