Essay Plan: Compare the Senate and the House of Lords

Exam Context and Answer Structure Edexcel Paper 3 (12 Marks)

Past questions: 

2019 and 2025 compared Congress and Parliament; 2021 and 2023 targeted Senate vs Lords directly. 2025 Section A: similarities in legislative powers, 12 marks

Three themes, one per paragraph: exclusive powers, status vs sister chamber, executive scrutiny.

Power

• Exclusive powers: Lords can only delay (1949 Parliament Act), while Senate can reject bills, confirm appointments, try impeachments, ratify treaties.

  • Examples: The Employment Rights Bill was passed by Parliament and received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, following a period of parliamentary "ping-pong" and amendments in the House of Lords  Obamacare Senate blocks repeal , Senate ratifies  Sweden and Finland NATO accession 2022, Matt Gaetz was forced to step aside as Trump's initial attorney general pick after Congress produced a critical report about his time as a member of Congress, which included allegations of sexual harassment 

  • Structural theory: codified constitution vs easily changed statute law    since the Senate gains these exclusive powers from a rigid, codified constitution 

Status: 

• unelected Lords is inferior to Commons; Senate has coequal power and is a stepping stone to the presidency.The Senate enjoys a far higher status compared to its lower chamber than does the House of Lords. The Lords is inferior to the Commons, in large part because it is unelected and thus lacks legitimacy.

  • 1911 Parliament Act, Salisbury Convention, Lords backed down on Rwanda bill After inflicting multiple defeats and demanding changes—such as protecting people who assisted the UK military and requiring Rwanda to be independently verified as safe The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 officially gained royal assent on April 25, 2024 

  • Rational theory: Lords aware of illegitimacy; ambitious senators raise chamber status

Scrutiny: 

• Senate is separate from the executive with subpoena-wielding committees; The Senate conducted highly partisan cross‑examination. Jack Smith, the special prosecutor who investigated Trump.   Senate committees can conduct oversight hearings (i.e., scrutiny) on any topic they see fit. After the November 2026 midterm elections, it is expected that the Democrats will use this Senate power to investigate many aspects of Trump’s regime.

• Lords time is dominated by government business.Roughly 60% of the House of Lords’ chamber time is dedicated to examining, amending, and debating draft legislation. The vast majority of these are Government Bills Under parliamentary standing orders, government business takes precedence on almost all sitting days. Private Members' Bills (introduced by independent or backbench peers) are highly restricted, usually allocated only on specific Fridays, and face a minuscule success rate of around 1.5%. 

• • Structural theory: elected Commons select committees have more scrutiny prestige.This lack of legitimacy often makes the Lords fearful of pushing a dispute to the absolute limit, usually backing down after forcing the government to rethink a position once or twiceWhenever the Lords challenges the executive too aggressively, the government can deployment the "democracy card," accusing unelected peers of trying to subvert the will of the elected House of Commons.  

 Powers

Financial Restrictions: Neither upper chamber can introduce revenue-raising or financial legislation, a privilege constitutionally reserved for their respective lower houses. 

Both act as the upper houses within a two-chamber framework, working alongside a lower house (the US House of Representatives and the UK House of Commons). Lords delay and line-by-line revision rival Senate blocking; Senate exclusive powers are often underused.Hegseth confirmed in 2025 despite allegations; Lords can also filibuster

 Status

• • Long symbolic speeches, e.g. Cory Booker's 25 hours and 5 minutes; Peers often make long speeches that are symbolic in nature, as Lord Folkes did in opposition to Brexit. This symbolism is not too dissimilar to how senators utilize the filibuster and their ability to speak at length, even outside of the filibuster. 

  • Due to the longer 6-year Senate term and life tenure for Lords, members of both chambers are structurally insulated from the constant, immediate pressures of the two-year election cycles faced by lower house lawmakers. 

  • Both chambers enjoy high status and reputation in the House of Lords because many members have achieved great things in their careers: retired judges, high‑court judges, Olympians, and prime ministers. Senators represent entire states and can see themselves as legitimate contenders for the presidency.

  • cultural theory  Both chambers enjoy a more deliberative, slow-paced, and considerate atmosphere that is often bipartisan in nature . Although the traditional bipartisan nature of the Senate has been eroded in recent years, bipartisanship under the direction and influence of President Trump.

 Executive Scrutiny

• Both chambers are heavily focused on the systematic review, debate, and amendment of legislative text passed up from the lower house Both have limited scrutiny: Senate rarely convicts impeachment (two-thirds rule), Lords last blocked secondary legislation in 2012.

  • United government and Commons majorities force legislation through, e.g. The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025 was passed by both Houses of Parliament and received Royal Assent within roughly six and a half hours on Saturday, April 12, 2025 

• Both can scrutinise well: Labour suffered 5 Lords defeats in 2024, none in Commons.in 2025, with senators from both parties grilling Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over drastic international health funding cuts 

  • Structural theory: no Lords government majority; separation of powers allows divided government