ABSTRACT

The formal process of determining public policy in Britain is dominatedby the executive. Once the executive has agreed on a measure, theassent of Parliament can usually be ensured. Parliament is essentially a policy-ratifying rather than a policy-making body. In the United States, by contrast, the executive enjoys no such dominance. The president cannot proceed on the assumption that any proposal he makes can be assured by the assent of Congress. The U.S. political system has been described as a “multiple-access” one. It also may be characterized as a “multiple-check” system. A proposal emanating from one branch of government can be checked-that is, negated-by another. A bill has to overcome a number of very real hurdles in Congress in order to become law. It may be pigeonholed in committee, it may fail to be scheduled by the House Rules Committee, and it may face a filibuster in the Senate. Congress has negating powers that it is prepared to and variously does use; Parliament has negating powers that it can but hardly ever does use. The executive in Britain can make assumptions about legislative support that few U.S. presidents would dare to make.