Chapter 2

Government and Legislation

Law-making, or the activity of making laws, is called “Legislation”. So, as a

verb, it describes the action of ‘law-making’. But as a noun, it also means ‘law’.

 Legislation (verb) – Law-making or making of laws

 Legislation (noun) – Law. Act. Rule. Statute.

As ‘laws’ are also called ‘Acts’, making laws is also called ‘enactment’.

Different governments have different ways of law-making. But most

governments use their ‘Constitution’ as the main foundation on which they
make all their other laws.

In this chapter, we will study about ‘Constitution’, ‘Parliament’ and about

three countries’ government structures (USA, UK and Bahrain).

CONSTITUTION

A constitution is a set of fundamental principlesa or

established precedentsb according to which

a state or other organization is governed1.

All countries usually have a ‘Constitution’. It lays down the rules and
procedures on how the country would be governed.

Constitution is the highest law of the country. And, therefore, a country’s

Parliament (sometimes called National Assembly or Congress) cannot pass a
law which goes against the Constitution.

No person, not even the President, can go against the constitution2. The
courts and the government must also make sure whatever they do is
constitutional.
a
fundamental principles - Basic rules or guidelines
b
established precedents – what has been the ongoing practice for many years

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PARLIAMENT

A country’s parliament makes laws. That is why it is called ‘Legislature’.

Members of Parliament (MPs) discuss and debate a ‘draft law’ or ‘bill’. When
the MPs vote and pass it, it becomes ‘law’.

The US Parliament is called “Congress”, UK Parliament is called “Parliament”,

Bahrain’s Parliament is called “National Assembly” or ‘Al-Majlis al-Watani’.

Most parliaments in the world are ‘bicameral’. It means they have two houses
or two chambers.

Given below are examples from countries with bicameral parliaments.

Country Parliament Houses/Chambers Number*

USA Congress Senate 100
House of Representatives 435
UK Parliament House of Lords 815**
House of Commons 650
India Parliament Upper House (Rajya Sabha) 250
(Sansad) Lower House (Lok Sabha) 545
Philippines Congress Senate 24
House of Representatives 250
Bahrain National Assembly Shura Council /Consultative 40
(Al Majlis Al Council (Majlis Al-Shura)
Watania) Chamber of Deputies 40
(Majlis Al-Nuwwab)
*It is not important to remember numbers for exams. | ** The number changes

Sometimes, there may be a need to amend -- to add, delete or change -- any

article (point) of the constitution, or other laws.

A change in the Constitution - or in any law - is called an Amendment.

Usually, a constitution is not amended.

But if it has to be amended by the Parliament, it cannot be done by a ‘simply

majority’ vote. In many countries, it can only be done when more than 2/3
members of the house (parliament) agree for the change.

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A. United Kingdom (UK) Constitution

The British Constitution was originally based on the Magna Carta, or ‘The
Great Charter’, one of the most famous documents in the world.

In 1215 AD, King John of England signed Magna Carta with his people. It
established for the first time the principle that everybody was subject to the
law.

Within 10 years, a third of its text was deleted, or much of it rewritten, and
almost all clauses have been repealed (cancelled) in modern times. But
‘Magna Carta’ remains the main foundation of the ‘British constitution’3.

United Kingdom (UK), also called

Great Britain, is a sovereign (self-
governing) country. Its official
name is “United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland.”

It includes England, Scotland,

Wales, and Northern Ireland. UK’s
capital city is London.

NOTE: ‘Republic of Ireland’ is

another country, and it is not a
part of UK. Republic of Ireland’s
capital city is Dublin.

UK follows ‘constitutional monarchy’. The Queen is the head of the country.

But the Prime Minster is in charge of running the country.

 Queen Elizabeth II has been ruling UK, from 1952 till now.
 The recent three Prime Ministers of UK are
o Gordon Brown (2007 – 2010),
o David Cameron (2010 – 2016), and
o Theresa May (2016 – 2019 )
o Boris Johnson (2019- now)

Did you know? Queen Elizabeth II is also the head of Canada, Australia and
New Zealand.

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B. United States of America (USA/US) Constitution

United States of America became an sovereign (self-governing) nation in

1776, after it declared independence from British Empire.

But it was only in 1788 that the US Constitution was formally adopted.

USA has been celebrating ‘Independence day’, every year, on 4 July from
1776.

USA has 50 states. According to US constitution,

each state has a ‘state government’ headed by ‘Governor’.
And over the whole country is the ‘federal government’ headed by the
‘President’.

An important feature of US Constitution is the “separation of powers” of the

federal government, into three branches.
1. Legislative - bicameral Congress
2. Executive - President
3. Judiciary - Supreme Court and other federal courts

Did you know? Out of the 50 states of USA, 48 states are called
contiguous(attached) states on US Mainland. Two states Alaska and Hawaii
Islands are far away.

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The US Parliament, or Congress, has two houses : (1) Senate and (2) House of
Representatives.

States of the United States

The “Bill of Rights” is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the
United States Constitution4.

The US Constitution has been amended 27 times so far, till today. The first 10
Amendments —which make up the Bill of Rights—were all ratified in 17915.

Below are Two Amendments from US ‘Bill of Rights’:

The First Amendment (Amendment I) guarantees freedoms concerning

religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It forbids Congress
from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting an
individual’s religious practices. It guarantees freedom of expression by
prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to
speak freely. It also guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peaceably
and to petition their government6.

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The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States
Constitution protects the right of individuals to keep and bear arms.

The second amendment supports the natural rights of self-defense, and

resistance to oppression. But in US Congress today it has become a major
issue as individuals keeping fire-arms (guns) with them even if they are
registered and licensed could be harming the society.

Some US Laws Related to Business

1. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 – on investments (stocks and bonds) and

how business organizations must function.

2. Investment Company Act of 1940 (also called Company Act) - on mutual

funds, and other investments. Along with other acts it forms the backbone
of United States financial regulation.

3. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 - It ended segregation in public places and
banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex
or national origin. It is considered one of the crowning legislative
achievements of the civil rights movement7.

4. Chapter 11 of United States Bankruptcy Code - When a business is unable

to service its debt or pay its creditors, the business or its creditors can file
with a federal bankruptcy court for protection. (General Motors did that in
2009—see next page)

5. United States Antitrust Law8 : It is a collection of federal and state

government laws, which regulates the conduct and organization of
business corporations. These laws promote fair competition for the benefit
of consumers. The main statutes are the Sherman Act 1890, the Clayton
Act 1914 and the Federal Trade Commission Act 1914.

The recent four Presidents of USA

 Bill Clinton (1993 – 2001)
 George W Bush or George Bush( Junior) – (2001-2009)
 Barack Obama (2009-2017)
 Donald Trump (2017-now)

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Did you know?

General Motors (GM) filed for protection under Chapter 11 United States
Bankruptcy Code, in 2009.

When the large company, with many different car brands, closed its accounts-
books on the year 2008, it was in a huge loss of $30.9 billion.

Chief executive Rick Wagoner led the auto delegation in Washington asking
government for funds to save the industry and to keep GM out of bankruptcy.
The Obama government – after a lot of debate in congress - accepted to buy
out the company equity.

Now, after an unprecedented government equity investment, GM is making

profits, and the Treasury plans to sell its remaining stake in the coming
months9.

Did you know? The U.S. Supreme Court ended a lawsuit that
accused Microsoft of illegally protecting its Windows computer operating
system from competition 20 years ago by undercutting a rival word-processing
program. Novell Inc., which once made the WordPerfect application, had filed
the suit in 199410.

The case is Novell v. Microsoft, 13-1042

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C. Bahrain’s Constitution

After a referendum which approved the “National Action Charter’, a new

constitution for Bahrain was adopted in 2002.

According to the constitution, the religion of the State is Islam. The Islamic
Shari'a is a principal source for legislation. The official language is Arabic.

Like USA, even Bahrain’s constitution divides its government functioning into
three branches: Legislative, Executive and Judiciary.

The National Assembly (Al-Majlis al-Watani) has two houses, each with 40
members. The Consultative Council (Majlis al-Shura), is nominated by the
King. The Chamber of Deputies (Majlis al-Nuwwab) is elected by the people.

Some Bahraini Laws Related to Business

1. Commercial Companies Law No. (21) Of 2001
2. Labour law No. 36 of 2012
3. Workers Trade Union Law by Legislative Decree No. 33 of 2002.
4. Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) is a government body
with a corporate identity established under Act No. 19 of 2006 to
regulate the labour market in the Kingdom.
5. Tamkeen is a semi-government organization established under Law
Number (57) of 2006 to boost private sector by helping Bahraini youth
in SME financing, skills training, and entrepreneurship.

Some of Bahrain's current Ministers (as of September 2017).

Ministry Minister
Foreign Affairs Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa
Industry and Commerce and Tourism Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani
Health Faeqa bint Saeed Al Saleh
Education Majid bin Ali Al-Nuaimi
Labour and Social Development Jameel bin Mohammad Ali Humaidan
Electricity and Water Affairs Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza
Transportation & Telecommunications Kamal Ahmed
Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowment Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa
(Note: These names are not for your exams)

Chapter 2. Government Legislation Page 8

In 2014, Bahrain reorganized its administrative structure.

It now has four governorates, and each governorate is headed by a governor.

The following are Bahrain’s four governorates11

1. Muharraq,

2. Capital,

3. Northern

4. Southern

1. The New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edn., Erin McKean (editor), 2051
pages, May 2005, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-517077-6.
2

http://www.parliament.gov.za/content/4Why%20the%20Constitution%20is%20so%
20important.pdf
3
http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-an-
introduction#sthash.KCDAsae3.dpuf
4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights
5
http://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/additional-amendments/
6
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment
7
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act
8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_antitrust_law
9
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danbigman/2013/10/30/how-general-motors-was-
really-saved-the-untold-true-story-of-the-most-important-bankruptcy-in-u-s-history/
10
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-28/microsoft-wins-antitrust-case-as-
top-court-rejects-novell.html
11

http://archives.gdnonline.com/NewsDetails.aspx?date=04/07/2015&storyid=
386389

(All websites accessed in September 2016)

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