The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (123 page)

 
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The upper house in the UK Parliament. It is composed of hereditary peers, Church of England bishops and other church nominees, law lords, and life peers created under the 1958 Life Peerage Act. In 1985–6 there were 1,171 peers on the roll. The political authority of the House of Lords rests upon its historic role in the constitution. However, without a popular mandate, its legislative power has long been secondary to that of the House of Commons. Whilst it initiates some private members' bills and some public bills, the bulk of government legislation, and all the most important, is initiated in the House of Commons. The Lords have the power of scrutiny but the limits upon this were formalized by the 1949 Parliament Act, under which the Lords can only delay public bills for up to thirteen months (reduced from two years under the 1911 Parliament Act). With the creation of more Labour life peers it has increasingly been run on party lines, although there remains a large unorganized Conservative majority.
During the 1945–51 Labour Governments the principle of the ‘doctrine of the mandate’ was adopted by Conservative peers, by which they agreed not to block those parts of the Labour programme which had received an electoral mandate. This doctrine was largely followed up to the 1970s. At the same time, on a routine basis extensive scrutiny of government bills of the type not possible in the Commons due to the demands upon time has frequently led to a revision of detail in bills, and the work of the Lords select committees has been drawn upon by ministers and government departments.
Nevertheless, there have been serious conflicts. Labour Governments tried unsuccessfully to reform the House of Lords in 1948–9 and 1968–9. Between 1979 and 1990 many saw the House of Lords as the only real parliamentary opposition to the Thatcher Governments, despite their being Conservative. However, many of the House of Lords' defeats for the Thatcher Governments were either reversed in the Commons or ignored. Despite this, the opposition parties seem to display remarkably little urgency about its reform.
JBr 

 
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The lower house of the United States
Congress
. It has 435 members elected from equal population districts, and a single elected non-voting delegate from each of the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. It has an equal status with the Senate on most matters, but a superior status in tax and spending.

 
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Housework is seen by feminists as ‘work’ within the domestic space. It involves labour and efficiency as any other job in the public sphere. Housework is often recognized as another dimension of ‘natural’ feminine attributes. Gender differences and job inequalities are sharpened due to the low status given to housework in hierarchical institutions.
STh 

 
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Human rights are a special sort of inalienable moral entitlement. They attach to all persons equally, simply by virtue of their humanity, irrespective of race, nationality, or membership of any particular social group. They specify the minimum conditions for human dignity and a tolerable life.
The first generation of civil and political rights restricts what others (including the state) may do, for example, life, liberty, and freedom from torture. A second generation of social and economic rights requires active provision, such as by imposing an obligation on government. Some analysts prefer to call these ideals, because many societies are unable to implement them owing to inadequate resources. A third generation of claims concerns such rights as peace, development, and humanitarian assistance. Many of the claims attach to individuals, but some rights are ascribed to collectivities, such as the right to national self-determination.
Rights have been catalogued by the
United Nations
, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)—a General Assembly resolution that is not legally binding—and in two international conventions (1966). Other accounts are to be found in many countries' constitutions, and there is a European Convention applicable to Council of Europe member states.
Statements about human rights are normative and prescriptive. Critics reject the idea of universality, or allege particular accounts are merely ideological and culture-specific, and that in any case the rights may be violated for reasons of state or public emergency. Human rights claims challenge state sovereignty and power, but states may enhance their international legitimacy, and thereby external security, by displaying respect for human rights.
PB1 

 
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