Prime Minister's Questions in the UK is scripted but isn't at the same time.
Basically, any MP can ask a question and gives his question to the speaker in advance. The speaker draws lots as to who gets to ask questions, but he'll alternate between the major parties. Nearly all the questions put in are actually deathly dull, always asking about the Prime Minister's engagements for that day. This forces the PM to answer the question (and not get a minister to do on his behalf). The MP is then entitled to a previously unknown "follow-up" on any topic. This is where the real fun comes in. You'll hear the PM constantly refer new questionner to his previous answers for their engagement questions, but it's the follow-ups that kill. The PM will usually have a fair idea about what will be asked, only because they're issues of the day. So he or she will prepare accordingly. But curve balls can still go on. Plus some MPs will ask about very localised problems that they want to know if the PM is "aware" of. He or she will gently deflect those questions and "look into it." Of course the Speaker in the House of Commons has to act impartially and not in any way be partisan towards one side of the house or the other. I guess that's where the real difference comes in. Like the arbitor in a Presidential Debate, you need someone to keep order - especially in a sometimes rowdy House of Commons. More on PMQs here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister%27s_Questions Incidentally, we're going to get our first ever Prime Ministerial televised debates in the run-up to this year's election in May. Cue lots of US political advisors coming over to the UK to make the most of these... Adam On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 6:04 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > The British Prime Minister is a member of Parliament (House of Commons) - > they don't have question time with their Head of State. I don't think this > model would work with our (US) system. It is not exactly the same, but more > possible if they had something like it with the Speaker of the House and the > Majority Leader of the Senate. > > The thing with Obama and the Republicans worked pretty well - it might be > nice to have a quarterly Q&A between the President and a (smaller) group of > members of Congress from the opposition party on CSPAN. > > > On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 9:38 AM, David Bruggeman <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Our media does a lousy job of holding anyone's feet to the fire. If it >> did, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report would look very different. The >> British media does a better job, but it also makes our tabloids look polite. >> >> I'm pretty convinced that a regular question period in the U.S. (which >> wouldn't take place in Congress since it's too uptight about anything >> demonstrative - the hooting found in the U.K. or Canada would not be >> tolerated) would pretty quickly become a tightly managed, if not scripted, >> affair. Better that it be an irregular, unannounced affair that could be >> taped for later broadcast. >> >> David >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* Chris Neuman <[email protected]> >> ** >> >> Isn't Question Time (UK version) incredibly scripted, with questions >> submitted in advance so everything appears gentlemanly and (relatively) >> calm? >> >> For (mostly) unscripted fun, tune into Question Period in the Canadian >> House of Commons or any of its provincial counterparts. Questions from >> opposition parties often elicit spur of the moment responses and test the >> ability of politicians to think on their feet. Sure, little is done from a >> governance perspective, and often it's a given what questions are going to >> be askedbut it's great theatre and that means it makes it on TV and spurs >> commentary and debate. It also publicly showcases the constitutional role >> of the opposition (also known has "Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition") to >> hold government's feet to the fire, something that doesn't officially exist >> in the American system as I understand it -- though the media does a great >> job. >> >> Chris >> >> >> <http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en> >> >> -- >> TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "TV or Not TV" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en >> > > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
