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The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the house. The speaker often also represents the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial and some other situations.
As a parliamentary title it is typically Anglo-Saxon, first recorded in the English parliament for Thomas de Hungerford in 1377; in most other cultures other styles are used, mainly translations of Chairman or President.
Many bodies also have a Speaker pro Tempore or temporary Speaker designated to fill in when the Speaker is not available.
UK and "Westminster system" countries
In many nations, especially those with the Westminster System of government, the position of Speaker, modelled after the office in the British House of Commons, is ideally scrupulously politically neutral and is not concerned with substantive issues. In the event of a tie, the speaker is permitted to vote but only according to established conventions. In most cases the speaker is elected from among the members of the assembly by the members, and whips are not allowed to be among the selection. In the UK, a speaker is normally chosen from one of the two largest parties on an alternate basis, however this convention was broken with the election of Michael Martin as speaker as he and the previous incumbent, Betty Boothroyd, had both been members of the Labour Party. The current Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, Peter Milliken, is a member of the Official Opposition.
Despite being an impartial position, the Speaker in a Westminster system parliament has to stand for re-election if he wishes to stay. In the Republic of Ireland the Speaker (Ceann Comhairle) is deemed to have been elected if he seeks re-election; in the United Kingdom it is a constitutional convention that no major party will put up a candidate against the 'Speaker seeking re-election'. However in 2005 the Scottish National Party put up a candidate against the incumbent speaker (Michael Martin).
United States
In the United States, in the House of Representatives and in state legislatures and local government councils, the speaker is usually selected by the members of the majority party and functions as a leader of that party. Thus, though the speaker is expected to be fair, they use procedural rulings to advance the causes and agenda of their own party. Ceremonially, the speaker may represent the whole house, but politically is the legislative voice of the party in power.
There is one prominent case of a speaker who is not presiding officer. The New York City Council, the unicameral legislative body for New York City, has as its presiding officer the Public Advocate, a position formerly known as City Council President, who is elected by all the voters of the city. As the public advocate's role has changed with several city charter revisions, a post of Council Speaker was created. The speaker is, effectively, majority leader of the council.
According to the federal succession statute currently in effect,[1] the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress is second in line for succession to the presidency; should the president and vice president be unable to serve, the speaker would become president. Some scholars, however, have argued that this provision of the succession statute is unconstitutional.[2]
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is currently Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is the first woman ever to serve as Speaker.
Similar posts
The presiding officer for an upper house of a bicameral legislature usually has a different title, although substantially the same duties.
When the upper house is called a senate, the equivalent title is often President of the Senate:
Australia and Chile also have upper houses with presiding officers titled "president".
This pattern is not universal, however. Some upper houses, including those of Canada and several U.S. states (including Tennessee), have a speaker.
In the United Kingdom, the presiding officer of the House of Lords was until recently the Lord Chancellor, who was also a member of the government (a cabinet member) and the head of the judicial branch. The Lord Chancellor did not have the same authority to discipline members of the Lords that the speaker of the Commons has in that house. (On 4 July 2006 the office was reformed, and the Baroness Hayman took the woolsack as the first Lord Speaker.) (The office of Lord Chancellor remains, though with a modified role and duties.)
The Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament have the positions of Presiding Officer which fulfils the same role as the speaker.
List
References
See also
- Generic
- Specific
- Historic
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