tiny and control of the measures of the
executive and administrative organs. The second is the exercise, under
limitations to be described, of the power of judicature. The third,
and much the most important, is the function of public and private
legislation and of fiscal control.

*135. Criticism: Ministerial Responsibility.*--Parliament does not
govern and is not intended to govern. Never save when the Long
Parliament undertook the administration of public affairs through
committees of its members has Parliament asserted a disposition to
gather immediately into its own hands those powers of state which are
executive in character. At the same time, the growth of parliamentary
government has meant the establishment of a connection between the
executive and the parliamentary chambers (principally the Commons) (p. 129)
as close as may be so long as separateness of organization is still
maintained. The officials who comprise the working executive are
invariably members of Parliament. They initiate public measures,
introduce them, advocate and defend them, and, in general, guide and
control the conduct of public business both inside and outside the
chambers. But for every act they are responsible directly to the House
of Commons. They may continue in power only so long as they are
supported by a majority in that chamber. And their conduct is subject
continually to review and criticism, through the instrumentality of
questions, formal inquiries, and, if need be, judicial procedure.

It is within the competence of any member to address a question to any
minister of the crown who is also a member, to obtain information.
Except in special cases, notice of questions must be given at least
one day in advance, and a period of approximately three-quarters of an
hour is set apart at four sittings every week for the asking and
answering of such questions. A minister may answer or decline to
answer, but unless a declination can be shown to arise from legitimate
considerations of public interest its effect politically may be
embarrassing. In any event, there is no debate, and in this respect
the English practice differs from the French "interpellation."[186]
The asking of questions is liable to abuse but, as is pointed out by
Ilbert, "there is no more valuable safeguard against maladministration,
no more effective method of bringing the searchlight of criticism to
bear on the action or inaction of the executive government and its
subo