2. The History of Parliament OBJECTIVES: To understand the historic background of Parliamentary democracy in the UK

3. Can you name a significant political date or occurrence E.g. voting age lowered from 21 to 18 in 1969

4. Click on the picture to watch the video: History of Parliament

5. Importance of Parliament to our Freedoms The parliament or legislature plays an important role in the life of a nation. It perform three main functions: a) make new laws, change existing laws and repeal laws which are no longer needed; b) represent the views and wishes of the citizens in decision making processes c)oversee the government to make it accountable to the people. This is so because parliament plays a crucial role in gauging, collating and presenting the views and needs of the people by articulating their expectations and aspirations.

6. Extension Use the link provided below to further explore Parliament: http://assets.parliament.uk/education/Interac tive-Whiteboard- Resources/IWB_1_2/deploy/iwb_1.html?level =3 http://assets.parliament.uk/education/Interac tive-Whiteboard- Resources/IWB_1_2/deploy/iwb_1.html?level =3