Parliament has relatively weak war powers compared to legislatures in other democracies

Parliament is today being recalled from its summer recess to discuss the possibility of British military intervention in Syria. In the 2012 audit of UK democracy, Stuart Wilks-Heeg, Andrew Blick, and Stephen Crone considered Parliament’s powers in this area. Although Parliament has debated Britain’s involvement in recent conflicts it has no formal role in decisions over whether to deploy military force. In this respect, Parliament’s war powers are significantly weaker than those of legislatures in other countries.