The whips play an important role in maintaining party discipline and ensuring MPs vote along party lines. They circulate weekly schedules indicating the relative importance of votes and can punish dissenters by withdrawing privileges or removing them from the party. While discipline is generally more relaxed in the House of Lords, whips in both houses use rewards like desirable committee positions or promotions to encourage loyalty and punishments like losing support to discourage disloyalty. Some argue this undermines democracy by coercing MPs to follow the party rather than their conscience.