Politics in Britain

The political system

Executive

Legislature Court

Bureaucracies

Political parties Interest groups

Domestic economy

Domestic culture Domestic society

U.S.

France Germany

Russia

United Kingdom

• Size– about two times that of the state of Mississippi

• Population– about 59 million– non-white immigration since WWII

• from South Asia, West Indies, and East Asia• 4.6 million (8% of total population)

– Europeans?

United Kingdom > Great Britain

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland– created in 1801

• Great Britain– England– Scotland– Wales

Historical evolution: gradualism

• Historical challenges to all industrialized democracies:– Building the nation-state– Defining the relationship between church and

state– Establishing liberal democracy– Dealing with the impact of the industrial

revolution

Monarch versus Parliament

• 1215: Magna Carta

• 1500s: the Church of England

• 1642-60: Civil War and Restoration

• 1688: Glorious Revolution

• 1701: Act of Settlement– royal succession

• Early 1700s: emergence of prime minister

Unwritten constitution

• Lack of a written constitution

Parliamentary system

• Parliament selects the prime minister– prime minister is not elected by popular vote– normally the head of majority party or coalition

• Cabinet responsibility to parliament– major legislation and votes of confidence

voters Parliament

Majority party

Minority party

Prime minister& cabinet

British government

• Government– Queen’s, Tony Blair’s, or Labour government

• Whitehall Street– executive agencies

• Downing Street– prime minister’s residence

• Westminster– parliament

Democratization continued

• 1832: Great Reform Act (men’s suffrage)

• 1911: Reform of House of Lords

• 1928: Right to vote for all adults

Electoral system

• Single-member district

• First-past-the-post (winner-take-all) system

Election results

Parliament

• The House of Commons– 659 members– voting is 100% along party lines in most votes– party versus constituency interests

• the House of Lords– is not elected

• reforms

House of Commons

• the government gets its way

• MPs weigh political reputations

• MPs in the governing party have opportunities to influence government

• MPs talk about legislation

• MPs scrutinize administration of policies

• MPs publicizing issues

Executive

Legislature Court

Bureaucracies

Political parties Interest groups

Domestic economy

Domestic culture Domestic society

U.S.

France Germany

Russia

Parties and interest groups

• Postwar collectivist consensus until 1970s

• consensus about role of government for the collective economic and social good– state should take expanded responsibility

• economic growth and full employment

– state should provide social welfare• public education, health care, etc.

– publicly owned sector (1/5 of total production)

Collectivist Consensus

• Both Labour and Conservative gradually expanded the role of government

• Party identification, electoral behavior, and occupation were strongly correlated– most of working class voted Labour– most of middle class voted Conservative

Margaret Thatcher

• Economic stagflation in 1970s

• Neither party was able to manage economy well

• 1978-79 “winter of discontent” strikes

• Thatcher’s alternative vision– cut taxes, reduce social services– stimulate the private sector– market and “businesslike” methods

Margaret Thatcher

• Served (1979 - 1990) longer without interruption than any other British prime minister in 20th century

Welfare state

• Even under Thatcher and Major, Britain experienced real growth in both social services and health care provisions

Margaret Thatcher

• 1979-1984 government spending actually rose from 39% of GNP to 44% of GNP– 1890: 8%– 1910: 12%– 1920: 26%

• 1989 survey: less than 1/3 approved of the “Thatcher revolution”

New Labour Party

• 1997 electoral victory• the largest majority in parliament (419/659)

that the Labour Party has ever held• Conservative vote fell to its lowest share

since 1832• Tony Blair: “New Labour is a party of ideas

and ideals, but not of outdated ideology. What counts is what works.”

Tony Blair & “Third Way”

• “Third way” alternative to collectivism and Thatcherism:– rejected the historic ties between Labour

governments and the trade union movement– reversed the tendency to provide centralized

statist solutions to economic and social problem

• A vague philosophy to draw support from across the social-economic spectrum.

% Voted for Labour Party

• Year Working class Women

• 1974 57% 38%

• 1979 50% 35%

• 1983 38% 26%

• 1987 42% 32%

• 1992 45% 34%

• 1997 58% 49%

Hypothetical voter distribution

n

left social-economic spectrum right

Interest groups

• Civil society– institutions independent of government

• Interest groups influence politics– not by contesting elections– regardless of which party wins

• Distance between party and interest groups– Interest groups criticize partisan allies

Interest groups

• Organizations of British businesses– Confederation of British Industries

• dominated by large firms

• Organizations of British labour– Trades Union Congress (TUC)

• 38% of workforce is unionized• 90% of unionized workers are affiliated with TUC

– affiliation with the Labour Party

Interest aggregation

• Political demands of individuals and groups are combined into policy programs– farmers, environmentalists, business, etc.

• substantial political resources– popular votes, campaign funds, legislative

seats, executive influence, etc.

• competing policy goals are compromised to produce a single governing program

Interest aggregation