British Political System Lecture Notes PDF

second Lecture UNITED KINGDOM  UNITED KINGDOM Why Study This Case? As the primogenitor of modern democracy, the UK political system is at once strikingly unique and a model for many other liberal democracies. The United Kingdom is the world’s oldest democracy. Its transition to democracy...

second Lecture UNITED KINGDOM  UNITED KINGDOM Why Study This Case? As the primogenitor of modern democracy, the UK political system is at once strikingly unique and a model for many other liberal democracies. The United Kingdom is the world’s oldest democracy. Its transition to democracy was gradual, beginning with thirteenth- century limitations on absolute monarchs and continuing incrementally to the establishment of the rule of law in the seventeenth century and the extension of suffrage to women in the twentieth century. Unlike many other democracies, the United Kingdom cannot attach a specific date or event to the advent of its democracy. The United Kingdom is one of only a handful of democracies without a written constitution. The longevity and stability of its democracy have thus depended largely on both traditional legitimacy and a unique political culture of accommodation and moderation. Although its constitution is unwritten, many aspects of its “Westminster system” parliamentary system of democracy have been adopted by a number of the world’s other democracies. Major Geographic and Demographic Features Since 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been the formal name of the United Kingdom. Great Britain itself consists of three nations (England, Scotland, and Wales). These three nations plus the northeastern part of the island of Ireland constitute the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is roughly the size of Oregon in the United States and about two-thirds the size of Japan. It has approximately 63 million residents, nearly twice the population of California and about half that of Japan. Its population is not equally distributed among England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Five of six Britons live in England. The United Kingdom can be considered a multiethnic state because it contains Scottish, Welsh, and English citizens, who have distinct cultures and languages Historical Development of the State As part of the United Kingdom’s political development, another important legacy was the emergence of common law, a system based on local customs and precedents rather than formal legal codes. That system forms the basis of the contemporary legal systems of the United Kingdom (with the exception of Scotland), the United States, and many former British colonies. The most important initial document is the Magna Carta, which British nobles obliged King John to sign in 1215. The Magna Carta became a royal promise to uphold feudal customs and the rights of England’s barons. Magna Carta sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits of royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself. Compared with its European neighbors, the United Kingdom had a more constrained monarchy. Three major developments in the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries decisively undermined the power of British sovereigns and are crucial for our understanding of why the United Kingdom was one of the first nations to develop democratic control.  The United Kingdom began its overseas expansion in the sixteenth century, and by the early nineteenth century, it had vanquished its main European rivals to become the world’s dominant military, commercial, and cultural power. Its navy helped open new overseas markets for its burgeoning domestic industry, and by the empire’s zenith in 1870, the United Kingdom controlled about a quarter of all world trade and probably had the globe’s wealthiest economy. The dimensions of the British Empire were truly exceptional. In the nineteenth century, it governed one-quarter of the world’s population directly ruled almost 50 countries and dominated many more with its commercial muscle. Today, the Commonwealth includes the United Kingdom and 54 of its former colonies and serves to maintain at least some of the economic and cultural ties established during its long imperial rule. Political Regime The political regime of the United Kingdom is notable among the world’s democracies because of its highly majoritarian features. Under the rules of British politics, the majority in Parliament has virtually unchecked power. Unlike political parties in other democracies, even parliamentary democracies, the majority party in the United Kingdom can enact policies with few checks from other branches of government. Also unlike other democracies, in the United Kingdom, there are no formal constitutional limits on the central government, few judicial restraints, and no constitutionally sanctioned local authorities to dilute the power of the government in London. Political Institutions THE CONSTITUTION The United Kingdom has no single document that defines the rules of politics, but the constitution is generally understood to include a number of written documents and unwritten rules that most British citizens view as inviolable. In 1215, the Magna Carta set a precedent for limits on monarchical power. Other documents include the 1689 Bill of Rights and the 1707 Act of Union, which united Scotland and England. What makes the United Kingdom’s constitution particularly unusual is that it also consists of various acts of Parliament, judicial decisions, customs, and traditions. Since Parliament is viewed as sovereign, the democratically elected lower house of the legislature can amend any aspect of the constitution by a simple majority vote This power extends to the very existence of the monarchy, the powers of regions or local governments, and the powers of the houses of Parliament. Therefore, unlike most other democratic regimes, the United Kingdom has no constitutional court, because any law passed by Parliament is by definition constitutional.  The basic characteristics of the British Political System Democray Poltical decsions are made by populary elected leaders. The monrach acts only on the base of their advice, he is politically nutral. Supremacy of the parliament Legally, parliament can do anthing it wants. Unitary government All powers are granted to the central authorities. Fusion of legislative and excutive power. The leaders of the majority party constitute the excutive.  Independence of the judiciary Judicial authority is free from interference Prtotection of civile rights  Party system In the United Kingdom’s majoritarian parliamentary system, political parties are extremely important. The majority party controls the government and can generally implement its policy goals, which are spelled out in the party manifesto. From the end of World War II to 1970, the United Kingdom had a two-party system. The Conservative Party and the Labour Party together garnered more than 90 percent of the popular vote. The two large parties were equally successful during that period— each won four elections. After 1974, a multiparty system emerged, which included the birth of a stronger centrist Liberal Democratic Party and a surge of support for nationalist parties in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom’s party system differs regionally, even for national elections. In England, the three major parties (Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democrat) compete with one another. In Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, important regional parties compete with the three national political parties.  THE LABOUR PARTY the Labour Party, which was formed in 1900 as an outgrowth of the trade union movement, sought to give the British working class a voice in Parliament. Only after the mobilizing effect of World War I and the expansion of suffrage in 1918 was the Labour Party able to make significant progress at the polls. Labour’s turning point and its emergence as one of the United Kingdom’s two dominant parties came with its landslide victory in 1945, just after the end of World War II. the British Labour Party considered socialism its dominant ideological characteristic. British socialists, however, were influenced by Fabianism, a moderate ideology that advocated working within the parliamentary order to bring about social-democratic change. While Labour championed a strong welfare state and some state ownership of industry, the party’s moderate politics never threatened to replace capitalism.  For most of its history, the Labour Party depended heavily on working-class votes, winning the support of about two-thirds of the United Kingdom’s manual laborers. Starting in the 1970s, however, the composition of the class structure began to change as fewer Britons engaged in blue-collar jobs. At that point, the solid identification of workers with Labour began to erode, creating a serious challenge for the party. By the mid-1970s, the Labour Party was badly divided between radical socialists who wanted the party to move to the left to shore up its working- class credentials and moderates who wanted it to move toward the political center. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Labour Party began a process of ideological and organizational moderation. The party’s constitution was rewritten to weaken severely the ability of trade unions to control party policy. Labour also abandoned its commitment to socialism and advocated a cross-class appeal.  Labour’s victory in the 2005 elections marked the first time in history that the party had been elected to office three consecutive times. However, those elections reduced Labour’s majority by 47 seats.