The Political System of England
Historical Chronology
1066: Battle of Hastings (secures English independence from European powers)
1215: Magna Carta (establishes certain rights against the King)
1500s: Reformation (separation of religious/secular authority)
1600s: English Civil War; Restoration
1760s: Industrial Revolution
1832-1885: Expansion of franchise to most males
1911: Role of House of Lords reduced
1928: Equal voting rights for women
1940-45;51-55: Winston Churchill serves as Prime Minister
1979-90: Margaret Thatcher as P.M.
1990-97: John Major as P.M.
1997: Tony Blair as P.M.
Nationality
United Kingdom:
- England
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
Until 1997: One Parliament; referendums have approved regional Parliament in Scotland and Wales
w. limited powers.
Language Differences
Historical Process
: Scotland linked to England since 1600s and
experienced revolt.
Wales linked since 1500s.
All of Ireland until 1920s; Ireland becomes independent but N. Ireland remains part of
UK. Continuing conflict.
Ethnicity/region impacts current voting patterns
:
- Wales: high Labour Party vote
- N. Ireland: regional Catholic/Protestant Parties dominate
- Scotland: Scottish Nationalist Party significant but not dominant.
- England: traditional class/ideological voting.
Structure of Government
Constitution
: Unwritten: traditions, historic documents, Acts of
Parliament, Court decisions
Monarchy
: Head of State—ceremonial; no real involvement in
politics. Technically, government acts in the Queen’s name.
Government:
Parliamentary System: Head of Government is a Prime
Minister. Leader of Majority Party/Coalition in Parliament., he or she appoints other
Ministers and with the Cabinet decides government policy.
Parliament
:
- House of Commons is elected from single-member districts with a
"first-past-the-post" system.
- House of Lords is an appointed traditional body with limited political influence.
Powers of Government:
Parliamentary supremacy—can change
the impact of court or bureaucratic decisions or alter the "constitution".
Unitary structure of the state gives Parliament ultimate authority over local government.
Parliament is normally controlled by the Cabinet if the ruling party has a stable
majority.
Parliament must approve laws but normally the P.M. introduces only Bills that he knows
will be approved (or that he knows he can compel party members to vote for). More
important is Parliamentary debate where grievances can be aired, both by the opposition
and by "back-benchers". Also important is question-time, which allows Parliament
to exercise supervision over Ministers and the bureaucracy by posing questions to the P.M.
and the Cabinet.
Day One: Discussion Questions:
How does the English Political System gain legitimacy and popular support?
What is the purpose of having a legislative body where one house has little influence on
legislation and the lower house basically has little power to alter Cabinet policy?
Why do M.P.’s bother asking questions during question-time?
In what ways is an English P.M. more powerful than an American President? In what ways
is he/she less powerful than an American President?
How has history influenced the structure of English political institutions?
Socialization and Voting
Religion: outside of Northern Ireland, religion has only a slight impact on voting
tendency.
Gender: Generally, gender has no influence on voting. Women are under-represented
substantially in Parliament, Cabinet and local government (despite the image some of you
might have had from the success of Margaret Thatcher).
Education: traditionally, the difference between "public" schools (what we
would call private schools here) as compared to those who attended state schools separated
the elite from the common folk. Today, however, most politicians come from state school
backgrounds. Higher education is paid for by the government, although there are differing
levels of higher education. Those with more education are more likely to be active in
politics.
Class: In English society, the largest class is Manual workers (working class) compared
to middle class. Traditionally, working class supported the Labour Party while Middle
Class supported the Conservative Party; while this is still generally true, each party has
been able to gain some support among its opponent’s traditional supporters, thereby
somewhat eroding the traditional pattern of class voting.
Housing: Those living in government housing, as opposed to homeowners, tend to support
Labour.
Participation:
Voter turnout is high compared to the US (78%).
Other forms of participation are lower than US: protests; contacting representative.
Interest Groups
Within the Labour Party, labor unions have institutionalized input into party policy.
While Conservative Party and Big Business share interests, there is no institutional
arrangement.
Through the 1960s, the relationship between interest groups and government could be
characterized as pluralist. By the 1970s, the relationship was closer to corporatism;
under the Thatcher/Major governments, the government pursued a policy of reducing the role
of government in the economic sector and tended to distance itself from close relations
with either business or labor.
During the 1970s and early 1980s labor unions attempted to press their economic demands
on government through a series of strikes that ultimately proved unsuccessful and weakened
their influence on government.
Political Parties
Despite the single-member district nature of British elections, Britain has a
multiparty system. There are two dominant parties that have alternated in power, Labour
and Conservative, a third party that has significant national appeal, the Liberal
Democrats, and several regional parties of varying strength that from time to time play a
role in pressing regional demands or in shoring up a government with a weak majority.
- Labour: The Labour party came to power in the 1997 elections after almost twenty years
of Conservative government. Labour had declined to almost Third Party status by the
mid-1980s, but won a convincing victory in 1997.Led by Tony Blair, Labour was able to
develop a more moderate and centrist image compared to what many had perceived as a
radical party of the 1980s. Labour has promised to focus on economic issues of the country
and has accepted the privatization that was carries through by the Thatcher government. At
the same time, Britons are convinced that Labour will care more about the plight of the
average Briton and protect important core government services such as Health Care that had
been threatened under Conservative governments.
- Conservative: Conservatives had dominated government from 1979-1997. Margaret Thatcher
had proven a strong leader, pressing through a privatized economic platform and strong
international leadership during the Falklands War. In 1990, however, Thatcher was removed
as party leader (and therefore as Prime Minister). She was replaced by John Major. Under
Major, the various factions of the party that had caused the ouster of Thatcher continued
to feud, further weakening the Conservatives. The issue of further European integration
result in intra-party conflict between the pro- and ant-European wings of the party. Major
led a disintegrating party into the 1997 general election and was soundly defeated. The
party quickly replaced Major as party leader.
- Liberal-Democrats: This party was formed in 1987 when the old Liberal Party merged with
the Social Democratic Party. The Social democrats had become a force when moderate
elements of the Labour Party quit Labour during the controversial 1980s campaigns of the
party. The Liberals/Liberal-Democrats have won between 10-25% of the popular vote since
the 1970s, although their share of Parliamentary seats is much less than that. This is
because the Social Democrats are probably the party that is most dis-advantaged by the
British election system. This is because, much like Labour and Conservative, their support
is dispersed nationally. Still, it tends not to be as strong as the other two parties. At
the same time, Liberal-Democrats consistently get more popular votes nationally than the
regional parties, yet get about the same number of seats or fewer than the regional
parties. This is because regional parties have concentrated support within constituencies
allowing them to win in the Single-Member districts.
Discussion Questions
Evaluate the "fairness" of the British system of Parliamentary Representation
given the situation of the Liberal-Democrats.
Does it seem fair that in a democratic system that a prime minister is elected without
needing to stand nationally?
Does it seem fair that a Prime Minister can be replaced by his/her own party?
Compare Party discipline and structure in the UK parliamentary system with the structure
and functioning of US parties.
Policy Issues for Discussion:
- National Health Care
- Marketization
- Education Policy
- European Integration.