Politics in Britain
The political system
U.S.
Domestic economy
Russia
Legislature Executive Bureaucracies Political parties
Court
Interest groups
Domestic culture France
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
Majority party
voters
Minority party
Parliament
Prime minister & cabinet
British government
• Government
– Queen’s, Tony Blair’s, or Labour government
• Whitehall Street
– created in 1801
• Great Britain
– England – Scotland – Wales
Historical evolution: gradualism
• Historical challenges to all industrialized democracies:
Domestic society Germany
United Kingdom
• Size
– about two times that of the state of Mississippi
• Population
– about 59 million – non-white immigration since WWII
– 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
• 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
– Building the nation-state – Defining the relationship between church and state – Establishing liberal democracy – Dealing with the impact of the industrial revolution
• Postwar collectivist consensus until 1970s • consensus about role of government for the collective economic and social good
– royal succession
• Early 1700s: emergence of prime minister
Unwritten constitution
• Lack of a written constitution
Parliamentary system
• Parliament selects the prime minister
U.S.
Domestic economy
Russia
Legislature Executive Bureaucracies Political parties
Court
Interest groups
Domestic culture France
Domestic society Germany
Parties and interest groups
Monarch versus Parliament
• • • • • 1215: Magna Carta 1500s: the ChurchWar and Restoration 1688: Glorious Revolution 1701: Act of Settlement
– 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
• 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