Politics in Britain

1
Politics in Britain

• The political system

2
Russia
U.S.
Domestic economy
Legislature
Court
Executive
Bureaucracies
Political parties
Interest groups
Domestic culture
Domestic society
France
Germany
3
United Kingdom

• Size
• about two times that of the state of Mississippi
• Really all in a dense band from London to
  Newcastle, much of the land is open.
• 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?

4
Key Institutions
5
United Kingdom gt Great Britain

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
  Ireland
• created in 1801
• Great Britain
• England
• Scotland
• Wales

6
Union Flag For the UK Cross of St. George
English flag for centuries, St. George
legendarily slayed some dragon. Welsh Flag-
Claims to be oldest in world, probably from Roman
calvary Cross of St. Andrew Scottish
Flag Unofficial Flag of Northern Ireland Irish
Flag, some republican parts of Northern Ireland
fly it as their flag as well.
7
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

8
Monarch versus Parliament, History

• 1215 Magna Carta
• 1295 Convening of Model Parliament of Edward I,
  the first representative Parliament
• 1500s the Church of England
• 1529 Reformation Parliament of Henry VIII cuts
  ties to Roman Catholic Church.
• 1500s, defeat of Spanish Armada in 1588, perhaps
  the high point of English culture with
  Shakespeare.
• 1628 Charles I forced to sign Petition of Right,
  Parliaments first statement of civil rights in
  return for funds
• 1642-60 Civil War and Restoration
• 1688 Glorious Revolution
• 1689 Bill of Rights issued, est. constitutional
  monarchy
• 1701 Act of Settlement
• royal succession
• Early 1700s emergence of prime minister, 1721
  Walpole the first
• 1832-1867 Reform Acts passed extending vote to
  all urban males and most of countryside
• 1900 Labour Party est.
• 1916-1922 Anglo-Irish War fought, independent
  Republic of Ireland formed
• 1973 UK made a member of the EEC, now EU
• 1979-1990 Thatcher Era
• 1997- 2008 Blair Era

9
Development

• Waves of invasions by Romans, Angles Saxons,
  Danes, Celts, and finally Normans. British
  culture a mix of all of these influences.
• Celtic Fringe Wales, Scotland, Ireland have own
  distinct languages.
• English heavily influenced by French, French
  Normans ruled England since 1066. Many of our
  words are French heritage.
• James I, a Scot, united England and Scotland but
  brought on a century of power struggles beginning
  in 1607.
• 1714 House of Hannover, relied on a cabinet to
  run the goernment
• 19th century, the most powerful nation in
  history. Naval power and technology and
  industrialization made it the pre-eminent power.
  Governed one quarter of the worlds population,
  the sun never set, loss of empire was slow and
  gradual.

10
Democratization

• House of Lords represented high nobility,
  Commons low aristocracy and merchants. Monarch
  very powerful until the Germans came.
• Political Parties Tories (pro-Monarch) vs Whigs
  (against Monarch power, influenced American
  Founders).
• 1832 Reform Act
• Working Class that won the World Wars established
  a collectivist consensus of social welfare
  programs and the nationalization of the
  commanding heights of the economy.

11
Democratization continued

• 1832 Great Reform Act (mens suffrage)
• 1911 Reform of House of Lords
• 1928 Right to vote for all adults

12
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

13
Unwritten constitution

• Lack of a written constitution

14
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

Parliament
Majority party
Prime minister cabinet
voters
Minority party
15
(No Transcript)
16
British government

• Government
• Queens, Gordon Brown, or Labour government
• Whitehall Street
• executive agencies
• Downing Street
• prime ministers residence
• Westminster
• parliament

17
Electoral system

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

18
Election results
19
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
• Heriditary
• Life peers
• reforms

20
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

21
Judicial System

• Minor role, no judicial review per se but courts
  can strike down some legislation that violates
  one of constitutional documents.
• Mainly to make sure statutes are followed
• International Law increases power
• Judges come from distinguished jurists selected
  by Lord Chancellor
• Conservative bias
• Common Law
• Complex system of civil and criminal courts
• House of lords is highest court.

22
Cabinet

• The real source of power
• Always present unified front
• Home Office, Foreign Office, and Chancellor of
  the Exchequer
• Shadow ministers

23
Russia
U.S.
Domestic economy
Legislature
Court
Executive
Bureaucracies
Political parties
Interest groups
Domestic culture
Domestic society
France
Germany
24
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)

25
Parties

• Labour Party Working class, stronger hints of
  socialism, more like our democrats under Blair
• Conservatives (Tories) More moderate right
  party, do not disagree with all of collective
  ideas.
• Liberal Democrats mixture of social equality
  and classical liberalism emphasis on weak state.
  Most pro-EU, want proportional voter reforms.
• Others- Scottish Nationalist Party control
  Scottish legislature, Welsh Plaid Cymru, several
  Northern Irish parties Ulster Union, Sinn Fein
• Park Ridge Football Party- Lots of alcohol, lots
  of fights, police support, parental limited
  government.

26
Margaret Thatcher

• Economic stagflation in 1970s
• Neither party was able to manage economy well
• 1978-79 winter of discontent strikes
• Thatchers alternative vision
• cut taxes, reduce social services
• stimulate the private sector
• market and businesslike methods

27
Margaret Thatcher

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

28
(No Transcript)
29
Welfare state

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

30
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

31
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.

32
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.

33
(No Transcript)
34
(No Transcript)
35
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

36
Hypothetical voter distribution

• n
• left social-economic spectrum right

37
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
• Quangos though, polciy advisory boards.

38
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

39
Society

• Class Conflicts
• National and Ethnic Identity
• Culture considered pragmatic, tolerant, stable
• Slow political process despite power of any
  majority party.

40
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

41
Interest aggregation
42
Local Government

• Were powerful local councils, Thatcher abolished
  them in 1986, this coupled with poll tax was one
  of Thatchers most unpopular ideas.
• 1997, Blair returns power to local governments to
  some extent, particularly in London.
• 1997 Scotland and Wales have their own
  legislatures. Nationalist sentiment is strong in
  Scotland.
• 1998 Good Friday agreement, reestablishment of
  the Northern Ireland Assembly.
• Federalism?
• Still unitary for now.

43
Current Issues

• Loss of Colonial Empire
• Devolution and Constitutional Reform
• Military power and closeness to US

44
The Troubles
-Ireland dominated by the United Kingdom, union
with UK in 1801, but had been dominated by
English and Protestant landholders for centuries
since the 1600s. Penal laws restricted rights of
Catholic Irish. Irish Rebellion in 1798 resulted
in violence, and establishment of Society of
United Irishmen and the Orange Order of
Protestants to fight for loyalty to Crown and
William of Orange. -Irish Famine in the 1840s,
population declines by almost 30 through death
and emigration, many settle in US or cities like
Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. -Charles
Stewart Parnell, agitates for limited home rule
by end of 18th century, much of his efforts are
blocked by House of Lords. Prime Minister
Gladstone wishes for reform of relationship with
Ireland. Several acts of disobedience including
a boycott help the cause. IPP party is formed
and plays a powerful role as kingmaker in
Parliament. -Easter Rising of 1918, movement
turns more violent. Eamon de Valera returns from
imprisonment and radicalizes movement. -War for
Independence 1919-1921, Sinn Fein and IRA lead
guerrilla war against British and Ulster
Unionists. -1921 peace is negotiated by
leadership lead by Michael Collins, but it
accepts partition of the island. De Valera
strongly opposes and a bitter feud ensues
45
(No Transcript)
46
Cont..

• Free Irish State of 1922 established, NI out.
• FIS Has dominion status within UK until 1949.
• 1949 Republic of Ireland established, dissolves
  all ties with UK.
• Economic challenges and poverty until 1992.
  Joining EU and liberalisation helped greatly.
  Since 1990s Ireland Celtic Tiger.
• Country growing less socially conservative.
• 1998 Belfast Good Friday Agreements,
  established a Northern Ireland Parliament with
  power sharing between the sides.
• Broke down in 2002, but was re-established in
  2007 between Ian Paisley (Protestant) and Gerry
  Adams (Catholic).
• IRA agreed to disarm last summer.
• Ulster Project International to improve relations
  between Protestant and Catholic families across
  the country.

47
Violence

• IRA resisted participation in the Republic,
  angered over the partition of the island.
  Various acts of violence on both sides. Was a
  minority but affected many regular people.
• Bombings continued from late 1960s to Belfast
  agreement in late 1990s. Violence in Northern
  Ireland, Ireland and in the UK and London.
• UK officially claimed their forces were neutral
  trying to uphold law and order and security, but
  there was some cooperation with Unionist forces.

48
Stats

• Deaths by status of victim2StatusNo.
• Civilian1855
• Members of security forces (and reserves)1123
• of whom
• British Army (excluding Northern Ireland
  regiments)499
• Royal Ulster Constabulary301
• Ulster Defence Regiment197
• Northern Ireland Prison Service24
• Garda Síochána (Republic of Ireland police)9
• Royal Irish Regiment7
• Territorial Army7
• English police forces6
• Royal Air Force4
• Royal Navy2
• Irish Army1
• Members of Republican Paramilitary Groups394
• Members of Loyalist Paramilitary Groups151