politics in britain the political system. united kingdom basic characteristics –approx. 63 million...
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Politics in Britain
The political system
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United Kingdom
• Basic Characteristics– Approx. 63 million people– Comprised of England,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
System of Government:– Constitutional monarchy– Parliamentary system– First Past the Post
Electoral System– Unitary state
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Unwritten constitution
• Lack of a written constitution
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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
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British government
Constitutional Monarchy:Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II) is the Head of State• Whitehall Street
– executive agencies / Cabinet (e.g.Department of Defence)
• 10 Downing Street– prime minister’s residence
• Westminster: Bicameral– House of Commons– House of Lords
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Electoral system
• Single-member district
• First-past-the-post (winner-take-all) system
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Election results
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Parliament
• The House of Commons– 650 members (Fixed Number)– voting is 100% along party lines in most votes– party loyalty versus constituency interests continues
to be a major concern
• the House of Lords– 792 members (not fixed number)– Lords Temporal And Lords Spiritual– Not elected
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Margaret Thatcher
• Served (1979 - 1990) longer without interruption than any other British prime minister in 20th century
•cut taxes•reduced social services•stimulated the private sector (privatization of public services)“The Right to buy scheme”•Increased military spending
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John Major
• Prime Minister of Great Britain (1990-97)
• Joined the United States in the Gulf War (1990) against Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
• Continued the privatization policies of Margaret Thatcher (e.g. privatization of British Rail)
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New Labour Party
• Tony Blair (1997-2007)• Rebranded the Labour Party
with “new labour”• Movement to the political centre
(Brokerage politics)• the largest majority in parliament
(419/659) that the Labour Party has ever held in 1997
• Conservative vote fell to its lowest share since 1832 in 1997
• Tony Blair: “New Labour is a party of ideas and ideals, but not of outdated ideology. What counts is what works.”
Pragmatic Politician: Brokerage Politics
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Tony Blair & “Third Way”
• “Third way” alternative to big government policies of the old Labour Party (socialism) and Thatcherism (free market economics):– rejected the historic ties between Labour
governments and the trade union movement
• A vague philosophy to draw support from across the social-economic spectrum.
• Transcended ideologies (brokerage)
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Gordon Brown
• Labour Prime Minister (2007-2010)
• Nationalized some banks after the 2007 stock market crashed (e.g. Northern Rock)
• A continuation of New Labour policies with respect to the role of government in an economy
He’s smiling!
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David Cameron
• Prime Minister (2010-Present)• Member of the Conservative
Party• Responsible for Austerity
Measures: drastic cuts to the public service: layoffs and reducing wages of public employees
• Britain’s involvement in the war in Libya (removal of Muammar Gaddifi)