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Executive
Legislature Court
Bureaucracies
Political parties Interest groups
Domestic economy
Domestic culture Domestic society
U.S.
France Germany
Russia
United Kingdom
• Size– about two times that of the state of Mississippi
• 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?
United Kingdom > Great Britain
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland– created in 1801
• Great Britain– England– Scotland– Wales
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
Monarch versus Parliament
• 1215: Magna Carta
• 1500s: the Church of England
• 1642-60: Civil War and Restoration
• 1688: Glorious Revolution
• 1701: Act of Settlement– royal succession
• Early 1700s: emergence of prime minister
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
British government
• Government– Queen’s, Tony Blair’s, or Labour government
• Whitehall Street– 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
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
• 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
Executive
Legislature Court
Bureaucracies
Political parties Interest groups
Domestic economy
Domestic culture Domestic society
U.S.
France Germany
Russia
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)
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
Margaret Thatcher
• Economic stagflation in 1970s
• Neither party was able to manage economy well
• 1978-79 “winter of discontent” strikes
• Thatcher’s alternative vision– cut taxes, reduce social services– stimulate the private sector– market and “businesslike” methods
Margaret Thatcher
• Served (1979 - 1990) longer without interruption than any other British prime minister in 20th century
Welfare state
• Even under Thatcher and Major, Britain experienced real growth in both social services and health care provisions
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”
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.”
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.
% 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%
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
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
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