The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Also known as: •The UK• England• Britain

Consists of Four “nations”

1) England2) Scotland3) Wales4) Northern Ireland

The United Kingdom Key Concepts

• The “unwritten” Constitution: Constitutional Change– Based on Tradition, legislation, transfer of power from Monarch

• Unitary System of Government that has devolved power

• Parliamentary System of Government

• Gradual Democratic Power– Beginning with the Magna Carta

• Dual executive (monarchy)

• Welfare state: Collectivismhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/

Executive Branch

• Prime Minister– Speaks legitimately for all Members of Parliament– Chooses Cabinet Ministers and important

subordinate posts– Makes decisions in the Cabinet, with the

agreement of the ministers– Campaigns for and represents the party in

parliamentary elections– Can call for a referendum ( with an Act of Par.)

Executive Branch

• The Monarch– Queen Elizabeth II– Queen since 1952

• Head of State: goes to official state visits abroad• Head of the armed forces: Declares war and declares the end

of war (with PM)• Opens Parliament• Head of Church of England: appoints archbishops and bishops• Reads red box of documents and papers for her signature

each week• Makes visits: hospitals, schools, and factories

Comparative Executives

PM of Britain• Serves only as he/she remains

leader of the majority party• Elected as a member of Parliament• Has an excellent chance of getting

his programs past Parliament• Cabinet members are always MP’s

and leaders of the majority party• Cabinet members not experts in

policy areas, rely on bureaucracy to provide expertise, most legislation comes from the Cabinet

President of the US• Elected every four years by an

electoral college based on popular election

• Elected as President• Has an excellent chance of ending

up in gridlock with Congress• Cabinet members usually don’t

come from Congress• Some expertise in policy areas,

one criteria for their appointment, head vast bureaucracies

Parliamentary Rule in UK• Westminster Model =

parliamentary sovereignty

• Bicameralism- House of Commons- House of Lords

• Fusion of power

• Irregular Elections

• Indirect selection of Prime Minister

Parliament

• The Westminster Model• In the 1200’s, Parliament became officially

recognized as a gathering of feudal barons summoned by the king whenever he required their consent to special taxes

• During the 15th century they gained the right to make laws

House of Commons

• The Lower House of Parliament• Elections must take place at least once every 5 years• Members of Parliament represent a single geographic

district (constituency)• Around 651 MP’s in the Commons ( pop. elected)• House of Commons can be dissolved and new elections

called after a no-confidence vote or vote of confidence demonstrates the Commons’ lack of faith in the current government – If a party loses the vote of confidence, all MP’s lose their jobs, so

there is plenty of motivation to vote party lines

House of Commons

• Regional Party Differences– Conservative and Labour dominate urban and

northern districts– Conservatives dominate rural – Labour and Nationalist dominate Scotland

House of Commons

• Voting• 10 minutes• Members move into special division lobbies• Doors are locked

• Debate in the House of Commons is very spirited• Once a week Question Hour

• PM and Cabinet must defend themselves from opposition party and sometimes own party.

• Speaker of the House presides over the debates• Usually from the minority party

House of Lords

• The upper house of UK’s parliament– Heredity peers – nobility (Blair limited this )– Life peers (appt by Crown on rec by PM)– Used to be Roughly 1200 members ( roughly 692 now)– The only real power is the power to delay legislation. Can delay

passage of Commons legislation for up to 2 years except in financial matters where it is powerless

– Provides expertise in redrafting legislation from the House of Commons

– Final Court of Appeals- The Law Lords• For civil cases throughout Britain• For criminal cases in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland• Replaced by the UK Supreme Court in October 2009

Being an MP and Question Hour• Role of an MP ( Member of Parliament) in the House of Commons

-What is relationship between MP and constituency?

• The legislative process in the House of Commons-Define white paper.-What is the role of committees?-What is the role of House of Lords?

• Prime Minister’s Question Time and http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/QuestionTime802

- What do you observe about behavior?- What topics?- How would our President do in this forum?

Alternative Voting?http://www.wimp.com/alternativevoting/

UK Supreme Court & Legislative Process Useful Video links:

• http://compgovpol.blogspot.com/2009/10/video-on-uk-supreme-court.html

Role of an MPhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iL3F-q1aLAHow laws are madehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Ni-h8R2d0

GB Legislative Process

• Bills must be introduced in the H of C and the H of L• Bills may come from the following: parties, pressure groups,

think tanks, PM policy, or government departments• H of Commons:– Tradition !!!– Bill usually comes to the floor 3 times ( first reading,

second reading, and third reading)• 1st – Printed and distributed and debated in general

terms• 2nd – vote, then for detailed review in committee,

added amendments may happen• 3rd – final form and voted on without debate

Cont.

• Follows a parallel path in the H of Lords• Accepted without change, amended, or

rejected• If bill deals with taxation or budgetary matters,

then is will not be amended• After all these stages, the bill will go to the

Crown for royal assent ( approval)• Becomes an Act of Parliament

Cabinet

• Cabinet contains the PM and about 2 dozen ministers– Ministers must be members of Parliament

(Commons or Lords)– Shadow Cabinet: minority party members in case

their party comes to power– Foreign Office (Sec of State)– Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasury)• Until recently, the Cabinet controlled monetary policy

which is now controlled by the bank of England

Cabinet

• Key functions of the Cabinet– Responsible for policy making– Supreme control of the government– Coordination of all government departments– PM has the responsibility of shaping their

decisions into policy– Cabinet does not vote• They take collective responsibility- they support the

policy making of the PM

The Judiciary

• English ideas about justice have shaped those of many other modern democracies– Trial by jury– English Common Law ( Legal year starts on Oct. 1)– However, the use of parliamentary sovereignty has

limited the development of judicial review– By tradition, the courts may not impose their rulings on

Parliament, the PM , or the cabinet– Judges are appt for good behavior- expected to retire by

age 75 and most have studied at Oxford or Cambridge

The Judiciary

• Since Britain is bound by EU treaties and laws, it is the judges responsibility to interpret them and determine whether or not EU laws conflict with parliamentary statues. Many conflicts between supranational and national laws. – 1999- The European Court on Human Rights ruled

that Britain may not exclude gays and lesbians from serving in the military under EU law

GB Political Parties and Interest Groups

• Two Party System• Labour Party ( working class ) and Conservative Party

( upper socioeconomic elite)• Liberal Democratic Party ( most represented 3rd

party), they fight for PR ( Proportional Representation)• Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru

• “First – past-the post” ( plurality )• Single Member District

GB Interest Groups

• For many years is was Corporatist• means that the government would rely• on a handful of key peak associations• to draft “white papers” (proposed leg.)

• Ex….. Labour Unions• Margret Thatcher became PM, she dismantled

this relationship and the interest groups became more pluralistic.

DEVOLUTION !!!!

• The giving away of power that the central government to the regional governments

• Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales have their own elected legislatures as well

• This gives them the ability to make certain policies that affect them…taxation

Election of 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_general_election,_2010

• Results yielded the coalition government • David Cameron is Prime Minister, Nick Clegg

Deputy Prime Minister• Conservatives had to make some concessions

to get coalition