Transcript Britain: Political Institutions

Britain: Political
Institutions
AP Comparative Government
Linkage Institutions

UK Parties began to form in the 18th century


The two most major parties in today’s government are the Labour Party and
the Conservative Party (also known as a Tory)


Originally parties were just caucuses, or meetings of people with a like mind
A major third party is the Liberal-Democrats (Formally known as the Whigs)
The majority party dominates Parliament (known as a hung parliament), with
the ability to pass legislation as they desire

Currently there is no majority party and the government is in the form of a
coalition
The Labour Party

The Labour party most recently had control of Parliament between 1997 and
2010


The party began as an alliance of trade union and socialist groups and worked for
the expansion of workers rights
Originally, the Labour Party pushed extremely socialist points of view through
Clause 4

Clause 4 asked for the nationalization of the “commanding heights” of British
industry

Neil Kinnock, who took control of the party in the early 1980s, shifted the party to
a more moderate political stance which has continued
The Labour Party

After an electoral loss in 1992, Kinnock stepped down and John Smith took
over as party leader


Blair continued the moderation of the Labour Party, but as his parties victory
margins shrunk, he resigned party leadership in 2005


This was short lived as he suddenly died in 1994 and was replaced by Tony Blair
Gordon Brown took over as party leader but after a poor showing in the 2010
election where Labour only took 23% of the vote, he resigned
Currently Ed Miliband is the leader of the party
The Conservative Party

The Conservative Party dominated British politics from WWII to 1997

Under Thatcher, the Conservative party pushed for a market economy, large scale
privatization, and fewer social welfare programs


After Thatcher left office, John Major moved the party closer to the center
This party is characterized by noblesse oblique, and its power is centered in
London

The leader of the party must submit to yearly elections in order to be retained as
leader
The Conservative Party

In 1997, the party was weakened by factional arguments

The traditional wing (one-nation Tories) wanted the country ruled by the elites who
would rule in the best interests of everyone in the country


The Thatcherite wing wants to roll back government controls and move to a full
free market


They support Britain’s membership in the EU
The members of this wing are often referred to as Europskeptics because they do not
agree with EU membership
David Cameron is the current party leader, and has been Prime Minister since
2010

He is considered to be a one-nation Tory
The Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a merge of the Liberal and Social Democratic
parties

This merge took place in 1989

The Liberal Democrats are a victim of the plurality voting system, and despite
descent results in popular votes, they continually have very low representation in
Parliament


The Liberal Democrats have sought proportional representation
Nick Clegg (Deputy Prime Minister) is the current leader of the party and is
trying to help the middle of the road party to gain more support

In 2010 the Liberal Democrats won 23% of the popular vote but still came in third
in terms of representation
Smaller Parties

There are many nationalistic parties throughout Britain


This parties include Plaid Cymru (Wales), the Scottish National Party, Sinn Fein
(political arm of the IRA), and the Democratic Unionist Party (Protestant
clergymen)
British National Party

This party formed in 1982 and has never been represented in Parliament


They are overtly anti-Semitic and anti Muslim
UK Independence Party

This party focuses on trying to remove the UK from the European Union
Elections

National elections are held to determine who members of Parliament will be

There is no election to determine who the prime minister will be

Elections are often held every five years, but they can be called earlier by the
Prime Minister


The Prime Minister generally calls elections when the feel the have the best opportunity
to win
Elections in Britain are winner take all with no runoff elections

The districts are single-member and are first-past-the-post, meaning whoever gets
the highest number of votes, wins the race

The winner-take all system exaggerates the size of the victory of the largest party and
reduces the influence of minor parties
Elections of Regional Governments

The Good Friday Agreement of April 1998, allowed Northern Ireland a regional
government in which all parties would be represented on a proportional basis

Scotland and Wales were later given these rights as well
Interest Groups

Britain has well-established interest groups that demonstrate interest group
pluralism


There recently has been some evidence of neo-corporatism


This means that a variety of groups are trying to influence the policymaking
process, without one being able to completely dominate the process
This is when interest groups dominate the state in the process of developing policy
The groups with the greatest influence are known as quangos

These are policy advisory boards appointed by the government

These groups work with the government to develop public policy
Interest Groups

The Trade Unions Congress (TUC) represents a collation of unions and has a
great deal of influence of the government

The Confederation of Business Industries (CBI) also has influence over the creation
of policy
Media

Radio and television came into existence during the collective consensus era,
so it was monopolized by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Despite competition from private companies, the government strictly regulates the
media and prohibits the selling of advertisements to politicians, parties, or
political causes