The United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland
Where Big Ben is the only thing
marking forward progress
Summary of Britain’s Significance
First country with a limited monarchy
 Early 20th century, undoubtedly the
world’s greatest superpower
 Empire is lost, but still retains global
significance and influence
 Part of EU, yet not fully embracing being
“European”

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power

Sources
– Long, very gradual tradition
 Original belief in Divine Right of a family to rule
gave monarchs power over people
– Constitutionalism
 No written constitution, but a long series of
compacts and acts of Parliament has formed an
understood “Constitution of the Crown”
Components of British
“Constitution”

Rational-Legal Authority
– Magna Carta (1215) – limited power of the
monarch, guaranteed trial by jury, consent of
Parliament to raise taxes
– The Bill of Rights (1688) – expanded
policymaking power of Parliament relative to
the crown
– Common Law – (opposite of code law)
customs and precedent have strong bearing
on the law in addition to written rules
Historical Evolution of Political
Traditions

The monarchy – once powerful, then
limited, now powerless and ceremonial
Oh, woe is
me!
Historical Evolution of Political
Traditions
The monarchy – once powerful, then limited,
now powerless and ceremonial
 The Parliament

– English Civil War (1640)
– Glorious Revolution (1688)
– Prime Minister becomes firm Chief Executive in the
18th Century
Challenges of the Industrial Revolution (18th and
19th Century)
 Diminishing Empire in the 20th and 21st Century

– Strong welfare state became a burden, led to
backlash of “Thatcherism”
Political Culture

Geography
– Island
– Small - Little fertile soil and short growing
seasons
– Temperate climate, but cold, chilly, and rainy
– No major geographical barriers
Nationalism – great deal of pride in being
“English”, or “Scottish”, or “Welsh”
 Insularity – feeling of separation from the
rest of Europe

Political Culture

Cleavages
– Social Class
 Not as strong as in the past, but still very
significant
This photo was taken outside of Lord’s cricket
grounds in 1937, and came to symbolize the class
divide in England
Political Culture

Cleavages
– Social Class
 Not as strong as in the past, but still very
significant
 Noblesse Oblige – a term for the upper classes’
willingness to embrace the welfare state and
support the poor
– Formerly duty of lords to care for serfs
– Multi-Nationalism
 Lots of cultural homogeneity, but there are Scots,
English, Welsh, Irish, Protestant, and Catholic
living together and insisting on some local
sovereignty
Political Culture

Cleavages
– Ethnic Minorities (comprise less than 10% of
British population)
 Largely young, increasingly Muslim
 Tight restrictions on immigration imposed by
Thatcher kept in place by Labour Party
 Many reports of unequal treatment by police, most
minorities are disaffected and unemployed
 Poorly integrated into British society
Institutions

Linkage Institutions – provide people with
a connection to government and the
political process
– Political Parties History
 Originally Liberal (Whigs) vs. Conservative (Tories)
 Emergence of voting rights for working class gave
rise to Labour vs. Conservative (still Tories)
 Liberal Democrats emerged as a third party to
compromise between Thatcher Conservatives on
the right and Labour on the Left
Institutions
Political Parties (Current)
 Conservative (Tories) – Britain’s “center-right” party
 Labour – Britain’s “center-left” party
– Once fiercely leftist for working class, until Tony Blair’s
“New Labour” move to the center in the 1990s
 Liberal Democrats (Lib-Dems)
– Moved to the left during “New Labour”, but alienated their
leftist supporters during the coalition government with
Conservatives 2010-2015
 Regional Parties – based in Scotland, Wales, or NI
– Includes SNP, Sinn Fein, Plaid Cymru
 UK Independence Party (UKIP) – nationalist anti-EU
party
Jeremy Corbin
David Cameron
Tim Farron
Institutions

Linkage Institutions – provide people with
a connection to government and the
political process
– Elections
 650 constituencies each elect an MP (Member of
Parliament)
– Party leaders run in “safe” constituencies, MPs often
aren’t from their district
 Winner-take-all, “First-Past-The-Post” – only
winner gets to take office
 Plurality – no majority necessary
 Party with Parliamentary majority chooses the
Prime Minister, who “forms a government”
House of Commons 2015
Institutions

Linkage Institutions – provide people with
a connection to government and the
political process
– Regional Elections
 Devolution – Blair policy under Good Friday
Agreement allowing regional parliaments to
exercise some local authority
 Proportional representation in Northern Ireland,
Scotland, and Wales respective parliaments
 Mayor of London is now directly elected for the
first time
Institutions

Linkage Institutions – provide people with
a connection to government and the
political process
– Interest Groups
 Pluralist system with some patterns of neocorporatism
– Quangos – gov. agencies act as interest
advocates and policy advisors in many cases,
fusing the relationship between interest group
and state
Institutions

Linkage Institutions – provide people with
a connection to government and the
political process
– Media
 Available media outlets reflect social class
divisions in readership/viewership
 BBC was created during the collectivist era
to educate citizens on politics
 Heavily regulated by government (ex. – no
ads can be purchased for parties or
candidates)
Institutions

State Institutions
– Unitary state, power
concentrated in
London, devolved to
regional parliaments in
1997
 No “separation of
powers” in central
government
Institutions

Cabinet and Prime
Minister, The Executive
– Cabinet members are MPs
chosen by Prime Minister,
who is “first among equals”
– Collective responsibility –
cabinet members all share
policy responsibility, and
members resign if they do
not support decisions of the
PM
Institutions

Parliament, The Legislature
– House of Commons, the “Lower House”
 Holds all meaningful power in Britain
 Majority party chooses PM, makes all policy
 Minority becomes “loyal opposition”, sitting directly
across the aisle during debate
– Shadow Cabinet – group of minority party MPs
who would be in cabinet if they were the
majority
– Backbenchers – MPs who are less influential sit
further back in Parliament
Backbenchers
Speaker of the
House
Prime
Minister and
Cabinet
Backbenchers
Shadow
Cabinet
Other minority
parties
And now… Question Time for
the Prime Minister!
Institutions

Parliament, The Legislature
– House of Commons, the “Lower House”
 Vote of Confidence
– If a key issue is brought up for a vote and the
PM and cabinet lose, they resign and call for
new elections immediately by tradition
– The House of Lords, the “Upper House”
 The original parliament, now nearly meaningless
 Can delay legislation, debate technicalities, and add
amendments
– Amendments may be deleted in Commons by a
majority vote
Institutions

Parliament, The Legislature
– House of Commons, the “Lower House”
 Vote of Confidence
– If a key issue is brought up for a vote and the
PM and cabinet lose, they resign and call for
new elections immediately by tradition
– The House of Lords, the “Upper House”
 567 “life peers,” appointed by PM for achievement
and service to Britain
 92 “hereditary peers,” whose seats were passed
down through family connections
– Blair and Labour substantially reduced number
of hereditary peerages
The
Sovereign
Supporters
of the
government
Supporters
of the
Opposition
Party
Neutral
Members
Institutions

The Bureaucracy
– Powerful force in policy formation,
implementation
– Bureaucrats are experts, ministers are likely
not, so ministers take direction from top
bureaucrats informally
– Bureaucrats stay in place from government to
government
Institutions

The Judiciary
– Limited in authority compared to U.S.
 Parliamentary sovereignty – principle that
Parliament has the final say
 Courts can strike acts of government that violate
common law or previous acts of Parliament, but
rule very narrowly
 May not impose “judicial review” on Parliament,
PM, or cabinet
 Judges are usually independent, apolitical
 Expected to resign at age 75
 Highest court formerly the Law Lords, but a new
Supreme Court has been created (2009)
3 Major Steps in the British
Judiciary
Supreme Court
Appeals
High Courts
Appeals
District Courts