THE MAKING OF THE
MODERN BRITISH STATE
1
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Politics in Action
Margaret Thatcher
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Geographic Setting
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England, Wales, and Scotland
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Britain is largest of British Isles
Offshore islands adjacent to Europe
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Section 1
THE BRITISH NATION AT A GLANCE
2
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3
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THE MAKING OF THE
MODERN BRITISH STATE
4
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Critical Junctures
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The Consolidation of the British State
The Seventeenth-Century Settlement
The Industrial Revolution and the British
Empire
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THE MAKING OF THE
MODERN BRITISH STATE
5
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Critical Junctures (cont’d)
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The British Empire (1800s)
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International trade and imperial expansion
Hegemonic power
Industrial Change and the Struggle for Voting
Rights
World Wars, Industrial Strife, and the
Depression (1914–1945)
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World Trade and Relative Labor Productivity
6
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THE MAKING OF THE
MODERN BRITISH STATE
7
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Critical Junctures
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Collectivist Consensus (1945–1979)
Margaret Thatcher and the Enterprise Culture
(1979-1990)
New Labour’s Third Way (1997-2007)
The Conservative–Liberal Coalition
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“Big Society”
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Expansion of Voting Rights
8
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THE MAKING OF THE
MODERN BRITISH STATE
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The Four Themes and Britain
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Britain in a Globalized World of States
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Strategies in Governing the Economy
Political Influence of Democratic Idea
The Politics of Collective Identity
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Where Do You Stand?
10
Was Margaret Thatcher just what the doctor ordered to
jump-start the British economy – or was she too divisive
and ideological?
Tony Blair and Gordon Brown reinvented the modern
Labour Party, severing its ties with the working class and
emphasizing a cross-class coalition, which often seemed
to tilt toward business. In this era of occupy movements
and huge income inequality should Labour return to its
historic roots?
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11
GOVERNANCE AND
POLICY-MAKING
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Organization of the State
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Parliamentary sovereignty
Unitary state
Fusion of powers
Cabinet government
Constitutional monarchy
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Section 3
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GOVERNANCE AND
POLICY-MAKING
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The Executive
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Cabinet government
Bureaucracy and Civil Service
Public and Semipublic Institutions
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Nationalized Industries
Nondepartmental Public Bodies
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13
The
Cabinet
System
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14
GOVERNANCE AND
POLICY-MAKING
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Other State Institutions
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The Military and Police
The Judiciary
Subnational Government
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England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales
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15
GOVERNANCE AND
POLICY-MAKING
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The Policy-Making Process
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Focus is on Whitehall
European Union policy
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Where Do You Stand?
16
Which is a more effective form of
government: American checks and balances
or British parliamentary democracy?
Does the strength of the cabinet and the
power of the prime minister risk turning
Britain into an elective dictatorship?
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REPRESENTATION AND
PARTICIPATION
Section 4
17
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The Legislature
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The House of Commons (lower chamber)
The Legislative Process
The House of Lords (upper chamber)
Reforms in Behavior
Structural Changes: Parliamentary
Committees
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18
REPRESENTATION AND
PARTICIPATION
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Political Parties and the Party System
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The Labour Party
The Conservative Party
Liberal Democrats
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19
REPRESENTATION AND
PARTICIPATION
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Elections
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The Electoral System and the 2010 Election
Gender, Ethnicity, and Representation
Trends in Electoral Behavior
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20
REPRESENTATION AND
PARTICIPATION
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Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity
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Social Class
National Identity
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Multiethnic
Europeanization and globalization
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21
REPRESENTATION AND
PARTICIPATION
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Interests Groups, Social Movements, and
Protest
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Political protest rising
Environmental activism rising
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22
REPRESENTATION AND
PARTICIPATION
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The Political Impact Of Technology
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2012: Parliamentary committee released a
report
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Rupert Murdoch hacking scandal
Besmirched the reputations among Parliament
members
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Where Do You Stand?
23
Is perpetual surveillance too high a price to
pay for security?
Nearly everyone in Britain wants Britain to
go green. Why is the support for a Green
Party so weak?
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POLITICAL ECONOMY AND
DEVELOPMENT
Section 2
24
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State and Economy
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British economy: “two-track” pattern of growth
Economic Management
The Consensus Era (Keynesianism)
Thatcherite Policy Orientation (monetarism)
New Labour’s Economic Policy Approach
The Coalition Government’s Economic Policy
Approach
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POLITICAL ECONOMY AND
DEVELOPMENT
25
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State and Economy
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Social Policy
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National Health Service
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POLITICAL ECONOMY AND
DEVELOPMENT
26
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Society and Economy
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New Labour focused its social policy on
training and broader social investment
Inequality and Ethnic Minorities
Inequality and Women
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Inequality in labor and wages
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POLITICAL ECONOMY AND
DEVELOPMENT
27
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Environmental Issues
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Increasing public concern
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Acid rain
Coal-fired plants
Fracking
Food safety
“Green” vs. anti-regulatory bias
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POLITICAL ECONOMY AND
DEVELOPMENT
28
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Britain in the Global Economy
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Britain’s economic policies/political climate
encourages foreign direct investment
Comparatively strong microeconomic and
growth competitiveness
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Where Do You Stand?
29
Will Blair be remembered for the success of
New Labour or the tragic failure of the war
in Iraq?
Will Cameron’s tough stance on austerity
turn around the British economy or wreck
the coalition government?
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30
BRITISH POLITICS
IN TRANSITION
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Political Challenges and Changing
Agendas
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Constitutional reform
Identities in flux
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Section 5
31
BRITISH POLITICS IN
TRANSITION
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Youth Politics and the Generational Divide
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Huge generational divide
High unemployment rate for recent university
graduates
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32
BRITISH POLITICS
IN TRANSITION
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British Politics in Comparative Perspective
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United Kingdom escaped the 1990s Europe
recession
2008 Great Recession
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Drastically effected Britain's economic fortunes
New Labour
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Where Do You Stand?
33
Is Britain important enough and functioning
well enough today to stand alongside the
United States as one of the two great
models of democratic government?
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Where Do You Stand?
34
With Putin’s Russia on the ascendant, America
looking inward, and the EU facing tremendous
economic and institutional challenges, is there an
opportunity for Britain to play a greater role in a
globalizing world of states?
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