British Political System.docx

British Political System.docx

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BritishPoliticalSystem

BACKGROUNDHISTORY

ThesinglemostimportantfactinunderstandingthenatureoftheBritishpoliticalsystemisthatBritainhasnotbeeninvadedoroccupiedforalmost1,000years.Thelastsuccessfulinvasionwasin1066bytheNormans.Isthistrueofanyothercountryintheworld?

Thisexplainswhy:

∙wehavehadnorevolution

∙wehavenowrittenconstitution

∙ourpoliticalsystemisnotneatorlogical

∙changehasbeenverygradualandpragmaticandbuiltonconsensus

Tosimplifyourpoliticalhistoryverymuch,ithasessentiallybeenastruggletoshiftpoliticalpowerandaccountabilityfromtheall-powerfulkingwhoclaimedthatheobtainedhisrighttorulefromGodtoanationalparliamentthatwasincreasinglyrepresentativeofordinarypeopleandaccountabletoordinarypeople.Akeydateinthisevolutionwas1215whenKingJohnwasforcedtosigntheMagnaCartawhichinvolvedhimsharingpowerwiththebarons.Theso-calledModelParliamentwassummonedbyKingEdwardIin1295andisregardedasthefirstrepresentativeassembly.ThebicamericalnatureoftheBritishParliament-CommonsandLords-emergedin1341andthetwo-chambermodelofthelegislaturehasservedasamodelinverymanyotherparliamentarysystems.

AnotherimportantfeatureofourpoliticalhistoryisthatthreepartsoftheUnitedKingdom?

Scotland,WalesandNorthernIreland?

haveaspecialstatusandhavelocaladministrationswithawiderangeofresponsibilities.However,England-whichrepresentsabout84%ofthetotalUKpopulationofaround60million?

doesnothaveaclearandstrongsenseofregionalism.SotheBritishpoliticalsystemdoesnothaveanythingequivalenttofederalsystemofthe50statesintheUSA.

Thefinalimportantpartofpoliticalhistoryisthat,since1973,wehavebeenamemberofwhatisnowcalledtheEuropeanUnion（EU）.Thisnowhas27memberstatescoveringmostofthecontinentofEurope.TheUKGovernmentandParliamentarelimitedinsomerespectsbywhattheycandobecausecertainareasofpolicyordecision-makingareamatterfortheEUwhichoperatesthroughaEuropeanCommissionappointedbythemembergovernmentsandaEuropeanParliamentelectedbythecitizensofthememberstates.

THREEARMSOFTHESTATE

TheBritishpoliticalsystemisheadedbyamonarchybutessentiallythepowersofthemonarchasheadofstate-currentlyQueenElizabethII-areceremonial.ThemostimportantpracticalpoweristhechoiceoftheMemberofParliamenttoformagovernment,butinvariablythemonarchfollowstheconventionthatthisopportunityisgrantedtotheleaderofthepoliticalpartywiththemostseatsintheHouseofCommons.

Themonarchisdeterminedontheheritaryandprimogenitureprincipleswhichmeansthattheoldestmalechildofamonarchisthenextinlinetothethrone.UnderthetermsoftheActofSettlementof1701,themonarchandthemonarch'sspousecannotbeCatholicsbecausetheUKmonarchisalsotheHeadoftheChurchofEngland.Thesearchaicarrangementsarecurrentlyunderreview.

Inclassicalpoliticaltheory,therearethreearmsofthestate:

1.Theexecutive?

theMinisterswhorunthecountryandproposenewlaws

2.Thelegislature?

theelectedbodythatpassesnewlaws

3.Thejudiciary?

thejudgesandthecourtswhoensurethateveryoneobeysthelaws

InthepoliticalsystemoftheUnitedStates,theconstitutionprovidesthattheremustbeastrictseparateofpowersofthesethreearmsofthestate,sothatnoindividualcanbeamemberofmorethanone.So,forexample,thePresidentisnotandcannotbeamemberoftheCongress.Thisconceptiscalled'separationofpowers',atermcoinedbytheFrenchpolitical,enlightenmentthinkerMontesquieu.

ThisisnotthecaseintheUK:

∙allMinistersinthegovernmentaremembersofthelegislature

∙someveryseniorjudgessitintheupperhouseoftheparliament

∙theformalheadofthejudiciaryisaseniorminister

ThisisanillustrationofhowpragmaticandflexibletheBritishpoliticalsystemis.

THEU.K.PARLIAMENT

TheBritishParliamentisoftencalledWestminsterbecauseitishousedinadistinguishedbuildingincentralLondoncalledthePalaceofWestminster.

TheBritishParliament?

likemostintheworld?

isbicameral,thatistherearetwohousesorchambers.TheonlyexceptionstothispracticearoundtheworldaresomesmallcountriessuchasIsraelandNewZealand.

TheHouseofCommons

Thisisthelowerchamberbuttheonewiththemostauthority.IworkedthereasaResearchAssistanttoMerlynReesMP,thenLabour'sOppositionspokespersononNorthernIreland,from1972-1974.

∙TheHouseofCommonssitseachweekdayforabouthalfoftheweeksoftheyear.Theprecisehoursofsittingare:

oMonday2.30-10pm

oTuesday2.30-10pm

oWednesday11.30am-7pm

oThursday10.30am-6pm

oFriday9.30am-2.30pm

∙TheCommonsischairedbytheSpeaker.UnliketheSpeakerintheUSHouseofRepresentatives,thepostisnon-politicalandindeed,byconvention,thepoliticalpartiesdonotcontesttheParliamentaryconstituencyheldbytheSpeaker.

∙TheHouseofCommonscurrentlycomprises650MembersofParliamentorMPs（thenumbervariesslightlyfromtimetotimetoreflectpopulationchange）.Thisisalargelegislaturebyinternationalstandards.Forinstance,theHouseofRepresentativesintheUSAhas435seatsbut,ofcourse,eachofthe50USstateshasitsownlegislature.BeforethelastGeneralElection,theConservativePartysaidthatitwishedtoreducethenumberofCommonsseatsbyaround10%（65seats）andtheLiberalDemocratssaidthattheCommonsshouldbereducedby150MPs.ThenewCoalitionGovernmenthasnowannouncedthatitplanslegislationtotoreducethenumberfrom650to600aspartofawiderchangetothenumberandsizeofconstituencies.

∙Ratheroddly（butdeliberately）,thereisinsufficientseatingcapacityinthechamberoftheHouseofCommonsforalltheMPs.Membersdonotsitatdesks（likemostlegislatures）butonlong,green-coveredbenchesandthereisonlyseatingcapacityfor437MPsoutofthetotalof650.

∙EachmemberintheHouseofCommonsrepresentsageographicalconstituency.Typicallyaconstituencywouldhavearound60,000-80,000voters,dependingmainlyonwhetheritisanurbanorruralconstituency.ThelargestconstituencyinthecountryistheIsleofWightwith108,253electorsatthelastGeneralElection,whilethesmallestisNah-EileanananIar（formerlyknownastheWesternIsles）withanelectorateofonly21,884.ThecurrentCoalitionGovernmentintendstomakethesizeofconstituenciesmoreequalintermsofelectors.

∙Everycitizenaged18orovercanvoteonceintheconstituencyinwhichtheylive.Votingisnotcompulsory（asitisinAustralia）.InthelastGeneralElectionofJune2010,65%oftheelectorateactuallyvoted.Mostdemocraticcountriesuseamethodofelectioncalledproportionalrepresentationwhichmeansthatthereisareasonablecorrelationbetweenthepercentageofvotescastforaparticularpoliticalpartyandthenumberofseatsorrepresentativeswonbythatparty.However,mostoftheAnglo-Saxonworld?

theUSA,Canada,Australia,andtheUKbutnotNewZealand?

useamethodofelectioncalledthesimplemajoritysystemor'firstpastthepost'.Inthissystem,thecountryisdividedintoanumberofconstituencieseachwithasinglememberandthepartythatwinsthemajorityofvotesineachconstituencywinsthatconstituencyregardlessoftheproportionofthevotesecured.Thesimplemajoritysystemofelectiontendstounder-representlesssuccessfulpoliticalpartiesandtomaximisethechanceofthemostpopularpoliticalpartywinningamajorityofseatsnationwideevenifitdoesnotwinamajorityofthevotesnationwide.

∙IntheUK,unlikemanycountries,therearenotfixedtermparliaments.AGeneralElection?

thatis,anationwideelectionforall650seats?

isheldwhenthePrimeMinistercallsit,buttheelectioncannotbemorethanfiveyearsafterthelastoneanditisusuallyaroundfouryearsafterthelastone.IfoughttheGeneralElectionsofFebruary1974andOctober1974astheLabourcandidateforthenorth-eastLondonconstituencyofWanstead&Woodford.ThenewCoalitionGovernmentplanstointroducelegislationprovidingforfixedfive-yearparliamentswhichimpliesthatthenextGeneralElectionwillbeon7May2015.

ThelastGeneralElectionwasheldinMay2010andtheresultwasasfollows:

∙ConservativeParty:

306seats（up97）withavotingshareof36.1%（up3.8%）

∙LabourParty:

258seats（down91）withavotingshareof29.0%（down6.2%）

∙LiberalDemocratParty:

57seats（down5）withavotingshareof23.0%（up1.0%）

∙Otherparties:

28seats（down3）withavotingshareof11.9%（down1.4%）

∙Totalturnoutnationwidewas65.1%up4.0%on2005

Note1:

Inpractice,theSpeaker-notionallyConservative-isnotcountedagainstanypoliticalpartybecauseheisrequiredtobeneutral.

Note2:

Oneconstituencyhasstillnotvotedbecausethedeathofacandidatepostponedthatelection.

Link:

HouseofCommonssiteclickhere

TheHouseofLords

Thisistheupperchamberbuttheonewithlessauthority.ItsmainrolesaretoreviselegislationandkeepacheckonGovernmentbyscrutinisingitsactivities.UltimatelyitcannotblockthewilloftheHouseofCommons.

Itisanutterlybizarreinstitutionthathasnoparallelanywhereinthedemocraticworld.Theexplanationforitsunusualnaturegoesbacktothebeginningofthisessay:

theBritishpoliticalsystemhasevolvedveryslowlyandpeacefullyanditisnottotallylogicalordemocratic.

∙ThereisnofixednumberofmembersintheHous