Great Britain

1
Great Britain

• The Key Institutions

2
The Key Institutions

• Monarch
• Cabinet
• Prime Minister
• Parliament
• House of Commons
• House of Lords
• Political Parties

3
Constitution

• - Can a law passed by the British Parliament be
  declared unconstitutional? Why or why not?
• - No. There is no judicial review in Britain.
  There is no single written constitution, although
  Britain has a constitutional government.
• - Britains constitution a collection of
  Common Law, historic charters, acts passed by
  Parliament, and established custom.
• - Parliament, specifically the House of
  Commons, can pass any law that it wants.

4
The Monarch

• - Head of state in Britain PM is the chief of
  govt. Separate in Britain combined in the US
  President.
• - Advantages?
• - Head of state provides citizenry with
  psychological cement to hold country together.
  Even if the PM falls into disgrace, the system
  retains its legitimacy if the esteem for the head
  of state continues.
• - Monarch does have some political powers, but
  not in practical terms.

5
The Cabinet

• - British cabinet compared with US
• - British Members of Commons, and some Lords,
  who are top members of their party. Plenty of
  political experience as MPs and then as junior
  ministers. Little or no technical expertise in
  the subject matter of the ministry (portfolio)
  which they administer. PM part of cabinet.
• - US Usually people with experience and
  expertise in the field of the department they
  administer, but little or no political
  experience. Some exceptions. Has become
  relatively meaningless in terms of any collective
  policy making. Does not meet often anymore.

6
The Cabinet

• - Origins?
• - Began as ministers to the king, but starting
  in 17th C. became more and more responsible to
  Parliament and less to the king.
• - Selection?
• - Picked by PM for political qualifications
  rather than for technical expertise in the
  ministrys subject matter.
• - In most cases, try to pick members from various
  viewpoints within the party.
• - Fusion of powers?
• - Integration of executive function/branch with
  legislative. Opposite of US separation of
  powers.

7
The Cabinet

• - Collective responsibility?
• - Practice of cabinet sticking together in
  support of PM. Occasionally a minister resigns
  in protest over a major controversy. E.g. the
  2003 war in Iraq.

8
The Cabinet

• - Policy making
• - Cabinet becoming less influential in
  collective policy making since WWI. PM Blair now
  develops policy with a small personal staff and
  then informs the cabinet of it.
• - Numbers
• - Recent years, about 20 (see p. 40 for list)
• - Below cabinet rank non-cabinet department
  ministers and junior ministers assigned to
  help cabinet and department ministers. Hopes to
  achieve one of these positions tend to keep most
  young party members in line

9
The Cabinet

• - Government what does it mean in
  parliamentary terms?
• - The cabinet two terms interchangeable. The
  Blair or Thacher government.
• - US equivalent administration The Bush or
  Clinton administration.
• - Government falls what does it mean in
  parliamentary terms?
• - Cabinet, including PM, has resigned.

10
The Prime Minister

• - The Prime Minister
• - Who chooses?
• - de jure?
• - The monarch
• - de facto?
• - The leader of the party gaining
  Parliamentary majority in the general election
  automatically becomes PM. (p. 40) The PM is an
  MP.

11
The Prime Minister

• - When chosen?
• - General elections for Parliament must be held
  within five years of the previous ones.
• - PM has the power to call new elections whenever
  he/she wants. Process is to ask the monarch to
  dissolve Parliament and hold new elections. The
  latter can be counted on to do that.

12
The Prime Minister

• - PM strategize to hold elections when popularity
  is highest. Public opinion polls and
  by-elections (elections held to replace MPs who
  have died in or retired from office) give an
  indication of what the popularity of the PM is at
  any given time.

13
The Prime Minister

• - How much party discipline does the PM have in
  Parliament?
• - Usually much more than in the US. PM head of
  the majority party, and there are various
  incentives to keep party members in line,
  including possible future cabinet position and
  party whips (latter make sure their MPs turn out
  for divisions), and support from party in
  future elections.
• - Usually PM makes sure that policy will not
  create too much public ire or ire among various
  party members.
• - If PM loses a vote in Commons, will resign and
  hold new elections. Has not happened in a long
  time in Commons.
• - With a controversial issue, backbenchers
  (those without executive positions) can revolt.
  In Br., does not happen often, but best recent
  example was 2003 when 138 Labour MPs voted
  against Blair over the Iraq war. Members of
  Conservative party voted in large numbers to
  support Blair thus saving his government.

14
The Prime Minister

• - In what way and why are PMs becoming like US
  presidents?
• - Recent PMs, and Blair in particular, have
  concentrated and centralized power in his
  immediate office at the expense of the cabinet
  and Commons (not unlike the US President and the
  Executive Office).
• - Television has allowed chiefs of government
  everywhere, including Br. and US, to go beyond
  parties and legislatures, and to reach people
  directly. Media tends to focus on top leaders.
• - Other factors (p. 41)
• - E. Tony Blair as a new model PM (p. 43)

15
The Prime Minister

• - PMs residence?
• - 10 Downing Street, an ordinary row house.
  Other chief cabinet officers live nearby.
• - Whitehall?
• - Main British government offices
• - Westminster?
• - Parliament building

16
The House of Commons

• In general
• - In theory, legislative power has primacy but
  in practice Commons has rarely been free and
  independent and is becoming less so. PMs lead
  and control Commons, for the most part.

17
The House of Commons

• In Session
• - Building itself is relatively small for number
  of MPs currently elected (currently 659 hall
  designed for about 400). P. 46
• Parallel benches. Her Majestys Govt (majority
  party) on one side, Her Majestys Loyal
  Opposition on the other side facing one another.
• - Ensures members face each other just a few
  yards apart in debate.
• - Neutral speaker elected by MPs for life never
  votes or takes sides

18
The House of Commons

• - Choosing the British government?
• - Voters elect Members of Parliament (House of
  Commons) who in turn choose the executive branch,
  headed by PM (who traditionally, although not by
  law, is the head of the party gaining a majority
  in Commons). In essence, the executive, or
  cabinet, is a committee of the legislature.
• - P. 45

19
The House of Commons

• - How is Commons opened each year?
• - In November with a speech from the Throne by
  the Queen. In practice, speech written for her
  by PM, and outlines policies my govt will
  pursue.
• - Who introduces almost all of the legislation?
• - The government. Stands a high chance of
  being passed.

20
The House of Commons

• - What is job of opposition?
• - Challenging the proposals.
• - Cabinet and sub-cabinet ministers duty bound
  to defend the bills.
• - Rhetorical abilities of MPs shine at these
  moments producing debates seldom matched
  elsewhere.
• - Every Friday is question time for PM.
  Responds to withering questioning unimaginable
  for someone like Pres. Bush.

21
The House of Commons

• - How important are legislative committees?
• - Although rhetoric brilliant, substance often
  weak. Because of need to obey party, few MPs
  have incentive to specialize.
• - Parliamentary committees also unspecialized.
  Go over wording of bills but call no witnesses to
  gather data.
• - Some movement toward having committees closer
  to US model with permanent, stable membership.
  In 1979, 14 select committees set up to
  scrutinize the workings of each ministry.
• - Neither Conservative nor Labour governments
  have been enthusiastic about specialized
  committees. Prefer little scrutiny and more
  rubber-stamping of policy initiatives coming from
  the government.
• - Salaries and Allowances in Comparison (p. 48)

22
The House of Lords

• - How powerful is House of Lords as the upper
  chamber in the bicameral Parliament?
• - Not very today. Commons has limited Lords
  power over the centuries. Able to do that
  because of an unwritten constitution. The term
  Parliament today really means The House of
  Commons.

23
The House of Lords

• - Membership?
• - Life peers distinguished citizens in
  science, literature, politics, military,
  business, and arts who are named Lords or Ladies
  of the Realm.
• - Hereditary peers -- largely eliminated in
  1999.
• - Current numbers Around 500 life peers 92
  hereditary peers 26 top churchmen.

24
The House of Lords

• - What powers, if any, does Lords have?
• - Delay legislation for not more than 30 days on
  financial bills, and two years (one year since
  1949) on other bills. Delays legislation only
  occasionally, but in those instances can be a
  jolt to PM.
• - Can debate issues deemed too controversial for
  elected officials.
• - Some Lords named to cabinet or other high
  political or diplomatic posts.
• - Five Law Lords Life peers who are Britains
  top judges in the countrys court system, to whom
  cases may be appealed. Lack power of
  constitutional review.
• - Considerations for reform (p. 50)

25
The Political Parties

• - Parties now the cornerstone of British
  government.
• - Not always that way. Parties not really
  coherent until the time of French Revolution
  (1789).
• - Two parties dominate (two-party system)
  Conservatives (Tories) Labour. In 1980s,
  Liberal and Social Democratic Parties merged into
  Liberal Democratic Party. But get few seats in
  Parliament due to majoritarian system in
  Britain.
• - Why Britain has a two-party system (p. 51)