In class notes 2/21/12
The Cabinet and Bureaucracy
Back bencher
* new members elected, young, inexperienced.
* If enough back benchers they can join against the gov’t.
Back bencher dissent
* a vote of no confidence,
* vote against the party.
* Very Rare
* Would kill their political career
Order from Liberal to Conservative
Traditional Labour-Liberal Democrats-Labour-Conservative
The Bureaucracy
* Two Heads of each Department
* Every member of Cabinet is head of Department
Permanent Secretary
* they advise and give information to the cabinet minister
* supposed to be apolitical
* civil servant-work for gov’t
* not elected
Cabinet Minister
* Head of a department
* Can be appointed with no knowledge of subject
Potential for conflict in the British System
Permanent Secretary
-disagreement in policy, they have a bias, try to influence.
-Gridlock, slow down policy if they don’t like it.
House of Commons (most important, overtime power has switched from House of Lords to Commons)
Purpose:
1. To pass laws
2. To provide finances by authorizing taxation
3. Review and scrutinize public administration.
Reforms:
* Redistricting districts to equal represent
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* 50 less seats 2015
General Information:
* 650 seats
* The legislative and elected body
* Chaired by nonpartisan Speaker (give up party affiliation)
* Whips serve similar role as in US(prevent back bench, make sure of attendance)
* Policy agenda dictated from Whitehall (building where cabinet meets)
* Potential for backbench dissent (rare)
House of Lords (Peers)
Purpose: Went from amending and delaying legislation to serving as a chamber of revision/ redrafting legislation. Current example: Nationality, Immigration and Aslum Bill was too harsh so the House of Lords battled until legislation was revised.
Reforms:
House of Lords Act of 1999- Reduced hereditary members to 92 (some didn’t even show up)
Formerly Law Lords (removed to be part of Supreme Court)
Proposed: 746 to 300 members (eliminating hereditary)
General Information:
* 746 members (hereditary or appointed, majority appointed)
* Parliament Act of 1911 MPs can override any decision of the Lords
* Function as revising chamber- debate legislation
* Current proposal to make it elected
Parliamentary Committees
Select committees help Parliament exert control over the executive by examining specific policies or aspects of administration.
Watchdog committees- monitor conduct of major departments and ministries
Select committees- hold hearings, take written and oral testimony, and question senior civil servants and ministers. Issue reports with strong policy recommendations
Political Parties and the Party System
The Labour Party(Leader is Ed Milliband)
-Launched by trade union reps and socialist
-Landslide 1945 victory promoted party to major player
-Adopted Collectivist Consensus
-Suffered from divisions within own party.
-Foreign policy division
-Socialist left wing party
The Conservative Party(Leader is David Cameron)
* Association of Conservative with economic and elite
* “Long lasting alliance between upper-class and lower-class”
* Electoral support from about one-third of manual working class
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* Internal division on the EU cost the party
* Neoliberalism-more hands off for economy to succeed.
The Liberal Democrats(Leader in Nick Clegg)
-The only challenger to Labour and Conservative parties -2001 election they gained 50 seats most since 1929 -formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. -2010 general election, Liberal Democrats won 23% -57 of the 650, making them the third-largest party in the House of Commons -support constitutional reform
Elections
* Vote legislative posts
* Prime minister not voted in (different from US where President is directly election)
* 5-year term no fixed term, can be dissolved at any time by PM or vote of no confidence
* Prime Minister controls the timing for elections (to increase majority)
* Winner-take-all constituencies (single-member plurality system)
The Electoral System
* Candidate who wins most votes is elected (no majority or proportional rep)
* Winner take all system exaggerates size of victory of largest party as well as reduce the influence of regionally dispersed lesser parties.
* Lib Dems won only 1/5 of the seats- it was almost 2/3 achieved Labour
* 307 Conservatives 36.1%
* 258 Labour 29%
* 57 Liberal Democrats 23%
* Two and a half party system
* Stable single party govt which reduces the competiveness of smaller parties.
Will the Liberal Democrats always be a 3rd party or is it time for change?
Ethnic and Sex
1997 election- women MP’s doubled to 120. 2005-128 women were elected
1997 election- 9 ethinic minorities elected. 2005- 15 ethnic minroties
Both women and minorities are still underrepresented
The Supreme Court
General Information:
* Purpose is the monitor the application of laws
* 12 justices, 5 justices usually, 9 for a very important case
* Are under the submission of Eurpean Court of Justice of Human Rights
Nomination Process
To become a Supreme Court justice you must have been a senior judge for at least two years or a qualified lawyer for at least 15 years. Selection committee-justice secretary-PM-Queen
The Essay on Liberal Governments Life For The Working
The 1906 election, and subsequent landslide victory for the Liberals, was the first step toward the introduction of a welfare state. The Conservatives who were in power up to 1906 had basically ignored the concept of social reform; this had led to them losing the worker's vote and had also led to a decline in the standards of living for the working class. The New Liberals argued for more ...
What Cases the Court has ruled on
2004- government could not hold foreign terrorist suspects without charge indefinitely – a major blow to government security policy. 2005- upheld a ban on hunting with dogs, legislation that had divided Parliament. 1993- the Law Lords gave doctors permission to withdraw life-supporting medication from Tony Bland, a football supporter who had suffered irreversible brain damage during the Hillsborough disaster.
British Economic Policy
Big percentage of government jobs
How does globalization and international organization affect Great Britian’s economy?
-EU debt issues euro trading, partners, immigration
David Cameron’s economic policies?
Stimulate economy
Tax cuts
Post WW2- Socialist Thatcher- sold of energy, public housing government owned which made people able to buy their own houses.
Government Intervention
British Politics, Terrorism, and Britain’s Relationship with the United States
* Tony Blair supported US
* Refused advice from members from cabinet
