Great Britain

  1. England’s Exceptionalism
  2. Democracy evolved without revolution
  3. Distinctiveness evidenced in failure to transplant institutions
  1. Britain’s Current Political Challenges
  2. Economics and Distributive Policy
  3. Devolution
  4. International Involvement
  5. NATO
  6. EU
  1. Constraints of History
  2. Crown established as central political authority when Henry VIII broke with Roman Catholic Church and established Church of England (Anglican)
  3. Struggle between Parliament and crown in 1600’s
  4. 1832 Reform Act enfranchised majority of males by 1885
  5. Ramifications of WWI and WWII
  6. Social Services, “fair shares for all” – Keynesian welfare state
  7. Beveridge Report on Social Welfare
  8. Full Employment White Paper, 1944
  9. Butler Education Act, 1944
  10. National Defense
  11. 1960’s: Disillusionment
  12. 1970’s: Conservative then Labour government
  13. 1979-1991: Margaret Thatcher
  14. Falklands
  15. Economic policies
  16. Leadership Style
  17. Relationship to party, public, and Parliament
  18. 1991-1997: John Major
  19. Decline of the Conservative Party
  20. 1997-present: Tony Blair and the New Labour Party
  21. Popularity in 2001 landslide election
  22. Could remain in power through 2006
  23. The Euro and Great Britain
  24. Environment of the Political System
  25. Political divisions: One Crown, Five Nations
  26. States: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: union, not federal system
  27. Great Britain: England, Scotland, and Wales
  28. England, 56% of the territory of Great Britain
  29. Identification as English, Welsh, and Scots – Multinationalism
  30. Northern Ireland
  31. Identification as Protestant or Catholic
  32. Pattern of internal conflict
  33. Multiracial England
  34. 8% of population of Great Britain
  35. Multiracial due to immigration from colonies
  36. Insularity vs. involvement
  37. Contracting military and diplomatic commitments
  38. Dependency on world trade
  39. World organizations, Commonwealth, UN, EU
  1. Structure of Government
  2. The Constitution
  3. No written constitution
  4. Symbolizes authority of government
  5. The government
  6. Downing Street: the Prime Minister – imperatives
  7. Winning elections
  8. Campaigning and use of media
  9. Patronage
  10. Parliamentary performance
  11. Making and balancing policy
  12. Leadership Styles of Key Prime Ministers
  1. Whitehall: Cabinet and Cabinet Ministers
  2. Fusion of executive and legislative powers
  3. Decision making in committees
  4. Not fixed positions or portfolios
  5. Bureaucracies: Chancellor or the Exchequer, Treasury, Home Office
  6. Department heads
  7. PM support
  1. Civil Service
  2. Higher civil servants
  3. Duties include drafting legislation, preparing briefs
  4. Permanent secretary
  1. Parliament
  2. House of Lords
  3. Debating Club
  4. Can delay but not veto legislation
  5. House of Commons (659 members)
  6. Weigh political reputation
  7. Backbenchers
  8. Forum for debate
  9. Scrutinize Whitehall
  10. Publicize agenda
  11. Role of party loyalty
  1. Government as a Network
  2. Exercise of Power
  3. Trusteeship of Government Theory
  4. Collectives
  5. Individualist Theory
  6. Legitimacy
  7. Abuse of Power
  1. Political Socialization
  2. Cumulative Effect of:
  3. Family (Strongest Agent)
  4. Gender
  5. Education (public and private traditions)
  6. Class
  7. Media
  8. Judgments as to government performance
  1. Participation and Recruitment
  2. Participation
  3. Voting – low voter turnout
  4. Associations
  1. Recruitment of Bureaucracy
  2. From ranks of MPs
  3. Safe seats and constituency
  4. Not area experts
  5. Civil Service Commission
  6. Life-long tenure
  7. Recruited from “best and brightest”
  8. Intermittent Public Persons Recruitment
  9. From public position of responsibility
  10. Representing an interest group
  11. Expert advisers

IX. Organizing Group Interests

A. Parties vs. Interest groups

B. What Interests groups want

C. Civil society – insiders vs. outsiders

D. Permanent insiders

X. The Party System and Electoral Choice

A. Multiparty system

1. Three major parties: Labour, Conservative, Liberal

2. First-past-the-post system

B. Control of party organization

C. Images and appeals

XI. Policy Preferences

A. Centralization

B. Decentralization

C. Turning to the market

D. From trust to contract

E. Contingency of influence

F. Why public policy matters

XII. Policy Outcomes and Changes in Society

A. Outcomes

1. Relatively high levels of extractive capabilities

2. High levels of regulatory ability

3. Welfare increases in health, education, and housing

4. Growth economy

5. High levels of satisfaction