The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Ch. 4

2. I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power A. Political Culture, Communication, and Socialization • Three different views about who should be involved when important political decisions are made: • 1. Trusteeship theory of government: assumes that leader should take the initiative in deciding what is collectively in the public interest. • 2. Interest group theory of government: sees government’s role as balancing the demands of competing groups and classes in society. • 3. Individualist Theory: postulates that political parties should represent people rather than organized group interest (Margaret Thatcher)

3. I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power A. Political Culture, Communication, & Socialization • Citizens are usually not interested in politics. • Tradition is key- THEY ARE OLD • Socialization: • Family: primary family loyalties. • Gender: women are a majority. • Education: strongly related to participation in politics. • Class: income and education • Mass media: reinforces differences that arise from class and education.

4. I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power B. Nation and States • Four nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland • One state: Constitutional monarchy and unitary state C. Regional Organizations • NATO • EU: the euro problem

5. I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power D. Sources of Power • Fusion of the legislature and the executive, or head of government, rather than in the monarch, a symbolic head of state. E. Constitutions • Flexible and unwritten constitution based on long history of tradition but also defined by parliament’s laws or statute law. • Parliamentary sovereignty is one of the most important parts.

6. I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power F. Regime Types • Parliamentary democracy • Prime Minister • House of Commons – Lower house; all the power • House of Lords – Upper house; no power • Votes of confidence G. Types of Economic Systems • Post WWII – 1970s  collective consensus (mixed economy with a welfare state) • 1980s – 1990s  Free-Markets (mostly emphasized with Margaret Thatcher and John Major)

8. I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power H. State Building, Legitimacy, and Stability • IT’S OLD I. Belief System as a Source of Legitimacy • Religion: Protestant; most members of official church - Church of England. Catholicism in Northern Ireland is a major conflict. • Ideology: tradition • Multi-party system: two major parties are Labour and Conservatives. J. Government Accountability • The legitimacy of government in the UK is proven by the readiness of the people to comply with basic political rules

9. II. Political Institutions - UK • The UK is a unitary, parliamentary system, meaning the executive is born from the legislature - centered in London. • One STATE = the United Kingdom • Four NATIONS=England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

10. II. Political Institutions - UK A. Executive • Prime Minister-PM- (David Cameron) is head of government and is elected solely by the legislature. He appoints the cabinet. • King/Queen (Elizabeth II) =head of state. Role is symbolic, yet she is head of the Church of England. • Theoretically, elections are meant to be held every 5 years, though an election can be called at any time if a vote of no confidence passes. • Vote of no confidence (by MPs) means PM must dissolve Parliament and call for new elections. • Bureaucracy of the executive consists of experts who do the actual policymaking in Westminster and White Hall-location of all government ministries-and then submit it to Downing Street-PM residency often used to refer to the entire cabinet. • Cabinet then edits, presents to House of Commons and voting occurs.

11. II. Political Institutions - UK B. Legislature • Its composed of all major parties, currently: • Conservatives-which is in power • Labour-which forms the loyal opposition • Liberal Democrats, who are losing ground quickly • Minor parties exist but they are few

12. II. Political Institutions - UK C. Elections • House of Commons (lower house of the bicameral parliament): using SMDP (single member district plurality). • House of Lords (upper house) is appointed by queen and important government ministers. • Regional Scottish and Welsh legislatures exist and are elected by constituents within those territories. • Northern Ireland is a special case due to the violence that occurs there. • HIGH party discipline exists, because without it the PM cannot do much and the ruling party loses office. • Elite recruitment comes mainly from Oxbridge (University of Oxford and Cambridge University) and other elite institutions, though accessibility has improved in recent years. • Parties have safe districts where they run their leaders to ensure they are in parliament. Labour =urban workers, Conservatives=rural and suburbia, Liberal Democrats=mix

13. II. Political Institutions - UK D. Judiciary • Formed by all of the courts of appeal in the land-regardless of the level-and the highest authority rests with the Law Lords, who sit in the House of Lords and actually do quite little. • Common law is how things work, with history and precedent being essential to creating laws within the country. • The royal family technically heads the military but, again, the PM holds power. • Military consists of the air force, the navy and the army. • Neo-corporatist • Interest groups work with government, but government chooses which ones to listen to-makes a neo-corporatist system. Quasi-autonomous NGO’s (Quangos).

14. III. Citizens, Society, & State A. Cleavages and Politics • Ethnicity/Race: Multinational state (4 regions) • Multiracial state (jobseekers, immigration) • 5-10% minority, the rest white • Religion: Catholics in Northern Ireland have been striving to separate from the United Kingdom and become part of the Republic of Ireland since 1968 (IRA = Irish Republican Army) • Class: Blue collar vs. White collar • Manual workers with Labour • Middle class and business people with Conservatives • Link between class and party is no longer as strong. • Gender gap is virtually none existent. • Education gap has been reduced, but still 98% of MPs are college graduates (Oxbridge.)

15. III. Citizens, Society, & State B. Civil Society and Social Capital • Flourished during the last centuries although still INDIFFERENT to politics. • Trades Union Congress- chief labor organization • Union membership has decreased • The goal of interest groups is to have new policy implemented despite of who is in power. They concentrate on the PM, the cabinet, and senior civil servants of the bureaucracy. • Insider pressure groups and outsider pressure groups; insiders get more done.

16. III. Citizens, Society, & State C. Media Role • Most newspapers lean towards a single party and they support the views of their audience. • Television broadcasting: BBC is a major agent of political socialization. • Law forbids selling to political causes and government controls the renewal of broadcasting licenses. • Freedom of press exists.

17. III. Citizens, Society, & State D. Political Participation • Tax paying and drawing benefits form public programs • Election of members for the House of Commons is direct participation. Every citizen age 18 or older is eligible. • 2/5 of British have signed a petition on a public issue. • Only one-tenth says they are very interested in politics. • Violence in Northern Ireland (IRA) an act of “political participation.” • In the name of seceding from the UK and joining the Republic of Ireland

18. III. Citizens, Society, & State E. Social Movements • Nationalist movements in Scotland and Wales pushed for devolution and accomplished it. • IRA in Northern Ireland struggles for their independence from Protestant United Kingdom. F. Citizenship and Representation • The government encourages citizenship for immigrants and an emphasis on tradition. • All citizens of the United Kingdom receive benefits from public programs. • Class can determine who is heard and by who you are heard. • Insider pressure groups are a from of neo-corporatism

19. IV. Political & Economic Change A. Early Steps toward Democracy • The Glorious Revolution in 1688 serves as the real change in politics-under William and Mary. • No bloodshed, monarchy loses power to parliament. • Trend began in 1215 with the Magna Carta, where King John was forced to give up power to his subjects. • Essentially, democratization came about through documents, time, better education, more wealth and a general global trend.

20. IV. Political & Economic Change B. The Crown & Its Limits • Crown reserves symbolic power and unifies the people-it is well liked. • Originally, Crown and Aristocracy made process difficult. • Nowadays it is known as a constitutional monarchy, though true power rests with the people.

22. IV. Political & Economic Change C. Political Changes • Devolution is characteristic of this change-like regional assemblies in Scotland and Wales. • Even financial autonomy in Scotland. • Northern Ireland stays with the UK by choice, before it happened through protestant suppression. • The Church of England is now weaker, creating a separation of church and state.

23. IV. Political & Economic Change D. Economic Changes • Economically, Britain is a service oriented economy-like most developed nations-with a rising standard of living. • One of few countries in Europe that stayed with its own currency (pound) after creation of the EU. • First to industrialize along with Belgium. • Politically it is important because of economic ties with nations in the common wealth-though its influence is diminishing.

24. IV. Political & Economic Change D. Economic Change (cont) • Power over the economy rests in the Chancellor of the Exchequer or minister of finance. • Now acting more multilaterally-for 200 years it was separate from continental Europe.

25. IV. Political & Economic Change E. UK in the 2nd half of the 20th Century • England has always been the center of politics and economics. • World War II destroyed Europe; England was no different so it created a mixed economy. • The UK, like many other European countries, is very much a welfare state. • Thatcher killed off most welfare because it was too costly. • Labour Party has reconciled both systems but with the global financial crisis, things look grim. • 2010 – Labour Party out, Conservative Party no majority

26. …and I say hello! Hello, hello! You say Good-bye…

27. IV. Political & Economic Change F. UK Now • Government has been main source of improvement, though NGO’s have participated. • Because of close ties to most former colonies, the UK’s economy is intertwined. • The U.S. is no exception, and as a democracy the ties have only grown stronger. • UK has always been dependent on food imports as well as natural resource imports. • Won’t change, but sells manufactured goods and now services. • Europe is the largest free trade zone in terms of number of countries participating and the UK understands that without Europe, it would become obsolete.

28. V. Public Policy A. Common Policy issues • Economic performance: • Per capita income has more than tripled since 1945 and its growth has been higher than the average of other advances industrial societies. • The people are satisfied with their living standards, which have grown in the decades after WWII. • Standard of living lower than US

29. V. Public Policy A. Common Policy issues (cont) • Social Welfare: • Provides at least 3 significant welfare benefits: education, health care, and pension- Both Conservatives and Labour think it is the government’s job. • Government spending: - the money from taxes (2/5 of GDP) • Social Security • Education • Health Care • Poverty: ALMOST INSIGNIFICANT. WHY? THEY ARE OLD • 10% of population lives on less than half the average wage • Less than 4% in long-term poverty. • Health: • Life Expectancy has seen raises up to 12 years in the past decades and mortality has decreased. • National Health Service- started by Labour party

30. V. Public Policy A. Common Policy issues (cont) • Civil liberties, rights, and freedoms • LIBERAL DEMOCRACY • Ability to criticize the government through the media or through non-governmental groups that defend interests of the people. • Freedom of speech and press etc. • Men and women have the right to vote for their legislature and participate in politics.

31. V. Public Policy A. Common Policy issues (cont) • Population and migration • Predominantly Protestant and strictly attached to tradition. • Multinational: It consists of four different regions: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. • Hot Spot: Northern Ireland: - IRA – Ethnicity/Religion cleavage (Catholics) • Multiracial: It has received huge waves of job seekers from around the world, especially people from its former colonies. • How does the government respond? • They encourage newcomers to appeal to UK tradition and customs, as well as citizenship. • They want to discourage violent unrest such as coordinated attack.

32. V. Public Policy B. Factors influencing public policymaking and implementation • Domestic • Four different regions: devolution, violence, nationalist parties etc. • The government affects the economy through taxes and spending policies, policies for growth, and unemployment. • Confidence for the prime minister and the cabinet and expertise of cabinet. • Party ideology. • International • European Union problem: the adoption of the euro as a national currency • NATO: concerns public security

33. VI. Comparative Method A. China • Both the UK and China are unitary systems. • Power in the UK is concentrated in Whitehall and power in China concentrates in the Communist Party. • A difference is that UK has recently devolved power to Scotland, which even has taxing powers, and Wales.

34. VI. Comparative Method B. Nigeria • Coinciding cleavages • Nigeria’s coinciding cleavages are ethnicity, region, and religion (ER2) • In the UK ethnicity is a cleavage. For example, the people of Ireland think of themselves as Irish and not British. There are also portions of people in Scotland and Wales that think of themselves as Scottish or Welsh. • Region is also a cleavage. Four different regions. England has the advantage of having Whitehall within its boundaries. • Class is another coinciding cleavage: Blue collar vs. White collar. • Religion is another cleavage: Catholics vs. Protestant.

35. VI. Comparative Method C. Russia • Religious tradition • In both countries there is an old tradition of connection with religion. • Britain is predominantly Protestant and Russia is Russian Orthodox. • Putin uses a close connection with the church to his advantage. • In Britain tradition legitimizes.

36. VI. Comparative Method D. Iran • Fusion of powers • Iran: The circles represent a fusion between theocracy and government. • UK: Fusion of legislature and executive.

37. VI. Comparative Method E. Mexico • Social class is seen as a huge cleavage in society. • In both countries it determines who participates and whose interests are articulated.