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Britain summary chapter 6 and 14
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BritainChapter 6: Political life
‘Yes, Prime Minister’ = radio and television comedy (‘80s). Political satire. The programme is critical
about:
1) the attitudes of politicians
2) their dishonesty and disloyalty
3) the style of political life
=> BUT: the people aren’t angry!
=> AND: the politicians aren’t worries about the negative picture of them. They like it.
PM= Prime Minister
Number ten at Downing street = where PM lives
The public attitude to politics
A politician ≠ good reputation with British people lack of trustworthiness (suspicion), dishonesty of
politicians, dirty business to be in, evil.
Lack of enthusiasm for politicians: less than half of the British adults don’t know who the government
ministers are.
Lack of generosity with regard to politician’s expenses (freeloaders).
In the past: people were not unenthusiastic for politics.
The rule was not to mention politics and religion in a conversation. If you did: maybe violence.
Now: ≠ dangerous topic, but a boring topic
Politicians want to show that they don’t want to be PM. They just want to be a politician out of a
sense of public duty.
The style of democracy
No respect for the institutions of the law, but they do have respect for the principle of law.
The law = respected, BUT => they don’t want to make new laws.
The main idea: you have to have laws, but if it’s possible you have to do without them. They don’t
have a lot of laws and regulation (lack of regulation) This works both ways:
Few rules tell you what you must do and what you must not do
Few rules tell the government what it can or cannot do
2 aspects make this clear:
1. No identity cards, no need to carry identification and driving licence with you
2. Freedom of Information Act: a rule which entitles people to demand
information held by public bodies (=overheidsinstanties). Pay + mostly
refused.
The 30-year rule: gives you access to government papers for 30y.
The Official Secrets Act: government employees cannot share details of work
In Britain: own identity + info that the government has about your identity = private matters
Relationship individual<-->state : Leave each other alone!
No national service (military)
No need to vote for elections
No need to register a change of address
, In BRITAIN: the democracy ≠ much participation, the people are not involved. So it does not mean
that the people can run the country, but they can choose the people who does that for them.
In OTHER COUNTRIES: a constitutional change cannot be made without a referendum (everyone in
the country has to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’).
The constitution
Britain = constitutional monarchy (King or Queen accepts advices of a parliament).
Britain = parliamentary democracy (government controlled by a parliament elected by people)
This is the basic system, not so different from the rest of Europe
The monarch: has little power
Britain does NOT have a constitution (no written document). Instead: the principles and procedures
by which the country is governed come from a number of different sources (over the centuries).
Written down, first spoken and later written down, never written down.
The style of politics
Respect for privacy and love for secrecy.
Informal: Important decisions are not taken at official public meetings but at lunch or over drinks.
Parliament: - Highest power of the land
- Ancient traditions of procedure
There are no enemies between the politicians and they like to work together.
The party system
‘Two-party system’: the member of 2 parties have 85% of all the seats in the House of Commons.
Reasons for this system: 1) the electoral system, 2) the origin of the British political parties (first
formed by the parliament and later extended to the public)
During 18th century: MP tried to divide in 2 camps (supported by government & not supported)
During 19th century: Party which did not control the government = alternative government. So the
leader of the 2nd biggest party is the ‘Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition’. He/she chooses a ‘shadow
cabinet’.
Difficult for small parties to challenge de dominance of the bigger ones. The good ideas are adopted
by the bigger ones.
Parties do not extend into every area of public life in the country. (ex. Universities)
A party’s MP has the most power. How do they choose one?
1st: They elect the party leader
2nd: They make their views known at the annual party conference
3rd: The local party has the power to decide who is going to be the party’s candidate for MP in the
area at the next election. (limited powers)
The modern situation
The traditional confidence in the political system has weakened. This because of two developments:
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