The United Kingdom of Great

Britain and Northern Ireland

Political Institutions

Presentation Outline

II. Political Institutionsa) The Executive Branchb) The Legislative Branchc) The Judicial Branchd) Electoral Systeme) Party System

II. a) The Executive Branch

• The Head of State: The Monarch• The Head of Government: The Prime Minister• The Cabinet• The Bureaucracy

The Monarch- Head of State•a hereditary constitutional monarchy (House of Windsor)

•As head of state she invites the winner of the general election to form a government in her name

•She signs all bills into law (royal assent)

•Officially appoints Cabinet Members, Judges, and Peers to the House of Lords

•She advises the government and ensures that it follows the unwritten constitution and traditions

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II

The Speech from The Throne

The Prime Minister- Head of GovernmentHe was elected leader of the Conservative Party by its members

He is the leader of the largest party in Parliament (currently in a coalition)

He initiates and proposes government policy

He nominates Cabinet Ministers, Judges, and Peers to the House of Lords

He is accountable to Parliament and to his Party but NOT directly to the British people

The Right Honourable, David Cameron

The Cabinet

Prime Minister Cameron and his Cabinet

•Appointed from the government party

•Nearly all members are also sitting MPs in the House of Commons; a few are appointed from the Lords

•Head and lead government departments

•Must publicly support government policy (Cabinet solidarity)

•Draft and propose legislation

The Bureaucracy

• The British civil service administers government policy

• appointed by the government• career civil servants• They are recruited from the top

universities (Cambridge +Oxford) • The Cabinet relies on the civil service

to provide expertise: write legislation, suggest policy proposals

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/

II. b) The Legislative Branch

Parliament

Bicameral Legislature

Has supreme lawmaking authority

House of Commons

House of Lords

The House of Commons• 650 elected members• Each Member of Parliament

(MP) represents a single district (constituency)

• Representation by population

• Debate policy• Vote on Bills• Party discipline• Confidence Vote• Question Period

Coalition Government

Official Opposition

Confidence Vote

• The Government MUST have the confidence of the House to govern at all times

• The Government can be defeated if a motion of confidence passes, meaning that more than half the MPs in the Commons have withdrawn their support from the government

1979 Confidence vote which defeated the Prime Minister Callaghan’s Labour Government. In the resulting general election Thatcher’s Conservatives won a majority.

Question Period

• This period allows the Opposition parties to challenge the Prime Minister and Cabinet directly on policy

• This ensures a great deal of transparency as Question Period is shown on public television state-wide

House of Lords• 788 members• All but 92 members are

appointed• 92 Hereditary Peers• Represents the upper or

ruling class (not regions)• Regularly amends and

improves bills from the Commons

• Can delay passage of bills• Constitutional safeguard• Normally does not reject

bills

1997 House of Lords Act

• Blair’s government reformed the Lords by eliminating all but 92/788 hereditary peers

• Now nearly all lords are nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the monarch

• Originally all lords were hereditary peers

UK Government VennWhere do the following positions go?Legislative Branch Executive Branch

1. Monarch2. Prime Minister3. Cabinet4. MP5. Lord6. Shadow Cabinet7. Leader of the Official

Opposition8. Speaker9. Civil Servant

II. C) Judicial Branch

• Nominated by the Prime Minster

• Guided by British Common Law (precedents)

• No constitutional authority to exercise judicial review (parliament is supreme!)

• House of Lords was prior to 2009 the highest court of appeal

The U.K. Supreme Court

• Established in 2009• Highest court of last

resort (appeal) in the UK

• Resolves legal disputes between the devolved assemblies and the UK Parliament

• No authority to exercise judicial review

II. d) The Electoral System

• The House of Commons elects members using a single-member district plurality system (SMD)

• According to tradition, elections are called by the Prime Minister at any time within a five year period

• The devolved assemblies and parliaments use mixed SMD and PR

UK constituencies

2010 Election Legend:Blue- ConservativeOrange/Yellow- Liberal DemocratRed- LabourBright Yellow-Scottish National PartyLight Green- Plaid Cymru (Wales)

2010 General Election ResultsParty Popular Vote % Seats won in the

Commons% of seats held in the Commons

Conservatives 36.1 306 47

Labour 29 258 39

Liberal Democrats 23 57 8.7

*Based on a 650 seat House of Commons326 seats needed to form a majority government

What are the PROS and CONS of the SMD system for the UK?

PROS CONS

EU Parliamentary Elections

• Every 5 years on fixed election dates, UK citizens elect 72 members to the EU Parliament in Brussels

• Unlike UK national elections, elections are conducted using the Proportional Representation system (PR)

• Voter turnout for these elections is generally much lower than for regional or national elections

II. e) The Party System

• The UK has a multi-party system• However, because of the SMD electoral system

it has tended more towards a two-party – catch-all system

• each party nominates candidates to stand in the general election

• Major parties run candidates in all constituencies (with the exception of N.Ireland which has its own parties

UK PartiesMajor Catch-all parties• Conservative Party• Labour Party

Smaller Parties:Liberal DemocratsBritish National PartyScottish National Party (Scotland only)Plaid Cymru (Wales only)

General placement of ideologies on simple political spectrum

Communist Left-Wing Centrist Right-Wing Fascist

Historical shifts in parties’ ideologies

Discussion Questions

• 1) Why is Question Period fundamental to British parliamentary democracy?

• 2) In what respects does the UK have a democratic deficit?

• 3) Is the UK system of parliamentary democracy suited to the 21st century?

• 4) What aspects of the British parliamentary system act as democratic safeguards?