1. Only 2 major one- conservatives and labor- since 1945
2. Some regional parties
3. Resilt of Blair
4. Plaid, Cyrus- Wales, Scottish Nati. Party,
5. Near Political center
Conserv.-middle class
Labor- working class
Liberal Democrats- in middle
Unions push labor party far left
Conservative goes far right
Labor party far lefy
Ppl. meet in the middle with Liberal Dem.
Go left, father than labor party now
Conserv- Toris
1. Oldest pol. party
2. 1880s- won most elect. since
3. Roots in nobility (connected to old history)
4. Traditionally has sympathy for less well off. Shows responsibility for them
5. Didn't champion Laiz Fair economy
-supports welfare state
current leader-David Cameron- 39-year-old
-chosen by over 300,000 members (dec 2005)
-68% of partys vote
-task- to get back up after beating by Tony Blair and the labor party
no election since Brown
Labor
turn of century
mostly labor unions
more divided/diverse than conservatives
dominated by unions- members/funds
moderate party in collective consensus until 1970's- then went left, IDed no irresponsible reform
-electoral disaster since 1980s
win control of Parl. in 1980s
similar to Clinton's New Democrats
-voted to eliminate 77 year committments to nationalize industry
-promise "equality of opportunity" (competition, etc)
reduced i.d. with socialism
-climax of campaign to modernize
-2001 & 2005 elections- won majority
Liberal Democrats
alliance of 2 old parties, ppl who left the other two parties
1983- won 26% of the vote, only 2 points less than labor party shortly after formation
2005- 18% of vote, victims of 'first past the post' system Brit adopted like U.S.
single member district, minor parties usually got shut out
-Use dissat. w/ conser. to build base in local gov.
-set oinions on ussies to show they'll farther left
-tax - health/education benefits
-1997- double rep. in gov. up to 45 seats
today has 62, probably wont get much higher than that
Regional (scotland, ireland, wales)
-ppl who resnent english domination of british politics
2005- won total of 18 seats
Constitution
-England has none (or so they say)
not totally accurate, it is "unwritten" or defined by treaties, acts of parliament, customs, etc.
some aspects are hundreds of years old
flexibility- easy to change, but also didn't have many guarantees for citizens
standing gov. can take exec. action, establish new precedents
Unitary gov. form- no geographic separation of authority
-Tony Blair took steps to change
-Devolution- create loh. in Scottland, wales, n. Ire.
Central gov. has all authority, can take powers back if devolved
-sliding from uinitary toward federalism
-May 1999, elections to Scot/Welsh parli; first held, created reg. parties
-rival labor party - take a few seats
Parliamentary form- no clear seperation of powers, are only put in check by opposing parties
powes of exec/leg branches overlap
indp. courts- don't have judicial review
-soverign in U.K. for parliment, unrestricted
-no unconstitutionality rulings
-Brit courts check to see if laws go against other obligations
House of Lords- law Lords
Brits highest court of Appeals, still in judicial review
-Parliament have final say, can decide in they want to change law or not
Parliamentary elections must be held at least every 5 years, can be called sooner
Executive Branch
Queen- royalty
Head of executive branch, commander in chief, integral part of "crown in parliament", temperal head of Church of England
-royal "yes" necessary for parliament's law to pass
-since late 1700s all have passed, still necessary though
-can refuse request by PM to dissolve parliament, but hasn't since late 1800s
only might disagree if no party had clear majority, Queen might then use personal discretion
has role similar to State of Union address
No comments:
Post a Comment