Thuy B

By Pham Thi Thanh

Week 8

British
Political
system
 outline
Political
life British Political
The Monarchy

The
System
Government

The Parliament

Elections

By Pham Thi Thanh Thuy B

 outline
1. The party system
Political
life 2. The public attitude to politics
3. The style of democracy
The Monarchy
4. The constitution
The 5. The style of politics
Government

The Parliament

Elections

By Pham Thi Thanh Thuy B

The party system

A two – party system

 The party system
The parties choose candidates in elections
(independent candidates are rarely elected)

The party that wins the The largest minority

majority of seat forms party = opposition
the Gov. and its leaders (criticize the party
(= MPs) running the country )

Without agreement between the political parties,

the British parliamentary system would break down
 Public attitude to politics
Lack of Lack of
trustworthiness enthusiasm

Do expect them Names of

to be dishonest their local MPs
Are
However
unknown
Don’t welcome Names of important
corruptions Gov. ministers

1st rule in politic

NEVER BELIEVE ANYTHING
UNTIL IT’S BEEN OFFICIALLY DENIED
 Style of democracy
 Have high respect for the law
• Little systematic law breaking by large number
• Not invading taxation
 Comparatively unenthusiastic about
making new laws
• Best to do without them
• Few rules and regulations in many aspects (for
Government and individuals)
 Relationship between Individual and the State
Both should leave each other alone
 Style of democracy
Individual Government
Not breaking the law Having less participation by
and paying taxes ordinary citizens in governing and
Not being obliged to law making  No concept of “By
vote at elections the people”
Not having to register Not having to ask the people for
their change of address a change in law
when moving houses Not having to have a special
vote in Par. With a high
proportion of MPs in favour
Style of democracy

People choose who is to

govern the country and let
them get on with it
 The constitution
Is a constitutional monarchy
– governed by a King or Queen
– accepts the advice of Parliament
Is also parliamentary democracy
– Government controlled by Parliament
– Official head of state or President has little real
However

power

Doesn’t have a “constitution” at all

 The constitution

No written law:
- Says anything about who can be the MP
and what his powers are
- asserts people’s rights
 The style of politics
Political life is still influenced by the traditional
British respect for privacy and love of secrecy

 Comparatively informal
Important decisions are to be taken at lunch, over
dinner, or in chance encounters in the corridors of
power
MPs have a habit of co-operation among politicians
of different parties
- Being good friends
- Little fighting about how political business is
to be conducted fairly
 outline
Political 1. The appearance
life
2. The reality
The Monarchy 3. The role of the monarch
4. The value of the monarch
The
Government 5. The future of the monarch

The Parliament

Elections

By Pham Thi Thanh Thuy B

 The appearance
In written law, the Queen has absolute power to:
 Choose the Prime Minister
 Dismiss ministers and governments
 Dissolve Parliament
 Refuse to agree to legislation
passed by Parliament
 Dismiss the governments of
other countries of which she is
monarch
 Embody the law in the courts
 Can do nothing that is legally wrong
 The reality

In reality: Different
 Can’t choose anyone she likes to be P.M
 P.M decides the other government ministers
 P.M requests a dissolution of Gov.
 The Royal assent to a bill passed by
Parliament is automatic

The Queen has almost no power at all

 The reality

Can’t stop the Gov.

The Queen has almost no power at all going ahead with
any of its politics

When she opens Parliament each year,

the speech she makes has been written
for her
• she makes no secret of the fact
• She reads word for word
• She might ask the Gov. minister to
change the wording
 The Role of the monarch
People can be as critical as they like about the real Gov
without being accused of being unpatriotic

The Monarch Personal Perform the

can refuse the embodiment of ceremonial
royal assent the Gov duties
for a bill to
 the real G
become law A final Plays
has more time
and the check on a practical
to get on with
request of Gov role
the actual job
a dissolution
of running
of Parliament
the country
 The Value of the monarch

Important to the economy

Popular with the
majority of the
British people
Make up for the
lack of colour and
ceremony
 A source of entertainment
 Future of the monarchy

• Not a political issue

• The Q= popular
• Prestige of Royal
family has lowered
due to various
marital problems
Future of royal style
a little grand,
a little less distant Changing Guard at Windsor Castle
 outline
Political 1. The Government Structure
life 2. Collective Responsibility
The Monarchy 3. The cabinet
4. The Prime Minister
The 5. The civil service
Government 6. Central and local government

The Parliament

Elections

By Pham Thi Thanh Thuy B

 Government structure
• The Government includes:
– The Prime Minister: most powerful
– 20 MPs:
• From the House of Common and belong to the same
political party
• Heads of the Gov. Departments (Minister of...)
• Appointed by the monarch (on the advice of the PM)
• Take on various responsibilities of managing
Parliament but have COLLECTIVE
RESPONSIBILITY
 Collective responsibility

All share the responsibilities for every

policy made by Government

No member of
the Gov. can
Having different
criticize Gov.
opinions, they must
policy in public or
keep these private
must resign to do so
 The Cabinet

• Which?
• Who?
• Where?
• When?
• What?
• How?
 The Cabinet
The committee at the
Which?
centre of the British
political system and is the
supreme decision-making
body in government
Who? Leading politicians in
the governing party

Where?In the Cabinet room in

Downing Street
 The Cabinet
hu r s d a y b o u t n ew
Every T e c i s i on s a
t a t io n
Take d he implemen d
i c i es ,t c i es a n
pol g p o l i u s
When? xi s t i n a r i o
of e o f t h ev
n n i n g e n t
the r u p a r t m
D e
What? Gov.

-The PM chairs the meeting

-Who says what is secret
How? - Reports are made and circulated to Gov
-Gov. Depart. summarizes the topic discu
and decisions taken
 The Prime Minister
the leader of his party
in the House of Commons

 Has a great deal of power in reality

– Appoints the cabinet and change his cabinet (power
of patronage)
– Makes the final decisions on major issues
– Decides the agenda for cabinet meetings which he
also chairs
 Has the power of public image
 The civil service

 Helps run the Government day-to day and

implement policies
 Remains though Governments come and go
 Knows the secrets of previous Gov which the
present minister is unaware of
 Reputed for absolute impartiality
 Top civil servants exercise quite a lot of control
over their ministers
 The civil service

Unknown to the larger public

Is a career
 get a high salary
 have absolute job security
 stand a good chance of being awarded an
official honour
 The civil service
Criticism
Its efficiency

• From the same narrow section of society

– Have been to a public school and then Oxford
and Cambridge
– Studied history and classical languages
 The civil service
Criticism
Its efficiency

- Doesn’t have enough expertise in matters

such as economics or technology
- Lives in its closed world, cut off from the
corners of most people in society
 The civil service
Criticism
Its efficiency

Solutions
-Ministers appoint experts
from outside the civil service
to work on various projects

- Ministers have their own

political advisers working
alongside with their
civil servants
 Central and local government

Local Government has similar system of

national Government
– Elected representatives = councilors ≈ MPs
– Meet in council chamber in the Town Hall or
County Hall ≈ Parliament
– Make policy implemented by local Government
officers ≈ Civil Servants
 Central and local government

 Local Government authorities (= councils)

only have powers given by the Central
Government
 Most people have far more direct dealings
with local Gov.
– Manage nearly all public services
– Employ 3 times as many people
– Fairly free from constant central interference in
their day-to-day work
Central and local government

There is greater and greater

control by Central Government
 outline
1. House of Commons
Political
life 2. The Atmosphere of Parliament
3. MP’s life
The Monarchy
4. Parliamentary business
5. MP’s way of working
The
6. The House of Lords
Government

The Parliament

Elections

By Pham Thi Thanh Thuy B

 Parliament
Like parliament in other
Activities
western democracies:
– Make new laws
– Give authority for the Government to raise and spend
money
– Keep a close eye on Government activities and
discuss these activities

Place of Palace of
working offices Westminster
 Parliament
Palace of
Westminster

- Committee rooms
- Restaurants
- Bars
- Libraries
- Some places of residence
- 2 larger rooms:
- House of Lords
- House of Commons
 House of commons
Design and layout
American Senate British House
of Commons
 Facing each other

Government benches Opposition benches

• EitherFor or Against (No opportunity for a reflection of

all various shades of political opinions)
• Encourage confrontation between Gov and opposition
• Reinforce the reality of the British two-party system
Speaker chairs the debate
between two rows
 House of commons
Other features
1. Has no front
2. Has no desks for MPs
3. Is small

Creates fairly informal atmosphere

 House of commons

Creates fairly informal atmosphere

MPs are encouraged

to co-operate MPs speak in a
conversational
tone and don’t
normally speak
for long
 The atmosphere of parliament

MPs are forbidden to address one another

directly or use personal names
• All remarks and questions must go “through the
chair”
• Use “the honourable Member of Winchester” or
“my right honourable friend”

Take the “heat” out of debate and decrease

the possibility that violence may break down
 MP’s life
• Traditionally, MPs weren’t supposed to be specialist
politicians
 should be ordinary people
 ideally come from all walks of life
• MPs weren’t paid until early 20th
 supposed to do a public service, not making a career
 only rich people could afford to be MPs
• MPs have incredibly poor facilities: share
with at least more than 2 MPs
 an office
 a secretary
 However MP’s life

Politics in Britain in the last 40 years has

become professional
 Most MPs = full-time politicians and do
another part-time job (if at all)
 Spend more time at work than any other
professional in the country
 A busy life MP’s life

• Mornings are taken up with committee

work, research, preparing speeches and
dealing with the problems of constituents
• Afternoons = meetings in the house
• Weekends are not free:
– Visit their constituencies
– Listen to the problems of anybody who wants
to see them
 A busy life MP’s life

So busy that they have little time for

• pursuing another career
• for families (higher rate of divorce)
 Parliamentary business

Debate on a particular proposal

MPs have to vote for or against
by walking through one of 2 corridors at
the side of the house
– Aye: agree
– No: disagree
 Parliamentary business
• Some committees are appointed to examine
particular proposal for laws
• There are also permanent committees
whose job is to investigate the activities of
government in particular field
– include 40 members
– have power to call certain people such as civil
servants to come and answer their questions
 Parliamentary business

The committees are becoming

a more and more important part
of the business of the Commons
 MP’s way of working

MPs nearly vote the way that their party tells

them to do

WHIP
(powerful people)
 MP’s way of working

WHIPS
• Each of the 2 major parties has several MPs
who perform this role
• Those make sure MPs do this by
- Informing all MPs in their party how
they should vote
- Acting as intermediaries between the
backbenchers and the front benches
- Keeping the party leadership informed
about backbench opinion
 House of lords
• Parliament's second
chamber
• Its main job is to 'double
check' new laws
• There are 675 members
• Does not have the power to
stop a new law that the
Commons wants, but it can
delay it
• Is a forum for public
discussion
 The system

• The electoral system used in Britain

doesn’t seem to add up
The “first-past- the-post” system
• Nearly everybody votes for a candidate
on the basis of the party (s)he represents,
not on the qualities or political opinions
of the candidate
 Voters

• Voters can choose only one candidate;

otherwise, the ballot paper is “spoiled” and
not counted
• Voters ≥ 18 years old and on the electoral
However

register

Nobody is obliged to vote

 Time for New Election
• It is the Government
which decides when to
hold an election
• An election has to take
place at least every five
years
usually shorter
Comparatively The campaign
quiet affairs

– Local newspapers give

coverage to the candidates
– Candidates hold meetings
– Party supporters stick up
posters in their windows
– Local party workers spend
their time canvassing

no large rallies or parades like in USA

 the campaign
Strict regulations on the campaign

 Limited amount of money

have to submit detailed
accounts for their expenses for
inspection
 Any attempt to influence voters
improperly is outlawed
 the real campaign

• Takes place at a national level

• The parties spend millions of pounds advertising
on hoardings and newspapers
• They don’t buy time on TV= USA but given a
number of strictly timed “party election
broadcasts”
• Each party also holds a daily televised news
conference
 the real campaign

Emphasis is on the
national party personalities
rather than local candidates
 Process of Election

 The country is divided into a number of

areas of roughly equal population =
constituencies
 Anyone wishing to become an MP must
declare himself belonging to one of these
constituencies (after depositing £500 with
the Returning Officer)
 Process of election

 The date of general election

(polling day) is fixed
- always on Thursday
- not a public holiday
 On polling day, voters go to polling stations
and put a cross next to the name of one
candidate on a ballot paper
 Process of election
 After the polls close, the
marked ballot papers are
taken to a central place in
the constituency and
counted

 The Returning officer makes a public

announcement for the votes cast for
each candidate and declares the winner
to be the MP for the constituency
 Process of election
 At the election night, TV start their programmes
 By midnight, experts will be making predictions
about the composition of the newly elected
House of Commons

 By 2 in the morning, ≥ ½
of the constituencies will
have declared their results.
validity of election
 validity of election
Fairly conducted

Candidates are
entitled to demand
as many recounts as
they want until the Exception
result is beyond In Northern Ireland
“Vote early, vote often”
doubt
 By- election
Whenever a sitting MP can no longer fulfill his
duties, there has to be a special new election
in the constituency which he represents

By elections
No system of
can take place
ready substitutes
at any time
 Suggestions for further reading

1. Major political parties

2. Powers of the monarch
3. Parliamentary procedure
4. The tension between central government
and local government
5. British voting behaviour