British politics : the basics

Over the last two decades British politics has undergone a remarkable transformation. While some components of the system have been eroded, such as voter turnout and membership of the big parties, other parts have flourished, such as nationalist parties, the insurgent UKIP, as well as the new media. British Politics: The Basics analyses these changes and places them within the context of the evolution of British society from absolute monarchy to representative democracy. It considers each of the major components of British politics, such as the Monarchy and the House of Lords, the Commons, voting behaviour, parties and pressure groups, the Prime Minister and Cabinet, devolution, local government, and foreign policy. Its contents include coverage of recent events such as the Scottish Referendum and the 2015 General Election. This readable and comprehensive introduction will be of key interest to A-level students, undergraduates and those new to the study of British politics. BRITISH POLITICS: THE BASICS- FRONT COVER......Page 1 BRITISH POLITICS: THE BASICS......Page 4 TITLE PAGE......Page 8 COPYRIGHT PAGE......Page 9 DEDICATION......Page 10 CONTENTS......Page 12 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 14 PART I: INTRODUCTION......Page 18 THE WITAN......Page 20 LORDS AND COMMONS MEET SEPARATELY......Page 21 CIVIL WAR, 1640-49......Page 22 GLORIOUS REVOLUTION, 1688-89......Page 23 POLITICAL PARTIES......Page 24 THE ENLIGHTENMENT......Page 25 THE INFLUENCE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 1789......Page 26 GREAT REFORM ACT 1832......Page 27 POLITICAL PARTIES FROM THE MID-NINETEENTH TO THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY......Page 28 FURTHER LORDS REFORMS......Page 30 DEVOLUTION......Page 31 FURTHER READING......Page 32 THE UNDERLYING IDEAS......Page 34 THE MAJOR PARTIES......Page 36 THE EXECUTIVE......Page 38 PRESSURE GROUPS......Page 39 THE MEDIA......Page 40 FURTHER READING......Page 41 PART II: THE POLITICAL CONTEXT......Page 44 CHAPTER 3: POLITICAL CULTURE......Page 46 ECONOMIC INFLUENCES......Page 47 THE CONSTITUTION......Page 48 DEFERENCE......Page 50 CRIME......Page 52 WELFARE STATE......Page 53 MPS’ EXPENSES AND THE EROSION OF TRUST......Page 54 CONCLUSION......Page 55 FURTHER READING......Page 56 ECONOMIC BEGINNINGS......Page 57 INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE MARXIST ANALYSIS......Page 58 WHY NO REVOLUTION?......Page 60 SOCIAL MOBILITY AND EDUCATION......Page 61 ECONOMIC INEQUALITY......Page 63 REGIONAL DIFFERENCES......Page 68 ETHNICITY......Page 69 QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION......Page 70 FURTHER READING......Page 71 CHAPTER 5: THE UNWRITTEN CONSTITUTION......Page 72 SOURCES OF THE CONSTITUTION......Page 73 SEPARATION OF POWERS......Page 75 ‘CORE’ AND ‘CONTESTED’ ELEMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION......Page 76 CURRENT CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES......Page 77 FURTHER READING......Page 78 THE EMERGENCE OF POLITICAL IDEAS......Page 80 CORE PHILOSOPHIES IN THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES......Page 81 POST-WAR DEVELOPMENTS IN POLITICAL IDEAS......Page 86 COALITION AFTER MAY 2010......Page 93 UKIP......Page 95 CONCLUDING COMMENT......Page 96 FURTHER READING......Page 99 PART III: THE MEDIATING AGENCIES......Page 102 FUNCTIONS......Page 104 PARTY GOVERNMENT FROM THE MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY......Page 106 THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY......Page 107 LABOUR PARTY......Page 109 LIBERAL DEMOCRATS......Page 113 NATIONALIST PARTIES......Page 114 FUNDING POLITICAL PARTIES......Page 115 FURTHER READING......Page 116 TYPES OF PRESSURE GROUPS......Page 118 ORIGINS OF PRESSURE GROUPS......Page 119 PRESSURE GROUPS AND GOVERNMENT......Page 120 POLITICAL THEORY AND PRESSURE GROUPS......Page 125 FURTHER READING......Page 126 CHAPTER 9: THE MASS MEDIA......Page 127 EVOLUTION OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION......Page 128 THE PRESS......Page 129 THE BROADCAST MEDIA......Page 131 NEWS VALUES......Page 134 ‘SPIN’......Page 135 QUESTION OF BIAS......Page 136 REGULATION OF THE PRESS......Page 138 NEW MEDIA......Page 139 FURTHER READING......Page 140 PART IV: THE LEGISLATURE......Page 142 CHAPTER 10: THE MONARCHY......Page 144 FUNCTIONS......Page 145 CRITICISMS......Page 146 THE MONARCHY AND POLITICS......Page 147 FURTHER READING......Page 148 CHAPTER 11: THE HOUSE OF LORDS......Page 150 FUNCTIONS OF HOUSE OF LORDS......Page 151 REFORM......Page 153 FURTHER READING......Page 154 EARLY HISTORY......Page 156 THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM(S)......Page 157 THE DIMINISHING INFLUENCE OF CLASS ON VOTING......Page 159 LOW ELECTION TURNOUT......Page 163 OTHER FACTORS INFLUENCING VOTING BEHAVIOUR......Page 165 THE MAY 2010 GENERAL ELECTION......Page 167 THE MAY 2015 GENERAL ELECTION......Page 168 FURTHER READING......Page 182 CHAPTER 13: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS......Page 184 DIMINUTION OF POWER......Page 185 ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMONS......Page 188 REFORM OF COMMONS......Page 191 COMPOSITION OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS......Page 193 FURTHER READING......Page 194 PART V: THE EXECUTIVE......Page 196 CABINET......Page 198 THE PRIME MINISTER......Page 202 DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (DPM)......Page 207 THE ‘CORE EXECUTIVE’......Page 208 FURTHER READING......Page 210 MINISTERS......Page 212 CIVIL SERVICE......Page 214 POLITICAL ADVISERS......Page 220 WHO MAKES POLICY - MINISTER OR CIVIL SERVANT?......Page 221 REFORMING THE CIVIL SERVICE......Page 222 FURTHER READING......Page 223 POLICY-MAKING AS A ‘SYSTEM’......Page 225 MODELS OF POLICY-MAKING......Page 226 THE POLICY CYCLE......Page 229 EXAMPLE: MANAGING THE ECONOMY......Page 237 FURTHER READING......Page 241 PART VI: SUB-NATIONAL GOVERNMENT......Page 244 CHAPTER 17: DEVOLUTION......Page 246 NORTHERN IRELAND......Page 247 DEVOLUTION IN THE 1970s......Page 248 SCOTLAND......Page 251 DEVOLUTION: RELATED PROBLEMS......Page 252 ENGLISH NATIONALISM......Page 253 GREATER LONDON GOVERNMENT......Page 254 SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM AND ITS IMPACT......Page 256 FURTHER READING......Page 261 PROVENANCE......Page 263 POST-WAR DECLINE......Page 265 THATCHER AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT......Page 267 FURTHER REFORMS......Page 269 ABOLITION OF THE AUDIT COMMISSION......Page 271 ELECTED MAYORS......Page 272 ‘REVOLUTIONARY’ DEVOLUTION OF POWERS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN 2014-15......Page 274 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION (LGA)......Page 275 POLITICS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT......Page 276 FURTHER READING......Page 277 SUBORDINATE?......Page 279 JUDICIAL POSTS......Page 280 THE COURTS AND THEIR PERSONNEL......Page 282 THE RECRUITMENT OF JUDGES......Page 285 ‘JUDICIAL ACTIVISM’......Page 286 ENFORCING EUROPEAN LAW......Page 287 ENFORCING THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS......Page 288 FURTHER READING......Page 289 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE......Page 291 THE EMPIRE AND DECLINE......Page 293 THE SPHERES OF FOREIGN POLICY......Page 295 THE EUROPEAN UNION AS A FOCUS OF FOREIGN POLICY......Page 296 THE ANGLO-AMERICAN BOND - A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP?......Page 297 THE GROWTH OF EURO-SCEPTICISM......Page 300 FURTHER READING......Page 302 COLLAPSE OF THE CENTRE GROUND - A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE......Page 304 THE ‘HOLLOWING OUT’ OF THE UK POLITICAL SYSTEM......Page 305 DEVOLUTION......Page 310 UKIP......Page 311 LABOUR’S PROBLEMS:......Page 312 THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS’ PROBLEMS......Page 313 CONSERVATIVE PARTY......Page 314 COALITION GOVERNMENT......Page 315 FURTHER READING......Page 317 GLOSSARY......Page 318 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 322 INDEX......Page 329 "Fully updated and expanded, the second edition of this still compact text on British politics expertly analyses the major changes in British political life, placing them revealingly within the context of the evolution of British society from absolute monarchy to representative democracy. The author considers each of the major components of British politics in digestible chapters, such as the Monarchy and the House of Lords, the Commons, voting behaviour, parties and pressure groups, the Prime Minister and Cabinet, devolution, local government, and foreign policy. The book includes two new chapters on the EU referendum and Brexit, and the extraordinary December 2019 election, as well as coverage of events such as the Coronavirus pandemic, and the respective travails of the increasingly split two major political parties. This readable and comprehensive introduction will be of key interest to A-level students, undergraduates and those new to the study of British politics"-- Provided by publisher Over the last two decades British politics has undergone a remarkable transformation. While some components of the system have been eroded, such as voter turnout and membership of the big parties, other parts have flourished, such as nationalist parties, the insurgent UKJP, as well as the new media. British Politics: The Basics analyses these changes and places them within the context of the evolution of British society from absolute monarchy to representative democracy, ft considers each of the major components of British politics, such as the monarchy and the House of Lords, the Commons, voting behaviour, parties and pressure groups, the prime minister and cabinet, devolution, local government, and foreign policy. Its contents include coverage of recent events such as the Scottish Referendum and the 2015 General Election. This readable and comprehensive introduction will be of key interest to A-level students, undergraduates and those new to the study of British politics Over the last two decades British politics has undergone a remarkable transformation. While some components of the system have dwindled, such as voter turnout and membership of the big parties, other parts have flourished, such as nationalist parties and the insurgent UKIP, as well as the new media. This book analyses these changes and places them within the context of the evolution of British society from absolute monarchy to representative democracy