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Transcript of Ch. 4. A. Political Culture, Communication, and Socialization Three different views about who...
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Ch. 4
A. Political Culture, Communication, and Socialization
Three different views about who should be involved when important political decisions are made:◦ 1. Trusteeship theory of government: assumes that leader
should take the initiative in deciding what is collectively in the public interest.
◦ 2. Interest group theory of government: sees government’s role as balancing the demands of competing groups and classes in society.
◦ 3. Individualist Theory: postulates that political parties should represent people rather than organized group interest (Margaret Thatcher)
I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power
A. Political Culture, Communication, & Socialization
Citizens are usually not interested in politics. Tradition is key- THEY ARE OLD Socialization:
◦ Family: primary family loyalties. ◦ Gender: women are a majority.◦ Education: strongly related to participation in politics. ◦ Class: income and education◦ Mass media: reinforces differences that arise from class
and education.
I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power
B. Nation and States Four nations: England, Scotland, Wales,
and Northern Ireland One state: Constitutional monarchy and
unitary state C. Regional Organizations NATO EU: the euro problem
I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power
D. Sources of Power Fusion of the legislature and the executive, or head of
government, rather than in the monarch, a symbolic head of state.
E. Constitutions Flexible and unwritten constitution based on long
history of tradition but also defined by parliament’s laws or statute law.
Parliamentary sovereignty is one of the most important parts.
I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power
F. Regime Types Parliamentary democracy
◦ Prime Minister◦ House of Commons – Lower house; all the power◦ House of Lords – Upper house; no power◦ Votes of confidence
G. Types of Economic Systems Post WWII – 1970s collective consensus (mixed
economy with a welfare state) 1980s – 1990s Free-Markets (mostly emphasized
with Margaret Thatcher and John Major)
I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power
H. State Building, Legitimacy, and Stability IT’S OLD
I. Belief System as a Source of Legitimacy Religion: Protestant; most members of official church - Church
of England. Catholicism in Northern Ireland is a major conflict. Ideology: tradition
◦ Multi-party system: two major parties are Labour and Conservatives.
J. Government Accountability The legitimacy of government in the UK is proven by the
readiness of the people to comply with basic political rules
I. Sovereignty, Authority, & Power
The UK is a unitary, parliamentary system, meaning the executive is born from the legislature - centered in London.
One STATE = the United Kingdom Four NATIONS=England, Scotland, Wales,
and Northern Ireland.
II. Political Institutions - UK
A. Executive ◦ Prime Minister-PM- (David Cameron) is head of government and is elected
solely by the legislature. He appoints the cabinet. ◦ King/Queen (Elizabeth II) =head of state. Role is symbolic, yet she is head of
the Church of England. Theoretically, elections are meant to be held every 5 years, though
an election can be called at any time if a vote of no confidence passes.
Vote of no confidence (by MPs) means PM must dissolve Parliament and call for new elections.
Bureaucracy of the executive consists of experts who do the actual policymaking in Westminster and White Hall-location of all government ministries-and then submit it to Downing Street-PM residency often used to refer to the entire cabinet.
Cabinet then edits, presents to House of Commons and voting occurs.
II. Political Institutions - UK
B. Legislature ◦ Its composed of all major parties, currently:
Conservatives-which is in power Labour-which forms the loyal opposition Liberal Democrats, who are losing ground quickly Minor parties exist but they are few
II. Political Institutions - UK
C. Elections ◦ House of Commons (lower house of the bicameral parliament): using SMDP
(single member district plurality).◦ House of Lords (upper house) is appointed by queen and important government
ministers. Regional Scottish and Welsh legislatures exist and are elected by
constituents within those territories. Northern Ireland is a special case due to the violence that occurs there. HIGH party discipline exists, because without it the PM cannot do much
and the ruling party loses office. Elite recruitment comes mainly from Oxbridge (University of Oxford
and Cambridge University) and other elite institutions, though accessibility has improved in recent years.
Parties have safe districts where they run their leaders to ensure they are in parliament. Labour =urban workers, Conservatives=rural and suburbia, Liberal Democrats=mix
II. Political Institutions - UK
D. Judiciary ◦ Formed by all of the courts of appeal in the land-regardless of the
level-and the highest authority rests with the Law Lords, who sit in the House of Lords and actually do quite little.
Common law is how things work, with history and precedent being essential to creating laws within the country.
The royal family technically heads the military but, again, the PM holds power.
Military consists of the air force, the navy and the army. Neo-corporatist
◦ Interest groups work with government, but government chooses which ones to listen to-makes a neo-corporatist system. Quasi-autonomous NGO’s (Quangos).
II. Political Institutions - UK
A. Cleavages and Politics Ethnicity/Race: Multinational state (4 regions) Multiracial state (jobseekers, immigration)
◦ 5-10% minority, the rest white Religion: Catholics in Northern Ireland have been striving to
separate from the United Kingdom and become part of the Republic of Ireland since 1968 (IRA = Irish Republican Army)
Class: Blue collar vs. White collar◦ Manual workers with Labour◦ Middle class and business people with Conservatives◦ Link between class and party is no longer as strong.
Gender gap is virtually none existent. Education gap has been reduced, but still 98% of MPs are college
graduates (Oxbridge.)
III. Citizens, Society, & State
B. Civil Society and Social Capital Flourished during the last centuries although still
INDIFFERENT to politics. Trades Union Congress- chief labor organization Union membership has decreased The goal of interest groups is to have new policy
implemented despite of who is in power. They concentrate on the PM, the cabinet, and senior civil servants of the bureaucracy.
Insider pressure groups and outsider pressure groups; insiders get more done.
III. Citizens, Society, & State
C. Media Role Most newspapers lean towards a single party and
they support the views of their audience. Television broadcasting: BBC is a major agent of
political socialization. Law forbids selling to political causes and
government controls the renewal of broadcasting licenses.
Freedom of press exists.
III. Citizens, Society, & State
D. Political Participation Tax paying and drawing benefits form public programs Election of members for the House of Commons is
direct participation. Every citizen age 18 or older is eligible.
2/5 of British have signed a petition on a public issue. Only one-tenth says they are very interested in
politics. Violence in Northern Ireland (IRA) an act of “political
participation.” ◦ In the name of seceding from the UK and joining the Republic of
Ireland
III. Citizens, Society, & State
E. Social Movements Nationalist movements in Scotland and Wales pushed for
devolution and accomplished it. IRA in Northern Ireland struggles for their independence from
Protestant United Kingdom.
F. Citizenship and Representation The government encourages citizenship for immigrants and
an emphasis on tradition. All citizens of the United Kingdom receive benefits from public
programs. Class can determine who is heard and by who you are heard. Insider pressure groups are a from of neo-corporatism
III. Citizens, Society, & State
A. Early Steps toward Democracy The Glorious Revolution in 1688 serves as the
real change in politics-under William and Mary. No bloodshed, monarchy loses power to
parliament. Trend began in 1215 with the Magna Carta,
where King John was forced to give up power to his subjects.
Essentially, democratization came about through documents, time, better education, more wealth and a general global trend.
IV. Political & Economic Change
B. The Crown & Its Limits Crown reserves symbolic power and unifies
the people-it is well liked. Originally, Crown and Aristocracy made
process difficult. Nowadays it is known as a constitutional
monarchy, though true power rests with the people.
IV. Political & Economic Change
C. Political Changes Devolution is characteristic of this change-
like regional assemblies in Scotland and Wales.
Even financial autonomy in Scotland. Northern Ireland stays with the UK by
choice, before it happened through protestant suppression.
The Church of England is now weaker, creating a separation of church and state.
IV. Political & Economic Change
D. Economic Changes Economically, Britain is a service oriented
economy-like most developed nations-with a rising standard of living.
One of few countries in Europe that stayed with its own currency (pound) after creation of the EU.
First to industrialize along with Belgium. Politically it is important because of economic
ties with nations in the common wealth-though its influence is diminishing.
IV. Political & Economic Change
D. Economic Change (cont) Power over the economy rests in the
Chancellor of the Exchequer or minister of finance.
Now acting more multilaterally-for 200 years it was separate from continental Europe.
IV. Political & Economic Change
E. UK in the 2nd half of the 20th Century England has always been the center of politics and
economics. World War II destroyed Europe; England was no different
so it created a mixed economy. The UK, like many other European countries, is very
much a welfare state. Thatcher killed off most welfare because it was too
costly. Labour Party has reconciled both systems but with the
global financial crisis, things look grim.◦ 2010 – Labour Party out, Conservative Party no majority
IV. Political & Economic Change
You say Good-bye… …and I say hello! Hello, hello!
F. UK Now Government has been main source of improvement, though
NGO’s have participated. Because of close ties to most former colonies, the UK’s
economy is intertwined. The U.S. is no exception, and as a democracy the ties have
only grown stronger. UK has always been dependent on food imports as well as
natural resource imports. Won’t change, but sells manufactured goods and now
services. Europe is the largest free trade zone in terms of number of
countries participating and the UK understands that without Europe, it would become obsolete.
IV. Political & Economic Change
A. Common Policy issues Economic performance:
◦ Per capita income has more than tripled since 1945 and its growth has been higher than the average of other advances industrial societies.
◦ The people are satisfied with their living standards, which have grown in the decades after WWII.
◦ Standard of living lower than US
V. Public Policy
A. Common Policy issues (cont) Social Welfare:
◦ Provides at least 3 significant welfare benefits: education, health care, and pension- Both Conservatives and Labour think it is the government’s job.
◦ Government spending: - the money from taxes (2/5 of GDP) Social Security Education Health Care
◦ Poverty: ALMOST INSIGNIFICANT. WHY? THEY ARE OLD 10% of population lives on less than half the average wage Less than 4% in long-term poverty. Health:
◦ Life Expectancy has seen raises up to 12 years in the past decades and mortality has decreased. National Health Service- started by Labour party
V. Public Policy
A. Common Policy issues (cont) Civil liberties, rights, and freedoms
◦ LIBERAL DEMOCRACY◦ Ability to criticize the government through the
media or through non-governmental groups that defend interests of the people.
◦ Freedom of speech and press etc.◦ Men and women have the right to vote for their
legislature and participate in politics.
V. Public Policy
A. Common Policy issues (cont) Population and migration
◦ Predominantly Protestant and strictly attached to tradition. ◦ Multinational: It consists of four different regions: England,
Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Hot Spot: Northern Ireland: - IRA – Ethnicity/Religion
cleavage (Catholics)◦ Multiracial: It has received huge waves of job seekers from
around the world, especially people from its former colonies. How does the government respond?
They encourage newcomers to appeal to UK tradition and customs, as well as citizenship.
They want to discourage violent unrest such as coordinated attack.
V. Public Policy
B. Factors influencing public policymaking and implementation
Domestic◦ Four different regions: devolution, violence, nationalist parties etc. ◦ The government affects the economy through taxes and spending
policies, policies for growth, and unemployment. ◦ Confidence for the prime minister and the cabinet and expertise of
cabinet.◦ Party ideology.
International◦ European Union problem: the adoption of the euro as a national
currency◦ NATO: concerns public security
V. Public Policy
A. China◦ Both the UK and China are unitary systems. ◦ Power in the UK is concentrated in Whitehall
and power in China concentrates in the Communist Party.
◦ A difference is that UK has recently devolved power to Scotland, which even has taxing powers, and Wales.
VI. Comparative Method
B. Nigeria◦ Coinciding cleavages◦ Nigeria’s coinciding cleavages are ethnicity, region, and
religion (ER2)◦ In the UK ethnicity is a cleavage. For example, the
people of Ireland think of themselves as Irish and not British. There are also portions of people in Scotland and Wales that think of themselves as Scottish or Welsh.
◦ Region is also a cleavage. Four different regions. England has the advantage of having Whitehall within its boundaries.
◦ Class is another coinciding cleavage: Blue collar vs. White collar.
◦ Religion is another cleavage: Catholics vs. Protestant.
VI. Comparative Method
C. Russia ◦ Religious tradition◦ In both countries there is an old tradition of
connection with religion.◦ Britain is predominantly Protestant and Russia is
Russian Orthodox. ◦ Putin uses a close connection with the church to
his advantage.◦ In Britain tradition legitimizes.
VI. Comparative Method
D. Iran◦ Fusion of powers◦ Iran: The circles represent a fusion between
theocracy and government.◦ UK: Fusion of legislature and executive.
VI. Comparative Method
E. Mexico◦ Social class is seen as a huge cleavage in
society. ◦ In both countries it determines who participates
and whose interests are articulated.
VI. Comparative Method