LAW, POLITICS AND WESTERN SOCIETY

JESIE Summer School

II

The British Political System:

Institutions of government

Dr. Edoardo Bressanelli

Lecturer in European Politics. KCL

Summary of today’s class

1. Types of government: parliamentary vs presidential

2. The Parliament: House of Commons & House of Lords

3. The Government: PM and cabinet

4. Some concluding notes

Some famous quotes (and concepts)

“The fusion of the legislative and executive functions [is] the latent essence and effectual secret of the English constitution” (W Bagehot, The English Constitution, 1867)

Parliamentary Sovereignty: 'There is no higher authority than Parliament, and no legal restraint on the capacity of Parliament to do whatever it wishes' (AV Dicey 1885).

Tradition of single-party governments supported by cohesive, disciplined parties (since 1867 at least), has produced the view that Parliament is simply dominated by the Executive

What government?

Definitions:- All public institutions that make or implement political

decisions (broad definition)

- The government as a country’s «central political executive» (strict definition)

Two main types in democratic political systems:

1) parliamentary (i.e. UK)

2) presidential (i.e. US)

+ semi-presidential (i.e. France)

Parliamentary government

Presidential Government

Parliamentary vs presidential systems

- «Fusion» of powers in parliamentary systems vs. «separation» of powers in presidential systems

- Governments accountable to parliament (indirectly to voters) vs. President accountable to voters (directly)

- Head of state plus head of gov in parliamentary systems vs. Head of state and gov is the same person in presidential systems

The Parliament

The palace of Westminster

Parliament: key facts

The basic distinction is whether the legislature has one chamber (unicameral) or two (bicameral).

In the latter, the lower chamber provides representation for the population as a whole and it is directly elected.

The upper chamber can also be directly elected but does not have to be. It is usually designed to represent a defined group or unit (e.g. state governments in federations)

The UK has a bicameral parliament constituted by the House of Commons (lower chamber) and the House of Lords (upper chamber)

The Commons: party composition

The Lords: party composition

Note: as of July 2015

Adversarial structure

The functions of Parliament (I)

Providing the personnel of government

- All ministers (and the PM) are drawn from the Commons

- It does not need to be so in other systems: the US President can choose his ministers from a wide range of positions

The functions of Parliament (II)

Providing support for the government

- The government needs the confidence of parliament to stay in office

- Government requires the formal assent of parliament both for the passing of legislation and for the grant of money

- Debating and discussing policies, the parliament serves to legitimize the government (responsible government)

The functions of Parliament (III)

Law-making

- Most legislation is initiated by the government

- Between 1997-8 and 2005-6 sessions government had an average legislative success rate of 95 per cent; individual MPs 7.5 per cent (Kelso, 2011, p. 225)

- Role of committees: Public Bill Committees are more restricted arenas where legislation is scrutinized. Now have power to collect evidence on the bills being debated.

The functions of Parliament (IV)

Scrutiny of the government

- Parliaments are a forum in which opposition and backbench MPs can ask members of the government to explain themselves (Debates, Question Time, providing expertise)

- Departmental Select Committees – 11-14 members, cross-party. Call inquiries, issue calls for evidence, produce reports, require departments to respond to reports

Scrutiny explained by MPs

Question Time:the PM responds to Members

The House of Lords

- The upper chamber in the British pol system

- Its members are not elected. It has a subordinate position with respect to the Commons (representing the British people)

- Throughout the XX century, the House of Lords was reformed in several respects to reflect democratic developments

Reforming the Lords

- Lost power of outright veto through Parliament Act 1911 (replaced by 'suspensory' veto)

- The House of Lords has no say on money bills; non-money bills could be delayed for two sessions (one from the 1949 Parliamentary Act)

- Changes in composition – three Acts.

1958: Life peers; 1963: Hereditary peers could renounce to their titles; 1999: only 92

hereditary peers remain

A peculiar membership

Lord Spirituals (26) Hereditary Peers (92)

Dukes,

Marquesses,

Earls,

Viscounts

and Barons

Reforming (further) the Lords?

- Getting rid of the upper house altogether?

- Abolishing hereditary peerage?

- Introducing elected members?

- Limiting its powers further?

- Too many Lords: cutting their numbers?

Trust in Parliament

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

Norway

Switzer

land

Finlan

d

Sweden

Cypru

s

Spain

Mea

n

Britain

Franc

eIta

ly

Nether

lands

Germ

any

Bulgar

ia

Romania

Slovenia

Poland

Data: World Values Survey (2005). The bars represent the percentage of respondents answering they had ‘a great deal or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in their national parliament, as opposed to ‘not much or ‘none at all’.

Public trust in professionals

http://www.public-standards.gov.uk/OurWork/Public_Attitude_Surveys.html

How good MPs are at different aspects of their job

http://www.public-standards.gov.uk/OurWork/Public_Attitude_Surveys.html

The government: which type? (1)

CABINET GOVERNMENT

• Parliamentary sovereignty

• Cabinet need to enjoy confidence of parliament

• Fusion of executive and legislature

• Collective and individual cabinet responsibility

• Prime minister – first among equals (PM acts as chairman rather than chief)

The government: which type? (2)

PRIME MINISTERIAL GOVERNMENT

• Patronage

• Capacity to select and dismiss cabinet members

• Sets cabinet agenda

• Can announce cabinet decisions without recourse to formal voting

• Creation of Cabinet Office (1916)

PM and Ministers(& the Queen)

The Prime Minister

- The PM is the leader of the majority party

- Appoints and dismisses ministers

- Determines the cabinet agenda

- Represents the nation at international summits and in the EU

Some final notes

- The British political system = Westminster model = centrality of parliament

- Yet, paradoxically, in such a parliamentary system the PM is the most powerful figure

- The parliament also suffers a crisis of legitimacy and reform (especially of the House of Lords) is continously discussed