Download Kesselman - Chapter 2 (UK)

Comparative Politics Chapter 2: Britain (United Kingdom) (Sections 1 + 2)
Section 1—The Making of the Modern British State (pgs. 48-60)
1. Who decides when a new election will be called in Britain? How soon after an election
must a new one be called?
2. Based on your knowledge of current events, how is the current government of Britain
different from the government described in the book? Which political party is now in
power? Who is the current Prime Minister?
3. What is the message of the political cartoon on page 50?
4. Use Table 2.1 on page 51 to answer the following questions:
a. Does Britain have a unitary or federal structure?
b. What has supreme legislative, executive, and judicial authority?
c. Who is the chief executive? Where does this person come from?
d. Is the legislature unicameral or bicameral?
i. Identify the powers of the House of Commons:
ii. Identify the powers of the House of Lords (upper house):
e. How are judges appointed?
i. Do judges have the power of judicial review?
f.
What are the two dominant political parties?
5. What effect does religious identification have on voting behavior and party loyalties in
Britain?
6. What divisions in society has the party system in Britain traditionally reflected?
7. When was the Collectivist Consensus?
a. What does the term collectivism describe?
b. Describe the British citizens’ views about the proper role of government during
the Collectivist Consensus:
c. How did the size and the role of the British government change during the
Collectivist Consensus?
8. Margaret Thatcher and the Enterprise Culture
a. What brought the Collectivist Consensus to an end?
b. What party did Margaret Thatcher lead?
c. When did her party come to power, making her Prime Minister?
d. How did Thatcher propose to solve Britain’s problems? How did her program of
reform differ from the policies of collectivism?
9. New Labour’s Third Way
a. What was the purpose of reinventing the Labour Party as “New Labour” and
finding a “third way”?
i. In what year did Labour regain control of the government?
ii. Who led the “third way” New Labour movement?
b. Describe the changes in policy that were created by the “third way”, be specific,
what did the Labour Party propose to do?
c. Describe the message of the political cartoon on page 59:
d. Define Westminster model:
Section 2—Political Economy and Development (pgs. 61-70)
10. What is the gender gap in Britain?
a. How does this compare to the gender gap in the US?
Economic Management
11. What institutions “dominate economic policy” in England?
12. What approach toward economic management did the government adopt during the
Consensus era?
a. Describe the policies supported by Keynesianism:
i. What sort of economic policy is this most similar to—
Fiscal Policy
or
Monetary Policy
ii. What effect did Keynesianism have on the government’s involvement in
the economy?
13. Who supported the move toward monetarism as the new economic doctrine?
a. Describe the policies supported by monetarism:
i. What sort of economic policy is this most similar to—
Fiscal Policy
or
Monetary Policy
Social Policy
14. What does the NHS (National Health Service) do?
15. How did Thatcher and Major change the welfare state? Describe specific changes that
these Conservative leaders made to the welfare state:
Society and Economy
16. How are inequalities for ethnic minorities in Britain similar to those in the US?
17. How are inequalities for women in Britain similar to those in the US?
Britain in the Global Economy
18. Define foreign direct investment (FDI) (glossary page 468):
a. Why is Britain “a highly regarded location in Europe for FDI”?
Comparative Politics Chapter 2: Britain (United Kingdom) (Sections 3 + 4)
Section 3—Governance and Policy-Making (pgs. 70-79)
19. How is the British constitution different from the American constitution?
a. What makes up the British constitution?
20. What sets the limits of governmental power in Britain? How is this different than the
limits of governmental power in the US?
Organization of the State
21. Define parliamentary sovereignty:
a. What effect did joining the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973 have
on parliamentary sovereignty? (NOTE: The EEC eventually evolved into the
European Union (EU).)
22. Define unitary state:
a. Explain how powers have been devolved in Britain, including what it means to
devolve power:
23. Define fusion of powers:
a. Define cabinet government:
i. How is this different from how the US government operates?
b. Define constitutional monarchy:
i. Who is the head of state in the UK?
ii. Who is the head of government in the UK?
The Executive
24. What key functions does the cabinet exercise?
25. How many people usually compose the cabinet?
a. Identify the most significant assignments in the cabinet:
b. How is the British cabinet different from the American cabinet?
26. Describe the “convention of collective responsibility” (THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT
CONCEPT TO UNDERSTAND):
a. Other than collective responsibility, what is the only other constitutionally
mandated mechanism for checking the prime minister?
b. Who now has more power—the Prime Minister or the cabinet? Explain.
c. What do whips do?
i. Why do the authors say that the passage of legislation is more or less
“guaranteed”?
27. Using the “Comparing” section on page 75, explain the differences between the
presidential and parliamentary systems of government:
28. What is Whitehall?
a. Describe the role of the bureaucracy and civil servants in Britain:
29. What political party supported the nationalization of major industries in Britain? When
did it do so?
a. Is the nationalization of major industries still a goal of politicians in Britain?
30. What are quangos?
a. What do quangos do?
Other State Institutions
31. Explain why the role of the judiciary is limited in Britain:
a. Do British courts have the power of judicial review? Why or why not?
b. What proposals have been made to change the judiciary? (Many of these
proposals have now become law, which we will talk about in class.)
The Policy-Making Process
32. Explain why the authors say, “when it comes to policy-making and policy
implementation, the focus is not on Westminster but rather on Whitehall”.
33. How has the EU changed the policy-making process in Britain?
Section 4—Representation and Participation (pgs.79-91)
The Legislature
34. Why is Parliament not as powerful as it once was?
The Legislative process
35. Where must bills be introduced?
a. Where can ideas for prospective legislation come from?
36. What is the lower house of Parliament?
a. What are the three main functions of the House of Commons?
i.
ii.
iii.
b. Why is the outcome of legislation in the House of Commons “seldom in doubt”?
37. What is the upper chamber of Parliament?
a. Describe the composition of the House of Lords:
b. Describe the powers of the House of Lords:
c. What reforms have been made to the House of Lords?
i.
(NOTE: In late 2009 a UK Supreme Court was created, which replaced
the judicial function of the Law Lords.)
38. What does backbenchers mean?
a. How has the role of the backbenchers changed in recent years?
Political Parties and the Party System
39. Describe the origins of the Labour Party:
a. In the early history of the Labour Party who were its main supporters?
b. Where does the Labour Party fit on the ideological spectrum?
40. What social class is the Conservative Party associated with?
a. What is another term for the Conservative Party?
b. Who is the current head of the Conservative Party?
i. How did this person change the Conservative Party?
c. Where does the Conservative Party fit on the ideological spectrum?
41. What role have the Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) played in recent years in British
politics?
a. Who is the current Lib Dem leader?
b. Where does the Liberal Democratic Party fit on the ideological spectrum?
Elections
42. What are elections for in Britain?
a. How is the Prime Minister elected?
43. What is Parliament’s maximum life?
a. When are elections held? What does it mean that there are no “fixed terms”?
i. Explain how this is a “tremendous political asset for the Prime Minister”:
44. Describe the single-member plurality, first-past-the-post, winner-take-all electoral system
in Britain:
a. How is this different from a proportional representation system?
b. Which one of the above electoral systems does the US use to elect members of
the House of Representatives?
45. What effect does the single-member plurality winner-take-all system have on the winning
party’s margin of victory?
a. What effect does the single-member plurality winner-take-all system have on a
third party’s margin of victory?
i. Describe an example of the above phenomenon from the 2005 election:
46. What is the name of the national political party that represents the Scots?
47. What is the name of the national political party that represents the Welsh?
Political Challenges and Changing Agendas
48. Why is minority representation in Parliament very low?
After reading the chapter:
49. Does cabinet government mean the British chief executive is more or less powerful than
the American chief executive? Why?
50. Is the cabinet more powerful in the British system or the American system? Why?