British Politics: A Very Short Introduction

British Politics: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Anthony Wright
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2013-05-30
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0199661103

This book presents an introduction to the evolution and history of the British political system.

Political Power and Democratic Control in Britain

Political Power and Democratic Control in Britain
Author: Stuart Weir
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 544
Release: 1999
Genre: Law
ISBN: 041509643X

Democratic Institutions and Practices is the second study carried out under the Democratic Audit of the UK. This volume explores the formal institutions and processes of the liberal democratic state: including the executive, elections, parliament and the civil service.

The UK's Changing Democracy

The UK's Changing Democracy
Author: Patrick Dunleavy
Publisher: LSE Press
Total Pages: 521
Release: 2018-11-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1909890464

The UK’s Changing Democracy presents a uniquely democratic perspective on all aspects of UK politics, at the centre in Westminster and Whitehall, and in all the devolved nations. The 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU marked a turning point in the UK’s political system. In the previous two decades, the country had undergone a series of democratic reforms, during which it seemed to evolve into a more typical European liberal democracy. The establishment of a Supreme Court, adoption of the Human Rights Act, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolution, proportional electoral systems, executive mayors and the growth in multi-party competition all marked profound changes to the British political tradition. Brexit may now bring some of these developments to a juddering halt. The UK’s previous ‘exceptionalism’ from European patterns looks certain to continue indefinitely. ‘Taking back control’ of regulations, trade, immigration and much more is the biggest change in UK governance for half a century. It has already produced enduring crises for the party system, Parliament and the core executive, with uniquely contested governance over critical issues, and a rapidly changing political landscape. Other recent trends are no less fast-moving, such as the revival of two-party dominance in England, the re-creation of some mass membership parties and the disruptive challenges of social media. In this context, an in-depth assessment of the quality of the UK’s democracy is essential. Each of the 2018 Democratic Audit’s 37 short chapters starts with clear criteria for what democracy requires in that part of the nation’s political life and outlines key recent developments before a SWOT analysis (of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) crystallises the current situation. A small number of core issues are then explored in more depth. Set against the global rise of debased semi-democracies, the book’s approach returns our focus firmly to the big issues around the quality and sustainability of the UK’s liberal democracy.

Austerity

Austerity
Author: Mark Blyth
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2015
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199389446

In Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea, Mark Blyth, a renowned scholar of political economy, provides a powerful and trenchant account of the shift toward austerity policies by governments throughout the world since 2009. The issue is at the crux about how to emerge from the Great Recession, and will drive the debate for the foreseeable future.

Brexit and Democracy

Brexit and Democracy
Author: Thomas Christiansen
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 331
Release: 2019-03-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3030060438

This volume addresses an important aspect of Brexit that has been ever-present in public debates, but has so far not received corresponding attention by academic scholars, namely the role of parliaments and citizens in this process. To address this gap, this book brings together an international group of authors who provide a comprehensive and multidisciplinary treatment of this subject. Specifically, the contributors, scholars from the UK and across Europe, provide diverse accounts of the role of regional, national and European parliaments and citizens from the perspectives of Law, Political Science and European Studies. The book is structured in three parts focused on developments, respectively, in the UK, in the parliaments of the EU27, and at the EU level. Beyond providing a comprehensive examination of the scrutiny of Brexit, the book utilises the insights gained from this experience for a study of executive-legislative relations in the European Union more generally, examining the balance, or lack thereof, between governments and parliaments. In this way, the book also speaks to some of the long-lasting, indeed perennial questions about the effects of constitutional provisions and political practice in the context of European democracy.

The Participation Gap

The Participation Gap
Author: Russell J. Dalton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2017-10-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0191053325

The dilemma of democracy arises from two contrasting trends. More people in the established democracies are participating in civil society activity, contacting government officials, protesting, and using online activism and other creative forms of participation. At the same time, the importance of social status as an influence on political activity is increasing. The democratic principle of the equality of voice is eroding. The politically rich are getting richer-and the politically needy have less voice. This book assembles an unprecedented set of international public opinion surveys to identify the individual, institutional, and political factors that produce these trends. New forms of activity place greater demands on participants, raising the importance of social status skills and resources. Civil society activity further widens the participation gap. New norms of citizenship shift how people participate. And generational change and new online forms of activism accentuate this process. Effective and representative government requires a participatory citizenry and equal voice, and participation trends are undermining these outcomes. The Participation Gap both documents the growing participation gap in contemporary democracies and suggests ways that we can better achieve their theoretical ideal of a participatory citizenry and equal voice.

Devolution and British Politics

Devolution and British Politics
Author: Michael O'Neill
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2004
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

The British polity has undergone a fundemental transformation in the last decade. Since 1998 devolution for Scotland and Wales and power sharing in Northern Ireland have fundementally changed the balance of power between government at the centre and the new territorial polities.