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1. INTRODUCTION.
1.1. Aims of the unit.
The present unit, Unit 63, aims to provide a useful introduction to the British institutions among
which we shall focus on those related to British politics, that is, the main political bodies in
Great Britain: the Parliament, the Government, the main political parties and the British
electoral system, and finally, the Monarchy. In doing so, we shall first locate the British
institutions within a European framework and then we shall move on to analyse British politics
and, therefore, each political body.
So, Chapte r 2, British institutions, will be divided into five main sections which coincide with
the main issues we are going to deal with. Hence, (1) a European framework for British
institutions, and then the main political bodies within British politics, that is, (2) the Parliament
in terms of (a) a historical background and a closer examination of its political elements, that is,
(b) the House of Lords, (c) the House of Commons, and (d) the monarch. Then, we shall review
(3) the Government, in terms of (1) central government, regarding (a) the Cabinet, (b) the
monarch, and (c) the Civil Services; and (2) local governement; then we shall approach (4) the
main political parties and the British electoral system, by reviewing (a) the main political
parties, that is, (i) the Conservative Party, (ii) the Labour Party, (iii) the Liberal Democrats, and
(iv) other lesser parties; and (b) the electoral system; finally, we shall examine the role of (5) the
Monarchy. Actually, all of them are key elements in the way the country is governed, though at
two different levels which are interconnected: the Parliament and the Monarchy.
On the one hand, the Parliament (The House of Commons and Lords), represented by the
government (the cabinet) and its members (ministers, politicians), is in charge of controlling the
country under a parliamentary democracy. On the other hand, Britain is a constitutional
monarchy by means of which the country is governed by the king or queen who accepts the
advice of parliament. Other key elements are the main British political parties (Conservative,
Labour, Centre) which form the goverment, and the British electoral system, which eventually
determines the final outcome on elections.
Chapter 3 will be devoted to the main educational implications in language teaching regarding
the introduction of this issue in the classroom setting. Chapter 4 will offer a conclusion to
broadly overview our present study, and Chapter 5 will include all the bibliographical
references used to develop this account of the British institutions.
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2. BRITISH INSTITUTIONS.
Chapter 2 will provide a general overview of British institutions by first locating them within
(1) a European framework and then within British politics, where we shall examine (2) the
Parliament in terms of (a) a historical background and a closer examination of its political
elements, that is, (b) the House of Lords, (c) the House of Commons, and (d) the monarch.
Then, we shall review (3) the Government, in terms of (1) central government, regarding (a) the
Cabinet, (b) the monarch, and (c) the Civil Services; and (2) local governement; then we shall
approach (4) the main political parties and the British electoral system, by reviewing (a) the
main political parties, that is, (i) the Conservative Party, (ii) the Labour Party, (iii) the Liberal
Democrats, and (iv) other lesser parties; and (b) the electoral system; finally, we shall examine
the role of (5) the Monarchy.
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eventually became a member of the European Community (now European Union) along with
the Irish Republic and Denmark. This event was to be achieved under the Conservative
government of Prime Minister Edward Heath (1970-1974), who re-opened negotiations with the
EEC despite the French opposition to Britains integration in the Common Market (Laurosse,
2000; vol. 7:2614). Later on, the drive for deeper integration continued under John Majors
service and in 1993 the Parliament eventually passed the Maastricht Treaty. This treaty resulted
in the transformation of the EEC to the European Union (EU) and promoted closer economic
and political union through the establishment of a European currency and central bank, and
harmonisation of defence, foreign and social policies.
The European Union is run not by one body but by a series of institutions with their own remit:
the Council of Ministers (the most senior), the European Commission, the European Parliament,
and the European Court of Justice. These institutions were created in the 1960s and have
developed as the most important bodies in the European Union and, as such, they have the
ability to impose its will as part of the supranational nature of the EU, where member states
ability to create domestic policy is inferior to that of the European Union. Yet, to what extent do
these European institutions act on British politics?
For instance, the Council of Ministers (the Europeans union most powerful decisionmaking body) is made up of the foreign ministers of member states, who discuss and
eventually decide on the policies created by non-elected civil servants and by a nonelected Commission. Before 1986, just one country represented in the Council could
veto a policy but in 1986 Qualified Majority Voting was introduced. This is a system
whereby each country has been given a block of votes dependent on its size
(www.historylearningsite.co.uk). and, therefore, Britain, France and Germany have 19
votes each (as the largest member states) whereas other countries such as Luxembourgh
has 2 votes. In total, there are 87 votes in the Council and 62 are needed to secure a
majority1 .
Yet, Britain has suffered rebuffs using this QMV system. Britain was overruled on the principle of a 48
hour week in 1993. In 1996, the Major government, in retaliation for the EU banning the sale of British
beef as a result of the BSE scare, introduced a policy of non-co-operation with the EU. However, this was
doomed to fail and was no more than gesture politics as the Council of Ministers did not need Britains 10
votes to push through policy (www.historylearningsite.co.uk).
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those policies. This is only done by the Commission which initiates the whole process.
In this sense, what power does the European Parliament have? The European
Parliament has two theoretical powers: first, to reject the annual budget of the European
Union with a centralised currency (the Euro) so as to bring the whole concept of a
Europe working together; and secondy, it has the theoretical right to dismiss the
European Commission if two-thirds of MEPs vote for this. Actually, there are 626
MEPs (elected for 5 years) who have been allocated a higher number of seats in terms
of being more populated member states. So, those who belong to a political party, tend
to sit with all those from a similar party, hence the British Tories in the Parliament
usually sit with what is known as the European Democratic Group.
Finally, the European Court of Justice is the body that most undermine British political
sovereignty. When Britain signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957, simply by doing this the
government put European law above British law. Though the Treaty of Rome has no
validity in itself, what it stated was brought into British law by an Act of Parliament
the European Communities Act in 1972. Therefore, all British domestic law has to be
in synch with European Union law. The European Court will decide if it is or is not.
The first time this affected Britain was in 1991 when the House of Lords used the 1972
Act to adjudge the 1988 Merchant Shipping Act to be contrary to European Union law
(known as the Factortame Case)2 .
This is the Factortame Cases summary: the EEC Treaty is the supreme law of this country taking
precedence over Acts of Parliament. Our entry [Britain] into the EEC meant (subject to our undoubted but
probably theoretical right to withdraw from the Community all together) Parliament surrendered its
sovereign right to legislate contrary to the provisions of the Treaty on matters of social and economic
policy.
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abolition of rotten boroughs and, as a result, the concept of population equality for all
parliamentary ridings. The meeting point of the Members of Parliament is the Houses of
Parliament, though its officia l name is the Palace of Westminster, which contains offices,
committee rooms, restaurants, bars, libraries, some places of residence, and the famous clock
tower, Big Ben at the north end of the building by Westminster Bridge. Since the British
Parliament is divided into two houses, it contains two larger rooms where the House of
Commons and Lords meet.
Cabinet ministers are always in Parliament, though formerly, they were often in the House of
Lords. The activities of Parliament in Britain are more or le ss the same as those of Parliament in
any wester democracy, for instance, it makes new laws, gives authority for the government to
raise and spend money, and keeps close eye on government activities, among other tasks. Note
that both the executive and legislative branches of British government derive their power from
the House of Commons (unlike the system in the United States).
Parliament is now virtually the only source of legislation although the main, but very limited,
exception is legislation under the prerogative. This power to legislate is especially important
when providing that Acts of Parliament alone can authorise the levying of taxes. Together, these
Articles are vital in ensuring that the executive accounts to Parliament, and both give Parliament
some leverage over the Government, which constantly needs grants of taxation. Because of the
effect of the Parliament Acts (1911-49) and convention, the House of Common is of far greater
importance in these matters than the House of Lords.
But, as with the first function, one can exaggerate the power of Parliament. In reality,
Parliament largely reacts to legislation initiated by the Government. It does not initiate its own
legislative programme reflecting its own policies, and few Acts are passed which are not
sponsored by Government Ministers. As before, British constitution is said to enshrine the idea
of Parliamentary Government. This does not mean that Parliament governs but that the
Government must work through Parliament.
Then, since their roots trace back to the thirteenth century, let us examine what type of activities
were carried out in the past as well as in the present by offering (1) a historical background to
the British Parliament together with a closer examination of the elements that made it up, that is,
(2) the House of Lords, (3) the House of Commons, and (4) the monarch.
It is worth remembering that government functions through three bodies: the legislative, which makes
laws; the executive, which puts laws into effect and plans policy; and the judiciary, which decides on
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2.2.1.
A historical background.
National councils to advise the monarch date back before the Conquest, but the origin of the
modern parliament is generally dated to 1265, when Edward I (1239-1307), before acceding to
the throne in 1272, called together an assembly at Westminster where the union of the Great
Council and the Kings Court gave way to the creation of two bodies that treated with and
advised the king. It is worth remembering that the thirteenth century held some events which led
to the Loss of Normandy, partly responsible for the separation of England and Normandy in the
year 1204, when Normandy was confiscated to King John (1199-1216) by King Phillip II of
France.
This event had far reaching social, linguistic and, for our purposes, political consequences, since
the properties in French soil of the barons living in England would be confiscated (Decree of
Rouen, 1204). So, those having properties on both sides of the Channel had to decide which one
to choose. As a result, the loss of Normandy gave the English nobility a new collective feeling
of their insular identity, and soon considered themselves as English. This event established a
community of interests with the English speaking lower classes which later may result in a
reaction against the continental Norman-French.
Yet, this nationalistic feeling did not extend to the King and courtly nobility. Henry III (12071272) married Eleanor of Provence, who brought with her to England a host of French relatives
so as to be surrounded by French nobles and prelates. Therefore, French knights in charge of
castleries oppressed the barons of Norman-English origin. This gap between the aristocracy
(nobility at court) and the barons (rural nobility) was the reason for the Barons War (12581265), in which the barons rebelled so as to claim a greater participation in and supervision of
royal government. Hence the creation of these two bodies to treat with and advise the king.
Over the next several centuries, there was a struggle between Parliament and the monarch for
supremacy and, in the fourteenth century, Parliament was split into two houses: on the one hand,
the lords, who were not only the nobility but also high officials of the church (hence they are
regarded as spiritual and temporal); and on the other hand, the knights and burgesses.
Eventually, the British Parliament is composed of two houses: commoners were first summoned
to advise Edward I and, as the concept of democracy grew, power gradually shifted from the
hereditary House of Lords to the elected House of Commons. In the same century Parliament
also began to present petitions (bills) to the king, which with his assent would become law
(still current today).
cases that arise out of the laws.
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Robert Walpole was the first party leader to head the government as prime minister (172142)
and this led to the Civil War between Charles I (born 1600, accession 1625, died 1649) and
supporters of parliamentary rights. After James II (born 1633, accession 1685, died 1689) was
deposed by the Glorious Revolution, the monarch was made permanently subordinate to
Parliament. The relative power of the hereditary House of Lords diminished relative to the
House of Commons and is now largely a formality since in 1999 the hereditary peers lost their
right to sit in the House of Lords. Still, under Tony Blairs policy this hereditary condition is
still supressed.
2.2.2.
As seen, the House of Lords traces its origins to councils of nobles that were called by the
kings of England before the Conquest. English monarchs continued to assemble the barons at
intervals until Edward I called the first meeting of the modern Parliament in 1265. Over the
centuries, power has shifted to the House of Commons. Until recently, any peer could claim the
right to sit in the House of Lords, but recent reforms have made membership in that house
selective. Like the House of Commons, the House of Lords meets in the Houses of Parliament
in Westminster.
The House of Lords is defined as the upper house of Britains bicameral Parliament
(Britannica, 2004), where the arrangement of the seats in the Lords chamber is similar to that in
the Commons. Long, straight blocks of benches face each other with Government supporters
on one side and opposition parties on the other. As mentioned above, it was the house of the
aristocracy from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and, still until the twentieth century
(1999), its membership included clergy, hereditary peers, life peers (peers appointed by the
prime minister since 1958), and the judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Britains final
court of appeal).
Though the Supreme Court of Judicature predates the House of Commons and dominated it for
centuries, its power has gradually diminished. Its power to affect revenue bills was constrained
by the Parliament Act of 1911, and in 1949 its power to delay by more than a year the
enactment of any bill passed by the Commons was revoked. In 1999 the hereditary peers lost
their right to sit in the House of Lords, though an interim reform retains their voice in a more
limited fashion. The bodys chief value has been to provide additional consideration to bills that
may be not be well formulated.
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There are over 1200 members in the House of Lords, among whom some are life peers, that is,
former members whose sons and daughters cannot be accepted from hereditary links; and also, a
great amount of judges or bishops who are hereditary peers (over 775) and are there because of
their ancestors since they are heads of aristocratic families. Since their ancestors were mere
advisors to the king, at present the House of Lords is still a forum for public discussion where,
as the monarch, they have no power on decision-making and the Lords must agree with the
proposal.
Though the Lords power is now limited, they may approve or reject proposals to amend bills,
after discussions which include statements of the Governments wishes, made by a minister
from the front bench. Also, after a short period (6 months), a proposal may become a law with
or without the Lords agreement. Yet, sometimes important matters are ignored by the Lords in
the open since the members of the House of Commons do not depend on party politics for their
position.
2.2.3.
The House of Commons is defined as the popularly elected lower house of the bicameral
British Parliament (Britannica, 2004). The House of Commons is one of the oldest democratic
institutions in the world, and its origins go back to the late 13th century, when landholders and
other property owners began sending representatives to Parliament to present grievances and
petitions to the king and to accept commitments to the payment of taxes. In particular, it was
the Simon de Montfort Parliament that first met in Westminster Hall.
In the fourteenth century, the House of Commons met on its own for the first time (1341), and
in 1363 the first Clerk of the Parliament, Robert de Melton, was appointed. In 1376 there came
the Good Parliament which stated the importance of good governance, and the following year,
in 1377, the first Speaker of the House of Commons was elected, Thomas Hungerford. In the
fifteenth century Nicholas Maudit, the first Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons, was
appointed (1415); and in 1523 came the first request for free speech from a Speaker, Thomas
More.
The seventeenth century has its starting point in the death of Elizabeth I (1603) and the
accession of James I (1603-1625) to the crown, followed by his son, Charles I (1625-1642), who
ruled until civil war broke out in 1642; Cromwell (1642-1660), until monarchy was restored by
Charles II (1660-1685); and the abdication of James II (1685-1689) who was followed by the
reign of the Dutchman William of Orange (William III) and his wife Mary (1689-1707). This
period, known as the Stuart Age (1603-1713) and also called the Jacobean Era, the age of
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Cromwell and the Restoration, which is characterized by crisis, civil wars, the Commonwealth
and the Industrial Revolution.
In 1605 there was an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament, known as the Gunpowder
Plot, which was organised by Robert Catesby to remove the anti-Catholic Monarchy which was
in place. However, the plot failed, and Guy Fawkes was arrested for placing the explosives in
the cellar under the House. Catesby was executed in 1605, and Fawkes was executed in early
1606. From 1640 to 1660 there was the British Civil War, when the Kings authority was
challenged by Parliament and Charles I was executed. This led to the running of the country by
the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell.
In 1668 the Bill of Rights was published, which gave Parliament further powers and protected
the debates of the Parliament to ensure that they were free and unhindered. The so called
Glorious Revolution took place between 1688 and 1689, and led to the abdication of James II
(1685-1689) who, in 1668, fled before his invading son-in-law, the Dutchman William of
Orange became William III, taking then the crown in joint sovereignty with his wife Mary
(1689-1707). James was forced to abdicate following concerns over his strong religious beliefs.
The term Glorious Revolution refers to the lack of violence which was involved in the change of
Monarch. In 1689 the Declaration of Rights was published on February 13th.
The early eighteenth-century political background is to be framed upon the Georgian succession
line, thus under the rule of Queen Anne (1701-1714), who was Marys sister; her German
cousin, who became George I (1714-1727); George II (1727-1760), and George III (17601820), king of Great Britain and Ireland. Since William favoured foreign policy, in 1701 he
entered England into the League of Augsburg which later became known as The Grand Alliance
and consequently, he was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession. After eight years of
war, William was able to hold the alliance together. In contrast to his ability to handle foreign
affairs, William had trouble holding down the fort at home, where a majority of reforms were
brought about by Parliament, such as the passing of the Bill of Rights and the freedom of the
press.
When he died in 1701, England and Scotland were unified under Marys sister Anne (17021714). She was the second daughter of King James, but Protestant. Events in her reign included
the War of Spanish Succession, Marlboroughs victories at Blenheim, Ramilies, Oudenarde and
Malplaquet, the replacement of the Tories with a Whig government in 1703. Yet, the most
important event took place in 1707, the Act of Union where she presided over the union of the
parliaments of Scotland and England into the parliament of Great Britain (1 May 1707).
Controversially the Scots had been forced into the union through a variety of English measures
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and legislation but received, in return, a bribe of 398,085 and, eventually, in 1707 the Scottish
Parliament was abolished, and the Scottish members instead returned members to the House of
Commons at Westminster.
The nineteenth-century political background is still to be framed upon the Georgian succession
line in the first quarter, thus under the rule of George III (1760-1820), king of Great Britain and
Ireland; and his son, George IV (1820-1830), who was succeeded by his brother, William IV.
Yet, the nineteenth-century political background is namely represented by the accession of
Queen Victoria to the throne when her uncle, William IV dies in 1837. She would reign from
1837 to 1901 and would be the longest reigning British monarch. The passing of the crown
introduced new ideals concerning such issues as the Church, Parliament, and foreign policy.
Generally speaking, each monarch also had their own personality that determined how the
British Common would interact with their monarch and, therefore, these factors combined
dictated the making of British history in the nineteenth century.
In the early nineteenth century, Cobbetts Parliamentary History (1806) first appeared, which
was one of the first proper records of the Houses of Parliament, although prior to this there had
been coverage in the newspapers of the activities in the House. In 1811, William Cobbett sold
the business to Thomas Curson Hansard, which initially was simply a report of the statements
made in the House copied from papers and checked by a Member of the House. This further
developed into being a complete record of all that is said in the Houses of Parliament, and is still
known today as Hansard.
In 1812 Spencer Perceval was assassinated, the only Prime Minister in history to be murdered,
but twenty years later, the Great Reform Act was published in 1832 (next Reform Acts would
take place in 1867 and 1884), which removed rotten boroughs and increased the number of
individuals entitled to vote. For the first time the seats for the House of Commons were
distributed according to population. This Reform Act, passed by William IV, secured the
passage by agreeing to create new peers to overcome the hostile majority in the House of Lords
and to make Parliament a more democratic body. The Reform Act, also known as the
Representation of the People Act, aimed to extend the voting rights and redistribute
Parliamentary seats. As a result, Pocket and Rotten boroughs were abolished, and seats were
redistributed on a more equitable basis in the counties. Unfortunately, in 1834 the Houses of
Parliament were badly damaged by fire, with only Westminster Hall remaining relatively
undamaged.
The House of Commons was the less powerful house until 1911, when the Reform Bill of that
year gave it the power to override the House of Lords. The party with the greatest representation
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in the Commons forms the government, and the prime minister chooses the cabinet from the
partys members. During the WWII (1941) the House of Commons chamber was destroyed by
enemy action, and temporarily the MPs met in the House of Lords until their chamber was
rebuilt. During the 1970s and 1980s the media entered the House of Commons since radio
coverage began in 1978, and television in 1989. Also, the 1990s are characterized by the
election of the first woman Speaker, Betty Boothroyd, in 1992.
As stated above, the House of Commons is part of the legislative process of British politics and
because it alone has the power to levy taxes and allocate expenditures, it is Britains chief
legislative authority. According to Britannica (2004), in the early 21st century there were 659
members, elected from single -member districts in the House of Commons, which is seen as a
cradle of democracy where even a government with a huge parliamentary majority can see that
majority dwindle if party members vote against the government (as the 2004 tuition fee issue
demonstrated).
With the exception of by-elections, every MP in the Commons has to go before their
constituents every 5 years. The main function of the Commons is to scrutinise government bills
and vote on them and, therefore, having a vital input in to how laws are made in this country.
The Commons finally fulfils this role by receiving public petitions which are then sent to the
relevant Minister who is expected to print a reply or they may even be debated if urgent. The
petition is an increasingly popular way of raising the political profile of an issue. It is also a way
of allowing a small degree of participation by the electorate in the business of Parliament.
Another important function of the House of Commons as the most important political forum in
the country is to be able to exchange views between spokes people for the Government and the
opposition when in session where, when in session. This idea of a political forum in theory is
taken further in reality in that following a General Election, the choice of Government is a
matter for the Commons in the senses that (1) the leader of the party with the greatest number of
MPs is expected to become Prime Minister; and (2) that Prime Minister then chooses the
political heads of the Government (the Cabinet and Ministers) from existing Commons
Members of Parliament (though there are also about 25 out of about 120 chosen from the House
of Lords). However, the most important Cabinet positions are given to serving MPs from the
House of Commons.
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2.2.4.
The monarch.
The United Kingdom has not an absolute monarchy, but constitutional. This means that the
monarchy is apolitical and impartial, that is, symbolic and ceremonial as Walter Bagehot
stated in the nineteenth century. In the same way, this is even more true in the twenty-first
century where the monarchy has even less power than before. The relationship between
Parliament and the monarch is to be found in the Royal Prerogative, which is the term given to
the formal powers of the Crown within the executive process of British politics.
The Royal Prerogative are the powers of the Crown and are part of common law. Hence the
work of the monarch within the remit of the royal prerogative is seen as being on behalf of
elected ministers, that is, that the work that it does in politics is largely symbolic since the
Queen reigns but does not rule.The monarch is above the law and has crown immunity. The
legal immunity conferred by the Royal Prerogative may extend to institutions and servants of
the Crown. Cabinet ministers may try to use crown immunity to avoid the release of
parliamentary documents as they are servants of the Crown.
In general, the word government is defined as the formal institutional structure and processes
of a society by which policies are developed and implemented in the form of law, binding on
all. The government has legislative (law making), executive (law enforcing) and judicial (law
interpreting) functions, with decision power exercised by majority within Parliament.
Government usually operates under the restrictive nature of a constitution whether it be written
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or not. A constitution often puts limitations on goverment, telling the incumbent government
what it can do but, more importantly, what it cannot do (www.historylearningsite.co.uk).
Within Britain, the House of Lords have the final say in interpreting British unwritten
constitution though the European Courts are likely to play a more increased role in this aspect as
Europe becomes more integrated. So, the word government in Britain refers to the party in
power in the House of Commons and also to individuals who have specific power within certain
fields, such as the government of transport and the government of education, among others.
Within Britain, the government has the right to levy taxes, declare war, in itiate both foreign and
domestic policies, control the military, and so on. Yet, it is difficult to determine how far these
will be eroded in the future.
Following Bromhead (1962), effective power belongs to the Government, which is part of
Parliament and responsible to it, but which also normally dominates it. The Government
consists of about a hundred politicians under the Prime Minister, appointed to their offices, as
ministers, whips 4 , etc. by the Queen on his advice. A modern Government is arranged in about
fifteen departments, each with its ministerial head, normally entitled, for example, Secretary of
State for Social Services. The number changes from time to time, as departments are split or
joined together. All the heads of departments are members of the House of Commons. Nearly
every head of department has under him one, two or three ministers of state, and at a lower
level one, two or three parliamentary under-secretaries. Some of the offices have special titles,
but the word minister is commonly used to describe all these office-holders.
Moreover, regarding the Government policy, we must distinguish between (1) central and (2)
local governement. Let us start by presenting the elements which govern the central
government, that is, (a) the Cabinet, (b) the monarch, and (c) the Civil Services; and then, we
shall move on to those regarding the local one.
2.3.1.
Among the people who forms the Cabinet, we include the Prime Minister, the ministers heads
of departments) and other positions. Thus:
A whip is a member of Parliament who is responsible for making other members of his party to attend
at voting time.
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The most outstanding person in the Cabinet is the minister, who is the leader of the
winning party that has formed the government on having most MPs. As Bromhead
(1962) states the Cabinet consists of the sixteen to twenty-four senior ministers whom
the Prime Minister has appointed as members of it. These are the heads of the
departments together with a few others. The Cabinet meets about once a week in
Number 10 Downing Street, a rather ordinary house which also contains the Prime
Ministers personal office. He lives on the top floor. Number 10 is not really as small as
it looks; there are big extensions behind the house, and the whole group of buildings is
used by the Cabinet Secretariat as well as the Prime Ministers own civil service group
and political officers.
Yet, following Bromhead (1962), although the word minister is used as a generic
term, nearly all the ministers who are heads of departments now have the title
Secretary of State. For instance, the Foreign Secretary in the Foreign Office to deal
with Britains international relations; the Home Secretary in the Commonwealth
Office in charge of Britains home problems law and order, namely-; the Secretary of
State for Environment in the Department of the Environment; the archaic title
Chancellor of the Exchequer for the minister in charge of finance; and the Lord
Chancellor who is in charge of Justice. Several other archaic offices survive, but are
now used for new purposes. In addition, social services absorbed insurance and health.
No minister of any rank is allowed to indicate disagreement with any aspect of settled
Government policy, either in Parliament or on any public platform outside. If even a
junior minister should criticise Government policy during a political meeting in a
schoolroom far from London on a Friday evening, the local press will report this
indiscretion, the Opposition will hear of it, and in the next week the Prime Minister will
have to answer an embarrassing question in the House of Commons.
Also, if any minister disagrees with any aspect of his Governments settled policy he
must hide his disagreement and give loyal support. A policy which as been settled
without a ministers knowledge, at a meeting where he was not present, is binding on
him because he shares the whole Governments responsibility for all policy. If he will
not accept his share of that responsibility he must resign. The requirement of ministerial
solidarity does not extend to matters about which the Government as such does not have
a settled policy, or where the Governments policy is to leave the decision to a free vote
of the House of Commons, with each individual MP voting according to his own
preference.
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Other positions within the Government are to be held by MPs or peers, two MPs of the
party in power, who are appointed Law Officers for England and two for Scotland; then
there are Whips in both Houses, concerned with managing the business. Note that all
these share in the whole Governments responsibility.
Hence British government has traditionally been called Cabinet government, because of the
collectivity of its members. The term dates from the nineteenth century, before the huge
increase in the number of political ministers and under-secretarie s of the lower levels. The
oldest departments, notably Foreign and Defence, have their main offices in Whitehall, which is
the name of the street which runs from Trafalgar Square to the Palace of Westminster, where the
two Houses of Parliament have their home. The practice of describing the British Government
as Whitehall comes from the location of these old departments in this street.
The relationship between the monarchy and the British system of government was admired for
more than two hundred years for its combination of stability with adaptability, along with its
avoidance of arbitrary power (Bromhead, 1962). This relationship still survives, but only in a
formal sense. As it is often said: she reigns but does not rule. Actually, the State as a legal
entity is commonly called the Crown. The Queen is its embodiment; all ministers and officers
of the central government are her servants. For legal purposes there are no British citizens, but
only subjects.
As a constitutional monarch the Queen appoints the Prime Minister; normally the leader of the
party with a majority in the Commons; but it seems to be accepted that the politicians should
arrange things so that she does not have to make a real choice herself. Having appointed a Prime
Minister the Queen appoints other ministers and public servants on his/her advice, and gives the
Royal Assent to bills passed by Parliament. The absence of a written constitution would make it
difficult to claim that any advice was unconstitutional; and if the Queen should go against her
ministers they could claim that her action was itself unconstitutional (Bromhead, 1962:17).
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professional civil servants who do most of the work of running the department on the ministers
behalf. The Civil Service is wholly non-political. Those of its members who are in any way
concerned with administration are forbidden to be candidates for Parliament or to give public
support to any political party, though they may vote at elections. When a new government
comes into office the same civil servants must work for the new ministers, who a few weeks
before led the attack on the old ministers policies.
Once a civil servant has an established post he has almost complete security of tenure, and can
in practice only be removed for improper conduct. Promotion is not automatic according to
seniority, but selective, and based on the recommendation of superior officers. A civil servant
does not necessarily remain in the same department all through his career; in fact when a
department has a vacancy in one of its top posts it is very likely that it will be filled by someone
brought in from another department.
2.3.2.
In Britain local government authorities, commonly known as councils, derive their existence
and their powers and functions from Parliament and the central government. Parliament can take
powers away or add to them, and it can even abolish any particular authority, or group or class
of authorities, if it wants to. Actually, following Bromhead (1962:61-62), although the United
Kingdom is a unitary state, not a federal one, a very large part of the public services are
administered by local authorities, which together employ more than two million people. The
central government employs only one-third as many. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their
own systems, which are not quite the same as that of England and Wales, though the differences
are only superficial.
Since the modern local government system is almost entirely the result of decisions by the
national Parliament, most of the tasks that local councils perform are tasks which the central
authorities have told them they must perform, and which are supervised and given some
financial assistance. Hence many of the activities of local authorities are in fact supervised,
advised or controlled by the central government, but there is no single agency of control for any
particular local authority or class of authorities. In each area the elected council and its offices
have direct relations with the various central government departments though these may have
regional offices through which some of the central-local relations are conducted5 .
5
Traditionally, the most important local area is the county. England has been divided into counties for
more than 1,000 years, commonly known as shires and, later on, at various dates between 1100 and
1970 nearly all large and medium-sized towns were given their own charters of incorporation, either as
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Local authorities are allowed to impose taxes on their residents in only one form a tax
collected from all people who occupy land or buildings, based on an objective assessment of the
value. These local taxes are called rates. Every house, shop, etc., has a rateable value
assessed by officials of the central government. The local tax is imposed by each local authority
as a percentage of the rateable value. The rates for county and district purposes are collected by
officers of the districts, and the district must hand over to the county the proportion due to it.
Hence some areas are more prosperous than others.
The first recent change in local government affected London when the London Government Act
of 1963 created a new county of Greater London. Since then the city of London has been
synonymous with commerce, banking and finance. Later on, the Local Government Act of
1972 completely reorganised the whole system, bringing a new structure into effect in April
1974. Although the central Parliament has these powers of life and death over local authorities,
and has used them recently, it has never exercised any detailed supervision through any office of
the nature of prefect or local governor.
Every county, district and parish has its council, elected by the inhabitants. Any person who is
entitled to vote in parliamentary elections may now vote in local elections too. The number of
members of a council depends on the population ofr the area, but is not related to it according to
any definite formula. Most of the new county councils have between 40 and 100 members,
district councils 30 to 50, parish councils 5 to 20. The arrangements for the election of the
councillors are rather complicated, and are not the same for all types of councils. Members of
county councils are elected for three years at general elections taking place every three years.
With district councils there may be an election every year. Councillors are not paid for their
work, but they may receive an attendance allowance and expenses on a very generous scale in
counties and districts.
Every local council has its presiding officer, and this post is filled by the vote of the whole
council, for ony one year at a time. The presiding officer of a county or district council is called
the Chairman, but in a district which is a borough or city he is called Mayor or Lord Mayor. The
mayor has many formal duties, as the first citizen of his town. He has a chain of office, which he
wears on official occasions. In modern times it has been thought that the mayor needs to have a
female consort on social and formal occasions, and in most towns the mayor appoints a woman
to be his mayoress.
Moreover, all local councils work through committees. Each council has a committee for each
of the main sections of its work; the general management of the schools in a county or a
boroughs or as cities. The title of city has no real significance; it is merely a title of distinction given
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metropolitan district is under the control of the education committee of the country or district
council. Some of the committees consist only of members of the council (with the parties
represented in the same proportion as in the whole council), and some of them have in addition
a few coopted members- people who do not belong to the council but have been chosen by the
whole council to assist the committee with their special knowledge or other qualifications.
Actually, the local authorities appoint their own staffs and the type of people who run local
councils are usually public citizens, such as shopkeepers, businessmen or housewives, and many
are industrial workers. By now, two-party government is a usual characteristic of important
local councils, with the Labour Party opposed by Conservatives, though there may also be some
Liberals or Independents. The strength of party discipline among non-Labour members varies
from place to place, and it depends on the way the parties are balanced.
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handful of parties have any political or electoral significance due to the electoral system, for
instance, (1) the Conservative Party, (2) the Labour Party, (3) the Liberal Democrats, and (4)
other lesser parties.
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events. It can adapt itself to a woman M.P. (or mayor, prime minister or monarch) but a man
alone is incomplete.
The National Union of Conservative Association is the partner, in London, of the Central
Office, on whichit may exert pressure. Each autumn a few representatives of each local
association go, with the M.P.s and national leaders, to a four-day conference at a seaside town.
There, with continuous television coverage, each section of the nations business is debated for
an hour or two, on the basis of a motion formed from several local proposals, and voted on,
usually by a show of hands with a conclusion supportive of the national leadership.
Those who go to the conference are the most dedicated Tories, and some opinions voiced there
have been critical of the leaders for their readiness to compromise. In Mrs Thatcher the M.P.s
chose the kind of leader favoured by the activists, and her radical policies have in general been
well supported. Tory purists welcome the privatisation of sections of the nationalised industries,
the sale of council houses, the rhetoric of the states withdrawal from direction of the economy.
They also favour a strong stance on the pursuit of the national interest, and a high priority for
defence and law and order. They would be critical of an M.P. showing weakness on these
matters (they call it wetness). But many of these activities are also local councillors, and
unhappy about the governments current interference with such autonomy as the councils have
traditionally enjoyed.
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subscriptions to the party. Any union member may contract out of party membership, but
many do not know of this; in 1984 the Trades Union Congress agreed to the Conservative
governments demands that this right to contract out should be made more effective.
Ain recent years the conference has voted for withdrawal from Europe, unilateral nuclear
disarmament, massive new nationalisations, increased trade union power, abolition of the House
of Lords and other left-wing policies. It has also required each sitting Labour M.P. to face a
contested re-selection process during the life of a Parliament, and changed the rules for
choosing the party leader, so that the Labour M.P.s votes have only the same weight in this
process as the constituency party delegations, and the unions more weight than either. The new
system was first used in 1983, when Neil Kinnock succeeded Michael Foot after the election
defeat.
One old Labour Party rule survives: Communist Party members are not eligible for
membership though there are some Communist trade union officials. Lately, however, many
local parties have b become dominated by left-wingers, including some belonging to a highly
organised and disciplined group calling itself Militant.
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Fundamentally the system still has its ancient form, with each community electing its (now)
one representative to serve as its Member of Parliament until the next general election. If an
M.P. dies or resigns his seat a by-election is held to replace him. Any British subject can be
nominated as a candidate for any seat on payment of a deposit, though peers, clergymen,
lunatics and felons in prison are disqualified from sitting in the House of Commons. There is no
need to live in the area or to have any personal connection with it, and less than half of the
candidates are in fact local residents. There are usually more than two candidates for each seat,
but the one who receives most votes is elected.
The franchise (right to vote) became universal formen by stages in the nineteenth century;
hence the rise of the Labour Party. Womens suffrage came in two stages (1918 and 1928), and
in 1970 the minimum voting age was reduced to eighteen. Since 1948 each voter has had only
one vote, which hemay cast at his place of registration; if he knows that he will be unable to
vote, because he is ill or has moved away or must be away on business, he may apply in
advance to be allowed to send his vote by post.
Two changes were introduced in 1984. Until then any candidate who received more than 12
per cent of the votes had his deposit of 150 pounds returned to him; otherwise he lost his
deposit. When the figure of 150 pounds was first used it was more than a mans average wage
for a year: enough to deter irresponsible candidatures. By 1984, because of inflation, it was
about a weeks wage. Huge numbers of individual candidates had stood for election, happy to
sacrifice their deposits as a small price for some publicity.
Voting is not compulsory, but in the autumn of each year every householder is obliged by law
to enter on the register of electors the name of every resident who is entitled to vote. Much work
is done to ensure that the register is complete and accurate, and each register is valid for one
year beginning towards the end of February. People who are just too young to vote are included
in the list, so that they may vote at any election which may be held after their eighteenth
birthday. It is only possible to vote at the polling station appropriate to ones address.
The most important effect of the ele ctoral system, with each seat won by the candidate with
most votes, has been to sustain the dominance of two main rival parties, and only two. One
forms the Government, the other the Opposition, hoping to change places after the next general
election. The Prime Minister enjoys one special advantage: he can choose the date of an
election, with only three or four weeks notice, at any time that seems favourable to this party,
up to five years after the last. Many opinion polls, over many years, have indicated that most of
the British people would prefer to use their most fundamental right, that of voting, in a system
which would give fair representation.
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In Britain, when a partys selectors are choosing a single candidate, they tend to exclude
people of minority groups or with characteristics different from the usual; and this tendency is
strongest in seats which a party expects to win. Yet women candidates do not get fewer votes
than men in similar situations; their results, where they have been chosen, conform to the party
voting patterns. The electors vote for a party, not caring much about the individual candidate.
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sense of nationhood and a stable monarchical succession really developed from the fourteenth
century onwards, culminating in the Stewart dynasty. In 1603 a member of this dynasty, King
James VI, succeeded to the English Crown.
The Union of the Crowns was followed by the Union of the Parliaments in 1707. Although a
new Scottish Parliament now determines much of Scotlands legislation, the two Crowns remain
united under a single Sovereign, the present Queen. The last four hundred years have seen many
changes in the nature of the Monarchy in the United Kingdom, and from the end of the 17th
century, monarchs lost executive power and they increasingly became subject to Parliament,
resulting in todays constitutional Monarchy. Actually, the main royal prerogatives within
British politics are:
(1) the Queen has the right to appoint and dismiss a Prime Minister. However, in the present
century this is convention as opposed to reality. In fact, after an election, the Queen
chooses the leader of the majority party to lead the Commons. Theoretically, the monarch
can exercise powers of appointment and dismissal.
(2) The monarch has other powers of appointment for ministers, peers, senior officials, head of
BBC, and senior civil servants, who are chosen by the Prime Minister; only the Order of
the Garter and the Order of Merit are at the personal disposal of the Queen. Therefore, a
vast amount of power with regards to senior appointments rests with the Prime Minister.
(3) The Queen opens and dissolves Parliament.
(4) She also approves all statutes of law. Actually, the date of a general election is set by the
Prime Minister and the Queen, in the State Opening of Parliament, simply reads out the
proposed bills for the next 5 years of a government and plays no part in deciding them. No
monarch has refused to give the Royal Assent to a government bill (passed at this stage by
both the Commons and Lords) since 1707. Now it would appear to be completely untenable
that the Queen would refuse to sign a government bill that had passed the Commons, select
committees, the Lords etc.
(5) The monarch has the right to grant pardons and input some sentences although this power
is actually exercised by the Home Secretary.
(6) The monarch, via proclamations or Orders in Council, may declare war or treaties, without
the input of the Houses of Commons or Lords, although the declaration of war and the
signing of treaties is done by the Prime Minister acting on behalf of the Crown. For
instance, the 2003 declaration of war against Iraq was done by a Prime Minister and not by
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the monarch. One is a democratically elected politician accountable to the electorate via an
election; the other is in the position by a quirk of birth.
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British political system in Europe, regarding its main policy or the main political figures
(politicians, political parties, the Queen). The success partly lies in making this reality closer to
students so as to recreate as much as possible the whole social and political environment in the
classroom. Some of this motivational force is brought about by eliciting information about
recent events in which Britain has been involved.
Hence it makes sense to examine relevant figures such as John Major, Margaret Thatcher, Tony
Blair, and Queen Elizabeth II, among others so as to compare them with the corresponding
figures in Spain and their roles in both British and Spanish politics. This is to be achieved
within the framework of the European Council (1998) and, in particular, the Spanish
Educational System which establishes a common reference framework for the teaching of
foreign languages where students are intended to locate social, political and cultural events
within a particular historical period (B.O.E., 2004).
In short, the knowledge about British culture (history and literature) should become part of
every literary students basic competence (B.O.E., 2004). There are hidden influences at work
beneath the textual surface: these may be sociocultural, inter and intratextual. Students have to
discover these, and wherever necessary apply them in further examination. The main aims that
our currently educational system focuses on are mostly sociocultural, to facilitate the study of
cultural themes, as our students must be aware of their current social and political reality within
the European framework.
4. CONCLUSION.
On reviewing the issue of Unit 63, we have tried to provide an overall view of the British
institutions, namely the Parliament, the Government, the main political parties and the British
electoral system, and finally, the Monarchy. Hence we have started by locating the British
institutions within a European framework so as to move on to analyse British politics and,
therefore, each political body.
So, Chapter 2 has examined the main British institutions individually, that is, the Parliament in
terms of historical background and its political elements, that is, the House of Lords, the House
of Commons, and the monarch. Then, we have reviewed the Government, in terms of central
government, regarding the Cabinet, the figure of the monarch, and the Civil Services; and then
the local government. Moreover, we have also approached the main political parties and the
British electoral system, by reviewing the main political parties (Conservative Party, Labour
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Party, Liberal Democrats, and other lesser parties) and the British electoral system; finally, we
have examined the role of the current Monarchy within British politics.
In Chapter 4 we have established a link between the British institutions and the classroom, that
is, a link between the political situation in Britain and the main educational implications in
language teaching regarding the introduction of this issue in the classroom setting and how to
make our students aware of how much they know about the political history of Great Britain. At
this point, we hope to offer fruitful conclusions on this presentation, and we shall close it by
presenting all the bibliographical references used to develop this account of the British
institutions.
So far, we have attempted to provide the reader in this presentation with a historical, social and
cultural background on the British political panorama throughtout the centuries. This
information is relevant for language learners, even ESO and Bachillerato students, who do not
automatically establish similiarities between British and Spanish political reality. So, learners
need to have these associations brought to their attention in cross-curricular settings through the
media. As we have seen, understanding how history reflects the main events of a country is
important to students, who are expected to be aware of the richness of English culture at a
general level.
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5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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