Suchergebnisse

"Im politischen System Großbritanniens haben Parteien eine Schlüsselfunktion inne. Im Vergleich zu vielen anderen Ländern gibt es keine signifikante Antiparteientradition. Während der letzten zwanzig Jahre hat sich jedoch zunehmend eine allgemeine Unzufriedenheit mit den etablierten Parteien gezeigt. Darüber hinaus wird die zukünftige Funktion der Parteien von einem Teil der Elite in Frage gestellt. Es wird untersucht, inwieweit zum einen Parteien und zum anderen Interessenverbände und neue soziale Bewegungen durch die Masse und die Elite unterstützt werden. Parteien bleiben bedeutende politische Akteure und festigen durch ihr Fortbestehen die liberale Demokratie. Wenn sie weiterhin eine bedeutende Rolle im politischen Prozeß spielen sollen, sind Reformen notwendig. Dem Einzelnen müssen größere Anreize zur Partizipation gegeben werden. Demokratie benötigt 'soziales Kapital' (Robert Putnam)." (Autorenreferat)

IT HAS BEEN ARGUED THAT FACTIONALISM WHILST APPARENT IN THE Labour Party has no counterpart within the Conservative Party. For example, the authors of a study on the opinions of backbench conservative MPs concluded that disagreements are amongst 'ad hoc groups' and that as new issues arise 'the coherence of the former groups dissolves and new alignments appear. . . .' A more recent survey of conservative backbenchers concurs with this and argues that the 'criss-crossing pattern of cleavage (amongst conservative MPs) inhibits the development of Tory factions analogous to those in the Labour Party. Allies on one issue either become enemies on the next, or else simply do not feel strongly enough on the next issue to want necessarily to work together.' A similar sort of conclusion has been reached by Richard Rose who states that the Conservative Party contains differing sets of political attitudes which remain constant whilst the party member will constantly shift from one attitude to another. Thus he concludes that the Conservative Party is a party of tendencies rather than factions; that it lacks a hard core of organized members within the party adhering to a set of principles which they are attempting to impose on the party in general. These conclusions are typical of a general belief about the political process within the Conservative Party.

Cover -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- 1 British Democracy in the Twenty-First Century -- British parliamentary democracy: theory and practice -- Challenges to British parliamentary democracy -- Democracy and civil society -- Outline of the book -- 2 Changing Political Values and Attitudes -- What do citizens want from the state? -- What do citizens think they owe the state? -- Are people tolerant? -- Do people trust their fellow citizens and the state? -- Do citizens feel they can change circumstances? -- How interested are people in politics? -- Changes in norms and attitudes over time -- The decline in the demand for government -- Conclusion -- 3 Trends in Participation in Britain -- Changes in participation over time -- Who votes? -- Why do people vote? -- Why has voting declined? -- Conclusion -- 4 Political Parties and Grassroots Activism -- The importance of parties -- Parties and voters -- Parties and activists -- Party supporters and political participation -- Parties at the centre -- Conclusion -- 5 Voluntary Activity and Social Capital -- Voluntary activity, trust and social capital -- Changes in social capital and voluntary activity in Britain -- The consequences of declining social capital -- Conclusion -- 6 The Media and Political Participation in Britain -- Media usage in Britain -- Media influences on public opinion -- The role of the mass media in influencing collective perceptions -- Methodological issues -- A case study - the Sun backs New Labour -- Conclusion -- 7 Britain in Comparative Perspective -- Is government too big? -- The growth of government in comparative perspective -- Theorizing the demand for government -- Attitudes to transfer payments -- The demand for government spending and income -- Conclusion -- 8 Government Effectiveness and Civil Society.