Suchergebnisse

An American perspective of the offices of US president & prime minister of the UK focuses on whether executive authority & power varies in ways that account for the successes/failures of administrations, or whether there is a linear trend across the histories of both nations. The US president shares popular sovereignty with Congress, the courts, & the states, & there is nothing in the US comparable to the sovereignty of parliament. Issues examined include the different skills needed by prime ministers & presidents; British government as a model for those who see political parties as the hope for strong national leadership; strengths inherent in American separated institutions; tendencies toward ideological realignment of the two major US parties; & demands in the UK for a more effective national government. Three competing notions of prime ministerial leadership are explored, along with parallel tracks of American & British politics since the late 1970s; the greater ease with which legislation is enacted in the British government; & the relation between the political strength of the president/prime minister & the degree to which electoral politics empowers their governments. 31 References. J. Lindroth

Political representation is an essentially contested concept. Contemporary feminist conceptions claim a link between the presence of women & the potential for a feminized transformation of politics. Previous empirical research in the UK, which examined the question of women representatives' attitudes, concluded that women representatives were attitudinally more liberal/feminist than male representatives. This article extends the existing literature through a consideration of how the new intake of Labour women MPs conceptualize political representation. Three different dimensions are explored. First, the article examines constituency-level representation focusing upon the women MPs' perceptions of shared identity, affinity, & their relationships with women constituents. Secondly, the question of whether women representatives perceive that women's presence will effect a feminization within parliament by regendering the political agenda is considered. Finally, the impact of women representatives' presence in & on government is examined in relation to the women representatives' understanding of the role of the minister for women. The research suggests that the new-intake Labour women MPs acknowledge a feminized dimension to political representation, albeit a secondary one. This supports, in a qualified way, theoretical & empirical arguments that women's presence in politics has the potential to transform women's political representation. 2 Tables, 29 References. Adapted from the source document.

A discussion of structural changes in the British government considers the possibility that the UK might be developing a system of multilevel governance that is more akin to federalism. Movement in other European nations from highly centralized governments to federal-style regimes is discussed, &, it is noted that, in spite of expressed distaste for federalism, several proposals within the UK have encompassed federal ideas, especially those related to Northern Ireland. An examination of recent devolution movements in Wales & Scotland indicates that a federalism model might be the best way to address these developments, maintaining that federalism is neither as orderly as Americans believe, nor as fragmented as the British assume. Key features of federalism are described as shared sovereignty, with each state having separate constitutions, state citizenship, policy autonomy, & fiscal autonomy. Application of these features to intergovernmental relations in the UK suggests that the political dynamics that might ensue from the initial distribution of powers/functions in Wales & Scotland could create an arrangement that is more similar to a federal system. 16 References. J. Lindroth

A review essay on books by (1) R. Blackburn & R. Plant (Eds), Constitutional Reform (London & New York: Longman, 1999); (2) M. Foley, The Politics of the British Constitution (Manchester: Manchester U Press, 1999); (3) R. Hazell (Ed), Constitutional Futures: A History of the Next Ten Years (Oxford: Oxford U Press, 1999); & (4) K. Sutherland (Ed), The Rape of the Constitution? (Exeter: Imprint Academic, 2000). These four books focus on two aspects of contemporary British government: the limits inherent in British parliamentary democracy & the Labour government's influence on the rise of a new constitutionalism. Blackburn & Plant's objective is to determine how the Labour Party's objectives can be achieved while still taking constitutional reforms into consideration. Though this objective is met, three weaknesses are evident: the book's timing, its ineffective introduction, & its lack of an integrating concluding chapter. Sutherland fails entirely in his attempt to outline contemporary constitutional reform. In fact, his book offers little toward the development of any sort of reform program. Hazel's work is a project stemming from the Constitution Unit. Its primary purpose is to examine the effects of recently instituted constitutional reform programs. Although the collection offers an important account of "present-descriptive" & "future-prescriptive"eform, because it went to press too early, important considerations are absent. Foley's book is not only interesting & original, but also worthy of critical attention. However, Foley fails to develop his ideas, & his lack of historical sense is evident. 21 References. Adapted from the source document.

A number of commentators in the 1980s sought to explain the character of the Thatcher administration. By contrast, relatively little work has been produced that seeks to analyze the principles & governing strategies of the Blair government. Focusing primarily on economic management, this article offers a characterization of statecraft under Blair in terms of the politics of depoliticization. In summary, it argues that the Blair government has fused aspects of traditional economic management with new initiatives to create a powerful tool of governing organized on the basis of the principle of depoliticization. Depoliticization as a governing strategy is the process of placing at one remove the political character of decision making. State managers retain arm's-length control over crucial economic & social processes while simultaneously benefiting from the distancing effects of depoliticization. As a form of politics, it seeks to change market expectations regarding the effectiveness & credibility of policy making in addition to shielding the government from the consequences of unpopular policies. 2 Tables, 110 References. Adapted from the source document.

Questions of standards in public life came to the fore of British politics during the 1992-1997 parliament. Concerns were expressed over the probity of individual politicians & of political parties & worries extended to the health of the British system of government as a whole. Underlying these news stories, however, were wider issues concerning attitudes toward government. Furthermore, these concerns about standards were also extensively reported during the 1997 election campaign, & were widely held, in popular accounts, to have played a part in the Conservative government's dramatic defeat. But, surprisingly, few academic analyses have tried to gauge either the extent of public concerns in 1997, or whether they really had an impact on party support. More generally, recent political science interest has focused on fears of declining public trust in the democratic system, throughout the Western world. This article explores British voters' trust in their polity. 10 Tables, 1 Appendix, 53 References. Adapted from the source document.