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Cover page -- Halftitle page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Preface -- Contents -- 1 Two Dimensions of Labour's Ideology -- 2 Labour's Ethos: The Uses of the Past -- 3 Labour's Doctrines: Is Socialism about Equality? -- 4 Labour's Doctrines: Socialism without Planning? -- 5 Socialist Ministers: An Ideological Dilemma -- 6 Our Rulers' Natural Party? -- Appendix Chronology of Events Significant to the History of the Labour Party -- Bibliography -- Index

The United Kingdom is often characterized as a two-party political system. This characterization has played an important role in British constitutional theory & in comparative government, although it was never wholly accurate. In recent years, the proportion of electors who vote for either of the major parties has decreased noticeably, & the number of parliamentary seats held by other parties has increased; there were two minority governments in the mid-1970s. Features of the two-party system are now being criticized by established academics. In the House of Commons, the parties have lost much of their old discipline; even majority governments lose some votes, & neither of the major parties is maintaining its mass membership. Governments have lost the ability to carry their will in Northern Ireland, or against some of the trade unions. The two-party system is weakening. 2 Tables. Modified AA.

PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATWE DEMOCRACY IS ABOUT THE relationship of individuals to the state. It commonly invokes mechanistic metaphors about the relationship between these individuals and their governments. Corporatism is about the relationship of certain, apparently relationship indispensable, functional groups to each other in the society which, collectively , they comprise. It is commonly referred to in organic metaphors, specifically it holds that each function is organically related to each other function and that each is irreplaceable. None can be dispensed with and each can do its appointed task provided all others do theirs.

Corporatism is currently more advanced in Scotland than in England & the law is more difficult to reform than in England. Civil servants in Scotland play a greater role in consultations with local government & pressure groups than they do in England. Professional bodies in medicine, education, social work & law have more direct access to civil servants of the Scottish Office than do their English equivalents. "Devolution" is advocated as a corrective to this. A legislative assembly in Scotland could correct the balance. The present Labour government's willingness to enact devolution is a result of the need to placate Nationalist voters &, paradoxically, of pressure from one of the most powerful "corporations"--the trade union movement. Submissions to the government of devolution proposals are analyzed, using documents of the Labour, Conservative, & National Parties concerning devolution. AA.