The UK's Changing Democracy

The UK's Changing Democracy

Author: Patrick Dunleavy

Publisher: LSE Press

Published: 2018-11-01

Total Pages: 521

ISBN-13: 1909890464

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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.


The Standing Orders of the House of Lords Relating to Public Business [2005]

The Standing Orders of the House of Lords Relating to Public Business [2005]

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2005-05-23

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 9780104007082

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This publication contains the Standing Orders of the House of Lords which set out information on the procedure and working of the House, under a range of headings including: Lords and the manner of their introduction; excepted hereditary peers; the Speaker; general observances; debates; arrangement of business; bills; divisions; committees; parliamentary papers; public petitions; privilege; making or suspending of Standing Orders.


A Political History of the House of Lords, 1811-1846

A Political History of the House of Lords, 1811-1846

Author: Richard W. Davis

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 9781503626843

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The history of England's House of Lords in the nineteenth century has been largely misunderstood or ignored by historians. Richard W. Davis argues that the Lords were not primarily reactionary or obstructive, but rather a House in which much beneficial legislation was enacted. More conservative in political questions than the Commons perhaps, the Lords at least equaled them in compassion for the poor and suffering. While many historians also argue that after the Reform Act of 1832 the Lords had little real power, the Lords actually had precisely the same power after the Act as before: a bill could become law only after it passed both Houses of Parliament. They also had the power of veto and used it, particularly from 1833 to 1841 after the passage of the Act that is supposed to have so weakened them. The Whig House of Commons did not appreciate the actions of the Conservative majority in the Lords, but the electorate, becoming more conservative with every election, cared not at all.


Reform of the House of Lords

Reform of the House of Lords

Author: Philip Norton

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2017-06-12

Total Pages: 88

ISBN-13: 9781526119230

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This book is the only one of its kind, providing a clear and exhaustive analysis of the different approaches to the future of Britain's second chamber. The House of Lords has long been the subject of proposals for reform some successful, others not and calls for the existing membership to be replaced by elected members have been a staple of political debate. The debate has been characterised by heat rather than light, proponents and opponents of change often talking past one another. This work gives shape to the debate, drawing out the role of the House of Lords, previous attempts at reform, and the different approaches to the future of the House. It develops the argument for each and analyses the current state of the debate about the future of the upper house in Britain's political system.


The Contemporary House of Lords

The Contemporary House of Lords

Author: Meg Russell

Publisher:

Published: 2013-07-11

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 0199671567

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Painting a detailed portrait of the House of Lords since reform removed most hereditary members in 1999, this book demonstrates the chamber's newly diverse membership and substantial policy impact in British politics. It also places the Lords in a comparative context, asks if it can be considered 'legitimate', and examines the likelihood of reform.


The Strange Death of Liberal England

The Strange Death of Liberal England

Author: George Dangerfield

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-04

Total Pages: 494

ISBN-13: 1351473255

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This book focuses on the chaos that overtook England on the eve of the First World War. Dangerfield weaves together the three wild strands of the Irish Rebellion (the rebellion in Ulster), the Suffragette Movement and the Labour Movement to produce a vital picture of the state of mind and the most pressing social problems in England at the time. The country was preparing even then for its entrance into the twentieth century and total war.Dangerfield argues that between the death of Edward VII and the First World War there was a considerable hiatus in English history. He states that 1910 was a landmark year in English history. In 1910 the English spirit flared up, so that by the end of 1913 Liberal England was reduced to ashes. From these ashes, a new England emerged in which the true prewar Liberalism was supported by free trade, a majority in Parliament, the Ten Commandments, but the illusion of progress vanished. That extravagant behavior of the postwar decade, Dangerfield notes, had begun before the war. The war hastened everything - in politics, in economics, in behavior - but it started nothing.George Dangerfield's wonderfully written 1935 book has been extraordinarily influential. Scarcely any important analyst of modern Britain has failed to cite it and to make use of the understanding Dangerfield provides. This edition is timely, since the year 2010 has seen a definitive resurrection of Liberal power. Subsequent to the General Election of July 2010 the government of the United Kingdom has been in the hands of a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition. The Deputy Prime Minister is the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party - the direct successor of the old Liberal Party examined by Dangerfield. Five Liberal Democrat members of Parliament were appointed to the Cabinet and there are Liberal Democrat ministers in all governmental departments. After decades of absence from government power, Liberalism seems to be back with a vengeance.


House of Lords Reform Since 1911

House of Lords Reform Since 1911

Author: P. Dorey

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2011-04-05

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 0230306926

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Examines the debates and developments about House of Lords reform since 1911, and notes that disagreements have occurred within, as well as between, the main political parties and governments throughout this time. It draws attention to how various proposals for reform have raised a wider range constitutional and political problems.


After Liberalism?

After Liberalism?

Author: Martin Schlag

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-08-23

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 3030757021

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The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the unrest in the US following the unlawful death of George Floyd, and other sources of social unrest and insecurity, have brought to a head something that has been brewing in Western societies since the Great Recession of 2008: the disillusionment with liberal democracy as it evolved after World War II. Liberal political systems were characterized by a working compromise between capital and labor, between liberalism and socialism. This book analyzes how, and to what extent, the rise of populism and “identitarian” political movements, as well as the acceptance of world leaders who embody an authoritarian style of government, has undermined this compromise. Written by scholars from various disciplines, all of which share the Christian faith, it offers a snapshot of an intellectual debate among Christians who are deeply concerned about the world they live in, and who share their constructive proposals for a way forward after “liberalism as we know it.” The contributors address topics such as Christian alternatives to liberalism and populism, challenges to post-liberalism, trans-liberalism, and relational anthropology. Accordingly, the book will appeal to scholars who wish to reflect on the order of our society, and to anyone who shares the view that it is high time to rethink liberalism.


Liberalism and Liberal Politics in Edwardian England

Liberalism and Liberal Politics in Edwardian England

Author: George L. Bernstein

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-08-11

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 1000957810

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First published in 1986, Liberalism and Liberal Politics in Edwardian England makes a lively contribution to the historical debate over whether the Liberal Party was already threatened by decline before the First World War. It challenges the current orthodoxy among historians of the Liberal Party, arguing that neither the new liberalism nor the progressive alliance with Labour helped to make it more attractive to working-class voters. Dr. Bernstein takes a wide view of liberal ideology and policies, stressing that the new liberalism cannot be treated in isolation from traditional domestic and external policies. He examines the crucial relationship between party leaders and constituency activists and argues that the party was more effective when the leadership could mobilize the activists in support of traditional domestic and foreign policies such as peace and retrenchment, free trade, education and temperance reform, land reform, the House of Lords and Irish Home Rule. This book will be welcomed by both scholars and students of history and political science.