British Politics: Recognizable yet on the Move…

Tony Wright’s overarching, thematic concept of the British political system as a system of governance that has, in the last half-century, been substantially transformed and continues to do so in the 21st century can be echoed in the acceptance speech of the current British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. In 2007, Brown asserted, “I want a new constitutional settlement for Britain…devolution within a Union of nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – a Union that I believe in and will defend; local government strengthened with new powers – local communities empowered to hold those who make the decisions to account; and with community ownership of assets – greater power for more people to control their lives”1. Indeed, while we can still look at Britain as a nation that has retained some of its traditional idiosyncrasies, including having an organic, flexible constitution, a remarkably strong executive and a sense of tradition and continuity within the political system, it is important to recognize that the British system of government is indeed undergoing a series of transformations. In identifying and analyzing these changes and transformations, it is essential to point out what their implications are for the British political system.
Within British Politics, Tony Wright points out that Britain’s uniqueness stems from its distinctive geography, the absence of invasions since the 11th century Norman conquests and a lack of modern revolution, among other factors. In fact, while Britain certainly has an established system of governance, it lacks one uniform, codified document to which it can point as “the constitution” so that all of the documents that form its constitution are products of its history. However, having a strong, centralized and concentrated power of government and a single line of authority and accountability is not without its weaknesses. As Wright points out, the paradox of British politics is a strong governing capacity in combination with a weak administrative body. Thus, one might say that while the United States has a greater ineffectiveness in breaking down and moving past congressional deadlock, the political system of governance in Britain has its own source of ineffectiveness, namely, a weak system of mechanisms for translating policy into practice. Another interesting concept that Wright points out has to do with the way in which the British political system puts a primacy on governing. In other words, the British system of politics looks upon and understands the acquisition and exercise of power in a fundamentally different way than that of the United States, for a simple example. We think of power primarily in terms of limitation; the British think of power in terms of governing.
With the process of devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Tony Blair’s attempts to reform The House of Lords, and the argument for further integration of Britain into the European Union, the British system of government is certainly beginning to lose some of its idiosyncrasies. These changes present many implications. I will point out one of these as an example. In regards to the concept of responsible government, the traditional idea of ministerial accountability to Parliament no longer holds so that reforms of The House of Lords are likely to be followed by further reforms that may implement a more complex system of accountability checks on what can be seen as a rather lop-sided government. Certainly, it seems that Britain is treading a path of transformation, and it will be interesting to see what effects these reforms will have on the British system of politics as a whole.

1 http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/gordon-brown-leadership-acceptance-speech-in-full/