scholarly journals The practice of accountability in questioning prime ministers: Comparative evidence from Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
pp. 136914812110585
Author(s):  
Ruxandra Serban
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Prime Ministers ◽  
The United Kingdom

This paper compares the practice of holding prime ministers to account in four case studies: Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Using text analysis, as well as research on prime ministerial responsibilities, it investigates oral questions asked in parliamentary procedures where prime ministers are questioned together with ministers (Question Period in Canada and Question Time in Australia) versus procedures where they are questioned individually (PMQs in the United Kingdom and Oral Questions to the Taoiseach in Ireland), and explores the degree to which they are questioned for matters that are within their remit. It argues that the practice of prime ministerial accountability is decisively shaped by procedural features such as whether written notice is required for questions, as well as by the broader role of the questioning mechanism in the political system, and less by the collective or individualised nature of questioning.

scholarly journals BREXIT AS A MANIFESTATION OF THE CRISIS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
Populist Movements

The publication is devoted to the analysis of the UK exit from the European Union as a manifestation of the systemic crisis of the liberal democracy model. The causes and difficulties of this process are analyzed under the conditions of the failure of the political system to make political decisions. The problematic issues of liberal ideology and the model of liberal democracy were examined. The differences in the ideological convictions of the two founders of liberalism – Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, as well as the role of these differences in the modern functioning of liberal democracy in the United Kingdom. The role of globalization processes in the world in the context of the development and functioning of liberal democracy is analyzed. Some features of the course of globalization processes in the world are highlighted. The features of the existence of the European Union as an international supranational organization in the context of its influence on the functioning and stability of the political system of the United Kingdom are examined. The features of the functioning of the model of liberal democracy under conditions of strengthening the international way of making political, economic and legal decisions are emphasized. Particular attention is paid to the political motives of organizing of start of the process of the UK’s exit from the European Union, as well as the consequences of such a decision. In addition, the role of populist movements in this process, that have Euro-skeptical positions, has been established. The features of the functioning of populist movements are highlighted. The essence of the crisis of the model of liberal democracy in the United Kingdom is determined. The author analyzes the risks of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union in the context of a peace settlement of the conflict in Northern Ireland as one of the indicators of the crisis of the liberal political system. In conclusion is performed analysis of some results of the referendum on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

Denmark and the United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
pp. 117-141
Author(s):  
Agnes Cornell ◽  
Jørgen Møller ◽  
Svend-Erik Skaaning
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Regimes ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Additional Support ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Interwar Era ◽  
Civil Societies

Denmark and the United Kingdom are analyzed in-depth as examples of clear positive cases, i.e. surviving democracies with substantial democratic legacies and vibrant associational landscapes. The two case studies show how Denmark and the UK had developed consolidated democracies on the eve of the interwar era. These democracies were bolstered by broad acceptance of democratic procedures among elites and masses as well as strong parties interlaced with lively civil societies. The result of this combination was political regimes, which were immune to the political radicalization of the day. Antidemocratic movements and parties found preciously little support, the established parties remained loyal to democracy, and they came together to strike political agreements in order to counter economic crisis and anti-democratic mobilization in the 1930s. The evidence offered by these case studies thus provide additional support for our theoretical mechanisms.

THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND. TWO WAYS – ONE CHOICE?

2019 ◽  
pp. 87-98
Author(s):  
M. A. Mosora
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
The Political ◽  
Present Stage ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Current State ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
The Future

The article analyzes the features of the politicization of the Scotland and Northern Ireland at the present stage. The basic identifiers for the com­munities in these regions are revealed. The important role of devolution pol­icy in the political relations of the Center with regions in the United Kingdom is justified. Emphasis is placed on the exceptional importance of Brexit in the context of strengthening the separation of the Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is marked common and distinctive features of both regions in the vision of the political future. The current state of the factors contributing to separatism in both regions is compared. Estimates of the likelihood of increased separa­tion movements in the Scotland and Northern Ireland in the future are given.

scholarly journals Czy parlament może zmienić mężczyznę w kobietę? Granice i miejsce zasady supremacji parlamentu w brytyjskim porządku konstytucyjnym wobec europejskich procesów integracyjnych (wybrane problemy)

2018 ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
Marcin Łukaszewski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Judicial Proceedings ◽  
The Uk

The political system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is of interest to researchers for several reasons. One of the most important motivations certainly involves the unique construction of its Constitution, the content of which is not formulated in a single legal act of a supreme status. This unwritten Constitution encompasses at least four parts. The most important part is undoubtedly constituted by one of three principles of the political system, namely the principle of the sovereignty (omnipotence) of parliament. This principle, which is regarded as a constitutional principle by some and as a principle above the Constitution by others, constitutes the core of British constitutional law. The topic of this paper is an attempt to indicate the boundaries of this principle in the British constitutional order and to place it in relation to remaining principles. The boundaries of this principle have been considered by British constitutionalists on numerous occasions. Considerations on the relation of this principle to the remaining elements of the Constitution have been the subject of interest for courts of law, including the House of Lords, which used to function as the court of last instance in judicial proceedings prior to the 2005 reform. It is worth emphasizing that even the lords/judges frequently disagreed on the boundaries of the principle and even on whether the principle can be examined by any court. There were also views that the principle is only a virtual construct, and even if it had ever applied to the political system at all, it can no longer be referred to, given contemporary European integration processes. The complicated combination of elements of the British constitution with the presence of the United Kingdom in the structures of the European Council and European Union (preceded by the European Community) have produced a number of interpretations of the principle of the omnipotence of the parliament in the new political reality the UK has found itself in. It was the adoption of the European Communities Act 1972, followed several decades later by the adoption of the European Union Act 2011 that led to the discussion on the construction of the British Constitution and either the approval or rejection of the concept that the Constitution of the United Kingdom with its meta-principle should be interpreted anew.

‘You’re a populist! No, you are a populist!’: The rhetorical analysis of a popular insult in the United Kingdom, 1970–2018

2021 ◽  
pp. 136914812097864
Author(s):  
Matteo CM Casiraghi
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Rhetorical Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Political Role ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The People

This article focuses on discourses on populism, presenting a case study on the United Kingdom. Analysing all references to populism in the British Parliament from 1970 to 2018, this article provides a framework to think about rhetoric and populism, a method to investigate political attitudes, and insights about the debate on populism in the United Kingdom. Results show that from the 1970s to the 1990s politicians interpret populism in demagogical terms and most often refer to the category of the political role of ‘the people’. More recently, negative references and personal attacks increase, and politicians refer to different categories. Moreover, the analysis shows how British politicians employ epideictic and forensic rhetorical strategies more often when debating about populism, whereas deliberative strategies rarely emerge. Finally, the investigation over the 2015–2018 period shows that government membership, a distant election, and a right-wing party membership increase the likelihood of rhetorical positive interpretations of populism.

scholarly journals The Role of Disability Groups in the Development and Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Levesque ◽  
Brynne Langford
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
The United States ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Implementation Processes ◽  
The United Kingdom

The neoliberal agenda has seen increased engagement of governments and disability organizations in policy making and implementation processes. Yet governments have been slow to address needed changes in disability policy over the last three decades questioning the role of disability organizations who have increasingly turned to rights-based claims on states. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which reaffirms in article 29 the full political participation of persons with disabilities is one such example. Unclear, however, is the role of disability organizations in the UN Convention’s development, ratification and implementation. Were disability organizations active and central actors in this process?  This article investigates this question in relation to three case studies:  Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. The story that emerges underscores the centrality of disability organizations in policy development during times of government disinterest or indifference. 

scholarly journals Fast Food Shutdown: From disorganisation to action in the service sector

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Callum Cant ◽  
Jamie Woodcock
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Industrial Workers ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship

This article discusses the Fast Food Shutdown, a strike on 4 October 2018 that involved Wetherspoon, McDonald’s, TGI Fridays and UberEats workers in the United Kingdom. It compares the different strategies of the Bakers Food and Allied Workers’ Union at Wetherspoon and Industrial Workers of the World at UberEats. The two case studies, drawing on the authors’ ongoing ethnographic research, provide important examples of successful precarious worker organising. In particular, the argument focuses on the role of action in organising, as well as the relationship between the rank-and-file and the union. While these could point the way to the recomposition of the workers movement – both in greenfield sectors and within existing unions – there remain important questions about how these experiences can be generalised.

A Supreme Court for the United Kingdom? A view from the High Court of Australia

Legal Studies ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 188-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey Stevens ◽  
George Williams
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Political System ◽  
High Court ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
High Court Of Australia

The High Court created by Australia's 1901 Constitution first sat on 6 October 1903. A century on, it is an apt time to consider how the record of the Court can contribute a different perspective to the debate over a possible Supreme Court for the United Kingdom. Of course, it cannot be assumed that common views are held of this record. Indeed, the role of the High Court and its place in the Australian political system remains hotly contested.

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