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Party's Over
Blueprint for a Very English Revolution
Keith Sutherland
Imprint Academic
Societas
Présentation
Consider the following paradox: As the leaders of both of the main British
political parties subscribed to the neoconservative doctrine on Iraq,
everybody else in the birthplace of parliamentary democracy was effectively
disenfranchised. Yet one of the rationales supporting the deployment of UK
forces in Iraq was the wish to export democracy to the Middle East. The
Emperor would appear to have mislaid his clothes (see Gordon Graham's Case
Against the Democratic State). Judging from the lack of ministerial
resignations in the wake of the Butler enquiry, Britain is no longer a
parliamentary democracy. The classical doctrine of joint and several
ministerial responsibility is revealed to be a fiction, and Lord Hailsham's
verdict of 'elective dictatorship' is a better assessment of the British
constitution. By contrast unelected bodies like the BBC are now far more
accountable for their actions. The reason of this paradox is the monopoly
power of the ruling party, controlled by the Prime Minister. The UK political
party started off as a loose association of like-minded MPs. However, in
recent years the tail has been wagging the dog — politicians now have no
alternative but to choose and then fall in line behind a strong leader with
the charisma to win elections. This book examines the historical forces that
gave rise to the modern political party and questions its role in the post-
ideological age. If we all now share the liberal market consensus, then what
is the function of the party? Parties in America are a lot weaker, so the book
considers Graham Allen's argument to emulate the US system of checks and
balances, but concludes that we would be better off reinterpreting our own
constitution more literally. When the Chancellor really was a minister of the
crown, every line of the budget was meticulously scrutinized. The key to the
changes advocated in the book is the replacement of the Victorian ballot-box
with a modern system of representation, based on the jury-selection principle.
Caractéristiques
| EAN13 | 9780907845515 |
|---|---|
| ISBN | 978-0-907845-51-5 |
| Éditeur | Imprint Academic |
| Date de publication | 15 avril 2004 |
| Collection | Societas |
| Nombre de pages | 150 |
| Dimensions | 13,5 x 2,8 cm |
| Poids | 250 g |
| Langue | anglais |
| Fiches UNIMARC | S'identifier |
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