DeveloplDents in British Politics 4 Also available from Macmillan Education Peter Hall, Jack Hayward and Howard Machin (eds) DEVELOPMENTS IN FRENCH POLITICS Gillian Peele, Christopher Bailey and Bruce Cain (eds) DEVELOPMENTS IN AMERICAN POLITICS Gordon Smith, William E. Paterson, Peter H. Merkl and Stephen Padgett (eds) DEVELOPMENTS IN GERMAN POLITICS Stephen White, Judy Batt and Paul G. Lewis (eds) DEVELOPMENTS IN EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS Stephen White, Alex Pravda and Zvi Gitelman (eds) DEVELOPMENTS IN SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET POLITICS Forthcoming Patrick Dunleavy ANALYSING BRITISH POLITICS DeveloplDents in British Politics 4 Edited by Patrick Dunleavy Andrew Gall1ble Ian Holliday Gillian Peele M ISOlh YEAR MACMILLAN © Editorial matter and selection © Pa trick Dunleavy, Andrew Gamble, lan Holliday and Gillian Peele 1993 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1993 978-0-333-58014-1 Individual chapters (in order) © Gillian Peele, Neill Nugent, Andrew Gamble, Ivor Crewe, Patrick Dunleavy, Gavin Drewry, Keith Dowding, Desmond King, Stephen Wilks, Chris Pierson, John McCormick, David Sanders, lan Holliday, John Solomos and Les Back, David Marsh, David Beetharn 1993 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this pub1ication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this pub1ication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. This book is a direct replacement for Developments in British Politics (1983) Developments in British Politics 2 (1986) Developments in British Politics 3 (1990) First published 1993 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-0-333-58014-1 ISBN 978-1-349-22802-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-22802-7 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Copy-edited and typeset by Povey-Edmondson Okehampton and Rochda1e, England Contents List if Contributors x Priface xu I Introduction: Stability, Crisis or Decline? ~ Super-stability La ten t Crisis Managed Decline Conclusion: Future Prospects I 1 4 10 13 PART ONE: THE POLITICAL SYSTEM 2 The Constitution Gillian Peele One-party Dominance The Erosion of Traditional Constitutional Theories Pressure Groups for Constitutional Reform Electoral Reform A Scottish Parliament Regional Reform The House of Lords The Monarchy Conclusion 19 21 3 The European DUnension Neill Nugent The Maastricht Treaty The Impact of the EC on British Political Processes The Policy Impact of the EC Future Prospects 40 41 54 Andrew Gamble 4 Territorial Politics The 1992 General Election Territorial Management National Identity 69 69 v 24 27 30 33 34 36 38 39 60 66 71 73 VI Contents Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Conclusion 75 81 85 90 92 Ivor Crewe 5 Voting and the Electorate Interpreting Election Results Trends in Partisanship Short-term Influences on the Vote The Operation of the Electoral System 116 Patrick Dunleavy 123 6 The Political Parties The Conservative Party The Labour Party The Liberal Democrats Conclusion 93 98 107 124 135 146 152 Gavin Drewry 7 Parliament Parliament, the Party System and the Prime Minister Scrutiny of Government: Recent Trends The Select Committees Re-established Parliament, the Citizen's Charter and the Next Steps Agencies The House of Lords Parliament and the EC Parliament in the 1990s 154 8 Government at the Centre Keith Dowding The Citizen's Charter The Core Executive Open Government Private Advisers Departmental Power Policy Networks The Next Steps Reforms Next Steps and Ministerial Responsibility The EC Conclusion 175 177 155 157 161 166 168 169 172 178 183 183 185 186 187 189 191 193 Contents 9 Governm.ent Beyond Whitehall Desmond King The Crisis of Local Government Finances: From Poll Tax to Council Tax The Formal and Informal Local Government Systems The Study of Local Government Vll 194 196 203 215 PART Two: PuBLIC POLICY 10 EconoJDic Policy Stephen Wilks Macro- and Micro-economic Policy: the Great Divide Macro-economic Policy: the Record Economic Policy and Europe 'Supply-side' Policy in Context From 'Pure-market' to 'Social-market'? Prospects for an Industrial Policy Supply-side Policy From the Bottom of the Cliff Conclusion 221 Chris Pierson 11 Social Policy The 1990s: 'A New Era for Social Policy'? Continuity and Change in British Social Policy: the 1990s The Continuing Failures of British Social Policy Policy Challenges in the 1990s Conclusion: Towards a New Welfare Consensus? 246 12 EnviroDJDental Politics 267 John McCormick The Policy Debate Policy Developments Britain and the EC The International Dimension The Changing Environmental Lobby Green Consumerism and Green Politics The Changing Place of Environmental Policy Future Challenges 222 225 227 232 238 240 244 244 246 258 260 261 264 268 271 273 275 277 280 281 283 viii Contents 13 Foreign and Defence Policy David Sanders The End of the Cold War UK Defence and Foreign Policy Strategy in the 1990s: the Strategic Options The Foreign Policy-making Process Explaining Britain's Foreign Policy Strategy Problems for the Mid-1990s 285 285 289 298 301 303 PART THREE: CURRENT ISSUES 14 Organised Interests After Thatcher Ian Holliday The Strange Death of Liberal Corporatism Thatcherism's Critique of Liberal Corporatism Organised Interests Under Thatcher Trade Unions After Thatcher Organised Interests in the 1990s Conclusion 307 308 309 311 313 317 319 15 Migration and the Politics of Race John Solomos and Les Back Recent Trends in Europe Is Britain the Exception? Political Mobilisation by Ethnic Minorities Conclusion: the Future for Multiculturalism 319 321 324 327 329 16 The Media and Politics David Marsh The Role of the Media Views of Democracy and Views of the Media Examining the Media's Role The Media and Democracy - Revisited 332 332 333 335 346 PART FOUR: THEORISING BRITISH POLITICS 17 Political Theory and British Politics David Beetham Sources of a Different Agenda Sovereignty: Monopolistic or Multiple? 353 354 355 Contents Democracy: Majority Rule, Pluralism or Citizens' Rights? Representation: Proportional or Disproportional? Conclusion: Legitimacy Deficit or Legitimation Crisis? IX 360 364 369 Guide to Further Reading 371 Bibliography 379 Index 399 List of Contributors Les Back is Lecturer in the Department of Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham. He has published a number of articles on race, youth and identity, and on the politics of race and social change. David Beetham is Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds and consultant to the Rowntree-funded Democratic Audit of the UK. Among his works on social and political theory are Bureaucracy and The Legitimation if Power. Ivor Crewe is Professor of Government at the University of Essex. Recent publications include The British Electorate 196~ 1987 (co-authored) and Political Communications: The General Election Campaign if 1992 (co-edited). Keith Dowding is Lecturer in Politics at Brunei, the University of West London. Recent publications include Rational Choice and Political Power and The Civil Service. Gavin Drewry is Professor of Public Administration and Head of the Department of Social Policy and Social Science at Royal Holloway University of London. Recent publications include The New Select Committees (second edition) (editor and principal author) and The Civil Service Today (second edition) (co-author). Patrick Dunleavy is Professor of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Recent publications include Democracy, Bureaucracy and Public Choice and Replaying the 1992 General Election (co-authored). Andrew Gamble is Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield. Recent bookss include The Free Economy and the Strong State and Britain in Decline (third edition). Ian Holliday is Lecturer in the Department of Government, University of Manchester. Recent publications include The NHS Transformed: A Guide to the Health Reforms, and a series of articles on British politics and policy. Desmond King is Fellow and Tutor in Politics at St John's College, Oxford. Recent publications include The State and the City (co-authored). x List rif Contributors Xl John McCorDlick is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI). Recent publications include The Global Environmental Movement and British Politics and the Environment. David Marsh is Professor in the Department of Government, University of Strathclyde. Recent publications include The New Politics of British Trade Unionism and Implementing Thatcherism: Audit rif an Era (co-edited). Neill Nugent is Reader in Politics at the Manchester Metropolitan University. Recent publications include The Government and Politics of the European Community (second edition) and articles on the changing nature of the European Community. Gillian Peele is Fellow and Tutor in Politics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She is co-editor of Developments in American Politics and author of numerous books and articles on British and American politics. Chris Pierson is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Studies, University of Stirling. Recent books include Beyond the Welfare State? and Market Socialism. David Sanders is Reader and Head of the Department of Government, University of Essex. Recent publications include Lawmaking and Co-operation in International Politics and Losing an Empire, Finding a Role. John SoloDlos is Reader in Public Policy in the Department of Politics and Sociology, Birkbeck College. Recent publications include Race and Racism in Britain (second edition) and Racism and Migration in Western Europe (co-edited). Stephen Wilks is Professor of Politics at the University of Exeter. Recent publications include 'Science, Technology and the Large Corporation', in Government and Opposition and The Promotion and Regulation of Industry in Japan. Preface This is the fourth Developments in British Politics volume. All the chapters are once again new, with a new set of contributors. The editorial team has remained the same as Developments 3 except that Ian Holliday has joined us and has quickly proved himself indispensable. As in previous volumes individual authors were asked both to analyse recent developments in policy and events, and to review some of the crucial theories and models available for interpreting them. All authors were asked to concentrate in their chapters on the period since the downfall of Margaret Thatcher and the ending of the Cold War. We have continued the practice begun in Developments 3 of including an Introduction which surveys major perspectives for understanding the present condition of British politics. This is followed by individual chapters on the political system, public policy, and current issues, and a final chapter, this time written by David Beetham, which provides reflections on some major themes in the study of political theory and British politics - the nature of sovereignty, the meaning of democracy, and the character of political representation. Two innovations this year are separate chapters on the Constitution and Territorial Politics. We have also chosen three new topics for the current issues section - organised interests after Thatcher, migration and the politics of race, and the media and politics. We would like to thank our authors for cooperating with what is always a tight publishing schedule. Our publisher, Steven Kennedy, has once again provided first-class support and encouragement. We are very grateful to him. Suggestions for improving Developments in the future, as well as comments on - and criticisms of - the present volume are very welcome. Patrick Dunleavy Andrew Gamble Ian Holliday Gillian Peele xu