les partis politiques britaniques

Thèmes abordés

Grande-Bretagne système politique partis

Résumé du document

The British party system is often regarded as a model of stability and longevity. Indeed, the early development of a parliamentary system in this country makes it very difficult to separate the political, whatever its form, from the parties. In addition, this system is characterized by a bipolar party domination that can be largely explained by the election system: the majority on round. In fact, the two main parties have the majority by alternatively?
That is why the last election, that in May 2010, which has led to a coalition between the Conservative and Liberal Democrats, is an exception. We can think that Great Britain is undergoing a profound change, and that small parties will have an opportunity to be represented institutionally, that is to have MPs. I will try to show that this change is not possible as long as the election system remains unchanged and that the dominant parties' best interest is not to reform the system. This system will not change unless the parties are challenged.

Extraits

[...] In fact, the two main parties have the majority by alternatively? That is why the last election, that in May 2010, which has led to a coalition between the Conservative and Liberal Democrats, is an exception. We can think that Great Britain is undergoing a profound change, and that small parties will have an opportunity to be represented institutionally, that is to have MPs. I will try to show that this change is not possible as long as the election system remains unchanged and that the dominant parties' best interest is not to reform the system. [...]

[...] This explains the emergence of a new party that seems able to answer the demands of people and the relative popularity of regional parties. One might think that the Liberal Democrats will become increasingly important and will succeed in taking the place of the Labour. This is because the system of Scrutiny in Britain does not "half-measure". The election with majority in one round has already shown that it leaves no real chance for a third party to govern. A party must be part of the two main parties in order to exist institutionally. [...]

[...] Webbs proves that despite these difficulties, the parties were able to react and bounce to become stronger. The example of the media is interesting: from the 60-70's, with the wide spread of television, the media has played a strong political role in Britain: a potential opposition with a large diffusion. On the other hand, the parties were able to use this springboard very early, and they have developed a real machine of communication via the media. Although the adaptation was made there was no real challenge to the system. [...]

[...] Before 1945 the dominant parties were the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. During the after-war period, the Labour Party took the place of the Liberals, while positioning itself as a major opposition party to the Conservative one. According to Ludger Helms, this change is explained by the emergence of new societal conflicts that Liberals were not able to solve either. Thus, the opposition between Conservative and Liberals appeared to be a more substantive opposition, what was call "Frozen Cleavage" by Lipset and Rokkans. [...]

[...] It is also interesting to examine the situations where the parties intended to question the election system. Traditionally, small parties are in favour of a reform of the election system and would prefer a more proportional system. Indeed, the ruling party had very rarely a majority, but too often a majority of mandates. After four consecutive defeats ( 92) the Labour Party, although it is one of two major parties, has begun to express the want of a change and has established a commission but they interrupted the process as the last elections have been successful for the party. [...]