Page 311 - DPOL202_COMPARATIVE_POLITICS_AND_GOVERNMENT_ENGLISH

Comparative Politics and Government

Notes American parties may be significant, not of the emptiness of the role of parties, but of the fact that
they cannot be understood, if they are judged in European, or more strictly British, term.
Political Parties in UK
It is one of the celebrated axioms of modern politics that the organisation and working of political
parties is indispensable for running a political system particularly one committed to the ideal of a
liberal-democratic order. Undoubtedly, it is the political parties which make the system of
representative government workable in as much as without them there “can be no unified statement
of principle, no orderly evolution of policy, no regular resort to the constitutional device of
parliamentary elections, nor of course any of the recognized institutions by means of which a party
seeks to gain or maintain power.” As such, Britain being a model of representative government can
be no exception. Rather, the peculiar thing about this country is that here the distribution of power
“is primarily a function of the cabinet government and the British parliamentary system. So long as
the parties accept the system of government, effective decision-making authority will reside with the
leadership groups thrown up by the parliamentary parties (of whom one of the most important
individuals is the party leader); and they will exercise this authority so long as they retain the
confidence of their respective parliamentary parties.”
Origin: British party system, like the constitution itself, has an evolved character. As such, the history
of its origin and growth dates back to the early phase of the modern period when two conditions
contributed to the evolution of the party system, namely, the movement that the Parliament should
become a legislative body in all its essentials with its rights fully established and that there should be
political issues of a broad and deep character on which the people may combine themselves in group.
The rise of the political parties became natural after the Restoration Movement (1660) when in 1679 a
conflict developed over the passage of the Exclusion Bill. This bill was designed to forestall the
succession of James II as the King of England after the death of Charles II. When the line of cleavage
grew very sharp, the monarch (Charles II) dissolved the Parliament. Soon after, the supporters of the
bill strongly petitioned for the calling of another Parliament and thus they came to be known as
‘Petitioners’, while their opponents became the ‘Abhorers’. In due course, the former became the
Whigs and the latter the Tories.
Liberals started thereafter. A remarkable development took place at this stage that resulted in the
establishment of the third party, called the Labour party in 1920. It consisted of the representatives of
several labour unions. In due course, the Liberal party declined and its place was taken by the Labour
making Britain once again the example of a bi-party system. The Labour Party had first chance to be
in power in 1929 when Ramsay MacDonald was appointed as the Prime Minister.
Main Characteristics: The party system of Britain has its own characteristics that may be discussed
briefly as under:
1. Britain affords the brilliant case of a two-party system. Once there were two factions called
‘Petitioners’ and ‘Abhorers’; then they became ‘Whigs’ and ‘Tories’; the Whigs were replaced
by the ‘Labour’ with the result that the country came to have two parties known as ‘Conservative’
and ‘Labour’. In a wider sense, the party system of Britain docs not rule out the existence of
other or ‘third’ parties. Even now there are some small organisations like Scottish Nationalists
in Scotland and Plaid Cymru in Wales. However, what entitles Britain for being a model of bi-
party system is that only two major political parties play a determining part in the mechanism
of representative government. Power alternates between the two parties.
2. Quite misleading are the names of the major political parties of Britain. While the Conservatives
have not invariably been opposed to change tooth and nail, the Liberals and now the Labourites
have also not been propagating reforms vigorously. Within the ranks of both there have been
many shades of opinion. The only point that may be added by way of generalisation is that the
persons of a conservative temperament have by tradition gravitated to the Tory (Conservative)
party, while men of a liberal disposition have done the some first for the Whig and now for the
Labour party.

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