Political power and democratic control in Britain : the democratic audit of the United Kingdom / Stuart Weir and David Beetham.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weir, Stuart.

Contributor:

Beetham, David.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Great Britain.

Democracy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (543 p.)

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 1999.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Democratic Institutions and Practices is the second study carried out under the Democratic Audit of the UK. This volume explores the formal institutions and processes of the liberal democratic state: including the executive, elections, parliament and the civil service.

Contents:

Front Cover; Political Power and Democratic Control in Britain; Copyright Page; Contents; List of figures, tables and boxes; Foreword; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations and acronyms; Introduction; 1. Auditing Democracy in Britain: Introducing the Democratic Criteria; 2. Ancient and Modern: The governing culture in Britain; Part 1: Elections and Mandates; Introduction; 3. The Other National Lottery: The political effects of Westminster elections; 4. The Independence of Elections: Government and outside influences on elections; 5. Sticking to the Manifesto: Election mandates in action

Part 2: The Core ExecutiveIntroduction; 6. Does The Cabinet Really Govern?: Cabinet government or quasi-presidential rule?; 7. Ministers and Mandarins: The powers of ministers, bureaucrats and their departments; 8. Agents of Power: The role of agencies and quangos in government; 9. Government Below the Centre: Government at regional and local level; 10. Networks in Power: External influences working within government; 11. The Rules of the Game: Britain's informal and flexible executive; Part 3: Checks and Balances; Introduction

12. Giving Account to Parliament: How ministerial responsibility works in practice13. A Parliament Bound: Party constraints on scrutiny and accountability; 14. Heckling the Steamroller: The imbalance of power between government and Parliament; 15. The Rule of Law: The limited role of the judiciary; Part 4: The Balance Sheet; Findings: Good in Parts: Measuring British democracy against Democratic Criteria; Conclusions: Tying Down Gulliver: The absence of a written constitution; Appendix: The Democratic Audit; Table of Cases; Bibliography and sources; Books and articles; Official documents

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-134-86411-6

1-134-86412-4

1-280-32182-2

0-203-42312-7

0-415-24616-4

9780203423127

OCLC:

437077264