British politics today 7th edition

by Jones, Bill; Kavanagh, Dennis

• ISBN13: 9780719065095
• ISBN10: 0719065097
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-12-04
• Publisher: MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Summary

Over the last thirty-five years British politics has undergone something of a revolution: the collapse of strong class allegiance to parties; the recovery of an economy once perceived to be in terminal decline; the near twenty-year rule of the of Tories; and the extraordinary emergence and establishment of the Blairite New Labour Party. Together with these changes we have also seen: the reshaping of the civil service; the establishment of devolved assemblies; the reform of the Lords; the decline of ideology; the apparent crushing of the Conservative Party; and the ubiquity of media management as a tool of political persuasion. This text outlines and contextualizes these major changes, and more.

Author Biography

Bill Jones is the former Director of Extra-Mural Studies at Manchester University and currently Research Fellow in its Department of Government. Dennis Kavanagh is Professor of Politics at the University of Liverpool.

Table of Contents

List of boxes, figures and tables	vi
Introduction	ix
1 Britain since 1945	1	(9)
2 The social and economic context of politics	10	(16)
3 Political culture	26	(9)
4 Changing political ideas	35	(15)
5 The changing party system	50	(10)
6 The changing constitution	60	(7)
7 The electoral system and representation	67	(8)
8 Opinion polls	75	(9)
9 Electoral behaviour	84	(9)
10 Political recruitment	93	(10)
11 The media and politics	103	(16)
12 The monarchy and the House of Lords	119	(16)
13 The House of Commons	135	(19)
14 Devolution	154	(6)
15 The redress of citizens' grievances	160	(6)
16 The judiciary	166	(8)
17 The role of the Prime Minister	174	(12)
18 The civil service	186	(10)
19 Government and the economy	196	(15)
20 Pressure groups	211	(14)
21 Is local government necessary?	225	(17)
22 Britain and the European Union	242	(9)
23 Political concepts	251	(10)
Appendix: useful websites	261	(6)
Index	267