Multi-Party Politics and the Constitution

by Vernon Bogdanor

• ISBN13: 9780521275262
• ISBN10: 0521275261
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1985-12-01
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book was first published in 1983. Since 1945, British politics has been dominated by a two-party system. Yet this has been challenged with the electoral performance of the two major parties declining since years ago when, between them, they secured over ninety-five per cent of the popular vote. The purpose of Multi-part Politics and the Constitution is twofold: first to examine the reasons for the growth of multi-party politics in Britain, secondly to consider its constitutional consequences. In the first part of the book, Vernon Bogdanor considers the challenges to the two-party system and analyses the role of the Liberal-SDP Alliance as part of that challenge. The second part evaluates the consequences for British politics of hung parliaments where no one party can claim an overall majority. Such situations are likely to occur with increasing frequency if multi-party politics persists. The role of the monarch and the working of coalition and minority governments are discussed and the argument is illustrated by examples from British history and from continental, especially Scandinavian, experience.

Table of Contents

List of tables

Acknowledgements

Notes on sources

Introduction

Multi-party Politics

The two-party system and its challengers

The Social Democratic Party and the Alliance

Multi-party politics and the electorate

Multi-party politics and the future

The Constitutional Consequences

Forming a government: the lessons of history

Forming a government: the rules of the game

Minority government

Coalition government

Conclusion

Appendix: Coalition and minority governments in Britain since 1895

Bibliographical note

Index

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