The phrase elective dictatorship (also called executive dominance in political science) was coined by the former Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom, Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, in a Richard Dimbleby Lecture at the BBC in 1976^[1]. Political science is the field of the social sciences concerning the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone (October 9, 1907 - October 12, 2001), formerly 2nd Viscount Hailsham (1950 - 1963), was a British Conservative politician. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ...

It describes the state in which Parliament is dominated by the government of the day. It refers to the fact that the legislative programme of Parliament is determined by the government, and government bills virtually always pass the House of Commons because of the nature of the governing party's majority. The Houses of Parliament, seen over Westminster Bridge The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

Constitutional background

In the United Kingdom, ultimate legislative sovereignty resides in Parliament (Parliamentary sovereignty). Parliament may pass any legislation on any subject it wishes. Parliament operates without restraints such as, for instance, an obligation to legislate in accordance with fundamental constitutional rights. The only exception to this is that Parliament is obliged to implement European Union law and the European Court of Justice does have the power to strike down UK legislation that it deems to be contrary to EU law (see Factortame case). Parliamentary sovereignty, parliamentary supremacy, or legislative supremacy is a concept in constitutional law that applies to some parliamentary democracies. ... The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is formally known as the Court of Justice of the European Communities, i. ... The Factortame case was a landmark constitutional case in the United Kingdom, which confirmed the primacy of European Union law over English law. ...

Parliament consists of the House of Lords, the House of Commons and the Monarch. The customary common law rule is that in order for a bill to become an act of Parliament, it is necessary for it to be passed in both the Commons and the Lords. The bill will then go before the Monarch who has formal discretion whether to assent to the bill. On receiving Royal Assent, it will become an Act of Parliament and will be applied by the courts. This article is about the British House of Lords. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... // The granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which a constitutional monarch completes the legislative process of lawmaking by formally assenting to an Act of Parliament. ...

Such is the theory, in practice Royal Assent has become a formality, the monarch has not refused (or threatened to refuse) assent to a bill for some 300 years (Queen Anne in 1708). Further, since 1911, the House of Lords has lost its position of equality with the Commons. The Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 reduced the power of the Lords from an absolute veto to a suspensive veto. Once the same bill has been passed by the Commons and rejected by the Lords in two different sessions of Parliament, a third introduction of the bill will require only the consent of the Commons. Such a bill will then go for Royal Assent and will become law, irrespective of the view of the Lords. The Commons have, therefore, become the dominant component of Parliament - whoever controls the Commons controls Parliament, the primary legislative body of the land. Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) became Queen of England and Ireland and Queen of Scots on 8 March 1702. ...

Operation

The party which commands a majority in the House of Commons forms the government. The governing party should consequently be able to pass any bill they wish through the Commons, provided that voting discipline is enforced amongst their Members of Parliament (MPs). This is accomplished largely through the whip system. The dominance of Parliament's legislative programme by the majority party is such that 95% of bills are initiated by the government. Rebellions, whilst not unknown, are rare. The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... In politics, a whip is a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. ...

The government, so long as they can keep their MPs on-side, stand an excellent chance of getting their legislation through the Commons. The Lords may or may not also approve the legislation, however a combination of judicious compromise from the government, combined with the Salisbury Convention and the overarching threat of the Parliament Act means that most legislation also manages to get through the Lords. Royal Assent then invariably follows. The Salisbury Convention is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom that means that the House of Lords will not oppose any government legislation promised by its election manifesto. ...

Hailsham coined the expression 'elective dictatorship' to describe this situation in which control of the Commons (and thus of Parliament) by the government is actually weak. His paper was published as a criticism of the Labour government of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. He saw these weak governments as undemocratic, as despite their slim hold on the Commons they were able to pass a large number of their bills. He saw this as undemocratic as they didn't reflect, as Hailsham saw it, wide enough support in the country. Many have interpreted Hailsham's criticism as being one against large majorities. In fact, he actually saw these as more democratic, as they had commanded more support at elections.

Proposals for reform

A common proposal from reformers to reduce this executive dominance is to reduce the power of the majority party by adopting an electoral system based on proportional representation for the Commons. The Liberal Democrats have consistently supported PR for the Commons, although without noticeable support from the other parties. Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation, or PR), is an electoral system delivering a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies). ... The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. ...

Some groups, such as Charter 88, have argued that a codified, written constitution with appropriate checks and balances is also essential to solving the problem of executive dominance, although again without popular success. Charter 88 was formed by progressive (mainly liberal and social democratic) British intellectuals and activists in 1988. ...

The Power Inquiry in its 2006 report Power to the People made recommendations on how to deal with the democratic deficit inherent in the UK system of governance. The Power Inquiry final report - Power to the People The POWER Inquiry was set up in 2004 to explore how political participation and involvement can be increased and deepened in Britain. ... The term democratic deficit is usually used to refer to organizations which are democratic to some extent, but are not as democratic as they could be. ...

External links

References

^[2] 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD (or CE) era. ... January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...