Britain:

Geographic Setting:
Britain is the largest of the British Isles, a group of islands off the
northwest coast of
Europe that encompasses England, Scotland, and Wales. The second-
largest island includes Northern Ireland and the independent Republic
of Ireland. The term Great Britain includes England, Wales, and
Scotland, but not Northern Ireland. We use the term Britain as
shorthand for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland.

Covering an area of approximately 241,930 square kilometers square

miles ( 93, 410 square miles) Britain is roughly two-
thirds the area of Japan, or approximately half the area of France. In
2025, the British
population was approximately between 68.43 million and 69,861,990
people.
As an island off the shores of Europe, Britain was for centuries less
subject to
invasion and conquest than its continental counterparts. This gave the
country a
sense of security. The separation has also made many Britons feel that
they are more
apart from Europe than an intrinsic part of it—a sentiment that surely
contributed to
Britain’s decision to break from the European Union.

Chronology of Britains Political Development

Britain's political development has been marked by a series of events

that have established the country's constitution, expanded voting
rights, and shifted power between political parties.
Constitutional development

Magna Carta
Signed in 1215, this document established the idea of a constitution for
the UK. It limited the power of the king and gave more power to the
nobility.
Bill of Rights
Passed in 1689, this document established the rights of individuals in
the country.
Glorious Revolution
In 1688, a foreign army invaded England and Parliament offered the
crown to the king's nephew and son-in-law. This event established a
new kind of constitutional monarchy.
Voting rights expansion
 1832, 1867, and 1884: Franchise expansions reduced property
requirements for voting.
 1918: Universal male suffrage and partial female suffrage were
granted.
 1928: Equal female suffrage was granted.
 1969: The voting age was lowered to 18.

Power shifts between political parties

 1900: The Labour Party was founded.
 1924: Labour formed its first minority government.
 1931: The Conservatives won a landslide victory.
 1945: A coalition government led by Winston Churchill ran the
country through the end of World War II.
 2010: The Conservatives returned to power after 13 years.
 2016
 Britain approves a referendum
 to withdraw from the European
 Union, forcing David Cameron
 to resign as leader of the
 Conservative Party and Prime
 Minister. Theresa May takes
 office as Britain’s second
 female prime minister.

Critical Junctures
The Consolidation of the British State

The consolidation of the British state unified several kingdoms. After

Duke William
of Normandy defeated the English in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the
Norman
monarchy eventually extended its authority throughout the British
Isles, except for Scotland. In the sixteenth century, legislation unified
England and Wales legally, politically, and administratively. Scotland
and England remained separate kingdoms until the Act of Union of
1707. After that, a common Parliament of Great Britain replaced the
two separate parliaments of Scotland and of England and Wales. Royal
control increased after 1066, but the conduct of King John (1199–1216)
fueled opposition from feudal barons. In 1215, they forced him to
consent to a series
of concessions that protected feudal landowners from abuses of royal
power. These restrictions were embodied in the Magna Carta, a historic
statement of the rights of a political community against the
monarchical state. It has served as the inspiration for constitutions
around the world that contain protections for citizens and groups from
the arbitrary exercise of state power. In 1236, the term Parliament was
first used officially for the gathering of feudal barons summoned by the
king whenever he required their consent to special taxes. By the
fifteenth century, Parliament had gained the right to make laws.

The Seventeenth-Century Settlement

The English Civil Wars and the Glorious Revolution of 1688 resulted in
a "settlement" that established a constitutional monarchy, limiting the
power of the sovereign and strengthening Parliament's role. Key
aspects include the Bill of Rights (1689) and the Act of Settlement
(1701). This period established the foundations of British
constitutionalism.

The Industrial Revolution and British Empire

transformed Britain, leading to unprecedented economic growth and
the expansion of the British Empire. This period saw significant social
and political upheaval, with the rise of new social classes and demands
for political reform. The Empire's influence shaped Britain's global role
and its domestic policies.

Struggle for Voting Rights, World Wars, and the Depression

(Slide Text): The 19th and 20th centuries witnessed a gradual
expansion of suffrage, culminating in universal adult suffrage. The two
World Wars and the Great Depression profoundly impacted British
society and politics, leading to increased government intervention in
the economy and the welfare state's expansion.

Collectivist Consensus (1945-1979)

(Slide Text): The post-World War II era saw a "collectivist consensus,"
characterized by broad agreement on the need for a welfare state and
government intervention in the economy. The establishment of the
National Health Service (NHS) exemplifies this period's commitment to
social welfare. (Explanation): Explain the political and social context
that led to the collectivist consensus. Discuss the key features of the
welfare state and its impact on British society. The NHS is a good case
study to illustrate the extent of government intervention.

New Labour's Third Way and Conservative-Liberal Coalition

(Slide Text): The late 20th and early 21st centuries saw a shift away
from the collectivist consensus, with the rise of "New Labour" under
Tony Blair and subsequent coalition governments. These periods were
marked by a more centrist approach to politics and economic policy.

Brexit
(Slide Text): The 2016 Brexit referendum resulted in a decision to
leave the European Union, significantly altering Britain's relationship
with Europe and its place in the globalized world. The implications of
Brexit are still unfolding and continue to shape British politics.

State and Economy

(Slide Text): The relationship between the British state and its
economy has evolved significantly throughout history. From a largely
laissez-faire approach in the early industrial era to periods of
significant state intervention, the balance has shifted considerably.
This slide examines the key periods and their impact.

The Four Themes and Britain

Britain in a Global World of States

Through gradual decolonization, Britain fell to second-tier status

among the
world’s nations. Its formal empire shrank between the two world wars
(1919–1939)
as the so-called white dominions of Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand gained
independence. In Britain’s Asian, Middle Eastern, and African colonies,
pressure for
political reforms that would lead to independence deepened during
World War II and
afterward. Beginning with the formal independence of India and
Pakistan in 1947,
an enormous empire dissolved in less than 20 years. Finally, in 1997,
Britain returned
the commercially vibrant crown colony of Hong Kong to China. The
process of
decolonization ended Britain’s position as a dominant player in world
politics.

Themes and Comparisons

Britain was the first nation to industrialize. For much of the nineteenth
century, the
British Empire was the world’s dominant power, with a vast network of
colonies.
Britain was also the first nation to develop an effective parliamentary
democracy.
British politics is often studied as a model of representative
government. Named
after the building that houses the British legislature in London, the
Westminster
model emphasizes that democracy rests on the supreme authority of a
legislature—in
Britain’s case, the Parliament. Finally, Britain has long served as a
model of gradual
and peaceful evolution of democratic government in a world where
transitions to
democracy are often turbulent, interrupted, and uncertain.

POLITICAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT

The pressures of global competitiveness and the perceived advantages

of a mini-
malist government have encouraged the adoption in many countries of
neoliberal
approaches to economic management. A legacy of Thatcher’s Britain,
neoliberalism
was a key feature of Tony Blair’s and Gordon Brown’s New Labour
governments.
Its policies aimed to promote free competition, to interfere with
entrepreneurs and
managers as little as possible, and to create a business-friendly
environment to attract
foreign investment and spur innovation. Given that New Labour had
long accepted
the core principles of neoliberalism, the differences in economic policy
between New
Labour and the Conservative–Liberal coalition reflected changed
circumstances—
the economic crisis driven by the recession of 2008—more than
fundamental
ideological shifts.

State and Economy

(Slide Text): The relationship between the British state and its
economy has evolved significantly throughout history. From a largely
laissez-faire approach in the early industrial era to periods of
significant state intervention, the balance has shifted considerably.

2010 saw the change from New Labour to Conservative-Liberal

government, the focus on policy did not shift suddenly. The neoliberal
approach motivated New Labour's economic strategy, and hence, the
economic performance This patchwork neoliberal strategy was the
hallmark of the UK economy.

The Recent Report and update

The UK economy grew in the first half of 2024, but growth slowed in
the second half. The UK's GDP is expected to have grown by around
1% in 2024.

First half of 2024

 The UK economy grew strongly in the first half of 2024.

 GDP increased by 0.7% between January and March, and 0.5%
between April and June.
 The economy rebounded from the brief recession at the end of
2023.
Second half of 2024

 Growth slowed in the second half of 2024.

 GDP grew by 0% between July and September.
 GDP shrank in September and October.
 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) cut its growth forecast for the UK for 2024.

Other economic indicators

 Productivity across the UK economy decreased by 0.8% in Q3

2024.
  Inflation rose to 2.6% in November.
 The labor market continued to show signs of cooling.

Economic Management
Like all other states, the British state intervenes in economic life,
sometimes with
considerable force. However, the state has generally limited its role to
broad policy
instruments that influence the general economy (macroeconomic
policy).

The Consensus Era:

The state assumed direct ownership of key industries. It also accepted
the
responsibility to secure low levels of unemployment (i.e., a policy of full
employ-
ment), expand social services, maintain steady economic growth, keep
prices stable,
and achieve desirable balance-of-payments and exchange rates. The
approach is called
Keynesian demand management, or Keynesianism (named after the
British economist
John Maynard Keynes, 1883–1946).

Thatcherite Policy Orientation

Monetarism emerged as the new economic doctrine. It assumed that

there is a natural rate of unemployment that is determined by the
labor market itself.
State intervention to steer the economy should be limited to a few
steps to foster
appropriate rates of growth in the money supply and keep inflation
low. Monetarism
reflected a radical change from the postwar consensus regarding
economic manage-
ment.

New Labour’s Economic Policy Approach

As chancellor, and later as prime minister, Gordon Brown insisted on
establishing a
sound economy. He was determined to reassure international markets
that the British
economy was built on a platform of stability (i.e., low debt, low deficit,
and low infla-
tion) and that the Labour government could be counted on to run a
tight financial
ship. Only after he turned the public debt into a surplus did the “Iron
Chancellor”
reinvent himself as a more conventional Labour chancellor. Even then,
Brown used
economic growth to increase spending rather than cut taxes.

The Coalition Government’s Economic Policy

The centerpiece of the coalition government’s approach to economic
policy was
its overarching commitment to deficit reduction as the necessary
precondition for
stabilizing the economy.

the coalition government

engaged in a comprehensive spending review and a predictably harsh
retrospective
critique of the state of the economy that it inherited from New Labour.

Social Policy
(Slide Text): Britain's social policies have undergone a dramatic
transformation over time. The post-war welfare state provided
extensive social safety nets, while subsequent governments have
implemented reforms, often leading to debates about the balance
between individual responsibility and state support.

Inequality and Women

(Slide Text): Issues of inequality persist in Britain, with significant
disparities in income, wealth, and opportunity. The role of women in
the British economy and society has also evolved significantly, though
gender inequality remains a significant challenge.

Environmental Issues and Global Economy

(Slide Text): Britain's position in the global economy and its
approach to environmental issues are intertwined. The country faces
challenges in balancing economic growth with environmental
sustainability, particularly in the context of climate change.
GOVERNANCE AND POLICYMAKING

The British constitution is notable for two features: its form and its age.
Britain
lacks a formal written constitution in the usual sense.

the British constitu-

tion is a combination of statutory law (mainly acts of Parliament),
common law,
convention, and authoritative interpretations. Although it is often said
that Britain
has an unwritten constitution, this is not accurate. Authoritative legal
treatises
are written, of course, as are the much more significant acts of
Parliament that
define crucial elements of the political system. These acts define the
powers of
Parliament and its relationship with the monarchy, the rights governing
the rela-
tionship between state and citizen, the relationship of constituent
nations to the
United Kingdom, the relationship of the United Kingdom to the
European Union,
and many other rights and legal arrangements.

Organization of the State

The core of the British system is parliamentary sovereignty: to wit,

Parliament
can make or overturn any law; the executive, the judiciary, and the
throne have
no authority to restrict, veto, or otherwise overturn parliamentary
action. In a
classic parliamentary democracy, the prime minister is answerable to
the House
of Commons (the elected element of Parliament) and may be
dismissed by it. That
said, by joining the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973 (now
known
as the European Union), Parliament accepted significant limitations on
its power to
act. It acknowledged that European law had force in the United
Kingdom, without
requiring parliamentary assent, and that European law overrode British
law.

Second, Britain has long been a unitary state. By contrast to the United
States,
where powers not delegated to the national government are reserved
for the states,
no powers are reserved constitutionally for subcentral units of
government in the
United Kingdom.

Third, Britain has a system of fusion of powers at the national level:

Parliament
is the supreme legislative, executive, and judicial authority and
includes the mon-
arch, as well as the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

This core tenet, cabinet government may at critical junctures be

observed
more in principle than in practice, however. Particularly with strong
prime min-
isters, such as Thatcher and Blair, who can rally—or bully—the cabinet,
power
gravitates to the prime minister.

Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The Crown passes by hereditary

succes-
sion, but the government or state officials exercise nearly all powers of
the Crown.
Parliamentary sovereignty, parliamentary democracy, and cabinet
government form the core of the British or Westminster model of
government.

The Executive
The term cabinet government emphasizes the key functions that the
cabinet exercises:
responsibility for policymaking, supreme control of government, and
coordination of
all government departments.
Cabinet Government
After a general election, the Crown invites the leader of the party that
emerges from
the election with control of a majority of seats in the House of
Commons to form a
government and serve as prime minister. The prime minister selects
approximately
two dozen ministers for the cabinet.

Bureaucracy and Civil Service

Policymaking may appear to be increasingly concentrated in the prime
minister’s
hands. When viewed from Whitehall (the London street where key UK
units of gov-
ernment and administration are located), however, the executive may
appear to be
dominated by its vast administrative agencies

Public and Semipublic Institutions

Like other countries, Britain has institutionalized “semipublic”
agencies, which
are sanctioned by the state but lack direct democratic oversight.
Examples include
nationalized industries and nondepartmental public bodies.

Nationalized Industries - The nationalization of basic industries—such

as coal,
iron and steel, and gas and electricity—was a central objective of the
Labour govern-
ment during the postwar collectivist era. By the end of the Thatcher
era, the idea of
public ownership had clearly run out of steam, and most of these giant
state enter-
prises were privatized (i.e., sold to private, large-scale investors or sold
in small units
to ordinary citizens), as was the case with British Telecom (BT), the
communications
giant. More than 50 percent of the BT shares were sold to the public.
When think-
ing of expanding state functions, we can look to a set of semipublic
administrative
organizations

Nondepartmental Public Bodies Since the 1970s, an increasing number

of
administrative functions have been transferred to bodies that are
typically part of the
state in terms of funding, function, and appointment of staff, but
operate at arm’s
length from ministers.

These nondepartmental public bodies (NDPBs) are better known as

quasi-
nongovernmental organizations, or quangos. They take responsibility
for spe-
cific functions and can combine governmental and private-sector
expertise. At the
same time, they enable ministers to distance themselves from
controversial areas
of policy.

Other State Institutions

The Military and the Police

In the case of the military, British policy since the Cold War remains
focused on
a gradually redefined set of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
commit-
ments. Still ranked among the top five military powers in the world,
Britain retains
a global presence. In 1999, the United Kingdom strongly backed
NATO’s Kosovo
campaign and pressed for ground troops

The Judiciary
In Britain, the principle of parliamentary sovereignty has limited the
role of the judi-
ciary. Courts have no power to judge the constitutionality of legislative
acts (judicial
review). They can only determine whether policy directives or
administrative acts
violate common law or an act of Parliament. Hence, the British
judiciary is generally
less politicized and influential than its U.S. counterpart.

Subnational Government
The United Kingdom is a state comprising distinct nations (England,
Scotland,
Wales, and Northern Ireland). Because the British political framework
has tradition-
ally been unitary, not federal, for centuries, no formal powers devolved
to either
the nations within the United Kingdom or to subnational (really
subcentral or sub-
UK) units, as in the United States, Germany, or India.

general, the UK government retains responsibility for all policy areas

that have
not been devolved and that are the traditional domain of nation-states.
Westminster
controls security and foreign policy, economic policy, trade, defense,
and social security for the United Kingdom as a whole, except where it
does not—that is, where
specific powers have been ceded to Scotland, Northern Ireland, or
Wales.

The Policymaking Process

Parliamentary sovereignty is the core constitutional principle of the
British polit-
ical system. But for policymaking and policy implementation, the focus
is not on
Westminster, but rather on Whitehall.

The UK Parliament has little direct participation in policymaking.

Policymaking
emerges primarily from within the executive. There, decision-making is
strongly
influenced by policy communities—informal networks with extensive
knowledge,
access, and personal connections to those responsible for policy. In
this private, hot-
house environment, civil servants, ministers, and members of the
policy communities
work through informal ties. A cooperative style develops, as the
ministry becomes an
advocate for key players and civil servants may come to overidentify
the public good
with the advancement of policy within their area of responsibility.

REPRESENTATION AND PARTICIPATION

The Legislature
Today, the Commons does not really legislate in a meaningful way. Its
real function
is to assent to government legislation since (with rare exceptions, such
as the 2010
coalition government) a single governing party has a majority of the
seats and can
control the legislative agenda and pass legislation at will. In addition,
the balance of
effective oversight of policy has shifted from the legislature to
executive agencies.

The House of Commons

The House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament, with 650 seats
at the time
of the 2017 election, exercises the main legislative power in Britain.
Along with
the two unelected elements of Parliament, the Crown and the House of
Lords, the
Commons has three main functions: (1) to pass laws, (2) to provide
finances for the
state by authorizing taxation, and (3) to review and scrutinize public
administration
and government policy.

The Legislative Process

Bills must be introduced in the Commons and the Lords, although
approval by
the Lords is not required. Ideas for legislation come from political
parties, pressure groups, think tanks, the prime minister’s policy unit,
or government departments.
Proposed legislation, on behalf of the government, is then drafted by
civil servants,
circulated within Whitehall, approved by the cabinet, and then refined
by the office
of Parliamentary Counsel.

The House of Lords

Traditionally, the House of Lords was a wholly unelected body
comprised of heredi-
tary peers (i.e., nobility of the rank of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, or
baron), and life
peers (appointed on the recommendation of the prime minister or the
recently insti-
tutionalized House of Lords Appointment Commission). The Lords also
includes
the archbishops of Canterbury and York and some two dozen other
bishops and
archbishops of the Church of England. As part of a gradual reform
agenda, in 1999,
the right of all hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Lords was
curtailed and that
right limited to 92, pending further reform. In 2017 there were about
800 members
eligible to take part in the work of the House of Lords

Structural Changes: Parliamentary Committees

In addition to the standing committees that routinely review bills, in
1979 the
Commons extended the number and responsibilities of select
committees, which help
Parliament exert control over the executive by examining specific
policies or aspects
of administration.

Political Parties and the Party System

Britain is often referred to as a two-party system, but as the 2017
election made clear,
that is a misnomer. It is true that from 1945 until the 2017 election,
only leaders of the
Labour or Conservative parties had served as prime ministers. And
Conservative and
Labour have been very closely matched. From 1945 through 2005, the
Conservative
and Labour parties each won eight general elections.
The Labour Party
Fifty years ago, those not engaged in manual labor voted Conservative
three times
more commonly than they did Labour. More than two out of three
manual workers,
by contrast, voted Labour. Britain then conformed to one classic
pattern of a Western
European party system: a two-class/two-party system.

The Conservative Party

The Conservative Party dates back to the eighteenth century. Its
pragmatism, flex-
ibility, and organizational capabilities have made it one of the most
successful and, at
times, innovative center-right parties in Europe.

Liberal Democrats
Through the 1970s, the Liberal Party was the only centrist challenger
to the Labour
and Conservative parties. Since the 1980s, a changing roster of
centrist parties posed
an increasingly significant threat to the two-party dominance of
Conservative and
Labour. In 1981, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) formed out of a
split within the
Labour Party. After the Conservative victory in 1987, the Liberal Party
and most of
the SDP merged to form the Social and Liberal Democratic Party (now
called the

Elections
British general elections are exclusively for seats in the House of
Commons. The
prime minister is not directly elected as prime minister, but as an MP
from a single
constituency (electoral district). The queen invites the leader of the
party that can
control a majority in the Commons to become prime minister.
Constituencies vary
widely in size, but the average number of voters remains roughly
comparable.
The Electoral System and the 2010 Election
Election for representatives in the Commons (MPs) is by a “first-past-
the-post” principle
in each constituency. In this single-member plurality system, the
candidate who receives
the most votes is elected. There is no requirement of a majority and no
element of pro-
portional representation (a system in which each party is given a
percentage of seats in a
representative assembly roughly comparable to its percentage of the
popular vote).

the
2010 election resulted in a hung parliament (a situation after an
election when no
single party comprises a majority in the Commons). Only after a quick
set of negotia-
tions could an arrangement be found to form a coalition government.

Gender, Ethnicity, and Representation

The party and electoral systems contribute to the creation of a
Parliament that has
been and remains a bastion of white men, but it is becoming more
diverse with
each general election. After the 2015 election, women made up 29
percent of the
representation, up from 22 percent in 2010—thanks largely to Labour,
whose new
MPs made up 43 percent of Labour’s share, helped too by the SNP
cohort, of whom
more than a third (36 percent) were women.

Trends in Electoral Behavior

Recent general elections have deepened geographic and regional
fragmentation.
British political scientist Ivor Crewe has referred to the emergence of
two two-
party systems: (1) competition between the Conservative and Labour
parties
dominates contests in English urban and northern seats, and (2)
Conservative–
center party competition dominates England’s rural and southern
seats. A third
two-party competition has emerged in Scotland, where Labour
competes with the
SNP.6

Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity

In their mid-twentieth century study of the ideals and values that
shape political
behavior, political scientists Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba wrote
that the civic
(or political) culture in Britain was characterized by trust, deference to
authority,
and pragmatism.7 But the 1970s became a crucial turning point in
British political
culture and group identities that challenged this view.

Social Class
A key change in political culture in the last quarter-century has been
the weakening
of bonds grounded in the experience of labor. During the Thatcher era,
the tradi-
tional values of “an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay” and
solidarity among
coworkers were derided as “rigidities” that reduced competitiveness—
a perspective
that has continued through New Labour and the coalition government.

National Identity
Decolonization has created a multiethnic Britain, and national identity
has become
especially complicated. Questions about fragmented sovereignty in
light of Britain’s
decision to exit the European Union, challenges to the commingled
histories of
four nations (England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland/Northern Ireland),
and the
interplay of race and nationality have created doubts about British
identity that run
deep. Ethnicity, intra-UK territorial attachments, Europeanization, and
globaliza-
tion are complicating national identity. Can Britain foster a more
inclusive sense
of British identity, or will it revert to what has historically been called
“fortress
Britain”?

The Political Impact of Technology

and the Media
Recent developments have underscored the impact of technology on
British politics
in the past decade. In a scandal that is still reverberating with global
implications, a
parliamentary committee released a report in 2012 disclosing that
Rupert Murdoch,
the Australian media mogul whose companies in 2011 accounted for
the second-
largest media holdings in the world (including the prestigious Times of
London and
The Wall Street Journal), was linked to a major hacking scandal. The
hackers used
sophisticated electronic technologies to gain access to emails and
voice mails for the
purpose of breaking major news stories ahead of the competition,
creating collateral
damage for many news organizations and high-flying politicians. The
scandal also
implicated Tony Blair at a trial about the hacking incidents, when it was
revealed
that the former prime minister secretly offered to advise the Murdoch
empire as the
scandal erupted.

BRITISH POLITICS IN TRANSITION

Constitutional Reform
Questions about the role of the monarchy and the House of Lords have
long been
simmering on Britain’s political agenda. Why should the House of
Commons share
sovereignty with the House of Lords? What is the role of the monarchy
—a very
expensive institution and one subject to periodic scandal—in a modern
political
system? In addition, the balance of power among constitutionally
critical institutions
raises important questions about a democratic deficit at the heart of
the Westminster
model. Britain’s executive easily overpowers Parliament. Its strength in
relation to the
legislature may be greater than in any other democracy.

Identities in Flux
The relatively small scale of the ethnic minority community limits the
political impact
of the most divisive issues concerning collective identities. It is
probably in this area that
rigidities in the British political system most severely challenge the
principles of democ-
racy and tolerance. Given Britain’s single-member, simple-plurality
electoral system,
and no proportional representation, minority representation in
Parliament remains very
low. There are deep-seated social attitudes that no government can
easily transform.

Is Demography Destiny?
Britain’s young adults, who for much of the twentieth century enjoyed
well-above-
average living standards, have been displaced by the rise of well-off
pensioners, in the
most dramatic generational change in decades. Thanks to evaporating
jobs, unafford-
able property, and rising debt, average twentysomethings in Britain
have seen their
living standards slip from a position of comparative affluence to well
below par over
the past 35 years. At the same time, older Britons have enjoyed a rapid
rise up the
economic ladder, thanks in large part to fiscal policies of the coalition
government
that aimed to protect pensioners from austerity measures and
concentrated fiscal pain
instead on young adults.

British Politics in Comparative Perspective

Positioned off the northwest coast of France, Britain has always
preserved its dis-
tance from Europe in both nautical and political terms. From the British
perspective,
Europe is invariably “them, not us.” From this point of view, Britain’s
decision to
withdraw from the European Union should not have shocked the world
as much as
it did. But Britain’s challenges to its geopolitical identity do not end at
its shores. It
must also reaffirm the illusion of unity within the United Kingdom—a
challenge
that is very real, in light of the 2014 Scottish referendum that very
nearly demolished
once and for all the precarious assumption that the United Kingdom
would remain
one state, but four nations – a challenge that remains very much on
the horizon.
The Scottish parliament voted in March 2017 to seek a second
referendum for inde-
pendence. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are each
governed by
separate institutions and anchored by different cultural values and
incommensurate
approaches to economic governance.

End….