2 research outputs found
Patterns of democracy: Coalition governance and majoritarian modification in the United Kingdom, 2010–2015
The UK is often regarded as the archetype of Westminster democracy and as the empirical
antithesis of the power-sharing coalitions of Western Europe. Yet, in recent years a different
account has emerged that focuses on the subtler institutional dynamics which limit the
executive. It is to this body of scholarship that this article responds, locating the recent
chapter of coalition government within the wider context of the UK’s democratic evolution.
To do so, the article draws Lijphart’s two-dimensional typology of democracies, developing a
refined framework that enables systematic comparison over time. The article demonstrates
that between over the course of the 2010-15 Parliament, the UK underwent another period of
majoritarian modification, driven by factors including the long-term influence of the
constitutional forces unleashed under Labour and the short-term impact of coalition
management. The article makes several important contributions, salient in the UK and
beyond. Theoretically, it offers a critical rejoinder to debates regarding the relationship
between institutional design and democratic performance. Methodologically, it demonstrates
that the tools of large-scale comparison can be effectively scaled-down to facilitate withincase
analysis. Empirically, it provides a series of conclusions regarding the tenability of the
UK’s extant democratic architecture under the weight of pressures to which it continues to be
subject
The House of Commons Modernisation Committee: who needs it?
Modernisation has been rhetorically important for the Labour government since 1997, and it found a dedicated outlet through the House of Commons Modernisation Committee. This committee has pursued a particular type of modernisation, which this article seeks to explore. It does this by focusing on three issues. First, it examines the role of the Leader of the House of Commons in the chair of the Modernisation Committee. Second, it looks at the work of the Modernisation Committee in comparison to that of the Procedure Committee. Finally, it contextualises the discussion of modernisation with reference to the distinction between efficiency reforms and effectiveness reforms, and explores what this reveals about the complexity of executive–legislative relations at Westminster, and about the course of the modernisation debate since 1997