Great Britain in the 1990’s free essay sample

Political situation in Great Britain in the 1990’s. As we all know, one of the significant features of British political system is its flexibility. Britain have unwritten Constitution, formal Bill of Rights and Supreme Court which works rests on precedents. It makes possibility for each government to make wide reforms and rearrangements in the way in which politics and government are conducted. There is no doubt that in years after Second World War Britain went through the great changes in its status and role in world politics. Economic decline, the loss of status of Empire, and the search for a new European identity have all been important themes in British political agenda sine 1945. But despite that fact situation in British administrations and governments has not changed dramatically. After Second World War Great Britain’s status and role have changed. Important themes of postwar Britain were deficit of identity, economic decline, changes in political system, different reforms, participation in EU and others. We will write a custom essay sample on Great Britain in the 1990’s or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In 1990 John Major became for a new prime minister of Great Britain. Margaret Thatcher leaved office with â€Å"her consensus politics and willingness to override colleagues opinions, including that of Cabinet, emboldened the backlash against her when it did occur† . John Major was prime minister of Great Britain from 1990 till 1997; also he was leader of British Conservative Party. During his time as Prime Minister, the world political situation had changed, because Cold War was ended. Also the European Union became as a very important organization for new democratic countries and Great Britain played one of the main roles in process of political transformation. In September of 1992 Black Wednesday’s crises have happened, when billions of pounds were wasted in a futile attempt to prop up the currencys value. After that economic crisis Great Britain dropped out Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). In 1997 political situation changed in Great Britain and the Conservative party lost elections to Tony Blairs Labour party. There are several reasons, why J. Major and the Conservative party lost the general elections. First of all, there is no consensus between conservatives. One of the actual questions in Great Britain was common European currency. The Conservative Party spited in two parts Eurosceptics and politicians, why accepted that idea. Britain society did not support the Conservative party in 1997’s elections, because people wanted to see unified party. Political culture in Great Britain in the 1990’s Political culture in Great Britain was different that in continental Europe. After Second World War values and norms in Britain did not transform and nowadays there are the same values in definite political or societal areas. The two party systems, buttressed by electoral system which exaggerates the success of those two parties, are still dominant; [†¦] British government is still centralized, secretive and working through much the same institutions and procedures as in 1945. † In 90-th have happened different transformations in Britain’s political culture. Society started to change it values and acceptable norms and for that reason we can recognize changes in political order and situation. First of all, traditional two-party system was replaced by three-party system. Historically there were two main parties: Tory and Wigs Conservative Party and Liberal Party. In 1990’s there are happened political changes people started to vote for the third political force. New modern political parties availed of this situation and found new cases, how to win in elections. There were at least two major reasons for non participation or supporting other political party. â€Å"Strong and stable linkage between parties and their constituencies tend to reduce the costs of voting by allowing even relatively uniformed voters to decide on issues and candidates. At the same time, strong feelings of party identification make it easier for parties â€Å"to seek out supporters and mobilize them at election time† . Other reason, why citizens support other political forces or did not take part in elections, is fragmentation of society. People became more isolated from each other and also from political system. Voters became more passive and loyal, they did not react on any political events, because it actions always were the same and situation in the country have not changed. That way, people stopped to trust politicians and did not support them in the elections. It is the one part of potential voters, but there are also existed another type of non-voters. Those persons â€Å"are generally less likely to be interested in politics, less close to political parties, and less likely to have strong political preferences† . Other significant change was â€Å"that the British people prefer to participate only through legitimate and ‘respectable’ channels, there has always been a minority prepared to act more unconventionally and perhaps more urprisingly a majority prepared to approve of this whilst not actually joining in† . Inglehart described that situation through prism of post-material values. Post-war generation had another norms and values, for that reason political activity was different. People have different rights and freedoms, the participation in political life can be active or passive, citizens have opportunity to work in political parties and organize different communities of interests and so on. But all this freedoms do not guarantee that people will participate in elections and vote for direct party. Of course, better education also influence on people political culture and â€Å"has allowed a growing number of voters to approach the complexity of modern politics with greater sophistication and the greater supply of information has allowed them to keep abreast of important social and political development† . Social movements played one of the important roles in Great Britain. New groups could to influence to people. Through society it could to protect their interests, but at the same time social groups did not participate in country’s elections and did not have hierarchical structure. In Britain social movements became very popular. One of them was feminism movement, which became very active in 1990s in the Labour Party. â€Å"The success of the women’s movement was even more striking in electoral terms, as all the parties moved quickly to respond. By the 1992 General Election, all the major parties promised to meet at least some of the objectives pursued by the women’s movement for example, equal pay, child benefits, equal rights in the workplace, maternity rights and so on. Such social movements are different from political parties, because they do not put forward candidates in elections and they are not formally organized by hierarchical structure. The also differ from protectional groups, because they are not based upon advancing the interests of just one functional or professional grouping in society. Situation in Great Britain was different that in continent. Historically, Britain was associated with island, with separate part of Europe. For t hat reason, Great Britain political culture was not depended from continental Europe. There were other changes, which distinguished Britain from other Europe. Political system in Great Britain has not been changed for a long time country is Constitutional Monarchy. For that reason, political culture in these state are depended from politicians and political, economic and social order. In 1990s several significant events have happened in the world. One of them was collapse of USSR. Situation in the East influenced to political order in Europe countries, because last one needed to form new political links with new neighbors. But also there were new problem or dilemma about new Eastern countries, witch became as a new pretenders to EU and NATO participation. EU enlargement was very actual question not only for Great Britain, but for all European countries. For that reason question about Euroscepticism became very topical. We can consider, that the term Euroscepticism was born in England earlier that in other countries. It happened because; Great Britain is not neighbor with other Europe and continental problems are not so important for England. Also historical aspects play one of the main roles for England people. For example, France did not support Great Britain’s entering to the EU. Great Britain in the 1990’s free essay sample As we all know, one of the significant features of British political system is its flexibility. Britain have unwritten Constitution, formal Bill of Rights and Supreme Court which works rests on precedents. It makes possibility for each government to make wide reforms and rearrangements in the way in which politics and government are conducted. There is no doubt that in years after Second World War Britain went through the great changes in its status and role in world politics. Economic decline, the loss of status of Empire, and the search for a new European identity have all been important themes in British political agenda sine 1945. But despite that fact situation in British administrations and governments has not changed dramatically. After Second World War Great Britain’s status and role have changed. Important themes of postwar Britain were deficit of identity, economic decline, changes in political system, different reforms, participation in EU and others. We will write a custom essay sample on Great Britain in the 1990’s or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In 1990 John Major became for a new prime minister of Great Britain. Margaret Thatcher leaved office with â€Å"her consensus politics and willingness to override colleagues opinions, including that of Cabinet, emboldened the backlash against her when it did occur† . John Major was prime minister of Great Britain from 1990 till 1997; also he was leader of British Conservative Party. During his time as Prime Minister, the world political situation had changed, because Cold War was ended. Also the European Union became as a very important organization for new democratic countries and Great Britain played one of the main roles in process of political transformation. In September of 1992 Black Wednesday’s crises have happened, when billions of pounds were wasted in a futile attempt to prop up the currencys value. After that economic crisis Great Britain dropped out Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). In 1997 political situation changed in Great Britain and the Conservative party lost elections to Tony Blairs Labour party. There are several reasons, why J. Major and the Conservative party lost the general elections. First of all, there is no consensus between conservatives. One of the actual questions in Great Britain was common European currency. The Conservative Party spited in two parts Eurosceptics and politicians, why accepted that idea. Britain society did not support the Conservative party in 1997’s elections, because people wanted to see unified party. Political culture in Great Britain in the 1990’s Political culture in Great Britain was different that in continental Europe. After Second World War values and norms in Britain did not transform and nowadays there are the same values in definite political or societal areas. The two party systems, buttressed by electoral system which exaggerates the success of those two parties, are still dominant; [†¦] British government is still centralized, secretive and working through much the same institutions and procedures as in 1945. † In 90-th have happened different transformations in Britain’s political culture. Society started to change it values and acceptable norms and for that reason we can recognize changes in political order and situation. First of all, traditional two-party system was replaced by three-party system. Historically there were two main parties: Tory and Wigs Conservative Party and Liberal Party. In 1990’s there are happened political changes people started to vote for the third political force. New modern political parties availed of this situation and found new cases, how to win in elections. There were at least two major reasons for non participation or supporting other political party. â€Å"Strong and stable linkage between parties and their constituencies tend to reduce the costs of voting by allowing even relatively uniformed voters to decide on issues and candidates. At the same time, strong feelings of party identification make it easier for parties â€Å"to seek out supporters and mobilize them at election time† . Other reason, why citizens support other political forces or did not take part in elections, is fragmentation of society. People became more isolated from each other and also from political system. Voters became more passive and loyal, they did not react on any political events, because it actions always were the same and situation in the country have not changed. That way, people stopped to trust politicians and did not support them in the elections. It is the one part of potential voters, but there are also existed another type of non-voters. Those persons â€Å"are generally less likely to be interested in politics, less close to political parties, and less likely to have strong political preferences† . Other significant change was â€Å"that the British people prefer to participate only through legitimate and ‘respectable’ channels, there has always been a minority prepared to act more unconventionally and perhaps more urprisingly a majority prepared to approve of this whilst not actually joining in† . Inglehart described that situation through prism of post-material values. Post-war generation had another norms and values, for that reason political activity was different. People have different rights and freedoms, the participation in political life can be active or passive, citizens have opportunity to work in political parties and organize different communities of interests and so on. But all this freedoms do not guarantee that people will participate in elections and vote for direct party. Of course, better education also influence on people political culture and â€Å"has allowed a growing number of voters to approach the complexity of modern politics with greater sophistication and the greater supply of information has allowed them to keep abreast of important social and political development† . Social movements played one of the important roles in Great Britain. New groups could to influence to people. Through society it could to protect their interests, but at the same time social groups did not participate in country’s elections and did not have hierarchical structure. In Britain social movements became very popular. One of them was feminism movement, which became very active in 1990s in the Labour Party. â€Å"The success of the women’s movement was even more striking in electoral terms, as all the parties moved quickly to respond. By the 1992 General Election, all the major parties promised to meet at least some of the objectives pursued by the women’s movement for example, equal pay, child benefits, equal rights in the workplace, maternity rights and so on. Such social movements are different from political parties, because they do not put forward candidates in elections and they are not formally organized by hierarchical structure. The also differ from protectional groups, because they are not based upon advancing the interests of just one functional or professional grouping in society. Situation in Great Britain was different that in continent. Historically, Britain was associated with island, with separate part of Europe. For t hat reason, Great Britain political culture was not depended from continental Europe. There were other changes, which distinguished Britain from other Europe. Political system in Great Britain has not been changed for a long time country is Constitutional Monarchy. For that reason, political culture in these state are depended from politicians and political, economic and social order. In 1990s several significant events have happened in the world. One of them was collapse of USSR. Situation in the East influenced to political order in Europe countries, because last one needed to form new political links with new neighbors. But also there were new problem or dilemma about new Eastern countries, witch became as a new pretenders to EU and NATO participation. EU enlargement was very actual question not only for Great Britain, but for all European countries. For that reason question about Euroscepticism became very topical. We can consider, that the term Euroscepticism was born in England earlier that in other countries. It happened because; Great Britain is not neighbor with other Europe and continental problems are not so important for England. Also historical aspects play one of the main roles for England people. For example, France did not support Great Britain’s entering to the EU.