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The Territorial Dimension : In Government Understanding the United Kingdom

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Everyone who lives in the United Kingdom knows something about England, Scotland, Walesor Northern Ireland. But how many people understand the United Kingdom as a whole? This book sets out to provide an understanding of the United Kingdom in all its multi-national complexity.rnTo understand the United Kingdom we must understand government, for it is being subject to Parliament at Westminster that provides a common bond between English, Scots, Welsh and Ulster people. The authority of Parliament is not based upon a constitution, but upon a history in which the Crown gradually expanded and contracted its powers, until in 1921 the United Kingdom assumed the boundaries it has today.rnToday, the United Kingdom is held together by policies and parties which devide people in Britain is terms of common concerns with the economy, the welfare state, health and education services, foreign policy rather than upon national grounds.rnThis book sets out clearly and carefully the ways in which government in the United Kingdom is organized both territorially and functionally. Although the United Kingdom is said to be a unitary state the Cabinet has, in fact, separate Scotish, Welsh and Northern Ireland offices. The only thing it lacks is an English office, and this book explains how England fits into the United Kingdom, and the extent to which Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can opt out.rnIn contrast to many books about nationalism, this study concentrates upon majority opinion within the United Kingdom: the views of the Unionists who uphold the United Kingdom as it is. But in order to maintain the Union, as the assumptions underlying it are increasingly questioned by the devolution debate and, even more, the troubles in Northern Ireland, it is necessary to understand it. It is this understanding that this book seeks to provide.rnChapter 1 shows how each of the four parts of the United Kingdom retrains a distinctive national identity, rooted in historically determined cultural difference. The historical causes of a multinational kingdom are expanded in chapter 2, which explains why authority in the United Kingdom is best represented by a stateless Crown of indefinite domain without a uniform set of institutions for governing the United Kingdom as a whole. The institutions for governing Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have each developed historically, they differ from each other, and incidentally make government in England unique as well.rnThe authority of the United Kingdom rests upon consent by the parties to Union. Chapter 3 demonstrates how competition between parties organized around functional economic issues strengthens the integration of England, Scotland and Wales. In all parts of the United Kingdom, each nation again and again votes for parties that concur in upholding Union, although disagreeing about much else. This is significant in Scotland and Wales, where Nationalist parties much else. This is significant in Scotland and Wales, where Nationalist parties challenge the Union. It is even more important in Northern Ireland, where the challenge the Union is expressed in bullets as well as in the ballots of the majority in favour of Unionist parties. The effect of party competition is to encourage parties to recognize the authority of Westminster, and Nationalist parties are forced to face the importance of winning broad popular support at free elections.rnThe institutions of the Mace, which symbolizes the Crown in Parliament, are the subject of chapter 4. Parliament brings together representatives of all parts the United Kingdom to choose and sustain government. The Cabinet is the effective custodian of the Mace. Chapter 5 shows how institutional responsibilities for providing public policies differ by territory; policies applied uniformly throughout the United Kingdom by a single Whitehall ministry are very much the exception.Chapter 6 examines how government distributes its chief resources laws, money and public personnel, throughout the territoryof the United Kingdom. Chapter 7 resolves the puzzling relationship between the Maze and a maze institutions by reviewing a variety of models of governing. It concludes that policy making is best described as an oligopoly in which organizations are few, unequal and interdependent.rnChapter 8 demonstrates how a challenge to the steady-state United Kingdom can arise from the interaction of events within nations and actions at Westminster. rnThis book must therefore reflect the importance attached to the United Kingdom by such people. Irish Republicans will go to extreme and violent lengths to refuse recognation of the Crown and the United Kingdom is symbolizes. Scotish and Welsh Nationalists usually affirm that they are as loyal to the Crown as Australians and New Zealanders and equally desirous of being independent members of the Commonwealth and the United Nations.

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Ketersediaan

090101000

Tersedia

Informasi Detil

Judul Seri

-

No. Panggil

353(42 -- 5) ROS t

Penerbit

Chatham House Publishers, Inc : Chatham, New Jersey., 1982

Deskripsi Fisik

228 p.

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

-

Klasifikasi

353(42 -- 5) ROS t

Tipe Isi

-

Tipe Media

-

Tipe Pembawa

-

Edisi

-

Subyek

territorial dimension

Info Detil Spesifik

-

Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

-

Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

Komentar

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