Chuyên Đề Tìm hiểu về chính phủ và chính trị Anh và Mỹ

Understanding US/UK government and politics
A comparative guide
DUNCAN WATTS

Manchester University Press
Manchester and New York


1 The context of political life in Britain and the United States 1
Political culture in Britain 3
Political culture in the USA 7
Political ideas, institutions and values in Britain and the United States:
similarities and differences 16
2 Constitutions 26
General developments concerning constitutions 27
What are constitutions? 27
Characteristics of the two constitutions 28
Constitutional principles 34
The ease of constitutional change 39
Recent experience of constitutional reform 40
Conclusion 43
3 Protecting liberties, advancing rights 46
The protection of liberties in Britain and the United States in theory
and practice 48
The proclamation of positive rights in recent years in Britain and the
United States 57
Conclusion 62
4 Executives 66
THE POLITICAL EXECUTIVE 67
The functions of executives 67
The increase in executive power 69
Strength and weakness in political leaders: changing fashions 74
The case of the British Prime Minister 78
The case of the USA 80
Prime Minister and President compared 82
Support for the Prime Minister and President 86
Contents
Contents vi
THE OFFICIAL EXECUTIVE 93
The bureaucracy 93
The bureaucracy in Britain and the United States 94
Conclusion 103
5 Legislatures 106
Structure and purpose 107
The work and importance of the British Parliament and the American
Congress 110
The decline of legislatures: British and American experience 119
Elected representatives in Britain and America: their role 123
The social backgrounds of members of legislatures 125
The pay and conditions of legislators 134
Conclusion 136
6 Judiciaries 139
The functions of judiciaries 141
The independence of the judiciary 143
The political involvement of judges in Britain and America 148
Conclusion 151
7 Governance beyond the centre 155
Types of governmental systems 156
Developments in the British unitary state: the move towards devolution 158
Developments in American federalism 164
The British unitary and American federal systems compared 169
Conclusion 174
8 Political parties 178
The varying significance of parties in modern democracies 179
The functions of parties 180
Party systems 181
Third and minor parties 187
The Labour and Conservative, Democrat and Republican Parties: ideas,
attitudes and approaches 191
Party membership 203
Party organisation 205
Party finance 207
The decline of political parties – do they still matter? 211
Conclusion 215
9 Pressure groups 219
The growth of group activity 220
Classification of groups 221
How groups operate 228
Trends in recent years: the changing pressure-group scene 235
Conclusion 240
10 The mass media 243
Organisation, ownerships and control in Britain and America 244
Political coverage in the media in Britain and America 250
The effects of the media 256
Televised politics in Britain and the USA compared: the Americanisation of
British politics? 263
Conclusion 266
11 Voting and elections 269
Types of election 272
Electoral systems 272
Turnout in elections 278
Voting behaviour 286
Election campaigning 289
The role of money 291
Referendums and their value 294
Conclusion 302
12 Democracy in theory and practice 305
Democracy across the world 305
The meaning of the term ‘democracy’ 306
The health of democracy on both sides of the Atlantic 313
Conclusion 324
Index 329