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11 Nordic government(s): parliamentary, presidential or prime ministerial? It is evident that Finland has been moving closer to the parliamentary states of Western Europe and that there are hardly any grounds for the epithet ‘semipresidential. (Nousiainen 2001: 108) This chapter focuses on the executive–parties dimension (Lijphart 1999) and in particular on two striking differences in the nature of the political executive across the Nordic region. First, there is the contrast, in Lijphart’s terms, between the executive–legislative balance systems of the
The use of the ‘five techniques’ in Northern Ireland in August and October 1971 was met with a variety of responses and reactions. These are the subject of this and the following chapter. The present chapter focuses on the government’s responses to the use of the techniques and, more specifically, its responses to the criticisms the techniques were met with. Its starting
time be compelled to yield it back to the giver. The county towns, as an elite class of regional centres which was largely defined by about 1100, would always be seen from the point of view of royal government as means for the expression and assertion of central authority. 1 Meanwhile, a second and no less significant basis of urban rule lay in customary practices of self-regulation in the neighbourhoods which made up the town
10 Big government and self-government, 1940–69 Because it has become a truism it is not necessarily untrue. The evacuation from May 1940 of much of the civilian population from Gibraltar, and especially some of their uncomfortable experiences in Britain and Northern Ireland, did embitter the exiles and those still resident in Gibraltar and did provoke demands for political change.1 The apparently tardy steps being taken by the British authorities to organise repatriation seemed to expose the limited political influence that Gibraltar civilians had over their own
The importance of local government seems obvious, in that what matters most to people are the things which affect them and their families on a daily basis: their environment, street hygiene, safety and so forth. Yet in the twenty-first century, local government in Britain can sometimes seem less than relevant, with few people aware of its existence and caring even less. Given such indifference, it is hard for this lowest tier of democratic government to assert itself. However, it still disposes of billions of pounds every year, employs over 2 million people and
The previous chapter examined the emergence of local government, together with its reform and workings. While the dominant theme was one of decline, this chapter considers whether more recent developments have suggested it might be possible to discern some kind of revival. Writing in the Guardian on 3 September 1997, Tony Blair declared: ‘Local government is the lifeblood of our democracy’. While more cynical observers might dismiss this as anodyne political rhetoric, there have been a number of signs, both from the earlier 1990s and since the Labour
7 Independents and government Introduction In almost all democracies, parliamentary government is party government. This is also the case in Ireland, but it comes with a slight twist in that historically many of these party governments have relied on parliamentarians outside of parties – that is, independent TDs – who frequently hold the balance of power in the Dáil. This gives independents what Sartori (2005) defines as ‘relevance’, whether of the coalition (that is, they are needed to form a government) or blackmail (they can prevent government formation
Introduction In Britain central government decides the shape, population, responsibilities, powers and functions of councils in England. It is central government which can, and does, abolish councils, or entire layers of local government which lacks even the most basic constitutional protection, including the right to continued existence. While
5 Restructuring local government Few across the British political spectrum were satisfied with the evolution of the local government system following the 1832 Reform Act. While municipal government could lead the way to reform, the system could not evolve in rural areas because of the lack of any workable consensus in Parliament that could establish multi-purpose local government structures. The legislative compromises and resultant ad hoc developments were creating as complex a pattern of local government in rural areas and small towns as existed in the
1 Local government before 1832 There is little left of the Roman administrative legacy for the provinces of Britain. Towns were established under Roman practice as coloniae and municipium for retired soldiers who were granted citizenship of the Empire.1 Other townships, civitates, established by Britons were recognised as following local tribal laws:2 ‘A large measure of local government was conducted by the British themselves with official supervision and encouragement.’3 All that remains of the Roman legacy are some of the towns themselves, including London