Page 127 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

1428 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

the instantaneous resignation of the prime minister and
his cabinet and/or the immediate calling of new elec-
tions.This pattern though not written down, served as a
binding convention in the British political culture. Secur-
ing a new mandate through the confidence of the voters
was essential even if only a short time has elapsed since
ballots were previously cast. New elections were sched-
uled immediately. Campaigns lasted a few short weeks.
The transfer of power from the defeated party to the win-
ning one, if the election results dictated that, was a
speedy process amounting to only days after results were
officially proclaimed, which, in turn, was also obtained
Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), a key figure within days.
in the English Civil Wars and a member in
both the Short Parliament and the Long History
Parliament. The Glorious Revolution of the seventeenth century
capped a political process that began with the Magna
Carta of 1215, the result of widespread resentment of the
elite, political class of substantial impact on the routine absolute, authoritarian nature of the monarchy. Aristo-
formation and implementation of economic, social, crats and members of the upper middle class had increas-
diplomatic, and defense policies. ing authority in England, then in the rest of Britain, and,
In the British system the governing party, as long as it eventually, in its colonies overseas, deciding most issues
has an effective mandate between elections, wields exec- of public policy. The balance of power gradually shifted
utive powers, composing and leading the cabinet. The to the landed gentry and to an emerging group of liberal
term of office could last up to five years, but it typically urban professionals (the Whig party) who supported the
was around four years.Within the maximum of five years ideas of classic liberalism and were active in society, eco-
that a parliament could be incumbent, it was at the dis- nomic life, intellectual discourse, and diplomacy. Politi-
cretion of the prime minister to ask the monarch to dis- cal supremacy, sometimes cloaked in civic and economic
solve the House of Commons. Indeed, the full authority rights, was thus increasingly based on a mandate that the
and the wide discretion exercised by the incumbent prime legislative chamber increasingly defined the duties and
minister were at the heart of this system. Having the dis- the privileges of kings and queens.
tinction of being the leader of the largest party and the The pattern of vesting real power in members of the
most prominent member of Parliament from the House British Parliament aimed to revitalize representative dem-
of Commons, the prime minister increasingly served as ocracy while securing property rights. It developed in the
a viable alternative to the reigning monarch. Parliamen- eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Coupled with the
tarianism thus accommodated the rise of the profes- first post-the-ballot electoral structure—which granted
sional, urban, unhereditary, non-land owning, upper seats for the candidate with the highest amount of votes
class by transferring political power to them from the in each riding, rather than apportion them to parties by
monarchy and aristocracy. the percentage of votes received overall—the typical
The loss of an important vote—the approval of an result was a two-party system. Inside the bicameral leg-
annual budget or the ratification of vital domestic mea- islature the House of Commons gradually replaced the
sures or crucial agreements with other countries—causes House of Lords as the senior partner within the structure