elective dictatorship

elective dictatorship
   The late Conservative peer Lord Hailsham coined the phrase ‘elective dictatorship’ to express his anxiety about the growth in executive power. Speaking in 1976 in the Dimbleby Lecture, he claimed that a constitutional imbalance had been created, executive power having grown at the expense of parliamentary power. He argued that with a flexible constitution, a majority Government in control of a sovereign Parliament could bring about fundamental constitutional changes almost at will; it need fear no defeat. Government was portrayed as all-powerful, the checks and balances having been eroded. The only thing said to hold a government in check was its need to retain enough popularity to win the next election.
   Hailsham was writing at a time when a Labour administration – elected in October 1974 on the basis of the minority support of only 29 per cent of the whole electorate – was about to lose its majority. Similar concerns have been voiced since the 2005 election, with the election of a Government whose support among the voters was as low as 35.2 per cent (the worst figure for any postwar Government), among the whole electorate only 21.6 per cent.

Glossary of UK Government and Politics . 2013.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Elective dictatorship — The phrase elective dictatorship (also called executive dominance in political science) was coined by the former Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom, Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, in a Richard Dimbleby Lecture at the BBC in… …   Wikipedia

  • Dictatorship — Part of the Politics series Basic forms of government Aristocracy Autocracy …   Wikipedia

  • People's democratic dictatorship — (simplified Chinese: 人民民主专政; traditional Chinese: 人民民主專政; pinyin: Rénmín Mínzhǔ Zhuānzhèng) is a phrase incorporated into the Constitution of the People s Republic of China by Mao Zedong.[1] The premise of the People s democratic dictatorship is… …   Wikipedia

  • Constitution of the United Kingdom — British Constitution redirects here. For the card game, see British Constitution (solitaire). United Kingdom This article is part of the series …   Wikipedia

  • Parliament of the United Kingdom — of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Type Type Bicameral …   Wikipedia

  • Sovereignty — Sovereign redirects here. For other uses, see Sovereign (disambiguation). The frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes Leviathan, depicting the Sovereign as a massive body wielding a sword and crozier and composed of many individual people. Sovereignty is… …   Wikipedia

  • Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone — Infobox Officeholder honorific prefix = The Right Honourable, name=Quintin Hogg honorific suffix = 2nd Viscount Hailsham(1950 1963) Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone (1970 2001) KG, CH PC QC order=First Lord of the Admiralty term start=October 1956 …   Wikipedia

  • Cabinet of the United Kingdom — In the politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is a formal body composed of the most senior government ministers chosen by the Prime Minister. Most members are heads of government departments with the title Secretary of State . Formal members …   Wikipedia

  • Democratic deficit — A democratic deficit (or democracy deficit) is considered to be occurring when ostensibly democratic organizations or institutions (particularly governments) are seen to be falling short of fulfilling the principles of the parliamentary democracy …   Wikipedia

  • Tyranny of the majority — For the form of democracy, see Ochlocracy. For the Flesh Field album, see Tyranny of the Majority (album). The phrase tyranny of the majority (or tyranny of the masses ), used in discussing systems of democracy and majority rule, is a criticism… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”