Elective dictatorship

The phrase elective dictatorship (also called executive dominance in political science) was coined by the former Lord Chancellor, Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, in a academic paper of the same name written in 1976. It describes the state in which Parliament is dominated by the executive (often referred to in the UK as "the government"). It refers to the fact that the legislative programme of Parliament is determined by the government, and government bills virtually always pass the House of Commons due to the nature of the governing party's majority.

Related Topics:
Political science - Lord Chancellor - Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone - 1976 - Parliament

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In the United Kingdom, sovereignty resides in Parliament alone (Parliamentary sovereignty), which means Parliament is the ultimate legislative body in the country, and may remove power from or abolish local or regional government, and in theory pass any law it wishes. The Parliamentary system of government in the UK allows the executive to dominate Parliament, since it will naturally have a majority in the House of Commons (except in minority government, which is rare). The House of Lords only has the power to delay bills (suspensive veto), and a bill may be passed without the Lord's approval through the Parliament Act. However, this is rarely used.

Related Topics:
Parliamentary sovereignty - House of Commons - House of Lords - Suspensive veto - Parliament Act

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The governing party, from which the executive is formed, uses the whip system to ensure that enough of its Members of Parliament vote in its favour when voting for government bills. The dominance of the legislative programme of Parliament by the majority party is such that 95% of bills are initiated by the government. The last bill to be defeated since the Second World War was the Shops Bill 1986. The control of Parliament by the executive is such that Hailsham suggested that an "elective dictatorship" existed. He argued that Parliament was essentially powerless, and merely confirmed decisions made by the government (executive). Since this situation existed, and there are few constitutional restraints on the power of the government he coined the phrase "elective dictatorship".

Related Topics:
Whip system - Members of Parliament - Second World War - Shops Bill 1986

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The most widely supported measure to reduce executive dominance would be to reduce the power of the majority party by adopting a proportional representation electoral system for the House of Commons, and perhaps for the House of Lords too (which is currently unelected). The Liberal Democrats have consistently supported PR for the House of Commons. Some groups such Charter 88 argue that a codified, written constitution is also essential to solving the problem of executive dominance by, among other things, introducing formal checks on the executive's power.

Related Topics:
Proportional representation - Liberal Democrats - Charter 88

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