How Is Power Used?

Abstract

To this point we have described the institutions of British government, but have done so in rather a static fashion. This chapter attempts to bring these structures to life and to demonstrate how actors and institutions produce policies. We also demonstrate how the distinctive character of British governmental institutions affects the policies produced so that they may be different from those emanating from other political systems, even those faced with similar policymaking problems. In particular, the majoritarian nature of British parliamentary government will, everything else being equal, produce greater variation in policy than would be found in more consensual parliamentary systems.