Abstract
If the general election of 1987–8, or that of 1991–2, produces no clear parliamentary majority, the situation may well be seen as a one-off event, a problem to be solved in an ad hoc fashion just as it was in 1923, 1929, 1974 and 1977. It will present some of the problems which have been discussed in the previous chapters but, if everybody regards what is happening as a transient aberration, it will not change the nature of British politics. If it is accepted that the following election is likely to reinstate majority government with all its conventions, parties and institutions will tread water until the status quo is restored.
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Notes
For a discussion of the technicalities and consequences of various forms 136 of proportional representation, see S.E. Finer, Adversary Politics and Electoral Reform, London 1975;
Enid Lakeman, Power to Elect, London 1982;
V. Bogdanor and D. Butler, Democracy and Elections, Cambridge 1983.
Walter Bagehot, Introduction to the Second Edition of The English Constitution, London 1867.
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© 1983 David Butler
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Butler, D. (1983). Wider Considerations. In: Governing without a Majority. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18472-9_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18472-9_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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