Britain By Atticus, Chance, Tapiwa, Gus, Steven

Examination of Historical, Cultural, and Social Factors That Make the Modern State

Why is Britain, Britain? History- Got Invaded in the 1st Century and became Established by the 10th Century Cultural- An entrepreneur society with a scientific culture but mainly known for the main countries (England, Scotland,Wales, and Northern Ireland). Social Factor- A lot of income opportunities with the work ethic everybody has in Britain

Examination of Political Economy and Development

An Overview of the British Economy According to the International Monetary Fund, the British economy is the 5th largest in the world by GDP. The British economy is a neoliberal system. Neoliberalism: A term used to describe government policies aiming to promote free competition among business firms within the market, including reduced government regulation and social spending.

Government Intervention Most government intervention into the economy is performed by Her Majesty’s Treasury (HM Treasury). This organization is responsible for: Setting the national budget and tax rates, which are approved by Parliament. Regulating the banking and financial industry. Organizing funding for public infrastructure projects.

Chancellor of the Exchequer The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the head of the HM Treasury and is responsible for setting the budget and tax rates. This position is viewed as the second most powerful government position, after the Prime Minister. George Osborne

The Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom. The main function of the Bank of England is to manage the rate of inflation by raising or lowering interest rates. When interest rates are lowered, citizens are incentivized to invest and spend more money, and inflation increases. When interest rates are raised, economic growth slows, and inflation decreases.

Welfare State The United Kingdom allocates roughly ⅔ of all government spending to public welfare programs.

Social Protection The largest portion of the United Kingdom’s budget (28%) is social protection. Approximately 40% of this money is devoted to state pensions, which is money given to people after they retire. Unlike in the United States, a person’s pension amount is not dependent on how much money they earn in their career. The rest of the money is allocated to various smaller programs, including, child tax credits, housing benefits, jobseekers allowance, and income support.

Healthcare and Education Healthcare: The National Health Service (NHS) provides free healthcare to all English citizens. This program is funded entirely by taxation. Both public and private healthcare is available, but the vast majority of people use public healthcare. Education: 93% of pre-college students in England go to free publicly-funded schools. Most college education is state-funded, but public universities can still charge a maximum tuition of $13,430 per year.

Examination of Governance and Policy-Making Process

How laws are made Laws/Policies are created in a multi-step process Begins with proposal for bill which is reviewed and added to Parliament schedule Bill is reviewed and amended by parliament until it is granted Royal Assent

How Britain is Governed The Gov. is run by a series of committees and agencies The Cabinet, Parliament - responsible for creating laws Civil Service, local gov., gov. departments

Examination of Representation and Political Participation

Form of Government Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The Parliament runs the country, the House of Commons and the House of Lords make up Parliament. Prime Minister runs the country. David Cameron is the current Prime Minister, elected in 2010.

Political Parties Labour Party Center-Left Current leader: Jeremy Corbyn Conservative Party Center-Right Current leader: David Cameron Liberal Democrats Center-Left Current leader: Tim Farron

Elections British general elections are exclusively for seats in the House of Commons. The prime minister is not directly elected as prime minister but as a member of Parliament (MP) from a single constituency (electoral district) The Queen invites the leader of the party that can control a majority in the Commons to become prime minister. Traditionally, Parliament had a maximum life of five years, with no fixed term. The 2010 coalition agreement proposed a fixed term of five years subject to dissolution by a 55 percent vote of members of Parliament (MPs).

Electoral System Election for representatives in the Commons is by a “first-past-the-post” principle in each constituency. In this single-member plurality system, the candidate who receives the most votes is elected.

Analysis of Politics in Transition

Britain and the European Union On January 1st 1973 Britain joined the European Union. Since then Britain’s relationship with the European Union has been rocky. Since the creation of the European Union majority of the countries in the EU have switched over to the Euro currency but Britain has not. On June people of Britain will vote on a EU membership referendum. The membership referendum also known as Brexit is being held to decide if the people of Britain want to stay in the EU or be independent.

Immigration Transitioning Britain Over the decades immigration to Britain has increased, which is shaping the makeup of the population and the political agenda. As of % of the population of Britain is foreign born. The influx of immigration has caused Britain to be more strict on immigration policies than other countries in the EU.

Transitioning Britain and United States Relations Great Britain and the United States share a strong relationship. Britain and the United States Relations is referred as Anglo-American. Since 1940 the United States and Great Britain have shared a special relationship which includes trading and being military allies. Today Britain’s relationship with the United States has transition to being closer. Britain considers the United States as being it’s most important bilateral partnership.

Britain’s Transitioning Relationship with Ireland During the 1960s violence broke out in Northern Ireland over the nationalist movement. This caused the relationship of the Republic of Ireland and Britain to be strained. The strained relationship continued to get worse during the 1970s and early 1980s because of the conflicts in Northern Ireland. It wasn’t until the Good Friday Agreement when relations improved. This agreement created a council to reach agreements political, security, legal matters, and cross border co-operation. Britain and Ireland today are two countries that have great similarities and have developed a great relationship with each other.

Works Cited United Kingdom National Archive. “2009 Pre-Budget Report”. Last modified International Monetary Fund. “World Economic Outlook Database”. Accessed March 26, Top Universities. “How Much Does it Cost to Study in the UK”. Last modified April 2, info/student-finance/how-much-does-it-cost-study-uk. United Kingdom Government. “The new State Pension”. Last modified March 10, Neighbours across the sea: A brief history of Anglo-Irish relations - BBC News. (2014, April 08). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from Neighbours across the sea: A brief history of Anglo-Irish relations - BBC News. (2014, April 08). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from Britain and the EU: A long and rocky relationship - BBC News. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from

Works Cited HM Treasury. “About Us”. Accessed March 26, United Kingdom Parliament. “Check and Approve Government Spending and Taxation”. Last modified Kesselman, Mark, Joel Krieger, and William A. Joseph. Introduction To Comparative Politics. Sixth ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Print.