Part III
BRITISH GOVERNMENT:
WESTMINSTER AND WHITEHALL
Part II of this book was concerned with the
political process. Part III shifts the focus to the
process and institutions of government. We have
chosen to begin with the traditional heart of
British government in Westminster and
Whitehall. At one time this would have needed
no defence, as that was almost all that seemed to
matter, apart from a strictly subordinate local
government system. UK membership of the
European Union, and more recently devolution
within Britain, mean this is now no longer the
case. The contrasted pressures of globalization,
and for delegation and decentralisation, have
combined to create a fast-developing system of
multi-level governance within and alongside the
old British centralised state. New institutions
imply new values and assumptions which
challenge some of the most fundamental values
associated with the old British constitution.
However, traditional institutions and principles
have not been rejected and replaced, but continue
to coexist, somewhat awkwardly, with the new.
Some of the consequent tensions and
contradictions at the heart of British government
remain unresolved. To describe and explain British
government now is to try to hit a moving target,
for the likely end-result of this constitutional
revolution is still far from clear.
We therefore focus in Part III on the traditional
centre of the British governmental system in
Whitehall and Westminster, while fully
acknowledging the extensive implications of
internal reforms and external pressures on long-
established features and principles of British
government at the centre. The emerging new
world of multi-level governance, involving a more
complex and contentious state, is left for a closer
examination and analysis in Part IV.
Chapter 11 begins with the key features and
principles of Britain’s unwritten (or more
accurately uncodified) constitution, but goes on to
question how far these remain valid in the face of
on-going reform. Chapter 12 focuses on what is
often now rather awkwardly described as the ‘core
executive in Britain’ (Smith, 1999): the prime
minister and Cabinet system, with senior civil
servants and advisers. There are old questions here
about prime ministerial power, but also about the
capacity of the core executive (however defined)
for effective action. Chapter 13 switches to the
great departments of state, arguments about
relations between elected ministers and civil
servants, and the impact of management reforms
on traditional civil service values. Chapter 14 is
devoted to Parliament and the legislative process.
The functions and effectiveness of the House of
Commons and the on-going reform of the Upper
House are discussed fully, as are the implications
for the Westminster Parliament of other
parliaments and assembles – in Strasbourg,
Edinburgh, Cardiff and Stormont. Finally, Chapter
15 looks at the law and the judicial process, and
the sometimes awkward relations between judges
and politicians, along with a discussion of rights
and the redress of citizen grievances. The chapter
ends with a brief analysis of the implications of
the 1999 Human Rights Act.