POLS 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Parliament Act 1911, John Boehner, David Souter
26 Aug 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Political Science 102
October 14th, 2015
Class 15
1
United States Continued
1. Judiciary cont. from last class
a. Former Justice David Souter was appointed by President George H.W. Bush and
became one of the court’s liberals
2. American Bureaucracy
a. Capable (selected by civil service exams), but largely less respected than civil
servants overseas
i. British civil servants are better compensated and have more societal
respect
ii. Bureaucrats in US thought of as paper pushers
b. Held in check by the control of their funding from Congress
i. Short budget cycles can delay or prevent long term projections
ii. This is why agencies are prompt to help with requests from Congressmen
c. Suffer from vague directions from Congress and the President
i. Contradictory expectations from different branches of government
3. Political parties
a. Public has less identification with political parties
i. Hurts voter turnout
b. US parties are less disciplined and less likely to harm those that defy their wishes
i. John Boehner has shown willingness to strip of committee titles to those
who don’t follow but usually doesn’t happen
ii. Overseas more cutthroat- get kicked out of party
c. Lots of access to politicians – lobbying, befriend staffers, reporting and self-
regulation
i. Nature of retail politics
ii. Remember Congressmen Duncan having big BBQ
iii. Not very difficult to engage with political figures in state and national
level
Great Britain: Incremental Change
1. Basics
a. Full name is United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
b. The Island of Great Britain is composed of Scotland, Wales, and England
c. Studied as a model of democratic stability used in many other countries
i. Because of colonization
d. No fixed constitution, just 300 years of Acts of Parliament
i. Form the foundation for the British system
ii. Slow change
2. History
a. 1688- Established Parliamentary Dominance, kicked out the sitting king and
invited in William and Mary
b. For a long time there was roughly equality between the House of Commons and
the House of Lords
i. House of Commons was elected by the “people” but voting was tightly
controlled until 1832 (Had to have land, wealth ---- HUGE CLASS
DIVISIONS!)
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