Current Debates in British Politics and on the Constitution

Sylabus

JMMZ217 Current Debates in British Politics and on the Constitution

(British Politics, Brexit, and the UK Constitution)

Winter Term 2018  

Instructors: Iain McLean and Scot Peterson, Department of Politics & International Relations, Oxford University. Course assistant at Charles University: Jan Váška ([e-mail]).  

Requirements:

(exam, 6 ECTS) 1. Full attendance record (exceptions need to be discussed in advance with the instructors or the course assistant), active participation in seminars (20 per cent of final mark) 2. Final essay on topic assigned by instructors. Length 2000 words (+/- 10 per cent). Citations required (recommended standard ISO 690-2). To be sent to Jan Váška by 28 January 2019 (24:00). Essays should be submitted in Word, RTF of PDF format (80 per cent of final mark).    

Classification:   91 – 100 %       A – Excellent. The student has shown excellent performance, originality and displayed an exceptional grasp of the subject.   81 – 90 %          B – Very Good. The student understands the subject well and has shown some originality of thought. Above the average performance, but with some errors.   71 – 80 %         C – Good. Generally sound work with a number of notable errors.   61 – 70%           D – Satisfactory. The student has shown some understanding of the subject matter, but has not succeeded in translating this understanding into consistently original work. Overall good performance with a number of significant errors.   51 – 60 %          E - Sufficient. Acceptable performance with significant drawbacks. Performance meets the minimum requirements.   0 – 50 %             F – Fail. The student has not succeeded in mastering the subject matter of the course.    

Programme:  

All classes are held in Room STAN317 (Staroměstské náměstí 4/1, for instructions how to get the the location see https://mapy.cz/zakladni?x=14.4206289&y=50.0869211&z=18&source=addr&id=9108273&q=starom%C4%9Bstsk%C3%A9%20n%C3%A1m%C4%9Bst%C3%AD%204%2F1 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTan0k0yzSA&feature=youtu.be)  

Lecture 1 (IM). Monday 22 October, 10:00-12:00

Two elections, one referendum, and the possible break-up of the United Kingdom  

Lecture 2 (IM). Monday 22 October, 14:00-15:45

More detailed analysis: Brexit and the Irish border  

Lecture 3 (IM). Tuesday 23 October, 10:00-12:00

Federalism in the UK: Brexit and Scotland  

Lecture 4 (IM). Tuesday 23 October, 1400-15:45

Picking up the pieces in England and Wales  

Lecture 5 (SP). Monday 19 November, 10:00-12:00

Internal Structures of the UK Government: Executive, Parliament and the Courts

A.      The Cabinet System: How Decisions Are Made?

B.      Legislation: Statutes and Statutory Instruments Implementing Brexit

C.      Judicial Power: Miller and Beyond  

Lecture 6 (SP). Monday 19 November, 14:00-15:45

The British Party System: Theory and Practice

A.      Strong Parties?

B.      Internal Governance and Leadership Elections

C.      National and Devolved Parties  

Lecture 7 (SP). Tuesday 20 November, 10:00-12:00

Multiple Choice: How Decisions Are Made

A.      Electoral Systems

B.      Referendums

C.      A People’s Vote or a General Election: Impacts and Implications  

Lecture 8 (SP). Tuesday 20 November, 14:00-15:45

Conclusions and General Discussion of Recent Developments

A.      How Will This All End? Norway (EEA)? Switzerland (EFTA)? Canada (FTA)?

B.      What Changes Might Brexit Make to UK governance?  

Reading list for lectures 1-4: books

•       I. McLean, M. Kenny and A. Paun ed. Governing England Oxford University Press for hte British Academy 2018 [proof copies]

•       I. McLean, chapter in M. Keating ed., Handbook of Scottish Politics [Word document]

•       I. McLean, J. Gallagher, and G. Lodge, Scotland’s Choices 2nd ed 2014. Edinburgh University Press.

•       R. Ford and M. Goodwin, Revolt on the right: explaining support for the radical right in Britain Routledge 2014

•       I. McLean What’s wrong with the British Constitution? Oxford University Press 2012

•       P. Lynch, SNP: the history of the Scottish National Party 2nd ed. 2013 Cardiff: Welsh Academic Press.

•       R. Hazell, Constitutional futures revisited. Basingstoke: Palgrave 2008.

•       R. Hazell, The English Question. Manchester University Press, 2006.

•       A. Jackson, The two unions: Ireland, Scotland, and the survival of the United Kingdom, 1707-2007. Oxford University Press, 2013  

Reading list for lectures 1-4: government and parliamentary  sources https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-governments-preparations-for-a-no-deal-scenario UK government papers on preparing for Brexit with no deal                 https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/exiting-the-european-union-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/department-sectoral-analyses-17-19/publications/ Landing page for the UK government’s 39 sectoral assessments, relucantly provided to a parliamentary committee. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/en/brexitpublic/brexitstudies.html the European Parliament’s Brexit impact paper https://www.sustainablegrowthcommission.scot/report/ The governing Scottish National Party’s growth commission  

Other online sources

•       http://ggcpp.nuff.ox.ac.uk/index.php/working-papers/  Papers by IM and Jim Gallagher on Brexit problems for Ireland and Scotland.

•       http://constitution-unit.com/. Blogs on UK constitutional affairs

•       http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/

•       https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/. Blogs on politics from our Oxford department.

•       Scottish Government, Scotland’s Future: your guide to an independent Scotland (downloadable from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/resource/0043/00439021.pdf)

•       British Academy and Royal Society of Edinburgh, Enlightening the Constitutional Debate. (2014).  Free to download from http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/events/reports/2013-2014/The%20Book.pdf