Westminster as Usual? Three Interpretations for the UK Democracy

• Published in: Government and opposition (London) 2022-07, Vol.57 (3), p.552-568
• Main Author: Giuliani, Marco
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coalition governments; Democracy; EU membership; Exceptionalism; Exceptions; Innovations; Johnson, Boris; Legislatures; Parliaments; Partisanship; Political systems; Politics; Prime ministers; Reality; Rebellions; Resignations
• ISSN: 0017-257X; 1477-7053
• DOI: 10.1017/gov.2021.20

The Brexit process has shattered the foundations of British politics, with prime ministerial resignations, government defeats, continuous rebellions and floor-crossings. These phenomena seem at odds with the usual decisiveness of Westminster systems. However, the aforementioned departures from the British tradition could be interpreted as compatible with the typical distance of any empirical reality from theoretical models, as exceptions to the rule due to the specificity of the European issue, or as the surfacing of some deeper social, economic and cultural tensions. Data alone are insufficient to confirm any of the alternative interpretations, although they seem to confirm the existence of long-term dynamics rather than some short-term exceptionalism. Within this scenario, the article suggests that a series of institutional innovations introduced since the late 1990s have facilitated the political consolidation of those tensions, contributed to the partisan dealignment, and made room for a potential departure from a Westminster model of democracy.