Great Britain Vs United Kingdom Vs England
( Composition)
UK - a sovereign state that includes
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland
Great Britain — an island situated off the
north west coast of Europe
British Isles — a collection of over 6,000
Island: of which Great Britain is the largest.
England – a country within UK.
OVERVIEW
1. Official Name: United Kingdom Great brain and Northern Ireland
UK: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Area: 0.244 million sq. km (India 3.2 m sq. -km): 1/13 of India
2. Demography: Population: 60 million (India 1300 m) same as Gujarat
Ethnic White British of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman origin
Religion: Christian- Majority Protestants
3. Political System: Multi-party Democracy; Parliamentary system
Member of G8, G20, NATO, Commonwealth
4. Geography: Island in Atlantic ocean, separated by English channel from
mainland Europe
5. Historical: Neolithic period Stonehenge, Roman Bath, Ancient universities
of Oxford and Cambridge
POLITICAL PHASES
11th to 17th Century:
•1066: Norman army of William
conqueror the Britain
•1215: Magna Carta- barons led
rebellion forced king John to sign
charter of demands and emerge as a
source of constitutional development.
•1536 Acts of Union- England and Wales unified
• 1707 Act of union- political unification of England, Wales and
Scotland
POLITICAL PHASES
Industrial Revolution (18th -19th Century)
•18th Century: Industrial Revolution helped
shape the development of the British state
and changed forever the British state and
changed forever the people’s way of life. It
also helped Industrial Colonization by
British Empire.
•19th Century: Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), confirmed Britain's
commercial, military, and geopolitical prominence and British empire
hegemonic power.
POLITICAL PHASES
16th- 17th Century
• Religious conflicts, national rivalries, and struggles between
rulers and Parliament
• 1688 - Glorious Revolution Constitutional Monarchy
• Supremacy of Parliament
• dominance of Church of England (Anglican Church) over
Roman Catholic Churches.
POLITICAL PHASES
1901- 1928
•Reform Act of 1832- extended the voting rights to a section
of the (male) middle class 5 % to 7%
•Representation of the People Act of 1918- voting rights to all
adult male but only female over age of 30 years
•In 1928 voting rights to all adult female over age of 21 years
and it was also reduced to age of 18 years of all men and
women.
POLITICAL PHASES
Interventionist state (World war periods)
Management of the economy and the provision of social
welfare for citizens- primary responsibilities of the state but it
contradicted the policy of laissez-faire.
Collectivist Consensus (Post WWI1-1945-1979)
Extended role of state in Economic Governance and social
welfare or welfare state
Neo-Liberal phase:
Thatcher era- State retreating from direct economic
management- Steering rather than rowing
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Unitary state in which some power is devolved to national
govt. of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Island
Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary form of Govt.
Executives:
Prime Minister and his cabinet and PM is the leader of
majority party in House of Commons. Some executive power
is devolved to govt. of Scotland, Wales, Northern Island,
Greater London authority
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Legislature:
•British Parliament: House of Lords (793 members mostly
appointed, Tenure varies; House of Commons (650 members
directly elected for maximum 5 years)
• National Legislature: Scottish Parliament, the National
Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the
London Assembly
• Local Government: Council: directly elected councillors and
headed by mayor
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Judiciary:
•218 county courts for small cases and the High Court and
Highest court of appeal is now Supreme court of UK (previously
House of Lords Appellate Committee)
•Judicial system of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Island vary
•No codified low: Common Law are part of convention and
unwritten constitution
Election system:
First past the Post; multiparty system but actually two plus one-
party system: Conservative and labour party and Liberal party
POLITICAL
Party System
SYSTEM
Two main parties- Conservative and Labour; third one is Liberal democrats
Before 1850: Whigs and the Tories
Whigs: aristocratic dynasties committed to the Protestant, emerging
capitalist lass
Tories: landed class, the Church of England and Scotland.
After 1850 Tories developed into Conservative and Whigs as Liberal
party
1920s: Labour party emerged - labour movement, organized trades unions
and various socialist societies.
Conservative: centre-right; Liberal: Centrist; Labour: Centre left
Nationalist parties: Scottish National Party, Democratic Unionist Party,
Sinn fein (Ireland) and Plaid Cymru (Wales)
Constitutional Convention in UK
There is no written constitution and
codified law and an informal and
uncodified procedural agreement
that is followed by the institutions
of the state. Conventions
constitute ‘the understandings,
habits or practices’ that regulate
the conduct of the several
members of the sovereign power,
of the Ministry or other officials’.
British Political culture
1.Celebrates democracy’s continuity, gradualism, Constitutionalism,
consensus, and tolerance.
2.Important role of conventions/traditions in socio-political sphere
3.Monarchy is symbol for unity, tradition, and continuity
4.More secular politics than most other countries in Western Europe
and party loyalties are divided only by class and not by religion.
5.Strong sense of Sovereignty, nationality, and exclusiveness from
mainland Europe
6.Preference for important role of state in management of the
economy Welfare state but check on government's power
7. Model of representative Democracy
ECONOMY OF UK
• GDP : 3.198 trillion USD; ranks 6th in the world in terms of
nominal GDP
• Currency: Pound Sterling
• Country group: Developed
According to 2022 data
• Exports : 742 USD
• Imports : 752 USD
• Trade Deficit: 10 USD
Trade Organisations: WTO and OECD
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF BRITAIN
(i)Before World War II
• Mediaeval period: feudal society
and agrarian economy
• 15th -16th century: Evolution of
large scale commercial farming-
evolution of capitalist agrarian
economy
• 17th century: Mercantile
capitalism: monopoly trading
companies – colonization
• 18-19th century: Industrial Revolution: Export oriented large scale
industrialisation – textile, steel, industrial colonization
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF BRITAIN
(ii)Collective consensus Era (1945-1970s)
• Post world war II till 1970s
• Golden period: political consensus for interventionist and
welfare state
• Nationalization of key sectors- telecom, utility, airlines, oil/gas
• Social peace and harmony, strong sense of patriotism and
nation building
• Approach: Keynesian demand management
• But by 1970s economic slowdown, high inflation,
unemployment, labour strike broket the consensus - winter of
discontent : 1978-97; finally ended the golden era
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF BRITAIN
(iii)Thatcher Era:Neo liberalism -free market economy (1979-1997)
• Prime minister -Margaret Thatcher: Influenced by Neo liberal
doctrine of Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman
• Rejection of Keynesianism
• Monetary and strict fiscal policy: controlled money supply, tax
reforms, containing fiscal deficit and public debt
• Minimal intervention of state in market economy
• Privatisation of state owned companies – British telecom,
British Airways etc
• Successes: Impressive GDP growth, Lower Inflation,
But it was seen that the gap between the rich and the poor
increased drastically
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF BRITAIN
(iv)New Labour Era : The third way (1997-2010)
• The Labour Party having traditionally socialist agendas, brought significant
changes under leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
• New Labour projected itself as alternative to both thatcherite monetarism
and traditional Keynesianism
• Attempted to combine best of both socialism and capitalism -mixed
economy
• Human resource development, education, health, skill enhancement and
training to the lower sections to take benefit of market economy
• Accepted and enhanced globalisation; strict control of inflation, pro –
business and pro investment economic environment.
• Inclusive “stakeholder” economy in which business had the mobility to
compete and workers participated effectively in global labour market.
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF BRITAIN
(v) Coalition Era and Brexit (2010-1019)
• It was for the first time in 2010 when conservative and liberal party
together formed a coalition government in Britain
• They adopted many economic policies but there wasn’t any
coherence.
• Brexit era: political economic turmoil and discussion on whether UK
should remain with European Union
• Many political parties were formed like Brexit party, United
Kingdom Independent (UKI) Party etc.
Current Situation
Impact of COVID-19 in Britain’s political economy:
• Vulnerable social groups were particularly affected and poverty increased as jobs were lost
• 2019-2020 Reforms :
-From August 2020 , the government has been extending funds for adults to take basic digital skills
-The government allocated GBP 88 billion for roads, railways, schools, hospitals and accelerated
some public investment plans in response of COVID -19 crisis
• The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 and left the single market on 31 December 2020.
• Initiatives linked to COVID-19 response and the government plans to level up regions outside the
prosperous South East England; government started addressing some long term challenges.
Economic Crises in UK in 2022
• In September 2022 Liz Truz was appointed as the Prime Minister of UK. To tackle the ongoing cost
of living crisis and energy price guarantee she adopted several policies which pushed UK into huge
economic crises – criticisms from masses
-Resignation in October 2022
• Rishi Sunak succeeded her as Prime Minister
OVERVIEW
OFFICIAL NAME: People's republic of china .
AREA: 9.59 MILLION Sq.m (3rd LARGEST)
POLITICAL SYSTEM: unitary marxist-leninst
one party socialist republic
ECONOMY: GDP ( nominal)-ABOUT 18.3 TRILLION
USD (2nd LARGEST),
MEMBER OF sco, nam, g20, asean
population: 1.4 Billion (2022 estimates)
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
1911 Revolution led by Sun Yat-sen overthrows 2000 year old imperial
system and establishes the Republic of China
1912 Sun Yat-sen founds the Nationalist Party to oppose warlords who have
seized power in the new republic
1921 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is founded.
Civil war between Nationalists (now led by Chiang Kai-shek) and
1927 Communists begins
1934 Mao Zeodong becomes the leader of the CCP.
1937 Japan invades Chins, marking the start of World War II in Asia
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
1949 Chinese communists win the civil war and establish the People's
Republic of China
1958-1960 Great Leap forward: a utopian effort to accelerate economic
development by relying on labour power and revolutionary
enthusiasm of masses. Propelled China into true
communism. Proved catastrophic.
1966-1976 The Great Proletarian Revolution
1976 Mao Zedong dies
1978 Deng Xiaoping becomes China's most powerful leader and launches
the nation towards rapid economic growth.
1980 Tiananmen massacre
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
1997 Deng Xiaoping dies; Jiang Zemin becomes China's top leader
2002-2003 Hu Jintao succeeds Jiang as head of the CCP and president of
the People's Republic of China; re-elected to those positions in
2007-2008
2013 onwards Xi Jinping succeeds as the premier
POLITICAL ORGANISATION
Political System: Communist party-state; officially, a socialist state
under the people's democratic dictatorship.
Regime History: Established in 1949 after the victory of the Chinese
Communist Party in the Chinese civil war
Administrative structure: Unitary system with twenty-two provinces,
five autonomous regions, four centrally administrated municipalities,
and two Special Administrative Regions- Hong Kong and Macao
Executive: Premier (Head of government) and President (Head of
state) formally elected by legislature, buy only with the approval of
CCP; the head of the CCP, the general secretary, in in effect the
country's chief exeutive, and usually serves concurrently as the
President of PRC.
POLITICAL ORGANISATION
Legislature: Unicameral National People's Congress; about 3000
delegates elected indirectly from lower-level people's congress for
five-year terms. Largely a rubber-stamp body for Communist Party
policies, although in recent years has become somewhat more
assertive.
Judiciary: A nationwide system of people's courts, which is
constitutionally independent but, in fact, largely under the control of
the CCP; a Supreme People's Court supervises the country's judicial
system and is formally responsible to the National People's
Congress, which also elects the courts President.
Party System: One party system, although in addition to the ruling
CCP, there are eight politically insignificant 'democratic' parties.
CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
1949-1954:
•No written constitution
•Relied upon Mao’s leadership
1954-1975:
•First written constitution in Sep 1954
•106 Articles
•Influenced by soviet union and eastern European people’s democracies
•Unitary system of government
•overthrow colonialism, feudalism and capitalism
•No constitutional recognition of CCP
•Life span of 20 years (emergence of cultural revolution)
CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
1975-1978:
•Second constitution in Jan 1975
•30 Articles, 4 Chapters
•Dictatorship of the proletariat
•Short life of three years (power struggle after death of Mao)
1978-1982:
•60 Articles
•Constitutional status to CCP
•Advocated economic liberalization
•Extended fundamental rights
CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
1982 Onwards:
•Rise of Deng Xiaoping in Chinese
politics
•Fourth constitution on Dec 4, 1982
•138 Articles, 6 chapters
•Recognized Liberalisation,
Decentralisation, Modernisation and
market socialism
•Amended five times till today
CURRENT CONSTITUTION
The constitution Of the republic of China is the fifth and current Lo
constitution of Ta Republic of China (RoC), ratified by the
kuomintang .
During the constituent National Assembly session on 25 December
1946, in nanjing and adopted on 25 December 1947
•The Chinese political system is Authoritarian.
•There are no freely elected national leaders, political opposition is
surppressed .
•All religious activity is controlled by the CCP.
•Elections in china occur under a single - party Authoritarian political
system.
CURRENT CONSTITUTION
The constitution Of the republic of China is the fifth and current Lo
constitution of Ta Republic of China (RoC), ratified by the
kuomintang .
During the constituent National Assembly session on 25 December
1946, in nanjing and adopted on 25 December 1947
•The Chinese political system is Authoritarian.
•There are no freely elected national leaders, political opposition is
surppressed .
•All religious activity is controlled by the CCP.
•Elections in china occur under a single - party Authoritarian political
system.
POLITICAL ECONOMY
Very divergent economic policies since 1949: Soviet-style planning
system in the early 1950s, the radical egalitarianism of the Maoist
model, and market-oriented policies implemented by Deng Xiaoping.
1949-78: State Socialism guided by Maoist ideology
Command Economy: state owns or controls most economic
resources, and economic activity is driven by government
planning and commands rather than by market forces.
First Five-Year Plan of 1953-1957
Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) and the Cultural Revolution
(1966-1976): Less bureaucratic and more egalitarian developmental
model.
POLITICAL ECONOMY
Agriculture First," 1961-65 : 2nd light Industry, 3rd heavy
industry
• Four Modernizations of Premier Zhou Enlai: agriculture,
industry, defense, and science and technology
• Closed Economy-trade less than 10% of GDP
• by 1977 China was lagging behind Japan, Taiwan, and Hongkong
and people faced insufficient food supplies, rationed
clothing, inadequate housing, and inadequate and inefficient
service sector
POLITICAL ECONOMY
Since 1978: Open door Policy, reform of the economic system
and opening to foreign trade, free market Socialism
Implementation of Four Modernizations
Policy shift: developing the productive forces of Chinese
people and economy to have overwhelming abundance of
material wealth.
More authority to Enterprise managers at the expense of
party officials, Differential Wage System, increased foreign
trade, Educational research, Foreign exchange program
POLITICAL ECONOMY
• Agriculture : contract responsibility system of production; free
farmers' markets in urban areas; specialized
households
• special economic zones; promoting Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI)
• Private entrepreneurship and free-market activities were
legalized
• ambitious ten-year plan for the 1976-85: Large construction
projects, super high growth of Agriculture & Industry
OVERVIEW
OFFICIAL NAME: FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL .
AREA: 8.5 MILLION Sq.m (5TH LARGEST)
POLITICAL SYSTEM: MULTIPARTY DEMOCRACY,
PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM
ECONOMY: GDP-ABOUT 2 TRILLION USD (9TH
LARGEST), EXPORT BASED ECONOMY
MEMBER OF G20, BRICS, MERCOSUR, FTAA
CULTURE: WORLD FAMOUS FOR ITS FOOTBALL,
CARNIVAL, SAMBA DANCE AND MUSIC, AMAZON
BASIC
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
1500 TO 1822: COLONY OF PORTUGAL : PEDRO ALVARES CABRAL DISCOVERES AND WON IT FOR PORTUGAL .
1822-88 : CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY
OLD REPUBLIC (1889-1930) : 1ST REPUBLIC ; 1891 : A NEW CONSTITUTION ESTABLISHED A DIRECTLY
ELECTED PRESIDENT
NEW STATE(VARGAS ERA): 1930-45 : 2ND AND 3RD REPUBLIC : AUTHORITARIAN CORPORATIST REGIME,
NATIONALISM , POPULISM,SOCIAL WELFARE, CENTRALISATION, INDUSTRIALISATION
POPULIST AND FRAGILE DEMOCRATIC PERIOD(1946-64): 4TH REPUBLIC : EXPANSION OF DEMOCRACY
MILITARY DICTATORSHIP(1964-1985) : 5TH REPUBLIC ; BUREAUCRATIC AUTHORITARIANISM , STATE LED
DEVELOPMENT,
NEW REPUBLIC (SINCE 1986): 6TH REPUBLIC : A NEW CONSTITUTION GRANT NEW SOCIAL AND POLITICAL
RIGHTS .
1990-92 :Fernando collar de mello (president) he started
implementing the neo liberal model of development .
1995-2005 : pernando henreque cordoro (president) he
launched the ‘real plan’ to tacle the inflation problem
2003-2010: president luiz inacio lula da silva , zero hunger
program, family allowance program , continue case benefit
program
2010-2016 : president dilma rousseff launched social programs
2016-2019 : president Michel jemes initiated series of
privatization and liberalisation
2019-2022 : president jair bolsonaro implemented same
neoliberal economic policies but with conservative social ideas
DEPENDENCY THEORY
MAIN PROPONENTS OF DEPENDENCY THEORY ARE PREBISCH,SINGER,PAUL
BARAN,PAUL SWEEZY,C. FURTADO,GUNNAR MYRDAL,A GUNDER FRANK ,
GIRVAN AND BILL WARREN
According to raul prebisch dependency inform us about ‘relation
between centres (industrialised capitalist states lie the USA )and the
periphery (developing state of the third world)’
Dependency theorist argue that the latin American states are
underdeveloped not because of their domestic factor but because of
the structure of the world economy.
DEPENDENT DEVLOPMENT
DEPENDENT DEVELOPMENT
IS ANOTHER RELATED
CONCEPT USED TO EXPLAIN
THE PROCESS OF
DEVELOPMENT IN BRAZIL
AND LATIN AMERICA .
PETER EVANS ARGUE THAT DEPEDENT DEVELOPMENT
IS A “SPECIAL INSTANCE OF DENDENCY”: IF
DEPENDENCY IS USED TO EXPLAIN THE POSITION OF
WEAK STATES OF THE PERIPHERY , THE DEPENDENT
DEVELOPMENT IS USED FOR SEMI PERIPHERY STATE
LIE BRAZIL AND MEXICO. .
CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
uThroughout the twenty years in 2008 that the 1988 Constitution has been in force, a total of 62
constitutional amendments were passed, six during the aforementioned revision process (1993-1994) –
Constitutional Revision Amendments– and another 56 as common Constitutional Amendments. Of the
latter, 35 were approved during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso government (between the years of 1995
and 2002) and 17 during the Lula government. They were, mostly, proposals by initiative of the Executive
Branch, focusing predominantly on matters that composed a typical government agenda, yet not
necessarily constitutional, in the most rigorous sense the expression may
Brazil’s politics like other developing countries, has always been POLITICAL AND
shaped by the pursuit of economic and social development.
Globalization has made the Brazilian economy highly dependent on the
ECONOMIC
country’s strategic position in world markets. DEVELOPMENT
Moved from import substitution to
market oriented reforms
Brazil in global economy
►Brazil rejected the reforms preposed by
the international monetary fund(IMF)
►Brazil’s commitment to the international
free trade system will likely expand with the
continued importance of its export sector.
Welfare system and agrarian reforms
►Welfare and education expenditures constitute
about 11% of the GDP
►THE LULA administration focused even more on
social reforms.
►Government passed a social security reform
that raised the minimum retirement age , placed
stricter limit on benefit ceiling, reduced survivor
benefit and taxed pention and benefit.
Recent Development and Ongoing
Reform Initiatives
Brazil has gotten involved internationally is through joining many
organization such as BRICS , G-15,G-20,G-5,G-77INTERNATIONAL GROUPS.
Brazil reformed its insolvency law in 2005.
It resulted in credit expansion and business investment growth ,
especially in high productivity firms .
An education reform was passed in 2016.
A new immigration law was passed in 2017
A labour mar et reform has removed obstacles to stronger
formal employment growth.
OVERVIEW
Official name : federal republic of nigeria
Area : 0.92 million sq.km (India 3.2 m sq-km )
:1/3rd of India
Demography: population : 200 million ( india
1300 m ) 7th largest
Ethnic division: North: Hausa and fulani 29%,
south east : Igbo ( Ibo) 18.0%, south west
yoruba21.0%
Religion: Christian -50% muslim :50%
OVERVIEW
Political system: Multi- party Democracy ;
presidential system
Economy:
GDP : about 400 billion USD ( india about 3 T
USD) : largest in Africa
Oil export base Economy : 90%oil & gas ;
other ; cocoa, rubber
Member of African union (AU)
Geography : sub Saharan Africa, Chad lake ,
Niger delta , zuma
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
1900 to 1960 colony of Britain : unification of northern & southern
protectorates as state of Nigeria in 1914
1960-66: independence , new constitution in 1963 , parliamentary
democracy 1st republic
Military rule and civil war (1966-1979)
1966-69 : civil war between Nigerian state and biafra
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
2 nd republic ( 1979-83): return to democracy ,new constitution 1978:
presidential form
2nd period of military rule and aborted 3rd republic ( 1983-1999)
4th republic ( 1999- till date ) : return to democracy ; new
constitution of 1999
Peaceful election held every 4 years
Muhammadu buhari returned to power again in 2019 election
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Federal republic 36 state, 1 federal district, 774 local government
Unitary federalism
Executive: federal state - president, State - governor, local government
areas: chairman of local government council
Legislature: State's: unicameral: state legislative assembly
Judiciary: Federal, state and local court system, headed by federal court
of Appeals and the supreme court
Election system: First past the post, party based on ethnicity
MILITARY RULE
Military rule: features
2 nd period : 1966- 1979 and 1983-1999 total 29 year out of its 59 years
of independence
People, by and large , accepted military rule which was not tyrannical
Military president ruled with the help of expanded collegial
institutions
Military rule left nigeria with strong authoritarian influences in its
political culture
POLITICAL ECONOMY
* Oil based export economy
* Ill- managed industrial and infrastructural expansion
*Low investment ,low capacity utilisation, overregulation
* State is supreme in the nigerian economy
* Huge debt despite trade surplus
* Large informal economy
* Top down policy making
