Democratic Turbulence in the United Kingdom

Andrew Blick

Ahead of Publication Published by De Gruyter 2023

Democratic Turbulence in the United Kingdom

Andrew Blick

Volume 6 in the series Democracy in Times of Upheaval

Overview

About this book

Democratic Turbulence in the United Kingdom assesses the past, present and future of the democratic system of the United Kingdom (UK). The author has over a number of years considered democratic and constitutional development in the UK from a variety of perspectives. Drawing on this previous work, in this book Blick proposes a combined theory of the functioning of UK democracy.

He demonstrates the applicability of this theoretical framework by applying it to the period 2014 onwards. This timespan has seen pronounced turbulence for the UK as a state and for its system of governance. It commences with the Scottish independence referendum; is followed by the Brexit episode, centring on but not confined to the referendum of 2016; and then the coronavirus emergency of 2020 onwards.

These experiences – interacting with other tendencies such as the ‘hung’ Parliament of 2017–2019, tensions at the centre of government involving the Prime Minister, ministers and civil servants, disruption in the party system, and the arguable rise of populism of the Right and of the Left – have called into question many entrenched perceptions of the UK system, and even its viability as a state in its current form.

Deals with the combined democratic impact in the UK of Brexit and Coronavirus
Combines contemporary and historical analysis with discussion of the democratic future
Presents a unified theory of UK democracy and its development

Author information

Dr. Andrew Blick is Head of the Department of Political Economy, King’s College London, and Reader in Politics and Contemporary History. He has written numerous works on the UK constitution and democratic development. Before his academic career he worked in think tanks, the UK Parliament and No.10 Downing Street. He appears frequently on UK and international media, and gives evidence to parliamentary inquiries.

Topics

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars and students in Politics, History and Law; journalists, professionals working in politics, legal practitioners.
Pages
- Main content: 200
Keywords: United Kingdom; Brexit; democracy; populism; constitution; history; politics

eBook

Planned Publication: September 29, 2023
ISBN: 9783110735925

Hardcover

Planned Publication: September 29, 2023
ISBN: 9783110739350