Heywood - Essentials of UK Politics

ESSENTIALS OF UK POLITICS

Essentials of UK Politics

FOURTH EDITION

Andrew Heywood

Andrew Heywood 2008, 2011, 2015, 2017

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No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First edition 2008

Second edition 2011

Reprinted with slight changes in 2013

Third edition 2015

Fourth edition 2017

Published by PALGRAVE

Palgrave in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW.

Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN 9781137611444

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

For David, Anne, Daniel and Kelly

Brief Contents

Contents

List of Illustrative Material

UK POLITICS IN ACTION

DEBATING

MILESTONES

BY COMPARISON

KEY CONCEPT

KEY IDEAS

FOCUS ON

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

FIGURES

TABLES

MAPS

Using this Book

This textbook has been written specifically to meet the needs of students who are studying A and AS-Level Politics. It provides a lively, accessible and comprehensive introduction to the essentials of the subject and covers the key topics and themes on the Edexcel and AQA specifications.

THE AS/A-LEVEL SPECIFICATIONS

The new A-Level Politics specifications (for teaching from September 2017 onwards; first examined in 2018 (AS) and 2019 (A-Level)) are composed of three parts:

Government and Politics in the UK (this can also be studied as a stand-alone AS-Level)

Political Ideas (in the Edexcel specification, this is assessed in tandem with Government and Politics in the UK)

Either Global Politics or Government and Politics in the USA (although the AQA specification offers only the latter).

This book supports students who are studying Government and Politics in the UK, and fully covers the subject content of both the Edexcel and the AQA specifications (see below). In addition, it contains bridges to other parts of the A-Level specifications, notably the Key ideas features (which link to Political Ideas) and the By comparison features (which link to Government and Politics in the USA). To ensure that other parts of the A-Level specification are covered in appropriate depth and detail, the present volume has a companion volume Essentials of Political Ideas.

FEATURES OF THE BOOK

The book has a number of features that are designed to aid understanding and to support examination performance. (The boxed features are cross referenced throughout.)

Previews. These appear at the beginning of each chapter, and highlight the key issues that it addresses.

UK politics in action. These focus on a significant event or development from recent years that raises interesting questions about the topic being studied.

Milestones. These provide a timeline of the key dates in significant historical developments, with brief explanations of the events highlighted.

Key ideas boxes. These provide an account of the major political ideas and key ideological themes that define liberalism, conservatism and socialism, respectively.

Online support. The website associated with this book provides clickable and fully updated weblinks and a searchable glossary of all the on-page definitions. See www.palgravehighered.com/heywood-eukp-4e .

Differences between boxes. These highlight differences between terms and concepts that are sometimes confused.

Focus on boxes. These supplement information found in the main text by providing fuller or more detailed explanations of important political processes.

Key concepts boxes. These provide fuller explanations of significant political ideas and concepts.

On-page definitions. These provide single-sentence definitions of key terms at appropriate points in each chapter. (You can search for defined terms by looking for bold entries in the index. They also appear on the website; see Online support.)

By comparison boxes.