Elective Dictatorship in UK: Issues and Negative Impacts
Added on 2023-06-10
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Running head: PUBLIC LAW
PUBLIC LAW
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PUBLIC LAW
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Name of the university
Author note
1PUBLIC LAW
What is elective dictatorship?
The phrase elective dictatorship is a term that has been developed by Lord Hailsham,
an ex Lord Chancellor of United Kingdom. He has coined the term in the year 1976 while
describing the doctrine of Giuseppe Garibaldi. According to him, parliament has become a
shadow of the government and current government has dominated the parliament in every
sphere of their works. This process has been regarded as electorate dictatorship1.
According to the structure, UK has three-tier parliamentary system such as House of
Lords, House of Commons and the Monarch. When a bill has gone to the parliament for
assent, both the Houses should support it and the final consent of the Monarch is necessary.
However, the powers of the houses are not equal and the consent of the monarch has become
a formality. The Monarch has lost its power to reject a bill since 1708 and the Parliament Act
of 1911 and 1949 has suspended the equal power of the House of Lords. According to this
Act, if any collision has been observed regarding a bill between the two houses, the House of
Common has the power to accept the bill and send it to the Monarch, where the monarch is
compelled to give their consent. In this process, the assent of the House of Lords is not
necessary. Further, almost majority of the Member of Parliaments in Commons are the
representative of the government. Therefore, it can indirectly be stated that government
drives the core processes of the parliament. This term has been known as electorate
dictatorship2.
1 Albertus, Michael, and Victor Gay. "Unlikely Democrats: Economic Elite Uncertainty under Dictatorship and
Support for Democratization." American Journal of Political Science 61.3 (2017): 624-641.
2 Higashijima, Masaaki, and Eric CC Chang. "The Choice of Electoral Systems in Dictatorships." Manuscript,
Version 5 (2016).
What is elective dictatorship?
The phrase elective dictatorship is a term that has been developed by Lord Hailsham,
an ex Lord Chancellor of United Kingdom. He has coined the term in the year 1976 while
describing the doctrine of Giuseppe Garibaldi. According to him, parliament has become a
shadow of the government and current government has dominated the parliament in every
sphere of their works. This process has been regarded as electorate dictatorship1.
According to the structure, UK has three-tier parliamentary system such as House of
Lords, House of Commons and the Monarch. When a bill has gone to the parliament for
assent, both the Houses should support it and the final consent of the Monarch is necessary.
However, the powers of the houses are not equal and the consent of the monarch has become
a formality. The Monarch has lost its power to reject a bill since 1708 and the Parliament Act
of 1911 and 1949 has suspended the equal power of the House of Lords. According to this
Act, if any collision has been observed regarding a bill between the two houses, the House of
Common has the power to accept the bill and send it to the Monarch, where the monarch is
compelled to give their consent. In this process, the assent of the House of Lords is not
necessary. Further, almost majority of the Member of Parliaments in Commons are the
representative of the government. Therefore, it can indirectly be stated that government
drives the core processes of the parliament. This term has been known as electorate
dictatorship2.
1 Albertus, Michael, and Victor Gay. "Unlikely Democrats: Economic Elite Uncertainty under Dictatorship and
Support for Democratization." American Journal of Political Science 61.3 (2017): 624-641.
2 Higashijima, Masaaki, and Eric CC Chang. "The Choice of Electoral Systems in Dictatorships." Manuscript,
Version 5 (2016).
2PUBLIC LAW
Issues relating to elective dictatorship:
The term elective dictatorship has become a burning topic in the countries like UK. In
modern era, most of the countries are democratic in nature and according to the structure of
democracy; it has been observed that people are the main resources. They elected the
representative for handling the administrative works and those administrative are act for the
best interest of the citizen3. They can pass or amend the bill for the development of the public
policy and maintain the entire statutory obligation regarding the matter. However, in United
Kingdom, a different approach can be observed. According to the government system of the
country, Monarch has the supreme power. However, there are certain problems and criticisms
observed regarding the political transmission of UK. The first problem is based on the
parliamentary supremacy and absence of separation of power. The high rise of parliamentary
supremacy has given birth of the notion relating to the present topic, i.e. elective dictatorship.
In this system, House of Commons is positioned in the supreme power for passing the bills.
The role of the other house and the monarch is minimal in nature and the interference of the
government in the sections like administrative, legislative and judiciary is quite critical in
United Kingdom4. All these features are against the democratic nature and therefore, certain
political problems have been cropped up. It has been observed that the current government is
enjoying the rights to pass any bill they want because of the parliamentary system.
According to the parliamentary system related to the passing a bill, it can be stated
that consent of the monarch is just a formality5. Further, due to the implementation of the
Parliamentary Act 1949, the House of Lords has been suppressed by the House of Commons
3 Schedler, Andreas. "Electoral authoritarianism." Emerging trends in the social and behavioral sciences: An
interdisciplinary, searchable, and linkable resource (2015): 1-16.
4 Roberts, Tyson L. "The durability of presidential and parliament-based dictatorships." Comparative Political
Studies48.7 (2015): 915-948.
5 Schedler, Andreas. "Electoral authoritarianism." Emerging trends in the social and behavioral sciences: An
interdisciplinary, searchable, and linkable resource (2015): 1-16.
Issues relating to elective dictatorship:
The term elective dictatorship has become a burning topic in the countries like UK. In
modern era, most of the countries are democratic in nature and according to the structure of
democracy; it has been observed that people are the main resources. They elected the
representative for handling the administrative works and those administrative are act for the
best interest of the citizen3. They can pass or amend the bill for the development of the public
policy and maintain the entire statutory obligation regarding the matter. However, in United
Kingdom, a different approach can be observed. According to the government system of the
country, Monarch has the supreme power. However, there are certain problems and criticisms
observed regarding the political transmission of UK. The first problem is based on the
parliamentary supremacy and absence of separation of power. The high rise of parliamentary
supremacy has given birth of the notion relating to the present topic, i.e. elective dictatorship.
In this system, House of Commons is positioned in the supreme power for passing the bills.
The role of the other house and the monarch is minimal in nature and the interference of the
government in the sections like administrative, legislative and judiciary is quite critical in
United Kingdom4. All these features are against the democratic nature and therefore, certain
political problems have been cropped up. It has been observed that the current government is
enjoying the rights to pass any bill they want because of the parliamentary system.
According to the parliamentary system related to the passing a bill, it can be stated
that consent of the monarch is just a formality5. Further, due to the implementation of the
Parliamentary Act 1949, the House of Lords has been suppressed by the House of Commons
3 Schedler, Andreas. "Electoral authoritarianism." Emerging trends in the social and behavioral sciences: An
interdisciplinary, searchable, and linkable resource (2015): 1-16.
4 Roberts, Tyson L. "The durability of presidential and parliament-based dictatorships." Comparative Political
Studies48.7 (2015): 915-948.
5 Schedler, Andreas. "Electoral authoritarianism." Emerging trends in the social and behavioral sciences: An
interdisciplinary, searchable, and linkable resource (2015): 1-16.
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