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You are here: Home / Publications / Government in 2017: Mandates, Manifestos and Coalitions

Government in 2017: Mandates, Manifestos and Coalitions

21st June 2017

In light of the currently unstable parliamentary position, this Constitution Society pamphlet on Mandates, Manifestos and Coalitions by Thomas Quinn from 2014 provides an analysis of some of the issues involved.

One of the most important assumptions in British politics since 1945 has been the existence of single-party, majority governments deriving their mandates from voters. The hung parliament and subsequent coalition government of 2010 therefore raised some difficult questions about the operation of the democratic system.

If no party enjoyed a parliamentary majority, what sense did it make to speak of mandates? What was the role of manifestos if no party possessed a majority to implement one in full? What was the democratic legitimacy of the comprehensive coalition agreement on public policy goals negotiated by the coalition parties after the election? What is the relationship between manifestos and coalition agreements? Can mandates follow from coalition agreements? Ultimately, is it necessary to rethink the basic relationship between voters, parties and governments in the UK political system.

Subjects

Government
This publication presents the personal views of the author and not those of The Constitution Society, which publishes it as a contribution to debate on this important subject.

Related Publications

  • Sir Thomas Legg on Government and the Rule of Law: Reflections on a Career at the Frontier

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