UK vocabulary

Anticlerical

Wants to get the Roman Catholic Church out of politics.

Authority

Political leaders' ability to be obeyed.

Backbencher

Ordinary MP with no executive responsibility.

By-election

Special election for a vacant seat in Parliament.

Celts

Pre-Roman inhabitants of Europe.

Center-peaked

Distribution with most people in the middle, a bell-shaped curve.

Center-periphery tension

Resentment in outlying areas of rule by the nation's capital.

Center-seeking

Tendency of political parties toward moderate politics calculated to win the center.

Central office

London headquarters of British political party.

Civility

Good manners in politics.

Civil society

Humans after becoming civilized; modern usage: associations between family and government.

Class voting

Tendency of classes to vote for parties that represent them.

Common Law

System of judge-made law developed in England.

Commons

Lower house of Parliament; the elected, important chamber.

Commonwealth

A republic; also an organization of countries that were once British colonies.

Conservatism

Ideology of preserving existing institutions and usages.

Constituency

The district or population that elects a legislator.

Consumption

Buying things.

The Continent

British term for mainland Europe.

Counterculture

Rejects conventional values, as in the 1960s.

Crown

The British government

Deindustrialization

Decline of heavy industry.

Devolution

Central government turns some powers over to regions.

Dignified

In Bagehot's terms, symbolic or decorative offices.

Efficient

In Bagehot's terms, working, political offices

Entitlement

Spending programs citizens are automatically entitled to, such as Social Security.

Euro

Currency for most Europe since 2002; worth around $1.25.

European Union

Quasi-federation of most European states; began in 1957 as the Common Market or European Community (EC).

Exchequer

Britain's treasury minister

Fiefdom

Land king grants to nobles in exchange for support.

Fusion of power

Connection of executive and legislative branches in parliamentary systems; opposite of U.S. separation of powers.

General election

Nationwide vote for all MPs.

Government

A particular cabinet, what Americans call "the administration."

Home rule

Giving a region some autonomy to govern itself.

Hooliganism

Violent and destructive behavior.

Hung parliament

One in which no party has a majority of seats; requires a coalition.

Inflation

Increase in most prices.

Interested member

MP known to represent an interest group.

Junior minister

MP with executive responsibilities below cabinet rank.

Knighthood

Lowest rank of nobility, carries the title "Sir."

Lords

Upper house of Parliament; now much less important than Commons.

Magna Carta

1215 agreement to preserve rights of English nobles.

Majoritarian

Electoral system that encourages dominance of one party in a parliament, as in Britain and the United States.

Malthusian

Malthus's theory is that population growth outstrips food supply.

Marxist

Socialist theories of Karl Marx.

Meritocracy

Promotion by brains and ability rather than heredity.

Middle class

Professionals or those paid salaries, typically more affluent and more educated.

Minister

Head of a major department (ministry) of government.

Mixed monarchy

King balanced by nobles.

Monetarism

Friedman's theory that the rate of growth of money supply governs much economic development.

MP

Member of Parliament.

Nationalization

Government takeover of an industry.

Neoliberalism

Revival of free-market economics, exemplified by Thatcher.

Opposition

Parties in Parliament that are not in the cabinet.

Orangemen

After William of Orange (symbol of Netherlands royal house), Northern Irish Protestants

Parliament

When capitalized, Britain's legislature, now usually meaning the House of Commons

Party identification

Psychological attachment of a voter to a political party.

Party image

Electorate's perception of a given party.

Peerage

A lord or lady, higher than knighthood.

Periphery

Nation's outlying regions.

Permanent secretary

Highest civil servant who runs a ministry, under a nominal minister.

Pluralism

Autonomous interaction of social groups with themselves and with government.

Pluralistic stagnation

Theory that out-of-control interest groups produce policy logjams.

Plurality

Largest quantity, even if less than a majority.

Portfolio

Minister's assigned ministry.

Precedent

Legal reasoning based on previous cases.

Prime minister

Chief of government in parliamentary systems.

Privatization

Government sells off nationalized industries to private business.

Production

Making things.

Productivity

Efficiency with which things are made.

Proportional representation

Electoral system of multimember districts seats awarded by the percentage that parties win.

Public school

In Britain, a private boarding school, equivalent to a U.S. prep school.

Quasi-federal

Part-way federal.

Question Hour

Time reserved in Commons for MPs to query ministers.

Recession

A shrinking economy, indicated by falling GDP.

Referendum

Vote on an issue rather than for an office.

Reform Acts

Series of laws expanding the British electoral franchise.

Republic

Country not headed by a monarch.

Republican

In its original sense, supporter of movement to end monarchy.

Rhodes Scholarship

Founded by South African millionaire; sends top foreign students to Oxford.

Rule of anticipated reactions

Friedrich's theory is that politicians plan their moves so as not to anger the public.

Safe seat

Constituency where voting has long favored a given party.

Seat

Membership in legislature.

Shadow cabinet

Leaders of the opposition who aim to become the next cabinet.

Single-member district

Sends one representative to Parliament.

Social class

Layer or section of population of similar income and status.

State of nature

Humans before civilization

Statute

Ordinary law, usually for a specific problem.

Subject

Originally, a subject of the Crown; now means British citizen.

Subsidy

Government economic aid to individual or business.

Tories

Faction of Parliament that became Conservative Party.

Trades Union Congress

British labor federation, equivalent to the U.S. AFL-CIO.

Treasury

British ministry that supervises economic policies and budgets of other ministries.

Trotskyist

Marxist but anti-Stalinist, follower of Leon Trotsky.

"Two plus" party system

Two big parties and several small ones.

Unilinear

Progressing evenly and always upward.

Vote of no-confidence

Parliamentary vote to oust prime minister.

Welfare state

Political system that redistributes income from rich to poor, standard in West Europe.

Westminster

Parliament building.

Whigs

Faction of Parliament that became Liberal Party.