How does a General Election actually work?
The UK is a liberal democracy. This means that we democratically elect politicians, who
represent our interests. It also involves that individual rights are protected.
The type of liberal democracy we have is a constitutional monarchy, where the powers of
the monarch are limited by the terms and conditions put down in the constitution.
Parliamentary system
The UK has a parliamentary system of democratic governance. Unlike presidential and
semi-presidential systems, there is an interconnection between the legislative (law-
making) and executive (law-enforcing) branches of government in a parliamentary
system. In the UK, this means that the executive (consisting of the Queen and the
governments of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) is accountable to the
legislature or Parliament (House of Commons, House of Lords and devolved Assemblies in
Wales and Northern Ireland).
Appointed Prime Minister (or chancellor) as Head of Government and a monarch (or
ceremonial president) as Head of State.
First-Past-The-Post
Members of Parliament in the House of Commons are elected using the first-past-the-
post electoral system. Each of the 650 voting constituencies in the UK are represented by
an MP. During the general and most local elections, the candidate with most of the votes
becomes the local representative. Candidates campaign door-to-door, hold debates and
publish manifestos (comparable to shopping list of what they are planning to do once
they are in power). Eligible voters, about 46m in the UK, receive their polling card once
they register online, or they can vote by post.
Party with most of the votes is invited by the Queen to form a government. If there is no
clear winner, there is a hung Parliament. In this case, a minority or coalition government
can be formed. A minority government does not have an overall majority in Parliament. A
coalition government means that two or more political parties agree to share power in
government. If that does not work out, new elections may be called.
© CIVITAS Institute for the Study of Civil Society 2015 Author: Wil James, Civitas 11/2005
More EU factsheets: www.civitas.org.uk/eu-facts/ Last update: Rachel Maclean, 10/2015
European Union Treaties
Introduction
The EU is founded on a series of legal treaties between its member states. The first treaty, which established
the European Economic Community (EEC), was signed in Rome in 1957. There have been five subsequent
treaties – the Single European Act (1986), the Treaty of Maastricht (1992), the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997),
the Treaty of Nice (2001) and the Treaty of Lisbon (2007). In 2003, the EU produced a draft Constitutional
Treaty designed to replace all the existing treaties as the sole legal document governing the operation of the
EU. However, following votes against it in referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005, the Lisbon
Treaty was drafted as a replacement. The new treaty was controversial because of its similarity to the failed
EU constitution, and as such it was rejected at a referendum in Ireland in 2008. However, it was subsequently
ratified following a second, successful referendum in Ireland, and the Lisbon Treaty came into force in
December 2009.
The Treaty of Rome (1957)
The Treaty of Rome was the founding treaty of the European Economic Community, which later became the
EU. The Treaty established four institutions – a Commission, a Council of Ministers, a European Parliament
and a European Court of Justice. The Treaty focused overwhelmingly on economic co-operation. It tried to
create closer co-operation on a range of economic and trade issues from agriculture to overseas aid,
commerce to taxation, but it also set out a wider political vision for ‘an ever closer union’ to ‘eliminate the
barriers which divide Europe’.
The Single European Act (1986)
The Single European Act (SEA) was the first attempt made by member states to amend the arrangements
made under the Treaty of Rome. The SEA’s main effect was to set a deadline for the creation of a full single
market by 1992. The SEA swept away restrictive practices in a range of areas of private enterprise, as well as
in the public sector. It also pursued deeper integration by making it easier to pass laws, strengthening the EU
Parliament and laying the basis for a European foreign policy.
The Treaty of Maastricht (1992)
The Maastricht Treaty pushed forward two broad processes: the widening of the European Community’s
responsibilities and the deepening of integration. The Treaty amended the provisions of the Treaty of Rome
while hugely advancing the agenda set out under the Single European Act for deepening ‘European Political
Union’ (EPU), most notably in the areas of social policy and Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). It also
introduced a new model for the Community based around three ‘pillars’ which, broadly speaking, covered
economic relations, foreign policy, and justice and home affairs. It gave the EU Parliament greater influence
in decision making through the co-decision procedure, developed the concept of European citizenship, and
established the principle of subsidiarity. It also changed the organisation’s name to the ‘European Union’
(EU).
.
How does a General Election actually work?
The UK is a liberal democracy. This means that we democratically elect politicians, who
represent our interests. It also involves that individual rights are protected.
The type of liberal democracy we have is a constitutional monarchy, where the powers of
the monarch are limited by the terms and conditions put down in the constitution.
Parliamentary system
The UK has a parliamentary system of democratic governance. Unlike presidential and
semi-presidential systems, there is an interconnection between the legislative (law-
making) and executive (law-enforcing) branches of government in a parliamentary
system. In the UK, this means that the executive (consisting of the Queen and the
governments of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) is accountable to the
legislature or Parliament (House of Commons, House of Lords and devolved Assemblies in
Wales and Northern Ireland).
Appointed Prime Minister (or chancellor) as Head of Government and a monarch (or
ceremonial president) as Head of State.
First-Past-The-Post
Members of Parliament in the House of Commons are elected using the first-past-the-
post electoral system. Each of the 650 voting constituencies in the UK are represented by
an MP. During the general and most local elections, the candidate with most of the votes
becomes the local representative. Candidates campaign door-to-door, hold debates and
publish manifestos (comparable to shopping list of what they are planning to do once
they are in power). Eligible voters, about 46m in the UK, receive their polling card once
they register online, or they can vote by post.
Party with most of the votes is invited by the Queen to form a government. If there is no
clear winner, there is a hung Parliament. In this case, a minority or coalition government
can be formed. A minority government does not have an overall majority in Parliament. A
coalition government means that two or more political parties agree to share power in
government. If that does not work out, new elections may be called.
© CIVITAS Institute for the Study of Civil Society 2015 Author: Wil James, Civitas 11/2005
More EU factsheets: www.civitas.org.uk/eu-facts/ Last update: Rachel Maclean, 10/2015
European Union Treaties
The Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)
The Treaty of Amsterdam was largely an exercise in tying up the loose ends left over from the Maastricht
Treaty. The most symbolically important gesture of the Treaty of Amsterdam was the framework laid down
for the future accession of ten new member states, mainly from formerly communist Eastern Europe. It
absorbed the Schengen Convention into EU law, creating open borders between 12 of the member states,
and expanded the role of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) by creating a High Representative
to take overall responsibility for EU foreign affairs. Most significantly, however, it changed decision making in
the EU by expanding the number of decisions covered by Qualified Majority Voting (QMV).
The Treaty of Maastricht Nice (2001)
The Treaty of Nice represented a further attempt to find a workable means of moving forward the process of
European integration. Much of the text of the Treaty was concerned with reforming the decision-making of
the EU. It extended QMV in the Council of the EU; changed the way in which the Commission President was
to be elected; gave the President the power to sack individual Commissioners, and set limits on the future
numbers of Commissioners and MEPs. Finally, it declared that another Inter-governmental Conference
should be set up to draft an EU constitution.
The Treaty of Lisbon (2007)
The Lisbon Treaty was drafted to replace the rejected EU Constitution. The Treaty clarified the role of
European bodies and institutions, made explicit the aims of the EU and strengthened measures to achieve
these goals. As such, it changed the way EU decisions are made and abolished the pillar structure set out in
the Maastricht Treaty. It expanded the areas in which the Commission can propose legislation; made QMV
the default voting method in the Council, and created two high profile posts: a High Representative of the
Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and a permanent EU President, whilst giving the EU greater
legal independence to make new agreements. It brought the Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) into
European law, which fixed human rights standards for all EU nations (Poland, the UK and the Czech Republic
opted-out from the implications of the CFR). Ireland and the UK also secured the right to opt in or out of any
policies in the entire field of justice and home affairs. Following Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in
2008, protocols were added to provide guarantees on Ireland’s military neutrality and ethical issues. Lastly,
the Treaty outlined a procedure for states to end their membership of the EU for the first time.).
Technical Terms
Deeper integration: the processes whereby member states develop co-operation on more areas of policy.
Subsidiarity: the principle that the EU should act only when member states cannot act.
Qualified Majority Voting: majority (as opposed to unanimous) voting procedure used in the Council for an increasing
number of decisions.
Protocol: additions to a previous treaty which are not binding for all signatories.
Links
http://europa.eu/abc/treaties/index_en.htm
