European Govt and Politics: Party Systems

European Government and Politics : Party Systems

Britain

The political system in Britain has seen the dominance of two parties and hence traditionally , Britain has a bi-party system . The Conservative Party , also known as the `Tories ' has existed since the 17th century while the present Labour Party has existed since the 20th century . Earlier , the principal opposition to the Conservatives was the Liberal Party , which later merged with the Social Democratic Party , forming the Liberal Democrats . Although Britain has a bi-party system , there are a number of other parties and the

Liberal Democrats form the third largest party . The Conservative Party has been extreme rightist in political terms , in favour of complete privatization . This was particularly prominent during the Prime Minister-ship of Margaret Thatcher who came to power defeating the Labour Party in 1979 . Under the Conservative leadership of Thatcher and subsequently John Major , the government followed policies of privatization and monetarism . The two policies were together known as Thatcherism . The Labour Party on the other hand belongs to the leftist orientation . In recent years however , it is adopting a more centre-left approach

Although the Labour has functioned since 1906 , it came into prominence in the post World War II scenario with electoral win in 1945 . however , the Labour went into opposition during 1951-1964 and 1979-1997 . the Social Democratic Party was formed as a break away party by right-wing Labour MP 's . under the leadership of Tony Blair , the policies of the Labour Party were changed considerably . Political parties first appeared...