The Eclipse of Parliament: Appearance and Reality in British Politics Since 1914 - Softcover

This is a probing of the realities, as distinct from the theory, of politics in the UK. It concentrates on two main issues. One is the role of Parliament with its theory of "Parliamentary Sovereignty", and the other is that of the function and authority of the Prime Minister. Both issues have been subjects of hot debate since at least the 18th century, when the sovereignty of Parliament was simply a special case of Royal sovereignty (that of the King in Parliament). With the eradication of the monarchy's political power, and the rise of disciplined mass parties, it proved possible for politicians and especially the Prime Minister to annex the powers and prerogatives of the Crown whilst wielding formidable powers of control and manipulation over the legislature. From Asquith to Thatcher development was not linear, but overall it is shown to have been relentless. The UK, it is argued, is a "penentrated" political system run not by an elective dictator but by a Prime Ministerial absolute monarchy more susceptible to day-to-day influences from abroad that from its subjects, and tempered primarily not by parliamentary checks but by political assassination orchestrated within the policy-making elite.