Britský bipartismus - kontinuita či změna?

• Main Author: Čápová, Magdaléna
• Other Authors: Lebeda, Tomáš
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: Czech
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-277593

The electoral system in the United Kingdom is generally considered as the simplest method of voting and is associated with the functioning of the British twoparty system. The first past the post system has a capacity to strike in its outcomes, though. The aim of this paper is to analyze the development of the British party system since the 19th century up to current days. The analyze is based on the study of the general elections held between 1918 and 2005 and compares the data outputs by the indexes measuring the disproportionality, over-representation, under-representation and party system characteristics. The study discloses the weaknesses of the electoral system, which influence the shape of the party system. These weaknesses led twice to temporally deviation of outcomes in the two-party system. A special focus is given to the period after the World War 2 and current trends that are influenced by the changes in socioeconomic structure within the British society since the 70s. The main grounds of the greater electoral disproportionality are seen in the size of constituencies, over-representation of Scotland and Wales, and the increase in support for the third parties, lower turnout and tactical voting. Variety of factors is considered to answer the question about continuity or change of the British...