Essentials of Parliamentary Democracy by Reginald G Bassett

Author:Reginald G Bassett [Bassett, Reginald G]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781136953774
Google: 1pouAgAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 19149918
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-11-26T00:00:00+00:00

5

The Conditions of Continuance (I)

1. Agreement upon “Fundamentals”

WHETHER or not the interpretation of democracy given in the preceding chapter is accepted, and whether or not our political methods are considered democratic, it is conceded, as a rule, that British parliamentary government depends upon a continuous search for, and achievement of, general agreement. It is asserted, moreover, that this process is itself conditional upon the existence of some underlying basis of common agreement. Current doubts about the future spring from the view that this common agreement is in course of dissolution. Some people merely regard its breakdown as contingent upon the emergence of conditions which may possibly arise in the near future; others consider that the dissolution is proceeding rapidly; and yet others maintain that the agreement is already shattered. The view is that the circumstances, which enabled the political system to function in the past, have changed. A situation now exists in which the requisite basis of agreement may disappear, is in course of disappearance, or has already disappeared. Before examining this view in its various aspects, it is desirable to consider the form in which the main issue is raised. The argument is that unless there is a general agreement upon fundamentals there can be little hope of securing the atmosphere of tolerance and the measure of detailed agreement and continuity requisite for the functioning of parliamentary government. The following quotations illustrate the point (my italics):

“It is essential,” writes Mr. G. D. H. Cole, “to the working of the party system,” under parliamentary institutions, “that the two rival parties which dominate the situation—however much they may disagree about secondary questions—should be in close agreement on fundamentals. Thus in the nineteenth century the Conservative and Liberal Parties in Great Britain differed on a wide range of matters which did not affect the fundamental structure of society, but were in essential agreement in wishing to preserve both Capitalism and the parliamentary institutions which went with it…. A party system of this kind becomes unworkable and inappropriate as soon as there arises a party which, so far from accepting the fundamentals of the existing order, desires a complete change of social system, or at any rate as soon as such a party becomes strong enough to occupy a position of primary importance in the political life of the country.… When therefore a fundamental difference of opinion about the right basis of social organisation comes to dominate political life, the old party system breaks down; and it is natural that each of the rival forces should desire to establish itself permanently and securely in power, and to remove as far as possible all prospect of a return of its rival to office.”1

Professor H. J. Laski, in his Democracy in Crisis, asserts that:

“the doctrines in battle together are mutual and exclusive opposites between which there is no prospect of final adjustment. A society can no more make peace between the motives of private profit and public service than it can continue half-slave and half-free.

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