However the British political system consists of a multi party system in which more than two parties have some impact in a state’s political life. Though the Labour Party has a very healthy majority in Westminster, its power in Scotland is reasonably well balanced by the power of the SNP (); in Wales within the devolutionary structure, it is balanced by ; in Northern Ireland by the various Unionists groups and Sein Fein.Within Westminster, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats provide a healthy political rivalry. Sartori defines a multi-party system as one where no party can guarantee an absolute majority. In theory, the Labour Party, regardless of its current parliamentary majority, could lose the next general election in Britain in 2006. Even its current majority of 167 cannot guarantee electoral victory in the future.
Britain also was a Dominant-party system: this is different from a one-party system. A party is quite capable within the political structure of a state, to become dominant to such an extent that victory at elections is considered a formality. This was the case under the Conservative governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. For 18 years (1979 to 1997), one party dominated politics in Britain. In theory, the Conservatives could have lost any election during these 18 years. But such was the disarray of the opposition parties - especially Labour - that electoral victory was all but guaranteed. The elections of the 1980’s and 1990’s were fought with competition from other parties - hence there can be no comparison with a one-party state. During an extended stay in power, a dominant party can shape society through its policies. During the Thatcher era, health, education, the state ownership of industry etc. were all massively changed and re-shaped. Society changed as a result of these political changes and this can only be done by a party having an extended stay in office.
An era of a dominant party is also an era when opposition parties are in total disarray. This was true during the Conservatives domination of Britain in the 1980’s. Once the Labour Party started to strengthen in the 1990’s and internal problems were resolved, the whole issue of a dominant party was threatened leading to the defeat of the Conservatives in .
It would be fair to conclude that Britain has a dominant-party system now. Within certain criteria, the Labour government with its near 180 majority in Westminster has the freedom to do politically what it likes. The powers devolved to the regions were restrained by the simple fact that Westminster is still the major purse-holder of , and Northern Ireland, thereby not giving these three regions the freedom they believe they need to be truly governments.
In the United States there is a two party system in which the two parties are the Republicans and the Democratic parties. In the 1994 Republicans won control of both chambers of Congress for the first time for more than 40years.Until the Republicans 1994 victory, Democrats majority in the House of Representation has appeared to be permanent since it had existed for more than 40 years. However the British has a multi party system in which its main parties are Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
The two dimensions, which distinguish Republicans ands Democratic parties, are economic dimension of partisan conflict. The democratic party is more economically liberal(or pro-government intervention in economy)while the Republican Party was more economically conservative(or laissez faire) (b)
Cultural-religious dimensions: During the beginning of 1980s the Democratic party became increasingly identified as the party of cultural-religious liberalism; pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-gay rights etc. However the Republican Party was a cultural-religious conservatism: anti-abortion, homophobic,anti-gun control,pro-prayer in the state schools. These cultural issues don’t form a part in the party battle in the UK.i.e.Free votes and there is no party whipping and MPs allowed voting freely.
The parties in America are weak organisations and ‘party discipline’ in the US congress is loose. In the US Congress a party unity (or a party line) vote is defined as a majority of one party voting against a majority of the others. The weak definition only a relatively small majority of votes in the Senate and the House of Representatives qualify as partisan votes.
In the US, formal party ‘membership’ is unknown; simply register as Democrats or Republicans
Democratic and Republicans parties have become more ideologically homogeneous. Therefore Republicans are more conservative than Democratic however southern republicans are more conservative than the Republicans from the Northeast and even though southern Democrats tend to be less liberal than Democrats in other parts of the country.
