Attitude to politics in the country

Politicians in Britain do not have a good reputation. People do not hate them, but just regard with a high degree of suspicion.

More than half of the adults in Britain do not know the name of the local Member of Parliament (MP), even though there is just one of these for each area and quite a high proportion do not ever know the names of the important government ministers or leaders of the major political parties.

Three-quarters of the adult population are interested enough in politics to vote at national election, even though voting is not compulsory. There is a general feeling of confidence in the stability and workability of the system. In Britain it is generally accepted that politics is a dirty business, a necessary evil.

The British are said to have a high respect for the law. Although they may not have much respect for the present institutions of the law. Of course, lots of crimes are committed, as in any other country, but there is little systematic law-breaking by large sections of the population. For example, tax evasion is not the national pastime that it is said to be in some countries.

In many aspects of life the country has comparatively few rules and regulations. This lack of regulation works both ways. Just as there are comparatively few rules telling the individuals what he or she must or must not do, so there are comparatively few rules telling the government what it can or cannot do.

Two aspects of British life will make this statement clear. First: Britain is one of the very few European countries whose citizens do not have identity cards. British people are not obliged to carry identification with them. You do not even have to have your driving license with you in your car. If the police ask to see it, you have 24 hours to take it to them. Second, Britain does not have a Freedom of Information Act. There is a law which obliged many government employees not to tell anyone about the details of their work. The duties of the individuals towards the state are confined to not breaking the law and paying taxes. There is no natural service (military or otherwise); people are not obliged to vote at elections; people do not have to register their change of address with any government authority.

The government has a comparatively free hands. In Britain democracy involves less participation of ordinary citizens in governing and lawmaking than it does in many other countries. If the Government wants to make an important change in the way that the country is run – to change, for example, the electoral system or the power of the prime Minister – it does not have to ask the people. It just needs to get Parliament to agree in the same way as for any new law. In many countries an important constitutional change cannot be made without a referendum in which everybody in the country has the chance to vote “yes” or “no”. In other countries such as the USA, people have the chance to vote on particular proposals for changing laws that directly affect their everyday life, on smoking in public places or the location of the new hospital, for example. Nothing like this happen in Britain. There has only been one countrywide referendum in the British history (in 1975 on whether the country should stay in the European Community).