The Party Mandate and the Westminster Model
Election Programmes and Government Spending in Britain, 1948–85
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6229016 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Richard I Hofferbert, Ian Budge |
| Year | 1992 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 151-182 |
| Publication date | 1992-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1234 • E-ISSN: 1469-2112 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0007123400006323 |
| OpenAlex | W2100709330 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 67 |
| References cited | 15 |
Do party manifestos matter to government policy? Does a genuine party mandate operate within the British political process? These questions are generally neglected in analyses of British politics, but they are crucial in assessing how far political parties transmit electoral preferences into government action. We try to answer them through a novel use of available data, using content analysis to code and classify policy emphases within the post-war election programmes of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal parties. Statistical analysis reveals that government party programmes are remarkably well reflected in post-election policy priorities, measured as percentages of central government spending in major policy areas. This gives strong support to traditional mandate theory within the context of the ‘Westminster model’ of party government. Anomalies, such as a strong relationship between Liberal emphases and expenditures in three key areas, and the more consistent relationship of expenditures with Conservative rather than Labour priorities, are also considered
Conservative government · Context (archaeology · Economics · General election · Geography · Government (linguistics · Liberal Party · Mandate · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies
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Lost in communication
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Un président normal’? Presidential (in-)action and unpopularity in the wake of the great recession
Agenda-setting dynamics in France
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Programas de governo e promessas de campanha
The Civil Servant as Legislator
Policy punctuations in the UK
Principals or puppets? Analysing variation in local political parties’ social policy positions
When do new issues appear? Punctuations in the Belgian executive agenda
Political Attention in a Coalition System
How governments strategically time welfare state reform legislation
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Regulation, Automated Technologies, and Competitiveness in the Hospitality Industry
Responsive to whom? A comparison of the Mitterrand and Hollande presidencies
Ideological congruence between party rhetoric and policy-making
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Responsive Government? Public Opinion and Government Policy Preferences in Britain and Denmark
Capturing Government Policy on the Left-Right Scale
Platforms, Portfolios, Policy
Changes in Party Identity
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Party manifestos and local accountability
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Explaining policy change
Raising the flag among the ruins
Changing the transmission belt
Keeping party programmes on track
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Testing the Mandate Model in Britain and the United States
Political Representation and its Mechanisms
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Party Reputations and Policy Priorities
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Contradictions of the Welfare State
Bringing the State Back In
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
The Policy Impact of Canadian Party Programs
The Relation between Public Policy and Some Structural and Environmental Variables in the American States
Mandates and Policy Outputs
The policy impact of party programmes and government declarations in the Federal Republic of Germany
The Politics of Public Expenditure
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| Unique citing works | 67 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,09 |
| Citation span | 1994 - 2025 (32) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 67 |