The ongoing debate over reforming the UK House of Lords, despite the lofty talk of democracy, boils down to a self-interested power struggle.
The late political scientist James Q. Wilson co-authored a textbook about American government. One of the primary themes of the book was the constant struggle of determining the answer to two fundamental political questions: Who governs? To what ends? A running joke among my classmates in our high school AP government class was our expectation that the final exam would be an essay, consisting merely of those two questions.
Yet, it appears that Dr. Wilson was quite right. The ongoing debate over reforming the UK House of Lords, despite the lofty talk of democracy, boils down to a self-interested power struggle. All three major political parties (Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats) supported the reform in their manifestos, but the only party which is truly interested is the Liberal Democrats. Of course, given that the House of Lords would be elected by proportional representation, they would have the most to gain. Conservatives and Labour, on the other hand, would have the most to lose. Perhaps it really isn't a surprise that they are less than enthusiastic about the reform.
Also, members of Parliament (MPs) fear that an elected House of Lords would overturn the tradition of allowing the House of Commons call all of the shots. When major disagreements occur, the Lords usually defer to the Commons.
The Economist summarizes the situation quite nicely:
'Naturally lots of MPs want to keep an appointed House of Lords, growls a senior Lib Dem: it's where they plan to retire, or flee after losing seats. Talk of a referendum, favoured formally by Labour and informally by many Tories, is a transparent ploy to kill the reform, supporters worryâ??with voters in an anti-politics mood, they will not say yes to more professional politicians. As for talk of gumming up both houses of Parliament for months, that's a threat not a prediction, made by those planning on doing the gumming.Of course Lib Dems want a proportionally elected Senate, counter Tory and Labour politicians: they think they would hold the balance of power there. Some Tories fret about rumours that, if the Lib Dems do not get Lords reform, they may withdraw their support for the Conservatives' favourite reform, a redrawing of House of Commons constituencies that could gain the Tories a dozen or more seats.
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Instead of a highbrow academic contest over the future of British democracy, the reality is much uglier: British pols are simply fighting over power and influence.
Or as Dr. Wilson might ask, "Who governs, and to what ends?"
(AP photo)