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British Studies Web Pages GovernmentHOME | MAIL | EVENTS | INFO | LINKS | QUESTIONS | MATERIALS |
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Government and Politics - bibliography |
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British Studies textbooks Academic books Mini Reviews British
Studies textbooks Intermediate
Good for statistics
Audio
Advanced
Reference
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Ch 6 Government (Produced every year - get the most up-to-date)
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Individual entries
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Individual entries
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Those available will probably be from the mid-90s - irregularly updated Academic books Many
of these books can be found in the British Studies Resource Points. For a full
list of what can be found there see British Studies Books. ·
Roberts D (ed) 1995 British
Politics in Focus Causeway (see mini-review
downpage) ·
Lively J & Lively A (eds) 1994 Democracy in
Britain: a reader Blackwell
(see mini-review downpage) ·
Paxman J 1991 Friends in High Places - Who runs Britain? Penguin The
British Studies Now bibliography
has a very good annotated list of further books on government and politics but
there is no guarantee they will be available in Poland Mini Reviews
Harvey P & Jones R
2002 (new ed) Britain Explored Longman ·
Ch 3 The Constitution + Ch 4 Politics Audio
cassettes are available to accompany this book, suited for intermediate level
ELT work. It offers fairly simple description of the themes within these two
chapters, with slightly less text than full-colour illustrations, diagrams and
photographs. A well-presented, easy to use book in the classroom or for
self-study. There are good questions for discussion and comprehension work is
also presented. Goodman J & Addis C
1992 Britain Now: British Life and Institutions BBC English ·
Section 2 Politics + Tapescript ·
Section 4 Local Government + Tapescript This comes complete with audio cassettes prepared by a BBC team
with plenty of experience and a good reputation for producing ELT/background to
Britain materials. It
contains authentic interviews with politicians, journalists and others about
the specific political topics, attempting to provide real situations and
opinions and bring the issues to life. There is good language work to be done
with such material both inside and outside the classroom. The booklet provides
a succinct guide to the two areas covered, with relevant figures and diagrams
and only little textual discussions because the emphasis tends to be on the
interviews. Comprehension
questions and discussion points are provided for both teachers and learners and
a glossary of key terms. Some
of the material may seem a little dated now as it was produced in 1992, when
Mr. Major was still in power although the institutions and processes of
government have changed only a little since then. Useful for use with
intermediate level students. Musman R & Adrian-Vallance D
1989 Britain Today Longman ·
Ch 4 Democracy and Government This book attempts to look at life in contemporary Britain as seen
through the eyes of a number of British people. Several families are introduced
at the beginning, from different social strata, and their views and
descriptions are included in this chapter, as in the others. Some
useful background information and history of democracy and government in
Britain is given before moving on to a dialogue between members of one of the
families about election day. Other
sections in the chapter vary between factual and contextual material and
descriptions, dialogues and narratives from the family members. In some
ways this can seem confusing to the reader, especially if you only wish to look
at this one chapter and have not, therefore, built up some sort of reader’s
relationship with the characters. Yet, on the other hand, first hand
information from ‘real people’ is provided, and not just the author’s views and
accounts. The characters do enliven the chapter to some extent and their
accounts can be exploited in the classroom. There
are useful photographs and illustrations along with maps and flow charts.
A glossary is provided of the more difficult vocabulary as well as exercises
for students. Useful for use with intermediate to advanced learners. McDowall D 1997 Britain in
Close-Up Longman ·
Introduction: the Political Background + Ch 2 The
System of Government + Ch 3 Government and
Politics + Ch 5 Local Government As can immediately be seen from the amount of space given over to
the theme, government and its many related aspects and issues is a focus of
this excellent book which makes it a key text for the study of this subject
within the British Studies classroom. In fact, the theme informs most of the
other chapters, such as on Education since policy is, after all, decided by government.
The
Introduction clearly sets the context for the study of modern Britain within
the realm of politics and dismisses any notion that the area of ‘government’ is
dry and uninteresting. It is very much focussed on the 1980s and the politics
of Mrs. Thatcher, along with their continued repercussions. The government of
Mr. Major is also discussed. Chapter
2 outlines the necessary workings and problems within the Crown, Whitehall,
Westminster, the electoral and party systems. The Houses of Commons and Lords
are also described along with good accounts of parliamentary procedures and
committees. Chapter
3 shifts the focus to the notion of the ‘Constitution’, with the Monarchy and
how it sits besides the government and civil service. The need for reform to
this rather traditional system is outlined along with the relationship of
ordinary people to political parties and the challenges that these parties now
face. Chapter
5 on local government briefly outlines how this operates before moving on to
the tensions that often exist between local and central government, which have
sometimes in the recent past been brought to crisis point such as with the
so-called ‘poll tax revolt’ in 1990. This is generally agreed to have hastened
the downfall of Mrs. Thatcher. Although
there is some important history set out in all of the relevant chapters, the
emphasis is very much on what is has happened in the recent past (up to the
time of rewriting, which was just before the New Labour victory in the General
Election of 1997.) McDowall usefully sets out the issues and
debates within the areas of both national and local government, including the
important issues of devolution and possible changes in the electoral system, so
that it leads very much into current issues now being discussed both inside and
outside of the corridors of power in Whitehall and Westminster. If
one word could sum up the texts, it is ‘change’ which is exactly what is
happening right now on the verge of the 21st century. The book contains
excellent resource materials and clearly explains often complex issues without
oversimplification. Each chapter has useful exercise material at the end and
there are good photos and other illustrations. At
the start of the book, there is a very good list of useful sources and books
for further reading whilst at the back we can find a glossary and an index for
quick reference. Recommended for use by intermediate to advanced learners and
those with a special interest in political themes. Bromhead P 1991 (9th ed) Life
in Modern Britain Longman ·
Ch 2 Government and Politics + Ch 3 The House of
Lords + Ch 4 Local Government This is the revised edition so is fairly up to date, although
there have been other major developments since 1997. As with the McDowall book,
a large amount of space is given over to the theme and the author recognises
throughout the key role that government plays in everyone’s life. Chapter
2 provides necessary historical background with factual and contextual
material. Useful diagrams and tables are provided and the text is, at times,
quite densely packed. A
whole chapter, number 3, is dedicated to discussion of the House of Lords,
often seen as the most undemocratic part of the British political system and
one that is capable of delaying and overturning new laws. These issues are
documented clearly by the author who points out the possible changes that may
occur within this sector of government in the near future. Chapter 4
on Local Government also looks at the issues as well as how it works with a
short but comprehensive account of the system and its problems. There
are few illustrations in this book and the photographs are all black and white
thus it would not appeal to younger learners but rather to advanced learners
and students. Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1995 Britain’s
System of Government A glossy, official publication of 36 pages with useful information on various aspects of government, its institutions and processes. As usual with such a publication, there is little emphasis on issues with an attempt at succinctly and objectively describing the way things are at the present. It is easy to use with plenty of colour photographs of the places and people it describes. The
main sections are on the Monarchy, Parliament, Her Majesty’s Government, the
Civil Service, Local Government, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland, the Legal
System, Britain and the European Union. Finally, there is a list of government
departments and agencies, with their contact addresses. These may be useful for
adventurous students or researchers wishing to find out more about a particular
department. Only the essential information is provided for those seeking only
the main points and not wishing to delve too deeply into the themes. Suitable
as a. background resource for teachers of intermediate to advanced learners Roberts D. et al. 1997 British
Politics in Focus Causeway Press This
specialist book offer 600 pages of excellently researched and presented
information and material. There is almost everything here you might need
to know about politics in Britain up to the time of writing. It is not an ELT
book but could be used in the ELT classroom given the good, easy to use layout,
explanatory notes, chapter summaries and key definitions. There are plenty of
diagrams and illustrations throughout, such as cartoons and bar charts, as well
as black and white photographs. The illustrations alone offer great potential
for exploitation as well as the accompanying texts. The
book is divided into 5 main sections: Political argument, British politics in
context, representation, decision-making and finally citizenship, with a total
of 19 chapters. It
goes beyond the usual description and accounts of formal political bodies,
although these are present, to include discussion of the relationship between
government and the media which has been a very topical issue in recent months. We
can also find information on law and order which often figures quite highly on
the election manifestos of all political parties in the UK. The judiciary and
its links to government and politics are described. Part 3 presents discussion
of the many and varied types of pressure groups that can be found in the UK and
how they work in the informal as well as formal spheres of politics. Notions of
political ideology are tackled early on in Part 1. The
necessary history can be found but the emphasis is on how things work in the
contemporary period and what changes we can expect. It
is also good on the European and International contexts, which are sometimes
overlooked. We live in an increasingly internationally governed world with some
of the traditional parliamentary powers now subsumed by European Union bodies
in Strasbourg and elsewhere. This may be of special interest to readers in
Poland as the country stands on the verge of EU accession. The
chapter summaries are useful in providing at a glance information and at the
end of each chapters there are relevant references. As can be expected with a
book of this size, there is a large, comprehensive index at the end as well as
further reading. An excellent source book as well as something to use in the
classroom with intermediate to advanced learners and for those with a special
interest in politics. |
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