Assess the impact of ideology on the (United Kingdom) Coalition Essay

Assess the impact of ideology on the (United Kingdom) Coalition government elected in May 2010 - Essay Example To understand how the ideologies of political parties in the UK affect the present coalition governance it will be necessary to define political ideology based on the UK situation, their development over the years and therefore how they affect people, societies and governance in the land. Political ideology like any other form of ideology will have as part of its components a definition of the cognitive values (expression of knowledge and doctrines), intended effects on the subjects’ feelings, the definition of norms and system of judgment through its valuation criteria, plans and action points and lastly its social base. These are what the main political parties in the UK strive to monitor in order to achieve the support of groups and collectivities. For a government to run smoothly there has to be agreement among the members in the government to a common ideology. However in cases where parties are forced to come together in form of coalitions to form government then comprom ises are sought in the ideologies (Ball, 1987 p 1-3). This is quite a challenge in a case where the ideological differences are sharp and incompatible. In assessment of the state of the UK coalition government formed following the may 2010 general election, political ideologies of the constituent parties are found to have a major contribution on governance of the country. In this paper we seek to give an assessment of the effects of ideology of the constituents of the coalition on governance by first assessing the ideologies of individual major in the UK namely the Conservatives, the Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats. The paper will further consider how the ideologies affect governance in the coalition through analysis of opinions. The role of political parties in the UK Political parties in the UK are charged by the electorate and members with the important role of governance through direct formation of government as the ruling party or as a check to the government as backbench ers or the opposition party. In cases where no particular winner is obtained as the case in the 2010 general elections, the parties agree to form a coalition government. Other functions of political parties in the UK can be summarized as: 1. Development of particular party ideological positions. 2. Facilitation of political education while encouraging participation by party members and the electorate in political processes. 3. Formulation of individual policies that are combined to form a coherent political program implemented in case the party forms government. 4. Oversee political elections at all levels (local, national and regional) 5. Represent political, social, economic and cultural interests of supporters though ensuring they are elected to the Legislature as the ruling party 6. Institutionalization of conflict by providing mechanisms of peaceful conflict resolution in the political system From this checklist it can be understood why party ideals are an important element in the UK political systems because of their deterministic role in the success of governance. An overview of political ideology of political parties in the UK For the purpose of this assessment we shall consider the three major parties namely: the Conservative, the Labor party, and the Liberal D