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Author : I. Kovalev
Deputy Dean, School of World Economy and International Affairs, National Research University-
Higher School of Economics, Doctor of Science (History)
THE COLLECTIVE MONOGRAPH "Dilemmas of Great
Britain: Looking for Development Options" published in the
UK-Russia Cross-Cultural Year marked an important event in
Russia's academic life. The monograph is much more than a
result of fruitful cooperation between the Russian Interna-
tional Affairs Council (RIAC) and the Institute of Europe.
Russian Academy of Sciences, or even than another work
about another country. It is a comprehensive, profound and
exhaustive analysis of the pivotal problems of economic, con-
stitutional and political modernization of the United Kingdom
carried out in recent years.
The authors have paid special attention to constitutional reforms, modernization of state governance, evo-
lution of the party and political system, in short, the problems which have been and remain prominent on
the agenda of the political establishment and the expert community. Nobody doubts any more that the
constitutional legal foundations, the responsibility spheres of central and local organs of power, the orga-
nizational structure and programs of political parties should be sorted out and adjusted to the changed
social and economic realities.
The chapters dealing with the evolution of the party and political system of Britain which tries to respond
in time to the changes in the social and economic model and to correspond to public expectations form
the monograph's core. Having analyzed the trends of the recent decades, the authors discovered certain
new features. Prof. Peregudov analyzed the British political cycles after World War II and came to a con-
clusion that "starting with the mid-1970s social and class relationships no longer constituted the main struc-
turalizing factor of the British party system" (p. 117).
The authors have analyzed in detail what the two latest cabinets have accomplished and where they failed.
Elena Ananieva, head of the Centre for British Studies of the Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of
Sciences, who has contributed the chapter "Gordon Brown's Labor Cabinet" justly believes that it failed
because of objective circumstances, the world financial and economic crisis in the first place, as well as due
to a fairly great number of the prime minister's own blunders.
Alexei Gromyko remains convinced that this new situation "perfectly fits the trends of the recent decades:
the UK political system is moving from majority to pluralist model of democracy in which coalition gov-
ernments are a norm rather than an exception" (p. 152).
On the whole, wide and profound scholarly analysis of varied problems; well-balanced assessments and
professional evaluation of facts have made the book an important source of information and deep-cutting
expert opinions on the United Kingdom. It seems that today this is highly important since the events in
world economy and politics openly demonstrate that the role and significance of nation-states have grown
against the background of an obvious inability of regional and global institutions to promptly and ade-
quately respond to the challenges of our time.
Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
Great Britain Today: Modernizing the Country of Traditions