Volcanic politics: Executive-Legislative relations in Britain, 1997-2005

The parliamentary decline thesis, which overstates the dominance of the executive, is examined with particular reference to Australia and New Zealand. The existence of a reforming parliament in UK during 2001-2005 in which an executive with a majority of 166 was forced to acquiesce in the introduction of a raft of reform measures in the House of Commons, UK, that were designed to shift the balance of power is suggested by drawing upon an audit of parliamentary modernization in Britain since the election of New Labor in 1997.