Resisting Executive Dominance: An assessment of executive-legislature dynamics during the United Kingdom’s entry into, and withdrawal from, the European Communities

This thesis presents a critical assessment of the activities of the opposition bodies within the House of Parliament over the course of the United Kingdom’s accession in to, and subsequent withdrawal from, the European Communities. This case study tracks the strategies employed by non-Governmental Parliamentarians, with a specific focus on the Labour Party, to challenge the Government’s activities and ensure their own involvement in the associated political processes. The findings will demonstrate the effectiveness of the non-Government Parliamentarians in scrutinising, challenging, and altering the Government’s activities with a view to highlighting the nature of executive-legislature dynamics and subsequently the extent of executive dominance present in the UK’s political processes.