Parties and party systems: Modernisation, regulation and diversity

This article focuses on two aspects of the Blair government's programme of institutional modernisation which affected party politics in the UK in the year 2000. The first is the consolidation of devolved party systems stemmin g from the reform of subcentral government, while the second is the introdu ction of a radically new regulatory framework for party politics which will be ushered in by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 . These reforms are intended to enhance the effectiveness, accountability a nd legitimacy of the political system in general. For political reasons, th ey are likely to prove irreversible and they can be expected, in their diff erent ways, gradually to remould party behaviour.