The majority of new laws or changes to existing laws come from government but the can also come from MP’s, Lords or even a member of the public. E.g. ‘Sarah’s Law’. Both the House of Commons and House of Lords must debate and vote on the proposals. 2.
Is the explanation for 1996 that it was a ‘forgone conclusion’ sufficient to explain why half of all registered voters did not vote? Did any social group vote less than their registered voting number would indicate? The 2000 election could not have been considered a foregone conclusion, and yet just about 50% of registered voters took part in that election. Are those groups traditionally associated with either party still safe bets after the showing of both parties during the Lewinsky scandal of 1996 when both parties have displayed serious errors of judgement and where a neutral observer might identify that partisan party politics seems to be a priority above what is best for the country as a whole? The Democrats appeared to have won over those middle/upper class people who did very well out of the economic boom seen
Abstract My paper in summary describes the differences between the United State’s Constitution and the State of Ohio’s Constitution. Many of the differences were found in the Bill of Rights within each document. Along with the comparisons and contrasts of the Bill of Rights within the two, many differences were found within the governmental structure between the two forms of government, the federal and state constitutions. During my research I was able to find out which had the bigger amount of rights, whether it was the federal side or the state side. In conclusion, my paper helped me learn more about the United State’s Constitution as well as the original Ohio Constitution.
Due to this, some alternatives to First Past The Post are already used in the UK; Party List is used in UK European parliamentary elections, Single Transferable Vote (STV) is used in local, regional and European elections in Northern Ireland and for local elections in Scotland, and Additional Member System (AMS) is used in elections for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the London Assembly. There are also two other electoral systems, not used at all in the UK, which are Alternative Vote (AV), as used in Australia, the Supplementary Voting System (SV), as used in London mayoral elections, and Second Ballot, as used in France. First Past The Post is the system that is used for general elections, and is a single member constituency system, and so retains the MP-constituency link. The country is divided into constituencies and voters vote once for the MP they want to represent their constituency. The candidate that gets the most votes wins, as only a simple majority is needed.
Between 1945 and 1997, electoral turnout was between 71% and 83%. However, every election from 2001 has seen the lowest turnout since 1945, with a record low being 59% in 2001. The decline in electoral turnout certainly suggests a decline in interest and participation in politics. Voter apathy is on the rise – in 2001, ITV reported that 70% of viewers showed little or no interest in the publication of election results – while party identification figures are falling. The percentage of people with ‘very strong’ identification with either of the two main parties was a low 13% in 2001.
Since World War II no other election has ever involved 65% or more registered voters. Elections for state and local elections are even lower. As we may all know the United States of America is a Democracy. In other words, the people will decide who will lead the country and what the country will do. Why do people still don’t vote and then later whine about who gets elected?
Devolution in Scotland was a result of the 1997 Referendum, where the Scottish people voted in favour of a devolved Scottish Parliament. It was justified on the basis that it would make government more responsive to the wishes of the people of Scotland. The Scottish Parliament has primary legislative powers, allowing it to pass almost any law they wish. However, some policy areas remain as ‘reserved’ powers for the UK Government, including foreign policy and national security issues. Devolution has always been a widely debated topic, with many arguments both for and against.
In Scotland, 51.6 per cent of those who voted were in favour. However, this was only around 33 per cent of the entire electorate and so it never came to pass. Labour had wasted much time on something that came to nothing. Furthermore, its attempts to quell nationalism had failed. This represented a major shortcoming of Labour from 1974 to
A simple party-list PR system is used in the UK for the European Parliament. A different Additional Member System (AMS) is used to elect the Scottish parliament and the Welsh Assembly. There are several important differences and the principle of proportionality is applied quite differently between the two. The single transferable vote system is used to elect the district councils (since 1973) and the MEPs in Northern Ireland, and the local government councils in Scotland (since 2007). The extent to which an electoral system is PR-based depends on the number of candidates elected per constituency and the existence of any thresholds for successful election.
If a party gains a majority it will be offered the chance to form government by the Queen. The MP is then responsible for representing all constituents, even those who didn’t elect the member. For example in 2005 George Galloway received only 18.4% of his constituents but was still elected MP for Bethnal Green and Bow. [1] This high proportion of constituents who didn’t vote for Galloway is not a unique anomaly, during the 2005 election only three MPs secured more than 40% of their constituents votes. It may be argued that voter apathy has a large influence on this