Hereditary members are those who inherit their status as from their family, non-hereditary members are chosen by the prime minister in recognition to their expertise to become life peers. In order to fully understand the purpose which the rules that govern the legislative powers of the Lords are set to achieve and other relevant aspects one must look back in history and consider how the House of Lords has changed since its creation and the reasons behind those changes. The process started during the reign of the Normans when king used to call the Magnum Concilium and the Curia Regis to discuss national affairs. The Greater council was made up of ecclesiastics, noblemen and representatives of the counties. Its main function was to approve taxes proposed by the Crown; it developed legislative powers as those who were taxed gained representation gradually.
I have produced an introduction and some paragraphs for this question which should be helpful in providing you with a guide to the correct approach in essay-type questions. In particular, note the importance of linking the arguments to the wording of the questions and maintaining an objective approach, with supporting evidence. To what extent is the UK a genuine democracy? In assessing whether or not the UK is a genuine democracy, it is important, at the outset, to consider what is meant by democracy and the criteria which need to be met in order to regard a country as being genuinely democratic. Democracy may be defined as a political system in which people exercise power over the decisions which affect their lives.
There are certain MP’s that vote against their party’s instructions with no good reason. These are called rebel MP’s. An example of an MP that does this is John McDonald of the Labour party. Legislation also has to go through parliament before it becomes an official law, it has to go through various reading stages and the parliament has the power to send laws back to be changed and also the power to delay, even stop laws being made legitimate. For example, the parliament MP’s stopped the 90-day detention law when they repeatedly delayed the law.
Efficiency, like I said a matter of perspective. This will be further illustrated and explained, later in the essay. As for now, a brief background on the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the history and relationship between them is required to understand the significance of the proposed 2 stage reforms which are as follows: a) The first stage , to remove the right of hereditary peers to vote in parliament (not fully accomplished), and the second stage; b) To decide whether the lower house should remain fully elected or partially elected and nominated. The term “parliament”, was coined in the 13th century. Its origins traced to the King’s council which essentially was an assembly of advisers to the King which also decided on appeal cases.
Many critics have discussed whether or not a Bill of Rights has a place within the UK and its constitution. I will analyse the advantages and disadvantages of introducing a Bill of Rights in order to conclude on whether or not the current system should remain in place or a new system would prevail. As the Human Rights Act has played a vital part in the UK taking a step towards having a written constitution similar to that of other Western societies, it would be useful to consider whether this acts as a sufficient alternative to a Bill of Rights and whether or not there are any other alternatives that could serve the same purpose. Finally, I will analyse whether or not the Human Rights Act1 to make a decision on whether it should remain in place or adds unnecessary restrictions on protecting the UK and its citizens. English law has often been criticised for not being codified unlike other countries.
Power and Politics The definition of Power could be; the authority of control over others. The definition of Politics could be; to interact with people in a diplomatic, canny, deceitful way. This paper will show the comparison of power and politics in organizations and an analysis of management and leadership practices that impact organizations. This paper will also include two real life examples. Power and Politics can be described as “the last dirty words.” (Robbins & Judge, 2009, p. 450) Power can be divided into five principles or bases, the two main bases are formal and personal power.
Moral Codes and other mistakes. In this paper I argue for what has been termed ‘moral progress’(Rorty 915-27), and against fixed moral codes. By ‘moral progress’ I mean that humanity, as time has passed has come to be increasingly aware of the iniquities of past societies (and, in many cases, ‘present’ societies) and has striven to understand how morality can change to accommodate this understanding. Bertrand Russell, in his book "Human Society in Ethics and Politics", makes the point that moral codes are often dictated by those in positions of power (Russell 38-43). "Right and wrong" are defined with relation to the powerful.
In this paper, I will attempt to unravel the “true” intentions of democracies, and whether they pose a positive or negative influence on others by discussing in depth the ways that these interests, good or bad, are obtained and whether these states truly do what they claim to promote. In order to understand why democratic states promote democratic values in other countries, one has acknowledge primary types of motives which
Personal Reflection Paper In my first discussion question that I answered for this course I said that the difference between thinking and critical thinking was the way that we act upon a thought. I also said that a critical thinker will ask more questions to have a better idea about a particular issue. According to Elder (2009), “It is the art of analyzing and evaluating with the goal of improving thought.” (p.9). During this course I have learned many interesting subjects in relation to critical thinking, but there are three that I found to be most significant. The first one is that individuality means more than claiming independence, it means achieving it by acknowledging the influences that have shaped my thinking, by sorting and evaluating my ideas and attitudes, and finally by choosing the best ideas by resisting the pressure of habit and by changing the ways that I think because the evidence tells me to do so.
Compare and contrast our approach to knowledge about the past with our approach to knowledge about the future To compare our approach to knowledge about the past with our approach to knowledge about the future, it first must be determined what ‘knowledge’ is. According to Plato knowledge is “a justified true belief”. So, knowledge must have a logical evidence and to be approved by society and facts. However, to define ‘knowledge’ is not as easy as it seems. The following quote from Bertrand Russell demonstrates it: "The question how knowledge should be defined is perhaps the most important and difficult one with which we shall deal.