Name: Mellissa Harley SPE211: Foundations in Social Policy Student Number: 11242359 Assessment item 1 Liberal Democracies take various forms. These types of political systems at the same time support collectively owned institutions and a free market economy. This essay aims to discuss the Australian liberal democratic political system and how the wellbeing of its citizens is enhanced by its operation. This paper discusses the many tensions the Australian government must manage; between negative and positive liberalism, and between liberal and democratic theory. Finally, Australia’s reliance on unwritten conventions and how this leaves our democratic institutions vulnerable and open to attack is also considered.
Six state parliaments. Two territory parliaments. The members of parliament are elected by the people and must therefore represent the needs of the people if they wish to keep their seat in parliament. The elected members of parliament are also responsible to the parliament and the people for their actions. The Australian parliamentary system is based of the British Westminster system, which was adopted in the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK), known as the Commonwealth Constitution.
1. On what grounds have liberals supported democracy? Democracy is rule by the people. Its ‘liberal’ features are reflected in a network of internal and external checks on government in order to protect citizens against the state and guarantee liberty. Therefore, democracy in most of the western countries takes place through a system of regular and competitive elections, universal suffrage and political equality.
In my opinion, I believe that Australia did develop into an independent nation in the world during 1900-1945. Through the likes of federal policies in 1900-1914, WW1, 1920-1930’s and WW2 Australia increasingly became a more independent country. At the start of Australia’s birth; the federal government had placed many laws that would separate Australia from the world in terms of how they treated the working class. We placed many laws like the eight-hour day and basic wage. These laws protected the working class and we were the leaders throughout the world to place these laws in place.
Exam Question- June 2012 To what extent was Germany a parliamentary democracy in the years 1900-1914? By definition Germany was a parliamentary democracy as it consisted of people are elected to represent the country and this elected body then had more democratic power within the country. Therefore, it appears as though Germany has a parliamentary democracy due to several factors such as a voting system, The Reichstag and The Bundestrat. However, it is highly debated whether Germany was a fair parliamentary democracy due to many factors such as the power of the Kaiser, the dominance of Prussia, the actual powers of the Reichstag and the fact that the actual voting system itself was rather archaic. Due to these factors it makes the parliamentary democracy within Germany appear as though they were just trying to please the people which I will now explore.
He refers to the “majority” and its “absolute sovereignty as the essence of democratic government: in a democracy, nothing outside of the majority is capable of mounting resistance to it.” He goes on to explain that legislatures will always “respond most readily to the will of the majority.” That is important, as the legislative branch is elected directly by the people and “thus constituted, the legislatures have acquired almost all powers of government.” Perhaps Tocqueville’s most important revelation is that of “tyranny of the majority,” that is, the idea that the majority in a government can do whatever it pleases, is a real danger to the sustainability of American democracy. He likens the majority to that of an “all powerful individual with the capability to abuse his power to harm his opponent,” and goes on to say that the majority can do the same. He blames the protections of tyranny by the American government as the thing he detests about democracy in the United States, but is quick to fault the irresistible power available, not the weakness of government as perceived in Europe. Legislative instability and the fact that almost every American constitution has been amended in the last 30 years and that there is no state that hasn’t modified its legal principles are seen as weaknesses that could prevail into a tyranny of the majority. It’s safe to say that an
An independent and federal government was thought to be stronger than separate colonial governments. As Australia had just come out of an economic Depression, it was thought that a united government would be able to help with the financial state of the country. Sir Henry Parkes also appealed to the idea of Federation at his speech at Tenterfield where he questioned, ‘Is there a man living in any part of Australia who will say that it will be to the advantage of the whole of the colonies to remain separated?’ Clearly, these arguments won and Australia federated at the turn of the Century. It is evident that the arguments for Federation gained the majority vote from the citizens of Australia and helped the move towards an independent country. Those arguments that rebelled the idea of federation did slow the process down but did not influence the minds of the people enough to gain a majority
To Vote or Not to Vote? Americans elect their senators and representatives. This direct link between the legislature and the people is a very important part of our democracy. Should Congress, then, reflect the will of the people? Or should they pay attention to their own points of view, even if they disagree with their constituents?
Running head: Democracies, Monarchies And Dictatorship Democracies, Monarchies And Dictatorship Dorkas Hernandez Allied American University Author Note This paper was prepared for SOC 135 Introduction to Sociology, Module 6 Homework Assignment taught by Jesse Kleis. Democracies, Monarchies And Dictatorship Governments. What better example of democracy then The United States. Living in the United States gives us the advantage of living under a government system that is a democracy. A democracy is a system of government in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives (reference.com).
|Essay Topic | |For new democracies in the developing world, which system— | |presidentialism or parliamentarism— is more likely to ensure political | |stability? Why? And do we have a universal answer for all countries? | Introduction According to Mahler (2008), the presidential system and the parliamentary system are the most popular approaches to the executive institutions that can be found in political systems around the world. Those studying Comparative Politics have always been keen on finding out whether the presidential or parliamentary form of government is more conducive to a stable government and democracy.