Things which convince the majority of today’s voter in the United Kingdom are not really the long-term policies of the parties, or any alignment to parties. As a mentioned before even the class system is not that important anymore, therefore it is not a main reason to vote for the party which used to be the one related to the voter’s class. It is much more likely that the voting public decides what to vote influenced by so-called short-term factors. Another term which is used is issue-voting so the electorate decides new for every single election what are now at the moment the policies I want to support. A voter could switch from voting for the Conservatives to vote for the Labour Party at the next election because they decide according to single issues.
In 2010 backbenchers were threatening to rebel over tuition fees. This was enough to force concessions to be made so the rebellion wasn’t as large as expected. It could be said that they failed because the bill wasn’t defeated but in a way it was a success as changes were made. This shows that the image of being lobby fodder is being shaken off by the more outspoken MPs. It is difficult for a Backbench MP to influence government policy if a government has a large majority in Parliament.
In the UK there has been nine referendums to date with two planned to take place in 2010, although; in the past many referendums have been planned/promised by the government, but have never gone ahead. One of the biggest problems that are faced when deciding whether referendums should be used more frequently is just what kind of issue would require or is suitable for a referendum. The decision is left to the whim of the party in power, which acts in favour to them as they have the power to only call referendums when they are sure what the outcome may be, consequently in my opinion rendering the referendum irrelevant and a waste of money. One argument for the ‘No camp’ is that while it is sometimes claimed that referendums enhance democracy, in fact they undermine our system of representative democracy. What they mean by this is that the decisions made, may not be as well thought through as members of the public are less likely to have an understanding of the issue than elected politicians, also by seeking a majority vote referendums may undermine the minority who are generally well protected within representative democracy’s, and finally the use of referendums on some issues may cause doubt to surface amongst the public as to whether the government are fit to govern, because they don’t know what decision to make.
This type of range voting appears to have less serious drawbacks than plurality, IRV and the Borda count, but it has not been used for political elections. Tied political elections in the United States have led to costly runoffs and ballot recounts. For instance, the 2008 United States Senate election in Minnesota cost the state over $12 million. In this report, the results of simulations that counted the frequency of tied elections for plurality, instant runoff voting and range voting are presented. It is found
This led to the passing of key legislation such as The prevention of terrorism act 2005 and the Criminal justice act 2003 both of which made a great impact on the electorate. Another constitutional reform which was less impacting was the freedom of information act n 2000. This was originally set up so that the electorate would have the right to any information held by large Public bodies or organisations. However this failed to be of little impact. Citizens can now access the information held on them by some 100,000 organisations.
Some in favour of the UK's uncodified system would argue that the fact the constitution is not entrenched creates a much more flexible and adaptable constitution, which means it can evolve due to circumstances when they crop up. A prime example of this was in May 2010 in the election where there was no majority vote. Due to the economic crisis at the time it would have been horrific had there been a 'hung' parliament so thanks to the flexibility of the UK's constitution a draft procedure was made in case of such emergencies. As the constitution was not entrenched this was done quickly and easily which was required because of the seriousness of the situation. This showed the UK constitution to be very beneficial, and furthermore the Queen and the Royal Prerogative did not have to be consulted, which would have been different in a codified system and made the process much slower than in an uncodified constitution.
Contention 3: Wealth Cannot Buy Election Victories or Political Dominance_______________________________________________________ There is a common misconception that democracy and influence are truly for sale in the United States. However, the Journal of Political Economy notes that “Campaign spending has an extremely small impact on election outcomes regardless of incumbency status. According to my estimates, an extra $100,000 in campaign spending garners less than 0.33 percent of the vote.” Thus, although Citizens United has increased the amount of money flowing into the political system, we are not seeing victories for those supported by Super PACs at the rate some critics of the decision predicted. This is also due to the fact that corporations naturally compete with each other and unions have been freed to contribute (thereby acting as a counterbalance to corporate spending). According to the Melone, “A corporate political advertisement supporting or opposing a particular position or candidate will most definitely generate an immediate response by corporations with competing
Liberty died in America today I'm watching the results of the mid-term election as I write this and I am afraid that freedom died in America tonight. There have simply not been enough incumbents defeated to make an impression upon the entrenched elites who control the Big Government party which runs this nation. Yes, the House of Representatives has gone over to the Republicans, but those of us who were looking for the majority of that body to be composed of new people are disappointed. Yes, some of what the liberal mainstream media has taken to calling the “Tea Party” candidates have won their races. But their numbers are few, miniscule really in comparison to the total of 435 seats that were up for grabs.
Should referendums be more widely used in the UK? (25 marks) In a referendum the people are invited on a local, national or regional basis to vote on a key political issue, usually of a constitutional nature. Referendums pose a simple question which requires a straight forward ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. In the UK referendum results are not legally binding, but parliament will effectively always accept a referendum result. Referendums have become more widely used since 1997 and have helped to decide controversial policies.
Most sources which suggest that immigrants do not help the economy are anti immigration groups and conservative think tanks such as the Centre for Immigration Studies and The Heritage Foundation. The Public Policy Institute of California, which claimed that immigrants are ten times more likely to be put in prison, is also a non partisan group. After the recent economic recession and the threat of America’s economy being overtaken in the next 40 years, I think it is in the best interests of the American Government to encourage immigration and ultimately boost their economy, which should be done by allowing more people applying for us citizenship to be allowed a green card, and thus prevent the large amount who enter