With the rise in the professional politician many prefer to remain loyal in order to gain power and move up in the hierarchy as opposed to become a rebel who remains in the back benchers. This can be seen after the vote on tuition fees and the liberal democrats. Despite the fact that they had campaigned for this cause endlessly only 26 (including a few Conservatives) chose to vote against the bill. Whips play an important part in removing efficiency from Parliament. By having whips who ensure that MPs behave in accordance to the decisions of the executive both Parliaments ability to scrutinise and hold the executive to account is diminished, but also their role as representatives of their individual constituency is also compromised.
Liberalism was drawn from the age of enlightenment in which many religious restrictions were broken in order for meritocracy to strive which allowed individuals to strive on their own basis. The main party that stands for liberalism within Britain is the Liberal Democrat party which is lead by Nick Clegg however parties such as Labour and the Conservatives have strong relations with Liberalism which is evident through their leadership style and manifesto proposals. One of the most leading styles of modern liberalism that is displayed in British politics at current times is the development of the welfare state which provides people with education and healthcare but also provides benefits for those who are unable to work for various reasons. The welfare state was originally introduced in 1911 as a result of a range of reforms due to investigation in to the living conditions of ordinary British citizens. The national insurance act was enacted by David Lloyd George and the liberal party and it meant that contributions were made to assist those who were unemployed or unable to work.
Martin Guardado 05/10/2012 Political Science Topic: Compare and contrast modern conservatism and modern liberalism. Since The United States of America first became a country and started its Democracy, its political ideologies have changed in some ways. Conservatism and Liberalism are the two centrist ideologies that for the majority dominate the way Americans think and make their political decisions today. Although these are seen as very different ideologies they both share some of the same philosophical roots. Their views and points of the government’s role in a democratic society have changed over the years, but the basic ideas and most of their principles have remained the same.
He wanted them to be able to fix their problems themselves and let the government do more important jobs and have to worry about them less. He wanted them to become strong, independent people, but when America’s situation was as bad as it was nothing the people did could get them out of that situation. The government needed to step in and help them get out of the hole because they were too far in to pull themselves out. This concept had good intentions, but failed miserably. FDR’s Liberal ideas set new ground rules for the coming presidents to follow and his spirit and work ethic were going to be the top bar the next Presidents would have to compete with, even still
Assess the claim that the Democratic and Republican parties are now ideologically distinct and internally united (30) There is much debate on how today’s two major political parties are arranged with their ideologies. Their ideologies are the main principles which each party stands for so is more or less the back bone and reasoning for every party’s existence. There have been many links and divides between the Democrats and Republicans since these parties began and at times some have argued for these links becoming too strong and the parties not being individual enough and representing what the party is meant to stand for. Within each party historically there have been many deep various factions, these are smaller groups within each party who although associate themselves with the main big tent party have their own separate ideologies on certain factors which separates them. For many years both parties have had a conservative and a liberal wing, which has damaged the unity of each party as they have not been ideologically distinct.
In fact Conservatism has often been described as chameleon like, in that it changes its appearance according to the dominant political environment at a given time. In the 19th century, when liberalism was its main opponent, conservatism adopted an organic vision of society, seeing it as a living entity and expecting people to demonstrate a sense of responsibility towards each other. When socialism came to the forefront, conservative changed course and began to emphasise the virtues of free markets and individualism to combat collectivist ideas. Such an adaptable movement cannot be described as ideological in nature. It is common to view conservatives as two strands of government the ‘wets’ and the ‘dry’s’, wets are seen to be more collectivist and believe in a greater role of government, such as planning or intervention, whereas dry’s are more neo-liberal,
This shows that backbencher serve little purpose, other than acting as lobby fodder. Yet on the other hand, some PMBs such as the reforms of laws have been supported by the government in the past. The most famous being the 1967 Abortion Act when a backbencher was able to initiate the bill and see it through, resulting in a change in the law. In this instance it can be seen that backbenchers have the opportunity to actually be involved in the running of the
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 general the public today is not really aligned to parties anymore. I would say that party allegiance is something which is nearly vanished in Britain’s voting behavior. There are still groups which are strongly related to one or the other party but that is not as common as was in the 50s and 60s. The important things today are which party has at the moment the right promises for the single voter and which party is better in delivering policy goals.
The thoughtful voter may sometimes vote for the conservative, sometimes for the liberal and sometimes just abstain. The classical liberal perspective will not solve this problem, but it will help us better understand it. Classical Liberalism as an Ideology Classical liberalism was the political philosophy of the Founding Fathers. It permeates the Constitution, the Federalist Papers and many
B) Explain the divisions that exist within the conservative party over ideas and policies. (10 marks) Due to changing policies in the face of different leaders division exist with the party over ideas and policies. The party may contain division in the way to move forward from their Thatcher past. Traditionalists hold a belief in an ordered society and a belief in a strong heavily involved government. The more liberal section of the party hold views in more environmental protection and those who seek to modernise the party, which was Cameron’s initiative, by promoting strong social justice.