One argument that the Westminster electoral system should be reformed is that First Past the Post doesn't give the social representation that other system gives, for example in the Parliament elected in 2010, women, 51% of the population, are represented by 22% of Parliament therefore an under representation, however, university educated are overrepresented, 91% of the Houses of Commons represent 31% of the population but having PR doesn't guarantee that the social composition of Parliament only making the percentage of votes more proportional towards the seats. Moreover, FPTP stops extremist parties such as the BNP from gaining election and having influence over policy or gaining any credibility. One argument for reform of the electoral system is that government claim a mandate or legitimacy despite the fact that they have just over a third of the popular vote, in 2005 Labour claimed a mandate or legitimacy to rule despite the fact that only 35.2% of the electorate vote for Labour, however the referendum about changing the electoral system was defeated by a large margin meaning that the majority of the UK is happy with our electoral system and no government will dare to overturn the decision by implementing a form of AV or another electoral system. The most important reason for reform is that there is a poor vote to seat ratio or proportionality that hits the Liberal Democrats more
The main way they have an effect on public policy, they supply evidence to the legislators/ the political parties. 2. How do you think the media influences the decisions of citizens and government officials? - I think the media influences affect is by the agenda setting for them. Meaning that this connects to the quantity and the kind of news coverage on the main topic of issues being presented.
M4 analyse how government policies are developed What is a policy? A policy is a statement of what the government is trying to achieve and why. Government policy is the sum of all the individual policies – as a whole they help to define where the government stands on broad political issues. Reference https://www.gov.uk/government/how-government-works Policies come from a number of sources such as: • The public • The media • Public services • Politicians • Subject experts • Civil servants The first process of developing a policy is actually deciding what is going to be contained in that policy in many instances the details of a policies are left to experts within a civil service department who are there to work for the government. Government lawyers are responsible for actually
Pressure groups activity in the UK presents a major threat to democracy. Evaluate the arguments in favour of this view (25 marks) Pressure groups aim to influence government policy without seeking election itself. The actions of pressure groups challenge and influence democracy as well as being beneficial to democracy in the UK as pressure groups challenge policies and put pressure on the government to change them. On the other hand pressure groups only represent a minority of people’s views and aren’t considered a major threat to democracy. Robert Dahl and Charles Lindbolm suggest a pluralist view of democracy suggesting that pressure groups are beneficial to democracy.
"Title: The Federalist No. 10 Author: James Madison Time: November 22, 1787 Short Summary:. The Articles of Confederation did not effectively control and reduce the negative effects of factions on the nation, and thus a new government was necessary. The government laid out in the Constitution was ideal because it was a republic, a representative government that would prevent self-interested passions from holding too much sway over the government. It was also large, containing representatives from every state and many different interest groups, making it difficult for one group to dominate and suppress the others.
Furthermore, neither the Prime Minister, nor the cabinet signs a bill once it has been passed; rather the Governor General signs the bill. The parliamentary bill to law process is superior to that of the congressional process, because the American system, creates inefficiencies due to the all or nothing veto which the President has. Furthermore, this all or nothing veto system; creates what is called Omnibus legislation. Which is where several bills are bundled together; therefore, if the President really wants a bill to pass he or she may have to also accept a number of unrelated bills. Essentially, a President may be enacting a bill into a law, for which they know nothing about.
A question put forward by the government to be decided by the public with either a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ verdict cannot be tampered with or imply any confusion to the people/public deciding on the question. For instance, there was a referendum held in the North East in 2004 proposing setting up more assemblies in the region. The majority vote was ‘no’, winning by over three quarters of the population that participated - because the winning vote was from the majority, it represented a true manifestation of the peoples needs. A disadvantage of using referendums is a reverse argument of the first advantage. Some issues put forward by the government may be too complicated for the people to understand, which means they may have difficulty deciding on their opinion due to lack of knowledge.
When America was going to war with Britain no one thought America would win. In Common Sense written by Thomas Paine America was being judged by its size. They did not think America could win because America is much smaller than Britain. America might have been small, but with the determination of freedom they shocked many people who did not believe in them. Way back then, people could not measure the possibility of colonies taking on the world’s largest empire.
In the case of great Brittan, the rules of politics are embodied in a variety of documents, traditions, and accepted practices. Because there seems to be several options for a state forming its constitution, what are some of the principles of a constitution? The virtue of vagueness is a very important principal to keep in mind. If
* Parliament has very little pay, and low power. * Congress has a high pay, and high power. * U.S. Congress is more concerned with their own constituencies and careers than with the interests of any organized party or program. Also, worrying about the voters they represent is more important than worrying about whether the president succeeds with his programs. This mean Congress is a decentralized institution.