The Electoral College is the complex method by which the United States of America elects its president. While conducive to the political environment of the Founding Fathers, elections in the United States have changed dramatically since that time, and thus the Electoral College has outlived its usefulness in American politics. The Electoral College was established at a time where communications technology was limited, and thus the founders had to consider the potential of an uninformed electorate. In addition, states have altered the method by which electoral votes are allocated. The Electoral College also unequally apportions electoral votes due to the significant population increase since it was established.
The U.S. President and the British Prime Minister are both very powerful with respect to their government, but there are fundamental systematic differences that are important to understand. The American President is the head of the government as well as the head of the state, the nation’s foreign policy, and commander in chief. Every government has a head of state, but America’s is the head of government as well, which is far different from the head of state. It is debatable weather this is too much power to be in the hands of one individual, but it also allows for any process to be expedited if required. Over the past 200 years, power in the U.S. has shifted towards the President; President Regan, who wanted to give power back to the states instead of centralizing it, challenged this.
To what extent was Mercantilism the most important factor in the expansion of the British Empire? Intro * Can be argued strongly that Mercantilism was the most important factor in the expansion of the British empire * Although other factors such as trading companies and naval dominance and subsequent victory in conflict contributed to the consolidation and acceleration of empire * Mercantilism and mercantilist policies and legislature were the ‘launchpad’ that allowed these factors to take place and flourish, thus mercantilism was indeed the most important factor in the expansion of the British Empire, but was not the sole reason for expansion Para 1: Mercantilism * Mercantilist policies were the driving force behind the expansion of empire as they protected British trade and shipping (navigation acts 1696, molasses act 1733), taxed goods coming through British ports and favoured trade to British colonies. Allowed the empire to flourish and develop as they placed emphasis on trade and growth as the key to national strength. * Bank of England 1694 = entrepreneurialism, encouraged stockholders to invest in the empire and in trade which created more funds for further exploration and expansion * Allowed the development of industry and ports to process materials generated by trade such as sugar. Mercantilist legislation passed to expand ports such as Liverpool and Glasgow ensured more exports and imports could be carried out due to the new size and sophistication of the ports = extends trade, revenue and wealth, more funds for war and overseas domination Para 2: Trading companies also played a part in the expansion of empire but could not have flourished without mercantilism.
Why are some pressure groups more successful than others? Some pressure groups are most definitely more powerful and successful than others, whether this is by affecting government policy, creating more awareness of an issue within the government and the public or changing peoples views. There are six main factors that can affect a pressure groups success, wealth, size, organisation and leadership, the government’s views, popular support and the effectiveness of the opposition are these main factors. Firstly, wealth is a massive factor that can influence a pressure groups success, as the government always listen to the groups who have a lot of wealth and financial power. This is why the government have close links with business groups, like Shell, BP and Tesco.
The war was caused by grudges countries had held against each other from previous wars. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy were the Triple Alliance. Britain, France and Russia were the Triple Entente (friendly agreement). These agreements meant that if ever war broke out you would help the country you are in agreements with. Germany was 30-40 years old and wanted to have a bigger empire and navy than Britain, which had the biggest empire and biggest navy out of all of the countries.
This huge amount of land that was under his controlled was known as the Angevin Empire, this land meant that Henry wasn’t going to be just King of England but also lord of half of France. This meant that he had immense power which could have intimidated the people that were willing to threaten his rule. As well as his power being something to fear, his power could also have been respected because he was so powerful he was able to keep half of France under control before he became king of England. This shows that he was a very capable leader, with lots of experience which would have aided him in getting a fast and secure kingdom easily. Henry had several advantages that came with becoming King of England, England had well established laws and customs that were in place, despite them being under strain through Stephens reign, they were still in place and waiting to be used.
It could be argued that this power is the most important power that the president of the United States commands; the power to persuade. In essence, the power to persuade is the power of the president to bring people around to his point of view or at least to support him in his view. In order to use the power of persuasion effectively, a president should be both charismatic and have a high public profile as in the cases of John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. The power to persuade is an important power that the president has and to ensure that the power is used effectively, he may go about persuading people, typically members of Congress, in a number of ways, either personally or through people on his behalf. The president may also employ carrots and sticks to persuade members of Congress.
Germany had only been a united country since 1871 however by 1914 it had built up a strong army, navy and had the beginnings of an overseas empire. As you can see, Germany since its unison had been very competitive and ambitious against the other ‘leading’ countries. I feel that this may have brought the other countries resentment, especially Britain. Britain had been known as and was the main industrial country in Europe for over 100 years but Germany had very quickly grown into a powerful country. This would have caused Britain some concern, especially because the leader over Britain was cousins with the Kaiser, this would have brought extra tension between them as they both wanted their country to be the best.
Because some populations are so high in certain areas, a large amount of the representatives elected to the House, anti-federalists feared, would be only the prominent and wealthy men of the area. This meant that even more power would be given to the government with the titles the men already had before being elected. Not only did the power of the government make the anti-federalists nervous, the lack of a bill of rights kept them agreeing with the constitution. They wanted a set rights guaranteed so that the central government didn’t have all the power that the anti-federalists were afraid of. The anti-federalist’s opposition to the constitution was
The president of the United States needs to have numerous qualities to be great. Our country is different from any other, with more rights and freedoms then most. This country needs a president who will protect those freedoms. The president of the United States should be brave, trustworthy, intelligent and determined. From the time of the Revolutionary War this country has gained a government, laws and freedoms.