...that government should serve the interests of the people. Legitimacy = the extent to which a government has the right to rule and exercise power. Power vs. Authority: * Power= the ability to make someone do something that they would not do of their own free will * E.g - Coercion – the use of force to achieve ends – the military * Authority = the right to exercise power (based on the consent of those being ruled) * E.g - Legal/rational – HOC * E.g – Traditional – HOL Modern democracies have: Political tolerance Peaceful transition of power Free, fair and regular elections The government is accountable to the people The rule of law Freedom of the media Modern democracies have: Political tolerance Peaceful transition of power Free, fair and regular elections The government is accountable to the people The rule of law Freedom of the media What makes a government legitimate? * Referendums (‘Yes’ answers) * High turnout * Free, fair and regular elections * Lack of dissent * Displays of public support How legitimate is the UK? Legitimate | Not legitimate | * House of Commons is elected | * Electoral system unfair and distorts political representation (FPTP) | * Government elected with mandate to govern | * Every government elected has only achieved the minority of the popular vote | * House of Lords has traditional authority and political influence is widely recognised | * House of Lords members...
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...Politics is the most common phenomenon in the world today. Politics is the concept which provides the manner and the rules to govern a state and country. Its approach is to provide good governance. The persons who are related to this phenomenon are known as politicians. They are supposed to be the persons with all the qualities needed for the good governance. But the present scenario has completely been changed. Now the people who are in the politics appear to be the criminals. They have a number of criminal cases under trial against themselves. Still they rule the state and the country. They are being elected as public representatives for Assembly and Parliament. Whether they win or snatch victory in elections no one can say. It seems that politics has become synonym for crime. Criminalisation is a term which comes of the word 'crime' which appears to be very unpleasant and devouring politics in the name which is given to the art of governance. While on one hand crime is an unlawful act of handling anything, politics is the legal way which takes or deals anything socially. Thus, these two terms are quite contrary to each other but in the present scenario they appear to be synonymous to each other particularly in India. Criminalisation of politics means moulding politics in a criminal shape. This trend has been growing fast since a few decades in our country. .Our Constitution provides that the representatives elected by the citizens of our country will govern it...
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...States during the late 19th century, in which it was a reform movement that many took part in to make the country excel in all areas of society including: politically, socially, and economically. Progressives wanted to eliminate waste and corruption, supported improved child labor laws, minimum wage legislation, graduated income tax, and equality for all citizens. With this, progressivism...
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...Should the UK have a codified constitution? A constitution is a set of rules that seek to establish the duties, powers and functions of government. Constitutions can be uncodified, like the UK’s at the moment, or codified in the case of the USA’s for example. A codified constitution is authoritative, entrenched and judiciable, everything that an uncodified constitution isn’t. On the one hand there are many arguments supporting the view that the UK should adopt a codified constitution. If a codified constitution were introduced, the key constitutional rules would be collected together in a single document, and they would be more clearly defined than in an ‘unwritten’ constitution where rules are spread across many different documents. A codified constitution would create less confusion about the meaning of constitutional rules and greater certainty that they can be enforced. A second argument supporting a codified constitution is limited government. A codified constitution would cut government down to size. A codified constitution would effectively end the principle of parliamentary sovereignty and subsequently elective dictatorship. Elective dictatorship is a constitutional imbalance in which executive power is abused to allow governments to win elections. In the UK, it is reflected in the ability of a government to act in any way it pleases as long as it maintains control of the House of Commons. It would not be possible for government to interfere with the constitution...
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...and creator of the GNU project which later went on to become the Free Software Foundation. FOSS philosophy simply states that it is the right of every user to use, modify, and distribute computer software for any purpose. The right to use, distribute, modify and redistribute derivative versions, the so called "four freedoms," are based in and representative of an extreme form of anti-discrimination resistant to categorization into the typical “left, center and right” political schema. This element of nondiscrimination, coupled with the broad nature of FOSS's philosophical foundation, enables the easy adoption of FOSS technologies. FOSS's broadly defined freedom acts as an important starting point and one conceptual hinge useful in understanding the wide circulation of FOSS as a set of technologies, signs, methodologies and philosophies. An analysis of the way in which this philosophical and legal form is animated and redirected in particular ways through the use of FOSS technologies and licensing schemes. It is to three contrasting examples of such transmutations that we now turn to. Hiring a cadre of FOSS developers to work in-house on FOSS software, IBM launched the first nationwide advertising campaign promoting the FOSS operating system GNU/Linux. In their first campaign, they highlighted the ideas of openness and freedom in ways that, unsurprisingly,...
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...Griffin, a married white man with a lack of common sense, being offered a boat in exchange for attending a timeshare seminar. At the end of the seminar, Peter choose to take the “mystery box” over the boat, despite disapproval from his wife, Lois. With tickets obtained from the mystery box, Peter, Lois, and their friends go out and drink a lot of beer while at a comedy club Peter, who was highly intoxicated took it upon himself to go on stage and tells unfortunate jokes, however, the audience was not laughing at him because of his jokes,...
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...constitution has seen a significant amount of change. Westminster has devolved some of its power, an Act protecting and stating human rights has been established and a referendum is due to be held in 2014 on whether or not Scotland should have a codified constitution. While one could argue that discussions as to whether the upper house should be elected or appointed have not yet reached a decision, and it has taken over a decade for a devolved assembly to have the chance to be independent, it would appear that constitutional changes have gone as far as they are ever going to, however it ... gone far enough. Parts of the British political system were seen as undemocratic, especially during Labour’s terms in office in the late 1990’s, in particular the House of Lords (HOL). The Labour government set out to remove all hereditary peers in 1999; instead they abolished all but 92 and now promoted life peers as an alternative. Many Lords and Ladies are offered a place in the HOL either for service, such as previous MP’s, or due to their particular knowledge in a field, such as Alan Sugar as he has a vast amount of knowledge in business. However this was the last reform made, no more hereditary peers have been abolished, the question on whether or not to make the upper house elected is still on-going and previous conservative MP’s still hold more seats than any other party thus making the HOL unrepresentative and undemocratic. Therefore many argue this constitutional change has not gone far enough...
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...partaken in the ritual of getting high, stoned, bombed, blitzed are only some of the terms that are used. Many will claim that marijuana is not a bad drug and many will say it is. In this argument we will identify that if it is true to fact or is it just a ploy by the government to keep it illegal. The use for medical purposes has also come to scrutiny as well. The majority of Americans choose the same issues as the most threatening to the nation. Invariably among these one will see “drugs” as a major concern of most Americans. There is speculation that this is due to a perceived association between drugs and crime (Inciardi, 1999). A good deal of the argument over government policy towards drugs centers on the least unhealthy and most socially accepted of the illegal drugs, marijuana. Marijuana, scientifically known as Tetra-hydro-cannabinol (THC), belongs to its own group among other legal and illegal drugs. It is neither a narcotic, such as heroin, nor a stimulant, such as caffeine or tobacco, nor a depressant, such as alcohol. The cannabis plant is thought to have grown originally in Asia, though it was also discovered upon the settling of North America. Its leaves, when smoked, instigate physiological reactions. When the active chemical in cannabis, THC, enters the bloodstream through the lungs and reaches the brain, it triggers the release of dopamine, a...
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...Organization Societies formed by Reverend S, Humphreys grew out of the frustration with the current system's lack of organization and distribution, within the new system they tried to organize so that they could assist with matters of charity and relief by cutting down on the dependence of the welfare and fraud of the system. As society grew so did the problems of society, which lead to the development of what was called Settlement houses which provided a holistic approach to poverty. This new concept gave emphasis on issues such as empathy and acceptance surrounding issues related to the people of the community who needed help, also promoting ideas of comprehensive care involving poverty. This movement brought to light how the undeserving people who were experiencing abnormal circumstances were still human and need a chance; even though the Settlement House was active in dealing with the ongoing issues of poor people, there was reluctance from the public sectors when it came to supporting. In our history books the Hull House, which was a famous Settlement House, closed in 1963, giving way for a new reform...
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...fabric of society remained invariable throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. The British people at that time were traditionally puritan and straight-laced. They adhered to the codes of conduct and took care of their moral appearance. Despite the fact that the working class predominated quantitatively, the Victorian age was the time of the middle class prosperity. Significant part of the working class representatives struggled to meet some unspoken social demands to deserve the right to be called middle class. A family as a social unit was regarded a foundation stone of the Victorian society. Men and women played different social roles and fulfilled different functions as family members. There was no equality between sexes and social classes; and it could be traced in all spheres (education, availability of work and salary rank). In general, the Victorian Age is a period of striking social contrasts and significant socioeconomic changes. Sociopolitical Climate of the Victorian Age Victorian Parliament was more representative than the previous ones and considered demands of people more carefully. In 1832, before the introduction of Queen Victoria to the throne, a significant part of the expanding middle class has gained the right to vote due to the parliamentary reform. In this...
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...What are the perceived risks in buying and using a service? Any time customers consider purchasing a new product or signing up for a new service, they also face a set of uncertainties about the product or service collectively referred to as perceived risk. As part of the conversion process from potential customer to paying customer, businesses must develop strategies to assuage one or more of the six types of perceived risk: Functional Risk One of the most common types of perceived risk, functional or quality risk refers to the fear that a product or service will fail to deliver promised functions or benefits. A new computer, for example, might fail to run the resource-intensive, audio editing program a sound engineer needs to perform her job. Social Risk Social risk refers to the possibility that buying a product or using a service can reduce a person’s status with friends, family or neighbours. If, for example, someone purchases a pure-bred dog and finds his friends consider adopting animals from shelters the socially responsible behaviour, he suffers a loss of status. Financial Risk Financial risk boils down to a fear that a potential purchase can tax or outstrip a person’s monetary resources, now or in the future. Financial risk operates on both a subjective and objective level. A person with low or variable income can experience a high level of subjective financial risk, even with low-cost items. The purchase of a home, on the other hand, often means an objectively high...
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...Government & Politics Unit 2 * Constitution * Codified Constitution ✓ * Advantages & Disadvantages * Features * Uncodified Constitution ✓ * Advantages & Disadvantages * Features * Is Parliament Sovereign? ✓ * Arguments For and Against * Strengths and Weaknesses of the UK’s constitution ✓ * Constitutional Reforms – Coalition and 1997-2010 ✓ * What are they? * Are they effective? * PM & Cabinet * Features & Functions of the PM ✓ * What must a politician be to becoming PM * What can a PM do? * Functions of Cabinet ✓ * Factors that affect promotion and resignation of a minister ✓ * Powers and Constraints of PM ✓ * Theories of Executive Power ✓ * PM V Cabinet ✓ * Parliament * Functions of Parliament ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Powers of Parliament ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Parliamentary Reform ✓ * What are they? * How effective are they? * Relationship between Parliament and Government ✓ * Factors that affect it * How the coalition affects it Constitution: 2 Types of Constitution * Codified & Uncodified Codified Constitution * Constitution where the rules are written down in a single document. Example could be the USA...
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...UNIT ONE INTRODUCTION TO CIVIC AND ETHICAL EDUCATION 1. INTRODUCTION 2. MEANINGS OF CIVICS AND ETHICAL EDUCATION The Notion of Civics The subject field of civics originates from the nature of human being itself i.e. from the natural behavior and level of interaction of human beings it self. One basic nature of human beings related with this statement is the fact that “man is a social animal” whose life is closely related to each other. Almost all instincts, demands and progresses of human beings are fulfilled in society. The superiority that human beings try to achieve over nature and other living things is the result of the social bond among human beings. If such bond is a requirement for the survival of human beings, then what should be the pattern of social interaction that exist among human beings is closely related with the subject matter of civics. In this regard civics is considered as a subject field which is mainly concerned with teaching citizens as to how they can live harmonious and peaceful life with other citizens and as to how they can resolve conflicts peacefully among them selves. The other basic nature of human being is the political view of philosophy by Plato that, “Man is a political animal”, which means no human being can escape from the deeds of politics and its dayto-day life is either directly or indirectly affected by it. For this reason human beings have to know the workings of politics, institutions that affect their day to day life, norms, principles...
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...people through advertisements or for the latter where the defenders ensure that goals do not go in against their team, the midfield ensures possession of the ball and creativity to pass the ball to the strikers of the team and the strikers of the team ensure that the passes delivered to them is by the midfield, to score the ultimate goal that the team seeks. What we see through this example is that, all of the functions, although different in character, all of the different functions are performed co-operatively for the achievement of one and the same goal. Democracy is not at all different to the above stated examples, for it too, functions on the same ideology, of having three separate organs, which have three separate functions that should ideally work co-operatively for the functioning of a democracy....
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...genocide, war and natural disasters, but never has one been so celebrated and socially accepted before abortion. Abortion has been practiced for hundreds of years and medical technology has advanced accordingly; providing a safer and much more sanitary procedure for the women receiving the operation, but the result remains the same for the defenseless child. Abortion continues to be one of the most debated and country dividing topics this nation has seen. In the recent past, there has been steady movement towards the governmental restrictions of abortion. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 was one of the greatest victories in congress related to this topic. The ban restricts a certain form of abortion (partial-birth abortion) past 24 weeks from conception (United States Congress). Even though this is a positive step in the right and moral direction, the act needs to be revised. It needs to have the allotted time reduced from 24 weeks to 20 weeks based upon new medical research that fetuses can “feel pain” prior to 24 weeks. Abortion will never become completely illegal (that is just harsh reality), but the restrictions that govern abortions can be fine tuned to incorporate a smaller and more humane window for abortions. Abortion has been a topic of debate for the past two hundred years. During the years shortly after our country’s independence, abortion laws were little to none other than the common law adopted from England; which held abortion to be legally acceptable if...
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