The ideology of the Democrats is liberal whilst that of the Republicans is Conservative. Discuss

The ideology of the Democrats is liberal whilst that of the Republicans is Conservative. Discuss 'Two glass jars with different labels, both empty'. This has been the traditional opinion of the differences between the parties ever since the federalist/anti-federalist issue was settled. However, in recent decades, we have seen the emergence of distinct ideological identities. That of liberalism - a belief that the federal government should have an active role in protecting the vulnerable & guaranteeing rights, and Conservatism - a belief that government should be restricted in order for the individual to achieve their potential. I will analyse to what extent the Democrats and Republicans adhere to these philosophies. Primarily, the Democrats have been associated with liberalism ever since FDR's New Deal of the 1930s. In this era, the government utilised Keynesian economics and expanded its reach nationally, helping the unemployed by providing jobs. Though these 'tax and spend' have become unfashionable in recent years, most Democrats would identify themselves as liberals. Recent policies would support this argument. In January 2009, a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress passed a 700 billion dollar economic stimulus package. This is clearly a liberal policy, affirming the state's role in the economy. Moreover, it was the same congress who passed the Patient

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The US system of checks and balances is ineffective, discuss.

The US system of checks and balances is ineffective, discuss. In the system set up by the U.S. Constitution, the national government is divided into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. These three branches are not independent of one another because the Constitution set up a system of checks and balances to help ensure that no one branch became too powerful. Each branch has powers that it can use to check and balance the operations and powers of the other two branches. The Legislative Branch is given the powers to make law however the legislature may also override presidential vetoes if they manage to gain a two thirds majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Although the Legislature can do this, it is realistically extremely unlikely that they will gain a 2/3rds majority as even if a single party does have a majority in one house, they may not in the other such as is the case currently where the Democrats have a majority in the Senate but not in the House of Representatives. They also have the power over the purse strings to actually fund any executive actions and so if they disagree with a government budget, they can interfere with this and stop it from going through. This was done to the Clinton government when he had lost both of his majorities and so had to ask the American people to support his budget. The removal of the president

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How successful has constitutional reform been since 1997 ?

How successful has constitutional reform been since 1997 ? Tony Blair's ' Things can only get better' campaign got him into the hearts of the british people, a 179 seat Majority in the House of Commons , and the position of prime minister in 1997 . This essay will aim to take you through the changes Blair made to meet his aims of Democratization, Decentralization , Restoration of rights , and Modernization . It will also apart from go into these four things in detail,attempt to show you how these changes affected the United Kingdom as a whole and if it was for good and at all successful and how successful these reforms are and were. Before the Labour party came in , in 1997, the conservatives enjoyed a long honeymoon period from 1964 to 1970 . And too much of the british political system was seen as undemocratic . Primarily the unselected house of lords and the first past the post electoral system . Labour came in promising ' a stake- holder society ; Welfare to work ; Joined -up government ; Economic prudence ; a third way.' The Labour partys' policy dealt with social Political, Economic problems as well as Foreign policy. In Terms of 'social' They increased spending on public services such as health, education, and welfare They also in 2001 , increased support for single working mothers, and partial nursery funding for pre school children . However the ban on fox

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Does the UK suffer from Democratic Deficit?

Does the UK suffer from Democratic Deficit? First and foremost, it can be said that the UK does suffer from 'Democratic Deficit', due to its unelected institutions, such as the House of Lords. The second chamber has the power to delay the process of passing policies. However some argue that the House of Lords is undemocratic as its members are not elected, therefore they are not representing the views of the public. What's more, the UK's voting system could be considered as 'undemocratic'. This is because people argue that FPTP results in unequal value of votes. Evidence this is the fact that it takes the average Liberal Democrat MP around 115 000 votes to be elected, whereas, the average Labour or Conservative MP is elected with only 35 000 votes. This statistic also shoes that FPTP favours large parties but seriously disadvantages small parties. This is undemocratic because in a true democracy all minorities should be given an equal voice. In addition, the effect of FPTP leads to an unproportional House of Commons. For example, in the 2010 general elections, the Liberal Democrats won 23% of votes, yet were only awarded with 9% of seats. Furthermore, another factor that suggests the UK is suffering from 'Democratic deficit' is its falling political

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Long-term factors are no longer important in explaining voting behaviour in the UK. Discuss.

Long-term factors are no longer important in explaining voting behaviour in the UK. Many factors can influence the way in which the electorate vote. Long-term factors are those that have a long term influence on the way in which somebody votes, for example the social class in which that person belongs to. Short-term factors are those which have a short term influence and most prominently during the lead up to an election. An example of such is the impact of mass media and leadership skills. In the last few elections, many long-term factors have become less important due to partisan and social de-alignment, whilst the short-term factors have been ever more emphasised and prominent. Social class is one of the important factors affecting voting behaviour but its influence is declining over time as we move from an industrial to a post-industrial society. Before, most working class (C2/DE) voted Labour while middle and upper class (A/B/C1) voted Conservative. However there has been a decline is Conservative support among AB voters since 1992 and in 2005, 37% of AB voters voted Conservatives as compared to 28% of CD voters that voted Labour. In the last three elections, Labour has also increased their support among C1 voters. Despite this, a large percentage of AB voters returned to Conservatives in 2010 as well as C1's and C2's. This shows that the influence of social class is

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"The House of Commons is a highly effective parliamentary chamber" to what extent do you agree with this view? (40)

________________ "The House of Commons is a highly effective parliamentary chamber" to what extent do you agree with this view? (40) ________________ The House of Commons is without a doubt the dominant chamber within Parliament , with huge influence and supreme power in UK politics. It consists of 650 elected MPs, each one representing the interests and concerns of a particular region of the country, known as a constituency. It has three very important main functions; legislation, scrutiny and representation, but it is often questioned how effectively it carries out these functions. I do agree that it is a highly effective parliamentary chamber, but also think there is evidence for this view to be contradicted. Parliament is Britain's Legislature, where legislation, the process of passing new laws, takes place. It is mainly carried out in the House of Commons and there are many different types of it, with the two most important being; government bills and private members bills. For a bill to become law is must pass through a number of parliamentary stages, which involves a lot of close reading, amending and debating in both the parliamentary chambers, however the House of Commons has far more legislative power, as the Lords can only suggest amendments or delay bills from becoming law (which the House of Commons can actually override anyway). It can be said the Commons

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Health Inequalities in UK

How effective have Government Policies been at reducing Health inequalities in the UK? Health inequalities are present throughout the UK. They are influenced by many factors but Lifestyle and Social Class play a very important role. Health inequalities start early in life and continue not only to old age but pass through subsequent generations. Tackling these inequalities in Health is a priority for the UK Government and it is focused on narrowing the Health Gap between disadvantaged groups, communities and the rest of the Country, but most importantly improving health as a whole. In my essay I will examine these policies into further detail and show how effective they have been in reducing these inequalities. It is thought that in 2004 nearly 1/3 of over 16's in Scotland smoked cigarettes; this is equivalent to 1.3million people, and it was also reported that around 13,500 deaths were caused from smoke-related illnesses. One of the main areas in which its clear the Government has began to tackle Health Inequalities influenced by people's lifestyle would be the Smoking ban. The ban was first introduced to Scotland on 26th March 2006. Also referred to as "Clearing the Air Scotland" - its aim was to ban people from smoking in enclosed public areas e.g. Public Houses, Restaurants and Hotels. A year on, evidence had shown that the ban was seen to be a success. From a study of

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Analyse the main strengths and weaknesses of Marx's sociological thought.

Analyse the main strengths and weaknesses of Marx's sociological thought. "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" Marx and Engels (1967, p.67) Born in 1818, Karl Marx, using his philosophical and socialist ideas, attempted to show how conflict and struggle in social development were important in the development of a society. The works of Marx were influenced by three distinct intellectual traditions: German idealist philosophy, French socialism and British political economy. German idealist philosophy is an approach based on the thesis that only the mind and its content really exist. This philosophy maintains that it is through the advance of human reason that human beings progress. French socialism is a political doctrine that emerged during the French Revolution and emphasised social progress led by a new industrial class. British political economy was brought about by the social analysis of early capitalism by writers such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo. (Bilton, Bonnett, Jones, 2002, p.476) Using these concepts as a base to his theories, Marx further argued against the capitalist regime and was a firm believer of the revolution of the workers which would one day bring about the destruction of capitalism. Marx was also influenced by the philosophical ideas of Georg W.F. Hegel. However, unlike Hegel who was an idealist Marx was

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How and to what extent has modern liberalism departed from the ideas of classical liberalism?

How and to what extent has modern liberalism departed from the ideas of classical liberalism? Modern liberalism has made several significant departures from classical liberalism, most significantly resulting from their different views on what exactly constitutes freedom. Whereas classical liberals such as Adam Smith and John Locke believed in negative freedom - the freedom of interference by others, modern liberals see freedom as positive - the right of accessing the opportunities and resources needed to fulfil ones potential. It is from this key ideological difference that other differences arise. Perhaps the most significant departure from classical liberalism that this has resulted in is the Modern liberals' perception of the state. Traditionally, Liberals have been very suspicious of the state as a body with the potential to limit personal freedom, and therefore something to be treated with caution. Locke famously stated that the state lay "within the realm of coercion", prompting Liberals to be wary of state interference and seeing its role as to protect the individual from having their freedom impinged upon by others, rather than to interfere with positive aims. The Modern Liberal view stands in contrast to this original perspective; they believe that they state should intervene for positive impact, for example, the provision of equal opportunities, as without the

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To what extent does the Conservative party still follow Thatcherite principals?

Thatcherism comprised a mixture of ideas and policies such as free markets, privatisation of industries, low taxation and little state involvement in people's lives. Some may argue that the Conservative party toady under David Cameron has drifted into a different direction from Thatcherite policies, however others say that Thatcher still has a huge influence on the modern Conservative party. One of Thatcher's main policies was the privatisation of national industries and businesses for example British Telecom in 1981. Privatising these industries was thought to encourage competition and force them to offer cheaper and better services. It can be said that modern conservatives also agree with this idea of privatisation. In fact it seems David Cameron is looking to take further steps and take away government power from sectors such as schools and policing and give the public to freedom to control the state at local level. Also, Thatcher believed that taxes should be kept low as it would create more wealth for people and businesses. Not only would the extra wealth help people buy a property or allow businesses to expand more, it would also reduce government spending on welfare benefits. The conservatives still believe in reducing tax when possible, however due to the economic recession in 2008 and the countries huge debt, tax cuts have been put on hold. Furthermore Cameron

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