Do pressure groups enhance or threaten democracy?
Do pressure groups enhance or threaten democracy? Divergent arguments exist to suggest whether pressure groups enhance or threaten democracy, the process of politics and of policy making. Some argue that pressure groups are essential to democracy, a vital factor in deciding whether a country is truly a liberal democratic state. Others argue that the way they work and operate has little to do with democracy and in fact makes worse the in balance of power in the political system and inhibits the operation of Government. A pressure group can be defined as any organized group that does not put up candidates for election, but seeks to influence govt. policy, local govt. policy or even the policy of a political party. They seek to represent the interests of particular sections of society in order to influence public policy. General elections are too infrequent to be the sole means to influence policy. Once every 4-5 years is an inadequate public input and does not make the political system very democratic. However General Elections are not the be all and end all of the public's right to influence govt. This is where pressure groups come into play they seek to influence government throughout the term in office until their cause is met making the system more democratic. On top of this a limited choice exists in reality as to who should govern the country as the Labour and
Leadership styles
In this task I will describe leadership styles and their use in the uniformed public services. I will include examples of public service situations when each style may be used. I will also compare different leadership styles used in the uniformed public services, evaluate the effectiveness and draw conclusions about why this is the case and consider whether the styles make the team leader effective or not and why. Leadership Styles A leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction for a team, implementing plans and motivating people to complete a task. There are several different leadership styles, each with advantages and disadvantages. The public services are constantly changing in response to changes in public expectations, the law and the current political environment and so the styles of leadership they use change and evolve too. Authoritarian leadership - is a very direct leadership style where the leader tells the team members what they must do. Sometimes this style is also described as autocratic. It is often considered a classic leadership style and is used when a leader wishes to retain as much power as possible and maintain control over the decision making process. It involves the leader telling the team members what they must do without any form of consultation or negotiation. Team members are expected to obey orders without receiving any
Assess the Criticisms of the Various Electoral Systems Used In the UK
Assess the Criticisms of the Various Electoral Systems Used In the UK There are a number of criticisms that can be placed against the various electoral systems that are used in the UK. The criticisms themselves vary with the electoral system against which they are alleged. One of the systems in question is first past the post. Ftpt is used in general elections. Specific criticisms of this system are that the election results do not necessarily reflect the views of the electorate as a whole. This is because the number of seats does not reflect the number of votes cast for them. There have been instances where the winning party has fewer national votes than that of the opposition. One example of this having occurred is in February 1974 in which Labour won with fewer votes overall but more than their opponents. No recent Government has had 50% or more of the votes cast. Those who criticise ftpt claim that the effect of the system is to over represent the winning party. This was shown in 1983 when the conservatives, with 42.4% of the votes, had 61% of the MPs elected in parliament. In 1997, Labour gained 43.2% of the votes which was considered a landslide victory and gave them 63.6% of seats in parliament. Critics also say that the system is very harsh on small parties, under representing them within parliament. An example of this was in May 2005 when the Liberal Democrats
According to Henry David Thoreau "that government is best which governs not at all" do you agree with him?
According to Henry David Thoreau "that government is best which governs not at all" do you agree with him? Henry David Thoreau's a controversial theorist writing against the backdrop of 19th Century America. As an advocate of individual freedoms and limited government, Thoreau's work can be seen as a rejection of the social and political inequalities, in particular the culture of slavery, rife throughout the US at this time. Thoreau believes that all individuals should have the right to follow their conscience and that when the state restricts the conscience of any group or individual, it is the responsibility of all how are aware to speak out against this. These ideas prove the framework around which Thoreau builds his utopia view of the state, in which the rights and beliefs of all members of society are upheld at all times. Whilst few would disagree with Thoreau's rejection of slavery and call for expanded social and political freedoms, it is important to emphasis the idealistic, at times illogical and ultimately unattainable nature of his theory. Thoreau proposes that governments tend towards perversion and abuse, before the expression of the will of the governed. Thoreau cites the Mexican war, 1846-1848, during which a small elite group were able, due to their political influence, to extend the slave trade to new US territories, despite popular opposition. Modern
Do We Have a Cabinet Government or Prime Ministerial Government?
DO WE HAVE CABINET GOVERNMENT OR PRIME MINISTERIAL GOVERNMENT? In society today people think that the most powerful person in the British government system is the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. However, to what extent does he have power and authority? The Prime Minister doesn't govern the country alone; the Cabinet as a whole discuss most matters. You could then say that we have Cabinet government- they do supposedly collectively make decisions on matters! The position however of power in one government may differ from that of another, Margaret Thatcher for example rarely used Cabinet at all, John Major on the other hand used it regularly and considered there opinions vital in the decision making process. But what type of government do we have at present and why? Cabinet government can operate in a number of ways, depending on the approach of the particular Prime Minister, the complexion of government, the nature of the policy issues under consideration and the prevailing political circumstances. The traditional view is that the Cabinet is the seat of power in terms of policy initiation and decision-making. Cabinet doesn't just decide all-important issues; it also controls government policy as a whole. Walter Bagehot regarded the Cabinet "as the crucial institution of government" describing it as the "efficient secret". The assumption behind the traditional view is that Cabinet
Discuss how effectively rights are protected in the UK.
Discuss how effectively rights are protected in the UK In Britain, we have a negative approach to rights which means people can do what they like as long as there is no law in place that is able to stop them. Unlike in the USA and many other states, however the rights and liberties of British citizens are not set out in a single constitutional document with the USA being able to appeal to the Supreme Court if they feel rights are being infringed. In the UK civil rights have come under threat due to what many commentators have accused Labour of introducing creeping authoritarianism into British society, for example Labour introduced Detention without trial, (habeas corpus) which included the indefinite detention without trial of foreign national suspects for example the Belmarsh case where foreign terrorist suspects where held in Belmarsh prison without trial. Labour also introduced control orders (curfews, tagging, bans on telephone and internet use and ultimately house arrest) on suspects without trial which stops civil liberties with people being stuck in on place unable to live their life. Therefore due to detention without trial civil liberties are under threat as they stop people living their life without them ever coming under trial. Also due to Labour introducing ID cards civil liberties are not well protected, ID cards are viewed as an invasion of privacy and a
Impact of government policies
The policies created by the UK government can have significant effects on the public services. The government can create: * policies that affect all the services * policies that affect the armed services * policies that affect the emergency services. Policies that affect all the services Human rights - The uniformed public services have a lot of control over our lives. They have the power to take away our independence, investigate our private lives, monitor our actions and use the information they find against us. However in order for these powers to be conducted they must be carefully regulated to avoid abuses by the public services against the public. As we live in a democracy, there will always be checks and balances to guarantee that no one service has power over the public that cannot be challenged. In order to prevent this unchallenged power the public services only function with the approval and support of the public. However, even in the UK with highly qualified officers, a breach of human rights can still occur. This is why the government have issued laws to tackle this problem such as the Human Rights Act 1998. The Act makes it clear that all UK citizens have certain privileges and if these rights are broken by the public services then an individual has the right to take the service to court. Examples of human rights: * right to life * right to free
Describe the key international institutions and their impact on UK public services:
1/11/10 Assignment 1 - International Institutions and Their Impact on UK Public Services P1 Describe the key international institutions and their impact on UK public services: The United Nations (UN) is an organisation that was established after the Second World War. Article one of The Charter of the UN states that UN has four main original purposes and principals. The first, is to maintain international peace and security, the second is to develop friendly relations among nations based on equality, the third is to achieve international cooperation in solving problems in economical, social, cultural or humanitarian issues and the fourth purpose is to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in accordance with the above stated purposes and principles (1948). The United Nations is an international organization made up of international institutions. UN includes their own Central system and specialized agencies. The World War II took place in 1945 and after the war finished the UN was founded to replace the League of Nations to provide a platform for dialogue and to stop wars happening between countries. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions. The United Nations supports the key role the UK public services have in the UN peacekeeping operations and military action. E.g. in Afghanistan and Iraq. The UN can utilise the armed and
Examine the first five chapters of 1984 - Discuss how Orwell explores and introduces the theme of control.
BY NATHAN CHANG EXAMINE THE FIRST FIVE CHAPTERS OF 1984 DISCUSS HOW ORWELL EXPLORES AND INTRODUCES THE THEME OF CONTROL In the first five chapters of the novel we see different methods of control the parties uses to create the perfect totalitarian society. This as in '1984' a book that was actually based on real life London 1948. At this point in history Orwell gathered peoples fear of Nazi Germany, Russia, China and all their controversial communistic views. Orwell used the setting of war torn London and a Stalinism rule. Stalin used the condition of the people together with making himself a Godlike figure to keep the Russian's both inspired, focussed and under control especially through propaganda. The barrage of constant Party propaganda just as Stalin did is gradually getting rid of the ability to reason and independent thought, in effect causes you to rely more on The Party and Big Brother. This to the extent that citizens believe anything that the Party tells them, even while possessing information that runs counter to what they are being told, this is doublethink. An example of this is when Winston knew that, 'Oceania was at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia,' this is whereas now he remembers that 'it was only four years since Oceania had been at war with Eastasia and allied with Eurasia.' I believe he remembers as he is strong-minded and his mind isn't
The European Union and UK Businesses
The European Union and UK Businesses There are many rules that the European Union has set out in a series of Treaties. These Treaties have forged very strong legal links between the member states of the EU. The EU laws that are passed in the Treaties directly affect all UK businesses; these laws give UK businesses very specific rights and responsibilities that they must abide by or Tesco could face severe consequences if they fail to comply with the EU laws and regulations, these consequences can range from being fined 15% of their annual turnover and even in very extreme cases a country may refuse to trade with Tesco. In order for Tesco to make sure that they do not fall foul of the EU law, they will spend large amounts of money to update their policies in order to overview how they are complying with the EU policies and see if they need to update or reform the way in which they are running their business along side the EU laws that they have to abide by. Treaty of Paris (1951) The Treaty of Paris, signed on April 18, 1951 between Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands established the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which subsequently became part of the European Union. The treaty expired on July 23, 2002, exactly fifty years after it came into effect. The treaty was seen as foundational in bringing together Europe in peace
