"'A troublesome partner.' Using examples, to what extent would you say this comment accurately describes the United Kingdom's membership of the EU since 1973"

"'A troublesome partner.' Using examples, to what extent would you say this comment accurately describes the United Kingdom's membership of the EU since 1973" Since the mid-1980s, the transfer of state powers to a EU level and reforms affecting the distribution of power in EU policy have challenged the sovereignty of member states. Since the United Kingdom joined the European Union through the Conservative Prime Minister, Edward Heath, it has been seen as the most awkward partner in the 'club' and has been a force for disintegration within it.1 This was particularly apparent during Margaret Thatcher's premiership.1 This view however, neglects an appreciation of the importance of accomodationism within the UK approach to EU developments. The UK/EU relationship from 1945-present will be profiled in the contrasting terms of uncooperativeness then accomodationism with an attempt at explaining the reasoning for the actions of the 'troublesome partner.'1 Plate 1: Thatcher in 1975 in pro-European campaign Source 2 At the time of Britain's accession in 1973, EU membership was seen as essential for the reversal of economic decline. Since then, UK governments have encouraged the EU to develop into a large free trade area, but have sought to limit EU competences and revenues in attempts to ensure that sovereignty is not diminished and that the UK governmental system, as a whole,

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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

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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

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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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"Explain And Discuss How The "Ideologies Of Welfare" Explored In This Module Can Be Used To Understand The Political Legitimation And Debate Within The UK Social Policy From 1979 To The Present Day".

"Explain And Discuss How The "Ideologies Of Welfare" Explored In This Module Can Be Used To Understand The Political Legitimation And Debate Within The UK Social Policy From 1979 To The Present Day". "The Economic Shift In UK Social Policy Since The Era Of Thatcherism" In this essay I aim to explain and discuss the ways in which 'ideologies of welfare' can be used to understand political legitimation and debate within UK social policy from 1979 to present day. I shall approach this question by initially offering an explanation of the concept of political legitimation and ideologies. Having expressed these definitions I shall move on to explain and discuss social policy surrounding the Conservatives party's moves to 'role back the welfare state' during Mrs. Thatcher's reign of the 1980's. In order to express an ideology of welfare thoroughly, my writings shall scope the economic structure of the British welfare state and the social policies surrounding it. I shall draw upon political and welfare ideologies that support and counter policies surrounding economic distribution during the 1980's. My writings shall also include reference to the changing political leaderships of the Conservative party from Margaret Thatcher to John Major in 1990 and the new labour government and leadership of Tony Blair in 1997, and their subsequent policies upon British economics in an attempt to

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How effective is the British Constitution in protecting the rights of its citizens?

How effective is the British Constitution in protecting the rights of its citizens? The British Constitution is uncodified. Our constitution is unlike any other in the world due to this one fact. Since it is uncodified amendments to it are made easily and without too many problems occurring. This is a contrast to the American constitution that is written and therefore has to be manually changed in order that a law may pass. In the American constitution's history more than 2000 amendments have been suggested; only eighteen of them have actually occurred. This kind of constitution leaves little room for flexibility and makes the introduction of laws much more difficult. Though some would argue that since it is written down all of the public can access it at any time, as opposed to the British constitutions limit to constitutional experts who know how to interpret it. Many will say that the British constitution does not exist, but it does in the form of statutes, court judgements, European treaties, and tradition and custom. The British constitution may not exist in a fully written out form but it takes its form through conventions, for example; parliament's maximum of a five year term is not a written rule but rather a tradition of parliament. Any amendment made to the British constitution is made in the same way; a new law must pass with a majority of supporters in both

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Has the creation of the Single European Market been a success?

Has the creation of the Single European Market been a success? The Single Market was contemplated in the Rome Treaty. It consisted of an eight-year programme to be completed between 1985 and 1992 and one of the main objectives was to eliminate barriers that existed to trade in the then European Community. Its completion was considered to be one of the most ambitious targets and one of the most enduring successes.1 The Single European Act provided the legal framework that made the attainment of the target of a Single European Market by 1992 a realist possibility, through a process of harmonisation for existing legislation. The mobility of capital, labour and goods and services became reality in simultaneous with the establishment of a new European trading block in which competition between countries and companies has increased. The key objectives of the Community are in the Rome Treaty. In this essay I will analyse whether or not the Single European Market has been a success, defining success as 'a favourable accomplishment'. The original plans for a Common Market as known in the Treaty of Rome, which emphasized the creation of a Common Market and Customs Union between the member states, meant the removal of tariffs and other obstacles to trade between the original Six and, as expressed through the Common External Tariff (CET), the adoption of a Common Trade Policy

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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

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To what extent has the European Union been successful in "establishing" a coherent European identity

Introduction European identity, meaning unification or integration of Europe, is easily described as European residents have the ideas where they really belong to, Europe or just German, France or others. Nowadays, when Europe is talked about, people involuntarily associate it with the European Union. Perhaps the main reason is the enlargement of the European Union. Now the EU includes 27 countries, more than half the whole European countries and almost all the powerful countries have already joined the EU for years. Thus in some way we can say that the EU unifies the Europe. At this time, even though the EU cannot be regarded as a real nation, the EU also hopes a kind of patriotism existing in the whole Europe, and in the post-time Winston Churchill had already illustrated this view that "Why should there not be a European Group which could give a sense of enlarged patriotism?" (Wikipedia(a)) Under the uniform administration of the EU, the European identity seems to appear again after the Holy Roman Empire economically, politically and socially, but mainly in the economic aspect. What the EU has done? Economics "Karl Marx viewed economic change as a revolutionary process, and one which determined social and political structures." (Parker, E 2003) Thus the EU firstly chooses to take efforts to effectively manage the EU economy. Apart from the single currency and Economic

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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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