"Family background and social class are most influential in determining voting behaviour in Britain." Discuss.

Essay: "Family background and social class are most influential in determining voting behaviour in Britain." Discuss. There are many different factors that affect voting behaviour in Britain, such as; media, political campaigns/broadcasts, opinion polls, tradition, social/family background, gender, age, ethnicity and even religion. These factors can be put into two groups, volatile; things which are more immediate such as campaigns, policies, opinion polls etc. and stable; things that are long term such as family/social background, religion, upbringing etc. People look to these factors, among other things, to explain why there is such a low turnout of voters in British General elections; in 1992 only 77.7% voted. This dropped to71.5% in 1997 and down to an unbelievable 60% in 2001. In this essay I am going to discuss these factors and determine which factors have more effect on voting behaviour, volatile or stable. Family background and social class are two factors which definitely fall into the 'stable' category. These are obviously stable as they are both long term pressures that occur in peoples lives from a very early age. I would certainly agree that these were influential factors because this determines what kind of life the person has, whether they are rich or poor, working or upper class, what education they had etc. In politics, these are all important as

  • Word count: 1616
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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"Jarrow's problems were caused by the policies of the National Government".

Question 5 "Jarrow's problems were caused by the policies of the National Government" The problems the question is referring to include a catastrophic lack of jobs. This was caused by the decline of heavy industry, owing to general economic decline in post war Europe and the fact that particularly after 1925 British exports were extremely expensive. The people made unemployed were forced to go on the doll, which then consequently ruined there chances of finding another job. This meant that contracts for ships etc. went to foreign competitors, and in towns like Jarrow work ran out as contracts became fewer and further between. No-one invested in trying to start up new companies to replace small but important companies such as Palmers Yard which was closed by rationalisation. The decline of old industries and unemployment started just after the war and this is backed up by the evidence in source A when it claims that "there was no prospect of a job" concerning the period of time from 1922 onwards. This was because after the war it was easier to import cheaper goods from overseas without fear of attack. Since it was cheaper to do this, many companies chose to. This made the situation worse and started a vicious cycle. The previously mentioned problems were not the fault of the National Government because it was set up in 1931, and these are long term issues resulting from

  • Word count: 743
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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"Keeping Nelson Mandela in Prison Between 1964 and 1990 was a mistake" Do Sources B to G Prove that this interpretation is correct? Explain Your Answer Using the Sources and Knowledge from your Studies.

"Keeping Nelson Mandela in Prison Between 1964 and 1990 was a mistake" Do Sources B to G Prove that this interpretation is correct? Explain Your Answer Using the Sources and Knowledge from your Studies. Whether keeping Nelson Mandela in prison between 1964 and 1990 was a mistake or not is a very controversial issue. His imprisonment and release from prison where very important. I will be examining six sources, some of which suggest it was a mistake keeping him in prison and others which do not. First of all I am going to look at all the sources to discover which ones will help my investigation rather than hinder it. Source B is from a British newspaper, which was against apartheid. It was written before Mandela's release and so would have taken into account the current opinion of the people concerned with the situation, so there for may be quite reliable. However, because the paper, 'The Observer' was anti-apartheid it can not be 100% reliable and correct due to the risk of bias. Also it does not mention the possibility that if Mandela was not imprisoned, he may have continued to e a terrorist in aid of black resistance. Source C is very different from source B, as it is a propaganda poster. This suggests it could be biased. However it does show us black resistance was still a threat before Mandela's release in the February of 1990. This could be used to help explain

  • Word count: 2314
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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"The British Parliament is weak whereas the US Congress is powerful." Discuss.

"The British Parliament is weak whereas the US Congress is powerful." Discuss. Parliament and Congress are both examples of popular representative legislatures. The British Parliament is one of the oldest representative legislatures in the world. It consists, technically, of the Crown, the House of Lords, and House of Commons. Today, the dominant part of Parliament is the House of Commons. The main functions of Parliament include representing the people, discuss legislation, legitimise political decisions, sustain but scrutinise the government, approve taxation, and debate issues of national importance.1 However, there is evidence to suggest that the influence of Parliament, and especially the House of Commons, is in decline and that Parliament today is comparatively weak, especially in relation to the US Congress, which is seemingly very powerful. The Constitution grants the United States Congress "all legislative powers" in the national government. Congress is made up of two houses - the House of Representatives and the Senate. The primary duty of Congress is to write, debate, and pass bills, which are then passed on to the president for approval. Other congressional duties include investigating pressing national issues and supervising the executive and judicial branches.2 The US Constitution created a system of separation of powers, where three branches of

  • Word count: 3006
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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How successful was Peel's government of 1841 to 1846?

How successful was Peel's government of 1841 to 1846? Peel entered government for the second time in his career in August 1841 with a strong Tory majority in Parliament gained in part by Peel's skill as leader of the Opposition and by the failings of Lord Melbourne's former Whig government. He would lead his new "Conservative" party through many difficulties and end his career with the repeal of the notorious Corn Laws in June 1846. His party was split between the loyal Peelite Conservatives and the older, more reactionary Tories, who still for the most part believed in agricultural protectionism once ensured by the scrapped Corn Laws. But, as in accordance with Peel's ideology, failure in the party was not necessarily a failure for the nation. Peel entered government on the back of traditional Tory votes. These came from the agricultural sectors of southern England, especially the landed gentry, tenant farmers and the aristocracy. Any considerable amounts of votes had not, as Peel had hoped for, come from the middle classes and industrialists based in the large northern working towns who Peel had so sought to win over with his Tamworth Manifesto. This put Peel in a compromising situation over his allegiance. The majority of his more practical policies followed the line of stimulating trade to create prosperity across Britain's social spectrum. This meant reducing or

  • Word count: 537
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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Referendums. Since the electorate is asked to vote directly on an issue, holding a referendum is a way of performing direct democracy within a system of representative democracy.

One way of finding out whether voters support a particular policy being thought about by the government is to vote 'yes' or 'no' to a single question on that policy. A vote on a single issue like this is known as a referendum. Since the electorate is asked to vote directly on an issue, holding a referendum is a way of performing direct democracy within a system of representative democracy. Britain's first national referendum was over British membership of the European Common Market (Europe). Referendums for Ireland Since the very first referendum, they have been used twice in Ireland to try and solve different problems: The Northern Ireland electorate voted to remain in the UK when the Storment Parliament (Northern Ireland Parliament). There was a majority vote of 98.9%. A referendum was also used to see the Irish peoples view on the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (Where the Catholics and the Protestants agree to stop their fighting). Referendums for Europe As stated above Britain's first and only ever national referendum was around the issue of Europe. The referendum came in 1975. Britain were already a member of the 'Common Market' (or in other words was a part of Europe), and the question that was asked was simply: "Do you think the United Kingdom should stay in the European Community (Common Market)?" This issue brought together different parties, campaigning

  • Word count: 698
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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Compare and Contrast how the Conservative and Labour 1997 manifestos use rhetorical language to appeal to their audiences

Compare and Contrast how the Conservative and Labour 1997 manifestos use rhetorical language to appeal to their audiences In 1997, the Labour Party had been in opposition for eighteen years. Such a long period of time to be out of power made them look unreliable and inexperienced. Many voters would be fearful of a repeat Labour Party pandemonium. When The Labour Party was previously in power it was accused of being "too socialist" and gave too much power to the unions. While taxes continued to ascend, the countries economy collapsed and a three-day working week was introduced. Should Labour wish to re-establish power, it had to distance itself from the previous Labour Party, and introduce new schemes to create an enhanced Britain. It is an immediate disadvantage for The Conservatives that Labour had been out of power for so long, as it wouldn't enable them to blame the problems in the country on the Labour Party. It was all very well that the Conservatives had been successful for the past four elections, but it resulted in the country's difficulties being mainly their fault. The Conservatives had many difficult problems to overcome, if they wished to continue in power. In order to maintain the possession of the voters' trust, The

  • Word count: 1651
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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"Aboriginals are interested not only in boomerangs, gum leaves and corrobores! The overwhelming majority of us are able and willing to earn our living by honest toil and to take our place in the community, side by side with yourselves"

"Aboriginals are interested not only in boomerangs, gum leaves and corrobores! The overwhelming majority of us are able and willing to earn our living by honest toil and to take our place in the community, side by side with yourselves" Unknown, Magazine Unknown, edition no 3, June 1978 page 1. The idea of Aboriginal reconciliation was brought about by a Royal Commission Inquest into the high death rate of Aboriginal Australians being held in custody, however the official reconciliation campaign began in 1991 with a ten year time frame to advance reconciliation to make the Australians Government address cultural, social and economic needs of Aboriginal Australians. With over 50,000 years of settlement before the "white invasion" it was time to fix the issue of discrimination and hardships that Non-Aboriginal Australia had caused towards the Aboriginal Australians. When Australia was first federated in 1901 Aboriginal Australians were the last thing on every Australians mind. This was reflective of the attitudes that Australian society held at the time. The majority of early settling Australians held the attitude of Aboriginal Australians being seen as inferior beings, savage, primitive and uncivilised. This is because the Aboriginal culture is very different to the European way of life in that Aboriginals are influenced by the physical and spiritual world and their

  • Word count: 1110
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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"An Institution in decline." Discuss this view of the contemporary House of Commons.

"An Institution in decline." Discuss this view of the contemporary House of Commons. The House of Commons has seven main functions; legitimating, Scrutinising, Accountability, Legislating, Law-making, Redressing of grievances and deliberating. If the contemporary House of Commons were in decline, we would see this by a decline in the effectiveness of the House of Commons when carrying out these functions. Looking at the functions of the House of Commons will help to assess whether or not the House of Commons is "an institution in decline." Legislation has to be approved by the House of Commons in order to give the consent of the people for the laws that they will be expected to follow. This is achieved in the function of legitimating in the House of Commons. No decline in effectiveness seems to be shown in this function. MPs are becoming more representative of the population as the House of Commons is slowly changing from being predominantly white, middle aged and middle class men to more representative of females and ethnic minorities; there are now 118 female MPs and the number of ethnic minority MPs has risen for the fourth time since 1945. More fair representation leads to more effective legitimating in the House of Commons so this shows an improvement rather than a decline. To give consent on behalf of the people, MPs are referred to as "honourable member" in order

  • Word count: 1546
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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"Assess the impact of the German army on the political process in Germany between 1918-1933".

"Assess the impact of the German army on the political process in Germany between 1918-1933" The political processes in the years 1918-1933 were shaped both internally and externally by the army. This was because in a time so focused on the military the governmental processes seemed to follow suit. And it has been argued that this aggressive military stance was one of the early precursors of the Second World War. Many figured held a large influence in there areas including Alolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and other soldier turn politicians. Externally the political processes of Germany were visibly shaped by the actions of the army. Yet, as the treaty of Versailles limited the army to 100,000 meant then there were many other militant groups affiliated with the army who took a leading role. Such groups included the Freikorps. The Spartacist Revolution which had aims similar to those of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, these made a change to the political environment through the use of political groups such as the USPD who provided a financial base for their claims. The Kapp Putsch followed in the same vein as this by exerting a force that was running counter to the workings of the Weimar republic. These external occurrences showed an increasingly popular distrust in the republic which can be seen in the translation of many of these movements been translated into

  • Word count: 1033
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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