Politics and Power notes on the UK system
Politics and Power
As majority of people don't understand the actual meaning of politics they have a negative view on it. By adopting a narrow view on politics we believe politics to be about elections, political parties, politicians, the government and parliament.
The broad definition states
Power
There are a number of different ways of defining power; one is where an individual or group of people are able to get what they want, despite opposition from others. We have power so far as we can get others to do what we want and exercise power when we influence someone against their will.
The difference between authority and coercion is:
o Coercion involves the use of force. Eg: rapists or killers.
o Authority is exercised over us willingly as we think it's the right thing to do. Eg police or teachers.
UK Democratic
UK Undemocratic
In a democratic society our views count in the process of decision making. In Britain we can participate and make our views known by:
o Voting, eg: in local, general and European elections.
o Starting or joining a political party.
o Starting or joining a pressure group and getting involved in its campaigns.
o Writing to our MP, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) or local councillor.
o Writing to the press.
o Freedom of speech.
However some factors of Britain's political system are not democratic which are shown by:
o An unelected House of Lords.
o A hereditary monarchy.
o Britain doesn't have a bill of rights.
A dictatorship is when political power is in the hands of a dictator, a ruler with absolute authority. Obedience is based on coercion and threats rather then legal authority. An example of this is Hitler in Nazi Germany or Stalin in Communist Russia.
The state refers to the various institutions that organize and regulate society. These institutions include the police, armed forces, civil service and judges; they are all apart of the state.
Two different approaches to the state are pluralist and Marxist view.
Pluralist:
o Political power is spread out among these groups and no single one dominates.
o Government policies are influenced by many groups in society.
o The role of the state is to act as an umpire or referee rather than to side with one group over another.
Types of election in the UK
Type
How Often
Elects
General Election
Every five years or less
MPs in the House of Commons
By-election
When a commons seat becomes vacant, eg through a death or retirement of a sitting MP
MP in the House of Commons
European election
Every five years
MEPs- Member of the European Parliament
Local elections eg county council
Every four years
Local Councillors
The aim of political parties in the UK is that we are free to ...
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Types of election in the UK
Type
How Often
Elects
General Election
Every five years or less
MPs in the House of Commons
By-election
When a commons seat becomes vacant, eg through a death or retirement of a sitting MP
MP in the House of Commons
European election
Every five years
MEPs- Member of the European Parliament
Local elections eg county council
Every four years
Local Councillors
The aim of political parties in the UK is that we are free to form, join and become active in any political party of our choice. Political parties have polices on a range of issues, such as education, welfare, the economy, crime and defence.
Labour
Conservative
Liberal Democrats
o Reviving neighbourhood policing, believing people want a strong organised uniformed presence back on their streets.
o Shifting from tackling the offence to targeting the offender, with a massive increase in drug testing and treatment, and sentencing being more focussed on the offender.
o Giving local communities and police the powers they need to enforce respect on the streets.
o Put more Police on the beat
o Cut police paper work
o Build more prisons
o Cut back political correctness
o End Labour's early release scheme
o 10,000 more police on the streets - cutting crime and the fear of crime.
o Getting tough on anti-social behaviour. They will tackle excessive drinking by cracking down on licensees who serve people when clearly drunk or underage. They will require big late night venues to contribute to the cost of extra late night policing. Unacceptable noise and offensive behaviour will be tackled with Acceptable Behaviour Contracts agreed between the individual, their family, the police and the local authority.
o Giving prisoners skills for work not crime. Prisoners would be subject to a tough working day, with increased resources for education and training a top priority so they learn the skills to get a legitimate job.
o Making offenders pay back to victims and their communities. They will make more non-violent criminals do tough community work as an alternative to jail.
o Quality investigations, safe convictions.
o They state the main principles guiding these policies as:
o Addressing the underlying social causes of crime through a coherent set of policies embracing community regeneration, youth work, housing, drug and alcohol strategies, health and childcare.
o Investing in the education system to ensure there are adequate resources to give every child the skills for legitimate work.
o Empowering local communities to reduce crime in their own areas, including through locally accountable and responsive policing, local authority crime prevention, and lay participation in juries, magistrates, courts and restorative justice programmes.
The role of pressure groups in decision making is to use its power to try to influence the government in order to get its views heard and its policies adopted. Pressure groups can vary enormously, which makes it very difficult to generalize about them. Broadly there are two types of pressure groups: protective and promotional.
Protective groups seek o protect or defend their members' interests.
Promotional groups seek to promote a cause to achieve a particular set of changes or to campaign on a specific issue. Eg: Greenpeace.
An alternative way of looking at pressure groups is to distinguish between insider and outsider groups.
Insider groups are those who are consulted by government departments, civil servants and ministers in the process of preparing new policies proposals. The automobiles association, for example is likely to be consulted on issues concerning road policy. Some groups are consulted automatically, for example the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) so they are in a strong position to influence government policy.
Outsider group are not consulted automatically because often their aims are not recognized by government. On the other hand some outsider groups are not consulted because although their aims may be recognised by government their methods of promoting those aims are not. For example on an issue such as the prevention of cruelty to animals, the government might consult the RSPCA (an insider pressure group) but not the Animal Liberation Front (an outsider pressure group).
Tactics and methods pressure groups use:
o Visit MPs in parliament or write to them.
o Sponsor a political party financially.
o Undertake research and provide research findings to the decision makers in the hope that they will respond.
o Organize a petition and get as many people to sign it as possible.
o Contact the media directly.
o Get sponsored by or support from a well known personality eg celebrities and famous actors/actresses.
o Organize a demonstration or protest campaign.
o A trade union can undertake strike action.
o Undertake non violent direct action eg: disrupting a fox hunt.
o The arson of holiday home in Wales owned by non Welsh families.
o Arson attacks by some animal rights groups.
o Obstruction of the highway eg: the Greenham common protestors.
o The anti-poll tax campaign some protesters had to appear in court for non-payment of the poll tax.
The pluralist view
Pluralists argue that no single group dominates the political process or decision making. They also play an important role in a democratic society. They are means by which like-minded people can come together to put forward their views. Hence all opinions and interests can be heard. These groups allow us to participate in the political process and to influence the decision-making process.
Pressure groups allow the Government to keep in touch with the views of the people of the country. Through our involvement in a pressure group or protest movement, we can inform the government of our views in between elections. A pressure group and people whom joined it even decided to lift the tax that Africa owed the UK.
Pressure groups activities keep the public aware of important issues and also raise new issues. For example, environmental groups have raised awareness of the dangers of acid rain and damage to the ozone layer, as well as issues such as transport policies and pollution. As a result of animal rights campaigns, many consumers check the labels to see if they have been tested on animals, before purchasing them. Pressure groups often consist of people who are professional in their field and are therefore in a position to provide government policy makers with expert and informed opinion.
Conflict view
According to the conflict approach, society is based on conflicting views and interests between different groups. Some groups are much more powerful than others and can dominate the political process and decision making. Some groups' power is based on their property and wealth. This gives them greater status and they are therefore able to exert more influence on policy makers, possibly behind the scenes. It is argued that governments are more willing to listen to some groups rather than others e.g. the CBI is more influential than the Child Poverty Action
The positive view of pressure groups:
Pluralists argue that pressure groups play an important role in democratic society, meaning like minded people can group together and express their views. Which means our opinions and views are always heard. Such groups allow us to participate in the political process and to influence the decision making process.
Pressure groups help politicians to keep in touch with the wishes of the grass roots and we can inform the government of our views between elections. The conservative party were forced to reconsider their policy on the poll tax once it realised the strength of popular feeling against that tax.
Pressure groups also inform people of new issues, for example the environmental pressure groups raised awareness of the dangers of acid rain. Pressure groups often consist of people who are experts in their field.
The Conflict view
According to the conflict approach, society is based on conflicting views and interests between different groups. Some groups are much more powerful than others and can dominate the political process and decision making. Some groups' power is based on their property and wealth. This gives them greater status and they are therefore able to exert more influence on policy makers, possibly behind the scenes. It is argued that governments are more willing to listen to some groups rather than others e.g. the CBI is more influential than the Child Poverty Action Group.
Natalie Ahluwalia