'First-past-the-post should be replaced as a method of electing political representatives.' Discuss.

Introduction to Politics for Economists - Essay (N0089998) Question 3): "First-past-the-post should be replaced as a method of electing political representatives." Discuss. __________________________________________________________________ Answer: The British electoral system is based on the "First-Past-The-Post" (FPTP) system. This system is also used in the USA, Canada, and India. It is a system in which the 'winner takes all' and usually gives a clear majority both at constituency and national level. This means that a candidate in a constituency only needs one more vote than the nearest rival to win the seat. Usually this has the effect of turning the largest single minority of votes cast in the nation into a clear majority of seats in the House of Commons for the largest single party, so in theory a candidate could be elected with only 2 votes if every other candidate only secured a single vote. In this way the system has benefited the two leading parties and discriminated against the political fortunes of all other parties, unless their votes are geographically concentrated in a particular part of the country. This pattern of discriminating has been discernable for years in the British electoral system. R. Rodgers and R. Walters refer to FPTP method as: "In this system there are no prizes for coming second; and it also means that the proportions of MPs of each party

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To what extent has New Labour abandoned traditional Labour values?

To what extent has New Labour abandoned traditional Labour values? After decades of consistent defeat, the Labour party sought the need for change in the early 1980s. Although Labour started to change under the leadership of Neil Kinnock in 1983, it wasn't until 1990 that Peter Mandelson, then the party's director of communications, was able to claim that "we have now effectively completed the building of the new model party". And it wasn't until 1994 when Tony Blair was chosen to lead the Labour party that the "New Labour" project was introduced. The introduction of New Labour was aimed at getting rid of the "party of the past" image that Labour had earned to itself and also to evolve into an electable party. For this to happen, radical policy changes needed to be made. In Blair's view, "Labour needed a quantum leap to become a serious party of government again". There were however, significant constraints on the way to achieving drastic changes. An attempt to modernise the Party was in need to change policies which were formulated based on values which the party was actually based and founded upon. The changes that were proposed by Tony Blair and those who shared his views were in clear contrast with the Socialist ideology on which the Labour Party had originated from. The proposed changes also sought to prevent the Trade Unions- another main source of the Party's

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Evaluate the case for using Referenda to decide important issues in the UK

Evaluate the case for using Referenda to decide important issues in the UK This essay is about the use of referenda in the UK Democracy. A referendum is when a nationwide vote is held by government to obtain the nations point of view on a political matter. They are used to decide what actions should be taken when an issue arises that effects the constitution. In this essay I will be assessing the pros and cons that referendums propose and using what I establish as good and bad aspects to answer if referenda should be used more often or if they should be used only in special circumstances. There are two types of democracy, the first being 'direct democracy'. Direct democracy involves the direct and continuous participation by the general public with political issues. This practically means that people have to vote everyday on issues that parliament have to decide on. The second type of democracy is 'representative democracy'. Representative democracy is indirect government by the people through representatives elected by the people. In the UK there are 658 constituencies each having their own representatives. People within those constituencies vote for both general and bi elections and depending on which party won in the constituency an MP for a party will go through. Referenda falls under the category of 'direct democracy'. There are many advantages of holding a

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Describe the process by which MPs are elected to Westminster. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the First past the Post system? The Parliament in UK

Describe the process by which MPs are elected to Westminster. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the First past the Post system? The Parliament in UK id divided into the House of Commons and the House of Lords; though it is often assumed that an MP is a member of Commons, they can be a member of either house, however the letters MP are appended as a post nominal to an individuals name only if that person is a member of the House of Commons which currently consist of 646 members. MPs in the House of Commons are elected in general and by-elections to represent their constituency by the First past the Post system of elections and remain MPs until Parliament is dissolved. The members of the House of Lords however, are officially appointed by the monarch however today the selection is carried out by the Prime Minister. The term FPTP means that the candidate who gains the majority of the votes first wins; thus winner takes all. In a national election those who wish to fight an election must register to do so. When the election takes place, for example in a by-election for a constituency MP, the person who gains the most votes within that constituency wins the seat. Sometimes however if the votes are tight the opposing candidates may ask for a recount. FPTP is known for being a cheap, simple and fast form of an electorate system. The voter simply needs to make one

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What have been the effects of the use of proportional electoral systems in the UK?

What have been the effects of the use of proportional electoral systems in the UK? Currently, the only pure forms of proportional representation used in the UK are the closed party list system, used to elect M.E.Ps, and the single transferable vote technique used in general elections in Northern Ireland. However, the additional member system, which combines elements of the first past the post and the closed party list systems is implemented in the Welsh and Scottish regional assemblies. The single transferable vote system is appropriate for use in Northern Ireland, where difficult cultural differences often cause community divides. Constituents order the candidates in preference, and the results of the election decide the politicians who will represent each multi-member constituency. In constituencies with both catholic and protestant regions, it is almost certain that both a catholic and protestant MP will be elected. This is a major advantage, as constituents in Northern Ireland often feel more comfortable discussing their concerns with an MP of the same religion and thus the single transferable vote system has had a positive effect on MP community links in Northern Ireland. If a majoritarian or first past the post system was implemented in Northern Ireland, this would result in only a catholic or protestant MP being elected per constituency, which would cause obvious

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Evaluate the case for using referenda to decide important issues in the UK

Evaluate the case for using referenda to decide important issues in the UK A referendum is a popular vote in which the people, rather than the elected representatives, resolve a political issue. Since the electorate is asked to vote directly on a particular issue, holding a referendum is a way of exercising direct democracy within a system of representative democracy. It is normally on one single issue with a straight yes or no answer on the implementation or continuance of a reform. There are a number of advantages to holding a referendum. They encourage political participation as people are actively asked to take an interest in one issue and vote for what they think is best. Referendums are often asked when parliament can not resolve an issue so by asking the electorate to vote they are provided, hopefully, with one clear answer. Referendums can effectively end a deadlock when discussing a political issue. They can increase the legitimacy of major reforms or measures that the government is planning to implement and are a good way of determining the public mood and can provide justification for introducing a certain reform. Referendums should give a clear answer to a question however there are often problems with this. Referendums are also the most direct form of democracy as the people's views are clearly represented and help to make political decisions more legitimate.

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"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

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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

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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

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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

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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