Content Blocks Flashcards

Question

What is the impact of absolute and unchecked power

Answer 1

The ability to practice unchecked, absolute power can result in a corrupt regime, that uses extreme measures to make sure society continues to operate within their will. If a regime has no accountability, they will inevitably be able to reward and punish effectively at will – rewarding those who obey them and punishing those who disobey.

Answer 2

This lead to Max Weber, a German sociologist, defining the state as having a monopoly on “legitimate violence”, meaning an undisputable right to punish people with no consequence.

Answer 3

One method of preventing this is by enlisting a system of checks and balances, as seen in the Modern US, which creates several government branches that are independent of each other and are able to hold each other accountable as all must comply for legislation to be passed. In the United States, the executive branch, which includes the President and his/her staff, cannot enact law without it passing through the houses of congress and then being reviewed by the supreme court to determine its legality to the constitution. Therefore, it is essentially impossible for the ruling President to become tyrannical.

Answer 4

However not all view the prospect of absolute power negatively, with some arguing that absolute power promotes stability within society as without an authoritarian figure, people in society will turn on each other as they try to develop the country in their vision. A Government can use their power to act as a peacemaker to ensure all people’s views are taken into account during the political process in order to reach a consensus.

Answer 5

Many forms of modern democratic systems, such as the Untied States, are designed to make consensus a necessity, for example the US system requires a simple majority of votes in both houses of congress to pass a bill, and subsequently this forces co-operation between both the Democrat and Republican parties to enact legislation. However this doesn’t not always work as if a Party gains a majority of seats in political system, they don’t have to seek compromise to pass legislation, for example Boris Johnson’s conservatives won a majority of seats in the 2019 Uk General Election, therefore allowing them to pass bills on Brexit regardless of the opposition parties opinions.

Answer 6

Many argue attempting to reach consensus is not desirable, and instead slows down the opportunity for real change as political gridlock’s form.

Answer 7

that power is still relevant in modern politics, and that the degree of power between branches of government differs, with some holding more than others. Furthermore, how power is achieved and used differs greatly, with countries such as China being ruled by a single party with absolute power that command through controversial and severe punishments for those that don’t follow their doctrine, such as the persecution of Uighur Muslims, whereas countries such as the US have democratic elections to determine a President who is still held accountable by the supreme court and opposition parties.

Answer 8

One of the most prominent theorists on power is Steven Lukes, who theorised that power has three “dimensions”.

Answer 9

The first dimension of power is the visible execution of power, meaning the aspect that the public are aware of. For example, when a government in the UK proposes a new law, they produce a bill, debate it in the houses of parliament and within the media and subsequently hold a vote between all members of parliament to determine whether it will become official legislation. This is a visible form of power as it is clear where the power lies within the process. The second dimension of power, according to Lukes, is the secretive dimension. This describes power that is exercised behind doors, which means the ability to dictate the political agenda, such as what is discussed in the public dimension and what isn’t. Therefore, power can be seen as an ability to prevent decisions from being made Aswell as making them. An example of this concerned the Scottish issue of devolution as during the period of conservative government from 1979 – 1997, the issue of devolution was kept off the main political agenda due to the conservatives opposition too it. Following the election of the pro-devolution Labour Party in 1997, the referendum for devolution was held, however the SNP wanted an option to vote for independence in the referendum however it was not allowed due to Labour’s opposition to it. Therefore, both Labour and Conservatives used the secretive dimension of power. Lastly, Luke suggests that the third dimension of power is one in which power is exercised through manipulation. Luke suggests that a key ability of those in power is being able to persuade us that the decisions being made are in our best interests. For example, some feminists argue that women are being persuaded that being a housewife and mother is the best role for women in society. Often, times of economic and political crisis can be used by a party to push a certain agenda, such as the 2008 Financial crisis, which many have accused the Conservative party of exploiting to push Austerity.

Answer 10

At times this authority is explicit – such as being granted by an election and at other times it is implicit – meaning it is assumed to exist in the absence of any effective challenge. Therefore, if power is the ability to issues commands, then authority is the reason they are able to do so.

Answer 11

The foundation of a liberal democracy is that although a certain government or leader may hold authority, it does not correlate to an authoritarian regime as the authority can only be granted through the people via a democratic election, and therefore it can equally be taken away. Authority is not a feature of many countries in the modern world, such as North Korea for example, who maintain absolute power and face no opposition as they are the entirety of the government and therefore can punish people at will as a consequence. Therefore authority is not required for them to operate.

Answer 12

One of the most prominent theorists on authority is max weber, he theorised that power is finite in society and therefore power held by a specific group is exclusive to them. Therefore, authority is the basis on which a group gets a share of power.

Answer 13

Weber theorised three types of authority, one of which being traditional authority. Traditional authority depends upon a belief in established customs and traditions. Those with traditional authority expect obedience on the basis on traditional and respected customs. For example, the British Monarchy is an example of traditional authority, and therefore it demands that the successor of the crown is respected as much as their predecessor as it is traditionally process. The second version of authority is charismatic authority, which is dictated based upon the special qualities of a leader. People are drawn to leaders that command charismatic qualities, often these qualities can shroud peoples thoughts and lead to follower becoming manipulated into developing radical ideologies, a historic example of this would be Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Charismatic leadership is entirely dependent on the leaders personality, and therefore any movement is vulnerable to die with them. Lastly, rational-legal authority depends upon a formal set of rules which grants authority to command others. This has a moral dimension in that people have freely handed power over to another person. Therefore, a democratic government can be said to exercise rational-legal authority because the electorate hands over power to it through the ballot box.

Answer 14

Whereas the obtainment of power can be achieved with or without the will of the people through force, authority is only accessible through permissions, therefore for someone to have authority they must first have legitimacy.

Answer 15

Legitimacy is not required in an undemocratic state such as China, a Dictatorship, as they have absolute power – no authority is required - however in a democratic state it is impossible for an illegitimate government to exercise control as the different branches of the state will be unwilling to co-operate and accept authority.

Answer 16

One way in which governments achieve legitimacy is through the electoral system. By making a collective and democratic decision on who rules us, society is showing support for those which win the election.

Answer 17

In the UK, for example, the legitimacy has been increasingly called in question by the general populace due to the disproportionality of the system resulting in an unreflective parliament. This results in people resisting the authority as they don’t view the government as a legitimate representation. The UK’s first past the post system results in a candidate winning a seat in the house of parliament if they have the most votes out of all other candidates in their constituency, therefore members often win seats with less than fifty percent of the vote due to the remaining being split between numerous candidates, meaning more people voted against them than for them. As a consequence, nationally the percentage of votes a party gets is not always proportional to the amount of seats they hold in parliament. For example, the 2015 Uk General Election was the most disproportionate in history, with 331 of 650 MPS being elected on under 50% of the constituency vote, and 191 with less than 30% of the vote.

Answer 18

Furthermore, the 2020 United States election had its legitimacy called into question by voters after Donald Trump and his supports claimed rampant voter fraud was taking place through mail-in ballots.

Answer 19

Overall, it is clear that in order to have their authority respected by other departments of the state, the government must have achieved power legitimately. This is increasingly relevant in the twenty-first century as democratic countries such as the UK, have the legitimacy of their system increasingly scrutinised due to a lack of proportional representation.

Answer 20

The constitution of a country is a collection of its most fundamental beliefs and principles and thus cannot be overruled. In America the constitution is considered the supreme law and therefore the executive - being the office of the president - is accountable to its doctrine

Answer 21

In order for legislation that has passed through congress, and both chambers at a state level, to be made legal it must be deemed as constitutional by the judicial system. If deemed unconstitutional the law will not be allowed to become official. The decisions by the courts can be appealed and reviewed by a court of higher authority, with the supreme court having ultimate jurisdiction at both a federal and state level.

Answer 22

During the obama presidency the supreme court ruled on an unprecendented number of important cases; these included rejecting a challenge on a lethal inject drug used in executions and ruling in favour of reversing the conviction of a man who threatened his ex-wife on facebook.

Answer 23

Even executive orders are held accountable to the supreme court.

Answer 24

The US constitution is codified and thus can be easily reffered to by the courts to deem bills as unconstitutional. In contrast, the united kingdom's constitution is unwritten, and instead the supreme court is tasked with reviweing acts of parliament to decipher whether they contradict with pre-exisiting acts of parliament and report back to parliament who will resolve the issue. The supreme court does not have the power to block an act of parliament due to the UK's syste, of parlaimentary soverignty/

Answer 25

the Uk does have have constitutional provisions which are scatttered over various acts of parlaiment. For example, the magna carta bill established the principle that the rulers of the counrty such as the monarchy are still subject to law.

Answer 26

In the United States it is extremely difficult to amend the constitutionm with a super-majority of either congress or a supermajoirty of state legislators required to pass a new amendement. For this reason, there have only been 27 constitutional amendements since 1789.

Answer 27

In both the united kingdoms political systems and the United States political system other bracnhes of government can hold the executive to account by removing them from power, however both system differ in how this process works.

Answer 28

In the United kingdom there are two practices that can result in the resignation of a government or a general election. A vote of confidence is put forward by the government while a vote of no confidence is put forwards by the opposition. Both require a simple majority to pass. The vote of no confidence can be used by opposition partues to hold the government to account and highlight their failures. Furthermore, if passed the vorte of no confidence can result in a general election allowing for the oppoisition to take control. Alternativley, a new government can be formed, which is most likley to be formed byu a leader of a party with a significant number of MPS in order to gain support for the new government.

Answer 29

In 2019 Jeremy Corbyn the leader of labour - the opposition party - tabled a vote of no confidence against Thereas May's conservative government in the hope of triggering a General Election eearlier than scheduled as he believed the government to be inadequate following their failure to secure parlaimentary backing for a deal in the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. The motion was defeated by 325 votes to 306

Answer 30

The united states president can be removed from the office through impachment. The house of represnetatives holds the power to intiate the impachement process, with the process starting via reviewal by committes which review evidence to determine whether there are are signifacant ground for impachemnet of the president. This committe will then put forward articles of impachement to the house of represntatives, with only one or more needing to tpass for the president to be impached. However, this alone does not reuslt in the presidents removal from office. Once impached, a trial will take place in the senate with a convitcion requirking a supermajority vote in favour which will reuslt in automatic removal from power. However, due to this process requirng a supermjoirty senate it is unlikely a President will be convicrted unlees one party has a large majority or he loses support of his own party.

Answer 31

This could be seen in late 2019 and 2020 when president Trump was impeached due to an inquiry alleging he socilicited foregin interference in the 2016 US presidential election. However, Trump was acquitted due to virtually all republican senators voting not guilty.

Answer 32

a lame duck or outgoing politician is an elected president whose successor has already been elected or will be soon. The president is often seen as having less influence with other politicians due to the limited time left in office.

Answer 33

The seperation of powers in a political system determine sthe power of the executive, with some countries giveing the executive more powers than others.

Answer 34

In the united states there are three branches of government: the execuive branch, the legislative branchand the judicial branch. the legislative branch includes the house of represnetatives adn the senate, the executive the president and vice president and the judicial branch indlues tbe state and federal courts. This sytem is often dezcribed as one of checks and balances and ensures that each branch og government doesnt gai overall supreamcy. The branches are designed in such a way to prevent the overall supremac of one branch, including the executive. It makes sure that the president does not have complete auhtorutity over both the legislation and the interpreation and upholding of thje constitution.

Answer 35

For legislation to become law it must pass a simple majoiryt in the house of represntative, get at least 60 votes in the senate and be determined as consittutional by the supreme court.

Answer 36

The only way the president can get around this process is through executive orders whcih are still scurinised by the supreme court but are not required to pass througbn congress. Congress can overturn ane xecutive order by pass legislation the invalidatees it however the president holds the power to veto any laws which itself requires a supermjouty in both chambers of congress to overturn.

Answer 37

It can be argued that the chanes of congressional overrid of an executive order is near impossible due to the supermajority required.

Answer 38

The judicial branch holds the power to make sure that any legislation or executive orders do not infringe on the constitution. The president thus requires the support of congress to lead the country as per his will and must still operate within the boudnaries of the constitution.

Answer 39

In 2014 the republicans won a mjority in both chambers of ongres sunder democratic president Barrack Obama. This put the republican party in power and allowed them to block several pieces of key legislation endorsed by Obama and the democratic party, with obama stating that "So far this year, Republicans in Congress have blocked every serious idea to strengthen the middle class."

Answer 40

The executive, judicial and legislative.

Answer 41

UNlike in the US, there is no formal seperation of powers or checks and balances. In the UK the executive refers tol the government, with the prime minister being purley conventional and ismply refers to the leader of the aprty in control. Furthermore, party members have no requirement to vote in lines with the ledaers expectations. Despit this many peraty members often vorte in line ewith their leader as party whips keep track of voting records and discipline those who don't.

Answer 42

The legislative branch refers to the house of commons and the house of lords. The house of commons is where elected officials vote on acts of parliament. Due to the prime minister simply being the leader of the governing party they can vote on acts of parliament. The house of lords is where unelected offficials scrutinise bills passed by the executive and parliament, howveer they have no real power to stop the bill. Furthermore, due to the UK's absence of a written constitution and emphasis on parliamentary soverignty the executive holds the power to change the law by intorducing new acts of parliament and repeailng currnet ones

Answer 43

The equality act of 2010 changed the law by updating and supplementing the previous acts that formed the basis of anti-dsicrimination law in the UK.

Answer 44

How soverignty is divided within a country's government is crucial in determining the power of the executive.

Answer 45

In the US the soverignty is divided between the federal government in washington DC and the fifty states. Each level has a range of powers which the other cannot encroach upon. Due to the shared soverignty between each state and the federal government Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside.

Answer 46

under the Obama administration marijuana was legalised in Colorado, Washington, Oregan and Alaska depsite still being illegal ata a federal level. However if the executive feels strongly about enforicng a law it can direct the national guard to the state.

Answer 47

The Uk parliament has complete soveriengty, it can create and/or abolish or amend the powers of the devolved parliaments within the UK. THe UK parlaiment can choose to neogitate theses powers as it has with the scotland act of 2016 and this is a political choice for the elected UK government of the day. For example, it is the Uk governments decision to offer a secpnd independce referendum to scotland no matter what they vote for in parliament.

Answer 48

A grassroots movement is an organized effort undertaken by groups of individuals in a given geographic area to bring about changes in social policy or influence an outcome, often of a political issue. By harnessing spontaneous support at local levels to bring about policy changes at local, regional, national, or international levels, grassroots movements are considered bottom-up, rather than top-down efforts—much in the way grass grows.

Answer 49

At the grassroots level, political parties try to improve support by distributing campaign information via campaign leafleting. Most political parties deliver leaflets containing information on their manifestos, designed to inform voters of key themes of the party’s campaign.

Answer 50

In the 2015 general election spending on mailshots and market research from all political parties was £22·1 million; this was an increase from £12·3 million in 2005. In Northern Ireland, spending on unsolicited election materials such as leaflets was the second highest category of election spending with almost £120,000 being spent on leaflets in 2015

Answer 51

They may also use leaflets to try and make a connection with the electorate as the candidate will come across as a human rather than a career politician and people are more likely to vote for a candidate that seems like a normal person. This was seen with both the Lib Dems’ Duncan Hames and UKIP’s Mark Reckless whose election leaflets contained the candidates’ wives and children prominently.

Answer 52

Political parties try to get the electorate to vote for them by communicating with them through social media. Most political parties send political Facebook adverts to voters to promote their policies and attempt to rally their support.

Answer 53

During the 2015 election, the UK's political parties spent about £1·6 million on ads and other media that ran online. The majority of that cash, £1·3 million, was paid to Facebook increasing the number of followers that party leaders and party accounts were reaching, allowing them to engage with and energise voters.

Answer 54

Social media is a long-term medium (although stories can of course go viral quickly), so political parties need to keep their online spaces up to date, as snap elections only offer a short timeframe to get messages out, so you already want people on board.

Answer 55

Approximately 30% of voters do not turn out to vote on UK election day. So, the ground war, in many ways, is more than just knocking on doors persuading voters to vote for your party. It is about identifying where your party’s supporters physically are and getting them to turn out and vote. The ground war is critical in reinforcing the messages of the air war. But its key role is to get the party’s supporters to the voting centre.

Answer 56

A wealth of research, including numerous Get Out The Vote (GOTV) experiments based largely in the United States, backs this up. These studies find, on the whole, that face-to-face appeals (i.e. canvass visits) urging someone to vote are far more effective than less personal methods such as leaflets or phone calls.

Answer 57

virtually all GOTV experiments exclude ‘postal voters’ (those who are registered to vote by post a few weeks prior to polling day). For researchers, the reasons for this are largely logistic. Postal voters and in-person voters tend to cast their ballots at different times, making it problematic to time experiment treatments. But this is an important gap in existing research. Postal voting is on the rise, and due to their very high turnout rate, postal voters are a major source of potential support for political parties. Furthemore the ground war may be less effective at getting the vote of younger generations

Answer 58

In recent elections, the SNP has been at the cutting edge of social media engagement and electoral IT software. Software such as ‘Activate’ and ‘Nationbuilder’. Activate enabled the SNP to compile a record of all 3.9 million voters in Scotland. It also showed which people had voted previously, and how they fitted into various consumer types identified by postcode, family type, income and age. The SNP therefore could spend its time and money speaking to people who were either sympathetic to the party or were actual supporters. t didn’t waste time and money engaging with those not interested. Nationbuilder complemented Activate. These days all major parties use software such as Nationbuilder, but in 2015, the SNP was the first.

Answer 59

hese days all major parties use software such as Nationbuilder, but in 2015, the SNP was the first. NationBuilder enabled the SNP web team to integrate Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat within the party’s official website. It is now a well known fact that different demographics use different social media. Older women are more likely to use Facebook. Older men are more likely to use Twitter. Younger voters prefer Instagram and Snapchat. The elderly are more likely to read newspapers and watch television. Within the ‘Stronger for Scotland and ‘anti-austerity’ banners, different messages could be tailored for the different sectors of the electorate based around they key demographics of age, gender and income.

Answer 60

Research from YouGov shows that the number of 19-29 year-olds that voted tup by 15 per cent compared to 2015, and Labour increased their share of vote considerably among this group, from 32 per cent in 2015 to 67 per cent. Labour did this by posting 68 videos on social media during the run up to the 2017 election that focused on spreading its message instead of attacking the other parties.

Answer 61

Despite the undeniable impact of gaining young peoples support via social media, the correlation with tangible electoral success is questionable. Despite heavy social media campaigings to get out and vote Labour, youth turnout was down 7% in 2019 compared to 2017, which likely contributed to Labours historic loss. Critics would argue the personalised appraoch to ground war campaigining cannot be replacated.

Answer 62

Election debates are shown on TV and usually last around an hour and a half. They give political leaders the opportunity to question one another about their policies and aims. Policies are included in something known as a manifesto and party leaders are able to closely inspect plans put forward by other parties.

Answer 63

In May 2017, amid suggestion that neither Theresa May nor Jeremy Corbyn would be appearing in a live debate, ERS research found that 56 percent of people believed leaders’ debates were important in helping them make their decision.

Answer 64

TV debates have been shown to create a large shift in voter mentality, for example during 2015 many members of the electorate began to question ED Milibands ability and "toughness" to run the country due to his body language being percieve as nervous and his debating skills subpar.

Answer 65

Some argue that TV debates are sensationalism and offer very little factual or relevant information to the electorate and are instead a PR battle between the candidates filled with drama. For example, Donald Trump and Joe Bidens debates during the 2020 US elections often derailed into personal attacks and name calling rather than policy debate, however it's impact on the percieved winners support can not be understated. The reverse is also true, making participation havings as much risk as possible reward. This has lead to some leaders refusing to take part, such as Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson choose to refuse their invitation to take part in the leaders climate debate in 2019.

Answer 66

The Scottish Conservatives in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election had different but effective campaign strategies. Prior to 2016, the Scottish Conservatives, once Scotland’s most popular political party, (in 1955) had been in decline. The decline began prior to Margaret Thatcher’s leadership but the decline picked up pace during the 1980s and 1990s as Scotland’s traditional industries; coal, steel and manufacturing disappeared. The party’s share of the vote in Scotland flatlined at around 12-17%. They had a reputation of being a "Toxic" party.

Answer 67

The Scottish Parliament’s Additional Member Voting System (AMS) provided the Scottish Conservatives with a lifeline. While there were few Conservatives gathered together in any one area, the party could not even win in its traditional affluent communities of East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire), the party won MSPS through the party list vote.

Answer 68

The conservatives won 24 of their 31 seats in the 2016 election.

Answer 69

The Scottish Conservatives contested the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections portraying itself as the party of The Union. It’s campaign strategy was unique in that it didn’t try to win government. Most political campaigns, even from parties who have little realistic chance of winning, discuss what they would do, should they win power. The Scottish Conservatives in 2016 didn’t even pretend they could win. Instead they spoke of how they wanted to finish second and that they would be the best Opposition to the SNP. Opportunistic, maybe, but also clever.

Answer 70

"A STRONG OPPOSITION - A STRONGER SCOTLAND"

Answer 71

The Scottish Conservatives target the regional vote more than the consitituency vote in 2016, and therefore decided on the air war as their campaign method rather than wasting time in local constituencys where the SNP where likely to win. The conservatives operated a strong air campaign, with many Party Political Broadcasts and Social media campaigns targeting Labour in an effort to take their vote.

Answer 72

Some argue that the conservatives success in 2016 was just a consequence of the SNP reaching their peak and that their success is simply a product of them being the only Major party to have a strong pro-Union stance. They still receive most of their seats (24 out of 31) from the proportional regional top-up of the electoral system rather than massively increasing their support in constituencies. For a large-scale shift in attitudes towards the Scottish Conservatives to be seen, they need to consolidate their local votes.

Answer 73

Ruth Davidson is not the typical Conservative party leader. She only joined the Conservative Party 7 years ago, and she is not a career politician – she has worked at the BBC and was a member of the Territorial Army. At the time of her election as leader in 2011, she was the youngest party leader in the UK. She is also open about her sexuality. Although the two previous leaders of the Scottish Conservatives were also relatively popular, they did not translate this into votes. Ruth Davidson has presented herself as genuine, approachable and self-deprecating. She is out there campaigning on the streets alongside party activists.

Answer 74

Ruth Davidson helped with the air war by using more modern channels to appeal to younger voters such as tweeting jokes to Nicola Sturgeon.

Answer 75

Despite the strong historical performance of Labour in Scotland, their clear support of the ‘No’ campaign in the Scottish independence referendumhave meant many independence-friendly Labour voters have moved over to the SNP. The party lost 40 seats at the 2015 general election. They also went into the 2016 parliamentary election with a new leader who was elected in August last year. Kezia Dugdale spoke during the campaign of the need to move Scottish politics beyond the independence referendum and consciously distanced her party away from it. However, she did admit that if Britain voted to leave the EU, then she would vote to leave the UK. In contrast, Ruth Davidson engaged with the on-going debate over the possibility of holding another referendum and made her position clear. To hold another referendum would be to ignore the will of the people who voted against independence less than two years ago. It is the Scottish Conservatives who have taken the mantle of being the ‘anti-independence’ party from Labour. This is effective as 2 million scottish people voted to remain in the uk.

Answer 76

Also reffered to as a government for the people, is one in whcih the citizens of a country elect a smaller group of people to represent them in their political system by voting for appropriate legislation and taking part in debate.

Answer 77

In Modern times, representative democracy has been seen as the status quo system for the legitimate governance of a country due to its strong emphasis on universal citizenship, fair elections and a free and diverse media.