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Question

Against / for democracy

Answer 1

• Governments work best when they have a smallish majority but not a massive majority as the former allows the opposition parties to have greater influence over policy and moderate more extreme proposals • Democracy always has to be better than autocracy/ tyranny (see problems in Syria and yeserday’s fall of Assad dynasty which has dominated for decades and suppressed the population), but military takeover is by former Al Quaeda troops, so the future may not be preferable • Churchill said on 11 November 1947 “many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…” • Plato “Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequal’s alike” • There are always arguments about benefits of proportional representation, changing constituency borders but incumbent governments never institute changes which will harm their chances • Proportional representation would see the smaller parties achieve more seats which might be a fairer reflection of voters intentions; set against that the difficulty of getting government proposals through a parliament of many broadly equal parties in numbers and the risk of never achieving anything (see recent results in France where Macron’s snap election in the summer resulted in his party losing and not gaining seats, with several parties having similar number of seats and now his government’s inability to get its Budget through and the prime minister being removed following vote of no confidence. No prime minister from any other of the parties he might pick will be in a better position due to factional conflicting positions • Social media fuels the flames of discontent and blows minor issues out of all proportion risking triggering gut reactions to situations rather than a response based on proper analysis • Politicians need to listen more to voters concerns, and not window dress their policies in order to secure votes illegitimately, eg, no tax increases on “working people”, defined by Labour too narrowly, but now introduced employers NI increase which is a tax on jobs so also on working people a reality which they of course deny • Democracy allows electorate to remove a government they don’t like, see Tory loss recently for their shambolic time in government • As democratic governments can change every 5 years, however, it leads to yo yoing in policy one winner to another and therefore no longterm planning

Answer 2

The Maldives' economy is based on services, with tourism and related activities being the primary source of service receipts: Tourism The Maldives' largest economic sector, contributing over 30% of the country's GDP. Tourism is also the main source of foreign exchange earnings and creates many jobs. Fishing The second-largest economic sector, with the Maldives known for its tuna fishing industry. Services and transfers Have shown a net surplus that has averaged around 34 percent of GDP in recent years. Tertiary sector Accounts for around 73.3% of total GDP and 67% of employment. The Maldives' economy has some challenges, including: Climate change: Rising sea levels threaten the country's low-lying islands. Trade deficit: The Maldives has a narrow export base and is highly dependent on imports. Services surplus decline: In 2023, the services surplus declined by USD 333.9 million, down from an estimated USD 3.1 billion in the previous year.