...minutes. Spend 40 minutes on Section A and 40 minutes on Section B SECTION A QUESTION ONE PRIME MINISTERIAL POWER “For too long the big political decisions in this country have been made in the wrong place. They are not made around the Cabinet table where they should be, but they are taken on the sofa in Tony Blair’s office. No notes are kept and no one takes the blame when things go wrong. That arrogant style of government must come to an end. I will restore the proper process of government. I want to be Prime Minister of this country not a President (Source: David Cameron, The Times, 5th October 2006) “The Cabinet is the committee at the centre of the British political system. Every Thursday during Parliament, Secretaries of State from all departments as well as other ministers meet in the Cabinet Room in Downing Street to discuss the big issues of the day. The Prime Minister chairs the meeting, selects its members and also recommends their appointment as ministers to the monarch. The present Cabinet has 23 members (21 MPs and two peers). The secretary of the Cabinet is responsible for preparing records of its discussions and decisions”. (Source: From a modern textbook) (a) What criticism is David Cameron making of Tony Blair’s style of decision making in source 1? [5] (b) Explain the main functions of the cabinet [10] (c) To what extent have UK Prime Ministers become “presidential”? [25] Or 2 QUESTION TWO THE JUDICIARY A powerful coalition of...
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...Politics Understanding the Examination and Exam Technique Choosing your questions In this unit you are presented with four questions. They are of equal value and each question covers one of the four sections of the specification. These are: Democracy and political participation Party policies and ideas Elections Pressure groups There is no significance to the order in which questions appear. Each question is divided into three sections (a), (b) and (c). When choosing which questions to do, the following principles are recommended: It is almost certain that you will be better off choosing your strongest question to do first. You should choose questions on the basis of how well you can answer the section (c) part. The (c) part carries 25 of the 40 marks available for the whole answer. Do not choose a question simply because you can do part (a) especially well. The (a) question is only worth 5 marks. It would be illogical to choose your strongest (a) part if you cannot do well on section (c). If you cannot decide between several (c) parts, i.e. you can do more than one equally well, make your choice on the basis of part (b) which carries 10 marks. But remember, it is the (c) parts that will determine most what your overall mark will be. So, when you first look at the exam paper, look at the (c) sections first. Assessment Objectives Each question is divided into three sections, as follows: carries 5 marks carries 10 marks carries 25 marks The way you answer questions should be determined...
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...the territory under Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering huge swathes of territory (from the Iberian Peninsula in west to modern day Pakistan in east) in a matter of decades. In so doing, Arabia soon became a politically peripheral region of the Muslim world as the focus shifted to the more developed conquered lands.[39] From the 10th century to the early 20th century Mecca and Medina were under the control of a local Arab ruler known as the Sharif of Mecca, but at most times the Sharif owed allegiance to the ruler of one of the major Islamic empires based in Baghdad, Cairo or Istanbul. Most of the remainder of what became Saudi Arabia reverted to traditional tribal rule.[40][41] In the 16th century, the Ottomans added the Red Sea and Persian Gulf coast (the Hejaz, Asir and Al-Ahsa) to the Empire and claimed suzerainty over the interior. One reason was to thwart Portuguese attempts to attack the Red Sea (hence the Hejaz) and the Indian Ocean.[42] Ottoman degree of control over these lands varied over the next four centuries with the fluctuating strength or weakness of the Empire's central authority.[43][44] The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as the Al Saud, began in Nejd in central Arabia in 1744, when Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab,[45] founder of the Wahhabi movement, a strict puritanical...
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...Commons Recommended Citation Milan Dalal, India's New Constitutionalism: Two Cases That Have Reshaped Indian Law, 31 B.C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 257 (2008), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/iclr/vol31/iss2/4 This Notes is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College International and Comparative Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact nick.szydlowski@bc.edu. INDIA’S NEW CONSTITUTIONALISM: TWO CASES THAT HAVE RESHAPED INDIAN LAW Milan Dalal* Abstract: As a nation of over one billion people and the world’s largest democracy, India is sometimes confronted with situations in which its democratic institutions clash. Under the Indian Constitution, legislation concerning land reform is placed in a special category designed to immunize it from judicial scrutiny. This scheme, known as the Ninth Schedule, has been abused by legislators seeking electoral benefit. Simultaneously, the country has been rocked by a series of public corruption scandals. As Parliament has sought to clean up its image by expelling disgraced members, its actions have been challenged as unconstitutional, leading to a constitutional showdown between the legislative and judicial branches. This Note analyzes two seminal decisions of the Indian Supreme Court, handed down in January 2007, which have the potential to...
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...establishment and U.S. national interests, the facts don't support this theory. The reality is that for decades U.S. foreign policy and defense experts opposed supporting the creation of Israel. They then similarly opposed the massive American funding and diplomatic support that sustained the forcibly established state and that provided a blank check for its aggressive expansion. They were simply outmaneuvered and eventually replaced. Like many American policies, U.S. Middle East policies are driven by a special interest lobby. However, the Israel Lobby, as it is called today in the U.S.[1], consists of vastly more than what most people envision in the word "lobby." As this article will demonstrate, the Israel Lobby is considerably more powerful and pervasive than other lobbies. Components of it, both individuals and groups, have worked underground, secretly and even illegally throughout its history, as documented by scholars and participants. And even though the movement for Israel has been operating in the U.S. for over a hundred years, most Americans are completely unaware of this movement and its attendant ideology – a measure of...
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...the right is a lion rampant flying the Union Flag. On the left is a unicorn flying a fleurs-de-lis flag. A red ribbon around the shield says "desiderantes meliorem patriam". Below is a blue scroll inscribed "A mari usque ad mare" on a wreath of flowers. Flag Coat of arms Motto: A Mari Usque Ad Mare (Latin) "From Sea to Sea" Anthem: "O Canada" Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"[1][2] Projection of North America with Canada in green Capital Ottawa 45°24′N 75°40′W Largest city Toronto Official language(s) English and French Recognised regional languages Chipewyan, Cree, Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, Slavey (North and South) and Tłįchǫ[3] Demonym Canadian Government Federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy[4] - Monarch Elizabeth II - Governor General David Johnston - Prime Minister Stephen Harper - Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin Legislature Parliament - Upper house Senate - Lower house House of Commons Establishment - British North America Acts July 1, 1867 - Statute of Westminster December 11, 1931 - Canada Act April 17, 1982 Area - Total 9,984,670 km2 (2nd) 3,854,085 sq mi - Water (%) 8.92 (891,163 km2/344,080 mi2)...
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...Patriotic Party (NPP) obtained 47.74 percent.With his re-election, Mahama becomes the fourth president to be elected under the Forth Republic.He had served as Ghana’s vice president since 2009. UN, Pakistan Launched ‘Malala Fund’ : Pakistan joined forces with the United Nations on 10 December 2012 to launch a fund aimed at boosting girls’ education throughout the world.The fund is named for Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani girl. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari also announced a $10-million donation for a global war chest to educate all girls by 2015 set up in the name of Malala Yousafzai for campaigning for girls’ education. Shinzo Abe Elected As Japan’s New PM : The former Prime Minister and the Leader of LDP Shinzo Abe elected as a Prime Minister with a clear victory over the Prime Minister and leader of the Democratic Party of Japan(DPJ) Yoshihiko Noda in the Parliamentary Elections on 26 December 2012.The lawmakers in Japan voted in favour of Abe by 328 votes. Opponent Banri Kaieda, the newly chosen leader of DPJ received merely...
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...THE ACCIDENTAL PRIME MINISTER THE ACCIDENTAL PRIME MINISTER THE MAKING AND UNMAKING OF MANMOHAN SINGH SANJAYA BARU VIKING Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Group (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, Block D, Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published in Viking by Penguin Books India 2014 Copyright © Sanjaya Baru 2014 All rights reserved 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by him which have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same. ISBN 9780670086740 Typeset in Bembo by R. Ajith Kumar, New Delhi Printed at Thomson Press India...
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...The Fine Line Between Art and Truth Photo manipulation has been around for over a century, but the recent focus on Photoshop has caused news photography to be looked at in a new light. As a result, pictures that have been manipulated have been called into question, and therefore have had a significant effect on the credibility of various forms of print media. In this new age of media, where circulation is down and corporations are cutting employees, credibility is a much talked about commodity. Although photo manipulation has a great effect on the credibility of media, it should be considered an art form and given a certain amount of freedom. To accurately understand the argument, the history of pre-Photoshop manipulation opens the paper, followed by modern manipulation and the backlash it has caused, what credibility is, how newspapers are addressing photo manipulation, and how modern manipulation should be handled and the standards that it is held to. Photoshop is a tool that has made the practice of photo manipulation both easy and affordable. But what is photo manipulation? It is simply altering an original image, taking the negative or digital image and changing it in some way. This practice has always been common, as photographers have enhanced lighting or used filters to eliminate a certain color. However, in the context of this paper most of the examples addressed deal with the current, narrower view of photo manipulation. According to the 2006 edition of Merriam...
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...revolted. Alexander the Great would not conquer the far side of the Ganges. Although the world’s greatest tactician could not convince his troops to take on the Nanda Empire, five years after Alexander turned away, a 20-year-old Chandragupta Maurya would accomplish that feat, and go on to unite almost all of what is nowIndia. The young Indian emperor would also take on Alexander’s successors - and win. Chandragupta Maurya’s Birth and Ancestry: Chandragupta Maurya was born sometime around 340 BCE, reportedly in Patna, now in the Bihar state of India. Given the vast span of time since his birth, it is unsurprising that scholars are uncertain of many details. For example, some texts claim that both of Chandragupta’s parents were of the Kshatriya (warrior/prince) caste, while others state that his father was a king but his mother was a maid from the lowly Shudra (servant) caste. It seems likely that his father was Prince Sarvarthasiddhi of the Nanda Kingdom. Chandragupta’s grandson, Ashoka the Great, later claimed a blood relationship to Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, but this claim is unsubstantiated. We know almost nothing...
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...To Baghdad 1917 to 2003 – Why is knowledge of the British Empire particularly relevant to the study of US relations and American Imperialism especially in the last twenty years? Emy Ibrahim Washington D.C. Public Policy Seminar-Research Paper April 17th, 2007 Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators. ... It is [not] the wish of [our] government to impose upon you alien institutions. ... [It is our wish] that you should prosper even as in the past, when your lands were fertile, when your ancestors gave to the world literature, science, and art, and when Baghdad city was one of the wonders of the world. ... It is [our] hope that the aspirations of your philosophers and writers shall be realized and that once again the people of Baghdad shall flourish, enjoying their wealth and substance under institutions which are in consonance with their sacred laws and their racial ideals.[1] The government of Iraq, and the future of your country, will soon belong to you. ... We will end a brutal regime ... so that Iraqis can live in security. We will respect your great religious traditions, whose principles of equality and compassion are essential to Iraq's future. We will help you build a peaceful and representative government that protects the rights of all citizens. And then our military forces will leave. Iraq will go forward as a unified, independent, and sovereign nation that has regained a respected place in the world. You...
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...History of Ireland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search History of Ireland Wenzel Hollar's historical map of Ireland This article is part of a series Chronology Prehistory Protohistory 400–800 800–1169 1169–1536 1536–1691 1691–1801 1801–1923 Timeline of Irish history Peoples and polities Gaelic Ireland Lordship of Ireland Kingdom of Ireland United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Republic of Ireland · Northern Ireland Topics Battles · Clans · Kingdoms · States Gaelic monarchs · British monarchs Economic history · History of the Irish language Ireland Portal v · d · e The first known settlement in Ireland began around 8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers arrived from continental Europe, probably via a land bridge.[1] Few archaeological traces remain of this group, but their descendants and later Neolithic arrivals, particularly from the Iberian Peninsula, were responsible for major Neolithic sites such as Newgrange.[2][3] On the arrival of Saint Patrick and other Christian missionaries in the early to mid-5th century AD, Christianity began to subsume the indigenous Celtic religion, a process that was completed by the year 600. From around AD 800, more than a century of Viking invasions brought havoc upon the monastic culture and on the island's various regional dynasties, yet both of these institutions proved strong enough to survive and assimilate the invaders. The coming of Cambro-Norman mercenaries under Richard de...
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...NTRODUCTION: AN INVITATION TO BOMBAY The envelope was hand-delivered to our house in Golf Links, Tan enclave in New Delhi whose name captured the clubbable lifestyle of its leisured and propertied Indian residents, soon after we had arrived in the middle of a north Indian winter to begin a long assignment. It contained a large card, with a picture embossed in red and gold of the elephant-headed deity Ganesh, improbably carried on the back of a much smaller mouse. Dhirubhai and Kokilaben Ambani invited us to the wedding of their son Anil to Tina Munim in Bombay. In January 1991, just prior to the explosion in car ownership that in later winters kept the midday warmth trapped in a throat-tearing haze overnight, it was bitterly cold most of the time in Delhi. Our furniture had still not arrived-a day of negotiations about the duty payable lay ahead at the Delhi customs office where the container was broken open and inspected-and we camped on office chairs and fold-up beds, wrapped in blankets. The Indian story was also in a state of suspension, waiting for something to happen. The Gulf War, which we watched at a big hotel on this new thing called satellite television, was under- cutting many of the assumptions on which the Congress Party’s family dynasty, the Nehrus and Gandhis, had built up the Indian state. The Americans were unleashing a new generation of weap- ons on a Third World regime to which New Delhi had been close; its Soviet friends were standing by, even agreeing with...
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...Haiti From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Republic of Haiti République d'Haïti Repiblik Ayiti Flag Coat of arms Motto: "L'Union Fait La Force" (French) "Linyon Fe Lafòs" (Haitian Creole) "Strength through Unity" Anthem: La Dessalinienne Capital (and largest city) Port-au-Prince 18°32′N 72°20′W / 18.533°N 72.333°W / 18.533; -72.333 Official languages French, Haitian Creole Ethnic groups Black 95%; Mulatto and White 5%[1] Demonym Haitian Government Presidential republic - President René Préval - Prime Minister Michèle Pierre-Louis Formation - as Saint-Domingue 1697 - Independence from France 1 January 1804 Area - Total 27,751 km2 (147th) 10,714 sq mi - Water (%) 0.7 Population - 2007 estimate 8,706,497[2] (85th) - 2003 census 8,527,817 - Density 335/km2 (38th) 758.1/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate - Total $11.150 billion[3] (133th) - Per capita $1,291[3] (154th) GDP (nominal) 2007 estimate - Total $6.031 billion[3] - Per capita $698[3] Gini (2001) 59.2 (high) HDI (2007) ▲ 0.529 (medium) (146th) Currency Gourde (HTG) Time zone (UTC-5) Drives on the right Internet TLD .ht Calling code 509 Haiti (pronounced /ˈheɪtiː/; French Haïti pronounced [aiti]; Haitian Creole: Ayiti), officially the Republic of Haiti (République d'Haïti ; Repiblik Ayiti), is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic...
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...independent state in 1966 after being a Colony of the British Empire for almost 350 years. Category | Fact | Category | Fact | 1.Size | 439 Square km | 4.Religion | Christianity | 2.Population | 277,821 | 5.Currency | Barbadian Dollar | 3.Language | Barbadian | 6.GDP Rate | $16,653 | The main resources of Barbados are Petroleum, Fish, Natural gas, Sugarcane etc. The national symbols of Barbados are Neptune's trident, pelican, and Red Bird of Paradise flower (also known as Pride of Barbados). In Barbados Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the State and represented locally by Governor General which is at present Elliott Belgrave. These two heads are advised by the Prime Minister of Barbados who is also the Head of the Government on matters of Barbadian state. The current Prime Minister of Barbados is Freundel Stuart. Barbados functions as a Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy designed on the British Westminster System. Barbados has a Bicameral...
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