...LIBERALISM QUESTIONS – A2 (UNIT 4) Short Answers 1. Why do liberals support constitutionalism and consent? (Jan 02) Constitutionalism is a belief in limited government brought about through external (usually legal) and internal (institutional) checks on the exercise of power. Consent is the idea that govt power should be based on the agreement of the governed, usually expressed through regular and competitive elections. Liberals support constitutionalism and consent because they fear that govt may become a tyranny against the individual, based on the assumption that power is inherently corrupting and concentrations of power will lead to absolute corruption. This assumption is rooted in the liberal view of human nature: as individualism implies self- interest, those with power over others are apt to abuse it for their benefit and at the expense of others. Liberal constitutionalism is expressed through support for various external and internal devices, such as codified constitutions, bills of rights, the separation of powers, federalism or devolution, and so on. Liberal support for consent is evident in support for electoral democracy in general and, more specifically, sympathy for referendums and proportional representation. 2. Distinguish between negative freedom and positive freedom, and explain the implications of each for the state. (Jun 02) Negative freedom is the absence of external constraints upon the individual, usually understood as non-interference...
Words: 13343 - Pages: 54
...Politics Edexcel Unit 3 and 4 Unit 3 June 2013 Section B Liberal democracy is a contradiction in terms.’ Discuss. To what extent is socialism defined by its rejection of capitalism? ‘The notion of a stateless society is merely an anarchist fantasy.’ Discuss. Section A = Explain the key ideas associated with revisionist socialism. On what grounds have conservatives supported paternalism? Explain the link between liberalism and constitutionalism. Why do anarchists view the state as inherently evil and oppressive? Why did Marx believe that capitalism is doomed to collapse, and how did he think this collapse would occur? Jan 2013 Section B To what extent do conservatives support tradition and continuity? ‘Anarchism is merely an extreme form of socialist collectivism.’ Discuss. To what extent have modern liberals departed from the ideas of classical liberalism? Section A = On what grounds have conservatives justified private property? Explain the link between liberalism and individualism. Why have democratic socialists believed that the victory of ‘gradualism’ is inevitable? On what grounds have anarchists rejected constitutionalism and consent? Explain how the neoliberal and neoconservative views of the role of the state differ June 2012 Section B Conservatism merely reflects the interests of the privileged and prosperous. Discuss To what extent have socialists favoured the common ownership of wealth Liberalism is defined by...
Words: 507 - Pages: 3
...The classical liberal ideology emerged as a result of the Enlightenment period, which brought about new philosophies, challenging the existing assumptions about the nature of humankind and society. Modern liberalism developed around 1870 as a result of both philosophical and practical changes, including mass industrialisation. Classical liberals argue that modern liberalism has broken the principles of doctrines central to liberal thought whilst modern liberals claim that they are simply adapting and building on classical liberalist ideas. This essay will discuss the extent to which modern liberalism departs from classical liberalisms by analysing approaches to the size of the state, democracy and the concept of freedom and aims to justify the argument that modern liberalism departs considerably from classical liberalism. Modern liberalism departs from the ideas of classical liberalism with regards to the concept of freedom, although the extent of difference is limited. Isiah Berlin first discussed the concept of freedom in an essay published in 1958. Berlin proposed two concepts of liberty; positive, which is supported by modern liberalists, and negative, which is supported by classical liberals. The classical conception of negative liberty suggests that society is best when there is an absence of external restrictions or constraints on the individual. Therefore, classical liberals strongly supported full individual freedom. John Stuart Mill, a political philosopher known...
Words: 1624 - Pages: 7
...Edexcel A2 Political Ideologies 3 Socialism A Short-answer questions 1 Why did Marx believe that capitalism was doomed to collapse? • Capitalism is doomed to collapse because of its own internal contradictions. • Capitalism embodies its own antithesis, the proletariat, seen by Marx as the ‘gravedigger’ of capitalism. • Capitalism is defined by the creation of profit. This is only possible by the exploitation of the proletariat — that is, by the extraction of surplus value from the workers by the bourgeoisie. • Marx believed that the inherent contradictions of capitalism would cause the proletariat to achieve revolutionary class consciousness. This would occur as capitalism went through a series of deepening crises, leading to the immiseration of the proletariat. This would inevitably result in a proletarian revolution which was destined to overthrow capitalism. 2 Distinguish between fundamentalist and revisionist socialism. • Fundamentalist socialism rejects capitalism entirely and seeks to abolish it. It usually attributes the flaws of capitalism to private property for private profit, and seeks to establish socialism in the form of common ownership and very substantial equality of outcome. The Marxist or communist tradition is the clearest example of fundamentalist socialism. However, some fundamentalists pursue their goals by the parliamentary road — i.e. it is possible to be ‘fundamentalist democrats’ in the parliamentary sense. Eurocommunists...
Words: 839 - Pages: 4
...Parties Crystal Ann Smith Leah Raby POL110: United States Government 03/17/2014 Politics The two major political parties in the United States today are the Democratic and the Republican parties. They share the meaning to the way the political and presidential system should be run but are how different are they? One of the main differences between the two is that Democrats are Liberals and Republicans are Conservative but how is there a homeostasis between the two and why is there no real middle ground? The following information will explain in depth the differences between the liberals and conservatives as well as the campaign process in maintaining the two and the reason why there is only a two-party system. History and Current State The Democratic Party can be traced back to before America’s independence from Britain and is the oldest political party that has existed. It was formed in 1792 under Thomas Jefferson and established under the presidency of Andrew Jackson in the 1830’s but democracy has come a long way from that. Now the democrat party’s philosophy is labeled as the Liberal in which the supporters focus on ideas of liberty and equality and support current issues such as free and fair elections, civil rights, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free trade and private property.( McGowan, 2007) The Republican Party is the second oldest political party in the United States and was first established with Abraham Lincoln in 1860 which helped abolish...
Words: 1404 - Pages: 6
...Ever since its inception in Ancient Greece, liberal education has afforded its students a truth for new understanding, that makes them well-rounded citizens. In terms of the American education system when it reached its pinnacle in the 1950s, its course was just as quickly reversed in the 1960s. A major culprit in the degradation of higher learning can be shouldered by Students for Democratic Society(SDS).To understand how these events came to be, we must first look at the values/objective of this very organization that came to be at the turn of the decade in 1960 at University of Michigan and Cornell University. Liberal education gives a liberating and freedom that is meant to be worth to educate the person in order to take part in civic life, as a future citizen. The ASEAN the Association of American Colleges and Universities states that a liberal education is that which liberates the mind from ignorance and cultivate social responsibility. Liberal education, unlike vocation is not to train, but to change people. Liberal education allows the student to learn how to think rather than what to think, to have a philosophical understanding wanting to question the reason of being and teaching. A liberal educated person is one that can think outside the box and question the norms of nature. They are free-thinkers.Failure in the closing of the American mind is the failure to have a basic principle of ideas and classic works that contributes to literature, politics etc to educate men...
Words: 6425 - Pages: 26
...In the current climate of international politics, there is a great deal of speculation regarding the governance of Islamic states. Many traditionally Muslim states have operated under theocratic rule, a difficult concept for the West to swallow. The American control of Iraq is purportedly only to hold the place of power until a democratically elected regime can take the place of the occupying force. But is there, as some critics have speculated, some aspect of Islam that makes it inherently hostile and incompatible with Western notions of democratic rule? This is the question which John Esposito and John Voll have tried to examine in their book Islam and Democracy. Published in 1996, this book explores the different ways in which Islam relates to democratic principles and ideas. Arguing against previously held explanations about the nature of Islam and the very definition of democracy, this book explores several cases where Islamic movements operate to a varying degree of success in the area of popular representation. The authors begin with the assertion that due largely to economic and technological globalization, the world is presently experiencing an increase in the spread and influence of democratic ideals. Occurring alongside this political shift, they argue that there is a growing focus upon what the authors refer to as "the assertion of the authenticity and legitimacy of communal identities." This trend toward the popular identification of people with subgroups...
Words: 2530 - Pages: 11
...Discussion 2 Locke wrote that all men have a natural right to life, liberty, and property or the fruits of their labor which Jeffersonchanged to "the pursuit of happiness" when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Locke also wrote that government is an instrument of the people's will, and the people have the right to rebel if the government proves to be tyrannical or defective. This argument has been used by many revolutionaries, but Jefferson was one of the first to use Locke's ideas to justify revolution. 6. How did industrialization change the work environment? How did industrialization affect cultural exchanges and social change around the globe in the nineteenth century? After the industrialization, the work environment was very harsh and tragic. Laborers were paid very low and had very few or even no any benefits for working with dangerous machines. Their lives were dark and terrible. For example, the work conditions were recorded: "The process of purifying iron, demanded that workers toiled amidst temperatures as high as 130 degrees in the coolest part of the ironworks. Though the hours worked by people did not change, the labor force was poorly paid and made to work harder without rest. They had to work for about 10 to 14 hours a day, six days a week, in harsh conditions. The monotony of the job made them even more unbearable. The relationship between the employers and employee became impersonal and cold, making the employers unmindful of the condition of...
Words: 1486 - Pages: 6
...left–right spectrum.[3][4] Fascists saw World War I as a revolution. It brought revolutionary changes in the nature of war, society, the state, and technology. The advent of total war and total mass mobilization of society had broken down the distinction between civilian and combatant. A "military citizenship" arose in which all citizens were involved with the military in some manner during the war.[5][6] The war had resulted in the rise of a powerful state capable of mobilizing millions of people to serve on the front lines or provide economic production and logistics to support those on the front lines, as well as having unprecedented authority to intervene in the lives of citizens.[5][6] Fascists view World War I as having made liberal democracy obsolete, and regard total mobilization of society under a totalitarian single-party state as necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic...
Words: 17730 - Pages: 71
...by possession of a constitution but by its effective protection of individual rights. * (but individual rights only one set of fundamental principles that might impose meaningful limits on power of the state) * Constitutionalism also used to constrain power holders to care for the common weal or adhere to particular conceptions of national identity or religious law * 3-fold classification of province of constitutionalism * Normative Constitutionalism (most touched-on area) * Concerned with problem of how to reconcile constitutionalism and democracy * Asks questions like how best to legitimize practice of judicial review, how constitutional texts to be interpreted, what’s the best conception of democracy, what set of constitutional rights most worthy of recognition: interpretation, content, structure * Conceptual Constitutionalism * Concerned with what...
Words: 10446 - Pages: 42
...LAGAZON, ALFONSO MIGUEL L. BS PT 2-2 SIR DESTURA, PHILOSOPHY RETRIEVED FROM: www.mkgandhi-sarvodaya.org/articles/ramanand.htm ARTICLES: ON & BY GANDHI The Gandhian philosophy of satyagraha is a natural outcome of the supreme concept of truth. If truth is the ultimate reality, then it is imperative to safeguard the criteria and foundations of truth. A votary of “God, which is the highest Truth and the highest Reality” must be utterly selfless and gentle. He should have an unconquerable determination to fight for the supremacy of spiritual and moral values. Thus alone can he vindicate his sense of ethical devotion? Satyagraha means the exercise of the purest soul-force against all injustice, oppression and exploitation. Suffering and trust are attributes of soul force. The active nonviolent resistance of the ‘heroic meek’ makes an immediate appeal to the heart. It wants not to endanger the opponent but to overwhelm him by the over flooding power of innocence. Satyagraha or stupendous effort at conversion can be applied against the Government, the social Czars and leaders of ‘orthodoxy’. Satyagraha is an inherent birthright of a person. It is not merely a sacred right but it can also be a sacred duty. If the Government does not represent the will of the people, and if it begins to support dishonesty and terrorism, then it should be disobeyed. But one who wants to vindicate his rights should be prepared to bear all kinds of suffering. Gandhi referred...
Words: 1558 - Pages: 7
...overthrow the anti-Western Manchu empress. 2. The Roosevelt Corollary a. claimed that the United States had the right to act as a policeman in Latin America to keep order and prevent chronic wrongdoing. b. was issued to justify the role the United States played in ending the Russo-Japanese War. c. reversed that part of the Monroe Doctrine that stated the United States would not intervene in European affairs. d. demanded that Germany pay reparations for the sinking of the Lusitania. 3. A practical demonstration of the principles that Theodore Roosevelt announced to Congress in December 1904 can be seen in events in the Dominican Republic, where the United States a. supported a revolution to oust the repressive dictator and institute a liberal democracy. b. operated the customs service and took over the management of the foreign debt. c. supervised the election of the first free-elected president of the nation. d. invited two rival powers to a peace conference at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 4. The "gentlemen's agreement" was an a. understanding between Theodore Roosevelt and J. P. Morgan on regulation of the trusts. b. agreement between the leaders of the United States, Great Britain, and Germany on the territorial integrity of China. c. agreement between Woodrow Wilson and William Jennings Bryan over the formulation of foreign policy. d. arrangement...
Words: 1734 - Pages: 7
...Moo-hyun. This governmental commission was set to investigate incidents in Korean history, all the way back from annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910, up to the election of Kim Young-Sam in 1993. South Korea has been subject to a period of military dictatorships, during which there was given little attention to truth-funding. Also, South Korea’s fight for democracy spans out on a long period of civil movements and demonstrations. They often led to uprisings, which were often repressed hard by authoritarian and military power. Demonstrations, like the Kwangju Uprising in 1980, were subject to murder, torture and other abuses of human right. These acts were often covered up and ignored by the government. However, the prosecution and sentencing of two former authoritarian rulers, Chun Doo-Hwan and Rho Tae-Woo in 1995, was a clear sign that times were changing and even successful coups can be punished. At the end of the 90s, laws for rectifying the past were established under the government of Kim Dae-Jung. The Truth & Reconciliation Commission would go stay active until 2010, when the conservative Lee Myung-Bak stopped the funding. What led to this sudden governmental interest in truth and reconciliation under the Kim Dae-Jung government? In this literature review we will look at the factors that instigated interest in South Korea for having truth and reconciliation commissions. Two articles will be used from the Critical Asian Studies journal. In ‘’The Long Road Toward Truth and...
Words: 1774 - Pages: 8
...qualifications including academic, vocational, occupational and specific programmes for employers. Through a network of UK and overseas offices, Edexcel’s centres receive the support they need to help them deliver their education and training programmes to learners. For further information, please call our GCE line on 0844 576 0025, our GCSE team on 0844 576 0027, or visit our website at www.edexcel.com. If you have any subject specific questions about the content of this Mark Scheme that require the help of a subject specialist, you may find our Ask The Expert email service helpful. Ask The Expert can be accessed online at the following link: http://www.edexcel.com/Aboutus/contact-us/ Summer 2010 Publications Code UA024034 All the material in this publication is copyright © Edexcel Ltd 2010 2 6GP03_3B 1006 General Marking Guidance • All candidates must receive the same treatment. Examiners must mark the first candidate in exactly the same way as they mark the last. Mark schemes should be applied positively. Candidates must be rewarded for what they have shown they can do rather than penalised for omissions. Examiners should mark according to the mark scheme not according to their perception of where the grade boundaries may lie. There is no ceiling on achievement. All marks on the mark scheme should be used appropriately. All the marks on the mark scheme are designed to be awarded. Examiners should always award full marks if deserved, i.e. if the answer matches...
Words: 4383 - Pages: 18
...Weaknesses of the Liberal state, 1918-1922 ▪ Mussolini, the message and appeal of Fascism, its changing focus from 1919-1922 ▪ Support for, and opposition to, Fascism among different social groups ▪ The consolidation of Fascist power, 1922-1925 Examination You will be required to tackle one two-part structured question from a choice of two. The first sub-question (a) will be worth 20 marks, whilst the second sub-question (b) will be worth 40 marks. The total mark for this exam is 60. The examination will last for 55 minutes and can be taken in either January or June. There is a difference between question (a), which is a ‘describe’ question, and (b) which is an ‘explain’ question. This can be briefly outlined as follows: ‘Describe’ These will ask you to select information from your memory and describe what happened. They may ask you to describe a series of events, the way in which something, or someone was important, or the way in which something changed over time. Your answer should contain: 1) A very short introduction with an outline of your overall argument. 2) A series of different paragraphs that answer the question directly. 3) Try to group your points into key stages or ideas with one paragraph for each. 4) Try to say how each paragraph links into the next one, or how your different points are related to each other. 5) Finish by making a judgement about which was the most important stage or idea that you have described. ‘Explain’...
Words: 2233 - Pages: 9
