...Learners Name: Assignment Title: 1 Roles and Levels of Government Assessment Criteria: P1,P2,M1 Unit Tutor: Mr Mitchell Assignment Issue Date: 9-9-13 Assignment Due Date: 24-10-13 Unit 1 Government, Policies and the Public Services Assignment 1 Learning Outcomes | 1 | Assessment Criteria | P1, P2, M1 | Assessment method | Powerpoint presentation with supporting written evidence | Suggested Reading 1. Axford B et al – Politics: An Introduction, 2nd Edition (Routledge, 2002) ISBN 0415226422/9780415226424 2. Peele G – Governing the UK, 4th Edition (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004) ISBN 0631226818/9780631226819 Journals 1. Fire 2. Police Review 3. Prison News 4. Soldier Magazines 1. The Economist 2. The Spectator 3. The Week Website 1. 10 Downing Street www.number10.gov.uk 2. Direct Gov – public services all in one place www.direct.gov.uk 3. Euro information from the Treasury www.euro.gov.uk 4. HM Treasury www.hm-treasury.gov.uk 5. Home Office www.homeoffice.gov.uk 6. Home Office – Working in the UK www.workingintheuk.gov.uk 7. Information for local government from central government www.info4local.gov.uk 8. Information on policies and standards for e-government www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/govtalk.aspx 9. Independent software development and consultancy firm (provides links to central and local government websites) www.tagish.co.uk/links 10. UK Parliament www.parliament.uk If you are...
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... | |Start of Unit Date |24 September 2012 | |Completion of Unit Date | | | |Unit Tutor: James McQueen | |Group / Course |Diploma in public services | Learning Outcomes • Know the different levels of government I the UK • Understand the democratic election process for each level of government in the UK • Understand the impact of UK government policies on the public services • Be able to demonstrate how government policies are developed Unit Criteria Passed |Pass |1 |2 |3 | | | | | | |Tutor |James McQueen | | | | | |Internal Verifier | ...
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...extract, consider why the first-past-the-post system disadvantages some parties. (10 marks) 6) ‘The use of referendums in the UK since 1997 has done little to strengthen democracy.’ Discuss. (25 marks) 7) Explain the term party conference used in the extract. (5 marks) 8) Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, outline the ways in which the Conservative Party and the Labour Party select their leaders. (10 marks) 9) ‘The main UK parties differ on economic policy alone.’ Discuss. (25 marks) 10) Explain the term cause groups used in the extract. (5 marks) 11) Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, consider why direct action could be said to undermine UK democracy. (10 marks) 12) ‘The most successful UK pressure groups still tend to focus on lobbying the Westminster Parliament, despite the availability of numerous other access points.’ Discuss. (25 marks) January 2012 13) Explain the term class dealignment used in the extract. (5 marks) 14) Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, consider the link between social class and voting behaviour. (10 marks) 15) ‘Low levels of turnout at recent general elections to the Westminster Parliament result from political apathy alone.’ Discuss. (25 marks) 16) Explain the term threshold as used in the extract. (5 marks) 17) Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, outline the likely consequences of adopting...
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...to account in numerous ways. Their role in Parliament in westminster ensures the democratic legitimacy of UK government and gives the government authority and a right to exercise political power. Backbench Mps also increase the overall representation of the UK through Parliament. However, with growing government powerl, often called exessive, there have been recent fears among politicians that as elective dictatorship has formed in the UK, and backbench MPs have little power in holding the government to account due to the party system, which ensures MPs are dictated by ministers and party whips, where persuasive ways reduce their effectiveness withing the political system. I will therefore outline the arguments both for and against how effective backbench MPs are in British Politics today. Firstly, backbench Mps are key in calling the govenrment of today to account, making them answerable for their actions and policies. This is achieved through questions to the Prime Minister and questions to ministers. Through Prime Ministers questions which takes place weekly for half an hour, backbench Mps from the governing party and the opposition are able to scrutinize the weekly actions of the govenrment. Backbench MPs also use this system to increase the representative function of Parliament, through raising specific issues of their constituents from each of the 650 constituencies in the UK. This ensures the geographical representation of Parliament, and calls the government to account...
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...Outline the responsibilities of the different levels of government in the UK. (P1) European Parliament The European parliament consists of 736 members from 27 different countries. 72 of these members are representing the UK’s interest. The European parliament debate and pass European law. They are based in three different places; Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg. The European parliament cover several different things across Europe these include the environment, equal ops, transport, consumer rights and immigration. I think the main focus of the European parliament is to try to make the passing of legislation in the EU more democratic. Central Government The central government is below The Monarch and features the House of Commons and the House of lords which includes the Prime Minister. The central government looks after the whole country and has the power to make and pass laws. They have to defend their nation and will often have to sign agreements with other countries. The house of commons consists of 646 members of parliament who each represent a different part of the country. There are three main political parties; these are The Conservatives, The Liberal Democrats and The Labour Party. The House of Commons will deal with issues such as making laws, examining EU proposals and controlling finance throughout the nation. Most importantly anyone has the right to contact their local MP and get them to raise their issue for them within the House of Commons. The...
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...Parliamentary sovereignty, once the dominant principle of the UK Constitution, is now under considerable pressure. Discuss this statement with reference to the UK’s membership of the EU, the devolution acts of 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998 and recent judicial comments on the Rule of Law. "Certainly we want to see Europe more united… but it must be in a way which preserves the different traditions, parliamentary powers, and sense of pride in one's own country." Margaret Thatcher Over the course of the years many prominent figures such as politicians and academic writers have been concerned with the diminishing of Parliamentary sovereignty. “Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change. Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK constitution.” Historically, due to the lack of a single codified constitution in the UK, the Westminster Parliament is the most powerful and influencing factor on the British political frontier. As opposed to America where the constitution dominates US politics, and legislation can be deemed unconstitutional and revoked by the US judiciary. However, since further integration into Europe incorporating The European Communities Act 1972, The Human Rights Act 1998, European Conventions on Human Rights...
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...Unit 1 P1 “Outline the responsibilities of the different level of government in the UK.” House of Commons – It is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The HoC is part of the legislative process of British Politics. It consists of 650 elected members of Parliament, who represent a board spectrum of political parties. Each MP represents a constituency, which is a localised geographical area. There are two ways in which people get elected, it can happen either during a general election or by-election. A big range of political views and interests are represented in the House of Commons, which enables the ‘House’ to ensure that legislation and decisions are well debated by a variety of different people, which political views differ. HoC has a lot of different roles, MP’s are responsible of debating and passing all laws (legislation), controlling finances, protecting the individuals, examining European proposals, and scrutinises the work of the government, policies and administration. Those roles may have extremely wide impact on the country and public services. House of Lords – It is the upper house, the Second chamber, and is also commonly referred to as “the Lords”. The House of Lords can have a variable amount of members. Currently, there are about 790 members who are eligible to take part in the work of the HoL. Members come from many walks of life and bring experience and knowledge from a wide range of occupations. Majority of them are life peers, which...
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...members in the PBC who are selected by Committee of Selection whose 7 out 9 members are ships. On the other hand, there are 11 members in the SCs and to eliminate “the conflict of interest, all the members are backbench members who are elected using the Alternative vote system. 2a What are the main functions of Parliament and how well does it perform them? [5] < This question is a 20-mark question > 3a What are the differences between direct and representative democracy? [5] In direct democracy, people are directly involved in decision-making processes, whereas in representative democracy, people elect MPs who will represent and form a government in Parliament. For instance, some qualified members of Athenian society were involved in decision-making and a referendum is a limited form of direct democracy. Also general elections are kind of parliamentary democracy, they are held every five years to election a representative and a government. There is potential danger that decision-making mechanisms can be affected by an organised faction and demagogue in direct democracy. 4a What is the role of the opposition in British politics? [5] The main role of the opposition is adversarial. The Opposition is not...
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...2012- unit 2 Constitution Outline two constitutional reforms proposed by David Miliband. * Replacement of the current House of Lords with a second chamber elected using PR, this would strengthen the representative function of the legislature by providing more representatives who have genuine legitimacy by the use of PR- making the composition accurate to the votes cast. * The introduction of AV would to commons would not change the current constituency structure of the UK, and would also be a bit more proportional than the current Westminster system FPTP. Explain the arguments in favour of a codified constitution. * Codification is the only way of protecting individual rights and freedoms, the current quasi-entrenched HRA fails to do this, reflected in the conservative plans to replace it with a less powerful British bill of rights with will neither enjoy quasi-entrenchment nor a direct association with the ECHR. This shows how the government of the day can tamper with our rights in the absence of codification. * It may help prevent any further drift towards excessive executive power, codification will surely constrain possibly over-mighty governments who are easily able to alter to constitution. However, it may not necessarily be entrenchment de jure but possibly de facto, which would be unnecessary and fail to curb excessive executive power. * Codification will bring Britain into line with other modern democracies, the UK is one of three, including Israel...
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...and Politics Questions and Answers Your first task is to write the indicative content for each of the questions below on a separate sheet of paper A) Explain the term political leaders B) Outline the different roles performed by the annual party conference held by the major UK parties C) Discuss the view that modern British Prime Ministers are not too strong, but too weak Planning how to write A* Government and Politics Questions and Answers Your first task is to write the indicative content for each of the questions below on a separate sheet of paper A) Explain the term Prime Ministers Questions B) Identify and explain two reasons why the Prime Minister’s power to influence policy making is limited C) “The House of Commons is too dominant within the Westminster Parliament” Discuss Planning how to write A* Government and Politics Questions and Answers Your first task is to write the indicative content for each of the questions below on a separate sheet of paper A) Explain the term Cabinet reshuffle B) Explain why recent reforms can be said to have made the House of Lords more legitimate C) “Individual party members have little or no power within the main UK political parties” Assess the accuracy of this view...
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...2013 - 2014 [pic] [pic] |Activity Booklet – Assignment 1 | Student: Jordan Stephens | [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] LO1.1 - Know the different levels of government in the UK P1 - Describe the following bodies involved in governance. Levels of government and their responsibilities: ▪ European Parliament, The European Parliament handles decisions, which would affect the countries, which are members of the EU; these issues include the environment, equal opportunities, transport, consumer rights, movement of the workers and goods, etc. Currently there are 72 members of the UK that get directly elected to become part of the European Parliament and their decisions on the issues that come up within the EU will affect all the 27 members states that are part of the EU if the decision is passed by the EU. Some of these decisions also affect issues involving the public services of the member states of the EU, which could cause a lot of problems if they make a wrong decision since they would have a large uproar on their hands. ▪ Central government, The central government is the main layer of government that operates across the whole of the country; the central government is always located in the centre of the country in that country’s capital city and it handles very specific responsibilities that no other group or government can carry out. Some of these responsibilities...
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...and practical subject concerned with the analysis of societies' reactions to social need. It search for foster in its students a aptitude to understand hypothesis and proof strained from a wide variety of social science regulations, including sociology, economics, geography, psychology, law, history, political science and philosophy. The name ‘Social policy’ is used to relate on the policies which governments use for social welfare and social security, on the methods in which social benefit is developed in the society and on the educational study of the subject. It also stands for a series of issues broaden far away from the procedures of government-the means by which welfare is encouraged, and the social and economic situations which outline the expansion of welfare. The principle areas of social policy are given below, * Social services, social safety ,community care, education; * Social troubles which includes crime, disability, old age ; * Race, gender, poverty are also included. Task-1 1.1 Identify the historical and contemporary landmarks in social policy and analysis the historical land marks of social and welfare Policies of historical and contemporary landmarks explain that how the qualities of existence for the customers for the service cover-up and enhanced overtime: Identify key historical landmarks in social welfare that is focusing on the period up to 1945: The enter point of past attractions in communal safety centering on the period of 1945:...
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...Politics 6GP02 Governing the UK Edexcel and BTEC Qualifications Edexcel and BTEC qualifications come from Pearson, the world’s leading learning company. We provide a wide range of qualifications including academic, vocational, occupational and specific programmes for employers. For further information visit our qualifications websites at www.edexcel.com or www.btec.co.uk for our BTEC qualifications. Alternatively, you can get in touch with us using the details on our contact us page at www.edexcel.com/contactus. If you have any subject specific questions about this specification that require the help of a subject specialist, you can speak directly to the subject team at Pearson. Their contact details can be found on this link: www.edexcel.com/teachingservices. You can also use our online Ask the Expert service at www.edexcel.com/ask. You will need an Edexcel username and password to access this service. Pearson: helping people progress, everywhere Our aim is to help everyone progress in their lives through education. We believe in every kind of learning, for all kinds of people, wherever they are in the world. We’ve been involved in education for over 150 years, and by working across 70 countries, in 100 languages, we have built an international reputation for our commitment to high standards and raising achievement through innovation in education. Find out more about how we can help you and your students at: www.pearson.com/uk Summer 2013 Publications...
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...Project and Risk Management 1. Introduction This brief examines two projects created for a similar purpose but with different outcomes. The Airwave project was a national project designed to upgrade and integrate communications for and between police forces in the UK (Comptroller and Auditor General, 2002; p2). This project was regarded largely as a success, although it was not without its problems. By contrast, the FiReControl (‘Firecontrol’) project was designed to improve the ‘resilience, efficiency and technology’ of the Fire and Rescue Services (Comptroller and Auditor General, 2011; p5). The aim of the project was to replace 46 local control rooms by a group of nine regional control centres, coordinated through a national computer system to manage emergency situations. The project commenced in 2004 and by the time it was cancelled in 2010, it had cost £245 million compared to the original estimate of £120 million. Worse still, the projected cost to complete the project at the time it was terminated was £635 million. Overall, the project was described by the Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts as ‘the worst case of project failure we have seen’ (UK Parliament, 2013; p1). These two projects appeared to have much in common; they were both infrastructure projects, for similar customers, with similar overall operational requirements. However, it is clear that one largely met the requirements of the system whereas the other failed completely to do so. This...
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...Introduction This report will be based on the following which is the process when making an act of parliament the different stages they have to go through when a new law is being brought out and also the rules of statutory interpretation. For the merit, the methods of law making will be compared and contrasted and also the applying the rules of statutory interpretation. For the final part of this report, the role of the Judiciary in the formulation and interpretation of legal rules. How (most) laws are made * Most new laws passed by Parliament result from proposals made by the government. * Proposals aim to shape society or address specific problems. * Normally, they ‘re created over a period of time An issue or problem emerges on the government's agenda Originally, a government's plan is well-informed by the general election. Politician parties compete for support from British voters by campaigning on their view for the country and how they would make things better for the UK and change things. The political party which wins the election then forms the government, and bases its legislative agenda on its election manifesto. But, where no single political party decisively wins the election - as happened in 2010 - two or more parties may form an alliance government. They might have to negotiate a joint vision and agree on which new laws to champion in the future of the parliament. Once in government, other events and effects also compete for ministers' attention. Unexpected...
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