...Of all the areas of electoral reform which are debated at present, the most hotly contested area is perhaps the electoral college. Indeed, there are ways that the current electoral college of the United States of America can be improved through reform, but how? Article 2, Section 1 of the United States Constitution states: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled to Congress;” (“The Constitution”). Because this section commands broadly that the “State” shall elect the electors of the president, this part of the Constitution, since the ratification of the Constitution, has been misconstrued...
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...Alexander Hamilton’s Electoral College and the Modern Election Colin Campbell Prof. R Hurl TA: Matthew Lesch Tutorial: Thursday, 4:00 PM, UC 67) U. S. Government and Politics (POL 208 Y1Y) 1 November 2012 Alexander Hamilton’s Electoral College and the Modern Election When American's leaders assembled in Philadelphia in 1787, they originally had the goal of solving issues that had arisen from the Articles of Confederation, which had governed the young nation since separating from Britain. Instead, they drafted a completely new document that established a more permanent and effective central government. With it, they established the office of President of the United States. Rather than being directly elected by the people or selected by the legislature – as described by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers – the head of state was to be elected by an independent institution that existed solely for the purpose of finding a man who was up to the job: a group that would become known as the Electoral College. However, as the political nature of the country evolved in an unanticipated and partisan way, the independence of this body became increasingly irrelevant, resulting in a system which fails to meet the standards of a true modern democracy. Although the Electoral College system has never substantially been reformed, it is now a mere formality which leads to the types of campaigns which it was designed to prevent. In The Federalist, Number 68, Hamilton argues...
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...The electoral college is an institution that every four years is in charge of electing our President, and Vice President. Going as far back as elementary school, students are brought up on how the electoral college works and why its not just the right, but fair system. From being taught about when the Founding Fathers created the process in seventeen eightyseven, to certain founders such as James Madison arguing that the process would hurt the south thus creating the three fifths compromise. As students we learned it all, especially about the prior agreement that was set by southern slave states allowing those states to count thier slaves as votes. After passing a bill that would give Southern States the majority in the electoral votes, the...
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...challenge of readmitting the southern states into the union, there were plans made to reconstruct the defeated south. Reconstruction hinged on resolving the political, economic and social issues. The terms that the South had agreed to in order or rejoin the Union had an important impact on both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Republican Party took advantage of the south’s absence from Congress. The Radical Republicans from the north divided the Democratic Party after the victories in the elections of 1860 and 1864. Latter on the south was removed from the Electoral College. Both the Republicans and democratic leaders were fearful that readmitting the South would reunite the Democratic south and weaken the newly established stronger Republican Party. The Democrats in Congress passed a program that had a drastic impact on the economy. This legislation enforced tariffs, made railroad subsidies, reformed banking and currency operations. All these measures generally benefited Northern business leaders and industrialists. The North was afraid that these...
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...established and a referendum is due to be held in 2014 on whether or not Scotland should have a codified constitution. While one could argue that discussions as to whether the upper house should be elected or appointed have not yet reached a decision, and it has taken over a decade for a devolved assembly to have the chance to be independent, it would appear that constitutional changes have gone as far as they are ever going to, however it ... gone far enough. Parts of the British political system were seen as undemocratic, especially during Labour’s terms in office in the late 1990’s, in particular the House of Lords (HOL). The Labour government set out to remove all hereditary peers in 1999; instead they abolished all but 92 and now promoted life peers as an alternative. Many Lords and Ladies are offered a place in the HOL either for service, such as previous MP’s, or due to their particular knowledge in a field, such as Alan Sugar as he has a vast amount of knowledge in business. However this was the last reform made, no more hereditary peers have been abolished, the question on whether or not to make the upper house elected is still on-going and previous conservative MP’s still hold more seats than any other party thus making the HOL unrepresentative and undemocratic. Therefore many argue this constitutional change has not gone far enough, although considering that the HOL has been reformed three times in the last century, it doesn’t seem to be quite so unforgivable. ...
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...had originally thought. The hardest part of Mock Congress was trying to overcome my procrastination and complete my speeches sooner rather than later. The easiest part was probably writing the speeches; it just took me awhile to get them started. My least favorite part was giving the speeches because I do not like to talk in front of people. It was difficult to try to conjure up enough courage to raise my hand and motion for my bill to be heard, but I never mustered enough to volunteer. In my opinion, Eric Harpenau was the best congressman. He was the maroon party leader and was very organized. When he gave his speech, he was very authoritative and had convincing arguments. The bill he presented was dealing with the abolition of the electoral college. Once he finished his speech and opened for questioning, everyone seemed to continue to bombard him with question after question, but he remained calm and collected and responded to the inquiries exceptionally well. He was quick-witted and always seemed to have an answer for every question asked of...
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...Module: Public Law& Civil Rights ‘The Government is pledged in its manifesto to complete reform of the Lords to remove the hereditary element entirely and to reconstitute the House on a modern representative basis.’ Government White Paper (The House of Lords: Completing the Reform 2001). Consider the political and legal reasons as to why, some 13 years after stage 1 of House of Lords reform (the House of Lords Act 1999), Parliament has only now started to consider Stage 2 legislation (House of Lords Reform Bill 2012). Abstract During the past 100 years, the British government has never ceased trying to bring democracy to the House of Lords. However, having examined the reform history, one could conclude that all the reforms proposed after 1999 are not carried out as planned. This essay, therefore, attempts to provide descriptions on the major reforms of Lords proposed or implemented since 1911. It will focus particularly on discussing the main political and legal difficulties on the incompletion of reform of Lords since 1999. 1. Introduction The House of Lords has long been known as a historical curiosity of this country. Together with the Canadian Senate, the chamber remains one of the only two unelected second chambers in the modern and major democracies. Owing to the undemocratic composition of the Lords, it was reluctant to utilize its legitimate powers in the 20th century for which some local political scholars described as having ‘a little public profile...
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...in a republic where the federal government had most of the power and should protect the interests of the country. Jefferson was at the head of the anti-federalists also known as the Democratic-Republican Party. The Democratic-Republican Party was backed by people such as small farmers, artisans, and planters. They wanted the federal government to have little involvement in their lives and to leave most of the power to the local and state governments (Flanders, 2007). B1. The Whig and Democratic Parties had many different platforms they used. The Whig Party did not want to expand westward and wanted to grow commercially within the current territory of the nation. The Whig party...
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...Gulf War were both accomplished under his first term. However, Bush’s strength in foreign policy was not as important as the economy, in the eyes of the American people. Also, around this time, Bush had lost a lot of support from those in the Republican Party because he said he would not raise taxes in the previous election and then did in fact, raise them. In the beginning stages of the election, President Bush was in the lead, but as the election went on, his popularity declined. Bill Clinton came from a very different situation than George H. Bush. Not only was Bush the incumbent in office, but he also was the third Republican candidate in a row to be elected for presidency. Clinton won the plurality in the popular vote and the Electoral College (Leip, D., 2012). When Bill Clinton won the election, it was a significant win for the Democratic Party and a big...
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...1. Introduction 3 I. PART 5 2. Electoral system 5 2.1. Types of electoral system 6 2.2. Proportional representation 6 2.3. Party-list proportional representation 7 II. PART 8 3. Structure of case studies 8 4. Benin 9 4.1. Historical introduction and the electoral system 9 4.2. Elections to National Assembly in years 1991-2007 10 4.3. Political parties in Benin: profile, electorate and interactions 11 4.4. Conclusion 12 5. Guinea-Bissau 13 5.1. Historical introduction and the electoral system 13 5.2. Elections to National People's Assembly in years 1994-2008 14 5.3. Political parties in Guinea-Bissau: profile, electorate and interactions 15 5.4. The electoral process in Guinea-Bissau 16 5.5. Conclusion 17 6. Namibia 18 6.1. Historical introduction and the electoral system 18 6.2. Elections to National Assembly in years 1989-2009 19 6.3. Political parties in Namibia: profile, electorate and interactions 20 6.4. The electoral process in Namibia 21 6.5. Conclusion 23 7. Final conclusion 24 8. Bibliography 26 1. Introduction Electoral systems are considered as an instrument, which can relatively quickly and effectively change the shape of the party and then the entire political system. This is the general consensus of political scientific community. Opinions about the best and most appropriate electoral system are, however, very diverse and discussion...
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...Create an economy built to last & built from the middle out. (Sep 2012) Restore the budget discipline of the 1990s. (Nov 2006) Cut the deficit in half over the next four years. (Jul 2004) Democrats reversed economic stagnation of previous years. (Aug 2000) Democrats must continue to lead Americans to prosperity. (Aug 2000) G.O.P. creates debt, Dems create surpluses. (Aug 2000) Democrats will eliminate publicly held debt by 2012. (Aug 2000) Policy should encourage home ownership & affordable housing. (Aug 2000) Democratic Party on Civil Rights Enable disability access; plus 100,000 federal jobs. (Sep 2012) Equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. (Sep 2012) Racial and religious profiling is wrong. (Jul 2004) Keep marriage at state level; no federal gay marriage ban. (Jul 2004) Strengthen some parts of Patriot Act and change other parts. (Jul 2004) Support affirmative action to redress discrimination. (Jul 2004) Police should have zero tolerance of racial profiling. (Aug 2000) Pass hate crime legislation including gays. (Aug 2000) Democrats lead fight for ERA and equal employment. (Aug 2000) Democratic Party on Corporations Auto manufacturers have paid back loans & drive the recovery. (Sep 2012) Transparency in corporate accounting. (Jul 2004) End corporate welfare as we know. (Jul 2004) Tax credits and investment support for small business. (Jul 2004)...
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...Ethnicity Should racial profiling be a legitimate law-enforcement policy in some areas? Should Affirmative Action for state university enrollment be continued? Should the primary method of public school funding--property taxes in individual school districts--be amended to create more fairness in schools? Should high-school history classes and social-studies curriculum be changed to reflect diversity and multicultural perspectives? Should Christmas, Easter, and other religious observances be considered national holidays? If a university offers "African-American Studies" or "Black Studies" as courses, should it also offer "European-American Studies" or "White Studies"? How do certain television programs perpetuate racial or ethnic stereotypes? Should Columbus Day be discontinued in favor of a new post-colonial perspective? Should schools only purchase textbooks that offer revised or alternative histories of historical events? What should be done about racial disparities in the sentencing of criminals? Should the American government pay reparations and return land to Native Americans? Should hate groups have the right to distribute literature on university campuses? If research shows that certain racial or ethnic groups receive poorer medical care on average, how should this problem be corrected? Should governmental organizations have staffs that accurately reflect the racial, ethnic, and gender balance in society? Gender and Sexuality What should be done to eliminate...
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...5. The Key Study Areas are as follows….. * TCO A -Business ethics: Three layers of Business ethics: * 1) Basic values (honest, keeping promises) * 2) Notion of fairness (how do we treat others?) * 3) Issues related to community, environment, neighbors Business ethics considers fairness and morals standards amidst the pressure of earning a profit and providing returns to shareholders. Sometimes we may have business ethical tensions where Employee has personal economic interests in continuing employment that may compromise certain personal moral standards. -Ethical Models/Tests The Blanchard and Peale Model * Is it legal? (IF NO, analysis is done) * Is it balanced? (Is our deal with the other side balanced or was it cutthroat?) * How does it make me feel? (The action may be legal and appear balanced; but, do you feel good about it?) * Front Page of the newspaper test: Simple question that requires a decision maker to envision how a reporter would describe a decision on the front page of a local or national newspaper. * Laura Nash Perspective Model: How would I view the issue if I stood on the other side of the fence? What am I trying to accomplish? Can I discuss my decision with friends, family, and those closest to me? * The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them to unto you. This requires one to apply the same standards of fairness and equity to their own actions that they would demand...
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...NORTHAMPTON GROUP INC Northampton From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about Northampton in England. For other places of the same name, see Northampton (disambiguation). Northampton | Town, borough and non-metropolitan district | From top left: Skyline of Northampton town centre from Delapre Park; All Saints' Church; Northampton Guildhall; the National Lift Tower; Delapré Abbey; Abington Park; Market Square. | Northampton shown within Northamptonshire | Coordinates: 52°13′49″N 0°53′38″W | Sovereign state | United Kingdom | Constituent country | England | Region | East Midlands | Ceremonial county | Northamptonshire | Admin HQ | Northampton Guildhall | Town charter | 1189 | Incorporated | 1835 | Government | • Type | Non-metropolitan district | • Governing body | Northampton Borough Council | • Leader | David Mackintosh (Con) | • Mayor | John Caswell (Con) | • MPs | Brian Binley (Con) Michael Ellis (Con) Andrea Leadsom (Con) | Area | • Total | 31.18 sq mi (80.76 km2) | Population (2011 est.) | • Total | 212,500 (Ranked 73rd) | • Density | 6,810/sq mi (2,631/km2) | • Ethnicity | 84.5% White 6.4% South Asian 5.1% Black 3.2% Mixed Race 0.3% Arab 0.5% Other | Demonym | Northamptonian | Time zone | GMT (UTC0) | • Summer (DST) | BST (UTC+1) | Postcode area | NN1—NN6 | Area code(s) | 01604 | ISO 3166-2 | GB-NTH | ONS code | 34UF (ONS) E07000154 (GSS) | NUTS 3 | UKF24 | Website | northampton.gov.uk | Northampton i/nɔrˈθæmptən/...
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...The Economics of Amartya Sen “Social Choice and Welfare Economics” (NPWES, 2008) And as related to Philippine Economy: National Budget Cycle In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant By: Binalingbing, Jhan Ray N. February 2014 INTRODUCTION “…a budget is a useful tool to help ensure that what limited money is available will be spent for the family’s most important needs, like food, clothing and shelter.” -Florencio Abad Secretary, Department of Budget and Management Every household knows that their budget is indispensable, important and has the capability to turn and mobilize their life around. Every day, millions of Filipinos work just for a meager share to eat, drink, and live, and tomorrow, work again to live for a day. Yet reality, tells us that many still suffer and live in difficult conditions. The National Statistics Coordination Board (NCSB) reported that in 2012, 4.2 million Filipino families experienced or lived in poverty or that is 19.2% percent. The same report also stated that a family of five needed a budget of PhP 5,513 to meet basic food needs every month and Php 7,890 to stay above the poverty threshold (basic food and non-food needs) every month. Such can be attributed to the inflation rise to 4.1 % from the year 2009-2012. What could have caused this statistic to be constant and rise up even more? Is there lack in financial stewardship and accountability on the part of Filipinos? Or even...
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