...Gerrymandering involves the redrawing of election district boundaries to give an electoral advantage to a particular candidate or party. It has been recognized as an American political art from since 1812. The US Constitution specifies that Representative seats should be apportioned among the states based on the results of the decennial Census, but says nothing about how states should draw district boundaries for their Representatives. The first example of Gerrymandering comes from the person from whom the term is named after. Governor of Massachusetts Elbridge Gerry redrew the US Representative districts of the state in order to win the 1812 election. Gerrymandering was discovered in America, but is not solely an American thing to do. Countries such as France, Canada, Germany and Greece have also been accused of gerrymandering in order to give a certain party majority over the other. Most recently, in 2016, Malaysia’s government was accused of gerrymandering when they redrew the electoral boundaries ahead of possible polls in order...
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...troubled history with voter rights. While the passage of many bills has aimed to limit these injustices, the recent election showcases the inequalities still present within our society. With the current political alignment of the national government, I am concerned that minorities, who tend to vote democratic, will be unfairly targeted in new voter laws as the Republicans try to continue to hold office. New voter ID laws, polling times, and investigations on voter fraud are all potential issues being discussed by the federal government. If stricter laws go into effect, our nation will erase much of the progress it has made towards equality and will decrease the amount of...
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...Bayarchimeg Tsolmon POS 112 American Government Professor: Dr. Moon Park Term Paper 03/17/15 Is United States of America a Democratic country? Democracy has been defined as a government structure which people are involved in decision making about it either directly or through by the representatives whom they have chosen by open vote. In a perfect sensing world ideal of perfect democracy could be described as all citizens are well informed in every topics of issues occurring around them such as human abuse, employment issue, foreign politics, and economy. Everyone can voice their opinion strongly on the issues and not disregard them because it is not a personal problem to them. Media and politicians would work together to inform us on the current insights for a better change, political corruption can be found easily and corrected by the power of people, and everyone who is eligible for elect do so not because it is their duty but it is because they are well-versed and determined to choose right candidate for a representation. All of this would have been a beautiful picture to paint, however it is not the type of democracy currently appear to exist in the U.S. It is tough to say that U.S is fully democratic country since that few of the researchers and sources have been arguing that democracy has not been seem to be present for the last few decades, and in fact it has been slowly changing onto an oligarchy system. As of Fall 2014 “ Research conducted by Princeton and...
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...AFFIRMATIVE ACTION--MORAL COMPENSATION OR REVERSE DISCRIMINATION? For forty years the issue of affirmative action has been subject to a tremendous amount of debate and controversy. When President Kennedy proposed the idea of preferential treatment in 1961, the nation was in the midst of radical changes regarding civil liberties. It was a time when the injustices imposed upon minorities were beginning to be recognized, and people wanted to make up for the years of oppression that served as a barrier for the advancement of minorities in America. At the time, the idea was morally justified and socially appropriate. While it is still a morally commendable effort today, the system has become an attempt to atone for the sins of our country's past, and a double standard that threatens every citizen's liberties. The first problem with affirmative action is the obvious fact that it is an attempt to end discrimination with discrimination. When a company or university discriminates against a white male for the sake of bettering the outcome of another racial group, an injustice occurs. Affirmative action is the governmental legislation of the active discrimination of one person over another an unacceptable and dangerous double standard. Secondly, affirmative action seeks to reconcile the injustices of the past. The horrible atrocities of the past, including slavery and the refusal to grant women and minorities the right to vote, cast an ugly shadow on the history of our nation. But affirmative...
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...The Electoral College: How Our System of Elections Needs to be Changed Richard Brookman Metropolitan State University of Denver Author Note This paper was prepared for ENG 1020, Section 031, taught by Professor Clark. Abstract Article two, section one of the Constitution details the creation and operation of the Electoral College. Each representative of each state, both senators and representatives, cast a vote for the President based on the wants of their constituents. This is the basis for the Electoral College; however our forefathers had little insight into the problems that can arise from crafting a quick solution to the problem of electing the commander-in-chief. Over the past 200 years, many changes have been made to the Electoral College when a problem has risen to give us the Electoral College of today. The people of the United States have seen what the Electoral College has become and want the election process to change into a popular vote system. The popular vote system isn’t the answer. Only a combination of the two systems will help to give fair representation to all of the states, while keeping the essence of majority rule that the people desire. This system includes a single vote for districts that are won by popular vote, getting rid of the human form of electors, and using today’s technology to make it easier to maneuver through the complexities of the voting process. The Electoral College: How Our System of Elections Needs...
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...support from its allies in the United States, Canada and England. The growing enfranchisement of women around the world provided an enabling environment for the Suffrage Movement in the Bahamas. The specific social climate in the Bahamas in regard to women which engendered the struggle for the enfranchisement of women was described by Sir Randol Fawkes in his book, The Faith That Moved the Mountain. He states: "More than half of the adult population of the Bahamas - the women - still remained voteless. In 1958, they lagged far behind their male counterparts in the field of human rights. The chief roadblocks to full citizenship for Bahamian women were: - i) the traditional attitudes of men and women towards their respective roles in society; ii) the lack of equal education and training, vocational guidance and counselling in the school; iii) the division of the labour market into traditionally male and female sectors; and iv) lack of child-care facilities for working mothers". Sir Randol detailed other disadvantages women faced including the inheritance law of primogeniture and the inadequate maintenance laws for child support. In its particular pursuit of the right to vote for women and its general intention to advance the status of women in the Bahamas, the Suffrage Movement established strategic alliances with the other social movements of this time. It found a strident proponent of its cause in Randol Fawkes, leader of the Bahamas Federation of Labour. The Progressive...
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...Notes: Chapter 11 “Congress” I. Introduction 1. The Congress that the U.S. and most Latin American countries has is different from the Parliament that most European nations have because in Europe, a person who wants to run for office must persuade his party to nominate him, while in America, politicians can run for themselves. i. In Europe, people vote for parties; in America, they vote for individuals. ii. In primaries, people vote especially for a “person” (and his qualities, traits, etc…), and in general elections, this is sometimes true also. iii. In parliament, legislators can support their leaders or not, and if they don’t then new leaders (prime minister and various cabinet members) must be elected. a. This ensures that more action can occur, since the parties of the executive and legislative branches are practically always the same. iv. Congress is free from the turmoil of possible collapsing executive branches and is more powerful to make decisions; Congressmen don’t have to worry about easily losing their positions come another election. a. In Congress, there is less cohesion in bill passing, and less stuff can get done. v. Parliaments members usually engage in debate, are poorly paid, have little independent power, and receive little power as well. vi. Meanwhile, Congressmen are much better paid, have more power, do many things...
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...UNIT 2 Answer Key CHAPTER 5 IV. Section 4: Party Organization A. Structure Federalism, nominating B. Organization at the National Level 1. convention 2. chairperson C. State and Local Organization 1. election, caucuses 2. wards Prereading and Vocabulary 2 1. should cut back on expensive government programs Sample definition: Conservatives believe in cutting costs and government programs. 2. came to vote Sample definition: The electorate is the group of people who are allowed to vote. 3. voted at the polling place, elementary school Sample definition: A precinct is a small area from which all the residents report to vote at one location. 4. wards 5. bipartisan 6. nominate 7. Liberals 8. resign CHAPTER 5 Section 1 Reading Comprehension 3 1. Answers for rankings will vary. Historical basis: The two-party system is rooted in the beginnings of the U.S., when the ratification of the Constitution gave rise to the first two parties. Tradition: Most Americans accept the idea of a two-party system simply because there has always been one. Electoral system: Since only one winner per office comes out of each election, voters have only two viable choices—the candidate of the party holding office or the candidate with the best chance of replacing the current officeholder. Voters tend to think of a vote for a minor party candidate as a wasted vote. Republicans and Democrats work together in a bipartisan way to write election laws to make...
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...events that happened hundreds of years ago. Poland (republic) Linguistic Group: Western Slavic Religion: Catholic (important part of national identity) Ethnical Minorities: German, Ukraine, Belorussian (small and not important) Often divided (Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary) Is called state of wheels always moving We are Poles because we are not Russian, not German religion became very important for their identification. Day 2 Post-Yugoslavia states Tito managed to unify Yugoslavia after WWII and to keep it independent from Russia. self-managed socialism (market orientation). More contact to the west. Authoritarian system but not as closed as the other eastern states. Before he died he passed a new constitution that came into effect after his death. start of decentralization of Yugoslavia. Conflict: movements for more autonomy, different attitudes to possible reforms, many of the states experience first free elections after 1989 neither politicians nor voters were prepared for that, moment of uncertainty, if in such a moment of...
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...Machiavelli's Tiger: Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore's Authoritarian Regime By Uri Gordon (student at the Department of Political Science, Tel Aviv University, Israel) Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I’m meaningless. Lee Kuan Yew, 6.10.1997 Introduction ‘History’, observes Adorno, ‘is the unity of continuity and discontinuity’. Even a basic awareness to this reality should be enough to prevent anyone – especially the new sojourner into the realm of political science – from making coarse comparisons between past and present. And yet, sometimes the picture is so compelling, so painfully clear, that it simply cannot be ignored. Faced with it, all one can do is carefully explore the contours of the ancient and the new, hoping to retain enough responsibility to open his eyes to the differences when they manifest themselves. This is what the current paper sets out to do. Though hundreds of years and thousands of miles stand between 16th century Italy and 20th century Singapore, between the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli and the statecraft of Lee Kuan Yew, the similarities are extraordinary. This paper will argue that the political views and actions of Singapore’s ruling elite – more precisely, those of the country’s ‘founding father’ Lee Kuan Yew – can be powerfully interpreted through an application of Machiavellian principles. This interpretation takes place on two levels. First, the political actions of Singapore’s...
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...DRIVING DEMOCRACY – CHAPTER 4 9/15/2007 2:33 PM Chapter 4 Wealth and democracy Can formal democratic institutions succeed if they are built in societies with inhospitable social and economic conditions? In particular, will attempts to hold competitive elections fail to strengthen democracy in poor and divided nation states, as well as in regions such as the Middle East which are dominated by autocracy? Skeptics point to an earlier wave of institution building, when European-style parliaments were transplanted to many African societies during the era of decolonization, including in Benin and Togo, only to collapse as the military usurped their powers.1 We first need to establish the influence of certain underlying economic and social conditions on democratic consolidation before proceeding to examine the impact of powersharing institutions in subsequent chapters. As Dahl points out, where the underlying conditions are highly unfavorable, then it is improbable that democracy could be preserved by any constitutional design. By contrast, if the underlying conditions are highly favorable, then democratic consolidation is likely with almost any constitution.2 But many cases fall into the muddy middle-ground. The analysis of cross-sectional time-series data illuminates the general patterns and what conditions count, focusing upon examining the role of wealth, the size of nation states, colonial legacies, regional diffusion, and the degree of ethnic heterogeneity. Each of these...
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...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 about them is divided. Suitable electoral system for socially homogeneous society may not be (and according to many authors, is not) a right alternative for...
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...THE PERCEPTION OF TAXPAYERS TOWARD GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST) IMPLEMENTATION IN MALAYSIA CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION 1.1 Backgroud of Study Malaysian taxation system is generally divided into two, which are direct taxes and indirect taxes. Indirect taxes are controlled by the Royal Malaysian Custom Department (RMCD) and it consists of four components such as excise duties, customs duty, sales tax and service tax. Direct taxes are under the control of the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM). The IRBM is responsible for all policies relating to direct taxes such as income tax of individual and business, petroleum income tax, real property expansions tax, and stamp duty. From the government perception, taxation is a vital economic tool because it can be employed to regulate the economy, to invigorate economic growth through the granting of fiscal incentives as a principal aim of implementing tax policies and to provide funds for development projects (JeyapalanKasipillai, 2005). The contribution of direct taxes and indirect taxes to government revenue in 2009 amounted to RM78.375 billion (49.4%) and RM28.129 billion (1 7.73%), respectively. This shows that taxation contributes more than 60% to the Malaysian government revenue. Recently, the Malaysian government established the implementation of goods and services tax (GST) to replace Sales Tax and Services Tax (SST). The GST plan was first raised in 1988 but at the time it was considered unnecessary because the sales...
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...Federal Government Exam 1 Review: The first exam will consist of questions generated from the following review sheet. Make sure you understand each of these topics before proceeding to the test. The exam will be timed so you will not have the ability to peruse your notes or retake the exam. The exam itself will consist of 30 multiple choice questions and you will have 35 minutes to complete the exam. Federalism: The Basic elements of a Federal system of government (i.e. how is it structured/how power is shared) • Layers of gov • Equal power • Distinct powers Powers of the federal government: delegated powers, implied powers (necessary and proper clause), and concurrent powers. • Delegated Powers: (expressed/enumerated powers) powers given to the federal government directly by the constitution. Some most important delegated powers are: the authority to tax, regulated interstate commerce, authority to declare war, and grants the president role of commander and chief of the military • Implied Powers: Powers not expressed in the constitution, but that can be inferred. “Necessary and proper clause” • Concurrent powers: powers shared by both levels of government. Ex: Taxes, roads, elections, commerce, establishing courts and a judicial system • Reserved powers: powers not assigned by the constitution to the national government but left to the states or the people. Guaranteed by the 10th amendment. Include “police power”-health and public...
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...The (un)Official United States History Cram Packet This is not intended as a substitute for regular study ……. But it is a powerful tool for review. 1494: Treaty of Tordesillas – divides world between Portugal and Spain 1497: John Cabot lands in North America. 1513: Ponce de Leon claims Florida for Spain. 1524: Verrazano explores North American Coast. 1539-1542: Hernando de Soto explores the Mississippi River Valley. 1540-1542: Coronado explores what will be the Southwestern United States. 1565: Spanish found the city of St. Augustine in Florida. 1579: Sir Francis Drake explores the coast of California. 1584 – 1587: Roanoke – the lost colony 1607: British establish Jamestown Colony – bad land, malaria, rich men, no gold - Headright System – land for population – people spread out 1608: French establish colony at Quebec. 1609: United Provinces establish claims in North America. 1614: Tobacco cultivation introduced in Virginia. – by Rolfe 1619: First African slaves brought to British America. 15. Virginia begins representative assembly – House of Burgesses 1620: Plymouth Colony is founded. - Mayflower Compact signed – agreed rule by majority • 1624 – New York founded by Dutch 1629: Mass. Bay founded – “City Upon a Hill” - Gov. Winthrop - Bi-cameral legislature, schools 1630: The Puritan Migration 1632: Maryland – for profit – proprietorship 1634 – Roger Williams banished from Mass. Bay Colony 1635:...
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