...sworn in as Canada's 22nd Prime Minister on February 6, 2006 Harper's Conservative Party won a stronger minority in the October 2008 federal election, showing a small increase in the percentage of the popular vote and increased representation in the Canadian House of Commons with 143 of 308 seats. The 40th Canadian Parliament was dissolved in March 2011 after a no-confidence vote was passed by the opposition parties. On October 14, 2008, after a 5 week long campaign, the Conservative Party won a federal election and increased its number of seats in parliament to 143, up from 127 at the dissolution of the previous parliament; however, the actual popular vote among Canadians dropped slightly by 167,494 votes. As a result of the lowest voter turnout in Canadian electoral history, this represented only 22% of eligible Canadian voters, the lowest level of support of any winning party in Canadian history.[94] Meanwhile, the number of opposition Liberal MPs fell from 95 to 77 seats. It takes 155 MPs to form a majority government in Canada's 308 seat Parliament. 2008 Parliamentary dispute and prorogation Main article: 2008 Canadian parliamentary dispute On December 4, 2008, Harper asked Governor General Michaëlle Jean to prorogue Parliament in order to avoid a vote of confidence scheduled for the following Monday, becoming the first Canadian PM ever to do so.[95][96] The request was granted by Jean, and the prorogation lasted until January 26, 2009. The opposition...
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...seem to some as being dictatorial. Firstly, it can be argued that with a political party having a large majority of seats any law can be passed easily. For example, during Clement Attlee’s premiership in 1945 he created NHS even though many hospitals and medical professors were against it. Another example is Margaret Thatcher’s accomplishment of the ideology of privatisation in 1983 in opposition of trade unions which was an extremely powerful sectional pressure group. Secondly, when a political party has a large majority of seats in the House of Commons, only a few people can be against its ideologies. A good example of this is the ‘whipping system’. This is when a political party passed a new bill the ‘wips’ enforce backbenchers to vote for supporting their political party’s legislation. In addition, the style of the leader can also seen as being dictatorship-like. Margaret Thatcher, also known as ‘The Iron Lady’ was a strong, powerful and very dominative person. Her behavior and the style of communication was detected as being dictatorial. Furthermore, the Queen has the powers which she delegates to Prime Minister without a need to ask the Parliament. For example, declaring...
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...Government is, in theory, accountable to Parliament, however it is difficult for this to be the case when government makes up a large part of Parliament. So when examining how effective Parliament is at controlling the power of the executive, all of the below has to be considered. The role of select committees and departmental select committees are very important in the control of government’s power. These committees scrutinize government policy, as well as raising public awareness of it, in great detail. The line of questioning is very different, and considerably more in depth, than if the queries were raised in the House of Commons; this is because evidence is gathered in advance and the committees demand answers with substance, opposed to filibustering or rhetoric. Evidence has shown that 40% of committee recommendations to government has then been applied to policy. However, it is not so much that the recommendations are a control of the executive, but the fear the committees induce in the government; the government knows that, if they make a policy that is not in the public’s interest, they will be exposed. That being said, in a legal sense, select committees have no control or power over government, which could be argued makes them ‘watchdogs without teeth’. The committees are also, in part, made up of MPs belonging to the governing party and may not want to scrutinize their party as it may be damaging to their career prospects. The House of Lords cannot block government...
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...laws in Malaysia. There are particular attention to major ones like the Employment Act 1955, Industrial Relations Act 1967 and Trade Unions Act 1959. The Employment Act provides minimum terms and conditions (mostly of monetary value) to certain category of workers, the Industrial Relations Act provides ways for settlement of trade disputes between employers and employees, whereas the Trade Unions Act regulates trade union registration and the uses of trade union funds.. BODY There have been some major issues occurring in the trade union currently, one been the act of no confidence to the prime minister. There had been some trade union act which had begin early this year and on the 28th of March 27, 2012 there decided to vote for no confidence. At a Press Conference held at the MTUC Head Office in Selangor on 28th Feb 2012, the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) passed a vote of no confidence against the Minister of Human Resource and May bank Bhd. MTUC General Council Member, Mr....
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...Executive functions are exercised by members of the parliament appointed by the prime minister to the cabinet. The parties in minority serve in opposition to the majority and have the duty to challenge it regularly. The prime minister may be removed from power whenever he loses the confidence of a majority of the ruling party or of the parliament. This form of governance originated in Britain and spread across the globe. Parliamentary democracy is different to direct democracy in that the former is a system in which citizens vote for representatives (politicians) to make decisions on their behalf, whereas in a direct democracy policy initiatives and laws would be decided on via votes/referendums involving eligible and willing to vote. Arguably the most notable condition present in the German political system in 1914 that supports the notion of Germany being a democracy was universal male suffrage, which had been upheld since Otto Von Bismark introduced it in 1871. Through this system of voting, all males over the age of 25 could vote in elections for the Imperial Parliament (Reichstag), in secret ballots which ensured protection from persecution and intimidation. The ability of people from all classes to vote in elections is a hallmark of parliamentary democracy, allowing for all social classes to be represented in...
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...The Hero’s Quest In the book “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey, the author depicts R.P. McMurphy as a hero throughout the book from the narrator, Chief Bromdens p.o.v. R.P. McMurphy is the main character of the book and he gets sent to the hospital as a new patient. As soon as he arrives the other patients realize he is different and is not like the other patients. Kesey shows how throughout the book McMurphy tries to help the other patients gain more confidence and stand up against Nurse Ratched, who is controlling and considers herself to be superior to everyone else. McMurphy comes to the hospital as a new admission. When he arrives he tells the other patients how he was having problems at work and then his job declared him as a psychopath. He didn’t want to go to jail so his other option was to come to the hospital and get admitted there. McMurphy’s arrival to the hospital also show his first step in his Hero’s Quest...
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...Oxford http://www.crest.ox.ac.uk Is Britain Facing a Crisis of Democracy? by Catherine Bromley, John Curtice and Ben Seyd EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Britain is widely believed to be suffering a crisis of democracy. This briefing examines whether this perception is justified or not. Our findings - which are based on a four year research project funded by the ESRC - address four key issues: the legitimacy of governments, patterns of participation in politics, the impact of constitutional reform, and the explanation for any crisis. Legitimacy There has been a decline in levels of trust in government and confidence in the political system. Thirty years ago, four in ten people in Britain trusted government to put the needs of the nation above those of their political party; today, just one in five do so. But much of this decline set in during the early 1990s, although trust and confidence have fallen further since 1997. Participation Turnout at all elections has declined since 1997, most noticeably at the 2001 general election, when the participation rate was the lowest since 1918. At the same time, levels of non-electoral participation have increased somewhat. Meanwhile, it is not the case that people engage outside the ballot box as an alternative to voting; rather, most people use non-electoral activities as a complement to participating at elections. One reason why non-electoral participation has not declined is because people generally feel as engaged with the...
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...party members have complete power when electing their leaders (aside from the fact they cannot elect the two candidates) whilst all branches of the Labour party are able to vote for their leader. When it comes to policy making in the Conservative party it is the leader who makes policy, in the sense that they have the final say on policy and the contents of the manifesto. In the Labour party there is a wider distribution of power in policy making as the MPs have relatively little power and all the branches play a part instead. Conservative party members did not have a say in the election of the leader until William Hague reformed the procedure in 1998 due to the small number of MPs the party acquired in the 1997 general election. In a contest with only two candidates, there is a ballot of all party members, however, if there is a contest of more than two there is a series of ‘primary elections’ but only with the Conservative MPs to find out which two candidates to put before the party members for election before a one member, one vote (OMOV) of party members then occurs. In this sense, the electing of the leader by ordinary members is not as democratic as it appears although they still get a say between two candidates. Conversely, MPs only have the power to rid of the leader after a vote of no-confidence although the Conservative party members have voted them in the first place. The democratic approach to the voting can be therefore negated as the leader is clearly the person...
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...Composition, Role and Powers of the House of Commons: * It is an elected chamber, hence enjoys democratic legitimacy. * Composed of 650 MPs, whereby each has been elected to represent a constituency. * It therefore has supremacy and the commons may thus pass any bill that they wish and the Lords may only delay it becoming law. * Executive can therefore only govern if it retains the confidence of the House of Commons. * It the executive loses the vote of confidence, it has no option but to resign and hence provoking a general elections. * Given that there are two Houses of Parliament, the system is called Bicameral. Composition, Role and Powers of the House of Lords: * It compromises of four types of Lords. * The vast majority is Life Peers, where they have been appointed to the House of Lords by the Prime Minister on his own recommendations and that of other party leaders. * While a smaller number of People’ Peers have been appointed by the House of Lords Appointments Commission. * There are 92 Hereditary Peers. * There is Lords Spiritual, the 26 Bishops of the Church of England. * However they are not elected and therefore does not enjoy democratic legitimacy the powers of the Lords are inferior to those of House of Commons. * This means all they can do to proposed legislation that they disapprove of its delay it for one year. * But they cannot do this to the budget. * According to the Salisbury Convention, they...
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...represent the will of the majority. Abraham Lincoln got to the core of democracy when he stated, “the government of the people, by the people and for the people.” In the last 50 years of Canadian history we have begun to see a decline in voter turnout; ranging from 80% of citizens voting in 1962, gradually dwindling to 59.1% in the year 2008 (Dickerson, Flanagan & O'Neill, 2010). It is important to understand why citizens vote the way they do in order to determine what may or may not be successful in regards to winning a majority government; factors that influence the voter’s choices include socio-demographic characteristics, beliefs and values, partisanship and confidence in political leaders. There is a great deal of debate surrounding which policies could increase voter based participation in democratic systems, but the most irrefutably successful policies would be those applied in systems of proportional representation ("Statistics by country," 2011). Voting is part of Canadian civic duty; unfortunately not all Canadians exercise their right to vote. Over the past 20 years the Canadian voter turnout has been on a steady decline, from 75.3% turnout in 1988, to 59.1% voter turnout in 2008. Even more specifically, the decrease in voters is a result of the younger generation not taking part in the electoral process ("Falling voter turnout," 2006). Elections Canada released information regarding voter participation by age intervals of 3.5 years from the 2008 election;...
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...government. There are 19 committees, each one representing their expertise. Most committees have a chair who is seen as having notable knowledge and understanding on the specific area, for example Ed Smith CBE for health committee. They do research into the policies made, and then pose questions and thoughts to the ministers, and scrutinise them. Opposition days, whereby they have 20 each session (year), are another method, whereby they can determine the agenda of the day (Labour is the opposition now). Furthermore, the most important feature of holding the government to account is the fact that the electorate have a general election every 5 years, which was introduced in the Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011 by the Coalition government. A vote of no confidence, can be used during the 5 years, which infamously happened in the ‘Callaghan’ government. Therefore, government scrutiny is a key function which is effective. However, it is argued that...
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...Backbench Mps are highly effective within the British Political system, as they‘re able to scrutinize government actions and hold them 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...
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...Unibersidad De Manila 659-A Justice Cecilia Munoz-Palma Street, Ermita, Manila, Metro Manila Parliamentary: A Good Form of Government Aira C. Adao UC-48 Prof. Marvin Ignacio Politics and Governance January 20, 2015 I. Title: Parliamentary: A Good Form of Government II. Abstract HYPOTHESIS 1. What is Parliamentary Government? 2. What are the types of Parliamentary Government? 3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Parliamentary System? 4. What countries are implementing Parliamentary System? 5. What is the difference between Parliamentary System and Presidential System? OBJECTIVES * To point out the good sides of the Parliamentary system. * To discuss the process of legislation of the Parliamentary Government. * To tackle the important topic about Parliamentary system. * To form a good information to the readers about the essence of Parliamentary system. SIGNIFICANCE * This term paper gives information to the reader about the system of Parliamentary Government. * This paper will benefit the ones who search information about the essence of Parliamentary system. III. Introduction Parliament, (from Old French: parlement; Latin: parliamentum) the original legislative assembly of England, Scotland, or Ireland and successively of Great Britain and the United Kingdom; legislatures in some countries that were once British colonies are also known as parliaments. The British Parliament, often referred...
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...Both the passages have similarities and differences. Woman’s Right to vote and The Declaration of Sentiments are both talking about woman. They are arguing and give there opines about their rights and how there treated. In these passages it’s all about equality and and rights. But there are differences. Read on to find out. Woman’s Right to vote about the right to vote. She typically takes about that no matter sex or raise. We should all be able to vote. We all should be able to vote. We should all have equal rights .Also she says “An oligarchy of wealth where the rich governs the poor.” I like this vote because it’s true. The Declaration of Sentiments was talking about women and the way they are treated. They were not treated fairly....
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...The Election Process 2010 General Election The last UK General Election was held on 6th May 2010. No single party won an overall majority of the 650 House of Commons seats. The conservatives won 305 seats, representing 10.7 million votes (36%). Labour won 258 seats, representing 8.6 million votes (29%). The Liberal Democrats won 57 seats, representing 6.8 million votes (23%). The Liberal Democrats and The Conservatives joined together to make a coalition because no one had enough votes to win on their own. The Process of a General Election Fixed Term Parliament Act was passed on 15 September 2011, meaning that General Elections are now held on the first Thursday in May every five years. The date of the next general election is set at 7 May 2015. There are two situations in which a General Election will be called earlier than at five intervals. (i) A motion of no confidence has been passed by the House of Commons against the Government and 14 days has passed without the House of Commons passing a confidence motion in any newly formed Government; or (ii) A motion for a General Election is agreed by two thirds of the total number of MP’s in the House of Commons (currently 434 out of 650). You don’t do that unless you’re confident you can win that election. Once the Government has decided to call a General Election (either because the five years is up or an early election is needed), the Prime Minister will ask the Monarch to dissolve Parliament by Royal Proclamation...
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