Society

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

№4

Politics, Economics, Law

Politics (from Greek: politikos, meaning "of, for, or relating to citizens") is the practice and theory of influencing other people on a civic or individual level. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance — organized control over a human community, particularly a state. A variety of methods are employed in politics, which include promoting one's own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising force, including warfare against adversaries. Politics is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes of traditional societies, through modern local governments, companies and institutions up to sovereign states, to the international level.

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomia, "management of a household, administration") from οἶκος (oikos, "house") + νόμος (nomos, "custom" or "law"), hence "rules of the house(hold)".[1] Political economy was the earlier name for the subject, but economists in the late 19th century suggested "economics" as a shorter term for "economic science" that also avoided a narrow political-interest connotation and as similar in form to "mathematics", "ethics", and so forth

Law is a term which does not have a universally accepted definition,[2] but one definition is that law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior.[3] Laws can be made by legislatures through legislation (resulting in statutes), the executive through decrees and regulations, or judges through binding precedents (normally in common law jurisdictions). Private individuals can create legally binding contracts, including (in some jurisdictions) arbitration agreements that exclude the normal court process. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution (written or unwritten) and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics, and society in various ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people.

The peculiarities of parliamentary system of government

Parliamentary form of Government

In the Parliamentary form of government, the Parliament is supreme, and the governments, comprised of some members of the Parliament, are accountable to it. Some of the best examples of Parliamentary government are the governments in Britain, India, Australia and Canada.

Features of Parliamentary Government

1. Nominal or Titular Head:

In a Parliamentary form of government, there two heads, namely, nominal and real. The nominal head is one who, though head of the state, is not head of government. His powers are more apparent than real. He may be hereditary or elected.

The British Queen is not elected. She got the throne on the heredity. But the President of India who is also a nominal head has been el Parliamentary-government the real powers are exercised by a Council of Ministers by a Prime Minister.

2. Collective Responsibility and Individual Responsibility:

The C Ministers is collectively responsible to the lower house of the legislature. It policy decisions collectively and it collectively goes out of office when it loses thee of the lower house of the legislature. A minister may express his disagreement policy when it is discussed in the cabinet meeting, but he has to defend and support the cabinet takes the decision. A minister is also individually responsible to the P for the acts of omission and commission of his department.

3. Political Homogeneity:

The ministers, normally being members of political party, share the same ideology and approach. Even when there is a c government, the ministers are committed to a common minimum programme. B single party government and a coalition government, there is a fair amount of h and cooperation among the ministers. However, a single party government is homogeneous than a multy-party coalition government,

4. Harmony between Executive and Legislature:

In a Parliamentary government the ministers are drawn from the legislature. As ministers, they are part of the executive. They also remain members of the legislature. Thus the dual identity of ministers con to a harmonious relationship between the executive and the legislature.

5. Rigidity of Party Discipline:

In a Parliamentary government, the party discipline is rigid. The members of a political party whether in power or in opposition are required to defend and support the stand of their party on any issue both in the legislature and outside.

6. Leadership of the Prime Minister:

The Prime Minister is the leader of the C of Ministers. On his advice, the ministers are appointed and dropped. They stay in during his pleasure. He presides over the meetings of the cabinet. He exercises preponderant influence in domestic policy as well as foreign policy.

He is more powerful and important than any other member of the cabinet. It has been rightly observed that "he (Prime Mi is central to its (ministry's) birth, central to its life and central to its death."

The political system of USA

The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States (the head of state and head of government), Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.

The executive branch is headed by the President and is independent of the legislature. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of Congress, theSenate and the House of Representatives. The judicial branch (or judiciary), composed of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, exercises judicial power (or judiciary). The judiciary's function is to interpret the United States Constitution and federal laws and regulations.

There are major differences between the political system of the United States and that of most other developed democracies. These include greater power in the upper house of the legislature, a wider scope of power held by the Supreme Court, the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive, and the dominance of only two main parties. Third parties have less political influence in the United States than in other developed country democracies.

Political parties

The modern political party system in the United States is a two-party system dominated by the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress since 1856. The Democratic Party generally positions itself as left-of-center in American politics and supports amodern American liberal platform, while the Republican Party generally positions itself as right-wing and supports a modern American conservative platform.

Third parties have achieved relatively minor representation from time to time at national and state levels. The Libertarian Party is the largest third party in the country, claiming more than 250,000 registered voters;[27] it generally positions itself as centrist or radical centrist and supports a classical liberal position. Other contemporary third parties include the left-wing Green Party, supporting Green politics, and the right-wing Constitution Party.

Elections[edit]

Unlike in some parliamentary systems, Americans vote for a specific candidate instead of directly selecting a particular political party. With a federal government, officials are elected at the federal (national), state and local levels. On a national level, the President, is elected indirectly by the people, through an Electoral College. In modern times, the electors virtually always vote with the popular vote of their state. All members of Congress, and the offices at the state and local levels are directly elected.

Both federal and state laws regulate elections. The United States Constitution defines (to a basic extent) how federal elections are held, in Article One and Article Two and various amendments.State law regulates most aspects of electoral law, including primaries, the eligibility of voters (beyond the basic constitutional definition), the running of each state's electoral college, and the running of state and local elections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

№5

The peculiarities of a Federative state

A federated state (which may be referred to as a state, a province, a canton, a Land, etc.) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federal union.[1] Such states differ from sovereign states, in that they have transferred a portion of their sovereign powers to a federal government.[2] Importantly, when states choose to federate, they lose their standing as persons of international law. Instead, the federal union as a single entity becomes the sovereign state, the person of international law.[3] A federated state holds administrative jurisdiction over a defined geographic territory and is a form of regional government.

In some cases, a federation is created from a union of political entities, which are either independent, or dependent territories of another sovereign entity (most commonly a colonial power).[4] In other cases, federated states have been created out of the regions of previously unitary states.[5] Once a federal constitution is formed, the rules governing the relationship between federal and regional powers become part of the country's constitutional law and not international law.

In countries with federal constitutions, there is a division of power between the central government and the component states. These entities - states, provinces, cantons, Länder, etc. - are partially self-governing and are afforded a degree of constitutionally guaranteed autonomy that varies substantially from one federation to another.[6] Depending on the form the decentralization of powers takes, a federated state's legislative powers may or may not be overruled or vetoed by the federal government. Laws governing the relationship between federal and regional powers can be amended through the federal constitution and state constitutions.

 

The concept of politics

The Concept of the Political (German: Der Begriff des Politischen) is a work by the German philosopher and jurist Carl Schmitt. It examines the fundamental nature of the "political" and its place in the modern world.

Schmitt attacked the "liberal-neutralist" and "utopian" notions that politics can be removed of all warlike, agonistic energy, arguing conflict existed as embedded in existence itself, likewise constituting an ineradicable trait of anthropological human nature. Schmitt attempts to substantiate his ideas by referencing the declared anthropological pessimism of "realistic" Catholic (and Christian) theology. The anti-perfectibilist pessimism of Traditional Catholic theology Schmitt considers esoterically relevant to the inner ontological being of politics and political activity in the contemporary world, modern people subconsciously secularizing theological intellectual ideas and concerns. Schmitt criticizes political "radicals" as basically ignorant, deluded, pseudo-messianic in mentality, and oblivious to the stark, hard knowledge of unveiled human nature, its esse, encoded in ancient theology, wherein Original Sin held central, axial place, intertwining his own ideas of meta-politics with a reformulated "metaphysics of evil". It was first published in 1927, while Germany was governed by the Weimar Republic. In 1932, with the Nazi ascension to power imminent, Schmitt published a second edition, with significant, and controversial, revisions. However, it is likely that these revisions were made in response to the reaction of Leo Strauss.[1]

 

Political system of Germany

Germany is a federal parliamentary republic, and federal legislative power is vested in theBundestag (the parliament of Germany) and the Bundesrat (the representative body of the Länder, Germany's regional states). There is a multi-party system that, since 1949, has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system is laid out in the 1949 constitution, the Grundgesetz (Basic Law), which remained in effect with minor amendments after 1990's German reunification. The constitution emphasizes the protection of individual liberty in an extensive catalogue of human rights and civil rights and divides powers both between the federal and state levels and between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. It can "be understood as the downright opposite to Nazi totalitarism and was designed up to its details to learn from historical experience and to eliminate any possibility of such a wrong once and for all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

№6

Economics and politics

Economics is a theoretical science that analyzes the economic consequences of all modes of human action. It examines goods prices, wage rates, and interest rates and inquires into the principles of production, distribution and consumption. It searches for the most direct means for the attainment of ends chosen. It neither justifies nor condemns the motives of any economic action; it is "value-free." Politics is the art of government including its policies, goals and affairs, its methods and tactics, and its partisan or factional ambitions and actions. It appeals to various motives and intentions and is guided by preferences many of which are moral choices made by individuals in their relationship with others. Politics has also been defined as "who gets what, when, how." In the words of President John F. Kennedy, "political action is the highest responsibility of a citizen."

The connection between economics and politics is clearly visible. Economic production sustains human life which, for most people, is the most important concern in life. The prestige of democratic government, its rise and fall, usually depend on its economic performance. Economic policies must please the greatest number of people who decide democratic elections and reelections. But voters, as well as the representatives they elect, may also be guided by economic notions and doctrines that are popular rather than fitting and exact. Public opinion may be swayed by appeals to emotion and preconception rather than reason and common sense. Political writers and speakers may dwell on controversy and conflict rather than on theoretical correctness; periodicals, newspapers, broadcasts on radio, television, and other forms of communication may follow suit. Articulate politicians usually add their explanations and interpretations. They may prefer to be popular rather than correct.

 

The peculiarities of presidential system of government

1. President is the Real Head:

In the Presidential system, the President is the real head. He is the head of state as well as the head of government.

2. Separation of Powers:

There is separation of powers. The President is elected by people. Neither he nor his ministers are drawn from the legislature. They are not accountable to it. They are independent of the legislature. He has a fixed tenure. He cannot be easily ousted from office by the legislature. The only method of his ouster from office is impeachment which is a very difficult process.

On the other hand, the President also cannot dissolve the legislature. Further, the judiciary is independent of both the executive and the legislature. Thus, there is not only separation of powers, but also check and balance in the Presidential system.

3. Ministers are Accountable to the President:

The President appoints his ministers (or secretaries) who stay in office during his pleasure. They do not belong to the legislature. Nor are they responsible to it. They are appointed on the basis of their experience and expertise. They are 'President's men'. He can remove them from office if he is not happy with them.

Merits:

1. More Democratic:

Because of the twin principles of separation of powers and check and balance, there is no concentration of powers in the same man or in the same body. As a result, there is more of democracy in this system.

2. Stability and Continuity:

As both the President and the legislature enjoy fixed terms of office, there is political stability. There is continuity of policy. Further, the government can think of long-term policies.

3. People's President:

In the USA, the President is directly elected by people. He has thus reason to think that he enjoys more of people's confidence and support than the Prime Minister in the Parliamentary system.

4. More Efficient:

The President is free to choose his ministers. (Or secretaries as they are called in America.) The Senate, the Upper House of American Congress, may or may not ratify such appointments, but it cannot impose its choice on the President.

The President has thus the freedom to appoint very competent persons as his Ministers or Secretaries on the basis of their experience and expertise. They are accountable only to the President and not to the Congress. As a result, they have time to concentrate on their work and to do their duty efficiently.

5. Prompt and Bold Decisions:

The President, being all powerful, is in a position to take bold and prompt decisions. His ministers, being subordinate to him, cannot tie hands. They may advise him, but they have to implement his decisions.

6. Best suited to Deal with Emergencies:

This system is more effective in tackling emergencies as there is unity of control and concentration of executive powers in person (President). He can react quickly to any national crisis by taking prompt decisions. There is hardly any need for him to convince others on the spot that the decision he going to take is good for the nation.

7. More Suitable for Multi-Party System:

The multiparty system is prone to political instability. Political parties with different interests pull the political system in diff directions. In order to check this, there is the need of a strong executive and the President government is best suited to establish stability in a multiparty system.

8. Symbol of National Unity and Integrity:

The Presidential executive is of help in forging unity in the nation consisting of diverse regions, communities and cult As he is directly elected by people, they look upon him as the symbol of their unity.

Demerits:

1.Dictatorial:

The Presidential executive is likely to be authoritarian. As all executive powers are concentrated in the hands of the President and as he is not accountable to legislature, he may be tempted to abuse powers and behave in a dictatorial manner.

2.Conflict and Deadlock:

As the President and his ministers are not members of legislature, they find it difficult to persuade the members of the latter to accept' proposals. The legislature is inclined to find fault with the President, and vice versa. •conflict between the executive and the legislature leads to deadlock in the administration.

3.Absence of Accountability:

The executive is not accountable to the legislature. Nor is it accountable to people. The people of America directly elect their President, they cannot recall him even if they find him incompetent or dishonest or useless. President can be removed from office by the legislature through impeachment. impeachment is a very difficult process.

4.Rigidity:

The Presidential system is too rigid to adapt itself to sudden changes in circumstances. To manage a crisis, the ministers including the Prime Minister in Parliamentary system can be replaced. But, however great the need, the President in a Presidential system cannot be replaced during his tenure.

5.Weak Foreign Policy:

In the field of foreign policy, the President of the US has handicaps. He has no power to declare a war even when his country is attacked by enemy. This power belongs to the US Congress. Similarly, the treaty that he may conclude with another country is not valid if it is not ratified by the Senate.

There is thus some validity in the comment of Gamer that the Presidential system government is 'autocratic, irresponsible and dangerous'.

 

Politics of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is a unitary democracy governed within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is the head of stateand the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by Her Majesty's Government, on behalf of and by the consent of the Monarch, as well as by the devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales, and the Northern Ireland Executive. Legislative poweris vested in the two chambers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as well as in the Scottish parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The highest national court is the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

The UK political system is a multi-party system. Since the 1920s, the two largest political parties have been the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Before the Labour Party rose in British politics, the Liberal Party was the other major political party along with the Conservatives. Thoughcoalition and minority governments have been an occasional feature of parliamentary politics, the first-past-the-post electoral system used for general elections tends to maintain the dominance of these two parties, though each has in the past century relied upon a third party such as the Liberal Democrats to deliver a working majority in Parliament. The current Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government is the first coalition since 1945.[1]

• Conservative and Unionist Party, centre-right (306 seats in the House of Commons)

• Labour Party, centre-left (a broad social-democratic party with Third Way policies, was traditionally democratic socialist in orientation) (258 seats)

• Co-operative Party (all Co-operative Party MPs are also Labour MPs as part of a long-standing electoral agreement)

• Liberal Democrats, radical-centrist (heavily influenced by social liberalism). (57 seats)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

№7

Basic kinds of Election System

Majority system

Also called “second ballot” systems, majority electoral systems attempt to provide for a greater degree of representativeness by requiring that candidates achieve a majority of votes in order to win. “Majority” is normally defined as 50%-plus-one-vote. If no candidate gets a majority of votes, then a second round of voting is held (often a week or so after the initial ballot). In the second round of voting, only a select number of candidates from the first round are allowed to participate. In