· 6 years ago · Feb 27, 2019, 03:04 AM
1What are the qualities of an advanced democracy?
2
3there are 7
4â—holds **free and fair elections**
5â—**civil liberties**: freedom of speech / liberty / assembly
6â—**rule of law**, equal treatment and fair process, **neutral judiciary**
7â—open **civil society**, gov leaves citizens and mass media mostly alone
8â—**civilian control of military**, reduces likelihood of military coup
9â—generally have a **high degree of legitimacy** from having long lasting systems
10â—**social capital**, or trust among citizens and between citizens and state, also increases legitimacy
11***
12Noblesse Oblige
131. What is it?
142. How is it reflected today?
153. Who champions it?
16
174. duty of upper classes to take responsibility for the welfare of the lower classes
185. welfare state (e.g. NHS)
196. Conservatives (esp traditional wing aka. One Nation Tories)
20***
21Name Recent PMs, Year of Rule, and their Parties
22
23- Margaret Thatcher, Conservative, 1979-1990
24- John Major, Conservative, 1990-1997
25- Tony Blair, Labor, 1997-2007
26- Gordon Brown, Labor, 2007-2010
27- David Cameron, Conservative, 2010-2016
28- Theresa May, Conservative, 2016-2019
29***
30WWII-Thatcher Era
311. What political philosophy characterized it?
322. What major legislation passed?
333. What major body was created? What year?
344. What was the basis of the economy?
35
361. collective consensus
372. Beveridge Report, making all citizens eligible for health, unemployment, pension and other benefits, aiming to provide subsistence income for every citizen
383. 1948, National Health Service created under Labor, not repealed by Conservatives
394. mixed economy, where gov directed economy and nationalized major industries, but kept private property and capitalism
40***
41Irish Troubles
421. Name a significant attack during the Troubles. What date? What happened?
432. What agreement "ended" the troubles? What date? What were its provisions?
44
451. Jan 1972, British troops kill 13 Catholics on "Bloody Sunday"
462. Good Friday Agreement, 10 Apr 1998, it's very complicated, but
47- Britain agreed to give Northern Ireland regional gov election via proportional representation
48- a lot of other things
49***
50Britain - EU
511. what was an early part of the EU? year? what did the UK do?
522. when did the UK opt in? what happened?
533. what document made the UK end up in the EU? date? which PM?
54
551. â— 1957, European common market created, UK opts not to join
562. ◠1960s Britain decides to enter common market, membership vetoed twice by French President Charles de Gaulle, finally join 1978 (but under Thatcher do not adopt the €)
573. â— UK signs Maastricht Treaty 7 February 1992, joining EU under John Major
58***
59UK Judicial System
601. what's the basis of UK law? what does the EU do?
612. how is the supreme court organized?
623. what responsibility did it take over in 2009?
634. what powers does the supreme court have over legislation? what power is it missing?
64
651. â— system based on common law, as opposed to EU code law, more focused on precedent
662. â— Supreme Court consisting of president and 11 justices appointed by a panel of lawyers,
673. â— replaced Law Lords as final court of appeal in 2009
684. can nullify gov actions of they exceed powers outlined in Act of Parliament, but cannot veto an Act itself (unlike US Supreme Court)
69***
70Name 4 major terrorist events in the UK
71- July 2005, 4 British Muslim suicide bombers kill 52 in Tube Bombing
72- 2006, 2 major terrorist plots uncovered
73- â— 2007 car bombing near Trafalgar Square, at Glasgow airport
74- 22 May 2013 Murder of Lee Rigby, Royal Artillery Soldier, at Woolwich by 2 radicalized men
75***
76UK Media Scandals
77name details of 3 major press scandals
78
79- â—2003 controversy
80- â—BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan alleged that is Iraqi WMDs claims were based on intelligence gov knew to be false
81- â—weapons inspector and source of intelligence commits suicide
82- â—Blair appointee Judge Hutton exonerated Blair gov early 2004, criticized BBC for reporting, prompting chair of BBC board to resign
83◠2009 Daily Telegraph reported on Labor ministers and MPs, and Conservative and LibDem MPs, revealing £1000s of expenses charged to the gov, including home improvements on both of many MPs 2 homes
84â—House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin resigns after revelations that he charged gov for chauffeured limo driven around his poor Glasgow constituency
85â—trust in gov and MPs fell as a result
86â—2011 News of the World scandal
87â—News of the World employees revealed to have hacked phone of murdered 13y/o, give away that it was common tabloid practice
88â—News of the World eventually closes down
89â—Cameron’s credibility questioned after his former media Chief and editor for NOTW, Andy Coulson, was arrested
90***
91characteristics of the House of Lords?
92
93â— original parliament, today has severely limited influence
94â— can amend legislation, but amendments can be defeated in Commons by simple majority
95◠until 2009, also had 5 law lords who were highest court of appeals (but couldn’t rule acts of parliament unconstitutional)
96â— few benefits of bicameralism operate due to weakness of upper house
97â— only remaining hereditary parliament house
98***
99Triggering Elections
100- what formally triggers an election? actually?
101- what act changed power to call elections? in what way?
102
103- officially happens after Crown dissolves parliament, actually because PM requests dissolution
104- Fixed Term Parliaments Act of 2011 limits PM’s power to call elections, unless vote of no-confidence happens, or 2/3 parliament supports election
105***
106What were the main tenets of thatcherism?
107the main policies?
108
109â—blamed economic downturn on socialist policies
110â—reflected philosophy of neoliberalism, the revival of classic liberal values (freedom of association, markets, press etc)
111â—privatised business and industry in response, returned to market force controls on the economy
112â—cut back on social welfare
113â—strengthened national defense
114â—got tough with labor unions
115***
116What define modernism and post-modernism in economic terms?
117
118modernism : set of values accompanying industrialization including a secularism, rationalism, materialism, technology, bureaucracy, and individual freedom over collective equality
119post-modernism : set of values accompanying post industrialism, including care for the environment, promotion of health care etc.
120in post-industrial economies, many are employed in tertiary or service sectors,
121whereas in industrial economies most are employed in secondary or industrial sectors,
122the primary or agricultural sectors of both types is small due to mechanization
123***
124What is the constitution of the Crown based on?
125
126"Constitution of the Crown" comprised of important documents, common law and custom is used
127â—based on rational-legal authority, where legitimacy is seen as coming from a legal order and the laws that have been enacted in it
128â—Magna Carta
129â—signed by King John in 1215
130â—agreement to consult barons before levying feudal taxes, forming the basis for limited gov and restricted power of monarchs
131â—The Bill of Rights
132â—signed by William and Mary in 1688
133â—specifies important powers retained by Parliament (not people as in the US Bill of Rights), including spending power
134â—Common Law
135â—system of customs and precedents,
136â—handed down to almost countries with British influence
137***
138Name the major voting reforms in the UK
139
140â— Great Reform Act of 1832: more men granted voting rights, House of Commons gained power relative to House of Lords
141â— Reform Act of 1867: many in working class granted voting rights
142â— Representation of the People Act of 1884 (aka 3rd Reform Act): electorate expanded into the countryside to some land-owning men (~60% of men)
143â— Representation of the People Act, women's suffrage edition: 1918, all men and women over 30 granted voting rights (*if eligible to vote in local elections),
144â— 1928, all women 21+ granted voting rights (full suffrage)
145***
146John Major
1471. Years of rule? Party? Predecessor?
1482. What policies?
149
150
1511. John Major, Thatcher's hand picked successor, 1990-1997
1522. â— abolishing the poll tax
153â— reconciled with the EU
154â— slowed social cutbacks and privatisation
155***
156Tony Blair
1571. What was his slogan?
1582. What event impacted Blair's popularity?
159
1601. promises to create a "New Labor" and rule a "Third Way" i.e. as a centrist
1612. popularity slipped after supporting US in 2003 Iraq War, alienating EU and British public, saw defections in Parliament, cabinet resignations and general domestic discontent, leaving Blair to resign 2007
162***
163Name the Fringe Parties of the UK
164
165â—Scottish National Party
166â—2015 won 56/59 of Scotlands seats in House of Commons (knock out Labor)
167â—Plaid Cymru (Welsh)
168â—Sin Fein (political arm of IRA)
169â—Democratic Unionist Party (Irish Protestant)
170â—British National Party
171â—formed 1982, never won a seat
172â—overtly anti-semitic, recently focused on ousting Muslims
173â—condemned by all 3 mainstream parties
174â—UK Independence Party
175â—focused on opposing British membership in EU
176***
177Interest Groups?
1781. How would you describe the environment of interest groups in the UK?
1792. Name 3 major interest groups
180
1811. there is well established interest group pluralism, bordering on neocorporatism (interest groups dominate the state)
1822. â—**quangos** quasi autonomous NGOs, policy advisory boards appointed by gov
183(declined under Thatcher and more under Conservatives to reduce budget shortfall, however ~1000(!) remain)
184â—Trade Unions Congress (TUC), coalition of unions was often consulted for big policy decisions, lost influence after Thatcher
185â—Big business interests similarly consulted
186***
187TV
1881. What are the major TV broadcasters in the UK?
1892. How does the BBC relate to the Gov?
190
1911. radio and TV invented during collective consensus era, originally monopolized by the BBC, now 5 commercial TV stations
1922. â—BBC seeks to educate citizens, generally respectful of Gov,
193â—any household with a TV receiving broadcasts pays a fee that goes to supporting the BBC
194all tightly regulated, eg no political ads
195***
196Minorities
1971. What proportion of ppn is minorities?
1982. Who is the largest group of foreign nationals now?
1993. Which group represents the biggest modern cleavage?
2004. What events contributed to this cleavage?
201
2021. 13 %
2032. Poles, mostly came over to do manual labor
2043. muslims
205â—many Muslims less well off /educated, leaving them disaffected towards British culture
206â—Pakistani Muslims: Osama and Al Qaeda linked to Pakistan, hence a bad (possibly well founded) association
207â—lack of integration: the British treat everyone else as second class citizens
208â—muslims also have long history of being a minority in Europe, where large majorities exist eg English in England or French in France
2094. 2005 Tube Bombings, 2007 Car bombings
210***
211Conservative Party
2121. What defines ideology?
2132. What are the factions within the party?
2143. What harms the party's reputation?
215
2161. characterized by _noblesse oblige,_generally prefer private industry, harder immigration stance
2172. â—divided between traditional wing / one-nation Tories,
218â—value noblesse oblige and want gov to be an elite who take everyone’s interests into account
219â—support UK being in EU
220â—Thatcherite Wing
221â—strict conservatives, want to move to a full market economy
222â—see EU as threat to British sovereignty, earning label Euroskeptics
223â—3. viewed as elitist, with MPs choosing party leadership
224â—today leadership submits to annual leadership elections (by the MPs)
225***
226Besides MPs, what other officials do the British elect?
227how are they elected?
228
229â—European Parliament
230â—elections held every 5y by people of EU member states
231â—proportional representation
232Mayor of London is directly elected
233***
234UN Forces
235How can the UN deploy forces? Who makes the decision and who can stop it?
236
237â—UN may establish a peacekeeping force at the behest of the UNSC, and any of the 5 permanent members (UK, US, France, Russia, China) may veto the action
238****
239Name the 2 Competing alliances of the cold war, and their dates of formation.
240which one ended first?
241
242â—NATO
243â—formed in 4 Apr 1949 with signature of North Atlantic Treaty, eventually included US, Canada and 14 European states
244â—Warsaw Pact
245â—began 1955 with Soviet Union and 6 Eastern European countries
246â—declared failed in 1991, slightly before breakup of Soviet Union, many member states absorbed by NATO