Contributions Of British Politics And The Liberal Democrats Over The Last Three Decades

provided labour with a great opportunity to get back on the attack. If there had been a

The second rule that Sartori created was, “A party qualifies for relevance whenever its existence, or appearance, affects the tactics of party competition and particularly when it alters the direction of the competition- by determining a switch from centripetal to centrifugal competition either leftward, rightward, or in both directions- of the governing-oriented parties” (1983, p.19). This rule further highlights the importance of minor party preferences, and the role they have in the Australian system.

Typically, liberalism is categorised into two separate components; classical liberalism, which was fashioned during the 19th century as a result of the industrial revolution, and the more recent Modern Liberalism which emerged as industrialisation continued within the UK. Although both divisions of Liberalism unavoidably overlap in attitudes and approaches regarding the theory behind the ideology, I believe, fundamentally, that clear tensions between these aspects of Liberalism are more evident when analysing this ideology.

The Liberal Party's membership of Canada is committed to the fundamentals that have developed and sustained the Liberal Party from any other political party; individual freedom, responsibility and human dignity in the framework of a just society; political freedom in the framework of meaningful participation by all interested persons, and the Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides the framework for both a democratic society and for the interaction of members within the party. It is also devoted to equal opportunity for every person, to the enhancement of our unique and diverse cultural community, to the recognition that English and French are the official languages of Canada, and to the preservation of the Canadian identity

For a while now I have seen myself as citizen of a global community that begins in Australia but is reflective of, and permeable to the influence of outside cultures. There is little doubt that English speaking countries have more influence on Australians like me, however as LDC’s (lower developed countries) technologically advance, interactions and familiarity with outside cultures will instill confidence in the world’s people, ultimately leading to a global civil society (Rourke 2012) – at least that is what the idealist in me believes. Throughout this unit I have been able to identify with liberalism and determine where I sit on the realism verses idealism spectrum. In Liberalisms Inevitability, Jeff Manza writes “… Liberals do not understand

In recent elections, the separatist parties in Quebec have seen crushing defeats, raising questions about their relevance in modern day Canada. Support for Quebec separatism has diminished in the past several decades, with the rise of the NDP in the 2011 federal election and the more recent provincial Liberal victory in April of 2014. In the 2011 federal election, specifically, the Bloc Quebecois was reduced to only four seats in the House of Commons, while the NDP took the majority of Quebec’s seats. The provincial Parti Quebecois (PQ) has also been faltering, losing more often than not to the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ). Indeed, over the past decade, the PLQ has only lost one election, and has held majorities in many. The most recent election put them back into power after a short PQ minority government that began in 2012. These recent elections may point to a future in which the separatist movement in Quebec may be silenced. Since the late 1950s, the question of Quebec separatism has existed, with levels of support varying throughout the following decades, leading up the referendums of 1980 and 1995. The defeats suffered by the separatist parties in recent elections demonstrate that the separatist movement may be close to being over in Quebec.

But has the Conservative party actually abandoned Thatcherism? Considering the points displayed in this essay, I have come to the conclusion that Cameron’s ‘progressive’ party may not so adverse to Thatcherism at all. The most important issues over specific reforms raised by the current Conservative Government seem to be highly influenced by the ideas of Thatcher. What is essential to point out is that times have evolved since the Thatcher timeframe and the Conservatives have had to evolve along with these times and adapt their attitudes to gain support from the electorate who view the ‘Iron Lady’s’ concepts as out of date. As to any argument, there are two sides to the story; let us remember that Cameron’s Government has only had the chance

Another contributing factor at this election may have been performance in office, which in the above statement is not seen as important as personality and image. However, performance in office may have been extremely detrimental for the conservatives in 1997 because of their crisis in 1992. This focuses on the retrospective model, as people saw the Conservatives as incompetent in handling the economy because of Black Wednesday in September 1992. The Conservatives and especially Noramnt Lamont, Chancellor of the Exchequer, were to blame for the crisis that saw the pound forced out of the ERM. This didn’t help at the 1997 general election where they did extremely badly in a huge Labour win.

The Liberal party was successful in the past due to its ability to reinvent itself in order to meet the changing circumstances and needs. The ‘proactive’ Liberal was strangely absent in the pre-2011 election campaign and turned themselves into a reactive and passive entity just to defend and respond to the opposition’s unscrupulous campaign of personal attacks and vilification. Liberals were always based firm on their political values and philosophy; however, these vital elements of the party were not seen to being used during the campaign for 2011 election as much as it was seen being caught in the mud-tossing against the Harper Government.

Rawson’s book titled Labor in Vain? (1966) lists reasons for the decline in Labor’s first preferential votes, particularly up until the 1960s. By doing so, Rawson constructs the foundations for the beginning of the decline in chapter one, magnifying the core reasons to be the parties unneeded media drama, their lack of respect for leadership, inter-war policies, the 1945 party split, and the decline of trade union power through the alterations in Australian living standards. Rawson draws on interviews with Labor party members to construct his thesis as to why Labor is in Vain, enhancing it through the comparison of both Labor and Liberal policies. Rawson’s book is crucial for understanding why support began to decline during the early and mid-twentieth century, hence assisting with the question as it also provides answers as to what the Party itself can do about the issue, as it points out strengths of the Liberal party which assist in their success.

Furthermore, populism plays an imperative role in Alberta’s political culture. In fact, Stewart and Archer (2000) maintain that “Alberta politics is leadership politics… encouraging direct, populist links between the leader and the public (pg 172-173). Hence, Prentice’s decision to receive Wildrose floor-crossers, as well as make hazardous public statements may have annulled the possibility of a populist link between Albertans and his leadership. Furthermore, it is important to note that while positive perceptions of Prentice were faltering amongst Albertan voters, the Progressive Conservative’s campaign strategy was to portray the party leader as front and centre. This was despite the growing disaffection of Albertan voters towards Prentice. Therefore, the strategy undertaken by the Progressive Conservatives’ jeopardized their party’s support, and contributed to the election’s drastic

influence of this two affaires reduced the Conservative’s reputation for economic competence .In addition ,the internal reform of the labour ,Tony Blair with Brown corrected

In 1997 Labour pledged a referendum on PR, but it was postponed and it has been argued that two strong political parties, Labour and Torries, would have lost the most if there were any changes in voting systems. If the referendum took place in 1997 elections, Labour majority would have to share, approximately, from 46 seats to 166 MPs with Liberal Democrats. Liberal Democrats gained 16,8% of the total votes, but won less than 10% of the total seats.

Politics – Principles of Liberal Democracy - Summaries Week one question: What would life be like without the institutions of the state? Politics Lecture 2 reading: ‘Of the natural condition of mankind as concerning their felicity and misery’, Leviathan, Book XIII, Thomas Hobbes (1651) Context of Hobbes • Wriiting during the civil war between pariliamentarians and royalists which may have given him a negative mind set as he was saying the breakdown of government and the violence and horror that ensued.

In Tony Blair’s Socialist Manifesto (1994), he reinvents the idea of “social-ism” in order to “fit the ideology to the world” since the economic and social interests of people are constantly evolving. After World War II, the economy became a lot more global, the service industry grew and there has been an increase in human rights movements as the public have been less progressive. Aligned with the ideas of “socialism”, Blair supports a concept called the “Third Way” which is based on the idea of combining center-right economics and center-left social policies (“The Third Way”, n.d).The idea was developed by Anthony Giddens, the sociologist and director of the London School of Economics, he argued that the reformist governments could no longer rely only on the ideas of complete social and economic state control in the face of the forces and finances of globalization. Therefore, Giddens proposed an idea that would support center policies, but also remain committed to radical measures. Blair refers to the third way as his version of “socialism” which is in favor of economic growth and entrepreneurship as well greater state intervention to improve social justice and equality among civilians (“UK Politics: What is the Third Way,” n.d.). Using the ideas of the third way, Blair reformed the Labour Party and their ideas. Under his leadership, the Labour Party became the New Labour Party with a