tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52069941805953990372024-03-05T11:11:46.175-08:00Samuel A. Buckett, Being PoliticalFind me on twitter @SamuelABuckettSamuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-5603288113481514362013-01-15T10:40:00.001-08:002013-01-15T10:40:46.164-08:00Does the Conservative Party have an image problem?
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The modern Conservative
Party was first established in 1832 and can trace its’ roots back a further century
making it the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. This sense of
history and tradition has long been associated with the governing body of
today’s coalition government, yet it has often been something they have tried
to rid themselves of; a limb by which much of the party stands, but a limb
nonetheless which has been extensively severed. This essay will consider the
lasting impacts of Margaret Thatcher’s government post 1979, the party’s
various attempts at modernisation, and conclude whether David Cameron’s
Conservative Party does indeed have an image problem in 2013.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Conservative Party
changed forever on 4 May 1979 when Margaret Thatcher became the UK’s first
female Prime Minister. Her Conservative post-war predecessors, Winston Churchill,
Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, and Alec Douglas-Home, each accepted Clement
Atlee’s post-war consensus, rekindling the spirit of Benjamin Disraeli’s ‘One
Nation Conservatism’, and continued along the lines of nationalisation, corporatism,
and welfare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only exception was Edward
Heath, who between June 1970 and March 1974 introduced a number of policies
aimed at tackling the power of Trade Unions and privatising industry. His
attempts ultimately failed but they would be reignited only a few years later (Marr,
2007). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Thatcher’s eleven years
at the helm of the Conservative Party changed the UK’s economy beyond
recognition; the rate of Gross Domestic Productivity (GDP) growing 23%.
However, this increase did not come without consequence. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The switch from a manufacturing to services
economy greatly affected the British population, some for better, but many for
worse. The Government’s desire to slash taxation and public spending, as well
as regain control of inflation, teamed with the switch in economic focus led to
record levels of unemployment, peaking at around 13% in 1986 (Trading
Economics, 2013). Alongside privatisation of major British industries, this
left over three million people out of work. During the same year, the British
Stock Exchange was reopened for trading with around 300,000 people working in
City jobs (Marr, 2007). The booming financial industry did much to tackle
Britain’s deficit, but little to endear the Conservative government to those
whom previously lived and worked in the industrial heartland. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The seemingly growing divide between rich and
poor continued throughout the 1980s as the ‘Yuppy’ image popularised by
comedian Harry Enfield became a source of either admiration or hatred,
dependant on socio-economic allegiances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>William Green describes the legacy of Thatcher from a popular, Northern,
working-class, point of view when he says she left in her wake “communities
devastated, mass unemployment, huge social unrest and a generation condemned to
poverty” (Green, 2009).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Thatcher’s hard line
image was immediate, only a year after being elected and coming under
increasing pressure from both political and media opposition; she addressed the
Conservative Party Conference in Brighton and uttered the words:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“To those waiting with bated breath
for that favourite media catchphrase, the 'U-turn', I have only one thing to
say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(Thatcher, 2007).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The phrase would go on
to encapsulate the spirit of Thatcherism and become her most famous soundbite
as she battled against domestic and international unrest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Domestically, huge rises
in unemployment, the introduction of ‘Sus laws’- the ability to stop and search
on the basis of “reasonable suspicion”, and a feeling of increasing racial
division, led to the Race Riots of 1981. The eruption of violence across
England spread through areas of London, Birmingham, Leeds, and Liverpool, and
were the first example of great social unrest during Thatcher’s reign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1981 also saw the death of ten IRA hunger
strikers in the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland, as Thatcher refused to concede
ground on the debate over their political status. Her conviction to remain
unturned steadfast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next great
domestic fight would allow the Prime Minister to tackle one of her greatest
enemies head on, the Trade Unions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
March 1984 the National Coal Board (NCB) proposed to close 20 of the 174 state
ran mines, a proposal that would leave 20,000 miners out of work (BBC, 2013). The
resulting strike, led by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) President
Arthur Scargill, peaked with nearly 200,000 workmen downing their tools (Marr, 2007).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>The conflict roared for a year, with
violence flaring between striking miners and those who crossed the picket line,
as well as with the swollen ranks of police officers shipped in from across the
country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twelve months after the NCB’s
announcement, and with the striking miners struggling to survive, the NUM
conceded. Twenty five mines closed in 1985. The strike’s impact on the British
economy had been enormous with a predicted loss of around £3 billion; however,
once again Thatcher had saved face, the working classes defeated. Phil Wilson
MP summarises the impact on mining communities when he says:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“She [Thatcher] left a lot of broken
communities and that was the primary thing, but it was also the way she treated
people who were unemployed…. there was nothing done to help them” </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(Green, 2009).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The final domestic
uprisings initiated by Thatcher were the Poll Tax riots of 1990, the largest of
which occurred in London on 31 March.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
introduction of the ‘Community Tax’, otherwise known as ‘Poll Tax’, switched
from a system of taxation related to the market value of a property, to one
linked with the number of inhabitants. The change sparked an angry response
from those on middle to low incomes and resulted in the violent scenes in and
around Trafalgar Square (Kavanagh, 1987). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Internationally,
Thatcher was held in a similar regard as to on her own shores. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her attitude towards the European Economic
Community, which Edward Heath’s Conservative government took the United Kingdom
into in 1973, was one of scepticism. In a 1988 speech in Bruges, she said:</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“We have not successfully rolled back
the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them reimposed at a European
level, with a European superstate exercising a new dominance from Brussels.” </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(BBC News, 2000)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Her attitude towards the
Soviet Union and communism was similarly outspoken, having earned the nickname
‘The Iron Lady’ in 1976 before she was even Prime Minister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thatcher’s relationship with President Reagan
remained ‘special’ throughout the remaining years of the Cold War, and she
welcomed the reformist policies of Mikhail Gorbachev. However, her foreign
policy was set long before the collapse of the Soviet Union, outlined by a
conflict on a number of remote islands in the South Atlantic Ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Falklands War was fought out over 74 days
between April and June 1982 and was a resounding military and PR success for
Thatcher (Jackson & Saunders, 2012). The Great British public may not have
liked Thatcher an awful lot, but along with the international community, they
certainly respected her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Thatcher’s image as a
hard liner would supersede her own reputation and following her resignation in
November 1990, would add to the issues surrounding the Conservative Party
leading towards their landslide election defeat in 1997. It was in many regards
her own bullishness which led to her downfall in government; the same
bullishness much of the public refuse to forget. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">John Major followed
Thatcher in to Downing Street and set about the abolition of the unpopular Poll
Tax and putting Britain “at the very heart of Europe”. Moving the party in a different
direction to his predecessor briefly worked for the new Prime Minister as his
handling of the recession, as well as the Persian Gulf War, placed the
Conservative Party back on top of the opinion polls for the first time in over
a year (Major, 1999). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the
scandals which dominated the remaining years of Major’s premiership have
clouded his legacy, beginning in September 1992. After battling to keep the
Great British Pound above the agreed lower limit of the European Exchange Rate
Mechanism, Major’s Treasury were forced to withdraw it; accumulating total
losses of £3.5 billion (Major, 1999). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
arguably more damaging to the Conservative Party’s reputation were the internal
scandals between 1990 and 1997. Europescepticism within the cabinet led to
vehement infighting with leading figures opposing Major’s pro-European stance,
whilst others were involved in the ‘Cash for Questions’ scandal. A newspaper
sting involving a number of MP’s, including Neil Hammond, who accepted money
from businesses to pose questions in the House of Commons. Finally, and perhaps
most embarrassingly, after revealing the ‘Back to Basics’ campaign at the 1993
Party Conference, a drive which sought to return Britain to the family values
of a bygone era, a host of Tory MP’s and associates were exposed to having been
involved in a number of sexual scandals; ranging from homosexual acts, death by
auto-erotic asphyxiation, with one MP even involved in an extra-marital affair
with a mother and her two daughters (Marr, 2007). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The election defeat
which followed Major’s time in Downing Street led to thirteen years in the wilderness
for the Conservative Party, during which time they appointed four different
leaders. William Hague was the first tasked with updating the Party’s image,
albeit from a Eurosceptic point of a view. He drew upon the ‘Compassionate
Conservatism’ being utilised by George W. Bush as the Governor of Texas and
created the ‘Listening to Britain’ campaign, attempting to re-introduce the
party of Thatcher and Major. The party which had turned away from the ‘One
Nation’ conservatism of Disraeli and embarked on a neo-liberal ideology, laced
with scandal. His attempts resulted in impressive results in the European
Parliament Election, but little else. An appearance at a theme park sporting a
‘HAGUE’ baseball cap and revealing that as a teenager he would drink “14 pints
an evening” did little to combat the ‘Cool Britannia’ image which had won New
Labour the election (BBC News, 1999). The election results of 2001, in which
they gained only one more seat than 1997, confirmed Hague’s inability to
modernise the party and led to his resignation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Hague was briefly
followed by Iain Duncan Smith between 2001 and 2003; the ‘Quiet Man’ of the
Party defeated pro-European Kenneth Clarke in the battle for the
leadership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Duncan Smith’s reign
continued the Euroscepticism of Hague, but saw a return to the scandal of
Major. In 2002 it was revealed that the Conservative Party leader had doctored
his CV in earlier life and a year later it was found that he had abused the MP’s
expenses system (BBC News, 2002).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A vote
of no confidence followed. His successor was Michael Howard, elected to the
role unopposed; he too lasted only two years in the job. Crime, immigration,
and gay marriage, were all major policy issues during his time in opposition,
as well as the war in Iraq. However the Conservative agenda failed to remove
the government in the 2005 election, although their performance was much
improved. Howard’s inability to take advantage of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s
mistakes over the invasion of Iraq resulted in a third successive Labour
victory. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The first four men to
walk in the shoes of Thatcher undoubtedly did so in her shadow. A legacy of
social conservatism proved hard to shake for each of them, with the Party
seemingly out of touch with major issues such as immigration, crime, and gay
marriage. In 2005 Michael Ashcroft found that most voters thought the
Conservative Party “wasn’t like them and didn’t understand them” (2005).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lasting impact of a number of scandals,
including Black Wednesday, Cash for Questions, and the Back to Basics campaign,
also continued to affect the Party’s image up to 2005. Despite an economic
policy similar to the incumbent government, and a largely Eurosceptic agenda-
popular with the electorate; the general opinion of the Conservative Party
remained one of distrust and dislike. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Conservatives were in
desperate need of rebranding, and so in December 2005 elected 39-year-old, former
PR man, David Cameron. The MP for Witney defeated David Davis with almost two
thirds of the postal ballot, issuing him with a mandate to modernise the Party.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The impact was immediate with
comparisons drawn between himself and a young Tony Blair, leading to the
headline ‘Heir to Blair’. The ‘spin’ which had long been associated with New
Labour men such as Alastair Campbell and Phillip Gould was now to be seen
within the opposition as costume changes and informal interviews became the
norm. A change of the official party logo, switching from torch to tree, also
exemplified the new Tory consensus; the flame of Conservative continuity
extinguished by a “more environmentally friendly” image (BBC News, 2006). Few
policies were attributed to the early life of Cameron as Conservative leader;
however a change in the Party image was distinct. Though increasingly popular
with the public, the Party’s strategy was not appreciated by all Conservatives.
Former Chairman of the Party Norman Tebbit suggested Cameron was “intent on
purging even the memory of Thatcherism before building a New Modern Compassionate
Green Globally Aware Party" (Tebbit, 2006). The increasingly socio-liberal
rhetoric of Cameron was seen by many as the Party’s final shift to the centre
ground, a return to ‘One-Nation Conservatism’ exemplified by such policies as the
“A-List” of parliamentary candidates. Drawn up following his appointment, the
list aimed to revolutionise the identity of the Party by prioritising female
and ethnic minority candidates. The Party Chairman in 2006, Francis Maude,
exemplified the new spirit of his contemporaries as opposed to predecessor Tebbit
when he said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Far too many Conservative MPs are
like me: white, middle-class, English, based in the south-east - identikit
Tories… And it doesn't look like modern Britain, where 52% of the electorate
are women and 8% are ethnic minorities. If we don't look like we are capable of
representing that 52% of the electorate who are women, we won't secure their
support." </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(Woodward & Branigan, 2006)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The new-look, socially-responsible
Conservative’s also eased their tone on issues such as immigration and gay
adoption, whilst maintaining a sceptical stance on Europe. However a speech
given by Cameron to the Centre for Social Justice in July 2006, in which he
urged people “to think before labelling teenagers in hooded tops ‘gangsters’”,
led to the newspaper headline “Hug a Hoodie” (BBC News, 2007)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">. </b>The term was used against Cameron by
both New Labour and the Liberal Democrats in an attempt to show the
Conservative Party as remaining out of touch- however the impact was minimal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">After nearly five years
in opposition, and with the New Labour government self-imploding, Cameron was
given his first opportunity to fight a general election as leader of the
Conservative Party in May 2010. Live televised debates, contested by Prime
Minister Gordon Brown, leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg, and Cameron,
gave the former Granada TV executive the chance to present himself as the
viable alternative to the boom and bust of recent years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of the three debates, Cameron placed second
on domestic affairs, joint winner on international affairs, and importantly,
outright winner on the economy (Wintour, 2012). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The election resulted in
the first hung parliament since 1974. Cameron had succeeded in gaining more
seats than the incumbent Labour party, but failed to earn a majority large
enough to form a government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
coalition which followed pitted the Conservative’s as the senior partner
alongside the Liberal Democrats, and made Cameron the youngest Prime Minister
since Lord Liverpool in 1812 (Hough, 2010). The image of the Conservative Party
destined to change once again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As the leading party
within the coalition, the Conservatives have since been seen by many to have
returned to a Thatcherite agenda. The austerity measures implemented since
2010, including large increases in university tuition fees, part-privatisation
of the NHS, and the capping of state benefits, each exemplify the desire of
Cameron’s party to roll back the state, as was the case post 1979. However,
although the economic policy may have, and continue to be, Thatcher like, the makeup
and social outlook of the party is dramatically different with nine ethnic minority
MPs. Nonetheless, the economic cuts, reminiscent of Thatcher’s time in
government are once again seen as the Conservative Party “attacking the poor” (Lawson,
2012). An opinion not only made by the left-wing media, but by Conservative MP
Nadine Dorries who criticised the Prime Minister and Chancellor George Osborne
when she said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“…not only are Cameron and Osborne two
posh boys who don't know the price of milk, but they are two arrogant posh boys
who show no remorse, no contrition, and no passion to want to understand the
lives of others.” </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(BBC News, 2012)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Such opinions were
expressed at large when George Osborne was booed by a crowd of 80,000 at the
Paralympic games in London during the summer of 2012 (The Telegraph, 2012). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sleaze has also once
again returned to damage the Conservatives since 2010. The phone-hacking
scandal, leading to the resignation and arrest of Director of Communications Andy
Coulson, damaged the Prime Minister’s image dramatically, an inquest into the
extent of his relationship with Rebecca Brooks, the former News of the World
editor, further extenuating the impact. Accusations of Party collusion in
sexual assault during the 1970s and 80s, as well as the Andrew Mitchell
‘Plebgate’ affair, proved reminiscent of a Conservative Party many had hoped
would not return. However, the appointment of Lynton Crosby to mastermind the
next Conservative election campaign signifies that Cameron realises the Party
needs to change it’s image once again. The Australian behind Boris Johnson’s
two London Mayor election victories has already impacted the Prime Minister’s
response to pressure on a European referendum, the Scottish referendum, as well
as his handling of revelations regarding the Hillsborough inquiry. His response
to which drew many plaudits (Muir, 2012). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">There is no doubt that
the image of the Conservative Party has changed since 1979, never more
dramatically than between 2005 and 2010, when David Cameron drastically modernised
the Party. The impact of which returned them to power for the first time in
thirteen years. However, the role of Cameron has changed since forming the
coalition. Whereas prior to the election, Cameron was seen to be the man
dragging the Party towards the centre ground, that role is now fulfilled by the
Liberal Democrats, leaving Cameron and the Conservatives to push through the
hard line policy, reminiscent of Thatcher. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When concluding whether
the Conservative Party have an image problem, we must consider the larger
picture. The Party’s approval rating dramatically fell in the 1990s as Major’s
government began to tear itself apart. This was only remedied by the
re-branding and modernisation of Cameron post 2005, work which ultimately won
him a premiership. However, the image which was built in the years between his
election as Party leader and Prime Minister, is dramatically different to the
image the Conservative Party currently has; an image which currently has Labour
13% ahead in the polls (UK Polling Report, 2013). The Conservative Party has
undoubtedly had image problems before, they have one now. However, they also
have the man responsible for the Party’s rebranding only a few years ago, a
change which won them an election. Who’s to say he can’t do it again?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">WOODWARD, Will and
BRANIGAN, Tania (2006). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The A-List: new
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January 2013 at: </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/apr/19/uk.conservatives"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/apr/19/uk.conservatives</span></a></span>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-76491990544142188342013-01-15T10:32:00.000-08:002013-01-15T10:32:23.232-08:00A critical comparison of the IRA and UVF.
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">This essay refers to
both the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Provisional Irish Republican Army
(PIRA). Within this piece of work, following the IRA’s internal split in 1969,
the Provisional Irish Republican Army is understood to represent the
continuation of the IRA, and as such are referred to as the IRA.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Northern
Ireland (NI) is not one hundred years old, yet it has been one of the most
challenging nations to habitat, govern, and understand, since its formation in
1921. A small nation of less than two million, geographically similar in size
to <st1:place w:st="on">Yorkshire</st1:place>, it has a history of division and
violence; for a thirty year period, the most violent in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.
Between 1970 and 2007, this region of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United Kingdom</st1:place></st1:country-region> saw the fifth most
terrorist attacks on the planet, ahead of nations such as <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>, and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> (LaFree,
2010).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>This astonishing fact is
inexorably linked with two of the most prolific terrorist organisations in Anglo-Irish
history; the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF);
two organisations with opposing religions, ideologies, and goals. This essay
will seek to understand the political aims of both groups and study their use
of violence as a means of achieving them. Both organisations played large roles
in the history of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern
Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region> prior to the 1960s, however this essay
will predominantly focus on the two groups’ violent activities from this point
onwards. Nonetheless we must first understand the groups’ political aims, aims established
long before the Troubles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The
IRA’s history stretches back to the early nineteenth century, when following
the Easter Rising, the Irish Volunteers reorganised to form the Irish
Republican Army, going on to oppose the British and Unionist forces in the War
of Independence. Following the formation of Northern Ireland in 1921, those
within the IRA in favour of the Anglo-Irish Treaty split to create the Irish
National Army, whilst those who opposed the Treaty and the state of Northern
Ireland, remained within the IRA. The split resulted in the Irish Civil War
1922-23, fought between the two previously unified armies, and resulting in the
defeat of the IRA (Smith, 1995). From this point until the outbreak of the
Troubles, the IRA was involved in a number of campaigns, albeit not recognised
as a legitimate force of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Irish</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Republic</st1:placetype></st1:place>. Their fight to protect
the Catholics of Northern Ireland, and ultimately destroy the state of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>
continued in both territories, as well as on the British mainland, and briefly
saw the organisation flirt with the Nazi Party of Germany during the Second
World War in an attempt to destabilise the British. Ironically, the defeat of
the Nazis in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> would go on to strengthen
the IRA in the near future, as British welfare reforms following the war
resulted in free secondary education. The further and higher education of the
1950s would go on to create a growing Catholic middle class in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
one not prepared to accept persecution. Teamed with the introduction of
internment without trial in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland during
the IRA’s ‘Border Campaign’; the civil rights movement was born in 1967 (BBC
history, 2007) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Two
years later, following the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Battle</st1:place></st1:city>
of the Bogside, a conflict between Catholic residents of the <st1:place w:st="on">Derry</st1:place>
neighbourhood and the police, the IRA once again split into two separate
factions. The leaders of the IRA had become increasingly left-leaning following
the failed Border Campaign, and subscribed to the belief that the struggle to
unite <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>
was a class issue, rather than a sectarian one, leading to a decision to not
defend the Catholic communities throughout the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region> riots of 1969.
This was seen by some as an aberration of one of the IRA’s main
responsibilities; the protection of Catholic communities in NI. As such, those
who believed in the traditional values of the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IRA split to create the Provisional IRA (PIRA),
whilst those who maintained the Marxist based theory renamed the Official
IRA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Official IRA would continue on
until a ceasefire in 1972, although allegations of an armed threat continued
after. Opposingly, the Provisional IRA would offer a violent opposition to
British and Unionist forces until the end of the Troubles (Bowyer Bell, 1989).
The first PIRA council was made up of prominent figures such as Seán Mac Stíofáin,
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Paddy Mulcahy, Sean Tracey, Leo Martin, and Joe Cahill. They
outlined their aims within their first public statement: </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">“We declare our allegiance to the 32 county
Irish republic, proclaimed at Easter 1916, established by the first Dáil
Éireann in 1919, overthrown by forces of arms in 1922 and suppressed to this
day by the existing British-imposed six-county and twenty-six-county partition
states.” (</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">English, 2004, p106)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Similarly
to the Irish Republican Army, the UVF has a history dated back to the early
nineteenth century, when the Ulster Volunteers were founded by Edward Carson in
1912 to oppose the Home Rule movement. The military faction known as the Ulster
Volunteer Force grew to ninety thousand and was organised by a small but highly
trained leadership. Despite the military prowess of the UVF’s hierarchy, a lack
of arms embarrassed the organisation. That was until 1914 when gun running from
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>
resulted in thirty-five thousand rifles and two million rounds of ammunition
being distributed throughout <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ulster</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
Overnight the UVF was ready to not only fight the Republicans, but also the
British government (Bruce, 1992).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Four
months later and the outbreak of the First World War shifted the focus of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> towards
<st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>. Secretary for War, Lord Kitchener,
urged the UVF to enlist and encouraged them to do so by ensuring no Home Rule
Act would be implemented until after the war. Furthermore he guaranteed the men
would be kept together and formed the 36<sup>th</sup> Ulster Division who would
go on to fight in the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Battle</st1:place></st1:city>
of the <st1:place w:st="on">Somme</st1:place>. Following the war, the sacrifice
of the 36<sup>th</sup> Division was rewarded when the Government of Ireland Act
1920 exempted six northern counties from Home Rule, creating <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
and it’s own <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ulster</st1:place></st1:country-region>
parliament. (Bruce, 1992). The Republican response which followed, led by the
IRA, resulted in the reformation of the UVF in 1920. Once again it’s leadership
was swelled with “lords, knights, and very senior army officers” (Bruce, 1992,
p12). This reformed UVF would go on to defeat the IRA a year later and create a
reserve police force known as the ‘B Specials’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The
UVF’s legacy would remain solely within the B Specials until 1966, when
following the bombing of a Catholic pub on the <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Shankill Road</st1:address></st1:street> in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Belfast</st1:place></st1:city>, a group calling itself the Ulster
Volunteer Force issued a statement: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">“From this day, we declare war against the
Irish Republican Army and its splinter groups. Known IRA men will be executed
mercilessly and without hesitation. Less extreme measures will be taken against
anyone sheltering or helping them, but if they persist in giving them aid, then
more extreme methods will be adopted... we solemnly warn the authorities to
make no more speeches of appeasement. We are heavily armed Protestants
dedicated to this cause.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">(Nelson, 1984, p61)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The
statement, issued by Gusty Spence, the new leader of the reformed UVF and
former British war veteran, came as a response to the Border Campaign of the
IRA and the bombing of Nelson’s Pillar in Dublin, a series of events which Protestant
Loyalists saw as a enhancing a fresh wave of Republicanism. Prime Minister
Terence O’Neill responded by denouncing the group’s links with the original
UVF, illegalising the group, placing them in the same category as the IRA. From
this position, both organisations would go on to implement a campaign of
incredible violence; the Irish Republican Army fighting for the destruction of
the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Northern</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Irish</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype></st1:place>
and the Ulster Volunteer Force defending the status of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>
as part of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United Kingdom</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Following
the 1969 creation of the PIRA, the group’s main focus was on the recruitment
and training of volunteers. Their initial aim was to effectively protect the Northern
Irish Catholic community as they did not yet have the means to enter into open
warfare, doing so throughout several riots and gun battles with British forces
in their first year of operation, most notably in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Belfast</st1:place></st1:city>. Armed activities took the lives of
five Unionists, four civilians, and one IRA volunteer in June and July of 1970.
However the conflict was destined to change, J.Bowyer Bell writes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">“The IRA Active Service Units increasingly
met provocation with provocation. The keen tactics of the British (who had used
CS gas on a number of occasions against large crowds partaking in minor
offences) thus encouraged the IRA to move from a defensive to an offensive
campaign… the British Army largely transformed the rocks and riots of 1969 and
1970 into a very real if low-intensity war the following year, with snipers,
car bombs, shootouts in housing estates, and battles on the border”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Bowyer Bell, 1989, p378). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">During
further riots in January 1971, sparked and further enflamed by house-to-house
searches and imposed curfews, Robert Curtis became the first British soldier
killed in the conflict. One month later an IRA landmine killed five civilians
including two BBC engineers, who’s Land Rover was mistaken for a British Army
vehicle. The introduction of IRA snipers to the conflict also resulted in the
loss of British lives; two soldiers shot dead in February also. The following
months saw 37 bombs in April, 47 in May, and 50 in June (Bowyer Bell, 1989, p378).
The IRA had moved from defenders to aggressors and their use of violence had
changed accordingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Their
operations also became more complex as growing support increased funds and expertise.
The kidnapping of three off-duty Scottish soldiers and their subsequent murder
in March of 1971, was followed by the destruction of a Royal Navy survey vessel
in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dublin</st1:place></st1:city> in
April, and in July an IRA bomb destroyed the Daily Mirror printing plant in
Dunmurry. A move not focused on the forces of the British establishment in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
but on it’s economy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The
increasing level of activity of the IRA led to the re-introduction of internment,
a move that imprisoned 343 suspects on both sides of the conflict, however the
number of which were active or integral to IRA operations was minimal. The
bloodshed in response to internment took the conflict to a new level of
violence, 150 lives lost in the closing months of 1971 (BBC History, 2007).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Then
on <st1:date day="30" month="1" w:st="on" year="1972">30 January 1972</st1:date>,
13 demonstrators were shot dead and another mortally wounded by the British
Parachute Regiment at a civil rights march in <st1:place w:st="on">Derry</st1:place>.
The day in question would go on to be known as ‘Bloody Sunday’ and has become
one of the most infamous events of the Troubles. It’s impact on the conflict
was immense, the BBC reports:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">“…as a result of the killings, new recruits
swelled the ranks of the IRA and yet more British troops were deployed to the province
to try and contain the ever-rising tide of violence.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">(BBC History, 2007). <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">One
month later in March, the Abercorn Restaurant bombing by the IRA in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Belfast</st1:place></st1:city> was seen as another
watershed moment of the conflict. Detonated at <st1:time hour="16" minute="30" w:st="on">4.30pm</st1:time> on a Saturday afternoon in a busy shopping
district, the explosion was aimed not directly at the British forces, but
making the state of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern
Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region> increasingly ungovernable, even at
the cost of two Catholic lives. A further 136 people were injured. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Only
a few weeks later, British Prime Minister Edward Heath called for the
introduction of direct rule from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Westminster</st1:place></st1:city>,
precipitating a period of mass sectarian violence. The IRA’s next large scale
attack was the atrocities of ‘Bloody Friday’, a series of twenty explosions
across Belfast, largely car bombs, detonated between 2.10pm and 3.30pm, killing
seven civilians and two British soldiers, injuring a further 130. Ten days
later two more IRA car bombs left nine civilians dead in the <st1:place w:st="on">Londonderry</st1:place>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">village</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Claudy</st1:placename></st1:place>. In total 496 lives were lost to
the conflict in 1972 (Dunn, 1995). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Over
the following years IRA activity was refocused on British forces. That was
until 1976 when alongside their day to day conflict with British forces, the IRA
began a campaign with increasing sectarian tendencies, beginning with the
Kingsmill massacre in January of that year. The attack was focused on a minibus
carrying workers home in South Armagh, of the 12 on board, one Catholic was
spared his life whilst the other 11 Protestants were shot, ten of whom died. Two
years later the La Mon Restaurant and Hotel was bombed in Gransha killing 12
Protestants. Similar bombings continued throughout the 1980s and in to the
following decade, most notably including the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Darkley</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Church</st1:placetype></st1:place>
shooting 1983, Enniskillen Remembrance Sunday bombing 1987, and the Teebane
bombing 1992. These three events alone took 21 Protestant lives (O’Brien,
1993). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">As
well as pursuing their sectarian campaign the IRA also focused on targets
outside of NI post-1972, most notably including the bombing of British army
parades in <st1:place w:st="on">Hyde Park</st1:place> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Regents</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">park</st1:placetype></st1:place>
in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city> 1972,
killing 11 soldiers, and the two separate bombings of pubs in <st1:place w:st="on">Guildford</st1:place>
and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Birmingham</st1:place></st1:city>
in 1974, killing 26 civilians combined (Pat Coogan, 1993). During the same period
a number of attacks were also taken on figures within the British institution,
such as the assassination of Lord Mountbatten, uncle of Prince Phillip and
second cousin to the Queen, in 1979, and the notorious <st1:place w:st="on">Brighton</st1:place>
bombing of 1984. The assassination attempt on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
and her cabinet left five people dead. Seven years later a further attack was
planned for Thatcher’s murder, her replacement by John Major didn’t deter the
bombing of <st1:place w:st="on">Downing Street</st1:place>, but again the Prime
Minister was left unscathed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">These
attacks on British public figures exemplify the IRA’s willingness to enter into
a variety of violent acts. Stretching from protectionist violence, namely the
direct conflict with British and Unionist forces, to attacks on Protestant
civilians, and attempts to destabilise the British establishment. The IRA
caused terror across <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern
Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the Republic, and the British
mainland, continuing to pose a threat to security into the twenty-first
century. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Similarly,
the UVF’s acts of terror were varied and extremely violent. The first of which,
the bombing of a Catholic pub on the <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Shankill
Road</st1:address></st1:street> in May 1966 was a response to the Nelson’s
Pillar bombing by the IRA and the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising.
The explosion killed one Catholic civilian, Matilda Gould. The first life lost
to the Troubles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Twenty
days later, and after issuing a statement declaring their intent to mercilessly
execute members of the IRA, UVF leader Gusty Spence ordered the murder of
Belfast Republican, Leo Martin. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The four
men sent to murder Martin failed to find him and instead shot dead Catholic
civilian John Scullion. One month later, and after failing for a second time to
find Martin, Spence and a group of UVF members instead ambushed a number of
Catholic barmen as they left a pub on Malvern Street, Peter Ward died of his
injuries and Spence was sentenced to life in prison for his part. Of the
unprovoked attacks, Spence later wrote "At the time, the attitude was that
if you couldn't get an IRA man you should shoot a Taig [a derogatory term for
an Irish Catholic], he's your last resort" (Dillon, 1999, p20). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The
imprisonment of Spence led to the appointment of Samuel McClelland as the UVF’s
Chief of Staff and initiated a series of attacks aimed at destabilising the
civil rights movement in NI. In March and April of 1969 several UVF bombs
attacked the Northern Irish infrastructure, heavily damaging water and
electricity supply. The attacks imitated IRA activity and resulted in the
Republican group being blamed for the damage. Damage which eventually spread as
far as Stormont as Prime Minister Terence O’Neill, who had been pushing for
increased civil rights for Catholics in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>, resigned (BBC
News, 2011). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Two
years later the McGurk’s Bar bombing greatly enhanced the UVF’s impact on the
conflict, and sent the organisation in an increasingly sectarian direction. The
explosion killed 15 Catholics and wounded a further 17 in the New Lodge
district of Belfast, the highest death toll from a single attack during the
Troubles (Pat Coogan, 2002). Their influence was again increased a year later
in October 1972 when the group procured a large cache of arms through two
separate attacks on a Territorial Army base in Lurgan and the Belfast docks,
gaining automatic weapons, ammunition, and over twenty tonnes of explosives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">However,
their next large scale attack didn’t occur for another two years. The <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dublin</st1:place></st1:city> and Monaghan bombings
of May 1974 were planned and executed by members of the Mid-Ulster Brigade
(MUB), a unit of the UVF commanded by Billy Hanna operating out of Lurgan and
Portadown. The attack claimed the lives of 33 civilians through four separate
explosions, injuring a further 300. The attack was similar to the IRA’s Bloody
Friday with car bombs used to devastating effect. The Mid-Ulster Brigade’s next
high profile attack occurred in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype>
<st1:placename w:st="on">Down</st1:placename></st1:place> a year later. The
Miami Show Band, a popular Republic based music group, were returning to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dublin</st1:place></st1:city> on the evening of <st1:date day="31" month="7" w:st="on" year="1975">31 July 1975</st1:date> when they were
stopped at a bogus checkpoint. The MUB men were dressed in British Army uniform
and ordered the contents of the minibus to line up on the road side. Two MUB
members attempted to plant a time-bomb which exploded prematurely, killing themselves.
It was at this point that the remaining MUB men opened fire on the band members
killing Tony Geraghty, Fran O’Toole, and Brian McCoy. The massacre shocked both
the Republic and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern
Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region> and led to a number of retaliatory
sectarian attacks by the IRA (Bruce, 1994). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Over
the following years another UVF unit, the Shankhill Butchers rose to infamousy.
Claims the group acted independently vary, however the gang’s members were
almost all active within the UVF.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Shankill Butchers activities were initiated and organised by Lenny Murphy a UVF
member since 1969. Following his release from prison in 1975 for his part in
the murder of a suspected arms dealer to the IRA, Murphy and his brother
William set about organising likeminded Loyalists with the aim of partaking in
extreme sectarian violence. Over a seven year period the Shankill Butchers claimed
over 30 lives through a variety of attacks, the majority of which took place in
the gang’s formative years between 1975 and 1977. However it was the gang’s
sadistic kidnapping, torture, and eventual cut-throat murder of Catholic
civilians, executed with a butcher’s knife, which gave Murphy’s gang their
unique name and resulted in wide spread Catholic fear (Dillon, 1999).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The
final years of the 1970s saw wholesale changes within the UVF as a large number
of members were imprisoned due to police informers and super-grass plea
bargains. Tommy West became Chief of Staff and ushered in a new moderate era
for the organisation, focused on paramilitary activity as opposed to civilian attacks.
A large shipment of arms in 1982 divided between the UVF and two other Unionist
paramilitary groups, the Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Resistance,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>once again reinvigorated the UVF and
resulted in a rise in the number of IRA members assassinated by the group.
(Cobain, 2012). This policy continued in to the 1990s when on <st1:date day="3" month="3" w:st="on" year="1991">3 March 1991</st1:date> UVF gunmen
killed three IRA men in the car park of Boyle’s Bar, Cappagh, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Tyrone</st1:placename></st1:place>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Three
years later the UVF joined the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC),
signalling their intent to move towards peace in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. However their
actions were countered by members on <st1:date day="18" month="7" w:st="on" year="1994">18 July 1994</st1:date> as they machine gunned a pub in
Loughlinisland for showing the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Republic</st1:placetype>
of <st1:placename w:st="on">Ireland</st1:placename></st1:place> football team
competing in the World Cup. Six people were killed (Cobain, 2012). Three months
later, the CLMC called a ceasefire and the UVF agreed to lay down their arms.
Those whom disapproved formed the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) and defected
from the organisation. Violence between the UVF and LVF has sporadically flared
in the years since the ceasefire, and conflict has also occurred with the UDA
leading to a number of deaths post-millennium. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Similarly
to their Republican counterpart the UVF inflicted a variety of devastating terrorist
attacks. However, unlike the IRA, the UVF held a less ‘protectionist’ role in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>
as the British forces and relevant <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ulster</st1:place></st1:country-region> regiments were responsible
for maintaining peace across <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern
Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The UVF’s main focus as outlined in
their first statement on <st1:date day="21" month="5" w:st="on" year="1966">21
May 1966</st1:date> was to eradicate the IRA and they aimed to do so through
direct attacks on IRA members and associates. However, an aggressive sectarian
attitude was adopted for long periods and led to the murder of hundreds of
civilians, both as retaliation for IRA activity and in certain circumstances,
such as the Shankill Butchers, an internal hatred of Catholics. The
organisation’s violence also focused on effecting public feeling, such as the
IRA imitation bombings and the Miami Show Band murders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">When
drawing a comparison between the two terrorist organisations within this essay
we must assess the degree to which their political aims were achieved by their
violent activity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The IRA’s attempted
destruction of the state of Northern Ireland, ultimately failed; with critics
such as Bowyer Bell suggesting that they did not focus enough attention on
industrial and economic targets, however the violence they inflicted throughout
the conflict, and the prospect of it’s removal, undoubtedly resulted in a great
amount of bargaining power for the IRA’s political wing, Sinn Fein, in the
Northern Irish peace process (Bowyer Bell, 1989). Similarly, the UVF’s
political branch the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) was heavily involved in
the formation of the Good Friday Agreement 1998, a result of their paramilitary
activity up to 1994. The organisation dedicated to the Anglo-Irish agreement of
1921 played a role in maintaining an independent <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>, their violent
attacks often responding to IRA activity and acting revenge on behalf of the
Loyalist community. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">When
drawing conclusion it is important to note that the political activities of
neither the IRA nor UVF have been explored within this essay and the importance
of both Sinn Fein and the PUP in the conflict should not be underestimated.
However the role of violence in achieving both organisations’ political aims
has proven integral. The UVF were just one of a number of Unionist paramilitary
organisations operating in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern
Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region> throughout the Troubles, all of whom
shared limited ideals with the British forces, namely the protection of NI.
Opposingly, the IRA represented the near singular threat to Northern Irish
independence and as such faced a much greater challenge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Bibliography</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<u><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">BBC History (2007). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Troubles</i> [online]. Last accessed <st1:date day="5" month="1" w:st="on" year="2013">5 january 2013</st1:date> at: </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/recent/troubles/the_troubles_article_04.shtml"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/recent/troubles/the_troubles_article_04.shtml</span></a></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">BBC
NEWS (2011). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who are the UVF? </i>[online].
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at <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11313364"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11313364</span></a>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">BOWYER
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">BELL</st1:place></st1:city>, J.
(1989). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Secret Army- The IRA
1916-1979 </i>(3<sup>rd</sup> ed.) <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dublin</st1:place></st1:city>,
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">BRUCE,
Steve (1992). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Red Hand. </i><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oxford</st1:place></st1:city>, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oxford</st1:place></st1:city></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">BRUCE,
Steve (1994). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Edge of the <st1:place w:st="on">Union</st1:place>. </i><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oxford</st1:place></st1:city>,
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oxford</st1:place></st1:city>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">COBAIN,
Ian (2012). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Northern Ireland loyalist
shootings: one night of carnage, 18 years of silence </i>[online]. Last
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at <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/15/northern-ireland-loyalist-shootings-loughinisland"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/15/northern-ireland-loyalist-shootings-loughinisland</span></a>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">COOGAN,
Tim Pat (1993). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The IRA </i>(4<sup>th</sup>
Ed.) <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>,
Harper Collins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">DILLON,
Martin (1988). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dirty War. </i><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hutchinson</st1:place></st1:city>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">DILLON,
Martin (1994). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Enemy Within. </i><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>, Transworld.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">DIILLON,
Martin (1999). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Shankill Butchers. </i><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>, Routledge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">DUNN,
Seamus (ed.) (1995). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Facets of the
conflict in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">ENGLISH,
Richard (2004). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Armed Struggle- The
History of the IRA. </i><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oxford</st1:place></st1:city>,
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oxford</st1:place></st1:city>.</span></div>
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<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gary</st1:place></st1:city> (2010). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Global Terrorism Database</i> [online].
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">NELSON,
Sarah (1984). <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ulster</i></st1:place></st1:country-region><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’s Uncertain Defenders. </i><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Syracuse</st1:place></st1:city>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">O’BRIEN,
Brendan (1993). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Long War. </i><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dublin</st1:place></st1:city>, O’Brien</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">O’DAY,
Alan (ed.) (1995). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terrorism’s
Laboratory- The Case of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Northern
Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. </i><st1:place w:st="on">Aldershot</st1:place>,
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dartmouth</st1:place></st1:city>
Publishing.</span></div>
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COOGAN, Tim (2002). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Troubles. </i><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>, Macmillan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">PATTERSON,
H. (2011). Response to Robert R White, “Provisional IRA Attacks on the UDR in
Fermanagh and South Tyrone: Implications for the Study of Political Violence
and Terrorism”.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Terrorism and Political
Violence. </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">22 (</b>1).</span></div>
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the Shankill in Protestant <st1:place w:st="on">West Belfast</st1:place>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terrorism and Political Violence. </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">20 </b>(1), 66-86.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">SOUTHERN,
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">WHITE.
R. (2011). Provisional IRA Attacks on the UDR in Fermanagh and South Tyrone:
Implications for the Study of Political Violence and Terrorism. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terrorism and Political Violence. </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">23 </b>(1), 329-349.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-15801353646917356002012-05-23T14:11:00.001-07:002012-05-23T14:11:04.009-07:00Health Care Policy: A modern transatlantic comparison.<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> July
1948, the National Health Service (NHS) opens its doors for the first time in
hospitals and surgeries around Britain under the supervision of Labour Health
Minister Nye Bevan. Following the election of Clement Attlee’s Labour
government in 1945 it was agreed that Britain, recovering from its second World
War, was in desperate need of social reform, summarised by William Beveridge’s report
on welfare. The establishment of the NHS as part of the wider reforms to the
Welfare State was initially sponsored by taxation and continues to be so today.
Sixty four years later, the NHS is seen as one of the great pillars of British
society (Marr, 2007).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The history of modern
American healthcare has been somewhat different. Unlike Britain the United
States has never and continues not to provide universal healthcare for its
population, leaving the market economy to provide health services (Mclintock
Roe & Liberman, 2007). However, a recently passed Health Bill has initiated
the first phases of compulsory health insurance for all American citizens, a
much debated and hotly contested prospect. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Despite these seemingly
opposing attitudes to healthcare within the United Kingdom and the United
States there is much to compare and contrast as recent, current, and continued policy
implementation on both sides of the Atlantic appears to bring the two nations
with a “special relationship” closer together. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In July 2010, two months
after its election, the UK’s collation government, led by Conservative Prime
Minister David Cameron, presented a whitepaper to the House of Commons
proposing top-down reorganisation of the NHS. The subsequent Bill, the Health
and Social Care Act, was submitted in January 2011 and proposed that the
allocation of patient care be removed from NHS Primary Care Trusts and placed
in the hands of General Practitioners (GPs). GPs could then choose between a
variety of both public and private options on behalf of their patients. The
move was described by its supporters as removing the bureaucratic red-tape of
healthcare and providing greater options for improved services. The proposal
was described by the Daily Telegraph as the “Biggest revolution in the NHS for
60 years”. Andrew Porter, the newspaper’s Political Editor wrote:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“The plan…is designed to place key
decisions about how patients are cared for in the hands of doctors who know
them… At present, funds are given by the Government to primary care trusts,
which pay for patients from their area to be treated in hospital. Under these
plans, GPs — who are currently not responsible for paying for hospital
referrals — would receive the money instead and pay the hospitals directly.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> (Porter, 2010)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A second key aspect of
the Bill was the revision of the amount of income hospitals are allowed to make
from private patients, rising from 2% to 49%. Andrew Lansley, the Conservative
Health Secretary described the strategy as positive for NHS patients, he said "If
these hospitals earn additional income from private work that means there will
be more money available to invest in NHS services” (Briggs, 2011).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Opposition leaders,
including Liberal Democrat members of the coalition cabinet refuted both key
aspects of the Bill, describing them as a systematic privatisation of the
Health Service, opening the door to American style competition in British health
care. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats,
threatened to veto the Bill in the wake of its proposal and vowed there would
be no “back-door privatisation of the NHS”<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
</b>(The Telegraph, 2011)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Bill was subsequently
subject to amendments in both parliamentary Houses, as well as public and
professional outcries. One month prior to the Bill’s assent, Dr Richard Nicholl
of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), collected the signatures of 20 RCP
members signalling an extraordinary general meeting to stop what he described
as a “dangerous” Bill. He said: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">"The bill is bad for the
country's health and healthcare and will increase inequalities. None of the
hundreds of amendments the government has had to table so far deal with the fundamental
flaws of the bill"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> (Campbell & Helm, 2012)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As well as criticising
the abolition of Primary Care Trusts, Nicholl and other members of the RCP
opposed the planned extension of competition within the NHS. Suggesting
patients would suffer as a result of coalition plans for hospitals to earn up
to 49% of income from private patients. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper
Nicholl warned of longer waiting lists for NHS patients as a result of
prioritising private patients, Nicholl continues: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“…why the hell are the government
forcing this through? Market theory is a disaster in health. People need to
stop this bill; it's plain dangerous."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> (Campbell & Helm, 2012)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Following the
extraordinary meeting on Monday 27<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> February 2010, the RCP polled
25,417 fellows and members asking for their opinions on the Health and Social
Care Bill, the results proved damning with 6% of respondents declaring their
acceptance of the Bill and an overwhelming 69% rejecting it (Royal College of
Physicians, 2012).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Despite heavy
opposition the Bill received Royal Assent in March 2012 and many key aspects of
the legislation are expected to be implemented by 2013. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Whilst Britain’s
National Health Service appears to be shifting towards increasing privatisation
amidst claims of widening inequalities, America is seemingly moving in the
opposite direction, all be it from the opposite end of the health care
spectrum. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In July 2009, six months
after President Obama’s inauguration, Democrat leaders presented a series of proposals
on health care reform to the House of Representatives signifying Obama’s intent
on change. Significant proposals included the mandatory expansion of health
insurance to all American citizens, as well as the establishment of a
government insurance plan known as the “public option”. Two federally funded
insurance schemes were already in existence; Medicare, supporting the elderly,
and Medicaid, supporting the poor. However the “public option” proposed to
create a government backed insurance scheme available to all with a view to
competing with the private sector. Further proposals included subsidies in the
form of tax credits for those most incapable of accessing health insurance and
certain reforms of the health industry itself, such as the illegalisation of
certain medical insurer activity- such as “dropping” ill patients or denying
coverage to those with pre-existing conditions (MacAskil, 2009). The plan also
outlined a number of tax increases for both the health industry and wealthy Americans,
including a rise from 1.45% to 2.35% of the Federal Insurance Contributions tax
for individuals earning $200,000 and couples with incomes over $250,000. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">President Obama’s
described the proposals as a way of reaching out to the 45 million American’s
without health insurance, he said:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">"After decades of inaction, we
have finally decided to fix what is broken about healthcare in America. We have
decided that it's time to give every American quality healthcare at an
affordable cost."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> (MacAskil, 2009)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Opposition to reform was
led by Republicans throughout Capitol Hill, disapproving of the President’s
plans to raise both taxation and public spending in order to alter the American
health care model. Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona discussed his party’s opposition
with the New York Times stating: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“I think it is safe to say there are a
huge number of big issues that people have… There is no way that Republicans
are going to support a trillion-dollar-plus bill.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> (Hulse & Zeleny, 2009)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Professional opposition
was also aired by medical experts across the United States. Troy M. Tippett
M.D., President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons stated in
December 2009:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">"The Senate bill inappropriately
expands the role of the federal government in health care decision making, and
undermines the doctor-patient relationship that is critical to a health care
delivery system that works for patients."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> (Physicians United for Patients, 2010)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Joseph D. Zuckerman,
M.D., President of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons reiterated
his colleague’s fears:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"We urge the Senate to take a step back,
and make essential changes to this bill before a rush to reform leads to a bad
outcome for patients across the country."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> (Physicians United for Patients, 2010)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Despite much opposition
and after ten months of hard fought amendment and Democratic compromise in both
Congressional Houses, a final piece of legislation was agreed upon and ratified
by President Obama in March 2010. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act introduced many of the reforms proposed by Democrats almost a year earlier,
including obligatory health insurance, medical tax credits for the poorest,
increased regulation of the health care industry and higher taxation of the
wealthiest to directly support both Medicare and Medicaid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the Bill did not include the “public
option” as proposed by President Obama in July 2009, jettisoned by Senate
dealmakers to create a passable piece of legislation (Bonnett, 2010)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>The changes implemented via the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2010 are proposed to extend medical
coverage to a further 32 million American citizens. President Obama described
the changes as “reforms that generations of Americans have fought and marched
for and hungered to see” (Durando, 2010. Sky News’ Foreign Affairs Editor, Tim
Marshall summarised the reforms as not being universal, but “the closest
America will ever get” (Bonnett, 2010). <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Principally, the United
States continues along a path of private health care with no universal public insurance
policy yet established, whilst the United Kingdom continues to provide
healthcare free at the point of access in 2012, as it has done since the dawn
of the National Health Service in 1948. However, as we have seen, recent
changes in British and American health policy have been both widespread and of
great significance, with the United Kingdom entering a phase of partial
privatisation whilst the United States has categorically increased access to
health care. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As liberal democracies,
the political processes of the United States and Britain are open for scrutiny,
as are the policies each respective government wishes to legislate. And although
both American Congress and British Parliament operate on a bicameral basis,
differing challenges were faced by David Cameron and Barack Obama throughout
their respective drives for health care reform. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As the first Prime
Minister of a coalition government since the Second World War, Conservative
David Cameron faced vigorous opposition to his party’s health reform proposals
from within his own cabinet. Liberal Democrat ministers, such as Deputy Prime
Minister Nick Clegg questioned the degree by which the Bill would privatise the
NHS (The Telegraph, 2011). Unlike the United Kingdom, the Executive Branch of
American government revolves solely around one man. As such, due to the design
of American politics, enshrined in the constitution, President Obama did not
face the internal competition his British counterpart did. However, both
premierships had to fight to pass legislation once it was opened to the
legislature. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Following the general
election of May 2010, Conservative MP’s accounted for 305 of the available
House of Commons seats, defeating their nearest rivals, and current incumbents,
New Labour by 52. The subsequent establishment of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat
coalition, with their 57 seats provided a large enough majority to formulate a
government capable of passing legislation such as the Health and Social Care
Act 2012 (Parliament UK, 2010). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly
to the Conservative majority within the House of Commons, President Obama’s
Democratic Party also held a majority in the lower-House following his election
in 2009. Of the 435 available seats within the House of Representatives, 256
were elected to members of Obama’s party, with 178 in favour of Republican
candidates. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Despite similar levels
of backing within their respective legislature’s lower chamber, both
governments faced different prospects with regards to passing reforms through
the upper-House. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Britain’s House of
Lords, with a Labour majority, is constrained to rejecting a Bill a maximum of
three times in one year (Heywood, 2007). As such its role in the creation of
legislation is largely limited to the recommendation of amendments, as was the
case throughout the introduction of Cameron’s health reforms. Conversely to the
House of Lords, the American Senate is not constrained on its rejection of
Bills and as such the importance of its composition is vital to any President
hoping to pass legislation. Unlike the unelected House of Lords, where peers
are either granted status through birth-right or appointment, the Senate is a
fully elected chamber with two senators representing each state (Heywood, 2007).
During the period of time immediately preceding the introduction of the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, 57 of the 100 senators represented
the Democratic Party as opposed to the Republican’s 41. This slim majority
proved to be a key factor affecting the redevelopment of Obama’s original
health reform suggestions. Such fundamental changes to the American health
system not only split Democrats and Republicans, but also split certain
sections of the Democratic Party itself, leaving those responsible with pushing
the legislation forward a difficult task. Final key amendments included the
abolition of the proposed “public option” and insurances that federal money
would not be used to fund abortions. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We can see that the
paths of both Prime Minister Cameron’s and President Obama’s health reforms
have led through two legislative chambers respectively, however the influences
of each nation’s upper and lower Houses have proven to be converse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Legislation passed within the United States
must truly be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, as
was the eventual case for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March
2010.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the power divide between
Britain’s House of Commons and House of Lords is not so evenly balanced, with
the lower elected chamber able to force legislation through due to its
neighbour’s inability to consistently reject Bills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Furthermore to these two
nation’s processional disparities is the composition of the respective
Executive branches. As American President, all power of the Executive Branch is
vested in Barack Obama, who also acts as Head of State and Commander in Chief of
the Armed Forces. All other members of the Executive, including the Vice
President, Cabinet and Executive Office are regarded solely as advisory bodies
(The Whitehouse, 2012). Unlike the President, Prime Minister David Cameron is
not Head of State, and instead, as the leader of the party with the largest
majority within the House of Commons following the General Election in May
2010, was asked by the Queen to formulate a government. As Prime Minister he is
regarded as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">primus inter pares</i> or
“first among equals” with regards to his role within the Cabinet. He is
regarded as the leader of a group of decision makers, rather than acting as the
sole decision maker himself (Heywood, 2007). The collective accountability of
Cabinet ministers can be difficult enough to galvanise within a single-party
government, however Prime Minister Cameron faced a much greater test within the
Conservative-Liberal coalition with the debate surrounding health reforms,
battling not only to convince Ministers of his own party but Ministers of a
party much associated with opposing the privatisation of nationalised services.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Superficially, the
American and British political models appear similar as liberal democracies
with bicameral legislatures. However, we have discovered many great differences
in the operation and mobility of these two nation’s political systems. This
trend of partial similarity is something reflected in the comparison of further
political concepts within these two countries. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The democratic system of
government within United Kingdom and the United States is keenly protected, not
only by differing styles of constitution, but also through external
participation by both the general public and professional representative
bodies, such as Trade Unions, Interest and Pressure Groups. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">This interaction, as
displayed by both the British Royal College of Physicians and the American
Association of Neurological Surgeons alongside the American Association of
Orthopaedic Surgeons with regards to their own nation’s recent health reforms
exemplifies modern liberal democracy as more than the right to vote. James
Laxar writes: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Essential features of contemporary
democracy are the rights to free speech and assembly. Democracy also extends to
the rule of law, to the right of those accused of crimes to fair and speedy
trials, to freedom from arbitrary detention and the right to legal counsel.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> (Laxar,p10, 2010)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">By upholding the
“essential features of contemporary democracy” as described by Laxar, both
Britain and the United States allow their own political cultures to flourish. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The protection of
democracy is a key similarity when comparing the political culture of these two
countries; however there are many great differences also. The great American
belief in “rugged individualism”, the notion that citizens thrive with little
government interference was summarised by Republican candidate, Herbert Hoover
during his Presidential election campaign in 1928, at New York’s Madison Square
Garden he said: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“When the war closed… we were
challenged with a peace-time choice between the American system of rugged
individualism and a European philosophy of diametrically opposed doctrines –
doctrines of paternalism and state socialism. The acceptance of these ideas
would have meant the destruction of self-government through centralization of
government. It would have meant the undermining of the individual initiative
and enterprise through which our people have grown to unparalleled greatness.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> (Cohen, 2008)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Twenty years later following
a second World War, actions taken by Britain under the guidance of Clement
Attlee and at the recommendation of William Beveridge, establishing the
National Health Service, optimised the European-state paternalism discussed by
Hoover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, although met by some
scepticism, one former chairman of the British Medical Association described
the move as “the first step, and a big one, to national socialism”, the
National Health Service as part of the wider Welfare State in Britain went on
to be widely endeared by a nation recovering from the effects of two World Wars
(BBC News, 1998). <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The impact of
Beveridge’s report on welfare in Britain has gone on to impact the political
culture of the United Kingdom throughout the 20<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> into the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
century. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within his article “Attitudes
to Welfare”, Peter Taylor-Gooby describes British support for the Welfare State
as “strong and enduring in the main” going on to state:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“The NHS, pensions and education command
mass support because they meet mass demands.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(Taylor-Gooby, p77, 1985) <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The defining features of
political culture within the United States and Britain have clearly played a
key role in the development of health care policy in recent years. Whilst President
Obama’s contemporary Democratic Party would widely be regarded as opposed to
the hard-line individualism discussed by Hoover, the sentiments displayed by
the former Republican President still underline much of the overwhelming
American attitude. Similarly, modern British attitudes towards the National
Health Service remain widely alike to those surrounding its establishment; supportive
of the public model. As such Prime Minister Cameron and President Obama both
had to fight to pass legislation largely opposing the views of the popular
national political culture. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As such we understand
the political cultures of both America and Britain to be of great importance
with regards to policy implementation. Summarising Almond and Verba’s study
into political culture, Hague and Harrop write: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Mass attitudes towards government
will of course reflect what the government has done in the past but- and here
is Almond’s point- these sentiments will in turn affect what the government can
achieve in the present and the future. In this way, political culture connects
government not just with society but also with its own history.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> (Hague and Harrop, p105, 2007)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In conclusion, the
passing of both the American Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2010
and the British Health and Social Care Act 2012 has signified major changes to
the health services in the United States and the United Kingdom. Both countries
have displayed close similarities within their political systems, models, and
cultures, however vast differences have also been apparent between these two
liberal democracies from the composition of their legislatures to the wider
political attitudes of the electorate.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span></div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-9250414997439216292012-02-22T03:07:00.000-08:002012-02-22T03:07:41.260-08:00Subprime Mortgages: How the US housing market brought the world to it's knees.<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Subprime mortgages have been described as the spark that lit the fuse to the credit crunch, leading to global recession and a deeper financial crisis that continues to be resolved to this day. As the name suggests, sub-prime mortgages are understood to be less than the best, often referred to as “liar loans” or “Ninja loans”- No income, No job or Asset loans (Cable, 2009). But how could someone with no income, no job or assets obtain a mortgage? The answer lies on Wall Street. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 was passed under the Carter administration and sought to impose obligations on banks to lend to lower socio-economic families. As such banks began to take the market share of loans to lower-income families away from government-backed agencies, affording the chance to step onto the property ladder to millions of Americans who never believed they would have the opportunity. The legislation worked well for the next two decades but in 1997 a significant event occurred which would change the mortgage market forever. The American bank, Bear Stearns, created the first securitisation of CRA loans and Freddie Mac, one of the US’ top two mortgage lenders, guaranteed these securities with the top triple A rating. In essence, Bear Stearns had managed to take on a large base of lower income families, repackage the risk associated with their loans and spread it throughout the industry and off of their balance sheet (Gamble, 2009). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In 2001, following the 9/11 attack in New York, Bear Stearns had been trading in CRA securities for four years and various other well respected organisations such as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>JP Morgan had done so to, dealing largely in credit default swaps following the end of the dotcom bubble and the Enron crisis. The effects of 9/11 on the US economy had a damaging impact, leading chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan to lower interest rates in the face of crisis as he had done in 1987 (Black Monday) and in 1997-98 (Asian Financial Crisis) (Brummer, 2008). Then came the banks eureka moment; the trading of high yield bonds, largely focused around mortgage based securities, relied on high-risk loans; credit default swaps- the removal of large risks from banks balance sheets- ironically also relied on high-risk loans. This meant that the banks needed a ready supply of high-risk borrowers, but where could they be found? Greenspan’s falling interest rates meant that the base line for adjustable mortgage rates, indexed to the Fed, were also low and the poor neighbourhoods Carter had reached out to in 1977 were filled with citizens eager to borrow, and so the banks had their answer. America’s poorest regions were flooded with irresistible loan offers and so the subprime mortgage was born. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Subprime mortgages were offered to anyone and everyone looking to take a loan. People with poor credit ratings, or unable to prove their income, or pay a deposit were able to borrow sums of money in excess of 100% of the value of their property with seemingly affordable repayments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alex Brummer, in analysing the early days of the subprime phenomenon writes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“It was easy to see why sub-prime was attractive to lenders fed up with low returns. Here was the latest chance to make a lot of money in an otherwise jaded market. Never ones to heed the lesson, the banks, fresh from burning their fingers in the dotcom boom, had marched straight in to the enticing world of sub-prime lending, barley stopping to pass ‘Go’”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(Brummer, 2008, p20)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, subprime mortgages were never confined to the ghettos of Baltimore or Detroit. The temptation of such large and easy credit spread across all socio-economic groups and millions of Americans who could have obtained a prime mortgage were drawn in to the sub-prime world. They did so because the loans were structured to look so attractive and because 100% of the value of a property is relative to the consumer. Whilst $50,000 dollars is a lot of money to someone living in a $50,000 dollar home, $1,000,000 is a lot of money to someone living in a $1,000,000 home. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second homes became popular among the wealthy and as many as 13% of all high-rate loans were for properties not occupied by their owners, furthermore a 2007 study showed that 55% of all subprime loans went to people with credit scores high enough to get a better deal- the temptation had proved too much (Brummer, 2008; Wall Street Journal, 2007). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Following a brief period of uncertainty surrounding employment levels in the US in 2001-2002 and the inevitable defaults on mortgage repayment associated with being out of work, subprime mortgages were established as unemployment plummeted post-2004. As such, subprime mortgages gained a prominent role in the market, accounting for 35% of all mortgages in the US. At its peak the value of the sub-prime market reached £6,000bn (Brummer, 2008). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The increasing number of readily available mortgages teamed with low interest rates meant that between 1997 and 2005 property prices rose a staggering 75% in the United States representing some of the highest returns on investment in the marketplace (Gamble, 2009). Greenspan appeared to have masterminded an American recovery post 9/11 and the housing market was testament to that, as was his honorary knighthood for services to economic stability in 2002. The on-going success of the economy led Greenspan, the Fed, banks, and investors to believe that the housing boom would not end, that the markets had become too complex to fail, and that the economy would simply go on growing. Andrew Gamble writes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“At the height of the boom it seemed possible, against all historical experience to the contrary, that this time it might really last forever. The era of boom and bust had passed away, and the global economy was now so sophisticated, so flexible, so independent, that its break down was now unthinkable. It performed miracles of coordination every day, and the fact that no-one properly understood how they were accomplished only added to the marvel and the mystery.” (Gamble, 2009, p2) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Greenspan had overseen several bubbles in the market throughout his time as chairman of the Federal Reserve and believed that even if the housing boom was eventually found to be a bubble the banks had become so adept at creating and collapsing them that the results of such would be minimal. Robert Lucas, chairman of the American Economic Association agreed with this sentiment, stating in 2003 that “depression-prevention” was no longer necessary (Krugman, 2009). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">This belief, advocated by not only investors and banks, but also by the regulatory bodies, that the economy would simply continue to drive forward, and at worst would have to jump from one boom to the next, was made possible by the introduction in both the US and the UK of a new financial growth model established in response to the stagflation of the 1970s. The shift from a large manufacturing economy to a services economy on both sides of the Atlantic represented the neo-liberal ideologies of both President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and their Republican and Conservative administrations respectively. Both nations’ sought to place their financial industries at the heart of what they hoped would become a globalised economy. They did this through a number of measures most notably the privatisation of much of the public sector, and the deregulation of the private sector, particularly the markets. The overall drive to free the markets and increase availability of credit seemed to have reached its optimum goal by the early millennium. Despite social issues associated with privatisation and market dips in the late 1980s and 1990s, the invisible hand appeared to be feeding anyone who wanted to eat. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, the invisible hand of the market did have something propping it up. The credit ratings which banks received became of increasing importance with regards to the amount of credit they could obtain. The very beginnings of the success associated with the subprime mortgage revolution had only been made possible by the triple A rating obtained by Bear Stearns in 1997 on the securitisation of their CRA loans. As such, the securities and credit default swaps conducted by banks relied on good credit ratings to allow them to continue. Payments from banks to credit agencies doubled in the years of sub-prime boom to $6bn in 2007 appearing to indicate a huge increase in the number of high ratings being given to banks (Mason, 2010). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Parallels of what was happening in the United States were also taking place in the other major global financial player it had shared the neo-liberal uprising with throughout the 1980s. The United Kingdom was experiencing a credit explosion and a relaxation on mortgage lending, however banks such as Northern Rock refuted the allegation that many of their mortgages could be described as subprime. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like other UK banks they were offering special low-start loans, or deals to consolidate credit card debt alongside a mortgage. One example of such offers was Northern Rock’s ‘Together’ mortgage offered to young professionals, often with outstanding student debts. Such offers exceeded 100% of property value, and often rose to 125%. However, Northern Rock along with many banks offering similar mortgages in the UK believed that the annual salary increases and set career paths of such borrowers was enough to justify their loans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Despite Northern Rock’s claims that they in no way dealt in subprime mortgages, concerns were being raised in the UK towards the number of loans and mortgages being taken out by consumers who did not have to provide evidence such as proof of income to obtain large funds. A report by leading British academics in 2005 named ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lending to Higher Risk Borrowers’ </i>was motivated by a concern over the increasing vulnerability of such borrowers and the sustainability of home ownership to such persons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The report notes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“Many of these products are heavily promoted and may encourage people to take on more debt than they can really afford. For example, the willingness to lend without proof of income may encourage borrowers to overstate their capacity to repay”. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(Munro et al, 2005)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">As the markets continued to boom on a wave of credit both sides of the Atlantic, the Federal Reserve took the decision in 2004 to begin a rise of interest rates in order to stabilise the American economy and allow growth to continue. This was not an unusual policy and the Fed believed that after fully recovering from the mini recession of 2001-02 a rise was justified and the squeeze on credit would only serve as a positive in the housing cycle. They believed that a slight fall in property prices would bring even more buyers to the market, and as such credit would become more freely available again, and house prices would continue their upward spiral. This process of interest rate hikes was expected to gradually increase mortgage default levels, but only for a short period, what happened however was very different indeed (Gamble, 2009). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Between 2004 and 2007 US interest rates rose from 1% to 7%, a steep but not unfamiliar hike. What was unfamiliar to the market was the type of mortgages that were being defaulted on. The initial increases had minimal effects between 2004-05, however cracks began to appear in 2006 as rates headed towards their peak. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was at this point that borrowers began to realise that their sub-prime mortgages really were less than the best.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">At the beginning of the subprime revolution, many borrowers were enticed by the simplicity of obtaining such funds as lenders offered to take care of all paperwork. This of course appeared to be the easiest options for consumers, many of whom had never borrowed money before, or studied a contract as complex as a mortgage agreement. Borrowers were merely told to sign on the dotted line and their dreams would come true. As such, most borrowers, certainly those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, did not realise the terms and conditions of their repayment plans- duped by short term interest rates known as ‘teasers’. Many believed that these rates would continue throughout their mortgage, remaining low making repayment possible. Typically the teaser rates offered by banks would last for two to three years before increasing to a rate that better reflected the risk associated with such loans. However, between 2001-05 the end of teaser rates had been masked by low interest rates, leading to only a very small increase in repayments. As interest rates reached their peak throughout 2006-07 teaser rates were no longer masked and huge increases on repayment expectancy lead to a huge rise in defaults. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">It is at this point that the ‘inverted pyramid’ the financial services had created on the back of subprime lending took its first steps towards collapse. Andrew Gamble writes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“In ordinary times this would have had serious consequences for a large number of borrowers who could no longer meet the repayments on their loans. But it would not have had wider implications for the whole financial sector.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(Gamble, 2009, p21)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">But this was no ordinary time for lenders, they had proved ingenious at bundling together high-risk loans and securitising them, selling them in to the market as high-yield bonds with the best possible credit ratings. This in turn allowed the banks selling bonds to boost their balance sheets and increase their own lending. Gamble continues:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“In this case, however, far from being sound the bonds were hollow. There were no secure income streams behind them, and once many mortgagees started to default on their loans, the precariousness of the imposing financial structure, which the financial services industry had created, was exposed.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(Gamble, 2009, p22)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">By mid-2007 the severity of the situation surrounding subprime was coming to fruition. Following losses being recorded by specialist US subprime lenders earlier in the year, and the bankruptcy of the second largest of such banks, New Century Finance, Bear Stearns, the bank which started the subprime revolution in 1997 was forced to collapse two of its hedge funds and write off $1.9bn from the value of its mortgage related assets (Kary, 2008; Foley, 2007). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Inevitably the credit agencies which had afforded the likes of Bear Stearns triple A ratings were called into question. In July 2007 the US financial watchdog published a report suggesting that the scale of new business from 2002 onwards had overwhelmed many agencies and as such they had failed to undertake the correct measures in their risk assessment. Bond issuers paying for their own products to be rated by such agencies also presented a serious conflict of interest, going someway to explaining the aforementioned doubling of payments from banks to agencies during the boom. Agencies such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s came to believe that if they did not award the required rating, then the next agency would, receiving a healthy sum for doing so. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Following the collapse of one of the subprime markets leading lenders and two Bear Stearns hedge funds, the severity of these losses was transmitted throughout the financial system during the tail end of 2007. Banks began to realise that they no longer had any means of assessing the value of their assets, they could no longer rely on credit ratings which continued to be undermined by further losses, and as such they began to hoard cash, cutting back on their lending to both consumers and other financial institutes. They could not afford to lend money to shore up others bad debts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This drying up of liquidity came to be known as the ‘credit crunch’. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In the eighteen months following the collapse of New Century Finance attempts were made to encourage lending, interest rates were dropped by the Fed, but confidence in the markets had been lost, lost not only by banks and investors, but also by the industries indirectly handling funds associated with subprime, such as bond insurers, who in September 2007 would have their credit ratings slashed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the months leading up to September 2008 signs suggested that the repercussions of the credit crunch were unlikely to be contained easily; a run by consumers on British bank Northern Rock in late 2007 led the government to insure customers savings and was followed by its nationalisation in March 2008. Shortly after Northern Rock’s bail out, Bear Stearns, the banks at the heart of subprime was bought out by JP Morgan Chase for $240mn. One year earlier it had been valued at $18bn. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">What happened in September 2008, the bailing out of Freddie Mac and Freddie Mae, the US’s two largest mortgage companies, for $200bn, followed by the collapse of Lehmann brothers, the 185 year old Wall Street behemoth, sent reverberations around the globe. The credit crunch had taken on a new dimension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The series of events which followed would lead to a widespread financial crisis and ultimately a global recession (Pallister, 2008; Clark, 2009).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The subprime mortgage market had played a leading role in the creation of the credit crunch, by definition a mortgage is the largest type of loan any borrower is likely to take, the collapse of a market involving such large sums of money was inevitably going to have widespread repercussions. The dispersion of risk throughout the financial industry in the form of bonds associated with the high risk proved a decisive factor in the severity of the banks’ downfall, acting like a disease, spreading its way throughout the industry. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The neo-liberal market philosophies bestowed upon the American and British populations following the 1970s strived for a market all but free from regulation, a market that would stretch from each corner of the globe and all points in between. It is the globalisation of world markets which has meant the impact of an American crash has been felt the world over. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a visit to the London School of Economics in November 2008 the Queen is famed for having asked staff why no one spotted the oncoming crisis. The same question has been posed by many since the formation of the credit crunch with some suggesting that whilst profits were rising we were too busy staring at the sky to notice the ground shifting beneath us. Andrew Gamble writes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“The great booms of capitalism have thrived on exuberance, and the readiness to take risks and to embrace change. The longer a boom lasts the more complacent and careless many people become, from those in charge of government and banks down to the humblest investor. The calculations of risks change. By degrees everyone comes to believe that the boom will last for ever, and that finally, the secret of everlasting growth has been discovered.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(Gamble, 2009, p37)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The psychology of the boom, as documented by Gamble, appears to represent the series of events which gripped the world of finance for the early millennium. Energised by the world of subprime, investors tirelessly pumped air in to a housing bubble. The air was later discovered to be hot, hot and infected. The bursting of this bubble released a toxic gas around the globe. The stench of which has not yet been removed from the pores of the global financial system. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MUNRO, Moira et al. (2005). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lending to higher risk borrowers</i>. York, Joseph Rowntree </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Foundation.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">PALLISTER, David (2008). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: The world’s biggest bail out</i>. [online]. Last accessed 9 February 2012 at: </span></span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2008/sep/08/mortgages.useconomy"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2008/sep/08/mortgages.useconomy</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">SCHILLER, Robert J. (2008) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Subprime Solution</i>. Oxford, Princeton University Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">TRADING ECONOMICS (2011). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">United States Interest Rates</i>. [online]. Last accessed 9 February 2012 at: </span></span><a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/interest-rate"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/interest-rate</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">TRADING ECONOMICS (2011). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">United States Unemployment Rates. </i>[online]. Last accessed 9 February 2012 at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate</span></span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><u><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></u></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">TURNER, Graham (2008). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Credit Crunch</i>. London, Pluto Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">WALL STREET JOURNAL (2007). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Subprime Debacle Traps Even Very Creditworthy</i>. </span></span></div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-69008486822687213462011-12-16T11:14:00.000-08:002011-12-16T11:14:59.387-08:00Democracy: A politically comparative tool, with reference to the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation.<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Democracy, from the ancient Greek <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">demokratia</i>, has come a long way from it’s Athenian origins. In the 21<sup>st</sup> century, we live in an age when the majority of the planet’s population lives under some form of democratic rule. However, democracy as defined by the early Greek model, between 461 and 322 BC, has come to take on a multifaceted meaning and function (Hague and Harrop, 2007).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Contemporarily, democracy can be understood as a procedure, as it has been from it’s origins; a way of governing. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address extolled the virtues of modern democracy celebrating the “government of the people, by the people, for the people” (1864; Heywood, 2000).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, moreover from the right to representation, some forms of democracy are understood to represent certain goals for society, James Laxar writes: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“Essential features of contemporary democracy are the rights to free speech and assembly. Democracy also extends to the rule of law, to the right of those accused of crimes to fair and speedy trials, to freedom from arbitrary detention and the right to legal counsel.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(Laxar,p10, 2010)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">These democratic goals detailed by Laxar exemplify the role of democracy in the 21<sup>st</sup> century as much more than the right to vote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this very basic feature of modern democracy, suffrage, has developed greatly from it’s Greek origins. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Demokratia</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">, meaning rule (kratos) by the people (demos) was literally translated in to the direct democracy of Athens. Citizens could attend assembly meetings and vote upon their content, serve on the governing council and sit on citizen juries in the People’s courts. The right to become involved in the Executive (assembly), Legislature (council) and Judiciary (courts) signified near complete involvement in political life. However, citizenship was only bestowed upon the male Athenians who had completed their military training, excluding foreign residents, women and slaves (Finley, 1985). Although the direct democracy of Athens is retrospectively criticised for it’s exclusivity and cumbersome processes, it’s contribution to the formation of modern democracy, indeed the founding of it, is exemplified by two factors: the invention of the citizen, rather than the subject, and the democratic voting process. From these two key features, modern democracies have flourished (Finer, 1997).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In 2011, no direct-democratic state exists; instead, representative democracy and elected governments have become common place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The election of an executive and a legislature,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>via means of public vote, open to all citizens, has become of increasing necessity throughout time as larger modern states emerge, requiring a form of democracy representative of far greater numbers of citizens. The direct democracy of Athens amassed a total of around forty thousand citizens in 322 BC, in the year 2000 AD, India’s representative democracy exceeded one billion. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, not all representative democracies are similar. Liberal democracies are constitutionally limited in order to secure citizens’ individual liberty and protection from tyranny by majority, clearly relating to what Laxar describes as the “essential features of contemporary democracy” (Laxar, p10,2010; Held, 2006). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This polyarchic form of democracy can take many forms; it may be a constitutional republic, such as the United States or Germany, or a constitutional monarchy, such as the United Kingdom or Spain, and it may implement a presidential, semi-presidential or parliamentary system of representation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Opposingly, illiberal democracies uphold few rights other than suffrage. Weak judiciaries allow governments to rule with few limits and a disregard for civil liberties. Interference in the marketplace is common, as is indoctrinated media coverage, and harassment of political opponents. All features used to nullify any need to interfere with the physical voting process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such behaviour has led to certain commentators to describe illiberal democracies as “electoral or competitive authoritarianism” (Hague & Harrop, p51, 2007; Korosteleva, 2004; Schedler, 2006).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>These illiberal democracies tend to arise where democracy is a new phenomenon, Zakaria writes; “since the fall of communism, countries around the world are being governed by regimes like Russia’s that mix elections and authoritarianism” (p61, 2003).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, many believe that illiberal democracy is the first step on the road to increased democracy, such as liberal democracy (LeDuc, Niemi & Norris, 2010). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Somewhere in between direct democracy and representative democracy, specifically representative liberal democracy, lays deliberative democracy. Simply, deliberative democracy promotes the involvement of citizens in law making. A contemporary example of deliberative democracy in action is the G1000 Citizen’s Summit in Belgium, November 2011. At the time of the summit Belgium’s representative democracy had been without government for over five hundred days, a result of budget, immigration and voting issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This lead to the G1000 group’s formulation by independent citizens, none of whom were politicians, and the random sampling of 1000 Belgians to meet and discuss the nation’s major concerns, with the resulting suggestions later formulated in to policy proposals (Vermeesch, 2011). This pilot scheme of Belgian deliberative democracy called upon the work of American political thinker Ethan Leib (2004)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>and was undertaken with a view to becoming integrated into the representative model, calling upon the views and expertise of the electorate alongside the already established political landscape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">From these various definitions of democracy we understand that when comparing nations upon a democratic basis we must first look at the phenomenon’s most longstanding<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>feature; the democratic voting process (LeDuc, Niemi & Norris, 2010).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In the recent December (2011) parliamentary elections in Russia, 60% voter turnout was reported, a drop of 4% from the 2007 elections (IDEA RF, 2011).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Comparatively, voter turnouts for the United Kingdom’s parliamentary elections have scored similarly in recent years; 61% in 2005 and 66% in 2010 (IDEA UK ,2011). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Although the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system, and Russia is a constitutional semi-presidential federal republic, we understand both to be representative democracies, and upon the first investigations of democratic comparison, they appear very much alike with similar levels of voter turnout in recent parliamentary elections. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, a look beyond the turnout of these elections and in to the underlying quantitative details reveals much more. The 2007 Russian parliamentary, or Duma, elections re-elected President Putin’s United Russia with a 64% share of the vote. In comparison the British General Election of 2010 afforded the party with the highest percentage of votes, much less. The Conservative party gained only 36% of the total number of votes made. Their two closest rivals, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats earned 29% and 23% respectively, indicating a much tighter contest than that of the Duma election. It is also worthy of note that a further nine parties gained or maintained representation in the House of Commons, taking the total to twelve. Only four parties earned representation in Russia in 2007.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Finally with regards to the democratic voting process, electoral reliability is steadfast in twenty-first century Britain and has been so for many years. Despite opposition, as in Russia, and many other representative democracies of the electoral system (Britain uses the first past the post system in parliamentary elections, Russia uses proportional representation), citizens in the United Kingdom understand the voting process to be free from corruption. Conversely, allegations of rigging have marred election results in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The Guardian Newspaper wrote on the 5<sup>th</sup> December 2011, of the recent elections:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“Russians continued to register alleged cases of falsification on Monday, and news reports on state television appeared to show results that implied turnout in some regions was as high as 146%.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(Elder, 2011)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In comparison with the greatest allegations of results fixing in the United Kingdom in 2010- the denial of a number of citizens’ opportunity to vote in certain areas, most notably Sheffield Hallam, due to surpassing the 10pm deadline- these accusations of government intervention call in to question Russia’s democratic state (Weaver, 2010).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, we are aware that there is more to the phenomenon of democracy than the process of voting. Further to suffrage, liberal democracies protect the rights of citizens and limit the power of the elected, whereas such assurances are not offered by their illiberal counterparts. As such we recognise the United Kingdom to be an example of a modern liberal democracy. Laxar’s aforementioned features of contemporary democracy, such as free speech, free association, and the right to a fair trial, are keenly protected by a strong judiciary, enshrined in constitutional and sovereign European law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further to this a free market economy is maintained, with little government intervention. Free media operates, both public and private, insuring public discussion and opposition to government is available to all. Increased involvement in the legislative process is also emerging in Britain. The e-petitions service was introduced midway through 2011, allowing citizens to create online petitions with a view to directly influencing government policy via debate in House of Commons (Herlihy, 2011). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Opposingly, Russia is understood to formulate a type of illiberal democracy, with some accusations that this status is of too higher praise. Yet certain features of the civil liberties described as enshrined in the United Kingdom, are indeed active in Russia to some extents. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the introduction of the federalist republic, rights to free speech, association and fair trial dramatically increased by the standards which had previously been in place. However, such liberties in 21<sup>st</sup> century Russia appear to fall dramatically short of what is deemed to be internationally acceptable behaviour for a liberal state. In 2008, an Amnesty International report on Russia suggested that freedom of speech in the country was shrinking at an alarming rate under the Presidency of Vladimir Putin. In summary the Freedom Limited report detailed the most significant examples, saying “murders of outspoken journalists go unsolved, independent media outlets have been shut and police have attacked protestors” (BBC, 2008). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The centralisation of power in Russia is exemplified by the stronghold of the former President and current Prime Minister. Elected to the Presidency in 2000, Vladimir Putin remained the incumbent for the maximum of two consecutive terms, totalling eight years. Upon his departure, his replacement, Dmitry Medvedev, Putin’s preferred candidate also of the United Russia party, nominated the former President to the role of Prime Minister. This move was then approved by the Duma, in which the United Russia party held a two-thirds majority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This majority also later ratified the first amendments of the Russian constitution since it’s introduction in 1993 by approving the proposal to extend the presidential term from four to six year, securing the party’s grip on the Kremlin (Rossi, 2008). An extraordinary extension of Putin’s personal power was revealed in September 2011 when he revealed that he had accepted a proposal to stand for the presidency once again, and undertake a potential further twelve years as President, only four years after exiting the role. He also suggested that he would elect Medvedev as his Prime Minister (Economist, 2011; BBC, 2011). Critics of Putin suggest that he has enjoyed unparalleled levels of power throughout his career. Vladimir Ryzkhov, a Kremlin opponent said in 2008: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“The tsar was constrained by the aristocracy. The party bureaucracy controlled the general secretary. Today the president (Putin was President at the time of comment) controls parliament, the senate, regions, the bureaucracy and the security services, as well as oil and gas” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(Harding, 2008) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">As we have come to appreciate, where democracy is concerned, there is often more to see than initially meets the eye. The United Russia party has near monopolised Russian political power in recent times, but at least in basic terms, this is not unfamiliar to the longstanding political governance we have seen in Britain in the 20<sup>th</sup> and 21<sup>st</sup> century. For eighteen years between 1979 and 1997, the Conservative party maintained a majority strong enough to form a government in the United Kingdom, and the following New Labour establishment remained in office for a further thirteen years between 1997 and 2010.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If, like the Russian system, the term of President, or in Britain’s case Prime Minister, was a constitutionally limited timeframe, this may not have been possible. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Unlike Russia’s constitution, the United Kingdom’s has in recent times had it’s sovereign status called in to question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through European Union membership, Britain foregoes certain law making powers, relinquishing them to the European courts. Although certain aspects of this are seen to increase democratic status, for example the full implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in to British law via the Human Rights Act 1998, increasing civil liberties in the UK, the surrender of sovereign legislative authority, entrusted in parliament via means of a public mandate, is seen to undermine the electoral process in Britain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2010, thirty million British citizens took to the polling station to elect a government, one year prior to that, half of that number voted in European Parliament elections, representing 34% of the electorate. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Moreover from democracy, several other aspects of political comparison could lead us to determine varied conclusions on any nation. With regards to the United Kingdom and Russia, aspects such as devolution, race, ethnicity and religion could be used to portray an in depth analysis of the two. Russia’s federalist republic is of a vast political scale, comprising eighty three subject states ranging from the Ural district of Udmurt to the Siberian state of Tomsk Oblast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conversely, the United Kingdom consists of four nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The varying degree to which centralised power in both Russia and the UK is devolved to these bodies is immensely different. Similarly, the ethnic, racial and religious diversity of these two states is particularly converse, as are the issues surrounding them. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the initial emergence of fifteen new independent states, such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, very great ethnic conflict occurred in both of the named states, as well as in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia (Heywood, 2007). Issues of race, religion and ethnicity in Britain have also been prominent in recent times. For the latter half of the 20<sup>th</sup>, and into the 21<sup>st</sup> century, Britain suffered great threat from Irish Republicanism. However, following the turn of the millennium an increasing focus has been placed upon the threat of Islamic extremism. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">As a politically comparative tool, democracy has come to reveal much more than the voter turnout of the nations in hand, instead deeply investigating the rights and liberties of a nation’s citizens, whether it be the right to free speech, the right to stand as a presidential candidate, or the right to propose a petition. We have come to understand the phenomenon of democracy to be a complex one, and no form of democratic state can simply be defined as good or bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some are broadly similar with regards to the civil liberties they appear to protect or not protect, and this has led to the established terminology of “liberal” and “illiberal” democracies; however within these categories fall many greater distinctions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In conclusion, used as a tool for comparison, democracy has proved to be an overarching one; delving in to many greater aspects of a nation’s politics than it superficially appears to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bibliography</span></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">BBC, News (2008). Free speech ‘shrinking’ in Russia. [online]. Last accessed 12 December at: </span></span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7264033.stm"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7264033.stm</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">BBC, News (2008). Russia approves presidency bill. [online]. 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New Tools in Comparative Political Economy: The Database of Political Institutions. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The World Bank Economic Review</i>. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">15</b>(1), 165-176 </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">BLYTHE, Daniel (2010). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">X Marks the box. </i>London, Icon Books.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ECONOMIST, The (2010). The new dissidents. [online]. 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(1985). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Democracy Ancient and Modern. </i>London, Hogarth Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">HAGUE, Rod and Martin HARROP (2007). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comparative Government and Politics</i>. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">HARDING, Luke (2008). Russian vote paves way for early Putin comeback. [online]. 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Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">HEYWOOD, Andrew (2007). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Politics. 3rd Edition.</i> Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">HEYWOOD, Andrew (2011). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Global Politics</i>. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">IDEA RF,(2011). Voter turnout data for Russian Federation. [online]. 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London, A&C Black.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">LeDUC, Lawrence, NIEMI, Richard and NORRIS, Pippa (2010). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comparing Democracies 3</i>. London, Sage. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">LEIB, Ethan (2004). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deliberative democracy in America: A proposal for a Popular Branch of Government. </i>Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania University Press. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">LINCOLN, Abraham (1864). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Gettysburg Address</i>. Republished by in 2010 by Penguin.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">O’DONNELLl, Guillermo A.(2002). Democracy, Law, and Comparative Politics. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Studies in Comparative International Development</i>. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">36</b>(1), 7-36 </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ROSSI, Alex (2008). Move to let Putin Re-take Power. [online]. 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Last accessed 14 December at: </span></span><a href="http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=178:g1000&catid=1:general&Itemid=68"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=178:g1000&catid=1:general&Itemid=68</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">WEALE, Albert (2007). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Democracy, 2<sup>nd</sup> Edition. </i>Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">WEAVER, Matthew (2010). General election 2010: Polling stations lock out hundreds of voters. [online]. Last accessed 12 December at: </span></span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/07/election-polling-stations-lock-out"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/07/election-polling-stations-lock-out</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ZAKARIA, F. (2003). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad</i>. London, Norton.</span></span></div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-40931382902875210422011-12-16T11:12:00.000-08:002011-12-16T11:12:05.598-08:00500 words on: Too big to fail banks.<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Three years after bailing out one of America’s, and indeed the world’s biggest banks; Citigroup, “too big to fail banks” were back on the senate’s agenda last week when senator for Ohio, Sherrod Brown, presented his case to the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>In April 2010, Brown, alongside fellow Democratic Senator Ted Kaufman sponsored a failed measure proposing the attenuation of the United States’ “megabanks” and last week reiterated his desire to break up the monopoly of what he describes as the indestructible Wall Street Behemoths (Keoun & Ivry, 2011). Brown suggests that the largest banks in America are currently in a situation by which they cannot be allowed to fail as the results would be too catastrophic for the economy to handle, as such the government will always intervene, or bailout, these banks at the prolonged expense of the tax payer. This notion clearly relates to the aforementioned bailout of Citigroup, and that of Bank of America in 2009 (BBC News, 2009; Kiviate, 2008; Propublica, 2010).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In comparison to the United States, Lydia Prieg suggests that the United Kingdom is even more exposed to the banking sector; financial sector assets in relation to GDP are higher in Britain than in the US, Canada, France and Germany. Prieg furthers her claim of British exposure when she writes “In 2009 , the UK pledged 101% of UK GDP in support of the banking sector, in comparison to the US's 42% of GDP, Germany's 27% of GDP, and Japan's 21% of GDP” (Prieg, 2011). The pledged support mentioned, surpassing the UK’s GDP IN 2009, was accumulated in the bailing out of several British banks in 2008. Firstly, the February nationalisation of Northern Rock, followed seven months later by the recuse of Bradford and Bingley in September, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and finally only two weeks later in October, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the decision to inject a combined total of £37bn into the Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS and Lloyds TSB in order to prevent the British banking system from imploding (The Telegraph, 2009). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">When analysing these bailouts and those of the American banks we understand one thing; all had retail banking components, and as such are responsible for the management of millions of the general public’s bank accounts. By owning such a large share of the market, Brown and Prieg suggest these banks were too big to be allowed to fail by government. But the billion dollar bailouts did not become a necessity due to the actions of retail bank managers in Memphis or Macclesfield, instead they were required as a result of the very same banks’ investment activities. This style of casino banking; taking from the retail hand to feed the investment hand’s reckless gambling, has come under great scrutiny throughout the banking crises and has led to great support for the ring-fencing of the retail and investment sectors, if not total separation (Today, 2009; Prieg, 2011). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, it is worth noting that one key bank involved in the banking crises did not have a retail arm; Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 instigated the sale of Merill Lynch to Bank of America, resulting one year later in the Bank of America bailout (BBC News, 2008). This incestuous description of retail and investment banking exemplifies the reasoning<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>behind calls to cap the sizes of all banks as called for by Senator Brown and Lydia Prieg.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In conclusion, we can see of the various banks discussed, those involved in retail and investment banking mutually, have not been allowed to fail by either the American or British government, saved by taxpayers money in order protect the banking system, as well as the taxpayers themselves. However, Lehmann Brothers, the fourth largest investment bank in the United States in 2008 was not saved, with the repercussions spreading <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in to every aspect of finance, including the protected retail banking sector. This would suggest that whilst some banks were understood to be too big to fail, such as Citigroup in the US, and Northern Rock in the UK, some banks, such as Lehmann brothers, were simply too big for the economy. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <strong><u>Bibliography</u></strong></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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</div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-1615990940916255692011-12-08T13:45:00.000-08:002011-12-08T13:47:27.850-08:00Control Orders: An introduction to the policy.<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The initial proposal for ‘control orders’ was introduced by the Labour government in 2005 via the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prevention of Terrorism Bill </i>and was seen at the time as a preventative measure against an increased threat of international terrorism in the United Kingdom. Following the September 11<sup>th</sup> attacks in the United States in 2001, the subsequent invasions of both Afghanistan, also in 2001, and Iraq in 2003, was understood to have greatly increased the danger of an attack by extreme Islamist groups on UK soil (Marsden, 2010; Great Britain Bill, 2005). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Control orders seek to restrict the actions of suspects involved in “terrorism-related activity” as defined by the Terrorism Act 2000; they apply to both British and international persons, whom cannot be prosecuted or deported (Great Britain, 2000, Great Britain R.P., 2005). The orders seek to curb the activities of suspects whilst not incarcerating them. An initial research paper stated: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“This Bill allows the Secretary of State to make ‘control orders’ to restrict the movements or behaviour of suspected terrorists who cannot be prosecuted or deported, or impose obligations on them. The orders would be subject to some judicial oversight. Orders which amounted to an infringement of liberty would require a derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights to be in force.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(Great Britain R.P., p1, 2005) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The means by which the Home Secretary can “restrict the movements or behaviour of suspected terrorists” are explicitly detailed in the Bill and it’s research papers, and have also been summarised by the BBC:</span></div><br />
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<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: windowtext 1pt solid; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The Bill Says:</span></b></div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: windowtext 1pt solid; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The BBC Says:</span></b></div></td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Prohibitions or restrictions on the possession of specified articles, use of specified</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">services or facilities, or carrying on specified activities</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">E.g. No internet</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Controls on whom he may associate with</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">E.g. Restrictions on visitors, Attend only one mosque</span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Restrictions or prohibitions on movement</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">E.g. Curfews</span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Controls on an individual’s place of residence or place of work</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">E.g. Live at one address</span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Other restrictions on their ability to travel including surrender of passports;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">E.g. No passport</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Duty to allow searches and comply with monitoring and reporting requirements</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">including electronic tagging; Duty to supply information</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">E.g. Electronic tagging, Daily reporting to the police, Daily monitoring by phone</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(Great Britain R.P., p24, 2005; Great Britain Bill, 2005; Casciani, 2011)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The orders take two different forms, both of which if breached result in a criminal offence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A “non- derogation order” lasts for one year, implementing several of the lesser restrictions such as curfews and bans on whom the suspect may be in contact with. This form of control order does not implicate Britain’s relationship with the European Union as it is not in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). A “derogation order” would “infringe the right to liberty” by means of such restrictions as house arrest, and as such would call into question this relationship as it would involve opting out of Article 5 ECHR (Hanman, 2009; Great Britain R.P., 2005; Great Britain Bill, 2005).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Significantly, suspects accused of “terrorism-related activity” and subsequently issued with a control order are not to be informed of allegations against them, in order to maintain privacy of sensitive information, otherwise known as “secret evidence”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are allowed to be represented by a lawyer, known as their “special advocate”, whom has access to the evidence along with the judge, but from which point on their contact with the accused is limited to monitored written correspondence, so as to maintain secrecy (Wagner, 2011). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The Home Secretary at the time of the bill’s introduction, Charles Clarke, issued a statement spelling out the government’s objectives for control orders as to protect the public from the threat of terrorism. He stated that “orders would be preventive and designed to disrupt those seeking to carry out attacks—whether here or elsewhere—or who are planning or otherwise supporting such activities” (Great Britain R.P.,p15, 2005). Prime Minister, Tony Blair reiterated the importance of the policy and public safety when his spokesperson said “The government has not put forward its proposals lightly” (BBC, 2005). <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The policy was met with initial criticism from human rights organisations and opposition parties who suggested the government had hidden objectives of replacing previous laws, which had been illegalised, with legislation which could also be interpreted as illegal. Liberty, the civil liberties and human rights organisation commented robustly against control orders, stating: “Eight hundred years of the right to a fair trial in this country could be overturned within fourteen days” (Great Britain R.P., p19,2005). Similarly, Michael Howard, leader of the Conservative party refuted the notion; a Tory press release called for a suspects innocence or guilt to be decided by the courts, continuing “ If they are found guilty, they must be detained in a prison cell, not their living rooms” (Great Britain R.P.,p17, 2005).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The history surrounding the introduction of the control order policy to the agenda by the government in 2005 is complex. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following the September 11<sup>th</sup> attacks, new counter-terrorism legislation was introduced in Britain under a strategy known as CONTEST (Simcox,p18, 2010).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>The Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 was passed in November 2001 as emergency legislation and detailed, in Part 4, that a foreign national suspected of “terrorism related activity” could be imprisoned indefinitely without charge or trial if they could not be deported. However, three years later in December 2004, the House of Lords made a declaration of incompatibility as they believed the law to breach the ‘right to liberty’ under the ECHR. The Law Lords proposed that the law was not “strictly necessary”, as must be the case for an EU nation to opt out of any clause of the Human Rights Act. They believed this was demonstrated by the fact that it applied only to foreign nationals. This lead the government to repeal Part 4 of the Act, and propose a replacement policy: control orders (Liberty, 2005; Great Britain, 2001). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The first outline of the policy to the House of Commons, media, and the overall agenda was one of considerable speed; The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prevention of Terrorism Bill</i> was announced in a Business Statement on Monday 21 February 2005, listing it for debate only two days later, Wednesday 23 February, and final Committee stages on Monday 28 February. The rushed nature of the policy produced much distain from opponents. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">We understand that control orders reached the public agenda as the result of another policy; indefinite detention, being repealed as a result of the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union. This direct impact on policy formulation exemplifies a strong influence by the EU on what policies reach the agenda, and what can actually be implemented. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Other influences aside from those involved in the formulation of the policy, have clearly influenced it’s evolution; Labour’s manifesto promise in 1997 of being “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” meant that not only were the Labour government looking to reduce crime levels, but to halt the formulation of criminal activity (Labour, 1997). Conjoined with the increased threat from terror following September 11<sup>th</sup>, and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the government looked to maintain this strong ideological stance on criminality (Labour, 1997; BBC, 2010; Marsden, 2010). In 2004, Prime Minister Tony Blair described the role of Britain as to “try to find a way through this: to construct a consensus behind a broad agenda of justice and security and means of enforcing it” (BBC, 2004). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">We can see that many aspects have influenced the evolution of the control order policy reaching the agenda: international crises, failure of legislation and European sovereignty have proved most prominent. These series of events relate to what Anderson believes explains the appearance of any policy on the agenda; suggesting that crises or spectacular events, such as the Iraq war, draw wide attention to a policy area, and become of particular importance when a group, in this instance the British public, are threatened. He also believes that when the Executive, that is the leadership of the government, becomes concerned with a policy area it is inevitable that it will reach the agenda in some form or another (Anderson, 1984). <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In this sense, Anderson’s model of a number of factors coming together corresponds with Lindblom’s suggestion that the policy process is one of gradual change and growth; the “science of muddling through” (Hudson & Lowe, p7, 2009; Lindblom, 1979).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This incremental approach towards the policy process rather than one of rational decision making, as suggested by Lasswell, is less idealistic and aims to develop policy in a reactionary fashion, as is the case with control orders (Hudson & Lowe, 2009). As such Linblom’s model correlates with the New Labour government’s overarching ideology of Realpolitik, addressing issues with a realist perspective guided by Gidden’s ‘Third Way’<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>(Heywood, 2007). <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, a more structured view of the issues which arise in the evolution of any policy is detailed by Kingdon who believes that amongst the “muddle” described by Linblom and the contributing factors mentioned by Anderson, there must always be three prominent factors. The<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘multiple stream model’ proposed that in order for a policy to reach the agenda, three ‘streams’ must prevail; the problem stream, policy stream and political stream. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem stream produces the issues that need resolving; the policy stream produces answers to such issues; and finally the political stream produces the correct circumstances for new policy change. In the instance of control order policy, this would be viewed as follows:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><strong>Problem Stream - </strong>Repealment of Part 4, Anti-Terrorism Act 2001.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><strong>Policy Stream- </strong>Proposal to replace indfefinite detention with 'control orders'.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><strong>Political Stream- </strong>A desire to protect the public from terror suspects, and maintain a tough ideological stance on crime.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The ‘political stream’ of any policy can be linked to what Hudson and Lowe describe as “ideological paradigms” i.e. the political circumstances must suit the government’s ideology for the policy to reach the agenda. A strong stance on crime and anti-terrorism were clearly part of the Labour government’s ideological paradigm at the time. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Finally, it is worth noting that political power, leadership and decision making have clearly influenced the evolution of the control orders policy. Weber’s description of a strong charismatic leadership have been demonstrated by both the Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary Charles Clarke (Hudson & Lowe, 2009). Their actions also correlate with Houghton’s description of how political leaders make “big decisions during times of crises” in accordance with historical and personal events (Hudson & Lowe, p231, 2009). In this instance the initial introduction of indefinite detention, which they did not wish to be repealed, lead them to introduce what they believed was the best alternative. Outside influence on the policy’s formulation has been limited, demonstrating centralised decision making which has clearly been influenced by a strong government standing in parliament. The Labour government held a majority of 66 in 2005, resulting in the ability to table unpopular policies, such as control orders, and still believe in their ability to press them through. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><u><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bibliography</span></u></span></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; mso-border-insideh: none; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr style="height: 25.55pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 25.55pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ANDERSON, James E. (1984). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Public Policy-Making</i>. London,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holt Rinehart & Winston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 25.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 25.55pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">BBC, News (2004). Blair terror speech in full. [online]. Last accessed 8 December at: </span></span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/3536131.stm"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/3536131.stm</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 37.6pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 37.6pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">BBC, News (2005). Blair set for house arrest talks. [online]. Last accessed 8 December at: </span></span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4274313.stm"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4274313.stm</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div></td></tr>
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<tr style="height: 38.35pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 38.35pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">GREAT BRITAIN R.P., Parliament, House of Commons (2005). Research Paper:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O5/14. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prevention of Terrorism Bill. </i>London , The Stationery Office. </span></span></div></td></tr>
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<tr style="height: 25.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 25.55pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">HUDSON, John and LOWE, Staurt (2009). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Understanding the policy process. 2<sup>nd</sup> Ed. </i>Bristol, The Policy Press. </span></span></div></td></tr>
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<tr style="height: 38.35pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 38.35pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">LABOUR, Party (1997). New Labour Manifesto 1997. [online]. Last accessed 8 December at: </span></span><a href="http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1997/1997-labour-manifesto.shtml"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1997/1997-labour-manifesto.shtml</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 38.35pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 38.35pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">LIBERTY (2005). Detention without charge. [online]. Last accessed 8 December at: </span></span><a href="http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/human-rights/terrorism/detention-without-charge/index.php"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/human-rights/terrorism/detention-without-charge/index.php</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 63.15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 63.15pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">LIBERTY (2010). Liberty’s Briefing on the draft Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 (Continuance in force of sections 1 to 9) Order 2010. [online]. Last accessed 8 December at: </span></span><a href="http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/pdfs/policy10/liberty-s-briefing-on-control-order-renewal-2010-house-of-commons.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/pdfs/policy10/liberty-s-briefing-on-control-order-renewal-2010-house-of-commons.pdf</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 25.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 25.55pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">LINDBLOM, C.E. (1979). ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Still Muddling Through’</i>. Public Administration Review, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">39</b>(6), 517-525. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 50.4pt; mso-yfti-irow: 16;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 50.4pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MARSDEN, Sam (2010). Iraq invasion ‘increased terror activity against UK’. [online]. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Independent</i>, 20 July. Last accessed 8 December at: </span></span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/iraq-invasion-increased-terror-activity-against-uk-2030681.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/iraq-invasion-increased-terror-activity-against-uk-2030681.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 38.35pt; mso-yfti-irow: 17;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 38.35pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">METAGORA (Undated). John W. Kingdon. [online]. Last accessed 8 December at: </span></span><a href="http://www.metagora.org/training/encyclopedia/Kingdon.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.metagora.org/training/encyclopedia/Kingdon.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 12.8pt; mso-yfti-irow: 18;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 12.8pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">RICHARDS, David and SMITH, Martin J. (2002. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Governance and public policy in the UK.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oxford, Oxford University Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 7.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 19;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 7.2pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">SIMCOX, Robin (2010). Control Orders: Strengthening National Security. [online]. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Centre for Social Cohesion. </i>Last accessed 8 December at: </span></span><a href="http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/files/1301651552_1.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/files/1301651552_1.pdf</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 7.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 20; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 7.2pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 455.1pt;" valign="top" width="607"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">WAGNER, Adam (2011). Control orders: what are they and why do they matter? [online]. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">UK Human Rights Blog</i>, 6 January. Last accessed 8 December at: </span></span><a href="http://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2011/01/06/control-orders-what-are-they-and-why-do-they-matter/"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2011/01/06/control-orders-what-are-they-</span>and-why-do-they-matter/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"> </span></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-21807818908718138242011-12-07T03:52:00.000-08:002011-12-07T03:52:44.592-08:00500 words on: Free trade policy- is it for everyone?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Free market capitalism is based upon the premise that private individuals rather than the state make the best economic decisions. By confining the role of the government to protecting private property, maintaining law and order and shielding the system from external exaggeration, this laissez-faire policy of facilitation, rather than regulation; reduces the role of the state to that of the ‘night watchman’, leaving the ‘invisible hand’ of the market to be the controlling force (Marron, 2010). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Just as the free market is facilitated by a reduced state, the free market facilitates free trade. In an international sense the free market economy is accepted as widespread, meaning international trade is a truly globalising factor. Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand as one nation’s economy interacts with many others. Twentieth century economist and academic Friedrich van Hayek wrote: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“It is necessary in the first instance that the parties in the market should be free to sell and buy at any price at which they can find a partner to the transaction, and that anybody should be free to produce, sell, and buy anything that may be produced and sold at all”. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(1944,p37)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Furthermore, nineteenth century economist David Ricardo continued the work of Adam Smith’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wealth of Nations </i>in advocating free trade suggesting that there is mutual benefit as long as nations focus on the areas where they have “relative productivity advantage” (Arnold and McGauley , 2011). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A modern example would be the comparative advantage of Western nations in the field of the finance and service industry and that off South-East Asian nations on production. Essentially, nations should specialise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With these thoughts in mind, advocates of free trade believe it can ensure maximum prosperity across the globe (Sachs, 2005).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Some critics of free trade policy call in to question Ricardo’s belief in mutually beneficial trading through specialisation, suggesting that such a situation creates little economic mobility. A common example of this is known as the ‘agriculture problem’. As people become wealthier their desire to buy high-spec goods increase, generally produced in well-developed nations. However, as people become wealthier they do not become hungrier, at least not literally, and food production remains the same. Comparably the wealthy nation continues to gain wealth, and the poorer nation remains stagnant (Oxfam, 2011). <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Moreover from the idealistic criticism of free trade policy is the realist criticism that free trade does not actually exist. The removal of the state from economic decisions is integral to developing a full and beneficial free market place; critics suggest that in actuality, this does not exist. Through trading agreements countries approve a number of criteria; tariff reductions for example, so as to increase economical interaction and create a trading bloc. This comes at the expense of other nations trading in to that bloc, who become <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>over-priced through tariff increases to non-trading bloc members, undersold by tariff reduction to trading bloc members and even withdrawn by quotas on nations outside of the trading bloc (Cohen, 2008). Oxfam suggests that through trade diversion, some of the world’s wealthiest nations protect themselves from the free market they preach, the consequences of which for developing nations are dire. (Oxfam, 2011; CHUA, 2004).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">When drawing conclusion on whether free trade policy works for all countries, we must consider what in reality free trade is, and what form of international trading we currently undertake. As the originally free market- and consequently developed- economies of the West have introduced trading agreements, they have since become common place, disqualifying many nations from the market. This form of ‘mixed economy’ rather than free market is what leads to the most intense criticism. In it’s current form free trade policy clearly does not work for every nation, this is why discussions on global tariff reduction such as the recent Doha round are of great importance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Supporters believe that a freer free market and resulting freer free trade can work for all nations. </span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bibliography</span></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ARNOLD, Peter and MCGAULEY, Alan (2011). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Free Markets and Free Trade</i>. Lecture Slides from SHU Blackboard site International Political Economy 2011-12. Last accessed 28 November at: </span></span><a href="http://my.shu.ac.uk/"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://my.shu.ac.uk</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">CALLINICOS, Alex (2003). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto</i>. Oxford, Polity Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">CHUA, Amy (2004). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">World on Fire.</i> London, Arrow Books.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">COHEN, Benjamin (2008). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">International Political Economy</i>. Oxford, Princeton University Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ELLIOTT, Jennifer A. (1994). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An Introduction to Sustainable Development</i>. London, Routledge. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">HAYEK, Friedrich A. (1944). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Road to Serfdom</i>. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">KINGSBURY, Damien, et al. (eds.) (2008). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">International Development: Issues and Challenges</i>. Basingstoke, Palgrave MacMillan. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MARRON, Donald (ed) (2010). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">30 Second economics.</i> Lewes, Ivy Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">OXFAM. Free Trade. (2011). [online]. Last accessed 29 November 2011 at: </span></span><a href="http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/milking_it/milkingit/information/the_issues/free_trade.htm"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/milking_it/milkingit/information/the_issues/free_trade.htm</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">SACHS, Jeffrey (2005). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The End of Poverty.</i> London, Penguin Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">SHAH, Anup. Free Trade and Globalization (2011). [online]. Last accessed 26 November at: </span></span><a href="http://www.globalissues.org/issue/38/free-trade-and-globalization"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.globalissues.org/issue/38/free-trade-and-globalization</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">STIGILTZ, Joseph (2006). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Un autre monde. Contre le fanatisme du marché. </i>Paris, Fayard.</span></span></div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-30175390086623668182011-11-21T15:19:00.000-08:002011-11-21T15:19:28.145-08:00Niccolo Machiavelli: An Explanation.<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Niccolo Machiavelli, the Florentine statesman and political thinker, was born in 1469. Yet over five hundred years on, Machiavelli’s name is intrinsically tied to modern political thought, ideology, and analysis; synonymous with amorality, deceit, and cunning. Quentin Skinner describes how Machiavelli has played a prominent role in political life since the fifteenth century, detailing how Shakespeare referred to “The murderous Machiavel”, Edmund Burke described the “odious maxims of Machiavellian policy” and Marx and Engels berated such policies as “paralysing democratic energies” (Skinner, 1981, p1). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For many years politicians, and active participants in the world in which they operate, countered any links with Machiavelli or his workings. Henry Kissinger, Presidential advisor to Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the 1970’s famously refuted any comparison with Machiavelli, despite the continued association. Other politicians have not shied away from such judgement; Peter Mandelson, a key founder of Britain’s New Labour party appeared to revel in his moniker of ‘Dark Prince’, inspired by Machiavelli’s most famous work. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, his shady reputation in the upper echelons of government, power-brokering in the shadows of Westminster, earned him few admirers outside his power-circle centred at the top of government. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So with much of the negativity of modern twenty-first century politics neatly tied in a range of terms under one man’s name, Machiavelli seemingly plays the role of perpetrator for man’s governmental sins. But why so? How have the works of Machiavelli resulted in such an infamous legacy, and more importantly, is it an accurate one? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In order to understand Machiavelli, his works, and his legacy, we must first look at the life he led. Born the son of a civil lawyer in fifteenth century Florence, Machiavelli was from modest stock but received a classical education, at the time deemed essential for political men. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The city of Florence in northern Italy had always considered itself a Republic, however for much of the fifteenth century Florence had been an oligarchy dominated by the rule of one banking family, the Medici. The collapse of Medici rule, the reestablishment of the Republic under Savonarola in 1494, and the continuation of this by Soderini in 1498 eventually led to Machiavelli’s introduction to politics (Anglo, 1984). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He was first appointed in to civil service at the age of twenty-nine, fulfilling the role of Chancellor to the Second Chancery with special responsibilities in the fields of militia and foreign affairs. This diplomatic role saw him dispatched across Europe during a period of time in which Sydney Anglo, describes Italy as “hapless” and “playing the battle-ground for European nation-states” (Anglo, 1984, p73). This, Anglo suggests, was a humiliating experience for Machiavelli, but it was also the most rigorous political training he could have undertaken. However, for all his endeavours, Machiavelli’s diplomatic career was circumstantially doomed by his comparatively lowly social status to that of his peers, preventing him from appointment as a full ambassador of the Republic. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Machiavelli’s involvement in military affairs had rather different results. The small town of Pisa had become an increasing embarrassment to the Florentine Republic, as they failed at it’s capture, despite numerous attempts. Soderini thus empowered Machiavelli to create a new militia with a mind to it’s capture. By December 1506 Machiavelli published <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Discourse on Florentine Military Preperation</i>, calling upon his experience of European embattlement witnessed upon his travels. Within a month a new magistracy was created; the Nine of the Militia, and Machiavelli appointed it’s Chancellor. Eventually, in 1509 Pisa succumbed to Machiavelli’s infantry, and his military career reached optimum status. As such he was entrusted with further military responsibilities on behalf of the Florentine Republic, increasing his influence and power (Anglo, 1984).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">However, Machiavelli’s public endearment was short lived. By 1512, the Republic surrendered to a Spanish army supported by Pope Julius II; Soderini fled, Republican institutions were banished and Machiavelli found himself out of work. The Medici once again returned to oligarch status, and the former Chancellor to the Nine of the Militia was wrongly accused of a plot to rid them of their recouped power. Tortured, Machiavelli was eventually released without charge, but remained under suspicion for several years (Skinner, 1981). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Following his trial, Machiavelli retired from public life for fourteen years, a period in which much of his most acclaimed work was created. But in 1526, he again found himself eligible for office and his longing for employment led to election as the Chancellor responsible for the city’s fortifications, albeit it under Medici rule. The small pleasure Machiavelli received from a return to office was short lived; one year after returning to Florentine politics, the Medici administration collapsed. The Republic was re-established and Machiavelli was once again overlooked. One year later, on 21 June 1527, Niccolo Machiavelli died from a long term illness (Niccolo Machiavelli 1469-1527, 2011).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">His lifetime in politics had been famous in varied moments, the capture of Pisa most notably, but ultimately Machiavelli can be seen to have been overlooked and at times underestimated in office. It was many years later, when much of the work completed during his enforced retirement from public life was released that he would become most eminent. Through the release of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince, The Discourses, The Art of War </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Florentine History, </i>Machiavelli would live on; receiving much greater acknowledgment, both good and bad, posthumously. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The first piece Machiavelli worked on during his exile was to become his most famous. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince, </i>although published many years after his death, was written around 1513 and was to be an advisory to the new Medici Prince on how to “gain, hold, and increase political power” (Anglo, 1984, p77). Unlike many of the political thinkers of his era, Machiavelli set out within <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince </i>to separate political morality from Christian ethics, divorcing practicality from ethics in an early establishment of what we now understand as ‘realpolitik’. Inspired by historical examples such as that of Cesare Borgia, whom he had known personally, Machiavelli detailed how he believed a successful prince should be ruthless, as it is more advantageous to be feared rather than loved, he writes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“This leads to the debate: Is it better to be loved than feared, or the reverse?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer is that it is desirable to be both, but because it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer for a prince to be feared than loved, if he is to fail in one of the two.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">(Knowles, 2004, p502)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Machiavelli goes on to explain how the prince should only keep his word for as long as it is of use to him, and no longer, such acts of ruthlessness can be justified he suggests when he writes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“in the actions of men, and especially princes… the end justifies the means”. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">(Knowles, 2004, p502)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The themes of cunning and duplicity are perhaps best analysed within <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince </i>through the explanation of the lion and the fox. Machiavelli describes both animals’ shortcomings: the lion does not protect himself from traps and the fox does not protect himself from wolves. In order for the prince to succeed he must take on the role of both creatures simultaneously: the lion to frighten the wolves, and the fox to recognize the traps (Lukes, 2001). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Machiavelli also discussed Man’s, and indeed the prince’s, power to mould his own destiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He referred to two polarities throughout his works which first came to prominence in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince</i>, known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fortuna </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">virtu</i>.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>These two opposing forces according to Machiavelli determine whether affairs are dominated by chance or whether they can be influenced by human skill or effort. Fortuna, Machiavelli describes as what he believes is manifest in most men’s lives, as they appear nothing more than subject to circumstance. Conversely, virtu he could see in only a few men; the power to control their own paths, and more specifically their political objectives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In summary he writes “while mankind in general remains subject to the whims of fortuna, it is possible for some men, at least, to control a part of their fate” (Anglo, 1984).<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">From this brief overview we begin to understand how Machiavelli believed that the virtu of one man alone would be enough to re-establish Florence, and create a strong stable society; however we understand the measures by which Machiavelli would have the prince act, albeit interim, would be violent, and not least cut-throat. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Following <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince</i>, Machiavelli went to work on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Discourses </i>between 1513 and 1519. The examination of Rome’s political and military institutions was based largely upon Livy’s account of Roman history. Throughout this work<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Machiavelli once again assessed his views on the nature of man, discussing the deep lying corruption throughout all Italian states and republics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He goes onto explain that corruption cannot forever be held at bay, not even within the great Roman Empire, as all men have their downfalls. Once again he expels how the fortuna of the many must be overcome by the virtu of “an almost royal hand” (Anglo, 1984, p81). This had already been discussed in principle in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince</i>, but in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Discourses </i>Machiavelli goes on to develop his thoughts on the prince’s virtu in to detailed explanations of the importance military expertise, revealing that in order for the prince to triumph his focus must be largely upon battle (Machiavelli, 2003). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Art of War</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">, written between 1519 and 1520 was Machiavelli’s next focus and the only piece of work published during his lifetime. Following on from the reiterated importance of military expertise in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Discourse</i>, Machiavelli sets out what he believes to be ideal military practice. Although he details exact information on what he believes to be the best forms of recruitment, technique, movement, and organisation, the explicit focus of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Art of War </i>is one of promoting good citizenship through military discipline, reiterating his work in both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince and The Discourses </i>that strong laws are controlled by strong arms (Paret, 1986).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Machiavelli’s final work, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Florentine History</i>, written between 1520 and the year of his death 1527, told the story of Florence’s Republic up until 1492. In the broader Italian context Machiavelli details how corruption, explicitly in Florence, had crept into political life as a result of lacking military prowess. This account furthered his initial explanation of corruption stemming from weak militia in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Discourses</i> and provided historical basis for much of the theory already detailed in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Art of War</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It has been argued by many that the works of Machiavelli can be difficult to tie down; that the historical basis of one of his theories, can just as easily act as an opponent to another of his concepts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince</i> Machiavelli details how the virtu of a prince can be the saviour of the Florentine Republic, and then in both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Discourses </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Art of War </i>he describes the degeneration of the Roman Empire by way of imperial corruption as a result of republican virtu. This has been the cause of criticism for some, but Machiavelli’s intent is clear however contradictory his theories may or may not be; the establishment of a solid republic for the people of Florence was his ultimate goal. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In order to understand whether Niccolo Machiavelli is misrepresented in the twenty-first century we must appreciate not only the content of his work, but the core values and beliefs which he hoped would be extracted from them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Machiavelli clearly calls upon his views of human nature within his workings. Through the phenomenon of fortuna he explains how he believes most men are not in control of their own destiny, and as such are more inclined to the evils of corruption and fickle behaviour, within <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince </i>he writes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Let no one oppose this belief of mine with that well-worn proverb: ‘He who builds on the people, builds on mud.’”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">(Knowles, 2004, p502)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This quotation expresses Machiavelli’s preference for a strong single leader. However, it is also clear that he believes human shortcomings can be remedied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sydney Anglo writes: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“It is, he feels, possible both to devise and to teach rules for effective political behaviour, to persuade men to eschew wickedness; to inspire them to selflessness; and to awaken a civic spirit. This is why he writes at all.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">(Anglo, 1984, p78)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">These two quotations in tandem exemplify the contrasting nature of Machiavelli’s writing vividly, and yet when placed in context of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince </i>we clearly comprehend, if not agree with, his stance on human nature. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He believed that whilst the people of the Florentine Republic were often undesirably stricken to selfish actions, they could be, with the right leadership, a selfless and successful people. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One very apparent reasoning for the longevity of Machiavelli’s presence in political thought since the fifteenth century is clearly the foundation of his works in his opinion of human nature. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anthony D’Amato writes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Despite the atomic bomb, we have a high degree of sameness of man today with the human model analysed by Machiavelli”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">(D’Amato, 1972 ,p210)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jonathan Powell, former Chief of Staff to Tony Blair and author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Modern Machiavelli </i>agrees: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“If you look back at Machiavelli’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince, </i>the lessons still on the hole apply, even though it is five hundred years later. I think it’s because Machiavelli got to human nature; instead of trying to base things on theology or utopias, he looked at what was real.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">(Today, 2010)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">These two explanations of Machiavelli’s relevance go a long way to explaining why we are familiar with his work in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries respectively, but they do not give answer to why the connotations associated with his name exist. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">From the analysis of his work, most notably <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince</i>, we have come to understand that Machiavelli believed only a ruthless leader would return Florence to a stable republic. Through the cunning of the fox and the strength of the lion, he alleged the end would justify the means, as one man’s virtu remedied the fortuna of the many. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">With this in mind we must understand the context of Machiavelli’s work. During a blood soaked period of European and indeed Italian history, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Prince</i> was to be seen as a guide to the new Medici ruler on how to establish order in Florence. But, Machiavelli only believed these measures to be temporary; necessary to stabilise the Florentine state and lead to an eventual re-establishment of republican rule (Niccolo Machiavelli 1469-1527, 2003). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When beginning to draw a conclusion, Niccolo Machiavelli’s most intellectual work; the separation of theology from political practice and leadership, should be seen as the very foundation of much of our modern world and the phenomenon of realpolitik. He can be viewed as one of the first realist political thinkers, and as such should be held in high regard. However, his preference for cunning and deceit, in the form of recommendation to the new prince of Florence in 1513, appears to have overshadowed much of his work, controlling his legacy as an evil, dark figure. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Placing Machiavelli’s political thoughts in context is paramount when analysing the intent of his work; and whilst human nature has changed little over five hundred years, circumstance has. And so, if to be Machiavellian is to believe in the use of immoral behaviour in order to achieve gain, then Niccolo Machiavelli is not so. However, if to believe in the implementation of realpolitik alongside strong leadership and strong law is Machiavellianism, then Machiavelli is as Machiavellian as they come. Unfortunately, in the twenty-first century, as in every century following his death, the former appears to supersede the latter. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><strong><u><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bibliography </span></u></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ANGLO, Sydney (1984). Niccolo Machiavelli: the anatomy of political and military decadence. In: D’AMATO, Anthony (1972). The relevance of Machiavelli to contemporary world politics. In: PAREL, Anthony (ed). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Political Calculus</i>. Totonto, University of Toronto Press. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u></u></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">HEYWOOD, Andrew (2000). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Key Concepts in Politics</i>. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">HEYWOOD, Andrew (2007). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Politics, 3<sup>rd</sup> Edition</i>. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">JONES, Jonathan (2005). How to win at politics. [online]. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Guardian</i>, 12 January. Last accessed 18 November at: </span></span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/jan/12/arts.politicsphilosophyandsociety"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/jan/12/arts.politicsphilosophyandsociety</span></span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">KNOWLES, Elizabeth (ed) (2004). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oxford Dictionary of Quotations</i>. 6<sup>th</sup> ed., Oxford, Oxford University Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">LUKES, Timothy (2001). Lionizing Machiavelli. ProQuest Education Journals, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">95</b>(3), 561- 575. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MACHIAVELLI, Niccolo (2003). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Discourses on Livy</i>. Translated by Julia Conaway Bondanella and Peter Bondanella. Oxford, Oxford University Press. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><u><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></u></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MANDELSON, Peter (2010). The Third Man. Harper Press, London. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Niccolo Machiavelli 1469-1527 </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">(2011). [online]. Last accessed 19 November 2011 at: </span></span><a href="http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199231331/01student/keythinkers/machiavelli/"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199231331/01student/keythinkers/machiavelli/</span></span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">PAREL, Anthony (ed). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Political Calculus</i>. Totonto, University of Toronto Press. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">PARET, Peter (ed) (1986). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Makers of Modern Strategy</i>. Princeton, Princeton University Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">REDHEAD, Brian, et al. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Plato to Nato</i>. London, BBC, 73-84. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">SKINNER, Quentin (1981). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Machiavelli</i>. Oxford, Oxford University Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Today</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">. The modern Machiavelli. (2010) [radio broadcast]. BBC Radio 4. 14 October. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">WILDE, Norman (1928). Machiavelli. International Journal of Ethics, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">38</b>(2), 212-225. </span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"></div></div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-5485148709630530972011-11-16T10:34:00.000-08:002011-11-16T10:34:27.372-08:00500 words on: Europe's connection with the emerging markets.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The financial superpower of Europe has changed drastically since 2007. The recently agreed Greek bailout and the unfolding political pantomime of Berlusconi’s Italy are testament to the continuation of these changes to this day. The established economic regions are not the only ones changing, in 2011 we are very aware of the BRIC economies and to a lesser extent the emerging Next Eleven: Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, the Philippines and Vietnam.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Through the European Union, ‘Europe’ and it’s 27 member states trade with one another and the world. This collective style of interaction is designed to promote wide-spread European prosperity and protection, and via international organisations such as the G8 and G20, Europe is independently represented on the largest global scale. However, inter-European economic interaction in 2011 is enduring one of the most strained periods since the Second World War as EU member states find themselves engrossed in a battle to save fellow nations, and ultimately, a currency. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Since the financial crisis swept itself across the Atlantic in 2007, European trading has continued to feel the squeeze. The services sector continues to struggle, particular in the epicentre of London, where growth totalled at 0.5% in the last quarter (3<sup>rd</sup> qtr. 2011) (BBC, 2011). Manufacturing in Europe has also taken a severe hit in recent years, meaning many of Central and Eastern Europe’s production hotbeds, such as Hungary and Slovakia, have severely slowed, and in the case of some industries stagnated. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The world’s emerging economies find themselves in varying positions in relation to the current state of the European economy. At one end of the scale nations such as Vietnam and Egypt, two of the ‘Next Eleven’ whom rely heavily upon their vast tourism sectors, and have suffered badly as European’s have less expendable cash. (Smithers, 2010). At the other end of the spectrum: China. Europe is China’s largest trading partner and it relies heavily upon European expenditure (EU, 2011).<b> </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, although China’s economy is based largely upon it’s power to manufacture, it is increasingly supported by its services sector, unlike many of the ‘Next Eleven’ and various other manufacturing nations. For these nations, the stagnation of car sales in Europe for example, stunts their own growth as much as it does Europe’s. In this sense we understand the very global role of Europe’s economic power; the non-secondary production of a car in Krakow, not only means the non-sale of a car in Slough, nor does it only mean the non-financing of it’s purchasing from a German bank, but it also means the non-primary production of said car in Indonesia, Turkey or the Philippines (World Bank, 2011).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In order for the all of the emerging economies, large and small, to continue to prosper they clearly need the economic super-powers to continue spending. It is for this reason that many of the more developed growth economies have purchased European debt in recent years and continue to do so today. By propping up the European economy, nation’s such as India and China hope to see a return to economic growth in their own and other emerging regions, with much of Europe’s wealth returned via trade, and of course, interest (Morris, 2011; IBT, 2011).<b> </b>The connection of Europe and the world’s emerging economies is clearly two-way: Europe needs the most well-financed of the emerging economies to fund it through the on-going economic crises and eventually return it to stability. Meanwhile, all of the world’s emerging economies, big and small, need Europe to spend in order to recognise their full potential. <b></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bibliography </span></u></strong><br />
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Asia Europe Journal, <b>4</b>(1), 31-41. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MARRON, Donald (2010). 30 Second economics. Lewes, Ivy Press.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MORRIS, Ian. Eurozone crisis: What it means for East and West. (2011). [online]. 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Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-76913261838969862462011-10-26T10:35:00.000-07:002011-10-26T10:35:47.420-07:00500 words on: China v USA<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>According to Guardian researcher Lisa Evans, America and China are changing. Whilst the former currently owns the largest deficit burden on the planet at $561 billion, the latter, runs the greatest budget surplus at $272 billion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her words the traditional “balance of power” leaning West appears to be shifting East, supported by the 7% gap in GDP growth, once again in favour of China (2.6% USA-9.6% China, 3<sup>rd</sup> quarter 2010) (EVANS, 2011).</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Prior to the First World War, the United States shifted from a simple agrarian nation to an industrial superpower. This was continued following the war until the Wall Street Crash of 1929 by such revolutionary industrialists as Henry Ford, rationalising the production process and creating the beginnings of a consumer society. Following the depression of the late 1920’s and 1930’s, the US found itself back on its feet. The Second World War further provided opportunity for work, and spending, beginning a period of prosperity that swelled throughout the 20<sup>th</sup> century. However, this wasn’t without cyclical recession (Stubbs, 2006).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Moving in to the 21<sup>st</sup> century, the United States’ economy had grown at a quicker rate than any other time throughout the 1990s, riding the dot-com bubble. Seven years later, and in the midst of another bubble, this time housing, the US economy was stretched too far. In the years between 1997 and 2005, housing prices in the US increased by 75% as banks lent money, without sufficiently safeguarding against the possibility of future defaults. The sub-prime mortgage, essentially lending over and above the value of a property, would eventually come to be a major part of what Lisa Evans describes as the shift of power from the US to China (Gamble, 2009).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">China’s emergence into the world market began in 1978, when the ruling Communist party began implementing what it called “socialism with Chinese characteristics”. The mobilisation of China’s vast resources, both physical and natural meant that inception into the world market was both welcome and mutually fruitful. This integration continues today as China increases it’s stronghold with annual growth of around 9%. W<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ith a largely expanding population, currently at around 1.3billion, China has all the characteristics of a modern industrial revolution (Emerald, 2004, CIA, 2011)<span style="color: red;"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">However, it is believed by many that the size of China’s population may become it’s downfall. In order to compete with United States internationally, critics suggest that China will need to drastically improve quality of life for it’s citizens. The BBC reported earlier this year that whilst average incomes in urban areas have drastically increased annually, workers in China’s vast rural areas have remained on similar levels of income to that of twenty years ago (Tobin, 2011)</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The elongated emergence of China is undeniable, as private wealth continues to increase, so does the nation’s desire to enter new markets. The very global nature of the Chinese economy means that it is highly susceptible to global fluctuations, a weakness that is by no means insignificant. However rising to be the world’s second largest economy in late 2010 proves that China is continuing to grow throughout a period of worldwide stagnation, and in many cases recession (BBC News, 2011). <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #00b050;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As President Obama welcomed Chinese Premier Hu Jintao to the Whitehouse in January this year, he welcomed a bigger lender to the developing world than the World Bank. It is the activity of America’s opponents, namely China, in this period that will decide whether the US can remain as the world’s economic superpower (Rodgers, 2011)<span style="color: #00b050;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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</span></span></span>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-9352014938770166392011-04-13T16:45:00.000-07:002011-04-13T16:47:03.338-07:00Globalisation, Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Globalisation is understood to be the ultimate force shaping our planet today; throughout this essay I shall draw upon the works of two of the great nineteenth and twentieth century sociological theorists respectively; Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim, to see how their descriptions of social change relate to this twenty-first century phenomenon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Whether economical, political or cultural, the term ‘globalisation’ refers to the spread of a certain idea or practice between groups around the world, for example trading, manufacturing or purchasing; removing barriers and deregulating communication. By doing so, societies, nations, and eventually continents become integrated through complex networks of interaction (Steger, 2003).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Both Marx and Durkheim lived and worked before the full extent of globalisation could become reality, indeed this is still the case now, but in today’s world when economic globalisation creates huge flows of capital between nations, when political globalisation means UK law is partly directed from Belgium, and when cultural globalisation means someone in Bombay is just as likely to be an avid fan of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wire </i>as someone in Baltimore, we live in very different times to which they did. In fact, the term ‘globalisation’ was first used many years after the death of both of these theorists. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Inevitably, some view globalisation as good, some as bad. Some believe it to be the best hope of ending world poverty, others, as we shall see, believe it to be the spread of oppression. However, the merit of globalisation is not the focus of this essay, instead I shall discuss the differing processes from which Marx and Durkheim would suggest it has sprung. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">For Karl Marx, social change was a result of social conflict, stating in the Communist Manifesto, alongside co-author Friedrich Engels: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”. Throughout his life, Marx studied how societies changed through the course of history, from early hunter-gatherer societies, to what he described as ‘ancient world societies’, into feudal societies and finally the society we now live in; the capitalist society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst he observed that social changes often happen gradually, he noted that in some cases very rapid changes occurred (revolutions), and that technological advances were often the reasoning for this. But above all, as Macionis and Plummer state, “he steadfastly held that conflict between economic groups is the major engine for change” (Macionis and Plummer, 2008).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">For Marx, capitalism is within itself a system of class conflict, from which all change is stimulated by the economy. Living through the early stages of industrial capitalism, he believed a small part of the population, those that previously fulfilled the feudal roles of merchants and landowners, had become the capitalists, or as he named them, the ‘bourgeoisie’; those that owned the factories and other productive enterprises. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The majority of the rest of the population, those that had previous to the industrial revolution worked on the land, now worked in the factories and other industrial systems and provided the labour necessary for production. Marx named these the ‘proletariat’, the working classes. Like earlier societies, Marx saw capitalism as being made up of two classes. However, differing from previous societies, Marx believed capitalism’s sole aim was profit, and that unlike horticultural and agrarian societies, capitalism was not tied by any codes of honour or obligation. Instead, profit was to be attained at almost any cost, notably the oppression of workers (Macionis and Plummer, 2008).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The initial expansion of capitalism was reliant upon the use of ‘surplus value’, the capital which remains after all costs of production are deducted, otherwise known as profit. Instead of dividing this surplus value equally amongst workers, the capitalists reinvested it, expanding their factories and industries. In order to increase this surplus value, Marx believed that the bourgeoisie would continually cut all productive expenditures, including wages, oppressing the workers as far as possible. This process of seeking to increase profit is where Marx would suggest the expanding nature of capitalism stems from. As well as minimising the costs of production, they also seek to inflate their capital gain by growing into new markets, in new places with new people. This can either be for the benefit of production or sale, but it is overwhelmingly with the aim of increasing profit. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">All societies are composed of many social institutions; however, Marx suggested that the institution with the most power and direction to control social change in the capitalist system is the economy. Drawing on the notion of Materialism, Marx suggested that the other major spheres of social life- politics, family, religion, education- function under the direct influence of the economy (Ruben, 1977). Marx therefore described the economy as the ‘base’ and all other institutions as the ‘superstructure’. Simply, the economy, dominated by the capitalists, reinforces their dominance in to all other areas of social life. It is for these reasons that Marx suggested many of the proletariat believed that the bourgeoisie earned their wealth, while those without lacked the ability or knowhow to do so. This is what he named ‘false consciousness’; the belief that social problems are caused by individuals rather than society itself. This false consciousness implemented by the capitalist system of base-superstructure, he believed, obscured the real causes of the working classes struggles. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Finally, as mentioned, Marx believed that social change often relied upon technological advancement and the continued process of modernisation. As we have seen recently,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>modern technology such as the internet, and global applications such as Twitter and Facebook, have the ability to organise and start, if not finish, revolutions (The Telegraph, 2009). Indeed he and Engels noted in the Communist Manifesto that without the explosion of science and technology in the nineteenth century the rise of the European bourgeoisie would not have been possible (Steger, 2003).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">However, as well as promoting social change, Marx noted that technology also had the ability to act as a barrier to it (Macionis and Plummer 2008).He suggested that as capitalists produced technology to gain power over the world, the technology, and productive processes in which they are involved, would eventually assume power over the proletariat workers, creating a feeling of alienation. Whereas once workers had wholeheartedly interacted with fellow workers, products, and their work itself, Marx commented that technology would withdraw many of these functions and leave workers isolated. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">From this very basic introduction to Marx’s views on capitalism, we can see several explanations for the expansion of social change globally. He suggests that capitalism is an expansive force, reaching out and searching for greater profit, in what we now understand to be a global fashion. In this sense Marx would suggest that all forms of globalisation are for the purpose of capital gain only. So as well as the obvious aims of economical expansion, cultural globalisation such as that of film and media, are also solely to create profit. Marx also suggests that the capitalist system, and the expansion of it, is innately protected by the false consciousness of the working classes, implemented by the base-superstructure and the control of the economy by the bourgeoisie. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Writing in the Communist Manifesto on the discovery of America, and the early expansion of European capitalism, he and Engels state: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The discovery of America prepared the way for mighty industry and its creation of a truly global market...The growth of industry, trade, navigation and railroads also went hand in hand with the rise of the bourgeoisie and capital which pushed to the background the old social classes of the Middle Ages…. Chased around the globe by its burning desire for ever-expanding markets for its products, the bourgeoisie has no choice but settle everywhere… Rapidly improving the instruments of production, the bourgeoisie utilizes the incessantly easing modes of communication to pull all nations into civilization- even the most barbarian ones… In a nutshell, it creates the world in its own image.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">” (Steger, 2003, p32).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">From this description, thirty-six years before his death, we see that Marx had a very clear grasp on what we now describe as ‘globalisation’ and the important role of technology within it. By stating that capitalism ‘creates the world in its own image’, he and Engels not only refer to trading systems, but the whole base-superstructure which must be in place for capitalism to work in full effect; creating laws and privatising production in order for the bourgeoisie to influence all aspects of social life. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">However, Marx deemed such expansion to be one of the final stages of capitalism, and in turn one of the final stages of the conflict model of social change. He believed that the capitalist system would implode as the continued search for profit lead to irreversible centralisation, economic depressions, overproduction and unemployment. In turn, he believed that eventually the proletariat would awaken from their false consciousness and that it would be replaced with ‘class consciousness’ as they responded and eventually revolted against the oppression and alienation they had been subjected too, bringing to an end the capitalist system and replacing it with a socialist and eventual communist state. Ultimately he believed capitalism, and in turn globalisation, were doomed to failure. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Although like Marx, Emile Durkheim believed in macro-sociology and the change of society as a whole, for him, social change was the product of evolution rather than conflict. Witnessing the rapid transformation of Europe throughout the nineteenth century, Durkheim noted and discussed the changes from what he named ‘mechanical solidarity’ to ‘organic solidarity’. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Prior to the industrial revolution, Durkheim believed societies to be tied together by mechanical solidarity, a likeness of traditions and bonds based upon shared morality. He called these common beliefs the ‘collective conscience’ and noted that social institutions such as religion played an imperative role in forming this phenomenon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When discussing the views expressed by Durkheim in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Causes of Anomie and the Role Played by the Economy’</i> on religion in pre-industrial society, Ken Morrison remarks that religion not only enforces the collective conscience but also gives reasoning to citizens roles in society, placing life in perspective and teaching them that economic success is not the primary goal of life, further than this, religion compensates societies hardships by promising compensation in the next life (1995, p185).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">It is from these simple societies, based in mechanical solidarity, that Durkheim believed holistic change occurred in evolutionary fashion, producing the complex global societies we live in today. He suggests that population growth plays an important role in social change, but above all else he notes society’s ‘division of labour’, the specialisation of work and economic activity, as the key process in the change from simple to complex societies.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The organic solidarity that Durkheim believed sprung from the developing division of labour was specifically due to the increasing specialisation of the work force following the industrial revolution, creating interdependency on a scale never before seen. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison continues; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">“As production, income and the division of labor began to develop more freely, the social threshold set by earlier periods became redirected. As a result, needs and wants- and even entire perspectives- are raised to a ‘fever-pitch’. The replacement of religion by economy subordinated society to economic and industrial ends. The intense economic focus of society freed desires from previous moral limits and replaced moral restraints with utilitarian sanctions inherent in law and social rules. Eventually , the extension and activity of markets acted to extend and expand desire.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Morrison, 1995, p186)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Here we see an explanation of how the changes implicated by the industrial revolution, not only changed the types of roles fulfilled by workers, but the type of desires that these new jobs and markets created. However, Durkheim warned that, the expanding nature of the new complex society, as well as widening the ambitions of workers, had the potential to be catastrophic. He suggested that when the economy replaces other social institutions, such as religion, in importance, the risk for social and moral insubordination is highly increased. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">During his study of Suicide, and the phenomenon of ‘Anomie’, a lack of social norms created by rapid social change, Durkheim suggested that anomie related to the economy was one of the largest causes of suicide (Giddens, 2009). However, as the shift from simple to complex society occurs, Durkheim suggested that the mechanical features of likeness are replaced with the organic differentiation meaning social and industrial bonds now unite workers through difference rather than likeness. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Globalisation then for Durkheim, is based not solely upon the economy, but the global spread of the complex society. As such, he believed that as members of modern societies, eventually rather than being reliant on a few thousand people after the initial spread of specialisation, we would one day rely on millions of citizens interlinking, communicating and living in a truly global sense, all in order to secure the resources and services to live everyday life. He believed that as such, the societies partaking would become truly classless and wholly meritocratic. As we have seen, he warned that the advantages of modern freedom create a dilemma in which moral guidance is lacking, however, he believed that with the spread of the complex society and organic solidarity, a new form of moral unity, or ‘world patriotism’, would be sprung, recreating, in sorts, the moral guidance of the simple society and tackling the issues of anomie. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Comparatively, both theorists approach social change very differently, leaving comparisons few and far between. However, the main conflict between Marx and Durkheim would be that of false consciousness versus tradition and morality. The moral guidance discussed by Durkheim in the simple society, and the potential for it in the complex society through world patriotism is undermined by Marx, who suggests that any such institutions, providing guidance, are at the disposal of the capitalists. As we have seen, predictions for the future of society are also converse; however it is fair to say that Durkheim’s belief of growing interdependence is increasingly true in a very global sense. His hopes for the disposal of the class system have been slower in progress, but the growth of meritocracy has been faster paced, largely due to the barriers of the simple society, and the acceptance of them, being removed, at least in part by what he would describe as world patriotism. Marx’s hopes for the downfall of the capitalist system haven’t yet materialised, advanced economic systems have meant although crashes have occurred, recoveries have been much less catastrophic than Marx predicted. Finally, the hunger for social change by the working classes has lessened not only through their increasing wealth in the most modern capitalist societies, but also through the downfall of many high profile socialist and communist societies. </span></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">ANDERSON, James and RICCI, Marilyn (1997). Society and Social Science, 2<sup>nd</sup> Edition. London, Open University Press. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">BEAUMONT, Claudine (2009). G20: Protesters use Twitter, Facebook and social media tools to organise demonstrations. [online]. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Telegraph, </i>01 April. Last accessed 11 April 2011:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/g20-summit/5090003/G20-summit-Protesters-use-Twitter-Facebook-and-social-media-tools-to-organise-demonstrations.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/g20-summit/5090003/G20-summit-Protesters-use-Twitter-Facebook-and-social-media-tools-to-organise-demonstrations.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">EMIRBAYER, Mustafa (2003). Emile Durkheim, Sociologist of Modernity. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">GIDDENS, Anthony (2009). Sociology, 6<sup>th</sup> Edition. Cambridge, Polity Press. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">HINKLE, Roscoe C. (1976). Durkheim’s Evolutionary Conception of Social Change. The Sociological Quarterly, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">17</b> (3), 336-346</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MACIONIS, John J. and PLUMMER, Ken (2008). Sociology, 4th Edition. London, Pearson Education.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MARX, Karl and ENGELS, Friedrich (1998). The Communist Manifesto. New York, Signet Classics.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MORRISON, Ken (1995). Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought. London, Sage Publications. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">RUBEN, David-Hillel (1977). Marxism and Materialism. Sussex, The Harvester Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">STEGER, Manfred B. (2003). Globalization, A very short introduction. Oxford, Oxford University Press. </span></span></div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-62471726317358023632011-04-13T16:39:00.000-07:002011-04-13T16:43:14.508-07:00The language of Human Rights, or the prose of Racism? A Critical Hermeneutic Report on the English Defence League Website.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abstract</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This report is based upon the English Defence League, and the critical hermeneutic analysis of their website; </span><a href="http://www.englishdefenceleague.org/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.englishdefenceleague.org</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Drawing from the debate on Islam in ‘Western’ society and more specifically in Britain, including academic works, newspaper and political literature, it argues that the issue of ‘Islamaphobia’ is an increasing one. It suggests that the website in question has racist undertones and that many of its statements, are intentionally misleading. The report concludes that through misuse of language, purposeful implication of semantic themes and use of images, the website seeks to create a feeling of both fear and hatred. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Literature Review</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the catastrophic events of the nine/eleven disaster, attitudes towards the Muslim community across the world have become, in certain sections of society, increasingly strained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certain groups such as the English Defence League, have been founded on the basis of this, and can be seen as a reaction to the increasing fear, hatred and misunderstanding of Islam. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During an academic survey in 2002, researchers from the University of Leicester found that racist attacks and abuse took a steep incline in the Leicestershire area during the immediate aftermath of the New York Terror attacks. Research Director, Dr Lorraine Sheridan told the BBC that “The attacks are being carried out by people who don’t like Islam, the abuse is more about the religion than the race” continuing to remark that “The people behind the attacks think that Muslims are outside of society and that they are different”. Conclusions on the research also noted that the trend was increasingly worrying as Leicester had been said as a leading model of multiculturalism and integration for Britain <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(</b>BBC NEWS, 2002).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four years after the American Attacks, on the 7<sup>th</sup> July 2005, the rise of ‘Islamaphobia’ in Britain was again dramatically increased following the bombing of the London transport system by four young British Muslims, said to be linked to Al Qaeda. Once again, the attacks provoked angry responses from certain sections of society, The Independent reporting acts of arson and criminal damage against mosques in London, Bristol, Leeds, Telford and Birkenhead in the aftermath (Verkaik, 2005). Days after the attack, the British National Party distributed a by-election leaflet with the image of the devastated No.30 bus underlined by the slogan “Maybe now it’s time to start listening to the BNP”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rapid social change, such as the discussed terror attacks provided, inevitably reminds us of Durkheim’s theory of Anomie, a sense of confusion over social norms and values stimulated by periods of fast-paced societal alteration. Five years prior to the London attacks, Islam played a much less prominent role in the lives of the majority of ‘Western’ society, however following them, Britain had seen two serious<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>attacks, one on their closest ally, the other on its capital, and a war on terror in which many Briton’s continue to lose their lives. The aforementioned actions of both members of society and certain political groups in response to this social change could therefore be seen as part of the anomic process <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(</b>Macionis and Plummer, 2008).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In his 2008 work, ‘Thought paralysis: tolerance, and the fear of Islam’, Farhad Dalal suggested that fear of Islamic jihadists in Britain is still increasing, he believes primarily through a lack of understanding. Although there are many millions of Muslims living in Britain, he suggests that they remain largely isolated in society, and as such, the mystery surrounding them can lead to “all kinds of projections and fantasies” (Dalal, 2008, p90). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In February 2011, Prime Minister, David Cameron, stated that “We [Britain] have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream”. His speech gathered plaudits for its encouragement of interaction, but worried many, including large sections of the Muslim community for his promise to end multiculturalism in Britain, stating that those who failed to promote ‘British’ values will no longer be able to engage with the state (Kirkup, 2011). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Methodology</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As this report is based upon the critical hermeneutic analysis of the chosen website, it is important to first understand what the critical hermeneutic approach is and what it entails. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hermeneutics, in the simplest form, is textual interpretation, and it is closely related to Max Weber’s notion of interpretation; ‘Verstehen’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As well as exploring sociocultural and historic influences on text, this approach to qualitative interpretation attempts to look beneath the surface and discover hidden meanings, influences and agendas. The critical aspect takes into account the context of which the text was both produced and is read, looking at the referent itself as well as the denotative and connotative meanings it produces (Bryman, 2008).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Linked to the critical social theory, aiming to identify contradictions within society, critical hermeneutics can be seen to challenge accepted normality and expose hidden power imbalances. German sociological philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer suggested that critical hermeneutics helps us to understand our prejudices through text, as our life long socialisation becomes not only embedded in our writing of texts, but our reading of them also. Each of us have different up-bringings, backgrounds and histories, therefore how we interpret text will also differ (Gadamer, 1960). It is for this reason that criticism of hermeneutics, and critical hermeneutics, suggests that any findings cannot be generally applied to texts, similar to criticisms of qualitative research more generally. However, a thorough piece of work, clearly presented and high in detail as well as explanation can offer a very insightful view of not only a text, but the issue it is concerned with. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With this in mind it is important to note that all text is produced in the context of its publication and interpreted at the time of reading. Therefore in this report it is important to take into account when the website was produced and under what societal circumstances, in order to understand the context in which it was created. As well as this, the time in which it is interpreted must be taken into account and what has changed since?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having chosen the English Defence League’s website, I have decided to research a highly sensitive issue in Britain today, that of Islamaphobia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2010, the PEW Research Centre, revealed that five per cent of Britain’s population are now Muslim (National Secular Society, 2011). Many groups such as the English Defence League fear the influence of Islam on British, European and Western society, and are said to be more specifically opposed to what they believe are increasing numbers of fundamentalist Muslims or jihadists. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The analysis of a website on such a sensitive issue will allow me to look at in detail the prose of a group who claim to be a human rights organisation concerned with the protection of their nation. By analysing and interpreting their website I hope to discover whether the English Defence League are as they say concerned with issues of human rights and the protection of all races, or whether they are in fact a racist anti-Islamic organisation?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Results </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><a href="http://www.englishdefenceleague.org/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.englishdefenceleague.org</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, is the official homepage of the English Defence League and is ran by the group itself. The website contains original materials, such as articles, speeches, images and videos uploaded exclusively to the site by the EDL, as well as including external sources from approved bodies and personnel, such as writers and supporters of the group. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The website is only available in English, which may be seen to exclude certain aspects of society, particularly those that the group are opposed to. Largely, the website is written in an informal tone, meaning that it is easy to read. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">None of the pages within the site contain, relate or link to any of the negative press the group has had in the media and as such the site’s addressers are those trusted by the EDL to represent their organisation. The use of ‘journalistic articles’ aim to give credibility to the group and their site; however it is worthy of note that the ‘writers’ are likely to be members of the EDL or its affiliated groups. The addressees of the site are people looking for general information on the group, such as the general public, and they are also the members of the EDL seeking the specific information discussed below.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As discussed in the Literature Review, the attitude towards Muslims and Islam in Britain is a serious and popular area for discussion, with many different viewpoints. The referential function then of the website is to provide a place for the output of information regarding the EDL and their stance on the aforementioned debate. This information includes broad aspects such as the group’s political views, and also features specific information such as news, the organisation of events, reaction to phenomena and advertisements. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These key features are also the purpose of the website for its producer. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The key message throughout the site is one of warning against fundamental Islamism and its impact on Britain. A theme also prominent throughout is one of division, us versus them. The three specific pages which this report looked at: The Home Page, The Mission Statement and Testimonials, are often divisive, contradictory and threatening.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the opening of the Mission Statement, the EDL accuse “certain sections of the Muslim population in Britain” of committing crimes including “molestation of young children”, “homophobia”, “anti-Semitism” and “support[ing] those responsible for terrorist atrocities” this is in reference to what they later describe as “fundamentalists”, “radicals” and “jihadists”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, shortly below they commit to “<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">protect against the unjust assumption that all Muslims are complicit in or somehow responsible for these crimes”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latter statement can be seen as an attempt to protect the former. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, as the text continues it is clear to see a theme of contradiction as references to Islam in general are used negatively, rather than the ‘certain sections’ mentioned earlier in the text. For example:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The public must be provided with a more realistic and less sanitised view of <u>Islam</u>”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We also recognise that Muslims themselves are frequently the main victims of some <u>Islamic traditions</u> and practices.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“...the often unreasonable demand that <u>Islam</u> is given more respect than it is due…”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The indexical “we” is also used throughout the website, and particularly in the Mission Statement to refer to the EDL as a group, rather than just the writers of the text. These also feature to create an addresser-addressee relationship when read, as EDL members relate to “we” as them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following words are also used in reference to not only the ‘certain sections of the Muslim population in Britain’, but British Muslims in general. Some of the words used can have multifaceted denotations, but in this instance they are negative, and as such act as connotations:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Thriving</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Encroachment</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Threat</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Resentment</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Unwittingly</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 56.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";">Forced<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";">Undermine</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As well as text, the site also makes use of images, some examples of which are below:</span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8vDh7dyMFog0dAuOGOX56AuPLBMKsfVraLBmthB9XcLymtLyvgRWUzzwsMiH5yhh0RoQHJCG64ko1k038U8Fq5NLaS8BqXcSADg9b4vlpwj_YLjFED2pZ7aqxNsKEAvLRvkCKgfFixo/s1600/EDL-Title+Bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="65" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8vDh7dyMFog0dAuOGOX56AuPLBMKsfVraLBmthB9XcLymtLyvgRWUzzwsMiH5yhh0RoQHJCG64ko1k038U8Fq5NLaS8BqXcSADg9b4vlpwj_YLjFED2pZ7aqxNsKEAvLRvkCKgfFixo/s400/EDL-Title+Bar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV9922C-_CiFrqaT_HMRZ_kRhyeKb0K4AY2aW0cjq8GWFAd5Q5o5fTV35ET1C0gcOY6_mvnuZ-IW9wI40MV3tP4DrtvaD56F8YYqHi3Tbvmxz9C0d4GcUCnS1Nh4p0xOOuaNAvnlDFAKk/s1600/EDL-+Flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV9922C-_CiFrqaT_HMRZ_kRhyeKb0K4AY2aW0cjq8GWFAd5Q5o5fTV35ET1C0gcOY6_mvnuZ-IW9wI40MV3tP4DrtvaD56F8YYqHi3Tbvmxz9C0d4GcUCnS1Nh4p0xOOuaNAvnlDFAKk/s1600/EDL-+Flag.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 216pt; text-align: justify;"><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype><shape id="Picture_x0020_2" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 135.55pt; left: 0px; margin-left: 0.9pt; margin-top: 1.65pt; mso-height-percent: 0; mso-height-relative: page; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-width-percent: 0; mso-width-relative: page; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; text-align: left; visibility: visible; width: 206.05pt; z-index: 251658240;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata cropbottom="37025f" cropleft="44049f" cropright="9112f" croptop="14026f" o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\Sam\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.png"></imagedata></shape><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These two images, featuring hooded, masked, violent looking men portray connotations of conflict and unlawfulness. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 216pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 216pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The images have clearly been used to intimidate any opposition to the group through fear of confrontation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 216pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 216pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The nationalistic tone continues from the name of the group into the use of the St George’s Cross.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is clear to see that the use of “signs” within the website have led to an interpretation of the text’s code as being multifaceted and with many underlying meanings and suggestions. The seemingly purposeful misuse of ambiguous terms such as “fundamentalists”, “radicals” and “jihadists” alongside terms such as “Islam” and “Muslims” is the prime example.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conclusion</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In conclusion, a number of underlying connotations appear to run through the text of the English Defence League’s website. The use of divisive language has been discussed and links directly to the work of Farhad Dalal discussed in the Literature Review. Dalal suggests that large parts of the Muslim society in Britain remain isolated, and as such, the mystery surrounding them can lead to largely unsupported fallacies, such as the accusations of molestation, homophobia, anti-Semitism and support for fundamentalism discussed in the Results section (Dalal, 2008).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The addresser of the text is also worth taking in to conclusion, as unlike many political forums for debate, no opposition to the group’s activities are allowed to contribute to the site. This means the content of the site is unchallenged and from one perspective only.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The use of images and semantics have played a key role in the analysis of this website, and an underlying theme of negativity and fear have been prolific throughout. The two images displayed exemplify the tone of the site’s prose. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The misuse of religious and sectarian terms creates for a confusing muddle of language, leading to what in part is the undeniable subjugation of the Islamic faith rather than the “certain sections of the Muslim population in Britain”. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This purposeful use of language creates a text in which, unless the reader has an understanding of the matter in hand, and the issues, groups and societies surrounding it, could easily be lead to believe that “Muslims”, “Islamists”, “Fundamentalists”, “Radicals” and “jihadists” are one and the same. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, it is important to note that as Gadamer tells us, interpretation of text is subject to our own socialisation, and in turn; prejudices (Gadamer, 1960). With this in mind, we understand that the text is open to interpretation, and that the conclusions drawn are that solely of the author.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bibliography</span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">BBC NEWS (2002). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">UK ‘Islamapobia’ rises after 11<sup>th</sup> September </i>[online]. Last accessed 12 April 2011 at: </span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2223301.stm"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2223301.stm</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">BRYMAN, Alan (2008). Social Research Methods, Third Edition. Oxford, Oxford University Press. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">CHANDLER, Daniel (2003). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Semiotics for beginners </i>[online]. Last accessed 10 April 2011 at: </span><a href="http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">ENGLISH DEFENCE LEAGUE (2010). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The English Defence League </i>[online]. Last accessed 12 April 2011 at:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.englishdefenceleague.org/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">www.englishdefenceleague.org</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">FARHAD, Dalal (2008) Thought paralysis: tolerance, and the fear of Islam. Psychodynamic Practice, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">14</b>(1), 77-95</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">GADAMER, Hans-Georg (1960). Truth and Method. London, Sheed and Ward. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">KIRKUP, James (2011) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Muslims must embrace British values, David Cameron says </i>[online]. Last accessed 31 March 2011 at: </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/8305346/Muslims-must-embrace-our-British-values-David-Cameron-says.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/8305346/Muslims-must-embrace-our-British-values-David-Cameron-says.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MACIONIS, John J. and PLUMMER, Ken (2008). Sociology, 4th Edition. London, Pearson Education.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY (2011). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How many Muslims are there in Britain? </i>[online]. Last accessed 1 April 2011 at: </span><a href="http://www.secularism.org.uk/how-many-muslims-are-there-in-br.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.secularism.org.uk/how-many-muslims-are-there-in-br.html</span></b></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">VERKAIK, Robert (2005) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Muslims call for calm after mosque attacks</i> [online]. Last accessed 30 March 2011 at: </span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/muslims-call-for-calm-after-mosque-attacks-498508.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/muslims-call-for-calm-after-mosque-attacks-498508.html</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">)</span></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-68058424334532952472011-02-01T08:38:00.000-08:002011-02-01T08:39:35.042-08:00Social Disorganisation Theory, Strain Theory, and Culture Deviance Theory: Placing crime in it's social context.<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Crime is committed every day throughout the world, varying from low level delinquencies to high level offences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is highly likely that at some point in our lives we will be involved in a crime, whether as the victim, or the assailant. In 2009, for every 1000 people in the city of London, 109 were involved in some form of criminally related incident <span style="color: #000066;">(</span>Office for National Statistics, 2010<span style="color: #000066;">). </span>But why do people commit crime? ‘Social Disorganisation theory’, ‘Strain theory’, and ‘Cultural Deviance theory’, are an example of criminology’s attempts to answer such questions and place crime in its social context. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Criminologist, Robert K. Merton, radically adapted the functionalist understanding of crime in the 20<sup>th</sup> century through his ‘Strain theory’, developing on the notion of ‘Anomie’, originally established by sociologist Emile Durkheim. Unlike Durkheim, Merton believed the issues surrounding crime, those which created anomie (a sense of confusion over social norms and values), to be more associated with the strains of unequal opportunities, than the strains of sudden social change. Suggesting the key issues surrounding crime and society were that of meritocracy, with the gap between “a truly meritocratic society” and the reality of “one’s birth position within the social structure” the determining feature (Hale, 2005, p70). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">His seminal work on deviance in 1938, presented the argument that while crime is inevitable in all societies; excessive levels of delinquency are a result of certain social arrangements (Macionis and Plummer, 2008). Writing originally on 1930s America, Merton argued that many people are denied the chance of achieving “legitimate goals”, i.e. monetary success, as they are denied access to certain institutions or “legitimate channels”, such as a schooling or job opportunities (Agnew, 2003). This notion can easily be applied to lower-class citizens, but can also be applied to higher-class citizens who are not attaining their financial goals. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Merton suggested that conformity in the United States was to be found through aspiring to legitimate goals, related to the US ideal of pursuing the American Dream. However, not everyone who strives for conventional success has the means to attain it, thus, turning to crime to do so. The only difference between criminals and non-criminals then Merton suggested, was their routes towards such success (Macionis and Plummer, 2008). This was seen as a pivotal moment for 20<sup>th</sup> century criminology, as it “blurred the positivist boundary between “them” (the criminal) and “us” (the non-criminal)”. Following 1938; “no longer was the criminal essentially different from the good citizen” (Hale, 2005, p70). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Merton believed that society was divided into five groups, who leave by the concepts of; conformism, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A child raised in poverty, who sees no way of achieving culturally approved goals (money) via conventional means (employed work), may take to selling drugs to attain his/her desired wealth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Merton believed that the emphasis on acquisition of wealth in 20<sup>th</sup> century America, and the limited opportunities to get rich, especially for those in poverty, gave rise to “theft, the selling of illegal drugs or other forms of street hustling” (Macionis and Plummer, 2008, p562). American rap star Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, can be used as a modern example of having committed crimes of innovation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having been brought up on the tough streets of 1980s Brooklyn, New York, by a single mother, Wallace dropped out of High School. In order to attain the fame and fortune at the heart of the American dream, he turned to the unconventional means of dealing drugs as he had little education or job opportunities. Eventually, Wallace would attain culturally accepted goals by culturally accepted means, but his first footsteps along the way were criminal ones. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“Ritualism”, Merton’s second form of delinquency suggests that “ritualists resolve the strain of limited success by abandoning cultural goals in favour of almost compulsive efforts to live respectably” (Macionis and Plummer, 2008, p562). Essentially this group do not reject the goals of society, but reject the possibility of achieving them, meaning that they are unlikely to commit crime in an attempt to reach such goals. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Merton described the rejection of both cultural means and goals as “retreatism”. This group can be most easily related to members of society that seem to “drop out”, such as addicts and the homeless. Whereas retreatists are understood to accept the situation they find themselves in, “Rebels” reject society and seek to advocate another way to the existing social order. This form of rejecting cultural means and goals is often related to countercultures, and their criminal activities (Macionis and Plummer, 2008). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Following Merton’s original work, many criminologists have continued to study his theory with Downes and Rock (1988, p94) describing it as the “fostering of the propensity to consume irrespective of the material possibilities of such a course”. However, the most influential continuation of Merton’s work has been the notion of “status frustration”, introduced by Albert Cohen. It has come to play an important role in the wider understanding of the subject, and was first introduced by Cohen in 1955. In his study, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Delinquent Boys</i>, Cohen suggests that some individuals may be frustrated by a more general desire for status, not only money. More than money, status involves how people are viewed and treated by others. For lower-class citizens, middle-class status can be a lot harder to attain through legitimate means, than money itself (Agnew, 2003). Agnew goes on to suggest that: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">“Some lower-class individuals … respond to their status frustration by setting up an alternative status system in which they can successfully compete.” (2003, p417-18) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">This would clearly relate to the “Rebel” group previously described by Merton. Street gangs, in particular those involved in violent and drug crimes, can be seen to live in a status system by which a gang leader with a lengthy criminal record, is someone to be admired and respected; a status system which to the conformist would be seen as highly unconventional. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Merton’s theory has clearly been an influential one; most interestingly it tackles the issues of motivation, and gives us an idea of how strain can create frustration and in turn crime. It gives us an insight into why crime levels are generally higher in poorer areas and why when legitimate means of achieving goals are restricted, delinquency also appears to rise. As well as to areas, this can also be applied to periods of time such as those of economic depression (Hale, 2005). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, as his work was focused on the United States, and more generally the Western capitalist world, Strain theory can only be related to such societies. A final criticism is that, Merton’s work fails to tackle the issue of white-collar crime and why those who have the means to achieve their goals still commit crime (Lotz, 2005).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The second theory in question, Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay’s ‘Social Disorganisation theory’ can in some ways be related to Merton’s work on strain, not least because both theories evolved from the ‘Chicago School of Sociology’, famous for the relationships established by its scholars between crime and the environment (Hale, 2005). Shaw and McKay’s theory, first released in 1942, argued that crime rates were determined by the area, involving factors such as economic, spatial and environmental circumstances They argued that, the closer to the city centre, the higher the levels of “truancy, delinquency and adult crime”, and that this was due to the “physical make-up of different communities”. Most interestingly that this remained the case even following periods of extensive population change (Muncie, 2003, p411). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Using the ‘Concentric Zone Model’ already established by Chicago School sociologists, Robert Park and Ernest Jones, Shaw and McKay investigated the five different areas defined in the model. In centrality outwards: the Central Business District, Transitional Zone, Working Class Zone, Residential Zone, and Commuter Zone. They discovered that the zones of transition, situated almost at the heart of Chicago, were characteristically: ran-down, high in poverty and poor in levels of health. Ultimately, these were the most disorganised districts. These areas were often the first homes for immigrants and groups that would only stay for as long as until they were able to move to a more affluent area. As such this ‘Transitional Zone’ was an area of constant change, making it difficult for relationships to be established within the community, meaning that “informal levels of social control” were particularly low, and crime levels high (Hale, 2005). Shaw and McKay said themselves that this was not necessarily due to the personalities of the population of this environment but that “delinquency rates were for these groups high...because of other aspects of the total situation in which they lived” (Shaw and McKay, 1942, pg56). As their investigations led to conclusions on delinquency within the four other zones of the Concentric Model, Shaw and McKay discovered that “delinquency rates… declined the further one moved into the prosperous suburbs” (Hayward, 2001, p31). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In conclusion to their studies, Shaw and McKay believed that deviance was more related to the environment than the personality or social stature of criminals, relating to the basic idea of ‘nature’ rather ‘nurture’, and that criminal behaviour was to be expected as a response to living in such “abnormal environmental circumstances” (Treadwell, 2006, p46). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Whereas Merton believed giving someone the right chances, determined by wealth of opportunity, would result in them becoming a non-criminal conformist. Shaw and Mckay believed that housing someone in an organised, and essentially wealthy area, would ultimately result the same way. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, naturally, criticisms exist. Lotz (2005) criticises Shaw and McKay’s theory for not accounting for crimes committed in areas not considered disorganised. Similar to Strain theory also, it fails to tackle the issue of middle-class and white-collar crime. Finally, Lotz suggests that it offers no explanation for how deviant norms and values are transmitted.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, the final theory in question, that of ‘Cultural Deviance’, explores the very essence of Lotzs’ final criticism. Developed by Edwin Sutherland, another scholar of the Chicago School, his theory explores the notion that criminal activity is a result of a learned experience. Suggesting that through interaction, individuals absorb the necessary views, beliefs, techniques and motivations to commit crime. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Sutherland suggests that a child brought up within a wealthy criminal family, is more likely to go on to be a criminal, than use the opportunities afforded to them by the family’s wealth to live an honest, non-criminal lifestyle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could be applied to the infamous crime families of Italy, not least the Sicilian Mafia, who instil not only knowhow to future generations, but also a sense of heritage and pride within the families honour and tradition. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, as part of his ‘Differential Association theory’, Sutherland developed the notion of Cultural Deviance more closely with the lower-class subcultures, existing <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the financially poor, socially disorganised areas of Chicago, previously described as ‘zones of transition’. These districts, filled with communities that have their own set of goals and values, much like the wealthier subculture of the Italian crime families discussed, also pass these on to future generations (Hollin, 2003). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Rooted in the ‘conflict perspective’, Sutherland approved of the notion that crime is a normal condition of society (Matsueda, 1997), and that ‘nurture’, rather than ‘nature’ is the determining factor in whether or not an individual is likely to be delinquent. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Once again, this theory ties in with discussions surrounding various other ideas. The Social Disorganisation theory could perhaps be understood to develop a subculture of criminal activity amongst communities, only for the Cultural Deviance theory, to take over as the views and opinions of previous generations are passed on through families and communities. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Similarly to the other theories discussed, Sutherland’s work has been the subject of criticism, most notably the lack of explanation for how an individual can become criminal if they are not from a criminal background, family, or subculture (Matsueda, 1997).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In conclusion, each of the theories discussed believe that society plays a paramount role in the development of criminal activity. Each theory has developed a different understanding of how delinquency manifests itself in the lives of individuals, families, subcultures and communities. With the issue of ‘Nature v Nurture’ being a prominent one. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, each theory has had individual criticisms, most notably throughout the seeming inability to be able to tackle the issue of white-collar delinquencies. Collectively, they also come under scrutiny as the products of the same city in similar timeframes. In the early 20<sup>th</sup> century, Chicago was a quickly expanding industrial city, meaning that these theories, while they are useful in the direct analysis of similar Western cities and nations, they are not so useful elsewhere. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In some ways it is clear to see how the boundaries between these theories can become blurred, and it is then that we best begin to understand the roles in which these theories have helped us begin to place crime in its social context, for example, the discussed relationship between Social Disorganisation leading to a process of Cultural Deviance. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">AGNEW, Robert (2003). Status Frustration. In: McLAUGHLIN, Eugene and MUNCIE, John. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sage Dictionary of Criminology, Second Edition</i>. London, Sage.</span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">ANTHONY, Thalia and CUNNEEN, Chris (eds.) (2008) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Critical Criminology Companion</i>. Sydney, Hawkins Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">COHEN, Albert (1955). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang</i>. New York, Free Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DOWNES, D. and ROCK, P. (1988). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Understanding Deviance</i>. Oxford, Oxford University Press. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">HALE, Chris, et al. (eds.) (2005). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Criminology</i>. Oxford, Oxford University Press. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">HAYWARD, K (2001). Chicago School of Sociology. In: McLAUGHLIN, Eugene and MUNCIE, John. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sage Dictionary of Criminology</i>. London, Sage.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">HOBBS, Dick (1995). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bad Business</i>. Oxford, Oxford University Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">HOLLIN, Clive (2003). Differential Association. In: In: McLAUGHLIN, Eugene and MUNCIE, John. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sage Dictionary of Criminology, Second Edition</i>. London, Sage. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">LOTZ, R. (2005). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Youth crime: A modern synthesis in America</i>. New Jersey, Pearson Education.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MACIONIS, John J. and PLUMMER, Ken (2008). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sociology, 4<sup>th</sup> Edition</i>. London, Pearson Education.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MATSUEDA, Ross L. (1997). Cultural Deviance Theory: The Remarkable Persistence of a Flawed Term. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Theoretical Criminology</i>, <strong>1</strong>(4), 429-52.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MATZA, David (1964). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Delinquency and Drift</i>. London, John Wiley and Sons. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MUNCIE, John (2003). Sociological Positivism. In: McLAUGHLIN, Eugene and MUNCIE, John. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sage Dictionary of Criminology, Second Edition</i>. London, Sage.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">O’BRIEN, Martin and YAR, Majid (2008). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Criminology, The Key Concepts</i>. London, Routledge. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS (2010). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Regional Trends: London: Social Indicators.</i> [online]. Last accessed 16 January 2011 at: </span></span><a href="http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=437"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=437</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">SHAW, C.R. & H.D. McKAY (1942). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Juvenile Delinquency in Urban Areas</i>. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">TREADWELL, James (2006). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sage Course Companion: Criminology</i>. London, Sage. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"></div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-11803159070946718552011-01-19T10:16:00.000-08:002011-01-19T10:19:34.822-08:00An essay on the relationship between 'Class' and 'Employment' in Modern Britain.<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Part One of this essays details the relationship in practice between Class and Employment in Britain since 1970:</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Since 1970, both employment and the social class system have changed greatly in the United Kingdom, but the firm relationship between the two has continued (Crompton 2010). Deindustrialisation has led to wholesale decreases in manufacturing and the opening of new markets. The class debate has continued, with the ‘Registrar General’s” method of grouping classes being replaced with the modern “NS-SEC Scheme” in response to changes in society, notably the type of jobs British citizens fulfil. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The decline of British industry, notably following the election of the Conservative government in 1979 had both immediate and lasting effects<span style="color: red;">. </span>Stephen Moore (1993, p51) suggests the changes made between 1978 &1993 in the British economy:</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“seem likely to maintain a permanently high level of unemployment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The main changes include increasing automation in industry and related increasing productivity so that fewer workers are required, and the general decline of British manufacturing because of foreign competition.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Moore goes on to suggest particular groups in society are more likely to suffer unemployment than others; the least skilled, those living away from the south-east & ethnic minority groups. Here, inequality is evident. Using the “Registrar General’s Social Class Scheme” in use at the time, we understand that then, as now, unskilled workers are considered to be working class. Moore explains that ethnic minorities are too more likely to suffer unemployment, as a large majority fill the unskilled or semiskilled worker category. Finally, those living away from the south east. This raises the issue of the north-south divide in the UK, on which Moore suggests the south east offers a more highly skilled work force than the north and a more affluent population. Again, discriminating against low-skilled, modestly paid, working class citizens.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cuts to working class industrial jobs, saw high levels of not only unemployment, peaking at 13.1% in 1986, but high levels of social unrest, such as the miners strikes between 1984 & 1985 (Trading Economics, 2010). Such activities were seen as a response to the structural unemployment of millions of people being implemented by the government. Structural unemployment by nature reduces jobs in response to changes in the economy which should simultaneously open new positions for skilled workers. In this case, in order to enter an open market and tackle inflation, a policy of monetarism was introduced, with the belief that high levels of unemployment would eventually solve themselves as Britain moved into a new market. A change described by David J. Lee & Bryan S. Turner (1996, p184) as “the switch from manufacturing to services”. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In October 1986, the newly reformed British Stock Exchange reopened with national unemployment at a post-industrial high. The “big bang” that ensued managed to tackle much of Britain’s deficit with only 330,000 people working in City jobs (Marr, 2007). Meanwhile, those made redundant by the deindustrialisation and privatisation of Britain seemingly remained unemployed, struggling to find jobs in the new economy, particularly in areas with strong histories of manufacturing and production. The workers filling Classes 1 & 2 of the NS-SEC scheme were not only generating the majority of wealth in the nation, but wreaking most of the reward.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In an article for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Journal</i>, William Green (2009) describes how the Conservative government, and in particular the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, left “communities devastated, mass unemployment, huge social unrest and a generation condemned to poverty”. The “generation” mentioned were not those in professional roles benefiting from the new “boom”, but the working classes. Phil Wilson MP says “she [Thatcher] left a lot of broken communities and that was the primary thing, but it was also the way she treated people who were unemployed…. there was nothing done to help them”. However, in contrast Peter Atkinson MP suggests that “Sensible and dispassionate people will realise there was no prospect of keeping coal mines or inefficient industries going” and that without such policies, regeneration would never have happened. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Eventually, as the initial reforms in the British financial and business sector began to grow, increasing numbers of jobs were created and a large number of the working classes went back to work, but even at the peak of the economic boom in 1989, 1.6 million remained unemployed. And on 16<sup>th</sup> September 1992, Black Wednesday, Britain’s next “bust” occurred. Between the low of 1989 and Black Wednesday, unemployment had again risen and was around 3 million, continuing to rise into the following year (Trading Economics, 2010).</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The cycle of boom and bust then began again. Unemployment dropped sharply through the mid to late nineties and continued to do so into the 21<sup>st</sup> century, meanwhile Gross Domestic Productivity grew and Britain appeared richer than ever under a new-New Labour government. But once again the bubble burst, this time in 2007. A worldwide financial crisis rooted in over-lending and deregulated banks, resulting in the biggest recession in Britain for nearly 30 years. Similarly to the manufacturing decline of the 1980’s this resulted in huge levels of blue-collar unemployment, although this time it wasn’t being purposefully implemented by the government. Further comparisons can also be drawn; the unemployment rate amongst those filling “elementary occupations” was at 12% in the first quarter of 2009, whilst unemployment amongst “managers and senior officials” was at 3% during the same period. In sum, for every four elementary employees out of work, there was one manager or senior official: a display of inequality in class and unemployment, similar to 30 years previous (Hopkins, 2009). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: red;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In beginning to conclude the debate on the relationship between class and employment inequalities in the Britain, we must consider many contributing factors. Geography, community and family have all been discussed but most prominent is the link between education and class, and the variations it produces (Reid 1998, Scott, 2002). Through both the Registrar General and NS-SEC scheme, class is determined by occupation, and occupation is largely determined by educational attainment (Reiss Jr. 1961). </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Finally, looking back over the last 40 years of British employment, it is clear to see the unskilled and semi-skilled workers have traditionally been those to suffer worse at the hands of their white-collared counterparts. This has been the case in both of the major recessions detailed; however a main difference in inequality levels would be the aforementioned contributor, education. In 2010 more people than ever before are accessing higher education and obtaining the skills needed to survive in a new jobs market. Meaning that though the unskilled workers still suffer most, there are many fewer than there were 40 years ago. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Part Two of this essay details classic sociological ideologies in relation to Part One:</span></div><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In many ways, employment can be said to define us. As a way of providing for ourselves, Michael Argyle (1992, p72) suggests that “work is a central, and essential, part of life”. However, as suggested there is much more to employment than the basic principles of providing food, shelter and protection; occupation has a close correlation with social status and class. Richard R. Hall </span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">(1975, p239-240) </span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">suggests that</span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">“In the absence of hereditary castes or feudal estates, class differences come to rest primarily on occupational position”. These notions have a place in a universal discussion, but in relation to Britain, the social division of class, and the research dimension of employment, they can begin to give an explanation of inequalities that exist.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">“‘Class’ and employment have been sociologically linked from the ‘founding fathers’ onwards” suggests Rosemary Crompton (2010, p11). She summarises Karl Marx’s analogy of class as:</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">“The emergence, with capitalism, of a proletariat who had only their labour power to sell, exploited by the bourgeoisie who bought and controlled this labour” (Crompton 2010, p11) </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Crompton goes on to identify basic similarities and differences between this point of view, and that of Max Weber:</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Like Marx, Weber identified the selling of labour as crucial to the definition of ‘class’, but specified a range of ‘market situations’ with which the sale of this differentiated labour was associated, associated with different levels of rewards and giving rise to different classes.” (Crompton 2010, p11)</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">When comparing these two “conflict” theories, we see that while both Marx and Weber consider employment to determine class, they do so by varying degrees. Marx describes a simple divide of those selling their labour, and those exploiting those selling their labour. Whereas Weber suggests that differing labours are rewarded with differing financial rewards, and that this is key in deciding whether people are nearer to being exploited, or exploiting others.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Finally, Crompton (2010) explains how these “academic and political commentaries” have led to official statisticians dividing up the occupational structure to create “employment aggregate class schemes”, such as the Registrar General or NS-SEC classifications.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Conversely to these conflict theories are the perspectives of sociologists such as Emile Durkheim, known as functionalists, who support the notion of “social meritocracy”. The idea that those with “merit” or the greatest skills rise to the top of the social ladder, and are appropriately rewarded, while those with the least will move down in a system known as “social mobility”. This view clearly relates to the Weberian notion of class stratification, but also links heavily with other aspects of class such as education: as those with the highest skills or merits are likely to have had the privilege of a good education, unlike many others. This is why Marxists would argue against social meritocracy and the social mobility theory, instead suggesting that such ideas are a fallacy implemented by capitalism with the aim of making the proletariat think they can become “embourgeoisied”, when really inequality is inherent within communities and families, and so the ability to move up through society is restrained by our ancestry. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In an article named “Social Mobility, not security” (2010</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">) </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">John Bird suggests that social mobility is “the only one cure for poverty” in the UK, rather than proletariat revolution Marx advocates. He agrees with Marx that a culture of poverty is bred into groups of society and that the welfare state confines them to remaining in these such groups, but says by giving these people “the encouragement to become independent … they can choose to live their lives the way they wish, rather than the way it has been foisted upon them”, suggesting that by cutting the working classes dependence on the state, it will increase their social mobility. The best example of this in action within the timeframe at hand would be the Conservative initiative of selling government owned social housing to tenants, in order to place them onto the property ladder and into the new free market; one of the few benefits felt by the working classes in the early days of Britain’s new economy. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Unemployment is of course key to the issue in hand. Many Marxists believe that unemployment is a constant feature of capitalism, benefitting the ruling class (bourgeois) and condemning the working classes (proletariats). Shane Jones of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In Defence of Marxism </i>(2004) writes: </span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">“There is no “natural” need for unemployment other than the need for greater profits to be made by the capitalist class.” This clearly relates to the period of structural unemployment in Britain through the 1980’s whilst large amounts of the working classes found themselves unemployed, as the “capitalist” class enjoyed the riches of the new open market.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Although Marx spoke of a “lumpenproletariat” or “rag proletariat”, the notion of an “underclass” is more in sync with the Weberian idea of class stratification.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lowest class on the NS-SEC system, Class 8, describes its members as either: Never Worked, Long-term Unemployed or Long-term Sick. And although this category potentially contains contradictions ( for example, a long-term unemployed worker who for the 30 years previous has earned £100,000 a year), it is the proposed “underclass” which has suffered worst in terms of employment in Britain over the last 40 years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that national unemployment in Britain has only dropped below 5% on a couple of occasions between 1979 and 2010 (</span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Trading Economics 2010</span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">), displays how the notion of an underclass can be supported. Those who failed to find reemployment following Britain’s deindustrialisation, particularly in areas with strong traditions of manufacturing and production can be seen, in large numbers, to have never returned to work. From a Marxist point of view, they have passed this trend on to generations to come, geographically concentrated, particularly in the north of England, displaying ancestral class inequalities (Crompton 2006, 2010; Bourdieu 1996; Erikson and Goldthorpe 1993). Again this subject could be related to other sociological perspectives, with the functionalist notion of social mobility arguing that this group of people (the underclass), previously hard working and industrious, have been “suffering labour market disadvantage” (Lee and Turner 1996, p189) and as a result have sunk to the bottom of society, finally ending up “heavily stigmatised” and “live[ing] on the margins of society” (Macionis and Plummer 2008, p310).</span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">When concluding the sociological theories and perspectives related to class and employment inequalities in Britain, it has been clear that the Marxist and Weberian ideologies have been most useful. In particular, Marx’s position on employment and Weber’s stance on class categories have led us to explore other avenues, such as structural unemployment and the development of an underclass in Britain. In relation to both of these conflict theories, the functionalist perspective has introduced opposing concepts such as social meritocracy and mobility. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Finally, the importance of the relationship between class and employment is summarised by Mike Savage (2000, p52) who complies with Weberian suggestions that broad class divisions can be related to income inequalities, but most importantly suggests that “this division is more marked than other possible categorical divisions”, ethnicity for example. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: auto auto 10pt; mso-add-space: auto;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bibliography</span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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New York, Free Post Glencoe.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">ROSE, David (1995). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Official Social Classifications in the UK. </i>[online]. Last accessed 7 December 2010 at: </span></span><a href="http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU9"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU9</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.SAVAGE, Mike (2000). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Class Analysis and Social Transformation</i>. Buckingham, Open University Press. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">SCOTT, J (2002). Social Class and Stratification. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Acta Sociologica</i>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">45</b>(1), 23-35</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">THE TELEGRAPH (2008). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Have we really never had it so bad? </i>[online]. Last accessed 7 December 2010 at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2652771/UK-recession-timeline.html</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">TRADING ECONOMICS (2010). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">United Kingdom Unemployment Rate</i>. [online]. Last accessed 7 December 2010 at: </span></span><a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/Unemployment-Rate.aspx?Symbol=GBP"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/Unemployment-Rate.aspx?Symbol=GBP</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-36657819171115910192011-01-10T17:07:00.000-08:002011-01-10T17:07:33.847-08:00Should Compulsory Voting be introduced to Britain?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Compulsory Voting: the threat of consequence if a citizen fails to turnout to vote. The systems and consequences vary between each nation that implements Compulsory Voting (CV), but the basic aforementioned principle remains the same throughout. For example, in both Belgium and Australia, citizens are only forced to enter the polling booth, whereas in Brazil marking of the ballot paper is required. Punishments also vary; in Greece it would be possible for somebody to be sent to prison for failure to vote (although this has never happened), in Belgium there is the threat of disenfranchisement and impossibility of promotion within a public body, and in Bolivia certain public services can be withdrawn from non-voters (Electoral Reform Society, 2003). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Following the Second World War, 83.9% of the Great British public turned out to vote in the 1950 General Election. Fifty one years later and the lowest turnout since was recorded in 2001, with only 59.4% of the public voting in the General Election (UK POLITICAL INFO, 2010), so with voter apathy seemingly at an all-time high in 21<sup>st</sup> century Britain, CV is certainly an option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Much research has been conducted in to Compulsory Voting over the last century, including the positives and negatives of what it entails, but how do these findings relate to our island, and ultimately should the people of Britain be forced into voting? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Supporting the notion of compulsory voting in 2005, Leader of the Commons, Geoff Hoon MP, gave a speech declaring that the introduction of CV in Britain would be “a way of ending political alienation, restoring community and addressing the dangerous issue of “serial non-voters” (Wintour, 2005). If this is the case then the argument “for” in Britain is clearly a strong one. Supporters of CV claim that citizens become engaged in politics, and the educative effect is the main benefit (Engelen 2007). As all groups of society would be required to turn up to the polling booth, there would be an increased incentive to understand the effects of the vote. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would certainly be considered a positive in a nation where the same people are perceived to vote in every election. Mr Hoon says “"My fear is that as the older, more regular voters die, we will be left with a significant number of people for whom voting is neither a habit, nor a duty” (Wintour,2005). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Many academics would support Hoon’s proposal for Britain for a variety of reasons.<span style="color: red;"> </span>Lijphart (1997) suggests low voter turnout poses a grave democratic issue because the results of such elections may not be representative. This then raises the issue of legitimacy. To give a very simple but not unrealistic example, if only 50% of the population turned out to vote in the next British General Election, winning with a 50% majority, that would mean only a quarter of the 60+ million population had giving the winning party a mandate. While remaining democratic as everyone who is eligible to vote has the opportunity, this result certainly couldn’t be considered representative. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Undoubtedly, political participation in the United Kingdom is imbalanced between different groups in society. Typically the groups most involved would be said to be educated, politically motivated and employed, (Wolfinger & Rosenstone 1980; Powell 1986; Brady 1995; Jackson 1995)<span style="color: red;"> </span>and will also feel like they have some sort of civic duty to vote, almost like paying their taxes. Lijphart (1997) suggests that CV should be implemented in such democracies, as it is <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the best way to resolve the issue of a small number of groups (for example, white males over the age of 40) deciding the outcome of elections, as every section of the population would be fairly represented.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">However, this is not an argument that everyone agrees with. Selb and Lachat (2009) suggest that CV compels a substantial share of uninterested and less knowledgeable voters to the poll, who in turn may vote whimsically, randomly, or not in correlation with their political affinity and in turn will not receive what they actually wish to achieve from voting, therefore questioning the argument that CV promotes equal representation of political interests. Compelling uninformed and often uninterested citizens to vote does not only infringe upon their liberty and choice to remain indifferent, but it may well result in elections being decided by such persons (Jakee and Sun 2005). Consequently, Selb and Lachat (2009, p575) argue that “CV brings citizens to the polls who would otherwise not vote, but will not increase their level of political sophistication”, therefore going no way to tackling the issue of equal representation. They go on to claim “Equal representation requires both socioeconomically unbiased participation and voters who vote in accordance with their wants and needs. While CV tends to ensure the former condition by boosting levels of turnout, it fails to guarantee the latter.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Prior to the introduction of the 1924 Compulsory Voting laws in Australia, voter turnout was as low as 47%, but in the decades since this number has risen to around 94% to 96% (Rosenberg, 2001). But is this legitimate? Jakee and Sun (2005) argue that CV laws inevitably boost turnout as the example shows, tackling one of the issues raised by Hoon; “serial non-voters”, but this is due to fear of reprisal, rather than an increased political activity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In an article named <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Should compulsory voting be introduced in Britain? The No argument</i>, British MP Oliver Heald, opposes Hoon’s proposals for the introduction of CV to the British voting system. He complies with Jakee and Sun’s (2005) notion that CV would be an infringement of citizen’s liberty and an unwanted extension of the State into people’s lives, stating that “the right to vote includes the right to say “No thanks””. Finally, Heald suggests that the free vote should be campaigned on “a message of hope and encouragement” rather than focusing on destroying candidates, which can be a popular method, used to influence voters who are unsure of who to vote for, but sure of who not to vote for (Heald, 2009). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">As we can see the arguments for and against the use of CV anywhere in the world are strong on both sides. But each nation differs in political background, public attitude and way of life. The political term <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">laissez faire</i> is undeniably French, and this reflects the attitudes of Le Bleus when it comes to political interference. Without interventions such as CV, the 2007 Presidential election brought 84% of the population out to vote. A display of the Frenchs heavy political involvement in most of the nation’s social groupings, furthered by a culture of large scale strikes and often rioting, as seen in 2010.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">So with similar issues being raised in both the UK and France in recent times, why have we not seen this in Britain? Some nations, such as France, are heavily politicised through cultural influences, rather than intervention. High turnouts and industrial sized public political reactions show this. In Britain, voter apathy is said to be at an all-time high. But why? Britons have had plenty to be unhappy about over the last decade; two international wars to say the least. But during a time of general wealth in Britain, these issues are far from home, and although indirect effects can be felt in the UK, they have not been played out on citizen’s doorsteps as the Second World War was. However, following the recent financial crisis we have begun to see increased rates of reaction by the public, the violent protests in London during the G20 Summit of April 2009 are a good example of this, as are the student lead marches against tuition fee rises in November 2010. These examples seem to point in the same direction, with Britons appearing to be apathetical in times of general content on home shores, changing when unhappiness, or even fear, is widespread on citizen’s everyday lives. The 84% turnout of 1950 and increased political activity following the recent financial crisis support this notion. This may go some way further to detailing whether CV should be introduced in the UK or not.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">In conclusion, we must consider both the negatives and the positives argued for and against the compulsory vote. Many issues have been raised, but I believe three most relevant factors are; political outcome, culture and legitimacy. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The overall majority of people in Britain are enfranchised and there are no viable arguments against this. But I do believe that there is a danger if CV was to be introduced to Britain, that less-educated, less-politicised and less-wealthy citizens would literally be forced into voting as the likely financial deterrent would be too much to face. But how many of these people forced into voting will have knowledge of the election or politics in general? As suggested previously it is these such citizens that are likely to vote “whimsically, randomly, or not in correlation with their political affinity”. The argument against this point is that voters may only be forced to enter the polling booth, or merely tick a “No Vote” box, which would go some way to tackling the issue I raise here, with the majority of those forced to vote choosing this option. But the effect the minority of this group could have is huge, potentially deciding the final outcome of a tightly ran election such as the UK’s last general election in 2010. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">The culture of voting is something which is inbuilt in an older generation of British society, a duty to those who have given their lives before us so we could live and vote in a free society. But as this sentiment begins to lapse from generation to generation, the increased turnout when Britain is unhappy is a cultural path we remain on. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Finally, with all this in mind, would the British public swallow being forced to vote as legitimate? The United Kingdom places itself as a world-wide symbol for freedom and democracy. Much impetus of which lies with the “free vote”; seen as a cornerstone of what makes Britain a tolerant and libertarian society. Much as politicisation is important to the French way of life, toleration is key to British lifestyle; free speech, free thought and in turn the “free vote” are all key to this. Therefore, many would argue that attempting to “increase democracy” in the UK through fear is both wholly undemocratic, and wholly un-British.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
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Last accessed 6 December 2010 at: </span></span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/jul/04/uk.voterapathy"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/jul/04/uk.voterapathy</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">WOLFINGER, Raymond and ROSENSTONE, Steven (1980). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who votes?</i> New Haven, Yale University Press.</span></span></div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-81008883714112536622011-01-06T16:44:00.000-08:002011-01-06T16:48:32.166-08:00What is the role of Utopia in political thought?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Before understanding the role of Utopias, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Utopia, </i>and utopianism in political thought we must first understand the diverse origins of these terms and ideas. The word “Utopia” derives from the original Greek meaning of “nowhere” and the English interpretation of “good” or “well” place. This leads to the popular notion of Utopia as the “good place that is no place<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">” (Sargisson, 2007, p30). </span>The word itself was invented by Thomas More, and entered the vocabulary via his publication in 1516, long after the best-known early utopian writing: Plato’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Republic</i>. More’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Utopia</i> depicted the frame work of an island, including its social, political and religious structures. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Utopia </i>described was understood to be an ideal model of society, a critique on the existing order by imagining the perfect alternative, a style which has since blossomed into what is now described as utopian thinking, or utopianism <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">(Heywood 2007).</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">It is also important at this point to understand the term “political thought”. Political thoughts and thinking within this essay will be taken to involve both the classic and modern political ideologies and theories, as well as the notion that “politics” is encompassed in almost every aspect of our day to day lives. From communism, to the price of coffee, we understand that political thoughts can be had on both. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Utopianism has grown in many different ways since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Utopia</i> and has affected many aspects of social life such as philosophy, economics, sociology and <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">architecture (Sargisson, 2007).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u> </u></b></span>But the major influences have been in literature and political ideology, some of which have been positive and some of which have been negative, some have been written and some have been lived. So, in order to understand Utopia in political thinking, we must first understand these.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Many anti-utopians claim that Utopia is as an untouchable blueprint, and as such, utopianism “can be used, as justifications for terrible wrongs<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">” (Wallerstein, 1999, p1), </span>can only be achieved through violence, and can only be kept through political repression. Utopia is then totalitarian <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">(Levitas, 2001), and i</span>t was dreams of “perfection” that lead to Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia; both states which killed possibilities of change and progress for large sections of society, disallowing them the chace of a “perfect society<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">”(Sarigsson, 2007, p31).</span>Sarigsson explores this vein of argument by looking at the views of philosophers such as Karl Popper who argue that: “Utopia is supposed to make us all happy, but how could one person know another’s interests or desires? …One person’s dream may be another’s nightmare” <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">(2007, p28). </span>Popper argued totalitarianism has its roots in utopianism as far back as Plato’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Republic. </i>The society described by Plato, was according to Popper; anti-libertarian, anti-democratic and in the interest of the ruling class, as were, in parts, the two aforementioned real-life totalitarian states. This displays the dangerous links between attempting to turn fiction into reality, and such criticisms continue to fight the cause of utopianism and its alleged search for perfection.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Respondents to the criticism that Utopia is a final-blueprint, or that it is perfection seeking, see utopianism as much more than this. <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Sargisson (2007,p30) </span>suggests that some Utopias are in fact blueprints, but that perfection “is a final condition, it is static and it does not change”, continuing to say that utopias are seldom static or even reached. Conversely to Popper, Sargisson views both Plato’s and More’s respective Utopias not as final plans but as thought experiments, explorations of another way. This point is supported by Bloch who argues that the “propensity to reach for a better life is manifest in everyday life<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">” (Levitas, 2001, p27)</span> and:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Most people in the street look as if they are thinking about something else entirely. The something else is predominantly money, but also what it could be changed into.” <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">(Bloch, 1986, p33)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Utopias, then, are omnipresent in our lives. Through our thoughts, as Bloch suggests, they help us imagine alternatives, allowing us to approach society anew. But also in the physical world around us, for example, many allegedly utopian seeking societies practice alternatives that aren’t alien to us at all, e.g. the co-operative, co-inhabitant and trust methods of owning property <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">(Sargisson, 2007). </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">So whilst utopian thinking is all around us, we begin to understand that Utopias are not so much about the final result, as this is very rarely reached, but the small footsteps in between. For example, the utopian dream of a 20<sup>th </sup>century British Feminist may have been a nation of complete gender equality, and though this has not been achieved to date, many things that would lead to the end goal have; enfranchisement to say the least. Particularly in the sense that Utopia is within our everyday thoughts, Utopia is political and plays a large role in political thinking. In August 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the footsteps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington and said “I have a dream”, a dream which led to huge changes in the USA and around the world, a dream of a better nation: a Utopia that he imagined as not perfect, just better than the society currently in existence. It is this kind of utopianism that responds best to Popper’s criticism of “seeking perfection”. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Sargisson (2007, p30) </span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">proposes another argument saying that “Utopias are self-consciously flawed”. The word itself is “the good place that is no place” after all. This is perhaps one of the strongest indictments in favour of utopianism; that whilst its supporters embrace its possibilities, the majority do so whilst realising that “Utopia” itself is the least important part of the journey. It is all that comes in between which makes the difference. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The final criticism that must be rebuked by utopianism is that it takes it’s directives from fictional literature, and as such, should not be taken seriously. This point is combatted by some of the arguments already made, most effectively by Bloch’s suggestion that utopian thoughts are in everyone’s minds, not just those that take the time to formulate them into written word. More than this though are the examples of positive real-life utopian projects, which can be said to be much more influential than many utopian writings. Robert Owen’s New Lanark for example, was a founding community in the development of Socialism. A 19<sup>th</sup> century British commune focused on the development of its members through education, improving living standards, and creating a fairer society; displaying once again how the search for Utopia is much less about the final destination than the changes which can be made along the way. As such, New Lanark had major impacts on social philosophers, politicians, and communities the world over: from the Russian Royal family, to the new communities springing up across America, and into smaller groups such as those who later founded “New Australia” in Paraguay. These examples perhaps show the role of Utopia in political thinking at its active best; inspiring positive communities. But it is the accusation that utopianism is, and has been, the inspiration for some of the most negative communities on our planet that damages its cause the most. This argument has partially been explored by Popper who suggests totalitarianism derives from utopian literature. The examples given of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia are examples which certainly strive for another way, but they surely cannot be described as being driven towards Utopia. And although <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Utopia </i>itself is built upon slavery, its aim is a land “free of the inequality, economic exploitation, dynastic squabbles, and legal chicanery that More observed all around him” <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">(Greenblatt, 2005, p519): a</span> society that would be the “perfect alternative” for every citizen, not just a select few. Something even the most ardent utopian would suggest is near impossible in practice. So the fault lies then not within the texts, they merely provide a message for change, the fault of utopianism resulting in totalitarian societies lies with the reader extracting the wrong message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Politics and utopianism then seemingly play a role within one another. Utopias lived and written offer examples of another way, observations of political, social and economic alternatives. In this sense, the imagining of another way surely suggests that politics needs utopianism in order to create any change whatsoever. Utopias give politics and political thinkers a sense of where they want society to be, and in return for these thoughts, politics supplies some of the vehicles needed to implement them, such as political parties and pressure groups. <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Sargisson (2007, p42) </span>says “Without politics, Utopia remains on the page”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Utopias can also be attributed as one of the best indicators of the issues and debates of their time. Plato and More were both Humanists but their publications are separated by nearly two millenniums meaning that their conclusions are very different. Utopian thoughts and writing much closer to each other in timescale can also result in very different visions of the world, such as Bellamy’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Looking Backward</i> and Morris’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">News from Nowhere</i>. Dystopian literature is also worthy of note in the discussion of utopianism and political thought. Novels such as Orwell’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1984 </i>and Atwood’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Handmaid’s Tale </i>describe societies that are not the “perfect alternative” but some of the foulest alternatives imaginable. These dystopias can be seen to act as warnings to society, perhaps most starkly warning us against misunderstanding Utopia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">It is such misunderstandings of utopianism that have led to its downfall in popular culture; linked to totalitarianism and in turn all things negative about politics. But as we have seen you need not delve too deep to find the truth about utopianism, and dispel the myths of an ideology reaching for an impossible dream. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">In conclusion, having viewed both the arguments for and against utopianism, we begin to understand the importance of the subject in political thinking. It’s most important role being to provide the driving force behind change, and whilst we have seen arguments that suggest utopianism can sometimes bring changes considered dangerous, we have come to understand that however it is viewed, it is ever-present and in every sense required by politics. Every change made in society, particularly those for the better, are because of someone’s, or some people’s, dreams and hopes. The practice of taking these such ideas and turning them into reality, is neither utopian nor political, it is both. Politics and utopianism exist not just alongside one another, but they are interwoven entities, drawing life and feeding from one another. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">With this thought in mind, we understand how utopian thoughts and writings have had major influences on society throughout time. From Plato’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Republic </i>to Huxley’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Island</i>, Utopia has been ever-present and at the forefront of man’s mind. Similarly at the forefront has been politics, it was, after all, Plato’s most famous student Aristotle who told us that: “Man by nature is a political animal”. The role of utopianism in political thinking then lies not in the agreeance or disagreeance of it, but the fact it exists in our minds; anarchists have strongly clung to utopian thinking, relating the two individual ideologies through their similar features of “contingency, immanence and prefiguration”, whilst opposing groups, such as the followers of Marx have suggested it as “unrealistic, impracticable, and unscientific”. The most recognisable factor being that both groups are thinking about <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Utopia (Honeywell, 2007, p239;241).</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: red;"></span></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Utopianism then lives on into the 21<sup>st</sup> century through the notion that social change is part of the utopian process. More than this we understand it lives in both people’s minds and in literature. Specific 21<sup>st</sup> century political ideology may also be described as utopian; the “Third-Way” for example describes a new way of politics, pulling from both the left and right of the political spectrum to achieve a final goal. However, <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Spannos (2008, p3)</span><span style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;"> </span>says that “where utopia offers vision escaping reality it has rightly been rejected by serious Leftists”, giving hope to the thought that utopianism is now beginning to be understood for what it is on a more wide scale level.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Finally then, the importance of Utopia’s role in political thinking can be summed up best by the thought of a world without the dreams of figures such as Emmeline Pankhurst and Martin Luther King. The thought of political thoughts without Utopia is a miserable one indeed.</span><br />
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</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"></div>Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5206994180595399037.post-9386585320173566052010-12-14T19:28:00.000-08:002010-12-14T19:28:17.425-08:00Work to come . . .Having now submitted a number of assessments prior to Christmas, I will be publishing these following the Yuletide.Samuel A. Bucketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09677466139134722106noreply@blogger.com0