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POLITICS II – GOVT 1001 MAUKESH BASDEO SAT 10am – 1pm Topic 1 - POLITICAL THINKERS Plato's ideas on the construction and governance of a State. Aristotle's theories of systems of government. THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE GREEKS Pre-Greek political thought was based on a mixture of legend, myth, theology and allegory. Greek inventiveness lay in the discovery of the scientific study of politics. The taming of man and nature is through reason. PLATO 427 -347 B.C. Famous work “The Republic”. It applied systematic reasoning and critical inquiry to political ideas and institutions. A main assumption of “The Republic” was that the right kind of government and politics could be the legitimate object of rigorous, rational analysis, rather than the product of fear, faith, indolence and improvisation. THE ROLE OF THE SOCRATES Socrates was Plato’s first teacher and he is the chief figure in “The Republic”. Socrates trained Plato to endlessly search, through argument, for the reason that lies behind accepted ideas and institutions. Implicit in Plato and Socrates’ rationalism is the assumption, incompatible with the cult of violence that philosophical inquiry can lead to the good life. PLATO’S DIVISION OF THE SOUL Plato’s threefold division of the soul influenced his theory about the threefold division of society. The “rational”, the “spirited’ and the “appetitive” were the three divisions. “Rational” was the highest,

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Page 1: Class Notes

POLITICS II – GOVT 1001 MAUKESH BASDEO SAT 10am – 1pm

Topic 1 - POLITICAL THINKERS

Plato's ideas on the construction and governance of a State. Aristotle's theories of systems of government.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE GREEKS

Pre-Greek political thought was based on a mixture of legend, myth, theology and allegory. Greek inventiveness lay in the discovery of the scientific study of politics. The taming of man and nature is through reason.

PLATO 427 -347 B.C.

Famous work “The Republic”. It applied systematic reasoning and critical inquiry to political ideas and institutions. A main assumption of “The Republic” was that the right kind of government and politics could

be the legitimate object of rigorous, rational analysis, rather than the product of fear, faith, indolence and improvisation.

THE ROLE OF THE SOCRATES

Socrates was Plato’s first teacher and he is the chief figure in “The Republic”. Socrates trained Plato to endlessly search, through argument, for the reason that lies behind accepted ideas and institutions.

Implicit in Plato and Socrates’ rationalism is the assumption, incompatible with the cult of violence that philosophical inquiry can lead to the good life.

PLATO’S DIVISION OF THE SOUL

Plato’s threefold division of the soul influenced his theory about the threefold division of society.

The “rational”, the “spirited’ and the “appetitive” were the three divisions. “Rational” was the highest,

“Spirited” had the capacity to follow and assert the claims of reason,

“Appetitive” harbored desires and emotions and was lowest.

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PLATO’S DIVISION OF SOCIETY

A numerically small aristocracy of rulers in command of a well-trained body of soldiers and administrators governing a third class or producers.

The main difference between the ruler-philosophers and the producers was the difference between “political wisdom” and “technical knowledge”.

THE PHILOSOPHER-KING

Plato was an able exponent of aristocratic theory and opposed democracy. The capacity to govern was possessed by a small class and can be transmitted by selective

breeding. Prolonged education was reserved for this hereditary aristocratic ruling class only. Preparation of rulers was based on the pairing of the parents to ensure the highest physical and

mental qualities of the offspring.

ARISTOTLE 384 – 322 B.C.

Aristotle was a student of Plato. One of Aristotle’s famous works was “The Politics”. Aristotle opens “The Politics” with two key ideas :

(i) The state is a community; (ii) It is the highest of all communities.

ARISTOTLE’S VIEW OF THE STATE

He conceived of the State as “natural” in two ways.

The evolution of social institutions from the family through the village to the State. The State was prior to the family and the village as the whole is prior to the part.

THE STATE AS THE HIGHEST FORM OF COMMUNITY

In the family, mankind is reproduced. In the village, elementary wants of human companionship are satisfied. In the State alone, people realize their entire selves and the highest part of themselves.

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POLITICS II – GOVT 1001 MAUKESH BASDEO SAT 10am – 1pm

ARISTOTLE’S FORMS OF GOVERNMENT

Of true governments, Aristotle distinguishes three:

(a) Monarchy

(b) Aristocracy

(c) Constitutional Government.

Each form had its perversion, namely

(a) Tyranny

(b) Oligarchy

(c) Democracy

DEFINITIONS OF ARISTOTLE’S FORMS OF GOVERNMENT

a) Monarchy - the best form with all virtue centered in one “pre-eminent’ person.b) Aristocracy - “government formed of the best men absolutely”.c) Constitutional Government - the State that the citizens at large administer for the common

interest.

DEFINITIONS OF ARISTOTLE’S PERVERSIONS OF GOVERNMENT

a) Tyranny - government by the ruler for the sole personal benefit of the ruler.b) Oligarchy - government by the wealthy few for their own class benefit.c) Democracy - government by the poor for the poor only.

ARISTOTLE’S PREFERENCES

Like Plato, Aristotle put virtue of the rulers above consent of the ruled. Aristotle spoke of monarchy and aristocracy as the “perfect state” with monarchy, being better

than aristocracy. In monarchy, virtue is centered, while in aristocracy it is diffused. Democracy was the best

perversion.

THE RULE OF LAW

Plato searched for perfect justice. Aristotle conceded that man-made law could never attain perfect justice. Aristotle felt that “the rule of law” was preferable to that of any individual. In modern times, the rule of law is regarded as a pillar of democratic systems.

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POLITICS II – GOVT 1001 MAUKESH BASDEO SAT 10am – 1pm

Topic 2 – THEORIES OF THE STATE

THOMAS HOBBES, JOHN LOCKE, JEAN –JACQUES ROUSSEAU

SCOPE OF LECTURE:

a) Hobbes’ Leviathanb) Locke’s’ Fiduciary Trustc) Rousseau General Will

1. THOMAS HOBBES (1588 – 1679)

1. His most famous work – The Leviathan (1651)2. Hobbes argues that all people are naturally equal in mind and body.3. This basic equality is the principal source of trouble and misery.4. People, in general, have equal faculties and they cherish similar hopes and desires.5. If two people cherish the same thing, which they both cannot have, they will become enemies and

seek to destroy each other.

THE STATE OF NATURE

Hobbes’ view of the state of nature was philosophical and not historical. One had to envisage what life would be like in the state of nature. In the state of nature, there is no government and no law enforcement. In the state of nature, people are in a condition of war – “every man against every man.” In such a condition, life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”

TRANSITION TO THE CIVIL STATE

Hobbes’ pessimism about mankind in the state of nature is overcome by his belief that the fear of death will lead mankind out of the state of nature and into the civil state.

The fear of death is the passion that inclines man to peace. The moderation created by the fear of death will not overcome the innate desire of people for power and

glory, even in the civil state.

THE LEVITHAN

There must be a restraining power strong enough to keep mankind to its promise to maintain the peace in the civil state.

“Covenants without the sword, are but words, and of no strength to secure a man at all.” If people were peaceable enough to observe covenants without a superior authority for their

enforcement, there would be no need for government in the first place, because there would be peace without compulsion.

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THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

The social contract of Hobbes is made between subjects and subjects, not between subjects and sovereign.

All power is transferred from subjects to Hobbes’ sovereign authority – the Leviathan. Government is set up by a covenant that transfers all power and authority to the sovereign. Hobbes assigns to the State the task of maintaining order and security for the benefit of the

citizens. Hobbes’ sovereign is a supreme administrator and lawgiver.

2. JOHN LOCKE – (1632 – 1704)

In Locke’s “Two Treatises of Government” (1689), he starts out with the concept of the state of nature.

Before government, people in their natural state were free and equal, because God did not give anyone superiority over anyone else.

People are free in not being subject to another. People are not born into submission, except unto God.

THE STATE OF NATURE

Life in the state of nature was governed by natural laws. People are given the gift of reason by God at birth. People’s possession of reason enables them to understand natural laws. Freedom is due to rationality and completely unreasonable behavior is not free, but is non-

human. People are free in the state of nature, because of natural laws.

TRANSITION TO THE CIVIL STATE

The law of nature, through the instrument of reason, defines what is right and wrong. However, it has three main disadvantages, which impel mankind to replace it.

o It is unwritten and not sufficiently clear and could be ignored.o The absence of impartial judges could lead to everyone being a judge in their own cases.o The injured party is not always strong enough to execute the just sentence of the law.

THE CIVIL STATE

1. The inconveniences of the state of nature place the natural rights of mankind in a vulnerable position.

2. The need for government arises to provide those things which nature lacks, in order to protect those things which nature gives.

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3. The need for government is not what makes it legitimate, but rather the mark of a civil society is the consent with which each individual resigns their own right to judge and execute the laws of nature and gives it to a political authority - the State.

THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

The social contract that people make with each other to form a civil society is born of both fear of injustice and the need to preserve the existence of morality in the affairs of mankind.

Locke’s social contract is meant to remove obstacles to the realization of the natural sociability of mankind and mutual respect for each other’s rights.

Locke’s social contract establishes a servant, rather than a master to do this – the State. The creation of government is, therefore, a trust, which benefits the community and not the

rulers.

3. JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU (1712 – 1778)

Rousseau’s most famous work was “The Social Contract” (1762). The main concern of this work was the issue of “political obligation”. At the beginning of this work, he states, “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” Like his predecessors, he uses the concept of the state of nature and the social contract that puts an end

to it.

THE STATE OF NATURE

Rousseau’s conception of man’s life in the state of nature is not as gloomy as Hobbes or as optimistic as Locke.

Each person pursues their self-interest in the state of nature until they discover that they cannot stop the threats and hindrances of others.

People are guided by instinct only in the state of nature, while enjoying natural liberty, which is enslavement to uncontrolled appetites.

TRANSITION TO THE CIVIL STATE

People have a desire to live in community and they surrender, not to a sovereign ruler, but rather give themselves to the community and, therefore, they give themselves to nobody in particular.

The total surrender of the individual to the sovereign community is alien to Locke and may resemble Hobbes’ view.

The difference between Hobbes and Rousseau is the difference between the mechanical creation of the Hobbesian state based on a purpose for people, and the organic creation of Rousseau’s state, based on people wanting to live in community.

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THE CIVIL STATE

In the civil state, justice and morality inspire people. People lose natural liberty and an unlimited right to everything they want, but they gain civil

liberty and property rights for everything they possess. “….obedience to a law which we prescribe to ourselves is liberty.”

THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

The purpose of the social contract is to combine security, which comes from collective association, with liberty, which the individual had before the making of the contract.

The social contract consists of “the total alienation of each associate, together with all his rights, to the whole community.”

Rousseau sees this body of persons being “possessed of a will.” He calls this the “General Will” which

(a) Always aims at the general good (b) Comes from all and applies to all.

THE GENERAL WILL

The General Will “tends always to the preservation and welfare of every part, and is the source of laws constitutes for all members of the state, in their relation to one another and to it, the rule of what is just and unjust.”

Obedience to the General Will is thus the expression of the moral freedom of the individual and if there is refusal, persons may be compelled to obey.

“This means nothing less than he will be forced to be free.”

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Topic 3 - EDMUND BURKE AND CONSERVATISM

(a) Counter-revolution

(b) History and Tradition

(c) Moral Values

(d) Status Quo vs Change

EDMUND BURKE (1729 – 1797)

Like Rousseau, Burke is a conscious opponent of the idea that progress will come through the application of human reason, but unlike Rousseau, he denies that the alternative is to establish political society on fresh foundations, based on abstract ideas of nature, freedom or equality.

HISTORY AND TRADITION

Burke proposes instead a respect for history and tradition, provided that the content of such tradition is morally sound.

The mere analysis of politics as a traditional activity is itself clearly insufficient unless the traditions themselves are given some specific substance.

It is Burke’s task to recommend not only a style of politics, but also the features of society, which such a style should uphold.

Burke’s political theory is underpinned by the moral values, which he believes that politics should pursue and preserve.

PHILOSOPHY IN ACTION

Given his attack on reason and abstract speculation and his preference for “philosophy in action”, Burke’s writings are concerned with particular problems and not theoretical analysis.

His political perspective, his moral theory and his belief in the religious basis of society, have to be gleaned from his writings, rather than being found presented in a forma and systematic way.

It is in his response to various events that his principles emerge, both of method and of morality. To consider principles apart from circumstances is for him an idle, abstract exercise, but

equally, to discuss circumstances without the guidance of principles is to divorce politics from its moral base.

THE ROLE OF ARISTOTICRACY

Burke’s belief in the aristocracy, as that rank in society, which gives its direction and protects the subordinate ranks, arises from his view that the aristocracy above all identifies their own interests with the good of society generally.

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Arising out of the natural hierarchy of society, they develop a sense of duty rather than a desire for domination.

Their role is to lead and use their strength, intelligence and wealth for the good of the community.

Playing its proper role, the aristocracy through its leadership integrates the interests of all groups and ensures the harmony of the whole.

LEADERSHIP AND SOCIAL UNREST

If government fails in the task of leadership, then the people are usually sound judges of such failure.

Their feelings are good reason to believe that something is amiss. Popular caprice rarely causes turmoil and the people desire order, and if they express their

discontent, it is not from a passion for attack, but from an impatience of suffering. The ability and wisdom of a government is fairly tested by the response it gains from the people

to whom it is responsible.

ESTABLISHED INSTITUTIONS AND POLITICS

Politics is not essentially concerned with the origins of society or government, not something to be logically reduced or deduced, compared with nature, or designed to achieve utopian or theoretical reforms.

The political arrangements have grown over time and they exist now. The question to be asked is simply whether they are adapted to the people within the social and

moral limits of what is possible and desirable to do? Established institutions thus have a presumptive right; perfect they may not be, in need of

modification they may be, but their overall evolution need not be called into question. The role of politics is normally preservative.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION - (1789)

The 1789 Revolution in France convinced Burke that it was different from the constitutional struggles of England in 1688 or the American War of Independence (1776-1783) which attempted to reform in order to preserve.

The French Revolution was an attempted overthrow of the whole basis of society. Burke saw the likelihood of catastrophe if disorder based on abstract rights replacing order

based on precedence was not, sooner or later, crushed. Such violent anger running out of control needed strong rule to restrain it.

HUMAN NATURE AND HUMAN CONDITIONS

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The idea, not that human conditions might be improved, but that human nature might be reshaped, is an affront to God who created man and nature, as well as being a matter of political folly and moral arrogance.

People cannot overthrow their political, moral or divine order and set themselves up as autonomous, perfectible, self-created individuals.

To do so is to elevate pride, vanity, and conceit above the Christian virtues of humility, affection and dignity.

In Burke’s own view of society, the instinct and duty of mankind are brought into harmony through their membership of family, group and community.

For the revolutionary, the instinct of man has to be crushed in the name of a higher moral perfection.

Topic 4 - KARL MARX AND I.V. LENIN AND CONSERVATISM

a) Influences on Marxb) Class struggle and class consciousnessc) Stages of historyd) The Vanguard Partye) Marxism – Leninism

KARL MARX (1818 – 1883)

Marx was born in the Rhineland, which more than any other part of Germany had been strongly permeated with democratic ideas by the French Revolution.

In 1849 Marx went to London and he was soon joined by Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895) whom he met in Paris and who became his lifelong collaborator.

Marx stayed in England until his death in 1883.

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INFLUENCES ON KARL MARX : G.W.F. HEGEL

In German philosophy, it was G.W.F. Hegel who greatly influenced Marx. Although Marx very early criticized Hegel, he never abandoned the basic categories of Hegel’s

thought. Like Hegel, Marx felt that history had meaning and that it moved in a set pattern toward a

known goal. Marx held that history had both a meaning and a goal, and the historical process was dominated

by the struggles between social classes with each phase of the struggle, as in Hegel, representing a higher phase of human evolution than the preceding one.

The goal of history was predetermined for Marx, namely the classless society, leading to full human freedom; while for Hegel, it was the final victory of reason and spirit over enslavement to caprice and passion.

INFLUENCES ON KARL MARX : THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

French revolutionary politics was another important source for Marx’s intellectual development. Marx theorized that if revolution was the principal method of destroying a capitalist society,

then France and her revolutionary experience served as the best laboratory. This must be contrasted with Burke who was horrified by what the French Revolution

epitomized.

INFLUENCES ON MARX : TH E INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND

Since Marx viewed economic forces as the main driving force in history, and since he felt that industrial civilization was irresistibly spreading throughout the whole world, he was convinced that England was the country to live in and to study industrial capitalism.

Marx also felt that English economic analysis was the most advanced of any country and, therefore, industrial capitalism, in his opinion, could best be studied in England.

DIALECTIAL MATERIALISM

Marx believed that political and historical events are due to the conflict of social forces arising from economic conditions.

He advocated the concepts of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. The thesis represented the existing order, which would be challenged and overthrown by an

antithesis, and the new order that was created would be the synthesis. This process would repeat itself until it finally stopped when capitalism was overthrown and

there was the classless society of communism.

THE DUTY TO WORK

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In Marx’s thought, the classless communist society of the future was by no means designed to abolish the duty to work.

The first stage of communism (socialism), Marx argued, would be guided by the principle of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his work.”

In the second and final phase of communism, the principle of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” would prevail.

Under capitalism, Marx argues, the worker does not work in order to fulfill himself as a person, because his work “is not voluntary but imposed, forced labor.”

Marx argued that the proletariat (working class) only had their labor to sell for a wage to the bourgeoisie (capitalist class) who owned and controlled the means of production.

ALIENATION AND CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS

According to Marx, under capitalism people are alienated from their work, the objects they produce, their employers, other workers, nature, and from themselves.

Such alienation was necessary to create the class-consciousness that could drive class struggle to effect social change and progress that would bring about the overthrow of the capitalist state and replace it with the classless state of communism.

Marx attacked the role of religion in society as it had the potential to undermine class-consciousness by offering the proletariat a means of accepting their station in life.

He called religion “the opium of the masses.”

THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO – 1848

In the “Communist Manifesto”, Marx and Engels explain how social change through revolution actually occurs.

For them the “history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” The end of capitalism will be brought about by the same inexorable laws of social change that

destroyed previous systems. There was no clear-cut theory as to how the political transformation from capitalist to

proletarian rule would actually take place - this was left to the forces of history. Marx and Engels saw in revolution, civil war, and the dictatorship of the proletariat the

preparatory stages of peace and harmony.

V.I. LENIN – 1870 – 1924

Lenin must be understood both as the creator of a distinctive version of Marxism as a revolutionary theory, and also as a person steeped in the native Russian, non-Marxist revolutionary tradition.

He identified himself as a representative and a continuer of this tradition in an article in 1912 in

which he linked himself to (a) the revolutionary nobles and landlords who unsuccessfully staged a troop rising in St. Petersburg following the death of Czar Alexander I in 1825, and, (b) a later

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generation of revolutionary commoners whose leaders carried out the assassination of Czar Alexander II in 1881.

What Lenin found enduringly valuable in this tradition was its model of the dedicated

professional revolutionist and the aspects of this tradition became known as “Russian Jacobinism”.

RUSSIAN JACOBINISM

This theory held that a revolutionary seizure of power from below should be followed by the formation of a dictatorship of the revolutionary party, which would use political power for the purpose of carrying through from above a transformation of Russian society.

Once the revolutionary intellectuals had captured power through revolutionary activity from below, they would rely chiefly on persuasion of the masses through propaganda, rather than coercion, and would gradually transform the country on socialist lines.

The thrust of Lenin’s thinking was toward the creation of a revolutionary party dictatorship dedicated to the transformation of Russian society along socialist lines.

For Lenin, a proletarian dictatorship would mean a dictatorship of the revolutionary party on behalf of the proletariat.

THE VANGUARD PARTY

Marx and Engels did not imagine that the proletariat, once in power, would have need of a party as their “teacher, guide and leader” in building a new life on socialist lines.

Leninism was, in part, a revival of Russian Jacobinism within Marxism. In 1902, Lenin published a booklet entitled “What Is To Be Done?” in which he described the

need to create the right kind of revolutionary party organization for Russia’s special conditions. He argued that the Russian Marxist party should not seek a mass working class membership,

although it should strive to link itself with masses of workers and other discontented elements of society through trade unions, study circles and other groups.

This party was to be the Vanguard Party which consisted of the most committed ideologues and against which there was no competition.

LENIN’S ECONOMIC THEORY

According to Lenin, imperialism, in its economic essence, is monopoly capitalism. This determines its place in history, because the monopoly that grows out of free competition is

the transition from the capitalist system to a higher socio-economic order. In other words, imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism.

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

In every socialist revolution, however, the principal task of the proletariat, and of the poor peasants, which it leads, is the positive or constructive work of setting up an extremely intricate

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and delicate system of new organizational relationships extending to the planned production and distribution of the goods required for the existence of tens of millions of people.

The principal difficulty laid in the economic sphere, namely, the introduction of the strictest and universal accounting and control of production and distribution of goods, raising the productivity of labor and socializing production in practice.

The transformation from free market competition, which drove capitalist production and distribution, to a new philosophy of State domination and control of the economy, had to be carefully managed in the interest of the population to ensure continuity without hardship.

Topic 5 - MAX WEBER AND BUREAUCRACY

a) Bureaucracy and Authorityb) Dictatorship of the Officialc) The Protestant Ethic

MAX WEBER (1864 – 1920)

Much of Weber’s own work is informed by an application of Marx’s historical method. Weber used this method as a heuristic principle. As a view of world history, Marxism seemed to him an untenable monocausal theory and thus

prejudicial to an adequate reconstruction of social and historical connections. Weber did not squarely oppose historical materialism as altogether wrong; he merely took

exception to its claim of establishing a single and universal causal sequence.

WEBER’S VIEW OF CAPITALISM

For Weber, capitalism was not “irrational” as its institutions appeared to him as the very embodiment of rationality.

As a type of bureaucracy, the large corporation was rivaled only by the state bureaucracy in promoting rational efficiency, continuity of operation, speed, precision and calculation of results.

All of this goes on in institutions that are rationally managed and in which combined and specialized functions occupy the centre of attention.

WEBER’S VIEW OF SOCIALISM

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The concept of rational bureaucracy was played off against the Marxist concept of the class struggle.

Weber did not deny class struggles and their part in history, but he did not see them as the central dynamic.

Weber saw nothing attractive in socialism, yet he did not deny the possibility of a socialization of the means of production.

Socialization of the means of production would merely subject as a yet relatively autonomous economic life to the bureaucratic management of the state.

The state would become total and Weber felt that socialism would thus lead to a further serfdom.

“For the time being, the dictatorship of the official and not that of the worker is on the march.”

RATIONALIZATION AND CHARISMA

The principle of rationalization was the most general element in Weber’s philosophy of history. The rise and fall of institutional structures, the ups and downs of classes, parties and rulers

implement the general drift of secular rationalization. It was in such crises that Weber introduced the balancing conception for bureaucracy, namely

the concept of “charisma. Charisma was used by Weber to characterize self-appointed leaders who were followed by those

who were in distress and who needed to follow the leader because they believed the leader to be extraordinarily qualified.

Bureaucracy and household institutions were seen as routines of workday life, while charisma was opposed to all institutional routines, those of tradition and those subject to rational management.

WEBER’S TYPES OF AUTHORITY

Weber's discussion of authority relations also provides insight into what is happening in the modern world. 

On what basis do men and women claim authority over others? Why do men and women give obedience to authority figures? Again, he uses the ideal type to begin to address these questions.

Weber distinguished three main types of authority: Traditional Authority; Rational-legal Authority; Charismatic

Traditional authority: is based on prior recognition and a habitual orientation to conform. Charismatic authority: is based on personal devotion and personal confidence in revelation,

heroism or other qualities of individual leadership.

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Rational-legal authority: is based on the belief in the validity of legal statute and functional competence based on rationally-created rules. In this case, obedience is expected in discharging statutory obligations.

WEBER AND BUREAUCRACY

It is a servant of government, a means by which a monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, or other form of government, rules.

Those who invented the word wanted to suggest that the servant was trying to become the master.

Officially and in theory, the bureaucracy is merely a means of getting policy direction and implementing policies.

Weber points out that every form of organization has been bureaucratized. Not only government services, but also political parties, churches, educational institutions,

private businesses, and many other institutions have bureaucracies. Bureaucracy can be considered to be a particular case of rationalization, or rationalization

applied to human organization. Bureaucratic coordination of human action, Weber believed, is the distinctive mark of modern

social structures. Once fully established, bureaucracy is among those social structures, which are the hardest to

destroy. Bureaucracy is the means of carrying “community action” over into rationally ordered “societal

action”. Therefore, as an instrument for ‘societalizing’ relations of power, bureaucracy has been and is a

power instrument of the first order. Bureaucracy was for Weber what class struggle was for Marx.

DICTATORSHIP OF THE OFFICIAL

Weber was very concerned about the impact that rationalization and bureaucratization had on socio-cultural systems.

The bureaucracy generates an enormous degree of unregulated and often unperceived social power. Because of bureaucracy's superiority over other forms of organization, they have proliferated and now dominate modern societies.

Those who control these organizations, Weber warned, control the quality of our life, and they are largely self-appointed leaders.

The Bureaucracy tends to result in oligarchy, or rule by the few officials at the top of the organization.

In a society dominated by large formal organizations, there is a danger that social, political and economic power will become concentrated in the hands of the few who hold high positions in the most influential of these organizations.

The bureaucracy can undermine both human freedom and democracy in the long run.

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Government departments are theoretically responsible to the electorate; this responsibility is almost entirely fictional. 

In reality, the electorate does not even know what these bureaucracies are doing. Government departments have grown so numerous, so complex, that they cannot be supervised effectively.

The power of the bureaucrat is often unseen and unregulated, which gives the elite at the top of these hierarchies vast social, economic, and political power.

THE PROTESTANT ETHIC

Weber was concerned with the meaning that people gave to their actions, which, allowed him to understand the meaning of historical change.

He believed that rational action within a system of rational-legal authority is at the heart of

modern society. He questioned the causes of change in Western society. In an effort to understand these causes,

Weber examined the religious and economic systems of many civilizations.  Weber came to the assumption that the protestant ethic broke the hold of tradition while it

encouraged men to apply themselves rationally to their work.

The Protestant ethic was the calling and drive for continuous work on the part of mankind.

In Calvinism, Weber, a set of beliefs around the concept of predestination.

The protestant ethic therefore provided religious sanctions that fostered a spirit of rigorous discipline, encouraging men to apply themselves rationally to acquire wealth.

This religiously anchored attitude must be contrasted with the Marxist philosophy of work in the capitalist state, which was regarded as forced labour.

Weber’s concept of rewards both here and in the hereafter for hard work must be contrasted with the Marxist philosophy of the duty to work being conditioned by the economic conditions under which work is undertaken.

Weber and Marx represented spiritual and materialist contrasts of the reasons why people work.

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Topic 6 - MONTESQUIEU AND THE SEPERATION OF POWERS

a) Montesquieu’s philosophy of the Separation of Powersb) The Political Liberty of Manc) Constitutional Foundation for Democratic Governmentd) Montesquieu’s Philosophical Influence

CHARLES MONTESQUIEU (1689 – 1755)

After graduating from the College de Juilly, an aristocratic institution, Montesquieu went to study law at the University of Bordeaux.

He continued his study of the law in the courts of Paris and in 1715; he was elected to the Academy of Bordeaux.

He remained active in it for the rest of his life.

MONTESQUIEU IN ENGLAND

Montesquieu spent two years in England (1729 - 1731). His interests in England seem to have been primarily political. He was acquainted with figures on all sides of the issues and with the court and he observed

Parliament in action. In England, he found a political system where the question was the proper understanding of the

relation, or balance, between the representative Parliament and the King or the King’s Ministers.

SEPERATED AND BALANCE OF POWERS

Montesquieu famous description of English politics and of the possibility of a government based on separated and balanced powers had its source in his observation of the English system of government.

The functions of government are not entirely separated, as each branch participates to some extent in the task of the others, making the balance a result of an interaction between the branches.

POLITICAL LIBERTY

According to Montesquieu, political liberty is the result of the separation of powers.

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In England, the orders of the old regime, commons, lords and king, each take up a function in the new division of rule into legislative and executive functions, with the judicial function set aside in juries.

According to Montesquieu : “All would be lost if the same man or the same body of principal men, either of nobles, or of the people, exercised these three powers - that of making the laws, that of executing public resolutions, and that of judging the crimes or disputes of individuals.”

At the end of the day, the structure of the government itself, not some appeal to first principles, is the defense of liberty.

Political liberty according to Montesquieu is a tranquility of mind arising from the opinion of each person of his safety.

In order to have this liberty, it is requested to government be so constituted as one man needs not be afraid of the other.

The liberty of which Montesquieu spoke is differently promoted by opportunity power among political actors in a way that minimize opportunities for those actors to determine conclusively the reach of their own powers.

THE SPIRIT OF LAWS

Montesquieu famous work “The Spirit of the Laws” was published in 1748. “The Spirit of the Laws” was received with praise by much of the Scottish Enlightenment,

including David Hume, Adam Ferguson and Adam Smith and was incorporated into their thought and work.

Montesquieu did not invent the doctrine of the separation of powers, and much of what he had to say, Book XI, Chapter 6 was taken over contemporary English writers and from John Locke.

Montesquieu contributed new ideas to the doctrine, he emphasized certain elements in that he had not previously received such attention, particularly in relation to the judiciary, and he accorded the doctrine a more important position that did most previous writers.

James Madison, one of the architects of the U.S. Constitution at the convention where it was written, and one of its great defenders in “The Federalist Papers” was an inheritor of this intellectual tradition.

MADISON AND THE FEDERALISTS PAPER AND MONTESQUIEU’S INFLUENCE

Madison’s analysis of how a government of balanced powers could be expected to work reflects a contemplation of Montesquieu book itself.

In Montesquieu England and in the U.S. Constitution as Madison defended it in “The Federalist Papers”, the balance of power is a result both of the division of power and of its sharing.

The positions within the government are shaped by a notion of the character of good government.

MANKIND AND THE SEPERATION OF POWERS

As in Montesquieu’ monarchy, those who hold the positions are shaped by them. They identify themselves with the importance of the place they hold and the task it gives them. These habits of mind defend the division of powers and form the character of the rule.

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Political liberty, as Montesquieu convinced itself demands the separation of three (3) powers of government, so that they rest in different hands.

If any two (2) or if all are combined in the same hands, power will be too much concentrated and insufficiently checked.

In order for political liberty to exist, not only must the three powers be separated. The judicial power should be given to ad hoc juries composed of the defenders peers, with

judgments being determined as precisely as possible by written law. The legislative power must be divided. Its main part should go to the duly elected

representatives of the whole people. Those distinguished by both riches and honors are ought to comprise a body of novels, which

will serve as the second half of the legislature. (Senate) The executive should be a monarchy whose checks on the legislature would consist of a veto

power and ministers in turn, could be examined and punished by the legislature.

MODERATE AND DESPOTIC GOVERNMENTS

Montesquieu’s defined three types of government

a) Republican – democracy / aristocracyb) Monarchical c) Despotic

In the first, the people are possessed out of a supreme power. In a monarchical system, a single person governs by fixed and established laws and in a despotic government; a single person directs everything by his own will and impulse.

Republican government can be subdivided into aristocracy and democracy, the former being a state in which the supreme power is in the hands of a part of the people, not as in democracy, in the body of the people.

In despotic governments, there can be no check to the power of the prince, no limitations to safeguard the individual. The idea of the separation of powers in any form is foreign to despotic governments.

In aristocracy, also though it be moderate government, the legislative and executive authority are in the same hands. (Cabinet of governments)

The distinction between moderate and despotic governments permeates Montesquieu’s book. In despotic governments, people are isolated from each other and their only rule is the will or

whim of the ruler, while they relate to each other only through fear. In moderate governments, people can count on regularity in the rule and they can relate to each

other without fear insofar as they rely on the things they hold in common as they share something other than just fear of the ruler.

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Topic 7 - JEREMY BENTHAM AND JOHN STUART MILL AND LIBERALISM

a) Utilitarianismb) Laissez-fairec) Representative government

JEREMY BENTHAM (1748 – 1832)

Political philosophy for Bentham involves more than a general concern with theories, concepts and analysis, but it is also to do with behavior, institutions and detailed reform.

Indeed, his guiding principle was that it was practical results, which justified theoretical study, and his principle of utility attempts to unite theory and practice.

BENTHAM’S PUBLISHED WORKS

Bentham’s first published work “Fragment on Government” appeared in 1776. In this work, he expressed the belief that “it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that

is the measure of right and wrong.” In his “Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation”, he lays down a fundamental

theory: nature dictates that mankind is ruled by pleasure and pain, and these determine what we do and also what we ought to do.

The principle of utility, derived from this, is simply that principle which approves or disapproves of all action according to its tendency to further or lessen the happiness of the party involved.

UTILITARIANISM

Utility is a critical standard by which to judge existing institutions in order to reform them, and Bentham used it to attack both orthodox thought and contemporary practice.

By applying utilitarian principles to a vast variety of political, legal, social and administrative problems, he turned from a moral theory into a reforming creed.

In Bentham’s hands, utilitarianism became a weapon with which to challenge the establishment.

PAIN AND PLEASURE

For Bentham, the cause of all actions, or for human actions (what is called the motive), is always the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

However, Bentham is saying more than that pleasure is the sole motive; he is also saying that pleasure alone is good.

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All pleasures are good, all pains are evil, therefore pleasure cannot be evaluated or criticized as such, unless it is unwise; in other words, only if it leads to pain or denies a greater pleasure.

BENTHAM’S VIEW OF GOVERNMENT

The utilitarian view of government would be (a) that the proper purpose of government is the greatest happiness of the community, but (b) that the actual state of affairs is one in which the rulers pursue their own interest in conflict with this.

Just as in the individual the self-regarding interest is predominant, so too in government. The problem is therefore one of bringing the particular interests of rulers into accordance with

the universal interest. Such a community of interest is only possible through representative democracy, where

representatives of the whole community superintend and control those who administer public affairs.

REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT

The only form of government, for Bentham, which can protect the individual and in which there is security for good government, is a representative system, where an identity is created between the representative body and the community, and where the representative body is supreme.

If such a system of government were set up, there is one further critical safeguard necessary that is freedom of the press.

Thus, the Benthamite distrust of government continues even where the government is properly chosen.

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND DISTRUST OF THE GOVERNMENT

For Bentham, freedom of the press is the main additional check to the defects and abuse of government.

So important is it, that free and frequent elections without it would probably not serve their purpose.

Without a free press, the knowledge of government activity necessary for good choice is absent. Once a government is chosen, the approach of the legislators and of the people should be one of

distrust. Minimize confidence and maximize distrust is Bentham’s advice as regards government.

JOHN STUART MILL (1806 – 1873)

Bentham’s view that people have interests (reducible to pleasures and pains) that determine their actions, and that happiness lies in the satisfaction of such interests, comes to be regarded

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by Mill as excessively narrow in its disregard of internal character, and also as historically and practically wrong.

Mill’s own critical and independent departure from this orthodoxy was first expressed in an article in 1833 entitled “Remarks on Bentham’s Philosophy”.

In it, although Mill writes favorably of Bentham’s philosophical and practical contribution in the field of law, he finds his view of nature, and the concepts of happiness derived from it, to be confused and limited.

HAPPINESS

According to Mill, Bentham’s great fault was that he had limited the judgment of an action simply to an evaluation of its consequences, and in doing so had ignored the relationship.

Mill’s own critical and independent departure from this orthodoxy was first expressed in an article in 1833 entitled “Remarks on Bentham’s Philosophy”.

In practice, the notion of happiness or interest which people strive for is interpreted in a narrow selfish manner, and the motive of conscience or moral obligation is generally dismissed.

DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN PLEASURES

For Mill, pleasures are not all of a kind; people are not mere animals and the notion of pleasure must take into account this distinction.

On two grounds, we are able to elevate some pleasures above others. First, that they are more lasting. Second, that they are more valuable in kind. The pleasures belonging to the higher faculties are superior on both these grounds, so that the

exercise of this faculty leads to more happiness. This distinction represents a major shift away from Bentham’s position.

HIGHER PLEASURES

The pursuit of happiness was a pursuit of the higher pleasures - personal affection, social feeling, art, poetry, history and mental culture generally - and the standard of morality is the happiness of all concerned.

Thus, the existence of happiness as a first principle does not exclude the recognition of secondary ones; indeed, these moral rules are generally our main guide to increasing the quality of our lives.

Mill’s defense of this is that if the theory of utility is to serve mankind it must be concerned with the progressive aspect of its nature, and this leads to the development of character, not to the mere satisfaction of expressed desires.

LIBERTY AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE

In his commitment to the liberty of the individual and in his cautious approach to democracy, Mill modified his utilitarianism and gave it a distinctively liberal character.

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Having abandoned the Benthamite identification of happiness with the mere sum of pleasures, it was open to him to concentrate on the quality of life, and it is this concern which explains his love of liberty and his awareness of the dangers of popular power.

FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY

Mill’s view of the value of freedom and the proper relationship between the individual and society appeared in his best-known work “On Liberty’ published in 1859.

He denied that the coming of democracy would in itself solve the problem of the relationship between the ruler and the ruled.

The utilitarian belief that the key to the prevention of abuse was the principle of constant checks did not do away with the possibility of coercion of individuals or groups.

Without freedom, progress is inconceivable, and happiness and morality are robbed of their essential nature.

Such an argument places Mill at the centre of the liberal tradition.

INDIVIDUALITY AND LIBERALISM

According to Mill, human nature is not meant to be raw material molded by tradition and custom, but a living growth requiring all-round development.

Thus, for the sake of the integrity and quality of individual life, each person must plan their own life and exercise their own judgment by subjecting custom and convention to rational scrutiny.

Conformity robs the individual of his / her human aspects, reducing him / her to a servile and narrow copying machine.

Although Mill believes in the supreme importance of individuality, he also argues for its social benefits in order to ensure toleration from those themselves content with traditional and conventional lives.

Democracy has many virtues, but it must respect the values of freedom, individuality and diversity for it to be truly the best form of government.

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Topic 8 – ELECTORAL SYSTEMS

a) First past-the-postb) Proportional Representationc) Second Ballotd) Mixed Systems

DIVERSITY OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS

There is a great diversity of electoral systems to be found in the functioning democracies of the world.

The rules that govern how votes are cast and seats allocated differ markedly from one country to another.

Applying two different formulae to the same distribution of votes with the same voter intent will produce quite different outcomes in terms of members elected for each party.

TYPOLOGIES OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS

Typologies of electoral systems can be based on :

a) Electoral formula - which determines how votes are to be counted to declare winners or allocate seats.

b) District magnitude - which refers to the number of seats per district.c) Ballot structure - which defines how voters express their choices.

T&T is more familiar with the Single District System.

ELECTORAL FORMULAE

There are three basic electoral formulae :

a) Plurality - when a candidate gets more votes individually than each individual opponent and can win with less than 50% of the votes cast.

b) Majority - a winner can only be declared when a candidate gets more than 50% of the votes cast.

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c) Proportionality - political parties should be represented in the Legislature in exact (or nearly exact) proportion to the vote they polled.

PLURALITY SYSTEMS (Britain)

Plurality systems are commonly known as first-past-the-post. To be elected, a candidate needs simply to have more individual votes than each challenger. The plurality rule is often applied in single-member constituencies, but it is also used in

presidential contests as well as in multi-member constituencies if so designed.

FIRST-PAST-THE-POST

This system operates on the basis that the person who receives the highest single number of votes cast in a single-member constituency, will be declared the winner over all other candidates. In essence, it relies upon the principle of plurality as opposed to the principle of majority.

Consider the following hypothetical situation showing the position of candidates of parties in terms of votes in a constituency:

Party A - 5000 votes

Party B - 4000 votes

Party C - 3000 votes

Party D - 2000 votes

Plurality is the biggest disadvantage of the First-past-the-post system.

PLURALITY EXAMPLES

1995 General Election in T & T

• Tunapuna • Edward Hart - PNM - 7,467• Hector Mc Clean - UNC - 7,223• Theodore Charles - NAR - 368• Nathaniel Pierre - NLP - 42• John Singh - TPV - 16• Majority of 1st over 2nd = 244• Total of 3rd, 4th and 5th = 426

1991 General Election in T & T

• Princes Town • Mohammed Haniff - UNC - 7,404• Indira Maharaj - PNM - 6,202• Hamza Mohammed - NAR - 2,489• Farouk Hosein - NJAC - 333• Majority of 1st over 2nd = 1,202• Total of 3rd and 4th = 2,822• Winning candidate’s % = 44.73

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• Winning candidate’s % = 49.04

The virtual simplicity makes the first-past-the-post system very easy to operate. However, there have been criticisms of this system on the ground that the winner may not always emerge with a majority, but rather with a plurality.

In such cases, the will of the electorate may not be seen to be satisfied. This has led to reforms that seek to find a majority as the key to victory in all cases. E.g. in the 2007 T&T general elections, where the COP coped 15000 votes and it is seen as an advantage, since it undermines the minority group.

Not that it would be impossible to find a majority without some formulae, if the first-past-the-post method is to be used on a single occasion.

In some countries, the desire for a majority winner is more important than a simple system. Therefore, a second ballot is required in order to find a majority winner.

MAJORITY SYSTEMS – (Second Ballot)

Requiring a majority without further specification opens the possibility of having no winner at all if there is a single-round election or a succession of indecisive elections if no candidate is eliminated.

That problem is solved through the holding of a second ballot where all other candidates besides the top two are eliminated and the contest is confined to two candidates only. The difference is that the second round of voting is limited to the two candidates with the majority of votes.

If no candidate obtains more than 50% on the first ballot, a second and final ballot is held between the two candidates who got the highest number of votes in the first round. Disadvantage – the extra expense on the country to have a second round of voting.

The winner will emerge with a majority. The difference between the F-P-T-P system and the Majority system is the plurality

against majority.

SECOND BALLOT EXAMPLE

The 1995 French Presidential Election

• Lionel Jospin - 22.3% (First round) 47.4% (Second Round)• Jacques Chirac - 20.8% (First round) 52.6% (Second Round)• Edouard Balladur - 18.6% (First round)• Jean-Marie Le Pen - 15.0% (First round)• Robert Hue - 8.6%• Arlette Laguiller - 5.3%• Phillipe de Villiers - 4.7%• Dominique Voynet - 3.3%• Jacques Cheminade - 0.3%

PROPORTIONAL RERESENTATION

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There are two major types of proportional representation, namely the party list system and the single transferable vote. Countries such as Australia, Ireland, New Zealand

Party List System – this system places emphasis upon the allocation of the number of seats in the legislature to political parties contesting an election, in proportion to the votes cast for each party. In order to achieve this type of distribution, the total number of votes is divided by the total number of seats to determine the quota, which will determine the allocation for each party.

Difference to the F-P-T-P system, is the no. of seats allocated to a party is based on the total no. of votes a candidate receives.

There are different versions of the party list system of proportional representation:

a) One set of system determines seat allocation by subtraction, while another set determines seat allocation by division.

b) The ones based on subtraction are called, ‘largest remainder” system.c) The ones based on division are called, “highest average” systems and use a divisor.d) The most common “largest remainder” system is the Hare, Droop and Imperial quotas,

while the “highest average” systems are either the d Hondt or modified Saint Lague methods of division.

THE HARE METHOD

Is based on total valid votes divided by number of seats, i.e. votes/seats = quota to determine allocation of seats per party.

Total valid votes ‗ Quota to determine the

No. of seats allocation of seats per party

For example, the 1964 General Elections result in British Guiana was:

PPP 109332 votes 24 seatsPNC 96651 votes 22 seatsUF 29612 votes 7 seatsJustice Party 1334 votes 0 seatsGUMA 1194 votes 0 seatsPeace Party 224 votes 0 seats

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NLF 177 votes 0 seatsTotal Votes 238530 votes 53 seats

e) In order to calculate the method of allocation, divide the number of votes cast (238530) by the number of seats to be allocated (53), in order to establish the quota. In this case, the quota was 4500. Divide the votes cast for each party by the quota to determine the individual party allocation. In this case, the allocations and the remainder votes were: PPP 24 seats and 1332 remainder

PNC 21 seats and 2157 remainder

UF 7 seats and 2612 remainder

No of votes cast = Quota 238530 = 4500

No of seats all. 53

No of seats = Party alloc. 109332 = 24

Quota of seats 4500

3 Remainder of seats after taken out from quota of PPP – 1332

(The party with the largest no. of remaining seats would be allocated the other party’s remaining seats.)

f) Owing to the fact, that under the Hare system of proportional representation, the parties with the highest remainders are allocated the remaining seats in accordance with the size of their remainders. The two remaining seats were allocated on the basis of one each to the UF and the PNC (in that order.) As a result, the final tally of seats for the PNC was 22 and the UF got 7.

THE DROOP METHOD

The Droop method is based on total valid votes, divided by number of seats plus one. Then add one to the final result or the quota and ignore the fraction.

No of valid votes + 1 = Quota

No of seats + 1

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THE IMPERIAL METHOD

The Imperial method is based on the total number of valid votes, divided by the number of seats plus two.

No of valid votes = Quota

No of seats + 2

THE HONDT DIVISOR METHOD

The Hondt Divisor method uses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc as its divisors until all the seats have been allocated.

THE SAINT LAGUE DIVISOR METHOD

The modified Saint Lague divisor method uses 1, 4, 3, 5, 7, etc as its divisors until all the seats

have been allocated.

THE SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE

This is based upon preferential voting whereby the voter has the option to cast a vote on the basis of ranked performance. Used in Australia

This type of system is used in multi-member constituencies where there is more than one

Member of Parliament (M.P) In contrast to the Party List system, the voters vote for candidates and not for parties. This

system is used in the Republic of Ireland. The voters are counted of first preference to determine:

a) How many voters were cast?b) What the quota will be for each constituency?

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Using the Droop formula (shown above), candidates can be declared elected by earning the number of votes set by the quota, based on each level of preference. We shall explain this system with the help of an example, The Droop formula is:

No of valid votes = (x) + 1 = Quota

No of seats + 1

This system is the fairest of all systems.

Suppose in a three member constituency, on the basis of first preference counting. Parties A, B, C, and D obtained respectively, 6501, 4201, 3798 and 3500 votes. The total no. of votes cast is 18000. The quota for this constituency, therefore is 4500 votes, (18000/3+1 = 4500, then add 1 to determine the droop quota, which will be 4501.

No. of votes cast = Quota = Droop Quota

3 + 1 = 4500 + 1 = 4501

In order to declare elected, a victorious candidate requires 4501 votes as each level of preference is counted. Based on first preference votes above, so do second preference votes become necessary for determining the winner of the other seats.

The surplus votes in excess of the quota from Candidate A will be transferred in accordance with the preference of the voters shown on those excess ballot papers.

At the same time, the second preference on the remaining ballot papers will be counted. If a

candidate earns 4501 votes on second preference, then that candidate will be declared elected.

If only one candidate is so elected, then any surplus votes from that candidate will be counted on third candidate who earns 4501 will be declared elected.

The advantages of Single Transferable Voting System

The single transferable vote system, thus allows the voter much greater freedom to choose between parties based on their perception of the quality of the candidates.

At the same time, there are many voters who may choose a straight party line as regards preference.

However, you should note that in this system, on votes are wasted as the surplus votes are counted on a lower preference, if no winner on first preference means counting a second preference votes and so on.

MIXED SYSTEMS (Guyana)

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It is technically possible to mix together different electoral systems to devise a hybrid, or mixed system.

An example of this was the proposal by the Wooding Constitution Commission for Trinidad and Tobago in their 1974 Report for a single House consisting of 72 members.

36 members were to be elected by first past-the-post in geographical constituencies and another 36 members drawn from party lists on the basis of proportional representation.

Topic 9 – THE AMERICAN AND BRITISH SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT

a) Presidential and Parliamentary Systems of Governmentb) Rigid and Weak Separation of Powersc) Written and Unwritten Constitutions

1. THE BRITISH SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

There are four main sources that constitute foundations of the British system of government.

1. Statute Law - this consists of all the Acts of Parliament duly enacted and enforced.2. Conventions of the Constitution - these are the unwritten practices and procedures by which the

system of government operates.3. Judicial precedent - these are decisions of the judges in the courts of law that can guide other

judges and constitutional actors alike.4. Opinions of constitutional scholars - these are the writings and authoritative works of renowned

scholars on constitutional matters.

CONTINUITY OF DEVELOPMENT

The British system of government does not operate with a basic document or group of documents such as a written Constitution.

It has evolved over the centuries with but few sudden or dramatic changes so that a high degree of continuity has been maintained.

Of the modern institutions of government, some are still rooted in medieval origins.

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Among the existing rules, quite a number were laid down in the 17th century or earlier, but the greater part of its constitutional law was laid down in the 20th century.

PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY

Parliament as a body can enact any law whatsoever on any subject whatsoever in the U.K. and the courts will interpret these laws.

After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Parliament declared itself supreme and this doctrine has remained in force ever since.

LAW AND CONVENTION

The system of government is regulated to a large extent by rules which do not belong to the normal legal categories.

These rules are called constitutional conventions. They are rules of political conduct or binding usages, most of which are capable of being varied

or of simply disappearing as political conditions and ideas change. They are to be found particularly in the working of the Executive branch of government and its

relationship with the Legislature.

FLEXIBILITY OF CONVENTIONS

The absence of a cumbersome procedure for altering rules of constitutional importance and the pliability of many constitutional conventions tend to make the British system of government flexible and easily adaptable.

The appointment of the Earl of Home as Prime Minister in 1963 and the appointment of Patrick Gordon-Walker to the Cabinet in 1964 are good examples of this pliability.

LIMITED MONARCHY

Succession to the throne is hereditary and is based on primogeniture. The functions of the Monarch are primarily ceremonial as the Monarch exercises his / her

powers (the Royal Prerogative) on the advice of Ministers. Very few powers are exercised by the Monarch in his / her discretion, e.g. the appointment of a

Prime Minister or the grant of awards in the Royal Victorian Order. The Monarch is also Head of the Church of England and carries the title fidei defensor.

BICAMERALISM

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The House of Commons is made up of 659 elected M.P.s (or such other number as may be prescribed by Parliament) all of whom are elected by the first past-the-post system of election.

The House of Lords is made up of four categories of peers : hereditary, life, spiritual and law lords.

The House of Commons is the centre of political focus as whichever party controls a majority in that House will also form the government in the Executive branch.

PARLIAMENTARY EXECUTIVE

The political arm of the Executive branch of government is recruited from and located within Parliament.

The Cabinet is collectively responsible to Parliament for the direction and control of the government.

Individual Ministers are individually responsible to Parliament for the conduct of the affairs of their Ministries.

EXECUTIVE DOMINANCE OF THE LEGISLATURE

The Government in office is normally able to command parliamentary support for the implementation of almost any policy that it is in practice likely to adopt.

This ability to command such parliamentary support is based on party loyalty. If the government lost its majority, it would either have to resign or seek a dissolution of

Parliament.

JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE

The Judiciary is appointed by the Executive, but it is independent of both the Executive and the Legislature.

The Lord Chancellor is Head of the Judiciary. The Lord Chancellor is also a Cabinet Minister (his primary appointment) and he also presides

over the proceedings of the House of Lords. His post and the conventions surrounding it defy the separation of powers.

2. THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

The Constitution of the U.S.A. is the supreme law of the land. Drawn up in 1787 and put into effect in 1789, it allocates the powers and duties of the main

governmental organs. It divides the Federal Government into three branches - the Executive, the Legislature and the

Judiciary.

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THE SEPERATION OF POWERS

The Executive branch is headed by the President and includes all government agencies and departments. The Legislative branch is divided into a bicameral legislature - the Senate (100 Senators) and the House

of Representatives (435 members). The Judiciary has the Supreme Court as its highest organ and is headed by the Chief Justice.

ALLOCATION OF POWERS OUTSIDE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The Constitution allocates powers and duties between the Federal Government, on the one hand, and the fifty individual State governments on the other.

It also allocates powers and duties between these State and Federal governmental bodies, on the one side, and the people, collectively, on the other.

By this it is meant that the Constitution specifies certain powers which are denied both to the federal and the individual State governments.

Most of these appear in the First Ten Amendments to the Constitution (the Bill of Rights enacted in 1795) and in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION

The most usual procedure for amending the Constitution requires, first, that a resolution containing the proposed amendment be passed by a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Congress.

It must then be submitted to the individual legislatures of the States and the assent of three-quarters of these legislatures (38 States) is required for the resolution to be carried.

THE PRESIDENCY

The President is elected by the nation every four years on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November in a leap year and is inaugurated at 12.00 noon on 20th January after.

The winner of a Presidential election is determined by which candidate has an absolute majority of the votes in the Electoral College (as opposed to the total national popular vote).

The Electoral College consists of 538 votes which are allocated to the States in proportion to the size of their congressional delegations.

E.g. Florida has two Senators (all States have two Senators regardless of size) and twenty-five House of Representatives’ districts, therefore, Florida is allocated 27 votes in the Electoral College.

As a result of this system, presidential candidates tend to concentrate on larger States during the election campaign.

PRESIDENT, VICE-PRESIDENT AND THE CABINET

The President and the Vice-President run as a team or a ticket and they head the administration that is to be put together once they are successful.

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The President-elect nominates the Cabinet members and they are confirmed by the Senate before taking their oaths of office.

The President can only serve for two terms of office.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE AND THE SENATE

All 435 members of the House of Representatives are elected every two years. One-third of the Senators are elected every two years for a six-year term of office. One-third of the Senate retires by rotation every two years together with all of the members of

the House of Representatives. E.g. Senators who were elected in 1998 faced the polls in 2004.

PRIMARY ELECTIONS

All presidential and congressional candidates are chosen on the basis of primary elections (to determine party candidates) and then these chosen candidates face each other in the general election on Election Day.

When people register to vote, they declare their political affiliation at the time of registration (Democratic, Republican or Independent).

This usually allows them to vote in the Republican or Democratic primary elections as the case may be.

The two main parties have their candidates chosen for them by the electorate and these candidates later face each other in the general election on Election Day.

For the presidential nomination, the successful candidates from each party must win a majority of delegates to the nominating convention that is held every four years.

THE JUDICIARY

The Chief Justice and the eight other members of the Supreme Court are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate (whenever a vacancy arises).

Once confirmed, the Supreme Court Justice will serve until he / she is ready to retire. Many Presidents try to leave a legacy on the bench by nominating persons who mirror their own

political views on social issues. The confirmation hearings and vote in the Senate can assume very political characteristics

depending upon the nominee and the political battle to be fought. E.g. Clarence Thomas in 1991 and Samuel Alito in 2006.

RIVALRY BETWEEN PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS

The Founding Fathers of the Constitution planned the rivalry between the President and the Congress.

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The President can veto legislation and the Congress can override it with a two-thirds majority. The Congress can question members of the Administration about their conduct of affairs and

the President does not depend on Congress for his political existence. These are called “checks and balances”.

Topic 10 – WEST INDIAN GOVERNMENT

• Crown Colony Government and post-war constitutional reform.• Representative and Responsible Government.• Federation, the Jamaican Referendum and British Policy on Independence.• Westminster - Whitehall Model

CROWN COLONY GOVERNMENT

• Trinidad and St. Lucia were the first two Crown Colonies in the British West Indies.• Trinidad was surrendered by the Spanish to a British expedition in 1797 and by the Treaty of

Amiens 1802 it was formally ceded by Spain to Britain.• St. Lucia was captured by the British from the French in 1803 and by the Treaty of Paris in

1814 it was formally ceded by France to Britain.• Both colonies became Crown Colonies in which the Governor ruled directly on behalf of the

Crown and elected representation was suppressed.• The principle of nomination was the hallmark of Crown Colony Government.• The Morant Bay uprising in Jamaica in 1865 created the pre-conditions for reform of Jamaica’s

Constitution from the Old Representative system to the Crown Colony system.• The elected Legislative Assembly was removed in 1866 and a system of nomination for the

Legislative Council was introduced.• This was copied in almost all the British West Indian territories except Barbados, the Bahamas

and Bermuda.

NEW REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM

• In 1884, elected representation was restored in Jamaica on a minority basis in relation to the nominated members in the Legislature.

• This was known as the New Representative system.• This was copied from 1924 in the other British West Indian territories after the visit of Major

E.F.L. Wood, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, who toured the British West Indies in 1921 - 22.

• Major Wood recommended the re-introduction of elected representation in the legislatures of P BHthe British West Indies on a minority basis in relation to nominated membership.

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• He also recommended that this position should be reversed gradually over time to permit majority elected representation in relation to nominated membership of legislatures.

THE MOYNE COMMISSION

• After the social uprisings of the mid-1930s in the British West Indies, the Moyne Commission visited the region to investigate and report on the circumstances surrounding these events.

• The Commission recommended that : (i) there should be the introduction of universal adult suffrage; (ii) an increase in elected membership of legislatures; (iii) the introduction of elected members into the Executive Councils; (iv) the assignment of greater responsibility to the Executive Councils.

• The Commission was uncertain about the prospect of a Federation which was regarded as a laudable goal that was not likely to succeed.

• Nevertheless, the Commission felt that an attempt should be made at federation despite its misgivings about insularity undermining such an effort.

FEDERATION

• A conference to discuss the prospect of a West Indian Federation was convened at Montego Bay, Jamaica in 1947 by Arthur Creech-Jones, Secretary of State for the Colonies.

• A Standing Closer Association Committee was formed out of this conference to recommend to the British Government whether a federation was a desired policy initiative in the West Indies.

• By 1953 the Committee recommended a federation with a weak centre and strong individual units.

• In 1956 the British Caribbean Federation Act was passed, in 1957 a Constitution came into effect and in 1958 the federal elections were held.

• In 1961 the British Government convened an independence conference at Lancaster House in London to discuss independence for the Federation which consisted of Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla,St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and, T&T.

THE JAMAICAN REFRENDUM

• The Opposition party in Jamaica (the J.L.P.) was opposed to Jamaica becoming part of an independent Federation and preferred Jamaica to seek its own independence.

• The Premier, Norman Manley, agreed to a referendum among the Jamaican electorate on the subject.

• The result of the referendum was a narrow victory for secession from the Federation by Jamaica.

• Jamaica opted to proceed to its own independence.

THE DEMISE OF THE FEDERATION

• In January 1962 Trinidad and Tobago announced that it too would withdraw from the Federation after the failure of negotiations between the Federal Government and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

• The Federation was terminated in April 1962.

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• Jamaica (6th August, 1962) and Trinidad and Tobago (31st August, 1962) proceeded to their own independence.

THE LITTLE EIGHT & ASSOCIATED STATEHOOD

• The British Government attempted to pursue a policy for the remaining eight colonies to become a mini-federation.

• This failed as Barbados proceeded to its own independence in 1966.• In 1967, the British Government introduced the concept of Associated Statehood for six of the

remaining seven colonies in the former Federation.• Montserrat was returned to direct colonial rule.• Associated statehood was full internal self-government with Britain retaining control over

citizenship, defence and external affairs.• Associated states were free to determine when they wanted their independence.

INDEPENDENCE

• The associated states proceeded to their independence as follows : Grenada (1974); Dominica (1978); St. Lucia (1979); St. Vincent & the Grenadines (1979); Antigua & Barbuda (1981); and, St. Kitts - Nevis (1983).

• Those countries that were not part of the Federation proceeded to their independence as follows : Guyana (formerly British Guiana) (1966); The Bahamas (1973); and, Belize (formerly British Honduras)(1981).

THE WESTMINSTER-WHITEHALL MODEL

• All of the constitutions in the Commonwealth Caribbean are written.• There are five basic tenets of the Westminster-Whitehall model.• These tenets are (1) a Bill of Rights in the Constitution; (2) a unique bicameral system; (3) a

more rigid separation of powers; (4) codification of Westminster constitutional conventions; and, (5) the entrenchment of constitutional provisions.

1. A BILL OF RIGHTS IN THE CONSTITUTION

• The inclusion of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution recognizes, declares and protects the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the citizen.

• The citizen is empowered to challenge the State on the ground that his / her human rights have been, is being or are likely to infringed.

• The courts are empowered to overturn legislation or actions by the State that are deemed to be unconstitutional.

2. UNIQUE BICAMERALISM

• There are 12 independent countries in the Commonwealth Caribbean and 8 of them have bicameral systems.

• The 4 unicameral ones cannot be compared to the Westminster model in the U.K.

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• The 8 bicameral ones are different from the U.K. insofar as (1) Caribbean Senators do not enjoy security of tenure; and, (2) all Senators must vacate office at the next dissolution of Parliament.

• In the Westminster model in the U.K., members of the House of Lords have security of tenure and they do not vacate their seats until death.

• Of the 54 countries in the Commonwealth, 18 of them have bicameral systems and 8 are in the Commonwealth Caribbean.

3. MORE RIDGID & SEPERATION OF POWERS

• The only similarity between the Commonwealth Caribbean and the Westminster model in the U.K. is the overlap between a majority in the elected House and the formation of the Executive branch of government.

• In the U.K., the House of Lords is both a legislative and a judicial body.• In the U.K., the Lord Chancellor is a Cabinet Minister, the Presiding Officer in the House of

Lords, and the Head of the Judiciary.• In the Commonwealth Caribbean, there is an Attorney General in Cabinet, a President of the

Senate to preside over the Upper House, and, a Chief Justice as head of the Judiciary.

4. CODIFIED CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Most Commonwealth Caribbean countries have U.K. constitutional conventions written into their constitutions.

• The effect is to create rigidity and also forced choice for interpretation between competing views.

• An example of rigidity relates to the motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Erskine Sandiford in Barbados in 1994.

• An example of forced choice between competing interpretations relates to the power of dissolution in St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Belize in relation to the rest of the Commonwealth Caribbean.

5. ENTRENCHED PROVISIONS

• There is no written constitution in the U.K. and, therefore, nothing to entrench.• All of the Constitutions in the Commonwealth Caribbean have entrenched provisions which

protect them from easy amendment.• There are three main types of entrenchment procedures.• Special majorities in the Parliament for Bills seeking to amend the Constitution.• Time delay procedures for Bills seeking to amend the Constitution.• Post-parliamentary referenda for Bills passed by Parliament seeking to amend the Constitution.

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