Effect of Australias Two Party System on Liberal Democracy

Effect of Australias Two Party System on Liberal Democracy The two-party system is essential to the health of Australian liberal democracy. The politics of Australia takes place within the framework of a federal constitutional parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The bicameral body of the federal Parliament of Australian to which Australians elect parliamentarians, incorporate a fusion of executive elements inherited from the Westminster system and a strong federalist senate adopted from the United States. Australia largely operates as a two-party system in which voting is compulsory. The Australian political landscape has been dominated by organised, national parties since federation. The Australian Labor party come into prominence during the late 19th Century and represented the organised workers. They were opposed by two main parties the first who represent the middle class business and offered a social conservative aspect, known as the Liberal party of Australia. The second represented rural or agrarian, now the National Party of Australia. While there are a small number of other political parties that have achieved parliamentary representation, these main three dominate organised politics everywhere in Australia. Australian politics now operates as a two-party system, as a result of the permanent coalition between the Liberal Party and National Party.() â€Å"A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate politics within a government. One of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the majority party while the other is the minority party.†() The two-party system had its origins in the rise of the Labor Party as a mass political organisation. This occurred in Australia roughly from 1891. Important moments occurred in 1909, when the Protectionists and Free Traders merged, and again in 1946, when Sir Robert Menzies established the modern Liberal party. In this perspective the political game is fundamentally about two main parties periodically contending for public support. () â€Å"The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is a self-described social democratic party which has in recent decades pursued a neo-liberal economic program, founded by the Australian labour movement and broadly representing the urban working class, although it increasingly has a base of sympathetic middle class support as well.†() â€Å"The Liberal Party of Australia is a party of the centre-right which broadly represents business, the suburban middle classes and many rural people. Its permanent coalition partner at national level is the National Party of Australia, formerly known as the Country Party, a conservative party which represents rural interests. These two parties are collectively known as the Coalition.†(). The 1913 election was important because it consolidated the two-party system. It was the first time an elected majority government was replaced by another majority government, this time the new Liberal Party that had in 1909 fused together the anti-Labor forces. However it was the introduction of proportional representation that shaped the system of government we have today. â€Å"The Commonwealth Constitution does not govern in detail how members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are to be elected, nor could it dictate the number and strength of Australia’s national political parties and the dynamics of competition among them.†() The political dynamics in Canberra including the roles the two houses of parliament and the relationship between them is profoundly impact by the electoral and party system. Proportional representation has fundamentally affected the balance of power among the parties, the implementation of principles of responsible government, and the practical dynamics of politics in Parliament. â€Å"The decision made in 1948 that thereafter Senators would be elected by proportional representation. Until 1949, Senators were elected in much the same way as Representatives, except that three or more Senators were chosen in each state at each election. Sec.7 of the Constitution provides for Senators to be elected on a state-wide basis—each state voting ‘as one electorate’—unless Parliament provides otherwise, which it has not done. Thus, until the 1949 election, between three and six Senators were elected state-wide at each election, by a plurality system that often led, as we shall see, to one party winning most or all of the seats being contested.†() Preferential voting protects the election against a candidate who receives a plurality, but not a majority, of the votes cast. If more than two candidates run for the same seat, it is quite possible that none of them will receive a majority; most voters will select someone other than the candidate who receives a plurality of the votes. A closely related effect of preferential voting is to encourage more than two candidates to run for the same seat—or to put it differently, for more than two parties to field candidates for the same seat. In plurality district elections, it is typically argued that anyone who contemplates voting for a third or minor party candidate is, in effect, throwing away his or her vote. If the candidate whom a voter truly prefers has no realistic chance of winning, so the argument goes, any voter who selects that candidate thereby gives up the opportunity to affect the choice between the two candidates who actually might win. Under a preferential voting system, a voter can vote for the candidate he or she truly prefers, and then mark his or her second preference for a candidate w ith a better prospect of winning—the political equivalent of having one’s cake and eating it too. Precisely because of this logic, of course, preferential voting can have the effect of encouraging a multiplicity of candidates and so reducing the likelihood that any one of them will receive a majority of the first preference votes cast. In a proportional representation system, lesser parties can moderate policy since they are not usually eliminated from government. It is suggested the two-party approach may not promote inter-party compromise but may encourage partisanship. In the past the two-party system has proved to be extraordinarily robust. The Australian major parties are required to be more pluralistic (Winner takes all) than any other democracy as a consequence of being such a stable bipolar system. Minor parties find it very difficult to gain a foothold in the lower house due to the combination of preferential voting and single-member electorates. The preferential system means minor parties vacuum up discontented voters to deliver back to one of the major parties. Two-party systems have been criticized for downplaying alternative views, being less competitive, encouraging voter apathy since there is a perception of fewer choices, and putting a damper on debate within a nation. Two dominant parties pattern of politics involves an assumption about their ideologies. It implies that the two parties present the community with real and divergent choices and that these are based on broader differences of political philosophy or ideology. In turn, these different philosophies are assumed to provide guidance about how to respond to particular issues. Further, taken together, the philosophies of the major parties broadly exhaust the repertoire of political possibility. Again, these were all valid assumptions for most of the past hundred years. But do any of them still hold? The community is now much more differentiated and pluralised. Australians exhibit a much wider spectrum of attachments and attitudes. We are a much more diverse and pluralised community. We do not divide along binary lines. To think of ourselves in linear, left-right terms would be a gross distortion. A kaleidoscope is perhaps a better image. Relatively small numbers of voters remain rusted on loyalists of the major parties Party organisations have a minimal role in linking the community to politics. We no longer have powerful party organisations. The remnants are shadows of their former selves. But none of the tasks that they once performed are carried out anywhere else in the political system. Power has flowed from the organisation and the members to party leaders. We no longer have two parties divided by a clear programmatic orientation. Rather the major parties agree on many aspects of the broad direction of policy, particularly in relation to the economy. Real disagreement often mostly concerns priorities or important details. Or the major parties may agree and freeze out other voices that have a right to be heard. They may also disagree profoundly about particular issues like gay marriage, environmental protection, euthanasia, education reform etc. There is now often cross-party agreement about the general direction of policy. This creates the incentives for opportunism, populism, manufactured difference and exaggeration outcomes that now irritate many voters. If this is the reality of political life in the early 21st century, we should remember what our parties should be representing, Liberal Democracy. â€Å"Liberal democracy is a form of government in which representative democracy operates under the principles of liberalism, i.e. protecting the rights of minorities and, especially, the individual. It is characterized by fair, free, and competitive elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into different branches of government, the rule of law in everyday life as part of an open society, and the equal protection of human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, and political freedoms for all persons. Liberal democracies usually have universal suffrage, granting all adult citizens the right to vote regardless of race, gender or property ownership.†() Liberal democracy is base on four main principles, The belief that all individuals are rational moral, The belief that it is a natural condition of mankind to want growth evolution, the belief that this growth will come through order cooperation rather than chaos disorder and a suspicion aga inst concentrated forms of power. Accordingly, liberal democracies are organised in such a way as to define and limit power in order to promote legitimate government within a framework of justice and freedom, Powers are limited defined through the use of written constitutions that separate legislative, executive and judicial power, These democracies are legitimised by require a high level of support derived from the electoral system, This system provides justice to all citizens by equal treatment and being accorded dignity and respect, and lastly by granting the freedom to make decisions. to learn from them and to accept responsibility for them. Citizens must have the capacity to choose between alternatives and the freedom to do what the law does not forbid.()

Essay --

1.0 Introduction The brain is composed of billions of tiny neurons all combined to create a hierarchy of complex networks. Much is unknown about intelligence and our understanding and perception of intelligence is shaping the way in which we in the 21st century are creating computer based intelligent neural networks. An intelligent system is able to retract information from its environment and comprehend without prior knowledge of the information the process, reason about the relationships between variables contained in the information and learn about the process and its operating conditions without human input. A computational approach to network dynamics focuses on the networks ability to think logically, process data and react to changes in the data which can lead to future evolution of the network. Traditional rule based computational techniques failed to meet the requirements of search, optimisation and machine learning in large biological and industrial systems and therefore had to evolve which shaped the route in which computational intelligence had taken in the 21st century. A network is said to be computationally intelligent if it can deal with low level data analysis such as small numerical data has pattern recognition components. The main emphasis on neural networks and computationally based network systems was to come up with a learning algorithm that could be used to increase the intelligence of any given system. Fuzzy Logic was first proposed by Professor Lotfi Zadeh in1969 in the University of California Berkley. He created Fuzzy Logic to define between data by using partial set membership rather than crisp set membership or non-membership. Professor Zadeh explained that people do not need precise numerical inform... ...dimension of the prototype memories where the network stores all memories within a stable state. 3.0 Fuzzy Logic Systems: Fuzzy Neural Network 3.1 What Is Fuzzy Logic? Fuzzy Logic is a problem solving methodology that lends itself to implementation in a range of systems and can be implemented into networks. It allows an accurate outcome based on vague, ambiguous, imprecise input information. Fuzzy Logic is mainly used for control situations although it can be used over a variety of scenarios in situation based computing making it ideal for use within Neural Networks and they require a wide range of input variations. Fuzzy Logic processes user defined rules and therefore it can be readily modified to improve network performance, it can be used to model and control nonlinear data that would beforehand be impossible model mathematically. 3.2 Crisp Sets and Fuzzy Sets

Districts of Dickens London Essay

Charles Dickens was born on Friday 7th February 1812 at Portsmouth. His father John Dickens continually living beyond his means and then was finally imprisoned in 1824. 12 year old Charles was removed from school and sent to work in a factory the most terrible period of his life, this child hood poverty and adversity influenced dickens later views on social reform in a country in the throes of the industrial revolution. In the Victorian age queen Victoria was on the throne and reigned over an empire, we were seen as very strong and powerful. All the British people became very arrogant and we thought we were more superior to the rest of the world. In the workhouse north of London a young woman who has arrived in an exhausted conditions gives birth to a boy, and dies. Looked after over by the ill-natured Mrs Corney. Mr bumble, transfers him aged nine to the workhouse itself and he is set to work picking oakum. When Oliver causes some trouble by asking for some more food the authorities decide to put Oliver into the trade. He becomes apprenticed to Sowerberry, an undertaker. Another apprentice Noah Claypole insults Oliver’s dead mother, Oliver attacks him and is cruelly punished by the Sowerberrys. He runs away to London, and in Barnet he meets with a boy thief, Jack Dawkins, â€Å"The Artful Dodger†, a member of a pickpocket gang run by Fagin, a Jew. Oliver is horrified to see them pick pocket of an old gentleman, Mr Brownlow, at a book stall, runs away, and is captured and taken before a magistrates but the bookstall keeper has seen the true robbers. Oliver is taken to MR Brownlow’s house in Pentonville, where the housekeeper, Mrs Bedwin, nurses him through an illness. He is treated with kindness and affection for the first time in his life and is delighted. But Fagin plots to recapture him. He engages Bill Sikes, a brutal robber, and Nancy, his mistress, also a member of the gang, to bring Oliver back. Sikes takes Oliver by night to Chertsey to carry out a robbery on the house of a Mrs Maylie. When the alarm is given Sikes takes fright and escapes, and Oliver is shot and wounded. Mrs Maylie and her adopted niece, Rose, takes him in, and he settles with them, becoming a house hold favourite. Rose gets a serious illness. Mrs Maylies son, Harry arrives on her recovery and begs her to marry him. She refuses. During his good life with the maylies, Oliver catches glimpses of MONKS a sinister man who works with Fagin to try and recapture him. Nancy tells rose about Fagin’s and Monks conspiracy. Sikes, maddened by Nancy’s supposed treachery, rushes back to his own room, awakens her from sleep and clubs her to death. A police raid in which Fagin was arrested. Sikes attempts to escape across the roofs but falls and dies. Oliver returns to Mr Brownlow. Monks, otherwise Edward Leeford, is Oliver’s half brother. The provisions of fathers will leave money to Oliver on conditions that he maintains a spotless reputations, and for this reasons Monks has tried to keep the boy in Fagin’s gang in order to discredit him. Mr Brownlow then adopts Oliver. The structure of â€Å"Oliver Twist† is full of highs and lows because of the sequence of cliffhangers. The structure of the novel makes it more intriguing when Charles Dickens wrote â€Å"Oliver Twist† They were published in instalments, the effect of this made the novel more compelling and made the reader crave for more. The instalments lead to recaps to tie in the events, and the chapter titles worked as a summary of what was going to materialize in each chapter. Dickens narrative technique is known as the third person. The third person uses a narrator who watches over events, this helps Dickens to deepen the emotions for Oliver because he can describe everything that happens to him. London was seen as the place for work, money and dreams. But there was also a considerable high amount of poverty and hardship, Oliver’s grievance began in the workhouse and later having to thieve for Fagin in return for shelter and food. Crime doesn’t pay, but crime was quite common because of the amount of adversity. Good triumphs over evil, Fagin, Bill Sikes and Monks are immoral and corrupt. Mr Brownlow Rose Maylie and Nancy were the trustworthy honest citizens. The moral of the the novel shows Fagin being tried and executed for his crimes, Bill Sikes was hunted down and he hung him self trying to escape from the law. Monks confessed to trying to discredit Oliver and has to sign over Oliver’s inheritance. This proves that crime doesn’t pay! The London setting in â€Å"Oliver Twist† has distinct wealthy and deprived areas. â€Å"Kennels over flowing,† the noise of traffic increasing as you get nearer to the heart and the roads nearly ankle deep with â€Å"filth and mire,† are just some of the problems facing the poorer, â€Å"slum† districts of Dickens’ London. London is very important in the novel because Dickens uses the every day reality he witnessed to make a social comment about the rich and the poor areas. London is also viewed as a big adventure to the young Oliver and yet in London’s criminal world, dirty deeds take place in the dark, gloomy, dismal surroundings that Dickens describes and it is here in this place of â€Å"dirty squalor† that where all the bad behaviour fits. London is the key, which changes Oliver. His dark and bleak emotions match the locations and this is because of the grim surroundings. â€Å"The cold, wet shelter less midnight streets of London† is meant to make the reader feel depressed and sorry for Oliver and show you the reality of London. As Dickens saw it. The historical and cultural text of the novel tells the reader about the â€Å"miserable reality. † Dickens knew that many of his readers had a lack of sense of humour you can tell this by the way Dickens wrote because he included scenes of reality rather than humorous clips. Original readers would of reacted strongly to the setting and some found the descriptions unpleasant and too detailed. The links between crime and poverty are that in many cases people have to steel to live. Dickens showed the injustice between the wealthy and the poor, and how the poor were badly treated and living in â€Å"slum housing† Dickens also responded to this by saying that crime really does exists such as Jack Dawkins, Fagin, and Bill Sikes should be painted in all their wretchedness, in all their deformity and in all their squalid misery of their lives, to show them as they really are, for ever skulking uneasily through the dirtiest paths of life. When Oliver was young he lived in a workhouse, it was an extremely appalling and uncompromising place. The staff that ran the institute were ruthless, threatening and harsh. They treated the inmates badly and inadequately. They worked long hours, with little poor quality food. The staffs were more often than not corrupt eating and drinking luxuriously whilst the inmates starve.

Movie Analysis - Amistad essays

Movie Analysis - Amistad essays Courage, perseverance and hope are clearly seen through the actions of several Africans and their Big Man Cinque, who over-ran the slave ship La Amistad in an attempt to go home. Fifty-three native Africans fate is chosen by a dung scraper, a unknown attorney looking for a case, but that is only skin deep. Not only does this dung scraper know what he is talking about but he is the one who can and will free them from bondage. There are two other men who play a very drastic role in the fate of Cinque and his people; those men are John Quincy Adams and Theodore Joadson. John Quincy Adams is not highly regarded among his colleagues and is seen as a drooling fool who sleeps half of the time during the meetings on Capitol Hill. Others feel that the only reason that he is well known is because of his middle name not true. John Q. Adams was a great man, filled with knowledge and wisdom which many people do not acquire in a lifetime. When it came down to the line John followed through, he triumphed over evil by doing what was right at the right time. One thing that Mr. Adams stated to the United States Supreme Court was "The constant and perpetual will to secure to every one HIS OWN right." Essentially John knew that Cinque wanted and needed freedom, which is what every person on this planet wants and needs. John Quincy Adams fought and won freedom for them. There is one man that did not do the right thing, President Martin Van Buren. Two words sum up his presidency, Bill Clinton. His only want and will to be in office, was to be in office. The only thing he was concerned about was his reputation, and not to be in office when the civil war began. That was the last thing he wanted on his head. So instead of helping 53 native Africans return to their families, homes and friends, he made it all the more difficult for Baldwin, Theodore Joadson and John Adams to win the case in the U.S. Supreme court. ...

Free Essays on Hughes

What was the dream that brought our ancestors to America? It was rebirth, the craving for men to be born again, the yearning for a second chance. With all of these ideas comes the true American dream- freedom. This is the condition in which a man feels like a human being. It is the purpose and consequence of rebirth. Langston Hughes a famous writer and poet, presented ideas in his works that helped to define his perception of the American dream. In beginning, â€Å"Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri.†(The collected poems) His father was James Nathaniel Hughes, a man who studied law but was unable to take the examination for the bar because he was black. His mother was Carrie Hughes, a woman who studied at the University of Kansas in an ongoing struggle to earn a living outside of domestic labor. Langston’s father left home to live in Cuba and then Mexico to free himself from the Jim Crow laws and segregation. Langston Hughes then went to live with his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas until he was thirteen. His grandmother, Mary Sampson Patterson Leary Langston, was very prominent in the African American community of Lawrence. Unfortunately, she was unable to give Langston the attention he needed and his feelings of hurt and rejection by both his mother and father fueled his growing insecurities. In the second grade Langston was introduced to books and soon became fascinated with literature. He was able to escape his world into the wonderful world created by authors. At the age of thirteen Hughes went to live with his mother in Lincoln, Illinois and then Cleveland, Ohio where he went to high school. It was in Lincoln that Hughes wrote his first poem after being elected class poet by his fellow classmates. Hughes, the only black student at his school, said that the only reason for his election was that his peers felt that he must have a good sense of rhythm because of the color of his skin. This positio... Free Essays on Hughes Free Essays on Hughes What was the dream that brought our ancestors to America? It was rebirth, the craving for men to be born again, the yearning for a second chance. With all of these ideas comes the true American dream- freedom. This is the condition in which a man feels like a human being. It is the purpose and consequence of rebirth. Langston Hughes a famous writer and poet, presented ideas in his works that helped to define his perception of the American dream. In beginning, â€Å"Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri.†(The collected poems) His father was James Nathaniel Hughes, a man who studied law but was unable to take the examination for the bar because he was black. His mother was Carrie Hughes, a woman who studied at the University of Kansas in an ongoing struggle to earn a living outside of domestic labor. Langston’s father left home to live in Cuba and then Mexico to free himself from the Jim Crow laws and segregation. Langston Hughes then went to live with his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas until he was thirteen. His grandmother, Mary Sampson Patterson Leary Langston, was very prominent in the African American community of Lawrence. Unfortunately, she was unable to give Langston the attention he needed and his feelings of hurt and rejection by both his mother and father fueled his growing insecurities. In the second grade Langston was introduced to books and soon became fascinated with literature. He was able to escape his world into the wonderful world created by authors. At the age of thirteen Hughes went to live with his mother in Lincoln, Illinois and then Cleveland, Ohio where he went to high school. It was in Lincoln that Hughes wrote his first poem after being elected class poet by his fellow classmates. Hughes, the only black student at his school, said that the only reason for his election was that his peers felt that he must have a good sense of rhythm because of the color of his skin. This positio...

Debate Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Debate - Assignment Example According to Nelson et al (2011), all children, irrespective of their learning or physical abilities require training on how to become resilient people. Resilience is a crucial part of life that all children need to acquire to enable them deal positively with any form of adversity and hardships in life. Positive discipline is an essential aspect that parents can use to teach children to develop positive qualities in life. If parents deny children with disabilities rates of discipline that can help them develop these qualities, they will be denying them something valuable. It will be rational for parents and teachers to discipline children with special needs in the same they do typically developing children (Bowers, & Pickhardt, 2011). According to martin (2004), it is a wise thing for parents and teachers to maintain the same levels of discipline to all children. This author argues that keeping a consistency in discipline for all children will promote a healthy environment, for them to grow up. It is reasonable for parents and teachers to have inclusive systems for typically growing children and those with special needs. Such inclusion will ensure a balanced attitude among children. Disciplining them differently will promote the development of attitudes that are likely to lead to discrimination. Excluding children with special needs from punishment has the potential to prompt the typically developing children to portray a negative attitude to those excluded. As the Virginia department of education (2010) noted, discipline is a very crucial aspect for children with special needs. The article highlights the fact that even children with special needs are subject to the development of codes of behavior that have negative effects to society just like their typically developing counter parts. Therefore, it is essential for parents and teachers to have this awareness and take preventive measures. Excluding children with special needs from

The Role of Business in the Economy Dissertation

The Role of Business in the Economy - Dissertation Example of Owners Type of Liability Advantages Disadvantages 1. Sole Proprietorship One Unlimited in the form of personal liability in relation to business debt 1. Total profit generated is retained by the owner 2. Formation and dissolution are easy tasks 3. Owners are characterized by having flexibilities 1. The financial liability is unlimited in nature 2. Limited opportunity of financing 3. Deficiencies in management 4. Lacks continuity 2. Partnership More than one The business creditors are a threat to the personal assets held by any of the partners 1. Formation is easy 2. Can be benefited from partners having management skills which are complementary in nature 3. Financial capacity is expanded 1. Financial liability is unlimited in nature 2. Interpersonal conflicts between partners 3. Lacks continuity 4. Difficulty in dissolution 3. Corporation The no. of shareholders is unlimited. For the S Corporations it can have a maximum of 75 shareholders Limited 1. Financial liability is limited in nature 2. Management having specialized skills 3. Financial capacity is expanded 4. Large scale economic operations 1. Formation and dissolution are costly and difficult in nature. 2. Disadvantages because of taxation 3. Legal restrictions Question 2 Define the entrepreneurship and the nature and importance in the economy of small business Entrepreneurship can be defined as the ability to develop and create something new. Entrepreneurship has been defined by different authors in various ways. For example, according to A. H. Cole, entrepreneurship is defined as an activity which is done purposefully by any individual to initiate or generate profit through the manufacture and distribution of services and goods having economic value. Similarly, it is defined by Peter Drucker as a practice and not a kind of art or science. It is actually a base of knowledge, and entrepreneurship is not only a means of earning money but also a medium of creativity, imagination, flexibility, ability to undertake risks, and the ability to utilize change as a means of new opportunity (Mohanty, 2005, p.10-11). Entrepreneurship can be very advantageous for the economy of small businesses. Most of the small businesses in an economy are initiated through the efforts of a single person, who is known as the entrepreneur. They are successful in setting up the business successfully through the effective utilization of business opportunities in the market. The entrepreneurs are characterized by having the ability to take considerable amount of risks and are self motivated (NCSEE, n.d.). The small businesses set up by the entrepreneurs help to boost the economic growth and also serve for the purpose of meeting the various needs of the people locally. Question 3 Describe the basic accountability process and financial statements used in business Accounting can be defined as the process of recording and reporting of financial transactions after proper analysis of the collected information about the business transactions. These financial transactions are required to be recorded and represented in an orderly manner so as to facilitate useful information required for the decision making process of its users. The proper interpretation of information represented in the financial statements also forms a part of the basic accounting process of any business entity. The information about the financial transac