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POLITICS II GOVT 1001 MAUKESH BASDEO SAT 10am 1pm

Topic 1 - POLITICAL THINKERS

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

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE GREEKS

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

PLATO 427 -347 B.C.

y Famous workThe Republic.y It applied systematic reasoning and critical inquiry to political ideas and institutions.y A main assumption ofThe 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

y Socrates was Platos first teacher and he is the chief figure in The Republic. Socrates trainedPlato to endlessly search, through argument, for the reason that lies behind accepted ideas andinstitutions.

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

PLATOS DIVISION OF THE SOUL

y Platos threefold division of the soul influenced his theory about the threefold division ofsociety.

y The rational, the spiritedand the appetitivewere the three divisions.yy Rationalwas the highest,

Spiritedhad the capacity tofollow and assert the claims of reason,

Appetitiveharbored desires and emotions and was lowest.

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PLATOS DIVISION OF SOCIETY

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

y The main difference between the ruler-philosophers and the producers was the differencebetween political wisdomand technical knowledge.

THE PHILOSOPHER-KING

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

breeding.

y Prolonged education was reserved for this hereditary aristocratic ruling class only.y 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.

y Aristotle was a student of Plato.y One of Aristotles famous works was The Politics.y Aristotle opens The Politics with two key ideas :

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

ARISTOTLES VIEW OF THE STATE

y He conceived of the State as naturalin two ways.y The evolution of social institutions from the family through the village to the State.y 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

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

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ARISTOTLES 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 ARISTOTLES 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 ARISTOTLES 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.

ARISTOTLES PREFERENCES

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

than aristocracy.

y In monarchy, virtue is centered, while in aristocracy it is diffused. Democracy wasthe bestperversion.

THE RULE OF LAW

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

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Topic 2 THEORIES OF THE STATETHOMAS HOBBES, JOHN LOCKE, JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU

SCOPE OF LECTURE:

a) Hobbes Leviathanb) Lockes 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

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

TRANSITION TO THE CIVIL STATE

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

y The fear of death is the passion that inclines man to peace.y 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

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

y Covenants without the sword, are but words, and of no strength to secure a man at all.y 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 bepeace without compulsion.

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THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

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

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

citizens.

y Hobbes sovereign is a supreme administrator and lawgiver.2.JOHN LOCKE (1632 1704)

y In Lockes Two Treatises of Government (1689), he starts out with the concept of the state ofnature.

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

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

THE STATE OF NATURE

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

human.

y People are free in the state of nature, because of natural laws.TRANSITION TO THE CIVIL STATE

y The law of nature, through the instrument of reason, defines what is right and wrong.y 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 vulnerableposition.

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

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

y Lockes social contract is meant to remove obstacles to the realization of the natural sociabilityof mankind and mutual respect for each others rights.

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

rulers.

3. JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU (1712 1778)

y Rousseaus most famous work was The Social Contract (1762).y The main concern of this work was the issue of political obligation.y At the beginning of this work, he states, Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.y 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

y Rousseaus conception of mans life in the state of nature is not as gloomy as Hobbes or asoptimistic as Locke.

y Each person pursues their self-interest in the state of nature until they discover that they cannotstop the threats and hindrances of others.

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

TRANSITION TO THE CIVIL STATE

y People have a desire to live in community and they surrender, not to a sovereign ruler, butrather give themselves to the community and, therefore, they give themselves to nobody inparticular.

y The total surrender of the individual to the sovereign community is alien to Locke and mayresemble Hobbes view.

yThe difference between Hobbes and Rousseau is the difference between the mechanicalcreation of the Hobbesian state based on a purpose for people, and the organic creation of

Rousseaus state, based on people wanting to live in community.

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THE CIVIL STATE

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

liberty and property rights for everything they possess.

y .obedience to a law which we prescribe to ourselves is liberty.THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

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

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

y Rousseau sees this body of persons being possessed of a will.y 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

y The General Will tends always to the preservation and welfare of every part, and is the sourceof 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.

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

y 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)

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

HISTORY AND TRADITION

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

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

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

y Burkes political theory is underpinned by the moral values, which he believes that politicsshould pursue and preserve.

PHILOSOPHY IN ACTION

y Given his attack on reason and abstract speculation and his preference for philosophy inaction, Burkes writings are concerned with particular problems and not theoretical analysis.

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

y It is in his response to various events that his principles emerge, both of method and ofmorality.

y To consider principles apart from circumstances is for him an idle, abstract exercise, butequally, to discuss circumstances without the guidance of principles is to divorce politics fromits moral base.

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THE ROLE OF ARISTOTICRACY

y Burkes belief in the aristocracy, as that rank in society, which gives its direction and protectsthe subordinate ranks, arises from his view that the aristocracy above all identifies their owninterests with the good of society generally.

y Arising out of the natural hierarchy of society, they develop a sense of duty rather than a desirefor domination.y Their role is to lead and use their strength, intelligence and wealth for the good of the

community.

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

LEADERSHIP AND SOCIAL UNREST

yIf government fails in the task of leadership, then the people are usually sound judges of suchfailure.

y Their feelings are good reason to believe that something is amiss.y 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.

y The ability and wisdom of a government is fairly tested by the response it gains from the peopleto whom it is responsible.

ESTABLISHED INSTITUTIONS AND POLITICS

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

y The political arrangements have grown over time and they exist now.y 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?

y Established institutions thus have a presumptive right; perfect they may not be, in need ofmodification they may be, but their overall evolution need not be called into question.

y The role of politics is normally preservative.

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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)

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

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

y Marx stayed in England until his death in 1883.INFLUENCES ON KARL MARX : G.W.F. HEGEL

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

thought.

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

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

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

INFLUENCES ON KARL MARX : THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

y French revolutionary politics was another important source for Marxs intellectualdevelopment.

y 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.y This must be contrasted with Burke who was horrified by what the French Revolution

epitomized.

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INFLUENCES ON MARX : TH E INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND

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

y 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

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

y He advocated the concepts of thesis, antithesis and synthesis.y 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.

y This process would repeat itself until it finally stopped when capitalism was overthrown andthere was the classless society of communism.

THE DUTY TO WORK

y In Marxs thought, the classless communist society of the future was by no means designed toabolish the duty to work.

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

y In the second and final phase of communism, the principle of from each according to hisability, to each according to his needs would prevail.

y 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.

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

ALIENATION AND CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS

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

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

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y 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.

y He called religion the opium of the masses.THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO 1848

y In the Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels explain how social change through revolutionactually occurs.

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

destroyed previous systems.

y There was no clear-cut theory as to how the political transformation from capitalist toproletarian rule would actually take place - this was left to the forces of history.

y Marx and Engels saw in revolution, civil war, and the dictatorship of the proletariat thepreparatory stages of peace and harmony.

V.I. LENIN 1870 1924

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

revolutionary tradition.

yy 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 stageda troop rising in St. Petersburg following the death of Czar Alexander I in 1825, and, (b) a latergeneration of revolutionary commoners whose leaders carried out the assassination of Czar

Alexander II in 1881.

yy 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 RussianJacobinism.

RUSSIAN JACOBINISM

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

y Once the revolutionary intellectuals had captured power through revolutionary activity frombelow, they would rely chiefly on persuasion of the masses through propaganda, rather thancoercion, and would gradually transform the country on socialist lines.

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y The thrust of Lenins thinking was toward the creation of a revolutionary party dictatorshipdedicated to the transformation of Russian society along socialist lines.

y For Lenin, a proletarian dictatorship would mean a dictatorship of the revolutionary party onbehalf of the proletariat.

THE VANGUARD PARTY

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

y Leninism was, in part, a revival of Russian Jacobinism within Marxism.y 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 Russias special conditions.

y 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.

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

LENINS ECONOMIC THEORY

y According to Lenin, imperialism, in its economic essence, is monopoly capitalism.y 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.

y In other words, imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism.ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

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

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

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

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

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Topic 5 - MAX WEBER AND BUREAUCRACY

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

MAX WEBER (1864 1920)

y Much of Webers own work is informed by an application of Marxs historical method.y Weber used this method as a heuristic principle.y 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.

y Weber did not squarely oppose historical materialism as altogether wrong; he merely tookexception to its claim of establishing a single and universal causal sequence.

WEBERS VIEW OF CAPITALISM

y For Weber, capitalism was not irrational as its institutions appeared to him as the veryembodiment of rationality.

y As a type of bureaucracy, the large corporation was rivaled only by the state bureaucracy inpromoting rational efficiency, continuity of operation, speed, precision and calculation of

results.

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

WEBERS VIEW OF SOCIALISM

y The concept of rational bureaucracy was played off against the Marxist concept of the classstruggle.

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

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

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

y The state would become total and Weber felt that socialism would thus lead to a furtherserfdom.

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

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RATIONALIZATION AND CHARISMA

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

implement the general drift of secular rationalization.

y It was in such crises that Weber introduced the balancing conception for bureaucracy, namelythe concept of charisma.

y Charisma was used by Weber to characterize self-appointed leaders who were followed bythose who were in distress and who needed to follow the leader because they believed the leaderto be extraordinarily qualified.

y Bureaucracy and household institutions were seen as routines of workday life, while charismawas opposed to all institutional routines, those of tradition and those subject to rationalmanagement.

WEBERS TYPES OF AUTHORITY

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

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

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

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

heroism or other qualities of individual leadership.

y Rational-legal authority: is based on the belief in the validity of legal statute and functionalcompetence based on rationally-created rules. In this case, obedience is expected in dischargingstatutory obligations.

WEBER AND BUREAUCRACY

yIt is a servant of government, a

means by which a monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, or otherform of government, rules.

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

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

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

private businesses, and many other institutions have bureaucracies.

y Bureaucracy can be considered to be a particular case of rationalization, or rationalizationapplied to human organization.

y Bureaucratic coordination of human action, Weber believed, is the distinctive mark of modernsocial structures.

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

y Bureaucracy is the means of carrying community action over into rationally ordered societalaction.

y Therefore, as an instrument for societalizing relations of power, bureaucracy has been and is apower instrument of the first order.

y Bureaucracy was for Weber what class struggle was for Marx.DICTATORSHIP OF THE OFFICIAL

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

y The bureaucracy generates an enormous degree of unregulated and often unperceived socialpower. Because of bureaucracy's superiority over other forms of organization, they have

proliferated and now dominate modern societies.

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

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

y The bureaucracy can undermine both human freedom and democracy in the long run.y Government departments are theoretically responsible to the electorate; this responsibility is

almost entirely fictional.

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

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

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THE PROTESTANT ETHIC

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

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

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

Weber examined thereligious and economic systems of many civilizations.

yy 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.

y The Protestant ethic was the calling and drive for continuous work on the part of mankind.y In Calvinism, Weber, a set of beliefs around the concept of predestination.y The protestant ethic therefore provided religious sanctions that fostered a spirit of rigorous

discipline, encouraging men to apply themselves rationally to acquire wealth.

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

y Webers concept of rewards both here and in the hereafter for hard work must be contrastedwith the Marxist philosophy of the duty to work being conditioned by the economic conditionsunder which work is undertaken.

yWeber 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) Montesquieus philosophy of the Separation of Powersb) The Political Liberty of Manc) Constitutional Foundation for Democratic Governmentd) Montesquieus Philosophical Influence

CHARLES MONTESQUIEU (1689 1755)

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

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

y He remained active in it for the rest of his life.MONTESQUIEU IN ENGLAND

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

Parliament in action.

y In England, he found a political system where the question was the proper understanding of therelation, or balance, between the representative Parliament and the King or the KingsMinisters.

SEPERATED AND BALANCE OF POWERS

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

of government.

y The functions of government are not entirely separated, as each branch part icipates to someextent in the task of the others, making the balance a result of an interaction between the

branches.

POLITICAL LIBERTY

y According to Montesquieu, political liberty is the result of the separation of powers.y 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 setaside in juries.

y According to Montesquieu : All would be lost if the same man or the same body of principalmen, 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.

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

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

y In order to have this liberty, it is requested to government be so constituted as one man needsnot be afraid of the other.

y The liberty of which Montesquieu spoke is differently promoted by opportunity power amongpolitical actors in a way that minimize opportunities for those actors to determine conclusively

the reach of their own powers.

THE SPIRIT OF LAWS

y Montesquieu famous work The Spirit of the Laws was published in 1748.y 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.

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

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

y James Madison, one of the architects of the U.S. Constitution at the convention where it waswritten, and one of its great defenders in The Federalist Papers was an inheritor of this

intellectual tradition.

MADISON AND THE FEDERALISTS PAPER AND MONTESQUIEUS INFLUENCE

y Madisons analysis of how a government of balanced powers could be expected to work reflectsa contemplation of Montesquieu book itself.

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

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

MANKIND AND THE SEPERATION OF POWERS

y As in Montesquieu monarchy, those who hold the positions are shaped by them.y They identify themselves with the importance of the place they hold and the task it gives them.y These habits of mind defend the division of powers and form the character of the rule.y Political liberty, as Montesquieu convinced itself demands the separation of three (3) powers of

government, so that they rest in different hands.y If any two (2) or if all are combined in the same hands, power will be too much concentrated

and insufficiently checked.

y In order for political liberty to exist, not only must the three powers be separated.y 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.

y The legislative power must be divided. Its main part should go to the duly electedrepresentatives of the whole people.

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y Those distinguished by both riches and honors are ought to comprise a body of novels, whichwill serve as the second half of the legislature. (Senate)

y The executive should be a monarchy whose checks on the legislature would consist of a vetopower and ministers in turn, could be examined and punished by the legislature.

MODERATE AND DESPOTIC GOVERNMENTS

y Montesquieus defined three types of governmenta) Republican democracy / aristocracyb) Monarchicalc) Despotic

y In the first, the people are possessed out of a supreme power. In a monarchical system, a singleperson governs by fixed and established laws and in a despotic government; a single person

directs everything by his own will and impulse.

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

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

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

y The distinction between moderate and despotic governments permeates Montesquieus book.y 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.

y In moderate governments, people can count on regularity in the rule and they can relate to eachother without fear insofar as they rely on the things they hold in common as they sharesomething 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)

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

y 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.

BENTHAMS PUBLISHED WORKS

y Benthams first published work Fragment on Government appeared in 1776.y 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.y 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.

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

involved.

UTILITARIANISM

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

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

y In Benthams hands, utilitarianism became a weapon with which to challenge the establishment.PAIN AND PLEASURE

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

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

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

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BENTHAMS VIEW OF GOVERNMENT

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

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

the universal interest.

y Such a community of interest is only possible through representative democracy, whererepresentatives of the whole community superintend and control those who administer public

affairs.

REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT

y The only form of government, for Bentham, which can protect the individual and in which thereis security for good government, is a representative system, where an identity is createdbetween the representative body and the community, and where the representative body is

supreme.y If such a system of government were set up, there is one further critical safeguard necessary that

is freedom of the press.

y Thus, the Benthamite distrust of government continues even where the government is properlychosen.

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND DISTRUST OF THE GOVERNMENT

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

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

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

distrust.

y Minimize confidence and maximize distrust is Benthams advice as regards government.JOHN STUART MILL (1806 1873)

y Benthams view that people have interests (reducible to pleasures and pains) that determinetheir actions, and that happiness lies in the satisfaction of such interests, comes to be regarded

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

y Mills own critical and independent departure from this orthodoxy was first expressed in anarticle in 1833 entitled Remarks on Benthams Philosophy.

y In it, although Mill writes favorably of Benthams philosophical and practical contribution inthe field of law, he finds his view of nature, and the concepts of happiness derived from it, to beconfused and limited.

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HAPPINESS

y According to Mill, Benthams great fault was that he had limited the judgment of an actionsimply to an evaluation of its consequences, and in doing so had ignored the relationship.

y Mills own critical and independent departure from this orthodoxy was first expressed in anarticle in 1833 entitled Remarks on Benthams Philosophy.

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

DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN PLEASURES

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

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

exercise of this faculty leads to more happiness.

y This distinction represents a major shift away from Benthams position.HIGHER PLEASURES

y The pursuit of happiness was a pursuit of the higher pleasures - personal affection, socialfeeling, art, poetry, history and mental culture generally - and the standard of morality is the

happiness of all concerned.

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

of our lives.y Mills 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

y 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.

y Having abandoned the Benthamite identification of happiness with the mere sum of pleasures, itwas 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.

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FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY

y Mills view of the value of freedom and the proper relationship between the individual andsociety appeared in his best-known work On Liberty published in 1859.

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

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

y Without freedom, progress is inconceivable, and happiness and morality are robbed of theiressential nature.

y Such an argument places Mill at the centre of the liberal tradition.INDIVIDUALITY AND LIBERALISM

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

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

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

y Although Mill believes in the supreme importance of individuality, he also argues for its socialbenefits in order to ensure toleration from those themselves content with traditional andconventional lives.

y Democracy has many virtues, but it must respect the values of freedom, individuality anddiversity 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

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

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

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

TYPOLOGIES OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS

y 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

y 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.c) Proportionality - political parties should be represented in the Legislature in exact (or nearly

exact) proportion to the vote they polled.

PLURALITY SYSTEMS (Britain)

y Plurality systems are commonly known as first-past-the-post.y To be elected, a candidate needs simply to have more individual votes than each challenger.y 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.

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FIRST-PAST-THE-POST

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

majority.

y Consider the following hypothetical situation showing the position of candidates of parties interms 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

TunapunaEdward Hart - PNM - 7,467Hector Mc Clean - UNC - 7,223Theodore Charles - NAR - 368Nathaniel Pierre - NLP - 42John Singh - TPV - 16Majority of 1st over 2nd = 244Total of3rd, 4th and 5th = 426Winning candidates % = 49.04

1991 General Election in T & T

Princes TownMohammed Haniff - UNC - 7,404Indira Maharaj - PNM - 6,202Hamza Mohammed - NAR - 2,489Farouk Hosein - NJAC - 333Majority of 1st over 2nd = 1,202Total of3rd and 4th = 2,822Winning candidates % = 44.73

y The virtual simplicity makes the first-past-the-post system very easy to operate. However, therehave been criticisms of this system on the ground that the winner may not always emerge

with a majority, but rather with a plurality.

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

the minority group.

y 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.

y 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.

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Total no. of votes Quota

MAJORITY SYSTEMS (Second Ballot)

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

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

of votes.

y If no candidate obtains more than 50% on the first ballot, a second and final ballot is heldbetween 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.

y The winner will emerge with a majority.y 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

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

y Party ListSystem this system places emphasis upon the allocation of the number of seats inthe 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 thetotal number of seats to determine the quota, which will determine the allocation for each party.

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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.

y 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 Laguemethods of division.

THE HARE METHOD

y Is based on total valid votes divided by number of seats, i.e. votes/seats = quota to determineallocation 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 seats

PNC 96651 votes 22 seats

UF 29612 votes 7 seatsJustice Party 1334 votes 0 seats

GUMA 1194 votes 0 seats

Peace Party 224 votes 0 seats

NLF 177 votes 0 seats

Total Votes 238530 votes 53 seats

e) In order to calculate the method of allocation, divide the number of votes cast (238530) bythe 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 theindividual 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

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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 partys

remaining seats.)

f) Owing to the fact, that under the Hare system of proportional representation, the partieswith 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

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

No of valid votes + 1 = Quota

No of seats + 1

THE IMPERIAL METHOD

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

No of valid votes = Quota

No of seats + 2

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THE HONDT DIVISOR METHOD

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

THE SAINT LAGUE DIVISOR METHOD

y The modified Saint Lague divisor method uses 1, 4, 3, 5, 7, etc as its divisors until all the seatshave been allocated.

THE SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE

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

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

Member of Parliament (M.P)

yy 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 todetermine:

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

y Using the Droop formula (shown above), candidates can be declared elected by earning thenumber of votes set by the quota, based on each level of preference. We shall explain thissystem 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.

y 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 1to determine the droop quota, which will be 4501.

No. of votes cast = Quota = Droop Quota

3 + 1 = 4500 + 1 = 4501

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

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

yy 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.

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

The advantages of Single Transferable Voting System

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

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

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

MIXED SYSTEMS (Guyana)

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

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

y 36 members were to be elected by first past-the-post in geographical constituencies and another36 members drawn from party lists on the basis of proportional representation.

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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 Constitutions1. THE BRITISH SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENTy 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 otherjudges and constitutional actors alike.

4. Opinions of constitutional scholars - these are the writings and authoritative works of renownedscholars on constitutional matters.

CONTINUITY OF DEVELOPMENT

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

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

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

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

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

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LAW AND CONVENTION

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

y These rules are called constitutional conventions.y 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.

y They are to be found particularly in the working of the Executive branch of government and itsrelationship with the Legislature.

FLEXIBILITY OF CONVENTIONS

y The absence of a cumbersome procedure for altering rules of constitutional importance and thepliability of many constitutional conventions tend to make the British system of governmentflexible and easily adaptable.

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

LIMITED MONARCHY

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

powers (the Royal Prerogative) on the advice of Ministers.

y Very few powers are exercised by the Monarch in his / her discretion, e.g. the appointment of aPrime Minister or the grant of awards in the Royal Victorian Order.y The Monarch is also Head of the Church of England and carries the titlefidei defensor.

BICAMERALISM

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

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

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

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PARLIAMENTARY EXECUTIVE

y The political arm of the Executive branch of government is recruited from and located withinParliament.

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

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

EXECUTIVE DOMINANCE OF THE LEGISLATURE

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

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

Parliament.

JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE

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

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

over the proceedings of the House of Lords.

y His post and the conventions surrounding it defy the separation of powers.2. THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

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

governmental organs.

y It divides theFederal Government into three branches - the Executive, the Legislature and theJudiciary.

THE SEPERATION OF POWERS

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

of Representatives (435 members).

y The Judiciary has the Supreme Court as its highest organ and is headed by the Chief Justice.

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ALLOCATION OF POWERS OUTSIDE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

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

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

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

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

AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION

y The most usual procedure for amending the Constitution requires, first, that a resolutioncontaining the proposed amendment be passed by a two-thirds majority in both Houses ofCongress.

y 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

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

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

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

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

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

PRESIDENT, VICE-PRESIDENT AND THE CABINET

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

y The President-elect nominates the Cabinet members and they are confirmed by the Senatebefore taking their oaths of office.y The President can only serve for two terms of office.

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THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE AND THE SENATE

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

the House of Representatives.

y E.g. Senators who were elected in 1998 faced the polls in 2004.PRIMARY ELECTIONS

y All presidential and congressional candidates are chosen on the basis of primary elections (todetermine party candidates) and then these chosen candidates face each other in the generalelection on Election Day.

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

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

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

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

THE JUDICIARY

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

y Once confirmed, the Supreme Court Justice will serve until he / she is ready to retire.y

Many Presidents try to leave a legacy on the bench by nominating persons who mirror their ownpolitical views on social issues.

y The confirmation hearings and vote in the Senate can assume very political characteristicsdepending upon the nominee and the political battle to be fought.

y E.g. Clarence Thomas in 1991 and Samuel Alito in 2006.RIVALRY BETWEEN PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS

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

y The President can veto legislation and the Congress can override it with a two-thirds majority.y The Congress can question members of the Administration about their conduct of affairs andthe President does not depend on Congress for his political existence.y These are called checks and balances.

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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 Jamaicas

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 thenominated 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 BritishWest Indies in 1921 - 22.

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

He also recommended that this position should be reversed gradually over time to permitmajority 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 Commissionvisited the region to investigate and report on the circumstances surrounding these events.

The Commission recommended that : (i) there should be the introduction of universal adultsuffrage; (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 theExecutive Councils.

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

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

FEDERATION

A conference to discuss the prospect of a West Indian Federation was convened at MontegoBay, 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 tothe 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 individualunits.

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

In 1961 the British Government convened an independence conference at Lancaster House inLondon 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 anindependent Federation and preferred Jamaica to seek its own independence.

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

The result of the referendum was a narrow victory for secession from the Federation byJamaica.

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 theFederation after the failure of negotiations between the Federal Government and the

Government of Trinidad and Tobago. The Federation was terminated in April 1962. 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 tobecome 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 formerFederation. Montserrat was returned to direct colonial rule.

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Associated statehood was full internal self-government with Britain retaining control overcitizenship, 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) amore 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. 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 Executivebranch of government.

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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 theCommonwealth 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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