Party At Elections O The Chancellor example essay topic

France The Executive (the President) o the visible head of state o placed above the parties to represent the unity of the national community o an arbiter who would rely on other powers: Parliament, Cabinet, and the people o has the option to appeal to the people in two ways: o he could submit certain important pieces of legislation to the electorate as a referendum o after consulting with the prime minister and the parliamentary leaders, he could dissolve Parliament and call for new elections o has the option of invoking emergency powers o selects president by direct popular vote Prime Minister o appointed by the president o responsible for the day to day running of the government o the division of responsibility between the president and the PM varies not only with the personalities of those who hold each of the executive offices, but also with the conditions under which the PM serves Legislature (composed of the National Assembly and the Senate) Judiciary (originally conceived primarily as a safeguard against any legislative erosion of the constraints that the constitution has placed on the prerogatives of Parliament) o France is a Unitary state o First to enfranchise a mass electorate (does not preclude the possibility if authoritarian government o See notes Germany The Weimar Republic (Germany's first taste of a democracy) o 1919- a popularly elected constitutional assembly established this new democratic system o it granted all citizens the right to vote and guaranteed basic human rights o directly elected parliament and president o political parties became legitimate political actors o this government however was plagued by severe problems o Germany lost all its overseas colonies and a large amount of its European territories o Burdened with the moral guilt of the war (WWI) o Large reparation payments owed to the victorious allies o Series of radical uprising threatened the political system o Wartime destruction and reparations produced economic distress o Although it was the Kaiser government that produced these problems, it was the democratic government that was blamed. o Weimer Republic Failed Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Worker's Party (the Nazis) Hitler was appointed chancellor of the Weimer Republic and this was democracy's death knell. There was no support and this was the result of its failure. Hitler's intentions were underestimated and Germany's democracy was replaced by the new authoritarian / nationalistic "leader state" of the Third Reich. A Federal System o Germany is organized in to 16 states (L"ander) o Political power is divided between federal government (Bund) and the state governments o The federal government has a primary policy responsibility in most policy areas o The states, however, have jurisdiction in education, culture, law, and regional planning (the state and federal government share responsibility in some areas-federal law takes priority in case of conflict) o The states retain residual powers to legislate in areas that the Basic Law does not explicitly assign to the federal government o The state governments have a unicameral legislature called a Landtag, which is directly elected by popular vote o The federal government is the major force in the legislation of policy and the states are primarily responsible for policy administration Parliamentary Government o central institution of the federal government o Parliament is bicameral: o Bundestag is the primary legislative body o Bundesrat represents the state government at the federal level The Bundestag o 656 deputies o these deputies are the only government officials who can claim to represent the German public directly o deputies are selected in national elections that are normally held every four years o the Bundestag's major functions: o enact legislation; all federal laws must receive it's approval o provides a forum for public debate o scrutinizes the actions of government, "question hour" o can petition for a special debate on contemporary policy problems The Bundesrat o the second chamber of the parliament o reflects Germany's federal system o the state governments appoint its 69 members to represent their interests in Bonn o the state normally appoints members of the state cabinet to serve jointly in the Bundesrat; the chamber thus acts as a permanent conference of state ministers o the Bundesrat seats are allocated to each state in numbers roughly proportionate to its population size (ranging from 6 seats for the most populated to 3 seats for the least) o the Bundesrat is directly involved in the legislative process, however secondary to the Bundestag o the federal government must submit all legislative proposals to the Bundesrat before they go to the Bundestag The parliament is mainly a body that reacts to the governments proposals rather that taking the initiative. In comparison the British House of Commons and the French National Assembly, the Bundestag probably exercises more autonomy from the executive branch. Especially is one includes the Bundesrat, the German parliament has more independence and opportunity to revise government proposals.

Federal Chancellor and Cabinet Federal Chancellor (Bundeskanzler) o plays central role in the political system- "chancellor democracy" o the chancellor is elected by the Bundestag and is responsible for the conduct of the federal government o represent a majority of the Bundestag and can count on their support for the governments legislative proposals o the chancellor usually leads his own party, directing policy strategy and leading the party at elections o the chancellor has control over the Cabinet o the Cabinet ministers are formally appointed or dismissed by the federal president on the recommendation of the chancellor o The Basic Law limits the legislature's control over the chancellor o Chancellor Principle: the chancellor defines government policy and they are legally binding directives on the Cabinet and the ministries. The German Cabinet is subordinate the chancellor in policymaking, whereas in Britain where there is a system of shared Cabinet responsibilities. o The Cabinet thus serves as a clearinghouse for the business of federal government The Federal President o Basic Law transformed the office of the federal president (Bundespr " as ident) into a mostly ceremonial post o His duties involve greeting visiting heads of state, attending official government functions, visiting foreign nations, and similar tasks o The president is selected by a Federal Convention composed of all Bundestag deputies and an equal number of representatives chosen by state legislatures o The president is supposed to remain above partisan politics once elected o Although his position is reduced, Basic Law still assigns him several legal functions; o appoints government an military positions o signs treaties and laws o possesses the power of pardon in these cases the actions must be countersigned by the chancellor o the president also nominates the chancellor to the Bundestag and can dissolve parliament if a government legislative proposal loses a no-confidence vote in both instances the president's ability to act independently is limited by the Basic Law o an active, dynamic president can help to shape the political climate of the nation through his speeches and public activities o he can rightly claim to be above politics and can work to extend the vision if the nation beyond its everyday concerns. The Party System The Greens Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) Christian Democratic Union (CDU) / Christian Social Union (CSU) Social Democratic Party (SPD) Free Democratic Party (FDP) Communist to the Party of Democratic Socialism (SPD) Competitiveness CDU, SPD The Electoral System o the framers of the Basic Law designed to electoral system to be a Proportional Representation (PR) system- a system that allocates legislative seats on the basis of a party's percentage of the popular vote o if a party receives 10% of the popular vote, it should receive 10% of the Bundestag seats o a hybrid electoral system was developed o on one part of the ballot citizens vote for a candidate to represent their district and the candidate with a plurality of votes is elected as the district representative (half of the members of the Bundestag are directly elected in this manner) o on the second part of the ballot voters select a party. The second votes are added nationwide to determine each party's share of the popular vote.

A party's proportion of the second vote determines its total representation in the Bundestag Each party is allocated additional seats so that its percentage of the combined candidate and party seats equal its share of the second vote. Half of the Bundestag members are elected as party representatives o one major exception to this proportional representation system is the 5 percent clause, which stipulates that a party must win at least 5% of the national vote (or 3 district seats) to share in the distribution of party-list seats. This is meant to withhold representation of small extremist groups that plagued the Weimar Republic o this unique system has several consequences for electoral politics o the party-list system gives party leaders substantial influence on who will be elected to parliament based on the placement of the candidates on the list o the PR system also ensures fair representation for the smaller parties, whereas the British system discriminates against smaller parties o the German two-vote system also affects campaign strategies o similar system in Russia Russia The Tsarist Regime o for nearly a thousand yeas the Russian state was autocratic o ruled by a hereditary monarch whose power was unlimited by any constitution o state power in Russia was absolutist, meaning that the Tsar wielded absolute power over the subjects of the realm o Tsarism was influenced by patrimonialism o Tsarism allied itself with the Orthodox Church o Aside from autocracy, patrimonialism, and Orthodoxy, Russia sought to improve its military and economic potential by importing western practices o Its needs exceeded its means and Russia was riddled with inefficiency o Pride o The Tsarist order fell because it could not cope with the severe strains of WWII The Communist Revolution and the Socialist Order o the Russian Communists- Bolsheviks, as they call themselves took power on October 1917 o their aim was to create a socialist society in Russia and eventually spread revolutionary socialism throughout the world o the Bolsheviks believed that socialism meant a society without private ownership of the means of production, where the state owned and controlled all important economic assets, and where political power was exercised in the name of the working people. o Vladimir Ilynich Lenin was the first leader of the Russian Communist Party and the first head of the Russian Soviet government Controlled all levels of government o Joseph Stalin took control after Lenin's death instituted a Totalitarian regime intent upon building up Russia's industrial and military might after the effects of WWII, none of Stalin's successors could reform the system without undermining communistic rule itself o Mikhail Gorbachev was elected first as General Secretary and quickly grasped the levers that that position gave him and moved both to strengthen his own political base and carry out a program of reform (Champion of Reform) o emphasized the need for greater openness in relations toward political leaders and the populace o party effectiveness lay in improving the economic well-being of the country and its populace o need for market relations o pragmatism in economic policy o less secretiveness in the government o called for political democratization o brought about first contested elections o legalized private enterprise for individual and operative businesses, encouraging them to fill the many gaps in the economy o called for a "law governed state" in which state power, including the power of the Communist Party, would be subordinate to law o welcomed the explosion of informal social and political associations that formed o made major concessions to the US resulting in a treaty, which called for the destruction of entire classes of nuclear missiles o all the regimes making up the socialist bloc collapsed and gave way to multiparty parliamentary regimes in virtually bloodless popular revolutions o the overnight dismantling of Communism meant that the elaborate structure of parties, police cooperation, economic trade, and military alliance that developed since Stalin imposed Communism on Eastern Europe after WWII vanished Boris Yeltsin... Gorbachev's rival Chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet placed Gorbachev under house arrest and seized his state powers and when returned as president, his power was weakened. (no one listened to him and Yeltsin outlawed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Gorbachev was a president without a country, he resigned and handed over his powers to Yeltsin) Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian Federation and also demanded extraordinary powers from parliament to cope with Russia's problems. o sought the power to carry out a program of radical market oriented reform by decree. o Yeltsin then named himself Prime Minister and proceeded to forma government lead by young western oriented leaders determined to carry out a decisive economic transformation The Presidency (the Yeltsin Constitution of 1993) Yeltsin's "Presidential Republic" o combination of presidentialism and parliamentarism (resembles France's Fifth Republic in that it has a dual executive) o the president elects the prime minister, but the Duma (lower house) must confirm his decision o the president's power to dissolve parliament and call for new elections is limited by the constitution (he cannot do this within one year of his election) o the constitution gives the president an upper hand on parliament, but not a free hand o the constitution call the president "head of state" and "guarantor of the constitution" o he ensures the coordinated functioning and collaboration of bodies of state of power o he may appoint or remove deputy prime ministers without needing parliamentary consent o In Russia the division of labour between the president and the prime minister is distinct: o the Prime minister is directly responsible for economic management o the President oversees foreign and security policy, provides overall direction to the course of economic policy, and enforces the loyalty of regional governments to the central government he supervises the federal government the ministries answer directly to him the president chairs the Security Council o which consists of a permanent secretary o the heads of the power ministries o security related agencies o the prime minister o the chairs of the two chamber parliament o (its powers are broad but shadowy) The Government o comprises around 60 ministries o the chairman of the government is equivalent to the prime minister o has the overall responsibility for the work of the government o supervises the ministries and state committees through an intermediate layer of deputy chairs who supervise a particular bloc of ministries and state agencies o he coordinates their work and serves as a liaison between the ministers in charge of particular ministries and the head of government o in contrast to most parliamentary systems, the Russian government is not directly determined by the party composition of the parliament o most members of government are career managers or administrators rather than party politicians The Parliament (the Federal Assembly) o several features distinguish it from its predecessor institutions o one is the important role played by party factions in organizing its proceedings o another is its bicameral structure: it has two chambers State Duma (lower house) o Has the right to originate legislation except for certain categories of policy which are under the jurisdiction of the upper house Federal Council (upper house) o Considers laws passed by the Duma and if it passes them, then it goes to the president for his signature. The Constitutional Court o consists of 19 members who are nominated by the president, but are subject to confirmation by the Federal Council o the court is empowered to consider the constitutionality of actions of the president, the parliament, and the lower level governments Nomenklatura System o the system for recruiting, training, and appointing individuals for positions of leadership and responsibility in the regime Elections o the new 1993 system divided the seats in the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, into two categories o each voter would have two votes o one for the candidate running for that electoral district's seat o and the other for the registered parties putting up candidates on the party list half or 225 seats in the Duma would be filled by the winners of single member district seats the other 225 seats would go to the candidate nominated on party lists Main Political Parties o democratic o "Russia's Choice" o centrist o "Party of Power" o communist o Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) o Nationalist o Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) there is continuity in the ideological tendencies they represent voters appear to make coherent choices among parties and candidates that reflect their own assessments of where the parties stand on basic issues Shock Therapy o stabilization program (structural adjustment) seeks to restore a macro-economic balance between what society spends and what it earns From Communist to Capitalism o Privatization o Many local governments are dependent on the economic health of a single employer and almost half of the Russian cities have only one industrial enterprise, and 3/4 of them have no more than four. o Reform would be hard because of Russia's size it would be hard to reform and would be very expensive. o The reform program began in 1992 o Push toward a market system by abolishing most controls on wholesale and retail prices and cutting government spending sharply o Having inflation under control will restore economic health China China is still a communist state, however is has moved away from many communist ideologies Chinese Society o social structural transformation engineered by the regime: o elimination of the landlord, capitalist, and small entrepreneurial classes in the 1950's o however, in the 1980's and 1990's, economic reforms have promoted the resurgence of private entrepreneurs A Communist Party State Chinese leaders added the idea of mass line to the communist theory the mass line adds another dimension to the communist party definition of guardianship and hierarchy, which moderates guardianship o the Chinese Communist definition of guardianship is different from its original notion and is practiced by mass line. o The party leads, but its leadership is not isolated from the opinions and preferences of the mass public o Party leaders at all levels maintain a close relationship to ordinary citizens, this was they can transform scattered and unsystematic ideas into "correct ideas" and propagate them until the mass embraces them as their own. o Ideology is much less prominent in Chinese politics that in original communism Annual Editions Article 20: What a Democracy is and is Not Schmitt er & Karl o a democracy has two operative principles o a democracy does not consist of a single unique set of institutions there are many different kinds of democracies with diverse practices and similar varied effects o majority rule o rulers are held accountable for their actions in the public realm by citizens o citizens are the most important element of democracy o regular, free, fair, open elections o cooperation is a central feature of democracy o encourages citizens to deliberate amongst themselves Procedures that make democracies possible: o elections o right to vote o freedom of speech, press, association o right to run for office o right to seek alternative sources of information How Democracies differ: consensus participation access responsiveness majority rule parliamentary sovereignty party government pluralism federalism presidentialism checks and balances What a democracy is not: o democracies are not necessarily more efficient economically o democracies are not necessarily more efficient administratively o democracies are not likely to appear more orderly, consensual, stable, or governable then the autocracies they replace o democracies will have more open societies and polities than the autocracies they replace, but not necessarily more economies o democracies will not necessarily bring in its wake economic growth, social peace, administrative efficiency, political harmony, free markets, or the end of ideology... or the end of history.

Article 24: The people's Voice Is the growing use of referendums a threat to democracy or its salvation? o The use of bogus or phony referendums has justified holds on power and in Hitler's case to consolidate his powers. o "instrument of Nazism and Fascism" (Attlee) o referendums have also been instrumental in the dismantling of communism and the transition to democracy o have successfully smoothed democratic transitions o appeals to voters of constitutional change o Advisory referendums o Test public opinion on an important issue o Mandatory referendums o Are part of the law-making process or, more commonly, one of the procedures for constitutional amendment WHAT IS A REFERENDUM? Article 43: In March Toward Capitalism, China Has Avoided Russia's Path By Henry Chu o unlike its onetime idol, Beijing has uses a gradual approach to developing a market oriented economy o steady economic growth, an emerging middle class, and a new breed of entrepreneurs o historical conditions are a contributor to their success as current policy is o shedding its money-losing state enterprises and streamline its bloated bureaucracy o launched modernization drives at very different stages in their development o China embarked on its transformation at the end of Beijing's isolation and peasant farmers were allowed to sell food on a private market o The Cultural Revolution de-legitimized communism which made reform more possible o Push for rapid industrialization of the countryside through a combination of tax breaks and enterprising schemas o Labour was cheap and plentiful o Use of natural resources that Russia did not have o Has not had to resort to bailout packages by the IMF o Still communist and careful not to push through relatively unpopular measure so not to provoke uprising o Citizens ignore government as long as they have personal freedom, whereas in Eastern Europe, shock therapy and mass privatization designed to dismantle communism (gradual change is more effective).