The second half of the 19th century saw a dramatic transformation take place in the United Kingdom. From a traditional society dominated by a narrow elite, Great Britain moved towards becoming a recognizably modern mass democracy. Reforms expanded the electoral franchise to include much of the lower middle and working classes. Other changes in civil service, education, and labor legislation made British society more meritocratic and egalitarian. This transition was all the more striking because it occurred with the active participation of the ruling elite (Frankforter and Spellman, p. 602). Two men, in particular, were instrumental in the reforms: William Gladstone, the leader of the Liberal Party, and his Conservative rival Benjamin Disraeli. Despite the limitations that underlay those reforms, they had a lasting impact on the modern British state.
On the eve of the reforms in 1868, the United Kingdom was a parliamentary monarchy with limited suffrage. While real power had mostly passed from Queen Victoria to the House of Commons, most people had no say in government, and their interests were underrepresented (Frankforter and Spellman, p. 601). Only 1.4 million out of a population of 35 million had the vote due to steep property requirements. While the Great Reform Act of 1832 took steps towards expanding the franchise, it did not fundamentally transform the system (Steinbach, p. 53). However, many Liberals and Conservatives came to see this situation as unsustainable. The process of industrialization, which created a growing and increasingly disaffected working class, made reform appear urgent.
As they alternated in power, both parties became involved in the reforms that transformed Britain. Although Gladstone began pushing for electoral reform in 1866, this initiative led to the Liberal governments fall due to internal divisions (Steinbach, p. 51). Having assumed power, the Conservatives undercut the Liberals by expanding the franchise to 2.5 million voters. The new electorate helped Gladstone win the 1868 election, but in the longer run, the reform let Conservatives secure a broader support base (Frankforter and Spellman, p. 601). The secret ballot was introduced in 1872, while further suffrage expansion in 1884 enfranchised a majority of adult men. While in power, the Liberals created a professional, merit-based military and civil service, established universal elementary education, and removed religious tests in universities. When Disraeli returned to office in 1874, he introduced social reforms improving working conditions, housing, and public health. Liberal and Conservative governments expanded trade union rights, though they forbade strikes. This policy activity shows how expanding suffrage incentivized both parties to carry out useful reforms.
The reforms carried out by Gladstone and Disraeli reflected their views, but the same ideals limited their extent. By the end of the period, suffrage was far from universal; in particular, neither party considered extending it to women (Steinbach, p. 52). Nevertheless, electoral reforms created a precedent that would be instrumental in further expansion of the suffrage. Like many Liberals, Gladstone believed in individual independence and was wary of expanding the role of the state, limiting his ability to address social issues (Frankforter and Spellman, p. 601). Disraeli and the Conservatives had fewer reservations about social reforms due to their paternalistic vision of society and anxiety over socialist influence over disaffected workers. The social reforms of this time were modest in scope and impact. Still, they also created useful precedents that would guide later interventions to increase equality and expand social safety nets. Though limited, the reforms had set the United Kingdom on the path to mass democracy and the welfare state.
With the end of Gladstones last premiership in 1894, the period of reforms came to a close. While universal suffrage has not been attained, and the governments intervention in economic and social affairs remained small, a significant transformation has taken place. Parliamentary and electoral politics now had to accommodate the interests of a much broader section of the public. Furthermore, the first steps were taken to expand the governments area of concern with regard to public health and workers rights. Ultimately, the late 19th-century reforms and the precedents they created helped ensure a peaceful transition to the modern British political model.
Works Cited
Frankforter, A. Daniel, and William M. Spellman. The West: A Narrative History, Volume 2: Since 1400. Pearson Higher Ed, 2012.
Steinbach, Susie L. Understanding the Victorians: Politics, Culture and Society in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Routledge, 2016.
The government in the UK has tried to enforce some changes in the health care sector to reduce bureaucracy in the management staff. This is aimed at provision of quality health care services to the people. The changes have entailed the performance of a radical pro-market shake-up among personal doctors, health centers and private health institutions that are known to compete for patients. This is done to enable them to select the treatment and care in plans put forth by the government. This paper tries to explain some of the factors influencing or rather affecting reforms in the delivery of national health services.
Most health care cooperatives have considered the shift towards a primary care-led NHS as a health strategic goal. However, it has been attested that the pace at which the change is being carried out has gone down. To ensure that the goals of most health care centers are attained, there is need to assess the progress of the reforms as well as the barricades hindering its development.
During the investigation of the nature as well as barriers to the reform, the following was some of the results that were obtained. It was ascertained that the shifts in progress from secondary to primary care was small, not strategic, gradual and not directly influenced by resource shifts. In fact, in physiotherapy, counseling, asthma, diabetes, chiropody and complementary medicine clinics, primary care-led commissioning has never been seen as the major driver of change. However, day surgery of hernia repair has been considered to have a little impact on primary care. Day care surgery has been attested to be attributed to technological advancement.
One factor that hinders the reformation of National Health Services to primary care is immobility of accessible resources. Resources have been considered the major barrier. There is a disparity in the number of resources involving primary and acute sectors with a claim of a lot of trusts. The imbalance of resources is said to distort the patterns of demand between the hospitals and primary care. Bogdan and Taylor (1975) stated that supply creates demand; there are more vascular surgeons on call at night than GPs. It is also attested that the inflexibility of resources especially in the secondary sector with high amounts of fixed costs deters primary care development. In the book of Cassell and Symon (1994), they purport that expertise from secondary care is not moving out to primary care, people are protective of their own service, and they do not want to lose resources till they are sure activity will move (Cassel & Symon, 1994, p. 84).
Generally, it has been discovered that certain savings in the secondary care were being used to support various initiatives. Improved services had also been added to the previous ones instead of substituting the services offered in the secondary care.
Weak or rather lack of incentives was another barrier to a primary care-led NHS. The absence of social service support as well as other long stay facilities in the community has been attested to be a major barricade. Based on the plea from trusts, the most important incentive to move activities to primary care was capital as well as activity driven pressure. The shift to primary care should be done to reduce the number of beds, to shorten the stay of staff and to attend to a larger number of patients. Therefore, for the shift to be enforced there should be capital to finance the whole activity.
The third barrier affecting the shift to a primary care-led NHS is the concerns in both the primary and secondary care sectors on the suitability of the shift. We will look at the attitude of secondary care towards primary care. Technicians from various cooperatives refer to the persistence of the ancient duties and attitudes of clinicians as a barrier to the shift. The health administration of various cooperatives also believes that perceived perils to the advisors power as well as to the monetary position and authority of the trust reduced the willingness of the providers to take part in the governments policy. Some of the consultants in the UK are unwilling to give in to the governments policy as they feel secondary care is suitable. The shift ought to be into secondary care, there are too few referrals, and patients are not being diagnosed or managed well in primary care (Hammersley & Atkinson, 1995, p. 95). Besides, a lot of doubts have been discovered to be articulated by both primary and secondary care regarding the levels of skills and adequacy of physical and human resources in primary care.
The fourth barrier to a primary care-led NHS was the perceptions of the entire practitioners taking part in commissioning. Regarding this, we consider the cultures and attitudes of primary care. Poor facilities in the authorities are some of the restrictions on the ability to get on the shift to primary care. It was attested to, the fact that the uncertainty the government policy faced in managing certain patients in primary care preordained that the government policy was not keen either to take on an increased range of services in primary care or to use the power some of them held in the various forms of devolved commissioning, to promote such changes in the locations in which care is provided.
The last barrier to a primary care-led NHS is lack of cooperation among the key stake holders. Based on the perceptions of most authorities and trusts in the UK, overcoming long term resource relocation issue was hindered by a lack of communication and co-operation among various health institutions. The availability of a lot of competing trusts has been attested, which barred the cooperation needed to attain the changes in the delivery of care required to fund and manage the shift. As a result, health care influence strategy was never incorporated in all sectors. There is need for organizations to cooperate transversely. There are too many professional barriers in the community no multi-skilling and too much overlap (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995, p. 86). There is lack of a relationship between primary and secondary care.
Heading to the finale, it is important to denote a potential barricade to the formation of a primary care-led NHS. First, individuals who were granted these authorities were either not equipped or minded to be persuaded for the shifts. It is however clear that the barriers to a primary care led NHS most probably may be some of the main factors influencing this reform. If these barriers are fixed, then the reformation of NHS to primary care will be affected.
References
Bogdan, R., & Taylor, S. J. (1975). Introduction to qualitative research methods: A phenomenological approach to the social sciences. New York. John Wiley & Sons.
Cassell, C., & Symon, G. (1994). Qualitative methods in organizational research. London: Sage Publications.
Hammersely, M., & Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography: Principles in practice. London: Routledge.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated an important problem of American society healthcare inequality. Available data shows considerable disparity between the number of confirmed cases among white patients and representatives of minorities (Johnson & Johnson, 2020, 0:47). The same observation is true for the comparison of deaths and illnesses between these groups. Although healthcare inequities are evident, there are different approaches to addressing inequality. Reforming society is possible via more exposure of diverse groups to each other or by correcting the legal framework as well as the policies of healthcare facilities to address inequality.
The first point of view regarding the need for reform emphasizes the disproportionate rate of illnesses among non-white patients. For instance, it has been established that more than half of the COVID cases are within the African American population (Johnson & Johnson, 2020, 00:10). Considering that the remaining percent encompasses Hispanic, Latino, and other minorities, the number of white cases is significantly lower. The subsequent problem that has to be addressed is the quality of healthcare, which minorities receive.
It is reasonable to suggest that the better care patients are exposed to, the lower the rate of subsequent hospitalizations. This implies that healthcare facilities should implement policies aimed at achieving greater diversity. For example, it is possible to increase the number of representatives of minorities in healthcare staff. If non-white patients cannot commit to the treatment proposed by a white physician, then it might be useful to have a non-white specialist attend to them. An alternative option is to set up diversity training courses for nurses and physicians. Health outcomes will improve drastically once patients and medical staff learn to trust each other.
The second viewpoint on the need for reform accentuates insufficient access to healthcare by minorities. One of the common complaints is that non-white people have to work more than one job while getting paid sick leaves is an issue (Johnson & Johnson, 2020, 1:10). While addressing this problem, it is important to understand that legally, every person is entitled to the same rights. Discrimination may be systemic, but it is not instituted via laws. In essence, it is the decision of employers and insurance providers to violate the rules regarding minorities.
There are two strategies for solving unequal access to healthcare. The first is to raise awareness of violations with the aim of bringing regulatory bodies to overview such issues. Once an employer is found guilty of discriminate hiring or disproportionate compensation, they will be forced to provide adequate working conditions for disenfranchised workers. The second strategy is to implement paid sick leaves, while retaining a job on a legal level. In the same way, Families First Coronavirus Response Act allowed affected workers to take two weeks off, such provisions would also help minority workforce.
In conclusion, laws and policies aimed at fostering diversity reduce inequality, while mutual trust prevents it from happening. The quality of healthcare is directly related to the level of trust between patients and medical workers. Ensuring indiscriminate hiring and exposure of diverse groups to each other will improve health outcomes. Meanwhile, raising awareness of discrimination at workplace and implementing laws protecting the right to a paid sick leave will enable equal access to healthcare. Ultimately, health inequities are a continuation of larger racial controversies that have to be addressed both legally and socially.
The Illinois Health Care and Human Service Reform Act was filed on the 10th of March 2021, making changes to various aspects of healthcare in the region. The act outlines the roles and qualifications of communal health employees to include additional training on asthma, diabetes, maternal-child wellbeing, interactive health, and social elements of wellbeing (Lilly, 2021). The legislation outlines the roles of the Community Health Worker Certification Board (CHWCB) which includes determining appropriate certification criteria for communal health personnel (Lilly, 2021). The compensation of the members of this board is to be determined by The Department of Public Health. The policy also makes significant changes to the requirement of medical staff in the region to include a comprehensive assessment of their credentials and written reasons for their rejection.
The legislation changes the financial procedures in healthcare centers requiring them to provide information on the required charge of all treatments by physical and electronic means. Licenses for the establishment of hospitals by investors are made liable to annual renewal by the director and are non-transferable as they only apply to the owners (Lilly, 2021). The legislation requires hospitals to post information on their certification status and legal operations by physical and electronic means where this information is available for staff, patients, and visitors. The act also mandates healthcare providers to post information about the availability of Illinois health insurance coverage in a conspicuous place in their emergency department. The policy obliges health centers to implement a written staffing plan that is recommended by a nursing care committee.
The legislation requires hospitals to ensure assistance for non-English speaking patients by annually reviewing their policies to provide translators. The legislation also necessitates providers to post a notice detailing their commitment to equality and the fight against discrimination in the emergency room. To this effect, the hospital should provide patients with a path to file complaints if they are discriminated against (Lilly, 2021). Hospitals, alongside police stations and fire stations, are required to post their legibility to accept relinquished newborns conspicuously. The legislation makes it mandatory for the University of Illinois Hospital to provide N95 masks to all their staff handling patients for their safety and protection against COVID-19. The establishment of a prescription monitoring program is part of the policy requiring the transmission of information on the prescription of certain controlled substances.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Policy
Some of the strengths of the policy include its insistence on providing additional information on healthcare responsibilities and healthcare insurance. The focus on the dissemination of information giantess all parties to understand their rights and responsibilities in the acquisition of healthcare hence a healthier Illinois (Koschinsky et al., 2021). The policy reiterates its commitment to equality that is devoid of racial, gender, and any other form of bias in the provision of healthcare. The legislation tightens healthcare regulation by imposing stricter guidelines for investors seeking to establish hospitals and following operations closely. This guarantees the safety of patients and legal practice as necessitated by the restrictions.
The policy keenly focuses on the role of community healthcare workers, reiterating their position in ensuring the health of the people of Illinois is secured. The legislation restates the qualifications of these people guaranteeing fraudulent healthcare provision is abolished. The insistence that healthcare centers should renew their permit annually is essential in ensuring that healthcare centers are monitored regularly for compliance (Gudiksen et al., 2021). This ensures that the safety of patients is guaranteed as required by the confines of the law. The amendments to the administration of some prescription substances are vital in ensuring the illegal sale of these substances is combated.
Some of the weaknesses of the policy include the strict policies that require certification for every action a healthcare worker makes. This means that crucial health decisions will be delayed as practitioners await permission, endangering the lives of their patients in the process (Elias & Paradies, 2021). The strict guidelines on practice are also likely to discourage innovation at the hospital and make providers hesitant to make decisions due to the fear of repercussions. The requirement for the annual renewal of licenses is detrimental to the business aspect of the hospitals. The hospitals are likely to incur high fees that are tantamount to making losses.
The act generally increases the running cost for hospitals with the requirements for hiring new hospital staff, such as translators. The requirement that hospitals display their healthcare charges beforehand may discourage patients from seeking these services due to the high costs (Gudiksen et al., 2021). The act should instead let the doctors determine the appropriate procedures that patients require. Letting patients make such a decision based on financial ability firsthand is likely to compromise their judgment of their needs. The monitoring of the administration of some drugs and substances amounts to censorship and surveillance for the practitioners and indicates mistrust in their abilities.
Impact of the Policy on Stakeholders
Providers
Healthcare providers have had their position strengthened by the act, and their responsibility to their patients has been restated to be of absolute importance. The healthcare providers have been assigned the role of custodians of healthcare equality as they are required to ensure equal treatment for all patients. The act has caused an increase in the expense of providing healthcare and running hospitals for management due to new charges (Gudiksen et al., 2021). The policy has increased awareness and discipline amongst the healthcare providers in their role to ensure transparency on their licensing and legal proceedings for marketability. The regulations have created a conducive business environment for hospitals characterized by effective control and devoid of unfair competition (Office of the Federal Register, 2020). The act also positively impacts staffing for the healthcare centers as the hospitals are required to provide a written staffing plan, reducing congestion and enabling faster operations.
Consumers
Consumers are the biggest gainers from the policy due to the additional protection from exploitation provided. The act requires hospitals to provide their fees for various procedures, and consumers cannot be overcharged by exploitative providers. Consumers can now feel safer when visiting healthcare centers due to the guaranteed protection from discrimination (Elias & Paradies, 2021). The guarantee that hospitals comply with Illinois regulations also means that the patients are safer and their health is guaranteed. The monitoring of the prescription of some substances by the state also means that the patients are unlikely to succumb to reckless prescriptions.
Nurse Practitioners
Nurse practitioners are meant to benefit from the diminished workload resulting from the staffing plan. This means that these nurses are not overworked and their mental health is catered for, and fatigue is prevented hence optimal physical health. The act also protects the nurses should recklessness ensue as the parties responsible are well documented. Nurse practitioners are guaranteed to work in environments that have all the requirements, ensuring that they can offer their services effectively (Dillard-Wright & Shields-Haas, 2021). The provision of a translator for non-English speaking patients means nurses can serve all people as stated in their commitment to service. This also ensures that difficulties in providing services are eliminated, and nurses can serve more patients within a short span.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Illinois Health Care and Human Service Reform Act is a revolutionary act that positively transforms the lives of Illinois citizens. The act guarantees the protection of their health and social rights, such as security against discrimination. Healthcare workers are also considered, with their workload put within a reasonable range. Hospital entrepreneurs and management are also required to assume exceptional responsibility in ensuring quality healthcare is guaranteed.
References
Dillard-Wright, J., & Shields-Haas, V. (2021). Nursing with the people. Advances in Nursing Science, Publish Ahead of Print.
Mulcahy (2013) addresses various issues regarding the USAs educational system while attempting to discuss its transformation. In this case, he manages a range of pertinent factors of education, including achievement gap, literacy, standardized assessment, social justice, aesthetic, general, and moral education. These aspects are discussed in the subsequent chapters, as addressed in the book.
Achievement Gap and Literacy
In this regard, the book focuses on the disparities between the different groups of students in the schools. The author essentially identifies differences that may be defined along with race, gender, and socioeconomic lines. In a standard way, these aspects of achievement gaps are measured by using indicators, which include grades, standardized scores, and the rates of dropping out, among many others. In this regard, each groups measure can be used to obtain comparative results among the various groups. For example, if a group shows a higher rate of dropping out, it implies that the category is incapacitated in academic performance and excellence (Scruggs, 2011). In addition to the achievement gap, the author focuses on the level of achievement steered by the educational system in schools around the country. In essence, he seeks to address some of the issues regarding the schools status of academic knowledge instilled. In such a perspective, the author aims to reveal how the system has been transformed and the underlying factors that have led to these undertakings in the country.
Standardized Assessment
The author also focuses on the use of standardized assessments to evaluate the students achievement and aptitude. In these assessments, the students are tested in a standard manner such that the measure of each students review can be evaluated compared to other students. Various tests have been used in the USA, including the California Standard Test and Metropolitan Achievement Test, among others. These tests are used to provide a legal basis for evaluating students academic prowess and act as the platform for improvement.
Social Justice and Eco-justice
The author also addressed the issues of social justice in the educational system in the USA. In this regard, social life is seen as a fundamentally vital aspect of academic success. In that context, social justice in school, which addresses how students are treated, becomes an instrumental factor of consideration. Additionally, the inclusivity of education in terms of the social arena is addressed. This is necessitated and based on the idea that the USA is a country that incorporates people from all walks of life. Accordingly, there should be a consideration regarding the systems social inclusivity (Wolk, 2011). This undertaking is considered as the primary concern towards the creation of sustainable education.
Aesthetic and Moral Education
Aesthetic and moral education form a crucial topic in this book, as Mulcahy (2013) wrote. Essentially, aesthetic education is concerned with instilling artistic skills. They are planted by providing platforms whereby students can question and inquire about cultural learning. Also, they can apply their theoretical knowledge to ensure that they are well-versed in the skills. Indeed, arts are more practical than academic. In addition to aesthetic education, the author focuses on some of the moral integrations implemented in the USAs educational system. Understandably, the ethical aspects of society and academic proficiency cannot be separated in any material way. Education without moral development is nearly deficient because the success of the former depends on the latter.
General Education
The author also focuses on general education in the context of the USAs higher education. This is initiative ensures the undergraduates in the higher education system incur pertinently and involving education. It is concerned with the basis of skills and behaviors that determine the students success when they are undergoing their major. Further, it is associated with instilled values during higher education to strengthen the students personal lives after graduation. It is essentially developed preliminarily through the use of a core curriculum that has fundamental requirements for the students to attain before certification and qualifications as graduates. These requirements must be met despite the major that the students have chosen. The program facilitates various aspects of learning in terms of the acquisition of knowledge. First, it seeks to use critical thinking as the basis of obtaining information, conceptualizing it, and making the necessary observation from experimentations. Also, the students are trained on how to analyze quantitatively to make critical determinations. They also learn how to integrate the skills logically to think and act rationally when working. Notably, general education touches on communication as a crucial factor in academic success. The students are taught how to communicate through documented and oral means. In essence, it is based on the understanding that communication is a fundamental requirement in the workplace and education.
Agreeing with Non-academic Incorporation in School
Whereas the educational system has emphasized a purely academic approach, the integration of other essential life factors is fundamental (Mulcahy, 2002). In a personal view, these non-academic skills should be included in the educational system since they are essential in different ways. First, the educational system has been taken as an isolated factor that only addresses the acquisition of knowledge. However, academics are part of the more excellent essence of life. In that regard, the educational system should seek to equip students with the necessary skills that enable them to cope with different situations in life. In other words, the education system should produce all-rounded scholars who can surmount both the academic, social and economic aspects of their lives. Indeed, modern life has been bedeviled by issues of poor nutrition. Poor nutrition has subsequently led to the emergence of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure conditions. In essence, nutritional education has been left to some selected people who take a medicine course. However, the specialists focus on treating those who have been affected by these conditions already. It implies that the educational system is not playing a real-time preventative role regarding issues of nutrition. If the students and pupils were taught about good feeding habits, it implies that lifestyle diseases can be solved proactively.
In another example, the issue of counseling is instrumental to the success of students. In most areas of the country, it has been evident that pupils and students are affected by depressions and stress. These afflictions lead to poor performance in school and social realms (Ravitch, 2010). As a result, the integration of counseling programs in the educational system is helpful to the student regarding how they perform academically and socially. Furthermore, an attempt to train students on how they can counsel each other is a fundamentally vital aspect of the educational system. In this case, it cannot be disputed that instilling such skills among the students would more effective than using the teachers. This sentiment is based on the fact that students can open up to each other better than their teachers (Saarinen, 2013).
These counseling and nutrition aspects are conjoined with other lessons that can be offered, especially regarding public and personal health. In perspective, it has come a time when students and pupils are used as the ambassadors of development in their little space. Most schools and societies have considered students as minor people in the public realm. They have not been used effectively to steer the crucial agendas of development in the country. In this consideration, healthcare education should be incorporated into the school curriculum to develop scholars who are aware of the publics health needs. This undertaking will go a long way to ensure that the healthcare standards are raised without injecting funds into any program.
Furthermore, complete integration will act as a proactive measure against some of the health vices that face the country. Indeed, it is evident that the government must seek to use its elites to reduce the cost of promoting health and discouraging morbidity. The overall effect of this integration is improved hygiene as well as the creation of a health-conscious society.
In addition to the advantages that have been outlined in the paragraphs above, the creation of new jobs is a pertinent effect on the country. If the integration was implemented, the schools would need to employ more teachers to sustain the increased workload. For example, the integration of nutritional and counseling lessons in the educational system requires the addition of nutritionists as well as counselors. These personnel will be mandated to handle additional classes to ensure that the adjustments fit the system without affecting the school curriculums original functioning.
Although the integration is advantageous, it is crucial to note that some negative implications can emerge from this undertaking. Understandably, the integration will result in the dismissal of some critical content since the schools time, and schedule cannot be extended. This is based on the fact that time does not expand despite the addition of the content that may be included. This implies that successful implementation of the integration can be realized by creating more time for the programs to fit. Alternatively, it may call for the complete elimination of some vital content which was offered originally. However, the introduction of the new content does not imply that the original coverage was misplaced. Instead, it is just a necessity created by critical integrations. The overall scenario can lead to a crucial deficiency in the acquisition of technical knowledge required for the studys main subject. In addition, although it was viewed optimistically as the creation of more jobs, this is an increment to the wage bill because of increased teaching staff.
Major Shift: No Child Left Behind
The educational shifts that take place in the USA, like other countries around the world, have critical implications on the political economy, the societal ideology, and the schooling institutions. These aspects intersect because of the players who are involved, the ramifications that emerge from the stipulations of the acts, and the implementers of the policies. In perspective, the significant shifts in the USA educational system have been conceptualized by the political players. Indeed, this scenario portrays the priority of the government towards education and its position. The commitment it envisages determines whether the policies are implemented with the required political vigor to bear the needed fruits. On the other hand, the stipulations of these shifts in the academic arena have been a critical portrayal of what American society purports as a nation. Lastly, the changes are directed towards implementers whereby the schooling institutions are affected profoundly in an attempt to put the policies into perspective. Evidently, this initiative is one that has envisaged the societal ideologies, the political orientation of the country, and made changes in the schooling institutions.
Political Economy
In essence, it focuses on addressing the academic needs of disadvantaged students in society. In regard to the political economy, the act increased the participation of the federal government in the assessment of the students skills. In this regard, the show set some standards and installed measurable goals for the country (Connor, 2010). In addition, it allowed each of the counties to set their own standards. This undertaking was a show of political independence as far as education was concerned. The political freedom of the county governments is a critical aspect in the political setup of the USA.
Another crucial aspect of the political economy is related to the issue of accountability among the players involved. In this regard, the schools were required to meet the standards of the annual test that assess the improvement of students over the year. The yearly standardized tests were the basis of identifying the schools that maintained the means and the ones that did not meet the requirements. In case the school did not make any progress according to recommendations, it was vulnerable to financial sanctions that would see its funding decreased. This was aimed to enable the teachers and schools administrations to know the importance of education as well as accountability to the whole nation.
Societal Ideology
Also, it was one of those acts that reflected the real ideology of American society. In essence, it portrayed that the American people are considerate about the disadvantaged people living among them. It shows the tolerance of the government when it comes to issues of disability. Furthermore, raising the standards of the assessment was a portrayal of how American society values the quality of education. As such, these two aspects make an ideology that is beyond reproach. They show the extent to which American company values all people with equity and seek to promote them despite their incapacitation.
Schooling Institution
Moreover, the act transformed the manner in which the schooling institutions operated in the USA. Importantly, it stipulated the conditions required for students to make a different choice of school. For example, if a school was performing below the standards, the act allowed the student to choose another school that is performing better. This implies that institutions have to work very hard in order to ensure they meet the needed standards. In addition to the assessment standards, the teaching staff was also affected profoundly in terms of how they are handled (Dowd, 2011). Before the establishment of the act, entrant teachers were mandated to have a bachelors degree, have a certification, and portray the knowledge on the subject matter of training. This was done by the act conducting a general assessment test for the purpose of making the above determinations. In addition to the entrant teachers, the existent teachers were required to meet the standards stipulated. Alternatively, the existing teachers could be assessed in accordance with pre-determined criteria. The impediment to the quality of this act has got limited attention in terms of the research studies that have been conducted in regard to this area.
The NCLB requires the schooling institutions to depend on research that is based on science when making decisions on policymaking and teaching styles. The scientific-based analysis enables institutions to apply robust, procedural, and objective knowledge in order to get the right strategies that are pertinent to the educational system in the USA. The research should be conducted in a manner that develops convincing and quantitative conclusions in order to make credible policies. It dismissed utterly the use of traditional methodologies of making decisions such as personal preferences and case studies, which have limited knowledge. In essence, the non-scientific determinations are not considered as the reasonable basis of making a decision about the teaching methodologies, assessment, and grading, among other issues that may be relevant to the profession (Giangreco, Cloninger & Iverson, 2011).
Millennium Development Goals
MDGs Making a Difference
Essentially, the MDGs have been of great importance in both the past and modern world. They were conceived in a manner that focused on the critical dangers that faced the world. This is portrayed by the profound and broad considerations that touched on health, education, and poverty, among other things. Indeed, the inclusion of the fight against HIV/AIDs and Malaria was a stipulation that focused on the health sector in a relevant and specific manner. These diseases had a significant impact on the healthcare systems in Kenya. HIV/AIDs posed a considerable threat bearing in mind that the condition does not have any cure. Presently, Malaria and HIV/AIDs continue claiming lives among the worlds population. Since HIV/AID does not have a treatment, the surest way of containing the disease is by initiating campaigns which can promote the prevention of the disease.
In this light, the decision made by the U.N. to embark on a campaign against the disease was a relevant undertaking to the world as a whole. Indeed, the stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS has reduced substantially due to the increased campaign to foster the acceptance of these individuals in society. In addition to this, the use of mosquito nets has also been popularized in many countries. The popularization of mosquito nets alongside the practice of sound environmental conservation has led to a subsequent reduction in the prevalence of malaria. As such, the relevance of these MDGs has played a significant role in helping the worlds population to circumvent the challenges of the modern world in terms of education, poverty, and health, among other things.
Further, the scope of the MDGs has an effect on the way of life envisaged by the worlds population. Evidently, it is clear that the MDGs cut across various fields of human development, as mentioned before (Raffer, 2011). This implies that the scope envisaged by the goals is nearly profound and inclusive. The broadness allows the inclusion of many eight factors that touch the core developmental principles which are pertinent to every country around the world. Additionally, the idea of conceiving the MDGs created a platform on which the world has united to solve the challenges of modern society.
This objective is envisaged in the eighth MDG, which advocates for the creation of partnerships between countries to fight the economic, political, and social problems. Although it was included upon pressure from the developing countries, the idea of fostering international partnerships has gone a long way in uniting the countries worldwide. This union, which has been triggered by the conceptualization of the MDGs, has been instrumental when it comes to the issues of fighting terrorism and promoting international education across the states. The global approach has led to better methods of reducing poverty since cooperation is crucial to development. Notably, the creation of these partnerships has played a fundamentally vital role in ensuring that poor countries develop good international ties with the developed countries. As a result, the relationship forms the basis of obtaining aid in order to create the various sectors of the corresponding economies.
Problems Associated with the Goals Set.
Substantially, the MDGs were conceptualized in an incomprehensive manner that did not provide a detailed stipulation for the implementation. In the present scenario, the MDGs were set in a generic form that stipulated academic goals without addressing the issues that impeded their attainment originally. For example, they disregarded most of the vices that have been bedeviling the developing countries, including lack of peace, inadequate systems of government, corruption, and higher education, among other issues. Understandably, stipulating the visionary goals of global development called for selection and relative preciseness. However, the problems that were disregarded are not negligible. In modesty, they are the underlying factors that have led to the issues indicated in the MDGs. For example, it is evident that corruption and poor governance envisaged in most developing countries are the crucial impeding factors to political and economic growth. As such, it is out of order to offer financial support to the developing countries without transforming its governing institutions.
Essentially, the problem does not lie with the stipulations of the MDGs, but how the involved players use them in their respective jurisdictions (Berg, 2012). The MDGs are excellent and satisfactory in such a manner that nobody can disagree with them. For example, one may not find a basis for disagreeing with the promotion of primary education. However, it is out of order for a government official to argue that they cannot promote higher education just because their goal is to achieve the MDG with regards to primary education. Unfortunately, this scenario has been very prevalent in modern society where the government focuses on MDGs without conceptualizing the aspects that characterize their respective countries (Jensen, 2010). Evidently, they ignore the efforts to identify and focus on their priorities in order to satisfy their MDGs. This is nearly dangerous because the MDGs might not necessarily reflect the exact needs of the country in particular.
References
Berg, A. (2012). Enhancing Development Assistance to Africa Lessons from Scaling-Up Scenarios. Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund.
Connor, J. (2010). Students with disabilities can meet accountability standards: a road map for school leaders. Lanham, Md.: Rowan & Littlefield Education.
Dowd, N. (2011). Justice for kids: keeping kids out of the juvenile justice system. New York: New York University.
Giangreco, M., Cloninger, C., & Iverson, V. (2011). Choosing outcomes & accommodations for children: a guide to educational planning for students with disabilities (3rd ed.). Baltimore, Md.: Paul H. Brookes Pub. Co&
Jensen, L. (2010). Millennium development goals report. New York: United Nations.
Mulcahy, D. G. (2002). Knowledge, gender, and schooling: the feminist educational thought of Jane Roland Martin. Westport, Conn.: Bergin & Garvey.
Mulcahy, D. G. (2013). Transforming schools alternative perspectives on school reform. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Pub&
Raffer, K. (2011). Debt management for development: protection of the poor and the Millenium development goals& Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Ravitch, D. (2010). The death and life of the great American school system: how testing and choice are undermining education. New York: Basic Books.
Saarinen, J. (2013). Tourism and the Millenium development goals: tourism, local communities, and development. London: Routledge.
Scruggs, T. (2011). Assessment and intervention. Bingley: Emerald.
Wolk, R. (2011). Wasting minds about why our education system is failing and what we can do about it. Alexandria, Virginia, USA: ASCD.
Goals 2000 was passed in a congress in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. It was to present grants and or resources to states and localities for systemic education reform efforts and also to certify that every scholar accomplishes their complete inherent capacity for coming into being. The act was amended in 1996 to reduce the requirement states would have to meet to receive access to Goals 2000 funding. This happened so because there was controversy about the extent to which the federal government was to be involved in education policy (Thurlow & Ysseldyke, 1994).
Summary Goals 2000
Goals 2000 focused on congressional and executive branch efforts to achieve specific outcomes that would ensure the U.S. economic and educational competitiveness. They include an expectation of continued federal advocacy of the six goals adopted by the state governors of the first Bush administration. The goals were established in the 1990s and were part of a national effort to foster standards based reform in the schools throughout the United States.
These goals, though laudable, were largely rhetorical, and their actual realization, given the federal budget deficit, was highly problematic. Accomplishing the goals was largely a state effort because of the lack of long-term federal funding (Raisch, Hunt, & Lasley, II, 2010).
Goals 2000 and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization legislation have far-reaching implications for the federal, state and local compact on education. Goals 2000 establishes a framework for standards-based reform, codifies eight national education goals in the federal law, authorizes funding and other incentives to encourage states to adopt and implement standards, calls for participating states to develop assessments aligned with standards, and authorizes federal money to develop and evaluate new assessments. The goals contain reassurances about the voluntary nature of national standards, vesting primary control of standards and assessments in the states, and establishing a partnership between local communities and the federal government (Valencia, 2002, p.157).
However, the goals 2000 (National Education Goals) include the following:
School Readiness- this stated that all American children would commence educational discipline and be prepared to acquire educational knowledge by the year 2000.
School Completion-the rate of successful completion of a program of study at high school will enhance to a minimum of 90 per cent by the year 2000.
Students Achievement and Citizenship-having expressed educational aptitude over challenging focus matters which consist of English, mathematics, sciences, foreign languages, civics, government, economics, arts, history and geography, all students will graduate from grades 4, 8, and 12 by the year 2000.
Teacher Education and Professional Development-This stated that, by the year 2000, the nations training strength would have access to programs for the persistent enhancement of their specialized skills and the prospect of acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to teach and train all American students for the subsequent century.
Mathematics and Science- the United States scholars will be foremost in the world in mathematics and science accomplishment by the year 2000.
Adult Literacy and lifelong learning- every adult American will be educated and will acquire the knowledge and skills essential to participate in a global economy and apply the privileges and responsibilities of nationality by the year 2000.
Safe, Disciplined, and Alcohol-and drug-free Schools- drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol will be free in every school in the United States. Schools will instead offer a disciplined environment favourable to learning by the year 2000.
Parental Participation- every school will encourage corporations that will boost parental contribution and involvement in enhancing the social, emotional, and academic growth of children by the year 2000 (Raisch, Hunt, & Lasley, II, 2010).
Goals 2000 expanded upon the National Education Goals of 1990 and made them law. These eight National Education Goals serve as benchmarks for state and local agendas. However, each state is encouraged on a voluntary basis to develop content standards, performance standards, and an action plan to help students achieve both sets of standards. In fact, Goals 2000 is the prism through WHICH amendments to the ESEA were considered (Valencia, 2002, p.159). The three major components of the systemic reform effort included the following: (1) curriculum framework, which establishes what children should know and provide direction for upgrading the quality of content and instruction for all schools; (2) alignment with related state education policies; and (3) schools are given the resources, flexibility, and responsibility for preparing students to learn. This new federal policy provided a vision for reform, and at the same time, contained few prescriptions. There were no new mandates on the states or localities; burdensome federal regulations were waived.
Reference List
Raisch, C. D., Hunt, T. C., & Lasley, II, T. J. (2010). Encyclopedia of Educational Reform and Dissent, Volume 1. California. SAGE.
Thurlow, M. L., & Ysseldyke, J. E. (1994). Educational outcomes for students with disabilities. New York. NY: Routledge.
Valencia, R. R. (2002). Chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future. New York. NY: Routledge.
The financial crisis of 2008 resulted in massive layoffs and missed opportunities. As a result there were many states that experienced budget deficits on a large scale.
It is therefore imperative to evaluate tax reform strategies in order to increase revenue. But there is one thorny issue that has to be resolved before taxpayers are encouraged to embrace taxation reforms. The issue concerns fairness and it is related to the realization that state tax systems placed a heavy burden on poor taxpayers but not on more affluent members of American society. In the present time almost every state in America extracts a significant share of income from middle and low-income residents.
The good news is that there is growing awareness among lawmakers, media and the general public regarding this issue. The bad news is that there is no serious and long-term commitment to reduce tax burdens for the poor. At first glance there are states that appeared to be generous to the poor but in reality these states were more generous to the rich because of the tax rate reduction schemes made available to them.
It can be argued that state and local government taxes were mostly regressive. This assertion is based on analysis of data pertaining to non-elderly families. This assertion includes singles and couples, with and without children. The analysis of available data revealed that the average state and local tax rate for the top 1 percent earner is 6.4 percent.
On the other hand the average state and local tax rate for residents in the middle 20 percent of the income spectrum is higher at 9.7 percent (Davis, p.15). Furthermore, the average state and local tax rate for the poorest 20 percent of families is highest at 10.9 percent (Davis, p.16).
At this point the observation that the U.S. tax system is unfair is true. But this is just the beginning of the problem. There is an added feature of the U.S. tax system and it is the federal governments itemized deductions for state and local taxes. It is popularly known as the federal offset.
Using this framework it was discovered that the rich are not compelled to pay the 6.4 percent tax rate even if it is the lowest rate among the three major groups of taxpayers. Due to the federal offset the 6.2 percent tax rate was reduced further to 5.2 percent.
After taking a closer look at the mid-income earners and the poorest taxpayers, it was discovered that these two groups did not benefit from the federal offset as much as the top 1 percent top earners. In fact, the 9.7 percent tax rate for the middle-income families was reduced to a mere 9.4 percent.
If one will compare it to the tax rate applied to wealthy residents, the figure was almost double the tax rate levied on the more affluent citizens of America. But more importantly the poor were compelled to pay a 10.9 percent tax rate because they did not benefit from the federal offset. Therefore, the U.S. tax system is regressive because state and local tax rate does not increase commensurate to the increase in income.
There are ten states that are considered to be the most regressive and these are listed as follows: 1) Washington; 2) Florida; 3) South Dakota; 4) Tennessee; 5) Texas; 6) Illinois; 7) Arizona; 8) Nevada; 9) Pennsylvania; and, 10) Alabama. In order to have a clear understanding of the disparity between the tax rates levied on rich and poor one has to take a closer look at the tax system used by Washington and Alabama.
Washington has the most regressive tax system in America. In this particular example, the said tax system required the poorest residents to pay as high as 17.3 percent tax rate. In the state of Washington the middle-income earners had to pay a 9.5 percent tax rate on their income. But residents in the top 1 percent of the income bracket were only required to pay a 2.9 percent tax rate on their income.
In the state of Alabama, the tax rate was not as high as Washington but the same pattern emerged. Alabama required the poorest 20 percent to pay 10.2 percent tax rate on their income. The middle-income earners on the other hand were required to pay 8.6 percent tax rate on their income. However, the residents who were in the top 1 percent of the income bracket were only required to pay 4.8 percent tax rate on their income.
In Massachusetts
The state of Massachusetts adopted a regressive tax system. But it was not included in the top-ten-list of most regressive tax systems because of the presence of progressive features applied to the income tax rate, sales tax rate and the refundable earned income tax credit. But if one will set aside these features, it is easy to conclude that the states tax system favors the affluent residents rather than the poorest residents of the state.
Consider one component of the tax system, which are the sales and excise taxes. By doing so one can see the disparity in the treatment of rich and poor. For instance, a 5% tax is levied on the lowest 20% income bracket. The families that comprise this income bracket earned less than $20,000 per year.
Now, consider the more affluent residents that earned more than $240,000 a year. In this particular bracket the sales and excise tax paid was a mere 1.7% of their income. But the residents in the top 1 percent of the income bracket, those who earned more than $683,000 per year, they were only expected to pay 0.5% in sales and excise tax.
Massachusetts regressive tax system was made more evident when it came to property taxes. The poorest residents were expected to pay 4.6% in property taxes. But the higher the income, the lower the tax rate that was imposed by the state. For example, non-elderly residents that earned an average of $151,000 a year need only to pay 3.2% in property taxes. But another resident that earned $2.6 million a year the applicable property tax was pegged at 1 percent.
State legislators demonstrated their attempt to remove disparity and usher in a new era of fairness by modifying an aspect of the tax system. The improvement can be seen in the personal income tax category. In Massachusetts the poor were only expected to pay 0.5 percent of their personal income as taxes. On the other hand those with higher income were supposed to pay higher tax rates. For example, residents with income higher than $100,000 per year were supposed to pay a 4.1 percent tax rate on their income.
The 3.8 percent tax rate is significant compared to the 0.5 percent tax rate imposed on poor resident. But there were two issues that came to the fore with regards to this particular system, especially when it pertains to the heavy burden shouldered by the middle-income earners.
This particular group earned $52,000 per year and they were expected to pay 3.8% in income tax. It has to be pointed out that the 3.8% tax rate is significantly higher than what poor residents were supposed to pay. But if compared to the tax rate imposed on earnings higher than two million dollars, the tax rate was 4.4 percent on their income. A comparison between 3.8% and 4.4% will lead to the conclusion that there is not much difference between the two figures.
The implication is that although the Massachusetts state tax system appeared generous to the poor, it cannot be considered as a model of fairness especially if one will considers the different income brackets. Based on the information given, it seems that the state placed a heavy burden in the hands of the middle-income earners but not the millionaires.
The poor and middle-income earners were the ones who generated a great deal of revenue for the state, if one will consider tax rates and income levels. But their frustration may boil over if they will also discover the intricacies of the federal offset when applied to the income of multi-millionaires. The disparity may even widen because the application of the federal offset enable wealthy residents to pay a lower amount.
Conclusion
Without a doubt Americas state and local tax system is regressive in nature. Almost every state imposed a higher tax rate for the poor residents than the more affluent members of society. The disparity was significant. The examination of the Massachusetts tax system revealed that although it attempted to be more generous to the poor, the tax system used was more onerous to the middle-income earners. There is a need to evaluate tax policies in this country.
Works Cited
Davis, C. Who Pays: A Distribution Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States. Washington, D.C.: Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 2009. Print.
State corporations, globally, have poor business performance stemming from competing loyalties of these firms: to the state as their owners and to capitalism as businesses. This is no different in china State Owned Enterprises, which previously, languished under operational inefficiencies, massive debt due to their ease in getting government debt and consistent losses for most of them.
These state corporations had to face restructuring to reduce production inefficiencies, improve management, increase their returns to the state, and compete with other organizations both at home and abroad.
The reforms in China State Owned Enterprises have been an ongoing process, which has taken place over many years. It began with the management reform between 1978 and 1984. The focus of this period was to increase the capacity of management in the state owned enterprises. Instead of all profits reverting to the government, the organizations would keep some of it for reinvestment after meeting state quotas. The reinvestment money was in technology, building expertise, and capital investment.
The second stage focus was on the dual track system (1984-1992). In the dual track, management had greater autonomy over human resource: they could employ and fire employees. However, this was only to implement government agenda and not with a business motive.
Secondly, the management could sell their products at 20% above state prices once they met production quotas set by the government, which were under regulation of state prices. Later in this stage, government relationship with management of state corporations had a change from general administration by the state to contractual contracting; Profit remittance also had a change to profit tax.
Third stage of Chinese State reforms begun from 1992 with a focus on organizational and management structure. The reforms gave state corporations the ability to overhaul their organizational structure to improve their industrial competitivity. Additionally, leasing state corporations were permissible by law; employees and the public could invest in them partially or entirely sold to private organizations or public.
In 1997, 500 largest state corporations held 37% of china industrial assets while contributing 46% of state tax. By 1998, 25% of Chinese state corporations had undergone restructuring, which rose to 86% 2001. 70% of state corporations had undergone some form of privatization in 2001.
The government state owned corporations share of GDP fell from 78% at the beginning of the stage two of the reforms in 1984, to 11%. This was, however, at the behest of massive layoffs within state corporations. Their redeployment and compensations have undergone further criticism by the people of China.
The result of the efforts of China to reform its public sector has been enormous, but it is now crossing national borders. Western countries are now wary of the increasing influence of China state corporations, which can now bid competitively for contracts in the west. The awarding of western government contracts, and approval for mergers and acquisition to china state corporations has become quite a tacky issue.
An example is China CNOOC intention to takeover Nexen oil (Canada) has undergone many political hurdles in its path to fruition. Given source of economic growth in china over the past three decades has been foreign investment that is now slowing due to a growing middle class; an increase of domestic investment is essential if China is to maintain its growth trajectory, Chinese State Owned Enterprises have a key role in this agenda.
The land reform policies implemented in East-Asian countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, China, and Japan exemplified both successful and failed land ownership systems. All these countries had a relatively shared history of land ownership, with agricultural land concentrated in the hands of wealthy individuals. In this system, peasant farmers rented or sharecropped land belonging to wealthy landowners and this perpetuated inequality within these countries. Land reforms differed across these countries, but there were a lot of similarities as well. Chinas land reform history is exceptionally attractive due to several factors, the size of its geographic territory notwithstanding. This fact becomes more apparent when making comparisons to other neighboring countries that faced the same land problems, such as South Korea. While they did achieve the same goal of decentralizing land ownership, these two countries utilized radically different approaches. Comparing and contrasting these two approaches is a surefire way of demystifying the land reforms in these and other East-Asian countries.
Before South Korea initiated its land reform policies, 84% of the populace were either part or full-time tenant farmers. After the US military had defeated the Japanese, it asked the South Korean government to handle land re-distribution. Land reform policies dictated a 3-hectare ceiling on land ownership and this, in turn, meant that citizens owning large tracts had to offload them into the market before the government forcefully repossessed the excess land. The government then resold the appropriated land to peasant farmers at rates of between 1.5 and 1.8 times the lands annual returns. Before these reforms, 84% of South Koreans were tenant farmers but after their implementation, 89% of citizens were landowners. They were, of course, free to sell their land to interested parties but could not own more than the designated acreage and this egalitarian land ownership model subsequently equalized South Korean incomes across the board.
China had the same land issues such that before land reforms, 30% of the land belonged to just 4% of the population. Unlike South Korea, China underwent a revolution that initiated land re-distribution and by 1955, 90% of the land belonged to 93% of the population. Maoist policies, however, began the collectivization of land ownership later that decade in an attempt to take advantage of the technology available to large-scale holdings. This reform policy proved wildly inefficient and by the early 1980s, the state had repossessed all the land. This land was then redistributed to families based on a per-capita analysis and just like in South Korea, the government placed a ceiling on the maximum land each family could use which in turn increased equality in China. Unlike South Korea, however, the state maintained ownership rights and transferred usufruct and heritable land utilization rights to the lands beneficiaries.
Both China and South Korea utilized successful land reforms and transformed from unequal societies to more egalitarian ones. China, however, reverted to a flawed ownership system that was problematic and inefficient before going back to a more equalized model. Both of these countries settled with the egalitarian model and the ceiling on the amount of land that families could own maintained this equilibrium. As a result, they both achieved income equalization by placing the needs of the greater populace above those of large landowners. Chinas successful reforms also indicate that irrevocable access to land and actual ownership achieve the same goal of redistributing the land regardless of whether the land is privately or state-owned. The South Korean and Chinese reform histories are therefore exemplars of successful albeit differing land reform models that propagated favorable land redistribution and economic equalization.
In the past decade, the voting and electoral systems of various countries have been scrutinized by analysts. This resulted in several reforms which were aimed at strengthening the democratic institutions. Scholars from all over the world have engaged in identifying how different electoral systems work and their impact on the democratic processes. Accordingly, questions arise on whether Canada needs electoral system reforms. This paper will try to identify the current electoral system and highlight its weaknesses. Finally, it will point out why Canada needs reforms in its electoral system.
The electoral system of Canada is based on the United Kingdom format which has the Queen at the helm of a constitutional monarchy. The Governor-General represents the queen officially while at the provincial level she is represented by the Lieutenant-General. The queen is also represented by the Parliament. In the political structure, the Parliament is made up of the Senate also referred to as the upper chamber which is comprised of 105 members. These are appointees of the Governor-General under the Prime Ministers recommendation. The parliament is also comprised of the House of Commons, also referred to as the lower chamber. The members of the House of Commons are elected during the general elections by the public. It is from this House of Commons that the government originates (Elections Canada, p. 6).
Basing on the stipulations of the Constitution, federal general elections are normally carried out after five years except during Incidences of war apprehension or during a real war and in the event of an insurrection or an invasion. Other events that can lead to early elections include the prime Ministers decision to do so and defeat of the government through a confidence motion by the House of Commons (Elections Canada, p. 6).
The party amassing the greatest number of representatives forms the government. The leader of the party then assumes the Prime Ministers position and chooses government department heads usually from the House of Commons. The ministers can also be chosen from the Senate and are referred to as Ministers of State. The leader of official opposition comes from the team with the second-largest representation. Failure to have a simple majority by the party with the largest number of seats in the House of Commons means that the Prime Minister seeks support from the opposition strategically and attempts to maintain the minority government (Elections Canada, p. 6).
Geographical sections known as the electoral districts define representation in the House of Commons. These electoral regions are ascertained by a formula pointed out in the Constitution. Each electoral district produces a single Member of Parliament. Based on several factors like population, the boundaries of these electoral districts are defined by independent commissions. The Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act stipulates the redefinition of the boundaries based on the census carried out after every ten years which stipulates whether the regions need any revisions. This is applied to all the provinces except Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories each of which constitutes a single electoral district. The systems, manuals, policies and procedures of boundary revisions are developed by Elections Canada. It is this department that offers the administrative, financial, professional and technical support to the commissions which engage in the revision activity. The decisions by the commissions are then recorded in what is termed as the representation order which currently recognizes 308 electoral districts (Elections Canada, p. 7).
In the representation, the person with the highest number of votes wins as the Member of Parliament of the electoral district. Victory does not require an absolute majority. There is no limit to the number of people running for a seat in the riding but one has to run in a single riding. In addition, the candidate can run independently or under a registered party. Finally a party endorses a single candidate in a given riding (Elections Canada, p. 7).
While several referenda have been attempted to ensure reforms in the Canadian electoral system, none of it has yielded any fruit. However, this has not stopped the quest to advocate for reforms in the electoral system. What therefore are the reasons for this unrelenting quest for reforms? Scholars have identified several weaknesses in the plurality system as adopted by Canada. According to Loenen, this system is completely undemocratic and does not offer equitable representation. He proposes that the only way forward is through the adaptation of proportional representation. With this in place, Canada will experience several advantages. He says that with the adaptation of the PR system, Canada will be subject to fair representation for minorities and women. This system will make the government authority legitimate, the executive dominance that is excessive in the country would be reduced and finally an enlarged citizenship will be enlarged (Loenen, p. 24).
Another specified weakness in the electoral system is that the outcome does not truly reflect the preferences of the voters. In his argument, Loenen points out that in a contest of about four people that is so close, the winner may emerge with a small percentage of all the votes. For example, the winner could be a representative of about 20% of the voting population. While he will be the representative, he wont be representing a population of about eighty percent who voted for the other candidates who narrowly lost the election. As a result, 80% of the votes are lost. In addition, the country can be governed by a party that receives a popular vote that is less than majority.
To avoid this, Loenen proposes that Canada adopts the Single Transferable Vote (STV). Through this method, the candidates are ranked in terms of preference by the voter and this happens in multimember environment as compared to the ridings which allow for a single member. Using this method, vote losses are avoided. In addition, the second and the third candidate in the preference order of the voters are given consideration. In this political system, the voter is given power over even the political parties that are very organized. The parliament composition resulting from this system will be a clear representation of the preferences of the voters.
From the instances pointed out, it is important that Canada undertakes reforms so that democracy is enhanced. The most important reason for voting is usually to let the citizens have their choice. Having a leader that represents only a small percentage of the citizens as portrayed in the electoral system of Canada simply shows a defect and fails to show any democracy. As a result, Canadas electoral system should undergo a reformation so that the system is changed to a PR system and specifically the single transferable vote that will help to reduce the instances of unfair representation and also reduce wastage of votes. By allowing the second and the third candidate to be considered, the issue of representative results from some voters that is less than a majority of the popular vote.
References
Clarence G. Hoag and George Hallet Jr., Proportional Representation, (New York: Macmillan, 1926), 196-271.
Elections Canada. The Electoral System of Canada. 2001.
Herman Finer, The Case Against PR, (London: Fabian Society, 1935);
H. Orliffe, Proportional Representation? Canadian Forum 17 (1938), 388-90.
Jackson and McRobie, supra, note 26, at 38-9; Dennis Pilon, Proportional Representation in Canada: An Historical Sketch, Paper presented to the Canadian Political Science Association Annual General Meeting, St. Johns, Nfld., 1997.
Klaus von Beyme, Parliamentary Democracy: Democratization, Destabilization, Reconsolidation, 1789-1999, (London: Macmillan Press, 2000), 5.
Koyzis, David. A Call to Reform the Canadian Electoral System. 1997.
Loenen, Nick. Citizenship and Democracy. Toronto: Dundurn Press.