Crisis? What crisis? Darfur
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
Is there a crisis in Darfur? This question looks at first sight rather provoking; everybody is aware of what is happening there. It is one of the main international hot spots. All the more so as the horrible events in Darfur are everything but new. However, this conflict takes place while the...
Explain the chief causes of the conflict in Chechnya
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
The conflict in Chechnya constitutes one of the most burning issues of the post Cold War Russian federation politics. Actually, the two wars, that took place under Yeltsine's and Putin's presidencies, from 1994 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2001, and even to nowadays, have been the most important...
Explain why French trade unions, which enjoy so little support, nevertheless seem to exert considerable political influence
Essay - 7 pages - Political science
In France, trade unions were legalised in 1884, but developed very slowly. Trade unions have never enjoyed phenomenal support in France as in the post-war period approximately 35% of workers belonged to a trade union as opposed to a mere 8-9% nowadays, which is by far the lowest proportion...
How did the feminist politics appear in the nineteenth century?
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
The nineteenth century was very significant for women, mainly because they were at a turning point in their living conditions. It was ascertained that their place was at home and they were not able to think, unlike men. This situation was considered as unbearable by a growing number of women and...
"What accounts for the success of Silvio Berlusconi in Italian politics since the political crisis of the early 1990's?"
Essay - 8 pages - Political science
As the most dominant Italian politician of his time, Silvio Berlusconi has introduced important innovations in many fields of Italian politics: new ideological approaches, new coalition strategies, new campaign methods and a new leadership style and language. All of these innovations have had a...
What are the most important features of contemporary Irish political culture? Has this political culture really change significantly since 1960? If so, why has this not had a greater impact on the political party system?
Essay - 2 pages - Political science
Irish political culture is often seen as a peculiar one compared to western European countries. The political culture might be considered as a psychological part of political system: the set of values and attitudes of a political community. According to J. Coakley, it can be divided in tree...
Discuss de Gaulle's handling of the Algerian War and consider some of the ways in which he exploited the crisis to political ends
Essay - 3 pages - Political science
In 1954, the discontent displayed by Algerian rebels, the Front de Libération National, demanding independence, turned into war and was not settled until 1962, with the involvement of the French national hero, General de Gaulle. The situation in Algeria was different to that in Tunisia or even...
Critically assess available explanations of the rise of the National Front, and assess and explain its impact on French politics
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
The National Front was founded in 1972 by Jean-Marie Le Pen and since the 1980s has managed to enter French political life. The European elections of 1984 saw the National Front gain 11% of votes, and in the parliamentary elections of 1986 and 1988, the National Front won 10%. The presidential...
Is social capital a useful tool for explaining the politics of public health in the twentieth century city?
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
The development of “politics of public health” is historically dated. As Foucault noted, it appeared with the broader emergence of the idea of “population” which provides, in the modern era, the conceptual framework of health policies. The existence of a common concept,...
Elites in the United States
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
One of the arguments that have been laid down to explain the defeat of John F. Kerry on the US-Presidential elections in 2004 was his elitist side. Being a White Anglo-Saxon from the North-East, Kerry really corresponded to the image of a politician who would run the country in a technocratic...
What is meant by the French party system, and what has produced its changing form in the period since 1958?
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
The French party system emerged in the form of parliamentary factions in the Third Republic. Soon enough, these factions were no longer only evident at the parliamentary level, but were organising the nation. From 1958, there is a considerable change in the organisation of the political parties...
Sir William Beveridge - social insurance and allied services, 1942
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
This text is the introduction of the Beveridge Report, called Social Insurance and Allied Services. This report was presented to the British Parliament in November 1942 and was published the on 1st of December 1942. He was commissioned by Arthur Greenwood, in June 1941. William Beveridge...
Former Soviet Republics of Central Asia and democracy
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
Nowadays, Central Asia can be considered as the “Heartland”, that is to say the center of geopolitical positioning, given the abundance of natural resources in the region. Indeed this area, particularly Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, benefits from oil and natural gas reserves among the...
Africa: a cold war proxy field?
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
In most discourses about International Relations, Africa is described as a ‘victim' of external powers - namely its former colonisers, the United States and, as far as the Cold War period is concerned, the Soviet Union. For instance, it is said that African wars in the post-colonial era were...
Pluralism, democracy, and citizenship
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
‘Most people think that democratic decisions have special moral force - which we have good reasons to obey laws that are democratically chosen. If this is true, why is it true? If it's not true, why is it not?' Democracy is commonly regarded as the best, or the least bad, political system...
Power of pre-colonial Southeast Asian state and peasantry with respect to colonialism
Essay - 3 pages - Political science
Southeast Asia is not an homogeneous region. That is why it can hardly been analysed as a whole and therefore must be divided into several groups. Concerning the issues related to the relations between the state and the peasantry, South East Asia countries belong mainly to two groups. According...
Conservative and Labour Economic Policies
Essay - 17 pages - Political science
After World War II, a new economic philosophy called “Keynesianism” - different from the “laissez-faire” of old - became prevalent; to his main proponent, John Maynard Keynes (1883-1945), free operation of the market was a good thing but it might prove insufficient to ensure...
How adequate is the question of sovereignty in the political disputes within Britain about the desirability of joining the European communities? (1945-1973)
Essay - 7 pages - Political science
Britain was one of the first countries to imagine a European grouping after the Second World War. In Zurich, on 19 September 1946, Churchill called for a 'United States of Europe', which would be based on cooperation between France and Germany. Yet he saw no place for Britain in this...
Is Russian political culture a serious obstacle to democratization?
Essay - 7 pages - Political science
From the end of the Cold War to nowadays, Russia has endeavored to reform itself so as to exit from a situation of crises. Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to give a new start to the economy of the Soviet Union, to reform its plethoric administration and take steps towards a more democratic,...
Parties and party systems in contemporary democracies
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
Laver and Schofield wonder what makes length of a government's life through the examples of Italy and Germany, but also of other countries. Firstly, is the number of parties of the political system related to cabinet stability? This is right in Italy, Belgium and Finland. They have a higher...
The political role of the judges in law and politics
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
My presentation is concerned with the relationship between law/the judiciary and politics. The laws relating to civil and criminal wrongs are indeed made either by Parliament in the form of Acts of Parliament (also called statutes) or by the judges themselves (then called the common law). The...
Cultural relativism or universalism ? An essay in political ethics
Essay - 10 pages - Political science
This is an essay on cultural relativism in the field of political ethics. Yesterday confined to anthropological studies, the idea infiltrated the domain of international morality after the Second World War. It developed from its original virtues of tolerance and understanding to more defensive...
What is the function of representation in Hobbes conception of political power as presented in the Leviathan?
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
The notion of Representation is a key feature in democratic regimes. More stable than the direct participation of the people into political life, it supposes that the institutions of the State reflect the composition and the wishes of the people. A simple look at the title of the book-the...
Account for the failure of Clinton's health care reforms
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
In the United States in the early 1990s, both public opinion and political actors agreed that healthcare system did not work properly anymore. The American system is based on employment, i.e. those who work can benefit from a healthcare insurance, but unemployed people and half-time workers...
How can the "crisis" of the Welfare States affect the policy of fight against poverty?
Essay - 3 pages - Political science
Since the end of the XVIIIth century, the disastrous consequences due to the Industrial Revolution and to “savage capitalism” on working conditions has been underlined through the rising resentment of the working class. That is why, in order to avoid social implosion and to control...
What role does the media play in the political process?
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
Since its beginning, about five decades ago, the mass media have been intertwined with political processes of every type, ranging from coverage of major political events and institutions to effects on campaigns and elections. In our liberal democracies, the media are central for the public:...
Domestic Politics and American Foreign Policy: American & European political culture, an unsolvable misunderstanding?
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
The end of the cold war with the collapse of the Soviet Union enabled the emergence of the United States as a hegemonic power. At this time Realist Theories in International Relations predicted that a counterbalancing coalition should soon be organized. The European Union appeared as the most...
Where would you place New Labour on the ideological spectrum?
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
Since its foundation in 1900, the British Labour Party has been in power eleven times, and has had five Prime Ministers. It was founded as a social-democratic party, close to the unions and advocating the rights of the working class. On June 2001, led by Tony Blair, it won its second General...
Transition of Croatia
Essay - 20 pages - Political science
According to Linz and Stephan, five interacting areas need to be in place before a consolidated democracy can exist in a state. First, there must be a free and lively civil society. A civil society is the arena of the polity where self-organizing groups, movements and individuals can express and...
Is there a distinct American political culture?
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
We often assess that some behaviours are “American” and some “European”. Doing this, we mean there is a distinct American culture. Does it match for political culture? Political culture could be defined as a set of behaviours and habits towards the political system of one's...
