Voting by Ethnic Minorities in Britain The ethnic minorities in Britain are composed of many different people of different ethnic origins. Stereotypically, most people consider the ethnic minorities to either be Black or Asian and alienating these two groups from the rest of the society that makes up the ethnic minorities. The many other people, who could fall into this category, are people such as the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Jewish, Gypsies, Asylum Seekers and also those who are part of the European Union Enlargement and are legally entitled to work in the UK. In the Asian Community, there are many sub-divisions as there are with the Black community. For example the Asian community is made up of Muslims, Hindus, Bengali's etc, yet on the table shown in the question paper there seems to be no notification of this. In the 1950's, there was a mass of ethnic minorities, mainly the Irish (due to the famine) who entered Britain due to the mere fact that there was better housing and more jobs, and to this day, the ethnic minorities are still increasing. Ethnic minorities make up about 7 per cent of the population of Great Britain, but generally their representation in politics and government is lower than this. This note sets out the latest figures for the Government and elected bodies. Table 1 summarises the current position: Table 1 - summary of minority ethnic group representation % from minority ethnic group Cabinet 9.5% Other Government ministers & whips 3.4% House of Commons 1.8% House of Lords c.4% MEPs 4.6% Local councillors (England& Wales) 2.5% Public Bodies 4.4% Scottish Parliament & We... ... middle of paper ... ...f tension between young Black people and the white police. The laws that the police used were known as the 'sus laws', where the Blacks were arrested on suspicion, and where treated very badly overnight. This lead to the erosion of respect to white people, which was known as 'saturation'. This decreased the votes for both the Conservatives but mainly for Labour as they were the party in power at the time. The same with the Asian community, where there were numerous documentaries on the racism that the police showed, especially in Manchester, Oldham, Bolton, Bradford and Blackburn, where there are strong Asian communities. All of these issues and behaviour can affect the voting of both the whole electorate and the Ethnic minorities, but the recent foreign affairs will most defiantly affect the vote for Labour in 2005.
In this essay I will argue that British General Elections should be conducted using a system of Proportional Representation. First, I will argue that the system would be more democratic as every vote that is cast would be represented and this ...
Blacks were driven out of skilled trades and were excluded from many factories. Racist’s whites used high rents and there was enormous pressure to exclude blacks from areas inhabited by whites.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Among the many ways Americans can participate in politics, voting is considered one of the most common and important ways for Americans to get involved. The outcome of any election, especially at the national level, determines who will be making and enforcing the laws that all Americans must abide by. With this in mind one might assume that all Americans are active voters, but studies show the voter turnout is actually astonishingly low. With this unsettling trend it is important to know what statistics say about voter turnout as was as the four major factors that influence participation: Socioeconomic status, education, political environment, and state electoral laws, in order to help boost turnout in future elections.
Therefore it has become a source of division within the working class that only works in favor for the bourgeois and capitalist. On the there hand, Ethnicity has a wider concept than race but still can be useful and counterproductive. To begin, one obvious reason why ethnicity is useful because it allows for other cultures, customs to express themselves. Secondly, promotes multiculturalism and diversity. Be that as it may, it is counterproductive and overlapping because the systematic distinctions within ethnicity lead to equality and inequality in society Therefore resulting to racial supremacy and privilege. Given these points, in this paper, I will discuss in details the ways in which the concepts of race and ethnicity are useful and how they are counterproductive with regards to different authors; Peter Wade, Robert Milles, Etienne Balibar, David Nirebeng, Roman Grosfoguel and Joan
Dinkin, M., and White, I.2008. Voting system in UK. Library of House of Commons: Parliament and Constitution Centre. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/files/108_icpr_final.pdf (accessed November 20, 2010)
...ir social exploitation beliefs and even mentions a revolution. All this built up frustration in the black community assisted in such radical movements to improve race relations. Another connection as explained by James Connolly, is the rise of ethnicity in politics as a way to reach out and satisfy the “people”. This kind of innovation would never have passed earlier in history.
"There is a reason for the country to embrace mandatory voting, and it may be the most compelling: democracy cannot be strong if citizenship is weak," _William A. Galtson_. Mandatory voting, or compulsory voting, is a law wherein citizens are required to vote, or suffer the consequence. Australia has had compulsory voting since putting it into effect in 1924. "The turnout of Australian elections has never fallen below 90 percent since the introduction of compulsory voting in 1924," _Australian Electoral Commission_. Achieving over 90 percent of the citizens voting for nearly a century shows that mandatory voting is working in regard to getting people to vote. Governments should have mandatory voting because the people will educate themselves
Society is defined as people who live in a specific geographic territory, interact with one another, and share many elements of common culture. Within a society there are many components that make up that society. There is crime, culture, social class, gender, marriage and the family, religion, education, medicine and health care, the political order, etc. However, race and ethnicity has a great and powerful influence in society, and has for many years. On the reverse side, society also influences the different races and ethnicities of people. Race is defined as “a group of people who have been singled out on the basis of real or alleged physical characteristics” (Curry, Jiobu, Schwirian 209). Ethnicity is defined as “common cultural characteristics
And ethnic group is a category of people (within social terms) who have a common culture, language religion and common norms and values. In Britain the main ethnicity is white however in the past 50 years Britain has become culturally diverse and now has a mix of diverse ethnic groups (sociologyencyclopedia 2009).
The majority and the minority bring forth change in policy in a democratic society. Majority rule means that, if there were an over whelming amount of support on a issue their voices would be heard by the government. Our government is run on a majority rule. People in our society elect officials and put their faiths in them to make their choices.
In a world where society is mostly driven by our faults, family can be a relative term that brings it all back down to earth. Since societies can be extremely divided at times, it is important to have a back bone and a community that understand your own values, customs, and practices. It has been said that “minority group” families, which in Canada or the United States, could be considered anyone who isn’t Caucasian, are less stable in form and function than families who are a part of the general societal “majority”. Throughout this essay, I would like to discuss how untrue this statement is. From racial and cultural differences, to relying on each other and to growing as a unit, it is evident that minorities can have an even stronger relationship than those from the majority.
The British Electoral System In democratic states, electoral systems are of great importance. Elections give people the right to choose their government; ensure that governments represent the majority (or largest minority) of the people; ensure peaceful changes of government (stability); allow people with fresh ideas an opportunity to enter the political arena; confer legitimacy of government and allow the government to expect people to obey their rules. Unfortunately the British system, Simple Plurality, (also known as 'First Past The Post') has come under fire for its alleged discrimination against smaller parties and its tendency to allow the losing party the ability to rule. Therefore, this creates a question - is the British system fair and democratic, or is it in need of drastic change? There is no denying that the British system has its advantages.
In the United States, “ethnics” came to be used at around Second World War as a polite way of referring to the Jews, Italian, Irish, and other people considered inferior to the dominant group of largely British descent. Since the 1960s, ethnic groups and ethnicity have become household words in English-speaking social anthropology[2]. In everyday language, the word ethnicity still has a ring of minority issues and race relations to it.
Office of National Statistics (2004), Education, Ethnicity and Identity, Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=461 [accessed 28 September 2010], Cite as (office of National Statistics 28 September 2010)