#reform act

[history-box]

Hyde Park Riot

Hyde Park Riot

I wonder if the demonstrators, angry at the failure to get the Reform Act through Parliament, tearing down the railings of Hyde Park and camping in the park, helped to focus the minds of Parliament?

[thephantomofthelibrary]

1 March 1831

[Painting by Sir George Hayter commemorating the passing of the act]

Lord John Russell introduces the Reform Bill in the British House of Commons on the government’s behalf to revamp the electoral system of England and Wales and increase the franchise. The act was eventually passed the next year after multiple bills, rioting, a run on the banks, and the threat of revolution. While the reform act was certainly limited in its impact, it set the ball rolling for future parliamentary reforms that greatly improved the political process in the United Kingdom.

[politicalcanadian-blog]

Electoral Fucking Politics 101 (III)

The Party System Is Kind Of Fucked Up

Don’t get me wrong, I love me some NDP, but every party in Canada is fucked up just by its very nature, and it’s been getting steadily worse since a small change in 1970. Allow me to explain.

In 1970, the rules by which a candidate was nominated to run were changed to require a signed statement from the party leader in order for the candidate’s name to appear with party affiliation. Essentially, without the permission of the party leader, you can’t run for that party. This tipped a balance of power; the party leaders have immense power over their caucuses, because the leader has the power to deny you the ability to even run under the party banner.

It sounds reasonable, right? Somebody’s got to certify you’re actually the party’s candidate. Having the leader sign off makes sense. But imagine that for a minute. You agree with your party on most issues, but let’s say you don’t love the long gun registry, so you decide to vote against it. The party leader finds out  gives you a call, and lets you know that if you decide to vote against the long gun registry, well, you’re not welcome in the party any longer, because the registry is important to the party. Not only are you going to have to sit as an independent, but the leader won’t ever sign a nomination paper for you again.

Wouldn’t you at least consider compromising your principles? And if you’ll do that on small issues, it’s easier to convince yourself to do it on the big ones too.

The Team Mentality Is Difficult To Break

See, if the major members of the party’s caucus (usually MPs, but sometimes also influential senators and hangers on) decide that the party leader is done, it’s usually only a matter of time until they’re pushed out. So to combat that, you tend to get party leaders encouraging a culture of backing “the team,” and enforcing that with their control over nominations. It’s usually not quite that naked, of course. There are lots of other tools a party leader can use to control their caucus. If you’re in government, of course, you have cabinet appointments, committee assignments, and other similar carrots. The opposition has similar tools, with the assignments of critic roles and the like.

If you’re not a team player, you won’t get any good jobs, you won’t get to ask questions at question period, and you’ll be living with the constant spectre of just not being allowed to run again hanging over you. It’s not hard to imagine why people might get frustrated in this position, and it’s pretty easy to see how this leads to an indelible pro-team culture.

What Can We Do About It?

Not a whole hell of a lot. The culture definitely has to change, but the rules are broken, which has led to a dominant strategy: team above everything else. There was an attempt, albeit a weak one, to revive some of the older forms of our democracy that put more power in the hands of our members of parliament, over the party leaders, but it was gutted and passed in a form that makes no real change, and I would guess that the process which allowed it to be gutted so effectively implies that the team mentality is strong enough to prevent members from utilizing the power they’ve been granted. Andrew Coyne actually has some excellent, if scathing things, to say about the Reform Act from earlier this year.

Try to encourage your MPs to stand firm to their principles and the principles inherent to a democracy. Communicate with them, so they can go to their leaders and say, “My constituents are very clear about this issue.” If your MP makes an unforgivable step over the line, don’t vote for them again, even if you prefer the party. We will have to show our MPs in no uncertain terms that we want representatives, not party-voting-machines in our parliament if we are to see change.

[theburntman]

Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery.

So yesterday, the 17th, I got this surreal urge to do something I’ve never done before. I decided to go on my very first photo walk and I found myself lurking around Nottingham Castle. Taking pictures on the outside, then I thought “I’ve never actually been in there in my years over here” and then promptly proceeded into the grounds. There I was thinking, “Ah this ought to be a short trip” but immersed myself in the sights, the sounds and history and eventually lost track of time (somewhat). I spent the next couple of hours wondering the hallways of the castle, soaking it all in. There was so much to be seen, ranging from the attires of old England to Greek facts, part of me struggled to grasp what exactly it had to do with Nottingham but then again, a little bit of general knowledge never hurt anybody! The Castle is also used as a temporary gallery for artists and creatives to exhibit their ideas and portfolios. Then there was this one room, that focused on the events of the 10th of October, 1831. In summary, only the rich and the better-off middle class men were allowed to vote and on this day, after their Petition to change this was turned down, the masses rioted and burnt down the Nottingham Castle and another building in Beeston. Of course there was a section/room designated to Robin Hood. And finally, there were dungeons and caves obviously bastardised now but no less daunting. I loved every bit of my outing and the pictures I took as well. Learnt more about the camera and more of its functions but more importantly, Nottingham. Slowly but surely, I'm getting better at using this device. As for the pictures, I'll post them randomly as the week wears on --> esuis-jack.tumblr.com!

[mycuentame-blog]

US spends $18 billion to keep immigrants out