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defence house would employ mercenaries | PMCs can be made much more legitimate by regulation Currently mercenary work as a profession is not regulated by law, which allows the corruption and lack of guaranteed quality, as well as the problems of accountability to remain problematic. Regulating PMCs encourage a safer, professionalised security sector which ca... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | This image of responsible professionals may not be entirely justified. Some employees of PMCs may have no military experience, those who do may have been dishonourably discharged from duty and some may be implicated in criminal activity or atrocities, such as Eeben Barlow (former officer in South African 32nd Battalion... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | PMCs provide a service that may be otherwise unavailable. Many nation states have achieved sufficient unity to rely on their own armies but for those which cant, mercenary forces provide an invaluable and possibly only mode of protection and security. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw believes that in an era of “sm... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | PMCs are a valuable resource PMCs are a flexible and efficient tool with which to fight 21st Century wars making them a necessity. Private contractors can be hired at short notice and used only when necessary. They can be used to carry out specific missions, to reinforce traditional troops where greater numbers are re... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | PMCs are ineffective as they do not fit in with a disciplined army. PMCs are not bound by the same rules and standards of conduct and accountability as conventional troops. When problems arise it is often unclear whether army representatives or PMCs should be held responsible. Moreover, the lack of regulation means tha... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | The use of mercenaries is counterproductive for unstable states. By relying on hired mercenaries weak states encourage private competition rather than reinforcing their own nascent armies. The emergence of powerful local, as well as international, mercenary organisations frustrates the ultimate goal of securing a state... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | The amount of attention and suspicion depends on what the PMCs are doing not that they are PMCs. Whilst mercenaries appear to be less disliked than American troops in Iraq, in parts of Africa their activities have increased tension. The reputation of a national government is often stained by the activities of hired mer... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | PMCs have an equally strong incentive to perform. PMCs must perform carefully and effectively to secure future contracts. It is therefore in their interests to ensure their employees are well- trained and well-equipped and perform to the highest standard. Most PMCs recruit ex-service personnel as a way to ensure the q... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | PMCs attract less attention and suspicion and can carry out their role more effectively. Mercenaries often arouse less hostility amongst civilians than soldiers fighting for national armies. In ethnic conflict they are perceived as less partisan. The fact that civilians to some extent do not connect mercenaries with a... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | A good reputation is vital to any company, including PMCs, so human rights abuses or any other activity which is deemed questionable would be avoided. Mercenaries are not protected by legal immunity would have to face justice for any crime like any other criminal. |
defence house would employ mercenaries | PMCs do not really have an interest in conflicts never ending. Like any other organisation in a conflict zone they lose men and material while carrying out their missions. They may wish there to be an environment where they can still be useful but this does not mean stoking a conflict. Even if PMCs were helping to incr... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | PMCs are untrustworthy The possibility of mercenaries pulling out will always remain a risk. PMCs are not fighting for their own country so they can never be threatened with a charge of desertion. PMCs are motivated by money and do not have the interests of their employer at heart. Loyalty is given to the highest bidd... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | The role of PMCs has had a negative effect on traditional militaries and their operations. Soldiers trained at high expense by the state may leave for the greater income of private employment, reducing the power of the state’s military and bolstering the attraction of PMCs. PMCs also have a much more relaxed, business... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | PMCs violate human rights and International agreements in pursuit of profit or power. Some PMCs may abuse the power they wield. Simon Mann, founder of PMCs EO and Sandline International, in a recent plot to oust President Obiang in Equatorial Guinea (BBC News, 2008) shows that even mercenary organisations considered l... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | PMCs have an interest in conflict. ncreased reliance on mercenaries is destabilising in the long term. It allows invaders and local governments to feel that they can get away with not providing sufficiently trained or numerous security forces because there are men on the ground. It also means that the most influential... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | This does not necessarily mean that there is anything inherently wrong with using PMCs. While it might be true that the United States has sometimes misjudged which private forces to hire, this does not mean that we cannot use PMCs altogether. In fact, there can be solutions to ensure the quality of PMCs, such as legal ... |
defence house would employ mercenaries | It is in the interest of PMCs to fulfil their contractual obligations to ensure future contracts and avoid the reputation of being treacherous. While PMCs are often considered to be untrustworthy there are very few examples, if any, of them actually running away or switching sides since the end of the cold war. |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Guns don’t kill people – people kill people. Restricting gun ownership will do nothing to make society safer as it is the intent of the criminal we should fear, and that will remain the same whatever the gun laws. In the vast majority of crimes involving firearms, the gun used is not legally held or registered. Many of... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | The legal ownership of guns by ordinary citizens inevitably leads to many accidental deaths The legal ownership of guns by law-abiding citizens inevitably leads to many unnecessary and tragic deaths. Legally held guns are stolen and end up in the hands of criminals, who would have greater difficulty in obtaining such ... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Shooting is a major sport enjoyed by many law-abiding people, both in gun clubs with purpose-built ranges and as a field sport. These people have the right to continue with their chosen leisure pursuit, on which they have spent large amounts of money – an investment the government would effectively be confiscating if t... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | The only function of a gun is to kill The only function of a gun is to kill. The more instruments of death and injury can be removed from our society, the safer it will be. In the U.S.A. death by gunshot has become the leading cause of death among some social groups; in particular for African-American males aged from ... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Prohibition is not the answer, especially not in countries such as the USA where gun ownership is such an entrenched aspect of society. Banning guns would not make them disappear or make them any less dangerous. It is a legitimate right of citizens to own weapons with which they can protect themselves, their family, an... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | There are substantial exceptions to that correlation, for example Japan has the world’s 5th highest suicide rate but very low gun ownership. [1] As the proposition concedes, the availability of firearms is not a direct cause of suicide and thus the restriction of availability of firearms can only have a marginal effec... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Sports shooting desensitizes people to the lethal nature of firearms Shooting as a sport desensitises people to the lethal nature of all firearms, creating a gun culture that glamorises and legitimises unnecessary gun ownership. It remains the interest of a minority, who should not be allowed to block the interests of... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Gun ownership increases the risk of suicide There is a correlation between the laxity of a country’s gun laws and its suicide rate – not because gun owners are more depressive, but because the means of quick and effective suicide is easily to hand. As many unsuccessful suicides are later glad that they failed in their... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Shooting as a sport has the potential to desensitize people to the lethal nature of all firearms, creating a gun culture that glamorizes and legitimizes unnecessary gun ownership. |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Burglary should not be punished by vigilante killings of the offender. No amount of property is worth a human life. Perversely, the danger of attack by homeowners may make it more likely that criminals will carry their own weapons. If a right to self-defence is granted in this way, many accidental deaths are bound to r... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Gun ownership increases national security within democratic states “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary top the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” – 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. [1] Any country is much more able to defend itself from aggre... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Effective gun control is not achievable in democratic states with a tradition of civilian gun ownership Much like the failure of the prohibition era to stop alcohol consumption, trying to restrict the use of guns that are already widely owned and prevalent in a society is an impossible task. [1] The people who intend... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Sports shooting is a safe activity Shooting is sport enjoyed by many law-abiding people, both in gun clubs with purpose-built ranges and as a field sport. These people have the right to continue with their chosen leisure pursuit, on which they have spent large amounts of money – an investment the government would effe... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Gun ownership is an integral aspect of the right to self defence Law-abiding citizens deserve the right to protect their families in their own homes, especially if the police are judged incapable of dealing with the threat of attack. Would-be rapists and armed burglars will think twice before attempting to break into ... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | Limited restrictions on ownership and use are different in nature to absolute prohibition and are more easily enforced. Statistical analysis shows that that gun control laws do have a deterrent effect on firearm deaths and that the magnitude of the effect is dependent on how well the rules are enforced. [1] The ineffe... |
eneral politics politics general house would limit right bear arms | The 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was written in the age of horse and musket, where a private citizen could gain access to the same (or even better) weaponry that the state did. Unless the opposition want to remove all barriers on gun ownership completely, no armed citizenry can seriously compete with a moder... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | No one doubts that politicians have to make morally difficult decisions, where sometimes every option is unpleasant. However, no one wants politicians to have an unrestricted ability to make ethical questionable decisions. That is exactly what immunity would deliver them. A politician who knows that they cannot be touc... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | Politicians should be able to make difficult decisions without fear that selecting one option will lead to their incarceration. By the most popular definition, a state is the entity with the monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a defined territory. Politicians, as the government of that state, necessarily wi... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | These mechanisms are not immediate enough to put an immediate stop to an aberrant behavior. Impeachment proceedings take months at least; elections may be years away; and reputational damage is even more long-term. Moreover, these punishments are nowhere near a sufficient deterrent. If loss of one’s job, and damage to ... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | Prosecutions of politicians are often motivated by partisan concerns. As noted above, the political life is steeped in difficult decisions, and some of these are bound to result in choices that are at least potentially illegal. The ability to prosecute politicians incentivizes political opponents to search out past ac... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | Giving politicians’ immunity from prosecution allows them to focus on performing their duties The premier reason that most states, even those that allow for the prosecution of politicians, abstain from prosecuting them while they hold office is that being a politician is a job that requires one’s undivided attention. ... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | Politicians have to divide their focus anyway. As the examples above concede, being a politician means being pulled in several different directions. Elections are particularly distracting, and in jurisdictions with fixed election cycles like the United States can make periods of up to a year prior to the election a wri... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | Motivation does not matter. Almost every time someone presses criminal charges, it is for their own personal concerns (such as wanting retribution), rather than concern for the public good; that does not change the fact that if charges are laid, it is because the prosecuting authority has decided that, regardless of wh... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | If we don’t want politicians hurting the dignity of the office, there is only one thing we can do: not elect politicians likely to commit crimes! Of course, this is often impossible to tell in advance, but the dilemma remains: a crime has been committed, and that hurts the dignity of the office no matter what action we... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | In the event of major abuses of power it should be the public that holds politicians to account. The obvious benefit to prosecuting politicians is that it punishes – and thereby deters – corruption by politicians. However, this benefit can be achieved through other means. Firstly, many western liberal democracies have... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | Seeing a politician put on trial hurts the integrity of their office. It does tremendous damage to the public perception of a given political position to see the holder of that position on trial for criminal acts. Politicians are important role models for the populace at large, and shining light on everyone one of the... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | The concept of retribution is a narrow and dubious foundation for justice. A modern, civilized legal system should not be geared around delivering payback on behalf of victims, but rather around advancing the best consequences for the future. For exactly this reason legal systems give several ways in which defendants c... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | See argument above regarding other accountability mechanism. Jeopardizing future electoral success, harming one’s political party, and damage to one’s personal legacy are all meaningful checks on the behavior of politicians. To suggest that, in the absence of prosecutions, an under-used tool anyway, politicians will be... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | Politicians who commit crimes are likely unfit to serve. The sort of person who commits an offense has demonstrated irresponsibility and so is unworthy of the public trust. Would any reasonable citizen wanted to be represented by a domestic abuser, or have a fraudster manage the public treasury? While almost all peopl... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | Immunity creates a perverse incentive to hang on to their office as long as possible. Prosecutorial immunity brings about a massive side-benefit to being in office. It is easy to get used to a life where minor indiscretions go regularly unpunished, as has happened with dignitaries holding diplomatic immunity. [1] Immu... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | Immunity for politicians hurts the image of their office Far from the worst PR for an office being that a holder of it is on trial, the worst possible public perception of a political institution is that it is wracked with corruption, with it not even theoretically possible to hold its members to account. Prosecuting ... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | Immunity for politicians is an unjust double standard Every victim deserves to have the perpetrator of their suffering answer for their misdeeds. It is unjust that certain offenders would avoid retribution, and certain victims would be denied their day in court, simply because of a factor external to the commission of... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | With regard to this issue, elections are unquestionably an effective alternative mechanism. The act of a politician in a liberal democracy holding on to office for another term, by definition, requires public assent. The citizenry has an out: don’t continue electing politicians who aren’t serving the public interest. R... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | The ability to prosecute politicians is the ultimate protection against the abuse of power. It is impossible to overstate the power that the threat of prosecution has to stay the hand of anyone, including a politician, from transgressing the laws of the state. In fact, we need more aggressive prosecution of politician... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | The difference between the harm to the office of a politician getting away with a crime and the harm from them being tried for that crime is that the trial is inherently public. Short of widespread corruption – the sort that would probably preclude prosecuting politicians anyway – it is unlikely that unpunished wrongdo... |
eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity | This is not necessarily true. A politician could be a brilliant diplomat who happens to commit a minor offence such as drink driving; very few indictable offences correlate directly with one’s ability to discharge the mandate of a political office. Historically, politicians have often had their secret vices, including ... |
government local government voting house believes quebec should secede canada | Although there have been flaws in the way that Canada has dealt with Quebec in the past, it simply isn’t true that it is currently denied its right to self-determination. First of all, it is not the will of the people to become an independent nation, shown by the results of the most recent referendum on the issue and r... |
government local government voting house believes quebec should secede canada | Quebec has the right to self-determination. All people have the right to determine their own form of government and representation and Quebec has been systematically denied this right. Quebec has historically been denied the right to determine its own form of governance systematically and therefore the Canadian gover... |
government local government voting house believes quebec should secede canada | The right to self-determination does not necessitate independence, but rather determination of their own governance. This principle is widely seen as not being about sovereignty, but rather the right to control local governance for their peoples, a right already extended to the Quebecois. The International Court of Jus... |
government local government voting house believes quebec should secede canada | Quebec needs to be independent to retain its distinct language and culture. The only way to ensure that Quebecers get to retain their distinct culture is to gain independence as a country and remove themselves from the Canadian federation. A very big issue for certain Quebecers is the threat that an overwhelmingly En... |
government local government voting house believes quebec should secede canada | Although it may be true that traditional Quebecois culture is under threat, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Cultures change and evolve to reflect the rich history of a territory and its peoples and the interaction with Anglophonic Canadians is a very important part of that history that should be reflected in Quebe... |
government local government voting house believes quebec should secede canada | International Law Mandates Quebec be allowed Independence International law recognizes Quebec’s right to self-determination and denying them self-determination is therefore a violation of international law. International law recognizes the right of all peoples to self-determination. The international community has de... |
government local government voting house believes quebec should secede canada | Many countries in the world have bad economies; this is not a reason to not be an independent country. Economic circumstances can change and be improved through different economic initiatives; this simply isn’t a good enough reason to not secede from Canada. Furthermore, there is significant economic evidence that sugg... |
government local government voting house believes quebec should secede canada | This is not the will of the people of Quebec. Secession from Canada would not be a fair or adequate representation of the will of the people of Quebec. The most recent referendum and all current polling data suggest that an overwhelming majority of Quebecers are opposed to Quebec seeking independence from Canada [1] ... |
government local government voting house believes quebec should secede canada | Quebec would not be able to be economically viable on its own. Quebec independence simply will not work because Quebec would not be financially viable as an independent economy. Quebec has been financially dependent on the rest of Canada for years [1] specifically being dependent on “have” provinces such as Alberta t... |
government local government voting house believes quebec should secede canada | Quebec is in a unique position as the homeland for French-speaking Canadians and therefore has a very different mandate than a normal state or province. Quebec has an obligation to the rights of French Canadians as a group due to its unique position, and just because Anglo-Canadians have migrated to Quebec does not mea... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | While elections can create a focal point for protest and violence this may actually make things more predictable not less. Countries without elections are not without opposition groups and protests, all this means is that the spark for the protests is going to be different; police beating someone up, a particularly ext... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | Avoids the costs and uncertainty of elections It is hard to see what the benefit of an election that can change nothing is, but there are certainly all the costs associated with a normal election. Elections can be costly in financial terms, the United States elections cost several billion dollars but even much smaller... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | There is little evidence that countries without elections are more willing to take difficult decisions, or able to take wise decisions, than those that face some form of election. Many petro states have failed to diversify their economies despite having the money to do so – often investing in wild ideas such as Saudi A... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | Having no elections is honest Holding sham elections is fundamentally dishonest as it is asking the people to choose a government and then ignoring their choice. Not holding elections is at least honestly telling the people that they get no say in who is in power. Holding a sham election inevitably means having to lie... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | Being honest about depriving the people of their right to choose the government is not beneficial. An unwillingness to hold elections does not build any trust even when the government has proved itself capable at governing because an unwillingness to hold elections fundamentally shows distrust by government of the peop... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | The problem with good governance and economic success as the basis of legitimacy is that a crisis of legitimacy is created whenever growth falters or corruption comes to light. Legitimacy based upon performance also has the problem that if a certain performance becomes normal then the benchmarks must be higher and high... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | Allows the ruler to make necessary but unpopular decisions Democracy and elections are about popularity but popular decisions are not always the right ones. Even mature democracies have sometimes seen their government’s make use of the levers of government to boost their electoral chances; for example Margaret Thatche... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | Forces the ruler to find another way to placate the people Not having any elections – or only elections for a powerless advisory parliament – may actually have a benefit in putting responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the rulers. Only a country that is comparatively well governed, or successful, can manage with... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | If the government were genuinely interested in what the people want then there would be far more reliable ways than through an election. Polling could be done on each individual policy providing a much finer granularity of response to tell policymakers what they really want. All that a government will be able to tell f... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | States can have elections that have almost no chance of changing the government for decades. These elections can actually set back the cause for genuine democracy. There are several reasons for this. First having elections, or marginally expanding the number of parties or franchise, so providing liberal political refor... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | Elections of any sort force rulers to meet their people Elections almost anywhere in the world mean politicians getting out and campaigning. Regardless of the legitimacy of the final election the leadership of the country will be going out and meeting voters. In many of these events individuals won’t be able to expres... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | Sham elections do not mean the elections have no influence or impact. For an autocracy the election for the top job needs to be predetermined, but the other elections do not. This means that elections for the legislature can still be competitive. The seats do have some influence, provide patronage, and have status att... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | Even a sham election demonstrates what the people want In an election the people show what their policy preferences will be. Even if the government is engaging in vote rigging or voter intimidation they will still know how the people voted or wanted to vote (if they stuffed the ballot they will know how many extra vot... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | Some kind of election is more likely to lead to real democracy than no election The acceptance by most autocrats that there need to be elections shows the idea that legitimacy derives from the people is generally accepted. Meaning that these states are already part way to having a genuine democracy. Having regular ele... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | This is simply co-opting the opposition in an attempt to allow the regime to survive longer than it would otherwise done. As Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe has found out even being in a coalition government with a dictator does not give you the power to change the outcome over the l... |
government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections | There is little difference between a stage managed election and stage managed events without elections. In either case the chances of the autocrat meeting real people who present opinions that are not on the party message are slim. |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | An elected mayor would give the appearance of accountability, but at the risk of stifling democratic debate. At present policies are debated by council committees, and then by the full council, which represents a wide spectrum of views and interests; the public and media can usually attend these meetings, so overall pr... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Mayors would be more accountable than a council Electing mayors would improve accountability in local government. A Mayor would have a bigger mandate, which could be up to 500,000 votes compared to 5,000 for individual councillors making them more directly accountable to the city’s electorate. [1] They are also more v... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Talented individuals with a proven track record are unlikely to seek mayoral office unless local government is given much greater autonomy by central government. With the powers for each city not yet clear many may not be willing to take the risk. The reason for the lack of talent in councils is therefore not because t... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Electing a Mayor will revitalise local democracy An elected mayor would revitalise local democracy. At present many people have no idea who their local councillors are, or who leads their council, perhaps because collective decision-making is generally unexciting. It is not surprising then that turnout is only around ... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Directly elected mayors would do little to renew local democracy. In the past, councils in the UK used to have a great deal of power, controlling schools, housing and local utilities, and setting budgets and raising revenues more or less as they wished. Since 1979 these powers have been greatly reduced with power incre... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Electing a maverick candidate could do the image of a town or city a great deal of harm rather than good. Cities such as Birmingham have already been highly successful at attracting inward investment under the present system of local government. In any case, the major bureaucratic constraints on investment relate to is... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Elected Mayors would attract the best candidates to run for office. Elected mayors would allow talented individuals to make a difference, regardless of their party affiliation. The present system rewards long-serving and loyal party hacks rather than innovative managers, thinkers and leaders; polls show that the publi... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Mayors would raise the profile of the city they represent Elected mayors would speak on behalf of their communities, raising the profile of their town or city nationally and internationally. This could be particularly valuable when negotiating with businesses, helping to draw valuable investment into their area and ov... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | While there may be some extra costs to having a mayor this is likely to be marginal and overall costs may well fall, as Prime Minister Cameron argues “if you end up with a mayor, you’ll actually save money, because mayors can bang heads together, get rid of bureaucracy, and right now, any mayor worth their salt will be... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Electing a mayor would not concentrate power too much in the hands of one individual. Although models of local government vary, mayors usually have to pick a cabinet from among the elected councillors and to seek approval for their policies and budget from the whole elected council. A mayor would thus have to persuade ... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Directly elected mayors provide opportunities for populists. The position of elected mayor is likely to attract populist and maverick candidates, who will seek to capitalise on the unpopularity of party politics with “single issue sloganising, glib promises and headline grabbing” (Ken Walker, Labour leader of Middlesb... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Mayors could split economic regions The value of a mayor is dependent upon that mayor having a distinct area of control. However often this area is set too small. Cities are the hubs for neighbouring towns and countryside as well as the inner city. This could then end up splitting up economic regions. Birmingham and C... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Mayors will come at a cost Having Mayors is costly. First of all there is the referendum and the election of the Mayor himself which Bristol council has said could cost up to £400,000. [1] This is then followed by the extra administrative cost created by having a Mayor who will of course have to have deputies, staff, ... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Mayors would result in too much centralisation of power. An elected mayor would have too much power, making the prospect of its misuse alarming. If the mayor has the power to choose their own cabinet of councillors, this could be as small as three members, all of whom could be sacked at will for opposing the wishes of... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | Coordinating between a few mayors in a region is considerably easier than between hundreds of councillors. The whole point of devolving power is to let local people have more influence and decide for themselves. Neighbouring areas could eventually have referendums to become part of the area controlled by the mayor if i... |
local government house would directly elect city mayors | If the position of Mayor is given powers then it will attract a wide range of candidates, which may include extremists. However these candidates are no more likely to win than they would be in any other election. As with any other election voters are likely to vote for centrist candidates that have strong manifestos an... |
y political philosophy politics defence government house would impose democracy | First, it is not clear whether such a position is topical. Second, it is better to support protesters in this case, rather than taking the lead. To begin with, it is not clear that assisting individuals in the fight for democracy is a valid interpretation of the phrase "imposing democracy": if the majority of people w... |
y political philosophy politics defence government house would impose democracy | Imposing democracy can be a way to support individuals unable to fight for democracy themselves. If the people within a nation want democracy, it is not wrong -- indeed it may even be morally required -- for us to assist them by imposing democracy against the will of the governing class. Often internal movements lack ... |
y political philosophy politics defence government house would impose democracy | First, democracies are not necessarily more peaceful than other governments. Second, imposition of democracy is likely to fuel terrorism. First, it is not entirely clear that democracies have not gone to war: for example the Central Powers in WWI, although not classified as democracies per se, did have elected parliame... |
y political philosophy politics defence government house would impose democracy | Interventions can be successful given the right conditions. Certain factors may increase the chance of success: for example imposing democracy on a nation with which there were once colonial relationships increases the expected lifespan of the democracy. Democratic transitions in general also tend to be more successfu... |
y political philosophy politics defence government house would impose democracy | Interventions are far more likely to fail than to succeed. As explained further in Opposition Argument 2, empirically and logically imposed democracy is likely to fail. Governments can try and minimize the risk of failure, but it is inherent to the nature of imposition that a government is being instated against the co... |
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