Liberal Reforms Essay Example for Free

Liberal Reforms Essay By the early twentieth century the Liberal Government was worried that Britain’s military capability and general military power was not as strong and it once was. Therefore, the Government’s concern over national security definitely influenced the decision for the reforms. However, there are three main factors that also need to be taken into account when deciding if concern over national security was the real reason for the reforms: the Social reasons, concerns for Britain’s Empire and the Political motive. The Social reasons played a large part in persuading the Liberals to reform. The detailed reports of Booth and Rowntree, and the evidence which was brought to light, highlighted that nearly a 1/3 of Britain’s population lived in poverty. This needed to be addressed by the Government. In addition, criticisms of the Poor Law effectively put pressure on the Liberals. The Boer War shone light on the ineffective and malnourished British Army. Britain’s embarrassing performance and recruitment in the War raised concerns over Britain’s overall military capability and the general health of Britain’s populace. In addition to this, the Liberal Government was concerned that Britain was losing its status as a major industrial power. Political motives for reform include the changing attitudes within the party, New Liberalism, the fear of the ever increasing popularity of the Labour Party and the party advantage which the Liberals would have received from introducing reform. In 1899, Britain became involved in a war, known as the Boer War, in South Africa, which was part of the British Empire at that time. As a result of Britain having a relatively small army, volunteer recruits were needed to increase the army size. However, the British Government became alarmed when almost 25% of the volunteers were rejected because there were physically unfit to serve in the armed forces. This figure was even higher among volunteers from the industrial cities. Politicians and the public alike began to ask if Britain could survive a war, or protect its empire against a far stronger enemy than the South African Boers, if the nation’s fighting stock of young men were so unhealthy. The national reforms introduced a variety of bills which would hopefully solve this problem. The 1906 Bill was passed, allowing local authorities to provide school meals to children. In 1914 this was extended to becoming compulsory to offer school meals. This bill meant that poorer children, who previously could not afford a proper nutritious meal, were now receiving regular, healthy food. This would hopefully improve the health of Britain’s army as in the long term, the children who would eventually make up Britain’s army, would be nourished, fit and able to serve their country. The 1907 Bill made the medical inspection of schools compulsory. Doctors had to the Board of Education on their findings which resulted in the introduction of the 1912 bill which saw to the establishment of school clinics. The improved lifestyle and eating habits of Britain’s youngsters, combined with the introduction of medial inspections for them were the result of the Liberal reforms. Therefore, the Liberals concern over national security played a major role in achieving reform which would effectively benefit the country as a whole. However, there are still other reasons which influenced the Government’s choice to reform. Through the Poor Law of 1845 (1834 in England), local rate-payers provided â€Å"poor relief† for destitute people. This help was often provided in a poorhouse. Conditions in these poorhouses were designed to be very harsh indeed. Conditions in poorhouses were extremely harsh because it was to deter people who were just lazy and thought of the poorhouses as the â€Å"easy option†. Glasgow had three poorhouses: One in the city centre, Barhill in Springburn and Govan. The percentage of the public relying on the Poor Law relief, by 1900, was 2. 5%. This may seem very little but this figure does not represent the number of people in Britain who were in poverty. Destitute people who accepted help from the Poor Law became â€Å"paupers† and automatically lost many civil rights such as the right to vote. By 1900 many critics of the Poor Law believed that it failed to deal with poverty adequately. In addition to criticism of the Poor Law, the evidence discovered from both Booth and Rowntree’s studies concluded that there was a large percentage of Britain’s population living in poverty. Charles Booth, a London businessman who doubted the claims of socialist that a quarter of the population lived in extreme poverty. Working with a team of researchers from 1886-1903, Booth’s work was based on hard, statistical facts, and not opinion. His book, â€Å"The Life and Labour of the people of London†, consisting of 17 volumes, showed that 25% of London’s population lived in extreme poverty. Much more than the socialists claimed. The second investigation into poverty was carried out by Seebohm Rowntree, in the city of York. After two years of research, he published a book in 1901 which showed that almost 30% of York’s population lived in extreme poverty. If York had such poverty problems as a â€Å"typical English city† then as did other cities in Britain. The reports of Booth and Rowntree produced solid evidence to suggest that sections of society-regardless of hard work- would never pull themselves out of poverty. The reports showed poverty to have causes and the cities were beyond the individual efforts of the poor. The concept of â€Å"deserving poor†, an ideal created by Rowntree, was important and took root, becoming an important theme of the Liberal Reforms. Finally, evidence which suggested that the scale of poverty in Britain was much larger than the figure of 2. 5% suggested by Poor Law Records, indicated to politicians that the Poor Law was not working. When the Liberals came to power they had a majority of 400. In the elections in 1910 this majority dropped to 2. The Labour Party threatened the Liberals hold onto power. Labour promised pensions, action against unemployment and other welfare reforms. Following voting reform from 1980 the majority of voters were working class. Liberals worried that Labour would win working class support and threaten the position of the Liberals. In 1900, the Labour Party formed with 2 seats in parliament, by the 1905 election, Labour had increased this to 29 sears. It was becoming more increasingly aware that the Labour Party was a direct threat to the Liberals. In 1907 the Liberals lost 2 ‘safe’ seats in Jarrow and Colne Valley to Labour. David Lloyd George recognised the need for welfare reforms for political survival and to maintain working class support. In addition to the fear of the Labour Party, the Liberals also faced the problem of trade unionism and radical socialism. Radical Socialism called for the destruction of capitalism. From 1910-14, there was a wave of miners’ and dockers’ strikes. Liberals realised welfare reforms could prevent political unrest. Historians argue that the sudden increase in the Labour Party’s popularity and the problems the Liberals faced regarding trade unionism and radical socialism persuaded the Liberals to introduce pensions the next year, and furthermore, encourage the Liberals to reform. Before 1905, many Liberals believed in ‘Lassiez-faire’. However, new groups in the party believed that it was the duty of the Government to take action to help Britain’s poorer citizens. This group was called â€Å"new liberals†. It included David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. Churchill aimed â€Å"to draw a line below which we will not allow people to live and labour. † The Liberals, wanted to help the deserving poor out of social conscience but they recognised the political advantages it could bring too. The Labour Party was offering such reforms that would bring them political success. This could be soon through their increased popularity. Therefore it is likely that the Liberals reformed due to the pressure put on them by the ideal of New Liberalism. In conclusion, the Liberal reforms came about as the result of many influences from both different areas of the Government and the public. On one hand, the embarrassing performance by the British army in South Africa and the lack of able volunteers to increase Britain’s army’s capability was definitely a main influence why the Liberals introduced the reforms when they did. On the other hand however, the evidence brought to light by Rowntree and Booth cannot be disregarded as not being an influence to the introduction of these reforms. In addition, other factors such as the Liberal’s fear of losing votes to the new Labour Party and the political readiness to pass reforms influenced by new ideas about New Liberalism made the reforms a more pressing necessity. Overall, it cannot be seen that concern over national security was the only reason for the Liberal reforms, as there were other influences which encouraged the Governments decision.

Presidential Candidates: Division And Classification Essay -- essays r

Presidential Candidates: Division and Classification You could be the next presidential candidate! Sound good? You must file papers with the Federal Election Commission to run. You also have to pay the nominal filing fee charged to candidates entering the New Hampshire primary. That doesn ¹t sound so difficult. Anyone who can accomplish these two tasks may run for President. Usually, some unlikely people do. This year, the candidates include people from Phil Gramm to Jack Mabardy(Who in the world might he be?). Only a few people have a genuine chance of winning the coveted office, others could win if the world knew them, and still others ( I am convinced) run for our amusement. Clinton, Powell, and Dole have a decent chance at the Presidency. President Clinton remains the only democrat running. His experience and prominence will aid him in the 96 election. He spouts many unique, interesting ideas. For example, he realized, "We ¹ll never get everybody ¹s income up until we educate everybody." Clinton is full of brilliant revelations like, "Racial diversity is our great meal ticket to the future if we can figure out how to get along and how to lift each other up." His bits of intellect might be useful if he proposed solutions to the obvious problems he presents. Bob Dole, a republican candidate, has already done some work on welfare reform. He recently passed a bill which allows the state to create programs that will move people... Presidential Candidates: Division And Classification Essay -- essays r Presidential Candidates: Division and Classification You could be the next presidential candidate! Sound good? You must file papers with the Federal Election Commission to run. You also have to pay the nominal filing fee charged to candidates entering the New Hampshire primary. That doesn ¹t sound so difficult. Anyone who can accomplish these two tasks may run for President. Usually, some unlikely people do. This year, the candidates include people from Phil Gramm to Jack Mabardy(Who in the world might he be?). Only a few people have a genuine chance of winning the coveted office, others could win if the world knew them, and still others ( I am convinced) run for our amusement. Clinton, Powell, and Dole have a decent chance at the Presidency. President Clinton remains the only democrat running. His experience and prominence will aid him in the 96 election. He spouts many unique, interesting ideas. For example, he realized, "We ¹ll never get everybody ¹s income up until we educate everybody." Clinton is full of brilliant revelations like, "Racial diversity is our great meal ticket to the future if we can figure out how to get along and how to lift each other up." His bits of intellect might be useful if he proposed solutions to the obvious problems he presents. Bob Dole, a republican candidate, has already done some work on welfare reform. He recently passed a bill which allows the state to create programs that will move people...

Coping with Anxiety

Kathrina is a 20-something professional with dilemmas that disrupt her from being productive in her career. It also gives her inconsistent sleeping habits, which results from an uneasy feeling from the anxiety that she feels. Furthermore, she feels that her way of coping with such is not improving at all. Such predicaments hamper her career as a real estate agent, which she finds a big deterrent in producing sales. Kathrina’s biggest dilemma is that her parents expect a lot from her.She doesn’t want to leave home yet she already feels uneasy about her situation at home. With this in mind, she resorts to me, a behavioral psychiatrist. Kathrina opts to undergo a series of sessions that will give her the opportunity to deal with anxiety and stress. 1) As a behavioral therapist how would you proceed in therapy in the case of Kathrina? First, I would like the patient to describe her environment while she was growing up. This would help me ascertain what is it like to live in her environment during her childhood.It will allow me to determine how she generates feedbacks and how she behaves in this type of environment. As a behavioral therapist, I have to make her understand that her environment is responsible for her apparent behavior. The environment she thrives in conditions her to be behaving in such way. The environment includes all the people around her and the behavior of this people. She has to understand that her behavior does not deliberately stems from her. In behavioral psychology, it is suggested that behaviors are attained through the environment’s conditioning (Wagner, 2008).As the individual interacts with her environment more, the more she is conditioned to act accordingly to her environment’s standards. As the individual accommodates this conditioning into her system, the more she is influenced by her environment’s conditioning. As I proceed with the subject’s current situation, I learn that she really accommo dates and tolerates the behavioral standards of her situation. She does not have a hand in her apparent behavior at all. The stress from her work is not responsible as well.The environment which is her home is the primary stimulus that affects her behavior, and causes her numerous dilemmas. In a branch of behaviorism, classic conditioning is used to condition a subject to respond to a certain stimulus. Classic conditioning is a type of conditioning in behaviorism, which conditions a subject by instigating a stimulus in order to generate a favorable response (Van Wagner, 2008). In Kathrina’s case, her parents conditioned her in the most effective manner. This leads us to the speculation that Kathrina might not have received classical conditioning at all.Another type of conditioning, Operant conditioning can be suggested as the possible culprit for the apparent behavior of Kathrina. Operant conditioning takes place whenever the subject is conditioned through punishment and rewa rd reinforcements. In Kathrina’s case, she might have received more reward reinforcements than punishment reinforcements. Yet this brings to us the notion that she might have been conditioned by reward reinforcements even if her parents are wrong in giving her reward reinforcements.With this in mind, Kathrina’s case will remain unsolved, and I will suggest further therapy sessions for her to be able to cope up with stress and chronic anxiety. 2) How does behavioral therapy fit, or not fit, with your own personal style? The behavioral approach to therapy is not proper at all. It is very subjective and not objective at all. It is one-dimensional because it simply analyzes the environmental factors that contribute to the individual’s behavior. Both operant and classical conditioning are subjective in approach, and analyzes a subject’s behavior in a bias manner.In Kathrina’s case, her behavior is not really caused by her environment alone. She has also a hand in contributing to her mental tortures. With this in mind, she must shrug her dilemmas aside. Apt therapy can also aid her in this situation she faces. References Van Wagner,K. (2008). Behaviorism. Retrieved March 22, 2008, from http://psychology. about. com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviorism. htm Watson,J. Behaviorism Explained. General Psychology. Published Diestro Ltd. 2000.

Music and Cultural Identity - 1245 Words

Some may say music is just music; a song is just a song. However, music plays an enormous role in our psychology, because a single song has the ability to bring about many kinds of thoughts and emotions in the listener. Music is subtly one of the main factors in which people identify with certain groups and establish their belonging in society. It shapes people’s perspectives on how the world functions and the roles they play within it. Music can function the same way in a culture; it can reflect many of the culture’s values and ideologies. Music can have many effects on culture and the people’s idea of who they think they are within that culture. Music can serve in a way that promotes cultural identity and pride, yet it could also play a†¦show more content†¦Their sense of belongingness gives the people pride, because the songs embody the rich history, culture, and values of Mexico. As a result, people in in Mexican communities are able to proudly ident ify themselves as Mexicans. With a vast amount of culturally proud people, Mexican culture will ultimately be kept alive. Music can also be a differentiating factor for social and economic classes. In lecture twelve (Roma music), the clear distinction between the romungre and vlachs musicals groups proved that music influenced this separation. The types of instruments used, or lack of, tell of the people’s standing in the social and economic ladders. For instance, romungre music is professional, urban, and was played in elaborate settings. In the video excerpt shown during lecture, the well-dressed man played the violin, while the other members played other various instruments such as the cimbalom and piano. The possession of the various instruments is clear evidence that the people in that community have extra money to spend on these luxurious items. In addition to the aesthetics of the performance, the sounds produced by these instruments also suggest a level of sophistication and class. The song began with a sow tempo, which offers a smooth timbre. The tempo then sped up, which showed the virt uosity of performers, suggesting the affluence of the performers, because he wasShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Music On Our Lives1576 Words   |  7 Pagesinfluence of sound particularly music? To begin, our life would consist of incredibly quiet spaces. Music plays a vital role in our lives, whether it is attending music festivals to attending religious ceremonies. In many ways, music is the composition of our lives that defines society. As a reflection of society, it allows us to remember how things were in the past, how things are now in the present and lastly presents a view of how things might be in the future. Music can take on many forms in ourRead MoreCritical Analysis redeeming Rap music1088 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å"Redeeming the Rap Music Experience† The influence of rap on black urban youths has become a major part to the modern day music industry. 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