United Kingdom

Ann Novelli and Ellen Piehl

Composition

• Four nations• England• Scotland• Wales• Northern Ireland

England

Scotland

Wales

NorthernIreland

Quick Facts

• Capital – London• Population - 60,943,912• Area - 94,060 miles2

• Population density - 650 people per miles2

Government

• Parliamentary system• Constitutional monarchy• Two houses of parliament

• Upper House of Lords• Lower House of Commons

• Coalition government• Conservatives• Liberal Democrats

UK Edition

UK Terms

• Rational-legal authority – a system of well-established laws and procedures

• Collectivist consensus – cross-party support for the welfare state

• Thatcherism - a conservative, capitalist backlash to collectivist politics

• Third Way - attempts to transcend right-wing and left-wing politics through compromise

Nation

• A group of people who feel a sense of common identity through common bonds of ethnicity, history, language, and religion

• Wales• Scotland• England• Northern Ireland

Welsh Recordinghttp://www.archive.org/details/rosettaproject_cym_vertext-1

State

• A political entity having sovereignty within geographic borders and in relation to other sovereign entities

• Territory and a population• Government• Recognition of its sovereignty by

others• United Kingdom

Legitimacy

• Tradition• Monarchy and early limitations

• Rule of law• “Constitution of the Crown”

• Nationalism• Civic nationalism

Tuition Fees History

• Higher education free until 1990s• 1997 Dearing Report• Teaching and Higher Education Act of 1998

• Instituted £ 1000 maximum fee per year• Maximum fees around £ 3000 per year during

Blair’s government

Current Fees Increases

• Based on October 2010 Browne Report• Government has imposed a £9,000 per year

cap• Students pay back fees after graduation• Payments based on student’s incomes

• Under £25,000, students pay nothing• 25% will pay less than the current fees• 60% will never pay the full fees

Pro Increases

• Government suffers from a lack of funds and a huge deficit

• Unfair to cut spending in other sectors and ignore education

• Universities need money• No immediate financial burden on students• Payments based on incomes after graduation

• Those who can afford to pay more

VideoNick Clegg on Tuition Increases

Against Increases

• UK students view free or cheap education as a right

• No tradition of tuition fees being a family cost • Students usually pay for their own education

• Increases amount to a tax on university students

Multiculturalism

• February 5, 2011 – David Cameron stated that multiculturalism has failed in the UK

• Multiculturalism “encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream”

• Weakening of the collective identity• Cites the need for a shared national identity

David Cameron’s Speech

• Cameron explains that a liberal country believes in certain values and actively promotes them

• Immigrants should speak the language of their new home

• People should be educated in the elements of common culture

• National Citizen Service

VideoIslam Response

Current Events – Tuition fees

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12409419• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham

-12288343• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/93135

57.stm• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11990316• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12435602

Current Event - Multiculturalism

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12374039

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12371994

• http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/speeches-and-transcripts/2011/02/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference-60293

Multiculturalism

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12381027

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12372632• Opposing Cameron’s speech