Part A: Explanation of terms
Complex Terrorism
With technological advancement and economic innovation, it can often be noticed that rich countries across the globe have obtained unrivalled prosperity. However, there is a drawback also because these countries are often susceptible to crippling as well as unanticipated attacks of the terrorists. Advanced western nations often rely on the intricate networks and concentrate on the vital assets on the small geographical clusters. Thus, it can be viewed that these nations amplify the destructive power that the terrorists possess. These terrorists often utilize weapons of mass disruption to inflict financial as well as psychological damage. The increasing vulnerability of the economic as well as technological systems is manipulated by modern terrorists for attacking and mass violence. As opined by Florea et al. (2019), complex terrorism can threaten the modern as well as technologically developed societies in the most developed nations across the globe. It can be stated that the analysis of terrorist activities has become a current phenomenon during the last few decades. As per the opinion of Lord Alderdice (2017), terrorist attacks can be modeled as dynamic systems. Terrorism has been relevant and present in social life during decades. Nowadays, terrorists utilize the technology for economic exploitation and these multifaceted complexities can be stated as complex terrorism.
Relative Poverty
Relative poverty can be explained as a situation that demonstrates that people lack the amount of money that is needed to lead an average standard of living in a society in which people live. As per the viewpoint of Fair et al. (2017), relative poverty is the easiest way of measuring the poverty level in a country. It can be found that relative poverty measurement is very important nowadays to find out the households that are left behind as compared to those households that enjoy a good standard of living in the same country. It can be stated that unemployment, the existence of inequalities in the labour market and poor health often cause relative poverty. According to Dunn (2017), relative poverty can be explained as relative deprivation as these people or households generally do not fall under the category of absolute poverty. It can be found that those who are relatively poor cannot enjoy the same standard of life as compared to the other people of that country. Sadyrtdinov et al. (2017) have stated that relative poverty is nothing but a form of social exclusion. It can be viewed that absolute poverty is a common phenomenon in developing countries. The criteria of relative poverty are in flux and it generally depends on the economy of a country.
Rwandan Patriotic Front
Rwandan Patriotic Front is the ruling political party of Rwanda, situated in Africa. This Rwandan Patriotic Front ended in 1994 by mercilessly defeating the civilians as well as military authorities who were responsible for a killing campaign. As per the opinion of Chemouni & Mugiraneza (2019), the Rwandan Patriotic Front had been composed mainly of exiled Rwandans belonging from Tutsi heritage. These people had left the country at the time of Hutu–Tutsi violence and helped the president of the country. According to Holmes (2018), Nationalism Populism is the main ideology associated with the Rwandan Patriotic Front. It can be noticed that all those who had died due to the attacks of RPF, were Hutu. However, it can be noticed that RPF has given profound stress on national unity. The RPF explicitly disavowed any hostility that is based on ethnic distinctions. The RPF had called itself a kin group with a suggestion who adhered in it, we’re expected to feel a strong bond among themselves. As per the viewpoint of Lakin (2017), this group is quite successful in establishing the truth that Rwandans used to lead harmonized lives before the colonial regime introduced distinctions among the ethnic groups. Analysing this, it can be stated that the Rwandan Patriotic Front was famous for recruiting Hutu supporters, stopping the Genocide and establishing the ideology of national unity.
Part B: Short Essay Questions
Question 1. The way Single Member Plurality systems work and political reform by moving to Proportional Representation
There are several ways through which a single-member plurality system works. As per the viewpoint of Faliszewski et al. (2019), the single-member plurality, each voter is allowed to vote only one candidate. It can be noticed that Canada’s electoral system is often referred to as the fast past the post system. It can be noticed that the candidate with most votes generally has the right to possess a seat in the House of Commons and the person generally represents that riding like a member of a Parliament.
Proportional representation can be explained as a democratic principle that specifies that people must represent to that proportion the way they have voted. According to Scott (2016), this means the all over the percentage of seats a party generally has in the legislature of the country should reflect the percentage of the ordinary people who have voted for that party. Analysing this, it can be stated that Canada should move to a system of Proportional Representation because, under the first-past-the-post system, voters are eligible to elect a single representative in every single member riding. Diverse voters can elect a single representative in every single member riding. As a result of it, it becomes impossible for the voters to elect a single representative who can represent the values and priorities of the ordinary mass. It can be noticed that in some cases 70% of the voters cast ballots that cast none whereas it can be noticed that in the Proportional Representation voting system people can elect several representatives at once. Kedar, Harsgor & Sheinerman (2016) have stated that electing several representatives at once can be effective because several representatives represent several geographical regions and as a result of it. Most voters can get the accessibility of stating their opinion or voice in the parliament by their representative. It can be stated that this approach is quite fair as 50% of the votes yield 50% of the seats. It can be stated that Canada requires a fair voting system and following Proportional Representation is effective enough to establish a fair voting system in Canada. However, the link between constituent and representative is one of the most negative features of this system. It can be noticed that Proportional Representation is effective enough to resolve the unfairness of the majoritarian as well as pluralities voting system because most of the time in the majority system, the largest party generally obtains the seat bonus. One of the most important beneficial aspects of Proportional Representation is that minor parties in Canada can be privileged and elected through this system and the parties across Canada can be stronger and competitive. A healthy competition among the political parties regarding public welfare and popularity is important for fair voting. According to Riera & Cantú (2018), proper participation of the voters is the best aspect of Proportional Representation. It can be noticed that elections of smaller parties often give rise to some principal objection to the Proportional Representation system and thus it often results in the coalition government.
Question 4. The reasons for behind the rarity of revolutions at present
It can be stated that revolutions mostly occur when a prolonged period of objective economic as well as social development is followed by a short span of sharp reversal. At that time, it can be noticed that people fear subjectively that ground that is gained with great effort will be lost and as a result of it, people become revolutionary. The evidence of the Russian revolution and the Egyptian revolution support this concept. However, it can be viewed that various statistics such as civil disturbances, rural uprisings, unemployment, industrial strikes and increased cost of living often lead people towards the revolutionary movement.
It can be evaluated that mass protests that can obtain some of the political concessions, cannot be considered revolutionary. According to Bueno de Mesquita & Smith (2017), the most important feature of a revolution in societal change. Such types of societal changes could have been noticed at the time of the American Revolution and the French revolution. The American Revolution was more effective as compared to French revolutions because of the existence of a written declaration that had been written even before the war had ended. Revolutionary mentality includes courage, want for change, opinionated, strong beliefs and motivation about the changes that can be beneficial for the overall society. As per the historical accounts, it can be found that revolution is quite effective regarding improving the standard of living of the citizens of a country over time. Analysing the present phenomenon, it can be stated that revolutions are rare because the state is strong nowadays and some of those who benefit often defend the societal order. Davies and Gurr have given rise to the concept of socio-psychological theory of revolution where it is depicted that there are several reasons associated with the occurrence of revolution. Deprivation is one of the factors that generally lead to revolution. Mann (2018) has stated the theory of equilibrium that shows that political instability often results in revolution. However, it can be stated that faster rates of innovation, complex network of global exchange and several new energy sources have made the world more complex, fragile and dangerous. Technology is presently used as a weapon to bring about changes in the lives of people the way revolution brings changes in the lives of people. However, it can be found that nowadays people lack the revolutionary courage to change society and very few revolts leave a deep impact on society. Analysing this, it can be stated that revolution is rare now.
Revolution is a term that explains about the forceful movement against the government or forceful overthrow of the government. Revolution nowadays has become extremely scarce because people lack revolutionary passion As per the viewpoint of Kourula & Delalieux (2016), revolution must bring a fundamental change in dominant values of ordinary mass regarding its political institution, leadership, social values, social structure and government policies. Analysing this, it can be stated that revolutions need to be distinguished from wars of independence, rebellion and revolts because none of these things bring about fundamental societal changes. Even, some of the revolutions remain unsuccessful to bring about changes in the communities. Analysing this, it can be stated that revolution is quite a rate as compared to revolts.
Part C: Interpretative Essay Questions
Introduction
Liberalism and Realism are two most common concepts that tend to impact the political scenarios across the world. The two philosophies are completely opposite of one another and have different beliefs, which are to be analyzed here.
Realism
Realism as the name suggests is an attempt to portray a real picture of the current political scenario of international politics in a truthful and detailed manner. As per the ideas of Nielsen (2018), realism is sharply opposed to the concept of liberalism and negates its optimistic views regarding the current scenario of international politics. Realism puts a high amount of stress on the constraints of politics, which is largely a result of the egoistic nature of humans. Moreover, this is further aided by the lack of a proper central authority above the state, which leads to these issues of tainted nature of international politics.
Liberalism
Liberalism is a counter concept of realism and is based on the liberty of each individual citizen of a country. The major postulate of liberty in liberalism is accompanied by the consent of the people who are governed and the equality of all citizens before the law. As per the views of Ozkan & Cetin (2016), liberalism aims at dispersing power, fostering greater diversity and nurturing greater levels of creativity. Liberalism tends to be highly in favour of democracy and democratic institutions and puts a high stress on human rights.
Difference between the two concepts
The major difference between realism and liberalism stems in the very basic nature of the two concepts. As per the ideas of Dirzauskaite & Ilinca (2017), liberalism tends to emphasize the need to set-up a hegemony, which will govern each and every state and will look after the welfare and well-being of the world. This hegemony is to ensure greater peace and security in the international arena and is to have greater military and economic powers than all the other states. This idea is sharply contrasted by the concept of realism, which clearly explains that international politics is ridden with amoral concepts and any international hegemony will function to meet their individual ends. In the opinions of Hayes (2017), there is a need to understand the fact that realism is of the view that the egoistic nature of human beings affects the proper functioning of international politics. Therefore, personal favouritism is an integral part of all human beings and this can lead to biased decisions.
The theory of Realism tends to represent international politics as a war-mongering entity, which is a grave threat to international peace and security. In the opinions of Nielsen (2018), realism believes that in times of crises political institutions ought to make biased decisions based on their personal needs. This is a major threat to world peace and security, which can only be evaded in case the unitary states are ensured that there, is no danger to their individual peace. The views of realism clearly show a very limited scope for international peace and security amidst the unitary functioning of the states and the egoistic nature of political institutions of all organizations. As per the idea of Dirzauskaite & Ilinca (2017), liberalism believes that the creation of an international body that represents all the states of the world can help in attaining a more collaborative effort and can ensure a higher amount of peace and international security. However, the theory of realism negates this proposition and strongly condemns the views. According to realists, all the states have their own lookouts and therefore, reaching a union of states is impossible.
Thus, it is obvious that realism tends to present a pessimistic picture of international collaboration between the various governments to ensure world peace and security. However, in the case of liberalism, it tends to take a more positive approach towards the same views, which is the main point of difference between the two ideologies concerning peace and international security.
Suitability of the concepts to current scenario
The current medical crisis across the world requires a greater collaboration between the various states and in this regard, the view that states tend to be self-centred is required to be scrapped off (Hayes, 2017). In this regard, the application of liberalism tends to be higher as it can help in ensuring a higher amount of collaboration between the various states and ensure that the world is fighting against the medical emergency that has arrived in a unitary manner. Another major aspect that is required to be mentioned here is the fact that traces of realism can be found when the crises tend to deepen, but it is the responsibility of the governments of the countries to stand united in their fight to ensure a quick relief from the medical emergency that it is facing at present.
Conclusion
Thus, the two philosophies stand correct in their own way, but in this period of crisis the theory of liberalization can be seen to be more effective in ensuring better results. This is a modern concept in comparison to realism, which can be seen as a classic concept and cannot be applied here.
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