Life in Modern Britain Flashcards
BRITISH VALUE
This phrase means those values associated with contemporary British society. The issue of British Values came onto the political agenda in the early 2000. EXAMPLE: -
Democracy - Democracy is when people can have their own say about government.
MULTIPLE IDENTITY
A person can assume different identities at different times and in different situations.
SOFT POWER
The UK has played a major role in the establishment of many of the Key international organisations and bodies that exist today. any of these bodies came into existence in the period immediately after the end of the Second World War. In a recent poll of the power and influence of countries, the united Kingdom came top as the country that has more soft power influence than any other country.
NATO
Nato is an intergovernmenttal military defence alliance. It was established in 1949 and the UK was a founder member. It has its HQ in Brussels in Belgium. The organisation provides for a system of collective defence - if a member country is attacked, the other members come to its defence. There are about 28 member states of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.) The most recent countries who joined in April 2009. EU countries, its membership includes the USA, Canada and Turkey. NATO member countries combined military spending accounts for over 70 per cent of the world’s defence spending. NATO has set a target for member countries to spend 2 per cent of their GDP on defence.
EU
The European Union was formely known as the European Community and more usually as the common Market. The six founding member countries which signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957 were France, West Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy. The coummunity aimed to encourage trade between member countries, allow for the fee movement of people between countries and work towards an ever closer union. The EU has its own directly elected Parliament, which is elected every 4 years. The UK has 73 members of the European Parliament out of 751. UK MEP’s are elected by the closed regional party list system. Those in Northern Ireland are elected using the single transferrable vote.
UK MEDIA
Media as a term relates to communication, whereas the phrase ‘mass media,’ indicates the ability to communicate with a large number of people at the same time. The basic function of media, whatever it’s format, is the communication of information to others whether through the news, views, comment or entertainment. Whilst a film at the cinema is a form of mass media, it is normally aiming to entertain, whereas a newspaper covers the range of functions identified, It normally has an editorial line - a sort of policy viewpoint on major issues - and it may support a specific political party at an election.
PRESSURE GROUPS
Many pressure groups and interest groups are local; others are national; and some international. Not all pressure groups operate in the same way. They are classified in different ways: their status, the nature of the issue they are concerned about or by the methods they use. These groups seek outsider status, not wishing to be part of the system of talks and negotiations.
