Debates on extending reform

• When analysing markets, a range of assumptions are made about the rationality of economic agents involved in the transactions
• The Wealth of Nations was written

  1776
• Rational


  (in classical economic theory) economic agents are able to consider the outcome of their choices and recognise the net benefits of each one
• Rational agents will select the choice which presents the highest benefits
• Producers act rationally by


  Selling goods/services in a way that maximises their profits
• Workers act rationally by


  Balancing welfare at work with consideration of both pay and benefits
• Governments act rationally by


  Placing the interests of the people they serve first in order to maximise their welfare
• Groups assumed to act rationally


  • Consumers
  • Producers
  • Workers
  • Governments
• Rationality in classical economic theory is a flawed assumption as people usually don't act rationally
• Marginal utility


  The additional utility (satisfaction) gained from the consumption of an additional product
• If you add up marginal utility for each unit you get total utility
• hi everybody and welcome to allen history nerd this video is looking at the uk constitution in particular debates on extending reform
• I've looked at one of the major debates on this in a separate video where i've looked at the arguments about whether britain should have a codified and entrenched constitution
• This video is picking up on some of those other key debates which might well form the basis of the type of questions you might get asked in an a-level politics exam
• This is part of my a-level politics playlist and in this playlist i am aiming to cover the whole of the a-level spec as i teach it
• This comes from the ed excel specification for a component to 1.4 debates on further reform
• Reforms since 97 listed in section 1.2

  • House of Lords reforms
  • Electoral reforms
  • Devolution
  • Human Rights Act
  • Supreme Court
  • Fixed term parliament act
  • Further devolution in Wales
  • Scottish independence referendum
  • Brexit
• There are two sides to the argument on House of Lords reforms
• One side argues


  There's no need for further reform because the House of Lords is now based on merit rather than hereditary membership, and it has played a key role in holding the government to account
• The other side argues

  The House of Lords is fundamentally undemocratic because it is unelected, and there is a strong need for an upper chamber with more power to counter the "elected dictatorship" of the House of Commons
• The Wakeham report recommended reforms including elected members, but these have not been enacted
• The weakness of the House of Lords is seen as a problem in the UK system
• Electoral reform is an area of great controversy and strong views
• Recent elections have seen results skewed by first-past-the-post, particularly benefiting the Conservative Party and SNP
• The Liberal Democrats have been the strongest advocates for electoral reform, but their views are held mainly by opposition parties
• The 2011 referendum suggested little public support for changing the electoral system, but this may have changed
• The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act has been a failure, as governments have still been able to call early elections
• There is growing popularity of Welsh independence, around 30-31% in recent polls
• There are arguments for giving the Welsh Parliament the same powers as the Scottish Parliament, for consistency and symmetry
• The Welsh government has demonstrated its ability to take a different path from England during the COVID-19 crisis, which may increase appetite for further devolution
• However, there are fundamental differences between Wales and Scotland, such as the lack of a separate education system and legal system in Wales
• The Welsh government has demonstrated its ability to take a slightly different path to England on a range of issues during the COVID-19 crisis, such as in education and local lockdowns
• The Welsh government's actions during COVID-19

  May give the Welsh people a taste for more devolution
• There are fundamental differences between Wales and Scotland, such as Wales not having a completely separate education system or legal system
• Wales is smaller than Scotland, particularly in terms of population, which may make it harder for Wales to argue for the same level of devolution as Scotland
• The principle of devolution having been set up with Scotland means there is an argument that Welsh devolution should follow a similar path
• There are strong demands in Scotland for independence, and a growing feeling that there could be another independence referendum which Scotland would vote to pass
• The SNP is expected to do very well in the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections
• Scotland, particularly under Nicola Sturgeon, has demonstrated its ability to act differently to the rest of the UK, especially during the COVID-19 crisis
• There is not much 'wiggle room' left in terms of devolution for Scotland, with the potential for a move towards 'devo max'