CJVA104 SEMINAR 6 Politics and International Relations Task 1 – Discussion questions 1) How important is it to follow current political events? 2) Do you take an interest in the international politics of your country? Can you name some recent events? 3) What about the international politics of other countries? Can you name some recent events? 4) Has the study of international politics become broader in recent years? 5) Do you think that international politics has direct relevance to everyone? Task 2: Listen and take notes that you may use for Task 7a. Facebook’s Role in Brexit and the Threat to Democracy (15:02) https://www.ted.com/talks/carole_cadwalladr_facebook_s_role_in_brexit_and_the_threat_to_democracy Task 3 – Vocabulary – Match the words and expressions taken from the text below with synonyms or definitions provided. Decide whether they are formal, neutral or colloquial. A) blinkered B) abstention C) ongoing D) force E) move away from F) to close your eyes to G) important H) boil down I) rip out of J) validity K) a field day L) dumbed down M) current state N) turnout O) binding 1) status quo 2) constant 3) serving the less educated 4) an opportunity 5) remove from 6) valid 7) ignore 8) vital 9) compel 10) reduce/simplify 11) participation 12) non-participation 13) legitimacy 14) drift 15) narrow-minded Task 3a – Debating – Read the YES / NO arguments below and add your own points to verify or falsify any statements. Then discuss your ideas in small groups. Take notes to present to the class. Debate topic: Should we have more referendums? Student 1 argues FOR more referendums: ü Direct democracy bypasses an unpopular and disconnected governing class, which is either too ideologically blinkered or too “politically correct” to deliver common-sense solutions in accordance with the views of ordinary people. ü Referendums can encourage lively debate on issues or decisions that may not only cut across party lines but are also too important to be decided at general elections when voters have to take into account many topics. ü Direct democracy can help decide questions that would otherwise cause ongoing division and distract the country from other important matters. ü Referendums ensure that constitutional issues that will affect the political “rules of the game” are not decided by those who play it - and, indeed, only temporarily. ü Knowing that any legislation they produce may be overturned by a referendum, parliaments will tend to ensure that such legislation is in accord with the will of the people. Furthermore, in the case of citizens’ initiatives, allowing the people to recommend or even compel politicians to act on certain issues means they can never drift too far out of touch or close their eyes to a vital matter of public concern. ü Improving technology will allow us to vote instantly – think of TV’s Big Brother. Student 2 argues AGAINST more referendums: § Boiling down a complex issue into a straightforward question that everyone can understand will encourage dangerous oversimplification; it also rips particular issues out of context. People may end up voting for something that, for instance, could impact negatively on other programmes that they value, or for policy that may be difficult to implement or afford. § Turning issues into “either/or” questions provides a field day for populists and a dumbed-down media – who may encourage voters to make irrational and prejudiced decisions, when it might be better to leave the issue to politicians, who are elected to do just that job and have more time and resources to do it properly. § Low turnout is a problem: getting less than about half of the electorate to vote will throw the legitimacy of a referendum result into question and can even mean the result is not binding; this can encourage campaigners for the status quo to call for mass abstention – which defeats principles of democracy. § Even a “respectable” turnout will be unrepresentative, given that older, wealthier and better-educated people are more likely to vote. * Referendums don’t always bring closure – the losing side may call for another vote on the same question at a later date (unless the original referendum is set to be binding) Adapted from: European politics: a comparative introduction / Tim Bale. – 2nd ed. -- Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Grammar – Connectors and Linking Words Sequence Result Emphasis · First / firstly, second / · secondly, third / thirdly, etc. · Next, last, finally · In addition, moreover · Further / furthermore · Another · Also · In conclusion · To summarise · So · As a result · As a consequence (of) · Therefore · Thus · Consequently · Hence · Due to · Undoubtedly · Indeed · Obviously · Generally · Admittedly · In fact · Particularly · In particular · Especially · Clearly · Importantly Addition Reason Example · And, also, · In addition / additionally · Furthermore · As well as · For · Because · Since, as · Because of · For example (e.g.) · For instance · That is (i.e.) · Such as · Including · Namely Contrast · Comparison · · However · Nevertheless · Nonetheless · Still, but (less formal) · Although / even though · Though · Yet · Conversely · Despite / in spite of · In contrast (to) In comparison · While, whereas · On the other hand · On the contrary · Similarly · Likewise · Also · Like · Just as · Just like · Similar to · Same as · compare(d) to / with · Not only...but also Adapted from https://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/lsu/content/4_writingskills/writing_tuts/linking_LL/linking3.html Task 4 – Conjunctions and Linking Words – Choose the best answer. More than one may be possible. 1) We are planning a series of conferences; however / therefore / nonetheless there will be a weekend devoted to International Relations in the 21^st Century. 2) I failed my exam precisely although / despite / because I didn’t have time to study. 3) There is no record of the transaction; nonetheless / while / thus there is no proof that it ever took place. 4) The speaker is ill and will therefore / because / although be unable to lecture today. 5) John, as / although / despite you speak French, I wonder if I could ask you about some words? 6) Some people believe that the politician became ill because / due to / hence he was poisoned. 7) Jerome Smith has ambitions in politics; despite / consequently / on the contrary he is interested in the media. 8) Hence / Because / As we have not heard from you, we assume that you have no objections to the proposal. 9) Everyone has arrived; because / consequently / however the meeting can begin. 10) Since / However / Even though everyone agreed, we went ahead with the proposal. 11) The talks broke down in spite of / although / because of the effort. 12) The parties did not reach an agreement because / because of / due to their mutual suspicion. 13) Thus / Although / As diplomatic relations were restored 6 months ago, ambassadors have not been exchanged yet. 14) Due to / Furthermore / Because widening differences, the two countries broke off relations. 15) Even though / However / As we did not agree on certain issues, in the end we made concessions. Task 5: Fill in the missing words in the instructions for this writing task: BOTH EXAMPLES MORE OTHERS OPINION REASONS TOPIC CONCLUSION A: Write about the following statement: Holding more referendums contributes to a better-functioning democracy. B: Discuss __________ main views and give your __________. C: Give __________ for your answer and include any relevant __________ from your own experience or knowledge. D: You should write no __________ than 220 words. E: Formulate a clear __________ sentence that includes a controlling idea. F: Include a comprehensive __________ that rounds out your main idea (rather than just ending with a specific example). Task 6: Read the model answer and check whether it follows all the instructions above. Should referendums be used more widely and why? Referendum voting by the electorate directly on a specific issue may be advisory or binding. Some people believe that referendums should be used more widely in UK decision and policy-making. They justify this belief by the fact that there are many demands being made on UK democracy; furthermore, there was a severe lack of voters in the last general election. One reason that supports this argument is that voters would feel more involved in decisions. An example of this is the so-called greening of the conservative party where, because of public pressure, they paid increasing attention to environmental issues. On the contrary, there are people who believe that referenda should not be used more widely and they too have many good arguments to back this claim. The main one is that the government do not have to take the results into consideration: they may simply use them as opinion polls, rather than policy changers or decision makers. In such a case, fewer people would participate each time, and the government by either paying no attention or going against the referenda result would create voter apathy. Clearly, the overuse of referenda would not be a good idea, because it may simplify a complex issue to a yes or no vote, or even merge two important issues into one. Nevertheless, my main reason for disagreeing with referenda is that they may allow governments to get away with shifting blame onto the public when it comes to making unpopular decisions. (254 words) A: Fulfilled / Not fulfilled B: Fulfilled / Not fulfilled C: Fulfilled / Not fulfilled D: Fulfilled / Not fulfilled E: Fulfilled / Not fulfilled E: Fulfilled / Not fulfilled Task 7: Read the following comments and find the sections in the text that they refer to. 1) The writer in this writing sample does not have a clear thesis in the introduction. A question, rather than a more general statement, is posed. Then the overly specific types of referendum, advisory or binding, are mentioned right at the start, rather than introducing the issue through a more general statement that links to the given theme. (e.g. Paragraph 1, Sentences 1 & 2: Should referendums be used more widely? Referendum voting by the electorate directly on a specific issue may be advisory or binding.) 2) Looking at the structure, the topic sentence makes it clear when the writer is moving onto the next opinion (Paragraph ___, Sentence ___: _____________________________). 3) Connectors (Par. ___, Sen. ___: _____________, Par. ___, Sen. ___: _____________) are used well to introduce each new supporting idea or to expand on these ideas. (Par. ___, Sen.___:__________, Par. __, Sen. ___: _____________________________) 4) Finally, the writer has demonstrated the ability to use complex sentence structures (Par. __, Sen. ___: _____________________________) and discussed both views. 5) The writer offers a good final example and position; however, the closing ideas do not tie in to the original topic statement in a general comprehensive way. (Par. __, Sen. ___: ________________). Task 7a: Write an argumentative text of about 200 words. You may use the above format (from Task 6), where the introduction is a part of the first argument and the conclusion is a part of the second argument. Conversely, you may also choose to structure your text into 4 short paragraphs: 1) the introduction with thesis statement and background 2) arguments for or against, with examples and evidence 3) the opposing arguments, with examples and evidence, which should lead up to your conclusion 4) the conclusion (making a more general statement and possibly stating your final position) You may write your text on the assertion from the above example: Holding more referendums contributes to a better-functioning democracy. OR one that relates to Task 2, for example: Today’s social media are a major threat to democracy. Task 8 – Institutions – pre-listening tasks 1. Which of these organizations do you know about? Match them to the descriptions below. 1. The United Nations 2. Trade Unions 3. International Monetary Fund 4. World Trade Organization 5. Friends of the Earth 6. International Aid Organizations (such as Oxfam) a) The international organization that controls trade between countries. b) Campaigns on environmental issues such as the greenhouse effect. c) An international organization that works to balance and manage the world’s economy and to help countries with weak economies to develop d) An international organization that encourages countries to work together in order to solve world problems such as war, disease and poverty. e) Charities that raise money for famine and disaster relief. f) Organizations of workers that aim to improve pay and conditions of work. 2. Are these organizations pro-globalization or anti-globalization? What do you think? Task 8a – Listening – You are going to listen to a lecture in three sections. Before each section spend half a minute reading the questions and underlining key words. Section 1 – Which of the following areas does the lecturer say she will cover? CIRCLE TWO ANSWERS. A global inequalities B poverty in the developing world C the history of globalization D key arguments for and against globalization E trade and economics F the World Trade Organization Complete the following sentences using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER. 3 Many people feel globalization is about the economy or ……………………. . 4 An example is the export of Japanese ……………………. . 5 Globalization began approximately ……………………. . Which of these is NOT mentioned as important to the development of globalization? A telephone B fax C the postal service D air travel Section 2 – Complete the following notes using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS. Anti-globalization groups – e.g. Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. These are (7)……………………. organizations. They feel globalization causes global warming, and depletion of oil, gas, (8) …………………… and sea life. Some organizations representing developing countries think that the WTO should make it easier for poor countries to (9) …………………… their own industries. Many businesses in developed nations are against globalization because of competition from (10) ……………………. . Poor countries can provide effective competition with imports of cheap goods in the (11) ………………… industries. Section 3 – Complete this table using ONE OR TWO WORDS OR A NUMBER. Organization Established No. of member states Role (12) …………………… (13)…………………….. 123 Prevents members favouring (14) …………………… IMF (15) …………………… (16) …………………….. Provides temporary (17) …………………… (18) …………………… 1946 ----------------------------- Promotes shared values between UN and the (19) …………………….. Vocabulary 1. well-off zámožný, bohatý 2. gain získat, nabýt 3. counterpart protějšek, doplněk 4. backward region zaostalý region 5. unhindered bez překážek 6. legally-enforceable právně vymahatelný 7. tackle in unison jednohlasně se vypořádat 8. inherent základní, podstatný 9. subsidise subvencovat, dotovat 10. biased neobjektivní, zkreslený 11. buffer zone nárazníková zóna 12. bridgehead předmostí 13. crunch kritický moment, zlomový okamžik 14. sheer pouhý, čirý 15. overturn zvrátit, změnit, svrhnout 16. compel přinutit, donutit 17. drift odklánět se, odchylovat se 18. turnout účast 19. binding závazný, povinný 20. to disband rozpadnout se, rozejít se