Relevance of Class in Modern British Politics - Assignment Example

RELEVANCE IN MODERN BRITISH POLITICS By Location Relevance in Modern British Politics In sociology, social class system can be described as the notion of grouping human beings in accordance to their occupations. Under this system, people in professional; careers such as law, medicine, university lecturers and others were accorded more respect as compared to workers lacking professional skills. The social positions came with the difference in influence, power, and financial capability. The social class system in Britain was always considered to be divided into three groupings. These groups are the upper class, the lower class, and the middle class. However, in the modern societies, the influence of the social class has gradually decreased in Britain. The decrease can be attributed to factors such as economic development and the increase in cultural diversity. This paper aims at discussing to what extent is class irrelevant to modern British politics. After the end of the cold war, the market emerged to be superior to the state. This marked the end of the supremacy battle between individualism and socialism. Most countries in the world currently embrace the western style of capitalism. Under this form of capitalism, individualized effort is driven by the fact that once the capability is judged by their performance. Social classes slowly lost its grip because of the new economic system which seemed to be result driven. As much as social classes still influence some things, in most cases the chances are always given on the basis of potentiality (Coxal& Robins2003, p. 89). Failure to turn potentiality into actual result would mean that the system will automatically consider someone else. In Britain there has been a significant increase in the marginalization of socialist parties. The few socialist parties that are still surviving were observed to gradually embracing the free market way of thinking. The most common reason given by such parties is that they have found a common ground between capitalism and socialism. In most cases the socialist parties that have stuck to purely socialism has resulted in tremendous failure. People were so caught up with the idea of free market and maximization of productivity that they no longer pay much attention to the social classes. All that matters in the modern society is how people can contribute to economic advancement. The global economic trends have really interfered with the power of socialism. Markets with more flexibility have higher chances of contributing to the economic growth of a country. With too much emphasis on social classes it was noticed that the British market lacked flexibility. With the high rate at which globalization is advancing, the social class system is slowly proving to be irrelevant. Previously the elites in Britain would have an economic advantage over the other citizens. Sometimes they will benefit from just being in the elite class (Clarke 1996, p. 78). This is different from what is seen in the modern society. However, it cannot be said that the influence of the elite class has been completely eroded. Another thing that can be said to have contributed to the decline of the social class system in Britain is the fact that these classes shared some common characteristic. With the high rate at which individualism is thriving, it would be hard for this mode of distinction to be used in Britain today. For instance, previously landowners would benefit from the benefit in very many ways from their estate. Successful individuals in the middle class would at sometimes enjoy too much success to an extent that someone would easily confuse them for people in the first class. Such a factor is slowly making the social class meaningless in Britain. Democracy can also be said to have highly contributed to the decrease of social class influence in Britain. The thriving of the social class system in Britain was highly influenced by human inequality. However, after the introduction of democracy in Britain has seen to it that the influence of social classes slowly diminishes in Britain. Democracy has a way of giving the power to the majority. In most cases it will always be seen that the majority of people in a country will definitely fall under the lower class. This implies that democracy gets the power from the upper class and gives it to the lower classes who are in most cases the majority (Coxal& Robins2003, p. 101). With the democratic powers accorded to the public by the constitution, it is always easier for the lower class to put a check on the influence of individuals in the upper class. As a result of this check, the social class system is slowly losing its political significance. The decrease in the relevance of the social class system in Britain can be seen in the Education system. Looking at the education system in Britain someone will notice that children from the middle class will perform better when they are compared to the children of the working class. This difference stands even when the two groups attend the same schools. This is a simple implication that in their careers, children of the middle class are likely to be more productive that those of individuals from the working class. As a result of many years of such trends, generations after generations are having more people from the middle and lowers classes having positions that were previously believed to belong to people from the working class (Clarke 1996, p. 111). This does apply even to politics in Britain. This has gradually led to the mix up of the social classes thus decreasing the level of influence that the social class system has on British politics. Things like religion and social recreational activities have highly contributed to the decline of the social class system in Britain. Religions such as Christianity have led to the increase in the perception of equality. With a notion of human equality, it will be hard for the socialist’s system supporters to defend such a system. People are slowly getting in to term with the idea that all human beings are equal and should be accorded equal chances regardless of what social class they are perceived to belong to. This has even seen in British politics where social classes have failed to be the determinant of political outcomes in many cases. People are more interested in the possible benefits of being involved with an individual as opposed to previous times when being from a certain social class would either deny someone or accord someone such inclusions especially in politics. Globalization has led to an increase in the rate at which people from different geographical locations and classes exchange ideas. Due to globalization, there have been increases in the rate at which people interact globally. As a result of this interaction, people have slowly softened to the idea of modern capitalism in Britain. Interaction with people from places such as the United States of America has slowly eroded the power that socialism had in Britain. People slowly get to give less regards to the ideas that are imposed by socialism. This has even influenced the political view of the public. People nowadays tend to believe in their political rights as opposed to previously when these rights were more deserved by individuals from the upper classes. People from the middle and lowers classes have gradually developed a belief ibn their capabilities. They not only believe in their economic capabilities by their political ones too. Another factor that can be said to have highly contributed to the decline of social classes in Britain is the advancement in technology. Technology has no class discrimination. Due to technology, individuals in Britain have been able to access the advantages that are related to technology regardless of their perceived social classes. One good example will be with the access to information. There is a common English saying that claims that information is power. Previously, individuals from the working class would get advantage over the others as a result of being in the possession of information that was not availed to the general public. However, this is not the case in the modern society. The disparities in the availability of information have highly decreased thanks to technology. This has highly contributed to decreasing the relevance of social classes in Britain. It is clearly evident that the influence of social classes in Britain has highly decreased. This can be attributed to the factors that have been discussed in this paper. Many things that were previously determined by social classes are now being determined by factors such as productivity. Looking at the current economic, social, and political conditions in Britain, it will be impossible to say that the social class system is still fully influential in Britain as it used to be. However, it cannot be said that the influence of the social class system is completely dead. This can be attributed to thefact that there are still some few traces of this system that can be seen in the political, social, and economic systems of Britain. This has been used in many occasions to dispute the claims that social classes are completely irrelevant in Britain. It can, therefore, be concluded that the influence has highly decreased but is still minimally seen in some occasions. Bibliography Clarke P 1996, Hope And Glory: Britain 1900-1990, Penguin, London. CoxalB.& Robins L 2003, Contemporary British Politics,Plagrave Macmillan, London. Read More