B: Clode's Right Political Dictionary
“Backbencher” This is a parliamentarian who is not a Minister or a Shadow Minister and sits behind the front bench ( on the back bench ) in the chambers. The term is only of relevance in a Westminster parliament, where Ministers serve in the parliament as parliamentarians.
“Ballot” / “Ballot Paper” The ballot paper is a piece of paper that lists the names of those wanting to be elected, on which the voter marks who they want elected. The “ballot paper” is sometimes referred to in an abbreviated way as “the ballot”. The word “ballot” is also used to describe an actual vote.
“Belligerent” A belligerent nation is one which qualifies under the Hague Convention of 1899 to have its armed forces entitled to the protection of the codified international laws of warfare. Belligerent status is not a recognition given to domestic revolutionaries – these are unprotected by the laws of war. Nations only qualify for protection if they abide by certain conventional norms, such as wearing distinctive uniforms and carrying arms openly. The rights of belligerent troops include the right to humane treatment as prisoners and the right to trial by Court-martial before execution.
“Bicameral” This is a parliament with both an upper house and lower house. The two chambers usually have divided responsibilities. For instance, in a Westminster system the government leaders will sit in the lower house and initiate most legislation, whereas the upper house has responsibility for scrutinising legislation for legal flaws. Approval of both houses is usually required before bills can pass into law (but in some countries there is an exception for budget legislation, or the upper house only has power to delay legislation but not block it altogether). Some parliaments allow Ministers to be appointed from either house. The upper house is often called a “Senate”. The alternative to a bicameral parliament is a unicameral parliament, which just has one chamber. In a federal system, a federal upper house is sometimes given formal responsibility for representing state interests. However the emergence of disciplined political parties has tended to reduce the degree to which upper house members are exclusively concerned with sectional state interests. In practice, the main benefit of the second chamber is to prevent the passage of ill-considered legislation, or to block schemes which would allow a national majority from unjustly oppressing a minority.
“Bill” A bill is a draft law that has been presented to parliament for amendment and debate. In a bicameral parliament, a bill does not become law until it has been passed through both houses of parliament. Once it becomes law, a bill changes name so that the last word in its title becomes “act”.
“Bloc” A bloc is a group comprising people from more than one political party, who combine to support or oppose a particular proposal or Ministry. Blocs are usually comprised of parliamentarians. Certain issues can inspire blocs – such as the “agricultural bloc” in the United States Congress. Governments are sometimes the product of a bloc, like the German “Blue-Black Bloc” combining conservatives and clericals. Bloc is the French word for “group”.
“Bolshevism” This antiquated political doctrine derives from the Russian word for majority (bolshestvo). Bolsheviks formed the violent end of the Communist spectrum, believing that class warfare was required in order to rob and eliminate property owners. At the other end of the Communist spectrum, Mensheviks believed in moderate reform to achieve the Marxist goal of a “classless society”. Bolsheviks repudiate parliamentary action, instead taking Marx’s concept of “class warfare” literally. They dismiss political liberties delivered by the industrial era as deceptive “bourgeois triumphs” which have further empowered the class of property owners. Bolsheviks aim to destroy the middle classes, because of their economic role as property owners, investors, profiteers and small business employers. In Russia, when the Bolsheviks took power they seized private property in the name of the state, collectivised farming and punished communities which failed to meet production targets. Vainly expecting that their 1917 revolution would inspire an international revolution, the Bolsheviks organised the “Third International” at Moscow in March 1919. This led to Bolshevik revolutions in Hungary and several German states, which were quickly defeated. Subsequently, Communists sought to encourage revolution indirectly by funding socialist politicians from around the world to visit Russia and see the “demonstration factories” of the Soviet Union. World War II allowed the Communist empire to expand by invasion, instead of by revolution. In the 1980s, international revolution finally arrived, when the workers of Eastern Europe revolted against Communist governments and ended forever the barbarity of the European Bolsheviks.
“By-election.” A by-election is an election in a single constituency in the middle of a parliamentary term. By-elections are often caused when a sitting politician dies, or resigns for personal reasons, or resigns because of ill-health, or resigns over accusations of impropriety. A politician who feels falsely accused of wrong-doing may resign in order to test their support, or vindicate their name at a by-election (although this risky tactic is rare). In a large parliament, where there are several by-elections during every parliamentary term, it may be common for by-elections to be delayed until several can be grouped together on a single day. Usually however, by-elections are a lone event – with national media attention focussed on a single seat. By-elections usually produce greater swings than a normal election and are usually adverse to the governing party, since electors feel free to cast “protest votes”, in the safe knowledge that they will not tip the government out of power.
“Budget” This is the government plan that shows the parliament how much money the government expects to get in the coming 12 months through taxes or investments, and how it will spend that money in the coming year.