House of Card by Michael Dobbs
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House of Cards is a bestselling book that has been enriched with interesting themes like politics, money, power, risk-taking dealings and intriguing dark humor. In 1989, the book House of Cards was initially published in England by Michael Dobbs who was also the author of the book. Today, it has been featured in the production of a Netflix television series known as House of Cards. Even though the book House of Cards has a background on the British political system, the television series was based on the American political structure.
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Contrarily, I think this book is perfect in government based studies because it contains relevant themes such as corruption, constitution, money, the role of the press, presidential election, and political morality. The government affairs consist of aspects like constitutionalism legislation, political election, executive, democracy, liberty and work ethic. Therefore, the book House of Cards has projected these elements through its various themes.
Besides, this book is convenient for any government based studies because it gives a vivid conspiracy on how various leaders like the political class individual manipulate the constitution of a country for their personal gain for power. Additionally, it shows how the government utilizes public ignorance on constitutional matters to manipulate them into supporting their political ambitions. It also shows how the government manipulates the media even though they have a guaranteed freedom based on the Bill of Right as highlighted in any democratic constitution.
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Therefore, this book is a perfect choice as resource material for any government based studies.
Consequently, there are couples interesting segments of the book. For example, Francis Urquhart the main character uses the press to crush is opponents. By him being the chief whip, he uses intimidation to successful uplift his career (Dobbs, 45). Furthermore, a report named Mattie Storin is secretly investigating him through following his action keenly. In the midst of her investigation, she discovers the deceit and lies project by Francis Urquhart who is on an ambitious mission to become the country`s prime minister. More ever, he happens to assist the incumbent Prime Minister Henry Collingridge to be elected for a second term (Dobbs, 25). In the office, the prime minister fails to fulfill the promise he made to Urquhart before the election. This makes Urquhart be angry at him and immediate stage a plan to oust him from the seat. Therefore, he uses devious maneuvers like he prods and pokes weaker politician to support his ambitions.
As the chief whip, he was able to obtain dirty secrets of many politicians these include scandals such as sexual indiscretion, peccadilloes, and financial malfeasance (Dobbs, 37). Technically, all the politicians were enslaved to him as they feared their secret being revealed. Using this method he was able to rise to high levels of the parliament leadership. He stages conflict and chaos at the high seat. The prime minister was faced with corruption and incompetence’s allegations staged by Urquhart that influenced him to resign, and in the end, Urquhart becomes the Prime Minister (Dobbs, 102).
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In summary, the book begins with a quick flashback of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resignation. To that effect, Henry Collingridge is elected as the immediate successor of the Conservative party, and he ends up winning the final election (Dobbs, 17). After the victory, Urquhart is the official chief whip of the ruling party. He sincerely requests the Collingridge to reshuffle his cabinet in the hope of gaining a prominent ministerial position but Collingridge discard this request (Dobbs, 23). He termed Urquhart request would temper with the popularity of party that is current diminishing at public opinion polls. This respond hurts Urquhart, and he stages a political ravage. Therefore, he uses devious maneuvers such as he prods and pokes weaker politician to support his ambitions. Furthermore, he was able to obtain dirty secrets of many politicians these include scandals such as sexual indiscretion, peccadilloes, and financial malfeasance. Technically, all the politicians were enslaved to him as they feared their secret being revealed. Using this method he was able to raise in high levels of the parliament leadership. He stages conflict and chaos at the high seat. The prime minister is faced with corruption and incompetence’s allegations that influence him to resign.
In order to be elected as the prime minister, he uses intimidation and press propaganda to increase his popularity. For instance, he used a reporter called Mattie Storin to leak dirty secrets of his opponents to the public (Dobbs, 169). For instance, he blackmailed to leak Harold Earle the education secretary affairs with a young rent boy. Secondly, he blackmailed Peter Mackenzie, the health minister for running over a disabled man without report himself to the authority (Dobbs, 183). Thirdly, he blackmailed Patrick Woolton the foreign secretary, threatening him that he would reveal an audio tape of his one-night-stand affair. Fourthly, he threatens Michael Samuel, the environment secretary for supporting far-left politics when he was in the University.
Lastly, he murders Roger O` Neill who was the public relation consultant for the Conservative party though he had drug addiction issues (Dobbs, 227). Finally, with huge support from his fellow politicians, Urquhart is elected the next Prime Minister. In the office, he still became paranoid, and his primary mission was to hold power for the longest time. Therefore, he continued to crush the opposition so that his regime would outrun that of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that was the highest in British politics.
In relation to my class teachings, the book House of Cards has significantly projected the concept of authority and legitimacy (Bardes, Mack, and Steffen, 11). For instance, the prime minister must be elected through a fair and free election that range from primary political party election to the final election (Bardes, Mack, and Steffen, 14). In the book, Henry Collingridge is given the mandate of leading the Conservative party, and he ends up being elected the Prime Minister. In class, the concept of the executive is discussed effectively. In the book, this aspect is seen when Urquhart drafted a memorandum requesting the prime minister to reshuffle the cabinet. Even though Urquhart gained the prime minister’s seat legitimately but his devious means cannot be termed as legal.
Secondly, the element of Bill of Right is also showcased in the book. For instance, freedom of the press is another law policy seen the book. The law is in place to ensure the government does not intimidate or manipulate the media (Bardes, Mack, and Steffen, 11). In the book, Urquhart used a report called Mattie Storin to leak dirty secrets of his opponents to the public. In short, the information leaked was not aimed at public enlightenment on corrupt or evil leaders but it was all based on Urquhart personal benefit. Additionally, the press is feed with mere political propaganda instead of projecting the actual principles and visions contained by various leaders.
Thirdly, the concept of work ethic is also contained in the constitution. In this clause, leaders are required to have high morality trait, especially for the presidential seat (Bardes, Mack, and Steffen, 12). In the book, all politicians’ morality are questionable. For instance, Urquhart used the morality standpoint to threaten his opponents. For instance, the education secretary, the environment secretary, the health secretary, the foreign secretary and political campaign consultant have immorality issues like sex scandals, drug addiction, child abuse, hit and run case. In addition to that, Urquhart happens to kill Roger O` Neill in the midst of him being elected the Prime Minister. This shows how the leader uses public relation stands to hide significant crimes like corruption, immorality, and abuse of office in their regime.
Lastly, the aspect of democracy is also a prime element discussed in class. According to a democratic constitution, every individual is entitled to have his own stand without any intimidation from anyone (Bardes, Mack, and Steffen, 10). In the book, Urquhart intimidates everyone in the parliament so that his political profile can be improved. Additionally, people have a right to privacy, but Urquhart violates this law through threatening his opponents that he will leak their secret ill lifestyle. Additionally, the politician submitting to Urquhart demands is a betrayal to the spirit of democracy. This is because they represent the interest of their constituents. Therefore, supporting Urquhart was not based on public interest but was all influenced by an individual interest of the politicians.
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In my opinion, the book House of Cards was very resourceful in details concerning highlighting the various component of a democratic constitution. More ever, I have learned how propaganda drives major politic agenda in the country. Additionally, this book is paramount for government based studies because it gives a vivid conspiracy on how various leaders can commit crimes without public knowledge and get away with it. Furthermore, it shows how the government manipulates the media even though they have a guaranteed freedom based on the Bill of Right as highlighted in any democratic constitution.
More ever, this book is the convenient option in any government based studies. I think this book is effective in government based studies because it contains relevant themes such as the role of the press, election, political morality, corruption, and democracy. The government affairs consist of aspects like authority and legitimacy, democracy, work ethics, executive, legislation and election. Therefore, the book House of Card has projected these aspects through its various themes.
In conclusion, I would recommend this book to any person who is pleased with government conspiracy book or an individual who wants to be enlightened on legislative matters. Therefore, this book has some moral values for students who are undertaking political science studies to utilize. In the book, it has shown how Urquhart intimidated both the members of parliament and the executive in his quest to increase his political profile. These details ensure the reader has a slight knowledge on how bills are passed and the majority needed in successively passing legislation. It also educates on the various ways to impeach a president. Therefore, this book has some significant concept for students who are undertaking political science studies to use them in their studies.
Work Cited
Bardes, Barbara A., Mack C. Shelley, and Steffen W. Schmidt. American Government and Politics Today: Essentials 2015-2016 Edition. Nelson Education, 2015.
Dobbs, Michael. House of Cards. , 2014. Print.
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