Thursday, December 26, 2019

Is Urban Sprawl Threatening the Sustainability of Cape Town

1. Introduction: South Africa is a thriving building site, Cape Town being a city in this developing country is rapidly changing (South Africa. 2013:no page numbers). Virtually half of Cape Town was constructed in only the last 25 years, with the growth continuing as the city is developing (South Africa. Department of environmental affairs, 2010: 3). Urban sprawl is an increased development of land which occurs in both suburban and rural areas, this all occurs outside of the urban boundaries. The urban transformation which is occurring is a major threat to the identity of the city as there is a decrease in the amount of definable boundaries and in the end the city loses its clear edge and its individual identity. The economic change occurring includes replacing of historical spaces due to the shortage of space for urban development. (Gosztola, 2014: 63-65) The following paper asks the question of whether urban sprawl is threatening the sustainability of the city and whether there is a need for urban sprawl to spread out into Philippi and allow for development on the Philippi farmland. This entails looking at the problems that a growing city faces, looking at the bigger picture of the capability of urban infrastructure in South Africa as well as more centralised to Cape Town and lastly the rising food security verse development issue. 2. For or against development in the Philippi farmland: 2.1. Against development The question about whether the Philippi area is a potentialShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesRevisited David M. Scobey, Empire City: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape Gerda Lerner, Fireweed: A Political Autobiography Allida M. Black, ed., Modern American Queer History Eric Sandweiss, St. Louis: The Evolution of an American Urban Landscape Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past Sharon Hartman Strom, Political Woman: Florence Luscomb and the Legacy of Radical Reform Michael Adas, ed., Agricultural and PastoralRead MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 Pagesvarious environmental projects, such as improving children’s health in coffee-and- tea-producing regions, addressing the educational needs of indigenous Mayan peoples dependent on coffee production, and promoting coffee quality, environmental sustainability, and natural resources conservation in east Africa. For example, Starbucks paid Ethiopian coffee farmers a 75 percent premium over market prices, believing this was better than passing out the equivalent in welfare.14 One wonders, however

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Police Officers Should Not Carry Guns - 921 Words

POLICE OFFICERS SHOULD NOT CARRY GUNS There are a lot of arguments all around the world in this subject. Politicians, teachers, sociologists and psychologists declare their ideas and also they write some essays about if the polià §e officers should carry a gun or not. Many people suppose that police officers should carry their guns. Nowadays more and more crimes are being committed and police officers protect us from criminal behaviour. I will discuss whether police officers should be allowed to carry guns in this essay. I strongly insist that they should not be allowed to carry guns. There are some reasons to support my opinion. First of all, police officers actually are carrying a gun to protect the people. However, I have never been†¦show more content†¦In addition, they threatened the students to kneel down with their guns. All students were frightened because they were pointign a gun at them. In spite of, they having to protect the people with their gun. Next, police officers use their guns againist crimi nals. But youngsters and children are exposed to their guns almost everyday. So, they will tend to violonce. They can be new criminals of the future. Maybe they will elaborate on police officers’ guns, because guns are so common in the world today. They thought like that, ‘if it is not good or necessary, why police officers carry them?’. These kind of thought, so normal for a young person or a teenager. Other reason is, the state pay much Money to guns every year. If the money is used for education and social facilities, surely, the crime rate will drop year by year. So, that is better to money us efor these kind of activities. We must think about this question, ‘do we want to drop of crime rate or do want to punish someone who crimes?’. If the answer first I said, we have to pay money for education and the other social facilities. It is important to outline that the work of police was always in the centre of attention. There is a very serious delibe ration about it, which is connected with factors, such as the rate of criminality and a psychological factor of carrying a weapon. The situation with the growth in the number of committed crimes is veryShow MoreRelatedShould School Guns A Weapon Of Self Defense?1000 Words   |  4 PagesThe debate of whether or not teachers should be allowed to carry guns in school is very heated and continues to dilemma the minds of many. However, both the supportive and opposing parties have good grounds that can be used to choose. Recently in the year 2012, 26 people in elementary school in Texas were shot dead triggering public demand that teachers should be armed with guns in order to protect our students. A local resident of the area around the elementary school opened fire on 20 studentsRead MoreWhat Is Stop And Frisk1419 Words   |  6 Pagesenables a police officer to stop, question, and frisk a person for weapons†(1). This means that a police officer can only search someone if they possess reasonable suspicion and follow their guidelines. People should have open ideas of ways of reducing gun violence and not closing before hearing the proposals. People say that stop and frisk promote racial profiling and that it invades one’s privacy rights. Police officer are human being and make mistakes because no one is perfect in this Earth. Gun violenceRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Safety1108 Words   |  5 Pagesthat involve guns on school campuses make people worry. Parents often ponder the question, â€Å"Is my child safe?† The answer is never a guaranteed which causes parents to fret. Parents should stop worrying. They need to trust school officials will protect their child or children. School officials should feel free to open-carry. There should be trained individuals, whether it is a teacher or an administrator that are trained for gun incidents. Schools, who believe that an outside person should protect themRead More Police Officers: The Challange of Handlig a Riot Essay example1171 Words   |  5 Pages Each and every-day of our lives we are protected by men and women in the police force. Police officers must handle extremely dangerous situations like fights, robberies, or even riots. During riots police officers use many weapons to subdue rioters, but sometimes the less lethal weapons can be just as bad as the lethal ones. What do you think the world would be like if you didn’t have anybody to enforce the law every day, or when you are in trouble and there is nobody is there to comeRead MoreCarlson s Book Zeroes On The Limitations Of Carrying Guns896 Words   |  4 Pagesin on the limitations of carrying guns, while distinguishing between criminals and gun carriers. Regardless if you are pulled over for speeding, or gunned down for committing an armed robbery, you pick and choose your battles. The answer to if you are innocent or not innocent is embedded in law, but the answer to whether or not your actions are morally acceptable, remains subjective. Carlson effectively outlines the real reasons individuals choose to carry a gun. It is noteworthy that she does notRead MoreStop And Frisk : Stop Or Frisk1442 Words   |  6 Pagesenables a police officer to stop, question, and frisk a person for weapons (Haq). This means that the police officer can stop, search and question you at any time only if they have reasonable suspicion; but, only if they follow the proper protocol and guidelines. Stop and Frisk will promote safety not only for the officer but also in society. Many people may think that stop and frisk will promote racial profiling and that it will interfere with their fourth amendment but will it? Gun violence hasRead MoreShould Guns Be Guns On College Campuses?1097 Words   |  5 PagesShould students, faculty, staff, and visitors be allowed to carry loaded firearms on PASSHE or higher education campuses within Pennsylvania? Some individuals believe that guns are critical to their freedom while others believe that guns are an instrument of death and violence. Giving students the opportunity to carry guns on campus is a foolish idea. It will not make a campus any safer in allowing students to carry a firearm. College students are not responsible enough to carry guns because alcoholRead MoreGun Control May Help Save Lives1394 Words   |  6 Pages Gun Con trol May Help Save Lives If you ask an American why they own a gun, about sixty-seven percent of them will tell you either it is for their own protection or claim it is their right as an American. Many think that those who were injured and/or killed by guns were in, â€Å"the wrong place at the wrong time.† So then what about all those people who were killed in the Colorado movie theater shooting? Sandy Hook elementary? Columbine? Virginia tech? Were these people in the wrong place at the wrongRead MoreChaos On Campus : A College Student Life935 Words   |  4 Pagesimagine if the law allowed students to carry around a gun while going to college, things would go to crazy to a disaster in a matter of minutes. Everyone attending college, such as students, teachers, administers, etc. will be in danger. After all, it doesn’t take much for a person to snap considering they’re under pressure or can be in a drunken state of mind at a party when things go wrong. Some argue, for example, David Burnett, thinks that allowing guns onto campus can put students or facultyRead MoreShould School Guns Be Banned?1638 Words   |  7 PagesProtecting Our Future The debate of whether or not teachers should be allowed to carry guns in school is very heated and continues to dilemma the minds of many. However, both the supportive and opposing parties have good grounds that can be used to choose. Recently in the year 2012, 26 people in elementary school in Texas were shot dead triggering public demand that teachers should be armed with guns in order to protect our students. A local resident of the area around the elementary school opened

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Operant Conditioning and Superstition free essay sample

There are several types of reinforcement’s positive and negative, which both t reinforcement are strengthen or weaken to shape behavior although the reinforcement is unknown and unlikely to happen. Moreover, a behavior that comes from a stimulus that behavior is than repeated in the future based on the strength of the reinforcement. However, if the behavior is not reinforced by a stimulus than that behavior is likely removed or less likely to occur also due to the strength and weakness of the reinforcement. What else do the historical antecedent says about operant conditioning, basically is states that behavioral psychology was taught for many years but sky rocketed in the 20th-century with a new theoretical perspective, known as behaviorism also bought new insight to psychologist and how certain environmental stimulus can shape behavior and illicit responses in human and non human development, through direct or indirect reinforcements. In the mean time leaving behind the conscious and unconscious mind perspective and how it functions now hardly have any room in the behavioral science department. We will write a custom essay sample on Operant Conditioning and Superstition or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Another interesting fact, psychology had once lost its grip at one point and time but came back with a new twist, yet still using the basic principles of behavioral psychology that focusing only on the observable behaviors for the most part. Furthermore, behaviorism is an enormous subject that has covered a lot of behavioral perspectives through experiments conducted by earlier psychologists such as, Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson and continued for many decades after Skinners theoretical perspective of operant conditioning also recognizes that complex behaviors are not always completely formed but rather form out of simpler responses joined to mold behaviors (Cherry, 2013). Not to mention factors that led to the rise of operant conditioning and that is behavioral therapy, and behavioral change, starting with the social needs of people and implementation of behavioral laws to control abnormal behaviors along with ways to offer interventions for those ho need help to over come behaviors that are inappropriate and maladaptive is also why operant conditioning is highly recognized for its treatment. There are also factors to describe the principles and concepts that explain the process of operant conditioning that lead to the development and maintenance of superstitions. First superstitious is a behavior that is coincidentally combine or paired with the process of reinforcements such as, rewards or punishmen ts. These coincident that takes place unknowingly are coincident that rarely happens. In February, 2008, a friend and I visited a swim club, upon entering the club, my friend and I were walking across the parking and a penny was on ground faced up on tails so I picked it up and put it in my pocket. Immediately, my friend says to me youre going to have bad luck because I picked the penny up on tails and that is a sign of bad luck to occur. However, the following day my sister dies, I was totally astonished because all I could think of was that penny I picked up and how I put the penny inside my pocket and the very words of my girlfriend about how the penny was bad luck. I was totally torn apart. This irrational belief (superstitious) works by pairing the negative reinforcement (penny) with the negative behavior, which is the death of my sister. Because this was so unlikely to occur the superstitious (penny on tails) was paired with the negative outcome (sister death). Along the same lines, when the intervals time delays are distance apart it leave room for extinction to take effect immediately, therefore when coupling with the negative reinforcement including time delay (distance) of never like to happen then the negative behavior superstitious is more likely to occur (Staddon Simmelhag, 1971). The reasons why superstitious beliefs are so deeply ingrained and long-standing in nature because the strength of the reinforcements that supersedes over time delay outcomes, regardless of never happening before is superstitious. Basically if we are reinforced randomly for rewards or punishment unknowingly and the reinforcement is strong than automatically something is very suspicious about the reward or punishment in its very own nature and becomes a superstitious belief. Finally, after interviewing my aunt on superstitious beliefs she informs me that there are many superstitious folks lore she was aware of when she was growing up. One superstitious beliefs she recalls is to never walk under a ladder because it is the devils playground; such as, when she were a little girl her and her best friend were making mud pies, while visiting her grandmother. At her grandmothers house she and her best friend played on the front porch with a ladder hanging overtop of their head and she said her grandmother came outside on the porch and said to them child you and your friend should come up from under that ladder hanging over your heads you both will find yourself in a lot of mischief before the day is out and bring you nothing but bad luck. Later on during that day she recalls both her and her best friend getting in all sorts of trouble resulting in both getting yelled at and even worse receiving a spanking. Wow! What a coincident. Interestingly, the information fit exactly how operant conditioning process occurs because of the pairing of the reinforcement along with time delay of intervals of the unlikely outcome is exactly how Skinner describe in his classic pigeon experiments about superstitious and the extinction process (McLeod, 2007). Therefore, reinforcement compared with any behavior resulting in unfortunate circumstances or good fortune, although there is a negative non contingency upon the response made was unknown from the environment. One method that will perhaps resolve someone to overcome superstitious behavior is to extinguish it by not allowing the superstitious behavior to be paired with a positive or negative reinforcement whenever unlikely events take place good or bad and if you continue with this method until the association is gone than you can put and end to the superstitious belief theory (Staddon Simmelhag 1997). In conclusion, behaviorism is well-known for explaining how we best learn because we are always learning new behaviors.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Meursault Essays - Absurdist Fiction, The Stranger, Meursault

Meursault Meursault is a man who will not lie to himself. He will not feign emotion, nor use religion as a vehicle to give his life meaning. Meursault has a passion for the truth, which opens the revelation for all humanity: life is absurd; it is man's mortal responsibility to be committed to himself, for death is absolute and inevitable. In Albert Camus' The Stranger, his behavior and characteristics display him as an immoral man, expressing indifference towards society's formulas for normalcy. The lack of emotion Mersault has concerning the death of his mother is an excellent portrayal of his beast-like, immoral character. Meursault defies the customary code of behavior by refusing to see his mother's carcass, and instead, he fell asleep and accepted coffee and cigarettes at the vigil. Additionally, he does not honor a period of mourning. In place of mourning, Meursault goes swimming, sees a comedy film with a girl, then proceeds to take her home and make love to her. Mersault doesn't even remember anything about the funeral except for something that one of the nurses had said. ?If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church? (page 17). The fact that this and several other images are his only memories of his mother's funeral show his lack of emotion and reguard for subjects that are deemed important by the majority of mankind. These prominent disrespects to the accepted regulations of society are what unmistakably denounce him at the trial; society fears apathy and condemns Meursault in order to preserve the town's feelings of comfort that is maintained by communal order and religion. Meursault is also a stranger to behaving in a gregarious manner and conforming to social formalities. His so-called friend Raymond invites Meursault to his apartment to have blood sausage and wine, then goes on to tell Meursault about his Arab girlfriend and how he beat her because she was cheating on him. He wants to discipline this girl by means of chastisement even though he still has sexual feelings for her. Raymond asks Meursault what he thinks about the whole thing and Meursault says he doesn't think anything but that it was interesting? (page 32). The conversation continues and Mersaults responses exemplify why Raymond enjoys his company so much; Mersault has no definite opinion of his own and he always appears to be in accord with what everyone else has to say. ?He asked if I thought she was cheating on him, and it seemed to me she was; if I thought she should be punished and what I would do in his place, and I said you can't ever be sure, but I understood his wanting to punish her (page 32). Meursault lacks morals. He has no need for them. Values for him do not enter his life for they do not have an impact on him. Meursault proceeds to please Raymond with his listless attitude to Raymond's social relations by writing an indecent letter to his Arab girlfriend. Meursault does not contemplate the outcomes in writing an asinine letter to a woman he has never met, nor the impression it could leave on her life. Meursault simply does not care about any of this and thus he has no moral obligations. Raymond and Mersault had gone to the beach to visit Raymond's friend Masson at his beach house. Upon walking down the beach, Raymond and Mersault cane across two Arabs that Raymond had a conflict with prior to this moment. Due to Raymond's desire for revenge, he and Mersault travel down the beach, Raymond with a revolver, Mersault unarmed. Raymond contemplates shooting his man (his girlfriend's brother), but Meursault tells him he can only shoot in self-defense in the case that the Arab pulls his knife. Then he takes Raymond's gun, which the sunlight catches, and goes back with him to the beach house. Mersault, however, does not go back to the cabin, but turns back to the beach, although ?to stay or to go, it amounted to the same thing? (page 57). The unyielding rationale of the Algerian sun overcomes him. Meursault encounters Raymond's man who pulled a knife in front of Meursault. ?It seemed to me as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire. My whole being tensed and I squeezed my hand around the revolver. The trigger gave... Then I fired four

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Learn Facts About the Geography of U.S. State of Iowa

Learn Facts About the Geography of U.S. State of Iowa Population: 3,007,856 (2009 estimate)Capital: Des MoinesBordering States: Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, WisconsinLand Area: 56,272 square miles (145,743 sq km)Highest Point: Hawkeye Point at 1,670 feet (509 m)Lowest Point: Mississippi River at 480 feet (146 m) Iowa is a state located in the Midwest of the United States. It became a part of the U.S. as the 29th state to be admitted into the Union on December 28, 1846. Today Iowa is known for its economy based on agriculture as well as food processing, manufacturing, green energy and biotechnology. Iowa is also considered one of the safest places to live in the U.S. Ten Geographic Facts to Know About Iowa 1) The area of present-day Iowa has been inhabited as long as 13,000 years ago when hunters and gatherers moved into the region. During more recent times, various Native American tribes developed complex economic and social systems. Some of these tribes include the Illiniwek, Omaha and Sauk. 2) Iowa was first explored by Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet in 1673 when they were exploring the Mississippi River. During their exploration, Iowa was claimed by France and it remained a French territory until 1763. At that time, France transferred control of Iowa to Spain. In the 1800s, France and Spain built various settlements along the Missouri River but in 1803, Iowa came under U.S. control with the Louisiana Purchase. 3) Following the Louisiana Purchase, the U.S. had a hard time controlling the Iowa region and built several forts throughout the area after conflicts like the War of 1812. American settlers then began moving to Iowa in 1833, and on July 4, 1838, the Territory of Iowa was established. Eight years later on December 28,1846, Iowa became the 29th U.S. state. 4) Throughout the rest of the 1800s and into the 1900s, Iowa became an agricultural state after the expansion of railroads across the U.S. After World War II and the Great Depression however, Iowas economy began to suffer and in the 1980s the Farm Crisis caused a recession in the state. As a result, Iowa today has a diversified economy. 5) Today, most of Iowas three million residents live in the states urban areas. Des Moines is the capital and largest city in Iowa, followed by Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, Iowa City and Waterloo. 6) Iowa is divided into 99 counties but has 100 county seats because Lee County currently has two: Fort Madison and Keokuk. Lee County has two county seats because there were disagreements between the two about which would be the county seat after Keokuk was established in 1847. These disagreements led to the formation of a second court-designated county seat. 7) Iowa is bordered by six different U.S. states, the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers on the west. Most of the states topography consists of rolling hills and due to prior glaciations in some portions of the state, there are some steep hills and valleys. Iowa also has many large natural lakes. The largest of these are Spirit Lake, West Okoboji Lake and East Okoboji Lake. 8) Iowas climate is considered humid continental and as such it has cold winters with snowfall and hot and humid summers. The average July temperature for Des Moines is 86ËšF (30ËšC) and the average January low is 12ËšF (-11ËšC). The state is also known for severe weather during the spring and thunderstorms and tornadoes are not uncommon. 9) Iowa has a number of different large colleges and universities. The largest of these are Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa. 10) Iowa has seven different sister states - some of these include Hebei Province, China, Taiwan, China, Stavropol Krai, Russia and Yucatan, Mexico. To learn more about Iowa, visit the states official website. References Infoplease.com. (n.d.). Iowa: History, Geography, Population and State Facts- Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: infoplease.com/ipa/A0108213.html Wikipedia.com. (23 July 2010). Iowa - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa

Saturday, November 23, 2019

The Effect of Divided Government on the Rally-Round-the-Flag Phenomenon Essay Example

The Effect of Divided Government on the Rally The Effect of Divided Government on the Rally-Round-the-Flag Phenomenon Paper The Effect of Divided Government on the Rally-Round-the-Flag Phenomenon Paper Nicole Dambra PSC412 Professor Johnson April 29, 2010 Abstract: The concept that public approval of the President increases during times of international crisis is known as the Rally around the Flag phenomenon. Divided government lessens the Presidents accountability, by allowing the president to pass blame to the majority party in the legislative branch. The President attains higher levels of approval from rallies during divided government due to three factors. First, there are higher levels of opposition party criticisms prior to a crisis. Secondly, media outlets disproportionably cover opposition party elites statements supporting he President. Lastly, opposition party statements in support of the President are a very powerful influence on the public. Public approval is important because it increases the power of the President in many aspects of the political arena. Presidential public approval plays a role in members of the presidents party being elected into opening congressional seats (Marra and Ostrom 1989). Presidential popularity has also been linked to the successful policy initiation from the president (Rivers and Rose 1985), and less reversed presidential vetoes (Rohde and Simon 1985). Popular presidents have more persuasive power mongst members of Congress, and are more likely to present bold and ambitious legislative packages to Congress (Baker and Oneal). Popular Presidents have more options and freedom to enact their political agendas with less resistance from Congress (Baker and Oneal). Since public approval is so valuable to the President, the rally-around-the-flag phenomenon is worthy of further research. The notion that a president can elicit a surge of patriotism and public approval for his administration and its policies during an international crisis is known as the rally around the flag effect (Mueller 1970). This phenomenon was supported by empirical research (Kernell 1978; Mueller 1970). More recent studies have cast doubt on some aspects of the rally effect (Brody 1991). The political aspects that explain the origin of the rally-around-the-flag phenomenon lead me to question if periods of divided government effect the size of a rally. Previous Literature There are three prevailing schools of thought that explain Presidential Approval Ratings. The first is that Presidential Approval will inevitably decrease throughout the term. Presidential approval is not a constant decrease, so this theory does not ompletely explain approval trends. The second school of thought claims that presidents are constantly evaluated on their abilities to fulfill the expectations of the electorate. Public approval fluctuates in response to inflation and rates of unemployment, battle deaths during periods of war, levels of international tension, and the success of the presidents legislative agenda. This theory expects the electorate to be sophisticated and informed, which is not the case. The third is the President will do anything to prevent the decay of public approval. This theory is here the rally around the flag phenomenon plays an important role. There are two approaches to explaining the cause of a rally, patriotism and opinion leadership. The Patriotism Model claims that in times of foreign crisis, the public will unconditionally support the president. The fact is that there are many examples of public reaction such as individual rally events, threats, demonstrations, or use of force which do not routinely result in a boost of the presidents popularity. If the cause of a rally is intensified sense of patriotism, events that most gravely threaten he nations political, economic and strategic interests will be the most likely to induce a rally. However, higher levels of hostility have only limited effects on the size of the rally in presidential popularity (Baker and Oneal). When the United States is engaged in a militarized disputes for a prolonged period of time, the presidential approval decreases. This could be evidence of public fear of a successful exit or that the US is overstretching itself. This decrease in public approval does indicate that support is not blind, and the fact that militarized disputes with cold war rivals did not roduce significant rallies sheds further doubt on the patriotism hypothesis (Baker and Oneal). The Opinion Leadership Model states that the political environment in which international crises develop often prohibits the public from access to traditional sources of information which are available during normal periods. This inability to access pertinent information is generally the cause of the rally; it creates a barrier in making political Judgment by leaving out a piece of the puzzle per say. The opinion leadership model of the rally effect (Brody 1991) seems to more accurately account for the rally phenomenon. The factors that seem to effect the size of the rally pertain to how efficiently the dispute is publicized, not the type of the event. The White House increases the size of a rally through eloquent presidential statements, acquiring bipartisan support, and media coverage. The public does not rally in response to a crisis in and of itself, but rather to how the president manages and portrays the events. This suggests that public relations skills of an American president are an progressively more essential instrument for the successful management of public opinion of international conflicts which involve the United States. The political nature of the factors that cause a rally lead me to hypothesize that rallies will be larger in periods of divided government. Divided government occurs when the President and the majority party in Congress have different partisanships. Divided government makes bipartisan cooperation more likely by giving moderates the advantage of greater influence. Divided government creates a credibility dilemma, because the electorate does not know whom to blame or accredit for governmental actions (Mellow and Trubowitz). Presidents are easy targets or capegoats; a divided government makes them less likely to be held accountable for the governments failures because the public has a conceivable alternative for assigning liability to Congress. The majority party in congress has the same incentives as the President to pass the blame. During a divided government there are high levels of opposition party criticism towards the president prior to a crisis (Nicholson). After a major emergency the partisan relationship goes through three stages. The first stage is genuine solidarity; during this stage the legislative branch votes a lot of power to the xecutive. The second stage is ersatz solidarity, when the parties continue the fapde of solidarity (Vermeule). Resulting in open conflict, the initial cooperation and support for the executive causes the public to rally for the president. The reason for this initial support is opposition leaders may avoid criticizing the president because the administration has a virtual monopoly of information about the foreign events and they do not want to appear ill informed or unpatriotic. The Party elites also have a better chance of getting media coverage if they make a statement to support the President. This creates an incentive to agree with the president in order to get publicity, and be able to give opinions on other topics (Howell). Media outlets disproportionably cover opposition party identifiers statements in support of the president because they are less common opinions (Baum, 2002). Non- party presidential praise is extremely persuasive and influential to the public, especially non-party identifiers (Baum and Groeling). The media is a gatekeeper for the information the public receives. When the media covers statements supporting the president the public is influenced. Unlike the President who is always able to get media coverage and publicity about the issues that are interesting to him, members of congress and other party elites have to act strategically to get media coverage. The lack of political opposition and criticism of the presidents policies combined with the media lacking the resources to present opposing interpretations of the crisis creates an environment where the public is largely cut off from the cues it traditionally employs to develop an opinion and form Judgments on political phenomena. Without easily accessible cues presented through the media from those ith whom they identify politically or ideologically, the public is led to assume that there is a consensus among political leaders on the issue and to support the president, even if they would otherwise be inclined to oppose him. Since most Americans know little about foreign affairs they rely on heuristic cues from credible sources. One credible source many Americans rely on is the co- partisan party elites. Support from opposition party members is very influential because the American public trusts their party elites (Baker). Times of divided government are estimated to increase the immediate rally for the president 4. percent (Colaresi). The public also has more trust during divided government because they believe the branches will check each other. Divided government acts to increase the potential political cost of a foreign policy action and thus increases the persuasiveness ofa leaders signal. The public can be more confident that a legislature under opposition control will use its subpoena and oversight power to uncover abuses of power. While it may not be in the presidents partys interest to attack a foreign policy action that was undertaken for private rather than public gain, an opposition party will have no such qualms (Schultz). During divided government the legislature is more likely to hold hearings and investigate presidential decisions under divided government. Between 1954 and 1989 the average number of hearings on defense and international affairs was 25 percent higher under divided government (Martin). The public feels like they are being informed which increases their support. Methods and Data I have combined the rally events used in the articles, Rallying Around the Flag: Foreign Policy events and presidential popularity, Pretty Prudent? Public Responses to U. S. Uses of Force, 1950-1988, and the major uses of force according to American Military History (www. historyguy. com/american_military_history. html) ending with the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I gathered 68 rally events which are composed of 28 wars and military crisis events, 9 peace and reconciliation, 11 summit conferences, 6 policy initiatives, 11 International Setbacks, and four personal events. Then I used News, Norms, Indexing and a Unified Government (http://arts. bev. net/ roper David/politics/congress. htm) to determine if the even occurred during divided or unified government. Lastly, I used public approval ratings from the Gerhard Peters: The American Presidency Project (www. residency. ucsb. edu/data/ popularity. php) to measure the change in presidential approval after the rally event. The data was statistically analyzed. Data Analysis Table 1: Change in Approval Variable Obs. Mean std. Dev. Min Max All Rally Events 4. 91176 6. 986677 -8 Divided Government 5. 026316 7. 937209 Unified Government 4. 266667 5. 662541 14 Table 2: Statistical Significance 1 . oooo Divided Discussion Change †l divided Change in Approval 0. 0544 1. 0000 0. 6596 I found that in general a president can expect to increase public approval ratings by 4. 5 percent following a rally event. This is consistent with previous literature. I did not find evidence to support my hypothesis. There i s little, or no effect that divided government has on the rally phenomenon. The average change in table one for divided government makes it appear that divided government increases that rally by . 75 percent, but the fgures show that these numbers are not actually different, and they are also not statistically significant. When the data was plotted in a box plot it exemplified that there is a slightly greater rally effect during unified government (Figures 1 and 2). These findings were inconsistent with a lot of the previous iterature. This could be due to the fact that I did not only consider military engagements, or other biases formed in the case selection process. One of the reasons attention was focused towards divided governments effect on the rally-around- the-flag phenomenon is because the two largest rallies occurred during divided government. The first was the Gulf War in 1991 under Bush Seniors Administration. Bush experienced an increase of 28 percent. Then the largest rally occurred following September 1 1, 2001, under George W. Bushs administration, he experienced a 34 percent increase in public approval. The rally that followed September 1 lth was fueled by patriotism. Many Americans actually gathered and prayed around the American Flag. This surge in public approval enabled Bush to enact his political agenda, and have ample public support of invading Iraq and waging the War on Terror. Both Bush administrations were immensely aided by the rally. An example ofa military dispute that did not result in a rally was in 1971, under the Nixon Administration, the expansion of military involvement in Laos. This event caused a decrease of seven percent public approval. Another reason that the effect of divided government is hindered is if the egislative branch is divided the accountably dilemma is attributed to partisan affiliation rather than congress blaming the executive. Also divided government inhabits higher levels of presidential public approval (Nicholson et. al. ), and rallies are larger when public approval is low, because the president has more room to improve(Baum 2002). One of the Presidents most influential powers is persuasion. The President has to take advantage of any political tools that will enable him to implement his agenda. The ability to create or inflate the size of a rally can be extremely advantageous to the President.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Background of GCC , Egypt and Malaysia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Background of GCC , Egypt and Malaysia - Essay Example The findings inferred will be discussed in the concluding sections of the project. Gulf Cooperation Council regions have huge reserves for oil and natural gas and most the countries in the world countries are depended on it for its daily supply of energy. The GCC region includes six countries from the Middle East. These countries are United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain. These six countries came together in 1981 to form the ‘Gulf Cooperation Council’ in order to cooperate, coordinate and integrate various policies, politics and economic affairs (Laabas & Limam, 2002). The GCC agreement has helped these countries to avoid foreign intervention regarding oil and gas procurement.HH The oil and gas reserves present in these countries are its most vital resource and the key to its prosperity. Around â€Å"40% of the world’s proven oil and 23.6% of the world’s proven gas reserves† are held by GCC countries (Reiche, 2010). The population growth rates in these countries are indebted to the high economic deve lopment and increasing employment opportunities. Nearly, 39 million people are living in these countries which accounts for 0.06% of the total world population (Reiche, 2010). Table 1 depicts the economic and socio-demographic indicators of GCC countries projecting the expected population growth in 2015. Gulf Cooperation Council regions are rich in oil and natural gas reserves and their economic development is solely depended on it. Rising demand and price of oil and gas during 2002 to 2008 have further boosted the economic growth in GCC countries. Oil export contributes the major chunk of revenue in their overall GDP. Recently, their oil export has increased significantly and has reached to 67% as compared to 61% in 2002. However, this growth was not uniform in all the countries, with Qatar and Oman experiencing the downward slash. Table 2 depicts the government revenues, oil exports and