What Is The Multiparty System Politics Essay

What Is The Multiparty System Politics Essay Multiparty system is a system where two or more political parties dominate voting process in almost all elections at every stage of government. This results in almost all elected offices being members of one of the two or more major political parties. In a multi party system, one party typically holds the majority of the sits in the parliament and mainly known as the majority party while the rest are minority parties (Sarma 2007, p.1). Germany is a federal republic based on a representative democracy. German politics for instance take place in the perspective of parliamentary representative perspective. The Chancellor heads the German government. The German republic has of late experience a lot of political instability and due to the existence of more than one political party. Initially, the German republic experienced a lot of political threats due to political issues. In 1919-1933 there was what it was termed as spartacist uprising. The movement had a lot of left wing political views. The group came up from the independent socialists movement after being subjected to a lot of frustrations in the government. Currently, the question is not dictatorship or democracy but the history has put the question and reads as; socialists democracy (Dalton 1981, p. 74) On 1 January 1919, the followers of the Spartacist movement came up in an attempted revolution. At first, the move was resisted by the movement leaders. The new government reacted quickly and in a brutal manner. The government ordered the army to terminate the revolution with the help of a paramilitary group made up of the former service men. The city of Berlin came back to normalcy in two weeks time. The two leaders of the movement were executed in cold blood while in police custody (Rupnik 2003, p.237). Great movement of workers answered the call to struggle. They had a favorite slogan dubbed Down, down, down (with the government) resounded once more. According to the eyewitness, he says that he had to cross the Brandenburg procession at the gate near Tiegarten and also in front of the main staff headquarters. Most of the marchers were well armed and many trucks equipped with machine guns stood at Siegessaule. The witness says he repeatedly asked to be allowed to pass since he had an urgent task. They obligingly allowed him to pass. If the crowds had determined and conscious leaders instead of just windbags, Berlin would have been in their hands that very same day at noon (Baker 1981, p.75) Roadblocks were raised and fighting started as the Freikorps tried to bring back order. Noske was immediately given dictatorial powers across Berlin through the swift action by the government. Noske immediately ordered for 30,000 Freikorps troops to enter Berlin. By March 9th, the councils soldiers and workers decided to terminate the strike. However, this did not placate Noske together with the Freikorps. In contradiction, Noske announced that any individual who bears weapons against the government troops will be shot on sight. By the time the fighting was over, some 2000-3000 workers had lost their lives and nearly 10,000 were seriously wounded. On the same month, the communists party was murdered in a police station while attempting to escape (Zielonka 2003, .p 200). These events give us the picture of how multi party system can lead to political instability in any country. Germany experience a lot of unrest during the First World War then it was also affected by political unrest in 1920s. At this stage, Germany was yet to experience more of political storms for decades (Mattox 2001, p. 35). Recently, in 2005, a general election was held and was highly competitive. The same elections led to the Left Party coming up as a force to the left of SPD (Schweitzer 1995, p 244). Concurrently, the country is going through an increasing level of trade union militancy. This trend gives the impression of a growing malaise inside the German society as a layer of youth and workers look for an alternative (Rachwald 2000, p. 40) The strike to demand for higher wages in the public sector and the coming up of a newly created Left Party in the Western part of the country have covered the larger portion of the political scene in the country of late (Jones 2005, p.11). Whereas the Chancellor Angela Merkel with her Grand Coalition of Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD) pride themselves on issues concerning economic growth as well as the reduction in the figures of un-employment with tens of millions of German working class citizens living in a different reality (Pedley 2000, p. 62). In contrary to some of the European countries, the German real wages have fallen drastically in the recent years. In various economic sectors without strong unions even the most absolute level of income has considerably reduced. The process of labor casualization is going on. Millions of working poor citizens cannot sustain themselves with the wages and have to look for or ask for more welfare benefits (Collier 2003, p.13). Hessen is the worst hit area of Germany by the political crisis. This state in the heart of the country with a population of six million inhabitants, the local Christian democrats had got overall majority seats with more than 48% of the votes cast in the year 2003. CDU used the position to come up with a neoliberal attack. This year, the January elections were highly competitive and it was a tough race between the CDU and SPD (Schofield 1998, p. 267). This is significant because the CDU in Hessen is known to be notorious for being especially reactionary and when it was only two weeks before the elections, they that they would not win. This led to the launching of a vicious and desperate racists and anti-communist operation, arguing that if the left were to be elected to legislature and possibly take in a regional government would gradually change Hessen into another Stalinist state in Germany (Roberts 2003, p 91). This reactionary propaganda failed to get the needed effect. It was followed by a huge liberal operation of posters with catchphrases such as freedom or socialism. However, it failed to win most of the two traditional bourgeois parties. On the other hand, the greens and SPD who had stated that they were intending to come up with a coalition in the region also failed to capture the majority seats between them and therefore had to rely only on six members of parliament elected on the Die Linke party to get the regional SPD leader (Siaroff 2009, p. 202). The Hessen case for instance, the need for Deutsche Telekom re-nationalization with compensation based on the proven need, was highly accepted by Die Linke conference during the last summer without any resistance at all (Fairclough 2002, p 123). All these events in Germany were dictated by the countrys political climate. The political climate in Germany has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that a multiparty state is likely to realize political turmoil because of the misunderstanding between the party leaders. Another country in Europe that experiences a lot of polital instability due to multiparty system is Ireland. These two countries have become the central focus in Europe due to the nature of their party organizations. Ireland is an independent democratic nation with a parliamentary system of government. The president is the head of state and mainly ceremonial. He is elected for a term that lasts seven years. The current president is called Mary McAleese, who is serving her second term after taking over the leadership from President Mary Robinson (Prager 2009, p. 133). So far, the Irish politics remain dominated by two main political parties that came up out of the countrys worst civil war in early 1920s. Those who resisted the 1921 agreement that separated the island (Boyce 1995, p.76) formed the Fianna party. Although the opponents of the treaty lost in the war, Fianna soon became the countrys biggest political party. The countrys second largest party is called Fine Gael. Other significant parties include the Greens, Sinn and Labor (Foley 1992, p. 20). The May 2007 general elections brought the countrys largest party Fianna and its leader Bertie back to leadership in a coalition government for un-expected five-year term. Members of the coalition who joined the leading party were the Green party as well as the progressive democrats (Boyland 1990, p. 30). In early 2008, the countrys president announced his intentions to resign as the president. On April the same year, a new party leader was elected and assumed office in May. All these events played a major role in shaping the Irish political landscape. However, in June 2009 Fianna suffered the biggest defeat through the European and local elections. Fine Gael, independent and Labor parties got healthy margins (Farrell 1978, p.29). In the referendum that was held on October the same year, the voters approved the Lisbon treaty and European Union 33% and 67 % respectively. The politics have however made the popularity of the current government to decline because of the poor economic performance (Penniman 1989, p.45). In Northern Ireland, the conflict comes out of the history of the British rule. The historical animosity between the Protestants and the Catholics with various armed political efforts to unite the country with other parts of the island. Republican and Nationalists groups were looking for a united country whereas the unionists and loyalists want the country to remain part of United Kingdom (Richard 1992, p.47). After many years in war by the Loyalists and the Republicans paramilitaries especially the provisional Republican Army of Ireland, the Irish and the British governments agreed fro a PIRA ceasefire in 1994, which was then followed by the famous U.S Good Friday treaty in 1998 (Cox 2006, p. 60). The GFA came up with a power sharing executive and assembly to serve as the local government of Northern Ireland. The countrys assembly had 108 elected. The main political parties in Northern Ireland are the Democratic Unions Party (DUP), Sinn Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Fein and the Social Democratic and Labor Party (Stephen 2005, p.200).

Anti-Trust Legislation & Microsoft: Do The Ends Justify The Means? Essa

Anti-Trust Legislation & Microsoft: Do The Ends Justify The Means? Anyone who uses a computer today has likely heard of Microsoft, the maker of Microsoft Windows. Over the past few years, as Microsoft’s software has dominated the market, Microsoft has been involved in a number of anti-trust lawsuits, claiming that Microsoft has engaged in unfair business practices which are monopolistic and anti-competitive. By the end of these proceedings, Microsoft was found to be in violation of federal anti-trust laws. The real question now becomes whether or not these anti-trust laws have served their purposes. They exist in foreign countries very much the same as they do here. After reviewing legal analyses here in the United States, I will conclude that Microsoft may indeed be in violation of anti-trust legislation, but the application of these laws, which Microsoft has allegedly violated, does not follow the intention of these laws back when they were initially written. Anti-trust laws, while pure in motive, have the fundamental flaw of preventing the formation of intelligent mergers and monopolies, when what they should be doing is preventing these monopolies from taking advantage of consumers. In the United States, anti-trust legislation began with the Sherman Act, passed by Congress in 1890. â€Å"The Sherman Act prohibited contracts and conspiracies in restraint of trade as well as monopolization of or attempts to monopolize trade.† The Sherman Act was followed by the Clayton Act and the FTC Act, the latter of which established the Federal Trade Commission as a body who was authorized to prevent corporations from engaging in unfair business practices. By 1950, Congress had enacted two more laws, the Robinson-Patman Act, which mod... ...le to develop the software that will give people what they want. As a result, the software that we want will be produced by some small business, who really don’t have the experience necessary with the operating system, or even if they do, their product will be over priced and will draw little demand anyway. Bibliography: Debra A. Valentine, "The Goals Of Competition Law", prepared remarks, Pacific Economic Cooperation Council Conference on Trade and Competition Policy, May 13-14 1997, 8. Office of Fair Trading, Competition Act 1998 - what is the law?, Office of Fair Trading, 6/8/2004, Joe Wilcox, "Judge Rules Microsoft Violated Antitrust Laws", CNET News.com, April 3, 2000, 4. "Yet Another Anti-trust Suit Against Microsoft," Reuters 22 Oct 1998,

Graphic Design as Main Communication Medium Essay

As multimedia advances to higher stages of development, the significance of graphic design continues to increase. Graphic design was once considers a visual form of art. Over time, it has come to be recognized as form of communication. Art and communication reflect and serve culture. Culture represents the political and economic structure of the society. Therefore graphic design reflects and promotes political and economic systems. This paper attempt to show that graphic design, layout design of the poster and artistic craftsmanship of typography are the main communication media that have served different cultures during different historical eras. Graphic design can be defined from many perspectives. For a layman, graphic design may simply refer to the production of printed, online, and manufactured materials that are visually appealing. Graphic design is reproduced in either large numbers or in gigantic media such as billboards so that it can get the attention of many people. Being a visual instrument of communication, it usually employs an effective combination of graphics and text in order to convey a message. Graphic design is prevalent in both the capitalists and socialist economies. The capitalist use it mainly to sell goods and services while the socialists use it to sell ideas to motivate people to agree with government policies and work for a socialist economy. Whatever the case , the of aim graphic design is to motivate people to act; the information it relays is meant to move people and not just to satisfy the usual thirst for knowledge. Some people include paintings as graphic design but Barnard in the book, Graphic Design as Communication, denies that this is incorrect. Classical paintings merely tell a story. They are being viewed only in the confines of private homes or museums. They are definitely not for popular consumption. Newark, in the book, The Gutenberg Galaxy, states that the coins found in Apollonia, Greece, which was estimated sometime in 450 BC may be considered the earliest products of graphic design. Because it was a form of currency, it was produced in large numbers. It has a prototypical logo and it was made with the use of a metal die, a technological wonder at that time. Jobling & Crowley define graphic design in relation to social structures and the historical context in which such structure exists. Graphic design is shaped by certain society’s beliefs and morals. Jobling & Crowley identify three factors that graphic design constitutes the following: It is produced in large numbers; It should be cheap and graphic design conveys ideas through a combination of words and images. However, Jobling & Crowley argue that not all products of graphic deign are cheap. In fact, some of them are symbolic of wealth and luxury. Newark defines graphic design by focusing on its functions. Graphic design functions as a means of communication. Once the design is able to attract the attention of people, it must be able to explain its message with the minimum use of words, if any. Brand logos explain not only the product but also the quality it possesses. A graphic design becomes the identity of its subject. People begin to relate certain symbols to what they represent. For example, the elephant symbol becomes the Republican Party. These act on people’s emotions and become factors in determining how they feel the market. Knoblauch points out that communication shapes culture. Culture develops by communication and acceptable interaction by the society. In this regard, since graphic design is a medium of communication, it serves culture as well. It passes through many historical eras and different cultures. This is contrary to the common belief that it is just a product of the modern computer technology. Technology is a continuous process and so is its evolution. History has shown that human beings had begun communicating through visuals before oral communication grew. McLuhan notes that Gutenberg press is an important stage in the evolution of graphic design. Invented around 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg, it made possible the mass production of literary material. Bibles were the first material to be produced. Gutenberg used a special character symbols which he developed himself to represent words and common Latin phrases. Gutenberg’s visually attractive typography and lay-out made the Bible more appealing to people, a fact that served well the cultural interests of the Holy Roman Empire . 1700s and 1800s saw further development of graphic design. This was the time that capitalism was developing at a rapid pace. Publishers were in great competition with each other.. Therefore, graphic design was highly improved. At this point came there arose contradictions between publishers and authors. Publishers used graphic design especially on the covers to make it more attractive. The authors feared that this might change the context of the book. This shows that graphic design can either enhance or destroys the context of the ext. Barchas, J. warns us not to make judgment by looking at the cover of a book since graphic design may convey anther meaning. Graphic design is developing further. The advancement of computer and information technology has made it possible for graphic arts to be blended with other media Graphic design has been used tin advertisement. Eisend advises that the advertisers have to create graphic design that effectively sells a product. The graphic design must also be able to convince the consumer to buy only the brand that it promotes. Lindstrom notes that many companies are gradually transforming the traditional billboards into audio-visual displays, which appeal to more senses other than just sight. In conclusion, graphic design can either be a factor to encourage the survival of a social system or it can destroy it to introduce a new one. Reference The given research paper

Factors Affecting Health Care Costs Essays

Factors Affecting Health Care Costs Essays Factors Affecting Health Care Costs Paper Factors Affecting Health Care Costs Paper Rising health care costs has been a topic for many years, despite all the discussions, costs continue to rise. Here are some of the factors which could affect the rise of health care costs. 1) Health insurance industry – Insurance has grown and has had a great impact on health care costs. As is commonly known, private insurance has not provided sufficient coverage for medical care, particularly in such settings as the home, partial hospitalization, and psychiatric rehabilitation programs. 2) Advances in medical car technology – expensive technologies may not be always applicable to medical care. However, patients are compelled to avail of these technologies because they have this mind set that these technologies provide better and assured service, whatever the cost may be. Of course, state of the art facilities like these are most of the time very expensive. 3) Changes in US demographics – the number of births and deaths, especially the aging population has a great impact on increasing healthcare costs. Elderly patients, who are admitted, have complex discharge problems that often result in a longer length of stay than is typically required, even though their length of stay is decreasing due to pressures to discharge quickly. Moreover, their conditions are more likely to be more complicated thus making their healthcare costs even higher. 4) Government support for healthcare – the government has a vital role in helping reduce the increasing healthcare costs today. Especially in the high costs of pharmaceuticals for example; since patients have to take long term medications and many of these are expensive. Pharmaceutical companies argue that the cost of medications is due to high research and development costs. The government should then do their part to compensate the other finances of medicine to these companies to make it cost reasonably in the market. Professional fees of physicians could also be applied here as well. 5) Consumer expectations – with too much expectation, consumers tend to have discontent on certain medical services thus make them seek for 2nd opinion. These actions make them spend twice and even thrice the cost of the medical services. Discontent on immediate recoveries also applies here (Finkelman, 1997). Reference: Finkelman, A. W. (1997). Psychiatric Home Care. Gaithersburg, Maryland: Jones Bartlett Publishers.

Federalism and the Civil War essays

Federalism and the Civil War essays John C. Calhoun was a man of very high stature and intelligence. His ideas and thoughts were expressed very sternly and backed up with concrete evidence. Of course not everyone agreed with Calhouns thoughts and procedures. The man knew himself and his ideas would somehow make a difference in the way that Canada and the United States would grow and be governed. At the time in which John was voicing his opinions many different issues were in the hot seat. A major concern was the slavery in 1838. The public was in an outcry over the touchy issue. John, of course, did not hesitate to voice his true thoughts. Other concerns such as the concurrent majority and the rights of the States were among many of Johns concerns. To truly understand the opinions of this man we must first of all look at the reasons for his positions. Slavery was without a dought the biggest issue in the 1830s. There were many, many attempts to stop the use of slaves among our society. To the majority of the population that this was a positive movement and a step in the right direction. To Mr. Calhoun this was not the case. He can be quoted as saying: Many in the South once believed that slavery was a moral and political evil. That folly and delusion are gone. We see it now in its true light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for free institutions in the world. This idea is very complex and needs to be evaluated carefully. In a different light John has a very good point. No one liked the idea of slavery. It seems morally inadequate and wrong. John believed that it set a pathway for free institution. Resulting form slavery he believes that society learned the basic skills for free institution. In actuality he did not necessarily believe that slavery was a good thing. John simply believed that it brought about a better awareness for our population and it's leaders to grow upon. ...

The Hungry Ocean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Hungry Ocean - Essay Example By her own admission gender has never been a problematic issue in her, illustrious and legendary career on the high seas. The challenge and the accomplishments: An interesting part of the conversation is highlighted at the concluding pages of the book and Linda Greenlaw writes, â€Å"What more do you want? You make a good living doing what you love. That’s more than most people have.†(256) The story of her becoming the commander of the one-hundred-foot-long sword fishing boat, named Hannah Boden is amazing. She has a wonderful childhood and her enlightened parents are pleased to give her the liberty to choose the career of her choice. Little do they realize that she will opt for the career of a fisherman. She goes to become the legend. The life of a fisherman is tougher and the mood of the ocean is unpredictable. This is not the profession where one is engaged in the table work from 10 a.m. to 5p.m.The duration of a sword fishing trip to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland will last for a month or more. According to her, the actual job of fishing is a thrill but â€Å"the greatest challenges any captain faces are often keeping the crew focused, making sure the vessel remains mechanically sound, and returning safely to port." (p. xi) She becomes an author due to fortuitous circumstances and she writes, â€Å"I wonder daily of the opportunity to write this book has been a blessing or a curse. Writing has proven to be hard work, often painful. I can honestly say that I would rather be fishing.†(Preface) Destiny wills it thus and events in her childhood do much to support her decision to go to sea. Her family lives on an island on the cost of Maine and it is but natural that she sees high prospectus for her life and career amidst the waves on the high seas. Fish and fishermen, the life of swordboat crew: As the captain, a fisherman has got to be an excellent public relations man with enough technical and administrative knowledge. Proper understand ing of navigation, weather equipment and plotting the course and distance by hand is part of her routine work as caption of the ship. Linda Greenlaw has an excellent study of the human beings and maintains good rapport with members of the crew. About Bob, a dynamic fisherman and the owner of the ship she writes, â€Å"He was an amazingly clever person; his competence covered a wide range†¦.As for determination—he would take a boat to Mars if he thought there might be a fish to be caught there.†(3) Fishermen need to remain ever ready and mentally prepared for disasters, survival and accomplishments. This book contains the details of one such trip on the swordship boat and reveals how the lifestyles of a fisherman are entirely differed on the ocean beds as compared to plain space on this Planet Earth. She has a crew of six members Ringo, Kenny, Charlie, Peter, and Carl each with his own ideas and adventurous in one’s own right. The life in the ship is full of appointments and disappointments. As the head leading the crew Linda Greenlaw lists the advantages and disadvantages. The main attraction is the fat paycheck and respect of admiration of

Intorduction to Communication-I Don't Want to Fight about it Assignment

Intorduction to Communication-I Don't Want to Fight about it - Assignment Example The conflict prolonged for one month. The supervisor withheld some important information on the requirements of the task to be taken. All this time the task I undertook was always rejected by the manager. On asking the supervisor, he always insisted on incompetency on the job. This led to a major conflict between the both of us that I could not even take instructions from the supervisor (Shapiro & Ebrary, 2004). 2). The use of covert conflict behavior hindered the efficiency of communication largely. Instructions for the task of the day always came from the manager through the supervisor. Due to the existence of the covert conflict behavior, I always got partial information on the performance of the task. Due to the feeling of being betrayed, communication had to be cut off between us. Repercussion of the communication breakdown came hard on the institution in performance and profitability. In addition, the relationship between us went sour hence slowing down the efficiency of the job and the respect of employees. For these reason sales in our department reduced due to prolonged conflict within the department (Shapiro & Ebrary, 2004). The issue at stake was insecurity of positions. For this reason, the supervisor intensions were to make me look bad on performance to eliminate competition. The conflict between us did not stop until the management and fellow workers jumped in the situation. The fall in sales of the institution could not be taken lightly and other individuals including the manager had to help with solving of the problem. The most important issue that led to solving the conflict was to improve the sales as well as maintain the quality of the products. Secondly, the efficiency of the employees had to be maintained as well as maintain proper communication in the institution. After the intervention, the conflict was resolved and everything went back to normal (Shapiro & Ebrary, 2004). 3) As communication remain a vital tool in