Lower Divison Capstone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lower Divison Capstone - Essay Example These new ventures are being opened in the lesser developed urban centers of Australia. Basic legal environment They are the factors associated with the legal environment of the firm. In Australia, there have been many changes in the legal framework of the firm such as increase in minimum wage, introduction of disability and age discrimination legislation and greater requirements of the firms to keep the standard requirements by the Law. These changes have helped JB Hi-Fi to be up to standard in offering the best services to the customers. It has also facilitated it new projects that aim at expanding the customer reach (Porter, M., 1998). Social environment Demand for a firm’s product depends on the social trends in a country, the willingness and availability affects the rate of demand. In Australia, like any other developed country, the population is aging because of increasing life expectancy and low infertility. This has resulted to very few people with the age below fiftee n years and being a threat to the company because the market is stagnant (Porter 1998). Economic environment These include taxation changes, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation and economic growth. Demand for a certain firm’s product may rise because of an increase in national income. Investments are always discouraged by increase in interest rates. Wage demand may be proved by inflation because overall demand drops. Taxation leads to increase in price because an increase pushes the price upwards thus discouraging demand, this call for new strategies to dominate the market such as starting up new ventures in other regions (Richard 2002). Managerial, operational and financial operations of the company Project management Project management defines the following: business and project goals and objectives, project purpose, scope and expectations, constrains and assumptions, roles and responsibilities, expectation and scope, project management, project budget, ground rules o f the project, the conceptual of the new advanced technology and project timeline. Many objectives and goals have resulted from implementation of this quality project by the management. These includes: market dominance, healthy competition, availing quality products at low cost, encouraging remunerations which enhances effectiveness and the ability of staff to perform their job, increases the security of the data and provides a flexible, open, reliable base for the future (Disaster Recovery 2011). Critical paths and Contingency planning In a project plan, a project schedule is the main plan included in any project management. The main purpose of project schedule is bringing project time, quality and cost under control. It also helps in linking resources such as time and task. Once the project manager has efforts estimates, work breakdown structure (WBS), he/she is fully equipped for project schedule. The risks involved in any project are avoided and analyzed by the project schedule; the Critical Path Methodology (CPM) comes in because it is one of the elements of the schedule network analysis together with Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011).

Investigating Leadership Development practices in Private Sector in Literature review

Investigating Leadership Development practices in Private Sector in Oman - Literature review Example e changes within the organization, it is important for the leader to first understand the fears of the employees as well as anticipating their questions (MacKenzie, 2013). It is this understanding which will assist in the leader gaining support for a change instead of opposition which might lead to the failure in the structure of the organization. The leader has to realize that organizations that are successful in enforcing change do so through embracing strategic value of communication with employees. The leader should ensure that communication takes place before the change is implemented, during the change process, and after the transition of the organization. Therefore, it is essential that throughout the entire transition process of the organization, to constantly have communication. It has been claimed that in order for a leader to be effective, the first strategy that he should have in mind involves focusing on issues related to the people (Cashman, 1997). In such a scenario, the leader can focus solely on convincing the most talented people within the organization as well as those who hold key positions to accept his vision for the organization’s future. The need to convince such individuals is based on the fact that they are the ones who are most likely to offer resistance in case they are not convinced of the strategies being adopted by the leader. Therefore, continuity should be ensured through an understanding of the business and the leader’s realization that his vision affects the successful future of the organization (Harris & Cole, 2007). If a leader does not put this understanding into consideration when making decisions, he might face a challenge where a pivotal talent does not exist. The presence of communication between the leader and key employees; his ensuring that employees are empowered and the creation of a culture that enables them thrive are an integral part of focus on people during integration. The effective communication from the

Comprehensive Mental Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Comprehensive Mental Health - Essay Example Diagnosis 3: Risk of serious malnutrition and existing malnutrition indicated by greater than 1 lb weight loss in a week, which is probably related to this current illness. The patient's feeling of heaviness of limbs, back, head, and aches in the same areas; loss of energy and fatigability, difficulty eating without the staff urging poses risks for further malnutrition. Gastrointestinal symptoms of dry mouth and somatic psychic gastrointestinal symptoms of depression manifested by wind, indigestion, diarrhoea, cramps, belching may aggravate the decreased appetite. Slight retardation at interview may indicate lassitude, and irritability may further aggravate loss of appetite, since it may represent inner tension representing feelings of ill-defined discomfort, edginess, inner turmoil, mental tension mounting to panic, dread or anguish that may lead to further loss of desire for food. Priority 1: Diagnosis 1: Risk for Injury related to hopelessness and impaired pro... ion manifested by suicide attempt in the current admission and sadness, suicidal thoughts, dejection, or episodes of weeping on assessment and feeling of rejection, despondence, self-reproach, and hopelessness indicated by expressions of feelings of discouragement, despair, pessimism about future, which cannot be dispelled. Also, current serious attempts of suicide and helplessness and worthlessness indicated by patient's statement on interrogation. Rationale of the Priority 1: Depressed individuals have negative evaluation of their worth, which often is unrealistic. They are known to have guilty preoccupations or ruminations about minor past failings, where always they blame themselves. It is very common for these individuals to misinterpret neutral or trivial everyday events as due to failure of his or her person. Their exaggerated sense of responsibility for untoward events makes them very commonly feel hopeless, helpless, worthless and powerless. Due to her previous history of paranoid schizophrenia, it would be natural to expect possibility of disorganized thought processes, such as circumstantial or tangential thinking. Although there is no evidence of such in examination or history, there is a high possibility of hallucinations and delusions. Any assessment of depression requires that the risk of self-harm or suicide be assessed. This is the first priority since patient safety if the first nursing priority. In this patien t, due to attempted suicide and related admission, this becomes a greater priority. In depressed patients, self-harm and suicide are very prevalent. Anyone showing symptoms of severe depression, especially psychomotor retardation and/or psychotic symptoms should be regarded as at high risk of suicide, as should anyone who has previously

Investigating Leadership Development practices in Private Sector in Literature review

Investigating Leadership Development practices in Private Sector in Oman - Literature review Example e changes within the organization, it is important for the leader to first understand the fears of the employees as well as anticipating their questions (MacKenzie, 2013). It is this understanding which will assist in the leader gaining support for a change instead of opposition which might lead to the failure in the structure of the organization. The leader has to realize that organizations that are successful in enforcing change do so through embracing strategic value of communication with employees. The leader should ensure that communication takes place before the change is implemented, during the change process, and after the transition of the organization. Therefore, it is essential that throughout the entire transition process of the organization, to constantly have communication. It has been claimed that in order for a leader to be effective, the first strategy that he should have in mind involves focusing on issues related to the people (Cashman, 1997). In such a scenario, the leader can focus solely on convincing the most talented people within the organization as well as those who hold key positions to accept his vision for the organization’s future. The need to convince such individuals is based on the fact that they are the ones who are most likely to offer resistance in case they are not convinced of the strategies being adopted by the leader. Therefore, continuity should be ensured through an understanding of the business and the leader’s realization that his vision affects the successful future of the organization (Harris & Cole, 2007). If a leader does not put this understanding into consideration when making decisions, he might face a challenge where a pivotal talent does not exist. The presence of communication between the leader and key employees; his ensuring that employees are empowered and the creation of a culture that enables them thrive are an integral part of focus on people during integration. The effective communication from the

Use a variety of accounting theories to respond to Adams (2002) Essay

Use a variety of accounting theories to respond to Adams (2002) statement - Essay Example The corporations need to reform their reporting systems to include all aspects of operation in this era when the global economy is undergoing widespread reforms. The fundamental aim of this paper is analyzing the statement by Adam’s (2002) based on the theories of corporate social responsibility. According to the political theory, organisations have power to analyse the environment and participate in corporate social responsibility. Power is the ability to influence and control behaviour of a certain group of people. Thus, organisations have the political power to influence the aspects of social and environmental concern. Rendtorff (2009) classifies the political theory into two categories: these are corporate citizenship and corporate constitutionalism. Corporate citizenship is founded on the need of firms performing their responsibility to the environment. Corporations are referred to as legal persons (Deegan & Rankin, 1996); hence, they are considered independent individuals who ought to be responsible of their actions on the environment. Demonstrating of corporate accountability is achieved by making publications and reports discussing and analysing their contributions to the community’s wellbeing. Failure to report to the community leads to negative public view a nd lack of credibility of an organisation. The primary aim of constitutions in firms is to create and entrench power. A corporate constitution, thus, governs choices incorporated in the state law and the certificate of incorporation. According to Mahoney, Thorne, Cecil and LaGore (2013), the decision to assign powers to directors over decisions is the choice of governance structures. If directors fail to effectively and responsibly use the powers endowed to them, the community can take away the power and give it to responsible parties (Orlitzky & Swanson, 2008). The community can take away the power by cutting partnerships with them, legal actions, avoiding buying

Police Administration Essay Example for Free

Police Administration Essay The role of police in the safety of the community has long been recognized.   It is thus of great importance that the operations behind the police system be well understood in order to identify points that are considered to be exemplary, as well as areas which are in need of further evaluation and reorganization.   This research paper will discuss areas of police administration that are related to the recruitment and hiring process.   A brief review of other related areas of police administration will also be presented in order to provide a holistic overview of the topic. POLICE WORK AND RELATED PROBLEMS The area of police work is an occupation that is strongly associated with misconduct and criminal acts.   The act of performing police work is highly discretionary because it entails a combination of both standard police principles and personal ideologies that influence a police officers values and morale.   Police work also involves coercive activity that regularly occurs in the most private situations which are often not in the presence of their immediate supervisors but in the vicinity of witnesses who, unfortunately, often distort the details of the criminal event when interviewed or asked to testify.   Police work is also strongly associated with corruption through the extreme abuse of police authority for the wrong benefits of other individuals (Klockars, 2000). Corruption is a form of misconduct that has long been a concern of every society.   Several attempts has been made to control the application and use of corruption in police work yet there are several factors that decrease the likelihood of success in controlling this social problem.   One of the factors that hinder the control of corruption is that police officers refuse to report activities that are deemed corrupt to their fellow officers.   Also known as The Code or The Code of Silence, this secret has been with the police force for decades. Another factor that prevents the control of corruption in police work is that police administrators are hesitant in acknowledging that corrupt events do exist in their respective police agencies.   The idea that corrupt activities may benefit the police officers in terms of extra financial income also influences police officers to continue performing or acknowledging corrupt acts.   Another factor that prevents the success in controlling corrupt activities within the police force involves the scarcity of victims of these shameful acts who are willing to report the corrupt incident to federal investigators. For some time, corruption has been viewed by police administrators as a sign of the insufficiency of moral standards among police officers.   To date, the officials of police administration has actively fought the problem of corruption in the police force by meticulously and cautiously screening the new applicants for positions in the police force in order to lessen the probability that newly hired police officers will not succumb to the perennial problem of corruption in their field of work.   In addition, police administrators have also aggressively followed and hunted down any members of the police force that are known to deal with corrupt activities during their line of duty with the police force.   Once these morally delinquent police officers are tracked, they are dismissed from their positions so that any additional cases of corruption will surely be prevented. The removal of these corrupt police officers also assure that the negative influences of these police officers will not spread to the rest of the members of the police force.   The concept of removal of a corrupt police officer from the police force is similar to the bad apple theory in agriculture and this approach has been strongly criticized in the past years.   In order to better understand the problems associated with police work, it is essential that the field of police work first be presented. THE ROLE OF A POLICE OFFICER   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A police officer pertains to a working employee of the police force who has been trained in special responsibilities such as counterterrorism and surveillance.   A police officer is also equipped with the capabilities for child protection as well as protection of diplomatic individuals.   Police officers are experienced in investigating crimes such as murder, burglary, rape and drug trafficking. It should be understood that the duties of a police officer encompass a wide range of functions.   These officers are expected to be capable of responding to any type of situation that may occur during their time of duty.   Police officers are considered as government officials during investigatory events of crimes.   In specific cities and communities, it is the responsibility of a police officer to maintain peace and conduct in the area, even if they are not on duty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Society perceives a police officer as a person who is responsible for instilling peace and order in his particular area of duty.   Peace and order can be attained through the enforcement of rules or prohibitions in terms of social interactions.   Police officers are also responsible in discouraging attempts to commit crimes, aside from investigating a crime that has already occurred in a particular area.   In addition, police officers carry the legal role and authority to arrest any suspected individuals that may have played a role in a crime.   They also have the authority to interrogate and detain the suspect, as well as report the incident and the associated suspects to the proper authorities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Police officers may also help in instilling the safety of the public during large gatherings.   Such role may be similar to an emergency service wherein they could be called on to facilitate in public operations such as town or city programs and parades.   These individuals also serve as a source of immediate response during times of emergency and disasters because they serve as the first person at the scene of an incident. Once a police officer arrives at the particular site and makes a quick survey of the area, he then quickly informs the fire and emergency medical units of the city to respond to the situation.   Depending on the state or country, police officers and firemen have the same line of call, wherein these two groups of government employees may respond to the scene of a disaster at the same time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Minor offenses are also reported by police officers in the form of citations which generally results in the implementation of fine.   One good example of a minor offense includes the violation in the laws of driving and traffic such as illegal parking or over-speeding.   Other traffic violations may include accosting a driver who has consumed more than the allowable amounts of alcohol drinks.   The detention of drivers that manipulate a vehicle under the influence of alcohol prevents car accidents as well as deaths.   Police officers are also trained in assisting individuals that are caught in the middle of an accident or even a simple car breakdown.   It is interesting to know that police officers are trained in techniques in first aid as well as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Park rangers are also considered as police officers who man the national parks and other open recreational locations.   These individuals also enforce specific laws in order to instill peace and order in these specific areas.   Police officers are also visible in areas where rallies and political activities are frequently held.   These law enforcers are responsible in suppress overly active protests that hinders the rest of the public from performing their daily functions such as going to work. Police officers make sure that rallies and other kinds of protests are held within the allowable parts of the public area such as sidewalks and the rest of the people and vehicles are not hindered from moving through their usual activities.   There are some cases wherein protesters may be extremely upset regarding a particular political or ethical issue and these individual may start screaming and acting in more violent behavior.   Should this be the case, the police officers are authorized to control such actions to an acceptable level of protest. QUALIFICATION OF A POLICE OFFICER   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The credentials of a police officer often vary in each country, mainly depending on the expectations and roles of the police officer in that part of the world.   However, it is a general requirement that a candidate for a position of police officer must show proof that he has completed some kind of formal education.   Several decades earlier, police officers were not required to finish a college degree yet currently this has changed. Mostly due also to the changing times and the evolution of the society in terms of values and morals, candidates for positions of police officers are now required to carry a tertiary degree.   In addition, the candidate for police officer is required to undergo two to three years of training as a police constable prior to promotion to a position of higher rank such as inspector or sergeant.   It is a common path that a police officer originates from a military or security position.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition to carrying a college degree, a candidate for police officer is also required to undergo a physical fitness examination.   In the United States, there are currently laws that vary by state that describe the requirements for candidates for the position of police officer.   The requirements include specific information regarding the applicant’s age and educational level, as well as the criminal records and training.   A police agency is generally similar to that of a semi-military organization that requires particular training and experience before applicants are admitted to the police force.   There are also specific qualifications before a particular police officer can be promoted to a higher position in the police force.   It should be noted that promotion to a higher rank in the police force is not an automatic operation that occurs once a police officer has served for three years. Promotion to a higher rank entails taking additional examinations that serve as tools that will help assess the police officer if he is ready and competent enough to hold a higher ranking position.   An interview is also conducted by the review board that serves as a personal questioning session for the candidate police officer for promotion.   The stringent requirements for promotion of a police officer to a higher rank are commensurate to the responsibilities that this police officer will hold once he is awarded the higher police rank. It is actually normal for a police officer to remain in the same position ranking for some time and it is usually the highly competent officers that are often deserve a higher rank in the police force.   There are some instances when a specific police officer stays at the same position rank for a decade or more because it has been observed through their performance that the particular police officer is not competent to serve from a higher position.   Police officers who have served in the police force for a particular duration may also apply for the position of police specialist.   The specialist positions include the detective, firearms officer or motorcycle officer. TRAINING AT THE POLICE ACADEMY   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A police academy is a training facility that is generally managed by the police department in order to serve as a venue for the education and development of the new recruits.   These individual recruits were previously hired by the police department yet they are first required to undergo training at the police academy before they are allowed to work with the police force.   The trainees at the police academy are taught essential skills that are expected of a police officer.   The training involves both classroom and actual action training that runs for several months. Full-time training requires that the candidates are present for the entire day at the police academy, with provisions for letting them stay in for several months.   In private police academies, training is conducted during the evenings so that the trainees are able to work during the day time to earn their wages to support themselves.   In police academies that are run by the police department, stipends are given to the trainees because they are already considered as employees of the police force.   Training at the police academy includes the principles of arrest and booking of individuals.   The use of firearms is also taught at the academy. Special driving skills are also taught at the police academy because this is essential is chasing suspects and criminals.   The trainees are also educated in terms of CPR and first aid skills because these capabilities are expected of a competent police officer.   Trainees are also taught skills in writing police reports as well as ethical measures in interacting with individuals that they would likely deal with on a daily basis as a police officer.   Theories of investigation and criminality will also be undertaken during the training of police officers.   Methods in interacting with the community will also be taught at the police academy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After several months of training at the police academy, the trainees are required to take written and practical examination to gauge the comprehension of the lessons that have been given to them.   Upon passing the requirements of the written and practical examinations, the trainee is awarded a certification of police academy training and will then be assigned as a member of the police department.   It has been observed that there has been an increase in recruitment of police officers in the past decade and it has been predicted that the number of newly recruited police officers will increase in the coming years.   This is mostly due to the change in the society and politics of the country, as well as the increase in urbanization of cities. THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 AND EQUALITY AMONG MEN   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The hiring and recruitment of police officers has been influenced by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.   Years ago, Martin Luther King had a dream that all men and women would be equal.   The laws and progression of civil rights and immigration has changed the United States.   Racial inequality and color prejudice has damaged the United States; affecting the government system through legislation. The differences in culture background and heritage are being traversed. Borders are supposedly being crossed. Educational theories and classroom practices are taking up new forms in order to conform and meet the educational needs of the global societies. Educators and teachers are being expected to share views and recognize values from different cultures, races, societies and ethnic groups. They are expected to move outside the system and custom of the dominant society and incorporate beliefs other than those they are accustomed with. Our laws and progression of Civil Rights and immigration has changed the United States (AARP, 2004). The challenges that face our nation’s children relates to the civil right movements and immigration laws. The 1800’s industrialization expansion and slave trade increased immigration to the United States, bringing around twenty-five million people between 1866 and 1915.   In 1917, the United States began placing and enforcing restrictions on immigration.   The government did have provisions before, however most statutes were requirements for naturalization, government powers, reporting of aliens or items allowed to import. Amid 1875 to 1888, the government wanted to exclude people from coming into the United States that were criminals (whether convicted of crime or misdemeanor), prostitutes, paid or slave laborers, people with contagious diseases, polygamist, anarchist, or any person who wanted or thought it was okay to overthrow a government through forceful violence or assassination of public officials.   On February 5, 1917, a commission set forth by the President Woodrow Wilson, proposed and passed a law that enacted previous exclusions and added to exclude illiterate aliens. The excludable people were â€Å"imbeciles, feeble-minded persons, persons with physical or mental defects which may affect their ability to earn a living, persons afflicted with tuberculosis, children unaccompanied by their parents, persons who admitted the commission of a crime involving moral turpitude, and women coming to the United States for immoral purposes†. The 1920 U.S. census showed that the heaviest immigration prior to that time were from Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, and other countries in northern Europe. In the course of the ending of World War II in 1945, the number of aliens both legal and illegal increased dramatically. Immigrants were trying to escape poverty and oppression from all over the world. Citizens of the United States began feeling the pressure of immigrants taking their jobs and using expensive social services provided by the U.S. government with American tax dollars. The media began to portray evidence of racial inequality and color prejudice, damaging the image of the United States. Therefore, immigration and racial equality became debated hot topics. In 1857, the National Education Association (NEA) was formed to benefit teachers and students, and work to bring attention to educational issues, such as low teacher’s salaries, teacher retirement benefits, student testing and other bureaucratic demands. The NEA became an advocate for students and teachers through curriculum enhancements to both English language arts and history to benefit Immigrants, African Americans, and Indians (Holcomb 2006). The NEA lobbied to encourage laws like The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and The Immigration Nationality Act of 1964, which still affects our laws today, encouraging the idea of multiculturalism, thus expanding subjects such as history and language arts to include viewpoints of historically powerless and oppressed groups. During the civil rights movement, there were two America’s, a black America and a white America. The school, bathrooms, water fountains, restaurants, bus seats, libraries, movie theaters, hospital floors, and even the line to see Santa Clause were all segregated based on the color of skin.   African Americans went to school four months out of the year because they needed to help earn incomes the rest of the months. Their schools had no cafeteria, most with outside bathrooms; and their books were passed down from the white schools so they were all out of date. The school building that contained African American students were falling apart.    The classes were overcrowded with too many students, and not enough room for all the needed classes and materials. For the most part, these students had teachers that were substitutes who didn’t know what they were doing.   The teachers that were in these schools had fixed values for these students and did not provide curriculum that was interesting or pertained to the students who were learning. The assumption of teachers was that these African American students did not deserve â€Å"a great deal in life and that a little, even a very little, (a very little) for a Negro child is a great deal more than he or she has earned†. Complaints were being vocalized with the school districts letting white students ride the bus to attend white schools, and black students had to walk to their school when they lived right next to an â€Å"all white† school. In 1951, the Supreme Court finally had to face and rule on the subject of civil rights. A group called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), created in 1909 to work towards eliminating segregation and discrimination, came together in a court case Brown versus Board of Education. African Americans had started filing suits against the educational systems as early as 1845, but the Supreme Court combined five cases to hear in 1951. The issues brought before the court was because of school conditions, segregation, deficient curriculum, pupil to teacher ratio, teacher training, extracurricular activity programs offered, transportation deficiencies, and of course teacher salaries. The discriminatory environment derived from civil rights and immigration issues unlocked, and then caused the world to see that human tendencies are to prejudge, discriminate against, and stereotype people based on their ethnic, religious, physical, or cultural characteristics. In 1954, Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka, also called Brown I ruled by Chief Justice Warren, acknowledged learning to be the most significant task of state and local government and repudiated the separate but equal doctrine, deciding that racially segregated schools were inherently unequal (Brown Foundation, 1996). The decision had great impact and important to the civil rights movement. The Supreme Court ruled that school had no place for separate but equal status. A year later the Supreme Court decision in Brown II defined how and when school desegregation would be achieved because there was no standard or deadline set in Brown I.   The legal precedence of this time caused far reaching social and ideological implications that brought about changes in the 1960’s and beyond. On the other hand, the legal wrangling did not make immigration and civil right issues disappear because of the ambiguity of the legal decisions. The 1960’s brought about race riots all over the U.S., deaths because of race, and more laws that declared discrimination illegal. On January 20, 1964, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into the Presidency, after the sudden death of President John F. Kennedy. As America mourned the death of JFK, President Lyndon B. Johnson placed his hand on the Holy Bible that was being held by his wife and took the oath of office. On that particular day, Lyndon B. Johnson launched his new program called the Great Society. The agenda was intended to produce a better quality of life for all Americans.   Reporters knew the Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson as a legislative miracle.   In fact, Dick West of the Dallas Morning News expressed that Mr. Truman could not get started on a civil rights bill because a rebellious congress passed an immigration law over a veto.   Jack Kennedy took one whirl at federal aid to education, and then backed off. Then he tried to get Congress to set up a Department of Housing and Urban Development with Cabinet Status and was turned down in the House 264 to 150.   On the other hand, West writes that President Johnson was able to get these laws passed exactly the way he wanted them, thus being named The Congressional Magician.   President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2, 1964, during a luncheon honoring late President Abraham Lincoln in the East room of the White House. The bill was about discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.   The President sat at a small table in the center with racks holding 72 pens, which was an insufficient amount.   He actually used over 100 pens to sign this triumphant bill into law.   Robert F. Kennedy sat in the front row, Martin Luther King sat in the second row, and other senators and cabinet members attended.   President Johnson’s speech was swift but had great emphasis as he called on all Americans to close the springs of racial poison and eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved America. The President spoke of the challenge that Lincoln bestowed upon America asking for preservation of the union, enlargement of liberties for America and for being true to the Declaration of Independence which gives liberty to all.   The speech was a direct challenge for all Americans to ensure that all people including Black American’s will be a part of a complete and equal society. Immigrants thus have an equal opportunity to apply as police officers.   However, it has been observed that most immigrants do not perform well in the written examination for police officers because the links between illiteracy and illegal immigration is astounding.   Hispanic immigrants come to the United States without having the basic literacy skills needed (Garraty and Carnes, 2001).   Teachers in Texas are finding that their classes are mostly English language learners. Bilingual assistants are there to translate to students and teacher regarding teaching information and notes; they are also there to translate during parent teacher conferences. Each state requires that each police officer candidate establish a language proficiency assessment to show that he passed the proficiency and achievement-level this is required for those individuals whose primary language is not English.   The examining committee classifies the applicant and recommends placement and help to benefit the applicant.  Ã‚   There are now reports that the translator and the English Language Learning programs are now improving.   Most immigrants are visual learners hence English or Spanish languages are no barriers to learning.   The problem is when the Hispanic people take the summers off to return to Mexico. Jackie stated that it seems like they lose the English proficiency learned previously.   While some teachers see the problem improving there are immigrants who have voiced their concern. There are certain citizens who are concerned that teachers are spending more time because of English Language Learners and have even dealt with hearing the American-born individuals in a special class because of observation as a slow reader. Upon further investigation, it was realized the teacher was teaching and reading to the children in Spanish, which English-speaking students did not understand. Because education focus has become multi-cultural teachers use literature to teach about other cultures. Multi-cultural literature develops values and self-concept for students. On the other hand, some say American-born students reading and writing scores are declining and achievement gaps are closing.   Some believe that many linguists and educators focus on the multicultural aspect, degrading the English Language. As of 1992, many states require teachers to have a certification to teach English as a Second Language, also called ESL in order to assist immigrants who are in training.   Teachers must have the appropriate academic background is ESL theory and methodology. While there are some educators who back bilingual education, which is where students learn basic skills in their own language while they are learning to speak English.   English-speaking students will have a chance to learn Spanish. However, we are facing political efforts to make English the United States official language.   Senator Pete Domenci of New Mexico expressed that the inherent shallowness behind ‘English Only’ would deny the United States the opportunity to meet is full market potential. Therefore, he introduced an approach called English Plus.   English-plus, adopted in New Mexico’s constitution requiring those public school teachers must be trained in both English and Spanish so that Spanish-speaking students will be taught English properly.   On the other hand, many believe there is no need to make English the official language of the United States because it limits us from having a world–view.     The English Language is the most multi-cultural language and it celebrates diversity because of the multi-cultural influences from the French, Germans, and African’s, which continually make it powerful and diverse. There is an increase in the need for police officers to establish peace and order in the country.   At the same time, the country is experiencing a rapid immigration increase of Hispanics and African American students. The appeal of the current level and police administration in terms of the hiring and recruitment process is an interesting area to cover. The costs of raising education potential for both African Americans and Latino students in order to provide equal opportunity for hiring immigrants would be high, yet there would be benefits by savings in public peace and order expenditures and increased tax revenues based on higher incomes.   Holding onto our legacy of the past, we are now teaching with a cultural approach attempt to raise the academic and professional achievement of all trainees and students through culturally relevant lessons.    Reference AARP, LCCR, Library of Congress (2004). Save Our History: Voices of Civil Rights. The History Channel: The Hearst Corporation. Brown Foundation (1996). Brown VS Board of Education: About the Case. Retrieved March 9, 2006 from http://brownvboard.org/summary/. Garraty, J.A. Carnes, M.C. (2001). A Short History of the American Nation. (P. 450). New York: Longman Klockars CB (2000):   The measurement of police integrity.   U.S. Department of Justice Research Briefs.   May 2000.

Politics Essays Making Democracy Work

Politics Essays Making Democracy Work Making Democracy Work A Review of Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work Introduction: Since its publication in 1993, Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy has been hailed for changing the way academics and policy-makers approach the relationship between politics and society. Putnam accomplishes this feat not so much with his compelling arguments, but with the innovative methodology he employs. Much attention has already been given to the way Putnam combines quantitative and qualitative data in his research; he amalgamates numerical data on Italian institutional performance and civic culture, with the path-dependent historical legacy that predates it. Similarly, much attention has also been focused on the introduction of social capital as a new variable worthy of social scientists’ consideration. Since these topics have already been exhausted in reviews as well as other literature connected to Putnam’s book, this essay will attempt to go a different route. This essay will primarily argue that Putnam has successfully managed to combine both a structure and agency-centered approach into a cohesive research design project. Firstly, the structural approach is inherent in Putnam’s study due to the fact that he is attempting to analyze why Italian regions with the same political structure perform differently. Secondly, using network analysis, Putnam’s social capital and civic culture variables will be understood as being related to agency and of affecting institutional performance. Finally, the overall strengths and weakness that arise from combining the two approaches in a research design project will be highlighted. Overall, despite several unavoidable limitations, in Making Democracy Work Putnam shows that using a combined structuration approach is capable of harvesting a fuller understanding of a particular issue in this case, Italian institutional performance. The Study and the Setting: In 1970 the highly centralized Italian government set-up identical regional governmental institutions in each of the country’s twenty regions. The experiment offered Robert Putnam and his colleagues a unique opportunity to analyze institutional performance over time, and what precisely makes government work in a setting where national factors and institutional design are held constant. Despite the fact that all the Italian regions got identical institutions, the performance of these institutions varied widely across Italy. The discrepancy between the regions particularly between the North and the South led Putnam to believe that â€Å"social context and history profoundly condition the effectiveness of institutions† (Putnam, 182). Therefore, in the causal argument that Putnam puts forth in order to explain what affects institutional performance, institutions are framed as both an independent and dependent variable. So to speak, even though institutions do shape politics, institutions themselves are shaped by social context and history. For this reason, Putnam considers yet another independent variable in his complex causal relationship civic culture. Putnam’s Methodology: Before analyzing how structure and agency unite, and the way in which civic culture is measured in Making Democracy Work, it is worthwhile to take a look at the broader and overarching methodological backdrop on the grounds of which Robert Putnam’s study takes root. The setting for the study, as alluded to above, offered Robert Putnam and his colleagues the opportunity to embark on a twenty year voyage of inquiry; their choice of vessel, a sub-national comparison. Certainly with the case of Italian institutional performance a sub-national paired comparison is sure to prove more illuminating than a cross-national comparison because one can hold-constant for national context. That being said, it is necessary to note that often when one considers cultural, historical, economic and/or socioeconomic conditions, there will invariably be cases where greater variation exists within countries than does between them (Snyder, 96). The experience of Italy provides a unique backdrop for Putnam to study institutional performance because many factors are held constant, relatively speaking. Aside from holding institutional design constant, Italy is a far less diverse country than say India or even Russia with regards to language, religion, ethnicity, class and caste. Though it might prove hard for Putnam’s methods to travel beyond a Western context and be directly applied, it should not be held against him or discredit his book by any means. Just because the arguments might have difficulty traveling (and we should note that Putnam’s arguments in Making Democracy Work are the underpinnings of his second book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American Community) does not mean that they should be judged negatively. After all, this is the precise purpose of a sub-national paired comparison to develop theories or generalizations that one is unable to make through cross-national paired comparisons due to all the intervening variables that cannot be held constant. Furthermore, Making Democracy Work does not qualify merely as a sub-national paired comparison. Putnam really tests his arguments against a broad spectrum. In so doing, he avoids the common problem of selection bias, and derivatively of false dichotomies. Putnam does not pick and choose the regions he incorporates in his study. Making Democracy Work is extensive in that it includes and considers all of the regions in Italy equally, and weighs them up against the same credo (where information permits). In each region Putnam interprets quantitative data on institutional performance and then analyzes it alongside quantitative data regarding its civic culture. He then pushes the envelope by reaching far-beyond direct causal inference and into history. The historical qualitative data that Putnam accumulates, allows him, ostensibly, to isolate the main factor that leads to variance in institutional performance in Northern and Southern Italy social capital. Making Democracy Work benefits from diverse measurements the indicators used are wide-ranging, innovative, impressive, and provide for a superior demonstration of Putnam’s arguments. In fact, it is the combination of both the quantitative and qualitative data that earn Robert Putnam and Making Democracy Work the recognition of being simultaneously both a large-N and small-N sub-national comparison. Structural Forces: Having laid out the methodological framework that Putnam has developed it is now possible to focus on the structuration approach that he incorporates. The explanation of institutional performance the dependent variable is contingent to a certain degree on a structural analysis. While all the regions in Italy are constrained by the same national structural force the highly centralized government, the regions are also constrained by their own historical legacies and the structures that have emerged from the past. In this sense, according to Putnam, the history of the North has cultivated an arena/structure much more conducive to proper institutional performance than has the South. Putnam chooses twelve indicators as evidence of institutional performance, or â€Å"good government†. These indicators include: Cabinet stability, budget promptness, statistical and information services, reform legislation, legislative innovation, day care centers, family clinics, industrial policy instruments, agricultural spending capacity, local health unit expenditures, housing and urban development and bureaucratic responsiveness. Far from agency-centered, the conditions of these indicators are all determined by the structure in which they are situated. Essentially, the greater the influence of the structure, the more predictable the political behaviour is likely to be. Following Putnam’s path-dependent argument that historical legacies shape the structural forces (which come to light from such indicators), it is important to then consider the nature of the historical legacies themselves. In Putnam’s view the historical legacies worth exploring are those of civic culture. Analyzing the Affects Agency: The affects of agency on Italian institutional performance is not analyzed explicitly in Making Democracy Work. Putnam does not look at individual leaders, regional representatives, or even influential citizens in any of Italy’s diverse regions contemporarily nor historically. However, implicit in his definition of civic culture, as the â€Å"norms of reciprocity and networks of civic engagement† (Putnam, 167) is an understanding of agency nonetheless. If agency is based on the actions and decisions of a single person, it must also be based on the interactions and collective wills of many people. A horizontal-network analysis is an ideal approach to take when trying to understand the affects of agency in regional patterns of behavior. From a nominalist point of view the researcher must use a conceptual framework to define the boundaries of the network or who/what is and is not included in the research agenda. For his part, Putnam proposes four indicators in which one can find evidence of a civic culture; these indicators include participation in voluntary associations, newspaper readership, referenda turnout, and personalized preference voting (or lack thereof). Even though groups like football clubs are internally heterogeneous and diverse, network analysis helps Putnam to disentangle the inherent complexity and to highlight the important aspects of functioning as a group. To the point of emphasis, the fact that Putnam also correlates these â€Å"objective† measures with more opinion-based survey indicators of civic culture goes to show that Putnam is committed to incorporating the role of agency in his research design. Essentially, he moves from a nominalist to a more realist network analysis by focusing on the individuals. More specifically, Putnam shows that network boundaries are established based on the subjective perspectives of the network actors themselves. For this reason, the data in his research is based to large degree on surveys, questionnaires and interviews. The difference between the North and the South of Italy therefore, can be expressed in the different types of networks they produce. Putnam considers all of the following: the different types of networks that exist, the organization of the networks, and the individuals within the networks. Relating to the different types of networks, Putnam notices that the density of networks in the North is much greater than in the South. Not only do more social groups exist in the North, but membership in them is greater and the pattern of ties between the members is stronger. With regards to the networks’ organization, in the North there is a higher frequency of interaction, and a larger amount of emotional investment within the network. Lastly, as far as individuals are concerned, Putnam looks at subjective measures like trust, solidarity, personal closeness and ideological proximity to ultimately discern that in Northern Italy individuals are more likely to enter horizontal-networks and develop a more cohesive civic culture that fosters responsive government and higher institutional performance. Strengths and Weakness of Structuration: In a sense, Putnam has combined a structural and agency approach into a single research design. The structuration approach has several strength and weaknesses worth highlighting, particularly with reference to Making Democracy Work. Perhaps the major benefit of combining the analysis of structure and agency in the case of Italian institutional performance is that Putnam is able to recognize and demonstrate the interplay between the two. Putnam shows how structures and agents are co-determining and mutually implicating. When assessing the causal relationship between civic culture and Italian institutional performance the case is made that the two entities are defined by their internal relationship, such that the two entities derive their meaning by their relationship and have no meaning or basis without the other. People produce the structure, and the structure in turn reproduces the people. So to speak, agents and structures are ontologically equal in Making Democracy Work. Inherit in this methodological approach’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. One of the major problems with operationalizing the structuration approach is that it is often difficult to design a research strategy that can draw valid causal inferences. As with the case of Making Democracy Work, the difficulty in making inferences is determining whether something is a cause or an effect there has to be a starting point for an analysis. One inevitably has to choose a bottom-up or top-down approach treating either agent or structure as ontologically primitive. Robert Putnam, by discerning them ontologically equal has failed to choose a starting point for analysis. Instead of a parsimonious and simple linear causal relationship, Putnam points to vicious and virtuous circles that have led to contrasting, path dependent social equlibria (Putnam, 180). Good or bad institutional performance will further continue a history of good or bad civic culture. More so, the correlation between civic associations and social capital that Putnam professes is also circular: While to think purely in terms of linear causation is to do injustice to the overall interconnectedness of the variables, the danger of thinking in terms of equilibria is that you develop a ‘chicken or egg’ scenario. One begins to beg the question of where in history it is right to draw the line when studying Italian civic culture? Indeed, Putnam’s historical record has become the focus of considerable criticism from scholars. Sidney Tarrow, in â€Å"Making Social Science Work across Time and Space†, contends that social scientists go to history with a theory to prove, and do not objectively derive viable generalizations from history. History requires picking and choosing; one must even choose where in history to draw the line before beginning a study. However, if a line can always be drawn back farther one must ask whether cases can really be isolable and independent at all. For example, can the case not be made that because the North of Italy colonized the South, that the problems of the South are really the problems of the North? Some critics say that it is unfair for Putnam to displace the problem of poor institutional performance on the South and not to consider the possibility of contamination. However, Putnam can hardly be criticized for this everything can be understood as ex post facto something else. Irrespective of whether Putnam is right or wrong on where in history he draws his line, Making Democracy Work should be hailed for its attempt to regardless of its actual success at combining quantitative and qualitative data, and structure and agency, in creating a complex causal relationship. Conclusion: In Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Robert Putnam has successfully managed to unite both a large-N and small-N sub-national comparison into a single model of inquiry. Equally as impressive, he has successfully managed to combine both a structure and agency-centered approach into a cohesive research design project. Putnam uses a structural approach to analyze his dependent variable political institutions, and an agency-centered approach to analyze an independent variable that has an affect on the development of political institutions and their efficacy civic culture. In so doing, Putnam manages to turn political institutions into an independent variable too, highlighting the interconnectedness of the two variables. Due to this interconnected circular nature of Putnam’s argument, Putnam’s study of Italian institutional performance, though both descriptive and predictive, lacks convincing prescriptive capabilities. Nevertheless, despite its prescriptive shortcomings, Putnam shows that using a combined structuration approach is capable of harvesting a fuller understanding of a particular issue in this case, Italian institutional performance. Works Cited Putnam, Robert D. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993). Snyder, Richard. â€Å"Scaling Down: The Subnational Comparative Method,† Studies in Comparative International Development 26:1 (Spring 2001), pp. 93-110. Works Consulted Dwainpayan, Bhattacharyya, et al. (eds.) Interrogating Social Capital: The Indian Experience. (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2004). Furlong, Paul. â€Å"Review of: Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy,† International Affairs 70 (January 1994), pp. 172. Kwon, Hyeong-Ki. â€Å"Associations, Civic Norms, and Democracy: Revisiting the Italian Case,† Theory and Society 33 (2004), pp. 135-166. Levi, Margaret. â€Å"Social and Unsocial Capital: A Review Essay of Robert Putnams Making Democracy Work,† Politics and Society24 (March 1996), pp. 45-55. Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000). Sabetti, Filippo. â€Å"Path Dependency and Civic Culture: Some Lessons from Italy About Interpreting Social Experiments,† Politics and Society 24 (March 1996), pp. 19-44. Tarrow, Sidney. â€Å"Making Social Science Work Across Space and Time: A Critical Reflection on Robert Putnams Making Democracy Work,† American Political Science Review 90 (June 1996), pp. 389-397.