Imperialism in india Essay Example for Free

Imperialism in india Essay Imperialism Is the policy of extending a nations authority by territorial acqulsltlon or by the establishment of economic and political predominance over other nations (Dictionary. com). The two main categories into which the effects ot imperialism on India can be sorted into are, positive and negative. The positive effects of imperialism on India outweigh the negatives, but there are negatives nevertheless such as exclusion from the government. Britain brought western morality and innovation, which it lacked, this Improved Indian society. This morality and innovation rooted in nd then flourished Into much more after the British left. The Imperialism of India had numerous negative effects many of which ere apparent today. To start off The Government of India was run not by Indians, but by British. The Indians held positions, but none Important enough to have any Influence. This affected them because atter the British lett they took their government and their gains with them, and thus they never learned how to govern effectively and thus the people didnt take part in Government. (l) On top of that Britain industrialized India, but in the process destroyed many trades. This supplied India with jobs, but its urpose was to use India to supply Britain with raw materials. The negative effect of Industrialization of India Is that once the British left the demand for their raw materials fell, and thus destroyed the Industry. (5) With no jobs/trades for Indians to take up India fell Into unemployment and separated the poor and the rich drastically, a separation that still continues to this day. Even though the imperialism ot India had negative effects the aftermath ot imperialism left behind many positive effects that when reaped helped Indian society flourish. To start off before the British came it can be said that the Indians were not ery moral or civilized, due to things such as infanticide and widow burning. Infanticide is when the female babies are killed. Also the slave trade came toa halt. (3) Then when the British arrived In India the practices of Infanticide and widow burning were quickly stopped end eventually so was slavery. Another great contribution of Britain to India Is an Infrastructure which was most likely built by Indians but overseen by Brltlsh engineers(4) The Infrastructure provided a connection between all the people and united them, and infrastructure would also facilitate trade within India and to the borders to trade with other countries. These contributions were good but undoubtedly one of the most important positive effects of imperialism on India was education. Some of the main aspects of education that helped shape India were the English language, the sciences, and technology. (2)The most Important of these three could arguably be the English language, because while other countries dre trying to learn English many Indians already know the English language and are then able to trade and establish commerce with the majority of the world since English Is rapidly becoming a common language for business. The ciences and technology were also important because modern India is based around technology and science. imperialism of India it could be reasonably argued that India benefitted more in than Britain in the long run. In the end after Britain left India it did not take much with it that it didnt already have, it might have acquired some influenced and some monetary gain but nothing worthy of praise. On the other hand Imperialism set a basis for Indian society, it gave India an infrastructure, modern morals, but most importantly it gave India an education. This education helped India flourish and become the advancing nation that it is today.

Improving Education Healthy Lifestyle Malaysia Health And Social Care Essay

Improving Education Healthy Lifestyle Malaysia Health And Social Care Essay Healthcare systems are facing major challenges as they struggle to meet increasing demand with limited resources. Demographic changes, changing disease patterns, illegal immigrants, industrialization, issues of quality and efficiency, shortages or misdistribution of human resources, financial constraint, inadequate research and globalization are the major challenges faced by Malaysias healthcare system as it prepares to restructure itself. Globalization can be described as the integration of economic systems, capital movements and opportunities for different peoples through better information and communication technologies. But locally it has come to mean the increased insecurity and powerlessness that people (particularly poor people) feel in the face of global processes. Impact of globalization on populations health is predictable since globalization will change trade processes and also social and cultural shift. The future healthcare must transform the healthcare system, by making it more integrated, disseminated and virtual. The Malaysian future healthcare system will need to align with and support national health vision and goals. The services must be seen in the context of achieving the vision and the value it adds in achieving national health goals. Existing and the health system of the future must be guided by clear guiding principles and philosophy as well as being robust. Malaysia will develop one of the most advanced health systems of the world by harnessing the power of information and multimedia technologies to transform the delivery of healthcare. Hypertension Hypertension is one of the most common worldwide diseases affecting humans. Because of the associated morbidity and mortality and the cost to society, hypertension is an important public health challenge. 33% of the Malaysian adult population suffering Hypertension and it is including overall gender, race and ages (Lim, Morad et al, 2004) Over the past several decades, research widespread patient education and a concerted afford on the part of healthcare professional have led the decreased mortality and morbidity rates from the multiple organ damage arising from years of untreated hypertension. Hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease, stroke, congestive cardiac failure, end stage renal failure and peripheral vascular disease . Many interrelated factors contribute to these mechanisms and may differ between individuals, such as the rennin-angiotensin system, endothelial dysfunction, salt intake, obesity, genetics and low birth weight (Beevers et. al 2001). The significance on the high blood pressure condition will be more critical, which may lead to the complex complication such as stroke, increase mortality rate and also increase risk of cerebral haemorrhage. The increasing prevalence of the Hypertension due to ageing process, the identification of the risk factors and diagnosis will able to control the Hypertension among the elderly people ( Ong, Oung et al , 2010). In view to improve the healthcare system to be more healthy, the responsibilities of the healthcare provider will focus on the preventive strategy as it will be able to decrease the prevalence of Hypertension in the general population. The main issue to be focused will be on the unhealthy eating habits among the population, lack of physical activity, genetic factor, unhealthy lifestyle, stress and other contributing factors related.. Prevention From Intervention Strategy The prevention and management of Hypertension is to reduce morbidity and mortality by the least intrusive means possible. This maybe accomplish by achieving and maintaining the systolic blood pressure below 140mmHg and diastolic blood pressure below 90mmHg and lower if tolerable, while controlling other modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The treatment to lower levels maybe useful particularly: 1. To prevent stroke 2. To preserve renal function 3. To prevent or slow heart failure progression The above goals maybe achieved by non-pharmacological and pharmacological methods. Before we consider any active treatment of establish hypertension, there is an even greater need to look at the prevention of the disease. Without planning prevention, the hypertension problem will always remain and it will only rely solely on the detection of existing high blood pressure. Primary prevention provide an attractive opportunities to interrupt and prevent the continue costly cycle of managing hypertension and its complications. This primary prevention (non-pharmacological treatment) can be achieved by the following manners: Lifestyle Modification There is no direct randomized evidence demonstrating that reducing blood pressure through lifestyle measure will reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease but it seems likely since trials have shown that benefits of anti-hypertensive treatment are determined primarily by the blood pressure reduction. The benefits of the lifestyle modification are summarized as below To lower the blood pressure in the individual patient. To reduce the need for anti-hypertension drugs and maximize the efficacy To address the other risk factors presence For primary prevention of hypertension and associated Cardiovascular disorders in population. Although there are difficulties in achieving and maintaining proper lifestyle changes, a systemic team utilizing health care professionals and community resources when possible can assist in providing the necessary education support and follow up. Smoking Cessation Cigarette smoking is one of the most powerful risk factor for cardiovascular disease and avoiding of tobacco in any form is essential. There is significant raise in the blood pressure accompany the smoking of each cigarette. All hypertensive patients who smoke should receive appropriate counseling for smoking cessation and nicotine replacement therapy should be considered. Those who continue to smoke may not receive the full degree of protection against cardiovascular disease from anti-hypertensive therapy. The cardiovascular benefit of discontinuing tobacco use can be seen as early as within 6 months in all age groups and by 2 years; they are probably at the same risk with non smoker. Manson et al 1992, Doll et al 1994 (Breen J, 2008) state that Smoking cessation is probably the most effective lifestyle measure for the prevention of a number of cardiovascular diseases . Weight Reduction Excess body mass is correlated closely with an increase of blood pressure. Excess body weight increases the risk of hypertension (Stamler, 1991). Usage of nonpharmacological therapy can be used to reduce the weight loss as it has been proven that it is also able to reduce the blood pressure level (Kuller, 2009). The responsibilities on the weight reduction should be begin with own awareness by the high risk population. However with the frequent advertisement by the healthcare provider in the electronic advertisement will be able to create the depth understanding on the important of the reduction of weight. The losing of weight should not drastically occurs, as it lead to the haemodynamic status in the cardiovascular circulation Diet changes In Malaysia, most of the adult and elderly ages develop habit to take heavy supper meal late of the night and sometimes it is contain of high saturated fat that might lead to increasing fat deposition among the population. Fast food consist of high carbohydrate and high sodium contain in prepared foods, that also introduce to the risk of Malaysian population to develop Hypertension. This unhealthy dietary habit only lead to the high statistic of incidence Hypertension. Increasing fruit and vegetable, higher intake of calcium, magnesium or potassium has contributed to the beneficial effects of some of this diet. Regular fish consumption may enhance blood pressure reduction in obese hypertensive patient and yield additional benefits on the lipid profile. Hence all hypertensive patients should be advised to eat more fruit and vegetables, fish and to reduce their fat intake. This diet habit should be developed by providing continuous awareness among the high risk population with providin g them a pamphlet at the public area and introduction on the preparation of low salt diet copyright in the compact disc or download into the website, as it will assist the public on the good eating habit on their own convenience. Physical activity Sedentary patients should be advised to take up moderate level of aerobic exercise on regular basis such as a brisk walk or swim for 30 45 minutes, 3 4 times a week. Regular aerobic exercise reduces BP in nonmotensive and hypertensive individuals (Cooper et al 2000).When compared with more active and fit individuals, sedentary individuals with normal blood pressure have 20 50% increase of developing hypertension. Regular exercise activity has been documented to lower the systolic blood pressure by about 4 8mmHg. Isometric exercises such as heavy weight lifting can have a pressor effect and it should be avoided. Patient with cardiac while other serious health problems need a more thorough evaluation, often including a cardiac stress test and may need referral to a specialist or medically supervised exercise program. Prioritization the Health Issue Policy Government and private healthcare should consider on the development of the policy for the benefit for all. Reinforcement of the government policy will enhance the public oriented program on the important of preventive the hypertension rather than treat the hypertension. Target Group The prioritization will be focus on the high risk group of population, such as executive, professional, new graduate adolescence, obesity individual and genetic. These groups are exposing to the risk of hypertension. The fast pace in the working environment , compounded the fact that work was physically demanding and influence the workers on the limited role (Rafnsdottir and Gudmundsdottir, 2004) especially on their well being activities. The proactive intervention will be able to assist the healthcare provider to prepare the public towards the reduction of the prevalence hypertension, especially in managing obesity, improve diet and increase physical activities. Activities and Reward Program Suggested that all the organization or company focus to improve the healthy well being environment such as formation of the mini gymnasium in order to encourage the involvement of the workers after duty or during break. Nevertheless, it will encourage high commitment to improve their healthy lifestyle without prejudice. Rewards program introduced to the actively participation in the gymnasium will be boost the enthusiasm among the workers in the organization. Thus, it will reduce risk of incidence hypertension and increase healthy life style among the population in cosmopolitan era. Broadcasting Involvement of the broadcasting in promoting the important of healthy lifestyle will enhance the awareness among population on the management of preventing hypertension. Billboard along the highway, public area also able to assist the improvement of knowledge among the public. Public Talk Should be conducted at all ages, begin with primary school students, elementary schools, universities, seminars, workshop and promotion using bunting and banner, as it will create continuous understanding of the disease. Conclusion In 2006 The Third National Health and Morbidity Survey, The Prevalence of hypertension among adult 30 years old and above was 43% has increase 30% compared to 10 years ago (Merican, M, I., 2008). This figures shows that the hypertension can be considered serious illness which may effect the healthy well being among Malaysian population. Furthermore it can cause potentially life threatening if not detect and treated early. Awareness on the hypertension will be no ending as this condition might occur at any level of ages. Contribution of the public towards reducing the hypertension prevalence and early identification of the risk factor enable the well being lifestyle among Malaysian.

Impact of Campaign Appearances on Key Constituencies

Impact of Campaign Appearances on Key Constituencies Abstract Why do people vote the way they do and what can candidates do to sway the votes of those that go to the polls? Do people cast their votes based on the policies advanced by a candidate, rational self-interest, or political campaigns and the get-the-vote-out efforts (e.g. campaign appearances, advertising, door-to-door canvassing, leaflets, phone banks, electronic mail)? Which one of these influences most the number of votes a candidate gets in elections? Recent studies in voting behaviour point out to an increased importance of get-the-vote-out strategies. The purpose of the present paper is to explore the effects of one type of get-the-vote-out efforts more precisely, local visits by the candidate or incumbent in a certain constituency and the strategies politicians employ in order to increase the number of votes they get. I take as a case study the Romanian 2009 presidential election. I look at whether the abovementioned type of get-the-vote-out efforts made a difference in the number of votes the candidates got. Social scientists have recently started to pay increasing attention to matching in an attempt to infer causation based on experiments that rely on observational studies. In order to test my hypotheses I use matching as a main method. In addition to it, I conducted content analysis on printed and audio-visual media and run several OLS regressions. The results show that only one candidates campaign appearances were marginally significant in statistical terms and did have an effect on the number of votes that candidate got. INTRODUCTION Voting means freedom of expression in terms of political views; in any democracy, it is the ultimate method through which a mature, informed, law-abiding individual expresses his/her decision about how he/she wants to be ruled. It is about representation and participation; it is the assumption that those casting the vote are politically knowledgeable and want to express that knowledge (Popkin vs. Converse, Popkin, 2006). Thus, one of the key elements that candidates to public offices need to bear in mind is the fact that they must persuade the average individual not only to participate in the electoral process (and exercise their Constitutional right to freedom of expression) but also to cast a vote in their favour. The standard literature on voting behaviour lists as factors that influence the voters preferences for one candidate or another, elements such as: the position of the candidate on certain issues and their respective policy priorities, ideological attachments, rational self-interest (which candidates policies best fit the voters private interests) Kim 2009 and Sears et al. 1979, discussants (the political preferences of people one esteems, trust etc.), and charisma (Popkin 2004, Lau and Redlawsk, 2006). However, these elements fail to explain much of the realities in newer democracies, for instance post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe such as Romania. Even in old democracies, researchers have started to focus more on political campaigning and advertising as factors that make individuals cast a vote for a particular candidate. The broad category of political campaigning includes: campaign appearances, advertising (TV spots and billboard ads), door-to-door canvassing, leaflets, phone banks, direct and electronic mail. This approach has proven to be a promising stream in voting behaviour research, as many studies conducted in the U.S. show. A somewhat similar study was conducted after the 2000 election in the U.S., by King and Morehouse (2005), their aim being to demonstrate that the Gore Mississippi River trip of August 2000 was paramount in moving voter preferences for this candidate in the states included in the itinerary of the trip this being a more productive campaign scheme than television ads and media consulting services. The natural question that emerges thus is to what extent political campaigning has an effect on voters preference for one candidate or another. The present paper aims at exploring this question by focusing on the case of the Romanian presidential election of 2009. Of all the abovementioned types of political campaigning I decided to take into account the candidates electoral visits in different towns, the main reason being the fact that this the most commonly used in Romania. Therefore, the main research question that this paper raises is: Do campaign appearances have an effect on the number of votes a particular candidate gets in elections? To answer this question I test one main hypothesis: H1: In towns where a particular candidate already enjoyed a high number of supporters, that candidates electoral visit led to an increase in the number of votes he got. Several additional hypotheses are tested, although they do not refer strictly to the core research problem the effect of making appearances on the number of votes a candidate gets in election. H2: Candidates organizing electoral visits in constituencies leads to an increase in the turnout of a particular election. H3: Candidates organizing electoral visits in constituencies lead to an increase in the added number of votes of those respective candidates. In order to test these hypotheses I use matching, a statistical method that compares groups (in this particular case, the number of votes each candidate got in the towns where they made an electoral appearance against the number of votes they got in the towns where they did not make an electoral appearance) on measurable parameters. The mentioned parameter should be as closely resembling (if not equal) as possible. Thus, the paired towns have similar (sometimes even identical) values for the confounding variables, the difference in the number of votes each candidate got being therefore attributed to the electoral visits of that said candidate. While this method has been extensively used in medical or economics researches, recently political scientists started using it on a more extensive basis, especially when it comes to observational or experimental studies. In addition to this, I conducted content analysis in order to identify the towns where the presidential candidates made appearances. I analyzed two national newspapers (chosen based on the total circulation number) and one national TV station. I crosschecked the information derived from the media against the information provided on the personal web pages of the candidates. Furthermore, I ran several OLS regressions in order to test whether the hypotheses hold. In what regards the structure, the paper is divided into four main sections as follows: the first offers an overview of the existing literature in the field of voting behaviour; the second deals with the theoretical background and the methodology employed; the third introduces the data used and presents the analysis, whereas the fourth section discusses the main findings and proposes directions for further research. The novelty that this paper brings consists in applying a relatively new approach in voting behaviour research the effects of political campaigning on voters choice for a particular candidate to a country that previous studies have tackled very little. In addition to this, matching represents an innovative method able to provide a more in-depth and meaningful insight in this particular field, still underused by social sciences researchers. LITERATURE REVIEW, METHOD AND THEORY This chapter will focus on a brief overview of the current literature in the field of voting behaviour with an emphasis on campaign events used by candidates to persuade voters to cast a vote for them, while highlighting at the same time the aspects of the theory that are of crucial importance for the present study, and propose a way to analyze them further. Literature Review Together with voting, electoral campaigns represent the main tool through which citizens in representative democracies assess the suitability of a candidate running for office. This allows that candidates, in their turn, can use the same tool in order to attract a larger and broader audience whose political views they can thus hope to shape into favouring them above all other candidates (Arceneaux, 2010). For the purpose of the present study, it is important to point out from the very beginning, that the scholarly literature on electoral campaigning and voter behaviour focuses on two main aspects of campaigning. The first deals with campaign appearances and local visits in key constituencies (Holbrook 2002, 1996, Campbell 2000, Shaw 1999, Jones 1998 cited in King and Morehouse 2005), while the second with television advertisements (Shaw 1999, Freedman and Goldstein 1999, Ansolabehere and Iyengar 1995, Finkel 1993 cited in King and Morehouse 2005). The two aspects mentioned above have been deemed as the two most important in impacting voters behaviour in terms of choosing a candidate and/or voting on Election Day. Yet it has been argued by scholars (Fowler et al. 2002 and Joslyn and Ceccoli 1996) that in order for a candidates visit or ad to have a lasting impact on the voter, the specific voter needed to have a previous lingering inclination towards that specific candidate (cited in K ing and Morehouse, 2005). As I have previously mentioned, the literature on elections and voting behaviour, focuses primarily on types of voting or factors that influence voting, i.e. economic voting, instrumental or expressive voting, self-interest voting, issue voting and so on. The focus is thus on who votes (Wolfinger and Rosenstone 1980, Sigleman, Roeder, Jewell and Baer 1985, Verba, Nie and Kim 1978) or on what makes individuals vote. More precisely, the focus is on what are the influences of how individuals vote and how a candidate can persuade voters to cast a vote in his/her favour. Relatively recent studies on campaigning and campaign management (Feddersen and Pesendorfer 1997, Dutta, Jackson, Le Breton, 2001, Thurber Nelson, 2004, King and Morehouse, 2005, Gerber and Green, 2008) illustrate that campaigns usually aim at influencing the reasons individuals have for voting in a particular way, with a strong emphasis on manipulation and appeal to emotions. Still a clear-cut connection between differe nt types of campaigning, the symbolic factor and the rationality of the voter is yet to be found especially in what concerns new democracies, such as Romania. In order to explore the issue of how Romanian leaders carried out campaigns in the last 20 years since the revolution it needs to be pointed out that their main focus was, as mentioned above, to appeal to the emotions of the individual. They achieve this through the symbolic over-flooding of messages (Sears, Hensler and Speer, 1979, Pippidi, 2004) in the printed press and the audiovisual, in the speeches they hold during TV debates and/or rallies, or in their campaign appearances in different constituencies. In the U.S. case (the 2000 U.S. elections); King and Morehouse point out that the Democrats presidential campaign made use of campaign appearances as a tactic to generate positive media coverage. Through these campaign appearances the Democrat candidate managed to energize the base, while it also generated free advertising and appealed more to the local community since is their media reporting the news. King and Morehouse go on to underline that: local newspapers and television s tations are eager to cover campaign events and they tend to approach politics with less cynicism than one finds among the national press corps[1] (King and Morehouse, 2005). Thus they emphasize that candidates should in fact choose key swing states for campaign appearances and attract the local media to generate free coverage both locally and at national level. Although both in 2004 and 2009 Romanian presidential candidates made use of electoral visits in order to gain media coverage, the Romanian media landscape is quite different from the American one. In contrast to the U.S. where local media is powerful and autonomous, the Romanian local media is mainly an extension of the national media. Most national TV stations and newspapers or radios have local versions for most of the towns or counties. Consequently, the news coverage these local media do is still in accordance to the articles printed at the national level at least in the case of high level importance elections. Referring to the pieces of news that voters use to inform themselves about candidates and campaigns, recent research showed that (Baum, 2006) soft news impact to an important degree inattentive individuals by making them change their preferences depending on the cues they get from that type of news. Following the idea presented by King and Morehouse (2005) that local media is and should be used by politicians to get their message across for free during elections to as many individuals as possible, it also follows that candidates should and must tailor their message and their campaign strategies depending on the different societal groups they aim at reaching (Baum, 2005). Since most supporters of parties build their political knowledge and political preferences based on the cues they get from different tabloids or entertainment shows yet still do this on a rational manner (Jerit, Barabas, and Bolsen, 2006) it is all the more clear why Romanian politicians use the sensational factor in their speeches and why they centre their campaign discourse more on rhetoric than ideology and concrete policies. The average voter tends to watch more soft news than hard news, as the former promote a humanized version of politics and politicians, emphasizing the personality and character of a candidate (as well as his/her shortcomings and mistakes). Thus, instead of the policies, the voter ends up identifying with the candidate and vote more based on feelings and emotions rather than ideological attachment or policy preferences. Jerit mentions that even if learning from this medium is largely passive and unintentional, individuals may obtain enough information to function as monitorial citizens (Schudson, 1998) (Jerit et al., 2006). Another relevant aspect involving the literature on campaigning and campaign appearances promoted through national and local media is presented by Zaller. His main argument, that mass communication is a powerful instrument for shaping attitudes and [that] it exercises this power on an essentially continuous basis (Zaller, 1996, p. 18) strengthens the argument made by King and Morehouse (2005) and mentioned above. By meeting with the local press and presenting their platform they insure that even those not present at the rallies or not watching the debates might still find out about what their campaign platform is. Lastly, still on the issue of media and campaign appearances, Natalie Strouds article points out that there is in fact a relationship between selective exposure and political attitudes (the example she gives is that those who watched Fahrenheit 9/11 were significantly more negative towards the Bush administration; not only that, but they also were more prone to start political discussions on the topic, as opposed to those who did not see the film). Thus, those exposed to such means of communication, tend to be more politically active and to engage in political discussions due to the attitude polarization of the extreme media messages. For the present paper, this argument can be interpreted in the light of the local visits made by candidates. Given the trail of articles following the candidates visits, the previous argument supports the statement that visits generated local and national coverage in the press for the candidates. This in turn generated debates between the supporters and even the detractors of those said candidates, ultimately leading to their being moved towards the polls on Election Day. Directly related to turnout though, Powell (1980, 1986) was the first to look at vote turnout in an analysis that span over twenty-nine democratic countries, between 1958 to 1976, in an attempt to answer why is turnout high in some countries and low in others. He found that there are certain mobilizing voting laws: compulsory voting and the fact that the governments assume responsibility for registering individuals on lists for elections, as well as strong-line party alignments (Crewe, 1981, also lists strong-line alignments) that increase turnout. Consequently, for the present study, one can take from Powells study the fact that having a party with strong-line alignments (Romania already has a system where the government assumes responsibility for registering the eligible voters on lists), that has kept a constant line in politics over time, and that enlists as a candidate a charismatic individual has more chances to move voters and persuade them to cast a favourable vote for that c andidate, given that the party has a campaign that ensures its candidate makes appearances in key constituencies. Other similar studies include those made by Jackman (1987), Blais and Carty (1990), Black (1991) or Franklin (1996), but all dealing with turnout and what influences higher or lower turnout either the electoral system, compulsory voting, degree of disproportionality of electoral outcomes, unciameralism vs. bicameralism, postal voting, Sunday voting, number of polling days. While focusing on all the abovementioned factors that influence turnout the referred studies either eliminate or loose sight of the campaign effect on the number of votes a candidate gets. This is why the present paper, following these studies, in an attempt to complete the picture presented by them, focuses on the effect of campaign visits on the number of votes candidates got in the visited constituencies. Another aspect to bear in mind is that the previously mentioned studies were focusing on old democracies, while this paper analyses the election in an East-European new democracy. Method and theory As this paper is using matching as a main methodological tool constituencies where the candidates made appearances are matched with similar constituencies where those candidates did organize electoral visits a closer look it is needed in order for the analysis to be better understood. Method Matching has been proposed as a non-parametric solution to problems of bias that emerge in observational studies (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1983, 1985 cited in Arceneaux et al. 2006). However, scholars are split between the issue of matching having a bias or not, especially given the fact that it is nonetheless a method that allows for unobserved differences between groups to remain unnoticed. The literature on the topic, to date, focuses on the performance of matching estimators but uses experimental benchmarks, and not observational data (Dehejia and Wahba 1999; Heckman, Ichimura, and Todd 1997, 1998; Heckman, Ichimura, Smith, and Todd 1998; Smith and Todd 2003 cited in Arceneaux et al. 2006). The matching process identifies treated individuals [in this case, towns] who share the same background characteristics as untreated individuals [towns]. It is hoped that after matching on covariates, any remaining difference between groups can be attributed to the effect of the treatment (Arcenea ux et al. 2006). This is one of the reasons why this paper will look at the performance of matching estimators in explaining if campaign appearances generate increases in a candidates obtained number of votes in those constituencies visited but will use observational data instead of experiments. Another aspect to bear in mind when conducting an electoral campaign focused research is the strategic nature of campaigns, for as Arceneaux highlights, selection biases may appear in voter exposure to campaign stimuli therefore creating biased estimates of campaign effects (Arceneaux, 2010). This is why it would prove interesting to look at the campaign trail for each candidate and highlight the strategy used for getting-out-the-vote in the constituencies visited. Yet the present study will not deal with this aspect extensively since the main issue that it addresses remains the ability of campaign appearances to persuade voters to cast a favourable vote for the candidate making the appearance. In terms of time and geographical parameters, the focus here is on the Romanian presidential elections of 2009. In order to counteract the possible matching bias that the literature on the topic mentions (Arceneaux et al. 2006), a comparison between the number of votes the candidates considere d for this study got in 2009 and the number of votes their parties got in the 2008 parliamentary election is introduced as an independent variable (the comparison is made for each of the towns included in the study and their matches). For the purpose of this study it is also of great importance to shortly note the manner in which the candidates lead their campaign. Pippa Norris mentions that most candidates are vote-maximizers, following set patterns when setting their electoral agendas, and that they usually involve putting issues before voters (Pippa Norris, 2004). Therefore, a candidates electoral agenda should focus on issues that are crucial points for the constituency he is running for. For the presidency this means centring their agenda on issues that interest most of the country. Consequently, the agendas should follow the lines of thought of the majority of voters without transforming the speech into pure rhetoric, demagogy or empty promises. As the following sub-chapter will highlight this is usually not the case for Romania and for the Romanian electoral campaigns. Social networks researchers (Valdis Krebs, 2004) suggested that there are certain key facts to take into account when addressing the issue of building the electoral campaign in such a way that will mobilize voters and persuade them to vote for a particular candidate. One is getting a charismatic figure as candidate, someone that could be perceived as a role model. A second one would be using candidate appearances (or party supporters) to get the votes of the undecided this has been a technique also used by the Gore campaign of 2000 (King and Morehouse, 2005), whereas the third would be using campaign appearances to consolidate the faith and votes of a constituency that already supports that particular candidate. For the Romanian 2009 electoral campaign the latter two mentioned strategies were used using campaign appearances to either convince the undecided or consolidate the faith and votes of a constituency though with a higher emphasis on the latter. As far as the present paper is concerned, it is also important to look at the campaign agendas and stump speeches the candidates tailored for each visited constituency. It is noteworthy to point out that, contrary to what Rose and Haerpfer (1994) highlighted for Eastern European voters, voting in Romania is based on socio-tropic evaluations. In Romania, as in most Eastern European new democracies, the main problems governments are faced with are political and economical. Due to the negative views regarding the state of economy, individuals tend to vote economically. In other words, this means that they hold the president responsible for the state of the economy even if to a lesser extent than they view it as the parliaments responsibility. Having in mind the aspects mentioned above, one of the independent variables chosen for this study is the unemployment rate, at county level, this helping pinpoint the level of development of the region. The assumption for that choice was that the better developed the region was, the more people it has employed in different industry branches, the higher the income of the inhabitants is (this may also mean better education for the voters), and the better the ability to assign responsibility correctly and therefore, make more informed decisions when casting their vote.[2] Further on, I looked at previous voting patterns for those constituencies where the candidates made campaign appearances, in order to establish whether there is a recurring pattern in the voting habits of the inhabitants of the area, and if the appearances influenced it one way or another. This is needed to show whether political candidates chose some constituencies with the intention to get those voters to go to the polls and vote for them, the choice being done strategically or not. As mentioned before, this paper will not attempt to deal with the large issue of political campaigning as a whole. It will examine a particular aspect of it candidate appearances, whether it is rallies (events where candidates meet with their constituents), or meetings with the media in a certain constituency. The latter aspect of campaigning is a practice commonly used in Romanian elections, where candidates meet with the local media and thus get free advertising in the local media as well as coverage at the national level. Yet it is unclear if this aspect is at the back of the minds of the candidates when doing it. Theoretical Background for Romania In post-Revolution Romania, too often party members change their affiliation; floating from one party to another, only to adapt to the fact that their former party lost elections or simply because the party no longer meets their needs and political aspirations. Each election, the electorate is faced with incumbents or new candidates who have both tailored their political rhetoric to the current political persuasion of those who have nominated them so that they can secure elections without having a clear and strong ideology. Consequently, politicians are transformed into clients of the parties or party officials and vertical accountability in office is void of its initial meaning (Pippidi, 2004)[3]. This system has been maintained in place by a dual executive that doesnt share power but functions on a servitude basis and on the basis of repetition a bicameral legislative framework, where the two chambers are equal, elected in the same way, with almost identical functions and where both deputies and senators cannot be bound by instructions of their constituencies (Ludwikowski, 1996, pp. 129). All these have been a staple of the post-communist elections in Romania and have eroded the quality of the democratic process. As a consequence, both presidential and parliamentary elections are heavily dominated by populist discourses. In 2009, the main parties having candidates running for the presidential office were the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Democratic-Liberal Party (PD-L), and the National Liberal Party (PNL). The first one, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), is considered to be the heir of the former Communist Party following the revolution of 1989, and as such maintained itself as the largest and best institutionalized one (Curt, 2007). However, the alleged failures of the 1992-6 and 2000-4 governments placed it on the second position in the preferences of the people. For the purpose of this study, I have chosen to exclude from the analysis candidates of other parties or independent candidates that also ran for the presidential office. That is based on the assumption that their importance in the preferences of the majority of the electorate was secondary compared to the candidates of the three parties mentioned above. DATA DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS This section of the paper focuses on the collected data, more precisely the sources of the data, the method of collection, as well as how it was used further in the analysis. Data Given that before I have mentioned the tendency of the Romanian voter to base political decisions on the state of the economy and on feelings (the persuasiveness of the candidate playing a key role here), it will facilitate the understanding of the analysis to point out that voters also tend to be influenced by other factors (since they dont appear to vote by making evaluations, appraisals or weighting their decision). This is why the speeches of the candidates during their campaign appearances in the thirty towns used in the analysis were centred on aspects such as the economy and the recent economic crisis, family values, wages and the incompetence of the other candidate versus their own competence superiority. By choosing these facts to centre the speeches on, they tackled some of the key aspects that influence the Romanian electorate: the socio-economic background, their social environment, self-interest, the charisma of the candidate, and the fear of change that the elections wi ll bring changes in government that will prove to the detriment of the country. The socio-economic background is important for both the Romanian voter and the candidates since it is a well known fact that most of the Romanian middle class families tend to vote for coalitions or for democrat-liberals, as these give them the confidence that their income will stay at the same level; while the working class families, for example tend to vote for socialists or social-democrats. The social environment also is a crucial factor, since family values are still of paramount importance in Romania. Individuals therefore, tend to vote in high percentages, the same way their parents vote (Hatemi et al., have already shown that parents have a major role in determining the initial political direction of their children especially if the children still live at home which is the case for most Romanians, thus the previous inference gets higher support.) Individuals also tend to focus on only one or two key policy areas (issue publics as they tend to acquire information about candidates and elections based on their interest in particular issues) and inquire only about issues they are primarily affected by or interested in (Young Mie Kim, 2009). Therefore, candidates tailor their speeches based on the issue that is more pressing for the electorate they visit. Seeing things in this light, Feddersen and Pesendorfer (1997) argue that though individuals focus on one or two policy areas makes the electorate as a whole better informed collectively about what the alternatives and best outcomes are, for this particular case, at an individual level, the choice might still not be the best one. On the other hand, yet still highly related to the previous statement, it is not clear if self-interest is necessarily what guides the Romanian voter. On these lines, Sears et al. (1979) highlight that self-interest guides the vote choice together with rational choice and that it is defined as minimizing losses for private well-being. But for Romania in 2009, the former correlation, that self-interest in terms of voting goes hand in hand with rational choice, is not necessarily always the case. What is more important is the security of the job, maintaining lower taxes, the ability to pay-off debts or receiving credits to pay-off debts, free medical care, a welfare state on the lines of the socialist credence. Subsequently, as long as a candidate promises the electorate the fulfilment of these, and appears credible (and here the charisma of the key party leader plays a very important role) in his promises, rational choice reasoning for casting a vote is rarely used. Lastly, I would al so argue that, at least for Romania, candidates, but especially incumbents, use fear of change to influence voters and to move them to polls. Here fear of change is understood in the sense of apprehension towards everything and anything that is new, that might change the previous order, the previous system and its institutions, that might demand for different behaviour. Having all of the above in mind, and going back to the purpose of the paper, to conclude, the main issue this paper looked at was if by making campaign appearances in different constituencies, and using the abovementioned influencing factors, the candidates for presidency persuaded voters and managed to get them to cast a favourable vote; that is to say, if the campaign appearance of a candidate in a particular co

Vietnam Essay -- essays research papers

After thinking about all the things we would learn this year in American history I decided to do my project on the experiences of Vietnam War veterans. There is a lot of controversy as to whether or not the Vietnam War veterans are given enough recognition for what they went through. I have heard horrible stories of US soldiers dying from US bombs, shell shock, and soldiers returning to America and not being able to function as active members of society due to the horrors of the war. All I really know about the war is what I have seen on television. I wanted to learn about the war through the firsthand accounts of those who were there. The Vietnam War was a military struggle fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975. It began as an attempt by Communist guerrillas (or Vietcong) in the South, backed by Communist North Vietnam, to overthrow the government of South Vietnam. The struggle grew into a war between South Vietnam and North Vietnam and ultimately into an international conflict. The United States and some 40 other countries supported South Vietnam by supplying troops and munitions, and the USSR and the People's Republic of China furnished munitions to North Vietnam and the Vietcong. On both sides, however, the burden of the war fell mainly on the civilians.1 On January 27, in Paris, delegations representing the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Provisional Revolutionary Communist Government of South Vietnam signed an Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam. The cease-fire officially went into effect on January 28. Both the US and North Vietnam asserted that there were no secret peace terms.2 All the US fighting forces had withdrawn from Vietnam by March 1973, but not without major losses on both sides. Two million Vietnamese were killed and 3 million were wounded. The extensive use of napalm and defoliants (such as Agent Orange) left many people badly burned, and destroyed the ecology of a country that was mainly agricultural. This is an important part of US history because it was the first war in which there was no clear winner. 57,685 US soldiers were killed, and triple that amount were wounded. Even those who returned to the United states without physical damage suffered from depression, and had to live with memories of the carnage and destruction that they saw. What bothers me about... ...arried, but instead decided on throwing it away, so that he wouldn’t be able to. So even this early in the war, the horrors of the POW camps were already known. I believe the worst torture Stafford had to endure was being without water. â€Å"As time passed, Stafford’s awareness shifted away from his physical pain and the uncertainty of his situation and focused on one single fact and sensation: he was thirsty... He got down off the stool, onto his knees, and licked the floor where he tiles joined, hoping some water had a accumulated there. When that failed, he tried licking damaged places on the wall, hoping that some water had sweated through.†6 It was only his second day without water, and he had to wait three more. The book continues to describe the horrible conditions in the rooms, the small amounts of food, and the torture that they had to go through on occasion, but never was any soldier’s ordeal described the way Stafford’s had been. Its amazing how some people can persevere. After spending eight years as a Vietnam POW Stafford was released. When he returned home his wife was still waiting for him, and the only problem he suffered was occasional depression.

the street racer :: essays research papers

THE STREET RACER   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today is Chad's first day of college and he wants to become a mechanic. He also hopes to eventually become an owner of a shop. He has always enjoyed working on cars including his own. He likes the look of street racing cars and has always wanted to go see a race or be in one but has never had the chance. For the last few years he had been working hard and saving money and adding performance parts to his car. His mom has been very sick lately but nothing has been too serious so he isn’t too worried but he still thinks about her a lot. He is a very average student sometimes having problems when his mom gets sick but now that he’s in college he wants to do well and succeed. Later in the year he gets a phone call.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Hello.† â€Å"Good evening is this Chad?† â€Å"Yes who is this?† â€Å"This is Dr. Jones I am your mother’s doctor.† â€Å"Is there something wrong?† â€Å"I’m very sorry I have to tell you this but your mom is very sick and we are not sure if she’s going to make much longer.† â€Å"Oh my god is there anything that I can do?† â€Å"The only thing that you can do right now is to come visit her and try to make her fell better and distract her from some of the pain.† Chad stays silent he doesn’t know what to say. â€Å"Are you still there?† â€Å"Yes I need to go.† â€Å"I am sorry sir good bye.† â€Å"Bye†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He doesn’t know what to do he wants to good in school so bad and get a good job, but he needs to go see his mom. The next day in school he dose nothing when he’s in class he cant pay attention to anything the teacher is saying all he can think about is his mom. â€Å"Yo Chad.† Says his good friend Jeff. â€Å"Chad.† â€Å"Chad!† â€Å"Oh sorry didn’t hear you what’s up.† â€Å"What’s wrong with you man you’ve been acting really strange today?† â€Å"Nothing.† â€Å"Tell me I know something is wrong† â€Å"No! I don’t want to talk about this right now.† â€Å"Alright whatever I got to go to class ill talk to you later.† â€Å"Hey Chad I'm going to class now!† â€Å"Sorry see you later.† The two of them walk away and Chad goes back to his dorm room to think about what he’s going do. He decides no matter how important school is to him his mom is much more important. He drives for hours to get to the hospital hi mom is at.

Retributive Justice Essay

Retributive justice is a very pronounced element in Charles Dickens’ novel, Oliver Twist. Common knowledge to the experienced reader, Dickens was a man of sarcasm, who played on words and had a very straightforward, honest way of writing, unlike most of his characters’ personalities. Oliver Twist, who led a twisted lifestyle as a young boy, was influenced by various people: some good, some bad. Like karma, Dickens made sure to give the dishonest, viciously cruel characters what they truly deserved, which may have been just about the only honest thing to happen in their lives. Some of these characters who were treated the way they treated others, or who got what they deserved, were Mr. Bumble, Bill Sikes, Monks, as well as Fagin. Without retributive justice being a key element in Dickens’ novel, its classic success in the world of literacy would be virtually non-existent. One of the novel’s characters, who is most present at the beginning of the story, was a victim of one of Dickens’ swift acts of retributive justice. Mr. Bumble was a self-absorbed, arrogant beadle, who thought rather highly of himself. He was a member of the workhouse in which Oliver was born. He was also a member of a Christian church, who preached about the moralities of Christians, yet bluntly contradicted himself with the manner in which he treated his paupers. He was cruel, the complete opposite of understanding, and showed absolutely no signs of compassion towards the people under his care. Dickens used his great understanding and knowledge in the use of name symbolism in the beadle’s name, â€Å"bumble†, to say that he stings like a bumblebee. Bumblebees may seem cute and fluffy on the outside, but when they sting, they hurt, much like Mr. Bumble’s personality. Dickens demonstrates Mr. Bumbles’ cold-hearted, stinging personality when h e says: Oliver fell to his knees, and clasping his hands together, prayed that they would order  him back to the dark room- that they would starve him- beat him- kill him if they pleased- rather than send him away with the dreadful man. Read more:  Essay About Justice Denied is Justice Delayed â€Å"Well!† said Mr. Bumble, raising his hands and eyes with most impressive solemnity. â€Å"Well! of all the artful and designing orphans that ever I see, Oliver, you are one of the most bare-facedest†. (Dickens 46) He received Dickens’ generous retributive justice when he ran away with Mrs. Corney, the matron of the workhouse, where Oliver was born. Mrs. Corney was basically in charge of the workhouse and put Mr. Bumble in his place when he entered. He decided to try to order the ladies around after seeing them chatting amongst each other and Mrs. Corney wanted none of it. She quickly dismissed his, self-declared power, in front of all the workers. â€Å"I’ll tell you what, Mr. Bumble,† returned his lady. â€Å"We don’t want any of your interference. You’re a great deal too fond of poking your nose into things that don’t concern you, making everybody in the house laugh the moment your back is turned, and making yourself loo k like a fool every hour in the day. Be off; come!†. (Dickens 324) This is an example of one of Dickens’ acts of retributive justice because Mr. Bumble – who’s used to having the authority and power that came with him being a beadle – was quickly and painfully taken away of the power he thought he had gained, by marrying Mrs. Corney. Another example of Dickens’ mischievous acts of retributive justice occurs to Bill Sikes. Sikes considered himself a â€Å"professional† burglar, which wouldn’t be so bad if being a burglar could be considered anything positive. He was brought up in Fagin’s gang and trained by Fagin, himself. Sikes is Nancy’s so-called, â€Å"lover†. He treats this young woman with a rather odd combination of cruelty and envious affection. Sikes gets the real sense of Dickens’ capabilities in his use of retributive justice after he brutally murders Nancy. While trying to avoid an angry mob of people, who have recently discovered that his identity is a match to Nancy’s murderer, he then accidentally hangs himself. Not only does his name imply that Sikes is somewhat psychotic, but he proves this to the readers. While attempting to evade the angry mob, he decides to climb up through buildings, rather than away. He ties a rope to swing to another roof-top, but mistakenly and regretfully hangs himself. Staggering as if struck by lightning, he lost his balance and tumbled over the parapet. The noose was on his neck. It ran up with his weight, tight as a bow-string and swift as the arrow speeds. He  fell for five-and-thirty feet. There was a sudden jerk, a terrific convulsion of the limbs; and there he hung, with the open knife clenched in his stiffening hand. (Dickens 453) Dickens couldn’t have used retributive justice any better. He literally allowed Sikes through his clever writing abilities get treated the way he treated another person. Although, Sikes’ death was somewhat more brutal than Nancy’s he could have easily prevented his own death, had he not chosen to take his â€Å"lover’s† life. Dickens’ didn’t just give the readers two scenes with acts of nemesis. On the contrary, he gave the readers numerous ones, some less apparent, dramatic or damaging than others, yet still present. One example of the less apparent demonstrations of Dickens’ power with retributive justice happened to Monks, whose formal name is Edward Leeford. Monks, who happens to be Oliver Twist’s half-brother through their father’s side, was awarded part of Mr. Leeford’s estate after his passing. Oliver was rightfully entitled to a portion of the estate, but on the condition that the family name’s reputation hadn’t gone wrong. Monks, by concealing Oliver’s true identity, along with his plan to give the young boy a bad reputation, prevented Oliver from being awarded his fair share. When Mr. Brownlow approached Monks about the will, Monks denied everything Mr. Brownlow had mentioned and stated the following sentence: â€Å"’I have n o brother,’ replied Monks. You know I was an only child. Why do you talk to me of my brother? You know that as well as I’† (Dickens 434). In the end though, with the help of Mr. Brownlow, Dickens permits Oliver to be awarded his share of the estate, by forcing Monks to give Oliver his share. A final act of nemesis, or retributive justice on Dickens’ part, occurs when Fagin is hanged for his crimes against the children he trained to be pickpockets and thieves. Fagin, who was a criminal by career, bought and sold, even traded stolen goods that the young children he had trained, stole. Fagin even stated: â€Å"Ah†¦ They- they’re mine, Oliver; my little poverty. All I have to live upon, in my old age. The folks call me a miser. Only a miser, that’s all† (Dickens 90). When Fagin said this, Dickens’ made sure that it was obvious to the reader that he was being very sarcastic. Towards the ending of the book – even though he had rarely committed the  crimes himself – Fagin is awarded his piece of justice that backfired with his previous statement, when he is hanged behind bars. In conclusion, Dickens was probably one of the greatest authors of all classic literature; not only for his novels and other pieces of literature, but also for the various ways he easily incorporated literary components: pathetic fallacy, verbal irony and sensory appeal. More particularly, his use of nemesis and retributive justice in his works such as this novel, Oliver Twist, is what made him such a great writer. From Mr. Bumble to Fagin and all other characters in between, like Monks and Sikes, Charles Dickens didn’t hold back any of his talents. This let the readers truly get involved in the reading of this novel and also keeping them from wanting to put the book down, until they had absorbed every last word of his clever and humoristic abilities.

Outline Research Into Institutional Aggression Essay

Institutional aggression is aggressive behaviour displayed within an institutional situation such as a school or prison. Most research into institutional aggression has been conducted in prisons. One explanation of institutionalised aggression is the importation model- dispositional factors. This model suggests that prisoners bring (import) their own social histories and traits with them to the prison environment and these influence their subsequent behavious (Irwin and Cressey, 1962). Most of the aggressive behaviour studied in the prison situation is not specific to that situation- the same behaviour was carried out in wider society by the same individuals. Such people bring with them into a prison a â€Å"ready-made† way of behaving which they just use in their new institutional setting (Cheeseman, 2003). Irwin and Cressey realised the importance of different prisoner subcultures and identified three. Firstly; the criminal or thief subculture, the prisoner follow the norms and values that are present in the professional thief or criminal â€Å"careers†, such as not betraying one another and being trustworthy. Secondly; the convict subculture, the subject has been raised in the prison system. They seek positions of power and influence and are therefore most likely to turn to aggression or another maladaptive form of coping. and the conventional or straight subculture tend to be one-time offenders and were not part of a criminal or thief subculture before entering prison. They reject the other two subcultures and identify more with the prison staff. This group is least likely to be aggressive. The three subcultures are better at explaining offenders who do not reoffend then some other explanations of institutional aggression. It suggests we have some degree of free will and expla ins that some offenders will not re-offend.