Oligopoly (Economics) Essay

1) Oligopoly is when a particular market is controlled by a small group of firms. For example supermarkets, there are three (there usually exist three companies) companies which dominate the market, Wong and Metro, Santa Isabel and Plaza Vea, and Tottus. The main assumptions that economists make when talking about a situation of Oligopoly are various; three or four large companies dominate the industry, but small companies do exist (smaller companies in the recent example would be for example â€Å"Arakaki†, a sole trader company); firms are interdependent, al will watch what the competitors do and act accordingly (when Wong created the â€Å"Bonus† card, it did not even passed a week when Santa Isabel created the â€Å"Mà ¡s Mà ¡s† card); the existence of the kinked demand curve (which we will see what it is on question b); there are barriers to entry, this means it is difficult for other firms to enter the industry; non price competition, as companies cannot compete by prices, therefore they have to compete with the service they offer (for example the â€Å"Bonus† and the â€Å"Mà ¡s Mà ¡s† cards); the oligopoly must be collusive (collusion), this means when the companies, which dominate, work together to maintain very high prices at the expense of the consumer (for example Umbro and Adidas, sell football shirts at very high prices, as a Manchester United shirt costs approximately $50), companies which work together to maintain high prices should be fined, as it is illegal. Advertising is also essential to maintain a high profit and market share, and also something very important, which is to develop brand loyalty (for example, once I began to buy â€Å"Sony† electro domestics, I begin to have a brand loyalty, as I never had a single problem with them). 2) The causes of price stability (when prices are stable, without any change) existing in a situation of Oligopoly are two. The first reason is due to the shapes of the Demand curve (AR). Putting an example of gasoline stations, if there are three companies in this market (Shell, Texaco and Mobil), and if one company, for example shell, decides to increase its prices, no other company will follow, and its sales will decrease by a lot (there will be no incentive for companies to increase prices as consumers have other companies to buy gasoline from, therefore it is elastic as there has been a small change in price but a big change in demand). A company will also not lower its prices because all other companies in the industry will do the same (as people will go to where prices are lower), and there will be very few benefits, also profits will decrease, as sales increase by only a small amount (there has been a big change in price but a small change in demand, therefore inelastic). Firms will leave the price unchanged, and the firms will have to use other objects to compete with each other, this includes product differentiation through advertising and innovation. The price elasticity of demand looks at the responsiveness of QD to a change in price. It is better for companies to therefore use the same price and find other ways of increasing their sales, for example to use non price competition in order to increase sales. â€Å"The solution concludes that there is a determinant and stable price-quantity equilibrium that varies according to the number of sellers. In effect each firm makes assumptions about its rival’s output. Adjustment or reaction follows reaction until each firm successfully guesses the correct output of its rivals†. The second reason of price stability in Oligopoly is, if a company maximises its profits where MC=MR, therefore the point where this two curves cross will give us the price and the quantity the company should provide. The marginal revenue curve is not continuous, as it has a very big gap in it, this is called the â€Å"Region of Indeterminacy†, and the MC curve can pass through any part of this region, this gap in the MR curve, allows MC to vary without affecting either final price or quantity. For prices to change, costs would need to rise above MC†.

The Right to Education

The Right to Education – A Global Perspective â€Å"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. † Nelson Mandela This saying of Nelson Mandela reveals a lot about the importance of education as a mean of achieving the changes we want to see in the world. Realizing the importance of education is highly significant for the nation and the world as a whole; however, giving equal education opportunities to people within specific countries and around the world remains a challenge for the global society.In order to overcome, or at least ease, such challenges, the right to education has been a subject of matter of international law, as well as state constitutions. While a great number of countries have been signatories and ratifiers of international conventions that protect the right to education, many countries have failed to provide the essential capacities to assure this right for various reasons. The failure to protect this right, no matter the reasons, has been quite harsh for the most vulnerable groups of different societies; hence, leaving millions of people worldwide without the capacity to contribute to a better world.As such, this paper will firstly focus on the protection of this right by international law, and it will later focus on the protection of the right to education in the following countries: Finland, Venezuela, India and finally Kosova. The Right to Education and the International Law The right to education, as a human right, has been highly guaranteed and protected by international law for many decades now. To begin with, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 marked the universal recognition of the right to education.The Declaration guarantees the right to education through Article 26, which among others states that: â€Å"Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Techni cal and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit . † Furthermore, the right to education is protected by the Convention against Discrimination in Education, adopted in 1960.This convention, through its 19 articles plays a high significance in the struggle of the global society to hinder the discriminations and separations in education . Later on, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979, guarantees women equal rights with men in terms of education . In addition, in 1966, the right to education was also preserved in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, specifically through articles 13 and 14.Both article of ICESCR make primary education compulsory and free of charge, as well as oblige the states to make secondary and higher education easily accessible to all . Nevertheless, the Convention on The Rights of The Child (CRC), adopted in 1989, was a significant step in the protection of children from discrimination of any form. Articles 28-32 of this convention particularly deal with discriminations made in education. Signatories of this convention â€Å"recognize the right of the child to education,†¦with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity . As mentioned previously, besides international law, the right to education is also enshrined in many regional instruments and most of the countries’ constitutions, though the compliance to the international/regional/national instruments varies to a great extent from country to country. As such, there are great disparities between school enrollment rates in different countries, and the following sections of this paper will deal with the protection/application of the right to education in specific countries and their effects on the education activities. FinlandFinland proved to be one of the most successful countries in the education field. Actually, it was ranked as the fourth country out of 48 countries belonging to different development phases. Undoubtedly, one of the crucial factors that facilitated this achievement was Finland’s hard work in protecting the right to education. First of all, Finland is a signatory of all of the above-mentioned international instruments, which make Finland legally binding to all of the above articles. Furthermore, the Constitution of Finland protects the right to education through Section 16 of Chapter 2 .The constitution makes primary education free and compulsory to all children. Nevertheless, the constitution makes the state accountable for providing equal opportunities to all citizens even after finishing the compulsory education . The right to basic education in Finland is further protected by the Basic Education Act, which makes the municipalities responsible for providing education in both languages (Sweedi sh and Finnish), as well as providing free school materials, meals, and transportation to all students of pre – primary and primary education.The Basic Education Act also protects the right to education of the disabled children by making them entitled to special â€Å"interpretation and assistance services†, all for free . Furthermore, the Universities Act of Finland makes undergraduate studies free of charge for studies in Finnish and Swedish, as well as freeing from undergraduate studies tuition students of EU member countries . As mentioned previously, Finland is one of the few countries where the right to education is well protected, and cases of violations of this right are not common at all and are hard to find. VenezuelaVenezuela has ratified all the international instruments mentioned above, which means that Venezuela is obliged to comply with those articles that regulate the right to education. Besides that, the right to education in Venezuela is also protecte d under the Venezuelan Constitution. Chapter VI of this constitution deals specifically with education, and Article 102 of this chapter states that â€Å"Education is a human right and a fundamental social duty, it is democratic, free of charge and obligatory . † Further, Article 103 guarantees equal opportunities for all students, including disabled students .In addition to the Venezuelan Constitution, the right to education in Venezuela is also protected by the Organic Law of Education, decreed on 2009. Article 3 of this law, makes education â€Å"public, social, compulsory, free of charge†¦ quality, secular, comprehensive, and permanent, of social pertinence, creative, artistic, innovative, critical, multicultural, multiethnic, intercultural, and multilingual †. Article 6 of the Law gives access to education to disabled students and students in the â€Å"Adolescent Responsibility Penal System† .Furthermore, Article 6 makes the state responsible for devel oping the mechanisms that control the right to education. However, despite the progress Venezuela made in legally protecting the right to education, many challenges still remain and make the reality less desirable, one of those issues being the certification of the asylum students. Asylum seekers deal with delays in getting certified for their studies because they have to first be recognized as refugees, a process that often takes a lot of time.Furthermore, if an asylum seeker finishes a certain level of education in his/her home country, that certification will not be recognized until the student receives Venezuelan documents. As Rodrigo de La Barra puts, such delays of certification, prohibit students to continue with their studies, hence hindering motivation and increasing drop-out rates. It is important to mention that both these cases are violation of the Convention on the Rights of Children, a convention to which Venezuela is legally binding . IndiaContrary to Finland and Vene zuela, India is not legally binding to the International Convention against Discrimination in Education. Still, it is legally binding to the other international conventions dealing with education . The right to education in India is protected in its constitution in the Article 21A, which obliges the state to offer free/compulsory basic education to children 6-14 years old. Furthermore, Article 29. 2 prohibits the discrimination in education made to minorities, whether that is racial, religious, or caste based discrimination.Nevertheless, Article 30 gives them the right to develop their own educational institutions . A highly significant step on the improvement of protection of the right to education in India was made in year 2009, when the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act was passed. This Act’s aim is guaranteeing every child of age 6-14 free and qualitative education, as well as defining the ways the state shall use in protecting such rights. Besides ma king education free and compulsory, this act also says that children cannot be left out because the admission period is over, or because of the lack of documents.Furthermore, the act gives the disabled students the opportunity to participate in the mainstream education . Noticeably, the government of India has made important steps in protecting the right to education; still, what lies in papers is quite different from the actual situation in India. Though the school enrollment rates have increased in India after passing the Act, the participation rates and drop-out rates are not so optimistic. Yet another concern in India is the low quality education, which is a result of †poor curriculum and syllabus, deficient pedagogy, negligent teachers † and parents.Nevertheless, discrimination, though prohibited by the Act, is still prevalent in the Indian education system. It is the Act itself that leaves space for such discrimination since it allows for school categorization as f ollows: â€Å"a) government schools b)aided private schools c)special category schools and d)non-aided private schools †. By allowing the existence of such school categorization, the Act legitimizes the discrimination of the poorer children who become subjects of lower quality education, as compared to the rich students.That violations of the right to education, guaranteed by the Act, are a serious concern in India, is shown by the great number of cases of violation. According to Amod Kanth , 10,500 cases of violation of the act have been recorded in Delhi, within a nine-month period after the implementation of the act. Kanth states that such violations are â€Å"of at least 15 kinds, like screening tests before admissions, corporal punishment, admission denial, mental harassment and others . These figures of the violations in the capital city seem quite concerning, and I believe that they clearly picture the state of the right to education in India. Conclusion In conclusion , education is an essential process which enhances the intellectual development of human beings. Despite being a right in itself, it is also a tool to achieve many other rights. Therefore, ensuring an education to every child is of a high significance, not only for the child alone, but also for the well-being and the development of the society.As such, guaranteeing that every human being is given the opportunity to be provided with such a development activity has been an important subject of many international, regional, and national instruments, among them: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention against Discrimination in Education, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Convention on The Rights of The Child (CRC), as well as the national constitutions of almost all countries.However, as the cases in Venezuela and India, show, the protection of the right to education by l egal instruments is not sufficient unless its implementation in the real life is ensured. Problems related to the application of this right arise every day, leaving millions of children worldwide, including highly developed countries, without even basic education; hence, without the potential to contribute to the improvement of the global society.Therefore, it is crucial that we, as individuals, start contributing to the gradually easing of the obstacles preventing the world from becoming a better place for everyone, either by making better laws or by implementing those laws better.

Bush V. Gore

Gore was described as a controversial election to say the least. The votes in several Florida counties were put up into question as to whether they should be counted or not. In a Democratic Election all legal votes must be counted. The main arguments around this issue were Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, the interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause and confusion around voting deadlines during the Recount. This process was exacerbated by the lack of impartial justices and secretary of state. The initial argument surrounding this issue is Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution states, â€Å"In presidential elections, each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, the electors to which the State is entitled. † That being said 3 justices, Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas all argued that Florida violated this; there argument placed a lot of emphasis on the word â€Å"legislature†. Meaning to say that there is a difference between the State, who is empowered to appoint its own electors and that own State’s legislature. Furthermore, this Article of the Constitution is completely out of the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction in the circumstances. The Supreme Court should have nothing to do with matters of state law in between the State and their own Legislature. Also, the Florida Supreme Court held that â€Å"a legal vote may include any ballot from which it is reasonably possible to determine the clear intent of the voter, whether or not the ‘chad’ had been completely punched through, which is consistent with the law of the clear majority of the States†. Chief Justice Rehnquist in his opinion argued that this interpretation was so ridiculous and not mirrored with Florida legislation, that it violated Article 2. He claimed that because most counties use punch cards that tell you to clearly punch your ballot no reasonable person could count a vote that wasn’t clearly punched all the way through. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) The Florida Election Code states that â€Å"no vote shall be declared invalid if there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter†, also a 60 year old Florida Law precedent states that â€Å"must give statutes relating to elections a construction in favor of the citizen’s right to vote, and the intention of the voters should prevail when counting ballots† (Constitution of the State of Florida, As Revised in 1968) After hearing this, the other 6 Justices concluded that the Florida Supreme Court decision was in long established precedent and said it didn’t even raise a question under Article 2 of the Constitution. In simpler terms, stating that all of those votes were legal and that the standards set were sufficient to determine which votes should and should not be counted. Onto the Equal Protection Clause, the Supreme Court basically contradicts themselves on this matter. After stating the voting standards set by the Florida Supreme Court didn’t violate Article 2, they continued on to state that it violates the Equal Protection clause because â€Å"the standards for accepting or rejecting contested ballots might vary not only from county to county but even within a single county† (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ). What is startling is that the Florida Constitution states, â€Å"The intention of the voters should prevail when counting ballots† meaning that if there is any intention the vote should be counted, and if this wasn’t precise enough for the Supreme Court why did they vote to uphold it on the Article 2, Section 1 vote? If the Supreme Court required a uniform standard for counting and recounting votes in Florida, why does it not need a uniform standard for voting? Is the fact that punch card voting has a sufficiently higher chance of having your vote not counted compared to computer voting where there is a bare minimum chance of your votes not being counted violating the Equal Protection Clause as well? Or is it the fact that punch card counties are more commonly in low income counties, who tend to vote Republican (Al Gore)? All of these things ould be seen as discriminatory or â€Å"not equal† as well as the non-uniform standard for counting, but if the Supreme Court has decided that the recount standard is in violation then in thought the whole Election should be rendered â€Å"Unconstitutional† and put to an end, correct? To continue, no it should not be put to an end. The Supreme Court should have ordered a stay on the Recount until a uniform standard was put in place for all of the Florida Counties and they should have ordered that every state have a uniform standard for Recounts for future elections. The Supreme Court made a Pragmatic but Unlawful decision in voting for the violation of the Equal Protection Clause which led to the stoppage of the 2000 Florida Recount. (Bo Li, Perspectives, Vol. 2, No. 3). This goes without mentioning the fact that Bush’s state of Texas had a uniform voting standard which allowed anything to be counted in the scenario of a recount including a dimpled chad. This means that Governor Bush signed in a bill that let any vote with slight intent be counted in the process of a Recount, yet is arguing that intent of a voter is an unconstitutional argument. This is hypocritical and shows a lack of character, if Bush truly believes in the Constitution he should be letting all the legal votes be counted to see if he actually won the Presidency of the United States. If Bush truly cared about the simple uniform standards for Recounting, he should have ordered for a stay until uniform standards were set in place. Instead he argued the entire Recount unconstitutional and the 5-4 majority (5 Republican Judges-4 Democratic Judges) decided that there was no reason to Recount possibly legal votes when it had a chance of harming Bush’s chance to become Prime Minister. Legal analysts from all over the Country explained it as the Justices trying to make a pragmatic decision by putting an end to this controversy, turns out it backfired on them. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) The third point to be explained in this case is the ongoing controversy over voting deadlines and how the ever so bright Secretary of State in Florida Katherine Harris’ thoughts were constantly being controlled by Bush advisors. Katherine Harris (and Friends) made it very clear that they would ot be accepting votes after a certain deadline, which left no time for the original recount. All these votes had to be stamped and signed to be considered legal votes. This left the Democratic Party frantically trying to recount votes and get them stamped and in on time. When she ruled that if votes were not stamped and signed they could not be accepted, the Democratic Party argued that tons of Military votes could not be counted because they were very rarely stamped and sig ned. In the US there is no voting law that states Military Votes can be accepted with no signature or stamp. This obviously led to an uproar from Republicans (Who most military votes get casted for) because it was just unethical for the Democrats to take away illegal votes for the Republicans. What the Republicans fail to realize is that taking away Florida citizens legal votes because you are scared of losing is also unethical. The Democrats later changed their minds and told the Secretary to reconsider the Military votes and give them special consideration. (Joseph I. Lieberman, Military Ballots Merit a Review) There are a few other factors I would like to add to perspective before closing my argument, in Florida the Republican swayed Secretary of State Katherine Harris put 20 Thousand people on the Voter Purge list. A Large group of these people had never done anything wrong, in particular an African-American Pastor could not vote because his name was similar to that of a hardened criminal in Florida (HBO Documentary, Recount). The most interesting fact of all was that the 3 Judges who voted for Bush in both instances (Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas) were all considered Republican judges. In the last 30 years at the Supreme Court the 19 Cases involving the Equal Protection Clause concerning laws against race, elderly, and other minorities they voted a perfect 19 for 19 to uphold the Equal Protection Clause. Yet, the one case involving Politics and the party they are associated with they for some strange reason voted against it with very little reasoning. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) If that’s not Politics in Black Robes, what is. In Conclusion, Legal votes in Florida were not counted when they should have een. The various ideas such as the proper vote in Article 2, Section 1, the contradiction and unlawful voting on the Equal Protection Clause and the confusing deadlines regarding votes were all examples of how things can be exacerbated by impartial Judges and Secretary of States. The votes in Florida should have been recounted after a uniform standard was put in place similar to the one in Texas and the real results of the 2000 Election should have been deciphered. All else aside, the whole United States should have a uniform voting, counting and recounting standard to eliminate all this confusion in the future. Bibliography http://www. leg. state. fl. us/statutes/index. cfm? mode=constitutionsubmenu=3 http://www. nytimes. com/2000/11/20/us/counting-vote-absentee-ballots-military-ballots-merit-review-lieberman-says. html? pagewanted=allsrc=pm http://fathom. lib. uchicago. edu/1/777777122240/ http://www. oycf. org/Perspectives2/9_123100/bush_v1. htm HBO Documentary, Recount Bush V. Gore Gore was described as a controversial election to say the least. The votes in several Florida counties were put up into question as to whether they should be counted or not. In a Democratic Election all legal votes must be counted. The main arguments around this issue were Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, the interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause and confusion around voting deadlines during the Recount. This process was exacerbated by the lack of impartial justices and secretary of state. The initial argument surrounding this issue is Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution states, â€Å"In presidential elections, each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, the electors to which the State is entitled. † That being said 3 justices, Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas all argued that Florida violated this; there argument placed a lot of emphasis on the word â€Å"legislature†. Meaning to say that there is a difference between the State, who is empowered to appoint its own electors and that own State’s legislature. Furthermore, this Article of the Constitution is completely out of the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction in the circumstances. The Supreme Court should have nothing to do with matters of state law in between the State and their own Legislature. Also, the Florida Supreme Court held that â€Å"a legal vote may include any ballot from which it is reasonably possible to determine the clear intent of the voter, whether or not the ‘chad’ had been completely punched through, which is consistent with the law of the clear majority of the States†. Chief Justice Rehnquist in his opinion argued that this interpretation was so ridiculous and not mirrored with Florida legislation, that it violated Article 2. He claimed that because most counties use punch cards that tell you to clearly punch your ballot no reasonable person could count a vote that wasn’t clearly punched all the way through. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) The Florida Election Code states that â€Å"no vote shall be declared invalid if there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter†, also a 60 year old Florida Law precedent states that â€Å"must give statutes relating to elections a construction in favor of the citizen’s right to vote, and the intention of the voters should prevail when counting ballots† (Constitution of the State of Florida, As Revised in 1968) After hearing this, the other 6 Justices concluded that the Florida Supreme Court decision was in long established precedent and said it didn’t even raise a question under Article 2 of the Constitution. In simpler terms, stating that all of those votes were legal and that the standards set were sufficient to determine which votes should and should not be counted. Onto the Equal Protection Clause, the Supreme Court basically contradicts themselves on this matter. After stating the voting standards set by the Florida Supreme Court didn’t violate Article 2, they continued on to state that it violates the Equal Protection clause because â€Å"the standards for accepting or rejecting contested ballots might vary not only from county to county but even within a single county† (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ). What is startling is that the Florida Constitution states, â€Å"The intention of the voters should prevail when counting ballots† meaning that if there is any intention the vote should be counted, and if this wasn’t precise enough for the Supreme Court why did they vote to uphold it on the Article 2, Section 1 vote? If the Supreme Court required a uniform standard for counting and recounting votes in Florida, why does it not need a uniform standard for voting? Is the fact that punch card voting has a sufficiently higher chance of having your vote not counted compared to computer voting where there is a bare minimum chance of your votes not being counted violating the Equal Protection Clause as well? Or is it the fact that punch card counties are more commonly in low income counties, who tend to vote Republican (Al Gore)? All of these things ould be seen as discriminatory or â€Å"not equal† as well as the non-uniform standard for counting, but if the Supreme Court has decided that the recount standard is in violation then in thought the whole Election should be rendered â€Å"Unconstitutional† and put to an end, correct? To continue, no it should not be put to an end. The Supreme Court should have ordered a stay on the Recount until a uniform standard was put in place for all of the Florida Counties and they should have ordered that every state have a uniform standard for Recounts for future elections. The Supreme Court made a Pragmatic but Unlawful decision in voting for the violation of the Equal Protection Clause which led to the stoppage of the 2000 Florida Recount. (Bo Li, Perspectives, Vol. 2, No. 3). This goes without mentioning the fact that Bush’s state of Texas had a uniform voting standard which allowed anything to be counted in the scenario of a recount including a dimpled chad. This means that Governor Bush signed in a bill that let any vote with slight intent be counted in the process of a Recount, yet is arguing that intent of a voter is an unconstitutional argument. This is hypocritical and shows a lack of character, if Bush truly believes in the Constitution he should be letting all the legal votes be counted to see if he actually won the Presidency of the United States. If Bush truly cared about the simple uniform standards for Recounting, he should have ordered for a stay until uniform standards were set in place. Instead he argued the entire Recount unconstitutional and the 5-4 majority (5 Republican Judges-4 Democratic Judges) decided that there was no reason to Recount possibly legal votes when it had a chance of harming Bush’s chance to become Prime Minister. Legal analysts from all over the Country explained it as the Justices trying to make a pragmatic decision by putting an end to this controversy, turns out it backfired on them. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) The third point to be explained in this case is the ongoing controversy over voting deadlines and how the ever so bright Secretary of State in Florida Katherine Harris’ thoughts were constantly being controlled by Bush advisors. Katherine Harris (and Friends) made it very clear that they would ot be accepting votes after a certain deadline, which left no time for the original recount. All these votes had to be stamped and signed to be considered legal votes. This left the Democratic Party frantically trying to recount votes and get them stamped and in on time. When she ruled that if votes were not stamped and signed they could not be accepted, the Democratic Party argued that tons of Military votes could not be counted because they were very rarely stamped and sig ned. In the US there is no voting law that states Military Votes can be accepted with no signature or stamp. This obviously led to an uproar from Republicans (Who most military votes get casted for) because it was just unethical for the Democrats to take away illegal votes for the Republicans. What the Republicans fail to realize is that taking away Florida citizens legal votes because you are scared of losing is also unethical. The Democrats later changed their minds and told the Secretary to reconsider the Military votes and give them special consideration. (Joseph I. Lieberman, Military Ballots Merit a Review) There are a few other factors I would like to add to perspective before closing my argument, in Florida the Republican swayed Secretary of State Katherine Harris put 20 Thousand people on the Voter Purge list. A Large group of these people had never done anything wrong, in particular an African-American Pastor could not vote because his name was similar to that of a hardened criminal in Florida (HBO Documentary, Recount). The most interesting fact of all was that the 3 Judges who voted for Bush in both instances (Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas) were all considered Republican judges. In the last 30 years at the Supreme Court the 19 Cases involving the Equal Protection Clause concerning laws against race, elderly, and other minorities they voted a perfect 19 for 19 to uphold the Equal Protection Clause. Yet, the one case involving Politics and the party they are associated with they for some strange reason voted against it with very little reasoning. (Geoffrey R. Stone, Equal Protection? ) If that’s not Politics in Black Robes, what is. In Conclusion, Legal votes in Florida were not counted when they should have een. The various ideas such as the proper vote in Article 2, Section 1, the contradiction and unlawful voting on the Equal Protection Clause and the confusing deadlines regarding votes were all examples of how things can be exacerbated by impartial Judges and Secretary of States. The votes in Florida should have been recounted after a uniform standard was put in place similar to the one in Texas and the real results of the 2000 Election should have been deciphered. All else aside, the whole United States should have a uniform voting, counting and recounting standard to eliminate all this confusion in the future. Bibliography http://www. leg. state. fl. us/statutes/index. cfm? mode=constitutionsubmenu=3 http://www. nytimes. com/2000/11/20/us/counting-vote-absentee-ballots-military-ballots-merit-review-lieberman-says. html? pagewanted=allsrc=pm http://fathom. lib. uchicago. edu/1/777777122240/ http://www. oycf. org/Perspectives2/9_123100/bush_v1. htm HBO Documentary, Recount

Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Religion - Essay Example However, science is yet to make a clear definition of the ultimate reality. Religion however has attempted to find answers leading to ultimate reality. In According to Cobb, he characterizes God as â€Å"Emptiness† because he considers God to be a being â€Å"without limits.† Cobb’s idea of ultimate reality is that all the other property has limits, but in the case of God there are no limitations because God has no nature or properties and allows other beings to exist. Avicenna’s view on ‘ultimate reality’ is based on â€Å"The Nature of God.† In relation to this, he has two points of view. The first one Is about ‘contingent beings’ whose property is having been caused by the existence of another being. The second is about a ‘necessary being’ â€Å"does not need to be caused by any power for its existence. This being has no beginning and is in existence from the creation of the universe. Ultimate reality According to Avicenna is that God is a necessary being who is perfect and complete and cannot change because the properties of a necessary being are eternal. This means that according to God’s nature, it cannot be created nor destroyed. ‘Ultimate Reality’ is based on a dualistic ontology (Buddhists) which holds the view that a Non- being’ is as essential as being because both being and non- being are two incompatible states of reality. Therefore, ‘ultimate reality’ can have neither properties nor nature and that is what God is. Since God is considered as the ‘ultimate reality’ and the basis or foundation for all other beings, God does not possess any properties. God is in a totally new dimension altogether â€Å"himself† and is beyond dualism and properties. In relation to ‘ultimate reality’ Cobb says that Christianity tries to make an understanding of â€Å"rightness† and try to cultivate habits from worse to the

Reading Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 21

Reading Response - Essay Example Germany hoped these points would be the basis for the treaty. However this hope was belied and the terms of the treaty were so harsh on Germany that it finally resulted in a more destructive and horrific war. America had come out of the war virtually unscathed. However the people of Britain and France were devastated by the destruction caused by the war and in no mood to forgive Germany for it. So it came about that Germany was held solely responsible for the misery and death caused to millions, and the terms of the treaty were particularly humiliating to Germans. Besides, Britain and France had rich colonies that added to their coffers, and therefore clauses that held that determination of their status must have â€Å"the interests of the populations†; were contrary to their interests. Every nation naturally looked at the treaty with its own interests foremost. France wanted the territories of Alsace and Lorraine with a view to safeguarding its borders from future German attacks. In this way Germany lost land to France, Belgium, Denmark, Czechoslovakia and Poland. The victors of the war were the ones who drafted the treaty of Versailles and the defeated nations were not asked to contribute to the drafting of the treaty. The treaty therefore looked after the interests of the victors and since Germany was blamed for the havoc caused by the war and held solely responsible for it; she had to bear the burden of war reparation and cutting down of her armed forces as well as losing territories to other nations. The most important of the fourteen points was the last - that of setting up an international body to maintain peace among the nations of the world. This was set up in the form of the League of Nations. However, Wilson was unable to convince the Americans to join the league and it proved to be an ineffective and toothless body. It led to more friction among nations

David A. Sklansky's view of Katz v. United States Essay

David A. Sklansky's view of Katz v. United States - Essay Example (Sklansky, 2006) According to the author, Katz case remains a landmark both because it provides the constitutional framework that continues to govern electronic surveillance, and because it provides the modern test for a 'search' within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment has been the cornerstone in many legal cases for the limits to which the privacy of the person can be breached for the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases. However, the case itself remains rather ambiguous, and there is still doubt, whether taking into account the modern situation after the events of 9/11 electronic surveillance and eavesdropping should be allowed without a warrant Some suppose that the judicial decisions made by Burger and Rehnquist may diminish the effect of Katz's case. It is possible to have a look at least one of the cases ruled by these justices in relation to the Fourth amendment: 'Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735 (1979). ... he urgency of the Katz's case is still relevant and even in the light of terrorist threats in the modern society it has its weight, it gives more questions, than answers. It was interesting to note, that actually Katz is viewed as a failure among scholars. It is agreed, that his striving to prove that surveillance is legal, but only under a warranty, is important, but the case itself has not set any reasonable limits for privacy and it should be defined; whether this framework should be adopted outside the domestic law enforcement and what it has to do with the new communication technologies. Sklansky notes, that 'reasonable expectation of privacy sounds nice, but what does it mean' (Sklansky, 2006) The question is absolutely reasonable, taking into account that the privacy has become a subject of major concern now with the cases of privacy breaches more and more frequent, and inability of Courts to define the reasonable privacy limits when it comes to crime. Noting again the events of 9/11 and bearing in mind that terrorist acts' elimination requires special thorough investigation and action, there is a question how privacy issue and national security issue can be weighted by both public safety entities and the court In Katz's case Justice White still left certain space for consideration, noting that in 'national security cases electronic surveillance upon the authorization of the President or the Attorney General could be permissible without prior judicial approval.' (Kitch, 1968) As a result and following the case, the executive Branch has asserted the power to use unwarranted electronic surveillance in the two specific types of national security situations: against foreign intelligence and against domestic subversion. This has been an attempt to weight privacy and

Performance Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Performance Management - Essay Example The analysis and better decision making can be done by discussing the components of cost and their effects on the overall cost and final decision to be taken. All the costs that can affect the decision, rather all the relevant costs should be considered in this case. It is important to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant costs for the decision making purposes as it allows better decision making for cost reduction and cost maximization. Additionally overheads allocation should also be done on fairer and activity driven basis so that better decisions can be taken. (DRURY, C. 2008; HANSEN, MOWEN, & HANSEN.2006) The company shall lay150 meters of pipe each week in-house to utilize its labour and machine, however decision has to be taken for the remaining 750 meters for small pipe and 300 meters of large pipe to be laid in-house or subcontracted. Direct Material Cost: The company has an option to subcontract the project where the material cost will be borne by subcontractor, charg ed by UGC in the price quoted. On the other hand the company if undertakes the project in-house the direct material cost will be ?45/per meter on small pipe and ?55/meter on large pipe. Direct Labour Cost: Company can use in-house labour by shifting labour from other departments, there will be no opportunity cost involved as the company has substitute labour to be used in other department on the same rate. The crucial think here will be to decide if it is cost effective to use in-house labor if they are paid on overtime basis or would it be beneficial to subcontract. Also which of the pipes, small or large should be laid by the limited labour provided. (PROCTOR, R. 2009) Variable Overheads: With increasing automation the labour hours and costs have decreased and companies have lost the traditional measure of allocating overheads and therefore activity based costing, that is assigning costs to cost drivers are now used. If company decides to complete the project in-house it will incu r variable overheads on per meter of pipe laid. Small pipe will incur ?5 while large pipe will incur ?10 on each meter of pipe laid. The variable overheads are allocated on the basis of meter, which is on the basis of activity rather than direct labour hours that is overheads are allocated on cost drivers basis. (KAPLAN & ANDERSON. 2007; HANSEN, MOWEN & GUAN, L. 2009) Fixed Overheads: Fixed overheads are irrelevant for decision making purposes and become unchanged regardless of the activity. In the scenario lease rentals are the fixed cost. These will be incurred by the company whatever decision might be taken and are irrelevant to the decision. If UGC subcontracts or undertakes the project in-house, in both the cases it has to pay the lease rentals for the machines. (WEYGANDT, KIESO & KIMME.2009; HANSEN, MOWEN, & HANSEN.2006) Detailed Analysis: UGC has decided to lay 150 meters of each type of pipe using the in-house facility. The remaining will be either subcontracted or will be d one in-house depending on the cost and availability of labour. Direct labour is the limited resource in the project and company has to take its decision subject to availability. After laying 150 meters of each type of pipe which it plans to do, UGC will be left with 72.5 hours of direct labour on normal rate and 100 hours on overtime rate of Machine E and 30 hours on normal rate and 90 hours on overtime rate of Machine J. UGC now has to decide whether to lay small pipe or large pipe in this remaining capacity. For this it shall consider the cost it will incur to outsource the pipes and the cost of utilization of labour on normal and overtime rates. It will cost UGC ?56.83/meter of small pipe and ?89.16/ meter of large pipe using the normal labour. UGC has to incur ?60.83/meter to lay small pi

Reward and Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reward and Development - Assignment Example This experience is also an outcome of learning from one’s peers, therefore we can safely state that experience passes on through generations. Building a Learning Organization One of the models identified for building a learning organization encompasses the organization, people, knowledge and technology as the four key pillars on which organizational learning is based (Serrat, 2009). This model states that people are required for the learning within an organization through the transfer of knowledge amongst them and through the implementation of innovative technology. Charles Darwin once said that the species most responsive to change is the one that is bound to thrive in a competitive world, and how right he was. Over the years the ever increasing progress in technology has pressed for the need to have skilled and knowledge workers, this has also been a key point of interest of training and development programs within and beyond organizations. There are several different theori es of organizational development that have been proposed by theorists, let us take a look at a few of them: The Humanistic Approach In response to the limitations that accompanied the psychodynamic theories, the concerns raised by some renowned philosophers such as Abraham Maslow led to the development of the humanistic perspective. This perspective aimed to incorporate the aspects of human needs within the theoretical framework. A comparison of the humanistic perspective to the Economic-Based Model of the firm revealed few differences regarding the approach of the two models towards the people aspect of a firm. The most important difference lies in the fact that the Economic-Based Model assumed that human beings are motivated only by self-interest which leads to a very profit oriented organizational focus, as opposed to the Humanistic perspective which emphasizes on an organization that comprised of empowered employees who when working in the organization feel that they are adequat ely applying themselves in the work and are not treated as money minting machines. This difference in the two models makes the Humanistic Model more pro Organizational Learning and Development as opposed to the Economic-Based Model (Rosanas, 2009). This perspective is strongly knitted to the Human Relations Approach to organizational development, which emphasizes on the need of good working relationships amongst employees and good leadership which is pivotal for the progress of the organization (Approaches to Organization And Management, 2009). Performance Management Moreover, we have the classical perspective which is similar to performance management. In this approach the emphasis lays towards achieving the goals that have been set out by the organization, formal management hierarchy is maintained and employee empowerment is reduced compared to the humanistic perspective. The â€Å"Psychological Contract† is a subjective expectation and belief of the employees regarding how they see their relationship with their organization. This psychological contract determines the employees’ level of satisfaction within the organization and his/ her level of motivation (Coyle-Shapiro, 2002). This is not a written contract however; this tacit agreement has many powerful behavioural and attitudinal outcomes. Employees feel attached to their

Critical issues in psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical issues in psychology - Essay Example Given the complexity of gender formations and roles, it is very common to develop gender dysphoria (Crooks and Baur 2008, p.62). Those with a prolonged, extreme degree of transgenderism are known as transsexuals. Transgenderism differs from one’s sexual identity because the former is linked with the psychological coefficients of how one views or is viewed one’s gender roles (Bockting and Goldberg 2007, p.83). Varying degrees of interpretations and connotations are normally associated with how transgendered people are seen in societies. Cultural aspects too play a pivotal role in acknowledging individual and social roles for persons with gender dysphoria (Samovar et al. 2009, p.158). Before further probing into the topic some basic ideas need to be defined. Sex is defined as the biological status of a person like male or female which can be determined by visual inspection during birth. Gender refers to the social status of any person or rather social manifestation of a person’s sex, such as womanhood or manhood (Kendall 2008, p.322). Transgender can be of three types: transgender female persons – those who have female physical attributes but think of themselves as men either partially, or fully; gender crossing females – those who reassign their genders so as to live part or full-time as men; and female-to-male (FTM) transsexed – those who were born females sexually but identity themselves as men and live as men do, but have not fully achieved socially recognizable manhood. Sexual orientation means a form of romantic, emotional and sexual attractions to men, women, both or neither. A transvestite is one who cross-dresses. Nowadays the term "transvestite" and "cross-dresser" are used synonymously (Valentine 2007, p.263). The exact basis of gender dysphoria is unknown, and there are many debatable possible causes. Sadock et al. argue that gender identity disorders can be