Life of Marcel Duchamp Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Life of Marcel Duchamp - Essay Example The paper "Rrose Sà ©lavy, Marcel Duchamp" focuses on the important figure of dada and surrealism, Marcel Duchamp. As a child Duchamp was really close to his sister Suzanne (his older brothers had left home to go to school), who was his accomplice in games and activities. She was also the object of his first serious attempts at drawing and painting, which showed her in a variety of poses. Also a painter, she moved to Paris after her divorce to be closer to her brother Marcel and as an attempt to further her career, since at that time it was extremely difficult for a female painter to obtain recognition. Indeed, it was her relationship with her brothers, three of them eminent artists, which facilitated her acceptance in the art world. The famous photographer Man Ray became Duchamp’s friend and collaborator. Not only he helped Duchamp photograph and â€Å"create† Rrose, he also was instrumental in the development of many other works. It was in collaboration with him and Marc Allà ©gret in the period 1925–1926 that Duchamp filmed early versions of Rotoreliefs, a film that later became known as Anà ©mic Cinà ©ma. It is worth mentioning an earlier collaboration in 1920, as it almost finished with the decapitation of Man Ray. Duchamp had built the Rotative plaque de verre, a piece which involved the use of a motor to spin squares of glass on which segments of a circle were painted. The optical effect achieved is incredible: when the apparatus spins, the circle segments appear to be closed concentric circles. After a first successful attempt, Man Ray set up to photograph the experiment (Duchamp did not consider it art but it is held as one of the first examples of kinetic art) and, when the machine was turned on, a belt broke, caught a piece of the glass which flew off and hit Man Ray in the head. Readymades Marcel Duchamp coined the term "readymades", which was used to refer to ordinary manufactured objects that he selected, modified and signed. He maintained that by attributing a title to an object and signing it, the object becomes a work of art [smARThistory]. The term was commonly used in the United States to distinguish manufactured from handmade items. Marcel Duchamp conceived the readymades as an antidote to what he called "retinal art", this is, art that has only visual value. Duchamp selected his work according to their conceptual value and on the basis of visual indifference. In this manner, a common object would be elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of the artist. In his lifetime, Duchamp-Selavy produced no more than 20 readymades. This decision arises from his awareness of the fact that, by limiting the production he could avoid the influence of his own taste (according to his words, "the enemy of art") in his work. Rrose Slavy From 1920, Marcel Duchamp decided to present some of his work using the pseudonym of Rrose Slavy. The choice of name is extravagant to say the least. Two potential explanations have been elaborated: the first one is that it reads as "Eros, c'est la vie", which can be translated as "Eros, that's life"; or, a second interpretation suggests that it really reads as "arroser la vie", i.e. to make a toast to life. Both meanings are equally

Good Governance Essay Example for Free

Good Governance Essay Introduction The topic of this essay concerns about good governance namely what is it, what is its possible application in the formal and informal sectors added to its context, do the different ideological systems concord with it and lastly does it produce any, whatsoever, improvement or development in any sense and sector? And to answer to all that issues I will firstly define it, secondly discuss all its characteristics and indicators from the various organizations directly and/or indirectly involved with it and thirdly compare and contrast by analysing any situations within the main political orientations in which it is present or absolutely absent and the consequent effects. And finally I will try my conclusions to whatever it could produce with plausible recommendations. Well, the meaning of â€Å"governance in the normal daily use and the first one that comes straightforward to the mind is: the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). The concept anyway of governance† is as old as human civilization and that is since human being felt the need to organise themselves by gathering in groups and electing among them those who will decide for the communities way of life, the eventual relation between the members and theirs with any other possible group around. However it is very recent when developmental professionals and different actors (international organizations, local, national and regional governments) noticed the relevance of governance on the causes that produce bad or good outcomes regardless the expected results  and the intentions behind. The increased use of the term â€Å"governance† good or bad, in the development literature is real and evident, but because bad governance is being absolutely regarded as one of the main causes of all evil deeds in all over the world, most of the International developmental institutions and financial donors have changed approaches by pretending from aid eligible poor countries to ensure good governance in order to have access to aids or loans. Not to ignore the fact that it is anyway the civil society, tacitly to ask, first of all, their relative governments for good governance if it ensures for a decent and better standard of life. The aforementioned definition implicates the automatic existence of decision makers whom are usually called actors by scholars and professionals. On the bases of this definition it can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance. Add to this that any analysis of governance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making and implementing it and the formal and informal structures that have been set in place to arrive at and implement the decision. Among the various actors Government, is the one per excellence, followed by the numerous local and regional ones in one side and the international or global institutions in the other. Within the same country there are for example, beyond the government that has the super power and final decision, other actors in rural and urban areas such as influential land lords, farmers, cooperatives otherwise known as associations of productive workers, NGOs, research institutes, religious leaders, finance institutions, political parties, the military etc. At the national level, in addition to the above actors, there are media, lobbyists, international donors, multi-national corporations, and many others that may influence the decision-making and or condition the decision-making process. It is worth to remember any way that all actors except government and the military are grouped together under what is known as civil society. In some countries in addition to the civil society, organized crime syndicates also influence decision-making, particularly in urban areas and at the national level. Moreover it is normal to hear about formal and informal government structures and formal and informal sectors and that all of them are one means by which decisions are arrived at and implemented. In some remote rural areas, locally powerful families may informally make or  influence decision-making and most of the time corrupted practices are the final outcomes. So governance may be a good or a bad one depending mainly on whether it is constructive and positively fruitful or corrupted and destructive. Unfortunately it is a real perception that, almost in the majority of the countries in the South of the world, there is an uncontrolled widespread corruption as a result of the bad governances of those minority, the elite in power with no distinction between the trio: Government, the military and civil society. But on the parallel carriage there is, at a global level, a huge campaign aimed to achieve some bettering improvement with the expectations to at least minimise all that corruption if not eradicate it at all. It is known how usually this minority misuse the governmental power to personal and or restricted group’s interest depriving in that way the civil society which represents the majority. If this sort of government in power is of a military extraction it makes the situation very difficult and worse because they, most of the time, impose themselves by intimidating the citizens and treating them as enemies, but the impact of their mismanagement will be discussed later. So the main problem in developing countries is a combination of power misuse, political immaturity and prioritising of personal interests to the communities expenses. The international community, in order to prevent further power misuse, promotes Good governance as the remedy to all that and in the intent to grant a decent standard of life to every single citizen regardless of her/his race, religion and social, political or ethnic group. It is not an easy target implementing it, and at the same not that hard but it, surely, needs or better demands, professionalism with some good deeds. Professionalism is the difficult task to answer since it requires competence, political maturity, responsiveness and responsibility. In other term, to have functioning governance toward the citizens interests and to achieve such governance there is, for the time being, eight major characteristics and several indicators to be fully implemented. These characteristics are the result of a long and hard work of scholars and professionals that offered their intellectual powerful services to the societies in order to find out the solutions for a better life, on common grounds, regardless the different political and ideological views. The eight characteristics are: Participation, Rule of law, Consensus oriented, Transparency, Equity and  inclusiveness, Effectiveness and efficiency, Accountability and finally Responsiveness. According to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific (UN ESCAP) these eight characteristics are defined as follows: â€Å"Participation Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of good governance. Participation could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives. It is important to point out that representative democracy does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most vulnerable in society would be taken into consideration in decision making. Participation needs to be informed and organized. This means freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an organized civil society on the other hand. Accountability Accountability is a key requirement of good governance. Not only governmental institutions but also the private sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders. Who is accountable to whom varies depending on whether decisions or actions taken are internal or external to an organization or institution. In general an organization or an institution is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions. Accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law. Transparency Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations. It also means that information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement. It also means that enough information is provided and that it is provided in easily understandable forms and media. Rule of law Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially. It also requires full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force. Consensus oriented There are several actors and as many view points in a given society. Good governance requires mediation of the different interests in society to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved. It also requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such development. This can only result from an understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or community. Equity and inclusiveness A society’s well being depends on ensuring that all its members feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream of society. This requires all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable, have opportunities to improve or maintain their well being. Effectiveness and efficiency Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment. Responsiveness Good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.† In theory it is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. It is people centred matter trying to address gender inequalities. It is really vital and important from local level to global to achieve good governance, with the awareness that its achievement requires absolute professionalism and consciousness, two attributes that are unfortunately absent or worse than that, not considered especially in the South. Following this â€Å"new† approach the international community, leaded by the United  Nations different and various specialised organizations in collaboration with the International Financial Institutions with Bretton Woods institutions in the first place and some other world organizations, demands those countries in the South, who are always involved in corruption, to adopt good governance’s paradigm by modelling their governmental systems so that it might import huge changes and lead to better their country’s economical and social situations. The aforementioned institutions, after long and on-going hard research on what causes bad governance, and as the ones who perpetuate developmental progress, they use to propose solutions, which most of the times fail because of negligence regarding the way they approach and solve or deal with the problems and because of â€Å"disinterest† from both sides: the proposing and the recipient. However each and every institution has its own proposals, indicators and monitoring systems and some of them need revision and reconsiderations. United Nations institutions: The United Nations different institutions are for instance involved in developing country’s redressing developmental programmes according to their specializations and interests and it is sufficient the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) as an example. In fact, their purpose is to tackle the main tragedies that mankind is facing now in most parts of the planet, with different intensity anyway between North and South. These problems are mainly the followings: -widespread poverty and hunger; -lack of primary education; -absence of Gender equality; -Increasing infant and child mortality; -absolute absence of maternal healthcare; -dangerous diseases such as HIV/AIDS; -mismanagement of environmental resource without sustainability; -misconception of what is a global partnership. And according to these problems the Millennium Development Goals are designed to: -eradicate extreme poverty and hunger -achieve universal primary education -promote gender equality and empower women -reduce child mortality -improve maternal healthcare -combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and -ensure environmental sustainability -develop global partnership development. These goals will be achieved and implemented not later than 2015. As seen they are eight goals focusing on the alleviation and tackling of those problems. Each goal has its own targets and indicators under the supervision of the appropriate different organization in order to measurably achieve developmental improvements in the poorest of the developing countries. In total there are 8 goals, 18 targets and 48 indicators. Regarding to the monitoring institutions there are for example concerning to health based programmes UNICEF, WFP, UNAIDS and WHO while to tackle poverty and hunger there are WB, IMF, FAO and UNICEF. UNESCO is concerned with educational problems while ILO (International Labour Organization) and IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union) are more likely to deal with Gender inequality and women empowerment and so on. One of the eighteen targets [target twelve (12) of goal eight (8): Develop a global partnership for development] demands commitment to good governance, but at the other way round these goals are achievable only in an environment where good governance exists. It is a â€Å"cause† and â€Å"effect† at the same time. The expectations anyway and in any case are less encouraging because of unreasonable policies of some aid institutions that are not allowing a bettering situation, such as IMF and WB or the well known Bretton Woods Institutions. The Bretton Woods Institutions Good Governance One of the major causes of under development is represented by the heavy debts that plague these countries as a result of continuous increasing interest loans hardly repayable. Stabilisation, deregulation, devaluation, distortion of prices and many other interventions render developing countries life very miserable. The killing factor anyhow is represented by the Bretton Woods Institution’s Structural Adjustment Programmes (SPA) with the intention to help heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) repay or clear their debts in order to be eligible to new loans . But, these criticised institutions and related organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), dedicated from long time their efforts to help poorer  countries to overcome corruption, but unfortunately and sorely without positive tangible results, and this is because of their mismatching â€Å"rigid† policies and certain conditionals imposed on borrower such as Structural Adjustment Programme, that did n ot succeed to alleviate but, at the contrary, worsen the already existing conditions of poverty. The worse part is that IMF conditionals diminish the states authority to govern its own economy as national economic issue and not differently. But with the stabilisation programmes, deregulation, price distortion and privatisation of nationalised industries predetermined by the structural adjustment packages does not help the borrower to implement good governance. Equally the WB’s acting in partnership with the private sectors of a given country results in substituting the state which represents the primary provider of essential good and services. Imposing the reduction of government’s expenditure on food subsidies, education and healthcare or changing its import and export policies does not at all help developing countries to achieve good governance. This replacement usually ends in a shortfall of those services when most likely the condemned country is more in need. But now the Bretton Woods institutions realized that they need to review their policies in order to en able good governance to be achieved and the veracity of this is reported in the 1994 Naples summit communiquà © of the G-7’s countries. This communication clearly explicitly urged the need of reforms and reviews because of the Bretton Woods failure to achieve its primary mission of poverty alleviation. Reforming and reviewing the International Financial Institutions means they themselves need to practice and apply good governance and not pretending only from their borrowing members. If they succeed to change their policies in better then perhaps there will be a hope of improvement for the developing countries. All the above exposition concerns the theoretical side of good governance and it is very ideal and difficult to be realised in practice up to be considered a utopia. Nevertheless, the real fact is that good governance is absent from the international scenario and only few countries could be said to be close to implement it fully. Besides, the hilarious aspect of this assertion is that they are of different political orientation. This means that good governance does not require a certain political view than othe r. Examples of these politically differently  oriented states are: OECD, Japan, China and the Arabian Gulf countries. Good Governance and the main political systems and governing ideologies As stated before Good governance is not necessarily related to any of the political systems existing nowadays and this because countries with totally different political orientations seem to succeed implementing it. Moreover these systems might be used as temporary solutions in certain difficult political moments regardless their main â€Å"normal† one. In the purpose to understand which of these systems could conciliate with what could be seen as good governance paradigm it is worth to remember them with some useful comments. There are two main different groups on which these systems are based namely collectivism and individualism. The first one considers human being the pillar around which to build a society with the result that the types of the societies are different as it is different the means to design it. What they have in common is the notion that one (king or dictator) or many men (majority) should rule the others. At the contrary the individualist are more philosophical concepts in respect to the other group. Under the umbrella of collectivism there are autocracy/ dictatorship/ despotism, communism, conservatism, democracy, fascism, imperialism, monarchy, pluralism, plutocracy, socialism and theocracy, and the individualist are: anarchism /nihilism, liberalism (classical), libertarianism, objectivism, capitalism, and the republic. Each of them has its characteristics and less or more they could be simply interrelated and or contradictory. -Autocracy, dictatorship and despotism, for instance, are very similar in term of definition and that is an uncontrolled supreme right of governing in a single person with the difference that autocracy is supposedly benevolent. But there is a paradox in the sense that anyway an autocrat needs a huge amount of force to subordinate perhaps an unwilling people and from autocracy we pass to dictatorship. An example of this sort of dictatorship could be the Russia of Stalin for instance. Dictatorship though is the main factor that unfortunately destroyed most of the countries of the South mainly in the decolonization decades (1950-1970) leading them to extreme poverty. It is clearly evident that this type of system does not favourite the achievement of good governance because lacks most of its characteristics such as transparency, accountability, consensus  oriented, and respect for human rights just to mention some. -Communism and socialism have the same collective view of mankind with the difference that socialism is a political system while communism is a scheme that tends to equalize the social conditions of life by collectivising the private property under the governing of the legislator (the State in socialism); a problem that could be mentioned is concerned with what socialists call supervision on freedom of expression just to preserve the community integrity and this represent a restraining factor. Moreover socialism’s paradigms contradicts and represses the private initiatives ignoring so the potentiality of the private on development. Lately in few western countries there is an acceptance of it but in a diluted fashion. This leads to think that socialism differently from communism could give birth a good governance if well managed up to realize at least the corresponding and similar characteristic of both: good governance and socialism. I think this is enough for our purpose but it can be otherwise developed. Opposing to socialism and communism there are, as secular antagonists, democracy and capitalism. Democracy is usually intended for two major modes: 1) retained and directly exercised by the people and 2) retained by the people but governed by a delegated periodically renewable constitutional authority, a popular representation. It relays on whatever the majority’s choice is sacrificing so the minority, even if represented by one single person. This is the same as dictatorship with the difference that in the latter is the single person who sacrifices the majority for his choice. The major difference between socialism and democracy lays in the way deal regarding the collective. Democracy uses to favour the powerful capitalists at the expenses of others with less economic and consequent social power. In this sense capitalism  exerts inequalities born from wrongly created adversarial. Nevertheless capitalism allowed technological progress to be achieved more rapidly than communism. Hence good governance might be implemented by these later systems albeit in a different way and intensity and there are no consistent and distinctive criteria to declare the suitability of one of them to the best achievement of good governance. Remember that all depends about good deeds and professionalism. -Monarchy is a currently used system in different part of the two hemispheres. As a rulership, in which a king or a queen, an emperor or empress, it holds unlimited power having similarity with autocracy or lately limited power (constitutional), usually inherited. It is proven that monarchy in these last centuries succeeded to implement good governance albeit with more suffering civil society. But seen that good governance is people centred system there should be a redressing effort and good intent. According to the other systems I think that they are either out of fashion such as fascism, imperialism or nihilism or have a temporary or transitory use such as pluralism, conservatism, libertarianism, liberalism, plutocracy, objectivism, theocracy and so on. Among these later systems pluralism seems, in my opinion, to be helpful to most if not totally of the African governments. According to an article on the web of freedom in the UK, pluralism is: â€Å"Government carried out by a process of bargaining and compromise between a variety of competing leadership groups (business, labour, government, etc.). Advocates of pluralism claim that it best serves the democratic ideal in a complex modern society, in which individual participation in every act of decision-making is impractical. According to pluralism, individual rights and interests are protected by a sort of extra-constitutional checks and balances: No single group holds the dominant power position, power is always shifting, and individuals can have influence on policy-making through being active in one of these power groups. Some claim that America is such a pluralistic society; other theories say that pluralism is in fact a myth and American society is elitist. Despite this pluralism is not limited, other than by the common sense of its participants. Therefore it is still, in essence, collectivist and adversarial.† Analysing this sort of definition it is easy to encounter, at least most of good governance’s characteristics such as participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. In 1994-5 I was following Yemen’s political crises during the controversy between the socialists system supporters from the south and the, let us say, non socialist promoters in the north. At the end came winner those from north  formed by a coalition of religious forces and the pseudo capitalist system in power. During the contention the President proposed a joint supreme governing power composed by three representative members of the main three forces: the president, a socialist and a religious leader stabilising so a sort of bargaining government and the result was that the socialist part lost the partnership. My aim anyway was to prove how pluralism worked in this crucial time and for this reason it is seen as a myth since good governance tends to be utopia matter. But nevertheless different countries of different political orientation nearly implemented its characteristics it means that other could succeed by trying it. There is nothing unachievable if there is the willpower to succeed and people are determined to obviate the obstacles. And to do so the actors need to, first of all, understand the nature of the obstacles and then analyse the eventual solutions without being second to none in decision making putting themselves in that way in a subordinated position. They need to be capable of bargaining and only by that way they can validate their voices over bargaining powers on the other side. Understanding your power, resource availability, willpower of bargaining through it and accepting compromises are attributes necessary toward good governance. Representing their civil society properly and honestly and prioritising their basic needs will put the actors in the position of enabling it to benefit from the outcomes. All these requirements are possible of realization if the roles of the three main components of a country are well defined and every component knows its limits, rights and duties. Those mentioned three parts are government, civil society and the force army in its different specialty. Only in the case these parts understand clearly their roles there will be the expected good governance, otherwise the developing countries will hold forever the heavily burdens now devastating their lives and live with it. Good governance and the trio: Government, Civil society and the Military It is absolutely necessary to have distinct these three groups in order to avoid any irregular and regrettable interferences among them. This simply means that government’s role is to rule and to make  decisions, to choose the ways of implanting those decisions while the Military is to defend the country from external aggression or to calm an internal subversive. Regarding the civil society it represents the groups and individuals out of the formal structure of government and the military. Concerning political development it represents the extreme expression of political parties. In it there are the opposing forces that recalls government and military’s misbehaviour. Therefore, if one of them interferes with the other’s role and tries to replace them there will be a chaotic situation, and to sort out or put a remedy will be afterwards difficult. Effectively this is what happens in many of the developing countries causing situations difficult to redress. Nepotism, tribalism, racism, clannish belonging and similar congregations are causes of misuse of power, public and private resources and denying basic human rights to whoever does not belong to their circle. Add to this the fact that if the replacing group are the arm forces, the atrocity of the consequences is very deep and bitter. After the decolonization, in most countries in the South there was a subsequent darkening governmental systems that, based on ignorance and limited professionalism and lacking any sort of political stability due to indecisions regarding to which big power block count lean on, ended in disastrous bad governance and continuous coup dà ©tat from military men. At the beginning this sort of endeavour was aimed for a patriotic purpose but the result afterwards become dictatorship and despotism. The general ideas of governing of creating nations become too hard to be accomplished and it is been replaced by personal enrichment. More these fool governors were enriching themselves the civil society was suffering deep poverty. These facts encouraged military men challenge their adversely rivals in order to access to that wealthy life at the expenses of their poor tribal partners and not any more the whole civil society. Moreover such economic patrimony did not stop them from stealing but they have created tribal-based hatred between the poor people and this ended in between failed states and under the denomination of poorest countries. A failed state is the result of internally not functioning one or externally not recognised and that because the damage is more o less incident. There are so partially or totally failed states or better states that internally function but there is non external recognition and vice versa. Anyway the internal malfunctioning ends  in overthrowing o r secessionism, situations that are to be avoided. Well then, it is time that developing countries leave this nonsense aggregation of tribe, race and similar clannish ones and move forward in order to accomplish decent standard of life becoming equal to the civilised world and to put an end to the greediness of their governors. They have just to ask good governance’s characteristics to be implemented or otherwise they will only regress in respect to the progressive globalizing world. From the above discussion it is clear that good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality but this does not mean that is impossible. Very few countries and societies have come close to achieve it. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of transforming it into a reality. It is a matter of competence/professionalism and good deeds. Competency, or professionalism or skill or aptitude, is very decisive or better it represents the core of the power in the government. It is indeed a requirement. Regarding the good deeds the determining one depends mostly from the rich and free societies and the effort they decide to spend. Actually it is the international community’s interest to show good intents in reasonably and responsibly cooperating with and helping poorest countries all around the world otherwise whatever the outcomes will affect them seen that the whole world is becoming a small village due to globalisation. It is surely known how global warming for example is threatening the whole world. Good deeds from national to international level is required and the rich and free societies role. To support this thesis it is worth to mention the United States of America’ 60th president, John F.Kennedy who said in his inaugural Address in January 20, 1961: If a free society can not help the many who are poor, it can not save the few who are rich. Likewise President Mpaka of Tanzania quoting President Kennedy’s statement said in a speech: In a globalizing world, if we cannot help the many who are excluded in global prosperity, we cannot save the few who are included. In conclusion good governance will definitely improve development’s conditions all over the world if the varied development institutions work in favour of good governance. References: 1. UN ESCAP What is a GOOD GOVERNANCE? INTRODUCTION Recently the terms governance and good governance are being increasingly used in development literature at www.unescap.org/huset/gg/governance.htm (accessed 21 December 2004) 2. United Nations Millennium Development Goals. at www.un.org/millenniumgoals (accessed 27 November 2004) 3. Bretton Woods Project Critical voices on the World Bank and IMF. Good governance. 49 items. Fugitive in five-star hotel, IMF foots bill. at www.brettonwoodsproject.org/topic/goodgov/index.shtml 25k (accessed 24 December 2004) 4. Freedom in the UK google search engine: political systems (accessed 28 December 2004) 5. President J. F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech at www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1961Kennedy.html ( accessed 23 December 2004) 6. Chakravarthi Raghavan, Mar 5, 1998 FINANCE: FUND/BANK SHOULD PRACTICE GOOD GOVERNANCE! At www.sunsonline.org.htm 14k (accessed 14 January 2005) ____________________________________________ Bibliography Kingsbury D. et al (2004) Key issues in development 1ST ed. New York: Palgrave Mcmillan

Tax Reform In The United States Economics Essay

Tax Reform In The United States Economics Essay This research paper discusses the theme of tax reform in the United states. Nowadays this issue is an actual one. Many Americans are interested greatly in this issue and even express their personal opinions on this topic. The research paper discusses different problems with the current tax system and represents some ideas concerning some changes in the US tax reform. Key words: tax, tax system, tax reform. 1. Introduction It is impossible to carry out new transformations for the purpose of steady development of the economy without formation an effective tax system. Tax reform is a process which changes tax policies of the government. It is known that there are different goals of this process such as reduction of the tax level of all the people, changing tax system for more progressive effect, simplification of tax system. A good tax reform can improve the life of many people. 1.1. Significance of the study This research paper discusses one of the most important issues in the development of the economical system tax reform. This issue is an actual one not only for the United States but for any country of the world because financial sector plays a key role in the present day development of the economy. Tax reform is a main tool of the governmental control. In the context of tightening business competition there is a necessity to take appropriate measures in getting over the consequences of the financial and economic crises 2008-2009. So, tax reforms have such functions which will help to stimulate economical growth and innovative activity, and to increase social protection. 1.2. Definition of terms In order to conduct a good research on tax reforms it is necessary to represent some economical terms which will be used in the process of research. They are the following ones: Taxes are payments which are made by the natural and legal persons (enterprises, organizations and citizens) for the government revenues in mandatory manner. It is a duty of everybody to pay taxes. Taxes are necessary because by means of taxes the government has an opportunity to control some economical processes in the country. They help to develop and reduce some kinds of business, to guide the development of these or those brunches of industry, to influence the economic activity of some enterprises and organizations, to balance consumers supply and demand, to regulate the amount of money in circulation. Tax system is the total of taxes, fees and other obligatory payments which are taken according to the legislative acts. The main characteristic features of any tax system include the following ones: the total of taxes fixed by the government; the complex of principles, forms and methods of their putting into operation; the system of tax authorities, forms and methods of tax control; rights and duties of the participants of tax relations; order and conditions of the tax process. (Roach, 2006) 2. Discussion themes This research paper touches upon the themes which are closely connected with the topic of the paper. It discusses issues and problems with current system in the United States. Moreover it gives some new ideas for tax reform. 2.1.Some Facts from the history of Tax Reforms in the USA According to the historical data, there were a lot of various movements in the USA which had the main goal to reform the collection and the management of taxes in the country. Thus, the Whiskey Rebellion which took place in 1799, is considered to be the first effort to carry out tax reform in the USA. From the historical sources we learn that George Washington who was the US President at that time sent about 13000 troops to the western part of the state Pennsylvania in order to put down the rebellions. Another significant movement against tax reforms took place at the end of the 19th century. Henry George, who was an outstanding American economist of that time, was at the head of that movement. The main goal of that movement was to abolish all forms of taxation other than the Single tax on land values. He offered this single tax in his book Progress and Poverty in 1879. This plan was not put into practice although it got support. This movement on tax policy was spread not only in the United States but also on Australia and New Zealand. However, the organization which is called The Henry George Foundation of America continue to promote this form of taxation reform. (Barker, 1985) It is known that several organizations in the United states are engaged in tax reform in the country among which are Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Fair Taxation, Americans for Responsible Taxes. These and other organizations have already promoted some ideas concerning tax simplification in the United States which include Flat tax plans, Fair tax and bipartisan tax reform proposals. (Tuerck et al., 2007) 2.2 The Structure of Taxation in the United States and its meaning It is known that the system of taxation in the United states is a progressive one. It means that the percentage of income which is paid by the household will increase with the increasing income. In other words those people who earn more will pay a higher rate of taxes. Here is an example: A person earns $100,000 a year, he will pay 25% of it $25,000. A person earns $30,000 a year, he will pay only 10%tax rate $3,000. However, there may be also regressive and proportional tax systems. Some Reasons for using the Progressive tax system in the USA: Progressive tax system stands for the concept that those people who earn more should pay more tax rate because they have more opportunities to pay and they will not forego the most necessary things such as health care or education. Reduction of inequalities in the society. (Roach, 2006) 2.3. Different types of taxes in the USA There are several different types of taxes in the United States. All these taxes are collected by the Internal Revenue services. They are the following ones: Income taxes; Corporate taxes. These taxes are based on the companys income per a financial year. Investment taxes. These taxes are usually paid when a person receives some dividends and capital gains. (Smith, 2010) There are also some other types of taxes which are paid by the individuals: income tax, sales tax, property tax, social security tax, medicare tax and others. (McIntosh 2010) Taxes on business include federal which include four groups: income, self employment, payroll and excise, state which include common state business taxes (sales tax, employment tax and business income tax) and local which are collected by cities and counties in order to supplement services for this or that area. (La Rose, 2010) 2.4. Problems with the Current Tax System in the United States The US Tax System is considered to be a complex one. It has its peculiarities which differ it from the tax systems of other countries of the world. However, the US Tax system has both advantages and disadvantages. The last ones require certain changes. Here is the list of problems with the current Tax System in the United States: A fabulously complex tax system with numerous layers of taxation on the same money: taxes on income and salaries, ans savings. According to the statistical data, four of five middle-class Americans pay more in payroll taxes than in income taxes. (Walby, 2008) High rate of unemployment (about 10,3 million persons). Little of the mortgage interest deduction refer to those people who are at low and middle level of income.(Walby, 2008) About 18% of taxpayers have got out of the system. The income taxes fail to take the cash payments and other unjustified transactions concerning illegal immigrants. The income taxes assist imports over the US production by excluding imports from Us tax and it penalizes the US exports giving an opportunity to some foreign countries to impose taxes when our goods are delivered to their shops. This fact damages the US exports and even costs the Americans their jobs. (17% price advantage over the US goods.)(Tuerck et al., 2007) The income tax system puts the highest corporate tax rate enforcing companies to be located in other countries. Great problems with education, many students do not know about the financial aid which can be given to them. College education became too expensive. College graduates have debts of more than $19.000 when they leave college. A great deal of manufacturing jobs were lost due to breaking out the US manufacturing trade deficit. (Arduin, LafferMoore Econometrics, 2006) 2.5. Interview Interviewer: Hello! What is your attitude to the present day tax system? Are you satisfied with it? Mr. Brown, an engineer/49 years old: Good day! I think I pay too much in taxes. Mr. Wilson, a doctor/29: The Tax Code is too confusing! Ms. Whinthrop, a manager/41: I pay through the nose on income and payroll taxes and they say we still dont have balanced budgets! Ms. Hartcoph, a student/20: I think rich people do not pay their fair share. Mr. Carack, a worker/27: Oh, little guys like me cannot take advantage of the tax code like those people who earn much and corporations do. Ms. Curts, a pensioner/71: You know, fifteen percent of Americans do not pay any income tax any more! Mr. Bronks, a builder/38: Our current tax system taxes the poor but not the rich. The programs are all for the benefit of the rich and on the backs of the poor. Analyzing the above mentioned interview, we can say that many people are not satisfied with the current tax system. They consider it should be changed. Most Americans choose fair Tax plan. (Kotlikoff, et al., 2006) Some words about the main idea of this plan. The Fair Tax is a proposal to replace the following taxes as the federal corporate income tax, the federal payroll tax, the federal estate tax, the federal gift tax, the federal generation-skipping tax with a federal retail sales tax, assessed at a single rate. The Fair Tax guarantees a rebate to each household which will be based on its demographic composition. The main idea is that the rebate ensures that households who live at or below the poverty line in the United States will pay no taxes on net income. (Kotlikoff et al., 2006) 2.6. Some New Ideas for Tax Reform in the United States Of course, it is very difficult to judge but I think that there should be some changes in the tax system of the Unites States. Here are some ideas for tax reform: Those countries which supply the United States with their products (for example, China) should pay more for import of their products. It is necessary to replace the existing federal Tax Code of the United States into a more simplified version. It will be good to impose no taxes on export and corporate profit in order to save jobs and to make the US companies more competitive. There should be no taxes on education tuition fees. Non-filers should pay taxes when they buy goods or use services. Those who get low incomes should not pay any taxes. 3. Conclusion In conclusion, it is necessary to say that taxes play an important role both in the economy of the country and in the life of citizens. Tax money is used by the government to run the most significant activities. This money may also be invested in some projects which will be beneficial for all the citizens of the country. It is very important to have such a tax system in the country which will be appropriate for citizens of all the levels of income and will allow all of them to live a full life. That is why we need tax reforms.

Tennessee v. Garner 1985 Essay -- Supreme Court Decision Essays Case

Name:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tennessee v. Garner Citation:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  No. 83-1035, 83-1070 (1985) Facts:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On October 3, 1974, Memphis Police Officers Hymon and Wright were dispatched to answer a â€Å"prowler inside call.† When the police arrived at the scene, a neighbor gestured to the house where she had heard glass breaking and that someone was breaking into the house. While one of the officer radioed that they were on the scene, the other officer went to the rear of the house hearing a door slam and saw someone run across the backyard. The suspect, Edward Garner stopped at a 6-feet-high fence at the edge of the yard and proceeded to climb the fence as the police officer called out â€Å"police, halt.† The police officer figured that if Garner made it over the fence he would get away and also â€Å"figured† that Garner was unarmed. Officer Hymon then shot him, hitting him in the back of the head. In using deadly force to prevent the escape of Garner, Hymon used the argument that actions were made under the authority of the Tennessee statute and pursuant to Police Department policy. Although the department’s policy was slightly more restrictive than the statute it still allowed the use of deadly force in cases of burglary. Garner’s fathers’ argument was made that his son was shot unconstitutionally because he was captured and shot possessing ten dollars that he had stolen and being unarmed showing no threat of danger to the officer. The incident was then reviewed by the Memphis Police Firearm’s Revie...

Queen Bee & Wannabees Essay

In every social setup, groupings are inevitable; it is a part of the natural tendency of people to organization. With every formed group, there is, naturally, a person who will lead. This scenario is pretty easy to picture in a world full of adults. But what happens when this scenario is replaced by children, adolescents? What the book Queen Bee & Wannabees and the movie Lord of the Flies portray is the oft-secreted reality that children, when left on their own, can actually be as mean and conniving as adults are when it comes to their desire for power. It is not a welcome fact as it goes against all that parents hold dear when it comes to their children. Often, they could not, would not, believe that their beautiful daughter or son is capable of harming another human being, more so deliberately. But Wiseman puts it bluntly in her book Queenbees & Wannabees: â€Å"†¦[P]arents don’t like to admit to themselves that their daughters could be mean, exclusive, and catty – or, on the other end of the spectrum, isolated and teased. Parents so often see their daughters’ behaviors as a reflection of the success or failure of their parenting that they refuse to look at their daughters for who they really are (Wiseman). What is it that adolescents do when confronted with the opportunity to belong to a group, and to lead it? This paper will deal with that query within the context of the aforementioned book and movie by comparing and contrasting the differences in the social setup between girls and boys. Their differences do not merely lie in the types of games they would like to play, nor in their interests in books, films or hobbies. A deeper form of separation exists between them, but at the same time, the stereotypes also do run parallel with each other. The comparison and contrast will be dealt with in three levels: first, what are the necessary traits needed for a boy or a girl to become the leader; two, what does it take for that power or leadership to be transferred; and three, what happens to the ex-leader and followers if their leadership is usurped? On the first level, it is important to determine which traits are attractive to relegate a teen girl or boy into the top rung of the social ladder. In an ideal world, what we would find attractive would be a person who is smart, rational, just, fair and decisive. These are what we consider proper markers of a true leader, able to withstand pressure and commit him/herself to a choice that would make the best solution for the problem. However, this is not an ideal world and its inhabitants are far from perfect. Children and adolescents are not exempt from this reality. In the Lord of the Flies, we were first introduced to the would-be leader of the group of stranded British boys, survivors of a plane crash, Ralph, by the shore with Piggy. In that scenario, it was obvious who the stronger character was. Ralph was lean and seemed more confident, while Piggy, apart from having a laughable name, was fat and slow, although very inquisitive and forward. And then arrived the choir boys, led by Jack. At the very onset, it was made clear that he is an even stronger character than Ralph and Piggy combined together. He looked confident and strong, and he easily towered Ralph. But at that point of introduction in the film, he did not present himself as the leader of the group yet, and in fact allowed to be subjected in a votation. Gathered round on the beach, the group of the choir boys and Ralph’s group then decided who will be their leader to organize them while they remain stranded in the island. Ralph easily won the seat of power that time, mainly because he seemed the more rational one amidst all the ruckus that their newly-formed group was creating. But even then, there was already a sort of opposition in Jack’s character, appointing himself as the head of the hunter group. This will later create tension and will shake up the foundation of their organization and leadership. Meanwhile, we see on the other end of the spectrum the choosing process of girls in the book Queenbee & Wannabees. Wiseman describes the Queen Bee as such: â€Å"A combination of the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland and Barbie, she is a mixture of charisma, force, money, looks, strong will and manipulation. She reigns supreme, can silence other girls and boys with a look, and her popularity is based on fear and control. † Easily, it can be seen that the Queen Bee is far from the ideal leader we pictured, definitely not fair nor just, and most certainly not caring about what’s rational or not. All that is important to the Queen Bee is for her to retain the influence she enjoys over her court, and that can only be done by doing things that will reaffirm her social status among her friends. There is no denying however, that she is smart. Not necessarily in the book-smart kind of way, though (in fact that’s a point against), but more of street smart. She uses her charms to get what she wants, and if the situation does not look as promising as she would have wanted, she uses manipulation to ensure that she will get the deal closed, and that it will be in her favor. But not only that, she must also be good-looking. This seems to be the biggest consideration of it all. Not only must she be cool and hip and in the know about the latest fashion, she should look good in it. It was also found in the book that having cool accessories – ie. boyfriends – is another sure way to get to the top. Unlike the boys in the movie, picking a Queen Bee does not go through the democratic process of voting. Instead, it happens quietly, with no questions asked. The Queen Bee works her way silently among her group, carefully selecting the people whom she would like to surround herself with, filtering out those that do not meet her own high standards of who should deserve to be in her company. It’s a cruel process that ends up alienating others, but that’s exactly the point there, because it is in this practice of alienation and separation that the Queen Bee is able to reinforce her power and leadership over all the other girls. However, not all remains fine and well in the high court of the young leaders. As in any political setup, there will be opposition. Here, we take a look at how power can be revoked in the two settings. In the movie, Ralph started losing control over the group when the bonfire they had created burned out. It was meant to serve as a smoke signal for potential rescue, and originally, it was Jack and his group who were tasked to make sure it doesn’t go out. However, Jack had other plans. He led his group to hunt down a pig and successfully returned to their site expecting praises. Upon returning, what they found instead was an angry Ralph and Piggy because the bonfire did go out, and so they missed an opportunity for rescue when a plane passed overhead. Of course, Ralph had every reason to be angry. It was the first task given to Jack, and already, he showed his tendency to become insubordinate, showing off to their peers that he does not just follow orders from a â€Å"leader† selected on the beach. What became the straw that broke the camel’s back was how Jack successfully made the rest of the hunter group believe that he is a much better leader because unlike Ralph, he appreciates their effort of bringing the pig home, and being physically strong, he can be even more useful to them. Loyalties quickly changed, and Ralph soon found himself to be deposed and stripped of his leadership because of that event. In the book, it is found that there is a lot of cattiness involved among the girls. There is also a tug-of-war into play when talking about group loyalties, same as with the boys in the movie. However, it can be said that the girls can just be as aggressive as boys, and even more. It can be a very snarky environment in the girl clique, with the girls just â€Å"using† each other to get what they want, and after which, dispose of the â€Å"used† girl. That is why it is important that the girls on their own prove themselves useful to the others, especially the Queen Bee, lest she finds herself thrown out of the social circle. Once that she no longer has a juicy benefit to offer to her peers, then she is more likely to be dumped. She may find herself the victim of a vicious rumor spread around by one of her very own â€Å"friends†, and if there is no one to defend or back her up, then she may find herself from hero to zero. As mentioned earlier, having a cool boyfriend is also a must. It has been found in the book that dating a guy beyond par, so to speak, is a grounds for deposition. What happens then to those kicked out of the group and their followers? No doubt they are put in a very humiliating state. Their former group now perceives them as outcasts, while the bystanders, as Wiseman would call it, are afraid to publicly embrace them for fear of backlash from the Queen Bee and her court. For Ralph and his remaining group, being kicked out meant being left alone to fend for themselves in the island, without the help of the hunter group. There was no group to speak of any longer, just factions, and he belonged to the loser side. The effects on the kicked out members, both in the world of the Queen Bee and in the island in the movie, do run parallel. They are now excluded, and have become the subject of ridicule, even violence. Of course, in the non-fiction world of the Queen Bee, the violence can also go to great lengths such as doing physical harm on the Targets (chosen bullied ones), but it does not come any close to the movie’s depiction of violence culminating with the deaths of Simon and Piggy. But the real difference is how this violence is actually carried out. In the movie, it was plainly depicted that the boys will fight it out with their fists. A scuffle here, a cheered-on fight there, and in the unfortunate case of Simon, a mob mentality beating him up because of mistaken identity. But in the Girl World, the rules for violence are different. Yes, they may get into catfights, pulling at each other’s hair at some point in time, but more often than not, the violence is emotional and physical. Wiseman observes that the girls can be very loyal friends, able to share intimate secrets with each other. But at the same time, this intimacy is what will make them their own worst enemies. Because of all the information they have on each other, good or bad, they become all the more potentially powerful because they can use it against each other later on. The bigger the secret, the bigger the damage. Of course, it should be recognized that the setups between the boys’ club and the Girl World are different, particularly in this paper, because one group is fictional and the other is real. However, that delineating mark ends there, because we see that it is absolutely possible to find the same results in real life. Although, for the boys in the island, they can be defended with the reason that they were pushed against the wall, having been pressured not only by an absence of guiding adults, but on top of all that, they were put in a less than enviable situation, left with no shelter, no food, no safety in the forest on a deserted island. The girls, meanwhile, do have within adults in their plane. But even the adults are filtered out so that their clique can go about their business of backstabbing each other and pleasing the Queen Bee so they may be included in her group, or if lucky, maybe even grab the power of the Queen Bee for herself. At the end of the day, what we do find in this paper is that there are certain universal standards in teen groups (ie. filtering who is in or out), but at the same time, there are certain standards that differ from each other (ie. the method by which power is enacted, and how violence is carried out). What remains constant though is the truth that man indeed is a social animal, and it is a matter of survival for him or her to be included in a social group in order to survive the harsh world out there. WORKS CITED: Talbot, Margaret, Girls Just Want to Be Mean, FASLink, Research, Information, Support & Communication, 24 Feb. 2002, http://www. faslink. org/GirlsJustWantToBeMean. htm, (retrieved 20 Nov. 2008). Wiseman, Rosalind, Queen Bees & Wannabees, Crown Publishers, London, 2002. Film: Brook, Peter (dir. ), Lord of the Flies, Continental Distributing, Inc. , Jan. 1963.

Hypothesis Test Example of Calculating Probability

Hypothesis Test Example of Calculating Probability An important part of inferential statistics is hypothesis testing. As with learning anything related to mathematics, it is helpful to work through several examples. The following examines an example of a hypothesis test, and calculates the probability of type I and type II errors. We will assume that the simple conditions hold. More specifically we will assume that we have a simple random sample from a population that is either normally distributed or has a large enough sample size that we can apply the central limit theorem. We will also assume that we know the population standard deviation. Statement of the Problem A bag of potato chips is packaged by weight. A total of nine bags are purchased, weighed and the mean weight of these nine bags is 10.5 ounces. Suppose that the standard deviation of the population of all such bags of chips is 0.6 ounces. The stated weight on all packages is 11 ounces. Set a level of significance at 0.01. Question 1 Does the sample support the hypothesis that true population mean is less than 11 ounces? We have a lower tailed test. This is seen by the statement of our null and alternative hypotheses: H0 : ÃŽ ¼11.Ha : ÃŽ ¼ 11. The test statistic is calculated by the formula z (x-bar - ÃŽ ¼0)/(ÏÆ'/√n) (10.5 - 11)/(0.6/√ 9) -0.5/0.2 -2.5. We now need to determine how likely this value of z is due to chance alone. By using a table of z-scores we see that the probability that z is less than or equal to -2.5 is 0.0062. Since this p-value is less than the significance level, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. The mean weight of all bags of chips is less than 11 ounces. Question 2 What is the probability of a type I error? A type I error occurs when we reject a null hypothesis that is true. The probability of such an error is equal to the significance level. In this case, we have a level of significance equal to 0.01, thus this is the probability of a type I error. Question 3 If the population mean is actually 10.75 ounces, what is the probability of a Type II error? We begin by reformulating our decision rule in terms of the sample mean. For a significance level of 0.01, we reject the null hypothesis when z -2.33. By plugging this value into the formula for the test statistics, we reject the null hypothesis when (x-bar – 11)/(0.6/√ 9) -2.33. Equivalently we reject the null hypothesis when 11 – 2.33(0.2) x-bar, or when x-bar is less than 10.534. We fail to reject the null hypothesis for x-bar greater than or equal to 10.534. If the true population mean is 10.75, then the probability that x-bar is greater than or equal to 10.534 is equivalent to the probability that z is greater than or equal to -0.22. This probability, which is the probability of a type II error, is equal to 0.587.