Democratic Theory Essay

The concept of democracy has developed through the theories that different personalities have created. Among the most notable individuals that gave substantial contribution to democracy are Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau through their social contract theory. The social contract theory serves as a foundation in the establishment of the major tenets of democracy. The social contract theory of Thomas Hobbes is affected by his belief regarding human nature. Hobbes deems that people are living in a state of nature wherein each individual has a right to everything in the world. However, this could become chaotic as people have varying and often times conflicting interests. As such, this kind of situation will eventually lead to conflict. In relation to this, he asserts that people should surrender their natural rights to a sovereign authority that will be responsible in protecting them against a life that is â€Å"solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short† (Friend). He also states that the abuses of power by this sovereign authority should be accepted in exchange for peace (Friend). On the contrary, the social contract theory of John Locke is different from Hobbes as he believes that the state of nature is not a state without morality. It is pre-political as there is no civil authority or government, but it is not pre-moral because people are regarded as equal with one another in the state of nature and they are capable of discovering the law of nature, which is the basis of all morality. Individuals in this state of nature would come together and surrender their rights to the public power of a government in order for this body to punish those who transgress the law of nature. Another difference of Locke’s theory from Hobbes is that he does not believe that the abuses of power of a supreme authority should not be tolerated, rather the people has the right to reject an abusive government and return to the state of nature to be able to construct a better governing body (Friend). Jean Jacques Rousseau’s social contract theory is largely influenced by the enlightenment age as it was created during that time. Roseau asserts that humans are essentially free in the state of nature but the progress of civilization made people infringe upon the liberty of others through economic and social inequalities. In this sense, he believes that people should have an agreement to come together through the social pact wherein individual persons become collective in surrendering their individual rights and freedom and transfer it to a single body. This single body is composed of the people that are directed towards the common good of the people. As such, the government in Rousseau’s theory is authorized through the general will of the people, which is regarded as a direct form of democracy. His theory is different from Hobbes and Locke because of his idea of respecting the individual will and still allowing them to assemble themselves to form a general will that will embody all the people concerned (Friend). Despite the fact that democracy is regarded as one of the ideal forms of government, it still has its corresponding problems. One of the most notable dilemmas in a democratic system is that the minority is sometimes put in a disadvantageous position as the will of the majority reigns supreme. Another predicament is the ability of the people to vote for the right officials that they will elect in the government. Voting wisely requires people to have the necessary knowledge and ability to discern the right candidates that they will choose. However, this becomes difficult especially for countries where people are illiterate and could be easily influenced by propaganda (Haarsma and Kuchling). Works Cited Friend, Celeste. 2006. â€Å"Social Contract Theory. † The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 10 June 2009 . Haarsma, Loren. , and Kuchling, Andrew Mark. 10 February 1992. â€Å"Problems with Democracy. † 10 June 2009 .

China Social Relations and Public Life Under Mao Zedong and Deng Essay

China Social Relations and Public Life Under Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping - Essay Example Moreover, the strategy was to open China to the rest of the world through the adoption of various reconstruction policies. Moreover, Deng Xiaoping in the second half of 20th century put various policies that saw China become an economic hub and one of the main contributors in global economy. Consequently, China is now posing a great challenge to major economies of the world and the already existing superpowers. A China foreign relation has changed tremendously since 1949. This was to ensure the issue of national interest prevails and to safeguard its diplomacy status. Both Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping were part of these foreign changes and important symbols of Chinese history at this period. The history of republic of China can be divided into reign of Mao Zedong (1949-1976) and the reign of Deng Xiaoping (1978-1997) (Hephaestus Books 80-84). This paper seeks to compare and contrast China’s social relations and public life under Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Under the leadersh ip of Mao, China saw a change in foreign relations strategies. Mao foreign strategies were mostly to safeguard the security interest of the people republic of China. Moreover, Mao ensured that there was protection of China’s state sovereignty and its territory from countries surrounding it especially Japan. Mao foreign strategies can therefore, be summarized as a means of survival and security maintenance (Slavicek 28-35). However, in Deng Xiaoping’s era the strategies adopted by Mao changed significantly. In his reign, the priorities of foreign relations changed significantly. Consequently, Deng purpose was to ensure there was international sobriety so as modernization could be achieved in the republic of China. Moreover, Deng fought for the founding of the latest worldwide political and economic systems. Deng issues of modernization were aimed at overseeing China unification through the return of Taiwan, resistance of hegemonies and ensure sustenance of world peace. Furthermore, economic construction was the underlying factor of these set goals (Kau and Marsh 337-345). In addition, Mao foreign relations strategies were based on war and revolutions. In contrast, theme of peace and development strategies characterized Deng era. Mao was generally influenced by a protracted revolutionary war in establishing communism in China. Mao Zedong take on China was that it was a revolutionary country and therefore could support revolution in other parts of the world. Mao believed that world could only be shaped through revolution (Slavicek 56-60). However, there was a change in this policy during Deng’s era. Deng advocated for peace and had a notion that world war could be belated and avoided. Deng also believed that world status could only be achieved through peace and developments (Kau and Marsh 75). In addition, under the leadership of Mao, foreign relations were achieved through the perspective of an international united front. This was one of the three factors instituted under the communist revolution and regime of Mao Zedong. The unitary system was to ensure there was success in fighting a common enemy and therefore, involved forming allies with friendly nations (Slavicek 72). However, in the era of Deng Xiaoping, the issue of alliance was dropped from the policies and autonomy and non-alliance was part of this administration. Under Deng, China’s relation with two superpowers became minimal and fought to have an edge in the global arena. There was no formal recognition of any

Describe your program of study, you goal or expectations for the Assignment

Describe your program of study, you goal or expectations for the practicum - Assignment Example While some employers have large, mature mobility programs with hundreds of expatriates in dozens of countries, others have small, newer programs. Yet all want to attract the right employees and send them on the right type of assignment for the right amount of time, all while controlling costs and the amount of effort it takes to administer their programs. One of the most interesting elements about Human Resources is the fact that it allows me to understand employee motivation. I find employee motivations as a pinnacle of Human Resources. Another major point that I find intriguing in my course of study is leadership. They are keen developing on employees by performance management systems leads to a better job improvement because employees are invested in the program itself and are willing to work hard. Most employees feel that they are happy with the goals of the organization as tuition is covered, work from home is a flexibility, and goal is inevitable. However, many employees also felt that growth is limited over short-term is not feasible. Additionally, larger organizations are known to segment its work in smaller departments, which can ruin personal development. Overall, the consensus was clear that larger organizations have a difficult time keeping the employees happy according to this theory. Senior executives are keen on the management practices rather than training employees on technical training. The vision of the organization is to be the key innovation while harnessing employees. These factors can be: job security, flexibility, future for themselves, and pay scale. These factors can be measured to truly understand the quality of employees because these are the qualities that measure job importance. This is detrimental to overall growth of the company that is trying to achieve new goals, especially in sales. Employees can often lose interest with the workplace when they feel as though their hard work isn’t being recognized and there

Barcly Bank Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Barcly Bank - Assignment Example Perhaps one would say that it is because the bank has already established its name considering the quantity of time that it has penetrated the UK banking arena; it has marked its name among its consumers considering the amount of time that it renders among its consumers. Basically, the thinking that due to the fact that it has been in the market for quite a long time, then it has the skill and expertise needed in banking industry. Secondly, the thought that it won't stay that long of the company didn't earn the trust of the consumers. Considering the present state of bank market nowadays, is it enough to rely on the aforementioned premises to attribute the success of the said bank In this case, the answer would be obvious, it is a big NO. Due to tougher, competition among several bankers, relying on the name alone plus the quantity if stay in the market is not enough to consider the case because of changing times, customers have different needs . In dealing with the present competition, laying down the master and contingency plan to address the further success of the company is the most important thing to do. Before, plunging into a more delicate issue concerning competitions and plans, looking back to where the company has started is an important thing to do in order to draft plans in relation to the next step that the bank must do to be on top despite the threat of hundreds of competitors encircling the competitive arena. In dealing with the bank's history, the company website barclays.co.uk (2007) revealed that "Barclays origins can be traced back to a modest business founded more than 300 years ago in the heart of London's financial district. In the late 17th Century, the streets of the City of London may not have been paved with gold, but they were filled with goldsmith-bankers. They provided monarchs and merchants with the money they needed to fund their ventures around the world. One such business was founded by John Freame and his partner Thomas Gould in Lombard Street in 1690. The name Barclay became associated with the company in 1736, when James Barclay - who had married John Freame's daughter - became a partner. Private banking businesses were commonplace in the 18th Century, keeping their clients' gold deposits secure and lending to credit-worthy merchants. In 1896, 20 of them formed a new joint-stock bank. The leading partners of the new bank, which was named Barclay and Company, were already connected by a web of family, business and religious relationships. The company became known as the Quaker Bank, because this was the family tradition of the founding families" Understanding the company's history is an important thing to do to formulate draft since a saying goes that it is impossible for you to reach your destination without looking back to where you have started. The same thing in formulation of plans regarding the success of the business lies within the formula from where the company has started. Basically, it started from different ventures and from different businesses delivered and catered different types of

Strategic Planning Report of Health Care Organization in the United Term Paper

Strategic Planning Report of Health Care Organization in the United States - Term Paper Example Strategic planning, therefore, has to be effective in an institution in order to deliver positive changes. The first component of strategic management is Situational Analysis. This is the initial point of designing a mission statement of an organization and how the mission will be achieved. Situational Analysis is vital in that it creates a leeway in aligning an organization in relation to its environment. Situational Analysis consists of a number of activities. First, the management has to consider the organizational context. This is the internal environment of the organization and how effective it will be. Secondly, Situational Analysis is directed towards evaluation of the external environment. This considers the neighboring people, organizations and other factors that are not controlled by the organization. Situational Analysis is critical to an organization as it is the basis of establishing an organization that is likely to record desirable performance. The second component in strategic management is Strategy Formulation. This involves designing and structuring a number of ways of running the organization (Sanderson and Stirk, 2012). This involves developing the company’s strategies and how they will function. This is done by determining the strength of the company and how the strengths will help in ensuring growth. In most cases, Strategic Formulation is split into three parts. This includes operational strategies which will be based on the operation and execution of the various organizational tasks. The second part is the competitive level. In this level, the organization looks for better ways of developing a competitive advantage over its rivals. Thirdly, there is the corporate level where the organization deems to please its corporate associates. This is essential as it is directed towards creating an appealing approach towards customers, employees and the corporate associates. The third component in strategic management is Strategy

Organizational structure and leaderships Term Paper

Organizational structure and leaderships - Term Paper Example Many companies have adapted a bureaucratic form of management whereby there are exaggerated numbers of management levels. Such forms of management are regarded as too bossy. A flat organizational structure in my organization therefore has fewer managers hence decisions are made in a promptly (Huffmire, 2006). In addition, employees are able to make autonomous pronouncement. According to DuBrin (2011), "A flat organizational structure acts less bureaucratically for two reasons. First, fewer available managers review the decisions of other workers. Second, a shorter chain of command means that managers and workers at lower levels can make decisions more independently" (p. 274). Decision making within my organization is decentralized as in any other institution with a flat organizational structure. Subsequently, decision making at the departmental level is also decentralized. A good example is at the Human Resource department. This means that employees at this department are able to make their own work related decisions without necessarily seeking authorization from the human resource manager as long as the decision lies within organizational objectives and plans of action. There are very few individuals with decision-making or administrative roles at the top level of hierarchy in a flat structure, and this helps improve efficiency in the decision making process as the employees do not have to seek authorization to make minor pronouncements from the top level managers. Due to the chain of command in a centralized system of leadership, making resolution may take a long time to accomplish (Huffmire, 2006). According to DuBrin (2011), a formal type of leadership is characterized by a centralized form of management. In other words, the manager or the individual with all the powers in decision making in an organization is at the top level in the hierarchy. In an informal leadership, on the other hand, the decision maker

Relationship between Labor Market and Education Essay

Relationship between Labor Market and Education - Essay Example From the above table it is evident that majority of full time workers are those with PhD, masters, bachelors degree and 2 year program. Of those interviewed those with masters' degree and work full time amount to 66.2% while only 43% with high school diploma are working full time. In contrast to this we check the percentage of those that are unemployed; from the table only 5.2% with PhD are unemployed compared to 11.7% of those who have attained high school diploma. There it is evident that employment status will depend on education attainment. Now due to the fact that the T critical value is less than the T calculated value we reject the null hypothesis that the two means are equal therefore we conclude that mean percentage of those employed and have PhD is greater than the mean value of those employed and have attained high school diploma. In the labor market people who have higher educational attainment are paid more than others, for example PhD holders will be paid higher wage rates than bachelors degree holders, in this case we analyze education level and lowest wage willing to accept, the following table summarizes the results: The above table summarizes the percentage of those who are willing to paid 4.35 to 9 according to their education attainment; it is evident that only 1% of PhD holders are willing to be paid 6 dollars while 7.8% of GED holders are willing to be paid 6 dollars. ... Variance 1 = (2.22)2 Variance 2 = (2.47) 2 N1 =2535 N2 = 2535 Tcal = 100.2828 T critical at 95% level of test = 1.9599 Now due to the fact that the T critical value is less than the T calculated value we reject the null hypothesis that the two means are equal therefore we conclude that mean percentage of those employed and have PhD is greater than the mean value of those employed and have attained high school diploma. Education and lowest wage willing to accept: In the labor market people who have higher educational attainment are paid more than others, for example PhD holders will be paid higher wage rates than bachelors degree holders, in this case we analyze education level and lowest wage willing to accept, the following table summarizes the results: High school diploma GED 2-year program Bachelors Degree Masters Degree PhD... 4.35 0.1 0 0.2 0 0 0 4.5 0.4 0.9 0.3 0.1 0 0 4.75 0.2 0.9 0.1 0 0 0 wage 5 5.7 11 3.2 0.9 0.3 1 6 4.4 7.8 3 1 0 1 7 4.3 6 3 1.3 0.8 0 8 2.7 6.3 3.1 2.4 1.8 0 9 1 4.1 1.6 0.5 0.8 0 The above table summarizes the percentage of those who are willing to paid 4.35 to 9 according to their education attainment; it is evident that only 1% of PhD holders are willing to be paid 6 dollars while 7.8% of GED holders are willing to be paid 6 dollars. For this reason therefore it is evident that the cost of labor depends in education attainment. Hypothesis: More high school diploma individuals are willing to be paid 5 dollars than Masters Degree holders Null hypothesis: H0: a = b Alternative hypothesis: Ha: a b Where a high school diploma individuals are willing to be paid 5 and b is masters individual willing to be paid 5 dollars therefore a = 5.7and b = 0.3 Tcal = 2.34057 T critical at 95% level of test =