Category: Politics & Government 2182

The articles topic is clear and straightforward as captured in the title  The Judicialization of Mega-Politics and the Rise of Political Courts. This title paints a concise picture in the readers mind concerning the contents and substance of the article. The reader can tell that the author talks about how the judicial system is being used to address mega-politics, thus giving rise to political courts in the process.

The author was motivated by the lack of literature on the issue of judicialization of politics in different countries around the world. He argues that the available literature in political science discussing the judicialization of politics around the worlds remains sketch despite the increasing relevance of this issue in the study of both international and domestic politics (p. 95). Therefore, Hirschl felt the need to address this issue by writing the article. Additionally, the author believed that the current approaches (functionalist, rights-centered, institutionalist or court-centered) to the judicialization of politics do not acknowledge the role of politics in courts (p. 95). Hirschl argues that the available approaches do not consider the significance of conceptualizing courts as political institutions (p. 97). This aspect underlines one of the motives for writing this article.

Hirschl highlights several objectives explaining why he compiled this research article. The first aim is to explore the nature and scope of the new level of judicialized politics, as well as recent scholarship that advances a realist political explanation of it (p. 97). The writer also seeks to research the available recent studies that present the judicialization of politics as a political phenomenon. According to the author, power-thirsty courts and judges aiming to assert their influence or judicial activism and other societal factors cannot explain the current judicialization of pure politics that is being experienced around the world, especially among democratic nations (p. 97).

The first major finding of this article is that the leading academic publications on this topic focus on the American constitutional experience, thus making it the reference point. Hirschl argues that judicial activism and the American-style rights jurisprudence continue to be used as the hallmarks for the judicialization of politics (p. 95). Another finding is that for the successful judicialization of pure politics, immense support from the established political sphere is needed (p. 113). In the article, Hirschl establishes that constitutional courts together with their jurisprudence are part of the grand political set-up, and thus the issue cannot be understood outside politics. Ultimately, A political quest for legitimacy, or for lowering risks or costs, is often what drives deference to the judiciary, in cases involving hotly contested political issues (p. 113). In other words, everything that exists in constitutional courts is political. It is no longer based on rights jurisprudence.

One of the articles strengths is the way it is structured and its general appearance. The paper starts with an introduction where the author highlights issues concerning the judicialization of mega-politics. Each paragraph carries a different idea, and it starts with a topic sentence. The body of the paper is divided into different subtopics, which are clearly labeled, and thus readers can follow the flow of ideas easily from the beginning to the end. Hirschl also uses credible reference materials to back his claims. He uses numerous sources for referencing based on what is available in the literature, and this aspect increases the credibility of the article. Finally, the author gives a disclosure statement indicating that he does not know of any biases to affect the objectivity of his review. This step is important when writing reviews because, in some cases, authors are biased due to different reasons.

The first outstanding weakness of the article is that the table of contents is placed at the end instead of coming at the beginning. Therefore, as readers start reviewing the article, they cannot see the contents of the paper. Normally, the table of contents gives readers a glimpse of what they expect to encounter when interacting with an article. In this case, readers have to scroll down the article to know what arguments are made in which sections. The second weakness is that the article is unnecessarily long. The introduction sounds like a treatise on the matters of judicial system and mega-politics. Some individuals may give up reading the article mid-way due to too much information.

The article is valuable to the intended audience because it introduces new insights about understanding the role of mega-politics in influencing court decisions. Initially, it was presumed that courts were concerned with rights jurisprudence. However, Hirschl proves that politics and judicial processes are closely related. Therefore, scholars in this area of study would be convinced to carry out further research on the topic to establish whether the claims made can be accepted in the mainstream theoretical framework of understanding constitutional law and politics. The article separates the idealist notion that constitutional law and courts are forums of principle from the reality that politics is a major driving force of the judicial process. These arguments underscore the value of the article to its audience.

Introduction

The lefts separation from the proletariat in the USA has a long history. It took the form of pessimism in the sixties, based on the flourishing of the life of working middle-class representatives since they were perceived as a threat by the government. In the modern world, such a negative view is related to Americas labor competition with the numerous cheaper labor reserves of Asian states. This paper is a review of the book by Beverly Silver Forces of Labor: Workers Movements and Globalization Since 1870. This review contains an examination of the books content and determines its value.

Contents

The book under analysis provides Silvers description of the research she carried out over the decades. The purpose of her study was the exploration of the labor movement. In this book, Silver suggests that individuals who consider the crisis of the labor movement nowadays as urgent tend to perceive the 21st century as a radically fresh and unprecedented time. Remarkably, people who have a desire for significant labor movements to rise to think that capitalism is only about a conflict between capital and labor.[1] Therefore, Forces of Labor fully recasts labor-related studies in terms of geographic location and history.

One of the essential points of this work was to demonstrate that there are significant continuities that undermine the claims of the neoists behind the novelty of the present. The disappearance of the class struggles in developed capitalist countries allowed establishing ideas that reinforce post-modernist arguments, meaning that class stratification is over. In spite of this thesis, Forces of Labor also examines a possibility of a gradual return to the world order.

The discussion of new technologies further in the book underlines that new products on the market have replaced the concentration on automotive manufacturing across the globe. The reality of mass production of these commodities in developing countries, particularly the ones located in Asia, lies behind the analysis of consumer facilities in Europe and the US. Nevertheless, the crucial consistency with the post-war policies and practices is shown by the books central focus, the section on the car industrys successive relocations. Car manufacturing businesses have been spread throughout the globe, but they are far from being one of demanded mass production areas.

Howsoever, while it is undeniable that Silver is portraying the similarity of the present with the capitalist era, she depicts significant disparities between these periods. The proof is given by the examination of the spatial fix, as well as the cycles of proletariat struggles. The author clarifies that capitalist powers in different parts of the world were fixed and stable from the 19th century until the 1970s. Throughout this time frame, the hub of mass production remained firmly anchored in Western European countries as well as the USA. The underdevelopment-versus-development situation offered the base for voicing social antagonism through the political modes of liberation movements.

The transfer process of mass-production industries, such as automobile manufacturing, has shaped the industrial development in third-world countries and gave jobs to millions of working-class representatives there. However, what Silver highlighted in her study of spatial relocations is that such a process, accompanied by the movements against it, has drastically changed the framework of industrial capitalism and the view on it.

Value

Forces of Labor: Workers Movements and Globalization Since 1870, critically analyze the situation in the labor arena in the USA as well as in both wealthy and developing countries across the globe. Furthermore, the author thoughtfully describes the similarities and differences of two industries: the automotive and textile ones, which are thought of as essential manufacturing of the 19th century. Such a comparison is made to shed light on the fact that once financial gain is reduced in one industry, new investments are transferred to another manufacture with more significant market potential. Thus, Beverly Silver made an attempt to explain to a reader the basics of market and industry, which was successful.

First, the author argues that in the later stages of the product cycle, the evolution of industry was on the rise, particularly in wealthy countries. However, the situation of the working class appears to be difficult because the employers have less income from the windfall entrepreneurs to make concessions, and there is more rivalry. Secondly, the book provides elaboration on the matter of different fixes, which are the key elements influencing a countrys labor market. According to Silver, the main one is the economic fix, capital flowing entirely out of development and into financial manipulations.[2] Third, the author distinguishes between two contrasting types of labor struggle: Marx-type, driven by strong-minded workers, and Polyani-type, driven by workers who feel vulnerable and challenged by market pressures.

The strategic and institutional transformation of resources is also given insufficient importance by Beverly Silver. Remarkably, even the term privatization possesses a comparatively infrequent appearance throughout the book. Furthermore, Silver lacks addressing the implications of the substantial reduction of manufacturing workplaces in recent decades (measured by a number of workers). Although the author discusses the increased intensity of global capitalist rivalry since the 1970s, she does not emphasize the same periods dramatic technical-organizational transformation of capital enough.

Importantly, Beverly Silver views the USSR as an external element affecting the current political situation globally. Whereas the state of the proletariat in socialist countries is not examined in Silvers book, their history is valuable regarding the progress of the labor movement in the world. Notably, in the twentieth century, a majority of the worlds employers worked under communist and socialist regimes; thus, it would have been useful to discover the labor movement of such states.

Conclusion

This book contributed significantly to the examination of labor and class ideology in the past, as well as its potential re-appearance in the present. All in all, it might be stated that the book by Beverly Silver is a valuable source of information concerning matters related to the labor movement. It is important to emphasize that the book offers a reflective analysis of social elements of globalization, labor, and economy. Even though the research lacks evidence and elaborations on the discussed subject, Silvers Forces of Labor still provides numerous interesting insights into the labor movements throughout the three centuries and effectively draws parallels with past and present. In addition, despite all of the inaccuracies mentioned above, Forces of Labor: Workers Movements and Globalization Since 1870 deliberately examines challenges in the labor market and prompts a reader for the analysis of this matter.

Bibliography

Silver, Beverly J., Forces of Labor: Workers Movements and Globalization Since 1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Introduction

Capitalism and its negative impact on the American society are taboo subjects. Not many people will have the courage to advocate for the overhaul of the system, given that it benefits the few while the majority continues to suffer. Nevertheless, this is not the case with Michael Moore, one of the most influential documentary filmmakers in America. In fact, this man seems to have a passion for flirting with the controversial, if his documentaries are anything to go by. His latest documentary is a case in point. Aptly titled Capitalism: A Love Affair, this 2009 film address the historic 2007/2009 financial crisis that rocked the global economy to its very core. The film also criticizes the response adopted by the American policy makers of issuing a recovery stimulus package to the financial institutions that were on the brink of collapse.

It is a fact that the film has some weak points, some of which are endemic in all of Moores productions. Critics have fiercely accused Moore of been too simplistic in his presentation of the facts that surround the economic crisis. In other words, he lacks analytical skills, and all he does is present a one-sided argument without looking at what the opposition has to say. However, despite these shortcomings, Moore touches on an issue that has bedeviled the American public, yet not many people have had the courage to address it.

When addressing capitalism and the negative effects that it has on the society, Moore seems to be restating the views of Karl Marx presented years ago. Some parallels between Marxs Manifesto of the Communist Party and Capitalism: A Love Affair are evident. Both adopt a pessimistic view of the capitalist system, and they all advocate, albeit in varying degree of emphasis, for the abolition of the same. While Karl Marx explicitly states the need to replace capitalism with communism, Moore seems to avoid this term, but says that democracy should take the place of capitalism.

A Comparison between Moores and Marxs Arguments

As earlier stated, there are some parallels palpable between the arguments expounded by these two men. This is despite the fact that they lived in different societies and in different times. The issues they address seem to affect these different societies uniformly and hold pertinence to the different periods.

The message that Moores film sends is perhaps stated clearly as the film ends. This man says that capitalism is evil, [and] you cannot regulate evil. It needs to be replaced with something better [called] democracy (Laurier & Walsh: 3). This means that there is no hope for capitalism. It is an inherently evil force that cannot be transformed. There is no way you can regulate evil. This is not only impossible, but it is also unethical. The only solution is to overhaul the whole evil system and replace it with something entirely different. Trying to transform the evil by toning it down with a positive force will also not work. This is because the evil will profane the good. As such, capitalism, been the evil that Moore is alluding to, cannot be transformed. It can only be replaced with a new system, a better system.

Moores sentiments echo those of Marx and Engel as contained in chapter one of the Manifesto of the Communist Party. These two scholars equate capitalists to bourgeoisie, who are the owners of the factors of production. Marx opines that under the rule of the bourgeoisie, the proletariat, or the working class, continue to sink deeper into pauperism (Marx, Engels and Jones 52). In not so many words, Marx is trying to paint capitalism as an evil force in the society. He sums up his argument by stating that society can no longer live under this bourgeoisie &.its existence is no longer compatible with society (Marx et al 52). As such, it needs shunning. Nevertheless, society cannot exist in a vacuum, and another system has to come and take up the space vacated by capitalism.

This far, Marx and Moore are in concurrence. They both feel the need and urgency to replace this oppressive system. However, while Marx makes a case for communism, Moore seems to be lost as to what should replace this system. He settles for democracy, although the finality of this position is debatable.

The unregulated feature of the financial markets caused the current economic crisis, according to Moore. This led to greed and desire to accumulate more profits as competition went out of control. Moore traces this feature of unregulated markets to President Ronald Reagan, who is viewed as a president who was against the rights of the workers and a covert campaigner for the interests of the bourgeoisie (Laurier & Walsh: 4). The uncontrolled financial markets made the financial institutions lend money to creditors with no potential to service the loans. The greed made them speculate on the ephemeral real estate bubble. The borrowers were unable to read the fine print of the terms and conditions of the mortgages and other funding that they got. It is in this light that Moore blames both the government and the financial institutions for the current economic crisis and the collapse of the housing sector (Laurier & Walsh: 5).

On both counts, the writer tends to concur with Moore. When the greedy Wall Street prospectors made it easy to access loans, people with little or no understanding of credit terms were able to get credit. They were unable to pay the debts, and en masse, loan default inevitably followed. This is what brought the real estate in America down on its knees. Families, like the one depicted in the film from Lexington, North Carolina (Laurier & Walsh: 5), were evicted from abodes that they had called home for generations. The greed of the financial institutions and the inability of the government to control the financial markets are obvious in all of these developments. In fact, these two phenomena appear inextricably intertwined, one leads to the other. This is because lack of government control led to the greed and speculation of Wall Street operatives.

Capitalism has some positive attributes, although it is a dash too ambitious to expect to see this highlighted in the film. For example, competition stimulates economic growth and to some extent, financial accountability. However, there is need to exert some form of control on this system. The government should take an active role in regulating the markets, financial or otherwise, in order to safeguard the wellbeing of the majority of their citizens. The aim should be to ensure that the capitalists do not exploit the society for their selfish gains. According to Moore, as he puts it forth in his film, decline of market regulation started with the advocacy for the interests of the industrialists by Ronald Reagans administration. Political corruption by economic lobbyists has also contributed to this decline (Laurier & Walsh: 2). This development has led to what Marx terms as the essential conditions for the existence and sway of the bourgeoisie (Marx et al 53). This is the formation and differentiation of capital between those who have and those who do not. The two classes seem to be in competition with each other, and periodic confrontations are inevitable. For example in the film, the have-nots who were been evicted from their houses were in conflict with the haves, the owners of the banks.

Conclusion

When Marx advocates for the abolition of capitalism, he seems to suggest that laissez faire form of capitalism, where everyone seems to benefit, is next to impossible. However, this is not to be taken without some measure of doubt. Is laissez faire capitalism impossible? This may not be the case as Marx and Moore wants us to believe. Capitalism is a juggernaut, and if society is able to harness the force of this run-away train, more benefits than costs are accrued. The only way to harness the force of this juggernaut, the only way to make capitalism work for society, is through regulation. Regulation here does not mean the blanket form of regulation by government where every facet of the economy is under scrutiny. Rather, it is control by the majority, democratization of capitalism. In this system, the government, through the mandate conferred unto it by the citizenry, will control the capitalists and ensure that it benefits the society as a whole, but not the minority.

Works Cited

Laurier, Joanne & Walsh, David. Michael Moores Capitalism: A Love Story. International Committee of the Fourth International. 2009.

Marx, Karl, Engels, Friedrich, and Jones, Gareth. The Communist manifesto. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.

Introduction

The principal rationale of this essay is to delve into, discuss and analyze the regional squabbles among the Middle Eastern States. It seeks to critically evaluate how the Balance of Power theory and Huntingtons Clash of Civilization theory pertain to the economic and political disputes in the Middle East. This essay also gives a synopsis of the two International relations theories and consequently applies their philosophical presumptions in analyzing regional disputes.

The Balance of Power Theory

Reading from Rourkes work, it is evident that the Balance of Power paradigm is the one philosophical theory that has undergone a series of historical developments, assuming diverse forms and points of view. The overall theoretical conception has, however, remained much relevant to global economic and political affairs (Rourke, 2008, pg198-331).

John Rourke, a renowned researcher on International relations politics, notes that the balance of power paradigm is a theory explaining the state of equilibrium between two or more forces competing for power and superiority. He contends that this state of parity is characterized by diplomatic behaviors, aimed at empowering ones State while trying to topple others in a more politically maneuvered approach (Rourke, 2008, pg 198-331).

Predictions of the Balance of Power theory

This theory has often been used in analyzing the recent events of the Middle East, a region flawed with importunate conflicts and wars. From the February 6th, 2007, New York Times article, titled, In the public view, Saudis counter Iran in the region, we are faced with a typical scenario where the balance of power theory may be called upon to help clarify certain issues on regional disputes.

The battle that takes a center stage in the Middle Eastern States is actually composed of remarkable unfolding events. Dominating the struggles are Saudi Arabians and Iranians, both trying to weigh their regional strengths on the economic and political powers. According to the New York Times Article, as Saudi Arabia opts to take a central, aggressive control in reshaping regional conflicts, Iran fabricates ways of benefiting from the civil war tones, to counter the Saudis. In reaction to this, the Saudis heighten their public movements in Iran. They also ally with the Sunni-led of Lebanon, a move aimed at establishing itself as a superpower in the region. Manifestations of power balance continue to unveil, with Iran embarking on the nuclear program. Consequently, the U.S is threatened to be overtaken by Iran, as the world superpowers. The Bush administration decides to support Saudi Arabia against Iran. These are clear indications that each of the rival states seems to be in an unstable state when their regional economic and political influences are on the verge of dwindling. The balance of power theory is therefore justified in this case.

Huntingtons Clash of Civilizations theory

The Clash of Civilization theory is among the most controversial theories in history. Many critics discord it as a non-substantive claim, not universally plausible. It, however, underscores the fact that Samuel Huntingtons Clash of Civilization theory has also been one of the most philosophical and influential over the Centuries. This theory contends that regional or global disputes are not the result of economic and political ideologies, but the consequences of conflict between civilizations (Rourke, 2008, pg 198-331). Civilizations, according to Samuel Huntington, are cultural entities composed of nationalities, ethnic groupings, regions, and some other tenets that distinguish the states from one another.

Predictions of Huntingtons theory

Considering this theoretical conception, we can see the sense of cultural disparities highlighted in the New York Times Article. There are indeed a number of nationalities from different geographical regions involved in disputes, not necessarily because of economic and political reasons, but partly as a result of their differences in religious doctrines, cultures, and social norms.

Assessment of the two theories

While the balance of power theory views International relations in terms of economic and political powers, Huntingtons Clash of Civilization theory begs to diverge by perceiving the same on the basis of cultural entities. Conversely, both of them agree that conflicts and disputes are common factors in International relations. The point is thus on how to help settle the regional disputes.

Conclusion

In the case of the Saudi counter Iran region, the balance of power theory promises more solutions as compared to Huntingtons Clash of Civilization theory. The latter keeps the States on the toe. In efforts of trying to strike a balance in their economic and political superiorities, no state is likely to lag behind others. The former, that is, Samuel Huntingtons theory, does not promise much in this case. It rather concentrates more on cultural identity and self-awareness that may take some time before the different entities come to terms with their socio-political and economic realities. Balance of power theory is therefore preferable in analyzing the Middle East disputes.

References

Rourke, John. International politics on the world Stage.12th Ed. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.2008.124-450.

Introduction

The Congress is the autonomous legislature of the United States of America government that consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The two are constituted of representatives and senators respectively chosen through direct election. The number of representatives is 435 representing districts and serves a two-year term. The number of senators is 100 serving a six-year term of office and each state is assigned two senators despite the population or geographical size. Every two years up to one-third of the Senate is elected. It is the major policy-making body holding the legislative powers of the U.S.A government.

The powers of the Congress

Article one section eight of the U.S.A constitution enumerates the powers, specific authorities, and responsibilities vested on the U.S.A congress by the constitution which are exercised limited to the bill of rights and other protections within the constitution. These powers include the ability to borrow money on the credit of the government, regulate foreign trade, lay collect or impose taxes and duty, payment of public debts, defense, and generally protect the welfare of the government.

They comprise the powers and the limitations placed on them as listed in the constitution. Some of these powers include the powers to overrule the interpretation of clauses within the constitution, make amendments to laws and clauses as it sees fit, establish uniform order of naturalization, make money and regulate its value, fix standard weights and measures, and rule over monetary offenders in case of counterfeiting of the currency. Others are; powers to promote art, science, technology, and development, protect rights to inventions written and other materials, declare war, provide and maintain the navy, exercise exclusive legislation, and take power over commercial decisions.

The Commerce Clause gives Congress authority to regulate trade activities with other nations, among the Nations within the U.S. and with the Indian Nations. Its also meant to cover disputes arising within trading parties and is often paired with the necessary and proper clause to cover the wider perspective of these powers. The Copyright clause guards rights to intellectual property, copy and patent rights with the view of promoting scientific and artistic development. It also seeks to secure the work of authors, inventors, video and audio material producers of the exclusive rights to their respective discoveries and materials.

The commerce clause gives Congress the powers to regulate trade with foreign nations, make laws within the commerce field, and make discriminatory state legislation where permissible. Powers of federal regulation, federal rights to navigable waters, buying, selling, manufacture, and navigation of goods. Powers to the making of new commercial deals, national labor relations, and the control of cannabis plant growing processing and consumption.

The powers of employing discriminatory state legislation, restriction on navigation and movement of goods, manufacture, processing, consumption of products, and the making of new commercial deals infringe on the application of state rights. This, therefore, reduces the federal system by making the control of these activities central by the congress when the authority should be divided between the central and the local governing authorities that are either provinces or states.

The implied powers include regulating the value of the American currency against other foreign currencies and vice versa, punishment of counterfeiters and offenders of monetary offenses, and this is geared towards checking fraud and inflation rates. The powers to grant letters of marque and reprisal, powers to support the forces restricted to a maximum of two years to avoid the war situation from going beyond civilian control and to restrain the rise of wars and violent confrontation. The powers of peacemaking and the right to call in the state militia in pursuit of peace. This is meant to maintain the peace levels within the states and with other nations.

The exclusive powers to make rules and regulations governing the naval and land forces that are meant to restrict the activities and involvement of the forces to only demanding/ justified situations. The exclusive right of legislating for the nations resources that covers land, water, and overseas resources dictating the use and exploitation of human, capital, monetary and other state properties. The Necessary and proper clause also referred to as the coefficient clause gives congress the powers to make all laws necessary in the execution of the powers vested in the Government, governmental departments, and officers by the constitution.

Right from the onset, the clause is seen to give the government too much power and areas of operation that threaten civil liberties. Examples of these excessive powers are the areas of taxation, formation of the national bank that raised the concerns of the northern upper class taking advantage of the bank to exploit the southern people.

The spending powers that entitle the congress to consumption of state resources, power of borrowing money for the federal government virtually giving it total control of the state currency, control of production and consumption, justification of federal criminal laws affecting economic activities like the federal kidnapping Act, justification of criminal laws to do with the federal governments rightful operation that includes laws against assaulting or execution of national employees. All these powers give too much power to congress resulting in infringement of personal rights and liberties. (Eldred & Ashcroft.2003)

Conclusion

The powers vested on congress by the constitution should be highly controlled by the other arms of government and authority-making bodies. This is to avoid the infringement of state rights, reduction of federalism, and to avoid overuse of power by congress. Failure to do this will result in exploitation of personal and state rights at large resulting in an unfavorable political situation that may raise public tension and raise the chances of confrontations within the United States and with other nations.

List of Reference

Eldred & Ashcroft. (2003). The Reach of Congressional Power. Web.

Humanity and human society cannot be regarded as indivisible unity, since even Earth is divided, though, artificially, into the hemispheres by equator. Thus, there are two hemispheres: Northern and Southern. This division may be of great use for those who deal with international relations and global politics as the division of the Earth into hemispheres almost coincides with the division of the countries into the rich countries and the poor countries. Kegley and Raymond state that the disparities are profound and in many places appear to be growing (109). Thus, there are two terms that operate in the sphere of international relations: Global North and Global South. Global North stands for the wealthy and industrialized countries that are mainly situated in the Northern Hemisphere. In its turn, the term Global South stands for the less-developed countries, which are mainly located in the Southern Hemisphere (Kegley and Raymond 109). Though socio-economical and political inequality corresponds with geographical division of the countries into hemispheres, these divisions do not entirely coincide, for instance, Australia is the developed country. Though poverty, inequality, and subordination have always existed, nowadays the international situations may be characterized by unprecedented proportions of inequality that demand special attention. In the light of the world financial crisis the less-developed countries deserve special attention (Foreign Policy and The Fund for Peace 80). The consideration of reasons for the historically fixed division of more than two hundred states and the ways to bridge the gap between Global North and Global South need immediate consideration as well as the tools that may be used for that.

The essence of the gap between Global North and Global South consists in the following: the enormous gap in income of the citizens, the difference of economic specialization of the countries, the gap in the state of health and education, the difference of political influence of the countries. The key criterion of the determination of the fragile countries is the level of poverty. The Rankings offered by Foreign Policy state that Somalia is the leading country in the rating of the less-developed countries that is characterized by the highest demographic pressure, economic decline, etc. (Foreign Policy and The Fund for Peace 83). The countries of the Global South are characterized by high level of inflation as it is stated by Djavid Salehi-Isfahani concerning the situation in Iran: inflation doubled in annual terms from 15 to 30 percent in 2008 (85). However, if inflation decreased in 2009, the level of unemployment became higher (Salehi-Isfahani 85). Thus, unemployment is one more problem of critical importance for the countries of Global South. Though unemployment is the problem that is typical of the majority of developed countries as well, its greater danger for the less-developed countries is evident. The same author states that the rate of unemployment in Iran is about twenty percent, with three out of four unemployed Iranians under the age 30 (Salehi-Isfahani 85). High level of unemployment together with extreme poverty, which may be illustrated by the fact that a lot of inhabitants of less developed countries spend less than a dollar on living, are the evidence of the critical situation in the Global South.

The difference of specialization of the countries that belong to the developed and the developing countries is evident. The North specializes at the manufacturing of goods and the rendering service that provide great level of profit for these countries. The services offered by those countries are based on high technologies developed in the countries. In turn, the developing countries serve as the sources of raw materials and commodities. This specialization cannot provide high income level of the countries, especially, if we take into account Roubinis idea that Commodity prices, which already fell sharply in the second half of 2008, will face further price pressure in 2009 (par. 23). Kharas also stresses the dependency of the poorest countries on commodities: some, like Sudan, export commodities and this factor makes the country vulnerable. Others, like Bangladesh, suffer from a lack of commodities and have to import them, the availability of the commodities for the population at market prices explains the weak situation of countries like this one (Kharas 85). Extreme poverty and poor economic state of the countries of Global South are responsible for the poor state of health and education in comparison with the developed countries. Finally, as for the place on the international arena, the developing countries have far less influence than developed countries.

On considering the essence of gap, it is necessary to tackle the reasons for the striking inequality of the countries of the two hemispheres. These reasons include the consequences of colonialism, the instability of government, brain drain, lack of attention to the development of free trade, etc. It is worth mentioning that a lot of developing countries share colonial past. Nowadays it has the consequence of the counties inability to develop indigenous technologies that would correspond to their resources, this is why the countries still depend greatly on multinational corporations on the First World and simply serve as the sources of raw materials. On the whole, these counties are mostly agricultural countries, this is why such problems as water issue may also cause the aggravation of economic crisis in the countries that may be already observed by the example of Pakistan and India (Faris 92).

Historical and geographical reasons are important, but so is the failure of the state to provide development of the country. Brian drain is one of the reasons and the consequences of the gap between countries. It is caused by high level of unemployment and the absence of demand for efficient specialists, especially in the spheres of high technologies, because of the above mentioned undevelopment of these technologies in the developing countries.

Dickinson mentions corruption and mismanagement among the reasons of poor state of the developing countries (90). A lot of the countries of the Third World may be characterized by failed state (Rotberg 91). He defines these states as those that no longer serve their people, because they deliver low quantities and qualities of political goods to their citizens, and they have lost their monopoly on violence (Rotberg 91). As for Somalia, the author even resorts to the term collapsed government (Rotberg 91).

The seriousness of the critical situation in the Global South demands immediate actions that will improve economic, social, and political state of the country. In response to above mentioned brain drain, the improvement of the educational situation is needed. The acquisition and nurture of self-sufficiency should also become the first consideration of the states, because the roots of the problems go back to the mentality of the citizens of those states. They consider themselves the citizens of backward countries, thus, changes should be made on the level of mentality. However, economic development should be fostered by the governments, and free trade should develop in the countries. The countries should head for the development of export-led industrialization.

Among the ways of solving the problems with Global South is the establishment of cooperation between the countries of the Third World. However, international assistance is also needed. The involvement of UN and NGOs into the process of development of the countries will foster their progress. UN main functions are the maintenance of international security, economic development and the guarantee of human rights. As it is stated above, all these criteria are being violated in the countries of Global South. UN activity may be supported by the activity of NGOs, such as the World Trade Organization in Geneva. The active activity of the UN and NGOs will ensure the spread of globalization in Global South, which will provide the developing countries with trade, capital flow, and technological development. Thus, globalization is needed by developing countries despite controversial views on it (Sen unpaged). These ideas correspond to the theoretical grounds of liberalism, which presupposes the relations between states not only on political basis, but on economical basis as well, though activity of non-governmental organizations.

It may be stated that if developing counties choose to resist globalization and choose politics of nonalignment that was typical of them, it will create additional difficulties for them. In case of policy of nonalignment, the countries will remain powerless on the world arena. In the light of the seriousness of global problems, such as global financial crisis, climatic problems (Levi 92) and threat of natural disasters (Flynn 2), the need of cooperation between developed and developing countries is evident.

Drawing a conclusion, it may be stated that the seriousness of inequality of the countries is evident. Contemporary situation in the world that is determined by the global financial crisis and climatic changes has increased the need for cooperation of all countries in the world. Globalization may be seen as the way that will bridge the gap between the countries of Global north and Global South. UN and NGOs may be considered effective tools of globalization.

Works Cited

Dickinson, Elizabeth. Blame game. Foreign Policy. (2009): 90.

Faris, Stephan. The Last Staw. Foreign Policy. (2009): 92-93.

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Kegley, Charles W. and Gregory A. Raymond. The Global Future: A Brief Introduction to World Politics. NY: Cengage Learning, 2009.

Kharas, Homi. The Whiplash Effect. Foreign Policy. (2009): 85.

Levi, Michael A. Copenhagens Inconvenient Truth. How to Salvage the Climate Conference. Foreign Affairs. 88.5. (2009).

Rotberg, Robert I. Disorder in the Ranks. Foreign Policy. (2009): 91.

Roubini, Nouriel. A Global Breakdown of the Recession in 2009. Forbes. 2009.

Salehi-Isfrahani, Djavid. Trouble in Tehran. Foreign Policy. (2009): 85.

Sen, Amartya. How to Judge Globalism. The American Prospect. 13.1. (2002).

Introduction

Investment in the UK is a challenge that needs to be viewed carefully by considering a number of important points such as the state of the economy, salary and wages, market segments, and trade fiscals. Having a business in the UK provides a good reputation and gives an entry into Europe and US markets. This research report provides an analysis of important areas that could impact investment decisions. Some points that are covered include the UK trade deficit, FDI inflow, goods and products traded, and the average salary and wages in the UK. The paper also provides a brief discussion on challenges faced by MNCs when they enter the UK and a set of recommendations is provided.

The report is written for the MD of ABC Ltd., a trading organization based in China. The company takes up import and export of manufactured goods to Africa, South America, and Asia. The company is thinking of investing in the UK and the report discusses important issues.

UK Trade

UK had a trade deficit of 3.2 billion GBP during February 2009 for goods and services and this figure is a rise over the 3.1 billion USD figure of January 2009. However, services had a surplus of 4.1 billion GBP while trade in goods had a deficit of 7.3 billion GBP. The figures suggest that the UK remains a net importer of trade goods and that there is sufficient scope for companies that want to set up trading and import of products (National Statistics, 9 April 2009). Please refer to the following figure that indicates the trade deficit.

The UK faces a credit crunch like many other countries in the world and this has been blamed on the economic recession. Cash crunch and credit crunches are a regular part of a business cycle and usually should not be the cause of too much worry as banks borrow money from the Bank of England or other banks and lend it to individuals, businesses, stockbrokers, and so on, who repay the loans as per the due dates. This is an accepted business practice and any shortage of funds is crossed over by short-term borrowings or by raising funds from the market in the form of equity, IPOs, mutual funds, hedge funds, and other instruments. The problem now has happened because there is no one from whom funds can be borrowed as banks have run out of funds and cannot extend credit to individuals and businesses. To add to the woes, because of economic recession and since a number of banks have failed in the US, there is no more liquidity left in the market and people have lost their jobs and cannot repay their loans. Since the worlds economy is based on the US dollar and the US forms the major trading partners for many countries, a recession in the US has hit the GDP of many countries, including the UK. The following figure gives the GDP of the UK since 2003 (Euromonitor, 15 December 2008).

As seen in the above figure, UK GDP has seen crests and troughs since Q3 2003. In Q3 2007, the GBP peaked and then has seen a constant downward growth and the trend has become negative in Q3 2008 and this negative trend is expected to slip further. The credit crunch has resulted in a number of problems for the UK market and some of them are: Household debts in November 2008 have increased by 150% of the disposable income and servicing debts is a big problem. The fiscal position of the UK has seen a huge budget deficit of 23.3 billion GBP between April 2008 to October 2008. Taxes have to be increased to yield 4 billion GBP and this will impose an additional burden. To infuse some amount of credit, the Bank of England reduced the interest rate to 2% from 4% in December 2008 in the hope that the economy would grow but investments have reduced. Unemployment has jumped to 5.7%. Many banks have failed and have been nationalized and the government has spent about 87 billion GBP to support the failed banks. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply/Market construction index for October to November 2008, reduced from 35.1 to 31.8 this is the fastest contraction since records began in 1997. With no funds available, people default on loans, there is lesser demand for housing, and rates have fallen (Euromonitor, 15 December 2008).

FDI Inflow

Among all the European nations, UK had the maximum amount of FDI, and a 2008 year-end, there were reported FDI inflows of 1.43 trillion USD. The total stock of UK FDI stood at 1.347 trillion USD, According to media reports, UK is the most favored destination for FDI, and the trillion dollars FDI was repeated over the 2007 figures. It is expected that with the current economic recession and downturn, FDI inflows till 2010 would be reduced but the general trend is to watch and wait for the economy to spring back. The recent problem of the credit crunch has also forced trade organizations to revise their estimates and it is expected that there would be a 10% reduction in the forecast figures. However, when compared to the other countries in the EU zone, UK has fared much better because of its strong governance (Hopkins, 2008).

Please refer to Appendix Table A.1 Top 25 Import Country Origins gives the top trading partner countries for UK for imports and exports. As seen in the table, the top Import/ FDI inflows are from Germany, US, China, Netherlands and France an the total Exports/ FDI inflows are about 10.42 trillion GBP as of January 2009. Following table shows the details of export/ FDI for the top 25 countries. Please refer to Appendix Table A.2 Top 25 Export Country Origins. The top export destinations for UK are US, Germany, Netherlands, France and the Irish Republic. These countries saw exports of 7.15 trillion GBP.

Hence it can be seen that there is a lot of potential for a trading house to take up import and export activities in UK.

Goods Traded

UK has a very sizeable range of goods that are traded for import and export.

Goods for Export

As seen in Appendix A3. Table A.3. Top 20 Export Products from UK, the top 20 goods that are exported from UK are listed. Given in the table are the ranking for the products, value of exports in January 2009, percentage change for 2009 over 2008 and the % share for 2009 on year to date basis. The top exports are nuclear reactors and related items and these are highly restricted items that cannot be exported easily and hence these are not considered. The next items are mineral fuels, Pharmaceutical products, electrical goods and other items and these are also not considered as suitable for XYZ company since the % change for 2009 over 2008 shows a reduction in volumes. There are also many other products but such as vehicles and other products and these require special knowledge, clearances and handling techniques and hence not suitable for ABC Ltd. However, the products that ABC Ltd. can export from UK are inorganic chemicals and articles of apparel, given in bold in the table and ranked 14 and 19 respectively. The volumes of inorganic chemicals are 231 million GBP and that for apparel are 159 million GBP and these can be considered for exports. These items also show a rise in the change for 2009 over 2008.

Goods for Import

As seen in Appendix A4. Table A.4. Top 20 Imported Products from UK, the top 20 goods that are imported into UK are listed. Given in the table are the ranking for the products, value of imports in January 2009, percentage change for 2009 over 2008 and the % share for 2009 on year to date basis. The top imports are nuclear reactors and related items and these are highly restricted items that cannot be imported easily and hence these are not considered. The next items are mineral fuels and other items and these are also not considered as suitable for ABC Ltd. since the % change for 2009 over 2008 shows a reduction in volumes. However, the products that ABC Ltd. can export from UK are Articles of apparel ranked 11 and 12; Footwear ranked 17 and toys and games ranked 20. These products have good import values and there is an increasing trend for year 2009 over year 2008.

Labour Market and Average Wages

In the current economic recession, there have been widespread job losses and lay offs with thousands of business closing down. As of February 2009, there were about 1.39 million people who had lost their jobs. It is further reported that the rate of jobless is the highest since 1974 and the trend is expected to continue through 2009. The number of business currently active in UK is hard to estimate given the large varieties of businesses. However, number of trading organizations involved in the same work as that of ABC Ltd. are around 50 thousand. Following figure gives the gross median weekly earnings growth for men and women (nomis, January 2009).

It must be understood that earnings vary as per the city and the nature of work, qualifications of the worker and the organization. However, the full time employees with top earnings earned about 946 GBP weekly while the lowest strata earned about 262 GBP weekly. In London, the top level earnings were about 613 GBP while in North East Ireland, the top wages were 418 GBP per week. It is also estimated that people in sales organizations, similar to ABC Ltd. earned a lowest wage of 272 GBP per week. Thus, it can be expected that ABC Ltd. that is a trading organization can expect to pay on an average of 250 GBP per week for its employees (nomis, January 2009).

Potential challenges which could arise when MNCs enter UK

Laidlaw (17 March 2009) comments that due to high labour costs and infrastructure costs, UK is depending more and more on imports and outsourcing is the norm. In this scenario, there is a high resistance from people who have lost jobs and from business that have been shut down. However, UK still needs products of appropriate quality that are economical and companies with sufficient resources can take up this challenge. Infrastructure costs are high and credit is tight so expecting funding from UK banks is difficult. Therefore, investors would have to rely on their internal funds and external borrowings. So the challenges are: credit crunch, economic recession, lower rates, lower demands, and a market with high entry barriers.

Recommendations

Some important recommendations are:

• ABC Ltd. can consider starting an import/ export house for trading goods. The cost of setting up such a business is less.
• ABC Ltd. can import items such as apparel, toys and games and export inorganic chemicals and some selected apparel items. There is a constant growth in demand for these items and there is sufficient volume.
• ABC Ltd. can source goods from China and other low cost labour countries and consider a tie up with local distributors for the retail market.
• There is a substantial inflow of FDIs in UK and the government provides incentives for foreign companies that wish to invest in UK.

References

Euromonitor, 2008. UK economy to perform the worst in Western Europe in 2009. Euromonitor International Publications, London, UK.

Hopkins. Kathryn. 2008, Britain is the first choice in Europe for foreign direct investment. Web.

Laidlaw. Sam, 2009. Adam Smith Institute Overcoming Strategic Challenges for UK Utilities. Web.

National Statistics, 2009. UK Trade Deficit widened to £3.2 billion in February. Web.

nomis, 2009. National/Regional Headline Indicators for Nov 2008  Jan 2009. Web.

UK Trade Info, 2009. UK Trade Imports Exports. Web.

Appendix

A1. Top 25 Import/ FDI country origins

Table A.1 Top 25 Import Country Origins (UK Trade Info, 2009).

A2. Top 25 Import/ FDI Country Origins

Table A.2 Top 25 Export Country Origins (UK Trade Info, 2009).

A3. Top 20 Products Exported from UK

Table A.3. Top 20 Export Products from UK (UK Trade Info, 2009).

A4. Top 20 Products Imported into UK

Table A.3. Top 20 Imported Products into UK (UK Trade Info, 2009).

Thesis

It has always been assumed that to reduce crime the best thing that could be done is to make it harder for the civilian society to have access to guns. Guns have been linked to many crimes in the US some resulting to cases of homicide. In certain cases innocent lives have been lost especially when shooting sprees have occurred in schools. However studies have continued to reveal that prohibiting gun use would not necessarily reduce crime.

Introduction

The United States is one of the countries with the highest rates of crime. The use and the availability of guns have been blamed for the increased rates of crime in most states. Some proponents have actually suggested that the government should put more strict laws to control the use of guns and also their accessibility (Jacobs, 2002, p22). However other advocates have opposed this notion claiming that the presence of guns has no correlation with the rates of crime in the US.

Acquiring a gun does not necessarily mean that one will be involved in crime. On the other hand there is no evidence that reduced guns in the public will automatically result to reduced crime rate in the society. Guns have been in the society since the early centuries and crime was still part of the society even without the accessibility to the guns. Crime is an act that is performed by the individuals and the presence or absence of certain weapons does not control its rate. This paper discuses the notion that having very stringent laws to control the accessibility or the availability of guns by individuals will not necessarily reciprocate to reduced rates of crime within our society.

Reasons for use of guns

Long before the colonial times guns were still present in our midst. The rate of crime was not as high as it is today and therefore individuals should not relate the high rates of crime to the number of guns within the public. Guns were initially used for hunting and for self defense but not for committing crime. However during the colonial period, this uses assumed a new direction as the colonial man used it against the blacks in order to keep control of them.

Guns were therefore used by those who were out to oppressing others. The use of guns had changed from hunting and defense to fighting. This is how the use of guns has been transmitted to be used to oppress others during crime. Putting measures to control the use of guns cannot reduce crime since individuals will still use them especially because they are criminals and law breakers. The presence of strict laws on the accessibility of guns will actually increase the crime rate since the criminals will take advantage that their victims are unarmed and therefore it would be easy for them to control them (Lott, 1998, p31).

Without the restrictions, everyone would be allowed to own a gun and this means that both the criminals and the victims will be afraid of each other. The criminals will not strike with so much confidence since they might turn out to be the victims themselves. If individuals are allowed to own guns they will be able to protect themselves better than when they are restricted from owning the guns.

Gun control laws are always ineffective

The laws that are affected by the state on the control of guns will not be effective in controlling the use of such ammunitions. The honest citizens within the country are the only ones who will abide by the laws that are laid down by the state. The criminals within any state are always criminals and they are well known to be law breakers. Even if the law insisted that people should not carry guns, the law breakers will still carry their guns around.

On the other hand it has been argued that the measures that are put forward to control the illegal guns are not constitutional since they collide with the 2^nd amendment of the US constitution which allows individuals to carry guns to protect themselves. When the measures to control the guns are effected, the crime rate is deemed to actually increase rather than reduce. This is because; the criminals will actually take advantage of their victims.

Its important to note that the only people who do not carry the guns are the law abiding citizens. In this case the criminals will easily strike their victims since they know that they are not armed with guns and therefore will not be able to fight back. They then use their illegal guns to take control of the crime seen since no people will have any guns around to protect themselves. The government should amend the laws that are put forward to control the accessibility and ownership of guns and concentrate on policies that are directed towards security rather that the control of who owns a gun (John, 2000, p17). Law breakers will always be present and therefore with or without law, guns will be part of the society.

Behavior is not determined by Gun measures

The fact that one owns a gun does not mean that this individual will commit crime. Respective individuals are responsible for their own crimes rather than the guns they hold. If the government puts measures to control the use and accessibility of guns it does not mean that those individuals who had planned to commit a crime would change their minds, they would still commit crime somehow. The possession of a gun does not influence the behavior of a person (Jacobs, 2002, p28).

An individual with some criminal tendencies is predestined to commit crime regardless whether he/she will use a gun or not. On the other hand the law enforcers are not very strict on how they handle such laws. This is because most of the guns that are in the market today were once very legal guns and there must be a loop-hole some where as to how they get to the hands of the criminals. Taking a gun away from an individual does not mean that you have changed the behavior of that person. The government should concentrate on the security of individuals rather than the policies of disarming the gangsters.

Controlling guns is not necessarily the answer to the problem

The government cannot solve the problems of high crime rate in the society by putting measures on the accessibility of guns. Controlling the circulation or even the availability of guns will not solve any problems that are related to crime. What the government can do is addressing the problem of crime and violence as it is but we cannot use guns to control the crime rate. There is no evidence that all crimes that are committed are done by individuals who are in possession of guns. Even if it was possible for all the guns to be eliminated, crime and violence would still be present within our society since guns are not the only tools that can be used to commit crime.

There are other ammunitions that can be used to commit crime such as machetes, swords, knifes among others. The issue of crime is an accorded behavior in the individuals and therefore removing or controlling the accessibility of guns does not eliminate the criminals from the society. The government should rather concentrate with measures that improve on security in the society to protect the innocent citizens rather than dealing with the ammunitions that are used by the criminals to commit crime (Lott, 1998, p36). The problem in the society is not the guns, the problem is the crime itself and unless the individuals committing the crime change, the absence of guns will not solve the problems of insecurity posed by criminal gangs in the society.

Black market

The laws that are laid by the government normally concentrate with the controlling the individuals who can purchase the guns, posses or own guns. This is done by controlling the ownership of guns through measures such as licensing. This usually curbs the youths or the teenage gangs from purchasing guns from the dealers. However, the government has assumed the fact that the criminals can access the guns from the black market.

Criminals always are given to commit crime regardless of the measures or laws that are instituted, its their nature to commit crime. In the black market just like the illegal drugs, the illegal guns will be smuggled through the market and the criminals will be able to access the guns at even a cheaper rate and more easily (Seitz, 2004, p46). It should also not be forgotten that the criminals are also able to steal the guns from the individuals who legally own the guns. Even if such guns have locks the black market has every means to unlock the guns. Therefore enforcing laws that are directed to control the purchasing of guns by the society does not deter the criminals from getting access to the guns.

Statistics

In the states that there exist laws on the control of guns, there is extremely no evidence to show that their rates of violence and crime rate has reduced (John, 2000, p29). People still commit murder; there are cases of rape, child trafficking, drug trafficking, among other crimes. Such crimes are still done by individuals who are in possession of the guns and also those who do not have any guns.

It is a very tedious task for the government to try and ensure that every one is not carrying a gun since you cannot always inspect every one in the streets. Researchers have indicated that it is also a very big challenge for the government to effectively measure the effect of the gun control on the rates of crime since what is captured as illegal guns is just a small fraction of all the guns that are circulating freely within the society. Such States like Florida lack any form of gun control laws and the carrying of guns is not prohibited. Surprisingly enough the rate of crime here is not as high crime and violence as would be expected.

People have acquired guns not for committing crime but for self defense. This is quite contrary to such cities as New York and Washington D.C that have gun control laws. These are some of the cities where the guns are many in circulation illegally and where the crime rates are actually high. A statistical evidence carried out in the 1990s on the correlation of different types of crime such as robbery, assault, burglary, car-jacking among others failed to provide any evidence that being in possession of guns increased the rates of these crimes (Kleck, 1993, p56).

The control of guns within the state is dependent on the political system that is in place. If the government believes that the presence of guns is the one that is responsible of the crime rates, then it is most likely that they will seek policies that will address the control of guns. This however has failed to work in most states and the most effective method is dealing with crime itself without relating it to the ammunitions used.

The mind of the criminals is programmed for crime and disarming them does mean you have changed their mind about committing the crime. They always have their way and will still commit crime irrespective of the laws that are put in place. Most of the control measures are actually addressing the purchasing and the ownership of guns by the individuals. This is done by checking the qualifications of a person to own a gun.

However controlling the purchase of guns would not mean that criminals would not have access to guns if they are in need of any making such controls redundant. Therefore such measures are not effective. In the U.K there are very strict laws on gun possession yet they reported an increase of 40% of gun related crimes. The research further indicates that the control of guns in the U.K has not been effective in reducing the rates of crime in the country. It is therefore clear that measures to control the possession of guns reduce the crime rate in the society (Lott, 1998, p45)

Conclusion

In conclusion, laws that are laid in place to control the availability and accessibility of guns in bid to control the crime rate in the society are not effective. Crime is a personal behavior and disarming a criminal does not mean that such individuals will not commit crime.

Likewise any person in possession of a gun is not necessarily a criminal. The purposes of owning a gun may be different such as self defense. The fact that the government controls the ownership of guns actually increases the rates of crime and violence in the society since its risks more individuals to the hands of the criminals. Criminals will not be afraid of the laws that are put in place to control the accessibility of guns.

Even if the government controls the purchase of such ammunitions, the criminals can still get access to them from the black market (Murray, 2001, p43). Stealing the guns is also another option for the criminals and making the guns from home would be a possible alternative.It is therefore recommended that the government should focus more on the policies that are concerned with improving security rather than disarming the criminals since this will not address the problem of crime and violence in our society.

References

Jacobs, 2002. Can Gun Control Work? New York. Oxford University Press.

John R, 2000. More guns, less crime: understanding crime and gun-control laws. Oxford University Press.

Kleck and Patterson, 1993. The Impact of Gun Control and Gun Ownership Levels on Violence Rates. Prentice hall.

Lott, J. R, 1998. More Guns less Crime. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Murray, D. R. 2001. Handguns, Gun Control Laws, and Firearm Violence. McGraw-Hill Publishers.

Seitz, S. T. 2004. Firearms, Homicides, and Gun Control Effectiveness. United States. Journal of Legal Studies.

According to Patterson, the division of power into branches is highly important in the prevention of power usurpation, tyranny and totalitarian regimes and for maintenance of the democratic political course in the state (Patterson, 2007, p. 28). The classical concepts of checks and balances were coined by Montesquieu and suggested as a separation of executive, legislative and judicial branches, the first of which execute laws and policies, the second one is responsible for the adoption of relevant laws, whereas the primary goal of the judiciary is checking the appropriateness of the laws to the Constitution or the other major set of laws. The present paper is intended to discuss a real-life case that underlies the importance of power division.

In the year 2004, George W. Bush was selected by the American citizens as a new President; moreover, Republican representatives received more seats in Congress, particularly in the Senate. As the 2004 news article states, President Bushs victory in the popular vote, coupled with big gains in the U.S. Senate, may enable the White House to take a more aggressive approach in reshaping the federal courts, including the Supreme Court (Greenburg, 2004, p.2). Moreover, the new President was entitled in 2004 to propose a candidature of a Supreme Court justice, due to the fact that one of its top leaders had reached the age of 70 by that time. However, the head of the executive branch in fact does not appoint justice but merely nominates them for the Senate-run Confirmation. After choosing the suitable candidates, the President sends this information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which thoroughly scrutinizes their biographies and forwards the results of the analysis to the Senate. Confirmation hearings in Senate imply interviewing the nominee on a wide range of topics, from their qualifications and job experience to their own vision of how to decide law and ensure integrity, objectivity and transparency in the court. Furthermore, the Senate members collegially develop the final verdict by voting for or against the candidate, if the would-be-justice receives the majority of votes, they are entitled to take the position, proposed by the President. However, the 2004 situation shows that the Republican wing managed to seize disproportionately greater power in Senate apart from the fact that George Bush was a Republican President. However, Greenburgs article suggests that some of Bushs protégés remained unconfirmed because of the Democrats rejection. Moreover, beyond some 300 judges, nominated and promoted by the President, hundreds of state Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and Municipal Court justices were chosen directly by the American people in the 2004 elections.

As one can assume the above-described principle of court judge selection and appointment is to great extent consistent with the principle of checks and balances. In particular, President-driven appointments imply the participation of a superior law enforcement agency, the FBI, which reports to and is governed by Congress. Therefore, the President is not likely to influence the process of nominee portfolio examination and the Senate is likely to receive trustworthy and comprehensive information about each prospective judge. The members of the Senate are elected by the population of the corresponding state, so Senators are rather committed to the prosperity, justice and well-being in their territorial unite than to the Republican ideology. As a result, the cooperation between the three bodies which have certain political power ensures a more impartial and objective confirmation procedure. Moreover, the direct participation of the American people in the election of state judges for the courts of various hierarchical levels proves that the nations direct will is endorsed, taken into consideration and executed. As one can conclude, the 2004 situation with judge selection proves that the principle of checks and balances was employed in that system and highlighted the necessity of splitting the influence on the appointments so that political and ideological favoritism was avoided.

Reference list

1. Patterson, T. (2007). The American Democracy. New York: McGraw Hill.
2. Greenburg, J. (2004). Bush is in a position to reshape the entire federal judiciary. Chicago Tribune, p. A2.

Introduction

The government of the United States has gone through tremendous changes with the hope of improving the countries economy and stability. Its current federal system was aimed at apportioning the country into smaller administrative units to enhance governance. The earlier centralized system seemed to lock out some areas in terms of development. After the Second World War, the country realized how much it needed to stabilize and regain its political and economic stability. So much had been spent on the two wars and there was an urgent need for the country to regain. In its efforts, it decided to change the political outlook and strengthen its military supremacy. For a long time, America has been credited for its international supremacy in military and economics.

History

It was after the Second World War that the country realized the relationship between security and stability. For a long time the country had not invested much in military. In the 1930s, while Germany spent 23.5 percent of its resources to defence, America spent only 1.5 percent (Dean, 2004). This made the country to be ill prepared for the subsequent wars that it had to face, which has made it weaker economically. As much as the country continues to lead in the overall GDP, the percentage growth has continued to decline. In 2000, the World Bank found out that the country accounted for 27 percent of the worlds gross domestic product, which is the highest in the world economy. This is yet much lower to what it contributed several years ago. In 1980 it was 22%, 1960, 26%, 1938, 31% and 38 % in 1938.

Currently it has been predicted that China and India will immerge to be powerful in the economy displacing America from its position. A lot of questions have risen on what is making the country to loose its supremacy when it has all the potentials to rise. The current political system was aimed at improving the country rather than what it is currently experiencing. America has been a target for terrorist attacks with the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin ladens ware bouts remaining to be a mystery. Even though the country has intensified its war on terror; the inability to capture the main culprit remains to be a defeat on the countries military.

A government system that was meant to boost the countries political and economic power is facing some of the biggest challenges that have been never seen before, the question that has remained among the citizens is whether the earlier political system was far much better than the current one (Dean, 2004). The government was centralized and all the work of administration lay absolutely in the hands of the president and the ministers. With the current system, the country is divided into several states that are accountable to the central government. Several people have however criticized the functioning of the current system terming the state governments as mere puppets. The federal government has so much influence on the way the state issues are managed, which leaves them with narrow chances of implementing their own decisions.

It was hoped that by bringing the administration closer to the people, the public will have much more influence on the decisions of the country. As much as the people are given the chance to vote for their local and state leaders, the absolute authority for the nominated leaders to take leadership roles remain with the central government. The decisions made by the people have to first be scrutinized by the central government before they are considered for implementation. Such a system has made the decision making process very slow and thus slowing down development projects.

There has been a constant complain from the people from different states that feel the resources are not adequately distributed to them. The central government seems not to realize that different states have conflicting needs that is rarely attended to. The people require that through their representatives, the government should be able to distribute resources in accordance with the needs of a certain state. There has been inequality in the rate at which the states develop, due to the assumption that the needs are similar. This has seen some states develop at a much higher rate while others survive on minimum facilities.

This has made the people feel left out by the government despite their loud cry. The countries central leadership seems to be more concerned of the external affairs and neglecting the critical needs of the people. Despite the peoples diligence in working hard and honouring their dues by regularly paying their taxes, they seem not to enjoy the fruits of their labour. In the real sense, the country has laid emphasize in protecting its dignity and position in the world, forgetting the very people that support it (DeBow, 2005). As much as there is a need to protect the internal security of the nation, this should not be done at the expense of the peoples well being.

It is important for the countries leadership to understand that most of its security problems are becoming more of internal than external. With the current global financial crisis, the country needs to look more at the means that will ensure that it does not decline further (DeBow, 2005). It is a high time that the country realizes that the entire funds that they need to externally protect themselves are internally generated by the very people that are being ignored. When the citizens cannot have confidence in the current leadership then there is no way they are going to be motivated to work harder.

Conclusion

For any dynamic change to be experienced in the country, it requires a people who out of the agony of their suffering, need to come out strongly in protest of the trend. The leaders may be too preoccupied in making a political history for them selves to realize this. Just like the earlier freedom activist that can be credited for a historical change in America, a new breed has to resurface to defend the majority interest. Unless this happens, the country may have nothing to protect in future, it may only be remembered in the books of history as a once upon super power. There is still hope for the nation, the current predictions are not in any way meant to bring the country down. It is a wake up call that needs to be treated with urgency. The faster the country responds to it, the better for its future. The people are the most important channels to advocate for change, after all there cannot be leadership unless there are people to lead. In short it is the citizens that make the leadership. (Dean, 2004)

References

Dean H. (2004): You have the power, New York: Simon & Schuster: pp 25-31.

DeBow K. (2005): Power and Politics, California: Pearson/Longman pp 28-36.