democracy-ethnic conflict essays

democracy-ethnic conflict essays Does Democracy encourage ethnic conflict? Examples from Sri Lanka and Canada: This essay explores the connections between democracy and ethnic conflict in two cases of recent history Sri Lanka and Canada. The experience of both countries with varied degree of conflicts shows that democratic institutions are not sufficient to prevent conflict and in sharply divided societies may even foment it. The case of Sri Lanka suggests that redesigning democratic institutions in order to reduce conflict may actually accentuate it. Looking at the Canada from the consociational perspective helps us to understand how the democracy in Canada works successfully, why it works in a particularly elitist way, and which problems Canadian political institutions have in managing ethnic conflict. Sri Lanka has seen intractable and brutal civil war between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils. Post-independence shifts in the political leadership of the Sinhalese elite from a secular, liberal attitude towards a more chauvinistic, nationalistic one led to changes favoring the Sinhalese in linguistic, economic, and political spheres. The consequent alienation of the Tamils grew, until in 1976, the main political representative of the Tamil population began advocating a separate state in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Rising militancy of the Tamil movement, Sinhalese insecurities, and unsatisfactory progress in devolution discussions have contributed to the more or less sustained violence between the two communities during the past 16 years. Therefore, Sri Lanka has had democratic institutions, yet still has longstanding conflict. As Robert Rotberg, in his book Creating peace in Sri Lanka, argues the idea of sharing political power, particularly among the ethnic grou...

Acct 505 Midterm

Wages paid to an assembly line worker in a factory are a   2. Question : (TCO A) A cost incurred in the past that is not relevant to any current decision is classified as a(n)   3. Question : (TCO A) Depreciation of office buildings and office equipment is also known as   4. Question : (TCO A) When the activity level is expected to increase within the relevant range, what effects would be anticipated with respect to each of the following? 5. Question : (TCO F) Which of the following statements is true? I. Overhead application may be made slowly as a job is worked on. The Illinois Company manufactures a product that goes through three processing departments. Information relating to activity in the first department during June is given below. Percentage Completed Units Materials Conversion Work in process, June 1 150,000 75% 55% Work in process, Jun 30 145,000 85% 75% The department started 475,000 units into production during the month and transferred 480,000 completed units to the next department. Compute the equivalent units of production for the first department for June, assuming that the company uses the weighted-average method of accounting for units and costs. 3. Question : (TCO B) A tile manufacturer has supplied the following data:   Boxes of tile produced and sold 625,000 Sales revenue $2,975,000 Variable manufacturing expense $1,720,000 Fixed manufacturing expense $790,000 Variable selling and admin expense $152,000 Fixed selling and admin expense $133,000 Net operating income $180,000 Required: a. Calculate the companys unit contribution margin. b. Calculate the companys unit contribution ratio. c. If the company increases its unit sales volume by 5% without increasing its fixed expenses, what would the companys net operating income be? 4. Question : (TCO E) Lehne Company, which has only one product, has provided the following data concerning its most recent month of operations:   Selling price $ 125 Units in beginning inventory 600 Units oroduced 3000 Units sold 3500 Units in ending inventory 100 Variable costs per unit: Direct materials $ 15 Direct labor $ 50 Variable manufacturing overhead $ 8 Variable selling and admin $ 12 Fixed costs: Fixed manufacturing overhead $ 75,000 Fixed selling and admin $ 20,000 The company produces the same number of units every month, although the sales in units vary from month to month. The companys variable costs per unit and total fixed costs have been constant from month to month. Required: a. What is the unit product cost for the month under variable costing? b. What is the unit product cost for the month under absorption costing? c. Prepare an income statement for the month using the variable costing method. d. Prepare an income statement for the month using the absorption costing method.

Ethics in an informations society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethics in an informations society - Essay Example In addition, this aspect of ethics should have to be an environmental ethics in support of the information. In this scenario, ethics could be defined as the ideologies or ways leading an individual or business or standard of performance in the society (Floridi, 2001; Bynum, 2008; ArifSari, 2011). This paper discusses the basics and importance of ethics in information society. The basic aim of this research is to proficiently analyze the basic ethical aspects such as responsibility, accountability, and liability. Basics of Ethics The practice of information technology IT is upgrading a lot of aspects of individual effort and way of life. It seems to be doubtful that what are challenges and the societal and ethical inferences of these improvements? The bases of these challenges are the several means wherein an individual is able to conceive as well as understand the practice of IT or society inter-association. All of these ways of formation and elucidation allow an individual to discri minate the society association or IT in a different way and consequently interpret its social as well as ethical inferences in a diverse way. This access is related to an approach which is acknowledged as the phenomenological approach to understand IT along with its social and ethical suggestions (Introna, 2005; Froehlich, 2004). Moreover during the last few years, information ethics emerged as a field of study in information science and library sciences, however the area or the expression has been changed with the passage of time and it started capturing several other areas of interest and research. Actually, it could be seen as a convergence of the ethical doubts of media, reporting, information and library sciences disciplines, computer ethics comprising cyber-world ethics, MIS, web based technology and the business framework (Introna, 2005; Froehlich, 2004). Ethics in Constructing Information Society The technological frameworks which offer the basis for the information society or ICTs are proposed through the integration of principles and values. Additionally, sometimes these principles are not identified by the designer, as in recent times we can see obvious principles for instance the security of individual confidentiality which is allowed to be utilized openly. In this scenario, the basic purpose behind designing the WWW (World Wide Web) was to offer a decentralized distribution of data as well as information, available for all individuals. In addition, ease of access by all societal groups is currently one of the prime concerns of the information society, highlighting the identical privileges of each associate of the society. However, the analysis of a lot of technical professionals is that the methodologies they propose are only tools as well as worth free (Duquenoy, 2009). Basic Ethical Concepts Ethics means to understand the beliefs that persons as well as

Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 6

Book Review - Essay Example The writer grasps the attention of the writer through its fascinating revelations. Carr celebrates and admits in the book that the internet has given has many leisure facilities and conveniences, providing us quick and easy to access services. He has reflected on the notion, that with the advent of Internet and its overpowering nature in our lives, human mind has also become a technical mind. Internet has changed the way human mind thinks, it only encourages it to click and flick, losing its interest in the literature and reading good books. One of the reasons, for loss of interest is that internet has lessened our power to focus, Carr admits himself that he cannot read a book without losing concentration and his mind wandering after every few minutes. Carr reflects that â€Å"the Net and multimedia strains our cognitive abilities, diminishing our learning and weakening our understanding† (129). Carr has exhibited through different relations that because of the distractive nat ure of the internet and the various digital technologies, fewer and fewer people feel interested in introspective, deep reading activities. Carr is one of those technology writers who does not indulge in geeky tech writing, rather he grips his reader by beautifully crafted narrative and turns the technical details into sheer poetry. Carr starts the book mainly my admitting his own weaknesses in focusing and his distractive mind. He admits that he has been unable to focus lately and his mind is wandering to different other unrelated things and activities. He admits that it is not just about reading the books but he also has trouble focusing on other tasks as well and he keeps forgetting things and his memory is not as good as it used to be. He thinks that although the new media is changing the way we think and affecting our brain in several ways, it has several side-effects and one of the most observable and noticeable ones are that our brain is losing the power to

Eating Disorder Case Study: Chhaya Essay example -- Adolescent Role As

Chhaya is a senior in high school whose self identity problems began as a child with her mixed ethnic background. She blames her parents’ constant fighting (and threats of divorce) on her own behavior and, in turn, strives to become the perfect daughter. Chhaya consequently throws herself into her schoolwork where she repeatedly increases her goals despite the lack of disapproval of others. Social relationships and leisure activities are thrown to the wayside because Chhaya feels guilt whenever she experiences pleasure in non goal-directed activities. Although Chhaya has seemingly tried to control many aspects of her life, this tendency turned into an eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, after two major life events: finding out she did not receive valedictorian and the relationship with her first male interest ending. These events occurred within one month of each other at the end of Chhaya’s junior year in high school. Aside from her self-esteem and self-confidence plumm eting, Chhaya also felt worthless and out of control of her life. When she discovered that she is very good at losing weight, she began using restricting her dieting to an extreme. She has been hospitalized and is now receiving occupational therapy at the children’s hospital. In order to learn more about Chhaya’s roles, expectations, occupations, and the affect of these life aspects on her eating disorder, the occupational therapist used the Adolescent Role Assessment (Black, 1976) to interview Chhaya. This assessment is meant for clients who range in age from 13 to 17 years and has shown sufficient internal consistency reliability (0.75), test-retest reliability (0.91), and content validity (via a literature review of multiple areas of study) (Burke & Lomba, 200... ...onal Therapy 2nd ed (pp. 277-285). Thorofare, N.J.: Slack, Inc. Kazarian, S. S. & McCabe, S. B. (1991). Dimensions of social support in the MSPSS: Factorial structure, reliability, and theoretical implications. Journal of Community Psychology, 19, 150-160. Piers, E., Harris, D. B., & Herzberg, D. S. (2002). Piers-Harris children's self-concept scale, second edition. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services. Rigby, P., Cooper, B., Letts, L., Stewart, D., & Strong, S. (2005) Measuring environmental factors. In M. Law, C. Baum & W. Dunn (Eds.), Measuring Occupational Performance: Supporting Best  Practice in Occupational Therapy 2nd ed (pp. 315-344). Thorofare, N.J.: Slack, Inc. Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G. & Farley, G. K. (1988). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52, 30-41.

Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency Essay

Richard Nixon is one of the most controversial figures in American history. His presidency is remembered most for the Watergate scandal and his subsequent resignation but some of his foreign policies forever altered American foreign diplomacy. One of the major policies that President Nixon was responsible for was changing the nature of the United States relationship with China. He did this by setting into motion covert diplomatic actions and cultural exchanges between the two countries. Nixon’s reasons for improving relationships with the Communist regime was to force the Soviet Union to be more accommodating to American demands and to also help end the war in Vietnam. Another reason for improving relations was very personal for Richard Nixon. He wanted to show his power as an international statesman to the world and American public. American/Chinese relations for many years were friendly and involved the trade of goods and ideas. American missionaries had gone to China to bui ld churches and hospitals. The two countries were allies against the Japanese during World War II. After the war ended the United States was not an ally of China as a whole but one political group, the Kuomintang. The Kuomintang, led by Chang Kai Shek, were in battled in a civil war with the Chinese communists who would eventually win out. Chang Kai Shek would take his government to the island of Taiwan. After the civil war, the United States only recognized Chang’s Republic of China and kept the People’s Republic of China, led by Mao Ze-Dong, out of the United Nations and other international bodies. This led to an isolation of China by a majority of the international community. The only diplomatic relations the United States had with China were through intermediary countries. While relations with the United States were sour, the Chinese relationship with the Soviet Union had quickly deteriorated. Both China and the Soviet Union were communist countries but their ideologies were very different. Their relationship slowly became strained and both countries started to build up troops along their common border through the 1960s. After the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia and released the Brezhnev Doctrine, which stated that the Kremlin â€Å"had the right to correct deviationism in other communist countries by military intervention,† the Chinese no longer considered the Soviet Union as an ally. This led to violent border clashes between the two countries in March 1969. By the end of 1969 the Soviet Union had over a million troops stationed along the Soviet/Chinese border and missiles aimed at major Chinese cities. The year before, a former republican vice-president from California, Richard Nixon, was elected president. He had made a name for him self in Congress as a leading anti-communist and he went on to serve as vice-president under Dwight D Eisenhower. Even before he was elected president, Nixon had expressed interest in opening up relations with China despite his previous negative views of communism. In 1967 he wrote an article for Foreign Affairs magazine where he stated â€Å"We simply cannot afford to leave China forever outside the family of nations, there to nurture its fantasies, cherish its hates and threaten its neighbors. There is no place on this small planet for a billion of its potentially most able people to live in angry isolation.† After his election as President Richard Nixon decided to make China one of the primary focuses of his foreign policy. One of his primary reasons for doing this was to gain an upper hand in the now 20-year-old Cold War with the Soviet Union. The Soviets had taken over several Eastern European countries and turned them into communist states in an attempt to show the world the successes of Communism. Also by the late 1960s the United States was no longer confident that it could win a war with the Soviet Union since they had had the two decades since the Second World War to regain it military strength. This required the United States to have to change strategies in dealing with the Soviet Union. They now had to shift their focus to gaining China as an ally. The State Department in the summer of 1969 began to announce various unilateral gestures of reconciliation. Many restrictions on travel and trade were lifted. This would become know as â€Å"Ping Pong† diplomacy. It was so named after the United States ping-pong team was invited to the Chinese capital in April of 1971. During their visit the group was treated as though they were dignitaries or royalty. They played matches against the Chinese team but also visited important landmarks through out China. The American delegation was accompanied by members of the press and was closely watched by the American public. At a banquet for the visiting Americans, Chou En-Lai, the Chinese Premier told the group, â€Å"Exchanges between our two countries have been cut off for a long time but now, with your acceptance of our invitation, you have opened a new page in the relations of the Chinese and American people.† While the American ping-pong players were the talk of the media, behi nd the scenes Nixon was putting into action his plan to improve relations with China. He did this by employing his National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, to make covert communications with the Chinese government. Before the Ping-Pong players had ever set foot in China and at the beginning of his presidency Nixon had Kissinger prepare a study on the feasibility of improving American/Chinese relations. Originally Kissinger was hesitant about the idea of talks with China even being quoted as saying â€Å"this crazy guy really does want to normalize relations with China.† But even Kissinger knew that an alliance between the United States and China could shift the global political powers more in favor of the United States and away from communism and the Soviet Union. One of the biggest roadblocks to improving relations with China was the issue of Taiwan. Since the Chinese civil war ended the United States had only recognized the government of the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan. So even as Nixon is trying to improve relations with communist China there is still the issue that the United States does not officially recognize the People’s Republic of China as a legitimate government. To ease some of China’s concerns, Nixon instructs his administration to terminate navel patrols in the Straight of Taiwan. Also in a radio address that Nixon gave on February 25, 1971 regarding his congressional foreign policy report he reiterated both his intention to protect Taiwan but open up talks with China. â€Å"We will search for consecutive discussions with Communist China while maintaining our defense commitment to Taiwan. When the Government of the People’s Republic of China is ready to engage in talks, it will find us receptive to agreements that further the legitimate national interests of China and its neighbors.† A visit to China was next on Nixon’s foreign policy agenda. He announced his intentions in 1970, taking much of the world by surprise especially the Soviet Union. He negotiated this visit first by secretly sending Henry Kissinger to Beijing in July of 1971. Kissinger made this covert trip by faking illness on a diplomatic visit to Pakistan and flying to China to convey Nixon’s intention to Premier Zhou En-Lai. It was decided that President Nixon would visit the following year. On February 21, 1972, Richard Nixon became the first United States President to visit China. The following week would become known as the â€Å"week that changed the world. † President Nixon would only meet with an ailing Mao Ze-dong one time during his visit but it would set in motion events that would lead to United States recognition of Mao’s government and an end to the Cold War. The visit ended with both countries issuing the Shanghai Communiquà ©. In this document both countries pledged to work towards normalization of relations. The United States also agreed to remove military forces from Taiwan. Shortly after the delegations return from their visit to China, Richard Nixon tasked Henry Kissinger with negotiating arms treaties with the Soviet Union. With the well-publicized visit closely watched by the Soviets the United States now had more bargaining power. In 1972, Kissinger negotiated the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks. The two Cold-War super powers agreed that they would begin limiting missiles, nuclear arms, and delivery systems. With his relative success in negotiating deals with both China and the Soviet Union, Richard Nixon was hopeful that he would have the same success in negotiating a deal with North Vietnam to end the Vietnam War. Going into his re-election campaign in 1972 the United States had been at war in Vietnam for 12 years, over 50,000 had been killed, and billions of dollars had been spent. His first major policy regarding Vietnam that Nixon put into place was the Nixon Doctrine. The Doctrine had three major tenants. First, the United States would honor all of its treaty agreements. Secondly, the United States would provide a shield if a nuclear power threatened an ally or a country the United States deemed to be vital to its national security. And, lastly, the United States would provide military and economic aid to countries under treaty agreements, but the requesting nation would be expected to bear primary responsibility to provide the manpower for its own defense. The Nixon Doctrine led to the withdrawal of ground troops from Vietnam and training the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in defense of their own country. Nixon had also hoped that his new treaties with China would help to isolate the North Vietnamese and convince them to sign a peace treaty. In 1973, a cease-fire was negotiated at the Paris Peace Accords and ended United States involvement in Vietnam. However this did not stop the spread of communism to south Vietnam. Nixon’s improved relations with China were largely unsuccessful in there being a positive resolution of the Vietnam War. While the entire episode of the Vietnam War was seen as a blemish on Richard Nixon’s Presidency he was still very concerned about his image not only among the American public but on the world stage as well. He wanted to use his visit to China to draw attention to his expertise as a global statesman. Among the people that accompanied Nixon on his trip to China was White House Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman. While Nixon was meeting mostly with Chinese Premier Zhou and negotiating agreements, Haldeman and Nixon’s wife Pat toured factories and schools throughout China. Mrs. Nixon was followed by a large group of press. Bob Haldeman was in charge of making their visit look very positive to the American public. Margaret MacMillan writes in her book Nixon in China, â€Å"The images flowed back to the United States, targeted for prime-time evening television. It was a presidential election year at home and Haldeman wanted to make sure that Nixon shone out as the great leader and statesman.† From the very beginning of his Presidency Richard Nixon always wanted to be seen in a positive light especially his portrayal in the media. He tasked members of his staff with combating any negative comments said about him and manage any news about him. He bordered on obsessive when it came to public image. His first week in office he formed a task called the â€Å"Five O’clock† group that was responsible for monitoring television programs for any negative comments about the President or his administration and defending them. With the Vietnam War and the protests to the end the war at the top of most news stories, Nixon needed to do something to get his name back in the limelight. Many believe that this a major factor for his motivation to reach out to China and his subsequent visit. During his time in China he made sure the entire trip was highly publicized. He did numerous photo opportunities at such places like the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. The reception his visit received by the American public was very positive. This was their first view into the isolated nation in over 20 years. This view, however, was a carefully scripted play put on by the Chinese government. This was their attempt to show a â€Å"New† China, not one that was still suffering from th e isolationist policies of the Cultural Revolution. The Chinese officials responsible for showing China in a positive way had people picnicking outside of factories in the bitter cold listening to revolutionary music and then collected the radios they were listening to after the delegation left. These inconsistencies were noticed by a Canadian member of the press to which Premier Zhou had to quietly admit that this was wrong of them to do. But the idea of a â€Å"New† China would only help President Nixon portray to the world that America and China, even with such opposite political views, could come to an understanding. His visit took the entire worlds view off of Vietnam and on to him personally while he visited China. Kissinger had pled with President Nixon to not make his trip to China a media circus because of the impact it would have internationally with America’s allies and enemies. International reaction to the visit was mixed. The United States allies were mostly disappointed that they had been kept in the dark about the new relations. The British felt particularly offended that they were not informed before hand about the dealings going on between the Americans and the Chinese. Even with the somewhat cool reception in the international community about Richard Nixon’s visit to China it was still one of the most significant moments in United States foreign policy during the Cold War. Henry Kissinger wrote in his memoir On China, â€Å" The reward for Sino-American rapprochement would not be a state of perpetual friendship or a harmony of values, but a rebalancing of the global equilibrium.† Richard Nixon helped to accomplish this by improving relations with China in an effort to change the American relationship with the Soviet Union and end the Vietnam War. While his intentions were for both personal and professional gain, either way his foreign policies remain at the top of his successes as President. Nixon’s presidency is mostly remembered of one wrought with corruption and following the Watergate scandal, he is still the only United States President to resign from office. He became known as politician that would use any means necessary to accomplish his goals but this also led to his downfall. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bundy, William. A Tangled Web: The making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency. New York, 1989. Chang, Gordon H.. Friends and enemies: the United States, China, and the Soviet Union, 1948-1972. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1990. Devoss, David A. â€Å"Ping-Pong Diplomacy.† Smithsonian . 33. no. 1 2002 Keilers, John G. U.S. Army Military History Institute, â€Å"Nixon Doctrine and Vietnamization.† Last modified 2007. Accessed November 14, 2012. http://www.army.mil/article/3867/Nixon_Doctrine_and_Vietnamization/. Kissinger, Henry On China. New York: Penguin Press, 2011. Print. MacMillan, Margaret. Nixon in China: the week that changed the world. Toronto: Viking Canada, 2006. Nixon, Richard. Miller Center, â€Å"Radio Address About Second Annual Foreign Policy Report to the Congress .† Last modified 1971. Accessed November 14, 2012. http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/3875. Nixon, Richard M. â€Å"Asia After Viet Nam.† Foreign Affairs, October 1967. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/23927/richard-m-nixon/asia-after-viet-nam (accessed October 18, 2012) Small, Melvin. The presidency of Richard Nixon. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1999. Walker, Anne Collins, John Eastman, and Elizabeth C Eastman. China calls: paving the way for Nixon’s historic journey to China. Lanham, Md.: Madison Books :, 1992.

Five Steps to Applying to Law School

How do you get into law school? One step at a time. Even if you havent taken the LSAT yet, get a full understanding of the entire process with this step-by-step guide for applying to law school. 1. Take the LSAT The first step in applying to law school is taking the  LSAT. Your LSAT is basically tied with your GPA for the most important number for law schools. The test is designed to measure skills that are considered essential for success in law school. Scores range from 120 to 180, with 120 being the lowest possible score and 180 the highest possible score.† The average LSAT score is about 150. You can see the LSAT percentiles of the top 25 law schools in the nation for reference. Be sure to prepare as much as possible for the test  as its best that you only take it once. You can take it again if you are unhappy with your first score, but be sure to ask yourself  these five questions  before you retake the LSAT. For more advice on LSAT prep, click  here. 2. Register With the LSDAS If you didnt do so when signing up for the LSAT, register with the LSDAS  as it will make applying to law schools much easier. This is the main system that law schools use to collect all the application requirements from their students. Therefore, creating an account is essential to the application process. 3. Decide Where to Apply to Law School Applying to law school can get expensive, so its important to narrow down your list. You can also  visit schools  to get a feel for what it would be like to be a student there. Read through our extensive law school profiles and have in mind that if your score is above the 75th percentile at a given school, they are likely to offer you some money to attend their school. Therefore, keep your GPA and LSAT scores in mind while you are looking for schools. It’s a good idea to match your scores to your law school.   4. Write Your  Personal Statement LSAT scores and grades are the most important parts of law school applications, but  personal statements run a close third. Your goal in the  personal statement is  to show the  admissions committee  why you would be a valuable addition to their law school, and its never too early to get started on writing it. Don’t expect to produce a perfect statement on your first try. It is a good thing to constantly revise, go through several drafts, and consult with teachers and advisors. 5. Get Recommendations Law school recommendations  are the final piece to your application puzzle, and with some planning ahead of time, you can be sure to get glowing letters of recommendations from your referees. Ideally, you want to ask a teacher that you have a great relationship with or someone who can really speak to your character and potential. 6. Don’t Forget Financial Aid Unfortunately, even after finishing everything mentioned above, you’re not quite done. But you can’t forget this important step in the application process — it could save you a good amount of money.Each law school on your list may have a different application for applying to financial aid, so you need to research the process of each school separately. Schools may offer grants or loan programs in addition to merit scholarships. But don’t just limit your search for financial aid to your law school: there are many outside scholarships you can apply for to help decrease the cost of law school. Any kind of aid helps to lower your potential debt.