Single Party States Notes Essay Example for Free

Single Party States Notes Essay Single Party States notes From: Topic 3- Themes and Exams Tips Chapter: â€Å"Origins and development of authoritarian and single party states† â€Å"What constitutes an authoritarian or single-party state? † Country or state to be classed as an authoritarian or single party state: * Only one legal political party A leader chosen by or from the military following a revolution * Group or leader that controls the state even though there are existing parties * Jean Kirkpatrick (US ambassador-United Nations) once expressed that authoritarian state was â€Å"better than† a totalitarian state- a chance that it would move towards democracy (p. o. v expressed during the Cold War) Characteristics in common- authoritarian or single-party: * Little-no freedom of speech * No freedom of: * Assembly (government must approve meetings) * To travel abroad No idependent judicial system * All sources of information censored * Any idea against the regime will be harshly punished (opposition to them) * â€Å"A leader whose popularity is reinforced by personality cult† Not all states the share charactersistcs some are less oppressive but they all share the strict control over the freedom of the people and use different methods to hold on to power. The age of Kings and Emperors ended with WWI 20th century one of the bloodiest century in history- includes 2 major world wars Left and right wing: Left- wing: Describes the single party, leaders and states that are communist or socialist. Example: Nasser, Stalin, Mao, Castro and Neyerere Right wing: Most fascist leaders of the 20th century began their political careers as members of socialist parties. Fascist leaders and states – right wing Examples: Hitler, Mussoluni and Franco Policies supportive of capitalism as an economic system, ultra nationalist, some cases they promoted religion as a way to unite the people. Right wing ideologies| Left wing ideologies| Facism (in Italy and Nazism-Germany) * Socialist (intended to appeal lower classes) * Strongly nationalistic and considered communism to be a threat| * Widespread ideology (20th C) was communism * â€Å"All people are equal† * â€Å"No private property to protect† * Will to bring the ideal state| Socialism: Characteristics: redistribution of wealth through taxation, the state owns the major industries like coal and steel, the state owns the â€Å"mon opolies† such as the water, transportation and communications, free education and health care for all. This criterion became known as ‘welfare state’. (Gov. hould control ensure the basic standard living for al citizens) Stages of communism: 1) Primitive communisms: â€Å"No monopoly over the means of production† 2) Feudalism: â€Å"Agricultural-based communities developed into kingdoms and powerful rulers took ownership of the land and the people who farmed it† 3) Capitalism: â€Å"commercial activities- trading in manufactured goods† 4) Communism: no private properties, people contribute with their skills, taking only what they needed. No laws to protect wealth and property From States, Governments and Ideologies: The State: * Sovereign state: is independent of all others Way in which is governed- Constitution: basic laws- lay down the power and duties of many institutions and officials of government * Rule of law * Arbitrary government * Sovereignty * States -3 kinds: Unitary states, federal and confederations * Held state – embodies the nation and represents it * Monarchy, republic * Legitimacy, device right of kings (constitutional monarchs) president (republic state) Government: * â€Å"Those persons and institution of state which exercise the power in accordance with the constitution† * Head of the state head of the government (prime ministers) * Executive, cabinet Legislative—making laws (unicameral, bicameral) * Separation of powers, presidential system of government, parliamentary system of government Changes of Government By legal means: (elections) majority system and proportional system—coalition By force: rebellion, revolution, provisional government, co nstituent assembly, new constitution, and peaceful revolution Political Ideologies:( framework theories) Implicit ideologies (propaganda designed etc) * Conservatism * Liberalism Reformist Ideologies: critique of existing society, describe the ideal society would be like, prescriptions from the living situation to the ideal * Socialism: reaction to injustices of the capitalist economic system (social democrats, syndicalist, revolutionary socialists) Marxism: â€Å"an industrialized society, the working class would revolt and take over the ruling class, and would in effect, create a classes society * Anarchism: fight against the order, don’t want any authority Incomplete Ideologies: * Racism * Nationalism * Social Darwinism From: Authoritarianism, Fascism and Totalitarianism Authoritarianism,| Fascism| Totalitarianism| * Ruled by threat or fear * â€Å"Black or white† posture (in or out) * Outlawed the opposition * Enforce their control by torture, execution, etc. * Motivated by patriotism * Resorting law and order * Defending country against the threat of Bolshevism * Leading a regeneration of the nation * Employed and censored the media| * Lower middle class radicalism * Deliberate diversion of the workers * Radical populist solution to the problem of restoring the â€Å"hegemony† of the dominant class| * Subordinate all aspects od the individual’s life to the authority of the gov. Official ideology * Single mass party * Terroristic police control of the population * Monopoly control of the media * Monopoly control of the arms * Central control of the economyâ€Å"worthless- creation of Cold War propaganda- designed to tie the Soviet system together with that of the Nazis† – some historians|

Heritage as an Idea of Oneself in Bless Me Ultima and The Lone Ranger a

Heritage as an Idea of Oneself in Bless Me Ultima and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Traveling through humanity is a never-ending story.   Traveling through ethnicity is an ever changing journey.   Is race or culture a matter of color?   Is it a way of life;   or a decision an individual makes?   Is it an idea one has of themselves?   In the novels, Bless Me Ultima (Anaya 1972) and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (Alexie 1993), two different minority characters, Tony and Victor, give voice to their journey of growing up and finding their place in the world in regards to their heritage. The characters, in Anaya's and Alexie's novels, relate to a dominant culture, pursue balance in their life by searching traditions of the past, and attempt to blend their heritage into the present allowing them passage to the future.   Their journeys differ in respect to heritage and family situation.   Their journeys parallel considering that they are both male, belong to a minority, seek individual identity, and search for their place on the planet.   Each seeks peace within and without.   Although, their journeys are different, they are the same. The characters in the two novels, belong to two different cultures.   In Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me Ultima, the young, Mexican-American Anthony Juan Marez y Luna (Tony) struggles between two ways of being a Spanish-Mexican-American while also dealing with the dominant white culture.  Ã‚   Tony's mother and father, although both born in New Mexico, come from two different cultures.   His father, a Marez, comes from a long line of Spanish "conquistadores, men as restless as the seas they sailed and as free as the land they conquered" (Anaya 6).   Tony's mother, a Luna, comes fr... ... America, 1982.   80-167. Meacham, Jon. "Redefining Race in America."   Newsweek September 2000:   38-41. Mitchell, Carol. "Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima:   Folk Culture in Literature." Critique:   Studies in Modern Fiction. 17.1 1980, 55-64. Smoke Signals.   Dir. Chris Eyre.   With Adam Beach and Evan Adams. Miramax/Shadowcatcher.   Prod. Larry Estes and Scott Rosenfelt. 1997. Tonn, Horst.   "Bless Me, Ultima:   A Fictional Response to Times of Transition." Aztlan, 18.1 1987, 59-68. White, Craig.   "American Minority Literature."   Handout.   University of Houston-Clear Lake.   Houston. 24 August 2000. - - - - - "American Minority Literature."   Notes.   27 September 2000. Yancey, William L.   Ericksen, Eugene P.; and Juliani, Richard N.   "Emergent Ethnicity:   A Review and Reformulation." American Sociological Review 41.3 1976: 391-403.      

Critique on Mm Theory Essay

It does not matter what the firm’s dividend policy is (Modigliani and Miller 958). The basic assumptions of MM theory are: 1 . The company only has the long-term bonds and common stocks, both bonds and stock trade in the complete capital market with no transaction cost; 2. The individual investors and corporate investors could gain the same interest rate with no liability risk; 3. The companies with similar operating conditions have the same business risks; 4. Investors hold the same expectations on the average business profit in future; 5. All cash flows are perpetual annuities, including EBIT (Earnings before interest and tax) etc, that is, the growth ate of the enterprise is zero (Modigliani and Miller 1958). The development of MM theory mostly experienced three stages: 1 . No-tax model. The first MM model takes no account of corporate taxations; 2. Corporate tax model. Modigliani and Miller (1963) published Corporate Income Taxes and the Cost of Capital: A Correction, which loosened its initial assumptions, introduced corporate tax into MM theory(Modigliani and Miller 1963); 3. Miller model. Merton H. Miller (1976) proposed to consider corporate tax and individual tax in estimating how the debt leverage impacts the value of firm (Miller 1977). During the past 50-year, MM theory has made tremendous academic achievements for western companies in exploring the optimal capital structure and reducing capital costs etc. Firstly, it provides a research frame of reference and theoretical basis. Since that, most of the capital theories are base on MM theory, such as Pecking-order Theory, Trade-off Theory, and Agency Theory etc. Secondly, MM theory makes the capital structure theories systematic and builds a framework for the development of capital structure theories. Secondly, MM theory makes the capital tructure theory systematically, as there was not a system of traditional capital structure theory. Last, but not least, it is only a general description of the traditional capital structure theory. While MM theory uses modern analytical methods, such as partial equilibrium, mathematical analysis etc, therefore, it makes MM theory become reliable. Despite tremendous achievements, there are still limitations in MM theory. First, the assumptions are too harsh, and most of them cannot be achieved in reality. To illustrate, MM theory assumes that individuals and corporations could borrow at the ore than what corporations do, as well as bear a higher risk. Furthermore, MM theory also assumes there is no transaction cost, which extremely differs from the real transaction process. Second, the assumptions are beyond the reality, although the logic derivation is correct, the conclusions still differs. Both corporate tax model and Miller model suppose that corporation should raise the liability as much as possible in order to maximise the value of the firm, in extremity, up to 100% liability. However, none of enterprises adopt this point. Third, MM theory stands at a static erspective, and does not consider the external economic environment and the impact on capital structure by changing enterprise’s production and operating conditions. In fact, many factors, which affect the capital structures, are variable. For example, companies should cut down their liabilities appropriately in order to reduce business risks, when the socio-economic experiences a recession. According to MM theory, the value of tax saving is associated with the corporate income tax rate. That is, the higher corporate income tax rate, the more tax deductible the corporation could achieve from financing by liability. In other words, corporations are inclined to finance by liabilities rather than equity financing in relative higher corporate income tax rate countries, and vice versa. Under the actual situation in China, the corporate income tax is much higher than other countries in the world; corporations should prefer financing from debt theoretically (Huang and Zhang 2007). However, actually, the capital structure of Chinese enterprises runs counter to the MM theory and other capital structure theories. The proportion of liability financing in China is far less than the proportion of equity financing (Huang and Song 2006). First of all, there is merely no mechanism in applying MM theory. In accordance with the MM theory, both individual and institutional investors can process arbitrage actions freely in the capital markets. In western well-developed capital markets, there is a wide range of fund-raising channels and other financing options, the arbitrage mechanisms usually affect the markets. However, at present, the market mechanism is not fully developed in China, as well as capital market is under-developed. Thus, these limit the financing options and forms; make it difficult to carry out arbitrage activities. Generally, MM theory cannot be applied.

Stories of Lab Accidents Lab Safety Gone Wrong

Do you have any tales to tell of lab experiments gone very wrong or lab accidents you have witnessed? What is the most dangerous thing you have ever seen someone do in a lab? Without proper lab safety, there is a serious risk of injury in a laboratory. Ill get the ball rolling with some of the lab safety lapses I have observed: One of my students thought you turned off a Bunsen burner by yanking the hose off of the gas. To make a long story short, he left the gas on in a lab overnight. That could have ended badly.Back when I was a grad student at ORNL one of my associates left his watch on when we were working on a vacuum evaporator. The power was on and it was surprisingly easy to accidentally locate the live connection. He could fly! I guess that is better than being rooted to the spot, right?Really, he could fly. He proved it a second time when we were doing something with the power source for a class IV laser. Electrons make people fly.One student pushed a glass pipette through his hand when trying to force it through a hole in a stopper. Hes actually the only person I have seen do that, though I have been told its a common accident.This isnt an accident or safety violation, but it relates to one. A student splashed a chemical in her eye and went to use the eyewash station. The water in the eyewash stat ion didnt have a drain since it was for emergencies, so it was only turned on when it was tested. The water from the eyewash station ran white for a couple of minutes. We later tested it for lead (very old building). Lets just say the girl would have been better off running to the bathroom and sticking her face in the toilet than using the eyewash.