Comparative critical analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Comparative critical analysis - Essay Example An analysis of this fact explains that it is of the essence that the teaching and learning processed be set in a manner that will help unfold the mental abilities of the learners. Since learning results in different forms of change, it is fundamental that the learning process be created in a way that will help the children acquire a new skill. A developed learning process is also directly linked to cognitive, social as well as affective development (Daniels, 1996). In line with this argument, the teaching and the education processes need to be practical in such a way that will lead to deeper insights on the mind of the children. Through learning, the mind of the children is helped to develop. As seen in the research conducted by Donaldson (1978). Through the process of learning children adopt and learn new ways of mental functioning. In the course of learning for example, the child may learn aspects touching in culture and language and manipulate the same to developed new ways of thinking and self-regulation (Wood, 1998). Through the language structures and the pragmatic concept of the same, children in turn form new facets that shape their minds (Wood, 1998). From this perspective, it is evident that the mind of the child indeed determines the way in which they learn, think, and perceive things in their surroundings. For learning to take place in the case of the children, the entire learning and teaching process has to be active in approach. Vosniadou (2001) indicates that it is only in an active teaching and learning process that active learning takes place as well as the mutant development of children. Through an active learning process, it is indicated that the minds of the children are stimulated; thus, allows for a mastery of contents and a complete transformation of the general development of child since the building blocks of the mind have been

Customer Satisfaction Essay Example for Free

Customer Satisfaction Essay Filipino’s have been given a chance to finally choose groceries business and minimart across the country. One of the pioneer groceries in town is the Consumers Minimart Inc. formerly named Caragan. Ever since Consumers Minimart Inc. experienced a lot of competitors on their times, minimart is still existing and alive.At this time many establishments exist like CSI, Royal Mall, Save More, but the Consumers Minimart Inc. is still having a profit and their loyal customers were always remained.Bayambang is one of the town with the largest number of barangays in Pangasinan, a largest place to establish a business. Business opportunity is increasing like mini grocery market, malls, fast food chains, banks, water refilling station and other small and big enterprises. This business establishment where very profitable and have impact to the customers especially here, is the groceries stores because customer or people can get or buy their daily needs into this kind of business, and one of that business is the Consumers Minimart Inc.Consumers Minimart Inc. is owned and manage by Jovita De Leon. It was established last March 18, 2010. They established their business in Bayambang because this place is very promising town, has 77 barangays and there is a lot of nearby town, and prospect customers such as Bautista, Alcala, Urbiztondo, and Malasiqui.Caragan was became Consumers Minimart Inc. because of being long term industry and the owners were became stockholders. The standard monthly income has been reach also by the said business. The formerly competitors were Lita’s grocery, old Royal mall stores and some local stores located at the market of Bayambang.But there are things that this business needs to improve, including the satisfaction of the customers. Consumers Minimart Inc. need additional effort in making their service much better including in queueing system or waiting time, delivery service, visual merchandising and physical set-up, and add to the strategies of the business. This will be used as strategy to makes their customer more satisfy in their service, it will add to have more customers and become more profitable, more improvement in their services. Consumers Minimart Inc. also need to improve their marketing strategy because it is a part of over all plan of the said business by establishing another branch in the province of Pangasinan for expansion for them to become more popular in terms of selling diffirent kinds of product. According to Peng Shao and Zeliang Sun (2012), Groceries today have to deal with the more dynamic and competitive environments than before. The frequent mergers and acquisitions among the groceries suppliers and retailers made industry structure strongly concentrated and competitive.And the limited retail stores are being increasingly standardized and homogenized. Facing the Bayambang market which only has 96,609 population, the three major competitors grocery, CSI, Savemore and Royal Mall need to differentiate themselves. Thus maintaining long-term relationship with customers is important, in order to keep their good organizational performance and profits. Identifying the key attributes influencing customer satisfaction during customers’ purchasing in their stores is critical. Groceries need to explore their resources and internal capabilities, so that they can make proper strategies to remain competitive. Unique attributes and sub-attributes are the important resources and internal capabilities of each grocer, which can help grocer to differentiate themselves from its competitors, and maximize the level of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction means that customer needs are fulfilled when doing the purchases. So the groceries must understand what the customers want and provide customers with what they need. A large number of studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between organization performance and customer satisfaction. Keeping long-term customer satisfaction is seen as a critical success factor for grocery retailers, because the competition in the groceries industry is strong and margins are becoming limited. There is a straight forward and simple link between customer satisfaction and profits. Retailers used to shape customers shopping habit, without listening much to consumers needs and desires. However, as the industry has been changing, customers change their shopping behavior. For example, the proximity between home and stores become less concerned, so retailers should adapt to new change of customers shopping behavior. Retailers must concern about the attributes, including quality of product, assortment, customer attention, additional service, store atmosphere, store location and price and discount, so that they can shorten the customers perception gap. In the future, the company will have applied its best practices especially to the customer satisfaction in their service not only in the province, but also in the entire Philippines. These Best Practices will not only consist of the most efficient systems, but also consider human elements such as local knowledge and relationship building which are equally essential in attaining great satisfaction. Statement of the problemThis study focused on the extent of customer satisfaction of Consumers Minimart Inc. located in Bayambang, Pangasinan. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions: 1. What is the profile of customers in terms of : a) Types of customers ; and b) Average purchased per transaction 2. What is the extent of customer satisfaction in terms of : a) Queueing system or Waiting timec) Visual merchandising b) Delivery systemd) Physical set-up 3. What are the problems encountered by the customer in terms of: a) Availability of product b) Parking area c) Sanitation d) Ventilation e) Services Accuracy f) Facilities g) Physical set-up h) Distribution i) Inventory j) Pricing Scope and Delimitation of the Study This study determined the extent of customers satisfaction of Consumers Minimart Inc. in the Municipality of Bayambang. The respondents of this study have the total of 100 respondents in a random basis like owners of sari-sari store or retailers, and end users who purchased in the Consumers Minimart Inc., regarding in their types of customers and average purchased per transaction, queueing system or waiting time, delivering system, visual merchandising, physical set-up, availability of product, parking area, sanitation, ventalition, services accuracy, pricin, inventory, distribution and facilities. Significance of the Study The researchers believed that the result of this study would benefit the following. The Manager. This study will enhance competence in the management and operation of the business and will provide with additional knowledge on how to improve business and to get customers satisfaction and loyalty. The Customers. The result of this study will serve as the source of affordable and easy buying decision. They would also be informed and be guided about the different services and existing prices that the business render to the public which the people will appreciate. The Government. This study will bring about additional income to the local government in the form of taxes and they will be provided with some needed basis to come up with rules and regulations to prevent cheating on the suggested retail price. The Future Entrepreneurs. This study will serve as a guide to those future entrepreneurs who wants to establish this kind of business. Definition of Terms To facilitate understanding of this study, the following terms were defined operationally. Consumers Minimart Inc. It is the name of the mini grocery business in the Municipality of Bayambang, that we are studying in our research. Satisfaction. Is an attitude of a person of being happy of the products and services offer. Suppliers. Is a person, company or organization that sells or supplies something such as goods or equipments to business. Customers. They are the retailers and end-users who consumed or use the products and services. Product. Something that is made or created by the manufacturer or supplier. It is offered to customers. Services. A product of human activity meant to satisfy a human need but not constituting item of goods. Queueing System. The queuing discipline describes the order in which arrivals are serviced. Visual Merchandising. Is a form of store presentation of all forms of advertising and marketing. Physical Set-up. Is a form of displaying the products. Delivering System. process for conveying a product or service to a customer. Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES This chapter present a review of professional literature and related studies relevant to the present study. This literature and studies have given the researchers more information and clearer view of the problem in this study. Those that are relevant to this research are presented in the following discussion. RELATED LITERATURE This section presents the both foreign and local related literature relevant to the study. This relevance is shown by the proponents in order to give more reason and understanding of the proposition. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction provides a leading indicator of consumer purchase intentions and loyalty. Customer satisfaction data are among the most frequently collected indicators of market perceptions. Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-customers. Measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace. Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to product/service. The state of satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and physical variables which correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return and recommend rate. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the customer may have and other products against which the customer can compare the organizations products. In retailing, consumers typically patronize multiple outlets. Thus, an important issue is why consumers vary in how they divide their purchases across outlets and how outlets can get a greater share of consumer expenditures. Two potential avenues for increasing customer share are to raise customer satisfaction, and increase repeat purchase through loyalty cards. This study examines the effects of customer satisfaction and loyalty cards as well as consumer characteristics on customer share spent on the primary grocery store. The findings suggest that customer satisfaction has a positive, albeit modest, effect on share while consumer economic shopping orientation has a negative direct effect on share. The economic orientation of shoppers, their felt importance of a personal relationship with store personnel, and the level of their aggregate purchase volume moderate the effect of satisfaction on customer share. Finally, the results provide mixed support for the impact of loyalty cards on customer behavior. Customer Satisfaction in Queuing Systems Companies have to increase their customers’ satisfaction to keep their competitiveness. In services, waiting has great impact on service level and customer satisfaction. Consequently, in time-based competition, one of the main objectives of service companies is to minimize customer waiting. Waiting can be defined in several ways; however, the ultimate management objective should be the maximization of customer satisfaction. The paper shows how customer satisfaction can be approximated with utility functions and establishes a theoretical background for utility transformation of waiting time. The case study of the checkout system of a real do-it-yourself superstore is used to illustrate the application of the suggested method. The results show that utility related objective function may justify queuing system changes even if the average waiting time does not improve. Elements of Queueing Systems Population of Customers can be considered either limited (closed systems) or unlimited (open systems). Unlimited population represents a theoretical model of systems with a large number of possible customers (a bank on a busy street, a motorway petrol station). Example of a limited population may be a number of processes to be run (served) by a computer or a certain number of machines to be repaired by a service man. It is necessary to take the term customer very generally. Customers may be people, machines of various nature, computer processes, telephone calls, etc. Arrival defines the way customers enter the system. Mostly the arrivals are random with random intervals between two adjacent arrivals. Typically the arrival is described by a random distribution of intervals also called Arrival Pattern. Queue represents a certain number of customers waiting for service (of course the queue may be empty). Typically the customer being served is considered not to be in the queue. Sometimes the customers form a queue literally (people waiting in a line for a bank teller). Sometimes the queue is an abstraction (planes waiting for a runway to land). There are two important properties of a queue: Maximum Size and Queuing Discipline. Maximum Queue Size (also called System capacity) is the maximum number of customers that may wait in the queue (plus the one(s) being served). Queue is always limited, but some theoretical models assume an unlimited queue length. If the queue length is limited, some customers are forced to renounce without being served. Queuing Discipline represents the way the queue is organised (rules of inserting and removing customers to/from the queue). There are these ways: 1) FIFO (First In First Out) also called FCFS (First Come First Serve) orderly queue; 2) LIFO (Last In First Out) also called LCFS (Last Come First Serve) – stack; 3) SIRO (Serve In Random Order); 4) Priority Queue, that may be viewed as a number of queues for various priorities; and 5) Many other more complex queuing methods that typically change the customer’s position in the queue according to the time spent already in the queue, expected service duration, and/or priority. These methods are typical for computer multi-access systems. Most quantitative parameters (like average queue length, average time spent in the system) do not depend on the queuing discipline. That’s why most models either do not take the queuing discipline into account at all or assume the normal FIFO ( First In First Out) queue. In fact the only parameter that depends on the queuing discipline is the variance (or standard deviation) of the waiting time. There is this important rule (that may be used for example to verify results of a simulation experiment). The two extreme values of the waiting time variance are for the FIFO (First In First Out) queue (minimum) and the LIFO (Last In First Out) queue (maximum). Theoretical models (without priorities) assume only one queue. This is not considered as a limiting factor because practical systems with more queues (bank with several tellers with separate queues) may be viewed as a system with one queue, because the customers always select the shortest queue. Of course, it is assumed that the customers leave after being served. Systems with more queues (and more servers) where the customers may be served more times are called Queuing Networks. Service represents some activity that takes time and that the customers are waiting for. Again take it very generally. It may be a real service carried on persons or machines, but it may be a CPU time slice, connection created for a telephone call, be ing shot down for an enemy plane, etc. Typically a service takes random time. Theoretical models are based on random distribution of service duration also called Service Pattern. Another important parameter is the number of servers. Systems with one server only are called Single Channel Systems, systems with more servers are called Multi Channel Systems. Output represents the way customers leave the system. Output is mostly ignored by theoretical models, but sometimes the customers leaving the server enter the queue again (round robin time-sharing systems). Queuing Theory is a collection of mathematical models of various queuing systems that take as inputs parameters of the above elements and that provide quantitative parameters describing the system performance. Because of random nature of the processes involved the queuing theory is rather demanding and all models are based on very strong assumptions (not always satisfied in practice). Many systems (especially queuing networks) are not soluble at all, so the only technique that may be applied is simulation. Nevertheless queuing systems are practically very important because of the typical trade-off between the various costs of providing service and the costs associated with waiting for the service (or leaving the system without being served). High quality fast service is expensive, but costs caused by customers waiting in the queue are minimum. On the other hand long queues may cost a lot because customers (machines e.g.) do not work while waiting in the queue or customers leave because of long queues. So a typical problem is to find an optimum system configuration (e.g. the optimum number of servers). The solution may be found by applying queuing theory or by simulation.

The Impact of Work-Based Learning on Students :: Impact Cause Effect Education Essays

The Impact of Work-Based Learning on Students Recent educational approaches that have career and technical education (CTE) components, such as Tech Prep, career academies, and High Schools That Work, have striven to integrate work experience with traditional academics; similarly, school-to-work (STW) by definition is composed of school-based learning, work-based learning (WBL), and bridging activities. How have these approaches affected their student participants both academically and personally? This Digest brings together research on the effects of approaches involving WBL on students' educational outcomes, attitudes, and short- and long-term employment prospects. Students' Educational Outcomes As a general rule, studies and evaluations have found positive associations between participation in approaches involving WBL and students' educational outcomes at both the secondary and postsecondary levels. Positive effects have been reported throughout the whole range of high school experience, from attendance to coursetaking to graduation, whereas too little time has passed for the longer-term effects in postsecondary education to be investigated. Secondary Typically, approaches involving WBL proceed from the premise that learning set in the real-world context of work not only makes academic learning more accessible to many students but also—even more fundamentally—increases their engagement in schooling. Such fundamental effects have been found over and over. For example, a 5-year study of 3.4 million Texas high school students (Brown 2000) found that Tech Prep students had higher attendance and on-time graduation rates and lower dropout rates than both non-Tech Prep CTE students and the general population of secondary students. Similar positive effects have been reported in reviews of studies on career academies (Stern et al. 2000) and--in spite of wide variation in the levels and details of implementation--STW programs (Hughes et al. 2001). Studies of youth apprenticeship programs also found increased attendance and decreased dropout rates (Hollenbeck 1996; Silverberg et al. 1996). Furthermore, positive effects were not limited to persistence. Brown (2000) reported that Texas Tech Prep students completed more academic courses than non-Tech Prep counterparts. Comparing 4,700 Tech Prep and non-Tech Prep participants from eight selected Tech Prep consortia, Bragg (2001) found that in four consortia, Tech Prep students were more likely than non-Tech Prep counterparts to begin high school below the level of Algebra I; but almost all had completed Algebra I by graduation. Higher grades or grade point averages (GPAs) were reported in studies of community-based STW programs for high-risk youth (Adler et al. 1996), Rhode Island Tech Prep programs (MacQueen 1996), and youth apprenticeship (Hollenbeck 1996; Silverberg 1996).

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Answer all the questions. Give non-exact numerical answers correct to 3 significant figures, or 1 decimal place in the case of angles in degrees, unless a different level of accuracy is specified in the question. Where a numerical value for the acceleration due to gravity is needed, use 10 m s-2. The use of an electronic calculator is expected, where appropriate. You are reminded of the need for clear presentation in your answers. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.The total number of marks for this paper is 50. Questions carrying smaller numbers of marks are printed earlier in the paper, and questions carrying larger numbers of marks later in the paper. This document consists of 3 printed pages and 1 blank page. UCLES 2011 [Turn over 2 A car of mass 700 kg is travelling along a straight horizontal road. The resistance to motion is constant and equal to 600 N. (i) Find the driving force of the car's engine at an instant when the acceleration is 2 m s-2. Given that the car's speed at this instant is 15 m s-l , car's engine is working. find the rate at which theA load of mass 1250 kg is raised by a crane from rest on horizontal ground, to rest at a height of 1. 54 m above the ground. The work done against the resistance to motion is 5750 J. (i) Find the work done by the crane. (it) Assuming the power output of the crane is constant and equal to 1. 25 kW, find the time taken to raise the load. 3 q 15. 5 N A small smooth ring R of weight 8. 5 N is threaded on a light inextensible string. The ends of the string are attached to fixed points A and B, with A vertically above B. A horizontal force of magnitude 15. 5 N acts on R so that the ring is in equilibrium with ngle ARB = 900 .The part AR of the string makes an angle B with the horizontal and the part BR makes an angle B with the vertical (see diagram). The tension in the string is T N. Sho w that T sin 12 and T cos B = 3. 5 and hence find B . [6] 4 A block of mass 11 kg is at rest on a rough plane inclined at 300 to the horizontal. A force acts on the block in a direction up the plane parallel to a line of greatest slope. When the magnitude of the force is 2X N the block is on the point of sliding down the plane, and when the magnitude of the force is 9X N the block is on the point of liding up the plane.

Harriet Beecher Stowe`s Uncle Tom`s Cabin Essay

In 1851-52 Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin appears. Her manuscript was first published serially in the Washington National Era, an antislavery paper, before appearing in book form in 1852. Today, in America, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is still one of the books in greatest demand at the counters of our Public Libraries. The narrator, as well as the characters, express the moral indignation that interracial, woman-centered abolitionist discourse made possible. This expression, however, is always in tension with gendered codes of middle-class respectability (Brown 102). Although women succeed in claiming righteous anger as a female right by the outbreak of the Civil War, in the public imagination, and even in the consciousness of some activist women, it remained a â€Å"manly† right and a masculine expressive mode. Later tradition described the novel as an accident produced by an amateur, but in fact Stowe was a professional writer who had been publishing for more than a decade when Uncle Tom’s Cabin began its serial run in an abolitionist journal. Republished in book form in 1852, it combined all the elements of fiction that American critics of the age were looking for: a diverse group of memorable characters, some hateful, some lovable; a tremendously exciting story; scenes of great pathos and scenes of humor; meticulous depiction of the customs, manners, and scenery of various regions in the country on a scale unequaled by any American work of fiction to that date. In addition, the book defined writing in general, and the novel form in particular, as a kind of visionary and prophetic mode, thus making women authors equal to the highest literary tasks. And beyond this, it dealt with an inflammatory political issue in a highly partisan spirit. The vision of Uncle Tom’s Cabin is deeply religious; Stowe was the daughter of one of the age’s most famous (and one of the last) orthodox Calvinist preachers, Lyman Beecher, and all five of her brothers became ministers in their turn, including another generation’s most famous, Henry Ward Beecher. The whole family was immersed in theological speculation; and Stowe came over time to reject the stern Old Testament God of wrath in favor of the New Testament God of love. Her opposition to slavery carries a particular theological charge, as she chronicles the defeat of charity by secular greed. We are to read Tom’s decision not to run away when he is sold downriver, and his eventual martyrdom standing up to Simon Legree, not as submission to the secular world, but as triumph over it. As well as â€Å"Christian† in this broad sense, Stowe’s book is â€Å"matriarchal† in the particular values it espouses – emotive over rational, relational over individualistic – and the repeated crises at its core: the breakup of families and the separation of mothers and children form the repeated matter of its suspenseful efforts. It does not, however, parcel out its good and bad qualities according to gender: the book is full of good men, and in Marie St. Clair it creates a memorably vicious woman. Moreover, beyond its Christian or proto-feminist protest, Uncle Tom’s Cabin mounts an attack on American capitalism, north and south: slavery is the ultimate expression of a culture dedicated to buying, selling, and accumulation. Stowe’s moving tale featured a loyal slave named Tom, an angelic young girl named Little Eva, and a wicked overseer named Simon Legree and included the melodramatic tale of the slave mother Eliza clutching her baby as she crossed an icy river, with dogs and slave catchers hot on her trail, literally leaping for her freedom. Stowe argued that her fictional story was culled from real stories she had learned from fugitives making their way to freedom along the Underground Railroad. This authenticity as well as its sentimental tone made Stowe’s novel a bestseller, with sales of over a quarter million copies in less than a year. Uncle Tom’s Cabin depicted slavery’s most brutal aspects for thousands of readers innocent of the cruelties slavery might impose. The accessibility and alleged â€Å"eyewitness† quality the book projected fueled grassroots support for the flagging abolitionist movement during the 1850s. Abraham Lincoln, when he met Stowe many years later, credited her with â€Å"starting the war. † Certainly the white South harbored special venom for Stowe, banning her book and charging her with â€Å"crimes against the South. † This work catapulted Stowe into literary celebrity, and she subsequently published A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1853) and another antislavery novel, Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp (1856). In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, two unforgettably evil black slave drivers named Sambo and Quimbo personified the axiom which held that â€Å"the slave is always a tyrant, if he can get a chance to be one. † Trained in savagery and brutality by cotton planter Simon Legree, Sambo and Quimbo hated each other and in turn were feared and despised by the rest of the slaves. Ably illustrating Stowe’s contention that â€Å"brutal men are lower even than animals,† the demonic duo participated in orgies of drunken debauchery with their master, treated the slave women as sexual playthings, and gloated with â€Å"fiendish exultation† at the whippings that they meted out to errant field hands and house servants. In this manner, a northern reformist writer popularized the notion that black personality could be perverted or destroyed by white oppression. According to Stowe, African-Americans could be â€Å"unman’d† and turned into â€Å"things† through the normal operation of the slave regime (Stowe 56). When the novel was put on stage, a hush fell on the audience at the National Theatre in New York as Eliza escaped from her pursuers and reached the northern side of the river (Brown 18). An observer who turned to look was astonished to see that the entire audience, from the gentlemen and ladies in the balconies to the roughshirted men in the galleries, was in tears (Duvall 65). Stowe knew that if she could evoke this response on behalf of â€Å"property,† if she could bring her readers to see the heroism of a slave, she had begun a revolution in sentiment. Many things about this scene were tailored for her white audience: Eliza is so light-skinned she can pass for white. Like a true woman, Eliza runs away not because she desires freedom for herself, but to save her child. But the very ambiguity of her skin tone and Stowe’s inclusion of a black woman in the cult of true womanhood worked to break down the racial categories that contained moral feeling. The effect of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on American literature was, to foreign observers striking. In a public meeting held in Stowe’s honor in Scotland, one of the testimonial speakers credited Stowe with having revolutionized the British view of American literature: We have long been accustomed to despise American literature – I mean as compared with our own. I have heard eminent litterateurs say, â€Å"Pshaw! the Americans have no national literature. † It was thought that they lived entirely on plunder – the plunder of poor slaves, and of poor British authors. Their own works, when they came among us, were treated either with contempt or with patronizing wonderyes, the â€Å"Sketch Book† was a very good book to be an American’s. Let us hear no more of the poverty of American brains, or the barrenness of American literature. Had it produced only Uncle Tom’s Cabin, it had evaded contempt just as certainly as Don Quixote, had there been no other product of the Spanish mind, would have rendered it forever illustrious (Duvall 45). In a similar vein, Charles Kingsley (1852) called the book â€Å"a really healthy indigenous growth, autochthonous, & free from all that hapless second & third-hand Germanism, & Italianism, & all other unreal-isms which make me sigh over almost every American book I open. † Kingsley quoted a critic who found Uncle Tom â€Å"the greatest novel ever written,† reminiscent â€Å"in a lower sphere† of Shakespeare â€Å"in that marvellous clearness of insight and outsight, which makes it seemingly impossible for her to see any one of her characters without shewing him or her at once as a distinct individual man or woman, different from all others.† The British saw that the originality of the book sprang from Stowe’s grasp of the nationality of her material: an epic theme – republican ideals in conflict with a feudal institution – was enshrined in a narrative bristling with regional types. Stowe’s attribution of deeper feeling to African Americans â€Å"as a race† was consistent with what George Fredrickson has called â€Å"romantic racialism,† a blend of philanthropic and paternalistic attitudes (Wiegman 30). One of the earliest formulators of this ideology was Alexander Kinmont, who, in his 1837-1838 lectures in Cincinnati, proclaimed the moral superiority of African Americans: â€Å"All the sweeter graces of the Christian religion appear almost too tropical and tender plants to grow in the Caucasian mind; they require a character of human nature which you can see in the rude lineaments of the Ethiopian. † It is highly likely that Harriet Beecher Stowe, living in Cincinnati at the time Kinmont delivered his lectures, was exposed to his ideas. Such romantic racialism was widespread by 1851 (Duvall 98). The complexity and contradiction of Stowe’s novel lie in her use of a common theory of racial difference to effect a revolution in sentiment about the institution of slavery. In foregrounding sentiment as the most crucial and revolutionary political capital, Uncle Tom’s Cabin significantly questions the popular equation in nineteenth-century discourses between blackness and inhumanity, allowing the slave a psychic reality that challenges paternalistic views of the peculiar institution as protection for those unable to survive the rigors and responsibilities of civic society (and civilization itself) (Berzon 45). That the method for signifying the slave’s humanity is contingent on her tearful identification with the pain of enslavement, demonstrates, of course, the political limit embedded in the sentimental form (Stepto 65). For while Uncle Tom’s Cabin tries to forge a political alliance between slaves and white women by figuring subjectivities irreducible to the determinations of bodies in modernity, the transformatory hope attached to the analogizing function fractures under the inescapable priority accorded to white racial being. The political asymmetries attending the differences between the slave’s humanity and the white woman’s social subjectivity – and the novel’s attempt to both signify and rectify these disproportions – demonstrates at one level the very problem of the political in both nineteenth and twentieth-century American life. Take, for instance, the novel’s central figure, Uncle Tom. On one hand, Stowe depicts him in language that evokes a kind of noble masculine corporeality, as â€Å"a large, broad-chested, powerfully-made man,† but immediately she undercuts such characterization by alleviating its potentially threatening edge, referring instead to his â€Å"humble simplicity† and to a face of â€Å"grave and steady good sense, united with much kindliness and benevolence†. Interiority and exteriority are in this way conflicted, as Stowe seeks for Uncle Tom the characteristics of femininity that the corporeal delineations of a black masculinity might otherwise deny. In this she claims for him a â€Å"gentle, domestic heart†, marking his interiority within the discourse of the sentimental feminine that the novel most strenuously avow (Ammons 140). As Leslie Fiedler has aptly described him, Uncle Tom is a suffering heroine, masked by blackface and drag. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, George Harris makes several statements comparing his own struggle for freedom with that of the nation’s founders. Uncle Tom’s Cabin had a huge following and sold over 300,000 copies in this country during the first year after it was published in book form by J.  P. Jewett in 1852. Once dismissed as a sentimental novel of domestic fiction, contemporary critics universally agree that Uncle Tom’s Cabin, despite defects, remains an enduring and powerful literary creation, a symbol of its age. For Stowe, the political necessity lies precisely here: in finding a means both for Anglo-Americans to identify with a political project that challenges their own interests and for white women in particular to translate their racial privileges into a form or method for the slave’s freedom.

Free Essays on Battle Of Gettysburg

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG The Battle of Gettysburg was a crucial battle that changed the outcome of the Civil War due to the decisions made by the generals of both the Union Army and the Confederate Army. The Gettysburg Address given by President Lincoln continues to remind us of the outstanding military achievements and devastating human sacrifice our country suffered due to this battle and the Civil War. Gettysburg did not turn out to be just another clichà © of battles and wars; just because you have won a battle doesn’t mean that you have won the war. Gettysburg turned out to be the largest and most important battle that signified a beginning of the end of the Confederate States of America. Orchestrated by generals and won by the brave men who spilled their blood in order to defend an idea conceived under a new nations declaration of equality and freedom (Axelrod 197). The events that led up to the bloodiest battle of the Civil War transpired in the month previous when after the death of Confederate General â€Å"Stonewall† Jackson, General Robert E. Lee Commander of the Army of Northern Virginian reorganized his army into three Army Corps under Generals Longstreet, Ewell, and A.P. Hill with a Calvary division under J.E.B. Stuarts total strength was about 75,000. The Northern Federalist consisted of about 95,000 strong under General Joseph â€Å"Fighting Joe† Hooker who commanded the Federal Army of the Potomac. General Hooker’s defect as a commanding officer became apparent when Confederate General Lee with fewer than half the men, outmaneuvered him and caused a Union retreat. On June 13th Confederate General Ewell’s corps appeared at Winchester and proceeded on the 14th and 15th to attacked the 9,000 strong Union garrison at Winchester and defeated it taking valuable war materials and inflicting heavy losses for the Union. On 25th June General Lee agreed to General Stuart’s plan to take three brigades of Calvary acro... Free Essays on Battle Of Gettysburg Free Essays on Battle Of Gettysburg THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG The Battle of Gettysburg was a crucial battle that changed the outcome of the Civil War due to the decisions made by the generals of both the Union Army and the Confederate Army. The Gettysburg Address given by President Lincoln continues to remind us of the outstanding military achievements and devastating human sacrifice our country suffered due to this battle and the Civil War. Gettysburg did not turn out to be just another clichà © of battles and wars; just because you have won a battle doesn’t mean that you have won the war. Gettysburg turned out to be the largest and most important battle that signified a beginning of the end of the Confederate States of America. Orchestrated by generals and won by the brave men who spilled their blood in order to defend an idea conceived under a new nations declaration of equality and freedom (Axelrod 197). The events that led up to the bloodiest battle of the Civil War transpired in the month previous when after the death of Confederate General â€Å"Stonewall† Jackson, General Robert E. Lee Commander of the Army of Northern Virginian reorganized his army into three Army Corps under Generals Longstreet, Ewell, and A.P. Hill with a Calvary division under J.E.B. Stuarts total strength was about 75,000. The Northern Federalist consisted of about 95,000 strong under General Joseph â€Å"Fighting Joe† Hooker who commanded the Federal Army of the Potomac. General Hooker’s defect as a commanding officer became apparent when Confederate General Lee with fewer than half the men, outmaneuvered him and caused a Union retreat. On June 13th Confederate General Ewell’s corps appeared at Winchester and proceeded on the 14th and 15th to attacked the 9,000 strong Union garrison at Winchester and defeated it taking valuable war materials and inflicting heavy losses for the Union. On 25th June General Lee agreed to General Stuart’s plan to take three brigades of Calvary acro...

Free Essays on The Cello

The Cello The violoncello, also known by it’s shortened name â€Å"cello† is a low-pitched stringed musical instrument of the violin family, that is held between the performers knees. It is really a bass violin played in an upright position. It has four strings tuned C G d a (C=two C’s below middle C; a-the A below middle C). The tuning pegs at the Peg box are used for tuning the Cello, but for real accuracy, the fine tuners are used. The f hole is used to increase the resonance of the Cellos body, thus making the sound produced louder. The four cello strings are thicker than those of the violin, and are better suited that way to give the cello its unique sound. Rubbing the bowstrings over the cello strings, both in left and right directions, plays the cello. Its range extends over more than four octaves. It is mostly used in string quartets and orchestras. The cello measures about 4 feet long and about 1  ½ feet across its widest part. It is supported by an endpi n. The endpin is a stick that is usually made of metal. It holds up the cello so one can play more comfortably. The cello is thought to have originated in northern Italy in the 1530’s. It was first used as a supporting bass instrument. The interest in the cello grew and in the late 1600’s, composers began writing music for the cello. The cello became prominent in chamber music groups and symphony orchestras in the 1700’s and 1800’s. The cello has come a long way from its starting point. It was made because composers were yearning for a lower toned instrument in their music. The love for the cello sound was immediate and appreciation for the instrument grew quickly. Especially the royal families from the 16th century, they loved the cello and many players started to evolve Weston 2 because of this. Composers also loved the cello. Composers such as Bach and Beethoven gave cello players a challenge in the music they composed for the instr... Free Essays on The Cello Free Essays on The Cello The Cello The violoncello, also known by it’s shortened name â€Å"cello† is a low-pitched stringed musical instrument of the violin family, that is held between the performers knees. It is really a bass violin played in an upright position. It has four strings tuned C G d a (C=two C’s below middle C; a-the A below middle C). The tuning pegs at the Peg box are used for tuning the Cello, but for real accuracy, the fine tuners are used. The f hole is used to increase the resonance of the Cellos body, thus making the sound produced louder. The four cello strings are thicker than those of the violin, and are better suited that way to give the cello its unique sound. Rubbing the bowstrings over the cello strings, both in left and right directions, plays the cello. Its range extends over more than four octaves. It is mostly used in string quartets and orchestras. The cello measures about 4 feet long and about 1  ½ feet across its widest part. It is supported by an endpi n. The endpin is a stick that is usually made of metal. It holds up the cello so one can play more comfortably. The cello is thought to have originated in northern Italy in the 1530’s. It was first used as a supporting bass instrument. The interest in the cello grew and in the late 1600’s, composers began writing music for the cello. The cello became prominent in chamber music groups and symphony orchestras in the 1700’s and 1800’s. The cello has come a long way from its starting point. It was made because composers were yearning for a lower toned instrument in their music. The love for the cello sound was immediate and appreciation for the instrument grew quickly. Especially the royal families from the 16th century, they loved the cello and many players started to evolve Weston 2 because of this. Composers also loved the cello. Composers such as Bach and Beethoven gave cello players a challenge in the music they composed for the instr...

Emma Watson and bell hooks Discuss Feminism

Emma Watson and bell hooks Discuss Feminism If you imagine who British actor Emma Watson is hanging out with on any given day, feminist icon bell hooks probably doesnt come to mine. But it turns out that Watson, the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, and hooks, a leading feminist theorist and cultural critic, have mutual girl crushes on each other. Watson began reading hookss work after her appointment to the UN, and hooks is a fan of Emmas for her portrayal of Hermione Granger in the  Harry Potter  film series. Paper Magazine got them together to talk about their crushes and the essence of thema shared passion for feminism. These are the most insightful and inspiring takeaways from it. The Struggle to be Cool Watson and hooks reflected on how girls and women often struggle to actualize their authentic, empowered selves because of internalized expectations of who we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to act. Watson recounted how when she first began playing Hermione Granger, she felt pressure to distance herself from the character while giving interviews out of a fear that it was not cool for girls to behave like Hermione. She remembers asking herself, What do young girls talk about? What do they say?, and coming up with, I like going shopping and I have a crush on Brad Pitt, even though what she really liked at that time was school, and had no idea who Brad Pitt was.   This story resonated with hooks as an example of how girls go through periods of trying on acceptable images of femininity, which serves to illustrate that as a society, we need to broaden and diversify those acceptable images so that girls and women can feel comfortable being who they really are. The Importance of Self-Love and Not Trying to Please Everybody When hooks asked Watson what power means to her in the context of feminism, Watson explained that what has been most empowering for her as she has studied feminism through reading is how it has enabled her to let go of self-criticism, and instead, to practice self-love. hooks added that, especially in the digital age, when people can so easily take your words and actions out of context and vilify you for them, it is important for women and girls to get over any kind of attachment to perfectionism, or to being liked by everybody all the time, or understood by everybody all the time. Girls and women, far more than boys and men, are socialized to please others, and it is truly hard to shake off this expectation, but the truth is, it is not our job to make everyone happy and like us. And this is truly a liberating realization. Feminists Can Be and Are Fun and Funny! Both Watson and hooks acknowledge that feminism gets a bad rap because of stereotypes of feminists as humorless killjoys, and this is a serious problem for the movement. In contrast, Watson explained that part of what she loves about hooks is how funny she is when she speaks about feminism. hooks then pointed out, Humor is essential to working with difficult subjects: race, gender, class, sexuality. If you cant laugh at yourself and be with others in laughter, you really cannot create meaningful social change. Feminists Must Be Allowed to Be Whole, Complex, and Balanced People Related to the fact that feminists can be and are funny,  hooks discussed the larger problem of women not being represented as whole and complex people as they age. Instead, in popular culture and in the popular imaginary, they lose their sexuality, their empowerment, and the essence of what makes them cool- something that hooks fears happened to Hermione in the film version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. hooks admitted that as she has aged, she has felt constrained by expectations that she must be the activist version of herself at all times, but that there is more to who she is than the person who fights racism and sexism. She explained that she is genuinely interested in fashion and beauty too, and she counseled Watson to keep fun and leisure in her new life of activism, saying, Everyone needs to have a balanced life. Being balanced is crucial, because it helps us not to over-extend or to try to live up to other peoples expectations in ways that leave you feeling empty . Feminism is Listening and Learning hooks applauded Watson for working hard to learn about feminism and issues that affect women and girls by reading widely and by engaging broadly with a diverse group of people. Watson said of taking a year off from acting, I want to do a lot of listening, which is an important aspect of the feminist worldview and practice: listening to others and learning from them. We Must Bravely Breach Boundaries The meetings- theyve had a few now- and conversations between Watson and hooks have crossed boundaries of age, race, class, nationality, profession, and that between academia and the public sphere. This kind of meeting and talking across boundaries, with respect for difference and an interest in learning from it, is crucial to the liberatory work of feminism. Of their newfound bond and shared commitment to feminism, hooks remarked, I feel like part of creating a world that is just and diverse is pushing against those boundaries that close us off from one another. Im glad that Im not closed off from you, and that were going to have more fun conversations in the days ahead. Anyone who fancies themselves a feminist, or a person committed to equality for all, can learn a lot from these two.

Grade Inflation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 119

Grade Inflation - Essay Example In relation to how people learn, Uva (n.d) asserts that grade inflation contributes to an asymmetrical positioning of students in class and also in the workplaces. In essence, student placement in classrooms ought to be based on performance. If the wrong picture is painted in regard to the performance of a student, then he or she may be placed in a class handling subjects he or she is not competent in. In so doing, students are exposed to more hardships in learning and thus are more likely to receive even lower grades. Grade inflation also gives the wrong impression to employers on the competency of individuals and therefore contributing to absorption of poorly skilled individuals in the job market. One of the assumptions that trigger the caveats surrounding grade inflation is that the work of educators is to rate students in order to boost expediency for the employers during the hiring process (Kohn, 2002). Therefore, less skilled individuals are absorbed into the job market whereas the more competent group is discarded unjustly. As an example of my personal experience, my disinterest in Sciences during the later years of my high school was largely contributed by grade inflation. As a junior in high school, my science teacher used to over-rate our exams and a result, I developed an undeserved interest in sciences. Subsequently, I joined more profound science courses. The hurdles I encountered in comprehending these advanced courses relating to sciences lowered my grades significantly and hence ended up lowering my motivation and interest in learning. This shows that grade inflation can lead to unearned or unjustified placement of students in the classroom and the job market as well. Grade inflation makes it impossible

Ethics and Corporate Responsibility in the Workplace and the World Essay

Ethics and Corporate Responsibility in the Workplace and the World - Essay Example 151). As such, case studies are a valuable tool to gauge the ethical behavior of a company and to determine what course of action should be taken as future events dictate. PhramaCare is a factitious company, yet the situation presented can be considered likely to happen to almost any type of company, anywhere in the world. This paper will detail various ethical issues ranging from the treatment of indigenous populations to the methods of handling and dealing with whistleblowers. All the while, decisions made will be analyzed and potential consequences discussed. PharmaCare’s Treatment of Colberia’s Indigenous Population Regardless of the economic or political reasons governing a firm’s entry into another country, they have the ethical responsibility to act in the best interests of their host. In this case, PharmaCARE failed to abide by this code of responsible conduct. While there has always and will always be a disparity of wealth existent in the world, PharmaCA RE’s lack of compassion in dealing with the indigenous population of Colberia is particularly egregious. Rather than doing their small part in raising the standard of living among the people, they succeeded at continuing to keep the people of the country mired in poverty while they reaped the benefits. A responsible company sees their employees as partners, and even shareholders. As they contribute to the success of the company, they should be properly compensated. Naturally, few would argue that the people of Colberia should receive the same wage as those in the Western world, but they are certainly entitled more than $1 a day, particularly given the backbreaking work they were partaking in. In the end, however, there is little wrong with the executives of PharmaCARE living in luxurious compounds in Colberia. This is a standard practice with international corporations, as many employees leave their home country for years at a time, so they are granted living conditions simil ar to those that they are used to. This is does not excuse, however, the unethical treatment in terms of salaries and working conditions that the company was engaging in. Actions To Take Against Donna, Tom, and Ayesha Deciding to fire workers is often a painful decision, and one that potentially carries legal ramifications. Since New Jersey is not a right to work state, the situation becomes a bit more muddled. Without having the benefit of reading the contracts of employment for each respective employee, it is difficult to make a determination as to the legality of these particular firings, but in essence they could be termed legal. Donna had begun to develop poor attendance records and, even though she made the claim that it was due to mold in the work environment, Allen could argue otherwise. By properly documenting reported absences, if Donna lacks adequate proof the work environment causing her absentee rate to rise, the firing may be legally justified. It is also generally acc epted that companies can protect their reputation against employees who set out to damage it in the public. If the claims made by Tom end up being true, he would certainly have a case against an unjust termination. Barring that, however, Allen would likely prevail in a legal proceeding based on the comments he would make about the company in public. Likewise, Ayesha would need to prove that she was fired based on religious discrimination. If Allen can prove otherwise and demonstrate a history of poor performance, once again he could justify the legal

What historical events and issues impact contemporary political Essay

What historical events and issues impact contemporary political developments among Native Americans communities in North and South America - Essay Example The Native Americans were forced into ways of life that were common amongst those to the east. This new way of life changed the way Native Americans perceived the new comers and their experiences were not necessarily positive. Some specific historical events that impacted the Native Americans were the forcing of the Cherokee Indians to the west of North America. This event is also known as the trail of tears. â€Å"The trail of tears occurred in 1838†. (Monkeyshines 1999) This is called the trail of tears because the heartache endured by the Native Americans on their journey to the land they were forced to live in. Since the Native Americans were forced to live a way they were not accustomed to this has created a resistance that is seen to this day. â€Å"The Native Americans have trouble showing trust in political figures and this impacts any political advancement.†(Natives 2011) Historical events and issues amongst different types of peoples that consisted of negative events and issues are easily carried into modern day. These issues are carried amongst future generations and put a damper on developments. It is hard for the Native Americans to develop politically when they have so much heartache in their history. Brave Heart, Maria Yellow Horse, Josephine Chase, Jennifer Elkins, and Deborah B. Altschul. 2011. "Historical Trauma Among Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: Concepts, Research, and Clinical Considerations." Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs 43, no. 4: 282-290. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 23,

Denial or doubters of the environmental global warming Essay

Denial or doubters of the environmental global warming - Essay Example These experts include Frederick Seitz, Ph.D. Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D., S. Fred Singer, Ph.D, Patrick J. Michaels, Ph.D.,Robert C. Balling, Jr. Ph. D.1 They have expressed doubts over climate change and challenged the consensus of mainstream scientists (Granados). This paper briefly explains the biggest theory of denial or doubters of the environmental global warming Lord Crimson (n. d) has cited the opinions of 19,000 scientists in order to argue against the established theories of global warming. These scientists have established that the current theories about the responsibility of the human in global warming are in question. They have signed a petition saying global warming is probably natural and not a crisis (Lord Crimson). United States is depending heavily (around 85%) on fossil fuels for its energy needs. Fossil fuels are exhausting day by day and it is difficult for United Sates to meet all its energy needs in future in the absence of fossil fuels. So, they want to reduce the usage of fossil fuels as much as possible by other countries and for that purpose they have attributed the global warming problem to the emissions from the fossil fuels. â€Å"Dr Sami Solanki, the director of the renowned Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Gottingen, Germany, ha conducted a research in order to find out the reasons behind global warming. He has concluded that the Sun has been at its strongest over the past 60 years and may now be affecting global temperatures† (The Global Warming Scam). In other worlds, instead of searching for the reasons of global warming on earth, we must look in to the sky to find out reasons. The solar radiations were intensified a lot for the last 1000years as per the studies conducted by Dr. Solanki. These rise in solar temperature causing the atmospheric temperature rise and melting of ice from the Polar Regions. Increased amount of flood, the sea level rise and the melting of huge ice blocks

The role of NGO S and Govt on oil development Essay

The role of NGO S and Govt on oil development - Essay Example First of all, development of oils and gas reserves involve the not only the governments alone, but the land owners and the involved private organizations dealing with well development after exploration, production, and refining before distribution. The governments do not have to seek advice from outsiders in addressing the issues to do with land that may arise between the land owners and the oil industry, because the rules and regulations lie within their local to the federal government power. With respect to the land use management practices within the oil and gas industry’s established scope of regulations, the landowners can be compensated for the intended activity to occur. International Approach to Oil and Gas Development International bodies and government have been concerned with regulating oil and gas exploration and production. The United Nations Environmental Programme is concerned with encouraging environmentally safe industrial development (E & P Forum/UNEP, 1997). The Industry and Environment Office of the UNEP advocates for environmental ethics inclusion in industrial development, supports aggressive approaches to environmental protection, and encourages global information exchange. In 1974, organizations in the petroleum industry and oil companies formed a global association known as the E & P forum (E & P Forum/UNEP, 1997). Under the forum, the interests of governments, UN specialist agencies and other foreign bodies are represented. Consequently, industry guidelines, checklists, and codes of practice have been developed and information disseminated to the relevant nations, industry positions on issues have been established, and the activities of relevant organizations have been and continue to be monitored. Outsiders Advice to Governments of Oil or Gas-Producing Nations Over the past decades, there have been profound development issues raised regarding the oil and gas industry over the percentage of ownership, regulations effects, and th e management. Most oil and gas producing nations own the resources, issue the licenses for development activities, and engage in monitoring and control of the process and production. However, most emerging nations with resource reserves have to seek advice on the way forward to finance and manage oil and gas activities. This touches on legal advice, sector restructuring, standard regulations with respect to international environmental and countries’ internal laws, fiscal and contractual services, and privatization where needed (Wawryk, n.d.). The governments should not shy away from seeking advisory services right from upstream, midstream, to downstream because it lowers the cost of production on the governments side, while avoiding to strain the public sectors. The most important factors lie in the domain of legal and business issues that deal with strategic transactions and environmental policies. With respect to the recent trend in environmental degradation, the developing world, which holds the largest proved oil reserves has been reported to have ineffective environmental laws; hence in their endeavor in development of gas and oil reserves, the governments have to enquire from the standards and operating practices across the globe, to plan ahead and implement correct measures to minimize environmental damage in their resources development (Wawryk, n.d.). Most of

Denial or doubters of the environmental global warming Essay

Denial or doubters of the environmental global warming - Essay Example These experts include Frederick Seitz, Ph.D. Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D., S. Fred Singer, Ph.D, Patrick J. Michaels, Ph.D.,Robert C. Balling, Jr. Ph. D.1 They have expressed doubts over climate change and challenged the consensus of mainstream scientists (Granados). This paper briefly explains the biggest theory of denial or doubters of the environmental global warming Lord Crimson (n. d) has cited the opinions of 19,000 scientists in order to argue against the established theories of global warming. These scientists have established that the current theories about the responsibility of the human in global warming are in question. They have signed a petition saying global warming is probably natural and not a crisis (Lord Crimson). United States is depending heavily (around 85%) on fossil fuels for its energy needs. Fossil fuels are exhausting day by day and it is difficult for United Sates to meet all its energy needs in future in the absence of fossil fuels. So, they want to reduce the usage of fossil fuels as much as possible by other countries and for that purpose they have attributed the global warming problem to the emissions from the fossil fuels. â€Å"Dr Sami Solanki, the director of the renowned Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Gottingen, Germany, ha conducted a research in order to find out the reasons behind global warming. He has concluded that the Sun has been at its strongest over the past 60 years and may now be affecting global temperatures† (The Global Warming Scam). In other worlds, instead of searching for the reasons of global warming on earth, we must look in to the sky to find out reasons. The solar radiations were intensified a lot for the last 1000years as per the studies conducted by Dr. Solanki. These rise in solar temperature causing the atmospheric temperature rise and melting of ice from the Polar Regions. Increased amount of flood, the sea level rise and the melting of huge ice blocks

Sports and Entertainment Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Sports and Entertainment Management - Essay Example For instance, we found out how important liquidity is for a company. Also, we have studied about various rules and principles that help pave a way towards success but rarely do we talk about the element of luck involved. There are many times when we are not sure whether we have taken a right decision and only time can unravel the truth. Some decisions turn out to be very fortunate while others turn out to be otherwise. The financial crisis of 2008 hit many businesses, large and small, and it was just bad luck for those businesses. It was not any fault on their part that they happened to be in such a dire situation. The most interesting aspect of this presentation, for me, was the emphasis on the formation of an effective team. Mr. X is a man of great skills. His academic qualifications may not be of the level that one expects from such a person but it is no secret that he is a man that possesses very important skill of creating and managing teams. He has the ability to multiply the s ize of any business that is handed to him. It is very important for a leader to assess the abilities of the members of his team. He needs to pick those people who can achieve something by working hard for it rather than just being lucky to have achieved it. The team members should also have an involvement in the decision-making process so that they can be more motivated and interested in doing what is asked of them. Further, the leader can never be complacent and must be active at all times. No one can be perfect and a good leader always looks to find out his weaknesses and of ways to overcome them. We are living in world which is changing so fast that a business always needs to investigate the effectiveness of its current strategy. The changes in technology are continuously putting the tastes of people in new moulds. This highlights the point that a business always needs to be aware of the changes in the tastes of its customers. The respected speaker currently belongs to the field of ice skiing and snowboarding. It is extremely hard to entice people to visit Canada and ski. However, there is a class of people that can afford to do this. But the problem is that as more and more gadgets are available for use at home, the interest in outdoor activities is diminishing. There is an overall decline in the world of sports due to this fact. Therefore, in order to establish whether one can be interested in skiing, a lot depends on how the individual is brought up. In the presentation, it has been emphasized that a leader should always be vigilant. It seems a very useful tip for a leader but it can also have a negative impact. A leader who is always looking for high standards might get too excessive in his approach. His constant concern with how the work is being done might irritate his team members and might make them think that he does not trust their abilities. The team members might take a lot of stress due to this excessive supervision which can have dire effects on their work. In my view, Mr. X is quite an autocratic leader because he defines very clearly what is expected from his employees, and holds the authority to make final decisions. It can be clearly seen from this presentations that when he asked his employees to give their â€Å"absolute best forecasts†, they were â€Å"incredibly conservative† when they gave him their numbers. This made me think why the employees that were â€Å"business people and finance people† did not give their honest opinions? This might be due to the fact that they were afraid that their boss would want more from them and they would be brought under pressure to deliver. It might have happened that they deliberately gave low forecasts so that they would not be

How does Brian Friel establish the theme of language Essay Example for Free

How does Brian Friel establish the theme of language Essay How does Brian Friel establish the theme of language and its effects on communication, power and identity in Act one? In the play Translations, language and its effects is clearly one of the central themes. This is evident because the characters all show what language means to them ranging from Hugh who uses his knowledge of languages as a form of power over the British to Owen who does not show any concern for his language and identity and allows the British to call him Roland. Furthermore the title of the play Translations is ironic because although one of the themes of the play is keeping your identity the book itself looses its identity. This is because although the play is written by an Irish author and set in Ireland, it is written in English. Thus the title foreshadows the outcome of the play. One of the ways Brain Friel establishes the theme of language is by using Sarah as a device to convey the bare minimum of language. Her limited knowledge of language limits her communication. However this could also be a benefit to her as she is able to have secrets without being expected to share them. Sarah is first introduced in the play by the stage directions which say Sarah shakes her head vigorously and stubbornly this is because Manus wants her to speak so she has an identity in the world. This could foreshadow that the Irish, who do not want to speak English will be forced too for there own good as it will help their country prosper. The character Sarah can be interpreted as the symbol of Ireland due to the play opening with her trying to claim her identity by saying My name is Sarah. This achievement of Sarah saying her name at the start of the play shows just how powerful language can be as just a few words can turn you from someone who is unknown to a person who has status in the world. Manus understands this and reacts by saying nothingll stop us now. This can either be interpreted as nothing will stop Sarah from learning Gaelic now or that the now in the quote refers to all of Ireland and that as long as people are still learning Gaelic the British will not stamp out their language. The character Manus is Hughs eldest son and is a teacher at Hedge School. The relationship that Manus has with his father is made very clear by Brain Freil when Hugh first enters the play as he treats Manus like a slave by handing him his hat and coat as, if to a footman. Brain Friel shows that due to Manuss lack of communication with his father and his willingness to do all the things his father asks of him, that he has become a servant. Out of all the characters in the play it is only Manus who really sees the British as an enemy in the First Act. This is likely to be because Manus clearly loves his country and his language and sees these two things as part of his identity. Also although the play is not overtly political, political issues do run under the surface. For example when Dan Doalty moves the Britishs poles Manus says this is just a gesture to indicate a presence. However when analysing Doaltys character it can easily be seen that it is highly unlikely he was doing it for this reason and was more likely just looking to make fun of the British. Furthermore Manus is the only one who sees Owens job as traitorous to Ireland. All the other characters do not even mention it. However although Manus feels this way about Owen, he himself is guilty of betrayal as he ignores Sarah when she tells him that she said her name. As Sarah symbolises Irelands identity ignoring her is like a betrayal to Ireland. The character Jimmy, although contributing to the comedy in act one when Doalty and Bridget are making fun of him. I believe also that this represents just how different the British and Irish culture was in the nineteenth century as his character reveals that in Ireland even the most poor man can speak Greek and Latin. In England it is most likely only the richer upper class people would be able to speak these languages revealing that language doesnt represent status in Ireland. Furthermore Jimmys character is also the only character that stays true to his identity as he is unable to speak English and shows know signs of wishing to learn English I have only Irish. However although Jimmy shows know signs of wanting to learn English his love of Latin and Greek have caused him to be unable to communicate properly with other characters as they only speak Gaelic. Thus Jimmy portrays what could happen to Ireland if they do not learn English as they will be cut off from the world. Additionally Jimmys character also uses his knowledge of languages as a power over the British as he mocks captain Lancey for not being able to speak Latin Nonne Latine loquitur?. Brain Friel also shows that due to Jimmys reading of Greek stories such as the Odyssey he has created an alternative reality for himself in which figures of myth are as real to him as the people he sees everyday. This is revealed as he imagines situations when he would have to choose between Athene, Artimis and Helen. Due to these fantasies Manus calls Jimmy a bloody dangerous man suggesting that living in the past is dangerous. Thus foreshadowing that Manus, who does not embrace the English language in his country, may be dangerous as he is still living in the past The characters captain Lancey and Yolland although both working for the British army have very different views on what they have been ordered to do in Ireland. This is apparent by the way that they act when they first meet the Irish people. Captain Lancey who clearly symbolises England as his manner is polite and imperative, is very patronising when he talks, thinking that if he just talks slow and loud as if to a child the Irish will some how be able to understand him a picture- you understand picture?. However even though he uses this patronising tone it is clearly unjustified because when jimmy asks him Nonne Latine loquitur? he mistakes it for Gaelic showing that he is not as intelligent as them. Furthermore the language used by Lancey although already in English is very political and imperialistic and it is likely some British people wouldnt understand what he was saying. In comparison Yolland although a soldier has few characteristics normally associated with the military as he is shy and awkward. This is shown when Yolland says I I Ive nothing to say really -. The quote reveals that he is not uncomfortable being in Hedge Schools as he stutters. Furthermore unlike Lancey, Yolland is uneasy about not being able to speak Gaelic as he says Sorry sorry when he cant understand Maire. Additionally Yolland shows very clearly that he values language and identity as he wishes to learn Gaelic. The strong-minded, strong bodied women Maire is a very pragmatic character as she will do things to better herself. This is shown by her willing to embrace the future and learn English so that she can move to America as it is the land of opportunities. This reveals that learning English to Maire is a form of power as it will allow her to escape her poor life in Ireland. However although she desires this, there is a clear uncertainty in what Maire wants as she speaks approvingly of modern progress but on other occasions finds comfort in the belief that things will never change. This is shown when she talks about Baile Beags potato crop never failing. The repetition of the word never suggests that her willingness to embrace the future is idealistic and selective showing that she wants some things to change while finding a misplaced assurance in the belief that somethings will never change. This could suggest that although she is willing to give up part of her identity, she is comforted by the fact that it is unlikely to happen. The character Owen is Hughs youngest son an presents a striking contrast to Manus, as he is lively and charming. Furthermore although Owen is the son who left his father to pursue his own ambitions he is treated more warmly then Manus. This could be why Owen and Manuss relationship is uneasy. Owen can either be interpreted as a traitor or as a pragmatic character like Maire. This is because although Owen is helping the British standardise Irish place names, he could just be doing this as he believes embracing English is the only way Ireland will prosper. However due to Owen allowing the British to call him Roland, which is a common British name it is likely that the former is true. This is further apparent as when questioned by Manus about why the British call him Roland he replies with Its only a name. Its the same me isnt it?. This quote reveals that Owen places know value in his identity. Owens translation of what Lancey is saying on pages 31/32 also show how Owen uses his ability to communicate with the English as power over the Irish. This is because his mistranslation of what Lancey is saying to the Irish allows Owen to make it seem that the British are in their country to help them, not remove their language. The character Hugh although conveyed as a figure of dignity in Baile Beag is ironically a heavy drinker and is shown little respect by characters such as Daolty as he mocks him behind his back by impersonating the way he acts. Hugh, who is fluent in English, Latin, Greek and Gaelic is very critical of the British language referring to it as a language for traders. Furthermore the distain with which he speaks of Lancey for not knowing any Gaelic, Latin and Irish shows how he uses his knowledge of languages as a weapon against the British as he is able to show his superior intelligence. In conclusion Brain Friels uses characters, dramatic setting and many other devices to show how language plays a key role in this play. Furthermore his use of characters in the play to convey the bare minimum of language (Sarah) and the height of language (Hugh) add to the effect of how he uses language.

Impact of Campaign Appearances on Key Constituencies

Impact of Campaign Appearances on Key Constituencies Abstract Why do people vote the way they do and what can candidates do to sway the votes of those that go to the polls? Do people cast their votes based on the policies advanced by a candidate, rational self-interest, or political campaigns and the get-the-vote-out efforts (e.g. campaign appearances, advertising, door-to-door canvassing, leaflets, phone banks, electronic mail)? Which one of these influences most the number of votes a candidate gets in elections? Recent studies in voting behaviour point out to an increased importance of get-the-vote-out strategies. The purpose of the present paper is to explore the effects of one type of get-the-vote-out efforts more precisely, local visits by the candidate or incumbent in a certain constituency and the strategies politicians employ in order to increase the number of votes they get. I take as a case study the Romanian 2009 presidential election. I look at whether the abovementioned type of get-the-vote-out efforts made a difference in the number of votes the candidates got. Social scientists have recently started to pay increasing attention to matching in an attempt to infer causation based on experiments that rely on observational studies. In order to test my hypotheses I use matching as a main method. In addition to it, I conducted content analysis on printed and audio-visual media and run several OLS regressions. The results show that only one candidates campaign appearances were marginally significant in statistical terms and did have an effect on the number of votes that candidate got. INTRODUCTION Voting means freedom of expression in terms of political views; in any democracy, it is the ultimate method through which a mature, informed, law-abiding individual expresses his/her decision about how he/she wants to be ruled. It is about representation and participation; it is the assumption that those casting the vote are politically knowledgeable and want to express that knowledge (Popkin vs. Converse, Popkin, 2006). Thus, one of the key elements that candidates to public offices need to bear in mind is the fact that they must persuade the average individual not only to participate in the electoral process (and exercise their Constitutional right to freedom of expression) but also to cast a vote in their favour. The standard literature on voting behaviour lists as factors that influence the voters preferences for one candidate or another, elements such as: the position of the candidate on certain issues and their respective policy priorities, ideological attachments, rational self-interest (which candidates policies best fit the voters private interests) Kim 2009 and Sears et al. 1979, discussants (the political preferences of people one esteems, trust etc.), and charisma (Popkin 2004, Lau and Redlawsk, 2006). However, these elements fail to explain much of the realities in newer democracies, for instance post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe such as Romania. Even in old democracies, researchers have started to focus more on political campaigning and advertising as factors that make individuals cast a vote for a particular candidate. The broad category of political campaigning includes: campaign appearances, advertising (TV spots and billboard ads), door-to-door canvassing, leaflets, phone banks, direct and electronic mail. This approach has proven to be a promising stream in voting behaviour research, as many studies conducted in the U.S. show. A somewhat similar study was conducted after the 2000 election in the U.S., by King and Morehouse (2005), their aim being to demonstrate that the Gore Mississippi River trip of August 2000 was paramount in moving voter preferences for this candidate in the states included in the itinerary of the trip this being a more productive campaign scheme than television ads and media consulting services. The natural question that emerges thus is to what extent political campaigning has an effect on voters preference for one candidate or another. The present paper aims at exploring this question by focusing on the case of the Romanian presidential election of 2009. Of all the abovementioned types of political campaigning I decided to take into account the candidates electoral visits in different towns, the main reason being the fact that this the most commonly used in Romania. Therefore, the main research question that this paper raises is: Do campaign appearances have an effect on the number of votes a particular candidate gets in elections? To answer this question I test one main hypothesis: H1: In towns where a particular candidate already enjoyed a high number of supporters, that candidates electoral visit led to an increase in the number of votes he got. Several additional hypotheses are tested, although they do not refer strictly to the core research problem the effect of making appearances on the number of votes a candidate gets in election. H2: Candidates organizing electoral visits in constituencies leads to an increase in the turnout of a particular election. H3: Candidates organizing electoral visits in constituencies lead to an increase in the added number of votes of those respective candidates. In order to test these hypotheses I use matching, a statistical method that compares groups (in this particular case, the number of votes each candidate got in the towns where they made an electoral appearance against the number of votes they got in the towns where they did not make an electoral appearance) on measurable parameters. The mentioned parameter should be as closely resembling (if not equal) as possible. Thus, the paired towns have similar (sometimes even identical) values for the confounding variables, the difference in the number of votes each candidate got being therefore attributed to the electoral visits of that said candidate. While this method has been extensively used in medical or economics researches, recently political scientists started using it on a more extensive basis, especially when it comes to observational or experimental studies. In addition to this, I conducted content analysis in order to identify the towns where the presidential candidates made appearances. I analyzed two national newspapers (chosen based on the total circulation number) and one national TV station. I crosschecked the information derived from the media against the information provided on the personal web pages of the candidates. Furthermore, I ran several OLS regressions in order to test whether the hypotheses hold. In what regards the structure, the paper is divided into four main sections as follows: the first offers an overview of the existing literature in the field of voting behaviour; the second deals with the theoretical background and the methodology employed; the third introduces the data used and presents the analysis, whereas the fourth section discusses the main findings and proposes directions for further research. The novelty that this paper brings consists in applying a relatively new approach in voting behaviour research the effects of political campaigning on voters choice for a particular candidate to a country that previous studies have tackled very little. In addition to this, matching represents an innovative method able to provide a more in-depth and meaningful insight in this particular field, still underused by social sciences researchers. LITERATURE REVIEW, METHOD AND THEORY This chapter will focus on a brief overview of the current literature in the field of voting behaviour with an emphasis on campaign events used by candidates to persuade voters to cast a vote for them, while highlighting at the same time the aspects of the theory that are of crucial importance for the present study, and propose a way to analyze them further. Literature Review Together with voting, electoral campaigns represent the main tool through which citizens in representative democracies assess the suitability of a candidate running for office. This allows that candidates, in their turn, can use the same tool in order to attract a larger and broader audience whose political views they can thus hope to shape into favouring them above all other candidates (Arceneaux, 2010). For the purpose of the present study, it is important to point out from the very beginning, that the scholarly literature on electoral campaigning and voter behaviour focuses on two main aspects of campaigning. The first deals with campaign appearances and local visits in key constituencies (Holbrook 2002, 1996, Campbell 2000, Shaw 1999, Jones 1998 cited in King and Morehouse 2005), while the second with television advertisements (Shaw 1999, Freedman and Goldstein 1999, Ansolabehere and Iyengar 1995, Finkel 1993 cited in King and Morehouse 2005). The two aspects mentioned above have been deemed as the two most important in impacting voters behaviour in terms of choosing a candidate and/or voting on Election Day. Yet it has been argued by scholars (Fowler et al. 2002 and Joslyn and Ceccoli 1996) that in order for a candidates visit or ad to have a lasting impact on the voter, the specific voter needed to have a previous lingering inclination towards that specific candidate (cited in K ing and Morehouse, 2005). As I have previously mentioned, the literature on elections and voting behaviour, focuses primarily on types of voting or factors that influence voting, i.e. economic voting, instrumental or expressive voting, self-interest voting, issue voting and so on. The focus is thus on who votes (Wolfinger and Rosenstone 1980, Sigleman, Roeder, Jewell and Baer 1985, Verba, Nie and Kim 1978) or on what makes individuals vote. More precisely, the focus is on what are the influences of how individuals vote and how a candidate can persuade voters to cast a vote in his/her favour. Relatively recent studies on campaigning and campaign management (Feddersen and Pesendorfer 1997, Dutta, Jackson, Le Breton, 2001, Thurber Nelson, 2004, King and Morehouse, 2005, Gerber and Green, 2008) illustrate that campaigns usually aim at influencing the reasons individuals have for voting in a particular way, with a strong emphasis on manipulation and appeal to emotions. Still a clear-cut connection between differe nt types of campaigning, the symbolic factor and the rationality of the voter is yet to be found especially in what concerns new democracies, such as Romania. In order to explore the issue of how Romanian leaders carried out campaigns in the last 20 years since the revolution it needs to be pointed out that their main focus was, as mentioned above, to appeal to the emotions of the individual. They achieve this through the symbolic over-flooding of messages (Sears, Hensler and Speer, 1979, Pippidi, 2004) in the printed press and the audiovisual, in the speeches they hold during TV debates and/or rallies, or in their campaign appearances in different constituencies. In the U.S. case (the 2000 U.S. elections); King and Morehouse point out that the Democrats presidential campaign made use of campaign appearances as a tactic to generate positive media coverage. Through these campaign appearances the Democrat candidate managed to energize the base, while it also generated free advertising and appealed more to the local community since is their media reporting the news. King and Morehouse go on to underline that: local newspapers and television s tations are eager to cover campaign events and they tend to approach politics with less cynicism than one finds among the national press corps[1] (King and Morehouse, 2005). Thus they emphasize that candidates should in fact choose key swing states for campaign appearances and attract the local media to generate free coverage both locally and at national level. Although both in 2004 and 2009 Romanian presidential candidates made use of electoral visits in order to gain media coverage, the Romanian media landscape is quite different from the American one. In contrast to the U.S. where local media is powerful and autonomous, the Romanian local media is mainly an extension of the national media. Most national TV stations and newspapers or radios have local versions for most of the towns or counties. Consequently, the news coverage these local media do is still in accordance to the articles printed at the national level at least in the case of high level importance elections. Referring to the pieces of news that voters use to inform themselves about candidates and campaigns, recent research showed that (Baum, 2006) soft news impact to an important degree inattentive individuals by making them change their preferences depending on the cues they get from that type of news. Following the idea presented by King and Morehouse (2005) that local media is and should be used by politicians to get their message across for free during elections to as many individuals as possible, it also follows that candidates should and must tailor their message and their campaign strategies depending on the different societal groups they aim at reaching (Baum, 2005). Since most supporters of parties build their political knowledge and political preferences based on the cues they get from different tabloids or entertainment shows yet still do this on a rational manner (Jerit, Barabas, and Bolsen, 2006) it is all the more clear why Romanian politicians use the sensational factor in their speeches and why they centre their campaign discourse more on rhetoric than ideology and concrete policies. The average voter tends to watch more soft news than hard news, as the former promote a humanized version of politics and politicians, emphasizing the personality and character of a candidate (as well as his/her shortcomings and mistakes). Thus, instead of the policies, the voter ends up identifying with the candidate and vote more based on feelings and emotions rather than ideological attachment or policy preferences. Jerit mentions that even if learning from this medium is largely passive and unintentional, individuals may obtain enough information to function as monitorial citizens (Schudson, 1998) (Jerit et al., 2006). Another relevant aspect involving the literature on campaigning and campaign appearances promoted through national and local media is presented by Zaller. His main argument, that mass communication is a powerful instrument for shaping attitudes and [that] it exercises this power on an essentially continuous basis (Zaller, 1996, p. 18) strengthens the argument made by King and Morehouse (2005) and mentioned above. By meeting with the local press and presenting their platform they insure that even those not present at the rallies or not watching the debates might still find out about what their campaign platform is. Lastly, still on the issue of media and campaign appearances, Natalie Strouds article points out that there is in fact a relationship between selective exposure and political attitudes (the example she gives is that those who watched Fahrenheit 9/11 were significantly more negative towards the Bush administration; not only that, but they also were more prone to start political discussions on the topic, as opposed to those who did not see the film). Thus, those exposed to such means of communication, tend to be more politically active and to engage in political discussions due to the attitude polarization of the extreme media messages. For the present paper, this argument can be interpreted in the light of the local visits made by candidates. Given the trail of articles following the candidates visits, the previous argument supports the statement that visits generated local and national coverage in the press for the candidates. This in turn generated debates between the supporters and even the detractors of those said candidates, ultimately leading to their being moved towards the polls on Election Day. Directly related to turnout though, Powell (1980, 1986) was the first to look at vote turnout in an analysis that span over twenty-nine democratic countries, between 1958 to 1976, in an attempt to answer why is turnout high in some countries and low in others. He found that there are certain mobilizing voting laws: compulsory voting and the fact that the governments assume responsibility for registering individuals on lists for elections, as well as strong-line party alignments (Crewe, 1981, also lists strong-line alignments) that increase turnout. Consequently, for the present study, one can take from Powells study the fact that having a party with strong-line alignments (Romania already has a system where the government assumes responsibility for registering the eligible voters on lists), that has kept a constant line in politics over time, and that enlists as a candidate a charismatic individual has more chances to move voters and persuade them to cast a favourable vote for that c andidate, given that the party has a campaign that ensures its candidate makes appearances in key constituencies. Other similar studies include those made by Jackman (1987), Blais and Carty (1990), Black (1991) or Franklin (1996), but all dealing with turnout and what influences higher or lower turnout either the electoral system, compulsory voting, degree of disproportionality of electoral outcomes, unciameralism vs. bicameralism, postal voting, Sunday voting, number of polling days. While focusing on all the abovementioned factors that influence turnout the referred studies either eliminate or loose sight of the campaign effect on the number of votes a candidate gets. This is why the present paper, following these studies, in an attempt to complete the picture presented by them, focuses on the effect of campaign visits on the number of votes candidates got in the visited constituencies. Another aspect to bear in mind is that the previously mentioned studies were focusing on old democracies, while this paper analyses the election in an East-European new democracy. Method and theory As this paper is using matching as a main methodological tool constituencies where the candidates made appearances are matched with similar constituencies where those candidates did organize electoral visits a closer look it is needed in order for the analysis to be better understood. Method Matching has been proposed as a non-parametric solution to problems of bias that emerge in observational studies (Rosenbaum and Rubin, 1983, 1985 cited in Arceneaux et al. 2006). However, scholars are split between the issue of matching having a bias or not, especially given the fact that it is nonetheless a method that allows for unobserved differences between groups to remain unnoticed. The literature on the topic, to date, focuses on the performance of matching estimators but uses experimental benchmarks, and not observational data (Dehejia and Wahba 1999; Heckman, Ichimura, and Todd 1997, 1998; Heckman, Ichimura, Smith, and Todd 1998; Smith and Todd 2003 cited in Arceneaux et al. 2006). The matching process identifies treated individuals [in this case, towns] who share the same background characteristics as untreated individuals [towns]. It is hoped that after matching on covariates, any remaining difference between groups can be attributed to the effect of the treatment (Arcenea ux et al. 2006). This is one of the reasons why this paper will look at the performance of matching estimators in explaining if campaign appearances generate increases in a candidates obtained number of votes in those constituencies visited but will use observational data instead of experiments. Another aspect to bear in mind when conducting an electoral campaign focused research is the strategic nature of campaigns, for as Arceneaux highlights, selection biases may appear in voter exposure to campaign stimuli therefore creating biased estimates of campaign effects (Arceneaux, 2010). This is why it would prove interesting to look at the campaign trail for each candidate and highlight the strategy used for getting-out-the-vote in the constituencies visited. Yet the present study will not deal with this aspect extensively since the main issue that it addresses remains the ability of campaign appearances to persuade voters to cast a favourable vote for the candidate making the appearance. In terms of time and geographical parameters, the focus here is on the Romanian presidential elections of 2009. In order to counteract the possible matching bias that the literature on the topic mentions (Arceneaux et al. 2006), a comparison between the number of votes the candidates considere d for this study got in 2009 and the number of votes their parties got in the 2008 parliamentary election is introduced as an independent variable (the comparison is made for each of the towns included in the study and their matches). For the purpose of this study it is also of great importance to shortly note the manner in which the candidates lead their campaign. Pippa Norris mentions that most candidates are vote-maximizers, following set patterns when setting their electoral agendas, and that they usually involve putting issues before voters (Pippa Norris, 2004). Therefore, a candidates electoral agenda should focus on issues that are crucial points for the constituency he is running for. For the presidency this means centring their agenda on issues that interest most of the country. Consequently, the agendas should follow the lines of thought of the majority of voters without transforming the speech into pure rhetoric, demagogy or empty promises. As the following sub-chapter will highlight this is usually not the case for Romania and for the Romanian electoral campaigns. Social networks researchers (Valdis Krebs, 2004) suggested that there are certain key facts to take into account when addressing the issue of building the electoral campaign in such a way that will mobilize voters and persuade them to vote for a particular candidate. One is getting a charismatic figure as candidate, someone that could be perceived as a role model. A second one would be using candidate appearances (or party supporters) to get the votes of the undecided this has been a technique also used by the Gore campaign of 2000 (King and Morehouse, 2005), whereas the third would be using campaign appearances to consolidate the faith and votes of a constituency that already supports that particular candidate. For the Romanian 2009 electoral campaign the latter two mentioned strategies were used using campaign appearances to either convince the undecided or consolidate the faith and votes of a constituency though with a higher emphasis on the latter. As far as the present paper is concerned, it is also important to look at the campaign agendas and stump speeches the candidates tailored for each visited constituency. It is noteworthy to point out that, contrary to what Rose and Haerpfer (1994) highlighted for Eastern European voters, voting in Romania is based on socio-tropic evaluations. In Romania, as in most Eastern European new democracies, the main problems governments are faced with are political and economical. Due to the negative views regarding the state of economy, individuals tend to vote economically. In other words, this means that they hold the president responsible for the state of the economy even if to a lesser extent than they view it as the parliaments responsibility. Having in mind the aspects mentioned above, one of the independent variables chosen for this study is the unemployment rate, at county level, this helping pinpoint the level of development of the region. The assumption for that choice was that the better developed the region was, the more people it has employed in different industry branches, the higher the income of the inhabitants is (this may also mean better education for the voters), and the better the ability to assign responsibility correctly and therefore, make more informed decisions when casting their vote.[2] Further on, I looked at previous voting patterns for those constituencies where the candidates made campaign appearances, in order to establish whether there is a recurring pattern in the voting habits of the inhabitants of the area, and if the appearances influenced it one way or another. This is needed to show whether political candidates chose some constituencies with the intention to get those voters to go to the polls and vote for them, the choice being done strategically or not. As mentioned before, this paper will not attempt to deal with the large issue of political campaigning as a whole. It will examine a particular aspect of it candidate appearances, whether it is rallies (events where candidates meet with their constituents), or meetings with the media in a certain constituency. The latter aspect of campaigning is a practice commonly used in Romanian elections, where candidates meet with the local media and thus get free advertising in the local media as well as coverage at the national level. Yet it is unclear if this aspect is at the back of the minds of the candidates when doing it. Theoretical Background for Romania In post-Revolution Romania, too often party members change their affiliation; floating from one party to another, only to adapt to the fact that their former party lost elections or simply because the party no longer meets their needs and political aspirations. Each election, the electorate is faced with incumbents or new candidates who have both tailored their political rhetoric to the current political persuasion of those who have nominated them so that they can secure elections without having a clear and strong ideology. Consequently, politicians are transformed into clients of the parties or party officials and vertical accountability in office is void of its initial meaning (Pippidi, 2004)[3]. This system has been maintained in place by a dual executive that doesnt share power but functions on a servitude basis and on the basis of repetition a bicameral legislative framework, where the two chambers are equal, elected in the same way, with almost identical functions and where both deputies and senators cannot be bound by instructions of their constituencies (Ludwikowski, 1996, pp. 129). All these have been a staple of the post-communist elections in Romania and have eroded the quality of the democratic process. As a consequence, both presidential and parliamentary elections are heavily dominated by populist discourses. In 2009, the main parties having candidates running for the presidential office were the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Democratic-Liberal Party (PD-L), and the National Liberal Party (PNL). The first one, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), is considered to be the heir of the former Communist Party following the revolution of 1989, and as such maintained itself as the largest and best institutionalized one (Curt, 2007). However, the alleged failures of the 1992-6 and 2000-4 governments placed it on the second position in the preferences of the people. For the purpose of this study, I have chosen to exclude from the analysis candidates of other parties or independent candidates that also ran for the presidential office. That is based on the assumption that their importance in the preferences of the majority of the electorate was secondary compared to the candidates of the three parties mentioned above. DATA DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS This section of the paper focuses on the collected data, more precisely the sources of the data, the method of collection, as well as how it was used further in the analysis. Data Given that before I have mentioned the tendency of the Romanian voter to base political decisions on the state of the economy and on feelings (the persuasiveness of the candidate playing a key role here), it will facilitate the understanding of the analysis to point out that voters also tend to be influenced by other factors (since they dont appear to vote by making evaluations, appraisals or weighting their decision). This is why the speeches of the candidates during their campaign appearances in the thirty towns used in the analysis were centred on aspects such as the economy and the recent economic crisis, family values, wages and the incompetence of the other candidate versus their own competence superiority. By choosing these facts to centre the speeches on, they tackled some of the key aspects that influence the Romanian electorate: the socio-economic background, their social environment, self-interest, the charisma of the candidate, and the fear of change that the elections wi ll bring changes in government that will prove to the detriment of the country. The socio-economic background is important for both the Romanian voter and the candidates since it is a well known fact that most of the Romanian middle class families tend to vote for coalitions or for democrat-liberals, as these give them the confidence that their income will stay at the same level; while the working class families, for example tend to vote for socialists or social-democrats. The social environment also is a crucial factor, since family values are still of paramount importance in Romania. Individuals therefore, tend to vote in high percentages, the same way their parents vote (Hatemi et al., have already shown that parents have a major role in determining the initial political direction of their children especially if the children still live at home which is the case for most Romanians, thus the previous inference gets higher support.) Individuals also tend to focus on only one or two key policy areas (issue publics as they tend to acquire information about candidates and elections based on their interest in particular issues) and inquire only about issues they are primarily affected by or interested in (Young Mie Kim, 2009). Therefore, candidates tailor their speeches based on the issue that is more pressing for the electorate they visit. Seeing things in this light, Feddersen and Pesendorfer (1997) argue that though individuals focus on one or two policy areas makes the electorate as a whole better informed collectively about what the alternatives and best outcomes are, for this particular case, at an individual level, the choice might still not be the best one. On the other hand, yet still highly related to the previous statement, it is not clear if self-interest is necessarily what guides the Romanian voter. On these lines, Sears et al. (1979) highlight that self-interest guides the vote choice together with rational choice and that it is defined as minimizing losses for private well-being. But for Romania in 2009, the former correlation, that self-interest in terms of voting goes hand in hand with rational choice, is not necessarily always the case. What is more important is the security of the job, maintaining lower taxes, the ability to pay-off debts or receiving credits to pay-off debts, free medical care, a welfare state on the lines of the socialist credence. Subsequently, as long as a candidate promises the electorate the fulfilment of these, and appears credible (and here the charisma of the key party leader plays a very important role) in his promises, rational choice reasoning for casting a vote is rarely used. Lastly, I would al so argue that, at least for Romania, candidates, but especially incumbents, use fear of change to influence voters and to move them to polls. Here fear of change is understood in the sense of apprehension towards everything and anything that is new, that might change the previous order, the previous system and its institutions, that might demand for different behaviour. Having all of the above in mind, and going back to the purpose of the paper, to conclude, the main issue this paper looked at was if by making campaign appearances in different constituencies, and using the abovementioned influencing factors, the candidates for presidency persuaded voters and managed to get them to cast a favourable vote; that is to say, if the campaign appearance of a candidate in a particular co