Examine the Way Shakespeare Presents the Relationship Between Romeo and Rosaline and Romeo and Juliet in the Early Parts of the Play Essay

Examine the way Shakespeare presents the relationship between Romeo and Rosaline and Romeo and Juliet in the early parts of the play. Introduction * One of the most the most tragic love stories. * Romeo portrayed as the quintessential hero * Romeo characterised as young man transformed by love (upon closer analysis) * This can be seen in Romeo’s initial interest in Rosaline, which is superficial and passive in comparison to the more complex and active relationship he develops with Juliet. * Shakespeare employs a diverse use of detailed language and literary techniques to illustrate this Paragraph 1 * Rosaline: Romeo’s obsession. Belief of genuine love but unrequited (quote) * Hyperbolic language(quote) * Use of oxymoron’s – state of mind, turmoil (quote) * Confusion stems from rejection * Love is intoxicating, not enjoying his experience – metaphor (quote) Paragraph 2 * Convinced love is madness (quote) * Love has made him lose himself (quote) * Discovers love is futile – Rosaline determined to stay chaste.(quote) * Aesthete side is revealed when describing her, focus on Rosaline’s physical beauty and attractiveness. Paragraph 3: * Military language – love is a battlefield (quote) * Language relating to death – focusing on aesthetics/ main theme of play * As if Juliet already knows fate (quote) Paragraph 4: * Light imagery – predominant feature (quote) * Despite Romeo’s great declarations of love for Rosaline, his feelings are actually fleeting, as shown by his behaviour when he spies young Juliet. (quote) He is smitten at first sight, * Contrast of light and dark (quote) Paragraph 5: * Romeo’s use of religious imagery – comparing meeting Juliet to religious experience (quote) * Convinced that one kiss will clear him of his sins (quote) * Religious imagery – sees Juliet as a deity or a descendant from heaven (quote) – more light imagery * Reference to time – (quote) implies that Juliet feels the time is longer than it is before she next sees Romeo Conclusion: * Different language used by Romeo for Rosaline and Juliet * Rosaline’s darkness opposed to Juliet’s light (quote) * Loses identity just like with Rosaline (quote) * Large amount of biblical allusions used * Explanation of fate (quote) * Romeo relationship with Juliet more important than Rosaline – instantly forgotten (quote) * Not actually in love but with the concept of love. Paragraph 1| Paragraph 2| Paragraph 3| Paragraph 4| Paragraph 5| conclusion| Out of her favour, where I am in love| It is madness, most discreet| She will not be hit with cupid arrowAssailing, siege| It is the east and Juliet is the sunTwo of the fairest stars in heaven| Saints, pilgrim, holy, prayer, shrine| Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon| O brawling love O loving hate| Tut, I have lost myself, I am not here. This is not Romeo, he’s some other where.| She is rich in beauty, only poor. That, when she dies, with beauty dies her store| Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!| Thus from my lips by thine sin is purged| I know not how to tell thee who I am| Feather of leadBright smokeCold fireSick health| she hath Dians wit, and, in strong proof of chastity well armed| My grave is like to be my wedding bed| As a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear. So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows.| Bright angel Winged messenger of heaven| Star crossed lovers take their life| Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs| | | | I will not fail; tis’ twenty years till then| Did my heart love till now?| Although, however, to begin with, despite, in addition to this, where as, contradictorily, in conclusion, paradoxically, nevertheless, to sum up. This suggests, this demonstrates/portrays, moreover, possibly, doubtless,  arguably, indisputably, unquestionably, undeniably, alternatively, conclusively, this signifies, this could represent. On the other hand, likewise, similarly, in the same way, equally, it could be argued. Consequently, as a result, therefore, thus, evidently, subsequently, ironically, hence, naturally.

Macroeconomics – institutions by Acemoglu

In Progress. Abstract: In this paper, we discuss how and why institutions— broadly, the economic and political organization of societies— affect economic incentives and outcomes. After briefly surveying a number of theories of institutional differences across countries, we focus on two questions: why societies may choose institutions that are not good for economic development, and why institutions, even bad Institutions, persist.In light of the Ideas we develop, we discuss three case studies of Institutions alluding and persistence: the united States, India and Guatemala. L. Introduction Institutions, defined broadly as the political and economic organization of societies, differ markedly across countries and over time. For example, until recently, a large number of societies were organized along socialist lines, with widespread collective ownership of the means of production and centrally planned resource allocation, while much of the rest of the world was capitalist, with predominantly private ownership and resources allocated Vela markets.For much of the 1 8th and 9th centuries, a number of societies, Including the Caribbean, much of Central and Latin America, and parts of Asia, were organized with political and economic power concentrated in the hands of a small elite, and relied on productive relationships based on slavery and forced labor. In contrast, economic and political power was more equally distributed in parts of Europe, North America and Australia, and the majority of laborers were free.Similarly, as emphasized by North and Thomas (1973), North and Whiniest (1989) and Till (1 990), there were Important differences In the organization of the European societies during the 17th century. While England and the Netherlands had developed limited governments, France and Spain had absolutist regimes.Economic theory and basic common sense suggest that differences in the organization of society should have an effect on economic outcomes: when institutions ensure that a potential investor has property rights over the proceeds from his Investments, he Is more likely to invest than when he expects the fruits of his efforts to be taken by other parties In the economy or by the government. An obvious hypothesis is then to link variations in economic performance across countries to their institutions. We refer to this point of view as the institutions hypothesis.According to one version of this hypothesis, what is crucial is whether the organization of the society ensures that a broad cross-section of the society have effective property rights, so that those with productive emphasis on â€Å"a broad cross-section of the society' is meant to capture the notion that it is not sufficient for the rights of a small elite, landowners, dictators or Politburo members, to be enforced. Citizens need to have effective property rights, and be involved in politics, at least some degree, to ensure the continuation of these repertory rights in the future.Do we see marked differences in the economic performance of societies with different institutions? The examples mentioned in the first paragraph suggest so: while West Germany prospered with a capitalist system, East Germany did much less well under socialism. While Western Europe, North America and Australia grew rapidly, the elite-dominated societies of the Caribbean, Central America and India stagnated throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. As emphasized by North and Thomas (1973), while England and the Netherlands prospered during the 17th century, Spain and France failed to do so.Also telling are cases where large changes in institutions are correlated with radically changed growth paths. Examples of this are Argentina in the sass's with the rise of populism and Person, South Korea during the early sass's with the transition from the Rhea to the Park regime, and Indonesia in 1965 with the transition between Saguaro and Short. In addition to these selective examp les, much empirical evidence suggests that institutional differences are a major source of the differences in economic performance across countries.For example, cross-country work by a number of economists and political scientists found a first-order effect of institutions on growth or the level of income (e. G. , Knack and Keeper, 1995, or Hall and Jones, 1999). More recently, in Guacamole, Johnson and Robinson (2000) we found that as much as % of the income gap between the top and bottom of the world income distribution may be due to differences in their institutions. 4 But these findings pose as many questions as they answer: 1 . If some institutions generate more income and growth, why do a large number of societies adopt institutions that are bad for economic development? . Why do institutions that are detrimental to economic performance persist rather than being overhauled at the first opportunity? Despite the importance of these questions for understanding differences in econ omic performance across countries, there is relatively little research on this topic. In this paper, we develop a number of conjectures related to these questions. Then, in light of these ideas, we discuss three case studies of institution building and persistence: the U. S. , India and Guatemala.In the process, we also provide a brief survey of a number of theories of comparative institutions. II. Institutions As emphasized in the introduction, our focus is on the set of institutions— the organization of society— that determine economic incentives. Why such institutions and social arrangements will affect economic outcomes is clear: economic actors will only undertake investments when they expect to be rewarded for their spending and effort. In a society where property rights are not well enforced, investment and output will be low.We therefore take the degree of enforcement of property rights to be a central feature of the institutions and the broad organization of a society. To of private property, which we take to correspond to a set of institutions ensuring that a broad cross-section of society have effective property rights. 2. Extractive institutions, which place political power in the hands of a small elite. With extractive institutions, the majority of the population does not have effective property rights, since the political power of the elite means that they can hold up the citizens after they undertake their investments.We expect institutions of private property to encourage investment and development, while extractive institutions are less likely to dead to high investment and successful economic outcomes. Notice that there is more to institutions than the legal code or the formal definition of property rights at a point in time; in particular, political institutions matter. This is for the simple reason that in a society where there are few constraints on political elites, these agents can change the legal code or manipulate the ex isting property rights to their advantage. Therefore, effective constraints on political elites are an essential ingredient of institutions of private property. In reality, there are many intermediate cases teens the extremes of institutions of private property and extractive institutions, and a complex interaction between the exact form of the political and economic institutions and whether they provide effective property rights protection to citizens. There is also a deep and difficult question of how the state commits to providing property rights to the citizens (see Whiniest, 1997, for a discussion of this problem).To limit the discussion, we do not focus on these issues. So what determines whether a society ends up with institutions of private property or extractive institutions? Let us distinguish four broad theories, which we call: 1. The efficient institutions view. 2. The incidental institutions view. 3. The rent-seeking view. 4. The inappropriate institutions view. We now discuss what we mean by these different views, and examine some selective examples of institutional theories falling within each category. . The Efficient Institutions View According to this view, societies will choose the institutions that maximize their total surplus. How this surplus will be distributed among different groups or agents does not affect the choice of institutions. The underlying reasoning of this view comes from the Cease Theorem. Ronald Cease (1960) argued that when different economic parties could negotiate costless, they will be able to bargain to internalize potential externalities.The farmer, who suffers from the pollution created by the nearby factory, can pay the factory owner to reduce pollution. The same reasoning can be applied to political situations. If the current laws or institutions benefit a certain group while creating a disproportionate cost for another, these two groups can negotiate to change the institutions. By doing so they will increase the size of the total surplus (â€Å"the pie† that they have to divide between themselves), and they can hen bargain over the distribution of this additional surplus.Many different versions of the efficient institutions view have been proposed. Demesne (1967) argued that private property emerged from common property when land become sufficiently scarce and valuable that it was efficient to privative it. Other famous examples are Case's (1936) earlier work and the more formal analysis by Grossman and Hart (1986), is more concerned with the governance of firms or markets than the political organization of societies, but his reasoning was guided by the same principle.North ND Thomas applied this reasoning to the nature of feudal institutions arguing that they were an efficient contract between serfs and Lords. While Williamson and North and Thomas do not specify how different parties will reach agreement to achieve efficient institutions, Becker (1960) and Whitman (1989) have invest igated how democracies can reach such agreements via competition among pressure groups and political parties.In their view, an inefficient institution cannot be stable because a political entrepreneur has an incentive to propose a better institution and with the extra surplus generated will be able to make him more attractive to voters. We believe that, despite correctly emphasizing certain forces that are likely to be at work, the efficient institutions view does not provide the right framework for an analysis of the differences in institutions across countries. Both historical and econometric evidence suggests that the economic costs to societies of extractive institutions have been substantial.For example, our estimates in Guacamole, Johnson and Robinson (2000) suggest that changing Insignia's or Sierra Lens's institutions to those of Chile loud lead, in the long run, to a more than 7-fold increase in these countries' income. It is difficult to argue that these institutions are t herefore efficient for Nigeria, Sierra Leone or many other less-developed countries in Africa or Latin America. In the rest of the paper, we therefore focus on theories of institutions where societies may end up with institutions that are not optimal for aggregate growth or income. 2.The Incidental Institutions View The efficient institutions view is explicitly based on economic reasoning: the costs and benefits of different institutions are weighed against each other to determine which institutions should prevail. Efficiency arises because individuals calculate according to the social costs and benefits. Institutions are therefore choices. A different approach, popular among many political scientists and sociologists, is to downplay choices over institutions, but think of institutions as the byproduct of other social interactions. Here, we discuss three such theories.The first is the theory developed by Barrington Moore (1966) in his Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, th e second is Till's (1990) and Herb's (2001) theory of state formation, hill the third is Burner's (1976) theory of the emergence of capitalism in England. Barrington Moore constructed his famous theory in an attempt to explain the different paths of political development in Britain, Germany and Russia. In particular, he investigated why Britain had evolved into a democracy, while Germany succumbed to fascism and Russia had a communist revolution.Moore stressed the extent of centralization of agriculture and resulting labor relations in the countryside, the strength of the ‘bourgeoisie,' and the nature of class coalitions. In his theory, democracy emerged when there was a strong, politically assertive, immemorial middle class, and when agriculture had commercialese so that there were no feudal labor relations in the countryside. Fascism arose when the middle classes were weak and entered into a political coalition with landowners.Finally, a agriculture was not commercialese and rural labor was repressed through feudal relationships. In Moor's theory, therefore, class coalitions and the way agriculture is organized determine which political institutions will emerge. Although Moore is not explicitly concerned with economic development, it is a direct implication of his analysis that societies may end up with institutions that do not maximize income or growth, for example, when they take the communist revolution path.While this theory is highly suggestive and clearly captures some of the potentially significant comparative facts there are clear problems with it. For instance, though Moor's remark â€Å"no bourgeoisie, no democracy' is famous, it is not clear from his analysis whether this is Just an empirical correlation or a causal theory. More generally, Moore does not clarify the connection between the formation of class coalitions and political outcomes. It is also not clear whether this theory is empirically successful.There are many examples of societ ies with relatively strong capitalist classes in Latin America, such as Argentina and Chile, which did not make the transition to a consolidated democracy until recently. In fact, in these societies capitalist classes appear to have supported the coups against democracy, suggesting that the role of the poor segments of the society (the working class) in inducing demagnification could be more important than that of the bourgeoisie (see Archduchesses, Stephens and Stephens, 1992, Guacamole and Robinson, Bibb).In a very different vein, Till (1990), building on the Hibernia tradition, proposed a theory of the formation of modern states. He argued extensively that modern state institutions such as fiscal systems, bureaucracy and parliaments are closely related to the need to raise resources to fight wars and thus arose in places with incessant inter-state competition. Herbs (2001) has recently provided a substantive extension of this line of research by applying it to the evolution of st ate institutions in Africa.He argues that the poor functioning of many modern African states is due to the fact that they caked the features–high population density and inter-state warfare— necessary for the emergence of the modern state. Although interesting and sweeping, this theory does not seem to accord well with a number of major facts. In Guacamole, Johnson and Robinson (2001 a), we documented that among the former colonies, it was the less densely settled places that became richer.In fact, North America, Australia and New Zealand were very sparsely settled in 1 500, especially when compared to West Africa around the same time. Despite this, they developed effective states and institutions of private property. This suggests that the issues stressed by Till and Herbs are not the major determinants of institutions, at least, in the context of the development of institutions among the former European colonies, including Africa. Burner's (1976) theory of the rise of capitalism in Europe can also be thought as an example of the incidental institutions view.Although Brenner subscribes to the Marxist view of feudalism as an extractive institution (see next subsection), he interprets the rise of capitalism as the byproduct of the collapse of existing social institutions after the Black Death. Brenner argues that the decline of feudalism resulted from the successful class struggle by the relatively powerful British peasantry. Brenner, however, believes that the peasantry's aim was not to build capitalism; capitalism just emerged like an incidental phoenix from the ashes of feudalism.Because, economic growth required this set of (extractive) institutions to be replaced by capitalist institutions. Therefore, Burner's work also gives us an incidental- institutions theory for why some societies grow faster. None of these theories provide a framework that is at the same time consistent tit the first-order facts of comparative development and useful for generating predictions. Therefore, it is difficult to apply these theories to understand why some countries develop extractive institutions.Moreover, being trained as economists, we find it to be a shortcoming of this group of theories that institutions and political outcomes arise as byproducts, not as the direct consequences of actions taken by rational agents. The fact that the key outcomes are byproducts of other interactions, not choices, leads to the additional problem that these theories often do not generate tight empirical predictions (I. E. Comparative static). But an analysis of comparative development, above all else, requires comparative static results regarding when institutions of private property will emerge.In the remainder of the paper, we therefore focus on the rent-seeking and inappropriate institutions views to build a simple framework for comparative development. 3. The Rent-seeking View According to this view, institutions are not always chosen by the whole so ciety (and not for the benefit of the whole society), but by the groups that control political power at the time (perhaps as a result of conflict with other groups demanding more rights). These groups will choose the institutions that maximize their own rents, and the institutions that result may not coincide with those that maximize total surplus.For example, institutions that enforce property rights by restricting state predation will not be in the interest of a ruler who wants to appropriate assets in the future. By establishing property rights, this ruler would be reducing his own future rents, so may well prefer extractive institutions to institutions of private property. Therefore, equilibrium institutions will not be those that maximize the size of the overall pie, but the slice of the pie taken by the powerful groups. Why doesn't a Cease theorem type reasoning apply?Although a large literature, especially in industrial organization, has emphasized how informational problems may limit the empirical applications of the Cease theorem, we believe that the main reason for the non-applicability of the Cease theorem in politics is commitment problems (see Guacamole, 2001, for a more detailed discussion of this issue). If a ruler has political power concentrated in his hands, he cannot commit not to expropriate assets or revenues in the future. Effective property rights require that he credibly relinquishes political power to some extent.But according to the Occasion bargain, he has to be compensated for what he could have received using this power. Herein lies the problem. When he relinquishes his power, then he has no guarantees that he will receive the promised payments in the future. Therefore, by their very nature, institutions that regulate political and social power create commitment problems, and prevent Occasion bargains that are necessary to reach efficient outcomes. As an application, consider the decision of a powerful rich elite to mount a coup in a populist redistributive regime, such as that of Salvador Allendale in Chile in 1973.By undertaking a coup, the rich will ensure that economically. Why wouldn't the elite enter into a Occasion bargain with Allendale who would wish to place future restrictions on taxes so as to remove the threat of the coup? The problem, as pointed out and analyzed in Guacamole and Robinson (2001 a), is that the democracy cannot promise not to increase taxes again once the threat of the coup disappears. By its very nature, taxes are set by the politically powerful agents, determined by the institutions at that time.Promises made at the past may be worthless when they are not backed by political power. The first systematic development of this point of view is the economics literature is North (1981), who argued in the chapter on â€Å"A Neoclassical Theory of the State† that agents who controlled the state should be modeled as self-interested. He then argued that the set of property rights wh ich they would choose for society would be those that maximized their payoff and because of transactions costs' these would not necessarily be the set which maximized social welfare.Though his analysis does not clarify what he meant by transactions costs, problems of commitment might be one mispronunciation for this. The notion that elites may opt for extractive institutions to increase their incomes is of course also present in much of the Marxist and dependency theory literature. For example, Dobb (1948), Brenner (1976) and Hilton (1981) saw feudalism, contrary to North and Thomas (1976)g's model, as a set of institutions designed to extract rents from the peasants at the expense of social welfare.Dependency theorists such as Wholesalers (1974-1982), Rodney (1972), Frank (1978) and Cards and Falsetto (1979) argued that the international trading system was designed to extract rents from developing countries to the benefit of developed Mounties. Perhaps, the earliest, and often igno red, contribution to this line of reasoning is in the book by Beard (1913). Anticipating many of the insights of rational choice political science literature, Beard argued that the U. S.Constitution was an institution designed to benefit those who wrote it (such as James Madison) at the expense of the rest of society. Another important example of inefficient institutions designed to extract rents from the society is the Spanish colonial system (Stein and Stein, 1970, Coauthors, 1978, Lockhart and Schwartz, 1983). Finally, the notion that leaver is an inefficient institution designed to extract rents from slaves is also widespread (for example, Williams, 1944, Geneses, 1963, Beckoned, 1972).More recent, and for our purposes more relevant, contributions in this tradition have sought to explain comparative development. For example, in the context of Africa, Bates (1981) formulated an influential and important theory based on rent-seeking by elites. Bates argued that when elites were no t invested in the productive sectors of the economy, mostly agriculture in the context of Africa, and had to rely on urban interests to remain in power, they were likely to distort prices, for example by using marketing boards to transfer resources from the rural areas to the cities.The implications of this for political stability and economic growth were disastrous. Anger and Soulful (1997, 2000) have used related ideas to analyze long-term development in the Americas. They argued that the different paths of development observed in North and Latin America in the last 300 years were due to institutional differences. In North America institutions promoted development, in Latin America they did not. Why did Latin America develop a set of institutions that impeded Caribbean, the factor endowments were suitable for growing crops such as sugarcane.Such crops had large technical scale economies and could be cultivated by slaves, factors that led to large concentrations of landownership an d repressive institutions designed to control labor. Therefore, despite their costs for economic development, extractive institutions were adopted by elites who benefited from the system. On the other hand, in North America, factor endowments were suitable for growing crops with limited scale economies such as wheat, and this led to an egalitarian distribution of land, income and political power.Their theory therefore emphasizes the impact of factor endowments and technology on inequality and institutions building, and ultimately economic development. In Guacamole, Johnson and Robinson (2000, 2001 a), we developed a complementary theory, emphasizing how European colonialists set up institutions of private property in areas where they settled in large numbers, since these institutions were directly affecting their own investments and well-being. This led us to emphasize how European settlements ere often conducive to the development of institutions of private property in the colonies .In contrast, European colonists introduced or took over existing extractive institutions in other colonies. They were more likely to do so when they did not settle, for example due to an adverse disease environment, and when extractive institutions were more profitable, for example, as in Central America where the densely settled large population could be forced to work for low wages in plantations or mines. These extractive institutions did not benefit the society as a whole, but they were inefficacy for the Europeans, who held the political power and were the extractors.We believe that the rent-seeking view provides the best framework for thinking about why certain countries ended up with extractive institutions, and provides a number of useful comparative static, which will be discussed in Section Ill. 4. The Inappropriate Institutions View According to this view, institutions may be efficient when they are introduced, but they are also costly to change (see below on this). Ther efore, institutions that are efficient for a set of circumstances may no longer be efficient once the environment hinges. Nevertheless, it may be difficult or too costly to change these institutions at this point.The idea here goes back to Crosschecking (1963). In the context of financial institutions, Crosschecking argued that certain arrangements, such as bank finance, might be more appropriate for backward countries trying to catch up. This is widely thought to be a good explanation for why banks are more prevalent in Germany, even today when Germany is no longer a backward country. So perhaps, social arrangements that were introduced at some point as an optimal response to the resistances may continue to prevail, even after they cease to be the optimal response.In the context of financial institutions, this point is developed in Guacamole, Action and Kilobit (2001). Another economic example is the QWERTY typewriter keyboard. David (1986) argued that this was appropriate at the t ime because it slowed down the speed of typing, when the rudimentary nature of typewriters meant that rapid typing would make them Jam. However, despite the fact that the QWERTY arrangement was inefficient once the basic technology improved soon after, it has similar thesis.Perhaps, extractive institutions were appropriate for certain resistances, but they continue to apply even after they cease to be the efficient institutional arrangement. Related ideas have been suggested in the literature. For example, Wittingly (1957) argued that centralized despotism, which may not have been very costly in terms of economic outcomes in China before the 1 5th century and arose as the result of providing desirable public goods such as irrigation, persisted almost to the present, creating a substantial economic and social burden.Given how long institutions persist (see Section ‘V) the view that institutions of a different age ay continue to apply even when they become costly to economic suc cess is highly plausible. Nevertheless, in the context of comparative development, it appears more useful to combine the inappropriate institutions view with the rent-seeking view, explicitly allowing for political elites to introduce inefficient institutions. In fact, in Guacamole, Johnson and Robinson (2001 a), we suggested a hypothesis combining the rent-seeking and inappropriate institutions views, and provided evidence in favor of this hypothesis.We argued and empirically demonstrated that extractive institutions, tit power concentrated in the hand of a small elite, were much less costly during the age of agriculture than during the age of industry. When agriculture is the main source of income, and the political elite owns the land, this elite will have, to a first approximation, adequate incentives to increase the productivity of the land. In contrast, in the age of industry, many different agents, not previously part of the ruling elite, need to undertake investments and be involved in productive activities.Without effective property rights, these agents are unlikely to invest, so extractive institutions become much more costly once industrialization opportunities arrive on the scene. This explains why the sugar colonies of Barbados, Haiti and Jamaica were amongst the richest places in the world in 1700 but rapidly fell behind when industrial technologies became available. Overall, we therefore conclude that to understand the significant differences in how countries are organized, we need to move away from the pure efficiency view.Moreover, existing series of institutional differences based on the incidental institutions view cannot provide a satisfactory tarring point, and make less sharp empirical predictions, since institutions are simply byproducts of other social actions. Instead, we believe that conflict over the distribution of rents matters, and the rent seeking view provides the best starting place for an analysis of institutional differences across countries.In addition, there may be an important element of the inappropriate institutions view, so that institutions that were introduced at a certain point in time may become less appropriate and more â€Å"harmful† in the future, but may still remain in place. Ill. Institutional Origins The rent-seeking and inappropriate institutions views do not immediately generate a theory of comparative institutions. They simply point out that inefficient institutions may be chosen by political elites, and the institutions in place may become more costly for growth over time.As discussed above, by the institutions hypothesis, we mean that differences in the development experiences of countries can be explained by differences in their institutions. To make this hypothesis operational, we need to choose institutions of private property. In other words, we need to develop comparative static on institution building. This is not an easy task. In fact, some of the pioneering theories of institutions, such as North (1981), give us few clues about when we should expect extractive institutions to prevail.Here, we highlight a few potential determinants of what type of institutions politically powerful groups will choose: 1. Economic Interests: A first determinant of whether institutions of private property will emerge is whether they will lead to outcomes that are in interests of the politically powerful agents. For example, institutions that restrict state predation will not be in the interest of a ruler ho wants to appropriate assets in the future.Yet this strategy may be in the interest of a ruler who recognizes that only such guarantees will encourage citizens to undertake substantial investments or lend him money, or will protect his own rents. They will also be in the interest of the major groups that can undertake investment in production activities in the future. Anger and Solidify explanation for why extractive institutions emerged in the Caribbean but not in North America falls within this category. In the Caribbean, the factor endowments made extractive institutions more profitable for the elite.In particular, sugar production, which could exploit economies of scale and profitably employ slave labor, was conducive to a society where a small elite would control both political and economic power. Our argument in Guacamole, Johnson and Robinson (2000) for why European settlement in the colonies led to institutions of private property is also based on the same reasoning. When a large number of Europeans settled in an area, they preferred institutions enforcing property rights, since these property rights would enable them to undertake investments.Our argument in Guacamole Johnson and Robinson (2001 a) is also related. There, we suggested that high population density and relative prosperity (I. E. , GAP per capita) of the colonized territory encouraged European colonialists to set up extractive institutions. The reasoning is that high po pulation density implied a large labor force that Europeans could force to work for low wages, and both high population density and the relative prosperity of the population provided Europeans with a greater resource base for extraction or taxation. Economic interests† therefore suggest that we should expect extractive institutions to develop when the powerful agents have little to gain from enforcing property sights because they have few investment opportunities themselves and are not linked to other productive agents in the society, and when there are resources, such as crops or abundant labor, that can be effectively exploited by extractive 2.Political Losers: Another important factor is whether institutional development will destabilize the system, making it less likely that elites will remain in power after reforms. An institutional setup encouraging investment and adoption of new technologies may be blocked by elites when they fear that this process of growth and social change will

Investment and saving decisions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Investment and saving decisions - Essay Example Investment definition from a financial point of view stipulates that it is any monetary asset purchased hoping that the asset shall yield returns with profit in the future. There is a hope of selling the asset in an appreciated price or higher price than it was purchased (Park 56). Good examples of investment in the economic view are building of a factory that will be used to produce goods and or going to college or university. In a financial point of view investment comes in the sense of bond purchases, stocks and real estate property (Hayes and Garvin 71). Investment is always confused with speculation, but the two words have clear cut differences. Investment is usually done with the aim of again or the aim of wealth creation. Speculation is often a flat transaction. Wealth does not form any part of the transaction. Even so, speculators are known to make informed decisions about their actions. The above factor denies speculation the privilege of being termed as traditional investing (Hayes and Garvin 71-72). Saving may bear different meaning to different people and at different forums. Some people believe that saving is putting money in the bank. There are those that believe that saving is buying stocks and bonds or contributing to a pension scheme. In the economic point of view, saving means a system of less consumption of recourses with an aim of future consumption. Therefore, saving is deferring consumption with an aim of storing and saving the deferred consumption for a future use (Hayes and Garvin 76-79). Saving and investment are vital for the growth and development of a person’s financial stability. The two words are often confused to mean the same thing. Even so, the two words are related in a way or may make complete sense if they are used together (Hayes and Abernathy 66-67). A person may decide to save through investment. For instance,

Scott v. Sanford Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Scott v. Sanford - Case Study Example Upon his owners return to Missouri, Dred was then sold to Sanford who became the defendant in this case. The basis for the suit was that according to Abolishonist lawyers, Dred and his wife had lived on free ground for a period of time, with his daughter even born in the free states and therefore, could no longer considered a slave and was in effect, a free man. The main issue of this case was that Dred was asking the courts to decide as to whether he was no longer a slave and instead was not a citizen of the land and as such, should be accorded the same rights as a free man under the U.S. Constitution (Dred Scott v. Sanford, n.d.). Dred sued for his freedom in 1853 in the federal court of New York under the Diversity jurisdiction provided in article 3. section 2 of the U.S. constitution. Judge Robert William Wells who heard this case directed his jury to base the merits of the case on the Missouri law. As per the facts of evidence, Dred lost. All because he failed to present a witne ss who could attest to the fact that he was indeed a slave for Sanford. As expected, a case of this magnitude at the time found its way to the U.S. Supreme Court where it was heard and decided upon by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney who was known as former slave owner in Maryland. It was his decision on this case that made Dred v. Sandford a highly precedential case since Judge Taneys decision effectively invalidated the Missouri Compromise (The Dredd Scott Decision, 1996). In his courts decision, seven out of 9 judges declared that â€Å"no slave or descendant of a slave should be considered a citizen of America.† (The Dredd Scott Decision, 1996). As such, Dred had no right to sue an American citizen, nor sue for his freedom in the federal courts. He was in effect, still a slave. Taney declared that the U.S. Constitution explains that no man should be deprived of his property and as such Dred,

Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Law - Essay Example Administrative justification is based on the idea that protection of public interest should outweigh personal concerns of privacy (Wray 4). The supreme has allowed four types of searches. The first search is referred to as general home inspections. General home inspections involve code inspections and welfare inspections. Code inspections must be done through particular arrest warrants. However, welfare inspections are not required to seek for warrants (Wray 4). The second search involves inspections of regulated businesses. The search warrant on these businesses is allowed if the government has an interest in the activity at stake. Searches conducted without warrants help the government to protect public interests. Consequently, inspection protocol ensures that the government has substitute for warrant that is accepted under the constitution. The third inspection involves fire inspections. This inspection is related to arson investigations. In addition, arson investigation are allow ed without a warrant, but must be related to the fire. Finally, the government, with or without a warrant, can allow and search international mail. In Colorado v. Bertine case, 479 U.S. 367 (1987) case, the Colorado police arrested a suspect for driving under the influence of alcohol. The police arrested the suspect, however, before the car could be impounded; other police officers engaged in inventory checks. They opened the car’s contents and found various drugs being peddled in the van. Before trial, the suspect was granted an opportunity to suppress the evidence obtained in the van. The court ruled that the inventory search conducted in the van did not violate the suspect’s rights. The decision of the court was made according to Fourth Amendment of the federal constitution (Findlaw.com par 1). Inventory searches are classified into two varieties. The first variety is known as vehicle inventories while the second variety is known as person inventories. Vehicle inven tories must be done according to a lawful impoundment. Vehicle inventories are conducted, by the police, to protect the owner’s property, protect the police against stolen property claims and to protect society from dangerous items contained in the vehicle. In addition, vehicle inventories should not be based on the pretext that can show investigative police motive behind the impounding of the vehicle. Person inventories happen after an arrest (Wray 7). Conclusion Person inventories are carried out as part of a search incident to arrest, with some possible follow-up and documentation at the booking stage. Person inventories should not be used as pretext which can show investigative police motive in conducting the search. However, person inventories can be followed by a lawful arrest. Vehicle inventories carried out at nations’ checkpoints are aimed at identifying individuals in the vehicle. 2. What is an arrest? Introduction An arrest refers to inability to have legal freedom in moving around freely. The law enforcement police ensures that an individual doe not escape from law obligations. However, for an individual to be under arrest, the police officer or prison personnel must s how the reason why they want to arrest the person. After explaining the reasons leading to arrest; the police officer is expected to take the person under arrest into custody. Arrests are often made to prevent certain crimes from escalating. In particular, criminals should be arrested to avoid causing more

Development of photography Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Development of photography - Assignment Example Humprey Davis, a chemist by profession, met Hedgwood, and wrote about Wedgwood’s work on photography and making paintings using light. William Herschel was a German astronomer of the eighteenth century. Just like Galileo his contribution to photography is mostly concerned with studying planets and stars through the use of a telescope. Sir John Herschel was the first to use hyposulphite of soda for his photography. He made his technique famous through publishing it in papers. This was after the Daguerreotype technique. Amphitype was a paper process suggested by Sir John Herschel (Tissandeir & Thomson 78). Nicà ©phore Nià ©pce was born in Chalons-sur-Saone during in 1765 (Tissandeir & Thomson 26). He was fascinated by the works of Daguerre and contributed almost ten years of his life fixing the problems with the camera obscura. Talbot, born in 1800, was an English photographer, the inventor of calotype process. He is also regarded for contributing to photography as an artistic medium. He worked to fix the problems with the camera but his aim was to fix it on paper (Tissandeir & Thomson 75). Charles Wheatstone was the Fellow of the Royal Society and an inventor. He is famous for his Wheatstone bridge, and instrument that measures the resistance of an object. He is also famous for his photometer, a device for comparing two lights for their intensity. One of the first stereoscopes offered to public was by Wheatstone (Tissandeir & Thomson 288). He validated Sir David Brewster’s opinion that by the end of nineteenth century, science will have a device capable of singing and talking. Hannah, Jim. "B&W Film Photography, Part IV: Contact Printing."  Photography Forum Digital Photography Forum RSS. N.p., 2006. Web. 27 June 2013.

Disscusion 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Disscusion 1 - Essay Example This negativity is what leads to cohabitation effect (which is an association between cohabitation and poor marital outcome) and what discourages some people (such as the staunch Christians, the aged or those who have had previous experience) from cohabiting. Commitment theory is used to explain and make people understand how cohabitation leads to divorce or even distress. The theory is divided into two commitments: the dedication and constraint commitments. Dedication commitment explains how couples who stay together have dreams and plans about their long term future and is also characterized by putting the needs of the other partner first. In cases of cohabitation, dedication is minimal and hence partners end up leaving each other. The constraint commitment on the other hand explains how there are forces in a relationship that facilitate people leaving or having unhappy relationships including values, children’s welfare and even social pressure. Premarital and marital counseling according to Hawkins (1991) insists on ensuring strong healthy relationship that is based on a long term commitment to a partner. It is the lack of this long term commitment (brought about by cohabiting which is not a long term commitment) that leads to break up of couples relationship and an increase in divorce cases. Premarital counseling advocates for communication when couples are in a relationship. This communication leads to deeper intimacy, love, understanding and having tolerance to each other and to the relationship issues in general. People in a cohabitation type of relationship do not feel committed and hence do not bother with issues of thinking and planning about the future let alone dedicate themselves to open communication. This sets up a bad example to others cohabiting or wanting to cohabit and hence the negative attitude towards this form of relationship. The negative

Addiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Addiction - Essay Example Addiction is as a result of many addictive things in the life of a person. For instance, peer pressure is a major contributor to dependency. An individual can abuse a drug or alcohol because one is forced to do so by the group of friends. There are different forms of addiction, and each of addiction poses its series of risks. While alcohol and drug use often begin as voluntary behaviors, addiction prompts chemical alterations in the brain of an individual. It affects memory, behavior, as well as perception of pleasure and pain (Hollander, 2012). If not controlled in time, addiction can have a lot of adverse impacts on the life of an individual. It is, for this reason, individual’s responsibility as well as of the government to control addiction at all cost. It is, for this reason, individual’s responsibility to ensure that one avoids peer influence at whatever cost. Technology is also another factor that can contribute to addiction, and can also be another form of dependency. Once an individual keeps on looking the deeds of other people in other countries will in one way or another distort the mind of a person. Being on the internet every time is also another addiction. However, once a person is affecte d, there will be greater consequences that will significantly affect once lifestyle. Combination of compulsive cravings with prolonged substance abuse can prompt physical consequences in the entire body of an individual (Haugen & Musser, 2013). In addition, the effects of drug addiction can include stress on the organs, respiratory system and venous that can cause a series of physical health issues. Furthermore, medical concerns like depression and anxiety can severely interrupt social and professional life, contributing to mood swings, chronic fatigue and low interest in previous hobbies and significant life events. Apart from the above medical concerns, chronic use of certain substances can result in long-term neurological

Econimic impacts on Emirates Airline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Econimic impacts on Emirates Airline - Essay Example Operating in 55 countries and to 77 destinations, Emirates airlines is one of the major airliners in the world at present. It has started its operations from Dubai in 1985 and currently serving in almost every major destinations of the world. It has won the best airliner award many times because of the excellent services it offers to the customers. But still it is facing stiff challenges at present due to the recession. This paper briefly analyses the economic environment of airline industry in general and emirates airlines in particular. Financial experts believe that Emirates airlines future could be determined by Dubais sister emirate, Abu Dhabi government (Milmo et al). Currently Dubai is undergoing a severe financial crisis and the reports from Dubai shows that one of the biggest organizations in Dubai, â€Å"Dubai world† is on the verge of destruction because of financial crisis. Dubai government is waiting for Abu Dhabi’s help in sort out the economic problems. â€Å"Emirates is owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, which is in turn controlled by the Dubai government† (Milmo et al). The current financial crisis of the Dubai government may force the government to think in terms of a merger between Emirates and the Abu Dhabi counterpart Al-Itihad. The increased focus on diversification by neglecting other areas of business has created a strategic failure in the Emirates’ airline business. Emirates blindly went after acquisition strategies to extend the wings by overlooking other areas like the service sector. Stakeholders and their interests were overlooked by the company when they concentrated more on other aspects of the operations. The customer service standards have been adversely affected and the reputation of the airline has been affected badly in the last few years. The bargaining power of the sellers is low at present especially because of the current global recession. At the same time increased

An Australian Luxury Fashion Accessories Company Essay

An Australian Luxury Fashion Accessories Company - Essay Example The paper "An Australian Luxury Fashion Accessories Company" talks about Australian Fashion Accessories Company. The report starts by outlining the historical background of the company which will be followed by an analysis of the company’s micro and macro environments in a bit to establish the degree to which these have an impact on the operations of the organisation. The main body of the report will focus on a critical analysis of the marketing strategy used particularly the current marketing mix in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy. The last part of the report will look at the recommendations section where suggestions are given in order to improve the marketing offering of the chosen product or brand. â€Å"OrotonGroup Limited is a retailer, wholesaler and brand manager operating in Australia and the principal activities of the Company include retailing and wholesaling of leather goods, fashion apparel and related accessories under the OROTON and POLO RAL PH LAUREN labels, and licensing of the OROTON brand name.† Details about the historical background of the company can be viewed from its official website. This organisation is wholly owned subsidiary that includes OrotonGroup (Australia) Pty Limited, Polo Ralph Lauren Australia Pty Limited, OrotonGroup (New Zealand) Pty Limited, Macbray Pty Ltd, Marcs Wholesale Pty Ltd and Oroton Share Plan Company Pty Limited. The company operates approximately 60 retail stores and is listed on the Australian stock exchange. Critical analysis of Oroton’s Micro Environment According to Kotler & Armstrong (2004), the micro environment is comprised of actors close to the company such as suppliers, marketing intermediaries as well competitors while the macro environment consists of demographic, economic, technological as well as cultural factors. The first section of this analysis of the microenvironment is mainly going to look at the company’s competitive environment, its financial s as well as the structure of the business. According to Ibisworld (2010), the major competitors in the luxury brands industry include Luis Vuitton Australia Pty Ltd and Proud Jewellers Pty Ltd. Competition in the market is always a threat to the other actors operating in the industry given that they will be competing for market share. Oroton does not operate in a vacuum since it can be seen that the luxury brands industry is a bit different from other conventional industries. The company’s financials show an upward trend since 2007 according to Au Stocks (2011). This can be attributed to the management strategy that was adopted after the company had witnessed a decline in the revenue generated owing to decline in business. This is a major strength for the company. The company embarked on a drive to cut costs through laying some of the workers while at the same time offering affordable luxury brands. Another important factor about Oroton’s micro environment is that its structure is a typical brick and mortar model. This model mainly relies on linking the organisation directly to the customers through personal interaction but it can be noted that the organisation has also adopted e-commerce in its marketing strategy. However, a critical analysis of the factors characterising the micro economic environment of this organisation shows that the company is better positioned to operate viably in the market given that these factors do not pose serious challenges to it. The other advantage of this

Terrorism and Technology Essay Example for Free

Terrorism and Technology Essay India and the United States, the world’s two largest democracies, are both vulnerable to terrorist attacks. As an Indian participant in the workshop said, â€Å"The most vulnerable states are those with open societies that tolerate dissent.† So far, India and the United States have faced rather different forms of terror attacks. Notwithstanding the terrorist threat, modern industrial societies have some offsetting advantages. Their global intelligence services and military presence, especially when they cooperate with one another, may keep the terror networks off balance, and may be able to damage some of them and interfere with their communications and money flows. Military action, or the threat of it, may discourage rogue states from supporting the terrorists. Nevertheless, highly efficient economies also acquire vulnerabilities and reduced resilience from the private sector’s reluctance to sacrifice efficiency to reduce catastrophic risks whose likelihood is difficult to estimated One area in which both India and the United States enjoy impressive capability is research and innovation. Through the application of available or new technologies, states can make targets less vulnerable, thus less attractive. They can limit the damage that may result from an attack, increase the speed of recovery, and provide forensic tools to identify the perpetrators. However, terrorist networks are led by well-educated and well-financed people who may also enjoy advanced technical skills. If supported by a government whose military establishment has developed weapons of mass destruction, these skills may be greatly amplified. Any technical strategy for responding to the threat of catastrophic terrorism must address this fact. †¢fissile nuclear materials, tactical nuclear weapons, and radiological materials †¢pathological organisms (human, plant, and animal) †¢military-type toxic chemical weapons †¢inflammable, toxic, and explosive chemicals and materials in industrial use †¢cyberattacks and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks on electronic targets (telecoms, data, or command and control centers) †¢transportation systems used as delivery systems for weapons †¢explosives, either conventional or derived from fuel oil and nitrogen fertilizer (ammonium nitrate), for example Benefits- †¢revitalization of the public health service for serving the normal health needs of communities †¢technical capability to respond even faster and more effectively to natural biological threats such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), West Nile virus, and monkey pox virus †¢reduction in the number of illnesses caused by infection or poisoning of the food supply †¢more reliable electric power and other services, especially in the face of hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes †¢further improvements in the safety standards of the chemical industry †¢reduced incidence of cyber attacks by hackers and financial systems made more secure against theft and malicious damage †¢more efficient and timely tracking of goods in transit and billing for their content †¢reduced risk to fire, police, and emergency health professionals MITIGATION: THE ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Nuclear and Radiological Threats If terrorists with a minimal level of scientific knowledge can acquire enough highly enriched uranium (HEU), they may be able to assemble an inefficient but effective nuclear weapon for detonation in a major city. The countries are now cooperating in safeguarding fissile material and blending down stocks of HEU, but progress is far too slow. Even more dangerous is the possible availability to terrorists of finished nuclear weapons either stolen and sold from nuclear states or provided by rogue states capable of making them. The public must be educated on the nature of radiological threats, both from Radiation Dispersal Devices (dirty bombs) and from damaged nuclear electric power plants and radioactive waste storage. Public ignorance about radiation hazards may induce a level of panic much more destructive than the radiation from which people may be fleeing.. Biological Threats to People and Their Food Supply Research on pathogenesis of infectious agents, and particularly on means for early detection of the presence of such pathogens before their symptomatic appearance, is important. Nations will stockpile vaccines against known diseases, but the threat of genetic modification—while perhaps beyond the capability of most terrorists but not of rogue states—requires a vigorous research effort to find solutions for detection, evaluation, and response.  In the United States the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a robust capability in epidemiology, but there is no equivalent epidemiological response capability for possible biological attacks on agriculture and farm animals. Thus, measures to protect the food supply, and to provide decontamination after an attack, must have high priority. Toxic Chemicals, Explosives, and Flammable Materials . Dangerous chemicals in transit should be tracked and identified electronically. To ensure that only first responders, and not terrorists, know what the tank cars contain, the rail cars should be equipped with encrypted electronic identification. Sensor networks are required to detect and characterize dangerous materials, particularly when they are airborne. Self-analyzing filter systems for modern office buildings whose windows cannot be opened can not only protect the inhabitants but also detect and report the first presence of materials (such as aerosols) that may be trapped in improved filters. An example of long-range, basic research that could be highly beneficial would be the discovery of olfactory biosensors than can reach dog levels of sensitivity, some 10,000 times that of humans. Communications and Information Systems In the United States the most urgent issue is to reconfigure first responder communications so that police, fire, and medical personnel can communicate with one another and with the emergency operations centers. Inability to do so greatly aggravated loss of life, especially among firefighters, in the World Trade Center attacks. The main worry about cyber attacks is the possibility of their use, perhaps with electromagnetic pulse devices as well, to amplify the destructive effect of a conventional physical or biological attack.13 Cyber security is one of the top priority areas for research investment because private industry was, before September 11, 2001, largely content with the level of computer and network security available to it. A quite inadequate level of sophisticated talent is devoted to the goal of fully secure operating systems and networks. Transportation and Borders Sensor networks for inspection of goods and passengers crossing the nation’s  borders will be a research priority. The primary technical challenge will not be the design of sensors themselves, although much progress is needed in this area, but in the systems engineering of the networks of sensors together with data fusion and decision support software. Biometrics for more secure identification of individuals shows promise, and systems superior to the driver’s licenses and passports used by most travelers are promising. The range of threats to the transportation networks of a modern state is very great, and careful systems analysis is essential to identifying the weak points and finding the most effective and economical means of protecting them. Cities and Fixed Infrastructure The Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) in many large U.S. cities are quite vulnerable, not only to a destructive physical attack but to more indirect attacks on their ability to access data and to communicate through a cyber attack or electromagnetic pulse attack. Remedying these vulnerabilities must have high urgency; in many cases the centers will have to be relocated. Tragically, the EOC in New York City was located in a known target, the World Trade Center. Much research is already under way to analyze the structural characteristics of high-rise buildings that may make them much more vulnerable than necessary. Without waiting for this research to result in revised building codes, the expert panel recommended immediate adoption and extension, where appropriate, of European standards for fire and blast, which were much improved following World War II. As already noted, air intakes for large buildings need to be less accessible and equipped with better air filters, perhaps with chem ical analysis sufficient to determine if a toxic material is present. Instrumentation to allow first responders to detect toxic and hazardous materials; special provisions for protecting harbors, bridges, dams, tunnels, and dikes; and protection against attacks on urban water supplies downstream from the treatment plant are all discussed in Making the Nation Safer. How much of the long term, imaginative research and development envisioned in Making the Nation Safer has been undertaken by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)? Not enough. The Science and Technology Directorate of DHS does not have the scope of authority, nor the length of vision that the Academies’ study urged on Congress. Critics say that it has been difficult for DHS to sustain an  expert staff with low enough turn over to build and execute the needed technical strategies. Nor has the Homeland Security Institute been given the necessary scope of independent system-level review of the DHS technical priorities. SOCIETAL RESPONSES TO TERRORIST THREATS the public can also be an attack amplifier. The government faces a number of dilemmas, such as using a color-coded warning system to alert the public to the perceived likelihood of additional terrorist attacks. Some citizens feel that this system itself may needlessly amplify the threat, thus doing terrorists’ psychological job for them. An urgent issue to be addressed is for government to train and introduce to the public, well in advance of any attack, a number of trusted and knowledgeable people who are prepared to provide accurate and trustworthy information quickly and authoritatively. TECHNICAL STRATEGIES From the great variety of threats studied by the National Academies’ experts, several commonsense conclusions about technical strategy can be extracted: †¢repair the weakest links (single-point failures) in vulnerable systems and infrastructures †¢use defenses-in-depth (do not rely only on perimeter defenses or firewalls) †¢use â€Å"circuit breakers† to isolate and stabilize failing system elements †¢build security and flexibility into basic system designs where possible †¢design systems for use by typical first responders †¢Focus priority attention on the â€Å"system of systems† technical challenge to understand and remedy the inherent weaknesses in critical infrastructure that are inherent in their architecture. †¢Ensure that first responders, including technical teams from critical infrastructure service industries, are properly trained and equipped, and the targets themselves are designed to be more resilient in the face of disaster. †¢Emphasize the importance of flexibility and agility in responding to disasters that were not anticipated in the system design and personnel training. The last point is particularly important. Future attacks are likely to involve multiple complex systems. There are a number of dimensions to the systems engineering challenge of homeland security. The multiple critical industrial infrastructures are closely coupled. Almost all of the responses to terrorist threats require  the concerned action of national agencies, state and local authorities, private companies, and in many cases, friendly nations. The technologies used in counterterrorism will themselves be coupled, complex systems. An evident example is the notion of complex networks of sensors that are coupled to databases, within which the network output is fused with other information, and from which sensible and useable information for local officials in Emergency Operations Centers must be provided. Thus, setting priorities requires modeling and simulating attack and response, and â€Å"red teaming† to test the effectiveness of proposed solutions. Finally, there is a need to build up investments in the social sciences, which will be especially important in devising strategies for countering terrorism. Both the roots of terrorism and its consequences need to be better understood. Social science can also contribute to a sustainable effort, involving multiple levels of government, with minimal economic cost, and where the perceived conflict between security activities and protection of individual freedom can best be informed and adjudicated. A SUSTAINABLE STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY Because major terrorist attacks against civil populations may be separated by considerable intervals of time, there is reason to be concerned that the public will lose interest in the threat, and that none of the organizational or investment needs will be satisfactorily met. For these reasons, the strategy for maximizing civil benefits deserves high-priority attention. There are many obvious examples of how counter terror research and development can create values appreciated by the public and of economic value to firms, such as creation of a more agile vaccine development and production capability, information and communications networks that are more resistant to cyber attack, energy systems more robust in the face of natural disasters and human error, security technologies that are more effective yet more unobtrusive and convenient for the public. Sustainability will be a challenge for those in political power in the United States, for they find themselves compelled to emphasize the public’s vulnerability (for example, with the color-coded alert system, which is largely successful in making the public nervous) and at the same time to emphasize that the government’s efforts â€Å"have the terrorists on the run.† Indeed, we can easily imagine that  terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda may deliberately wait long intervals between attacks to decrease the alertness of the target’s defenses. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS There are seven major points that I would conclude from this discussion. First, only a far-sighted foreign policy, addressing the roots of terrorism and denying terrorist ideologies a foothold in other societies, can make the United States and its allies safer in the long run. Second, weapons of mass destruction are potentially devastating, but the most probable threats will be fashioned from the economy itself, as was the case on September 11, 2001. Private property and commercial industry is most often the target of terrorist attacks, and may be providing the weapons for their own destruction. Thus, the federal government must devise both positive and negative incentives for private investments in hardening critical infrastructure and urban targets. Third, the protection of critical infrastructure must, to the extent possible, be accomplished through a civilian benefits maximization strategy. Fourth, reducing vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure is a highly complex systems problem; it requires a strategy tested by the most modern systems analytic approaches. Fifth, since most of the science and technology capability of market economy governments lies outside the security agencies, governments must be able to coordinate and fund a national science and technology strategy. Sixth, a degree of cooperation between industry, cities, and government unknown in prior experience is required. In particular, local authorities must have an effective voice in setting the technical agenda for equipment for which they are the customer. Finally, for the protection against terrorism to be sustainable, more than a civilian benefits maximization strategy is required. The negative effects on civil freedoms from increased authority in the central government must be resisted, since the threat of terrorist attack is indefinite and emergency measures may never be relaxed. Now, let us examine security. First, although science and technology will not solve all problems related to terrorism against the components making up a modern regional or national infrastructure, it can help in prevention, mitigation, and restoration if an attack or attacks are attempted or carried out. In other words, science and technology will help to reduce the threat of  terrorism, but it cannot eliminate it. Unfortunately, terrorism has become a fact of life. Whenever there are dissatisfied people who are willing to give up their own lives or do not value human life, it will be difficult to eliminate the threat of terrorist attacks. A specific point where science and technology can help is in the area of intelligence, by providing information about the potential for an act of terrorism to be conducted. For example, what is being done to sort through open-air communications—both e-mail and voice wireless—is rather startling both in quantity and in degree of soph istication. There are programs, such as Trailblazer at the National Security Agency, that look for keywords and matches. Some of the recent terrorism alerts have been based on information gathered through these programs. There is another aspect that inexorably links infrastructure and security. The more sophisticated, complicated, or technologically evolved the infrastructure, that is, the more fragile it is, the more difficult it is to secure against terrorism and the greater theneed for science and technology solutions. The latter was the particular challenge that we were confronted with at the National Academies in producing the report entitled Making the Nation Safer.50 What can and should be done incrementally as society becomes more and more complex, sophisticated, and interdependent? How do you establish layers of protection because of increased vulnerability? First, communication and coordination is required. When the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred, the New York City Resp onse Center was in the World Trade Center. So the ability of the fire and police departments within New York City to respond was hampered severely because there was no way to centralize and coordinate the actions of the first responders. The lesson to be learned is that redundant response centers are needed for just this sort of contingency. The lack of communication was another lesson coming from the World Trade Center disaster. There is a definite need to have common systems that will allow all parties to communicate seamlessly Regarding building structures, another lesson can be drawn from the attack on the Pentagon. The Pentagon was hit exactly at the point between a newly restored portion of the Pentagon and the old Pentagon. While there was damage to the newly restored section, there was no structural failure to that part of the building. The walls absorbed the energy of the crash. In contrast, the old Pentagon suffered severe damage. Its walls collapsed. Most of the loss of life was in the old part of the Pentagon. The lesson here is to incorporate blast-resistant designs and materials into high-profile buildings For cities, one of the areas that is most in need of immediate attention is the ability to respond to catastrophic events. There is a need for simulation models, improved communications, and associated training. There is also a need to conduct systems analyses of responses to events in both space and time. For transportation systems, there is an immediate need for intelligent â€Å"information agents† for cargo. These agents would include a combination of global positioning systems and sensors to detect intruders and, possibly, the presence of certain materials as well as shipping documents detailing the contents. Such agents would be installed on every freight car in a rail system, every container on a ship, and every container transported by truck. Thus, one could monitor at every point in time exactly where each container or rail car is, what it contains, its destination, and whether there has been any attempt to tamper with or enter it. The various pieces of the so-called intelligent agent exist today and have been used on a limited basis. Efforts are under way to marry these various components into the type of agent I have described. Cargo scanning technology is complementary to the intelligent agents. While cargo scanners do exist, there is a need to integrate various components into a â€Å"one-stop shop† to monitor for specific items or radioactivity. The scanning equipment should be located at the point of embarkation of the container to prevent lethal weapons from reaching their intended destination. What good would it be to identify a nuclear weapon in a container as you offload it in New York Harbor?53 Transportation technology needs to extend beyond the cargo. There is a compelling need to develop means of rapidly identifying people, checking them and their luggage. Although there are systems in place today, the sheer numbers of people and locations is daunting. The use of biometrics would greatly alleviate this problem, while increasing the confidence level of the security forces. Rapidly deployable barriers to keep underground structures and tunnels from being flooded are another need.

Sequel To The Unprecedented Changing Business Environment Commerce Essay

Sequel To The Unprecedented Changing Business Environment Commerce Essay Sequel to the unprecedented changing business environment due partly to the global economic crises , rapid technological innovations, globalisation, shareholder primacy (Bratton and Wachter 2008) and several other factors, employers are driven to effect transformational changes in order to remain profitable and equally retain their competitive edge. Recently, research has suggested some different strategic ways to achieve this goal such as creating a new way to working (Thomson 2008) which explores the concept of virtual offices, stores, sales etc. thereby driving down employee expenses and other running costs. This model seemed to have worked for most organisations as evident by the growing number of organisation adopting this concept (Waddell 2010). However, Lu (2011) warns that there are traps to be careful of in adopting these transformational changes. Calif and Meyers (2011) defined virtual office as a model that eradicates customer -employee contact without compromising the originality, productivity and the image of the organisation. Tengo Ltd having adopted the internet exclusive virtual sales model since its inception in 2000, has created a call centre to address issues ranging from customer complaints, technical support, product and accessories order, to other customer/clients enquiries (Wilton 2010) since there are no office or stores to handle such complaints. This makes the call centre critical to the success of Tengo Ltd and therefore a need to employ employees with the right skills and commitment to a high standard customer service delivery. According to the case (Wilton 2010), recent review has indicated that the success stories in the past three years has caused the organisation to overstaff its call centre and this calls for an employee restructuring. The strategic decision to restructure is due to several external and internal factors that affect the delivery of Tengo services (ibid). This report critically examines the Tengo Ltd case, taking into account the external and internal factors driving the change, the leadership issues observed, employee management style and motivational issues involved in the case. 2.0 External and Internal drives for change at Tengo Ltd Changes are a part of flexible organisations with the aim of keeping their customers satisfied (Kotter and Schlesinger 2008) however, to successfully implement the changes, organisations should properly analyse why they need the changes, how they hope to effect the change and the scope of change with a well laid change management process that considers the effect of change on the employees (employee relations) (Thurley and Wirdenius 1991). 2.1 External change drivers at Tengo Ltd The use of mobile social and other communication solutions have increased over the last 10 years (Ellis and Taylor 2006) and have reached a stage where all conversations are communicated on technological devices and media; from political leaders (Obamas facebook campaign), industrial executives, disaster managers to supply chain management. The growing need to achieve results using call centres as a one-stop point of contact to resolving all its customer and supply-chain issues is one of the most important external drivers for change in the call centre industry (Avaya 2011). Tengo Ltd seems to be caught-up in the technology drive as other call centres as it has decided to invest more in its contact centre by purchasing the IVR (integrated voice response) to help improve the services of its unsatisfactory customer service. It is observed here that the investment in the new automated system that was supposed to improve the quality of service and speed up service response failed as cust omers remained dissatisfied. One good question to ask is if this is a result of the poor implementation strategy or in the organisation of work within the company. Another external driver to change is the business strategy. When businesses change their business strategies they implement the change in their operations (Wilton 2010). The most common business strategy employed by several companies and the call centre sector is cost reduction (McAfee 2011; Wilton 2010). The general belief is that if organisations reduce their employee costs against their income, it will increase the profitability of the organisation. However, cost reduction could be a tricky business strategy to implement. This is because the cost of the reduction might not outweigh the benefits hoped to derive or a total failure of the planned alternative. Tengo Ltd is focused on reducing its employee expense at the cost of employees and as seen in the case, the alternative solution not being a success. This strategy mirrors the Thurley and Wirdenius (1991) action-centred and directive strategy as it could be seem as a forced strategy that has not considered how this will affect the employees nor have a psychological contract with the affected employees but focused on deriving the implementation of both its business and technological strategies. According to Mcgregors X-theory, managers most times focus only on profitability of their firm and therefore try to enforce organisation objectives on employees even when employee dislikes the objective based on the assumption that an average employee dislikes work. However a more modern principle of change management called the triple bottom line focuses on the profit of the organisation and its trade, the people who are central to the operations of the company (employees customers) and the planet where the operation is performed (corporate social responsibilities) (Tullberg 2012). This is based on the psychological contract approach that an organisation that deals fairly with its employees and socially considers the environment where it operates will naturally be profitable. For example a company that allows flexibility and a good reward management system will have its employees contribute more and be more committed to the objectives of the company (Atkinson and Hall 2011). If the same company in consideration of its environment adopts a green initiative by eradicating paper usage in its operation and goes virtual (Calif and Meyers 2011), the company will equally by that initiative be reducing some running stationary cost thus helping the organisation to be more profitable by reducing costs and increasing productivity. This report uses the psychological contract theory to critically analyse the internal drivers for change and the changes that occurred in the firm and judge by the various theories if this change was a success. 2.2 Internal change at Tengo Ltd Internal factors like external factors have been found to drive changes (Kotter and Schlesinger 2008; Wilton 2010). 2.2.1 Job Design One of the internal changes observed at the Tengo Ltd is the change in its job design. Prior to the change, employee in the call centre had always performed variety of roles thus allowing employees to be multi-skilled and increase the fluidity of employees as they could move between different departments. According to Julia and Susanne (2012) Organisations reduce their exposure to intellectual capital risk by adopting a job rotation scheme where employees could move around cross-functionally and cross-departmentally. In contrast to this ideology, Tengo Ltd has adopted a mechanistic industrial approach similar to Taylors scientific management recommendations as a method of job design that helps increase job specification and is a good support for an automated environment (Niebel 1989). Could Tengo Ltds decision to encourage job specialisation be as a result of its complementary nature to its business strategy to reduce cost, as one of the benefits of the approach is that it helps to d ecrease training, mental overload, staffing difficulties, or because it helps to reduce errors sue to specialisation of duties? However, Salvendy (2012) highlighted several downsides to this job design approach that are more people and process related which are equally observed at Tengo Ltd. Based on the above argument, one can say that the failure of the restructuring at Tengo Ltd is due to the un-interesting process that specialisation introduces causing boredom as employees repeatedly perform the same function, and its non-communicative/non-employee involving approach to change causing dissatisfaction among employees and ultimately evidenced by a high employee turnover after the restructuring. 2.2.2 Training and Development In the recent psychological contract theories, based on the assumption that the relationship between an employee and his/her employer is that which is mutually concerned with expectation of equal input and output. One of such theories is the equity theory which states that employee have a desire to be treated fairly and equally in the workplace and that they expect to receive benefits for their input to the organisation (Allen and White 2002). Although this theory was first postulated by Stacy Adams in 1965, this theory explains the natural expectation of humans to receive equal measures for their input. One of such output or reward that employees expect is training and development opportunities within the organisation. Recent research has identified training and development programs as a core factor to employee performance (Lawler Iii 2003), with several organisations now organising in-house trainings, online training, blended learning as ways to improve on the former classroom or o n the job training that existed before now. Many companies conduct induction trainings for new recruits to understand the organisation and the functions they will be performing in the company. While others go on after the induction training to conduct specialised trainings or send their employees to off-site trainings so that the acquire new skills relevant to their industry and bring these skills to help improve performance within the company (Rowley 2000). According to him, organisations who train their employees should see them as valuable assets and thus have a plan for employee retention. Malila (2007) however warns that the absence of training opportunities within organisations may lead to skill drought. With its intention to reduce the cost for training and development programs, Tengo Ltd has exposed its organisation to the treat of skill drought as new entries might not be able to get the right training form senior employees who have not been trained themselves and this may lead to dissatisfaction. Without training and development, employees may begin to see that there is no career growth path for them within the company and given that the repetitive function approach rarely challenges them, one can suggest that this is a cause for the high employee turnover in the company. 2.2.3 Employee turnover Considering the high level of turnover experienced at Tengo Ltd, this report questions the reason for such high turnover. Can this be ascribed to the management style and work process in the organisation, or is it an industry practice within the call centre sector? According to Wilton (2010), there are two distinctive types of call centres. One is characterised by its interaction work flow model with customers described as simple, but with high targets, strict scripts and strict call handling that sees the call advisor spending more time on the phone receiving more calls than the more complex quality focused model where solving the customers problem is the key focus. This allows the call advisors to be more flexible with the scripts, create individualised interaction with the customers but receiving lesser number of calls and having no restriction on time spent with each customer. Lyndon (1993) suggests that since the flexible quality focused model allows employees to be more discret ional and are less monitored, employees derive more satisfaction with this model however call centres are mostly measured by the number of calls they receive in a period. This is one of the reasons for Tengo Ltd investing in IVRs to enable it receives more calls in the hope to increase its customer satisfaction. The turnover at Tengo Ltd is both functional (causing loss of key employees, loss of skills and failed investment) and dysfunctional (loss of unskilled employees and non-performers). It is also noteworthy to note that the strict control management style which is more Taylor oriented is applicable to the model which requires call advisors to receive more calls and is strict with the call handlings and call scripts. This type of management approach could also de-motivate employees and consequently high turnover as observed in Tengo Ltd. 3.0 Motivational Issues Given the different arguments above, there are pointers that Tengo Ltd has some motivational issues in the implementation of its restructuring. One of the issues identified at Tengo is the relatively low employee benefit, and harsh working conditions in which its employees are subjected to work compared to competing employers in the region. According to researchers, motivation is simply the reason why people put more effort into what they do in order to yield better results (Aiqiang 2009; Cooper 2004; Hennessy and McCartney 2008; Reissner 2011; Wilton 2010). According to Reissner (2011); Tullberg (2012); Wilton (2010), employees are motivated by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic motivations is when employees are self-motivated to do or perform an activity. This is derived when there is more freedom for employees to act using their discretion, skills and thereby creating opportunities for themselves. Although hard to measure, intrinsic motivation is the key to innovative and creative thinking /leadership (ibid). The importance of extrinsic motivation should not however be neglected as this encourages employees to do more knowing that their employers are concerned with them (Wilton 2010). Few of the ways employees can be extrinsically motivated is by fulfilling their expectations in terms of monetary rewards, promotions, trainings, words of appreciation, and job security. Employees are also motivated by the level of communication between them and management in times of change. From the case, it is apparent that the organisation did not employ any communication with the employees before implementing its restructuring plan. This tends to open up the problems that might be imbedded in the change process and helps employees buy-in to the change with their respective feedbacks. 4.0 Recommendation and conclusion The intention of Tengo Ltd to restructure its organisation in order to stay competitive can be a way to ensure its sustainability however, the company has not implemented its change program with the employees in mind. The result of this implementation caused the company an increased level of employee turnover. In seeking to address the employee turnover issue Tengo must first readdress its management system especially its job design to a more motivational approach that helps to engage the interest of employees in the organisation by conducting training sessions to improve their skills. It is equally good for Tengo to consider re-introducing its job rotation model, such that the monotonous repetitive boredom caused by over specialisation will be eradicated, consider re-engineering its recruitment process to attract skilled and educated employees. More importantly focus on its employee working benefits and terms of employment such that it meets up with those of the competing call centr es in the area. In order to understand the dynamics of labour turnover, Tengo Ltd should conduct exit interviews for exiting staffs to have an understanding of reasons for the high turn-over while it remains paramount for Tengo Ltd to ensure it monitor employees emotional activity throughout the change life-cycle to eradicate any potential problems. This study has revealed the different issues encountered in the change process and possible ways to address them in order to increase employee commitment, creativity and remain competitive in the face of increasing technological demand and business changes.

Social Inequality In Usa Sociology Essay

Social Inequality In Usa Sociology Essay Why do you think the U.S. is characterized by more inequality and fewer public efforts to reduce inequality than any other developed nation? Capitalism cannot provide a decent standard of living for all, but as long as it can provide a tolerable standard of living for substantial layers of the population, it can maintain social stability. Recent studies have shown that the middle America begins to feel insecure, which points at the inevitable social problems. The average salary is the salary, which includes both the income of the richest and the poorest. This amount is far from real wages of most Americans. According to the latest statistical review, in the period after 1998, when the U.S. economy grew by 25%, the average salary of one fifth of U.S. residents fell by 3.8%, while the salary of the rest remained at 1973 level (Hurst 132-34). While the economy was rapidly growing, this prosperity has not affected the middle class, not to mention industrial workers and the poor. Along with the freezing of income of the middle class, social inequality was growing. Since 1973 the annual revenue growth of 1% of the richest was 3.4%, and for 0.1% of the richest it was 5.2%. But for the remaining 90% this figure was 0.3% per year since 1973. Leaders of large companies were earning 26 times more than their employees. Now they are earning 300 times more (Crompton 98-102). According to experts, children from families with low income have a 1%chance to get rich, while children of the rich have 22% opportunity. For the middle class the figure is 1.8%, not much more than for the poor. The middle class of America is more and more afraid to become poor. Families face a decrease in their incomes. The number of families, whose income fell to $ 20,000, has increased from 13% in 1990 to 17% in 2007 (Hurst 206). Unemployment in the U.S. has reached the highest level over the past 20 years. Average duration of unemployment is 18 weeks. And, most often the unemployed have to accept a new job with less pay. House owners (about 70% of Americans), after paying taxes, have to give 11% of their income for mortgages. Today, these people are insolvent. Today the average American family with two working spouses has to work for 32 weeks to pay taxes, medical insurance, credit for housing, and education. In 1979, they needed 28 weeks. After all these payments, such a family has less means for basic needs than in 1980. In the current economic situation, an average American feels much worse than 25 years ago (Hurst 57-60). An average American works longer and harder than before just to make ends meet. And one increasingly has to take loans, family debt reached 120% of family income. Private pension funds are extremely small. Moreover, now pensions begin to be paid only after the worker invests a certain amount. In this world richest country 45% of Americans have no pension program. Only 20% have a guaranteed pension. The same situation is in health care. The number of uninsured people reached 16%, i.e. about 45 million Americans will not get treatment if they get sick. Despite all the efforts, most of the U.S. social problems do not disappear. Obviously, these are the negative effects of economic growth that exist in almost every post-industrial society. Moreover, the distribution of wealth including personal property and shares has not changed in the U.S. for 200 years. Tiree and Smith managed to obtain data on the taxable property of persons who had permanent jobs in Philadelphia in 1789. Comparing these data with the distribution of income in 1949, 1959 and 1969, they found a completely equal distribution of wealth in these two periods. Both, at that time and today, dealers and persons of intellectual labor were richer than the workers and clerks (Hurst 89-93). Since 1982, profits of American capitalists have grown considerably. This was achieved by reduction of salaries of workers, and increased exploitation. Thus, the rate of added value grew up while investments into new equipment have been reduced to minimum. Therefore the returns were growing. Inequality of income distribution remains in American society despite various changes in the economy and many programs helping the poor. The privileges are established for those who have the power in any societies. People with high status often have a very visible political influence, which they can use to their advantage. In the 1960s, the President Lyndon Johnson declared the war against poverty. The weapons of this war were tax cuts, retraining programs, educational programs and increased benefits. These actions were important, since it was estimated that between 1965 and 1975 the number of families below the poverty line was less than 5% of all families. However, since then many of these programs were reduced or abolished in order to stabilize the government budget. More positive results of programs have been undermined by rising unemployment and an increase in the number of poor families with single mothers. Therefore, in the U.S. there are still many poor families (Hurst 248-49). How is social stratification a creation of society rather than simply an expression of individual differences. The question of why there is social inequality is central in the study of society. It has two strikingly different answers. The first one was given by the conservatives, who argued that the unequal distribution of social benefits is a tool for solving the major tasks of society. Supporters of a radical approach, by contrast, sharply criticize the existing social order and believe that social inequality is a mechanism of exploitation of individuals and is associated with the struggle for scarce products and services. According to the functionalist theory of social inequality, stratification exists because it is useful to society. Davis and Moore argue that social stratification is not only universal but also necessary; therefore, no society can exist without stratification and classes. The system of stratification is required in order to fill all the statuses that form the social structure, and to give the individuals the motivations to perform duties associated with their position. In this regard the society must motivate people on two levels (Crompton 57-59): 1. It should encourage individuals to take various positions, since not all the duties associated with different statuses, are equally useful for the human body, equally important for social survival, and require equal abilities. If the social life was different, the position would make no difference, and the problem of social status would be considerably smaller; 2. When these positions are occupied, the company should awaken in people a desire to play the relevant role, because the duties associated with many posts are considered as painful and in the absence of motivation many would not manage to do their roles. These social realities have led to the view that society should have certain benefits that can be used as incentives for their members, and the mode of distribution of these benefits among different statuses. Inequality is the emotional stimulus that society has created in order to solve the problem of filling in all statuses and make their owners to do their best to fit the role. Since these benefits are built into the social system, social stratification may be considered a structural feature of all societies. On the basis of the economic model of supply and demand, Davis and Moore concluded that the highest paid positions are those occupied by the most talented or skilled workers, as well as functionally most important ones. Thus, separate individuals who hold high-paying jobs, should receive remuneration, otherwise the post will remain unclaimed, and society will disintegrate (Crompton 115-122). On the other hand, a person is born in a privileged or unprivileged position. For example, almost two-thirds of managers in 243 large U.S. companies have grown up in families of upper middle class or upper stratum of society. Basing on similar data, advocates of conflict theory claim that society is organized so that individualsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ rank is determined by birth and does not dependent on their abilities and characteristics of the society (Hurst 206-219). Advocates of the conflict theory believe that the stratification of society exists because it is profitable to individuals and groups with authority over others. While functionalists identify common interests of members of society, conflictologists focus on the differences of interests. From their point of view, the society is an arena where people are fighting for the privileges, prestige and power. The theory of conflict is based largely on the ideas of Karl Marx. He argued that to comprehend the mechanism of a particular economic system one must know what preceded this system, as well as the processes that contributed to its development. According to Marx, the level of technique and method of organization of production determines the evolution of society in general. At each stage of history, these factors determine the group, which will rule in society, and groups that it will obey. Possession of means of production is only one source of power. Another source is the possession of means of control over people. The role of bureaucracy in society (exclusive control of national income and national wealth) gives it a special privileged status (Crompton 87-94). Even in modern developed countries, individuals can flourish without property. Much of the power is provided by the position in large transnational corporations, rather than property. Employees do not merely possess a relatively small property, but their influence lasts only as long as they occupy a certain position. A very similar pattern is observed in the government. In this case, no class exists in isolation and independently of the other classes. Sociologists are divided on the sources of social stratification, but they are united in the fact that social inequality is a structural aspect of the modern life of the whole society. Speaking about the structuring of social inequality, social scientists mean not only the fact that individuals and social groups differ in the privileges they have, prestige they receive, and power they possess. Structuring means that inequality in the society is institutionalized as a system. Inequality is not formed at random, but in accordance with the repetitive, relatively consistent and stable models: it is usually passed down from generation to generation, for which the individuals and groups with the benefits usually find appropriate ways (Crompton 54-58). How do caste and class system differ? How are they the same? Why does industrialization introduce a measure of meritocracy into social stratification? Inequality exists in human societies of all types. Stratification can be defined as structured differences between groups of people; the society consists of layers located in a hierarchical order, where the privileged layers are closer to the top and the underprivileged ones are at the bottom. However, class and caste systems are different in their essence (Crompton 41-43). Caste system is primarily associated with the cultures of the Indian subcontinent, and is presented by four main classes (varnas), differing in the degree of social prestige. Below these four groups are the untouchables. There are also jatis in the caste system: local marginalized groups within which the division into castes takes place. The caste system is very complex, and its structure varies from region to region, but it shares some common principles. Brahmins, forming the highest Varna, represent the highest degree of purity, while the untouchables represent the lowest one. Brahmins should avoid certain contacts with the untouchables, while only the untouchables are allowed to have physical contact with objects or animals, which are considered unclean. The caste system is closely linked with the Hindu concept of reincarnation, under which people who neglect the rights and duties of their caste should be born in their next incarnation in a caste, which occupies a lower position. In the Indian caste system, an individual is not allowed to move from one caste to another during his life (Crompton 65-72). The concept of caste is sometimes used outside the context of Indian culture, e.g. in cases, when two or more ethnic groups are separated from each other, primarily for reasons of racial purity. In such circumstances, there are strict taboos (and sometimes legal prohibitions) on intergroup marriages. After the abolition of slavery in the southern states of the U.S., the level of disengagement of black and white population was so strong that the term caste is sometimes used for this system of stratification. There are also reasons to speak about the existence of caste system in South Africa, where rigid segregation remains between whites and blacks and where interracial marriages were until recently forbidden by law. The class system differs from the caste system in many aspects. Let us consider the four of these main features (Crompton 105-113). 1. Unlike other types of strata, classes do not depend on legal or religious orientation. The class membership is not associated with the congenital status, whatever it was determined by by law or custom. The class system is much more mobile than other stratification systems; the boundaries between classes are never clear-cut. Formal restrictions on marriages between people from different classes do not exist. 2. The class membership is achieved by the individual, at least partly, and is not simply given at birth, as in caste systems. Social mobility is distributed more widely, while in the caste system, an individual move from one caste to another is generally impossible. 3. Classes are related to differences in economic status groups, with inequality in the ownership of physical resources and control, whereas in caste systems, the leading role is played by non-economic factors (such as religion). 4. In caste stratification system, inequality manifests itself primarily in the personal relationships of people, in the difference between rights and responsibilities (Brahmin-Harijan). In contrast, class system is manifested mainly in the large-scale relations of impersonal nature. For example, the essential foundations for the class division are the differences in working conditions and payment, which relate to people of any category and, in turn, depend on the situation of the economy as a whole. Thus, classes can be defined as large-scale groups of people with similar material resources, which in turn determine the lifestyle they lead. Class differences primarily depend on the welfare of people and kind of occupation. In modern Western society, the following main classes exist: the upper class (rich people, businessmen, industrialists, and the upper stratum of managers who own or directly control the means of production), the middle class (which includes the majority of white collar workers and professionals) and the working class (à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"blue collarà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚  workers, or people involved in physical labor) (Hurst 327-333). According to Weber, the division into classes is determined not only by the presence or absence of control over the means of production, but also by economic differences, not related directly to the property. These determining factors primarily include skills and expertise that affect the ability of the person to perform a job. People belonging to the categories of professionals and managers are also working for hire, but they earn more and have better working conditions than the workers. Qualification certificates, degrees, titles, diplomas and trainings place them in a more advantageous position in the labor market compared with those who do not have the relevant qualifications (Crompton 93-98). Thus, the concept of status in the meritocracy society is associated with varying degrees of social prestige of social groups. The distinctive features of the exact status can be changed independently of the class division. While the class affiliation is an objective feature, the status, in contrast, depends on subjective evaluations of social distinctions by individuals.