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

Gender Roles - Essay Example It will further highlight, with reasons, on whether or not the writer would change gender. According to Crooks and Baur (2011), human sexuality defines the manner in which we understand and articulate ourselves as sexual beings. The aspect of being male or female determines how one develops socially, with or without consciousness. It gives a fundamental source of motivation. For example, males are perceived as being more able to hold leadership positions than females, be it in political or business roles. Therefore, they can easily win elective posts. They are also considered to be able to physically defend themselves than females. This suggests that men’s masculinity accords them more physical strength than women. Financially, men are believed to earn more than women, although contemporary trends may prove otherwise among the younger generations. Depending on the generation, any gender can be financially independent. However, all these perceptions may only be stereotypical. Research has shown that women are better at handling emotional turmoil than men (Crooks & B aur, 2011). Women are less represented in emotional diagnostic categories, or impulse control disorders. In men, such difficulties lead to drug and alcohol abuse delinquency, violent outbursts and sexual misconduct than they do in women. Women are also confronted by less self-destructive and irrational sexual desires. Rather than wish to belong to the other gender, it is more prudent to accept oneself and work towards getting the best out of what one was destined to be. For instance, men can have female friends because women are prone to discuss relationships and offer more social support instead of indulging in activities aimed at disguising social ill. On the other hand, women can find comfort among themselves because they do not always reciprocate the platonic interests of friendship with men. Clearly, one would rather stay as they are and

Aquaculture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Aquaculture - Essay Example In recent years, cultivated aqua plants have shown significant increase in production too. The gross production of aqua plants in 2004 was worth 6.8 billion US$. Oysters hold the second position when it comes to aquatic culture. The aquatic species variegation is another factor that demands attention. More than 240 cultivated aquatic flora and animal species were recorded in 2004. The fact that needs exposure here is that heterogeneity of aquatic species has been undermined and collection of annual facts and data suggest that species variegation is shooting up. Species introduction is one of the legitimate means of increasing production. Species Introduction has played a significant role in aquaculture and they provide a noticeable share of total aquaculture production. Consider the fact that nearly 17% of the global finfish production is because of alien/introduced species. However they have negative impacts too. Introduced species can impact aquatic ecosystem in terms of predation, habitat modification etc. Proper assessment of effects of introduced species on aquatic life and their negative and positive consequences should be done and suitable plans should be formulated. Fishery products comprises of water, proteins, lipids, minerals, vitamins and other nitrogen compounds. The vital micro-nutrients and minerals in fatty fish are Vitamins A and D, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus whereas iodine, in marine fish. Fish lipids have up to 40% extremely unsaturated long chain fatty acids. Fish proteins hold all vital amino acids. The carbohydrate content in fish muscle is very less, generally lesser than 0.5 percent. There are numerous uses of marine resources; the most prominent use is as a source of food. Fisheries resources are rendering human species with record amounts of food. Fish has proved to be a diet full of proteins and nutrients. World fish production used for direct human intake shot up during 1990s. Other use of fish include 'extracting oil' and as 'feed'. However, excessive use of fisheries resources is endangering the ecosystem of our planet. Continuously increasing demand and exhausting marine life has led to an increment in the gap between demand and supply. As Taras Grescoe states in Bottomfeeder: How the fish on our Plates is Killing our Planet that Good fish like sardine, pilchard is diminishing and that we in our madness are hoovering up the good fish by converting it into fishmeal for salmon in farms. He concludes that it requires 3.9 Kg of wild fish to yield 1 Kg of flabby, artificially colored farmed salmon. Commercial wild salmon fishery has nearly vanished in North At lantic. The North Sea store of herring, valuable fatty pelagic fish, tumbled in 1970s because of the requirement of the pig feed industry. It can be concluded that overfishing is a compelling marine issue demanding immediate attention. According to EUCC news, China is a country where live reef fish requirement is quite high and is expected to increase in the coming years. Hong-Kong being the capital of world's live reef fish industry exports a lot of reef fish to China. China's increasing demands for coral fish has already endangered species like hump head wrasse. As marine stock has already depleted in

Main Rules and Features of Informative Speech Essay

Main Rules and Features of Informative Speech - Essay Example Before developing a good informative speech, it is vital to first pick a topic and thoroughly research on it in a specified time integrating ones experiences, understand its purpose, learn the time allocation for good time management and learn whom the audience is to be able to relate with them and guide their attention. A speech should also have a good arrangement of the information that one needs to include in a logical order. It is only after careful consideration of all these aspects and understanding of the audience that one can begin to write down his/her speech. Writing a Good Informative Speech Before writing the introduction of a speech, it is important to ensure that one has a good opening statement that would grab the attention of the audience. For my speech, I decided to start with a funny statement that related to current affairs with a strong predisposition to my audience. In the introduction of the speech, one should inform the audience what the speech is about and wha t the main points are going to be, for example, I informed my audience that I was going to talk about my hobbies, how they had influenced me positively and the importance of having such hobbies. The topic chosen might be very general so that one is able to narrow it down to a specific aspect that is relevant to the audience instead of a broad topic, which is partly covered leaving one's audience lost in the speech. Furthermore, the speech should also demonstrate a high degree of competence and self-confidence in the subject one is speaking about to his audience. This can be achieved by possessing facts and good background knowledge about the topic one has chosen, and the information one intends to relay to the audience should be clearly defined. One of the objectives I had in mind while choosing to talk about blood donation as a hobby was to inform the audience of the importance of donating blood by attempting to change or reinforce their behavior and attitude towards caring for one another. In addition, while addressing cooking as a hobby I explained that it had influenced my personal skills on invention and solving problems from different approaches.

Femicide in Guatemala Essay Example for Free

Femicide in Guatemala Essay Femicide in Guatemala â€Å"Six women and girls were killed in Guatemala last week in one day alone. Two of the girls, about 6 and 12 years old, were found strangled to death in a street in the capital Guatemala City wearing their pajamas† (Moloney 1). Guatemala has the third highest rate of Femicide in the world. Femicide is defined as the killing of a woman by a man because she is a female. In Guatemala, a significantly high number of femicide cases have been reported and I strongly believe that this is a very troublesome and unhealthy issue for the population. More than 3800 females have been murdered in Guatemala since the year 2000 and this is just the official number. This clearly suggests that numerous innocent women are tortured and killed by men each day throughout the region. Another report suggests that 512 women were killed between January 1 and October 16 in the year 2012 alone and this is after a 10 percent decline from the previous year. (PCUSA, 1) Most of these cases were reported in the province of Guatemala, which includes the country’s largest city and capital. The fact that this number is still so high despite the drop suggests what an urgent issue this is. There are various reasons for this violent victimization of women throughout Guatemala and is becoming an increasingly pressing issue which needs serious attention. It has been reported that this region is one of the unsafe areas in the world for women. Each day countless women are raped, mutated, forced into sexual slavery and abortions, sterilized and murdered. This creates a sense of fear among the entire population and makes them more submissive to this brutality. Men and women throughout the country live their lives in immense anxiety and stress of losing the women that they love. One of the main concerns regarding femicide is impunity, meaning that most of these cases are not brought to trial. Reports suggest that only 1%-2% of femicide cases are prosecuted whereas criminals have a 98% to 99% chance of completely escaping any punishment or prosecution. This poses a huge problem because women don’t get the justice that they deserve and criminals easily escape. This is very unfair for the innocent women who are victims of such crimes because their offenders don’t receive the punishment that they deserve. Another main reason for this exigent issue is the inability of the Guatemalan authorities to ensure the safety of women. This is to say that the Guatemalan government is so corrupt that they are unable to provide security for women and with the extremely high rate of impunity it is almost impossible for women to find justice. Now, it is very important to understand why these gender specific crimes exist in the region. One of the main reasons for this violent targeting of women goes back to the â€Å"Guatemalan government and military’s 36 year old genocidal counterinsurgency campaign against the country’s Mayan population† (Mychalejko 1). This is to say that the reason behind this problem of femicide exists to destroy the intricate social bonds of Mayan communities. Additionally, â€Å"Gender violence not only terrorizes women in the community, but it also disrupts traditional patriarchal gender relations by sending the message to men that they are not capable of protecting women† (Mychalejko 1). I find this medium of using gender violence to target an indigenous population very disappointing. It is not ethical for a population to kill thousands of women in order to get even with a community. Further, it is believed that this harsh behavior against women is really effecting the male population because such incidents happen so frequently that they are becoming insensitive to such incidents. Men in the Guatemalan society have become normalized to such reports and this can be seen because the crimes are continuing to become more inhumane and frequent. As mentioned above, one of the primary reasons for this ongoing violence against women is the Guatemalan Civil war, which left behind harsh memories of violence and impunity. The increased militarization cause by the ongoing war on drugs also continues to contribute to these high femicide rates. Guatemala is one of the regions strongly involved in the drug trade and thus women are used as collateral damage in the battle between gangs. Additionally, the economic and political climate in the region is not very stable and thus the land a resource conflict also contributes to these innocent deaths. Lastly, it has also been found that the increased involvement of foreign governments, especially US and Canada play an important role in this violence targeted to women. Basically, the Guatemalan government uses the targeting of women as a â€Å"tactical and deliberate tool of political repression (Mychalejko 2). In my personal opinion, not only is this very disturbing but it is also very unfair. Women play an important role in building a society and this unnecessary violence against them is very alarming. Using women as a bait to target the bigger economic and political issues is unethical and should not be practiced by any government. It is impossible for women to find hope and justice in a society where such high impunity exists. This continues to be a never-ending cycle for thousands of innocent women who lose their lives, while the people responsible are let free. Overall this is an absolute shame and mockery of the system. The Guatemalan civil war really contributes to these high rates of gender violence in the country. The aftermath of the war left more than 200,000 Guatemalans murdered, most of who were indigenous. Also, thousands were raped, tortured, disappeared and displaced. The most disappointing part however, is that over 98 percent of the people who engaged in these war crimes were left free. It is this lack of justice that left criminals in the country in power and innocent victims hurt. Therefore, these high rates of femicide are to inform the local population about this harsh past and to remind them that justice has not yet come. In conclusion, I think that we must all focus our attention to this increasing issue of femicide in Guatemala. In the recent times, as the political repression against women in increasing, they are becoming more active in order to prevent femicide. For example, â€Å"In Guatemala it has been proven that as more women participate politically and socially, it brings out more repression. An example is the recent attempt on the life of [the aforementioned anti-mining activist] Yolanda Oqueli† (Mychalejko 3). Yolanda is a leader of FRENAM, a movement that aims to defend land from expansion activities. She was returning home from a peaceful protest when she was shot. I believe that this issue of femicide is one that needs immediate attention. It is absolutely wrong and immoral to use a country’s women as a way of gaining political control. Additionally, the Guatemalan government is extremely corrupted and has a very high rate of impunity, which in turn, allows criminals to go free and possibly even commit the crime again. I suggest that the citizens of the world acknowledge this and do an intervention throughout the region. It is high time that women not be used as a bait to target men or to settle past scores. Women are an integral part of any society and deserve respect and security.

Role of Institutions in Social Policy

Role of Institutions in Social Policy Explore with examples the role of institutions in influencing policy outcomes. The following will discuss the role that institutions can or may have in influencing public policy outcomes, and where relevant examples of such influences will be provided. The role of various institutions will be explored, and any differences in the amount or the importance of those organisations in influencing policy outcomes will be analysed. Included in this study of the influence upon policy outcomes that institutions have, will be an evaluation of whether that influence changes with the type of organisation that is being examined, and upon the circumstances in which the policy outcomes are reached and implemented within. How much influence the roles of institutions allow them in the determination of policy outcomes, or policy decision-making can depend on the functions and objectives of the institutions involved in the decision-making process. The influence any institutions have upon policy outcomes or policy decision-making processes varies with the expertise, knowledge, tech nical know how that the institutions have available, as well as the level of access these institutions have to the decision-makers that are mainly responsible for determining policy outcomes. As will be explored the decision-makers that are responsible for the framing and carrying out of policy outcomes will be more likely to be influenced by the institutions that have the most experience and expertise in the policy areas that the decision-makers are tasked with controlling and administering. An area of policy outcomes in which institutions have played roles in influencing the final policy decisions made and actually carried out has been in issues relating to the environment. Institutions that have been involved in studying the environment in general and environmental changes like the greenhouse effect in particular have been able to influence the policy outcomes in relation to taking measures to limit or reduce environmental damage. Academic and scientific institutions alongside environmentalist groups such as Friends of the Earth have played a significant role influencing policy outcomes. There are a few examples of policy outcomes that could be used in support of this statement, arguably strong supporting evidence as well (Jones et al, 2004 p. 600). These groups and institutions believe they can influence policy outcomes by setting the public agenda (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 5). Prior to the 1960s academic and scientific institutions had a minor role in influencing po licy outcomes with regard to issues concerning the environment. Policy decision-makers would contact institutions that had expertise or knowledge about environmental issues upon an ad hoc basis, for example in the 1950s when the British government wished to solve the problem of smog in the London area. On that occasion institutions gave advice as to the best way of cleaning up the air pollution that had been the cause of the smog (Jones et al, 2004 p. 600). From the 1960s academic and scientific institutions began to suspect that human economic and industrial activities were having a profoundly detrimental affect upon the physical environment. Increased concerns over the environment led to the emergence of pressure groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, these groups have tended to attempt to influence policy outcomes by generating publicity to raise public awareness of environment issues (Jones et al, 2004 p. 695). Arguably, the combined efforts of the academic and scientific institutions and the pressure groups have raised international as well as national awareness of environmental issues. Without the publicity achieved by the environmentalist pressure groups, the academic and scientific institutions would have found it much harder to have had any kind of meaningful influence over policy outcomes relating to the environment. In turn the publicity campaigns of the environmentalist pressure groups would have a had minimal i nfluence over policy outcomes without the strong and convincing scientific evidence of human induced climate change and environmental damage presented by the by the academic and scientific institutions. These were research findings that policy decision-makers believed they have had to react to (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 401). The universal nature and the global scope of environmental issues has meant that institutions and pressure groups have attempted to influence policy outcomes upon a regional or even a global basis as well as at the national level (Jones et al, 2004 p. 599). Now attention needs to be turned to explore when the approach of academic and scientific institutions and environmentalist pressure groups has been able to influence policy outcomes. A good example of this happening was the problem of acid rain, which had its worst affects upon the forests of Scandinavia. Coal fired power stations in Britain were regarded as being the main culprits behind acid rain. Strong scientific evidence produced by research institutions and environmentalist pressure groups proved that this was in fact the case. Pressure from the Scandinavian governments and the European Union coupled with the evidence from academic institutions combined to persuade the British government to take action to solve the problem by cleaning up the emissions from the coal fired power stations (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 406). Perhaps the first significant example of academic and scientific institutions having a global impact as opposed to a national impact over policy outcomes with regard to the environment was over the issue of damage to the ozone layer. During the early 1980s there was increasing scientific evidence of expanding holes in the ozone layer, which is an important barrier against the more harmful effects and forms of radiation emitted by the sun. The depletion of the ozone layer would not be harmful to peoples’ health, and it would increase the environmental damage caused by the greenhouse effect and speed up the process of global warming. Scientific research proved that the hole in the ozone layer was caused by the chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) used as coolants in fridges and freezers, as the propellants in aerosol cans, and in fast food packaging. Media coverage of the problems that the shrinking of the ozone layer was causing increased the ability of institutions to influence policy ou tcomes. International agreement was eventually reached that the use of CFCs would be phased out with less harmful alternatives being used instead (Jones et al, 2004 p. 600). As the scientific evidence of the greenhouse effect grew the role of academic and scientific institutions in influencing policy outcomes has increased as well. Countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and eventually Britain have made efforts to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (Judt, 2007 p. 494). The efforts of institutions concerned with protecting the environment has also strongly affected and influenced the European Union, which has introduced legislation, regulations, and directives for its member states to take policy measures to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and achieve sustainable development. Attempts to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases culminated in the Rio Earth Summit, and the later Kyoto Protocol (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 407). Currently there are ongoing talks to renew the Kyoto Protocol. Over all policy decision-makers have to take into account the environmental affects of the policy outcomes they make decisions on (Coxall , Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 406). An area in which institutions can play a major or significant role in influencing policy outcomes is in relation to medical and public health issue. Hospitals, medical centres, universities, doctors, and nursing unions are all institutions or organisations that influence or attempt to influence policy outcomes. Governments believe that they have a responsibility to ensure that their policy outcomes if possible protect and enhance public health and safety standards. Doctors, nurses, universities, and hospitals also have good reasons to promote public health issues, mainly as that is important part of their objectives as institutions and skilled professionals. When it comes down to these institutions or groups influencing policy outcomes, those that have firmly focused public health and safety objectives are more effective if they have a strong or well developed expertise in their area of specialisation. In Britain the medical institutions that are linked with, or are actually part of the National Health Service (NHS) potentially have a strong influence on health policy outcomes. For instance, doctors and the medical departments of universities have played in developing new medical treatments, diagnosing new diseases, and researching for cures to illnesses. These institutions have helped to progressively improve the quality and quantity of healthcare services and medical treatments available, allowing for increased life expectancy. For instance organ transplants, better cancer treatments, and drugs that delay the onset of the HIV / AIDS virus have all been developed since the 1960s. These medical achievements were primarily developed to prolong both life expectancy and quality, which after all is the purpose of all medical professions (Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 556). However, universities, medical research laboratories, and pharmaceutical companies also motivated by the opportunities to raise their reputations for expertise, as well as hoping to gain substantial financial rewards (Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 556). Decision-makers that are part of publicly funded health services such as the NHS in Britain can have another major influence over policy outcomes, aside from the influence of medical institutions. That other influence is often decisive in the final determination of policy outcomes, and that is the issue of funding. The majority of the British population has high expectations of the NHS, and they expect or hope that all new medical treatments will be available to patients as soon as those treatments are required. Despite public expenditure on the NHS increasing every year, medical treatments have to be rationed out or provided on the basis of which patients need treatment the most urgently (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 296). The splitting up of the N HS budget into individual budgets for each health trust unit also means that medical institutions now have to attempt to influence policy outcomes at the health unit trust level as well as at the national level. Although the introduction of health trust units was intended to improve efficiency within the NHS, it has also meant that the medical treatments that patients may or may not receive depends on which area of Britain they live in (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 297). Of course those people that chose to have private healthcare there is no worry about their medical treatments being rationed or not available in some areas, all they have to do is have enough money or insurance to pay for their treatment in the first place (Moran, 2005, p. 54). Medical institutions can have an influence over policy outcomes when they diagnose or discover new illnesses, or when they wish to change people’s behaviour to prevent illnesses. When medical institutions diagnose or discover new illnesses it can have drastic consequences, and therefore have a significant influence upon policy outcomes. A prime example of a new illness having such a significant effect on policy outcomes was over the issue of mad cow disease in Britain. The issue of mad cow disease cut across agricultural, trade, and medical areas of government policy. The origin of the crisis began with the farming practice of feeding cattle food that inadvertently used the brains of sheep infected with scrapie, and subsequently led to the emergence of mad cow disease or Bovine Sponigform Encephalopathy (BSE). Medical and scientific evidence proved that BSE could be passed on to humans through the food chain. People infected in such a way went on to develop variant CJD, for wh ich there is currently no cure, and it invariably kills those infected. The initial reaction of the British government to the BSE crisis was slow, and seemed to ignore advice and evidence provided by agricultural and medical institutions in a vain attempt to protect the British beef industry (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003 p. 123). Indeed the slowness of the government’s reaction meant that the problem got better rather than worse. The government’s efforts to maintain public confidence in the safety of British beef proved unconvincing. The testing of cattle herds for BSE infection was too slow, leaving the culling of entire herds as the only means of tackling the problem. The government was also slow in issuing safety guidelines in the NHS which meant that blood and organs unknowingly donated by variant CJD victims was used in blood transfusions and organ transplants which therefore infected more people (Moran, 2005 p. 433). The whole handling of the BSE issue clearly demonstrates that if politicians or policy decision-makers within the government fail to heed the advice of suitably qualified or experienced institutions that it can have disastrous consequences in terms of policy outcomes. Tackling an issue before it becomes an intractable problem can be the difference between damage limitation, and unmitigated policy failure (Moran, 2005 p. 433). The delays in tackling the BSE issue meant that peoples lives were put at risk unnecessarily, whilst the European Union ban on British beef and any of its by-products was highly damaging to the British beef industry (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003 p. 123). The measures taken to restrict and eventually got rid of BSE cases in British cattle. However the gestation period of variant CJD means that it will be some time before there are no cases at all. The BSE free status of British cattle did eventually lead to the lifting of the ban on British beef exports (Moran, 2005 p. 433). Institutions have been able to influence policy outcomes when it comes to taking preventative health measures. For instance, reducing the number of smokers, heavy drinkers, and the number of people that have heart disease. Medical institutions have been aware for quite some time that many health problems are preventable, especially if people change their behaviour. An example of medical institutions having a strong influence on policy outcomes has been in reducing the number of smokers. Smoking has been proven to be a major cause of various types of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and strokes. Anti-smoking groups and medical institutions have sought to influence policy outcomes to reduce the numbers of people killed by smoking related illnesses. Policy outcomes have included a ban on cigarette advertising, government health warnings on packets, and hard -hitting NHS adverts showing the consequences of smoking upon people’s health. Governments have also raised duty levels on cigarettes to persuade people to give up smoking, although this has only had limited success (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 297). The Scottish Parliament took evidence about the harmful effects of smoking from medical institutions, and voted to ban smoking in public places. That decision proved to be the catalyst for the Westminster Parliament to do like likewise in 2006 (Whitaker’s, 2007 p. 1067). Data shows that increasing numbers of British smokers wish to stop, 598,600 attempting to do so in 2006 alone (Schott, 2006 p. 109). Attempts by medical institutions and the Police to reduce heavy drinking have not been so successful. Whilst the government has tried to reduce the amount of binge drinking, most steps have been done voluntarily by the drinks industry to avoid tougher measures been taken. Medical institutions are opposed to heavy drinking due to the medical damage it does, whilst the Police can prove the link between alcohol consumption and crime. The government also decided to extend licensing so pubs could stay open for 24 hours a day, a policy outcome that seems to contradict the objective of reducing alcohol consumption levels (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 330). Britain according to research is the country with the third largest frequency of binge drinkers in the European Union, after Finland and Ireland (Schott, 2006 p. 109). In terms of reducing the risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, and strokes, medical institutions seem to have had more influence with food and drinks producers t han with the decision-makers that decide policy outcomes. Once again the government prefers that companies make their products healthier on a voluntarily basis. Governments also prefer not to alienate too many businesses by affecting their ability to make profits (Jones et al, 2004 p.599). Another way in which institutions can have an influence upon policy outcomes is by being involved with organisations or committees that can determine policy decisions. Such organisations are referred to quangos or quasi-autonomous non-government organisation, and they control many areas of public decision-making and expenditure (Comfort, 1993 p. 493). The definition of quangos is now national rather than non-governmental, as they are part of the governmental structure even they are not part of departments or the civil service. Quangos have various functions and therefore levels of power and budgets. Quangos such as regional development bodies have large budgets, and community institutions could have stronger influences on policy outcomes than national institutions. Other Quangos such as regulatory bodies like Ofgem are meant to regulate private businesses rather then being influenced by institutions (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 332). Quangos therefore have a great deal of inform al power, so to influence with any of them can allow institutions to gain influence over policy outcomes (Jones et al, 2004 p. 663). Potentially institutions could gain influence over policy outcomes by having some of their representatives joining any quangos that operate within their areas of interest or expertise. Alternatively quangos often have the power to award lucrative contracts, or grant funding for research or community projects, that provides further incentives for institutions to gain access to those quangos that can decide policy outcomes. There are quangos that are linked to the relevant government departments, some of which could provide institutions with the ability to communicate with ministers. Some would argue that quangos are undemocratic, and increase the chances of corruption, although ministers can make them accountable to the government if not to Parliament (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003 p.371). Both the Conservatives and New Labour have made widespread use o f quangos when in government as they argued that quangos make governance more efficient (Jones et al p.664). Another way in which institutions are able to influence policy outcomes is through publicity campaigns, and lobbying the government to make decisions that favour their objectives. Such a mode of operation can mean that the behaviour and strategy of institutions is very similar to pressure groups (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003 p. 171). Publicity campaigns can be either positive or negative in their tone, depending on whether institutions want to encourage or discourage certain decisions (Judt, 2007 p. 544). Examples of positive campaigning include universities encouraging the introduction of tuition fees to fund increasing numbers of students, or campaigns to fund new hospitals or new medical treatments (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 272). More negative campaigns have included medical institutions resisting any reforms of the NHS that they do not like. These campaigns have proved highly effective, as even the Thatcher government could not attempt to dismantle the NHS (Judt, 2007 p. 544). Therefore it could be concluded that institutions could play a significant role in influencing policy outcomes. However, no institution is guaranteed to play a significant role in influencing policy outcomes just because it exists. The roles that institutions play in influencing policy outcomes varies with circumstances, whether the government of the day has strong ideological beliefs, the expertise, campaigning skills, and the objectives of each individual institution. Governments will naturally tend to favour the institutions whose views and objectives are similar to their own, although governments also like to pursue policies that improve their chances of re-election. However, that does not mean that governments are unwilling to hear the opinions of institutions if those institutions lobby the government to influence policy outcomes. Institutions are more likely to succeed in influencing policy outcomes if they can provide strong evidence to back up their arguments or policy sugge stions. Governments prefer to adopt policies that they can convince the electorate is necessary to improve public services, could improve the standard of living, or prevent things going wrong. Examples of governments being influenced by institutions that have altered government policy include taking the environment seriously, measures to reduce smoking, and steps taken to deal with the BSE crisis. The failings that the initially inept handling of the BSE crisis demonstrated that institutions cannot always have had an influence on policy outcomes, and may only be consulted after things have gone wrong. Bibliography Coxall B, Robins L Leach R (2003) Contemporary British Politics 4th edition, Palgrave, Basingstoke Fisher J, Denver D, Benyon J, (2003) Central Debates in British Politics, Longman, London Hobsbawm, E (1994) Age of Extremes, the Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991, Michael Joseph, London Judt T, (2007) Post-war – A History of Europe since 1945, Pimlico, London Moran M, (2005) Politic and Governance in the UK, Palgrave, Basingstoke Schott B, (2006) Schott’s Almanac 2007, Bloomsbury, London Seldon A Kavanagh D, (2005) The Blair Effect 2001 – 5, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Whitaker’s, (2007) Whitaker’s Almanack 2007 – today’s world in one volume, A C Black, London

An Inspector Calls :: English Literature

An Inspector Calls Productions seen: Â · BBC Television Production (1981) Â · Film Production (1954) Part I J.B.Priestly's play is set in the spring of 1912 in the household of an upper-middle class family in the north of England. The plot of this dramatic play is based around the Birling family's involvement in a young girl's suicide. The Birling family consists of the two parents, Arthur and Sybil Birling and their two children Eric and Sheila. Gerald Croft is soon to become a member of the family as he has recently announced his engagement to Sheila. As the story unfolds we find that each of the family members is partly to blame. Which member however carries the most blame? It is important to realise that J.B.Priestly has made it deliberately difficult to place the blame solely on one person. Having read the play and seen two productions of it, I have come to the conclusion that Mrs Birling is the most to blame. This conclusion was founded for many reasons. One such reason was due to the process of elimination. Each Character, although guilty, has different responsibilities and different degrees of blame due to their involvement with the girl, their reaction to the news of her death, how they compare to the other characters and how the audience would or should perceive them. If we first take Mr Birling, who is questioned by the Inspector first. Mr Birling is described by Priestly as 'heavy looking, rather portentous...in his middle fifties with fairly easy manners....rather provincial in his speech." Birling is fairly successful in his line of work and is always striving to become better. He is self-important and slightly pompous. He could even be described as old fashioned. However he is a warm character and the audience should perceive him as such. Examples of this self importance can be found a lot in the text. For example, on page seven of the text, Mr Birling rambles on about such nonsense like " The unsinkable Titanic", "very little chance of a World War" and of "Russia being technically and socially behind" Mr Birling first became acquainted with Eva Smith when she came to work in his factory two years previously. Mr Birling started off the chain of events which lead to Eva's death by firing her from her job for asking for a pay-rise and ( when the rise was refused) for organising a strike. Although Mr Birling shows relatively little guilt or remorse for Eva's death, I do not feel that he is entirely responsible as at the end of the play he does in fact feel very guilty when the Inspector delivers

Enriques Journey Essay

Just as Enrique arrives, there is tension between his mother and him. They begin to argue about how Enrique had developed bad habits such as drinking and staying out late as well as sniffing glue. These problems do not surprise me because he had been through alot on his intense journey all the way from Honduras. It hurt Lourdes to see her son do nothing but hurt himself and her family because the money he was spending on alcohol should have been sent back home to help pay for school. Enrique also put his mother down by constantly making her feel guilty for leaving and that she did not deserve to call herself his mother. Looking back at the relationship between them before she left, I thought that their relationship would have been stronger than ever after not seeing each other for years and that he would appreciate the fact that he found her unlike many of the other immigrants that search for years and are still unable to find their family members. Enriques motivation to stay in the United States is work and buy a house back in Honduras not to mention the amount of money he is making allows him to afford a lot more than he could back in Honduras. He wishes to continue working so he can support his girlfriend and his daughter back home in Honduras as well as buy a house so that he can move in with his girlfriend and daughter and finally be a family. He thinks that his girlfriend is cheating on him and he realizes that he wants to be there for his daughter and raise her before she calls someone else her father. Rather than Enrique moving back home he decides that he wants his girlfriend and the baby to move to the United States with him. I believe that there is so much conflict between Enrique and Lourdes is because Lourdes is trying to mother and discipline Enrique when she was not there raise him so he feels as if she is not his mother anymore. If she had not left and raised her family as her own they would not have any problems with their relationship and most likely Enrique would have not got himself into trouble by abusing drugs and drinking too much. I believe once Enrique begins to pick up his act and stops abusing drugs and drinking and coming home late his relationship with his mother would become better as well as eing able to function the next day and able to perform well at work so he can earn enough to visit his family back home in Honduras. I believe that Enrique made the correct decision coming to the United States, although he put his life in danger he reached his goal and finally got to see his mother after many years. Despite making the same mistake as his mother and leaving his girlfriend and daughter for a job to help pay for their needs, I believe it is necessary because if Enrique was back home there was a chance he could not have even had a job and then he would have had no way to support his family. He gained many things by coming to the United States. He had an opportunity to provide a decent living for his family as well as reuniting with his mother even though it was not easy for them at first. Enrique, on his journey, lost his sense of pride. After being harassed by so many times by the local police, he had nothing left to the point where it would have made no difference if he had died. He is in jeopardy of losing his family being many thousands of miles away from them, his girlfriend could leave him for someone who is making a better living in Honduras and would be able to be there to help raise their kids.