Corporate social reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate social reporting - Essay Example In a similar manner, disclosing the information associated with the corporate social responsibility activities is an important part of the daily functioning of organizations. Importance of CSR Reports The importance of CSR reporting has emerged because of the lack of dependence on the information provided by organizations, as opposed to their actual contribution towards the society. From the academic point of view, there is an accepted theory that discusses the factors responsible for motivating companies in disclosing their CSR information. Most of the information disclosed in the CSR reports was previously considered as the activities or decisions belonging to the private domain of corporations. The theoretical evidences suggest that companies disclose information associated with CSR activities to the public, in order to satisfy their prime needs and reflect an extremely responsible image towards the society. The legitimacy helps organizations in achieving the main purpose of attai nment of sustainable profitability as an important goal of the business. The corporate sector gives huge economic profit to the environment and society. However, in spite of the advantages, there remains an increasing concern related to the wastage or abuse of resources in the society. The society offers huge benefits to the corporate sector, which is why, it has the right of seeking information associated with what the organization returns to the society. The increasing awareness concerning the natural resources is responsible for the decision of legitimacy of companies, which in turn increase the necessity of disclosing CSR information. Stakeholder’s theory According to P.A. Stanwick & S. D. Stanwick (2006), the business relationship must be occupied with a large number of managerial researches (Tilt, 1997; 2007). The stakeholder’s theory addresses to questions where stakeholders require special attention. Approaches to this kind of question are determined by the rel ationship between organizations and the stakeholders. It is done on the basis of exchange transactions, legitimacy claims, power dependencies and various other claims. The researchers have integrated the stakeholder’s theory with the help of various managerial perspectives, mainly the theories belonging to governance and agency. The stakeholders theory have been an useful frame, being both normative and instrumental, for measuring the role of NGOs in developing and adopting environmental standards. The stakeholder management offers theoretical base for proper understanding of the necessities of the stakeholders and function accordingly. Legitimacy Theory According to Brennan & Merkl-Davies (2013), Legitimacy theory can be explained in the following manner: Every organization seeks legitimacy from the public by ensuring the fact that their value system is congruent with the value of the community, within which it is performing its business operations Deegan & Rankin (1996) hav e identified four different strategies with the help of which the organizations improve their self-image, thereby gaining legitimacy. They can seek legitimacy from the public by informing them about the real changes in the behaviour, followed by bringing a change on the perception of general public, without causing any change in the actual behaviour,

Tiananmen Square Incident and the Chinese Government

Tiananmen Square Incident and the Chinese Government Question: Why did the Chinese Government crackdown on Student protestors during the Tiananmen Square Incident? Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of sourcesThis investigation will focus on the research question: Why did the Chinese government crackdown on Student Protestors during the Tiananmen Square Incident? This investigation focuses on the causes of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 The two sources I have chosen to analyze are the April 26 editorial from the Chinese Communist Party and the Autobiography of Zhao Ziyang, who was the General Secretary of the CCP, who was ousted due to the Tiananmen Square Massacre. These Sources help to shed the different perspectives within the CCP, which was split into the hardliners and the reformers. These two perspectives will thus show why the Chinese Government had decided to crack down on the Student Protestors during the Tiananmen Square Incident. The first source, the April 26Editorial[1] by the CCP, originated from the Propaganda Department in the Peoples Daily Newspaper, and ordered by Li Peng, a member of the standing committee, in response to the Tiananmen Protests taking place. This source is valuable firstly due to its Origin and Content. Its origin shed light on the CCPs official public position with regards to the Tiananmen Square Protest. By doing so, showed that the government was absolutely not in favor of the protests, and by throwing down the gauntlet, it was valuable as it possibly showed the rationale behind why the Chinese Government would intervene and stop these protestors. In addition to this, they chose to publish it in the Peoples Daily, the largest newspaper agency in China. By openly publicizing their opposition, it tries to possibly warn them about their actions, foreshadowing possible action against these protestors, and thus compelling them to stop their protests immediately. Furthermore, it has used extremely strong vocabulary to describe these protesters by labelling them as people who want to destabilize the entire country and advocating for the government to collapse. This strong wording is intended to stir up the feelings of anger within the General Population to not react to these protestors and to stop any possible potential protestors from joining in at Tiananmen. Furthermore, by putting such a label on them, it gives them a good reason to step in and possible defuse the situation in Tiananmen. However, the limitations of this Source is that as it is a propaganda piece originating from the CCP, it is inherently biased as it attempts to portray the student protestors in an incredibly negative light, by making assertions against them. They also play the victim card by portraying Deng Xiaoping and the CCP as being the victims in this situation. The inherent bias in this editorial as they were trying to put their foot down, makes the editorial to be not good explanation for cracking down on the student protestors as it was simply the CCP posturing against the student protestors, and trying to assert authority on the general public. The second source is an excerpt[2] from Zhao Ziyangs Autobiography. Zhao Ziyang was the Chinese Premier, and was seen as a reformer in the CCP. The origin of the source is valuable as it sheds an alternative view in the government, and it is also a primary source, which would suggest that this view is an unfiltered first person point of view. This source is prescriptive as it tells us what happened, thus making it valuable as he is trying to shed light on the secretive inner workings of the standing committee. In terms of content, he writes that he saw the protests as criticism against the government, in order to compel it to reform. This shows that that he held totally different views from those stated in the article and therefore, did not see a good reason to intervene in the Tiananmen protests, which is valuable as it showed that the entire standing committee did not agree with the characterization by Li Peng. However, the limitations to this source is that because it is a primary source, most of it was of the authors opinion, therefore should not be taken up as facts.   Zhao was also overthrown by the CCP in the power struggle during the Tiananmen massacre which would suggest that he would have a motive to assassinate Li Pengs character by portraying him as a hardliner and as cold blooded. Furthermore, the decision to publish the editorial by the standing committee was made when Zhao was not present as he was in North Korea on a state visit. Therefore his reasoning for why the editorial was published might be entirely based on his own opinions. Section 2: Investigation As seen from the evaluation of the two primary sources, the Standing Committee was split in two camps, the hardliners, who felt that the student protestors were out of hands and needed to be dealt with, or the reformers, believed that criticism in the greater scheme of things was good for the government. However, the Standing Committee had in the end, decided to declare martial law and crackdown on the protestors. This investigation investigates the reasons for the crackdown, and how did each reason impact the decision to crackdown on the protestors. The main reason for the crackdown were the political implications from the protests, with the primary reason being social unrest, with fear that the country was going to collapse. This brings in the main debate of this investigation, in what caused the Chinese government to make the decision to crackdown on Tiananmen. This has to be looked at from the fact that the government was split into the hardliners and the reformers, and thus the supplementary questions in this investigation was, How did the hardliners end up getting their way? And how did they view the protestors at Tiananmen such that it warranted such an approach? A huge reason for the decision to crackdown at Tiananmen was because the moderates in the standing committee had been purged. Prior to Tiananmen, the standing committee had held a vote in which it was stalemated at 2-2, with the hardliners, Li Peng and Yao Yilin voting in favor of Martial law, with Zhao Ziyang and Hu Qili voting against, and Qiao Shi abstaining.[3] This shows the true split nature of the Standing Committee. It was then referred to Deng Xiaoping and the party elders and they then supported Martial Law. However, the most significant part was that Deng Xiaoping supported Martial Law. According to Zhao Ziyangs diaries as well the Tiananmen papers, it was said that the April 26th editorial came out of a visit to Dengs house where he mentioned the turmoil faced by the country as a result of the student protests was a most serious political struggle.[4] Deng was seen as the paramount leader and exerted influence over the entire CCP. With Deng on the side of the hardliners, it set the stage for anyone against the crackdown to be purged. This connects to the reason for the purge, which was due to their split in the way they viewed the protests. The hardliners saw it as an act to disrupt the entire government while the reformers saw it as criticism to help them improve the government. From the hardliners perspective, they felt that it was in the public interest to crack down on the protestors. Public interest is defined by, Welfare of the general public (in contrast to the selfish interest of a person or group) in which the whole society has a stake and which warrants à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ protection by the government[5] These aims were to ensure that the country will not fall into turmoil and result in protests all over the country, leading to anarchy in China. This can be seen from official CCP transcripts and documents, and these include the 26th April editorial as well as the Li Pengs speech to a CCP conference of municipal and army officials declaring mar tial law. Firstly, the April 26th editorial[6] stated that these students wanted to poison peoples minds as well as plunge the country into chaos, and ends of by take positive action and quickly stop the disturbance. This shows that the CCP viewed these students are people trying to bring down the entire state institution and had to be stopped as it threatened everything that China had built such as a growing open economy with the four modernizations. By threatening the status quo, and framing the protestors in such a way, it shows that the CCP did want to ensure that the status quo remain and that the process of modernization could continue, bringing prosperity to the people. Secondly, when the CCP declared martial law in May, Li Peng outlined the reasons in which the Standing Committee had done it. He said that these protestors seek to form an opposition, creating a civil war in the process, which showed that he did it to stabilize the country to stop the historical retrogression[ 7]. Therefore, for the hardliners perspective, they did it in the public interests, which was the maintenance order and the status quo. The other perspective of this would be the reformers. In Zhao Ziyangs diaries, it states that they were absolutely not against the basic foundations of our system. Instead they were merely asking us to correct some of our flaws.[8] This shows that he was greatly opposed to the way that the hardliners saw the protestors, and encouraged greater dialogue between the two sides. This shows the contrast on how each side had already labelled the protestors, with the hardliners referring to them as people who want to throw the entire country into chaos, while the reformers had labelled them as people who want to reform the government not destroy the whole institution. This conflict would therefore require the hardliners to purge them as without that, the crackdown could not have taken place. To further reinforce the fact that the hardliners did not want to compromise on their view that these protestors were troublemakers and needed to be dealt with, a third perspective from the army is used. Former army generals had sent a letter opposing the crackdown, saying the peoples army belongs to the peoples army, they cannot oppose the people, but further cannot kill the people.[9] Despite this letter, the general who sent it got arrested. This further shows that the hardliners in the CCP were steadfast in their belief it was for the good of the people, and therefore needed to crackdown on the protestors, irregardless of the cost. In conclusion, the immediate reason for why the Government crack downed on Tiananmen was due to the fact that the moderates were purged, enabling them to have free reign over how to respond to the protestors. However, the major underlying factor was their desire to maintain public order in China, in order for china to not break out into civil war. There are other reasons however, which led to their concerns of the government collapsing. As Deng Xiaoping remarked, If things continue like this, we could even end up under house arrest.[10] These protests took place in the context of the Eastern European Countries overthrowing their communist governments and the government was afraid that due to that precedent, they might be overthrown and be put under house arrest. Reflection This investigation had given me a number of challenges. Firstly, there is a substantially less resources done on this topic as this topic is still controversial in the minds of many. The Chinese government had censored a lot of information about this. Therefore, to find sources which challenge each other was not easy. Furthermore due to the censorship, this research question was especially difficult considering that any mention of the June 4h incident is prohibited, as a result the method of investigation, especially for this topic was heavily dependent on the secondary data I could find. This would therefore lead to my next challenge. The challenges faced when doing a science investigation for example is vastly different, as you are able to test your science hypothesis through experiments but with history, you need to prove it based on sources and your inferences, thus making it a lot more subjective. Secondly, I was challenged with discerning which evidence was the most relevant an d could best illustrate my arguments. A lot of the evidence centered around what actually had happened, and not the causation for it, as the CCP does not release transcripts. Lastly, I realized that a historian must be able to discern the pre-existing biases due to the different sources having possible ulterior motives, in order to have an argument that is unbiased. However, is it possible to historical events are the truth as due to differing perspectives, it is hard to evaluate what the whole truth is. For example, what the CCP has prescribed as the truth becomes the truth in China. When I asked my Chinese friends about this incident, many of them had never heard of the Tiananmen Massacre, which shows the extent of censorship in China, contributing to the difficulty in obtaining sources. Appendix: April 26th editorial published in the Peoples Daily In their activities to mourn the death of Comrade Hu Yaobang, communists, workers, peasants, intellectuals, cadres, members of the Peoples Liberation Army and young students have expressed their grief in various ways. They have also expressed their determination to turn grief into strength to make contributions in realizing the four modernizations and invigorating the Chinese nation. Some abnormal phenomena have also occurred during the mourning activities. Taking advantage of the situation, an extremely small number of people spread rumors, attacked party and state leaders by name, and instigated the masses to break into the Xinhua Gate at Zhongnanhai, where the party Central Committee and the State Council are located. Some people even shouted such reactionary slogans as, Down with the Communist Party. In Xian and Changsha, there have been serious incidents in which some lawbreakers carried out beating, smashing, looting, and burning. Taking into consideration the feelings of grief suffered by the masses, the party and government have adopted an attitude of tolerance and restraint toward some improper words uttered and actions carried out by the young students when they were emotionally agitated. On April 22, before the memorial meeting was held, some students had already showed up at Tiananmen Square, but they were not asked to leave, as they normally would have been. Instead, they were asked to observe discipline and join in the mourning for Comrade Hu Yaobang. The students on the square were themselves able to consciously maintain order. Owing to the joint efforts by all concerned, it was possible for the memorial meeting to proceed in a solemn and respectful manner. However, after the memorial meeting, an extremely small number of people with ulterior purposes continued to take advantage of the young students feelings of grief for Comrade Hu Yaobang to spread all kinds of rumors to poison and confuse peoples minds. Using both big- and small-character post ers, they vilified, hurled invectives at, and attacked party and state leaders. Blatantly violating the Constitution, they called for opposition to the leadership by the Communist Party and the socialist system. In some of the institutions of higher learning, illegal organizations were formed to seize power from the student unions. In some cases, they even forcibly took over the broadcasting systems on the campuses. In some institutions of higher learning, they instigated the students and teachers to go on strike and even went to the extent of forcibly preventing students from going to classes, usurped the name of the workers organizations to distribute reactionary handbills, and established ties everywhere in an attempt to create even more serious incidents. These facts prove that what this extremely small number of people did was not to join in the activities to mourn Comrade Hu Yaobang or to advance the course of socialist democracy in China. Neither were they out to give vent to their grievances. Flaunting the banner of democracy, they undermined democracy and the legal system. Their purpose was to sow dissension among the people, plunge the whole country into chaos and sabotage the political situation of stability and unity. This is a planned conspiracy and a disturbance. Its essence is to, once and for all, negate the leadership of the CPC and the socialist system. This is a serious political struggle confronting the whole party and the people of all nationalities throughout the country. If we are tolerant of or conniving with this disturbance and let it go unchecked, a seriously chaotic state will appear. Then, the reform and opening up; the improvement of the economic environment and the rectification of the economic order, construction, and development; the control over prices; the improvement of our living standards; the drive to oppose corruption; and the development of democracy and the legal system expected by the people throughout the country, in cluding the young students, will all become empty hopes. Even the tremendous achievements scored in the reform during the past decade may be completely lost, and the great aspiration of the revitalization of China cherished by the whole nation will be hard to realize. A China with very good prospects and a very bright future will become a chaotic and unstable China without any future. The whole party and the people nationwide should fully understand the seriousness of this struggle, unite to take a clear-cut stand to oppose the disturbance, and firmly preserve the hard-earned situation of political stability and unity, the Constitution, socialist democracy, and the legal system. Under no circumstances should the establishment of any illegal organizations be allowed. It is imperative to firmly stop any acts that use any excuse to infringe upon the rights and interests of legitimate organizations of students. Those who have deliberately fabricated rumors and framed others should be in vestigated to determine their criminal liabilities according to law. Bans should be placed on unlawful parades and demonstrations and on such acts as going to factories, rural areas, and schools to establish ties. Beating, smashing, looting, and burning should be punished according to law. It is necessary to protect the just rights of students to study in class. The broad masses of students sincerely hope that corruption will be eliminated and democracy will be promoted. These, too, are the demands of the party and the government. These demands can only be realized by strengthening the efforts for improvement and rectification, vigorously pushing forward the reform, and making perfect our socialist democracy and our legal system under the party leadership. All comrades in the party and the people throughout the country must soberly recognize the fact that our country will have no peaceful days if this disturbance is not checked resolutely. This struggle concerns the success or failu re of the reform and opening up, the program of the four modernizations, and the future of our state and nation. Party organizations of the CPC at all levels, the broad masses of members of the Communist Party and the Communist Youth League, all democratic parties and patriotic democratic personages, and the people around the country should make a clear distinction between right and wrong, take positive action, and struggle to firmly and quickly stop the disturbance. Excerpt from Prisoner of the State, Zhao Ziyangs Autobiography With Li Peng presiding, Li Ximing and Chen Xitong vigorously presented the student demonstrations as a grave situation. They disregarded the fact that the student demonstrations had already calmed down. In fact, student opinions had begun diverging. Some of the students believed that they should resume classes and had already done so, while a minority opposed the return to classes. Internal friction had become apparent in some schools. Some of the students had attempted to resume classes, while other, more extreme students had blocked the entrances to the classrooms to prevent them from entering. This shows that for some students, the activities had not fully satisfied their need to vent their anger. If measures were to be taken to reduce tensions, to have dialogue, and to allow students the chance to propose certain reasonable requests, this was a good time to do so. However, in their report, they [Li Ximing and Chen Xitong] went so far as to state, Nationwide, large-scale demonstra tions including the participation of high school students and workers are being organized and are fomenting. They also reported that university students in Beijing have sent contacts to places around the country and have conducted fund-raising in the streets to prepare for activities on a larger scale. They denounced the extreme opinions of a few students, especially remarks directed specifically at Deng Xiaoping. They presented the demonstrations as opposing the Communist Party and targeting Deng Xiaoping personally. With the onset of reform, students, especially college students, had been exposed to many Western ways. Remarks critical of political leaders were made casually and considered inconsequential; the intense climate [of fear] that existed during the Cultural Revolution* and before no longer existed. Many of these student remarks targeted me, such as those that accused my children of making business deals utilizing official resources or those that claimed that trainloads o f fertilizer had been sent to my hometown. With hundreds of thousands of people involved, its impossible for there to have been no extreme or one-sided comments. Things appear extremely grave if you select only the ten most extreme statements being expressed by all of the people involved. I am not sure what was behind Li Ximing and Chen Xitongs behavior: either their old mentality of class struggle was at work or they had other ulterior motives. The student demonstration was deemed an organized and carefully plotted political struggle, and was documented as such in the minutes of the meeting. Li Peng, Li Ximing, and Chen Xitong were the ones initially responsible for this. On April 25, Li Peng and [President] Yang Shangkun reported to Deng Xiaoping about the Politburo Standing Committee meeting. Deng Xiaoping had always tended to prefer tough measures when dealing with student demonstrations because he believed that demonstrations undermined stability. After listening to their repor t, Deng immediately agreed to label the student demonstrations anti-Party, anti-socialist turmoil and proposed to resolve the situation quickly, in the manner of using a sharp knife to cut through knotted hemp. When I had visited him on April 19, he had agreed with my position. On the 25th, after being briefed by Li Peng and Yang Shangkun, he had changed his mind to agree with their assessment. After all, it coincided more closely with what he had really believed all along. Dengs discussion with Li Peng and others on April 25 was supposed to be an internal affair. However, Li Peng decided to disseminate the contents of Dengs remarks that very evening to Party cadres of all levels, and paraphrased their talk in the editorial that he had the Peoples Daily publish on April 26, publicly designating the student demonstrations as premeditated and organized turmoil with anti-Party and anti-socialist motives. Bibliography April 26 Editorial. April 26 Editorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017. Zhao Ziyang, Bao Pu (Editor), Renee Chiang (Editor), Adi Ignatius (Editor). Prisoner of the State. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017. Nathan, Andrew J. The Tiananmen Papers. Foreign Affairs, vol. 80, no. 1, 2001, Public interest. BusinessDictionary.com. WebFinance, Inc. March 18, 2017 Li Peng Speech Declares Martial Law. Li Peng Speech Declares Martial Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017. Polumbaum, Judy. Making Sense of June 4, 1989: Analyses of the Tiananmen Tragedy. The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, no. 26, 1991, pp. 177-186., Abas, Melanie, and Jeremy Broadhead. The Tiananmen Square Massacre. BMJ: British Medical Journal, vol. 299, no. 6693, 1989, pp. 269-270., Ingraham, Catherine. Gate of Heavenly Peace. Assemblage, no. 20, 1993, pp. 44-45. [1] See Appendix 1.1 [2] See Appendix 1.2 [3] Nathan, Andrew J. The Tiananmen Papers. Foreign Affairs, vol. 80, no. 1, 2001, pp 22. [4] Nathan, Andrew J. The Tiananmen Papers. Foreign Affairs, vol. 80, no. 1, 2001, pp. 11, [5] public interest. BusinessDictionary.com. WebFinance, Inc. March 18, 2017 [6] See Appendix 1.1 [7] Li Peng Speech Declares Martial Law. Li Peng Speech Declares Martial Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017. [8] Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017. [9] (Chinese) Wu Renhua, 89à ¥Ã‚ ¤Ã‚ ©Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ®Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ ©- ¨Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ºÃ¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¤Ã‚ §Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ºÃ¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ®Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¡5à ¦Ã…“ˆ21à ¦- ¥ à ¦Ã‹Å"Ã… ¸Ãƒ ¦Ã…“Å ¸Ãƒ ¦- ¥ N.p. N.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017 [10] Nathan, Andrew J. The Tiananmen Papers. Foreign Affairs, vol. 80, no. 1, 2001, pp. 20,

The Theme of Racial Intolerance in Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

It is commonly argued that ‘Heart of Darkness’ is nothing more than a racial tirade from a misinformed Englishman. Although Conrad is not misinformed and has no intention of fronting a racist point of view, when the treatment of Africans in the text is closely examined, the theme of racism is presented so deliberately all other themes merely fade into the background. Conrad’s evocation of the African environment and population preaches racial intolerance and creates a stark contrast between the life of Europeans and Africans. The constant slandering of the African population as â€Å"niggers† and â€Å"cannibals† and â€Å"savages† and the referral to the continent as an immense â€Å"Heart of Darkness† are the base examples of this racial intolerance. But despite this racist viewpoint, Conrad is merely conveying the language and prevailing attitude of the day; that Africa is considered as subordinate to Western civilization. However, Marlow’s observation of the Indigenous population of Africa develops on the idea of racial intolerance. The dancing Africans on the riverbank yield the first example of t...

Changes in Political Culture Between 2004 and 2008 Essay

After reading all of the lecture notes and spending quite some time browsing the internet, I found three things that dramatically changed between the 2004 and 2008 Presidential elections. Media influence, technology and the change in demographics played major roles in the 2008 elections. Media influence was the number one change between 2004 and 2008. Although the media played a big part of the 2004 elections, that election does not compare to the media frenzy of 2008. In 2008, television became the primary medium for conveying the campaign to Americans. The television channels devoted hours a day to observing every small item, almost all of it live. Little was said back and forth between the campaigns that were not reported quickly by a media outlet. Across the medium, 67% of the time on cable came from talk format or live standup. Only 23% came from reported pieces in which correspondents have control of the message. (2) What press stories made a difference in 2008? There was more reporting on the background and character of candidates during the primaries, when the process of discovery was new and went on longer. Yet arguably, the two most important stories about Obama came from a church DVD (the sermon by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. ) and a tape made by a blogger doubling as a supporter (Mayhill Fowler) ,working for Huffington Post, who recorded Obama’s statement about bitter small-town voters. The reporting on Sarah Palin’s background in Alaska by various news organizations probably represents the most memorable example of first-hand, pro-active reporting into candidate backgrounds during the general election in 2008. 2) These are just a few of the examples of how the media bandwagon was so influential during 2008. It does not matter the party affiliation or beliefs, we all followed a certain media outlet of choice during that time. The second change between 2004 and 2008 was that Americans decided to get out and vote. Mainly due to the media frenzy, Americans stormed the ballot boxes none the less. Demographics were a very close second to the media during this time of change . The change in numbers is almost unbelievable. The electorate in last year’s presidential election was the most racially and ethnically diverse in U. S. history, with nearly one-in-four votes cast by non-whites, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center. (3) The unprecedented diversity of the electorate last year was driven by increases both in the number and in the turnout rates of minority eligible voters. Much of the surge in black voter participation in 2008 was driven by increased participation among black women and younger voters. The voter turnout rate among eligible black female voters increased 5. 1 percentage points, from 63. 7% in 2004 to 68. 8% in 2008. Among all racial, ethnic and gender groups, black women had the highest voter turnout rate in November’s election — a first. Overall, whites made up 76. 3% of the record 131 million people who voted in November’s presidential election, while blacks made up 12. 1%, Hispanics 7. 4% and Asians 2. 5%. The white share is the lowest ever, yet is still higher than the 65. 8% white share of the total U. S. population. (3) The third and final thing that changed between the 2004 and 2008 Presidential elections was technology, especially the internet and social media sites. According to a survey conducted by Complete and released by Cisco about the influence of online video and social media applications on American’s political engagement, the Internet was cited by 62 percent of respondents as a regularly used source for 2008 presidential election information and coverage, which was surpassed only by television (82%). Nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) says that they regularly learned something about the campaign from the Internet; almost double the percentage from a comparable point in the 2004 campaign (13%). (4) The Internet has, and has forever, changed the role of how presidential campaigns are fought, and how Americans attain their political news and information. â€Å"Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not be president. Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not have been the nominee,† said Arianna Huffington, editor in chief of The Huffington Post, at a conference on ‘How Politics and Web 2. Intersect,’ at the Web 2. 0 Summit in San Francisco. (4) â€Å"The tools changed between 2004 and 2008. Barack Obama won every single caucus state that matters, and he did it because of those tools, because he was able to move thousands of people to organize,† Joe Trippi said. (4) In conclusion I can definitely see the major changes in political cultu re between the 2004 and 2008 Presidential elections. I also believe these changes started around the 2006 general elections and continued to progress for the next 2 years. It will be very interesting to watch the 2010 general elections and 2012 Presidential election to see how much influence the media and internet have. I think it will only progress until there is literally a live camera around anytime a candidate is in a public setting. Hopefully the trend of people getting out to vote is here to stay. For as Louis L’Amour said â€Å"To make democracy work, we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers.

Influence of Religion on Developing Societies Essay

Religion has always had some influence on civilization. From the past to the present it has shaped the way civilizations interact, communicate and even fight wars. Religion started out with the different complex societies instilling their rules upon families and then allowing those kinds of families to organize into local government systems. Religion influenced economies to flourish and expand so that trade could be developing thus reducing the threat of war among empires. The importance of religion could never be under stated because it’s influence on politics and the different ethnic groups. However the three religions that have affected civilizations throughout the existence of man have been Islam, Judaism and Christianity. I hope to show how those religions shaped the minds of philosophers, scientists and priests throughout the existence of human beings. In my research I also hope to show how religion forced communities to bond with one another in other to worship God the way they would like without the infringing upon someone else views and I hope to show how conflict influenced the politics of every society. This would reveal how religion plays a big part of our lives whether we believe in God or not. This research also will show how religion influences our present world. The three religious beliefs all do their part to establish a foundation in man’s heart to build a better society, culture and communications with one another. Religion will always influence our beliefs, our civilization, and our moral values. Without Religion societies are dead in the water. Islam is an important part of today’s society and culture. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in our world. From generation to generation this religion has influenced much of the Muslim countries such as those in the Middle East, Europe and even in the United States. Many in the Jewish and Christian communities consider the Muslim religion as being a reason why there is also conflict in the Middle East over a tiny piece of land called Palestine. This was a land in which religion played an important role in the boundaries and communities that existed during that era. However throughout history, the Islamic religion has been in conflict with other religions that were called â€Å"Infidels† because of their unbelievers in following teachings of the Quran as inspired by Muhammad. This has been the main conflict of the religion of the Islamic with other religions and faiths. Mohammad Nafissi (2005) points out: The ideal type of reformation proposed here is capacions enough no include both Christianity and Islam, but it is also sufficiently determinate to retain and explain the distinctive trajectory of Islam and Islamic reformism. At present certain explicit Koranic injunctions and aspects of the Prophet’s tradition, sunna, and the orthodox Islamic law, sharia which purports to synthesize both as a comprehensive set of lasting rules of conduct, apparently stand opposed to central tenants of modernity, gender equality, and equality in law and rights between Muslims and non-Muslims or separation of religion and state. The suggest a prima facie case for the view that Islam is an obstacle to modernity, democracy, and economic progress. (p. 3) Muhammad was influence by some elements of Judaism and Christianity. Both of those religions believed in Monotheism and this had an impact upon the thinking of Muhammad who also taught again idolatry. However Muhammad believed that Jesus Christ was an ordinary prophet just like Peter, Paul and others. Mohammad Nafissi (2005) further notes: The centerpiece of the Islamic reform of Judaism and Christianity was a rationalizing agenda that synthesized them as what can be accurately described as a Judeo-Christianity that anticipated Protestantism in some areas and went beyond it at least in one crucial respect, Mohammad did not deny the ministries of Moses and the Jesus, but claimed to have been sent to purify the corrupted Judaism and Christianity at the time. Jesus was a prophet, but to worship him as a divine was precisely the mark of pagan magic, ignorance, and neglect of the one supreme God that had sent Mohammad and all the preceding prophets. p. 7) This ancient view has been the origin of conflict against Judaism and Christianity to the 21st century. It has caused cultures to collide against each other and millions of innocent people have suffered hardships due to wars, terrorists, bombings, and commendations. Islam is specially has a hatred of Jewish people because of their claims to be God’s chosen people. (Evangeliou, 2003) The Jewish has been the center piece of the nation of Israel for centuries. The nation is one of the tiniest on the planted however it is one of the strongest military and intelligent people in society. Their culture has been studied and copied for ages. Judaism is a religion that can be traced back to the Jewish people that believed in the worship of one God. History showed that in those ancient times many complex societies worshiped different deities. This led to many different groups and communities that had placed status, magic and other strange views that influenced events in that era. Judaism is known in our present society because of the â€Å"first chapter of both the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible†. (Sanders, et al. , 2006, p. 6) It is also noted the accounts of several events that end up shaping the world then and now. The monotheism belief influenced the heart and spirit of many in the Jewish culture. This is extremely important because of how it was able to grow in influence throughout the ancient world to the world that we live in today. Historical accounts of the Judaism reveal many concepts and practices that many cultures and civilizations still uses today. An example would be the eating of certain kinds of meats for dietary bases; the military planning that enable a young lad name David to defeat the great Philistine champion names Goliath. pg. 72) The development of many methods to help understand our universe and the environment all come gets its foundation from Judaism. The role of religion played in influencing the Jewish woman in loving their family and devoting their lives to God and their homes. Politically, religion was the foundation that influences one section of the tribes of Israel to break from tradition and form their own government. (Para. 2) Religion also influenced economies in the Jewish civilizations. Complex societies were formed that religion could dictate to the rule of law and expand their beliefs to other societies. In my studies I found that the concept of many of the complex Judean societies formed cities and states to maintain some order and to create a form of government that would follow the principles of the Torah that was given by Yahweh. (Bentley, et al. , 2008) Religion influence how the Jewish people traveled and intermingle with other ethnical groups in different parts of the ancient world. However there was another religion that has its part in the influencing its faith into the ancient world. Christianity is the best known for impact upon the world in the ancient era through our present. Christianity is a religion can be traced as far back as the first century. This religion centers on the life Jesus Christ and the early church. It is the belief that Jesus Christ was the son of God who came upon the earth to sacrifice his life to save man from their sins and have everlasting life. This doctrine is unlike from what the Jewish and Islam beliefs are. The Judaism religion still awaits their king to come and save them from this world while Islam followers have a firm belief of Muhammad as being a prophet with the same divinity as Jesus Christ. When you look at the history of Christianity as it is written, accounts indicate that Christianity formed societies, complex communities, armies, and economies all over the world. What I found so interesting was how fast Christianity was able to spread in parts of Europe, Asia, Northern Africa and finally to America. This doctrine affected how people lived, interact, and worked to support themselves. The belief that Christianity offered a deliverance from a world of wars, conflict, diseases, sin, and intolerance is the driving force behind Jesus Christ. Researcher has found that Christianity started around the first century C. E. (Sanders, et al. , 2006 p. 221) The Jewish sects didn’t like how the Roman Empire how they took control of Palestine. (Para. 2). This led to a new to a new religion and the need to have written records pertaining to the words of Jesus Christ. (Pg. 222) History indicates that a Jew named Saul who was â€Å"trained as a rabbi and scholarly religious leader in the Jewish tradition† (Sanders, et al. , 2006 Para. 1) was converted to Christianity on the road to Damascus. After the vision, Saul followed God’s word and changed his name to Paul and became was instrumental in testifying about his experience and converting both Gentiles and Jews to the new religion. What Christianity done is to give communities a foundation to build a culture, government, and economy based on Christian principles. Christianity was somewhat different than Islam and Judaism because it didn’t teach to judge people but allow God to be the one who would judge individuals by the way that person lives his/her life. Some fractions of Islam have a firm belief in going to heaven if they kill innocent people for being unbelievers. This is what makes Christianity stand out among others in the world. Christianity is a bridge to God not to wage war against unbelievers or to force people in communities convert but give the world a new religion based on love, peace and the vision of being delivered from sin. In every era Christianity has influenced the changing of cultures, economies and governments. The role of government in modern times have all developed on the foundation of three principles, either you are of Jewish, Islamic or Christian faiths. Many wars and conflicts have resulted because of the views of their religion beliefs. Scholars and theorists have often debate about the role of religion in the lives of society. This has caused a battle between the three main faiths in today’s societies. Scott Thomas (2002) notes† One of the main debates among theorists of the international relationships is the nature of The social bonds that hold states together as an international society. This debate has Brought together theorists of the otherwise sharply contending schools of neorealist Structuralism. The current versions of the traditions of Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, And Rousseau) and of neoliberal institutionalism (the contemporary forms of traditions From Grotius, Kant, Bentham, and Rawls). (Pg. 110) This debate involves the resurgence of religion that is dictating the modularization of our global world. It is affecting how we eat, work, build, socialize, and communicate with others. This resurgence is gro wing so fast that it will eventually become one religion. Christianity will be the religion that will dominate the world in our present and generations to come. People see and form their own opinions about religion. When religion can provide a better life for poor, the elderly, the family structure, and then it will achieve it desire. For the worship of God is for the needy, downcast and others that long for a change in their lives. Christianity is the religion that is best suited for the masses. Research indicates, that when communities feel comfortable about being able to worship they have a desire to live better lives, work harder , form interpersonal relationships and become productive in society. Many political leaders throughout the ages have made promises of wealth, religious freedom and equality for all however this has not been the case. Thomas (2002) writes â€Å"The failure of this modernizing mythology to produce what is promised, and the failure of the modernizing secular states it engendered, is evident in what is identified as â€Å"Political decay,† (Para. 5) It is a known fact that people do not trust the words of politicians anymore. This is the reason for the resurgence of Christianity in our communities. If there is no form of Christian beliefs to revive our culture and communities, we are going to suffer a long period of hardships, wars, and famine in our lands. The role of Christianity can help reshape the family structure to re include God in every our lives, educate our children and provide a sense of comfort to individuals that need comfort. It will force government to acknowledge how important Christianity is in establishing a good economy and providing human rights to its people. This is the one religion that can bring communities together and enable fellowship by the methods of salvation through Jesus Christ. Without this happening, the world would be without any laws or righteous government to run it. In other words, societies would be dead in the water.