Narrative Poetry Essay

Narrative Poems are poems that tell stories. There is a beginning, which introduces the background to the story, a middle, which tells the action of the event, and an end, which concludes and summarizes the story. What are the origins of Narrative Poetry? Narratives are the oldest form of poetry. Long before there was paper to write on or ink to write with, long before the invention of the printing press, people often shared stories as a form of entertainment. These stories were also often used to relate historical events. In the same way that we spread news through newspapers today, oral stories were used to spread news of historical events long ago. In order to help recall details of the events, people began to use rhyme and rhythm to give their stories a musical quality that would allow the story to be remembered and recalled much more easily. Think about how much easier it is to remember the words to a song than it is to recall all of the words of a short story. That is exactly how narrative poems were originally created. In what ways are narrative poems similar to short stories? Narrative poems have many similarities to short stories. For example, short stories have characters, a setting, a conflict, and a clear beginning, middle and end. Narrative poems have all of these elements as well. Sometimes there may only be one character, or there may be many characters. At times, the setting may be implied rather than obvious, and the conflict may be an internal conflict rather than external. How can we analyze narrative poems? In order to analyze a narrative poem, first read through it with the following questions in mind: Who are the characters in the poem?  What are the characters doing, or what is happening?  Why are these events happening?  How are the characters affected by the action or events?  What can be learned from the poem? Where can we find narrative poetry in our daily lives?  Although narrative poetry is one of the oldest forms of literature, this does not mean it is no longer prevalent in today’s world. In fact, any time you turn on a radio, you can hear narrative poetry on nearly any radio station. The best place to see or hear narrative poetry today would be in songs. Songs are simply poems set to music, and the songs that tell stories are narrative poems set to music.

The Good Shepherd, John 10

Jesus, Our One True Shepherd Tuesday, October 30, 2012 Introduction Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus offers to those around Him, most specifically His Disciples, metaphors to help them understand who He is and what His purposes are. Jesus uses common phrases to illustrate His point. He does this twenty-three times in the Gospel of John Repeating important. He begins seven of those important statements with two exceptional words, â€Å"I AM†. These words illustrate his world-saving purpose.For example in John 6, Jesus makes the profound statement â€Å"I am the bread of life† right after feeding a huge crowd and speaking of Moses and the manna God gave from Heaven. Without the manna, the nation of Israel would not have survived their time in the desert. Later, in John 8 Jesus speaks of walking in light versus darkness, and makes the statement, â€Å"I am the Light of the world†¦Ã¢â‚¬  We know that a belief in Jesus allows us to walk in the light, to be out of the darkness of sin and death. By the time we reach chapter 10 in the Gospel of John, Jesus is going say again, twice, an â€Å"I AM† statement.The rest of this paper will focus on John 10:1-18. It is important however, to understand that what Jesus is doing in these verses is in the midst of a long line of hugely important moments between Him and those He came to save. In the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus makes two huge â€Å"I AM† statements. The first one Jesus speaks to is addressed in verses 1-10, and is spoken in vs. 7, â€Å"I AM the door of the sheep. † The second comes later in vs. 11, â€Å"I AM the good shepherd. † In John 10, the structure of the passage comes in two parts, yet concludes with one main theme, Jesus is our true Shepherd.The paper will take a look at the first part of the passage where Jesus talks about being the â€Å"gatekeeper†, and then will shift focus into what Jesus being the â€Å"Good Shepherd† means. While again, each could be looked at independently, the focus of this paper will be to demonstrate that each part works together to help Jesus’ followers then and people today understand what it means for Jesus to be the one true Shepherd. It is important to understand weight of each of the â€Å"I AM† statements that Jesus speaks in John 10. In order to gain a better understanding of the premise of Jesus as â€Å"Shepherd†, here are a few important things to note.First, sheep and goats were two of the most well known and spoken about animals in the Bible. Also, â€Å"sheep and goats require constant care, since they are practically defenseless† and such would require a Shepherd, someone to guard them, and provide a constant watch over them. So now, Shepherds became a pivotal part of God’s story. Shepherds not only tended to the feeding and providing of care for the sheep, they guarded and protected them against thieves and robbers. It was the Shepherd’s sole responsibility to care for and tend to his sheep – to make sure they were accounted for and maintained to the best of his ability.Second, even thought this is the first time in John that Shepherding is mentioned, the other Gospels also discus this ‘job’. It is also, as previously mentioned, seen a huge amount throughout the Old Testament. Think back to David or some of the great Prophets, like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, or Isaiah, and you find a vivid picture of what it means to be a Shepherd, one of the sheep, or part of the flock. In John Chapter 10, Jesus will identify Himself as a Shepherd, and the implications of this are great. Not only does Jesus speak about being the ‘gatekeeper’ of the sheep, He also says that he is the â€Å"Good Shepherd†.Both concepts help to illustrate Jesus’ purpose and one main idea, â€Å"Jesus is our one true Shepherd†. The Gatekeeper In the first part of the passage (John 10:1 -10), Jesus is going to identify Himself as the gatekeeper, the guard and protector of the sheep from thieves and robbers. To understand this properly, and to put the first part of this passage in context, we must go back to what the people would have understood as he said this, and why they would have understood its implications. Ezekiel 34 is the starting point for this analysis. The basic implication of Ezekiel 34 is the rebuking the false shepherds of Israel.Making note that one day He will gather the lost sheep and bring them to Himself, as promised. From Ezekiel, Verses 2, 4-5, and 11-12 â€Å"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, â€Å"Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? † 5 â€Å"They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. † 11 For thus says the Lord God, â€Å"Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 2 â€Å"As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. The idea of false or evil shepherds can also be found in Jeremiah 23: 2-5. 2Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: â€Å"You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,† declares the Lord. â€Å"Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4â€Å"I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,† dec lares the Lord. What Jesus does by introducing the rightful gatekeeper in the first 10 verses of John is to open the door to Him being the true Shepherd for the sheep, His people.When looking at the passages in Ezekiel and Jeremiah, it is easy to see how the idea of false or evil shepherds was standard in this time. Up until this point, Jesus’ greatest adversaries had been the Pharisees, the ones who claimed to be the most righteous and Godly men around. They were the ‘gatekeepers’ to religious law and practice. They held the mandates and seemed to ultimately decide who was right, or â€Å"in† with the Father. The people also listened to them. They paid heed to everything the Pharisees said and did.When Jesus, in the opening verses of John 10 describes thieves and robbers, He is speaking to these individuals, and all the other leaders of the past that had led Israel astray. John 10:3 details how the doorkeeper recognizes the shepherd, and how the sheep hea r his voice and follow. This is such rich imagery. We may not value this as significant, because in the Western World most sheep are herded by a dog, or by the movement from a ranch hand from behind the flock. In the Near Eastern culture this is not the case. D. A.Carson describes it like this: â€Å"The Sheep listen to the shepherd’s voice†¦ Near-Eastern shepherds have been known to stand at different spots outside the enclosure and sound out their own peculiar calls, their own sheep responding and gathering around their shepherd. † Jesus is making a bold statement in verse 5 to say, â€Å"A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. † Jesus is asserting that those who have come before Him, and who have pretended to be His people’s shepherds are nothing more than strangers.He shows that a time will be coming when He will call the names of those whom He loves, and they will know His voice, because they are already His. This moment links us directly to Jesus as Messiah – coming to save those who have been as scattered sheep. Only the one true Shepherd will call His sheep, and only then will the people hear the voice of the this Shepherd. Jesus being the ‘gatekeeper’ is so very important. So not only is the gatekeeper responsible for the sheep in the sense that he decides who will come and go from the fold, Jesus being the ‘gatekeeper’ or the ‘door’, is the means to eternal salvation.Only the one true Shepherd can be held responsible for those who come into the fold. In verse 7 Jesus makes the first â€Å"I AM† statement – He says, â€Å"I am the door of the sheep. † Not only now do the sheep recognize Him as the Shepherd, He now is their passage through the gate into the fold. Jesus points out again in verse 8 that those who came before Him were nothing but thieves and robbers, and that the sheep did not recognize them. The thieves and robbers were only out for their own interests (looking back to Ezekiel 34) and because of this, the sheep are eternally destroyed.But Jesus as the door to the fold, the gate itself, gives life, and does not take it away. Jesus as the one true Shepherd is the only door there is to the Father, the only true gate in which a sheep can enter into the fold. Up until this point, the passage has reflected on the Jewish nation. Jesus as â€Å"The Good Shepherd† will become an even bigger idea, also helping to verify Jesus as the one true Shepherd, and for all people. The Good Shepherd In this portion of the passage, Jesus makes several important claims about His role as the one true Shepherd of the flock.In the earlier verses, this same idea was true, but only for a certain subset of people. As we look through the following portion of the text we will see how Jesus is â€Å"The Good Shepherd† for all, and therefore is the one true Shephe rd of the flock. Right away, John points out something crucial to the passage, and that hints to earlier parts of the passage. He opens up by saying this: â€Å"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. â€Å"He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. This mention of a hired hand again points to those who came before Jesus, who were even there at that time, pretending to be Israel’s shepherds. They, the religious leaders and Pharisees were nothing but hired hands, looking after the sheep yes, but in the sight of danger, they would flee. The ‘hired hand’ cares much more for his own interest than the interests of his flock. We know Jesus to be the complete opposite, and He truly hits it home when He says that as The Good Shepherd, not only will He protect His sheep, He will die for them.Only the one true Shepherd would do that for His sheep. The next portion of the text is also monumental in meaning when it comes to Jesus being the one true Shepherd. Right after Jesus emphasizes that He will know His sheep and His sheep will know Him, He makes a gesture not only to those who already know Him, but also to those who have yet to know Him. From John 10:16, â€Å"I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. The significance of this moment in scripture is profound.Jesus states here that He is the One who will bring all to the fold. That no longer will there be a division between Jews and Gentiles, but that there will only be one flock, with the one true Shepherd. Many times throughout the New Testament this same grand gesture is given to the Gentiles. See Galatians 3: 26-29: â€Å"26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were bapti zed into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 9And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. † This moment says exactly this! Jesus is the one true Shepherd, fulfilling a long foretold promise that He and He alone will bring ALL the sheep into the fold and He will be the only Shepherd. The final portion of this text helps us to understand more clearly who â€Å"The Good Shepherd† is. As The Good Shepherd, Jesus makes some declarations about who He is in not only relation to His sheep but His Father, thus explaining His own sovereignty. Jesus’ life is not taken, it is given up by Him and Him alone.This is why God sent Him. The choice to watch over, guard, protect, and call-in His sheep was the plan, the plan of a great and sovereign Shepherd, who had to give His l ife so that His sheep could live, so that they could go through the gate. Jesus was not forced to be The Good Shepherd, the one true Shepherd, He choose to do this willingly. Conclusion Throughout the first 18 verses of John 10, John helps us to understand the implications and simple delight that Jesus is our one true Shepherd. He does this first by helping us to see Jesus as the â€Å"gatekeeper† or the â€Å"doorway† through which we enter into life eternal.John also tell us of the personal relationship that a Shepherd has with his sheep, and likewise that Jesus has with each of His sheep – He knows them, and they know Him. Furthermore, John points out that there have been and will probably always continue to be, false or evil shepherds that come like thieves or robbers in the night to try and steal or sway the sheep. But in regards to the text, the sheep shall not worry, but rather hear the voice of the true Shepherd and follow Him. The second portion of the text discusses the sovereignty of the one true Shepherd.Jesus, by choice is The Good Shepherd, and subsequently came to be the one true Shepherd for all. By His choice to lay down His life for all of His sheep, we are able to enter into the fold where He will reign as our Shepherd for eternity. If another shepherd offered this same promise, or was able to, then Jesus would not be The Good Shepherd, He would simply be like the rest before Him – thankfully this is not the case. The verses in John 10: 1-18 clearly demonstrate that Jesus is our one true Shepherd, by means that He is not only The Good Shepherd, but also the â€Å"door† that we must come through to have eternal life.There are some implications that come from knowing this. As followers of Christ in the modern age, we are prone to listen to other shepherds – often times even letting ourselves run and follow after other voices. It is in fact shameful how easy and accustomed we have become to listening to the other voices, which try and replace our one true Shepherd. We find it easier to place our faith in the hands of those hired and not the One high above. We become attuned to religious practice and not the stillness of the green pasture that He leads us to.We become fixated on practice and not righteousness, letting ourselves adhere to the rules put in place, rather than the standard in which the fold was formed. We forget that our one true Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep – doing this so that they might be able to live a life, which with Him alone is full. Knowing that Jesus is the one true Shepherd also helps us to know how to be good shepherds to those around us. It helps us to better understand how to tend to the flocks that we are a part of. It helps us to understand how to love on the weak and care for those who wander.Finally, it helps us to understand the importance of truly knowing our flocks. As is found later in John, Jesus commands of those who truly l ove and follow Him – â€Å"feed My lambs,† â€Å"love My sheep,† and â€Å"tend My sheep. † The one true Shepherd offers this for us, and in turn we are to offer it, as He has commanded us, to all. Jesus is our one true Shepherd, and the Shepherd of all. Sited Works: 1. The MacArthur Study Bible, NASB 2006. The Gospel of John, pg. 1557 2. The MacArthur Study Bible, NASB 2006. The Gospel of John, pg. 1564 3. Mattingly, G. L. (2000). Shepherd. In D. N. Freedman, A. C. Myers & A. B. Beck (Eds. , Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (D. N. Freedman, A. C. Myers & A. B. Beck, Ed. ) (1208). Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans. 4. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Eze 34:11–12). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. 5. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Je 23:2–4). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. 6. D. A. Carson (1991) The Gospel According to John, Pg. 382 7. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Jn 10:5). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. 8. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Jn 10:11–12). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. 9. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 995 (Jn 10:16). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. 10. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Ga 3:26–29). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. The MacArthur Study Bible, NASB 2006. The Gospel of John, pg. 1557 [ 2 ]. The MacArthur Study Bible, NASB 2006. The Gospel of John, pg. 1564 [ 3 ]. Mattingly, G. L. (2000). Shepherd. In D. N. Freedman, A. C. Myers & A. B. Beck (Eds. ), Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (D. N. Freedman, A. C. Myers & A. B. Beck, Ed. ) (1208). Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans. [ 4 ]. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Eze 34:11–12).LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. [ 5 ]. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 19 95 (Je 23:2–4). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. [ 6 ]. D. A. Carson (1991) The Gospel According to John, Pg. 382 [ 7 ]. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Jn 10:5). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. [ 8 ]. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Jn 10:11–12). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. [ 9 ]. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Jn 10:16). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. [ 10 ]. New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Ga 3:26–29). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

An Analysis of Ambition in Macbeth by William Shakespeare

An Analysis of Ambition in Macbeth by William Shakespeare In Macbeth, a play set in Scotland, William Shakespeare wrote a tragedy of a man s ambition. In the play, Macbeth is described as a man who has ambitions of becoming king. After the first part of the prophecy by the witches whom he has met returning from battle comes true, he begins to think the second part may also come true, supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good. The witches have predicted that Macbeth would first become Thane of Cawdor and then king of Scotland. Encouraged by his wife, Lady Macbeth, he murders King Duncan who stays as a guest in his castle. Macbeth then becomes king of Scotland. According to his critical essay on Macbeth, Shakespeare and the Hazards of Ambition, Robert N. Watson comments that ambition becomes the enemy of all life, especially that of the ambitious man himself, in this play. In Macbeth, Shakespeare interprets a man s lifelong ambition that seems to be fulfilled, but causes consequences that his mind cannot handle. Macbeth s desire to gain wealth and status completely overpowers him. Macbeth becomes more ambitious as his wife and the witches make him question himself and his desires. Lady Macbeth is the biggest encouragement to his ambition, since she uses her husband s trust to change her own future. In Act I, Scene iii, the witches and their prophecies influence Macbeth s ambition as he begins to consider murdering Duncan, If good, why do I yield to that suggestion/ whose horrid image doth unfix my hair/ and make my seated heart knock at my ribs,/ against the use of nature? Macbeth strongly believes witches words. Also, the apparitions who are called by the witches influence Macbeth by making him believe that he is invincible in Act IV, Scene I, rebellion s head, rise never, till the wood/ of Birnam rise, and our high- placed Macbeth/ shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath/ to time, and mortal custom. In Act I, Scene v, Lady Macbeth also influences Macbeth s ambition, Hie thee hither,/ that I may pour my spirits in thine ear,/ and chastise with the valour of my tongue/ all that impedes thee from the golden round,/ which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem/ to have thee crown d withal. She tries to influence him to kill Duncan. She says, Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it, meaning that Macbeth is not without ambition, but lack of ruthlessness that is needed. When Macbeth decides not to continue with their plan to murder Duncan, his wife urges him to act on his desires or he will think of himself as a coward. She says, Art thou afeard/ To be the same in thine own act and valour/ As thou art in desire? (Act I, Scene iv) She then makes sure he will perform the deed by taking an active role in preparing for the murder: his two chamberlains/ Will I with wine and wassel so convince, ( Act I, Scene vii) and cleaning up afterwards give me the daggers: the sleeping, and the dead/ Are but as pictures; tis the eye of childhood/ That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed,/ I ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, / For it must seem their guilt. (Act II, Scene ii) As Macbeth worries about failing to carry out the plan, Lady Macbeth tells him to screw up his courage and they wouldn t fail. Although Macbeth becomes king of Scotland after killing King Duncan, he cannot have peace. Duncan s sons escape to England and try to avenge their father. Also, the witches predict that his friend Banquo s descendants will be kings of Scotland. Macbeth orders his men to kill Banquo and his son. During the course of the play, Macbeth changes from a person with some moral sense to a man who will stop at nothing to get and keep what he wants. By the play s end, he has lost all emotion. He cannot even react to his wife s death saying that life is only a tale/ told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/ signifying nothing. In Macbeth, ambition is the fatal flaw that causes his downfall. The play shows that one may get easily influenced by other people when he/ she is over- ambitions. After becoming king, his endless ambitions lead him into misery and tragic ending. Being obsessed by the witches prophecy, he even tries to control his future, He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour/ to act in safety. There is none but he/ Whose being I do fear; and under him/ My genius is rebuked, as it is said/ Mark Antony s was by Caesar. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,/ And put a barren scepter in my gripe,/ Thence to be wrench d with an unlineal hand,/ No son of mine succeeding (Act III, Scene I). Macbeth considers Banquo and his son Fleance as threats to his security as King. Although outwardly friendly to Banquo, Macbeth is jealous and fearful of him. Throughout the play, it is Macbeth s ambition that destroys his good nature and forces him to break all moral boundaries. Until he meets the three witches, he is loyal to his king, to his wife, and to his friends. If he had not desired to become king, the three withes prophecy would not have changed his life. All of the problems start to develop when he decides to murder Duncan. He commits the murder because he is too ambitious. If he weren t so ambitious and determined to become king, he would not have to kill Duncan. After all, the witches prophecy influences his fate by turning his ambition into a tragic reality. Although he is initially led to evil by the witches prophecy, he does not hesitate to commit crime. After killing Duncan, he kills Banquo and Macduff s family. Macduff flees to England and then gathers an army to overthrow Macbeth. Lady Macbeth becomes a sleepwalker and finally dies in pain. At the end of the play, Macduff kills Macbeth in battle. Duncan s son, Malcom then becomes the king of Scotland. If Macbeth patiently waited for his time, he would have become king peacefully and have had a chance to enjoy it. The play, Macbeth, shares themes with other stories, with historic and current events, and with individual, personal experiences with which one can identify. Ambition which is one of Macbeths themes can be traced to the issue of corruption in national politics, in sports, and in a terrorist government. The Watergate scandal, the 1988 and 1994 Olympic Games, and Haiti s historic civil unrest are examples of abused power, scandal, and violence in which the players are motivated by ambition.

You can choose the topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

You can choose the topic - Essay Example These finding are alarming and it is a clear call to revisiting safety and health measures at work places. However, work related risks are different in the various sectors with some holding higher risks than others are. This implies that some of the safety and health measures and conditions may differ and hence all organizations should ensure that safety and health measures provided are in line with the risks related to the specific sectors. Therefore, it is the responsibility of every organization to ensure the safety and health of its entire workforce at all times. For instance taking a scenario of a company manufacturing high tech composite components for the US defense department, there are a number of measures that can be taken to ensure safety and health of its workforce. Such companies as the one in reference require significantly many safety and health measures due to the nature of activities carried out in the organization. For starters, the company should ensure to have a well written safety program addressing all the common accidents in relation to the company’s activities. Additionally, the safety program should address all necessary steps that should follow in case of an accident. In manufacturing industries, accidents are prone to happen from time to time therefore it is important to identify some of the most common accidents prone to happen. In a bid to ensure accessibility and frequent revision of these particular accidents, the company can produce some printed copies and attach them on various appropriate sites within the company. Furthermore, it is necessary that the company keeps on updating the written safety program as new accidents occur. With such a program, the entire workforce including new recruits can be alerted on these a ccidents thereby becoming more cautious in dealing with equipment or events attributed to these accidents. In line with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety and health

Key Concepts in Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Key Concepts in Management - Coursework Example is because machines are beneficial for increasing the overall efficiency but it cannot be considered as a tool to communicate with employees (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2008, pp. 56-57). On the contrary, organization provides an environment in which employees can enhance their competencies as well as develop their skills to sustain in the workplace for longer period of time. Machines are usually subjected to decreasing rate of productivity which is not true in context of an organization. A machine can be more powerful than an organization in the initial phases but in case of sustainability it cannot be considered to be effective. Employees or living components of an organization cannot be sustained by a machine for long run. As for sustainability productivity and efficiency are not the only vital components (Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2005, pp.110-111). An effective operation is not enough to ensure longevity as other factors such as work collaboration, high adaptability, incorporating necessary changes etc., is equally important. It can be stated that external forces play a major role in ensuring longevity of a system. Modern organizations to some extent seem to be preoccupied with the idea of maintaining status quo in the industry. However risk is a factor which cannot be eliminated completely from the system. Status quo is often considered to be the most difficult element in terms of sustainability. In the present competitive environment organizations had to strive hard in order to maintain their respective status quo in the industry. However there is often a mindset developed that organizations are performing well and has effectively maintained their status quo. This can be considered to be a prison mindset as such situation is never real in the present business environment (Jackson, Schuler &Â  Werner, 2011, pp. 101-103). In certain context this form of prison mindset develops when a firm possesses a record of outstanding performance and has a reputed image

Corona positive and negative effect on high voltage technology ( Research Paper

Corona positive and negative effect on high voltage technology ( engineering) - Research Paper Example The process by which a current flows into a neutral fluid (air) from an electrode with high potential, by ionizing the fluid in order to create a plasma region around the electrode, is known as corona discharge. Charge is then passed to the nearby areas of lower potential by the ions, or the ions may recombine and form neutral gas molecules. A large enough potential gradients at a point cause the fluid at that point to be ionized and become conductive. A charged object with a sharp point causes the electric field strength around the point to be much higher than elsewhere. When the air around this point becomes conductive, it increases the apparent size of the conductor, making the new conductive region less sharp. This makes the ionization region not able to extend past this local region. Outside the region of conductivity and ionization, the charged particles will find their way to an opposite charged object where they will be neutralized. During the formation of corona, the air around the conductor becomes conductive. This leads to a virtual increase in the effective diameter of the conductor. Due to the increased diameter, the electro-static stresses reduce between the conductors. This reduces the maximum voltage gradient between the conductors. Coronas can be used to eliminate particulate matter from the air streams. The air is first charged, the charged stream is passed through a comb of alternating polarity. This is done to deposit the charged particles onto the oppositely charged plates Corona is able to generate sound energy during its activity. This audible noise can be able to increase during foul weather conditions especially with a lot of rain. Rainwater drops may collect at the surface of the conductors thereby increasing the corona activity, which will make the humming, or crackling sound to be heard especially near transmission lines. Corona is also responsible for causing radio frequency noise especially near transmission lines.

Youth Homelessness in Hawaii Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Youth Homelessness in Hawaii - Essay Example This paper has addressed homelessness amongst the youth in Hawaii, from various angles. The paper starts with an introduction to the issue, then looking down the historical perspective of homelessness in the United States. This is then followed by a narrowed down approach to homelessness among youths in Hawaii. The causes and the impacts as well as the demographics of the issue have been discussed. The paper ends with an insight into the social manner in which this issue can be approached. In this regard, the arenas of social policies have been visited, that is macro, mezzo and micro methods into intervening homelessness. Introduction According to the United Nations and the Conference for European Statisticians (CES) (2009), homelessness can be categorized broadly into two categories; Primary homelessness; this is also referred to as rooflessness. This refers to the group of people who live in the streets without any shelter that would qualify for a living quarter (United Nations, 20 09). Secondary homelessness; these are people who have no usual residence are usually hopping between various types of accommodation that would cater for them such as homeless institutions. The category also includes those who are in various private aboard but cannot quote a usual address during census (United Nations, 2009). Homelessness, can thus, according to the above two approaches, be defined as the condition of lacking a regular dwelling. Legal definitions of this term are very broad and vary from country to country. Various conditions lead to homelessness with the condition proliferating in the mid 80s due to strenuous economic conditions. Most countries, however, have put in place various measures to cater for the homeless. This is mainly and in form of provision of basic life commodities as food, clothing and shelter. This is done by community-based organizations through volunteers or through government agencies. According to Basuk & Rosenberg (1988), homelessness was a pr evalent issue in The United States in the 80s. In their article, they acknowledged presence of about a third of the homeless living in America. Despite these alarming figures, little was known in terms of the causes of the situation, consequences, and the antecedents of the problem. According to research, there are so many conditions being faced by the homeless that are still unmet. This paper focuses on homelessness in Hawaii. The paper will focus on the effects of the situation, demographics, economic trends, effects on families, and other related effects, and the social concern at various levels. Homelessness in Hawaii There has been a large increase in the number of homeless youth in Hawaii. The issue has trickled to Honolulu, a major city in tourism. The increase in the number of homeless people in Hawaii has led to a major outcry from concerned groups such as the church, public service, leaders of the community and the general public. Incidentally, the issue of homeless people in Hawaii is slowly becoming a public issue considering the high rates of publicity that its facing. Such continual cycles of homelessness within the youth in Hawaii is leading to deteriorating behaviors and a rise in crimes. It is a behavior that inflicts on youth in such a manner that one may find some running away from their homes due to the various problems. There are more detrimental effects of homelessness to the community such as increase in insecurity, and poor health and sanitation. It is a common factor to see homeless youth living in sewer lines (Kidd, 2006). Social personnel have the liability of abating this situation through looking into various solutions such as safe housing, access to health care, and maybe try to unite some of the homeless with their families, where

The National Plan of Action for the Garment Industry of Bangladesh Essay - 145

The National Plan of Action for the Garment Industry of Bangladesh - Essay Example The two incidences triggered protest that facilitated the implementation of the Multi-stakeholder Accord on Fire and Building to boost the corporate environment and offered new dimensions in the occupational safety, health, and environmental reporting of the firms in Bangladesh. Besides, the disasters enabled the adoption of the National Tripartite Plan of Action (NTPA) at the local, regional, and international platforms (Khan and Wichterich 11). The Accord and NTPA offered the platform for collaboration of the stakeholders towards enhancing the safety of the workers. It is in this regards that Khan and Wichterich aimed to assess the level of implementation, achievements, and possible hindrances towards the realization of the objectives. Immediately, the NTPA and the Accord attracted public admiration, and the implementers strived to attain the goals. Some of the primary initiatives comprised corrective action plans, capacity building, and inspection of the facilities. Despite the advantages of the strategies and great anticipation, the strategies have no noticeable impacts. The findings indicate the presence of the gendered prejudice and the associated mishandling of the workers according to their genders. It also shows that the labor power and collective bargain is in the preliminary phase. However, the findings evidence significant progress to advance the occupational health and safety. Predominantly, the findings indicate a clash of power negotiations in the global apparel chains with a particular focus on the RMG accumulation (Khan and Wichterich 36). Given the magnitude of the responsibility and public expectations, the study realized minimal advancement that raises issues about the seriousness of the target ag ency and stakeholders. The responsible institutions and stakeholders lost focus and the associated power structures hinder the realization of the goals.

Electric cars and bikes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Electric cars and bikes - Assignment Example Nevertheless, little success has been achieved because each state has some hidden interests on this issue. As a result, the world continues to suffer from increased temperature levels, desertification, and rising sea levels. Different countries such as China have been the most hit. In such areas, the governments have tried to come up with various measures that are aimed at regulating the levels of pollution and greenhouse gases being released in the atmosphere. For instance, Paris has set up policies that ensure that only cars with specific number plates are allowed in the city. Therefore, in order to reduce the level of pollution, the production of electric cars and bikes should be encouraged (Offer 2011). Fossil fuels from cars have been said to produce the highest amount of greenhouse gases to the environment. Electric cars and bikes use clean energy and do not contribute in polluting the environment. Therefore, as a way of protecting the public from adverse effects of pollution, the public should be enlightened on the benefits of using electric cars and bikes. Currently, the number of the middle class in the world is on the rise. This generation prefers the use of personal vehicles, an aspect that has increased the level of pollution in the atmosphere. In order to arrest this situation, automotive industry should be encouraged to produce more electric cars and bikes for the market (Schroede & Traber 2012). Electric cars and bikes are easy to maintain and dispose. With the increasing emphasis on renewable energy, the production of electric cars and bikes would be important in ensuring that a clean environment is achieved. In addition, the batteries used by electric cars and bikes are disposable and can be recycled (Michalek, 2011). This is important in ensuring that a clean environment is maintained. Currently, the economic conditions have been stiffened by high inflation. The

Rolls Royce Essay Example for Free

Rolls Royce Essay a) Company Information. Rolls Royce PLC is the second largest multinational organisation that produces power integrated systems after GE Aviation. Rolls Royce operates in four different types of economic markets which are the civil and defence aerospace market as well as the marine and energy markets. The company makes engines for jets, helicopters, and turboprop aircraft not only do they produce engines but they also install these systems. Rolls Royce PLC has 50,000 engines in service with 500 major airlines. Rolls Royce PLC is a global company that is known in over 50 countries, the name Rolls Royce comes from the last names of its founders, Henry Royce and Charles rolls. The company was initially formed in 1904 to produce cars and car engines. In 1914 it also produced its first aircraft engine, as the company expanded in 1971 it became a PLC, the company was then split into two and sold to a BMW company that is now known as Rolls Royce motor cars LTD. Rolls Royce PLC retained the right of its trademarks so it can use it to operate in the markets it does. Rolls Royce has invested a sufficient amount of money into research n development of its products and technology it uses to produce them. It also invests somewhat  £300 million a year on capital projects. In recent events Rolls Royce was awarded a contract by the ministry of defence to supply those engines for their aircrafts for the next five years, they also secured more than $1 billion worth of orders from an recent air show. b) Information required to aid managers. Managers need to plan ahead they require important information to enable them to run the day to day and future operations of the company. Depending on where your company stands in the economic market and its needs at that particular time it wants to be able to sift through information selecting what is relevant and applying it to the company. Rolls Royce understands how important it is for management data as this coupled with their knowledge and expertise helps them to maximise their operational expertise. Rolls Royce needs information such as income, expenditure and capital employed to be able to plan and prepare budgets for the future this information is very important to Rolls Royce as for example it can help them to work out any repair costs to engines being produced and how many extra components that maybe needed. Forecast is very important for Rolls Royce, as it can help them predict how many contracts they may receive and what companies to target in certain circumstances for example wars are predicted, this means the demand for military aircrafts will increase this will aid Rolls Royce to keep up with changing economic environments. Information such as pricing is also very important to Rolls Royce as they are the second largest company supplying engines to the aviation market they need to be able to set prices ahead of their competitors so they can win large contracts to stay in the game. Feedback from customers is very important not just from the customers Rolls Royce provides to but even to the extent of feedback from the public for example; emirates airlines customers expected more leg room in their planes, not only this the airline through research predicted more first class passengers if there planes where designed with more room and better bathroom facilities for the high class passengers. All this information could help Rolls Royce design and produce larger planes which require larger more complicated engines not only this it could set a new trend of better travel. 2. Management accounting techniques are necessary to run a business effectively. These techniques primarily affect costs and prices within the corporation. I. Budgeting A budget is developed to plan for the future. A company as big as Rolls Royce needs a master budget to predict costs and revenues for the year. Budgets can also be used to control stock levels, predict the amount of staff required on particular projects and how many hours they are required to work. These budgets can be compared with financial statements at the year end to see how consistent they have been in maintaining the budget and targets. Finally, budgets should include funds for investment opportunities, so when these opportunities arise Rolls Royce can take swift action for example Rolls Royce receives an order of 100 engines from an airline to be able to carry out such an order budgeting can help predict how much it may cost to produce these engines not only this but the number of new staff required. II. Benefits As I mentioned budgets can provide objectives and goals. These can motivate people to perform effectively, especially if the workforce was asked to contribute when the budget was set. Budgets can also force managers to make accurate use of Rolls Royces capital. Ultimately, Rolls Royce can organise the organisation because the budget affects all departments not just one due to business activities existing throughout the company. III. Limitation Budgets can reduce motivation in the workforce at Rolls Royce because staff will be under pressure to maintain targets of the budgets. Effects such as these result in stressful staff which may lead to them taking sick leave. Therefore, Rolls Royce will be short staffed in certain situations. A major issue that may arise due to budgets is that of conflict. Conflict can be good and bad in a workforce. In the case of Rolls Royce there might be departments arguing about unfair resources allocation, which is bad conflict. Therefore, if targets are not met, departments will blame each other and this will result in more conflict and a poor organisational culture. Budgets can encourage managers to overestimate costs so that they are not blamed if there is any overspending. Rolls Royce could lose out on lucrative deals if they do not budget for investment opportunities. b: I. Standard Costing Standard costing sets levels of costs and revenues which ought to be achievable when reasonable levels of performance are used, together with efficient working practices, to manufacture a product†. (Harrison, 1998:228) This management technique is very useful for Rolls Royce because they produce their own Engines. This costing method compares predetermined costs of products with actual costs incurred. Rolls Royce can calculate many variances, such as material, labour and overheads. The materials variance will show Rolls Royce how well they use their materials and how cheap they are purchasing materials. E.g. Rolls Royce budget to purchase 10,000kg of materials at  £2.00 per kg totalling to  £20,000, but really purchase 10,000kg at  £1.50 per kg totalling to  £15,000, there is a  £5000 favourable variance. This means that the purchase price of the materials was cheaper than expected. The labour variance will show the rate being paid to workers, and how efficiently the employees have been working. Finally, the overhead variances will show Rolls Royce the difference between overhead rates charged and budgeted on production. II. Benefits By setting standards Rolls Royce can identify weaknesses in the manufacturing system. This will allow them to rectify problems and produce effectively. Setting standards will also motivate people to maintain targets. If targets are not being met managers will be encouraged to review methods to reduce costs. This method represents the correct cost of a product and can inspire managers and employees to improve from year to year on saving costs. III. Limitations To have a well maintained system it will be costly for Rolls Royce but will be worthwhile. Due to prices changing frequently because of inflation, the system will need to be updated frequently which can be time consuming and therefore distracts managers/employees from production. If targets are not achieved, employees can lose motivation and this could affect the performance of the workforce. c) I. Pricing One of the most crucial decisions a company must make is the price of a product. Two main features that must be considered when setting a price on a product is the cost and revenue maximisation. There are three pricing methods; cost based pricing, going rate, and pricing policies. There are various methods of applying cost based pricing, but the most relevant for Rolls Royce is considering total costs. This method covers a profit margin and the cost of the product. This is very important to Rolls Royce as they are not the first largest company providing power systems to the aviation market by setting a price which is lower than GE Aviation its competitor they may be able to attract more contracts for example if GE Aviation Sold 20 engines at $20million Rolls Royce could sell the same amount of engines for $19.5 Million helping them achieve more sales and attract more customers. II. Benefits. Rolls Royce can benefit from cost plus pricing by many ways. Firstly, managers can set a mark up to their desire, there is no fixed limit on mark up but it must be reasonable and competitive. Baxter and Oxenfeldt (1961) state, cost plus pricing â€Å"offer a means by which plausible prices can be found with ease and speed, no matter how many products the firm handles†. (Drury, 2004:432) Finally, if all firms in the market have similar mark up and cost structures to Rolls Royce, there will be price stability, which is good for customers. Rolls Royce can benefit from the going rate because customers will buy from them due to their reputation as they operate in four different markets providing power system even though competitors will have the same price. Loss leader pricing is useful for Rolls Royce because when customers are attracted by a low price of aircraft or engine, it is almost certain that consumers will purchase a higher quantity of these systems. This compensates for the low mark up as more items are sold. III. Limitations. The main limitation of cost plus pricing is that the demand for the product is not taken into account. The going rate on products can be difficult to compare with competitors because; some companies might have lower production costs than others. Using a loss leader strategy to sell items can cause problems if you dont sell all the stock. If this occurs, prices can only be reduced further to clear out remaining stock, which subsequently leads to further losses. d) I. Long Term Decisions (Investment Appraisal) Rolls Royce will need to use investment appraisal techniques to decide whether certain investments will be worthwhile, e.g. supplying 20 Airbus A330 jets to air china. The most convenient method for these examples would be ‘payback. Payback is, â€Å"The time required for the cash inflows from a capital investment project to equal the cash outflows†. (Lucey, 2002:352) E.g. supplying air china 20 airbus A330 jets will cost  £500 million, and the turnover is  £100 million per year, therefore the payback period is 5 years. This method can also be used to decide between two investments, e.g. supplying Air China 20 Airbus A330 or supplying Singapore airlines 30 airbus A330. Depending on the payback period resulting from projected inflows and outflows, the company can decide which airline to supply too. The best choice will be the one that has the quickest payback period. II. Benefits. Payback is the most simple investment appraisal technique to calculate. This will be good for Rolls Royce when swift decisions are required. This method will be easy to understand at all levels of the company. Another benefit of this method is that it will prevent cash flow problems because money is recovered as soon as possible. III. Limitations. The major limitation of payback is that once the initial investment has been recovered, all future cash flows are ignored. This method also assumes that if the payback period is long the investment will not be successful. Hence, if Rolls Royce decides to supply engines to air china instead of Singapore airlines there will be a gradual payback period, does that mean the investment will not be successful? Finally, this method does not account for time value of money. Therefore, an investment now could be worth more in ten years. Read more: http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/accounting/rolls-royce-plc.php#ixzz2LvPZSk6S

Liberal and Mercantilist Theories of Political Economy

Liberal and Mercantilist Theories of Political Economy Contrast liberal and mercantilist theories of international political economy and consider which approach is most apparent in the contemporary world. The following seeks to contrast liberal and mercantilist theories that have developed to describe and analyze the international political economy. Once the contrasts have been made conclusions as to which theory is the most apt or apparent in the contemporary world will be drawn. Both liberal and mercantilist theories have advantages and disadvantages when used to understand the international political economy in the present global system. Perhaps it would be more apt to describe the liberal theory as being neo-liberal as it has undergone a recent revival in popularity. It must be remembered that whether a state is most influenced by liberal or mercantilists theories that trade will never be completely free of duty and tariffs, as they are useful sources of revenue for governments. Governments also have to have relationships with other governments and non-state actors that may or may not share their worldview. Liberalism itself can be dated back to the English, American and French revolutions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when the mercantilist economic system evolved into capitalism. Liberals were originally regarded as being politically centrist or left wing in outlook but favoring little or no state intervention in the economy. In its original form liberal economic theory strongly advocated a free market approach with states not using tariffs to prevent competition from other countries and not interfering in their own internal markets (Comfort, 1993, p. 345). The basis of liberal theory was the right to gain property or capital to be used however states, businesses or individuals felt appropriate combined with freedom of action and belief (Eatwell and Wright, 2003, p. 27). In classical liberal theory the free market sets the prices for goods, currency exchanges, resources and even wages. However fluctuations within the free market can have serious political as well as econ omic consequences such as unemployment and poverty that can be made worse by international competitors. Governments have attempted to circumvent these problems by setting up welfare states, imposing strict tariff restrictions on imports or subsidizing industries and businesses. The restriction of trade and the use of tariffs are the main basis of mercantilist theory (Harvey, 1995, p. 6). Liberalism was apparently strongest in the international political economy during the 19th century as Britain dominated world trade removing barriers in its way to free trade. Liberal capitalism seemed to be unstoppable during this period. The economic elites of the less developed states were content to play a subordinate role as they were still making profits for themselves (Hobsbawm, 1975, p. 38). However, there were moves away from free trade towards a more mercantilist or restrictive trade practices most notably in Germany and United States whilst even the British started to doubt free trade. After World War One liberal theory seemed to decline in prominence within the international political economy (Hobsbawm, 1987, p. 54). It was a great paradox that liberal theory would regain some of its prominence in international political economy after 1945 just as the free market within most of the world was either tempered by welfare states or communist takeovers. The United States promoted freer trade both out of self-interest and the desire to prevent the great failings within the international political economy during the inter-war period. Through the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Bretton Woods agreement the United States government ushered in an era of liberalism that is still in operation to this day. However, it was not the unrestrained free trade international political economy of the 19th century but without American aid it is doubtful if Western Europe and Japan would have recovered so well to play such key roles in the present global economy. However the World Bank and the IMF are founded on the principles of liberal theory and generally insist that all countries they loan money t o adopt those free trade policies that stem from liberalism. Governments that have to accept these loans leave their economies open to multinational companies and have to reduce spending on welfare and education (Keegan, 1992, pp.16-17). United States domination of the international political economy meant that it could promote the liberal theory of free trade even if it allowed its partners to have tariffs whilst it did not. United States share of world trade declined its share of global exports declining to 13% in the 1980s from its high point of 29% in 1953. However the American based multinational companies such as Coca-Cola and Microsoft have great influence on the global economy due to their size and profitability. Americans continue to believe that liberal theory holds the key to ensuring international prosperity and many nations either through choice or lack of autonomy pursue liberal policies as well (DuBoff, 1989.p.158). Liberal theory does not completely dominate the international political economy as tariffs were not completely removed from all countries and there was the establishment of trading blocs. Blocs such as the European Union (EU), The North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) and Mercosaur in Latin America offer favoured trading terms to members but not always to non-members. The economic advantages offered by free trading areas act as an incentive for non members to adopt liberal policies, for instance the former communists states of central and eastern Europe. For much of the post war period there was also the apparent rival economic and political theory of communism represented by the Soviet Union and its Central and Eastern European satellites. The collapse of communism certainly made liberal concepts within international political economy more apparent in the contemporary world (Keegan, 1992, pp. 3-4). The former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet U nion have all to some extent attempted the twin convergence to liberal democracy and capitalist economy. The opening up of these countries to liberal free trade led to unemployment, the closure of uncompetitive factories and inflation. Russia and its young reformers was not the only country to attempt shock therapy to cure the stagnation caused by central planning (Freeland, 1999, pp. 34-35). However, the economic and political transitions have been more successful in Poland, Hungary and the Baltic States that have since joined the EU. It could be argued that liberal theory of free trade proved attractive to reformers whilst ordinary, people wished to have higher standards of living as in the United States, Japan and Western Europe (Agh, 1998, p.3). The mercantilist theory is in effect the opposite theory to the liberal theory. Mercantilist theory equates to restrictions being placed upon free trade when governments are more prepared to intervene in the international political economy or if needs be to by pass it. Mercantilist theory and practice led to the creation (or explained it at any rate) of separate trading blocs and economic nationalism within the international political economy. Economists and historians have argued that modern capitalism developed from an earlier mercantilist period when the empires built up by the European states such as France, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal competed for global domination and tried to restrict trade to within their own empires. Each country would try to increase its power by gaining colonies, economic influence and more consumers for its goods. Britain by virtue of its naval supremacy and earlier industrialization was able to dominate the international political economy. Where possible Britain removed mercantilist restrictions to trade, allowing workers, businesses and investments to flow more freely (Hobsbawm, 1975, pp. 36-37). However, mercantilist theory and policies remained and still remain in the international political economy. Countries such as Germany, Russia, Japan and the United States used protectionism to start up and enhance their industrialization preventing more efficient rivals from shutting it down. Japan would become the role model for importing superior foreign goods, copying them and them exporting cheaper versions. Meanwhile a renewed wave of imperialism at the end of the 19th century increased the competition for colonies and captive markets. Mercantilist theory was popular then and is attractive now because of its emphasis on national self -interest and gaining at the expense of others. However, the advantages of domestic popularity and employment protection need to be considered in relation to consequences within the international political economy. The United States is as keen to pursue free trade liberal policies as the British used to be, because they gain the most from those policies. Smaller nations on the other hand are dependent on the richer nations and might prefer to restrict trade to protect their industries and jobs but often have that choice taken away from them (Hobsbawm, 1987, p. 54). There are various ways in which mercantilist theory can be put into effect. Methods include the imposition and weighting of tariffs (more restrictive towards unfriendly nations, less restrictive for friends or allies), the restriction or complete ban of certain goods and quotas. Not only can restrictions be used to gain economic advantage they can also be used as political and economic sanctions against states that have transgressed in some way. The effectiveness of sanctions in forcing countries to change their behaviour remains largely unproved both in the past and in the contemporary international political economy. The possible exception to this is the supply of crude oil, which is so crucial to the economies of North America, Europe and Asia. This reliance upon oil gave the oil embargo of 1973-74 such damaging effects on the global economy. The further price rises following the Iranian revolution in 1979; the Gulf War of 1990-91 and more recently the invasion of Iraq demonstrate the vulnerability of the international political economy to the restriction of essential resources. However the governments of the oil producing states are normally happy to take part in free trade even if liberalism is the last thing they would support at the domestic and national level (Harvey, 1995, pp. 288-89). The inter-war period provides the best examples of the bad consequences of an imbalance between liberal and mercantilist influences on the international political economy. Tariffs were raised through out that period yet offered little but short-term advantage at the expense of international co-operation and trade. Whilst Britain and France increased their exports to their colonies and restricted imports from rivals, Italy, Japan and Germany looked at conquest as a means of economic expansion. These mercantilist measures did little to protect and in fact further harmed the international political economy following the great depression after 1929 (Brendon, 2000, p. 165). Added to the instability was the harshness of the Versailles settlement that prevented Germanys economic revival and badly effected the economic fortunes of the rest of Europe. Resentment of the settlement assisted the Nazis Party aided by economic weakness (Smith, 2003, p. 160). The events of the inter-war period are relevant to an understanding of the contemporary international political economy due to the way in which governments and organisations have tried to prevent similar events happening again. Liberalism is seen as the best means of achieving stability and prosperity just as much now as it did in the past (Smith, 2003, p. 161). After 1945 the United States government extended aid not only to its allies such as Britain and France but also defeated enemies in the form of Germany, Italy and Japan. Under the Marshall plan $17 billions of American aid boosted reconstruction in Western Europe (Central and Eastern European countries were forced to refuse by the Soviet Union) that ensured long term stability and prosperity. This is relevant to the present international political economy because it assured the predominance of liberal theory even though it did not completely eliminate mercantilist theory (Ambrose Brinkley, 1997, p. 87). The post-war economic growth of Germany and Japan (the Western part anyway) was aided by the selective use of subsidies and tariffs to promote the most effective parts of the economy rather than the least effective. Germany of course also had to set tariffs in line with its EU partners whilst Japan has not such constraints (Keegan, 1992, p.145). Countries within the international political economy have to find a balance between national self- interest and maintaining worthwhile international trading relationships. Whether guided by liberal, mercantilist or any other theory governments are often guided in their approach to the internationalist political economy by pragmatic considerations. Decisions made on pragmatic basis can later be justified in the mane of liberal or mercantilist theory. The rise of international trading blocs has generally led to a liberalization of trade within those blocs most notably within the single market and single currency of the EU (Smith, 2003, p.230). The cost of failure or the benefits of success of liberalization of trade within the international political economy are great. The General Agreement on Trade Tariffs (GATT) has often been involved in complex trade deals and tariff reductions. Failure to agree can lead to the costly maintenance or extension of trade restrictions. Reductions in t ariffs have been substantial. For instance the cuts agreed to at the Uruguay round of GATT amounted to a $744 billion reduction in tariffs across the international political economy. Such deals demonstrate the intentions of many governments to make the international political economy as liberal in nature as possible but without losing too much of their own position (Ambrose Brinkley, 1997, p. 410). Arguably the liberal theory is the most apparent within the contemporary international political economy. However this has to be considered with remaining vestiges of mercantilist theory. Liberal theory received a revival from the 1970s onwards with the emergence of neo-liberalism. Neo-liberalism became most closely associated with Margaret Thatcher in Britain and Ronald Reagan in United States being referred to as Reaganomoics and Thatcherism. They wished to turn the clock back to unrestricted free trade internationally and the free market domestically with reduced welfare states (Keegan, 1992, p.25). Ronald Reagan in fact increased public spending particularly in a renewed arms race with the Soviet Union. An unintended consequence of that policy was the collapse of the Soviet Union and the communist regimes of Central and Eastern Europe (Carroll Noble, 1988, p.433). The re-emergence of liberal democracy and capitalism in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe stren gthened the role of liberal theory in the international political economy. This strengthening happened because of the liberal minded policies of reformers in those countries even though the transitions proved far from straight forward (Agh, 1998, pp. 2-3) Therefore within the present international political economy liberal theory is more apparent than mercantilist theory. The apparent dominance of liberal theory can be explained by the continued strength of American and other major multinational companies, and the political, economic and military might of the United States. Liberal theory is further promoted by institutions such as the IMF that influence developing states into pursuing free trade policies. Developing and former communist states such as Poland also see that adopting liberal theory can be to their political and economic advantage, especially if it allows them access to trading blocs like the European Union. Trading blocs may operate liberal theory within the confines of their members but they can display mercantilist tendencies by restricting trade with non-members. Liberal theory is also promoted by the process of globalization that makes it easier for multinationals to operate within. The increasing use of information technology allows trade to be carried out faster with less chance of governments intervening. Yet mercantilist theory is not likely to disappear from the international political economy just yet as governments are as likely to be guided by national self-interest and pragmatism as they have always been. Bibliography Agh, A. (1998) The Politics of Central Europe, Sage Publications, London. Ambrose S E Brinkley, D G (1997) Rise to Globalism American Foreign Policy Since 1938, Eighth Revised Edition, Penguin Books, New York Brendon, P (2000) The Dark Valley A Panorama of the 1930s, Jonathan Cape, London Carroll, P. N and Noble, D. W (1988) The Free and the Unfree A new history of the United States 2nd edition, Penguin Books, New York Comfort, N. (1993) Brewers Politics A Phrase and Fable Dictionary, 2nd edition, Cassell, London. DuBoff, R B (1989) Accumulation Power An Economic History of the United States, M E Sharpe Inc. New York Eatwell, R and Wright, A (2003) Contemporary Political ideologies, 2nd edition, Continuum, London Freeland, C (2000) Sale of the Century -the inside story of the Second Russian Revolution, Little Brown and Company, London Harvey, J (1995) Mastering Economics 4th edition, Macmillan, London Hobsbawm, E (1975) The Age of Capital 1848-1875, Weidenfeld Nicholson, London Hobsbawm, E (1987) The Age of Empire 1875-1914, Weidenfeld Nicholson, London Keegan, W (1992) The Spectre of Capitalism the future of the World economy after the fall of Communism. Smith, D (2003) Free Lunch -Easily Digestible Economics, Served on a plate, Profile Books, London

The New Federalist Party :: essays research papers

The New Federalist Party Part I As the sole member of the New Federalist party, it is with great honors that I now present to you the very first New Federalist platform. PREAMBLE The growing dissension between the two major political parties today has drawn them away from the public's views. It has been determined that the citizens of the United States cannot get what they want from the current major parties. Because of this, a total reconstruction of the current political structure is in dire need. In response to this need, the New Federalist party has been formed. The name "New Federalist" has been chosen to express the party's foremost concern. This is to restructure the government into the form that the framers of the Constitution meant for it to be in. The basis of this restructuring comes from the 10th amendment and articles of the Constitution. As you know, every major political party needs a symbol. After careful consideration, the mythological hydra has been selected. I know what your thinking, but it is effective in serving two main purposes. The first purpose is that it is an ideal representation of the new structure of government that will be implemented by the New Federalist party. The two heads represent the two governing bodies, the federal government and the state governments. Both "heads" do nothing more than serve or govern over the body, which represents the citizens of the United States of America. The second purpose of the hydra is to shift the focus from the representative party to the individual members of the party. A political party should, like the hydra, should be nothing more than a myth. Votes in an election should not be cast for a party but for the individual candidates. The New Federalist party will be nothing more than a collection of like-minded people seeking to better our great country. In the following pages I have set forth the basic principles and various policy stands of the New Federalist party. STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES PRINCIPLES Federalism: "A political system in which ultimate authority is shared between a central government and state or regional governments."1 The first and foremost principality addresses the power of the federal and state governments. The framers of the Constitution never meant for the federal government to grow to today's tremendous size. The 10th amendment states that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."2 This means that everything not set forth in the Constitution as being regulated by the federal government will go

Depressed Teenagers in Today’s Society Essay -- Psychology Depression

Depressed Teenagers in Today’s Society Being depressed includes many feelings, and they can range from simply being fed up with the world to actually wanting to take one’s own life. I have been depressed before, but I have never wanted to commit suicide. I want to know why teenagers would become so depressed that they would even consider taking their lives. I want to answer the commonly asked questions about teenage depression. Why are teenagers today so depressed? Why do they feel like there is no way out for them except death? What causes teens to feel like there is no way out of their feelings of worthlessness? Does society have a negative impact on teenagers which leads to depression? I want to learn the answers to these questions. I want to discover how to help these teenagers who feel so lost in the world. Being a teenager myself, I realize that there is a lot of stress to be perfect. Although perfect is something that does not exist, it is something that so many teenagers feel the desire to striv e for. I have teenage friends who I feel have been distant lately. I fear that they may be suffering from something serious, something like depression. I too have been a victim of depression, and I know that times can get hard. I also realize that if people do not get help they are giving up on themselves. People can not always fix what it is wrong in their lives. I wish that there were programs which teenagers could attend in order to learn more about what they can do in times when they are depressed. Teenagers need to know that someone is there for them. With suicide rates climbing into the thousands, depression is being seen as a number one cause. In order to help teenagers people need to start at the s... ...en, and Kimberly Kirberger, eds. Chicken Soup For The Teenage Soul. Florida: Health Communications, Inc, 1997. Cohen-Sandler, Roni, Ph.D. â€Å"Do you need a therapist?† Seventeen Dec. 2004: 95. Cytryn, Leon M.D., and Donald McKnew M.D. Growing Up Sad. 1996. Washington: Norton & Company, 1999. Depression in Teenagers. November 2003. Hearts and Minds Network. 8 November 2004 . Kolk, Bessel A., Alexander C. McFarlane, and Lars Weisaeth. Traumatic Stress. 1996. New York: Guildford Press, 2000. McEwen, Bruce, and Elizabeth Norton Lasley. The End of Stress As We Know It. 2000. Washington: Joseph Henry Press, 2002. Pipher, Mary Ph.D. Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. New York: Balantin, 1996. Wallenstein, Gene Ph.D., Mind, Stress, and Emotions. 1999. Boston: Common Wealth Press, 2003.

Smoking Trends Among Teenagers Essay -- essays research papers

Cigarette smoking is a habit that kills approximately million of people per year. It is surprisingly being picked up by myriad amount of children every day. Smoking becomes a growing trend in the youth community. The number of young smokers have been increased in most American middle schools and high schools. Both girls and boys are smoking because they think it is cool. The four reasons that cause many teenagers to start smoking are peer-pressure, image projection, rebellion, and adult aspirations. Approximately 3,000 teenagers pick up the smoking habit each day in America. That is roughly one million new teenage smokers per year. About 60% of all high school students try smoking by the time they are seniors because they think it is a cool thing to do (Johnston.) In 1996, smoking rates are 21 percent among eighth-graders (13-14 years old), 30 percent among 10th-graders (15-16 years old), and 34 percent among 12th-graders (17-18 years old). These rates are impressively high, especially when compared to the fact that about 25 percent of all adults are classified as current smokers according to the National Health Interview Survey. Cigarette smoking peaked in 1996 among eighth, and tenth graders nationwide, and in 1997 among 12th-graders. Since those peak years, there has been a gradual decline in smoking rates, which continued in 1999. (Johnston). Rates of daily smoking are also down from their peak levels (in 1996 for eighth- and 10th-graders and in 1997 for 12th-graders) but did not show much improvement in 1999 specifically, according to Johnston. "Because young people tend to carry the smoking habits they develop in adolescence into adulthood, the substantial and continuing increases in teen smoking bode ill for the eventual longevity and health of this generation of American young people," concludes Johnston. "Hundreds of thousands of children from each graduating class are likely to suffer appalling diseases, and to die prematurely, as a result of the smoking habits they are developing in childhood and adolescence." Young people continue to report cigarettes as being easily available to them: 77 percent of the eighth-graders, who are 13 or 14 years old, report that cigarettes would be "very easy" or "fairly easy" for them to get, and 91 percent of th... ...e you smoke. However, in some cases, the young kids are getting addicted after their first try. Finally, they want to be an adult. Adult aspiration is also one of the reasons that lead some teenagers to smoking. Some teenagers believe that by smoking they are acting like an adult. If the teenager is raised in a community where most of the adults smoke, then this is perhaps a logical conclusion. They have the tendency to imitate what the adults around them did. For some teenagers, they are smoking because they think with a cigarette in their mouth makes them look and feel like an adult. According to my friend John, he said that he was smoking since he was 16, he thought that cigarette made him look cool and feel like an adult. Thus, there has been a trend increasing over the past few years and a little decline in 1999 among young smokers; however, it did not show much improvement. America is a freedom country, but how can we free the number of young smokers from those cigarettes or seduced advertisers? Therefore, we should find a solution to help the young smokers to quit before the cigarettes put their lives in danger.

Traffic Congestion Alert System Using Gsm

Lens Antenna an antenna whose directivity pattern is a result of the difference between the phase velocity of propagation of an electromagnetic wave in air and that in the lens material. Lens antennas are used in radar and metering equipment that operates in the centimeter wavelength range. A lens antenna consists of a lens proper and of a feed. The shape of the lens depends on the refractive index n (the ratio of the phase velocity of propagation of a radio wave in a vacuum to that in the lens). A decelerating lens antenna, as in optics, is one for which n > 1.An accelerating lens antenna (without an optical analogy) is one for which n < 1. The feed is usually a horn antenna that generates a spherical wave front or an antenna array that produces a cylindrical wave front. Decelerating lens antennas are made of high-quality low-loss homogeneous dielectrics (polystyrene, fluoroplastics) or synthetic dielectrics (systems of variously shaped metallic particles suspended in air or in a ho mogeneous dielectric with a relative dielectric constant approaching unity).The refractive index can change within wide limits with extremely low losses. Accelerating lens antennas are made of shaped metal sheets. There is no analogy in optics. The principle of operation derives from the fact that the phase velocity of an electromagnetic wave propagating between parallel metal sheets depends on the distance between them if the electric field vector is parallel to the sheets. In such a case the phase velocity is greater than the speed of light, and the refractive index is less than unity.Zoning the surfaces of a lens antenna reduces its weight and dimensions. The shape and height in profile of the individual zones are chosen such that the electromagnetic waves refracted by adjacent zones leave the lens with a phase shift of 360Â °. The field at the aperture remains cophasal. With aplanatic and Luneberg lens antennas it is possible to control the directivity pattern virtually without distortion. Traffic Congestion Alert System Using Gsm Lens Antenna an antenna whose directivity pattern is a result of the difference between the phase velocity of propagation of an electromagnetic wave in air and that in the lens material. Lens antennas are used in radar and metering equipment that operates in the centimeter wavelength range. A lens antenna consists of a lens proper and of a feed. The shape of the lens depends on the refractive index n (the ratio of the phase velocity of propagation of a radio wave in a vacuum to that in the lens). A decelerating lens antenna, as in optics, is one for which n > 1.An accelerating lens antenna (without an optical analogy) is one for which n < 1. The feed is usually a horn antenna that generates a spherical wave front or an antenna array that produces a cylindrical wave front. Decelerating lens antennas are made of high-quality low-loss homogeneous dielectrics (polystyrene, fluoroplastics) or synthetic dielectrics (systems of variously shaped metallic particles suspended in air or in a ho mogeneous dielectric with a relative dielectric constant approaching unity).The refractive index can change within wide limits with extremely low losses. Accelerating lens antennas are made of shaped metal sheets. There is no analogy in optics. The principle of operation derives from the fact that the phase velocity of an electromagnetic wave propagating between parallel metal sheets depends on the distance between them if the electric field vector is parallel to the sheets. In such a case the phase velocity is greater than the speed of light, and the refractive index is less than unity.Zoning the surfaces of a lens antenna reduces its weight and dimensions. The shape and height in profile of the individual zones are chosen such that the electromagnetic waves refracted by adjacent zones leave the lens with a phase shift of 360Â °. The field at the aperture remains cophasal. With aplanatic and Luneberg lens antennas it is possible to control the directivity pattern virtually without distortion.

Investment Behaviour of Women Essay

Abstract Through an analysis of recent reforms in three policy areas in Chile—pensions, childcare services, and maternity/parental leave—the paper seeks to explore how equity-oriented reforms deal with the triple legacy of maternalism, male-breadwinner bias, and market reform. Recent studies of â€Å"new† social policies in Latin America have underlined the persistent strength of maternalist assumptions. Feminist research on new cash transfer programs, in particular, has tended to see more continuity than change in the gendered underpinnings of social policy. This paper suggests that once we broaden our ï ¬ eld of vision to include other social programs and reforms, the ways in which contemporary social policy (re)deï ¬ nes women’s productive and reproductive roles, social rights, and obligations are more complex and contradictory. Indeed, while some policies take unpaid care by women for granted, others point to an increasing awareness of inequalities   Staa b that shape women’s and men’s differential access to market income and public social beneï ¬ ts. Over the last decade, there has been a veritable explosion of scholarship on Latin American social policy. In part this reï ¬â€šects the fact that—after decades of neglect—Latin American states have rediscovered social policy and scaled up their efforts to address the social fallout of liberalization. Indeed, while â€Å"Washington Consensus† reforms were mainly driven by the desire to cut costs and reduce the scope of the state, the late 1990s and 2000s have seen more coordinated state interventions to reduce poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. While not returning to post-war social protection schemes, countries in the region are experimenting with policies that break with the neoliberal notion of minimal safety nets (Barrientos et al. 2008; Molyneux 2008; Cortes 2009).  ´ What does this â€Å"return of the state† mean for women’s social rights and welfare? It has been argued that in contrast to the gender blindness of neoliberal reforms, â€Å"new† social policies have been gender conscious (Bedford 2007). However, relatively little systematic research has been carried out on the gender dynamics of this new social agenda (Macdonald and Ruckert 2009). The existing literature seems to suggest that there is far more continuity than change in the gendered underpinnings of â€Å"new† social protection programs. Feminist research on conditional cash transfers (CCTs)—a key innovation associated with Post-Washington Consensus social policy in the region—has tended to stress the persistence of maternalism (e.g., Molyneux 2007; Bradshaw 2008; Tabbush 2009), a set of ideas and practices with a long and ambiguous history in the region. Yet there is more to Post-Washington Consensus social policy than CCTs. Several Latin American countries are experimenting with other care-related policies alongside cash transfer schemes— including the introduction of full-day schooling, the expansion of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, maternity/ parental leave reforms, and in recent pension reforms, the introduction of child-rearing credits. While some of these programs take the unpaid care by women for granted , others point to an increasing awareness of gender inequalities that shape women’s and men’s differential access to labor market income and public social beneï ¬ ts. That these initiatives have received little scholarly attention leaves the impression that Latin American social policy is stuck on a maternalist track, when national and regional trends are likely to be more varied and complex. Against this broader backdrop, the main aim of the paper  is to provide a better understanding of the complex and contradictory  ways in which women’s productive and reproductive roles, social rights, and obligations are constructed and (re)deï ¬ ned in the context of recent equity-oriented reforms. I argue for a two-tiered approach. First, I propose to move beyond single policy analysis towards a more systemic view that takes into account and compares developments across sectors. Second, I aim to assess these reforms according to the ways in which they have dealt with three key legacies: marketization, maternalism, and male-breadwinner bias. I apply this approach to the recent reforms in Chilean social policy, a particularly intriguing case. First, Chile is often cited as the Latin American country where neoliberal principles have been most comprehensively applied. Its 1980s social sector reforms–particularly in pensions and health–have long been promoted by international ï ¬ nancial institutions as a model for other countries to emulate (Taylor 2003; Orenstein 2005). Recent innovations in Chile’s social policy regime thus merit close attention. Second, Chile combines market liberalism with strong social conservatism, particularly with regards to gender roles. We would expect these two legacies to create mounting tensions and contradictions –for example over whether mothers should be at home (maternalism) or in the market (liberalism)–that social and employment policies have to navigate. I have chosen to focus on the recent reforms in pension, ECEC, and parental leave policies, issues which have been high up the public agenda in Chile and elsewhere. This is reï ¬â€šective of both broader global discourses spearheaded by international organizations such as the World Bank and the OECD, as well as a regional trend to revising social protection frameworks with an emphasis on increasing the coverage of hitherto excluded groups.1 The selection thus consciously combines two more traditional policy areas associated with social protection/consumption (pensions and maternity leave), with an emerging area geared towards social investment (ECEC). While the former were directly undermined by structural adjustment and deliberately restructured following the advice of international ï ¬ nancial institutions (Orenstein 2005; Brooks 2009), the latter have acquired prominence over the past decades as a means of reducing poverty by facilitating women’s labor force participation and as a cost-efï ¬ cient tool to promote human capital development by investing in early childhood development. These ideas form part of an emerging global paradigm (Jenson and Saint-Martin 2003; Jenson 2010; Mahon 2010) and seem to have ï ¬ ltered down to the national level with several Latin American countries experimenting with childcare-related reforms.2 The combinat ion of protection and promotion implicit in this selection is also highly relevant from a gender perspective. While childcare services and parental leaves can facilitate women’s engagement in paid employment, pension systems can be designed in ways that translate labor market inequalities into unequal entitlements in old age. They thus represent two sides of the same problem, namely the extent to which the gender division of labor affects women’s and men’s differential access to income and social security. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. The next section brieï ¬â€šy illustrates the rationale for choosing marketization, maternalism, and male-breadwinner bias as key dimensions for assessing continuity and change. It takes a historical and  regional perspective to show how they became embedded in Latin American systems of social provision. The second half of the paper then provides a detailed analysis of recent reforms in Chilean pension, childcare, and maternity leave policies. The ï ¬ nal section draws out some comparative conclusions about the extent to which the recent reforms have dealt with the key legacies of marketization, maternalism, and male-breadwinner bias. Maternalism, Male-Breadwinner Bias, and Market Reform  Trajectories of welfare state formation and change in Latin America are in many ways different from those of advanced economies in Europe or North America that have formed the basis for theory building. The most important difference is probably the dynamism and radicalism with which development strategies have been recast over the last century (Sheahan 2002, 4). Thus, many countries moved from state-led import-substituting industrialization (ISI) in the post-war period to the rather radical application of neoliberal prescriptions following the recessions and debt crises of the late 1970s and early 1980s. These transitions left distinct legacies in systems of social provision. From the often incomplete formation of welfare institutions in the post-war era, governments in the region turned to retrenchment, deregulation, and privatization. Redistributive and universalist aspirations—however exclusionary or stratifying these had been in practice (Filgueira and Filgueira 2002)—were buried with the shift to market-led development and the region moved closer towards liberal-informal welfare regimes (Barrientos 2004). As the state was scaled back, reforms empowered business interests which became directly involved in education, health, and pension systems.3 Gender roles and norms as well as pervasive gender inequalities across states, markets, and households mediate women’s and men’s exposure to social risks as well as their speciï ¬ c need for social protection and services. Women face particular challenges due to  motherhood and other caring responsibilities that societies largely assign to them (Lewis 1992; O’Connor 1993; Orloff 1993). Yet, these risks and responsibilities have rarely been taken into account in the design of social policies. Thus, Bismarck-style social insurance systems, such as those founded across Latin American countries in the post-war period, had an inherent male-breadwinner bias.4 Women, in turn, tended to access social beneï ¬ ts as wives of a male breadwinner or as mothers whose maternal functions had to be safeguarded and protected (Gimenez 2005). Motherhood became the  ´ very basis on which women staked their claims to citizenship rights and states deployed their efforts to mobilize female constituencies. At the heart of this â€Å"civic maternalism† was the belief that women– and in particular their biological and social function as mothers– had to be recognized, valued, and protected (Molyneux 2000).5 This was, in Nancy Folbre’s words, the â€Å"patriarchal trunk† onto which market reform was grafted, but which â€Å"continues to inï ¬â€šuence the shape of the tree† (Interviewed by Razavi 2011). A large body of literature has documented how struc tural adjustment increased the overall burden on women. Thus, where privatization and trade liberalization triggered a rise in male unemployment, women were pushed into (largely informal) paid employment to make up for lost wages. Meanwhile, retrenchment and commercialization of social services shifted more responsibilities for social provision to the domestic sphere, where the prevailing gender division of labor meant that women spent more time on unpaid reproductive work (BenerÄ ±a and Feldman 1992; Sparr 1994; and Elson 1995). In  ´ social protection systems, the move from risk sharing to individualization exacerbated already existing gender inequalities. By tightening the relationship between contributory patterns and pension beneï ¬ ts, market reforms effectively deepened male-breadwinner bias (Dion 2008). In health, private insurance companies were given plenty of rope for deï ¬ ning premiums based on gender-speciï ¬ c â€Å"risks†, such as pregnancy (Gideon 2006). As a result, the costs of biological and social repr oduction were further individualized and passed on to women. Paradoxically, maternalism remained a strong theme in the neoliberal era, at least at the level of public discourse (Molyneux 2000). In short, market reforms layered new gender inequalities onto the already existing legacies of maternalism and male-breadwinner bias. As a result, conservative elements exist alongside (neo)liberal elements in the contemporary welfare architecture of many Latin American countries. How are these legacies challenged or compounded by the current wave of policy innovations and reform? If the state is indeed assuming greater responsibility for social  provision, does this trend provide a more favorable context for redressing gender inequalities? More particularly, does it reï ¬â€šect a greater recognition and redistribution of the responsibilities for and costs of care and social reproduction? The existing literature suggests that there is far more continuity than change in gendered assumptions even as new social programs are being rolled out: Recent studies have argued, for example, that new social programs have paid scant, if any, attention to the underlying structures of gender inequality in labor markets and households (Razavi 2007); that economic and social policies continue to place the burden of social reproduction on families (read: women); that the particular design of social programs tends to reinforce traditional gender roles without providing long-term strategies for women’s economic security through job training or childcare provision (Molyneux 2007; Tabbush 2009); and that new social policies increase social control and surveillance of mothers’ child-rearing behavior and performance (Luccisano and Wall 2009). Feminist research on CCTs, in particular, has tended to stress the persistence of maternalist orientations (e.g., Molyneux 2007; Bradshaw 2008; Tabbush 2009). This literature has been central for understanding the gendered nature of â€Å"new† social policies in the region and much remains to be learned about the actual diversity of  ´ these programs (MartÄ ±nez Franzoni and Voorend 2009) and their impact on women from different ethnic groups (Hernandez 2011;  ´ Rivera 2011). Analytically, however, the focus on a single scheme is insufï ¬ cient to assess the processes through which women’s productive and reproductive roles, social rights, and obligations are currently being (re)deï ¬ ned. Several Latin American countries are experimenting with other social policies alongside the much-cited CCTs, including the introduction of full-day schooling, the expansion of ECEC services, maternity/parental leave reforms, and the introduction of child-rearing credits in recent pension reforms. In each of these areas, equity-oriented reformers struggle with the legacies of maternalism and male-breadwinner bias, on the one hand, and the (ideological and de-facto) importance of markets, on the other hand. I argue that these struggles shape reform processes and outcomes in ways that are more complex and contradictory than the existing literature on CCTs suggests. The following analysis of Chilean social policy sets out to unravel some of these complexities by looking at the recent reforms in pensions, childcare, and leave regulations. Implicit in this approach is an understanding of the state as a concept that helps to contextualize present political conï ¬â€šicts and policy processes (Hay and Lister 2006). In other words, previously enacted policies, institutional choices, and strategic interactions constitute a â€Å"strategically selective terrain† (Jessop 1990, 203) that structures present political conï ¬â€šict, rendering it more conducive to some  demands than others. While not determining their behavior, the ensemble of institutions and policy frameworks that comprise the state offer opportunities to and impose constraints on, the political agency of those wishing to effect policy change. The three legacies outlined above form part of the institutional landscape of the state. As such, they are shown to play a signiï ¬ cant role in current attempts of reform and policy innovation. While these legacies constitute the main focus of this paper, they are by no means the only factor that shape change and continuity in Chilean social policy. In fact, sector-speciï ¬ c actors, partisan politics, and particular political contingencies come into play to differing degrees. Furthermore, the continuity and deepening of an economic model based on trade openness, macroeconomic stability, monetary, and ï ¬ scal discipline and ï ¬â€šexible employment, forms the backdrop against which more expansive social policies have emerged as a response to persistent inequality. However, the full meaning of recent reforms cannot be understood without taking into account the gender-speciï ¬ c legacies in each sector.  (En)gendering Change and Continuity: Recent reforms in Chile Chile is a particularly intriguing case for analyzing continuity and change in social policy. On the one hand, it is often portrayed as the country where neoliberal principles have most profoundly transformed economic, social, and political institutions (Kurtz 1999; Filgueira and Filgueira 2002). While radical market reforms were carried out under the aegis of a military dictatorship (1973–1989), many of the model’s features were maintained with the return to democracy. Consequently, the country’s policy framework is often represented as particularly resistant to equity-oriented change. On the other hand, Chile combines market liberalism with social conservatism—two features that conventional welfare regime analysis tends to locate in different clusters (the conservative and the liberal variant, respectively). Female labor force participation is among the lowest in the region (ECLAC 2008), the country’s welfare regime has been described as inherently â€Å"gender biased† (Pribble 2006, 86), and conservative social norms  regarding women’s role in the family loom large (Contreras and Plaza 2010).6 Despite this rather unfavorable context, recent reforms suggest that these frameworks are not carved in stone. Since the early 2000 s efforts to expand social protection, to improve access to and quality  of social services and to strengthen social rights have featured prominently on the country’s social agenda, leading some to argue that Chile may be approaching a â€Å"point of inï ¬â€šection† (Illanes and Riesco 2007, 406). The following sections shed light on the complex and contradictory ways in which the triple legacy of maternalism, male-breadwinner bias, and market reform is addressed by recent reforms in pensions (adopted in 2008), childcare services (signiï ¬ cantly expanded since 2006), and maternity leave (reformed in 2011). Before delving more deeply into the developments in each sector, it is necessary to brieï ¬â€šy describe the broader economic and political context since the country’s return to democracy in 1990. Context of Recent Reforms and Policy Innovations The return to democracy did not entail a drastic transformation of the institutional foundations of economic and social policy inherited from the military regime (Moulian 2002; Taylor 2003; Borzutzky 2010). In fact, in macroeconomic terms the center-left party coalition Concertacion that governed the country from 1990  ´ to 2010 validated and deepened the neoliberal model based on trade openness, macroeconomic stability, monetary and ï ¬ scal discipline and ï ¬â€šexible employment. To offset some of its worst effects, social spending increased steadily which, together with economic growth and employment creation, dramatically reduced absolute poverty from 38.6 percent in 1990 to 13.7 percent in 2006 (ECLAC 2008), although it did relatively little to improve income distribution or lessen social inequalities and fragmentation in education, health, and social protection (Solimano 2009). Explanations for this continuity are manifold, including the formidable constraints placed on  the autonomy of the ï ¬ rst Concertacion governments by authoritarian enclaves in the political  ´ system that granted right-wing political opposition important veto powers; the resistance of business interests whose power increased as a result of market reforms; the weakness of other civil society actors, particularly labor; a political culture eager to avoid the kind of political confrontation that preceded the military coup; and the adoption of market-oriented ideas by key decision makers within the centerleft coalition itself (e.g. Kurtz 2003; Castiglioni 2005; Borzutzky and Weeks 2010; Ewig and Kay 2011). The result of this complex and contradictory process has been described as a Chilean â€Å"Third Way† characterized by an â€Å"unwavering commitment to trade liberalization and privatization despite considerable public opposition† and a â€Å"predisposition to a policy process that discourages participation by civil society and rank-and-ï ¬ le party members, while affording business access to the  highest reaches of government† (Sandbrook et al. 2007, 164–65). This set-up makes some policy areas more amenable to equity-enhancing reforms and innovations than others. As the economic model rests upon a ï ¬â€šexible and restrictive labor regime (Frank 2004), social policy is largely conï ¬ ned to enhancing workers’ ability to compete on the market and to mitigating some of the worst risks that unregulated and precarious employment entails. This goes a long way to explain why the two socialist-led governments of Ricardo Lagos (2000–2006) and Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010) spearheaded health reform, pension reform and childcare service expansion in order to enhance equity, while shying away from reforms related to the country’s labor market where many of the fundamental social inequalities originate. While the  Bachelet administration’s employment policy and labor relations have been described as disappointing, (Lopez 2009;  ´ Sehnbruch 2009), it did turn social protection into a key priority. The concept ual pillars of her strategy included a life-course approach to social protection and the attempt to introduce a rights-based perspective (Hardy 2011). The latter materialized in a gradual lifting of budgetary restrictions on social assistance7 and the progressive relaxation of eligibility requirements for accessing a range of beneï ¬ ts. The life-course approach, in turn, is captured in repeatedly stated commitments to create equal opportunities and protect citizens â€Å"from the cradle to old age†. Tellingly, its translation into policy focused on the two extremes of the life course, namely the reform of the pension system and Chile Crece Contigo, an integrated early childhood protection system that included the massive expansion of childcare services. The working-age population remained caught in the middle with persistently low employment quality, including a high level of job instability and the limited reach of employment-based rights and beneï ¬ ts, a scenario that disproportionately affects women workers (Sehnbruch 2009). 8 Thus, the attempt to square greater equity and social inclusion with an open economy inï ¬â€šuenced the scope and locus of policy change during the Bachelet administration. While acquiring greater visibility, social protection remained subordinate to macroeconomic goals, including those related to employment, understood as not interfering with job creation through greater regulation and rights for workers. In this context, it is particularly surprising that a highly controversial employment-related reform was introduced under the new right-wing government of Sebastian Pinera (2010) which, in ËÅ"  ´ 2011, expanded (women) workers’ rights through a reform of maternity leave regulations.