Threats to the Modern State

Threats to the Modern State Do you agree that in modern liberal democratic societies the state is now reduced to being ‘one actor amongst many? Whether or not the role of the modern state has changed in modern times is a contentious issue. Some argue that the state remains to be the most powerful actor in the system, holding ultimate authority on decisions. Others however, argue that the state is now just one actor amongst many. With this we can assert that there are other institutions that hold more influence over the state. It is important the role of the state is assessed under different power theories. These include Pluralism, Marxism and Elitism, whilst also looking at the theories of Zero and Positive sum politics. In this essay the internal and external threats to the states power will be assessed. These include, New Public Management, The New Right and also the impact of both globalisation and Europeanisation. Ultimately, it seems that the state has been reduced to being one amongst many actors; however, it can still remain a dominant figure within that system. Firstly, it is apt to discuss what we mean by â€Å"The Modern State.† Max Weber was an early writer about the modern state, he concluded that, ‘a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory’[1] He also linked this in with two other vital traits that are taxation and legitimacy. It is important that the modern state is built upon and within a democratic system that includes the people within its boundaries. The Modern State can also be linked with various theories of power. The first theory that the state can be assessed under is Pluralism. Schwarzmantel outlines Pluralism in his text. ‘A system where there are competing parties, a network of pressure groups and associations, a â€Å"separation of powers† in some form.’[2] This may be linked heavily with how the state has become on amongst many actors. Also important to analysis is Elitism. This theory argues that power is more concentrated and not dispersed as Pluralism assumes. ‘Elite theorists argued that whatever the ostensible form of government, an elite minority always rule.’[3] Again, this may be linked with the state; however, this theory argues that the state is still dominant. This leads onto the theories of Zero and Positive sum, these may be more accurate in describing the gaining or loss of power for the state. Zero sum argues that power is a finite resource and when it is given away, the s tate loses it to the other actor. Linking with the argument of the state power being reduced. On the other hand, Positive sum argues that power is infinite and when shared, it comes to the benefit of all parties involved, including the state. This theory may be linked with both the Pluralist interpretation of power and also the argument that the state can remain a dominant actor within a system of many actors. Internal challenges to the state have been highly important and allow us to assess the role of the modern state. The internal challenges include The New Right and the growth of New Public Management in both the UK and the USA from the 1970’s onwards. Figure-Headed by the then leaders, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the New Right grew in conjunction with the apparent failure of the Keynesian welfare state.[4] With this, the emphasis was switched from major involvement in welfare and economics, to the rolling back of the state into a more limited form. The New Right looked to do this in various ways. The economy provided an important area where the New Right could stamp their new methods of governance onto society. To move away from Keynesianism, it was seen that government needed to cut all involvement in the economy, leaving market forces to dictate the variables such as inflation and unemployment. Richards and Smith highlight this. ‘The state had to be cut, in order to create conditions where business could prosper.’[5] This is important when we consider the UK. There were over 50 companies and industries that were privatised, both under and after Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.[6] This had a significant impact on the state. Having given away some power from denationalising major industries, it may be argued that under the Zero Sum assumption, the state had lost power to the other actors that had been brought into the frame, as they were able to exert more influence over society and over the UK government. The New Right also has links with the new phenomenon that grew during the 1980’s and 1990’s, New Public Management. These developments go hand in hand with the privatisation policies previously mentioned. Klijn comments on the growth of New Public Management. ‘NPM leads to a proliferation of separate bodies, comprised of actors focussing on their specific task.’[7] Again, this supports the notion that the state has now become one actor amongst many. Ultimately, big-business and other organisations have become much more powerful and have more influence now, than they did before the 1980’s. NPM also has links with the rolling back of state bureaucracy. Interestingly, this can be seen with the reduction in the amount of civil servants working in the UK. In 1979, there were 732,000; this figure was reduced to 472,412 in 1997, at the conclusion of Conservative rule in Britain.[8] The influence of both privatisation and the New Public Management can be see n heavily through-out UK society today, with the current government carrying on these policies. Along with the rise of New Public Management came the rise of regulation under The New Right. At first glance, we may see the states role as minimal after privatisation, linking with the Zero Sum model of power, where the state has lost significant power to other institutions. However, dig deeper into the political system and assess regulation and you find that the state actually keeps quite a lot of power, by monitoring those institutions to which it has given its power previously. Hague and Harrop note that within nearly all Liberal Democracies, regulatory agencies are on the rise.[9] With this, the government is able to take a less active role, in the knowledge that they are able to step in and take charge when needed to. ‘Britain has embraced regulatory agencies with particular gusto; over 140 agencies, from the Food Standards Agency to Ofcom’[10] have been formed. With this, we may argue that the state may fit more into the Positive Sum model of power. Although they have given power away to other institutions, they keep their dominance through regulation and still remain to be the most powerful actor in a pool of many. Ultimately, in this light, the state remains to be very powerful. External Challenges can be equally important when assessing the changing role and position of the modern state. Under the external threats come Globalisation and Europeanisation. Importantly both seem to show the move away from the dominant state, into a new role where it is simply one amongst many actors in the political system. Globalisation is the first external challenge to be assessed. It is important to understand that globalisation is very contentious issue in itself, sparking much debate about the history and validity of globalisation theory. For the purposes of this essay, we will assume that globalisation has made a significant difference to world we live in. ‘Globalisation came to be seen as more than simply a way of doing business, or running financial markets it became a process.’[11] Importantly, the process became a change in the way governments had to run and forced states to adapt to the changing nature of governing. The establishment and growth of the United Nations is key to seeing the increase in globalisation. Established in 1945, just after World War II, the UN has grown since then and had 193 nations within it in 2011.[12] Along with this, economic globalisation has been key in showing us the decreasing role of the modern state. This has been seen as a result of the worldwide economic recession of 2007. Starting in the USA, the domino effect of economic downturn quickly spread to each corner of the developed world. Larry Elliot, writing in The Guardian, talked about the role of the state during the economic crisis. ‘One response to last weeks meltdown was the announcement of talks between the G7 – the US, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Canada and Japan – but while this would have been appropriate 20 years ago it is not going to calm markets today.’[13] Taking this into account, Elliot demonstrates the weakening power of the individual state. From this, we can infer that globalisation and increased interdependence between countries led to the lack of action states could take to prevent and ease the damage caused by the recession. Even the most powerful states, the UK; USA and Germany were limited in the actions they could take. With this, we could argue that the states dominance has been in decline and globalisation has played a major part in this change. The state is simply one amongst many in the world and is seemingly at mercy with the financial markets around the world. Banks and financial institutions hold a significant strong-hold on power, something the individual states have looked to regulate since the 2007 decline. The other external challenge is Europeanisation. This suggests that countries in Europe have become more integrated and heavily interdependent on each other. With this issue, we can see that the European Union, at least theoretically, has led to a decline in the dominance of the individual state. The European Union has become a major actor in the modern system and this can also be assessed in economic terms. ‘Economic factors were also fundamental. European economies needed to be re-built after 1945 and then, in order to achieve the benefits of scale, integrated into a large, single market.’[14] The financial crisis gives an indication of the states power. Bulmer and Paterson comment on this. ‘EU politicians are consequently more likely to be at the mercy of the financial markets.’[15] With this in mind, we can see that there are definitely other actors in the frame when it comes to the role of the state and in the case of European economics, we may say that the state isn’t able to dominate. In some ways however, the process of Europeanisation and the power of the European Union is limited. This may be seen as states, especially the more powerful ones, can ignore EU laws and policies without much or any sanction. This has particularly been seen in the case of Anti-Terror laws in the UK. ‘Most controversially, the Terrorism Act 2006†¦ provided for terrorism suspects to be held without charge for 28 days.’[16] These laws were passed in the UK, much to the contrary to what the European Union suggests. The EU claims that these laws are against the human rights of those suspected of crimes. In this sense, the EU and the process of Europeanisation is limited in that the state always seems to keep the majority of power and dominance within the modern system. Overall, the position of the state has without doubt changed in the last 30 years. All the factors discussed lead to the conclusion that the state is now reduced to being one actor amongst many in the system, however, we can conclude that the state is the most dominant of these actors. Although the state has taken a more limited role on, in all areas, it seems to always be there to step in when needed to. With this then, the state can be seen to fit perfectly with the Positive Sum power theory where there are many actors involved, but the state doesn’t lose any power. It may also be linked with Elitism in the system, as the state always remains the most powerful and dominant figure. [2199 Words] Bibliography Bulmer, Simon and Paterson, William (2013). ‘Germany as the EU’s Reluctant Hegemon? Of Economic Strengths and Political Constraints’, Journal of European Public Policy 20, pp.1387-1405. Cobain, Ian (2010). ‘London Bombings: The Day the Anti-Terrorism Rules Changed, 7 July 2010. http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jul/07/london-bombings-anti-terrorism Dryzek, John and Dunleavy, Patrick (2009). Theories of the Democratic State (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan). Elliot, Larry (2011). ‘Global Financial Crisis: Five Key Stages’, 7 August 2011. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/aug/07/global-financial-crisis-key-stages accessed on 30.03.2014. Klijn, Erik-Hans (2012). ‘New Public Management and Governance: A Comparison’, in David Levi-Faur (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Hague, Rod and Harrop, Martin (2013). Comparative Government and Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan). Jeffery, Simon (2002). ‘What is Globalisation?’, 31 October 2002. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/31/globalisation.simonjeffery accessed on 28.03.2014. Osborne, Alistair (2013). ‘Margaret Thatcher: One Policy That Led To More Than 50 Companies Being Sold or Privatised’, The Telegraph, 8th April 2013. Richards, David and Smith, Martin J (2002). Governance and Public Policy in the United Kingdom (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Schwarzmantel, John (1987). Structures of Power: An Introduction to Politics (Brighton: Wheatsheaf Books). [1] Rod Hague and Martin Harrop (2013). Comparative Government and Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan). p.13. [2] John Schwarzmantel (1987). Structures of Power: An Introduction to Politics (Brighton: Wheatsheaf Books). p.17. [3] John Dryzek and Patrick Dunleavy (2009). Theories of the Democratic State (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan). p.57. [4] David Richards and Martin J Smith (2002). Governance and Public Policy in the United Kingdom (Oxford: Oxford University Press). p.93. [5] Richards and Smith, Governance and Public Policy, p.97. [6] Alistair Osborne (2013). ‘Margaret Thatcher: One Policy That Led To More Than 50 Companies Being Sold or Privatised’, The Telegraph, 8th April 2013. [7] Erik-Hans Klijn (2012). ‘New Public Management and Governance: A Comparison’, in David Levi-Faur (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press). p.202. [8] Richards and Smith, Governance and Public Policy, p.98. [9] Hague and Harrop, Comparative Government and Politics, p.332. [10] Hague and Harrop, Comparative Government and Politics, p.332. [11] Simon Jeffery (2002). ‘What is Globalisation?’, 31 October 2002. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/31/globalisation.simonjeffery accessed on 28.03.2014. [12] Hague and Harrop, Comparative Government and Politics, p.365. [13] Larry Elliot (2011). ‘Global Financial Crisis: Five Key Stages’, 7 August 2011. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/aug/07/global-financial-crisis-key-stages accessed on 30.03.2014. [14] Hague and Harrop, Comparative Government and Politics, p.160. [15] Simon Bulmer and William Paterson (2013). ‘Germany as the EU’s Reluctant Hegemon? Of Economic Strengths and Political Constraints’, Journal of European Public Policy 20. p.1401. [16] Ian Cobain (2010). ‘London Bombings: The Day the Anti-Terrorism Rules Changed, 7 July 2010. http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jul/07/london-bombings-anti-terrorism

Imperialism in Heart of Darkness

Before being published in the present form of the novel, Heart of Darkness was printed in a serial form in 1899 and then part of a volume entitled Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories in 1902. Based on Conrad’s own personal experiences after the African country of the Congo and the famous Congo River flowing through this country the story assumed the present novel. It was in this year 1890 that Conrad had performed his sailing trip upon the river Congo as a captain or skipper of a Belgian steamship.During his trips, Conrad studied at first hand the conditions which prevailed in the Congo and formed his own impressions of the kind of life which the savages were leading under the imperialist Belgian rule. Conrad also observed the attitude of white traders and their manner of treating the native savages. His reaction to the treatment was unpleasant and, in fact, he was greatly dismayed and even shocked at what he observed. We find in his novel, Heart of Darkness, more or less a record of all this which experienced during his own travels through the Congo and the Dark Continent.The title of the novel Heart of darkness signifies simply the interior of the dark country known as the Congo. The theme of Heart of Darkness is the conditions prevailing in the Congo under the imperialist rule of the Belgian King, Leopold II. These conditions include the impact of white traders and explorers on the life of the African savages, and the influence of the native way of life on the white man, with special reference to one man who is given the name of Kurtz. In fact, Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness has several themes, one of which is the theme of imperialist exploration of a backward country.In this essay I’ll show imperialism intervened with his life and Conrad as a victim of imperialism; the experiences of Conrad in the dark country of the Congo where the white man had become unsuccessful in performing civilizing function. I will end my essay discussin g the white man’s callous treatment towards the native savages and demonstration of their hypocrisy in the novel. Joseph Conrad (Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski) worked as sailor on French and British ships before becoming a ‘naturalized British subject’ in 1886. He developed an elaborate and beautiful English prose style.His work was adventurous and ‘darkly pessimistic’. â€Å"One of the most noted practioners of literary impressionism, Conrad offered a fictional rendering of subjective response that had a profound impact on writers like Ford Madox Ford and Virginia Woolf. He wrote that the primary task of the novelist was â€Å"to make you see. †Ã¢â‚¬  Conrad was born in the city of Berdychiv in Russian-controlled Ukraine, on December 3, 1857. Conrad was orphaned at the age of eleven. His father was imprisoned by the Russians for his nationalist political activities. At the age of seventeen he went to Marseille to become an apprentice in the merchant marine.He was hired to take a steamship into Africa, and according to Conrad, the experience of firsthand horrors of colonial rule left him a changed man. Heart of Darkness is a fictionalized exploration of his life. Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness is largely a record of Conrad’s own experiences in the dark country of the Congo. The character named Marlow, the chief narrator in the novel, is largely none else but Conrad. Marlow, like Conrad, experiences a strong sense of disillusion and disappointment after observing the behavior of the white traders and also the conditions of the natives.There is a lot of resemblance between Conrad’s Congo Diary and the contents of the novel Heart of Darkness to justify such an assumption. It might be said that Marlow’s view of philosophy of life is very much the same as that of Conrad himself. Conrad in the novel talks about the unproductive efforts of the white-men to civilize the savages. The white-men instead became exploiters. At the time the Congo was being governed by the Belgian King, Leopold II, the Belgian trading companies were sending their agents into Congo for trading purposes.The chief commodity these Belgians found worthy was ivory and to the native savages ivory was of no use. The white traders collected ivory and sent it to Europe where it could be used profitably. We can see, throughout the novel, the mention of ivory is constant and dominates the thoughts of almost all the white characters, like the manager of the Central Station, the Brick Maker, and many others. They loiter around the country in search of ivory and Marlow describes these agents as â€Å"faithless pilgrims†. ‘Subsequently we find that ivory not only dominates the thoughts of Mr.Kurtz but has become an obsession with him. ’ Marlow is told by the manager of the Central station that Kurtz collects more ivory than all the other agents put together. Thus, ivory becomes the symbol o f greed in the novel, symbolizing the white men’s greed and commercial mentality. We have the failure of Mr. Kurtz to civilize and uplift the savages of the Congo. Even Mr. Kurtz who has begun to identify himself with the savages, has done nothing for the uplift of the natives. Instead of improving their mode of life, he has himself become a savage in their company.He has begun to satisfy his various lusts without any limits. Even in his prime of life, when he had supported the view about white man’s civilizing role, he had written down the following words conveying an opposite message â€Å"Exterminate all the brutes. † Instead of a civilizing effect in the novel, we find the white man’s callous treatment towards the savages. The sight seen by Marlow after getting down from the streamer is very disheartening and freighting. This reflects the wretchedness and the misery of the natives of the Congo. Marlow sees a lot of black people mostly naked, moving ab out like ants.Later he sees half a dozen men chained to one another, and each wearing an iron collar in his neck. Marlow feels deeply upset to see the sight. Alongside, there are quite a few other scenes which clearly demonstrate the hypocrisy of the white men. They are simply wasting time and effort to show that some kind of constructive work is going, while in actuality there is none. There is a project to construct a railway line in this region; but Marlow sees that a rock is being blasted with gunpowder even though this rock doesn’t stand as an obstruction. Then he also comes across some pieces of decaying machinery, and a large heap of rusty rails.The whole effort of the white man is completely misdirected. The futility of the white man’s efforts becomes clearer when we come across certain employees of the trading company. Marlow’s description of the brick maker is satirical. He describes him as a â€Å"paper-mache Mephistopheles† because of this man ’s cunning. In the end we may say that Conrad has exposed the Belgian imperialism in Heart of Darkness. There are wider implications of the Belgian imperialism as depicted by Conrad in his novel. It conveys to us the deceit, fraud, slave-trading and other cruelties of the Belgian rule.But Conrad here is not only exposing the hollowness and the weakness of the Belgian imperialist rule over the Congo, but also indirectly remind us of the British imperialist rule over the countries of the world of his time. Heart of Darkness is an autobiographical novel, in the sense that the book contains indirectly Conrad’s own experiences in the dark country known as the Congo, and is a firsthand account of his own voyage upon the river also named as the Congo. But the novel is not a straight biography as Conrad doesn’t speak in his own person but through the character of Marlow and also through another narrator.

Immigration And The United States - 1762 Words

Immigration Motives Introduction From the very day, the U.S. attained its sovereignty over two centuries ago, it has been in the middle of an immigration wave. Immigrants from various distant lands have continued to move to the U.S. shores to start their lives seeking economic opportunity, political refuge or religious freedom. Since 2000, the number of immigrants has hit the highest level ever. Over seven million people entered the country in the first five years of the 21st century, beating the peak decade of 1910-1919, when over eight million individuals migrated into the U.S. Approximately, one million people; both legally and illegally, migrate into the country each year since the late 1980s. Although, nearly all states have experienced instances of immigration, there is no nation in the world that has maintained such as high rate of immigration over a long time as has the U.S. (Chebel Reich, 2008). Since 1820, when the American government began keeping records of immigration over 78 million people have sett led within the U.S. with the exception of Native Americans and the few individuals compelled by annexation and enslavement, each person is an immigrant either as an immigrant descendant or actual migration. This paper analyzes the issue of immigration, discussing the motivations for immigration of the major groups entering the U.S. over the past two centuries. An analysis of the change in the immigration trends over the past two centuries is also presented.Show MoreRelatedImmigration And The United States986 Words   |  4 PagesImmigration in the United States continues to increase rapidly year by year. According to an analysis of monthly Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies, the immigration population in the United States, both legal and illegal, hit a record of 42.1 million in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 1.7 million since the same quarter of 2014 (CIS.org). Clearly, Immigrants make up a large part of the population in the United States, an d for most immigrants, migrating to theRead MoreImmigration Of The United States1399 Words   |  6 Pages Michelle Faed English 126 Immigration in the United States The United States of America, being a country established by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people whoRead MoreImmigration And The United States965 Words   |  4 Pages Immigration is a highly controversial and big problem in the United States today. â€Å"While some characterize our immigration crisis as solely an issue of the 11 to 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in this country, our problems extend beyond the number of undocumented people to a broader range of issues. The lack of a comprehensive federal solution has created a slew of lopsided, enforcement-only initiatives that have cost the country billions of dollars while failing to end un authorizedRead MoreImmigration On The United States1302 Words   |  6 PagesImmigration Rights in the U.S. Immigration has occurred in the U.S. for for many years. Some say it’s the foundation of our country. America is the country where people leave their own country to live. People would leave due to mistreatment, hunger issues or job opportunities. 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It is very true that the country prospect and is more enrich. O pening the border might improve the economy or can impact the job market for American citizens. It is the jobs of American citizens to be given more to this illegal immigrant. I believe the U.S. borders should remain closed. While it is clear that opening the borders can have benefits, I believe it is more important to keep jobs available for Americans. In my opinionRead MoreThe Immigration Of The United States1632 Words   |  7 PagesFrench and European to settle in the New World. Since the colonial era, America has seen a wave of immigrants migrate in search of freedom and equality. Is this the same immigration today? Nearly 11.6 million immigrants from Mexico reside in the U.S. Today Immigration has a significant impact on many aspects of life in the United States, from the workforce and the classroom to communities across the country. Not all immigrants come to America legally whether as naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents

Impacts of Video Gaming - 1704 Words

Scientific research supports that video games have implications on the youngsters. In addition, they support the claim with concrete findings addressed in the literature review. In their reports, various researchers state that video games affect the social, psychological, and physical well-being of children. This research report supports the scientific view that although video games are beneficial in terms of improving attention, they negatively affect the children’s social being on a deeper context. The methods employed in the collection of data involved administering of closed questionnaires to the parents and teachers in a small neighborhood. The inherent motive was to establish the beliefs of parents and teachers upon the negative effects of the video games. The teachers partially agreed that video games have more detrimental effects to children than benefits. From the research conducted, it is clear that parents have a mixed belief on the issue. The beliefs that surround the effects of video games on children bring a controversial uproar from parents. The data collected shows that many parents deny the fact that video games have negative impacts on social, mental, and physical being of the children. On the other hand, the research conducted by other scholars in the literature review reveals that the undesirable impacts associated with video games among children exceed the parental anticipation. According to the data collected, most parents refuse the fact that videoShow MoreRelatedVideo Gaming And Its Impact On Society1500 Words   |  6 PagesOver the years, video gaming has become more and more popular and has started to become something integrated in with society instead of being cast out of it. It has breached the generational gap, joining the ranks of sports, movies, and other activities that people of all ages can enjoy. 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Video games of todays society contributes both positive and negative health related habits to the lives of gamers. Some would argue that games promote healthy habits such as enhanced hand-eye coordination, a better learning ability, and better decision-making skills. While others would say that video games hinder the growth of our world because itRead MoreThe Effects of Video Games on Children1610 Words   |  6 Pageschildren to be obese was equal to the fraction that disagreed. The results also showed that a majority of the teachers and parents disagreed that video games caused children to become psychologically weak and self-absorbed and experience emotional stress. 40 participants responded to the question on physical motor performance. 47.5% disagreed that video games caused children to have weak physical motor performance. Majority also disagreed that electronic games caused the players headaches, physical

Humanity And Inhumanity In The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

Winning isn’t always what it seems. Hearing the word â€Å"lottery† usually develops a positive connotation in the mind of the reader, associating it with pleasure, good fortune and happiness; however, in â€Å"The Lottery,† the winner is rewarded by being brutally stoned by her neighbors and believed friends. â€Å"The Lottery,† written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, highlights how complacently our society reacts to the pointless brutality and inhumanity towards others. To demonstrate this, Jackson examines social constructs, women’s place and how instead focusing too strongly on strict traditions, we need to reexamine these rituals to determine their necessity and if they are still beneficial to society. Jackson uses seemingly ordinary details about†¦show more content†¦Tess’s tone in her last words before being stoned is desperate and hysterical, because she knows that her protests will not result in anything but death. The black box used in the lottery each year isn’t something that the reader would usually associate with a happy lottery. The box is described as, â€Å"shabby†¦splintered†¦faded and stained,† yet no one in the community wants to replace it because, â€Å"no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.† The color black symbolizes the savage and evil nature of the lottery as well as the townspeople’s participation in it and the shabbiness of the box indicates how outdated the tradition truly is. Like the lottery, the box is well worn with its real purpose lost, and the townspeople are extremely reluctant in letting it go, even getting defensive when the idea of it is brought up. After the stoning of the â€Å"winner† occurs, the townspeople go on with their lives as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. The lottery takes less than two hours so that the townspeople could, â€Å"†¦get home for noon dinner,† immediately following the execution. The normalcy of the lottery to the townspeople is horrifying and all throughout the story everyone seems ok with this evil tradition, children are shown laughing and their parents, gossiping and talking about work. When Tess Hutchinson chooses the paper slip with a black dot making her the â€Å"winner†, Bill Hutchinson, her husband, asShow MoreRelatedThe Horror of The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson1375 Words   |  6 Pagestook part in the traditional lottery drawing and one villager was picked for the prize – a stoning. In 1948, Shirley Jackson published this short story known as â€Å"The Lottery,† in The New York Times. The story’s plot shocked readers all over America as they learned of the horror happening in such a quaint town. Jackson purposely set this tragic event in this innocent setting to emphasize humanity’s cruelty. Using her appalling short story, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson alarm s readers with the ironicRead MoreThe Theme Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson1159 Words   |  5 PagesWhen â€Å"The Lottery† begins, nothing seems unusual about this community, no hint of what is to come, or how heinous an act is about to occur. As they ready themselves for what seems to be a cheerful event, preparing as if to win something valuable, rather than to lose this lottery, eagerness and enthusiasm fill the air. The tradition, this community has been following, is overly duteous, more sheep like, illustrating the extent to which people will go to fit in, to be part of a crowd, to feel acceptedRead MoreUse of Symbolism in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson1146 Words   |  5 Pagesbulb represents ideas that just sparked into a character’s head. In the short story, â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson, a village has just entered the month of June, meaning that the lottery is to begin. When everyone was present, the heads of the households’ names were called one by one to pick up a slip of paper. It was then discovered that the Hutchinson family was the chosen family to participate in the lottery again. When Mr. Hutchinson, Mrs. Hutchinson, Bill Jr., Nancy, and Little Dave each gotRead MoreAnalysis Of Shirley Jackson s The Lottery, And Kurt Vonnegut Jr. s Harrison Bergeron1604 Words   |  7 PagesA common theme of placing societal influences over personal values and beliefs can be found in Shirley Jackson’s, â€Å"The Lottery†, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†. These short stories describe situations in which the citizens allow the superiors to have full control, without thinking twice about the laws and traditions that require their submission. Both of these short stories are similar in theme, because each tells about a community that chooses to participate in cruel and inhumane traditionsRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson Analysis1085 Words   |  5 PagesPublishing â€Å"The Lottery† in 1948, at the termination of World War II, Shirley Jackson uses prevalent cultural and historic cues throughout this story to insinuate a threatened, late 1940’s American society. References to the Holocaust were made by appeasing to this violent and sadistic tradition of stoning, in like manner the propelling of the stones reference the propelling of The Atomic Bomb. Consequently, the people of this village were forced to conform with the inability to observe humanity. Jackson’sRead MoreCritical Criticism Of The Lottery1448 Words   |  6 PagesSherley’s Jackson short story, â€Å"The Lottery† tells the story of villagers that hold a terrible lottery tradition every year. Even though the story begins with the audien ces with a bad close to the community by competing in a crisis tradition on a very important day, and at the end with a death of the â€Å"winner† by stoning the person that leads to s discussions between the people, and continued to be revise in modern days (Jackson). The â€Å"theory that based on the critical perspective of the story onRead MoreThe Road Through The Wall By Shirley Jackson1897 Words   |  8 Pages Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco, California on December 14th 1916. From an early age she was at odds with her parents expectations. Within these expectations her mother had an obsession with appearance that put her further away from her. Jackson began writing in 1930 as a teenager and grew up in a suburban atmosphere; this later became the subject of her first novel â€Å"The Road through the Wall† in 1948. From California she moved cross country to Rochester, New York in 1934. Her universityRead MoreTradition or Cruelty in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essay2237 Words   |  9 PagesTradition or Cruelty in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Shirley Jacksons The Lottery satirizes barbaric traditions in a supposedly civilized village. As the story begins, the villagers appear to be fairly civilized and carry on fairly modern lifestyles. This is assumed by the mens discussion of planting, rain, tractors, and taxes. The lottery was outdated to such a degree that some may think that the tradition is primal competition of anthropoid beasts. On the other hand, some think that carryingRead MoreAnalysis of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essays4601 Words   |  19 Pages Shirley Jackson’s famous short story, â€Å"The Lottery,† was published in 1948 and remains to this day one of the most enduring and affecting American works in the literary canon. â€Å"The Lottery† tells the story of a farming community that holds a ritualistic lottery among its citizens each year. Although the text initially presents audiences with a close-knit community participating in a social event together on a special day, the shocking twist at the work’s end—with the death of the lottery’s â€Å"winner†

Business System Analysis and Design Notes Free Essays

*IS:arrangement of people,data,processes,information technology that interact to collect,process,provide as output the info needed to support the organization. Types of IS: TPS,MIS,decision support system,communications and collaboration system,expert system, office automation system executive info system Types of Stakeholders:System owners (middle and executive managers, supervisors),System users (clinical service workers,technical and professional workers; suppliers,customers,employees),System Builders (network admin,security admin,data base programmer,system programmer),System Designers (web archs,graphic artists,network architectures),External service provider (sales engineers, technology engineers, system consultants),Project manager,System analyst:is a problem solver,he/she studies business probs and opportunities,then transform them into info that will be used by technical specialists. System analyst:specialist who studies problems and needs of an organization to determine how people,data,processes and info technology can best accomplish improvements for the business. We will write a custom essay sample on Business System Analysis and Design Notes or any similar topic only for you Order Now Skills by System Analyst:Working knowledge of information technology(The analyst must be aware of both existing and emerging information technologies),Computer programming, experience and expertise,General business knowledge,General problem-solving skills,Good interpersonal communication skills,Good interpersonal relations skills,Flexibility and adaptability,Character and ethics. Info sys architecture:provides a foundation for organizing various components of any info sys you care to develop. a unifying framework into which various stakeholders with different perspectives can organize and view the fundamental building blocks of information systems. Views of knowledge System owners view: Interested not in raw data but in information. (Business entities and business rules) System users’view: View data as something recorded on forms,stored in file cabinets,recorded in books and spreadsheets,or stored on computer. Focus on business issues as they pertain to data. Data requirement System designers’ view: Data structures,database schemas,fields,indexes,and constraints of particular database management system (DBMS). System builders’ view: SQL,DBMS or other data technologies Views of process System owners’view:Concerned with high-level processes called business functions. A cross-functional information system System users’view:Concerned with work that must be performed to provide the appropriate responses to business events. Business processes,Process requirements,Policy,Procedure, Work flow System designers’view:Concerned with which processes to automate and how to automate them. Software specifications System builders’view:Concerned with programming logic that implements automated processes. Application program,Prototyping Views of communication System owners’ view: Who? Where? What? System users’ view: Concerned with the information system’s inputs and outputs. System designers’ view: Concerned with the technical design of both the user and the system-to-system communication interfaces. System builders’ view: Concerned with the construction, installation, testing and implementation of user and system-to-system interface solutions *Basic principles of system development: Get the system users involved. Use a problem-solving approach. Establish phases and activities. Document through development. Establish standards. Manage the process and projects. Justify systems as capital investments. Don’t be afraid to cancel or revise scope. Divide and conquer. Design systems for growth and change. The need to improve: Performance Info Eco/controlcosts Control/Security Efficiency Service Phases for system development: scope definition, problem analysis, requirements analysis, logical design, decision analysis, physical designand integration, construction and testing, installation and delivery. Cross life-cycle activity: Fact-finding, Documentation and presentation Documentation, Presentation, Repository), Feasibility analysis, Process and project management Routes through the basic systems development phases: model driven development strategies (process, data, object modeling), Rapid application development (RAD), commercial application package implementation, system maintenance *Benefits of use case modeling: Provides tool for capturing functional requirements. Assists in decomposing system into man ageable pieces. Provides means of communicating with users/stakeholders concerning system functionality in language they understand. Provides means of identifying, assigning, tracking, controlling, and management system development activities. Provides aid in estimating project scope, effort, and schedule. The relationships that can appear on a use-case model diagram: Use case association relationship, extension use case, abstract use case, depends on, inheritance Use case – a behaviorally related sequence of steps (scenario), both automated and manual, for the purpose of completing a single business task. Steps for preparing a use-case model: Identify business actors. Identify business use cases. Construct use-case model diagram. Documents business requirements use-case narratives *Data modeling(database modeling)–a technique for organizing and documenting a system’s data. Data Modeling Concepts:Entity(class of persons, places, objects, events, or concepts about which we need to capture and store data),Attribute(descriptive property or characteristic of an entity. Synonyms include element, property and field), Data type(property of an attribute that identifies what type of data can be stored in that attribute),Domain(a property of an attribute that defines what values an attribute can legitimately take on),Default value(the value that will be recorded if a value is not specified by the user),Key(an attribute, or a group of attributes, that assumes a unique value for each entity instance. It is sometimes called an identifier),Subsetting criteria(an attribute whose finite values divide all entity instances into useful subsets. Sometimes called an inversion entry),Relationship(a natural business association that exists between one or more entities),Cardinality(the minimum and maximum number of occurrences of one entity that may be related to a single occurrence of the other entity),Degree(the number of entities that participate in the relationship),Recursive relationship(a relationship that exists between instances of the same entity),Foreign key(a primary key of an entity that is used in another entity to identify instances of a relationship),Parent entity(a data entity that contributes one or more attributes to another entity, called the child. In a one-to-many relationship the parent is the entity on the â€Å"one† side),Child entity(a data entity that derives one or more attributes from another entity, called the parent. In a one-to-many relationship the child is the entity on the â€Å"many† side),Nonidentifying relationship(relationship where each participating entity has its own independent primary key), Identifying relationship – relationship in which the parent entity’ key is also part of the primary key of the child entity,Generalization(a concept wherein the attributes that are common to several types of an entity are grouped into their own entity),Nonspecific relationship(relationship where many instances of an entity are associated with many instances of another entity. Also called many-to-many relationship) ,Sample CASE Tool Notations Entity relationship diagram (ERD):a data model utilizing several notations to depict data in terms of the entities and relationships described by that data. Logical Model Development Stages:1Context Data model(Includes only entities and relationships;To establish project scope). 2Key-based data model(Eliminate nonspecific relationships;Add associative entities;Include primary and alternate keys;Precise cardinalities). Fully attributed data model(All remaining attributes;Subsetting criteria). 4Normalized data model Normalize a logical data model to remove impurities that can make a database unstable, inflexible, and nonscalable. First normal form (1NF):entity whose attributes have no more than one value for a single instance of that entity,Any attributes that can have multiple values actually describe a separate entity, possibly an entity and relationship. Second normal form (2NF):entity whose nonprimary-key attributes are dependent on the full primary key,Any nonkey attributes dependent on only part of the primary key should be moved to entity where that partial key is the full key,May require creating a new entity and relationship on the model. Third normal form (3NF):entity whose nonprimary-key attributes are not dependent on any other non-primary key attributes. *Model:pictorial representation of reality. Logical model:nontechnical pictorial representation that depicts what a system is or does. Physical model:technical pictorial representation that depicts what a system is or does and how the system is implemented Process modeling:a technique used to organize and document a system’s processes. (Flow of data through processes,Logic,Policies,Procedures) Data flow diagram (DFD):a process model used to depict the flow of data through a system and the work or processing performed by the system. Synonyms are bubble chart, transformation graph, and process model. The DFD has also become a popular tool for business process redesign. Processes on DFDs can operate in parallel (at-the-same-time). DFDs show the flow of data through a system. Processes on a DFD can have dramatically different timing (daily, weekly, on demand) Context data flow diagram:a process model used to document the scope for a system. Also called the environmental model. Think of the system as a â€Å"black box. â€Å"2Ask users what business transactions the system must respond to. These are inputs, and the sources are external agents. 3Ask users what responses must be produced by the system. These are outputs, and the destinations are external agents. 4Identify any external data stores, if any. 5Draw a context diagram. Decomposition diagram:a tool used to depict the decomposition of a system. Also called hierarchy chart. How to cite Business System Analysis and Design Notes, Essay examples

Enterprise Business Intelligence

Question: 1. What is unsupervised classification? 2. What is k-means clustering? 3. When performing K-means clustering, what attributes should you look for in the inputs for creating the clusters ? Answer: 1: Unsupervised classification is one of the major categories of techniques of image classification calculated by software. The outcome of unsupervised classification that is pixel grouping with common characteristics are based on software analysis of image. This does not requires user to provide sample classes. Computers for determining related pixels and grouping them with common characteristics use such technique. These common characteristics produced by computers have to be interrelated to actual features on various grounds and this include developed areas, wetlands and coniferous forests. Since sample classes is not provided in unsupervised classification, the number of classes to generate and band to use is identified by users. Pixels are then clustered into number of classes with the help of software and in later part, land cover classes are identified by users. Unsupervised classification comprise of three steps and this include activating extension of spatial analyst and generating clusters and assigning classes. The identified classes under unsupervised classification may or may not correspond well to land interest of cover types. There are too many land cover classes concerning heterogeneous land cover and they are the results of such classification. This particular classification is considered useful when the image area does not have aerial photographs and it is not possible for users to accurately specify training areas of such cover type. 2: K means is regarded as one of the simplest unsupervised learning algorithm and assist in solving well-known problems of clustering. The procedure of K mean clustering follows a simple way of classifying given set of data through a certain number of clusters. In this step, k centroids for each of one cluster is defined. Since different location results in different results, it is essential to place these centroids in a cunning way. Hence, centroids should be placed far away from each other as possible. In the second step, each point belonging to given set of data is associated to the nearest centroid. First step is completed when no point is pending. It is required to re calculate k new centroids as clusters barycenter, which is the result of previous step. Thirdly, a new binding has to be done between nearest new centroid and same data set points after the formation of k new centroids. This result in generation of loop and after this k centroids change their location gradually until the time no changes are done. An example depicting k means clustering is as follows: It is assumed that there is an n sample feature vectors y1, y2, y3 ...yn for all same class and it is known that they are falling into k compact clusters and l n. In cluster i, the mean of cluster is assumed to be u1. A minimum distance classifier can be used to separate the clusters, if they are well separated. Then it can be said that y is in cluster if [ y- u1 ] is minimum of all l distance. Following procedure is selected for finding l means. Initial guesses are to be made for the means u1, u2, u3 ul. It is suggested to estimate means for classifying samples into clusters until there are no changes in any mean. With mean of all samples of cluster i, u1 is replaced. 3: Inputs in performing k means clustering is that they should be of appropriate choice of number of clusters. This would help in yielding proper results. Input data set should be partitioned in k means algorithm. Input data set does not requires ordering and it should not deviate from their current value. Inputs comprised of numeric values of attributes and attributes of inputs should have commonly used technique of trigonometrically encoding periodic. Nonetheless, using this trigonometric encoding causes a systematic error despite of providing any input to algorithm. Input data should be capable of presorting and using indirect indexing for accessing sorted array. It should also have mixed elements and has collection of features for each data points. Input for cluster creating in performing k means clustering should have features of machine learning algorithm. Input points needs to be coordinated for forming the number of clusters. Inputs that are empty or null results in exceptions. They are such that it capable initializing center of clusters and attributing closest of cluster for each point of data. Unsupervised classification does not require the users to have the foreknowledge of each classes. It can still consider the multivariate spreads and obtaining accurate covariance matrix and mean vectors.