Introduction to business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Introduction to business - Essay Example Models are not only used to describe the current position and functioning of the entity but also the future position and the share that the company wants to achieve in the long run. The type of model that the organization adopts will go a long way to determine how the customers relate with the organization, how the employees are motivated and also how possible is it for the company to meet its long term plans. Different business models and theories have been adopted by various leaders in the management of their organizations. One of these business theory and models is the human relations theory. This theory is mostly concerned with the human factor in the company, leadership and the motivation of the workers (Heron, 1993). This theory assumes that both the employer and the employee are social beings and can relate on a common ground. This is also based on the assumption that the employer was so much concerned with the employee behavior at the work place. The level to which the organi zation is going to meet its objectives depends so much on the general perception of the employees and their general attitude towards work. The human relation theory also makes an assumption that how well the people’s needs are put into consideration, the better they are able to perform in their places of work. People naturally want someone who will be there for them and by the management showing concern about their needs is a way of giving them more reason to be proud and identify with the organization. The theorists who came up with this model suggested that to a given level, the managers could predict the behavior of their employees at the work place. This theory is mainly concerned with employee motivation and general satisfaction at work (Heron, 1993, p. 242). Different categories of people are motivated differently according to human relations theory. Rational- economical man is the type of employee who is motivated by being let to exercise those things that are of self interest but at the same time taking full advantage of the gains that come up in the organization. The second class of the employee is the social man who is motivated by being allowed some social time and allowed to be part of the groups in the organization. This type of employee will be motivated by even those things that are considered not as important to other people, for example, being allowed some time to go on a company trip or even a short business vacation where he is to meet other people. The self-actualization man, according to human relations theory, is motivated by those things that will help him to feel fulfilled as an individual. These things are like any advancements or achievements that the employee achieves and is recognized for them by the company. The management can motivate this employee by allowing him to be free and support any innovative ideas that he may come up with. The fourth type of individual is the complex man and as the name suggests, this employee is not easy to understand and he may stand for different things at different times. This man is motivated by understanding his needs personally and or as a group and trying your best to satisfy them in the best way possible. The human relation theory is a theory that applies so much in the day to day running of many businesses because many firms are concerned with productivity and this is achieved by making sure that the employees, who are directly concerned with this production are well catered for their

Fundamentals of Research Essay Example for Free

Fundamentals of Research Essay Research is a vital part of someone life because for the person to find information or wants to know anything he or she would need to conduct a research. People use other scientific approaches to conduct testing on data and research. The most common scientific approach people uses are scientific method because they can find the most reasonable solution to his or her testing. When working in the human services field research is one of the major tools used by case workers, managers, and counselors, and therapist. The scientific methods provide workers with enough information to make important decision on a regular base. Before human services professionals enter the field they conduct research or gathered information from his or her research so they could have information about his or her client. This type of research helps human service professional on his or her cases. The description, definition, and explanation of the scientific method on how human services professional uses research to conduct business will be present in this paper. The definition of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method research will be presented and an example on when to apply mixed method research in human services works. The definition of the scientific method is a â€Å"general expression for the methodology of science, or systematic research approach or outlook emphasizing the use of empirical reasoning† (Rosnow, Rosenthal, 2008, pg. 1). Other books or dictionary defined scientific methods as the â€Å"principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypothesis† (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, n.d.). When people think of the word â€Å"scientific,† the first thing pop into people minds is the study of the human body, geography, chemistry, biology, or even natural sciences. In human services there is also some form of scientific method demonstrate by workers. Human services worker demonstrates social science when working with clients, organizations, business, and other professional working in the same field. Human services workers used scientific method to take survey, answer questions, and conduct assessments in human services work. The scientific method provides statistic on children and elderly abusive, domestic violence, and teenage pregnancy, just to name a few. The scientific method helps human services workers find statistic or information on why children and elderly are being neglect and abusive by family members and friends. There are so much homeless veterans on the street, or even why sex-offenders are released from prisons back into society where they could harm children again. The steps involved in the process of scientific inquiries are observation, research, testable hypothesis, experiment hypothesis, analyze results, and draw conclusions. The next few paragraphs will describe the steps in the scientific inquiry. Observation provides information base on the real-world. Human service workers use social science to work on cases in the real world. The real-world provides workers with the knowledge they need, when working in the field. The information taken from the real-world is passed on to the research stage. The research stage allows case works to understand the basic information being observed. Some case workers may end-up finding the same information other workers has found already. It is the responsibility of the case workers to continue researching the information the case worker found. This process still has unanswered questions, which makes it easier to continue the research process and investigate into the information from the observation process. The next stage becomes the most vital stage in the scientific inquiries. Next the testable hypothesis is basically the background information from the research work. In, this process case workers have an opportunity to explain the observation he or her has made and ensure accurate the testing is. Some time, the information from the research data case workers collected for the experiment might be off from the hypothesis. This type of demonstration allows case workers to gain some kind of knowledge about the areas they might need to investigate more. It does not mean the first experiment is not accurate but other testing needs to be conducted. This allows case workers to make knowledgeable experiments so he or she could find answers to the questions that were unanswered. This is how case workers conduct business in the real world-by working on finding reliable and accurate understanding of the world. The fourth stage consists of conducting an experiment to test the hypothesis. This stage allows case workers to test their hypothesis to discover if the data they collected from his or her observation, research, and testable hypothesis is accurate. The steps followed according to the formula of the data for the experiment. It is important to identify the structure of the testable hypothesis. The variable from the testable hypothesis might be off so it is important to retest the experiment. Case workers take notes to determine any finding or mistakes that might happen, it is best to document the experiment so there is no repeat of the same experiment. This process ensures the data case workers collected is reliable and consistent to his or her hypothesis. One mistake could cause the whole experiment to go wrong. If the hypothesis is not constant the conclusions case workers draw from the observations, the research collected for the experiment will not have any type of meaning to the hypothesis. The next two final stages are analyzing the data and draw the conclusions. In the analyzing stage case workers data are presented, the facts are organizes, relationships are built, and the information is calculated so it could be analyzed and interpreted. In this process case workers could take the information gathered and determine if the hypothesis could be approved, rejected, or revised. After this process human services worker could start preparing his or her report and summarizing each stage for discussion. If the report is good enough the conclusions will relates to the body of the research. The report should still have room to modify any new information needed. This opens up the door to unanswered questions and leave room for additional studies. Human Services workers use the scientific method to conduct assessment and survey on domestic violence on women and children in the community. The problem here is how to conduct the necessary assessment to determine the number of women or children who are victims of domestic violence. The hypothesis should be to use the number chart with W’s representing the number of women and C’s to determine the number of children in domestic violence. The experimentation is conducted within two facilities where women and children are held. There is four associated available to help out with the experiment. Each associated will have his or her data which will be used to answer the question. The hypothesis will be tested and if additional testing is needed it will be conducted. The case workers will have an opportunity to analyze the results of the assessment. Finally the conclusion could be executed in the proper way and everyone could agree on the findings. Qualitative research is the studies in which the raw data exist in a non-numerical form (Rosnow, Rosenthal, 2008, pg. 4). Qualitative research discusses the type of research human services workers used when working in the field on different type of psychology, social sciences, and sociology cases. Quantitative research is the studies in which the raw data exist in a numerical form (Rosnow, Rosenthal, 2008, pg. 4). Quantitative research discusses the type of assessment or survey case workers used to conduct experiment. The areas are Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics human services used to determine the hypothesis and draw conclusion using the natural science tools. Both could be used in the human services field for example, in the number of domestics’ violence cases among women and children on the number chart. Using the qualitative research the study would be the age of the women and children. Using quantitative research on the number chart is the study of children taken out of their homes. It depends on the situation or case being studies to determine, which research between the qualitative and quantitative to use. The mixed method research is defined as the procedures for collecting both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study, and for analyzing and reporting this data based on a priority and sequence of the information (Creswell, 2008, pg. 552). The mixed method research demonstrates more of a complete indication of the study to any problems compared to either the qualitative and quantitative method. Mixed method research provides answers to questions and analysis statistic where qualitative and quantitative method cannot provide. An example of the mixed method research is the study of quantitative measurement to determine the impact of the treatment base on the outcomes. The qualitative part exactly comes before the experiment. Researchers collect the data to qualitative to determine the used of the design for the treatment being conducted. The fundamental of research is to determine if the information gathered is accurate enough to advance to the next stage. This process in human services work is vital because case workers the information gathered must be observe, research, test the hypothesis, perform the experiment hypothesis, and analyze the results, and finally draw a conclusion. The research method is beneficial to any human services workers or facility. The accuracy of the experiment must be strong enough to stand on its own for human services organizations to offer this type of services. Once the scientifically area shows improvement services will advance and goals of the human services organization and workers will be accomplished. References Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved December 23, 2012, from Scientific method: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scientific%20method Rosnow, R. L., Rosenthal, R. (2008). Beginning behavioral research: A conceptual primer (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Meaning Of Voting Behaviour Politics Essay

Meaning Of Voting Behaviour Politics Essay Human actions, such as voting in a democratic election, are extremely complex phenomenon and depend on a variety of social and psychological factors. Voting in elections is the most obvious and direct way in which a whole population can affect government, sort of mass revolution.  [2]  Voting is the most distinguishing imperative stuff that a citizen can do to make sure that the government operates in the way it is intended; and guaranteed that their political way of life are heard by the countrys political system. Therefore, it is the main form of political participation in liberal democratic societies and the study of voting behaviour is a highly specialized sub-field within political science. Voting has become virtually a universal means by which individuals make collective decisions.  [3]   Meaning of Voting Behaviour The word voting is not a new concept. In antique Greece, voting was not much for elections to offices, which were packed on the jury principles of arbitrary selection. But it was used for decisions on propositions put before democratic assembly, on the fate of individuals.  [4]  In contemporary democratic arrangement, voting is a method of expressing the approval or disapproval of the policies, programmes and decisions of the administrative authority. Quoting Oriavwote, (2000), S.K. Balogun and P.O. Olapegba writes: Voting thus, is a means of aggregating individual preferences into collective decision in an election, the action of formally indicating ones choice of candidate or political party at an election.  [5]   Voting is the pedestal of the political pyramid in democracy, and that decisions made at the foundation have the capability to overthrow those at the top. For this reason, voting may perhaps be looked upon as the basic decision-making process in a democracy.  [6]  It may also describe the process either by which citizens choose candidates for public office or the formal recording of opinion of a group on any subject. In either sense, it is a means of transforming numerous individual opinions into a coherent and collective basis for decision. Voters tend to choose candidates whom they perceived as benefiting them the most and as having a reasonable chance of winning.  [7]  That is, voting is a good example of rational choice,  [8]  as larger part of the electorate takes their voting preference on the establishment of a judgment of how the present government or the incumbent has exaggerated the welfare of the people, and the odds that the contrasting camp would accomplish b etter. The study of voting behaviour started around the 18th century (Jenson, 1969), this early attempts made use of aggregate data analysis that is, using actual election returns by geopolitical units e.g., wards, districts etc. (Gosnell, 1930).  [9]  Of late, voting behaviour has used to describe, as Samuel J. Eldersveld writes, certain area of study and types of political phenomena which previously had either not been conceived or were considered irrelevant. It involves an analysis of individual psychological processes (perception, emotion and motivation) and their relation to political actions, as well as institutional patterns, such as the communication process and their impact on elections.  [10]  As V.O. Key, Jr., and Frank Munger have observed, most voting behaviour of the time is a continuing affirmation of pre-existing political commitments which were forged under the pressure of a major social trauma. Looked at in terms of the party system as a whole, this profound linkag e with the past often amounts to a standing decision which is only very infrequently subject to review by any decisively large part of the electorate.  [11]   In short, voting behaviour of the populace determines political power in any political system on different scales signifying the intensity of political involvement. Even if people are not aware of a personal involvement in the electoral decision, they may still be induced to vote by social pressures and inner feelings of social obligation.  [12]  Voting behaviour refers to factors that determine the manner in which a particular group of people vote for a specific political party or candidates that are up for elections. Therefore, voting behaviour as N.G.S. Kini, sums up can be regarded as:  [13]   (a) a mode of legitimizing democratic rule; (b) instancing participation in the political process involving integration into the political community; (c) instancing an act of decision-making; (d) a role-action involving definite political orientation imbedded in a particular type of political culture; or (e) a direct relation of the individual citizens to the formal government.  [14]   In fine, the notion of voting behaviour implies the study of voters preferences, alternative, programmes, ideology, etc., on which elections are fought. Among other things, voting behaviour helps to arrive to a decision which official are chosen to run our governments, the multiplicity of parties that voters have to choose from at the polls, how many citizens will turn out to vote, who will or will not be represented in our legislatures, and whether the majority will rule. It has a thoughtful consequence not only on the process of elections, but also on the degree to which a political system is fair, representative, and democratic. Therefore, it lies at the heart of democratic process and are an expression of popular will. Factors affecting Voting Behaviour Voting behaviour is rather a complex and multi-faceted subject. Diverse factors that comprise both political and non-political have an effect on it. Its determinants are vast and wide-ranging, and differ from one person to another to a substantial degree. Voting behaviour is determined by the political attitudes, assumptions, policy preferences, and partisan loyalties of individuals and the political and institutional context within which they cast their votes in an election.  [15]  Thus, there are a numbers of indicators affecting voters choice as one of the early pioneers of electoral studies in India, V.M. Sirsikar, observes, an enquiry into the process of election indicates factors other than rationality.  [16]   . The assessment of voting pattern consistently focuses on the determinants of why people vote as they do and how they arrive at the decisions they make. Most attention has been, however, to the behaviour of the mass electorate.  [17]  A variety of research on the study of voting behaviour has identified two major types of factors, which can be broadly categorized as sociological (demographic, social, and economic attributes) and psychological (politically relevant attitudes, beliefs and values).  [18]  The comparative political science literature recognizes that certain variables such as education;  [19]  income and unemployment;  [20]  importance of party support or attachment;  [21]  perception of issues;  [22]  ideology and issues;  [23]  partisanship;  [24]  evaluation of leaders or the top candidates;  [25]  etc., have generally been found to associate with voting behaviour of the electorate. Some of the selected predicators of voting behavio ur for this study are analyzed as follows: Sociological factors Gender: The analysis of sex is an important indicator of voting behaviour. Women voters tend to be more wavering about their intention to vote as also in the voting act itself than the male voters.  [26]  However, the commitment is more to candidate then to party both to males and females. Village consensus and advice of village headman work more with female voters than with male voters, while the merit of the candidates attracts more males than females.  [27]  Sex provides a base for diversity where modernism is a significant issue, since in most societies womens role are more involved in religious institutions and less in modern economic ones. Consequently, where there is a difference between the voting pattern of the two sexes, women tend to support traditionalist parties more than modernising ones.  [28]  Nonetheless, since the focus of the study is on a relatively traditionalistic attitude where gender issues still predominates,  [29]  it seemed good to retain ge nder as a determinant of voting behaviour. Kinship: Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological or cultural, or historical descent.  [30]  In a kinship based society, kinship provides many of the social relations in which a person is likely to be involved in the course of his life.  [31]  It is a strategy force determining political behaviour of the people and influencing their thought process.  [32]   Strong kinship and village loyalties affect many a choice, the family or the wife voting as father or husband suggests, and the village casting its vote according to the advice of the head-man or influential elder.  [33]   Despite the traditional claim that each voter is an individual who makes up his own mind, social groups pressures limit choices sharply, and are highly significant determinants of individual voting patterns.  [34]   Kins and clan would, of course, be used to campaign for one or the other candidate; and votes would be sought by identifying a candidate as a peasant, a worker and the like.  [35]   Age: Age has often been described as one of the leading indicators of voting behaviour, though it is difficult to treat as an independent variable. As Alan R. Ball has pointed out, age is a complex variable. In common parlance, older citizens tend to vote for conservative parties but this may be simple reflections of the historical period when the electors voting habits were being formed. Age may be less important than the strength of the voters attachment to a political party, and it is this allegiance that hardens with age.  [36]  However the relationship between age and voting is curvilinear, with a gradual increasing in the mid-age group and declining thereafter. nonetheless, it is the candidate orientation which dominates in all the age groups.  [37]   Education: Over the years, education has emerged as one of the major predicators of voting. Educations widen the political visualization and expands the horizon of ones interest in the political process. It enables the individual to develop the skill for political participation.  [38]  The electorate having more years of formal education has the greater probability of exercising their franchise in any election. Economic Factors: The economic status of the electorate is an important indicator of voting behaviour. Though it is often considered as non-existent impact on voting, economic factors play an important role in shaping voting behaviour of the electorate as Arivind Virmani points out: An improvement (or) worsening of economic conditions can increase (or) decrease the probability of voting for the party perceived to be responsible for the change. Further, the independent or floating voter is more likely to be affected by economic conditions than voters committed to a particular party for social, caste, religious and cultural reasons.  [39]   ` However, as Wolfinger and Rosenstones findings indicated, the likelihood of voting may not be a linear function of income.  [40]  The key difference seems to be the unpleasant variation among those of high-income groups and low-income groups. The most distinguishing factors in election are vote bribing which is open-secret which reflect a clash between traditional economic ties and changing cultural pressure.  [41]  Poor voters are reported to have received money offered by various candidates. Public Employment: Along with education and economic status, occupation appears to exert a great effect on voting behaviour. Public officials tend to take greater interest in voting and are usually votes for the party which is likely to address their interest. Even farmers, who are conventionally viewed as being uncommonly likely to abstain from voting,  [42]  have become much less distinctive in this regard.  [43]  Studies have also revealed that government workers of all types tend to take an unusual interest in political matters and are unlikely to vote in the election.  [44]   Psychological Factors: Interest in Public Affairs: Those voters who have interest in public affairs and who follows the news of the present day situation are likely voters in any election. This is because of the fact that such voters are very much concern with the affairs of states policies and programme. On the contrary, there are some who take minimal interest in such affairs and are unlikely voters. Many voters made explicit references to specific issue concerns, whereas others spoke in more global terms about parties, leaders or local candidates without elaborating their reasoning in any detail.  [45]   Strength and Direction of Party loyalty: Voting behaviour is more easily explained by emphasising party loyalty.  [46]  Some party men are likely to vote in elections than others as different parties may draw their members from different social base which reflects the weakness and the strength of the party. However, in India, people do not hesitate to shift their votes from one party to another as parties identities are not very strong. If party loyalty is taken as one of the key indexes of political considerations, it may be assumed that the parties play a marginal role in determining the preference of the voters.  [47]  Though party loyalty is an important indicator of voting behaviour, it is often determined by other factors like social class, economic position or ethnic affiliation.  [48]   Perceived difference between Parties: In any election, if there is a clear-cut difference of ideologies between the contesting parties, the electorates are more likely to exercise their franchise. If the parties and the candidates are same and not easy to distinguish from each other, then there will be a little point in electoral participation. As Habib and Naidu (2006) observes: Conventional wisdom suggests that workers and poorer classes in society would support parties to the left of the political spectrum, while the middle class and more affluent strata would support parties on the right. The reasons are obvious. While the former have a material interest in fundamentally changing the political and socio-economic arrangements of society, the latter prefer the status quo.  [49]   Recent research, however, has emphasized party de-alignment.  [50]  Ideology could be said to be present only in terms of accent on social justice, involving considerable overlap and neutralization among parties which vied in usurping each others ideological planks.  [51]  Therefore, people are most unlikely to vote in the election where there are no ideological differences. Charisma of the Candidate: Role of personality in influencing the electoral behaviour cannot be refuted, Charisma refers to mean a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural or exceptional powers or qualities.  [52]  Moreover it is this quality of the leader which enables him to attract a large number of people and under the influence of which the people pay reverence to the charismatic leader. Therefore, there is a strong belief that organisation of political party under a charismatic leader is a source of popular support for the party. Pubic Opinion and Mass Media: Pubic opinion and mass media has, of late, become an important indicator of voting behaviour. Public opinion refers to the attitudes of a significant number of people about public affairs, or matters of government and politics that concern the people at large. It is one not of advocacy of any particular policy, subject or topic, but of the provider of both objective and subjective information, obtained systematically and objectively, analysed dispassionately and delivered evenly.  [53]  The latter has the capacity to bring matters to the attention of the public or to conceal them. This is usually referred to as agenda setting.  [54]  While the media may ignore certain topics or exaggerate others, the public also has an enormous capacity for being highly selective in what to take interest in.  [55]   In the pages that follow, we shall examine these sociological and psychological factors on the voting behaviour of the electors in the constituency under study. Voting Behaviour in Manipur The most interesting questions about an election are not concerned with who won but with such questions as why people voted the way that they did or what the implications of the results are. These questions are not always easily answered. A glance only at the campaign events and incidents will not suffice. The unique aspects of the election must be blended with a more general understanding of electoral behavior to create a full explanation. Since the introduction of participatory democracy in Manipur under the Manipur State Constitution Act, 1948, attempts have been made to study the nature of voting behaviour in Manipur. There has been some imprecise handling of the topic in the study of electoral politics,  [56]  political participation,  [57]  social and political change,  [58]  socio-political study;  [59]  and that research on the study of voting behaviour had also been undertaken both at the state  [60]  and constituency level.  [61]  They found that party ideology, ethnicity, role of money, caste, religion, personalities of the candidates, etc., were the main factors affecting voting behaviour in Manipur. As S.K. Chaube notes that in Manipur voters not only attach importance to party levels but also to status and personalities of the candidates.  [62]  However, some scholars emphasis on caste as a factor of voting behaviour in Manipur,  [63]  though there is absence of caste system in Manipur.  [64]   In the hills, ethnic loyalties play an important role as factor in voting decision.  [65]  The tribalism and ethnicity have become more intense as a result of the introduction of adult franchise.  [66]  Electoral politics has significantly given rise to inter-group conflicts in north-east and this is also affecting the democratic values and tradition of the tribals.  [67]  In addition to ethnicity, money, promise for government jobs, candidates personalities, etc., have also been a major source of influence to the voters in the hills.  [68]   In the first and the only election held in Independent Manipur  [69]  under the Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947, the voting behaviour of the electorate was influenced by ideology of the Manipur State Congress party as the party got the highest number of seats. And also the influenced of personality cult was also evident as twelve independents candidates in fray was also elected to the erstwhile Manipur Assembly.  [70]   After the merger of Manipur into the Indian Union in 1948, the first democratic election was held in 1952 under the Constitution of India. In the election, the socio-political movement of the time demanding for a responsible government influenced the electoral behaviour of the voters.  [71]  In the second and third assembly election held in 1957 and 1962 also, the same factors that influenced the election of 1952 were evident. However in 1962 election as R.P. Singh points out: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in the hills areas, as there were no reserved seats for the schedule tribes, the election were fought on tribal lines. Political parties had sent up only tribals as their candidates except in Jiribam, where half of the voters were non-tribals  [72]   In 1967 assembly election of the state, the demand for a full-fledged statehood in the state influenced the voting behaviour of the people.  [73]  The electioneering was a quite brisk except in the cease-fire bound northern hills areas where it was restricted to a whisper campaign for fear of underground Nagas who boycott the elections.  [74]  After the attainment of statehood in 1972 and in the assembly election that followed, voting behaviour of the electorate was oriented toward parochial regional outlook,  [75]  as the performance of the regional political party, MPP in this election indicates. However, as a result of political instability in the state, mid-term election was held in 1974, and in that election the main determinant of voting behaviour was: inclusion of Manipur language in the Eighth Schedule, local problems and money factors.  [76]  In the assembly election of 1980, money, a strong Indira wave, and the impact of personality of the candidates  [77]   in fray played an important role in shaping the vote-choice of the electorate. Also, in the election of 1984, the vote-choice was mainly determined by a strong sympathy wave for the Congress (I) due to the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the charming personality of Rajiv Gandhi.  [78]   However, in the assembly election of 1990, voting behaviour was mainly influenced by the elders or the head of the family to vote for a particular party or candidate;  [79]  and also the influence of money was found to be associated with the vote-choice of the electorate. In the assembly election of 1995 and 2000, money as a determinant of voting behaviour was considered to be more significant than all other factors.  [80]  In the assembly election of 2002, influence of money, personality of the candidates, party loyalty, and local issues facing the state and the respective constituencies was noticed.  [81]  The assembly election of 2007 perhaps culminated in the victory of the Indian National Congress (I) and the electoral behaviour of the people was mainly influenced by the stability of the Secular Progressive Front (SPF) government and the various developmental works initiated during the period. The boycott-call given by armed insurgent outfit to the INC during electio n did not hamper the electoral prospect of the party. The strong personality of the incumbent Chief Minister, Shri Okram Ibobi Singh had profound impact on the voting behaviour of the people. From the above analysis, the voting behaviour of the electorate in Manipur changes from time to time and from one election to another. Various socio-political factors had influenced the voting behaviour of the people of the state. The electors of Manipur have exercised their political franchise according to the needs and circumstance of the time for better governance. As Dr. Benjamin Gangmei, sums up: the main determinant of voting behaviour in Manipur includes: personality of the candidate, party loyalty, money power, local issues, family influence, election campaign, groupism, election feasting and insurgency.  [82]   In the light of th

Mandatory Public School Uniforms are a Good Thing Essay -- dress code,

Nowadays, we see many teenagers dress in spaghetti-strap tank tops, low-cut shirts, drop pants, pajamas, and even spandex shorts in school even though there have been policies about dress codes. Teachers, parents, and other adults feel disgruntled about the way they dress. Many students also complain about difficulties in concentrating on schoolwork because of the same reason. Obviously, what students wear to school has become a very distracting issue in the school environment. Therefore, school uniforms should be required in public schools due to many reasons. There have been many forums and discussions about mandatory school uniforms in public schools. They assume that wearing uniforms is a kind of Nazi education tactic; however, school uniforms reduce fashion-envy among students. For example, it is extremely easy to tell who is rich and popular at a public high school. Only popular girls wear Buckle Jeans that cost approximately one hundred dollars per pair. Only popular boys wore Ralph Lauren T-shirts to school. High school students are teenagers who are developing their self-esteem; therefore, it is important to guide students to lead a confident life without caring too much about appearance and materialistic things. In every public school, lots of students try to follow the newest trends and brands by begging their parents to buy them expensive clothes. They also work too hard to earn money for buying clothes, rather than focus on schoolwork. Moreover, the cases in which students steal and commit crimes are increasing like a strong wave. Many students think nowadays that it is more important to put appearance first, not intellect. Students who do well in school are often called nerds and geeks. They are also known ... ...a story about some boys she observed watching a fellow student make a presentation in the school's media center. She noticed the boys were making fun of the other boy's sneakers, which were plain white, in contrast to their more fashionable two-tone shoes. It was the only clothing item that differentiated the student from his classmates, because there is some leeway in the type of shoes students can wear. According to Kathleen C. and Carl A. Cohn’s â€Å"School Improvement Initiatives in Long Beach, California: The Quest for Higher Student Achievement, Behavior, and Dress Standards† in Education magazine, which was published on December 22, 1998, Long Beach Unified School District initiated mandatory uniforms for all K-8 students in the fall of 1994. Within the first year, all incidents of school crime, including assaults and weapons violations, declined by 76 percent.

Fyodor Dostoyevskys The House Of The Dead :: essays research papers

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow on Nov. 11, 1825. As his father was a former military surgeon, Dostoyevsky grew up in the noble class. He entered the military engineering school at St. Petersburg at age 16. Shortly after graduating, he resigned his commission and devoted all his time to writing. However, he soon became caught up in the movement for political and social reform during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I. He began to participate in weekly discussions about the ideas of French utopian Socialists. This Petrashevsky Circle was arrested in April 1849. After a long investigation, Dostoyevsky, along with 20 other members of the Circle, were condemned to be shot. Literally moments before his execution was to occur, his sentence was commuted to four years hard labor in Omsk, Siberia. He accepted his punishment and began to regard many of the simple convicts as extraordinary people. During his sentence, he became devoted to Orthodox Christianity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The House of the Dead was initially published in Russia, 1860. Upon initial examination of the work, it appears to be a stream of consciousness account of Dostoyevsky's four years in a Siberian prison camp. But, upon further review, it seems to be more an account of Dostoyevsky's personality and attitudes through these years. In his first year in prison, Dostoyevsky â€Å"found myself hating these fellow-sufferers of mine.† (305) His first day in prison, several convicts approached him, a member of the noble class and no doubt very wealthy in the convicts' eyes, and asked him for money four times each; and each refusal seemed to bring more convicts. He quickly grew to spite these people, for they thought him to be an idiot, unable to remember that the very same convict had approached him for money not fifteen minutes earlier. (67-8) But, Dostoyevsky makes a startling realization at the end of this first year, a discovery which allows him to drastically alter his personality: â€Å"...the convicts lived here not as if this were their home, but as some wayside inn, en route somewhere.† (303) this concept is followed by Dostoyevsky's realization that he wanted, unlike many other convicts in the camp, to live as he did before his imprisonment. He believed that â€Å"Physical, no less moral strength is required for penal servitude if one is to survive all the materiel deprivations of that accursed existence. And I wanted to go on living after I had left prison....† (277). The remaining twenty pages are anti-climatic; they simply deal with the change of a Major stationed at the prison and Dostoyevsky's

Frankenstein Essay

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, encompasses every definition of a tragic hero. A tragic hero is not the normal hero a reader always envisions, but rather a character that causes suffering to others. This is shown through Victor Frankenstein himself in this novel. Victor Frankenstein would be classified as a tragic hero in this novel because of his choice to â€Å"play God†. This is shown through him creating the Creature. He knew that this could be dangerous, but he continued to work as if nothing could go wrong for over two sleepless years. He assembled the Creature, hoping that it would be able to help humankind, and be his friend when no one else would. Victor was terrified of the Creature. â€Å"I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being that I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep†(30). This quote shows how horrific he perceived the â€Å"monster† he had just created. Victor begins to wonder why he had spent so much time creating the Creature, and why he had thought that he would help mankind. Although Victor saw the Creature as a monster, the Creature wanted nothing more than to be loved and wanted by his creator. When the Creature was denied the love and affection he so longed, he did become a killing machine. â€Å" Character, English-language films, At that moment he sees a gigantic figure illuminated by a bolt of lightning†¦ and he instinctively realizes that that it was the Creature who killed his brother William† (Kelley). After the death of William and Justine, and the woman accused of killing William and was sentenced to death for it, the Frankenstein family went on a vacation to the mountains, where Victor runs into the Creature. The Creature describes himself as â€Å"miserable beyond all living things†, and that misery made him a friend. The monster makes a request of Victor to listen to his story and was hopeful that Victor will understand his position. The Creature requests that Victor make him a mate, and if he does, he will run away with her and never return. Victor agrees to construct a mate for Creature, but abandons this in the middle of the project. This c ould show how much of a tragic hero that Victor really is. Since he abandoned the female monster, the original creature kills his best friend, Henry, and his wife, Elizabeth. If Victor Frankenstein had only cared more about the Creature and mankind other than himrself, there might have been a happy ending to the novel. But since this was not true, the novel ended in tragedy, further explaining the role Victor Frankenstein had on the plot as a tragic hero.

Moll Flanders: From Innocence to Maturity Essay

Moll Flanders is the central character of the novel â€Å"Moll Flanders†, who was born in Newgate, England and passed different phases of her life across England and America. The entire novel depicts those phases of her life through five marriages, among which only one was fruitful. Between her marriages and through them, the character of Moll Flanders evolves which shows her ingenuity, energy and determination to survive and do well. Moll is born in a prison in Newgate and soon after her birth, her mother is deported to America alone, to serve her punishment. She is taken over by a group of gypsy, with whom she lived until she was three years old. Then she was raised by a nurse until she was eight. It was tradition that she should now find a job as a servant, like many other orphan children. However, this is when we see the first piece of Moll’s intelligence when she pleads that she could be a ‘gentlewoman’ with whatever little education and work skill she has achieved so far. Soon, she becomes a celebrity and was assisted by many women and finally was taken by one of the prominent families where she grows like the other daughters of the family. So, if we look thoroughly up to this phase of Moll’s life, we see the ingenuity of her character which she keeps growing over time through the rest of the novel. As the elder son of the family becomes physically intimate with Moll, she starts to become emotionally very intimate to him. She starts to believe that she could be a wife someday in that house. However, soon she turns wrong and learns the about the harshness male dominance. Later, she marries the younger brother and gives birth to 2 children. We see Moll starts to become self-sufficient through this phase of life. She understands that if she wants to get herself as a respectable woman in the society, she requires the identity of being married to a gentleman. However, it is also interesting to observe that she still preserves a sense of dignity in her. The thought of lying with the elder brother for financial reason disgusts her. But she grows a perspective which decides her reaction to such events and let her choose the appropriate course of action to survive. She becomes aware of the physical relationship but at the same time she becomes pragmatic and marries the elder brother. Soon after the death of her first husband, she gets married to a draper. But her second marriage does not last long either as the tradesman becomes a fugitive and runs away to France. And the wealth that Moll has achieved over the period of affair with the elder brother, comes down to less than half. And this is when she falls into a strange kind of problem of having no husband despite having one. But she finds a solution by concealing her true identity and becomes a trickster to get married again. It is notable that at this stage of her life, she realizes that being honest and devoted to relationship does not always settle a woman into a society. Her love for the elder brother is real but is not enough to achieve a stable life. Life teaches her to be tricky and she tricks her step-brother to marry her by vowing him that he would still marry her even if she is penniless. After being married for the third time, Moll goes to Virginia with her husband and starts to live a happy and prosperous life. However, that does not last long as the secret is soon revealed that she has married her own half-brother. Moll’s reaction at this stage of her life is quite contrasting to the rest of her reactions previously. So far she has exposed mostly the negative aspects of her character to get a sustainable life. However, despite being happy with her step-brother, she decides to leave her. This time her moral principle wins over other consideration and she expresses her disgust over this incestuous relationship. Even her own mother cannot convince her to forget everything and live the life. So, she returns to England by leaving behind a perfect life in America. As she returns to England, she starts to live in a place called Bath, which is known more to find a mistress than a wife. After three unsuccessful marriages, Moll becomes aware that she has to be very careful about her next relationship. She meets a banker who is ready to marry her but she denies after knowing that he already has a wife who is insane. She says she would only consider marrying him if the banker can obtain a divorce. This shows the sign of her being matured over time. She also meets another man named Jemy, who becomes her fourth husband and perhaps her best match. Jemy is another trickster, like Moll herself. So, this phase of Moll’s life shows her calculated treatment to the male companions and her sensitivity in getting married. However, she and Jemy cross each other in the same game and they fitted each other rightly, and in later life it proves right. So, at this segment of her life, we see the little morals and bits of wisdom which shows the ultimate maturity of Moll Flanders. Going through the life of Moll Flanders through her first four marriages, one might say she is hard to stand. But despite her less than appealing qualities, we see the development of a woman who leads a hard fought life. Interestingly, Daniel Defoe has chosen a character of low moral as the principal protagonist of this novel which is rather uncommon. But her imperfection and the nature of fluidness in her character glorify the fight of a woman from an era when they were seen as an inferior. And through the first four marriages, we see the evolution of an ordinary girl towards sensible maturity to sustain in a society which is vulnerable for women.