ETHICS PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ETHICS PAPER - Essay Example The head nurse feels that these patients are frequently hospitalized and transferring them would distress them. Here, the chief resident is looking to serve personal interest of his pediatricians at the cost of snubbing the health hazards of existing patients. The ethical dilemma in this case is based on deontological or duty bound ethics that emphasizes on acting morally and rationally along with conducting tasks and responsibilities in a rational manner. The fundamental ethical principles for nurses state that patients should be respected for human dignity and should be taken care in a compassionate way. However, transferring the patients suffering from cystic fibrosis to another ward cannot be considered as an ethical move especially when the reason cited is based on offering space to pediatricians. It is important to consider the health issue of patients and accordingly taking steps rather than serving and promoting self and personal interest. At the same time, this situation fai ls to serve the utilitarian principle as it does not offer pleasure to majority of people and thus can be considered as a major ethical issue that needs to be assessed and analyzed well in order to offer mutual benefits and advantages (Rosen, 2003). 2. The important issues in this scenario are conflict of interest for nurses and deontological and duty bound ethics. At times, nurses are entangled in a situation and scenario where there is a conflict between the expectations of patients and work authority. The chief resident wants few patients to get transferred to another ward while the head nurse feels the other way. This shows that there is a conflict in terms of handling and understanding the situation. At the same time, deontological and duty bound ethics state that every individual should perform his tasks and responsibilities by being moral and ethical. The words ethical and moral are used throughout in the code of ethics for nurses and hold great importance and value. Ethics d efine what is right and wrong and moral defines personal attributes and intentions that have to be rational and positive offering mutual benefits and advantages

A review of black lives matter a modern social movement in America Essay Example for Free

A review of black lives matter a modern social movement in America Essay Abstract The prominence of the Black Lives Matter is a reform of social justice in America. There are many layers to the movement including and having to do with feminism, an ideological change, as well as a different psychology. It holds the future of social justice. It has been over a century since the formal end to American slavery, and decades since the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, but social justice and an egalitarian society does not yet exist. But with the knowledge and teachings that can change that attitude, the movement will continue to grow and make the strides that are necessary to change the lives of the people who help make America. Black Lives Matter: Beyond a Movement â€Å"Black Lives Matter† is very well known and everyone has a ready association when hearing it. I have always found it most interesting that this movement has come with so much mockery. Mockery in the sense that for all the people that take it seriously and for the people whose daily lives are affected, there are just as many people if not more who come with the opposition. The opposition make other slogans (i.e. â€Å"All Lives Matter†, â€Å"Blue Lives Matter†, â€Å"White Lives Matter†, etc.) This makes a mockery of the issue (Yancy Butler, 2015). They are saying, your issue is not a real one, get over it. And also saying, maybe you should think about us first, and how you are affecting our lives. It is more than a movement at the end of the day, and this is because the more people do not take the issue seriously, the more Black lives are taken in horrible ways without a valid reason. Even then, a major problem of victim blaming occurs with every one of these cases and the â€Å"Blue Life† that matters are able to get off scot-free and continue their life. So clearly the blue life matters, but what about the Black life that was taken by that blue life (Maclin, 1991)? Why are some people given the right and privilege to decide who gets to live? Of course, everyone is aware of the answers to these hypothetical questions I present. The power of the hierarchy of society and race is deep-rooted inside all of us (Maclin, 1991). And it does not seem to change, it makes strives toward changes, but it does not change like it should. It is constantly the same story day after day, decade after decade, and at this point, century after century. The big question now, asks everyone wh at they are able to do for their country. The minority population and the African-American population create America and they are just as much of the country as any other ethnicity. â€Å"We completely expect those who benefit directly and improperly from white supremacy to try to erase our existence.† (Garza, 2014). I like the usage of the word, improperly, in this article. The author is addressing the movement from the perspective of a Black queer woman. The word fits perfectly into defining so much of society. It is improper, how the current social situation is so prominent today. Roughly 50 years ago was the Civil Rights Movement, that is in the lifetime of many people alive today and yet it does not concern so many that the same issues are here today. The distribution of power and right to life has been given to a select few. Not even given, but taken by a select few, who have and continue to refuse to give it up (Garza, 2014). The right to life, it essentially has been taken from the those who are not white males- the normal (Garza, 2014). And Black lives are given the least regard to their life. Black Lives Matter also serves as an ideology. It even perhaps serves better to be categorized as an ideology. It is an ideology that brought a uniformity to the anger and frustration with the obvious social injustices occurring (Thomas, 2004). Especially, after the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin and the verdict that allowed the killer, George Zimmerman to go back home. After the ruling, the anger and sparked outrage of the Black community, made people worry for Zimmerman. It made the white community worry for their own lives. This truly is irony at its finest (Yancy Butler, 2015). It is more than a misunderstanding of the point. It was disregarded, that this verdict justified the killing of completely innocent Black lives. But rather than worrying about the people who cannot walk down a street, without having to worry about being killed. And their families who have to deal with the death of a loved one and then watch as their killer went free. But then be told that it does not ma tter. And justify it with, ‘all lives matter’ (Yancy Butler, 2015). Through my research, I noticed there are typically two different types of papers written on this topic: either from a perspective looking at the whole or from the perspective of a Black woman. I find this very interesting, there are multiple struggles going on through this entire movement and ideological change. But there is the other issue of Black feminism that also needs addressing. I find it both compelling and significant that Black women both support the greater picture with their fellow man, but also separate themselves because they are different and need something else (Thomas, 2004). Black women are similar to Black men in some ways and similar to white women in some ways, but are different from both of them- they cannot completely identify with either one, in order to find further justice (Thomas, 2004). I have always considered myself a feminist, but unfortunately, not until more recently did I know that there are actually different types of feminism and feminists struggles. There is white feminism and there is also Black feminism and Hispanic feminism (which can be grouped together and separately as well). White women argue for some basic rights such as equal pay and respect to work outside of the home. Whereas minority women fight for even more basic rights than that, such as getting hired for a job (Thomas, 2004). They are not just asking for equal pay in a salary job, but for their job applications to not be thrown away for a minimum wage job because of their name. But just like in all feminism, it is important to give people who believe and support the feminist struggle, to separate themselves from the people who do not (Garza, 2014). This is because until there is true equality, the people who support it are different, and the difference raises attention. But, looking at the b igger picture, white feminism is the issue that is raising attention and not so much of the feminist struggle of minorities (Garza, 2014). The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement creates a new foundation in psychology. Psychology is in part the study of behavior. But the psychology most people study, leave people out, large groups of people are left out (Thomas, 2004). One of these groups is the Black community and even further is Black women (Thomas, 2004). The issues are established, many people are ignorant of it or they chose to ignore it, but knowledge serves as a powerful tool. Social justice starts from the ground up. The racial institution that America exemplifies all so much prevents Black Americans from accomplishing the ‘American dream’. The Black community is stereotypically living in poverty, living in ‘ghettos’, and cannot get jobs. They are blamed for their own issues, as they deserve what they are getting out of life (Garcà ­a Sharif, 2015). But rather than realizing that it is the racism of America that is keeping any minority and especially the Black community from going anywhere (Garcà ­a Sharif, 2015). Many Black Americans have made great accomplishments, but not only are they ignored and not taught about, but are made to seem as exceptions. Successful Black people are not like the normal Black person, they lucked out or they were given some special situation that allowed them to accompli sh anything. There is a deep-rooted problem even with the Black community, that is given from within. They are told they are hated by society and therefore they should see problems with themselves, too (Garcà ­a Sharif, 2015). No one who is not living outside of the white standard should be proud of themselves, in fact, they need to take it one step farther and be ashamed of themselves. Not only ashamed of their own appearance but be afraid to accomplish anything (Garcà ­a Sharif, 2015). Everyone is held up against the white standard, not only in physical beauty but also with development and academic development and progress. If a Black person is more successful than a white person in academics, then there must be some sort of mistake. There has to be another reason for this, perhaps something is wrong with the Black student. This is just one of the many ways social injustice is justified with society. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy with Black children (and even throughout their lives) . They are told they are problems within the classroom and if they accomplish more than a white student, it is not because they are smart. It is probably because they are too hyper or they are not listening to directions. When a person is told they are not good enough, then they will not be good enough (Garcà ­a Sharif, 2015). A person is just as good as other people tell them they are because they take on the role they are told that they have. Black Lives Matter is a â€Å"mode of address† (Yancy Butler, 2015). It is against society telling that an entire group of people that every other life is above yours. So as long as anyone who is not Black is dying, then Black lives and the unjust loss of can be addressed later (or in other words, never) (Yancy Butler, 2015). Black men and women, even boys and girls, are seen and portrayed by society and police as scary, dangerous, aggressive, and violent. Constantly, the testimonies of these murder cases will reveal the cop’s description of the victim as forceful or aggressive (Yancy Butler, 2015). When watching the videos, it is clear this just is not true. But also there is an issue of the cop’s word and racist mindsets, makes people see the video through a lens. It is quite evident that it does not matter how a Black person presents themselves because they are never good enough. The stress, discouragement, outrage, depression, etc., etc. resulting from rac ism and hate acts, is detrimental to the health of the Black community (Garcà ­a Sharif, 2015). The growing importance of social media is resulting in a large part of ‘Black Lives Matter’. Not only education but the usage of social media, I think, will only continue to help the movement toward social justice. What is so amazing about social media is that it is accessible to people all across the country and even the world, within seconds. It does not take more than a few minutes for the entire world to see the video of a horrible killing of another Black life. Or the ruling in yet another unjustified ruling letting goes another cop who killed an unarmed Black man or woman. The videos are hard to watch. And making it even better, once they are on the internet they do not ever really go away. What is so important in a movement, ideology, psychology such as Black lives matter is that the people who have died do not go forgotten. It is crucial that their names are known, giving them a life. Once they are identified and their story is told under ‘young black manâ €™, etc., their story goes with all the other people who are said to not matter. We must be able to see the totally egalitarian society, we must be able to see the possibility of in order for it to ever have a true chance. This movement starts, to say this is done, and we need this- NOW. And we have to listen and respond and see the future as such to move forward successfully. References Garza, A., Tometi, O., Cullors, P. (2014). A herstory of the# BlackLivesMatter movement. Jee-Lyn Garcà ­a, J., Sharif, M. Z. (2015). Black lives matter: a commentary on racism and public health. American journal of public health, 105(8), e27-e30. Maclin, T. (1991). Black and Blue Encounters-Some Preliminary Thoughts About Fourth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amendment Seizures: Should Race Matter. Val. UL Rev., 26, 243. Thomas, V. G. (2004). The psychology of Black women: Studying women’s lives in context.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Journal of Black Psychology, 30(3), 286-306. Yancy, G., Butler, J. (2015). What’s wrong with ‘all lives matter’?. New York Times, 12, 156.

Cause of Ethnic Conflict in the Middle East

Cause of Ethnic Conflict in the Middle East Politics and the Economy of the Contemporary Middle East:  Explain the cause of the ethnic conflicts in the Middle East. When referring to the nature of any conflict, it must be emphasized that no conflict is a result of a single cause. Various conflicts and rivalries which appear to be a big threat to the Middle East and Northern Africa, are also an important menace for global security. The conflicts escalated especially after the end of the era of colonialism, when territorial issues started to emerge in the region, due to the fact that the whole region was segmented to be under the mandates of several Western countries. (Bleich, 2005) This kind of conflicts can appear not only on an interstate level, but also, in many cases they can be observed on an inner-state level. Causes for these conflicts widely vary, having grounds on religious, ethnic, political and social aspects. Each of the factors constituting the conflict creates certain dynamics in generating the latter. Thus, it makes the process of understanding it fairly troublesome. On the face, one can argue that peoples living in the Middle East are highly undesirable to have any conflicts, especially the Arab population of the territory, provided that most of it shares not only the same religion, but also fairly similar traditions and history. In this essay I will try to explain the intertwined relations of ethnicity and religion as an originator of conflict, and I will try to provide the causes of ethnic conflicts in the Middle East both from inner-state and inter-state aspects, backing them up with case studies of Arab-Israeli confrontation and the Kurdish issues in Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Even long before the latest happenings of the Arab Spring, religion was recognized as an engine of Arab politics. The elections held in 2011 in Tunisia and Egypt, where Muslim Brothers and Salafist partners together won two-third of the assemblies speak in favour of the arguments that give support for the idea of political Islam. (Fakir, 2014) Even though those in lead of Middle East maintained control over religious sector of their countries, (best proof of which are al-Azhar in Egypt, Muffis in Saudi Arabia, direct influence in Iraq in case of Sadam Husein) the great pains taken by them, turned out to be not strong enough to iron out the appeal of religion. (Juergensmeyer, 2013) However, the assertion that religion occupies central role in the given conflicts is not totally justified, the best proof of which is zero involvement of Shi’a minority and Copts in Egypt, the Christian and Baha’i minorities in Iran in rebellion of 1988, irrespective of undergoing high level of religious discrimination. (Juergensmeyer, 2013) Most part of the ethnic minorities failed to accomplish their aspirations for having an autonomous state which is likely to result in future periodic confrontations. One of the major ethnic conflicts happening in this region is the issue of Kurdish people living on the territories of several countries in the Middle East. This is an issue of high priority in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, and its significance keeps growing bigger paralleled with the population of Kurdish people, who appear to be one of the biggest nations in the world, who do not have an official state (30-40 million people). (Roy, 2011) The rise of the national identity among the Kurdish people has always been a complex and controversial process. The high risk of tension is still present in the Northern part of Iraq which is mostly inhabited by the Kurdish people. It is a potential source of a great number of confrontations between Kurds and the Iraqi government. Consisting of series of wars it broke out shortly after the collapse of Ottoman Empire to last until the invasion of Iraq in the year 2003. The first phase of Iraqi-Kurdish confrontation dates back to World War I and the arrival of British forces. It was back then when the leader of Series of Kurdish uprisings against British mandate declared the short-to-leave the â€Å"Kurdish Kingdom†. Ultimately it resulted in fail. Decades that ensued saw several more attempts to negotiate and fight against Iraqi rule, however, it was not until 1961 when history witnessed First Iraqi-Kurdish War followed by negotiation stage the unfruitful nature of which triggered hostility to start second phase of the confrontation known as Second Iraqi Kurdish War. The consequence was reinvasion of the northern part of the country by Iraqi government. The recharge of the conflicts involving Kurdish parties on one side and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on the other was witnessed by 1986 with Kurds gaining military backup from Iran. (Fox, 2005) This is the pe riod when Iraqi government implemented a campaign which brought death to estimate of around 50.000 to 100.000 people. (Human Rights Watch, 1992) Rebellions that shook Iraq after the War in Gulf saw merely Kurds to document a success, that of unrecognized autonomy in the non-fly zone. However, this was by far not the most considerable gain of Kurdish struggle. With the overthrow of Saddam rule recognition of autonomy was reached. Even after the Gulf War, when the soil for creating an independent entity was given inner struggle (between two leading parties that of Kurdish Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurds) stood wall to the way of national victory. (Fox, 2005) The case of Iraq shows that Kurdish people, being a minority in an Arab country, although most part of the minority having the same religion with Iraqi Arabs, sharing a history of several centuries as well as sharing their culture and traditions, still claimed independence, mostly due to the large population number ( an estimated 6 million people) (Roy, 2011), and the idea of self-determination, accompanied with the ethnic tensions towards Kurds by the Iraqi government. The roots of the Kurdish issue in modern day Turkey are documented as early as the desolation of the Ottoman Empire, while the first documents proving the existence of this ethnic group in this area date back to 10th and 11th centuries. (BOÄÅ ¾AZÄ °Ãƒâ€¡Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ° UNIVERSITY, 2006) Since the early era of the Ottoman Empire, Kurds lived in peace with the local peoples, the historical fact that triggered the ethnic conflict, which still has a big impact on the development of the latter is the Treaty of Sevres, according to which the Kurds were promised a vast territory, which they called Kurdistan. The promised lands were never given to the Kurdish people provided that the treaty was cancelled because of the great pains taken by the Turkish newly born democratic government. But the struggle to get a personal homeland existed ever since the signing of the treaty. The most significant reasons for the Kurdish issue are the economic underdevelopment of the Kurd populated regions, along with the political lawlessness of the Kurdish population, the passive development of the social and cultural life and the ignorance of Turkish government towards the Kurdish national human rights. The aspiration of the Kurdish people for self-determination and the desire to play a political role proportional to its population in Turkey, also gives a firm background for the escalation of the conflict. Another major factor is the geopolitical location of the so-called â€Å"Turkish Kurdistan† which is considered to be in the very central part of Middle East and although it has always been a vast arena for endless wars throughout the history, the state policy of the Turkish government clearly prompts that the idea of independent Kurdistan will never come true. The conflict between Israel and Palestine, which then developed to a bigger scale confrontation between most of the Arab world and Israel is a good example of a range of inter-state conflicts. The precise start date of the Arab-Israeli conflict is not clearly documented as far as the fight over the territory has lasted for a considerable period of time. Central subject of which appears to be the dispute over drawing clear borders between the two countries. Undoubtedly the conflict is considerably more controversial and complex. To fully understand the causes behind the conflict between Arab and Israeli people one should not downsize the number of various factors, which trigger the escalation of the tension. On contrary, a holistic approach should be applied and even the smallest constituents are to count in order to get the real picture. After the United Nations resolution 181, Jews, who counted less than one third of the inhabitance of the region, owning only eight percent of the te rritory were given the chance of owning more than fifty percent of the Palestinian territories. (UN, 1947) This gave birth to a fight between Jews and Palestinian Arabs to which a solution has not been found yet. Two confronting sides longing for homeland wanted to be gifted national independence with the help of the powerful British state, who was a big colonialist back then. Self-determination and the independence, not alien to the nature of the conflict, did not, however, occupy the central rule in its origin. Regardless of the appeal to label the conflict as ethnic or religious the fundamental cause is political, that is to say a fight for control over territories. The micro concepts which narrows down the nature of conflict to a religious aspect, thus blaming on Zionism and Jewish identity ignore the fact that Zionism is a political ideology whereas Judaism bears a religious and cultural nature. (WRMEA, 2014) Not minimizing the role of religion in the given conflict, it should be mentioned that when talking about conflicts and their causes religion, ethnicity and politics interconnect, giving birth to so-called political religion. Thus, the geopolitical nature of the given conflict, spanned throughout the whole Arab region, adding a large number of ethnic shades and transforming the allegedly ethnic conflict into a political conflict and back to an ethnic one, this time on a much bigger scale, which led to open anti-Semitic propaganda by many Arab leaders. (Adl.org, 2011) So, even if back at the roots the confrontation was more about gaining territories, further developments gave a solid ground to state that currently the nature of the latter is mostly ethnic. Taking into close considerations all the facts discussed above, we come to a conclusion that the accuracy is often lost in attempts to define the true nature of conflicts in Middle East due to the complicated and interrelated nature of the factors defining them. Territorial issues are considered to be as major causes for ethnic conflicts. Due to a number of migrations of the population, conquests, wars and other geopolitical processes the resettlement of nations was a common thing, which could lead to territorial claims. As an argument, both sides can bring up the fact that the disputed territory once belonged to either of them, which makes the solution a lot more complicated. Most part of ethnicities in the world does not own a state. (CIA, n.d.) Depending on the development level of their cultural, social, political and national self-consciousness or the fact that they used to have a state in the past, the idea of establishing a national state may emerge within a dependent ethnicit y. Inner-state ethnic conflicts may transform into big threats for national security of a certain country, and inter-state ethnic conflicts into a range of long-lasting wars and hatred between two or more ethnicities. Bibliography Civilizational, Religious, and National Explanations for Ethnic Rebellion in the Post-Cold War Middle East. Jewish Political Studies Review 13 (1-2) Spring, 2001 pp 177-204 Adl.org, (2011). ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE MUSLIM/ARAB WORLD. [online] Available at: http://www.adl.org/anti-semitism/muslim-arab-world/c/hamas-in-their-own-words.html#.VRP1FPnz2So [Accessed 24 Mar. 2015]. Bleich, E. (2005). The legacies of history? Colonization and immigrant integration in Britain and France. Theory and Society, 34(2), pp.171-195. BOÄÅ ¾AZÄ °Ãƒâ€¡Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ° UNIVERSITY, (2006). The origin of Turkeys Kurdish question: an outcome of the breakdown of the Ottoman Ancien Regime. BOÄÅ ¾AZÄ °Ãƒâ€¡Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ° UNIVERSITY. CIA, (1948). The Kurdish Minority Problem. [online] Available at: http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/89801/DOC_0000258376.pdf [Accessed 23 Mar. 2015]. CIA, (n.d.). Ethnic Groups. [online] CIA. Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html [Accessed 24 Mar. 2015]. Fakir, I. (2014). Egypt’s example looms large in Tunisia’s elections. The Nationalist. [online] Available at: http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/egypts-example-looms-large-in-tunisias-elections [Accessed 24 Mar. 2015]. Human Rights Watch, (1992). The 1991 Uprising in Iraq And Its Aftermath. [online] USA. Available at: http://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/Iraq926.htm [Accessed 24 Mar. 2015]. Juergensmeyer, M. (2013). Thinking globally pp 90-92 Klein, M. (2011). The Shift: Israel-Palestine From Border Struggle to Ethnic Conflict. Foreign Affairs, (Sept-Oct). Roy, S. (2011). The Kurdish Issue. Foreign Policy Journal. Snyder, M. (2014). Post-War Iraq: The Triangle of Ethnic Tensions. Harvard International Review, [online] 35(4). Available at: http://hir.harvard.edu/archives/5766 [Accessed 23 Mar. 2015]. UN, (1947). Partition Plan of Palestine. New York: The General Assembly of UN. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, (2014). The Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. [online] Available at: http://www.wrmea.org/the-origins-of-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict.html [Accessed 24 Mar. 2015].

Ethnography Essay -- Anthropology Culture Reflexivity Papers

Ethnography Works Cited Missing Anthropology is defined, in the most basic terms, as the study of other cultures. This field can subsequently be divided into more specific sects, and contain more precise defining characteristics, but this definition is essentially all that is needed. Anthropology is a science that attempts to look at other cultures and draw conclusions to questions that are raised while studying. An anthropologist is someone who accepts what is presented before them and is driven by an urge to understand each presentation as thoroughly as possible. Once the concept of anthropology is accepted, one must identify the means of reaching the goal of this field. In the sect of social anthropology, this vehicle is known as ethnography. This technique of studying is fundamentally, participant-observation, an attempt at becoming part of a culture in order to understand most fully. It is in this specific method, however, that disputes have arisen. As cut and dry as the definitions I have given may seem, anth ropologists have recently become disillusioned with these methods and have ventured into a new form of interpretation, known as reflexivityan analysis of the self within the fieldwork. This new form is, in essence, a breaking of the "rules of anthropology" established by early anthropologists and, similar to discoveries made in the fields of chemistry and biology, reflexivity is necessary in aiding in the advancement of this field, too. Before attention can be given to the concept of reflexivity and its benefit to anthropology, the "rules of anthropology," mentioned earlier, must be understood. Bronislaw Malinowskis "The subject, Method and Scope of this Enquiry" is a highly renowned account of early anthropolog... ...ut suggests using ones own role as another level of research to be undertaken. Anthropology began, and remains, a study of other cultures. The rules of which, defined by Malinowski and his contemporaries, included the traditional dichotomy of Self and Other. Reflexivity involves viewing the self in addition to the people of a different culture and on Self and Self instead of Other. Reflexivity is not a component that Malinowski would have included, in fact he states his opinion on the self within ethnographic work, "he may draw on himself for stimulus. But the two functions are separate, and in actual research they have to be separated both in time and conditions of work"(Malinowski,8). Advances must be made in anthropology and, despite the views of writers of the past, reflexivity has proven to be effective, successfully evolving into the field of anthropology.

Small-Scale Mining in the Philippines: a Case Study

SMALL-SCALE MINING (Lives at risk in the Philippine Gold Mines) INTRODUCTION Gold is the number one mineral produced by the Philippines in value terms. Although total local production was low relative to world production, it ranked 2nd to Africa in gold production per unit land area in 1988 and ranked 29th as top gold producer in 2002(Israel and Asirot 2002). In the year 2002–2007, the Philippines’ gold production increased by 8. 2%. This contributed an average of 2% gross domestic product (GDP) in the same period. The country was ranked 18th in the GFMs Gold Survey list of top 20 Gold Producing countries in 2007 (Teves 2008).The 2008 and 2009 data of the Philippine mining Almanac showed a significant amount of gold production by the small-scale gold mining operations in the country. Reports revealed that the small-scale mining sector contributed almost 80% of the total gold production. This is equivalent to a Php32B contribution to GDP in 2007 (ibid). The following 200 8 and 2009 data are based on the amount of gold sold to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The highest amount of gold produced in the country at 28,198 kg and 26,112 kg, respectively were generated by the small-scale mines (fig. ). Local governments hosting the sector acknowledged the industry’s economic contribution, as it somehow provides livelihood to the local community and unemployed migrants. There are some reports on the adverse impact of small-scale mining on the environment, health and human lives. However, research studies documenting the impact of small-scale mining industry on the local economy, environment, human health, public safety and the socio-cultural condition of indigenous peoples (IPs) in the mining areas, are limited.The socio-political dynamics between small- scale miners and other stakeholders like community and civil society organizations, regulatory bodies, the government and large-scale mining companies remains undocumented. There were concerns regarding the implication of some regulatory policies on the small-scale mining industry as the application of such will prevent some IP communities from accessing their properties. Furthermore, questions arise on the actual impact of the industry on poverty alleviation. Some theory suggests that the small-scale industry may have aggravated poverty because of the weak regulation of the industry.While economically significant, small-scale gold mining has been the target of strong opposition in recent years mainly because of its various adverse environmental and social side effects. Foremost of these is mercury pollution. BACKGROUND Small-scale mining (SSM) refers to mining by individuals, groups, families or cooperatives with minimal or no mechanization, often in the informal (illegal) sector of the market. Small-scale mining relies heavily on manual labor and does not use explosives. The scope of the area allowed for small-scale mining should not exceed 20 hectares per contractor ( 1991).In the Philippines, small-scale mining operators include subsistence mining (estimated 75%), individual or family businesses (estimated 15%) and established commercial mining firms (estimated 10%) (Hentschel 2002). According to the different interviews and focus group discussions, the operation of small-scale gold mining in the country can be traced as early as 10th century or even since time immemorial in the north and as late as 1990s in south Cotabato. Furthermore, numerous foreign studies already investigated the problem of mercury pollution due to small-scale gold mining, concentrating on the experience in Brazil.High levels of mercury concentrations were found in the hair and blood samples ofthe miners and other affected people as well as in fish, soil sediments and forest and river ecosystems in small-scale gold mining areas of the Amazon region. In the Philippines, several studies also looked into mercury pollution based on the experience in Diwalwal, the largest small -scale mining site in the country (e. g. Mahinay et al. 1998, Bacani et al. 1996, Breward 1996, Balce and Cabalda 1992, Williams et al. 1995). High levels of mercury pollution were found on-site as well as in the affected places downstream.Williams et al. specifically asserted that there were already considerable mercury loads in some sectors of the Agusan River, where Diwalwal drains into, and that the water samples from the mining site itself showed higher concentrations than those in the other gold rush areas in the world. Although studies on the impact of mercury pollution due to small-scale mining were already numerous, they were generally technical in nature. Few works touched on the economic aspects of the problem and did so only in a superficial and summary manner.So far, there is no available study that conducted an economic analysis in a more detailed and quantitative way in the Philippines or elsewhere. Small-scale mining is not an important public revenue-generating sect or for the government at present because of its largely illegal nature. Viewed in a more positive light, the activity should become a solid tax base when fully licensed, given the large number of people and economic activities dependent on it. LAWS AND INSTITUTIONS IN SMALL-SCALE MINING Laws The earliest mining law in the Philippines was Commonwealth Act 137 promulgated in 1936.This legislation had no separate provision for small-scale mining since the activity was not practiced extensively then. It took effect for many years until the martial law era when it was amended through Presidential Decree (PD) 463, otherwise known as the Mineral Resources Decree of 1974. Like its predecessor, this legislation did not have separate provisions for small-scale mining. In 1984, PD 899 established small-scale mining as a new dimension in mineral development and defined it as a specific activity. Succeeding orders based on this law stipulated, among others, the rules and regulations governing he granting of small-scale mining permits and ordered the selling of the gold recovered through the activity only to the Central Bank and its authorized representatives. During the term of President Corazon C. Aquino, the Congress of the Philippines passed Republic Act (RA) 7076 or the People’s Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991. Among its important provisions, this law established the People’s Small-Scale Mining Program and described the small-scale mining areas that can be opened under it. During the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos, RA 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 was passed.This law stipulated that small-scale mining will continue to be governed by the provisions of RA 7076 and PD 1899 and their implementing rules and regulations. Institutions Prior to PD 899 in 1984, no government agency managed small- scale mining since it was not described as a formal economic sector yet. Those engaged in the activity did so without any government interference. With the passing of the law, the MGB was given the authority to administer small-scale mining. SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINING PROCESS The initial process of gold mining starts with prospecting.In prospecting, the ore quality, â€Å"vein† geologic formation and ore assaying are examined. An area with a good ore quality is prepared for tunneling. In tunneling, holing and drilling are done using pick and shovel. Others who can afford it use electric hammer jacks. These initial stages of prospecting and tunneling are the expertise of the abanteros, whose knowledge of gold mining has been shaped by years of experience. In Benguet, the Ibaloi and Kankanaey miners are known Abanteros, having inherited their skills from their ancestors. Some migrant miners from the lowlands have also learned the skill.In South cotabato, the abanteros came from diwalwal, monkayo, compostela Valley. Mine workers are hired to work on the tunnels. These are the ore and muck ore packers, Atraseros (ore exporters from inside the tunnel), ore washers (usually women), habal-habal drivers, horses and horse owners/guides as transporters of ores from the tunnel site to the processing area. Extracted ores are processed in the ball or rod mill plant for mercury amalgamation. The tailings that have accumulated for several weeks will be subjected to further cyanidation in the carbonin-Pulp (ciP) Plant.The mercury amalgamation process will recover 40% of gold from the ores while the cyanidation will recover up to 60% of gold, both refined right after the smelting and/or firing process. Gold produced in button shapes will be sold to licensed gold buyers. A detailed process flow is presented in the following diagram (fig. 2). POWER RELATIONS IN THE SECTOR The mine is viewed as a resource, with various interested key players aiming to access it and benefit from it. There are several key players in the small-scale mining industry. With respect to the mining operation, the key players include: land owners †¢ tunnel owners (individuals or cooperative and association) †¢ financiers (foreigners, migrants or local, IPs and non-IPs) †¢ the abanteros or skilled miners †¢ the mine workers which include the atraseros (ore packers and haulers) †¢ ore and sack washers (usually women and young workers) †¢ ore transporters (habal-habal drivers, horse owners or guides) †¢ processing plant workers †¢ gold traders On the trading side, gold produced by the small-mining operations are purchased by the licensed gold buyers and subsequently sold to the Bangko Sental ng Pilipinas (BSP).Non-licensed traders are also present in the areas and are commonly labeled as the â€Å"black market. † Black market traders would usually visit the community or are based in the community. Purchase price is lower in the black market but the miners save the cost of transportation in going to the city. Because of the savings in transportation, miners are encouraged to sell t heir gold to the black market. Regulation and enforcement of policies related to small-scale mining industry are under the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB).This is composed of the DENR- Mines and Geo Sciences Bureau (MBG) as the chairman and the Provincial Governor as the vice-chairman. The other members of the board are representatives from the SSM Association, large-Scale mining Operators and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). In Benguet and South Cotabato, a number of local officials are involved in mining either as tunnel owner, land owner or financier. This presents a conflict of interest between regulating small-scale mining and operating mines. The Abanteros are usually the ones with knowledge, skill and capability to engage financiers because of their prospecting and tunnelling skills.Financiers initially provide funds for the operation of the mine but they are expected to engage with venture capitalists to expand the operation in the site. Venture capitalists can be foreign investors or locals who have the capital to infuse into the industry. Land owners, on the other hand, have the priority access over the resource, being the rightful claimants of the area. However, the land owners usually do not have the skills and the financial capacity to start a mine. Abanteros and financiers can negotiate with land owners to tap the resource.In some cases, the land owners can be financiers and tunnel owners, too. Some abanteros who have been successful in mining now act as financiers and tunnel owners; some have even managed to operate processing plants. it is common to see big-time tunnel owners and financiers also operate the processing plants in the area. Normally, all plant owners have tunnels but not all tunnel owners have processing plants. Owners of small mining operations with no processing plants pay for the use of existing processing plants, depending on the number of bags processed.MERCURY POLLUTION DUE TO SMALL-SCALE MINING The Amalgamatio n Method of Gold Processing Mercury gets into the picture in small-scale mining because it is the main agent used to separate the gold from the mined ore employing the amalgamation method of processing. Amalgamation is popular in small-scale mining areas since it is simple to apply and requires relatively low investment. The Carbon-in-Pulp (CIP) Method of Gold Processing Gold can also be processed using the CIP method. This method can process the slurry produced by amalgamation or the milled ore coming from the rod and ball mills directly.However, CIP is not used widely in small-scale mining because of the high cost of investment that it requires. The Health Impact of Mercury Pollution There are different ways by which the amalgamation method of gold processing causes mercury pollution. One way is when mercury is unintentionally spilled into the ground because of careless handling. Another is when mercury is discharged together with other wastes into inadequate tailings ponds, or wo rse, thrown away directly into rivers and waterways. Still another way is when vaporized mercury is released into the atmosphere when the amalgam is blowtorched and refined.Once in the environment, mercury is dangerous because of its potential adverse impact on human health. In the case of water pollution, part of the mercury discharged into rivers and waterways is transformed into methylmercury eaten by aquatic species and in turn consumed by people. Once inside the human body, mercury could trigger neurological disturbances as well as problems in the reproductive and other body organs (Viega 1997a). The likely symptoms are visual constriction, numbness of the extremities and the impairment of hearing, speech and gait.The release of mercury into the atmosphere during blowtorching also puts to risk human health. The activity is usually done in open containers and closed houses so the inhalation of vaporized mercury is highly possible among the people conducting it and those close by . The long-term effect of this type of exposure is the impairment of the metabolism of the human nervous system that eventually leads to certain neurobehavioral disturbances. The visible symptoms are the exhibition of exaggerated emotional responses and muscular tremors and gingivitis. PROBLEMS IN SMALL SCALE GOLD MININGPollution due to Aside from mercury pollution, small-scale mining is beset with other problems that are also important and needing serious attention. These are enumerated and discussed in brief below. Environmental Problems Cyanide Pollution Pollution due to toxic and hazardous substances other than mercury that are used in small-scale mining can also endanger human health. The highly poisonous sodium cyanide used in CIP processing, in particular, could easily kill people and fish when discharged in rivers and waterways. Despite its dangers, cyanide pollution from CIP processing has not been investigated at all in any literature.A probable reason is that, unlike merc ury, cyanide is biodegradable and eventually decomposes into carbon dioxide and ammonia (Yannopoulos 1991) making it potentially less harmful over time. Deforestation Deforestation is a natural consequence of small-scale mining since many sites are located in forested uplands. The influx of miners and their families into mining areas results to the clearing of forests for habitation space and other human activities that causes deforestation. No study investigated in detail the impact of small-scale mining on deforestation.One likely reason is that areas covered by small-scale mining are actually very small when compared to those used for other economic activities like forestry and logging (Veiga 1997b). Soil Erosion Soil erosion is another natural consequence of small-scale mining because of the mountainous and sloping topography of many mining sites. Miners level sloping land and scrape topsoil to make surface foundations stable for houses and other structures. They develop pathway s and roads across highly sloping and erosive areas and cover fertile soil with waste materials dug out of underground tunnels.There are also no studies that probed in detail the soil erosion effects of small-scale mining although this environmental impact is potentially large. Biodiversity Loss The loss of biodiversity due to small-scale mining is a direct after-math of deforestation and water pollution. Trees are cut leading to receding jungles that are natural habitats of terrestrial flora and fauna. Water pollution damages the rivers and waterways that are homes of aquatic plants and animals. As in the case of deforestation and soil erosion, there are no studies that investigated this issue.Siltation and Sedimentation of Downstream Water Bodies Siltation and sedimentation of downstream waterways occur when mine tailings and eroded soil finds their way into water bodies. They decrease the viability of affected waterways as fishing grounds, recreation sites and port areas. They al so contribute to flooding and hamper the efficient functioning of dams and irrigation networks. Like the other environmental problems, siltation and sedimentation due to small-scale mining have received scant research attention. Legal and Institutional ProblemsMining Rights Conflicts between Small-Scale Miners and Large-Scale Mining Firms Many small-scale mining areas are situated within the mining claims of large-scale companies. This situation has created conflicts between the large-scale miners on one side and the small-scale miners on the other side and prevented the smooth operations of the mining industry in general. Presence of Medium-Scale Mining Operations in Small-Scale Mining Sites Dominant presences of medium-scale mining operations have been competing for domination resulting in the significant loss of lives and deterioration of peace and order.Social Problems Worsening Social Instability in Small-Scale Mining Areas Many small-scale miners are migrants in the areas wher e they mine. Hence, they find it difficult to adapt socially with the local population. To some extent, vices like alcoholism and gambling also exist in these areas that add to the conflict. Limited Basic Services in Small-Scale Mining Areas The supply of basic services such as those relating to health and transportation and others has been limited in small-scale mining communities. This has greatly exacerbated the poor conditions and social problems within these areas.Exploitation of Women and Children in Small-Scale Mining Women and children are engaged in the gathering of ores inside tunnels and even in processing which are activities suited only for grown- up men. Although small-scale miners deny this, key informants and ocular inspection in the two case study areas confirmed this problem ECONOMIC PROBLEMS Low Price for Gold Received by Small-Scale Miners Small-scale miners sell their gold to the tunnel owners, processors or to other traders instead of directly to the Central Ba nk or its representatives.Key informants reported that underpricing of gold often occurs in these marketing channels and this contributes to the poor economic conditions the miners are in. Loss of Gold by the Country Due to Illegal Gold Trading Because small-scale miners sell their gold not to the Central Bank but to various buyers, the national government loses great amounts of gold to the detriment of the entire economy. Lack of Formal Sources of Credit for Small-Scale Miners There is lack of formal sources of credit for small-scale miners in times of need or for starting an alternative occupation.This forces them to borrow from the tunnel owners, processors, traders and unscrupulous money lenders who exploit them by charging higher interest rates or buying their gold at low prices. Lack of Alternative or Supplemental Employment Opportunities for Small-Scale Miners Small-scale mining is the only employment opportunity for many miners. Few have an alternative occupation like farmin g. Also many miners have been in mining for an average of 10 long years, which further confirms their lack of alternative employment. Technology-related ProblemsInefficient Technologies Used in Small-Scale Mining The technology used in ore extraction and gold processing results to poor ore output and gold recovery in small-scale mining. The poor ore and gold output performance has been confirmed by national and local key informants. Unsafe Technologies Used in Small-Scale Mining The unsafe techniques and procedures used in the mining of ore, such as poor timbering support, poor ventilation, and other practices have resulted to cave-ins and other accidents that disabled or took away the lives of miners.CONCLUSIONS The conflicting policies on resource extraction/development versus environmental protection and weak governance as indicated by the absence of local regulations threaten the environment and public health. The negative impacts of small-scale mining activities have been obser ved in many of these communities. Poverty and the attractiveness of immediate money from the mining industry attract children and women to work in the mines. These expose women and children to hazardous chemicals and unsafe mining practice.Small-scale mining contributes to the local economy through job creation, increasing economic activity in the communities. There is a need for the development of sound policies and laws to balance economic development and environmental sustainability. Strong enforcement of laws is a must. However, the conflict of interest of local officials who are in charge of regulation and governing the community and who also have interests in mining operations poses a threat in the strict enforcement of laws in the communities. RECOMMENDATIONS Mercury PollutionA review will show that the existing laws and regulations related to mercury pollution in small-scale gold mining are fairly adequate but monitoring and enforcement is weak. To improve on monitoring and enforcement, the following actions are suggested: * Licensing by the LGUs of all small-scale gold mining and processing operations within their jurisdiction and imposition of membership in a cooperative as a licensing requirement. * Earmarking of the licensing proceeds for the establishment and operation of a small-scale mining monitoring and enforcement unit within the management framework of LGUs. Development of an effective internal system within cooperatives that will force the proper use of hand gloves, mercury retorts and tailings ponds in small-scale mining. * Active involvement of NGOs and other responsible members of the local population in monitoring and enforcement by selectively deputizing them. * Strengthening of the Small-Scale Mining Section of the Environment and Safety Division of the MGB * Concerted effort by the national government, LGUs and NGOs to conduct education and awareness campaigns on mercury pollution. Involvement of international organizations in the fi ght against mercury pollution particularly in the promotion of technologies that can prevent or minimize it. * Serious consideration of the promotion of the CIP method of processing for small-scale mining Other Environmental Problems The national government should undertake detailed studies on cyanide pollution, deforestation, soil erosion, biodiversity loss and siltation and sedimentation in small-scale mining areas. Understanding these problems will go a long way toward finding their appropriate solutions.For the time being, the government must do better in monitoring and enforcing pertinent laws so that the problems are minimized. Legal and Institutional Problems The government should prioritize the early settlement of conflicting claims between small-scale miners and large-scale miners. One way of conducting this is to create dialogues between the two parties with the government as arbiter to find an amicable solution. Key informant from the large-scale firms in the two case stu dy areas explained that generally they are actually open to a negotiated settlement that can buy peace, goodwill and cooperation within their claims.Social Problems The social instability in small-scale mining is inherent in places where many of the population are poor and migrants. Improving the economic status of the people can help a lot to decrease the instability. This could happen when small-scale mining becomes a fully licensed activity and accepted as part of the economic mainstream. The provision of better basic social services will also help alleviate the deprived economic conditions and ease a lot of the social tensions. The exploitation of women and children is not confined to small-scale mining since it is prevalent, especially in the underground economy.The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) should take a closer look at this problem and devise ways to minimize it. Again, improving the economic lot of the miners will help curve the exploitation of women and children. The conduct of effective programs which can provide guidance and counselling to mining families will also promote compliance by the miners to the laws against exploitation. Economic Problems The problem of low price received for the gold by the small-scale miners will be addressed to a large extent when they are organized into cooperatives.As a group, they can negotiate better in the market or pay for the transportation cost to sell gold in bulk to the Central Bank. The Central bank should consider putting up buying stations in the more important mining sites. This will not only help the miners economically but also lower significantly the amount of gold lost to the black market. Technology-Related Problems The problems of inefficient and unsafe technologies are part and parcel of small-scale mining as long as the miners remain poor.Economic conditions force them to use said technologies since they cannot afford to employ more sophisticated and costly ones. Sources: * Mercury Pollution Due to Small-Scale Gold Mining in the Philippines: An Economic Analysis http://dirp4. pids. gov. ph/ris/rps/pidsrp0202. pdf * A Background Study on the Small-scale Gold mining Operations in Benguet and South Cotabato and their Impact on the Economy, the Environment, and the Community http://bantaykita. ph/pdfs/Small%20Scale%20Mining. pdf * Inquirer News Online: http://newsinfo. inquirer. et/305986/small-scale-miners-sell-less-gold-due-to-bsps-7-tax http://newsinfo. inquirer. net/338689/13-men-in-quezon-clash-met-gold-miner http://newsinfo. inquirer. net/343869/gold-miner-says-he-didnt-betray-siman http://business. inquirer. net/106807/miner-sets-aside-digging-turns-to-planting-cacao http://newsinfo. inquirer. net/359389/sleepless-miner-recounts-seeing-friends-buried-alive-2 http://newsinfo. inquirer. net/362277/police-arrest-19-small-scale-miners http://newsinfo. inquirer. net/362687/execs-say-arrests-halted-mindoro-illegal-

philippines essays

philippines essays Per Capita Income: The per capita income of a certain country is the GDP of that country divided by the total population. In the Philippines the per capita income is approximately $700. When compared to the per capita income of the United States, which is about $22,000, it is easy to tell that the economy of the Philippines is very, very poor. % FROM AGRICULTURE: 17.1 (important because you would think that since they mainly produce agricultural products that its percentage would be the highest) % FROM SERVICES: 39.2 (also important because you wouldnt think that this one would be the highest) Exports: Traditionally, the Philippines have been primarily an exporter of raw materials and an importer of manufactured goods. This is the role that many third world countries play in the global economy. Electronic and automotive parts, along with garments are the leading merchandise exports of the country. However, the Philippines also rely heavily on import inputs. The country also exports bananas, coconuts, copper, gold, lumber, pineapples and sugar. Imports: The Philippines mostly imports manufactured goods. Certain items remain subject to import regulations such as narcotic drugs, firearms, ammunition, etc. Their chief imports include chemicals, machinery, and petroleum. Trading Partners: The Philippines, like any other country, cannot produce everything that it needs. Instead, it relies heavily on foreign trade. Specialization in production allows for each nation to produce what it produces best, and to trade for products, which it cannot produce as well. This means that if you are better at one thing and I am better at another, rather than each of us trying to do both, we would each do what we are best at. Then, we would exchange what we had produced and both ...

Essay on Children should not be spanked in order to discipline them for a negative behaviorEssay Writing Service

Essay on Children should not be spanked in order to discipline them for a negative behaviorEssay Writing Service Essay on Children should not be spanked in order to discipline them for a negative behavior Essay on Children should not be spanked in order to discipline them for a negative behaviorThe permissibility of spanking children is a widely disputed question both among the general public and among researchers. In the past, spanking was viewed as one of the methods of disciplining children and making them aware of the negative consequences of their actions. However, the protection of human rights and the movement against violence which is emerging worldwide led to the enactment of laws against corporal punishment in many countries. Furthermore, the convention of the United Nations prohibits using any types of physical violence towards children. At the same time, it is important to distinguish between spanking and other cases of physical punishment. Spanking can be defined as hitting a child with an open hand on the buttocks or extremities with the intent to discipline without leaving a bruise or causing physical harm (Kazdin Benjet 99). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the viewpoints of the supporters and opponents of spanking. Key thesis of this paper is the following: children should not be spanked in order to discipline them for a negative behavior because spanking has negative consequences for their future development and mental health.Spanking in any form still represents an act of aggression directed towards the child and executed by the parent or by the person who is responsible for the childs behavior. Such behavior of a person who plays an important role in the childs life and who is often perceived as a role model by the child is likely to have a negative impact on the childs self-esteem, on the relationships with parents, etc. Spanking might undermine the basic trust to the world which is being formed in the early age. The researchers studied the impact of spanking on childs behaviors and developmental outcomes and found a large number of negative consequences for children. It was determined that spanking correlates with such negative outc omes as lower quality of relationships between parents and children, poorer mental health, lower internalization of morals, increased risk of antisocial behaviors, aggressive behaviors and delinquency (Kazdin Benjet 101).Spanking is likely to increase the childs stubbornness and therefore lead to more spanking needed in future to make the child pay attention to corporal punishment and to cause the desired behavior. Maguire-Jack, Gromoske and Berger (1961) studied the impact of spanking in early age (up to 3 years old) on childs behavior and development between 3 and 5 years old. Their findings were the following: spanking children at age 1 led to elevated levels of spanking at age 3 and caused externalizing behaviors at this age; spanking at age 3 led to the increase of externalizing and internalizing behaviors at age 5. Although the authors did not identify a relationship between cognitive skills and spanking, they found out that spanking children at age 1 caused behavioral proble ms at age 5, largely due to increased spanking at age 3 (Maguire-Jack, Gromoske and Berger 1960). Hence, spanking is a self-reinforcing issue which causes behavioral problems and starts a negative cycle of interactions between child and his or her parents.The supporters of spanking state that spanking allows to achieve immediate compliance of the child and helps to make the child aware that something very inappropriate was done. However, when parent-child relationships are healthy, there are other, less aggressive ways of making the child aware of wrong behaviors. Such methods might require more time and patience, but they do not have such long-term negative consequences as spanking. Certainly, there are various factors which influence the childs perception of spanking and determine the impact of spanking on the childs well-being. The supporters of spanking emphasize that it is necessary to distinguish between mild and occasional spanking used in extreme situations and more harsh an d frequent spanking which might indeed contribute to aggression. However, it was already shown that spanking at age 1 is strongly correlated with more spanking at age 3, which means that the childs sensitivity to spanking might reduce over time, and those parents who are prone to use spanking as a means of punishment might unintentionally move to more harsh spanking. Such dynamics of spanking illustrates that it is better to adopt other methods of managing inappropriate behaviors from the start than risk damaging the childs mental health and behavior by spanking.In general, research evidence clearly illustrates that spanking is a very risky parenting strategy which might have a negative impact on the childs behaviors, perceptions and on parent-child relationships. Moreover, people who were spanked in the childhood are more likely to become the victims of aggression in their adult life. Therefore, spanking children in order to discipline them for inappropriate behavior is inadmissibl e and it should be banned. It is difficult to convince parents to stop spanking because of two key reasons: parents are not aware of long-term negative consequences that spanking might have on the childs health and do not have alternative strategies of punishing for inappropriate behavior. It is important to educate parents about the consequences of spanking and to show alternative strategies to them. Possible alternative strategies include creating a calm down area for children, offering problem-solving scenarios for children in situations where they demonstrate improper behaviors, taking away some privileges for a particular period of time, organizing time-in when the parent stays with the child outside the situation, etc (Maguire-Jack, Gromoske and Berger 1972). Praising appropriate behaviors and discussing the consequences of misbehaviors for other people as well as their feelings also helps to avoid difficult situations in the future.

Genetically Modified Crops Position Essay

Genetically Modified Crops Position Essay Genetically Modified (Gm) foods are genetically modified organisms (GMO) that have their genome altered through genetic engineering techniques. The plants have been produced by techniques in which "foreign" genes are inserted into the microorganism, plant, or animal. The foreign genes are inserted into the GMO for some beneficial effect, (increase crop yield, insect resistance, and added nutrition). Numerous arguments dealing with GM foods, but the main arguments deal with the benefits and the risks.The argument used by biotech companies is that genetically engineered crops could be the next green revolution. They argue that GMOS can help people with insecure food supplies, especially in developing countries. For example, a genetically modified rice crop that is resistant to flooding and that can withstand being submerged for 3 weeks (usually rice crop dies underwater after one week) would mean a more secure food supply for many Asian countries. Another problem that has been devastat ing banana trees is the fungus Black Sigatoka.Top: Lesser cornstalk borer larvae extensively dam...The fungus kills banana trees and the only way of treating the fungus is with heavy doses of fungicides that are losing ground against the fungus as it builds up more and more resistance. Genetically modified banana trees that are resistant might be the only way to save many of our favorite banana varieties in grocery stores and help protect food supplies in tropical countries. Another great benefit that has nothing to do with nutrition that involve GMOs are crops that are produced for chemicals that are used in drugs and pharmaceuticals that have benefits from being able to produce many different type chemicals as well as mass production potential (GMO Compass).So genetically engineering is fairly or I should say some what embraced in the U.S. Why is that? If anyone researches GMOs on mainstream sources your notice something...

Gender roles in leadership and how they impact behavior Research Paper

Gender roles in leadership and how they impact behavior - Research Paper Example Action of any leader has been always dependent on the response given by the followers, and these actions also responsible to control the leader’s future activities. Therefore according to Sullivan leadership in a mutual process of influence between an individual (leader) and the followers to achieve a certain goal. (Sullivan, 2009, abstract). With the development of society and work culture, it is now very clear that the opportunity to free both men and women from the concept of gender stereotype is already there, to understand the implication of this change it is quite essential to discuss about the history of gender roles in respect to leadership. According to Perschel (2009), There was a long standing though that men were strong and assertive where as women were communal, strong and understanding, this was the thought process presented to describe why the successful women were not the leaders. But according to her, this concept brought few questions such as why in the first place leadership was only associated with men and so on (Perschel, 2009). History of leadership: During 1900 most of the people were not well educated and therefore he leadership role was associated with only a few men, the theory of the great man clarified the fact that due to that less education only a handful of men was associated with leadership power and enjoy superiorintelectual and moral capabilities. But after world war I and II, the scenery started to change as more people get well educated and different industry all over the world was in search for more leaders. During the middle of 1900 century people who was acting as the leaders were used the military style and command .These were also noticed in different hierarchialorganizations where the prevalence of command and control level were established. Most of the leaders were men and the power was distributed among them. They used to be dominative, aggressive and individualistic. By the late 20th century women used to take part in the management activities but at the beginning they have to learn how they could survive in the culture of command and control of men. The minority group of female, who entered the management structure are initially recognized just as tokens. Perschel refers to the concept of â€Å" rules of three†- there was a necessity to have at least two people supporting the thoughts of minority groups, before it could be heard by the dominant male management team. According to her, women needed to show their power-both individualism and assertiveness with a proper balance of feminity, softness and community orientation to be heard and get proper attention by the top management (Perschel, 2009). Change in Gender Stereotype in Leadership: With the development of the world economy and standard of work culture it is at present absolutely necessary that every organization has to be fast and nimble in order to be successful. leaders of the top management need to create a work culture where the employees feel comfortable and adapt quickly.the high performing work force can only be managed by a leader who have qualities that ensured 6the belief on each and

International marketing communication Assignment

International marketing communication - Assignment Example This paper aims at using Nike case analysis to explore the promises and perils of globalization in the modern society. The paper is responding to the questions related to the subject of discussion, and a conclusion is given as a summation of the promise and perils of globalization. Founded in 1964, Nike (initially Blue Ribbon Sports) has grown to be a global renowned manufacturer of sports’ gears and its vested interest in sports fashion has earned a global market as the world leader in design, distribution and marketing of athletic footwear (Frisch, 2009). Nike company outsourced its shoe production in lower- cost regions as a strategy of underselling its competitors and break into the competitive market. It developed strong working relationships with other shoe manufacturers in the region, and this made it have a competitive market share (Mahon, 2009; Kobayashi, 2012). For instance in Japan, it had a working relationship with Nippon Rubber and Nihon-Koyo but due to the tight labor market and a shift in the dollar/yen exchange rate, Nike broke off and outsourced other alternatives targeting lower-cost producers. This networking with other lead producers and suppliers enabled Nike to open up manufacturing plants in various parts of the world as well as have a market share of its products (Frisch, 2009). The production cost of a hosting country determined Nike’s future. When the cost of production increased, Nike Company moved into lower-cost countries where it will break into the footwear market with high tech models of athletic shoe. As such globalization has enabled Nike to expand the market for its products throughout the world (Frankiewicz & Churchill, 2011). Through linking with other lead suppliers, Nike broaden its market share by establishing manufacturing plants across the world and placing its employees in these newly established

ESL II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

ESL II - Essay Example On the other hand, some students would be happy to wait and listen to their teachers of the lesson delivered and then develop strong concepts in learning English. Some students are keen to learn the basics or grammar as the foundation of learning English while others would be try to put the words in place by listening to the language conversation. It is, therefore, important for the teachers to switch to right approaches by understanding the needs of the classroom. Traditional methods The traditional methods of teaching English as a foreign language talk about the approaches of teaching English in a way that has been followed over the years. Various educationalists and eminent personalities could be spotted who have learnt English in the traditional approach. The traditional methods have been described below. Grammar Translation The grammar translation approach is one of the oldest approaches that were carried out in earlier days for teaching Latin in the countries of Europe. This is an intellectual way of learning language which was later applied by the teachers in the lessons of English as a foreign language. The method concentrates more on the reading and writing of English language. The speaking and the listening skills are not really tested in this approach. The teacher provides the students with the grammatical exercises and the students are asked to solve the problems. The students are first questioned orally and followed by answering the exercises in writing which is the major part of grammar translation. The only communication in this method is between the student and the teacher where the teacher plays the authoritarian role. Example of grammar translation method includes explaining the grammatical rules and concepts with the help of presentation, written exercises to the students. Direct Method The direct method of teaching developed languages in the nineteenth century when the educationalists observed the child language learning trends and applied t he direct method of learning English as a foreign language for the learners. In this method, the translation of the foreign language is not required. The students are required to read aloud the specialized texts of grammar and vocabulary in English language. The emphasis is put on guided conversation of the students where the teachers play an important role in helping the students to understand the usage of various words in English. Examples of the direct method of learning English as a foreign language includes conduct of exercises using fill-in-the-blanks, dictation and demonstration to the students by the teachers. The students also required to undertake comprehension exercises directly in English in order to understand the foreign language through the direct method. Audio lingual The audio-lingual method of teaching English as a foreign language developed from the time of Second World War when the army personnel were trained to speak in different languages such as German, French , Japanese, etc. This method has been later applied for teaching English

Information Technology infrastructure for businesses Essay

Information Technology infrastructure for businesses - Essay Example Moreover, which would be the needs of such plan, meaning especially the people, organization and technology issues related to the specific business initiatives. Also, the implications of choosing hardware and software for the IT systems of a particular organization would be taken into consideration by the organization’s managers at an early stage, i.e. while planning the specific project, aiming to limit the chances of a potential failure. Choosing hardware and software for the organization can be a critical decision. IT systems have a key role in the development of each firm’s operations. However, their involvement in daily organizational activities can be differentiated across firms in accordance with the sector in which the firm operates, the business culture and the funds available for the support of the organization’s IT infrastructure. ... At the same time, choosing the appropriate hardware and software could affect the development of the organization; a highly performing IT system can result to the increase of the quality of customer services and the improvement of communication – exchange of information – across the organization; in other words, an effective IT system can lead to the increase of organizational performance offering to the organization a competitive advantage towards its rivals. However, in order for the above choice to be successful, it is necessary for certain people, organization and technology issues to be taken into consideration. More specifically, the managers involved in the specific decision have to ensure that the organization’s employees have the skills and capabilities required for handling the chosen software and hardware. Without the appropriately skilled staff, the new hardware and software would be of no value for the organization. Of course, it would be possible fo r the organization’s employees to be trained accordingly – a scheme which would be necessary in any case, under the terms that the chosen software and hardware would have specific requirements and the firm’s employees could not be aware of all of them (Kangas 2003). At the next level, it is required that the technology chosen to be compatible with the firm’s existing IT systems; if the replacement of the firm’s IT network is decided, then it would be made sure that the chosen hardware and software could cooperate – for example, a common operational environment would be chosen for the firm’s computers. Moreover, the cost of the software/ hardware chosen should be taken into consideration; this cost would include: the cost of the system’s

Marketing Plan for a Business Plan Proposal - Entrepreneurship Course Essay

Marketing Plan for a Business Plan Proposal - Entrepreneurship Course - Essay Example Later, â€Å"The Track Tablet† company can expand into broad geographical areas. 1.2 Product Strategy Anything that is received by a person in exchange for the money that is paid by him is a product (University of Texas Arlington, â€Å"Product Decision†). The product has been designed to permit the guest to make use of the hotel services such as the room service, book spa appointments, enjoy the concierge services, restaurant reservation and order the taxis. Renting of the movies, virtual library, and downloading of the newspapers and magazines will also be possible. However, it has to be mentioned that the product will not replace the reception and human contact since it is the key for success in the hospitality sector. 1.3 Pricing Strategy Pricing can be considered as the most vital aspect of any marketing plan. However, it is vital to keep a watch upon the pricing strategies since the business environment is volatile. In addition to this the move of the competitors need to be gauged. Pricing of the new product needs to consider various aspects to remain competitive (Cravens, W. C. & Piercy, N. F., â€Å"Strategic Marketing†). Initially, it would be better for â€Å"The Track Tablets† to adopt the penetration pricing strategy. ... Strategy Distribution strategy is considered to be one of the vital aspects of marketing that tends to identify the marketing activities that need to be followed by the companies in order to deliver the products to the customers of the firms. Decision regarding the warehousing, choice of the marketing related channels, order processing and inventory control need to be considered (Boone, L. E. & Kurtz, D. L., â€Å"Contemporary Business†). Initially, the product will aim at providing the services to the higher luxurious hotels. After a certain period of time when the product gains awareness amid consumers, it will be beneficial to introduce the product towards the less luxurious hotels. The product will be provided at a few chains all over the world. A few intermediaries can be employed in order to distribute the product to the target market of the world. Intermediaries can assist in smooth flow of the product and thus can reduce the time gap between the consumers and the produ cers. 1.5 Advertising and Promotion Initially, the focus of the advertising campaigns will be upon targeting the high luxurious hotels. The campaigns will assist in gaining awareness among the target customers. Since the products are quite complex in nature and requires investment, it would be prudent for the marketers to send the products for test marketing. The products will be distributed at a few selected hotels that aim at providing their guest with a different experience. This will assist the company to learn the reaction of the customers towards its products. Test marketing will provide the company with the abundant of information. Later, the product can be made available to the customers requiring it (Graham, H. & Et. Al., â€Å"Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning†). Through

The ABC Service Agency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The ABC Service Agency - Essay Example The ABC Service Agency The committee included six board members and four of our top managerial staff. The board of directors together with other key partners held meetings twice a week to review the mission and the core values of the company. Company staff members were also instrumental in providing support to the committee and review of the draft plan (Bond, 2003). In addition, different stakeholders provided their views on organizational assessment in relation to challenges and opportunities of international business. Executive summary Background The ABC agency was established in 1992 as a volunteer organization to provide support to children with disability. Currently the organization provides support services to over 2,000 children and adults across the United States and it is a major employer. ABC agency support program provides placement and support, Respite care, or planned relief for the caregivers of children and adults with disabilities, and vocational training. The agency also provides informati on and referral services to the community with the aim of providing support to people living with disabilities. Direction and Results Strategic direction and results included in this plan are based on the value that the company places on its customers and the need to utilize available resources for sustainable growth. The company is also keen on identifying opportunities in order to counter possible challenges. Due to the growing need for our services beyond our borders, the agency needs to expand its marketing and operation tentacles to enable it exploit emerging opportunities (Lawrence, Weber & Post, 2005). The five-year plan aim at establishing concrete relationship with the donor community and expand productions and marketing options. We also acknowledge the sensitive role that the company plays in the community. To maintain its position in the society the company seeks to expand its production capacity in order to cater for an expanding market. ABC agency will pursue the follow ing directions The company will review and heighten its existing services to ensure that they are effective and reliable. The company will also assess customer satisfaction index to determine its influence in the international market. The ABC agency will work with humanitarian organizations across the globe to identify possible areas of interests. The agency will also collaborate with leading manufacturer of support equipments around the globe to produce support equipments for people with disability at an affordable cost. The company also aims to collaborate with major technology companies to design an information system that will form its main operation platform. Goals The following goals were drafted following cross consultation with key stakeholders and a detailed analysis of the current business environment. The goals provide a strategic framework that will enable the company achieve its target within the stated time. Service delivery It is evident that the company has become a market leader due to its ability to offer high quality services to its customers. We deal in a highly sensitive environment and, therefore our services are evaluated various parties including human rights and government agencies. We therefore seek to reinforce our service delivery in providing family support, education, and employment opportunities. Human resources ABC agency values its staff and the

Information Technology infrastructure for businesses Essay

Information Technology infrastructure for businesses - Essay Example Moreover, which would be the needs of such plan, meaning especially the people, organization and technology issues related to the specific business initiatives. Also, the implications of choosing hardware and software for the IT systems of a particular organization would be taken into consideration by the organization’s managers at an early stage, i.e. while planning the specific project, aiming to limit the chances of a potential failure. Choosing hardware and software for the organization can be a critical decision. IT systems have a key role in the development of each firm’s operations. However, their involvement in daily organizational activities can be differentiated across firms in accordance with the sector in which the firm operates, the business culture and the funds available for the support of the organization’s IT infrastructure. ... At the same time, choosing the appropriate hardware and software could affect the development of the organization; a highly performing IT system can result to the increase of the quality of customer services and the improvement of communication – exchange of information – across the organization; in other words, an effective IT system can lead to the increase of organizational performance offering to the organization a competitive advantage towards its rivals. However, in order for the above choice to be successful, it is necessary for certain people, organization and technology issues to be taken into consideration. More specifically, the managers involved in the specific decision have to ensure that the organization’s employees have the skills and capabilities required for handling the chosen software and hardware. Without the appropriately skilled staff, the new hardware and software would be of no value for the organization. Of course, it would be possible fo r the organization’s employees to be trained accordingly – a scheme which would be necessary in any case, under the terms that the chosen software and hardware would have specific requirements and the firm’s employees could not be aware of all of them (Kangas 2003). At the next level, it is required that the technology chosen to be compatible with the firm’s existing IT systems; if the replacement of the firm’s IT network is decided, then it would be made sure that the chosen hardware and software could cooperate – for example, a common operational environment would be chosen for the firm’s computers. Moreover, the cost of the software/ hardware chosen should be taken into consideration; this cost would include: the cost of the system’s

The ABC Service Agency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The ABC Service Agency - Essay Example The ABC Service Agency The committee included six board members and four of our top managerial staff. The board of directors together with other key partners held meetings twice a week to review the mission and the core values of the company. Company staff members were also instrumental in providing support to the committee and review of the draft plan (Bond, 2003). In addition, different stakeholders provided their views on organizational assessment in relation to challenges and opportunities of international business. Executive summary Background The ABC agency was established in 1992 as a volunteer organization to provide support to children with disability. Currently the organization provides support services to over 2,000 children and adults across the United States and it is a major employer. ABC agency support program provides placement and support, Respite care, or planned relief for the caregivers of children and adults with disabilities, and vocational training. The agency also provides informati on and referral services to the community with the aim of providing support to people living with disabilities. Direction and Results Strategic direction and results included in this plan are based on the value that the company places on its customers and the need to utilize available resources for sustainable growth. The company is also keen on identifying opportunities in order to counter possible challenges. Due to the growing need for our services beyond our borders, the agency needs to expand its marketing and operation tentacles to enable it exploit emerging opportunities (Lawrence, Weber & Post, 2005). The five-year plan aim at establishing concrete relationship with the donor community and expand productions and marketing options. We also acknowledge the sensitive role that the company plays in the community. To maintain its position in the society the company seeks to expand its production capacity in order to cater for an expanding market. ABC agency will pursue the follow ing directions The company will review and heighten its existing services to ensure that they are effective and reliable. The company will also assess customer satisfaction index to determine its influence in the international market. The ABC agency will work with humanitarian organizations across the globe to identify possible areas of interests. The agency will also collaborate with leading manufacturer of support equipments around the globe to produce support equipments for people with disability at an affordable cost. The company also aims to collaborate with major technology companies to design an information system that will form its main operation platform. Goals The following goals were drafted following cross consultation with key stakeholders and a detailed analysis of the current business environment. The goals provide a strategic framework that will enable the company achieve its target within the stated time. Service delivery It is evident that the company has become a market leader due to its ability to offer high quality services to its customers. We deal in a highly sensitive environment and, therefore our services are evaluated various parties including human rights and government agencies. We therefore seek to reinforce our service delivery in providing family support, education, and employment opportunities. Human resources ABC agency values its staff and the

Political Parties in Nigeria Essay Example for Free

Political Parties in Nigeria Essay Democracy no doubt is the world’s current new bride. To the extent that everyone Politicians, Journalists, statesmen and even laymen – call themselves democrats while those who wish to defend a regime no matter its nature call it democracy (Williams 1995:65), one could aptly say the world is in the age of democracy. But as democracy is gaining currency the world over, it need be stated that the Institution of political party constitutes the lubricant of the current democratic wave. This is because, political parties serves as vehicle for expressing myriad of world views held by citizens as well as an instrument to garnering the informed and active participation of the citizens in the political process which constitutes the hallmark of any democratic practice. As noted by Hague and Harrop (1987:141-142), party competition is the hallmark of liberal democracy because it is the device which makes governments responsive to the electorates by providing voters with some choice while simultaneously restricting that choice to a few broad alternatives. In other words, the greater the number of parties and / or the latitude of freedom, the more democratic the political system is or becomes while the the more they are conscripted, the lesser the likelihood of a democratic political system. This view was also shared by Anifowoshe (2004: 59) when he noted that the condition of the political parties in a political system is the best possible evidence of the nature of any democratic regime. It must however be stated that while parties constitute the piston in the engine of democracy, the nature and activities of political parties themselves may constitute a stumbling block in the way of democratic growth and sustenance. This has been the paradox of party politics in Africa where the institution has remained largely underdeveloped. Instances abound where activities of parties have been a major factor in the decline of democratic politics or outright termination of democratic administrations and their subsequent replacement by military authoritarian regimes. In this context, the Nigerian state is a reference point. Nigeria became independent in 1960 after years of colonial rule. Independence ushered in a multi party democracy under a Westminster parliamentary model. However, due to a number of circumstances including intra and inter party bickering and, political excesses of parties and their leaders among others, the first democratic republic was truncated in January 1966 following a bloody coup detat championed by the five Majors. The abrupt termination of the first republic also ushered in a thirteen-year long military rule that lasted till October 1, 1979. Nigeria had another taste of multiparty democracy between October 1979 and 31st December 1983. However, like most of the parties of this period themselves, the problems of the first republic reincarnated to mare the democratic processes, culminating in the military coup of December 31st 1983 and the beginning of a second phase of military rule in the country. Indeed, the second phase of military rule in Nigeria which lasted between December 1983 and May 29, 1999 was the most dramatic and traumatic in the history of the country. It was a period mostly characterized by series of coups and counter coups, political maneuverings and above all, endless transition to civil rule programmes or what Diamond et al (1997) has aptly dubbed ‘Transition without End’. But while the political imbroglio of that period cannot be blamed out-rightly on the excesses of political parties and their leaders, the need to avoid such was always advanced as a defensive mechanism for continuous tinkering with the then transition process. For instance, reasons for dissolution of the 13 political associations that first prelude the third republic and their consequent replacement by government created SDP and NRC and, annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election that eventually calumniated in the abortion of the third republic were carefully crafted under the need to avoid repeat of mistakes of the past republics. Detailed work on this has been done by scholars and need not be recounted here (See, Diamond et al 1997). However, what must be stressed here is that, Nigeria’s current democratic experience was the end product of a long and tortuous journey through the woods of military autocracy. Although the decade of the 90’s generally was characterized by external pressures for democratization around the world, the resilience and perceptions (rightly or wrongly) by Nigerians that democracy holds prospect for a better life was also a major factor that sustained the struggle. Also, perhaps, in acknowledgment of the sanctity of the party institution to democratic sustenance, the country has continued to operate a â€Å"growing† multiparty democracy since 1999. Thus, from three parties in 1999, it currently has over thirty political parties with prospects of more to be registered. Against this long background, this paper seeks to examine the role of parties in sustaining Nigeria’s democracy. Further to this are: To what extent do Nigerian political parties conform to their expected role in the political system or in sustaining democracy? What are the encumbrances (if any) on their performance in Nigeria? What is / are to be done to place Nigerian political parties on the part of vibrancy vis-à  -vis democratic sustenance? Unraveling these problematic calls for rigorous inquiry. But to start with, situating the role of parties in a universal context is essential. Political Parties and Democracy: Theoretical Framework Political party is one of the genuses of intermediary groups in a political system. Others include interest groups and pressure groups. Thus, the relationship between viable political party and democratic governance is no doubt axiomatic. Political parties are the lubricant of democracy and without which, democracy based on the western model cannot function (Adele 2001:35). This is essentially because it provides a credible means of harnessing the variety of public opinions essential in sustaining a democratic society. While democracy rests on the informed and active participation of the people, political party is a viable tool in this regard. This perspective is shared by political scientists. As Anifowoshe (2004:59) remarked: Democracy exists where the principal leaders of a political system are selected by competitive elections in which the bulk of the population have the opportunity to participate. As a matter of fact, the condition of the parties, in a political system, is the b est possible evidence of the nature of any democratic regime. Implicit in the above statement is that a party’s level of institutionalization, cohesion and social base, determines the extent of its viability and the extent to which it could be said to be performing its functions in a democracy. In other words, viable political parties contribute to democratic growth much as unviable ones may result in democratic regression. Although there are myriad of definitions on what constitutes a political party, yet they all revolve around electioneering and the control of government. For instance, political parties has been conceived as an instrument for contesting elections for the purpose of selecting candidates and party(ies) to exercise political power (Yaqub 2002:122). This definition is in consonance with that which sees political party as an organization, which is principally, absolutely and actively involved, in the electoral process, in a democracy, with the major intent of winning political power and controlling the government (Onuoha 2 003:137). The import of these definitions is that the major goal of political party is to capture and control governmental powers. This it does through participation in electoral process in which it fields candidates to contest for various posts. Yet, it must be stated that while the major goal of a political party is to capture and maintain control over personnel and policies of government, such at times may have to be done in coalition with other party(ies). This is especially the case where electoral victory is not based on ‘first past the post’ system or where a single party could not win the minimum electoral seats necessary for it to constitute a government. However, beyond fielding candidates for elections and controlling governmental apparatuses, political parties also perform other functions which on the one hand set them aside from other organizations such as interest groups and more importantly on the other hand, makes them sine qua non for democratic development. These include; the task of political recruitment and training, education, socialization, breeding consensus, providing alternative world views and political communication among others (see Okoosi-simbine 2004:85-86; Yaqub 2002:112; Aina 2002:10-12, Onuoha 2003:137). It is the extent to which parties are able to discharge these functions that determine the extent of democratic growth in the country. Important in carrying out the above functions is that part ies especially in culturally variegated societies such as Nigeria must eschew those intervening variables that are likely to mar programmes and policies of the party such as salience of ethnic, religious or other sectional interests. Where this is not avoided, the tendency is that a party will find it considerably difficult in harnessing or mobilizing mass support for democratic growth. The emphasis here is that parties are formed not only to promote policies but also to secure social interests. It therefore follows that parties must have broad social bases in order to be able to aggregate interests rather than articulation of specific sectional ones. Also central to democratic growth through the party system is party institutionalization. That is, the process by which parties become established and acquires value and enduring stability (Huttington, 1965:394). Although the extent of party institutionalization varies with party systems the world over, it is usually measured based on some factors such as party age, count of splits and mergers, electoral stability, legislative stability and leadership change (Janda, 1993:167). Of equal importance is party coherence, which has been defined as the degree of congruence in the attitudes and behaviour of party members’ (Janda 1980:118; 1993:173). There is no gainsaying the fact that the degree of coherence among party members bears direct relevance to party strength and stability. This is because a strong and coherent party in terms of membership and structure is usually stronger and coordinated both in articulating view and garnering electoral support than are fragmented one. It is also the factor of coherence that enable parties to effectively discharge the function of National integration which they are expected to perform especially in plural societies. It must be stressed that, while parties in the advanced countries of Europe and America, are observed to have attained the status described above, those in the developing countries tend to be a little far from it. In other words, political parties in the developing countries cannot be ranked on equal scale with those of the advanced countries in terms of viability of the institution. Hence, it could be reasoned that the difference between the two worlds accounts for the different levels of democratic growth between them (e.g. Nigeria and USA). Although Nigeria has returned to democratic practice since 1999, yet there is a growing concern over the sustenance of its democracy. These concerns obviously owe their origin to the nature of political parties and party politics or activities in the country. Issues surrounding this dilemma are examined next but before this, description of the character and general tendencies of current political parties is essential. Roles and Functions of Political Parties From various literature on political party, it is evident that democracy, especially the liberal majoritarian version would be practically impossible without the institution of political party. This no doubt is anchored on the expected roles of political parties in deepening the democratic process. One major role expected of any political party is the task of political recruitment and education. The centrality of this function lie is the fact that it is directly connected with fulfillment of the common aim of all parties. That is, the aim of fielding candidates for election and capturing or exercising political power either singly or in cooperation with other parties (see, Yaqub 2002:164; Ball 1988:73). In other words, in the process of trying to capture political power, political parties serves as a major instrument/platform through which candidates for public offices are recruited at all levels. This is the case in both socialist as well as competitive liberal democracies. According to Ball (198:77), in such political systems where parties are absent (such as in zero party situation) or weak, political elites are usually recruited from traditional elites or through religious and military organizations. However, such sources of recruitment usually have implications for stability of the regime because they lack the more popular base of political parties. In other words, the institution of political party provides an avenue for recruiting politically ambitious persons into the political elite class. In this, we can also accommodate parties’ role as a credible means of political succession. This is because parties would have narrowed down the number of competitors for a particular office to what it considered the best choice at the material time. This process help reduce pressures on the political system as well as streamline citizens choice. In addition, in the process of campaigns for elections, parties inform and educate the public on important s tate policies and actions much as they do while in power. Even for parties out of power, they provide a constant source of critique of government policies which attimes help to change, modify or improve the quality of policies and programmes. Related to the task of recruitment and education is the role of parties as socializing agents. Generally speaking, most conceptions of socialization agreed that it is a process by which individuals incorporate into their own attitudinal and behavioural patterns, the way of their respective social groups and society (Babawale, 1999:218). If this is true, it follows that in the course of preparing candidates for elections, campaigns and other political activities, the individual within the society is acquiring some attitudinal or behavioural patterns necessary to make a politically vibrant individual. In addition, knowledge about political institutions and processes are acquired and internalized by the individual. Perhaps, this informed why political socialization have been conceived as all formal and informal explicitly or nominal political learning at every stage of the life circle that affects political behaviour, such as learning of politically relevant social attitudes and the acq uisition of politically relevant personality characteristics (Greenstein, quoted in Babawale 1999:219). Another major role of political parties in any political system is in the area of serving as link between rulers and the ruled through what is known as political communication. That is, parties provide a means of expression and information flow, both upward and downward, in any political system. Although, the flow of information is crucial to the survival of any political system, the direction of information flow however varies. For instance, in a liberalized multiparty system, there is tendency for information flow to be tilted more in favour of upward flow. This would allow the ruling party to feel the pulse of the populace as well as respond positively to policy demands. But even for parties out of power, it has a tendency to reinforce collective consciousness of party members and strengthen the level of attachment to the party. On the other hand, where there is a single party, the tendency is that information flow will be more from the top to the bottom. For instance, Hague and Harrop (1987: 140) had noted that in Stalin’s Russia, ‘the democratic’ expression of opinion from the grassroots of the Communist Party was negligible compared with the â€Å"centralist† flow of directive from the top. This notwithstanding, what is important is that, irrespective of the strength or direction of information flow, political parties have the onerous role of serving as a two-way communication process between the government and the people. The formulation and implementation of collective goals is yet another major function of parties. This is because in the process of seeking to capture power, they formulate programmes and policies either through conventions, meetings and even manifestoes which they hope to implement while in office. Some of these issues eventually constitute the collective goals of the society. Related to this is the mobilization role of parties. Indeed, parties are known to have been in the vanguard of mobilizing the citizens. This they do through mass rallies and other forms of display of unity that emphasizes identification between the individual and the party. Hague and Harrop (1987:140) noted that, parties have been the prime movers in the revolutionary upheaval of the modern age. They alluded that the enormous transformations of Russia and Chinese societies in the last century were led by vanguard communist parties committed to radical social changes. So also were the nationalist parties of the third world who played critical role in the attainment of independence and the subsequent attempt to weld new nations out of traditional societies (Hague and Harrop 1987:140-141). In the process of developing collective goals, parties also serve as important agents of articulating and aggregating the myriad of groups and individual interests in the society. Although this is not an exclusive function of political parties as it is also performed by interest groups, but parties are able to do this on a wider and / or national scale. Indeed, all parties have social base that cuts across ethnic, religious, occupational and class divides. It thus serves as a platform through which the diverse interest base are articulated and aggregated to form coherent whole. The underlying assumption here is that parties are able to synthesize and reconcile the multitude of competing interests into a broad national value. It must however be stated that this function of political parties, though important, need not be stressed too far. This is because, most often, parties mainly respond to interests and demands that are consistent with their ideology or in line with controlling int erests in the party. In this context, parties are important agencies in determining which interests are represented in politics and which ones are left out. From discussions so far, it is apparent that the relationship between political parties and democratic sustenance is axiomatic. Indeed, the various roles performed by political parties in the political system are expected to strengthen the democratic processes. This demand also implies that political parties and political leaders must in themselves be democratic. What this translates to is that the extent to which individuals within the party and the party organization itself assimilate democratic tenets to a large extent affects the extent to which they are able to discharge the above roles as well as the quality of democratic growth in the political system. In other words, having democrats is precondition for democracy to take root. How these intricacies of party politics and democratic sustenance have played themselves out in Nigeria will be our next focus after a preview of political parties in the country’s current fourth republic. Parties in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic Political parties in Nigeria’s fourth republic emerged against the background of a military managed transition prograamme which began in 1998 and reached its climax on May 29, 1999 when a new civilian administration was ushered in (see Momoh and Thoeveni 2001). Before this experience, Nigeria has had previous democratic republics between 1st October 1960 when it gained political independence from Britain and January 1966 when it was rudely terminated in a military coup; another one was between October 1, 1979 and December 31, 1983 while a third one was not allowed to take root in the early 1990s because it was eventually truncated by its own architect. What is remarkable about all the republics is that, with the exception of the aborted third republic which had only two parties dejure, all others were characterized by multiparty system. Extensive work on previous republics have been done by Coleman (1971); Joseph 1991; Diamond et al 1997; Ujo 2000 and Yaqub 2002). To begin with, parties in Nigeria’s current fourth republic have been characterized by what could be described as a seesaw numerical transition. This was because, at inception of political activities in 1998, several political associations were registered (though provisionally) as political parties but was later prone down to three before the 1999 elections and by 2003, several others came back on the stage. This numerical transition deserves extensive comment. Upon commencement of political activities in 1998, close to fifty political associations sprang up but at the close of nominations, only twenty-four of them had applied for registration with INEC. After thorough scrutiny, only nine of these parties were formally registered (provisional) by INEC according to its guidelines. These are Alliance for Democracy (AD), All Peoples Party (ANPP), Democratic Alliance Movement (DAM), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), United Democratic Party (UDP), United Peoples Party (UPP) and Movement for Democracy and Justice (MDJ). However, the future and continuous existence of these parties was tied to passing the acid test. To continue to exist and function as a political party, a parting was expected to score at least, a minimum of five (initially ten) percent of the total votes in at least 24 states of the federation during the December 1998 local governments elections. Thus, of the nine parties, only the APP and PDP clearly met the criteria having scored at least five percent in over 24 states of the federation each. The AD was third with 5 percent of votes in 14 states of the federation. However, in addition to the APP and PDP, the AD was also registered partly to assuage the south westerners who were still aggrieved by the June 12, 1993 election imbroglio and most importantly, because of provisions of the electoral laws that the third best party would also be registered in the event of only two parties meeting the recruitments. Consequently, based on the modified criterion, the AD, APP and PDP were registered to contest the 1999 general elections. Following increasing pressures for registration of more parties, three other associations, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), National Democratic Party (NDP) and United Nigeria Peoples’ Party (UNPP), were registered in June 2002 out of over twenty that applied for registration. The registration of these three parties however heightened agitations by those yet to be registered until they were finally registered later in the year. Those factors that made their registration inevitable included subtle blackmail by other associations seeking registration, fragility and growing intra party deputes among existing parties and above all, the resort to litigation by those not registered among others (see, Anifowoshe 2004: 63) Added to this was increasing factionalisation of existing parties. Indeed, the ruling by the Federal Appeal Court in Abuja, FCT, which favoured the registration of more parties, was a major and perhaps most significant factor that prompted registration of more parties by INEC to the extent that about thirty political parties freely contested the 2003 general elections. It must be stated that, although thirty political parties contested the 2003 general elections, the trio of PDP, ANPP and AD have remained dominant since 1999. While the PPD is currently controlling 27 states (previously 28 before the court order that awarded victory of Anambra state governorship election to the APGA candidate earlier this year), the ANPP has seven states and AD, one state. They all however, have their men in the national parliament, though with varying strength. Also, there has been a growing rate of factionalization, crises of succession and internal bickering within the parties. This is with the consequence that more parties and political association have continued to emerge from them to the extent that Nigeria is currently having about 37 political parties with prospects of more to come. The new bride of parties include the ACD, MRDD, Action Alliance †¦ For instance, the rate of factionalization within the ruling PDP have gone to an extent that several factions have emerged as new parties on their own. This was the case with the MRDD spearheaded by a former national chairman and other prominent members of the party. The same account could be read for the recently formed ACD which from all indications is spearheade by imcubent Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Indeed, the PDP is not alone in the troubled waters of dissent. Even notable members of the AD and ANPP are now either full members of one of the newly registered parties or fraternizing with the intention of becoming one. This was the case with the incumbent protem National Publicity Secretary of ACD, Lai Mohammed, who was hitherto a strong member of the AD. Indeed, in the build up to 2007 general elections, there seem to be general disarray among political parties in the country. While new parties have emerged after 2003 general elections, there is nothing to suggest that more will not spring up before the next 2007 elections. But if the deepening or defense of democracy is a prime factor which politicians have always adduced for the alignment and realignment of forces leading to formation of new parties, to what extent have Nigerian political parties with its increasing numbers satisfied this aspiration? Or better still to what extent have they fulfilled the expected roles of parties in a democracy necessary for deepening the process? This is our prime concern in the next section. Nigerian Parties and Democratic Consolidation Perhaps a good way to access the impact of parties on democratic sustenance is to align our thought in this direction with the expected roles of parties in a democracy. Indeed, Nigerian parties by whatever angle they are looked at are political parties properly so called. At least, to the extent that the common aim, as parties elsewhere, is to capture political power and control machineries of government. By implication therefore, they are practically veritable instruments in the recruitment of political leaders and political elites. In fact, viewed against previous experiences, one would observe an increasing sensitization and political education of Nigerians. However, one must be cautious in stressing this argument too far giving the contradictions inherent in the ways and practices of the parties. This is because, at the facial level, parties may have been recruiting candidates for various elective posts, but beneath we may ask: what is the quality of candidates being recreated? Are the parties democratic in their recruitment process? Obviously, answers to these questions are negative. To anchor this further, we may begin on the premise that to have (or sustain) democracy, first, there must be democrats either as individuals or party organizations. It is obvious that at inception of the current democratic administration in 1999,and with exception of the PDP then which had a consensus candidate in Chief Olusegun Obasonjo, all other two parties were not particularly democratic in selecting their presidential aspirants. For instance, the decision of the A D under the influence of Afenifere, a pan Yoruba socio-cultural organization to select chief Olu Falae as the party’s presidential flagbearer at a meeting held in Ibadan by party elders without allowing proper democratic contest between him and Chief Bola Ige cannot be described as democratic. In fact, the undemocratic nature of what is now the ‘De Rovans Hotel’ episode has been adjudged as a major factor in the crises that has been rocking the party since 1999 (see National Interest June 18 2006:18). So also was the case with the APP between Dr. Olushol Saraki and †¦. The later was eventually selected in a rather spurious manner. Expectedly this action stired controversy within the parties leading to factionalization in the case of the AD and protest votes against the party by Dr Saraki and his supporters in the APP in the 1999 presidential elections. In addition, many of the three parties’ aspirants for other posts were either hand picked or selected in a surreptitious arrangement. Indeed preparations for the 2003 elections witnessed an almost complete disregard of democratic tenets in the process of recruiting candidates for elective offices. Although many of the parties attempted to pick their aspirants, especially presidential nominees, through national conventions, but unfolding events and protests by other aspirants after the conventions smacks of fluidity of the process. The implications of all the above is the increasing factionalization of the parties and rising level of intra party crises. Worrisome as these situations appear, there is nothing yet to suggest advances in democratic direction by the parties even for the 2007 elections. The recent convention of the PDP in which it was resolved (or maneuvered) against the wishes of some other members that its candidates for elections will be by affirmation is a pointer in this direction. Also is the case of the NDP which has already adopted a candidate, Rtd. General Babangida, as its presidential flag bearer for the 2007 election without holding a convention. What we can derive from the above analysis are two fold. First is that a faulty premise cannot produce a sound conclusion. A party whose internal machinery is undemocratic cannot nurture democracy in a larger societal context. Second is that the candidates so recruited have not gone through any democratic training within the party nor tested democratically to ascertain their level of subscription to democratic tenets. In this case, such candidates while in office will likely be intolerant to opposition and above all, perpetuated through undemocratic tendencies. Current unfolding occurrences in the country manifesting in succession crises, third term agenda etc. tend to confirm all the above assertions. In other words, the bottom line remains that, neither Nigerian political parties nor politicians could be regarded as democrats thus cannot effectively and sufficiently contribute to maintaining the system. In terms of political communication and serving as link between the government and the people, Nigerian parties grossly parade a deficit balance in this regard. This is because none of the parties has a functional formal communication channel. The reality is that most of the parties’ structures especially at the grassroots are only vibrant at the approach of elections. After this, they fade away while the party continue to exist only at National and state headquarters. Indeed, the critical ingredients and means of political communication necessary for a vibrant democracy are conspicuously absent in the parties. These include avenues for expression of opinions by citizens, free information flow (upward or downward) among others. These elements help strengthen attachment and loyalty to the party thereby holding prospect for increased political participation. However, Nigerian parties are not forthcoming in this regard. What is apparent is that relations within the parties are mo re of client-patronage relation. Party leaders and elected officers most often become alienated from other party members and even the electorates immediately after election. For the parties in power, the only relation that there from exist between party elites and other members usually is occasional distribution of patronage in order to preserve members support and loyalty while those out of power fizzled away only to re emerge at the approach of another election. For this reasons, harnessing citizens’ initiative or sustaining a vibrant political participation of members becomes difficult with the result of docility in party activities. Indeed, communication is the life wire of any organization the lack of which may result in the organizations eventual death. The party organization and indeed the political system is no exemption in this regard. Perhaps, we can make bold to say that the near zero communication level of Nigerian political parties is a major factor in their inability to institutionalize or funct ion effectively as lubricant of the democratic project. As already noted in this text, parties also play mobilization roles as well as articulate and aggregate the myriad of opinions held by individual and groups within the society. This no doubt facilitates development of collective goals. A careful observation of the Nigerian experience however reveal parties as playing contradictory roles to the above. First, mobilization of citizens has often been limited to periods of electoral campaigns. For Nigerian parties and politicians, election periods are periods to galvanize the people and exhume powerful oratory remarks. The average politician is always willing to visit the nooks and crannies to mobilize and solicit support for the party and candidates. But while this is part of the mobilization function of parties, it need not be confirmed solely to an election period routine. Rather, it is a process that must continue in order to bring out the best from the citizens in terms of input into policies and programmes of the government. But given the psyche of the Nigerian politician and their end-means orientation of politics which is to acquire political power in order to secure economic resources, citizen contribution / input into policies and programmes is of inconsequential effect. This crave for economic security at whatever cost by the political elites could therefore be adduced as a contributing factor to continued non alignment of policies with realities confronting the Nigerian electorates. Another dimension of the faulty mobilization function of parties in Nigeria is that even where they, as elsewhere, have wider social base of support, political maneuverings often create a situation whereby parties resort to politics of ethnic and/or religious mobilization. Indeed, mobilization politics along the lines of ethnic, religious or some other forms of cleavages have been a major character of party politics since independence. For instance most parties of the first republic used divisive mobilization politics to garner electoral support. So also were parties of the second republic. With the exception of AD which is rooted in the south west and maintains affinity with Afenifere, a socio cultural organization in the region, all other parties of the current era could not be said to have their support base restricted to a particular region. However, in the process of electioneering campaigns, many members wittingly or unwittingly often whip ethno-religious sentiments as strategies to mobilize support. Consequently in the prelude to the 2003 general elections, the mood of many Nigerians was that, Religion will play a prominent role in their choice of leaders†¦. Muslim- Christian rivalry was so intense that none of the 30 political parties in the country has managed to develop a firmly national support base. Muslims consider Obasanjo’s ruling peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a Christian party. The all Nigerian peoples party (ANPP) of his nearest rival, Muhammad Buhari is considered by Christians to be a Muslim party (Marahatha Christian Journal, 2003). The emphasis therefore is that, where mobilization is carried on, on a faulty premise, it becomes extremely difficult to articulate and aggregate programmes and policies that serves the national interest. In this context, programmes and policies often articulated are those that are in consistent with that of the dominant interests within the party, be it socio, cultural or economic. In terms of political socialization, it may be argued that there is a tendency for negative socialization among Nigerian political parties. Socialization, conceived in terms of the process by which the individuals incorporate the ways of their respective social groups and society into their individual patterns and behaviour, is expected to be facilitated by political parties through campaigns, rallies and other political activities. In Nigeria, however, this has a negative content arising from series of violence and atmosphere of insecurity that often mare electoral processes in Nigeria. Nigerian parties and politician alike have a penchant for recruiting and making use of political thugs mostly recruited among motor garage boys, unemployed Youths and even Students at moments of campaigns and elections. Such behaviours and orientations which are antithetical to civic culture obviously are imbibed by younger generations. The consequence is that this erodes democratic senses of bargaining and compromise and instead creates the impression that force and crude militancy are the best ways to live and achieve political goals. The negative impacts of the socialization process is already being exhibited at other levels of politics below the state such unionism, especially student unionism. Indeed, student unionism at the tertiary level is expected to evince civic and enlightened qualities by virtue of the place of tertiary institutions in the country. However, a common observable trend in most tertiary institutions in Nigeria is that campus politics has often time been characterized by intolerance, maneuverings, money politics and a host of other negative traits exhibited by Nigerian political parties to the extent that institutions authorities may at times impose sanctions or outright ban on campus political activities. Situations like this no doubt have implications for their future political engagements and by extension, democratic growth in Nigeria. Our endeavour so for has been to trace whether there is an alignment between the expected roles and functions of political parties in sustaining democratic process and the activities of political parties in Nigeria. For one, while the role of parties in democratic sustenance is in controvertible, the Nigerian political parties have not been seen playing these roles. Why is this so is our focus next. Observed Weaknesses of parties in Nigeria From discussions so far, it can be gleaned that the indispensability of political parties to democratic sustenance is not in doubt. What is perhaps worrisome is the ability of Nigerian political parties to function effectively as catalyst for democratic growth. Gleaned from a number of observable trends, some factors serve to explain this unfortunate mess. First we may note ideological emptiness of the parties. Conceived as a set of coherent ideas which guide and tailor behaviour, ideology is expected to fire and sustain inspirations of party members. According to Scruton (quoted in Okoosi-Simbine, 2005:24), parties ideology are moral systems that enshrine the sanctity of contract and promise between them and the electorate because they constitute the political doctrine from which a programme of political action emanates and upon which basis citizens choose how they will like to be ruled. Essentially therefore, parties as organizations with diverse social base must be bounded by such set of common beliefs and ideas in order to help propel a vibrant democratic society. Unfortunately, Nigerian parties and politicians are merely playing survival game. Prime to them from observable trend is the desire to capture and maintain political power irrespective of what this takes. Consequently, this drive to capture power by all means possible tends to erode the performance of other functions necessary for democratic growth. The lack of ideology also serves as conduit for series of political vagrancies that characterized the political terrain. As observed by Aina (2002:19), Nigerian poiticians behave like political bats, changing affiliation in response to perceived fortunes or electoral advantage. Akin to the issue of ideology is what we may refer to as poorly digested manifesto of the parties. The manifesto is basis upon which contract between the rulers and citizens are sealed because it is the representation and/or expression of the political party’s direction, purpose and how it hopes to achieve them while in government (Onuoha 2003:141). It is the party’s statement of intention about how it hopes to achieve good governance. It is therefore the basis upon which performance of an incumbent government can be assessed and balanced against the need for change. Unfortunately, manifestoes of Nigerian political parties have proved to be manifestations of emptiness, similar in content and providing no choice for the citizens. The only difference between them as observed by Okoosi-Simbine (2005:22) is the emphasis they give to the programmes articulated or in a few cases, the strategies for carrying out the objectives. In other words, their manifestoes are more a replica of the other. Again, this close similarity in manifestoes can be hinged on their inability to develop a coherent ideology. As onu0oha (2003:145) rightly observed, any meaningful and functional manifesto must spring from a profound party ideology. Thus, a manifesto without a party ideology is like a body without a soul. In this context, rather than lubri cate democracy, parties constitute more of a burden on democratic practice. Prevalence of primordial sentiment may equaled be adduced as responsible for the inability of Nigerian parties to respond positively to the challenges of democratic sustenance. Indeed, the ability of a party to effectively perform its role especially in multi cultural settings is usually circumscribed by the socio-economic structure of the society. Therefore, since parties are institutions competing for spheres of influence in the socio-economic and political configuration of the society, there is every tendency that there activities will be likely be intertwined with prevalent socio-political sentiments of the society (Suleiman and Muhammad 2006). This is suggestive of current Nigerian parties. Indeed, post independent Nigeria has witnessed party’s base being deeply rooted in ethno-regional and religious sentiments to the extent that the major parties of the first republic (AG, NPC and NCNC) and their second republic successors (especially NPN, NPP and UPN) are often regarded as ethnic pressure groups. While parties of the current fourth republic may not be so deeply rooted in a particular region, nonetheless, the continuous use, overtly or covertly , of ethnic and religious sentiments in party politics reinforces social divisions among the populace which in turn weakens party structure and organization. Needless to stress that, a weak party in terms of internal structure cannot function optimally in deepening the democratic process. We can also speak of poor financial standing of the parties which made them susceptible to hijack by money barons who eventually use them to achieve personal benefits. Politics generally is an expensive activity and the role of money in contemporary Nigerian politics is indeed overwhelming. Although the government, through INEC, is currently financing the parties, but considering the spending pattern of the parties, government finance is generally considered insufficient. Consequently, additional funds are sourced through party financiers that include influential business men, party members in government and so on. For instance, the Plateau state governor, Joshua Dariye, sometime ago claimed he gave the PDP part of the 1.6 billion naira ecological fund he was accused of mismanaging. Similarly, only recently the ANPP caretaker committee chairman and gover nor of Bornu state directed all the seven governors on the platform of the party to contribute 20 million Naira each to the party’s purse within two weeks while all presidential aspirants and senators were to contribute 10 million Naira each towards the administration of the party (The Punch Editorial, †¦June, 2006:16). The implication of this is that Nigerian parties will likely for long be hijacked by money barons who will eventually constitute godfathers within the parties. Second is that credible aspirants who cannot afford to pay the huge sums would have to forget or submerge it while thirdly, internal party democracy becomes jeopardized. The resulting effect of all these is that parties becomes constrained as popular organizations capable of being the vanguard of democratic growth. Rather, they become characterized by frequent conflict and internal party squabbles. Also as a fall out of the above circumstances, programmes and policies that are often articulated and implemented reflect more of the interests of the so-called godfathers rather than that of the formal party organization. Thus, as the International IDEA (2006:8) have noted, given this context, Nigerian party life is characterized by a very low level of debate on policy options. Another observed weakness of Nigerian political partie s is the absence of political education. It is a common fact that Nigerian political parties have not been carrying out programmes aimed at enlightening the populace and even party members. This is because the party organization has been confined to mere instrument of contesting elections. Thus after elections, most of the parties become docile both in terms of recruiting new members and organizing activities to enlighten citizens about the political process. According to the country report on Nigeria by the international IDEA (2006:8), all the parties surveyed do agree that their members are active only during elections. The import of this is that once elections are over, only very few things link the party with its members thus, the expected role of political communication and education wanes out. We may also note the long years of military rule as another factor for the nonperformance of Nigerian political parties. Indeed, Nigeria’s long reign of military rule from 1966 to 1999, except for the brief period of 1979 to 1983, have affected the psyche of the average Nigerian politician. Military rule as it were is undemocratic. But its long reign in Nigeria with all its undemocratic tendencies have walked its way into the subliminal consciousness of most Nigerian. Thus, even though the military is out of power and democracy in place, the legacy of authoritarian tendencies still permeates the orientations and behaviours of the political class. The implications of this are that Nigeria currently has a short supply of tested democrats while democratic institutions remain large underdeveloped. In other words, while the success of any democratic experiment is predicated on the availability of individuals who are democrats in themselves, Nigeria’s long years of military tutelage has done no less than wipe out the last vestiges of democratic qualities among Nigerian politicians. Conclusion So far in this work we have tried to examine the link between political parties and democratic sustenance in Nigeria. It is observed that the institution of political party is indispensable if democracy is to be strengthened. This is by virtue of the various functions they perform which transcend the mere activity of fielding candidates for elections. However, the Nigerian situation is observed to be a deviation from the norm. if anything, Nigerian parties have not only failed in discharging these roles, but are equally working in the direction of democratic regression. In the main, the poor financial base of these parties, lacks of institutionalization, empty ideological content among others are part of their major constraints. Against this background, it is suggested that the government should improve on its funding of these parties in order to avoid their hijack by selfish money barons. Equally, the INEC should put in place mechanisms that would ensure these parties are internally democratic. Internal democracy of the parties no doubt will magnify into useful premise for democracy to thrive in the larger Nigerian society. Above all, there must be the political will by politicians themselves to allow democratic tenets to take root in the country. The above, it is believe are good recipe for democratic sustenance in Nigeria. 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