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Analysis of Behavior Modification in the Classroom
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1. Explain the relevance of studying comparative politics.
"The essence of comparative government as a study is
to compare the ways in which different societies cope with
various problems, the role of the political structures involved
being of particular interest."(Dictionary of Modern Politics).
We all live in society and relate our existence with other
human beings. We can estimate ourselves only in comparison
to others or using some standards. Comparison can give us
better ideas about our place in the world structure and help
to set up goals to achieve. Comparative politics is based
on that principle. It’s a branch of political science,
which studies the processes of democratization, relations
and interactions between state and society, ethnic norms and
regulations, social movements and social and political economy.
As every science it has its own methodological base, instruments,
subject and object. Comparative politics uses such methods
as synthesis, analyses, comparison, etc. Comparative politics
uses such methodologies as the theory of rational choice,
political and cultural economy and institutional approaches.
Comparative politics can have another title – comparative
government as it focuses on the comparing the varying forms
of government in different settings and conditions. It focuses
on the governments of different states and nations and their
comparison. This type of research is based on the synchronic
approach. Comparative politics can compare the forms of government
of different historic periods and epochs. In this case it
deals with the diachronic aspect of the science.
Scientists who dedicate their lives to this science can focus
on the politics, history and economy of one separate country
or group of countries. Others can compare two countries by
all known social, political, cultural and historical criteria.
This science finds out similarities and dissimilarities between
countries but it sets much more important aims than a mere
comparison. Comparative politics tries to give answers to
important questions, such as the reasons of the revolutions
and social upheavals. Deep study of the history of the countries
and them detailed comparison can give an idea about the future
development of the country.
2. Political System. What is the political system idea about?
How does Hurricane Katrina's outcome illustrate the working
and the non-working of the political system?
Political system is usually defined as a social system of
politics and government peculiar to a certain country. Usually
it is defined in contrast to law, economic and cultural systems
of the country.
Political system is usually composed of the members of social
group, which is in power. Political system defines the way
the government rules people accomplishing its governing policy.
Usually it’s a system, which owns a political monopoly
on the legitimate system.
Political system consists of two independent components and
boundaries towards the environment. Two main components of
each political system are citizens of the country and its
government. Boundaries, which define the political system,
are citizenship, territory and property.
Political system was designed as a way not only to rule people,
but also to take responsibilities for citizens. It becomes
more and more evident with the flow of time that political
systems are not always perfect and not always manage to perform
their main functions. New Orleans tragedy is a bright example
of administration mismanagement. The region wasn’t prepared
for the disaster, though meteorologists notified about the
tragedy in advance and federal authorities were acknowledged
with the possible consequences of the tragedy. It’s
evident that the reaction of the government was too slow and
ineffective. President has made an official statement more
than one day after the tragedy. The National Guard and Army
didn’t arrive in time to save people and maintain order.
Innocent people who suffered in New Orleans and other citizens
ask the government many questions after the tragedy. The popularity
of president Bush has reached the lowest point during the
whole period of his presidency. The terrible consequences
of the tragedy show the poor work of the whole political system
of the country, unmatched actions of the different institutions
and indifference of the higher officials in the tragedy of
ordinary people.
3. What do you most like about Great Britain and Germany.
What do least like about Japan and Russia.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is
a constitutional monarchy. Formally, monarch is the head of
the state, but in reality the executive power belongs to the
Cabinet of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Great Britain
belongs to the small number of democratic countries, which
don’t have a written constitution. Being a perfect example
of democracy for other countries, and called a constitutional
monarchy it doesn’t have a constitution and uses un-codified
and partially unwritten document regulations. British political
system became very popular in the world, partially, due to
its colonial extensions in the past. Political system used
in Britain, where an executive branch is drawn from and accountable
to the legislature one got the name of Westminster system.
To my mind, British political system is one of the most balanced
and well-thought systems of the world.
Germany is another perfect example of the balanced democracy
system. Germany is a democratic federal parliamentary republics,
where the head of the government is elected by the parliament.
Its main democratic principles are formed in the main law
of the country – constitution of 1949. Federal Council
represents federal states and their interests. Its power is
balanced by the parliament, which should agree on the legitimate
acts of the councils. I think this balance between federal
and central powers is one of the most prominent achievements
of the German democracy where the interests of the whole country
are agreed with the interests of its states.
The Russian Federation is a federal republic. The president
in Russia has big political powers. He forms the cabinet of
ministers, appoints the official and chooses the prime-minister.
He can also pass orders without agreeing them with the parliament.
He is also the head of the Armed Forces of the country. I
think it’s evident that executive branch in the face
of the president dominates the legislature and one of the
main principles of democracy suffers in this situation. Other
problem of Russian political system is a big economic misbalance
between centre and regions. It’s a very sad fact, that
in the country where capital city and other big cities are
flourishing, distanced regions stay on the level of the third-world
countries.
Japan is a constitutional monarchy, based on Westminster system.
High-consciousness of its citizens, government-industry co-operation
and high-technologies development has put Japan to the number
of most developed and richest counties of the world. It’s
necessary to keep in mind the oriental mentality and obedience
to authority to understand the closeness of Japanese economical
and political systems. Mmanufacturers, suppliers, distributors,
and banks work closely connected under the strict control
of the government. All economical power belongs to big enterprises
and big corporations leaving very little space for small companies
development. Being a very closed political system, Japan doesn’t
let it any foreign investments and creates very little opportunities
for international business inside the country. A number of
measures taken the by current government attempted to attract
foreign investments to the country in order to stimulate economy
which goes through the period of stagnation at the moment.
4. Take 2 story-articles from magazines or a newspaper and
explain the kind of comparison that is made in the stories
and how they are made.
There are several ways to make a comparison. It can be based
on the similarities of the objects examined or, vice versa,
on the differences of these objects. Comparison can have a
certain plan and define the accordance of the elements to
this plan. In the article called “Nader Again: so what?”
Ken Goldstein examines and compares Nader’s attempts
of 1996, 2000 and 2004. The author compares strategies used
by Nader during his three elective companies and tries to
estimate his chances and predict his last election results.
Another article “Housing boom may go bust, economists
warn” compares the stock market obsession we face now
with the one of the late 1990s. The author describes the situation
of the 1990s and them leads a parallel to the modern days.
The article “US Deploys Slide Show to Press Case against
Iran” focuses on the situation in Iran. The article
compares the briefing to the “the flawed presentation
on Iraq’s weapons program” in the Security Council,
and warns that the Iraq experience is still “fresh in
the minds of international decision-makers.”
1. Nadar Again: So What? Ken Goldstein
June 18, 2004
2. US Deploys Slide Show to Press Case against Iran
September 14, 2004
(Washington Post)
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_politics
4. Liphart, Arend. 1975. “The Comparative-Cases Strategy
in Comparative Research.’ Comparative Political Studies,
8, 158-177.
5. Gary King, Harvard University. 2003. "Enhancing the
Validity and Cross-cultural Comparability of Survey Research."
Working Paper. Harvard University
6.A Dictionary of Modern Politics, Second Edition. Edited
by David Robertson. London: Europa Publications Limited, 1993.).
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