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The Division of Power
As we have seen through our readings, governments differ on where the power of the state should be held.Unitary systems concentrate the power within the central government and little or no authority is granted to the component areas. In contrast, federal systems allow first-order civil divisions to have some autonomy, while the central government maintains authority over some areas.
Take a moment to compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of each system.As you answer this initial question for the week, provide country examples whenever possible/relevant. Connecting real-world examples to these concepts will help to make this a more meaningful discussion for us.
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Week 3: Democracies Compared
I look forward to getting our discussion going this week. In political science, the study of democracy focuses on the definition of democracy, how democracy can be established/encouraged, what causes democracy, the types of democracy, the functioning of democracy, the quality of democracy, and more. These is really the meat and potatoes of political science, especially comparative politics. There are volumes of books and articles on this topic. Please be sure to provide a scholarly source for your definition of democracy.
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Democracy
Part 1
Democracy can be termed as one of the most critical elements of governance for any country across the world. Democracy can be well-defined as the government of the people, put in place by the people, and is meant for the people (Raveloson, 2008). It can be said to be the only kind of government in which the will of citizens is reflected in the administration.
Part 2
There are two primary forms of government that will be the main focus in this analysis. These include the unitary and federal forms of government. It is vital to acknowledge that each of these systems has their strengths and weaknesses. One of the advantages of the unitary system is that it has a single and decisive legislature. The second advantage of this system is that it is more efficient in the utilization of tax money. In this case, there are fewer people trying to secure some allocation.
The third advantage is that it does not have the sophisticated management of the economy and government. One of the disadvantages, on the other hand, is that this form of administration has a slow response by the government. For instance, in case of an emergency, there are no quick response teams, and troops have to be called upon in case of such cases. The second disadvantage is that this government easily loses track of the local matters. The third weakness is that this system is quite divisive since everybody is forced to compete for priority (Heywood, 2014).
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On the other hand, the federal system also has its strengths and weaknesses. One of the advantages is that each county or province has its unique political, social and economic setups. For instance, the state of California in the United States has its issues which only the county government can solve. The second advantage is that this government provides representation to different populations.
For example, each state in the United States has immigrant and native communities which are represented by the government in representation. The third strength is that through the sharing of work between the central and regional governments, there is the optimum use of resources. The final advantage, in this case, is that federalism provides room for innovation and experimentation. For instance, each state in the United States has its own political, judicial and social setups and policies.
One of the disadvantages is that the federal form of government is quite expensive to run since there are more representatives elected to various positions. This consequently leads to the overlapping of roles. The second weakness is that this government leads to unwarranted competition between multiple regions. The third shortcoming is that it promotes regional imbalances including industrialization, natural resources, and employment opportunities.
References
Heywood, A. (2014). Politics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Raveloson, A., J., (2008) What is Democracy, 1(1), 1-23
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Are you an Informed Voter?
Introduction
The 3rd congressional district in the state of Marylandconsists of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard and other considerable parts of the independent city of Baltimore. Currently, Maryland’s 3rd congressional district is represented by a Democratic John Sarbanes. Some of the landmarks in this district include the Maryland Science Centre, Annapolis, Fort McHenry and the state’s capital.
Three previous individuals to represent Maryland in the US Senate include the former representative of the 3rd district such as the retired senator Paul Sabarnes, current senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin. The 3rd district’s gerrymandering resulted from the support for a Democratic candidate in the 2000 and 2010 consensus. In 2012, the 3rd district was the least congressional district across the US (Barone and Cohen, 2013).
Consequently, the 3rd district is among the 61 districts that elected a representative to the first US Congress. It was initially included Maryland, Prince George’s County, and Anne Arundel. In 1792, the district was moved to comprise eastern half of Fredrick, Montgomery and Maryland counties (Pedersen, 2001).
Again, in 1853, the 3rd district was redrawn to include Baltimore County apart from western and northern regions of the county and a third of the eastern part of Baltimore city. In the 1860 census, Maryland was cut to about five congressional districts while the 3rd congressional district was extended to include areas of the Baltimore, which were not part of the district before 1863 (Pedersen, 2001).
Becoming an Informed Voter
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What is the recent political history of your district and state?
The recent political history of the 3rd congressional district is the most gerrymandered not only in Maryland but also across the US. The 3rd congressional district and Maryland the assembly is especially aggressive as well as creative. The assembly has been able to shift the majority of black electorates from Al Wynn’s majority-minority fourth district into eighth district, to expel the Republican representative.
Again, in 2012 the Maryland’s assembly removed the current.Roscoe Bartlett by cutting his district into a half while merging it to a prosperous, democratic neighborhood near D.C, which made Bartlett lose by about twenty, points (Barone and Cohen, 2013). Currently, the Democrats control 7 out of 8 House seats.
As a matter of fact, gerrymander issue has been exaggerated; Marylanders still uphold the law and voted for Barack. The 3rd district under John Sarbanes includes metro regions of D.C; Annapolis and Baltimore are the ugliest and least compact across the United States. Much as Sarbanes was not likely to lose the race, the recent amendments offered him a position to get hold of the rich Democrats from the county of Montgomery- likely supporters of the future senatorial campaign. Some Democrats were not happy with such a move that was as a result of Donna Edwards., a black congresswoman.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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How did your representative and senator come to power? (Thoroughly describe their backgrounds.)
John Sarbanes sought the Democratic nomination for the third district following a decade incumbent Ben Cardin, who forfeit the seat to run for the senatorial position of John Sarbanes’s father, Paul Sarbanes. The primary campaign involved Paula Hollinger the state senator, Peter Beilenson the former Baltimore City Health Commissioner and Oz Bengur the former Maryland Democratic Party Treasurer.
During the September 2006 nominations, John Sarbanes won with approximately 31.9% votes (Barone and Cohen, 2013). In the general election, his Republican rival was John White, the Annapolis, and marketing executive. Nevertheless, Maryland’s 3rd district is mainly democratic from 1927 and some expected that Sarbanes to experience challenges in the elections.
Furthermore, some allege that Sarbanes won the election following the popularity of his father, Paul Sarbanes, who was the representative of the 3rd district from 1971-1977. During November 2006 elections Sarbanes worn with about 64 percent, the White gained 34% votes while Charles Curtis McPeek the Libertarian got 2 percent. Sarbanes has been reelected four times without practical opposition.
Campaign funds
John Sarbanes campaign income in 2008 was about USD 1,012,936 and spend about USD 799,506 (Barone and Cohen, 2013). His chief supporter was Veneble LL6; USD 38,854, a place he spent 18 years (1989-2006) for his legal career, which represents non-profit health care facilities providing quality care to Marylanders. Other supporters were Chesapeake Partners Management, Johns Hopkins University, Carpenters & Joiners Union. The main industries that contributed funds to Sarbanes campaign are interest groups, lawyers, health, labor and real estate.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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How have they voted in recent presidential and congressional elections?
Maryland’s 3rd congressional district held elections in November 2014 for US general elections. John Sarbanes, a Democrat, defeated his opponent Charles Long a Republican with 128,594 votes or 59.6 percent. Sarbanes also won the Democratic primary against his challenger Mathew Molyett. On the other hand, Charles Long won the Republic nominations against Thomas Harris and Michael Jackson.
Moreover, in 2012 presidential election Barrack Obama, a Democratic candidate garnered majority votes in Maryland’s 3rd congressional district; he won with 49.39 percent against Mitt Romney with 49.31%. The state of Maryland is among the 21 states associated with the mixed primary structure. The parties have the right to elect who can vote in the primary and close the process to all electorates apart from those registered under their party.
Does your district have a long tradition of supporting one party or has it been changing in recent years?
Political parties
The Democratic and Republican parties are central political parties commanding huge following in Maryland and especially the 3rd district. Towards the Civil War, the Democratic Party drew a significant part of their ability from eastern shores and their enemies from Whigs, who were common across Baltimore. The collapse of the Whigs led to the rise of the Native American party, which viewpoint on anti-immigrant and anti-Catholics attracted Marylanders as they believed that their wellbeing was vulnerable to Roman Catholics immigrants.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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Maryland was the only state to vote for the presidential candidate of the American Native party. Nevertheless, declined remarkably and Maryland started to support the Democratic Party, electing John Breckinridge, the secessionist. In the 1970s corruption and peddling afflicted the main parties and in 1973 Spiro T. Agnew, a Republican and the Vice President of US during that period was accused taking money from individuals engaged in business dealings in the state especially when they were in Baltimore County and Maryland’s governor.
In 2000, the majority of Marylanders supported the Democratic party, for example, 57% voted for Al Gore a Democrat, 40% for the Republican George Bush and three percent to Ralph Nader, the Green, party candidate. Two years later, John Kerry a Democratic challenger won 55.7% votes against Bush with 44.6 percent in 1994, governor election was a major race in the history of Maryland, Democrats won and reelected in 1998 and 2002 Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. a Republican was elected.
In 2000 and 2004, both Sarbanes and Mikulski, from Democratic Party got re-election. As of 2004, approximately 3,105,000 voters were registered, of which 58% were Democrats, 20% Republicans and 12 percent independent members. Additionally, the congressional delegation comprised of 6 and 2 democrats and republicans respectively.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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How do the interest groups (ADA, ACLU, ACU, CC or FRC) rate your representative and senator?
Interest Group
Some interest groups periodically publish congressional scores to assess the representatives as well as senators position on particular issues. These scorecards are mainly obtained from determining the manner in which member voted to how the group could have voted on a given legislation and provide a score to demonstrate how vote match up(Mitchell, 2007). This means interest groups rate representatives and senators in the way they vote.
Common awareness groups consist of the American Conservative Union (ACU) and Americans for Democratic Action. They stem from the conservative and progressive wings respectively. These groups give the score of 8 and the mean of every senator. Nevertheless, the scores are not independent. In most cases, senators who get a good score from ADA are likely to score poorly from ACU and vice versa(Mitchell, 2007).
When 4 progressive and four conservative groups are used, then each senator will score 50%, which is not interesting. To address this issue, it is appropriate to use progressive groups, since a legislator with a high rating is rather prospective, that is, they support every progressive project, and he becomes a liberal thinker (Barone & Cohen, 2013). On the contrary, a conservative senator has a low ranking, as such, against all ongoing projects.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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Table 1: Interest Group Ratings
State
Senator
ACLU
ADA
CDF
LCV
NAACP
NARAL
PTA
SEIU
Mean
Maryland
Paul Sarbanes
78
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
97
Maryland
Ben Cardin
78
90
89
85
95
100
100
100
92
Political background Maryland and Senator Ben Cardin
Maryland is one of the first thirteen colonies that joined the Union in 1788, and it has taken part in all the 57 presidential elections. Furthermore, Maryland has been mainly “blue” state following the introduction of contemporary political parties during the period of Civil war. From 1960, Maryland has been voting for Republicans in the landslide such as Nixon in 1972, Reagan in 1984 and Bush in 1988. In 2012, Obama easily defeated Romney. On politics, there are two Marylands. The Democratic Maryland is multiracial and includes all socioeconomic groups stretching to parts of Washington and Baltimore metropolitan regions (Sheckels, 2006).
The second part is the Republican Maryland that is primarily rural, dominated by white community and conservative. It includes Maryland Tidewater and western counties of Maryland. The early 21st-century Republican Party Maryland is not similar to the previous one, which was progressive compared to social and fiscally conservative Democrats.
Modern Republican candidates demonstrate policy standpoints of the party such as protection of property rights, Anti-tax, anti-government and anti-abortion. Republicans opposition to the dominance of democratic is not only deep-seated but also the degree of politics generated by this problem is intense compared to the present day history of Maryland.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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Cardin joined politics while in law schools and served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1967 -1968. In 1986, when Barbara Mikulski, a US representative, declared to view for the senatorial seat; Cardin joined the race in the House of Representative and was victorious by a decisivemargin. He served from 1987 to 2007, an era he became well known for his efforts in social works such as health as well as other initiatives (Mitchell, 2007).
Cardin is known for his support for child welfare, the bill to expand child programs, health benefits and high tax credits for children. In 2005, when Senator Paul Sabres announced his retirement, Cardin joined the race, he was successfully in the tight contested Democratic primary and defeated his challenger Michael Steel a Republican. In 2007, Cardin assumed office and set the record straight as a liberalist (Mitchell, 2007).
He was considerably interested in the environment, enforced a law to safeguard the Chesapeake Bay while seeking to reinforce standards of clean water. Also, he is an active foreign policy fun and became a member of Foreign Relations in the Senate committee.
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Becoming an Informed Voter
Introduction
The 3rd congressional district in the state of Marylandconsists of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard and other considerable parts of the independent city of Baltimore. Currently, Maryland’s 3rd congressional district is represented by a Democratic John Sarbanes. Some of the landmarks in this district include the Maryland Science Centre, Annapolis, Fort McHenry and the state’s capital.
Three previous individuals to represent Maryland in the US Senate include the former representative of the 3rd district such as the retired senator Paul Sabarnes, current senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin. The 3rd district’s gerrymandering resulted from the support for a Democratic candidate in the 2000 and 2010 consensus. In 2012, the 3rd district was the least congressional district across the US (Barone and Cohen, 2013).
Consequently, the 3rd district is among the 61 districts that elected a representative to the first US Congress. It was initially included Maryland, Prince George’s County, and Anne Arundel. In 1792, the district was moved to comprise eastern half of Fredrick, Montgomery and Maryland counties (Pedersen, 2001).
Again, in 1853, the 3rd district was redrawn to include Baltimore County apart from western and northern regions of the county and a third of the eastern part of Baltimore city. In the 1860 census, Maryland was cut to about five congressional districts while the 3rd congressional district was extended to include areas of the Baltimore, which were not part of the district before 1863 (Pedersen, 2001).
Becoming an Informed Voter
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What is the recent political history of your district and state?
The recent political history of the 3rd congressional district is the most gerrymandered not only in Maryland but also across the US. The 3rd congressional district and Maryland the assembly is especially aggressive as well as creative. The assembly has been able to shift the majority of black electorates from Al Wynn’s majority-minority fourth district into eighth district, to expel the Republican representative.
Again, in 2012 the Maryland’s assembly removed the current.Roscoe Bartlett by cutting his district into a half while merging it to a prosperous, democratic neighborhood near D.C, which made Bartlett lose by about twenty, points (Barone and Cohen, 2013). Currently, the Democrats control 7 out of 8 House seats.
As a matter of fact, gerrymander issue has been exaggerated; Marylanders still uphold the law and voted for Barack. The 3rd district under John Sarbanes includes metro regions of D.C; Annapolis and Baltimore are the ugliest and least compact across the United States. Much as Sarbanes was not likely to lose the race, the recent amendments offered him a position to get hold of the rich Democrats from the county of Montgomery- likely supporters of the future senatorial campaign. Some Democrats were not happy with such a move that was as a result of Donna Edwards., a black congresswoman.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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How did your representative and senator come to power? (Thoroughly describe their backgrounds.)
John Sarbanes sought the Democratic nomination for the third district following a decade incumbent Ben Cardin, who forfeit the seat to run for the senatorial position of John Sarbanes’s father, Paul Sarbanes. The primary campaign involved Paula Hollinger the state senator, Peter Beilenson the former Baltimore City Health Commissioner and Oz Bengur the former Maryland Democratic Party Treasurer.
During the September 2006 nominations, John Sarbanes won with approximately 31.9% votes (Barone and Cohen, 2013). In the general election, his Republican rival was John White, the Annapolis, and marketing executive. Nevertheless, Maryland’s 3rd district is mainly democratic from 1927 and some expected that Sarbanes to experience challenges in the elections.
Furthermore, some allege that Sarbanes won the election following the popularity of his father, Paul Sarbanes, who was the representative of the 3rd district from 1971-1977. During November 2006 elections Sarbanes worn with about 64 percent, the White gained 34% votes while Charles Curtis McPeek the Libertarian got 2 percent. Sarbanes has been reelected four times without practical opposition.
Campaign funds
John Sarbanes campaign income in 2008 was about USD 1,012,936 and spend about USD 799,506 (Barone and Cohen, 2013). His chief supporter was Veneble LL6; USD 38,854, a place he spent 18 years (1989-2006) for his legal career, which represents non-profit health care facilities providing quality care to Marylanders. Other supporters were Chesapeake Partners Management, Johns Hopkins University, Carpenters & Joiners Union. The main industries that contributed funds to Sarbanes campaign are interest groups, lawyers, health, labor and real estate.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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How have they voted in recent presidential and congressional elections?
Maryland’s 3rd congressional district held elections in November 2014 for US general elections. John Sarbanes, a Democrat, defeated his opponent Charles Long a Republican with 128,594 votes or 59.6 percent. Sarbanes also won the Democratic primary against his challenger Mathew Molyett. On the other hand, Charles Long won the Republic nominations against Thomas Harris and Michael Jackson.
Moreover, in 2012 presidential election Barrack Obama, a Democratic candidate garnered majority votes in Maryland’s 3rd congressional district; he won with 49.39 percent against Mitt Romney with 49.31%. The state of Maryland is among the 21 states associated with the mixed primary structure. The parties have the right to elect who can vote in the primary and close the process to all electorates apart from those registered under their party.
Does your district have a long tradition of supporting one party or has it been changing in recent years?
Political parties
The Democratic and Republican parties are central political parties commanding huge following in Maryland and especially the 3rd district. Towards the Civil War, the Democratic Party drew a significant part of their ability from eastern shores and their enemies from Whigs, who were common across Baltimore. The collapse of the Whigs led to the rise of the Native American party, which viewpoint on anti-immigrant and anti-Catholics attracted Marylanders as they believed that their wellbeing was vulnerable to Roman Catholics immigrants.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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Maryland was the only state to vote for the presidential candidate of the American Native party. Nevertheless, declined remarkably and Maryland started to support the Democratic Party, electing John Breckinridge, the secessionist. In the 1970s corruption and peddling afflicted the main parties and in 1973 Spiro T. Agnew, a Republican and the Vice President of US during that period was accused taking money from individuals engaged in business dealings in the state especially when they were in Baltimore County and Maryland’s governor.
In 2000, the majority of Marylanders supported the Democratic party, for example, 57% voted for Al Gore a Democrat, 40% for the Republican George Bush and three percent to Ralph Nader, the Green, party candidate. Two years later, John Kerry a Democratic challenger won 55.7% votes against Bush with 44.6 percent in 1994, governor election was a major race in the history of Maryland, Democrats won and reelected in 1998 and 2002 Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. a Republican was elected.
In 2000 and 2004, both Sarbanes and Mikulski, from Democratic Party got re-election. As of 2004, approximately 3,105,000 voters were registered, of which 58% were Democrats, 20% Republicans and 12 percent independent members. Additionally, the congressional delegation comprised of 6 and 2 democrats and republicans respectively.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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How do the interest groups (ADA, ACLU, ACU, CC or FRC) rate your representative and senator?
Interest Group
Some interest groups periodically publish congressional scores to assess the representatives as well as senators position on particular issues. These scorecards are mainly obtained from determining the manner in which member voted to how the group could have voted on a given legislation and provide a score to demonstrate how vote match up(Mitchell, 2007). This means interest groups rate representatives and senators in the way they vote.
Common awareness groups consist of the American Conservative Union (ACU) and Americans for Democratic Action. They stem from the conservative and progressive wings respectively. These groups give the score of 8 and the mean of every senator. Nevertheless, the scores are not independent. In most cases, senators who get a good score from ADA are likely to score poorly from ACU and vice versa(Mitchell, 2007).
When 4 progressive and four conservative groups are used, then each senator will score 50%, which is not interesting. To address this issue, it is appropriate to use progressive groups, since a legislator with a high rating is rather prospective, that is, they support every progressive project, and he becomes a liberal thinker (Barone & Cohen, 2013). On the contrary, a conservative senator has a low ranking, as such, against all ongoing projects.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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Table 1: Interest Group Ratings
State
Senator
ACLU
ADA
CDF
LCV
NAACP
NARAL
PTA
SEIU
Mean
Maryland
Paul Sarbanes
78
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
97
Maryland
Ben Cardin
78
90
89
85
95
100
100
100
92
Political background Maryland and Senator Ben Cardin
Maryland is one of the first thirteen colonies that joined the Union in 1788, and it has taken part in all the 57 presidential elections. Furthermore, Maryland has been mainly “blue” state following the introduction of contemporary political parties during the period of Civil war. From 1960, Maryland has been voting for Republicans in the landslide such as Nixon in 1972, Reagan in 1984 and Bush in 1988. In 2012, Obama easily defeated Romney. On politics, there are two Marylands. The Democratic Maryland is multiracial and includes all socioeconomic groups stretching to parts of Washington and Baltimore metropolitan regions (Sheckels, 2006).
The second part is the Republican Maryland that is primarily rural, dominated by white community and conservative. It includes Maryland Tidewater and western counties of Maryland. The early 21st-century Republican Party Maryland is not similar to the previous one, which was progressive compared to social and fiscally conservative Democrats.
Modern Republican candidates demonstrate policy standpoints of the party such as protection of property rights, Anti-tax, anti-government and anti-abortion. Republicans opposition to the dominance of democratic is not only deep-seated but also the degree of politics generated by this problem is intense compared to the present day history of Maryland.
Becoming an Informed Voter
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Cardin joined politics while in law schools and served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1967 -1968. In 1986, when Barbara Mikulski, a US representative, declared to view for the senatorial seat; Cardin joined the race in the House of Representative and was victorious by a decisivemargin. He served from 1987 to 2007, an era he became well known for his efforts in social works such as health as well as other initiatives (Mitchell, 2007).
Cardin is known for his support for child welfare, the bill to expand child programs, health benefits and high tax credits for children. In 2005, when Senator Paul Sabres announced his retirement, Cardin joined the race, he was successfully in the tight contested Democratic primary and defeated his challenger Michael Steel a Republican. In 2007, Cardin assumed office and set the record straight as a liberalist (Mitchell, 2007).
He was considerably interested in the environment, enforced a law to safeguard the Chesapeake Bay while seeking to reinforce standards of clean water. Also, he is an active foreign policy fun and became a member of Foreign Relations in the Senate committee.
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Chapultepec Declaration
Democracy connotes freedom. A core principle of freedom is access to information and ability to speak, write, publish mainstream and alternative views. Many of the countries to which you all trace your roots, and have subsequently visited or lived will have greater or lesser degrees of this fundamental right.
Chapultepec Declaration
Rights as we see them used in the Chapultepec Declaration are claimed as universal freedoms that are actually legally-defined and enforceable. This declaration is not what people think they deserve, nor is it what governments as some disembodied power structure ‘give’ at their discretion.
Chapultepec Declaration
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The Chapultepec Declaration: How its Authors Equate Press Freedom and Democracy
In 1994, the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) held a summit at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City. The convention sought to promote freedom of the press. What came out of the comprehensive discussion was the Chapultepec Declaration. In it, delegates proclaimed that freedom of expression, inclusive of a free press, was a necessary ingredient in promoting liberty. From the Chapultepec Declaration, there are numerous ways in which its authors equate press freedom and democracy (BBC Monitoring International Reports, 2002).
The declaration’s preamble reads that individuals cannot exercise other forms of freedom if the freedom of press access to information is curbed. When the media operates unobstructed, as the document states, there is the surfacing of courage to ask for information, to disseminate it without restraints, to question it without fear, and to promote free exchange of ideas and views. Members of the public sphere cannot therefore exercise other rights if the freedom of press is held back (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
Chapultepec Declaration
The declaration compels authorities to avail in a timely and reasonable fashion the information generated by public offices. In addition, the law permits journalists to conceal their sources of information. What this means is that citizens of any given state need to know how their governments operate if they are to fully benefit from it. The press bridges the knowledge gap between bureaucrats who make decisions on their behalf, and the subjects of that particular state.
Any act of corruption and mismanagement of funds by policymakers often go unraveled if the press is barred from access to such information. Timely issue of information, or giving news which is not stale, is more trustworthy thus the need for fresh news. It raises the authenticity of such news stories, making them more credible. For security purposes, journalists should be allowed to hide the identity of sources who desire anonymity, since their lives may be in danger after whistle blowing or revealing the injustices committed by the state (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
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Chapultepec Declaration
In a democratic state, hindering press access to information through acts of murder, kidnappings, destruction of their facilities or even intimidating journalists, are counterproductive to the realization of liberty. This is because such harassments scare citizens of any state from accessing information and productively participating in governmental operations. That is why the declaration recommends the detention and punishment of government officers who do that, since harassing or intimidating journalists encourages impunity (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
The declaration adds that prior censorships, restrictions to the circulation of information, and managing of media by authorities are direct ways of infringing on the freedom of press access to information. Imposition of such hindrances by authorities limits liberty, which in turn infringes on the citizen’s rights to be aware of their government’s operations, the injustices committed, and corruption. Citizens at the grassroots level heavily depend on the press for information. Thus barring or restricting journalists’ movements in pursuit of information amounts to the violation of their liberty (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
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It is unethical and illegal of sources to favor journalists or media houses by means of assigning them radio frequencies, funding their operations or favoring them because of positive news coverage. These deeds lead to the publishing of biased news. Biased news coverage of sources limits citizens’ right to know the truth. For instance, a corrupt source of information may give journalists gifts so as to hide the truth from public notice. That is an act which hampers liberty (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
Chapultepec Declaration
The credibility of the press correlates with its commitment to reporting factual information, being accurate, fair and objective. In the absence of such principles, the press is seen as biased. Journalists should therefore be able to distinguish news from advertizing. To report advertisements as news would be to encourage publicity of such organizations thus infringement of liberty (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
Furthermore, the act insulates journalists from being punished by the state as a result of unraveling the truth. When journalists fear for their lives, they cannot unveil injustices and acts corruption committed by the ruling class (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
All said, the Chapultepec Declaration will forever be remembered in the field of development journalism. For it has provided the impetus for exercising other rights, otherwise unattainable. Thus the most basic way of distinguishing democracy from autocracy is press access to information.
References
BBC Monitoring International Reports. (2002, May). St. Kits and Nevis signs Chapultepec
Declaration. BBC Monitoring International Reports, 1-2. Retrieved Oct 2, 2012, from http://www.ebscohost.com
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Chapultepec Declaration
Democracy connotes freedom. A core principle of freedom is access to information and ability to speak, write, publish mainstream and alternative views. Many of the countries to which you all trace your roots, and have subsequently visited or lived will have greater or lesser degrees of this fundamental right.
Chapultepec Declaration
Rights as we see them used in the Chapultepec Declaration are claimed as universal freedoms that are actually legally-defined and enforceable. This declaration is not what people think they deserve, nor is it what governments as some disembodied power structure ‘give’ at their discretion.
Chapultepec Declaration
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
The Chapultepec Declaration: How its Authors Equate Press Freedom and Democracy
In 1994, the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) held a summit at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City. The convention sought to promote freedom of the press. What came out of the comprehensive discussion was the Chapultepec Declaration. In it, delegates proclaimed that freedom of expression, inclusive of a free press, was a necessary ingredient in promoting liberty. From the Chapultepec Declaration, there are numerous ways in which its authors equate press freedom and democracy (BBC Monitoring International Reports, 2002).
The declaration’s preamble reads that individuals cannot exercise other forms of freedom if the freedom of press access to information is curbed. When the media operates unobstructed, as the document states, there is the surfacing of courage to ask for information, to disseminate it without restraints, to question it without fear, and to promote free exchange of ideas and views. Members of the public sphere cannot therefore exercise other rights if the freedom of press is held back (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
Chapultepec Declaration
The declaration compels authorities to avail in a timely and reasonable fashion the information generated by public offices. In addition, the law permits journalists to conceal their sources of information. What this means is that citizens of any given state need to know how their governments operate if they are to fully benefit from it. The press bridges the knowledge gap between bureaucrats who make decisions on their behalf, and the subjects of that particular state.
Any act of corruption and mismanagement of funds by policymakers often go unraveled if the press is barred from access to such information. Timely issue of information, or giving news which is not stale, is more trustworthy thus the need for fresh news. It raises the authenticity of such news stories, making them more credible. For security purposes, journalists should be allowed to hide the identity of sources who desire anonymity, since their lives may be in danger after whistle blowing or revealing the injustices committed by the state (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
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Chapultepec Declaration
In a democratic state, hindering press access to information through acts of murder, kidnappings, destruction of their facilities or even intimidating journalists, are counterproductive to the realization of liberty. This is because such harassments scare citizens of any state from accessing information and productively participating in governmental operations. That is why the declaration recommends the detention and punishment of government officers who do that, since harassing or intimidating journalists encourages impunity (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
The declaration adds that prior censorships, restrictions to the circulation of information, and managing of media by authorities are direct ways of infringing on the freedom of press access to information. Imposition of such hindrances by authorities limits liberty, which in turn infringes on the citizen’s rights to be aware of their government’s operations, the injustices committed, and corruption. Citizens at the grassroots level heavily depend on the press for information. Thus barring or restricting journalists’ movements in pursuit of information amounts to the violation of their liberty (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
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It is unethical and illegal of sources to favor journalists or media houses by means of assigning them radio frequencies, funding their operations or favoring them because of positive news coverage. These deeds lead to the publishing of biased news. Biased news coverage of sources limits citizens’ right to know the truth. For instance, a corrupt source of information may give journalists gifts so as to hide the truth from public notice. That is an act which hampers liberty (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
Chapultepec Declaration
The credibility of the press correlates with its commitment to reporting factual information, being accurate, fair and objective. In the absence of such principles, the press is seen as biased. Journalists should therefore be able to distinguish news from advertizing. To report advertisements as news would be to encourage publicity of such organizations thus infringement of liberty (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
Furthermore, the act insulates journalists from being punished by the state as a result of unraveling the truth. When journalists fear for their lives, they cannot unveil injustices and acts corruption committed by the ruling class (Mark & Fitzgerald, 1999).
All said, the Chapultepec Declaration will forever be remembered in the field of development journalism. For it has provided the impetus for exercising other rights, otherwise unattainable. Thus the most basic way of distinguishing democracy from autocracy is press access to information.
References
BBC Monitoring International Reports. (2002, May). St. Kits and Nevis signs Chapultepec
Declaration. BBC Monitoring International Reports, 1-2. Retrieved Oct 2, 2012, from http://www.ebscohost.com
