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Understanding Haiti’s Contemporary Crisis and Solidarity Politics Movie Review
INSTRUCTIONS:
As a Global Learning (GL) core class, LAH 2020 includes one co-curricular community engagement activity. In our Canvas Space, you will find several engagement activities that are options to fulfill this requirement. Every student must participate in one activity during the term. After your participation, you must submit a paragraph response to the activity/event. In your paragraph, explain in detail one new thing you learned during the event.
Don’t merely describe the event; explain something that you learned as a result of your participation. Finally, explain why that aspect or element of the activity caught your attention or interest. Your response should be 150-200 words. Submit your response following the activity you selected to attend.
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Resource Curse in Nigeria
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the extent to which Nigeria is under a resource curse epidemic resulting from impoverished governance and lack of transparency. The paper will illustrate Nigerian resource curse using three evidences. First instance, the country has been experiencing civil wars especially in the resource endowed regions. It is because of the minerals that communities fight against each other with the assistance of the political leaders. The greedy leaders cause troubles in the resource-rich regions and distract the locals from demanding their rights in order to exploit the minerals for their personal gains.
An example is the Boko Haram militants who are politically motivated to cause chaos and are even funded using the revenue generated from the minerals. Top leaders lack transparency on the way on the amounts generated from the minerals since they collude with the mining industries for political reasons (Gaard, 2015). When there is lack of transparency, accountability lacks for the minerals hence the common citizens’ end up living in poverty instead of the resources helping them to improve their living standards. Since most of the people are uneducated, lack the necessary skills needed to prompt demand for government accountability thus they are taken advantage of by those who are in power.
Resource Curse
Countries rich in minerals and gas should use the resources to provide an essential source of funding for development purposes. However, it seems exploitation of such natural resources is linked to inequality, poverty, poor public services, and slow economic growth. The paradox is what is referred to as the resource curse. In developing countries, however, the resource curse epidemic is mostly in existence due to impoverished governance that lacks transparency (Butler, 2014).
Dutch Disease
Resource curse is also called “Dutch disease”. (The Economist coined the term in 1977 to describe the impact of the North Sea gas bonanza on the economy of the Netherlands, whose exports of natural resources led to foreign exchange inflows which drove Resource-rich countries are overwhelmed by a phenomenon up the value of the currency. The overvalued currency made domestic manufacturing, agriculture, and other exports less competitive.) This illness affects both well-governed and poorly-governed countries (Aguet, 2015). The discovery and exploitation of natural resources, such as oil, gas and minerals, do not automatically translate into sustainable economic growth and prosperity. Sub-Saharan Africa resource curse
In Africa, the top eight oil producers in 2011 were Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, the Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea. Many resource-rich African countries make poor use of their wealth. Instead of creating prosperity, resources have often fostered corruption, undermined economic growth, incited armed conflict and damaged the environment.
Corruption is widespread in many of Africa’s most resource-rich countries. Instead of investing resource revenue into infrastructure and education, crooked politicians, often in conspiracy with the companies mining the resources, siphon proceeds from the region’s mineral and petroleum wealth into their own pockets.
Rent as Percentage of GDP
As a share of GDP, sub-Saharan African resource rents are higher than those of any other region in the world, according to the World Bank. For example, the Republic of Congo has the highest total resource rents of 64% in Africa. Equatorial Guinea, with a government widely seen as autocratic, has the worst control of corruption score among African countries. It also has very high resource rents of 47%. Nigeria, where oil rents amount to almost 30% of GDP, has been plagued by conflict.
Resources Comparison with Developed Countries
Resources do not automatically lead to poor outcomes. For instance, North America produces more oil than Africa, but it has the lowest resource rents as a share of GDP and has good governance ratings. Canada remains among the top ten world oil producers, according to the US Department of Energy, but has one of the least corrupt governments in the world, also according to the World Bank. On the other hand, Norway is one of the top ten exporters of crude oil in the world, while maintaining its stature as a permanent leader of the United Nations Human Development Index.
Overview of Nigeria
The country is endowed with minerals and natural oil. It is ranked as one of the leading oil exporters in the world. Its governing structure highly depends on revenue generated from oil and ignores other investments (Ushie, 2013). The country experiences civil and ethnic clashes. Additionally, Nigeria is ranked as a third world country.
Benefits of minerals in Nigeria
High rents – Sub-Saharan Africa resource rents are by a margin higher than other countries in the world according to the World Bank measure of GDP. Rent is defined as the difference between production value at global prices and the sum of the cost of oil production, minerals, natural gas, forests, and coal (Christy, 2015). Nigeria has one of the highest resource rents as a measure of GDP but has one of the lowest controls of corruption scores among developing nations (Ezekwesili, 2015).
Reduced unemployment due to numerous job offerings in the mines. Most of the casual laborers and data collection workers are hired from the local communities. Income earned assists in raising their income levels.
Improved livings standards from the income generated in mines. When the locals use their wages for investment, they raise their standards of living and that of the community in general. Mines serve as income generator for the local communities (Aguet, 2015).
Increase in government revenue from taxation and export of minerals. Companies operating in the mines are taxed from their gross income thus providing revenue to the government. The revenue is then used to upgrade infrastructures and provide public amenities for the citizens of Nigeria.
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Causes of Resource Curse in Nigeria
Overdependence on natural resources. Nigeria could be prosperous if only it exercised good governance, transparent mining deals, had stronger disclosure and had control of corruption. Good governance means having economic policies that encouraged diversified economies and discouraged over-dependence on natural resource rents.
Lack of transparency- Another resource curse emerges from transnational companies that coerce with politicians to meander the country’s natural resources for their personal gains. The country has made little progress in enhancing transparency. Though the country has joined EITI, its people still view their leaders as corrupt (Halidu, 2015). The leaders have not taken a step from lack of transparency to actual accountability that requires a nation with the training and skills needed for overall effectiveness and monitoring.
Lack of expertise skills by locals. Skills required for effective monitoring of transparency require funding that the government of Nigeria is not able to provide. The private sector, multilateral banks, and bilateral donors offer the financial support needed for programs that educate citizens in accounting and tracking of revenue expenditure. The citizens of the country require the technical and analytical skills to be able to track government expenses. However, if the citizens do not have the necessary skills, they are not in a position to hold public officials accountable for the wrongful spending of public resources and revenue (Ezekwesili, 2015).
Economic gap between poor and the rich. It’s not surprising that the dominant factors leading to Nigeria’s civil war are economic. The factors that contribute mainly for the risk of war are levels of income, the rate of economic growth, and governing structure. Still, if a country is poor, is economically declining and hugely depends on natural resources for export, it surely faces a risk of experiencing civil war. In Nigeria, there is a big financial gap between the rich and the poor. The rich entice the poor to engage in war while they are using their status and finances to get profits from the country’s resources (Ezekwesili, 2015). Natural resources end up springing evil instead of creating prosperity for the citizens.
Detached government. The detachment of Nigeria’s government creates a route through which natural resources rent increase. Since the government is resource-rich, it does not need other revenue source, and, therefore, it becomes detached from its citizens. In the majority of the countries that pay high tax, they scrutinize their governments on how it spends its revenue. It can, therefore, be seen that if there is no tax, representation of the people does not take place but if the electorates pay taxes, they will be represented. The government ignores the needs of the people since it gets revenue from rents. The result is an underdeveloped economy with the majority being poor (Gaard, 2015).
Centralized resources. Natural resources are mostly found in one part of the country, in the peripheral region. Due to poor governance, the politicians know that the people in this region are a ready prey for secessionist political movements. Instead of the people focusing on development and using the resources to create diversity in other investments, they get corrupted in their minds and cease to do constructive businesses (Gaard, 2015). The negative energy and statements usually result in civil wars and the same politicians that were inciting the people to end up benefiting from their resources.
Coercion of politicians with the rebels. Poor governance and lack of transparency create tension among political rivals and the citizens. When the ruling government has no control over the opposition and the corrupt government officials, it creates room for the existence of rebel groups and organizations. In Nigeria, Boko Haram is one of the rebel groups that is said to be politically involved. Politicians fight amongst themselves through the rebel groups. The natural resources increase the motivation for the rebel groups as they facilitate them financially especially when some politicians are involved.
The politicians use the natural resources to facilitate the rebels to gain power or fight the existing government (Patrick, 2012). When the rebels increase in power and the government structure is weak, the ordinary citizens end up suffering. Instead of the people enjoying the resources, they are mostly scared and end up running away to protect themselves. When the natural resources facilitate rebellion in a country, the resources become a curse instead of a solution.
Results of Resource Curse on the Country
Civil wars- Countries with poor governance that lacks transparency are prone to war especially if the country is endowed with abundant natural resources. Nigeria has continuously been fighting civil wars and is one of the most corrupt nations in the world as ranked by World Bank’s control of corruption Index. In Nigeria, oil rents an amount equivalent to 30% of the GDP and the country has been in conflicts (Ezekwesili, 2015). Dependence on natural resource insulates leaders from public accountability and pressure. Though Nigeria has abundant natural resources, it is short of paramount checks on government control including a democratic culture. In past years, violent war has plagued Nigeria making oil a curse instead of a blessing to the majority of citizens.
Low economic growth. A mixture of transparency issues and poor impoverished governance is lethal in Nigeria. Sub-Saharan Africa resource rents are by a margin higher than other countries in the world according to the World Bank measure of GDP. Rent is defined as the difference between production value at global prices and the sum of the cost of oil production, minerals, natural gas, forests, and coal (Collier, 2011). Nigeria has one of the highest resource rents as a measure of GDP but has one of the lowest controls of corruption scores among developing nations.
However, natural resources do not automatically cause poor economic outcomes or become a natural epidemic curse. For example, North America has a higher oil production capacity compared to Nigeria and Africa in general, yet it has a low resource rate as a percentage of GDP and it has a good governance structure (Halidu, 2015). Still, Canada, one of the top oil producing countries has the least corrupt government worldly. Norway is considered as a perennial global leader yet it is one of the highest exporters of crude oil. As witnessed in the three countries, North America, Canada and Norway, the resource curse can be avoided if the governance structure is transparent and is in control of corruption (Lawson & Greenstein, 2012).
Low income for the locals. Often, African nations coerce with Western organizations to reach deals that mutually benefit them at the expense of the nation. There is no transparency in tendering of contracts. Since Western organizations are more powerful and have the ability to pay more, African leaders allow to be influenced to give contracts to western companies without thinking of the local industries predicament (Paltseva & Roine, 2011). The locals become the casual laborers for the Western organizations in the mining of their country’s resources. The organizations are highly paid by the government since the leaders know they have extra benefits from the payments.
Demoralization of the local industries. The local industries are demoralized, and some end up closing since they are unable to compete with the Western organizations (Marie, 2010). Even though some of the domestic industries have the capability of giving the same services as the Western organizations, they are not given the same opportunity even if they submit their tenders. The locals end up being enslaved in their territories and doing manual jobs in their land while the Western organizations and the corrupt government officials reap high income.
Ethnic wars. Nigeria is an ethnically diverse society. Though people lobby the government, the lobbying is not necessarily for the welfare of the whole nation but individual and group interests. The government is ethnically divided leading to poor delivery of services to the public (Collier, 2011). On the other hand, electorates only elect someone because they belong to the same ethnic group.
Instead integrating the nation, the ethnic tribes have divided the nation. People become self-centered even in the use of the natural resources. Those in power exploit the resources to fight other tribes. Since there are different resources in the different regions of the country, instead of the government ensuring there is an equitable distribution of the resources; it uses the resources to fight its ethnic rivals (Ushie, 2013).
Displacements. Mining of oil in Nigeria has displaced thousands of people. The government gives license to extractive industries without first considering the welfare of the community. Irresponsible extraction of oil and other minerals has resulted in epidemics, displacement, and hunger for affected communities. In the case of Boko Haram, it is the dire urge to control the resources that provoked the existing conflicts between the communities in Northern Nigeria.
The licensed corporations force the communities to leave their land without prior notice or consultation (Collier, 2011). The community inhabiting the region endowed with the natural resource should be the main beneficiaries of it. Poor governance resulting from corruption forces the community to seek other means of survival instead of using the resources to upgrade their well-being for large corporations and political gains.
Poor people in the rural areas are not essentially equipped with skills to stand up to such extractive projects or fight for their rights (Pradhan, 2013). Still, such communities highly depend on the natural resources for their survival and maintenance of their traditions and livelihood. Unfortunately, the communities live in remote regions and lack enough education. The communities also have a poor justice system that acts as an inhibitor to getting to decision makers, comprehend decision-making process, and come up with appropriate measures to claim their rights. If riots do not happen, the communities leave their land injured and poorer.
Underutilization of Local Skills Leading to Low Living Standards. Mining industries are not poor and usually employ few unskilled personnel. Most of the skilled labor is imported from abroad. The need for heavy technological machines and expertise skills require the companies to seek for Western labor since most of the locals have skill and expertise limitation. The government is not keen on education quality making most of its citizen’s lack the necessary skills needed for the resource industry (Akpabio, 2013). The public schools lack enough equipment to teach adequately the theoretical and practical skills needed for the market.
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Why it is Hard to Fight Resource Curse
Nigerian government is not committed to end corruption and exercise transparency. Since most of the government officials are after wealth, they concentrate on how to enrich themselves instead of the welfare of ordinary citizens (Paltseva & Roine, 2011). They use their power to selfishly gain from the mines.
Collusion of political leaders with western industries. Western industries offer high-rank officials large sums of money for them to obtain license and extract minerals at the expense of the local industries. Instead of growing the local industries, they end up destroying them.
Civil and ethnic wars. There is a lot of ethnic and civil war in Nigeria and most of it is attributable to the mines. People get caught up in fighting and relocating to safer environments such that they do not get the opportunity to work and reap from the mines (Akpabio, 2013).
Extraction industry requires expertise skills which are imported from abroad. Local people do not have the required knowledge and skills to handle complex equipment required for accessing and extraction of minerals. They are only employed to do casual jobs, thus do not get high wages to improve their lives.
International Initiatives and Financial Institutions
The Equator Principles (EP) is a voluntary Programme that requires borrowers to adhere to social and environmental standards before the participating banks will provide loans. Launched by ten banks in 2003, less than a decade later more than 70 banks are participating, covering more than 70% of project finance in emerging economies.
US Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It requires extractive industries that are listed on the US stock exchange to make public the type and amount of payments they make to governments (Christy, 2015). The European Commission also recently proposed transparency requirements that are in some respects stricter than Dodd-Frank which has so far stalled. Publish what you pay (PWYP) also pursues similar aims.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP), launched in 2011, is another international action for more government transparency and accountability. The Extractive Industries Transparency International Initiative (EITI) pursues similar aims.
Recommendations
The resource curse is avoidable. Nigeria could be prosperous if it practiced good governance: transparency in its dealings with mining, oil and gas companies; stronger disclosure and anti-corruption rules; and economic policies that promote diversified economies and discourage dependence on resource rents.
Equator banks should establish an independent monitoring mechanism to ensure that the lenders and borrowers are doing what they purport. The international action is needed. These reforms might help countries across Africa beat the resource curse and translate natural resource riches into sustainable and inclusive growth.
Transparency alone, however, is not sufficient. Nigeria, for example, has joined EITI, yet the country is still widely viewed as corrupt by its people, according to World Bank indicators. Taking the step from transparency to actual accountability requires a civil society with the skills and training for effective monitoring.
Conclusion
If a government is co-opted by partisan interests, it increases opportunities for favoring specific groups in the community through a budget allocation in exchange for political power. Also, if citizens are used to the fact that wealth results from neither productive efforts nor work but from having contacts within the government, they will have less motivation to train themselves on their rights. The great focus of political and economic power means there are fewer incentives to invest in other industrial sectors.
In the end, it leads to high levels of poverty, inequality, low democracy, political instability, civil wars, all of which undermine economic growth. Nigeria heavily depends on natural resources for revenue collection and does not put a lot of effort investing in other sectors. The poor citizens do not have adequate representation in the government since each region is treated differently. The natural resources that are supposedly meant to enrich and improve the living standards of the people as seen in North America and Canada have instead facilitated corruption resulting in poor economic growth and poverty in developing countries.
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Translating Military Power into Desired Political Outcomes
Three greatest challenges for United States in translating Military Power into Desired Political Outcomes or End States
Introduction
United States today faces a number of challenges in effectively translating military power to the Country’s desired outcomes in politics. However, there are three greater challenges namely:
Unconventional weapons along with proliferation of technology
Proliferation of nuclear
Engaging in fights using asymmetric counterforce
This paper intends to analyze the great challenges that United States as a country face when it comes to translating military power to desired outcomes in politics. In addition, this paper will also look at how the three challenges have led to outcomes of selected conflicts in the United States.
Unconventional weapons along with proliferation of technology
Most countries that engage in war with the United States prefer not to employ the immense conservative armory used by the United States (Kaplan, 2013). Instead, such nations make use of unconventional weapons to attack the United States, since there is a higher likelihood of gaining advantage over United States. Unconventional weapons result from an intelligent use of proliferation of technology.
Such technologies may include: nuclear technology, devices for radiation dispersal, biological technology, cyber warfare use, chemical weapons use, high explosives utilization, an electromagnetic pulse, as well as directed energy. In some cases, when high explosives are used in an innovative way the resultant outcome causes more destruction compared to chemical weapons, biological technology, nuclear technology as well as radiological weapons (Katagiri, 2010). On the other hand, due to globalization in information technology, cyber warfare also has great potential of causing destruction.
Therefore, cyber warfare presents a great challenge to the United States due to the damage it has the potential of causing as well as the accessibility of the weapon. For single attacks, most enemies will prefer to use nuclear weapons. However, the most effective destructive form of weapon directed towards the United States would be biological attacks.
Most of the enemies of United States however, choose to make use of high explosives in attacking the United States which if correctly executed would result in tactical serious consequences as well as strategic consequences (Lake, 2009). To achieve execution of effective attacks on the United States, then rivals of United States may employ a number of techniques.
Rival countries may increase the sentiments of anti- America in different parts of the world. Sentiments of anti- America are spread through showing support to a team that seems dominant in a conflict between two groups. In order to spread the sentiments faster strategic communication is employed which then calls for utilization of the internet (Leffler, & Westad, 2010). This helps United States rivals to gain back up and develop a larger team to fight against the United States.
A clear example of this is the conflict known as Operation New Dawn. In this conflict, the United States engages in war with a group known as Al-Qaida as a war of reducing terror globally. However, Al-Qaida continues to grow its popularity and backing against the United States operations from countries that practice Islamic religion highly. In Arabic translation, Al- Qaida stands for the foundation.
To grow its backing the Al-Qaida group has been spreading its popularity by seeking training grounds through working with different governments globally. Moreover, Al-Qaida helps its host countries in efficiently achieving their broader objectives which in turn buys Al-Qaida more backing for their operations. For instance, the Taliban government established control over most Islamic groups that had been formed with the aim of performing terrorism (Mueller, & Stewart, 2012). Afghanistan provided a suitable ground for training the combined groups.
Recruits were taken from: the host country Afghanistan, neighboring country Pakistan, from Central Asia as well as from differentiated parts of the world including Africa. In addition, Al- Qaida started receiving active sponsorship from Iran. Iran provided support through involving the government ministries. All along Al-Qaida has been persuading Iraq to support them in their activities. Iraq was reluctant which at one point led to Iran supporting attacks on Iraq. However, things took a turn when Iraq was invaded by the United States.
At the time, Islamic groups initiated support on Iraq to fight against the United States. Al-Qaida used this opportunity to show its support to Iraq by fighting against the United States, and forming small sub groups such as Al-Mahdi Army among others (Mulloy, 2011). This act by Al-Qaida made its popularity grow. More countries were now willing to support its activities, which has led to the constant attacks experienced against the United States and its allies.
Proliferation of nuclear
The United States faces a number of challenges in the environment of nuclear security. Most of these challenges develop from nuclear relations that exist between the major countries considered as nuclear powers (Leffler, & Westad, 2010). Among the countries are: Russia, Republic of China, Great Britain and France. However, United States is also considered as one of the nuclear powers.
In addition to the nuclear powers, challenges from nuclear technology directed towards the United States also develop due to establishment of new states for nuclear weapons. Moreover, some states which have no capacity of producing nuclear weapons also seek nuclear weapons and use them against the United States. For instance Iran is believed to advance its efforts in producing nuclear weapons. Iran being an influential country to most countries practicing Islamic religion has led to most of the countries initiating efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Some of the countries include: Egypt, Saudi Arabia as well as Turkey. It is expected however that, more countries may feel the need to prove their superiority hence start developing nuclear weapons in future (Kaplan, 2013). One of such countries is Brazil. Effects of need for proving superiority may result in nuclear competition. With nuclear competition, the risk of attacks on United States and other European Countries becomes higher.
Notably, when the percentage of states armed with nuclear weapons goes up then states with no capacity of producing nuclear weapons will increase their purchase levels for nuclear weapons. For United States the challenge from proliferation of nuclear emerges from the need to create a military position that will insulate United States from the world of anarchy. The other challenge develops from United States feeling the need to initiate and execute punishment to their enemies who are armed with nuclear weapons.
Recently, China has been developing itself to a major super power in the world. China has achieved its superiority due to its high percentage of expertise with knowledge of advanced technology (Mueller, & Stewart, 2012). Moreover, China has the capacity and sufficiency of resources of developing new technology. In addition, the labor force employed in China is readily available due to China’s high population. China therefore stands at a very good position of producing destructive nuclear weapons. United States then considers China a threat for its security.
Therefore, cold rivalry has developed between China and United States due to the need to prove superiority. China is known to have been producing nuclear weapons. From the silent rivalry existing between United States and China, it is expected that if China was to go to war with Japan over Senkaku Island then United States would enter the war in support of Japan (Katagiri, 2010). Notably, if United States was to consider supporting Japan, then China would fire its nuclear weapons which are believed to have been produced a few years back, and are now placed directed to United States lands and waters.
Engaging in fights using asymmetric counterforce
In terms of asymmetric counterforce United States faces the challenge of forces being attacked directly. When United States forces are attacked the main focus is on command and execution of control. Moreover, support centers for logistics, reconnaissance assets as well as United States fields of intelligence along with the Surveillance fields are at risk (Leffler, & Westad, 2010). In most cases, a situation involving asymmetric counterforce is marred with interruption by United States enemies on logistic lines used by the United States for communication.
The aim of interruption is to cause interference in United States giving support to its forces that have been deployed in the enemies’ territory. Furthermore, various attack attempts are made on the United States waters and lands. Moreover, some enemies use intimidation on allies of the United States to make them withdraw the support they are offering to the United States (Mulloy, 2011).
When the United States forces are subject to attack in a foreign land, it becomes critically hard for the United States government to fully protect a base they consider as critical. In addition, it also becomes hard to project and also sustain United States forces in an environment that is distant and cannot be easily accessed. Most of the attacks directed towards United States make use of space. The challenging part for United States is to have awareness on how the space looks like in terms of security.
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Another challenge is the constant improvement witnessed for cyber crime. Networks are being developed very fast and information revealed and past in a rate that is hard to always monitor. Some of the United States government information gets corrupted by enemies through degrading of networks. United States faces these challenges due to a number of reasons.
Three among them include: first the United States depends on countries that have neither chemical attack protection, biological attack protection nor radiological attack protection for its operations in military (Kaplan, 2013). In such a situation the partners will be subjected to so much loss and suffering which will force them to withdraw unwillingly the support they are offering to the United States. The second reason is because the United States has executed very few changes on its forces since the time the cold war ended.
With lack of changes, the United States puts itself in a situation where getting support is a hard experience since most of the allies of United States will be considered as ineffective at combat. The third reason is because forces of the United States are vulnerable to nuclear attacks that are done in small scale. It is believed that just one nuclear weapon, that has been properly used can cause an entire United States force to surrender (Katagiri, 2010).
For instance, Al-Qaida had easily mastered the weakness of the United States government in 1998. Al-Qaida used interruption to reduce the support that United States was getting from neighboring countries. After causing a division Al- Qaida went ahead and utilized the United States space to carry on with a deadly attack, by bombing the United States embassy in Kenya (Metz, In Martin, & Army War College (U.S.), 2010). On the other hand, China’s has asymmetric counterforce against United States through drawing the support United States was getting from Asia into support for China.
China has achieved with large ensuring large production of products in qualities of high value, middle value and low value. With high production China has been able to raise its economy to a level that is threatening to the United States. Since China has a more stable and ever growing economy, its influence on both the allies and enemies of United States is at a considerable level (Katagiri, 2010). China has the ability of taking away one by one United States support from different countries around the globe.
Recommendations
In order to address these challenges, it is important for the United States to consider installing sensors in bases they would consider as high targets to help in detection of chemical agents or any form of biological weaponry. In addition, United States should consider purchasing and providing to its forces protective equipment for nuclear attacks. Moreover training should be offered on how to use the protective equipment.
In the time of any attack, then the United States government should ensure that it has appropriate equipment for sounding alarm to all people affected. Furthermore, potential victims and real victims should be identified in order to provide first aid services. In addition to this, a system should be established for disseminating information to the world, to help United States sell itself to the world for other nations to understand her and support the policies it has for national security.
It would also be important for United States to have a channel for analyzing public opinion of citizens from foreign countries. Information products should also be made available to all individuals, regardless of whether they are nationals of United States or other countries. In order to cub cyber attacks, the United States government should implement the utilization of websites on the internet for its services.
Information from the United States should be distributed to other nations through the United States embassy radio channel as well as TV. A platform should also be created for coordination of all military force groups of the United States. Therefore, the government of United States should make good use of methods of production utilized by commercial media.
Conclusion
From the paper it comes out clearly that the United States faces a challenge in trying to translate the power it has in military into the outcomes it may desire in politics. The most dangerous forms of challenge are unconventional weapons, proliferation of nuclear weapons and the use of asymmetric counterforce against the United States. Two outcomes have also been discussed that developed as a result of the three challenges.
The first outcome is attacks by the Al-Qaida group. The second outcome is a silent conflict between United States and The Republic of China. However, the paper has presented clearly an analysis showing that most of the enemies of the United States prefer the use of high explosives. In addition, it was also clear that the United States needs to prepare itself better for cyber attacks.
References
Fernando Lujan, “Light Footprints: The Future of American Military Intervention,” Center for New American Security. (ND)
Haley Stauss, “United States’ Strategy in Afghanistan from 2001 to Today,”, Pepperdine Policy Review. (ND)
Kaplan, F. M. (2013). The insurgents: David Petraeus and the plot to change the American way of war. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Katagiri, N. (2010). A Review of: “David H. Ucko. The New Counterinsurgency Era: Transforming the U.S. Military for Modern Wars .”. Terrorism And Political Violence, 22(2), 320-322. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546551003618000
Leffler, M. P., & Westad, O. A. (2010). The Cambridge history of the Cold War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
M. Taylor Fravel, “Power Shifts and Escalation: Explaining China’s Use of Forces in Territorial Disputes,” International Security. (ND)
Metz, S., In Martin, J. R., & Army War College (U.S.). (2010). Decision making in Operation Iraqi Freedom: Removing Saddam Hussein by force. Carlisle, PA : Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College.
Mueller, J. & Stewart, M. (2012). The Terrorism Delusion: America’s Overwrought Response to September 11. International Security, 37(1), 81-110. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/isec_a_00089
Mulloy, D. (2011). A Review of: “Jeffrey Record. Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq. ”. Terrorism And Political Violence, 23(4), 674-675. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2011.598434
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Biopolitics is the influence of a legislature on the electorate through the use of concerted studies on the presence aspects that affect the situation of the state (Edkins 219). In essence, it is the politics of people. Politics has several spheres to it. Craig and Rahko believe that; there is the concern over the resources in a country such as the Gross Domestic Product, the number of jobs created annually, the value of the currency, the extent of representative demographics and the overall distribution of resources (p. 289).
Assessing all these factors; it is easy for one to imagine that politics is all about the economic and social growth of a nation. However true this may seem, it is not quite the case in many political spectrums across the globe. This is because; there are hardly enough citizens who worry about such demographics and contest for them passionately. Leaders hence ensure that from time to time, they are able to harness power and authority over a population through key issues that affect them. This paper is going to address the different viewpoints of a number of scholars on biopolitics.
One such scholar is Levit (78) who ascertains that the biological makeup of a person is different from the bio-social culturalization of a group or electorate. There are concerns and issues that may seem trivial yet hold unanimously important significance among persons all over the world (Just 413). Political king-makers harness such power to groom persons who have the right influence and exposure to meet a group such as an electorate of millions of people at the point of their perceived needs.
Neyrat (258) defines biopolitics as the study of perceptions and how these perceptions about the socialization of a group can be harnessed into political power. The persons who practice these strategically maneuvers are still the same politicians that use other political moves as well. They leverage values and opportunity promises to gain political traction every cycle of political policy and manifesto-selling seasons often referred to as campaigns.
The concept of biopower
According to Russell (562), biopower can be assessed as being closer to the real definition of power than any other concept in modern politics. It is essentially the pursuit, development and domination of authority over a people based on some unconventional premise. For instance; many leaders wield biopower through influence. In the arguments of Levit (78), he believes that influence is not necessarily born out of charm and charisma.
It may have these ingredients as additional strengths to a leader but the main strengths stem in the concern over the people’s social influences, perceived strengths and weaknesses to induce a sense of mind control. Biopower is the ability to invoke feelings in a people. It is a great asset to any politician and indeed an important bargaining chip that politicians use to gain traction where they are not driven by policy knowledge and general manifesto drafting abilities (Neyrat 258).
In order to understand biopower in the context of the political realm, it is vital to appreciate that such power; often give to leadership by the electorate stems from the very people. Tierney (58) believes that the democratic nations (most of the world) define the basic principles of democracy as ‘belonging to the people, to serve them and whose instruments of power are handed over to custodians (politicians) by the people.
In order for the custodian to gain the access they desire to these instruments of power, there is a soothing language riddled with political rhetoric and socio-economic promises that is used to entice the electorate. These languages are popular during campaigns. While it may be true that many governments do have ethics supporting the campaign process, the concern is that many countries do not have such laws. Indeed, the ‘best team wins’ in terms of political contexts.
Biopower can be best achieved if one is bale to inspire change and transformational leadership in another person or group. This makes it possible to have enough simple conversations at the level or anticipated level of the electorate in order to use charm and charisma to win their hearts over. Politicians use many strategies to gain traction among the electorate. However, the most significant aspect of politics is to maintain a sense of political, social and economic growth.
This also incorporates ensuring that employment rate is high and that security measures to protect markets from volatile market forces are realized. It is widely the opinion of many politicians that the electorate can be controlled to think in a particular manner. Indeed, such a possibility makes it a common goal for all politicians to brainwash the country in making it believe that whatever they believed in is the position of the state at the moment.
Harnessing political power
Harnessing political power is more likely compared to gaining control over the instruments of authority that govern and rule over a people. Islekel believes that the best comparison of political power systems one can have is the way in which handing over ceremonies transfer paraphernalia from one person to the next (192). The outgoing leaders often hand over symbols of power to the incoming leaders as a way of demonstration that they have made the new leaders part of their leadership portfolios and accepted them completely.
The issue of symbols of power is thus an important aspect in modern political history and has been so since historical times. The bearing of these symbols is thus meant to symbolize strength greater than the simple meanings of these ‘tools’. The interpretation of power thus has never changed among people from as recent as a number of centuries back. Before analyzing how to harness this power, it is important to assess the concept of political power as it applies to an electorate.
Political power; as it applies to most nations in the world can be considered as the ability to influence and wield outright, justifiable and legal control over the behavior of a people. Zupanči, (58) believes that the control over most electorates is based on the ability to convince majority of the electorate to support an opinion, role or value system that is endeared to the people as is practiced by a democratic system.
However, the nature of such a political system or the actual beliefs that the people associate with are often as a result of institutionalized values that are impressed upon them through the illicit control and manipulation of biopower. According to Minca and Chin-Ee (42); while it is a seemingly daunting political decision based on some democratic principle, the choice of a supreme leader such as a president or prime minister is based on perceived commonly accepted principles of social and political living.
According to Catlaw and Holland, in the modern age, the process of harnessing biopower is basically the process of developing systems for mind control. Be it that these systems may involve the use of principles and values, strategic political decisions or the basic actualization of modern democratic principles such as equality for all, strength of minority groups and the acknowledgement of diversity, the goal is simple; to get people to acknowledge a modern populist view (p. 102).
This can be unfortunately equated to popular opinion on issues and the blatant support for systems that encourage xenophobia, racism and extremely strong nationalistic views. All politicians seek at times is to get elected at all costs. Such a desperate side of bio-political power struggle at times rears a very ugly side that goes against all democratic principles and values to ensure the attainment of the political populist view that controls the realm of biopower in a political system. In retrospect, the wielding of power is a complicated game that is based on political understanding of dynamics, bio-political demographics and the key issues at stake.
American political history
American political history is the best demonstration of the wielding of power through Biopolitics. Minca and Chin-Ee Ong second this viewpoint by stating that the political arena in the American system is characterized by two main factors; dynamism and consistency (p. 366). In essence, the system of election of representatives is consistently changing as is the political rhetoric and utterance in the nation. American presidency is currently at its 44th dispensation of power and authority.
The man at the helm of this seat; Barrack Obama is particularly a first of his kind; the first black president of the United States of America. It’s a long time since George Washington led a country out of civil wars and without unionization of more than half of the currently unionized states. This has been the state of evolution in the nation and the political clock has run for about two hundred years now. Werbin (168) argues that; before one can understand or begin to comprehend the immense number of reforms that have brought the country’s political system to the present state, it is important to look at the biopower dynamics in the United States.
When President George Washington led an insurgence of American fighters to the battle of Yorktown in October 1781, the continental army thrived beyond the expectations of the superior and organized British army. However, the surprise of the British army was that there was an extremely large continental army, save from the fact that the American Revolution got significant support from French allies.
Among the most important unifying factors for the continental armies were; the resolve to fight the intolerable acts of 1774 and the Quebec act of 1775, the support for the tea party act of 1773 and the free masons. One symbol of American nationalism is the confederate flag that has been very popular among most of the southern States in the United States of America.
From the onset, Americans distinguished themselves as the voice of reason, the group of elitist and indeed the most free-willed society in the world. This opened up a host of immigration loopholes. The values that had been chastised were soon becoming acceptable. New and extremely liberal policies were developed as states became more independent and essentially; rogue.
This led to the civil wars that ended in the unification of states under a federal government for administrative reasons but with significant state autonomy to ensure that each state retained micro-economic controls over its population. This is why some of the values such as gun laws (second amendment) and minority rights for the LGBT became issues from one state to the next. The values that were particularly rightist (strong republican views, the Tea Party and the belief in the confederate power of the United States) became less and less popular, giving rise to the development of American Democrats (leftists).
The differing and dissenting political opinions saw the growth and distribution of multi-party democracy in the United States. The evolution of parties finally led to the registration of three party opinions that have stood the political test of time. These are; the leftists, who are democrats and who believe in free markets, lessened legislation on immigration, freedom of choice (pro-choice) on abortion rights and the support for the LGBT community.
The Republican Party (rightist) supports confederate values. These include; evangelical Christianity, no-to-abortion, restrictions on immigration and generally controversial views on free markets, foreign policy and LGBT rights (Robcis 14). The third category of parties; the green party and the libertarian party stand for generally rightist views with less confederate opinions. Nevertheless, the political system and arena in the United States has changed immensely from the position it held in the George Washington era to the Obama presidency.
Power in America
Power in America can be approached from different perspectives. Since the goal of this paper is to elucidate the values prominent in Biopolitics, it is important to evaluate almost all the different dynamisms to American power. American power is basically the influence of the United States of America over the rest of the world. The President of the United States of America (POTUS) is considered the most powerful man in the world. This is due to a number of factors.
Firstly, America positioned itself well politically in the previous two World Wars thus grew in strength and might both politically and economically. The second reason is that America has invested in the development of innovative technologies in Information Technology, maritime technology and best of all; military capability. The nation’s military capability is unrivalled in terms of tactics across the world. America is also a political power house and indeed the largest democracy in the world (Russell 562).
Political power in the United States of America is borne of some tools of power. These are the major decision making organs in the state and federal government. At the center of the pool of power is the presidency; the president commands nuclear war codes; the only permissible president to do so since Dwight David Eisenhower.
The discretion and temperament of American presidents has continued to surprise many as despite the power they wield over the world, they are often the voice of reason and the negotiators for peace ties and regional unity. This makes the American leaders very respected and indeed reviewed among all political spectrums. Indeed, the body that does best to guarantee the proliferation of American power is the United Nations’ Organization (UN), which they helped found after the Second World War.
Power in America is however distributed among other instruments of checks and balance. This is done by the congress, that legislates, the senate that passes bills and the Supreme Court that makes landmark rulings on issues that touch on the core of American values. Regardless, these institutions are also politically aligned in some way, especially based on the fact that they are constituted majorly based on the presidency and the government in power (whether democrat or republican).
American political power is also a complicated bio-political system of the electorate and the Electoral College. It is thus a pseudo-representative democracy setup. This checks the presidency from the time of nomination at party conventions to the time the candidate’s name appears on the ballot. The American senate also has the power to vote a ‘no-confidence’ motion against the seating president and effectively unseat him.
Influence in the leadership
The American leadership often constitutes of very influential and highly popular yet strong-willed presidents. Some of America’s presidents have been considered among the greatest leaders in history. These include; President George Washington, President Abraham Lincoln, President, President John Kennedy and President Dwight David Eisenhower. The leadership in the United States of America has played a major role in the proliferation of American values, the discerning of American positions in the political sphere on global issues.
According to Meyer-Emerick (691), the influence of American leadership has become common in deciding the position many countries across the world take on issues such as the war on terror, the decisions for or against certain values and the role of education, technology and agriculture in the free market economies. The American values are often presented in all the decision America makes but the outcome of the decisions often bear an international discernment.
Neyrat (261) believes that; in order to have such political power however, it takes a man to win over the trust of the American society that is highly elitist and value/position-driven. Politics in America often take the shape of discussions on acceptable values and the discernment of aspects of American culture better than the average person. Indeed, it is arguable that it takes some level of intelligence to achieve this. It is also important for American aspiring leaders to maintain party positions on issues without appearing to do so blindly.
They need to show conviction for values that are either leftist or rightist. There is also the need for American presidents to develop an increasingly strong support base while being firm on their opinions and values. They are leaders borne of character but more importantly, the ability to control the mind of the ordinary American towards the support for certain opinions, views and values (Purdy 892).
Trends in modern politics
Modern politics is directed by the sense of strong political opinion on democratic values. The realization of these values guides most of the current systems and indeed forms the basis for the arguments for the rule of governance. Simpson argues that among the most relevant principles in modern politics is; universal suffrage. There are no restrictions to voting rights to any citizen (p. 33). There is a gender-blind society developing and indeed, a lot of the modern political views are based on values and principles of majority rule.
This implies that most of the convictions the presidency in any nation has are often swept aside in favor of public opinion. It is important to realize that biopolitical power is the influence of principles on a person. Nevertheless, such influence can be from the people to the leadership if they feel that the leader is not guiding them well. Many systems in the developed world democracy thus call for resignation of leaders upon public disconcertment.
Modern political scientists are also part of political campaigns and systems across the world. They study issues of demographical concern such as; the general public opinion on issues, interpretation of popularity polls and opinion polls, drafting of policy statements and calculation of political risk. Many politicians thus consult on the right values to sell to the people, the basic principles of governance to dwell on and in a campaign, the significant value system presented by the general electorate.
The modern leader is thus a function of scientific and professional political research and advice. This means that at any point in time, such leaders need to have their advisors in place to guide them on policies that can have an impact on the nation. The president of the United States for instance is expected to consult congress from time to time as well as get briefings from senate and the cabinet secretaries. All these systems ensure a technocratic approach to political problem-solving.
Summary
Many scholars on biopolitical issues tend to hold the opinion that Biopolitics is majored on the solid acceptance of principles that define humanity and the true meaning of a being. However, the values enshrined in many a constitution do not necessarily depict the common universal suffrage systems. Tierney (64) argues that it is vital that there be a significant biological understanding of the factors that drive reasoning and common thinking among persons. It is important to ensure that the biological needs of a people are understood and not manipulated to ensure that there is a general insistence on the common good of society and not just the need to sell a political idea, opinion or manifesto through consistent manipulation and Machiavellian tactics.
American politics is based on universal suffrage but the system to vet and actualize the political roles and different partisan interests is governed through systems such as electoral colleges. Paz (26) argues that although democratic principles are favorable, it is at times important to place checks and balances in democratic processes to ensure that they do not encourage rogue decisions and other weaknesses associated with democratic rule. However, there is an urge to safeguard democratic principles where they seem to be ignored.
In cases where the democratic rights of a community are essentially obfuscated, there is need to ensure that all the members of the state’s registered electorate are allowed to access the voting rights that they are entitled to. Rutherford (301) is of the opinion that; at all time, democracy has to be given center stage and allowed to take precedence over all other forms of governance. The constitution is the tool that governs the exercise and use of power. It should thus be adhered to effectively and fully implemented without selective bargaining.
Conclusion
Biopolitics is and will always be a concept that modern society has to embrace and appreciate at all times. There is need to ensure that the will of the people is heard. However, where such a will is abused out of political influence and the abuse of aspects of demographic distribution such as wealth, constitutional representation, developmental indices and economic aspects of the community, it may arise that the community is not able to fully recover from such situations. According to Owens (559); democratic principles define a lot of a community’s civilization.
However, where capitalism reigns, democracy is often never given prominence in its very distinctive meaning. Persons that take control and charge over a nation are hardly there to represent the interests of the majority but their own. It is such challenges in democratic principles that often encourage alternative forms of governance in the developed world. However, the fusion of democratic and aristocratic models of governance often offers a reasonable model of governance that is acceptable in many developed worlds.
The argument on Biopolitics by popular scholars expand the common view that society is there to be led by persons who seem to have mastered aspects of influence and brain control that are not common to all. According to Marchezini (365), bio-politics borrows from many spheres of social science such as political science and public administration. However, there are not enough models to explain the very art of political power and influence.
It is a skill that few managed to have and once they do; they wield sufficient influence to assert their authority over society in ways that seem inherently democratic. However, demographics of democratic governance do not allow for equity in leadership. The diverse nature, class differentiation and culturalization of leaders make it difficult for any person to simply achieve such a reality.
Works Cited
Catlaw, Thomas J., and Thomas M. Holland. “Regarding the Animal: On Biopolitics and the Limits of Humanism in Public Administration.” Administrative Theory & Praxis34.1 (2012): 85-112.
Edkins, Jenny. “Biopolitics, Communication and Global Governance.” Review of International Studies 34 (2008): 211-32.
Islekel, Ege Selin. “Ubu-Esque Sovereign, Monstrous Individual: Death In Biopolitics.” Philosophy Today 60.1 (2016): 175-191.
Just, Daniel. “A Biopolitics Of Immaterial Labor.” Political Studies 64.2 (2016): 401-416.
Levit, Georgy S. “Can a Hypothetical ‘Innate Proclivity to Hierarchically Structured Political Systems’ Explain Real authoritarian/totalitarian Regimes?” Journal of Bioeconomics 17.1 (2015): 71-81.
Marchezini, Victor. “The Biopolitics of Disaster: Power, Discourses, and Practices.”Human organization 74.4 (2015): 362-371.
Meyer-Emerick, Nancy. “Public Administration and The Life Sciences: Revisiting Biopolitics.” Administration & Society 38.6 (2007): 689-708.
Minca, Claudio, and Chin-Ee Ong. “The Power Of Space: The Biopolitics Of Custody And Care At The Lloyd Hotel, Amsterdam.”Political Geography 52.(2016): 34-46.
Neyrat, Frédéric. “The Biopolitics Of Catastrophe, Or How To Avert The Past And Regulate The Future.” South Atlantic Quarterly115.2 (2016): 247-265.
Owens, Patricia. “Human Security and the Rise of the Social.” Review of International Studies 38.3 (2012): 547-67.
Paz, Alejandro I. “Speaking Like A Citizen: Biopolitics And Public Opinion In Recognizing Non-Citizen Children In Israel.” Language & Communication 48.(2016): 18-27. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 June 2016.
Purdy, Jedediah. “The New Biopolitics: Autonomy, Demography, and Nationhood.”Brigham Young University Law Review 2006.4 (2006): 889-955.
Robcis, Camille. “The Biopolitics Of Dignity.” South Atlantic Quarterly 115.2 (2016): 313-330. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 June 2016.
Russell, Kathryn. “Reproductive Disruptions: Gender, Technology, and Biopolitics in the New Millennium.” Science & Society 73.4 (2009): 561-564.
Rutherford, Stephanie. “Green Governmentality: Insights and Opportunities in the Study of Nature’s Rule.” Progress in Human Geography 31.3 (2007): 291-307.
Simpson, Tim. “Tourist Utopias: Biopolitics And The Genealogy Of The Post-World Tourist City.” Current Issues In Tourism 19.1 (2016): 27-59.
Tierney, Thomas F. “Roberto Esposito’S ‘Affirmative Biopolitics’ And The Gift.” Theory, Culture & Society 33.2 (2016): 53-76.
Werbin, Kenneth C. “Fear and no-Fly Listing in Canada: The Biopolitics of the “War on Terror”.” Canadian Journal of Communication 34.4 (2009): 613-34.
Zupanči, Alenka. “Biopolitics, Sexuality And The Unconscious.” Paragraph 39.1 (2016): 49-64.
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Politics of respectability or respectability politics refers to attempts by members of marginalised communities to police their own members and at the same time show that certain aspects of their life, especially the social ones are compatible and continuous with the other mainstream values. Respectability politics takes its root in shaping marginalised communities instead of challenging the mainstream groups for it numerous failures and accepting the difference between the parties (Harris, 2012).
The black community stands out as one of the marginalised communities in the United States and more likely feels the effects of respectability politics. On the other hand inter-sectionality refers to individuals face multiple threats of discrimination based on several different grounds (Smith, 2014). Politics of respectability is practised as a way of attempting to undermine the moral and cultural practices of a given ethnic group President Obama clearly stands out as one of the parties criticised for continuously using respectability politics throughout the entire period as president of the United States (Harris, 2012).
This paper largely focuses on respectability of the society using the black community as an example Intersectionality and politics of respectability are two concepts that address the plight of minority communities and make them equal to other societal members if used in the right manner.
Politics of Respectability and Intersectionability
According to Harris (2014), respectability of politics has become one of the fundamental methods that is used to address the ills of the society. It was founded by members of the society to act as a guide. Harris (2014) illustrates and identifies the specific parties that formulated or coined the term respectability politics among the black community. The black elite came up with the term to guide the social actions of members of their society. However some parties go against the set of procedures and become aggrieved once they are chased out of the school setting.
A good example is in the case of the young girl who was sent away from school for allegedly going against the set rules (Harris, 2012). The young girl named Tiana Parker came to school with deadlocks something that was not allowed in the school setting (Harris, 2012). The black elite community set the rules to upgrade their community but such teachings were advocated by most members of the society. They never saw the benefits of such rules in their lives.
Intersectionability seeks to understand why the black community is opposed to such rules that were meant to improve their lives. It holds that the classical cases of oppression within a society never act alone. Rather they act together while being interlinked to one another. For example. In most cases, racism would occur with other ills in the society. Some of these other ills would be bigotry, xenophobia, classism and sexism (Harris, 2014). All of these aspects are interlinked in one way or another.
The public outcry witnesses in the case of Tiana Parker did not seek to understand the current problem at hand which is violation of the school rules (Harris, 2012). The society felt that since white children are able to go to school having different types of hair styles and they are never expelled the same rules should be applied to children coming from the white community (Smith, 2014). This in essence shows the type of society that the above parties live in.
Intersectionability has been used to weaken the position of politics of respectability A good example is provided in the case of the Republican party in the United States which has always been opposed to any changes to alleviate the social and economic position of the black community. Most of the Supreme Court cases in the United States have gone against issues such as affirmative action in the process hindering the change that is much desired in the society (White, 2010).
The Republican Party has also gone forth to vote against the Obama’s accomplishment such as the Affordable Care Act that ensures that there is equality in the health standards among all individuals in the society (Harris, 2014). All individuals against politics of respectability are sometimes directly linked to being individuals who promote tendencies outlined in intersectionability. Sometimes President Obama has been against issues involving politics respectability (White, 2010).
On some occasions the president has been equally quiet on issues affecting the black community and as a result the people from this ethnic group have not felt as if their issue are being addressed by the current president (Smith, 2014). More focus has been provided in addressing issues that deal with the whole society. At the end of the day, solving societal issues without addressing issues such as racism and ethnicity does not assist the nation as a whole. Instead, it tears into the national fabric that makes the same nation (Harris, 2014).
Neglecting politics of respectability fails to address important problems that face the society. Such problems include the economic position of the working class of the black people. President Obama has also been on the trail stating that the black people are solely responsible for some of the misfortunes that have affected them and their societies. More importantly the president stated that the black people have stalled their own progress. This has become much more of a custom if not a ritual for the president of the United States (Harris, 2014).
Obama stated that during the fifty years that the black community was in war, some of its members had the wrong objectives. Some of them still complain of police brutality and how they have been neglected by the society. The same problems that they fought for close to fifty years are still being described. When such terms are used or utilised in the society they reduce the pleas of one community or ethnic group as being normal complaint (White, 2010).
However, the truth of the matter is quite different as different individuals from the Black community may be suffering from the said effects (Harris, 2014). The elite class in the black community has attempted to change their thinking but all has not worked. The best approach is to directly influence the black people so that they have people who can look and learn from in the society. Such example are the likes of Michael Johnson whose life serves to change the life of the people from the black community (Harris, 2014). People who have succeeded in life are better placed in assisting the society to attain its goals in the long run.
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham remains one of the few authors who properly brought out issues facing women in the society through advocating for practices that fall under respectability politics. In the earlier centuries women were rarely treated as equals in the society (Watts, 1994). They were subjected to all form of discrimination in the society by those in charge of all roles. However Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham found a way in which women could be empowered (Smith, 2014).
More specifically, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham utilised the church to bring out issues that faced women between 1880 and 1920 (Watts, 1994). Women were largely engaged as the members of the church their participation ranged from organising for fundraisers to promoting education and development in the society. The church in itself was doing well because of women in the society.
In other words, the women can be stated as the original founder members of the church (White, 2010). Thus most black women never viewed the church as the only place where they could seek religious interventions but also one of the places where they could offer a forum to challenge intersectionability issues such as race, gender and class which tore the society into different fronts (Watts, 1994).
Black women became the centre for attraction for the Baptist church, a role that had been originally designed to belong to the male members of the society. Their involvement in most of the activities of the church and the society were aimed at ensuring that they could help their race instead of waiting for their race to come and help those (Watts, 1994). This was one of the basic fundamental teachings that most people from the black community came to believe.
Soon enough they were divided into small groups that placed more emphasis on the development of the society rather than focusing on individuals (Watts, 1994). A good example of such a group was the famously known Female Talented Group which comprised of educated girls within the society who placed emphasis on the educating members of the society and more so those of the black ethnic community in society who were missing out on education (Smith, 2014).
The women also established convections schools where they articulated all manner of issues such as racism and classism in the society and taught children on how to avoid the current ills noted in the present society (Watts, 1994). The Northern Baptist women were also able to work with the Southern Baptist women in the creation of a new alliance that had never been in existence. The new alliance sought to inspire the society to become better members.
Higginbotham’s work majorly focuses on the many activities different women across the divide put forth in ensuring aspects relating to the society were well advocated for irrespective of their individual ethnic or racial background. This in essence helped most member o f the black community.
Conclusion
Respectability politics is a term coined to show how different members of the society can come together and improve the society regardless of all the stumbling blocks that may appear on their way. It focuses on how the society can become better by improving the status of the marginalised communities. However, not all individuals have the same believes in such system and as a result there is creation of another aspect termed as intersectionability which exists immediately a society fails to recognise the importance of respectability politics
Harris, F. C. (2014). The rise of respectability politics. Dissent, 61(1), 33-37.
Smith, M. (2014). Affect and respectability politics. Theory & Event, 17(3).
Watts, J. (1994). Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880–1920. By Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham.(Cambridge: Harvard University Press,1993. xiv, 306 pp. $34.95, ISBN 0-674-76977-5.). The Journal of American History, 81(1), 295-295.
White, E. F. (2010). Dark continent of our bodies: Black feminism & politics of respectability. Temple University Press.
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This paper intends to discuss the making of policies by politicians. A politician is a term used to refer to individuals engaged in the long-term political practice (Arendt, & Marquart, 2015). Notably, most politicians are endowed with a certain political vision and have various political skills. Furthermore, as a politician, one is expected to be a member of a specific political party within a particular country.
Markedly, politicians often have a great impact on the development of social history (Arendt, & Marquart, 2015). To efficiently discuss the making of policies by Politicians, this paper considers politics in the United States. The politicians in consideration are Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Barrack Hussein Obama.
Generally, politicians are engaged in politics with the aim of upholding different ideas, for the country and the people (Arendt, & Marquart, 2015). Mostly, the motivation of politicians in politics is focused on the well-being of the world, upholding of peace and increasing economic development. Notably, many politicians have considerable achievements in politics.
The achievements by politicians can be termed as pillars of the country, or influential models for future generations (Arendt, & Marquart, 2015). Most successful politicians are usually highly skilled in government management matters. Furthermore, highly skilled politicians have a significant influence in promoting national well-being and overall interests of their citizens.
Accordingly, all politicians represent different classes or political forces. Furthermore, politicians are the political subjects that hold the core power (Arendt, & Marquart, 2015). Thus, politicians are engaged in social activities along with political activities as the dominant personalities. Dominance in social activities places politicians at the center of political activity. Hence, every move of a politician becomes news (Arendt, & Marquart, 2015).
For instance, the state of health of the head of state will attract the world’s attention. Notably, since politicians hold the core of power, their decisions mostly lead to a major impact on the nation. This implies to both political leaders and chief executives and legislative leaders. As the core of political power, politicians must deal with all aspects of people in order to achieve their goals and policies. The main interest of politicians is how to achieve their goals and policies. Since politicians are coordinators to how activities are done, exercise their own political interests.
To competently illustrate the role of politicians in making of policies, this paper will major its discussion on public policies. Public policies play a major role in determining the distribution and use of public resources in diverse parts of the world (Maclennan, 1980). Consequently, the process of policy formulation involves the interaction of numerous political forces. Notably, policy formulation develops from a combination of primary factors such as economic status of a country, cultural values held by the society within a specific country and known facts about the existence of a problem in a given country.
Outstandingly, the combination of economic status, cultural values and knowledge of facts regarding the existence of a problem leads to political interplay, which gives politicians a central role in the process of policy formulation. As the process of policy formulation takes shape many areas that require the attention of political players emerge. These areas include legal framework requirement, allocation of funds and participation of the general public.
Ultimately, political players find themselves at the center of policy formulation. Consequently, the central argument in the paper will be that policy formulation is not only done by fact and rationality alone, but also involves the interplay of political intrudes.
This paper will therefore, analyze the influence of politics from three perspectives. The first perspective is Political personality. The second perspective is the political role, while the third perspective is the difference of the role of political individuality in different systems. The first perspective, which is political personality, deals with psychological analysis.
Psychological analysis makes an analysis from the perspective of individual personality, political personality, and the basic political personality type. The second perspective, which is political role, discusses the meaning of three terms, political role, political personality and political role of interaction. The third perspective, which is the difference of the role of political individuality in different systems, analyzes the politician’s personality psychological characteristics and political behavior and the politician’s personality tendencies and political behavior.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Politics;Politics refers to an activity by which people make, amend and preserve various governing rules which administer how they live. Additionally, politics is an art of the government to control public affairs and oversee distribution of resources (Maita, 2009).
Political system; Political refers to systema system via which interactions and values are authoritatively apportioned to society. Political systems exist by continually allocating orders and enforcing them. Moreover, a political system is a persistent pattern governing human relationships that involve rules, power, and authority (Maitah, 2009).
Policy; Policy refers to a course of action that a government follows with the goal of dealing with problems and issues in a country or state. A policy is based on laws and regulations.
Legislature; Legislature refers toa body of the government that makes policies through a particular set of guidelines.
Factors and parties influencing policy formulation
When talking about democratic politics, the term refers to an open, fair, transparent, free and equal citizenship politics. Therefore, democratic politics requires extensive and active participation of citizens. Additionally, democratic politics also acknowledges the need for political personality from traditional to modern changes (Jensen, & Wu, 2016).
Based on the theory of individuality and governance, this paper analyzes the influence of political leaders, on the political behavior and political system within a country. Moreover, the paper analyzes the role of different political systems in promotion of the process of political democratization, through providing a theoretical reference.
Notably, due to the attention accorded to politicians by the media, people miss interpret politicians to be the government. However, it is important to note that, agendas which are politically articulated get transformation to reality, through bureaucratic systems. In many countries, bureaucracies form the main systems of exercising government control over peoples’ daily lives.
Apart from politicians and bureaucracies, interest groups are also involved in policy formulation (Zeng, 2015). For instance, in the United States of America, interests groups play an influential role in making of policies. Interest groups gather American citizens, who demonstrate similar concerns, as the ones presented by the specific interest group. When gathered, interest groups and American citizens match to the offices of the concerned officials to present their concerns.
Therefore, interest groups are efficient mechanisms used by citizens of the United States of America in presenting their views, current needs or ideas to the elected officials. Additionally, different interest groups specialize on different concerns (Thompson, & Cook, 2014). The existence and ease of performance of activities of interest groups is encouraged by the decentralization of power in the politics of the United States.
Notably, in the United States, political power is allocated to states and different localities. The decentralization of political power in the United States, explains why the political system of United States is referred as a federal system. Generally, politicians are involved in formulating policies, which are short-term while interest groups focus on long-term policies.
Another party which is interested in policy formulation is the scientists. Scientists influence the formulation of policies based on a mutual understanding, recognition of nature and uncertainty magnitude. Therefore, scientists tend to exercise cautiousness and be conservative. Moreover, scientists are always doubtful of results and the conclusions they make. Hence, scientists use evidence and in-depth analysis in advocating for policy formulation. Consequently, policies are aimed at guiding actions that are directed to achieving any desired outcome.
Outstandingly, mass media also plays an influential role in the formulation of policies. Notably, mass media affects the social context of any policies developed (Zeng, 2015). The media is involved in making citizens aware of how proposed or made policies will impact their lives. Moreover, the government is also able to gain feedback from its citizens, regarding proposed or made policies. Thus, mass media presents a link between policy makers and potential policy making process influencers (Tombs, 2016).
Notably, in any liberal democracy, the media is mandated the role of critically scrutinizing the government in its affairs. Thus, the public is able to hold the government accountable for its actions. However, in democratic processes if the media acts politically powerful, the close link they maintain with corporate economies leads to questioning of the credibility of the media in investigating government activities. Just as the mass media, other parties involved in the formulation of policies are the Non Government Organizations.
Mostly, Non Government Organizations conduct humanitarian activities. Thus, Non Government Organizations are interested in suggestion of policies, drafting of policies and implementation of policies. Notably, recently, Non Government Organizations have recently ventured into the political life, through acting as pressure groups. For instance, the famous anti-slavery movement gave birth to the convention for anti-slavery.
However, Non Government Organizations, mostly operate in a specific country since their actions are purely motivated by situations and conditions that the locals go through. Therefore, interests of Non Government Organizations are narrowly defined (Jensen, & Wu, 2016). Consequently, Non Government Organizations will focus on advocating for implementation of policies that favor their interests.
However, the difference between politicians and Non Government Organizations, in advocating for policies that favor their interests is that, politicians have short-term interests, which favor the period between two elections (Thompson, & Cook, 2014). Conversely, Non Government Organizations have long-term interests, which favor easy running of their activities in a country.
References
Cannan, J. (2013). A Legislative History of the Affordable Care Act: How Legislative Procedure Shapes Legislative History. Law Library Journal, 105 (2), 2013-7.
Museums are essential for effective communication, social life promotion and further learning about culture, politics and even sciences. Museums are normally connected to politics, and they are normally used as a tool to preserve historic political events. However, political actions taken against the policies of the museum causes more harm than good to its effectiveness. As much as the museum functionality is attached (Blee 2016).
According to Miller during the interview, museums have a great effect on the culture of different groups of people in the society (Miller 2017). In the American Muslim culture, the museum has a negative effect on the environment. Many activities are carried out in the museum, which may result in damage to the environment. The American Muslim culture has changed over time due to the changing environment.
This is also because the Muslim American is a minority group in the United States of America (Geraldine 2016). The main environmental struggle faced by the museum is the political greenwashing on how technological activities applicable in the museum are harmless to living and non-living organisms. Museums and political actions remain go hand in hand. The museum is used as an archive for the storage of materials that are not so environment-friendly, such as disposed of computers, cell phones, and wires. These are simply stored for history, probably to show the development of technology over time.
Museums and political actions: Environmental activists
This may cause environmental activists to advocate against that, which is banned will cause a massive drop in the museum industry (Smith and Font 2014). Therefore, museums should not be used to bring political divisions between people or even cause conflict and death. Instead, it should be used as a tool to show the refection of societal heritage as well as bringing all cultures, religions, and states together to share something in common. Furthermore, the museum may cause pollution to the environment through the technological materials used for artwork and scrap metals of used gadgets.
Measures should be put in place on how to prevent these health hazards that may be caused by the material in the museum and all political objections prevented from interfering with the activities. Every environmental and political activist should be banned from using the museum as a tool to achieve their agendas and strict policies against such needs to be established to retain the museum’s primary purpose for existence. Museum and political actions destroy the tranquility of museums. This also will enable the maintenance of local and international tourists who will help earn the national revenue (Limebeer, Perantoni and Rao 2014).
