Understanding The Relationship Between Political Theory And Ideology Politics Essay

Understanding The Relationship Between Political Theory And Ideology Politics Essay In this essay I make an attempt to differentiate the terms political theory and ideology. I shall also attempt to clarify the meanings used by political theorists. Whilst all theories and ideologies are salient they also possess elements that are contentious or misleading and in turn no matter what political reasoning is developed it in itself can be contested and there are different perspectives and ideologies for any given situation and those perspectives have shaped the modern political landscape and shaped the societies within which we live. Theory or ideas are the toolbox upon which ideology is created. Theory is moulded from philosophy, it is not about coming to a given conclusion or proving a situation, it is an effort to understand through analysis and investigation. Political theory looks at factors such as communities, freedom, equality, social Justice and then attempts to create a model for ideal society by attempting to predict patterns in the future. Empirical political theory is by and large conducted by political science institutions and is intended to describe the What is and from that data try and formulate ideas of What works. Normative political theory is performed mostly by philosophers, legal scholars, and a few political scientists, and attempts to describe how societies ought to be run in essence an opinion of what ought to be as opposed to what is. What can be seen historically is that political theorists seem to be in battle with one another attempting to legitimise their particular view on governmen t, how government should be in their eyes. Some of the modern political theorists include the likes of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau who penned Social contract theories, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels theories of class struggle and Max weber and Ralf Dahrendorf the main authoritative writings on social conflict theory. Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau were Social Contract theorists and critics of the politics in their own societies and expressed this opposition in their explanations of government as it should be, model government. Each had a very different perspective of contractarianism. To Hobbes the State is everything, all powerful and citizens voluntarily give restrictions to their liberty and promise to obey central laws. All individuals make a contract between themselves with an assembly of men to protect their liberty thus they promise to obey the sovereign and in turn have no grounds for complaint against the sovereign. Hobbess view is secular, non-spiritual and thus no allowance of independent political power for religion (Leviathan 1651) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Hobbes theory is one of Absolutism, complete obedience to a single will is necessary to maintain order and security. According to Hobbes without the state and political authority life would be nasty, brutish, and short. In other words an indiv iduals own ego and democracy should be avoided with the monarch being the pinnacle and absolute authority in order for society to survive. John Locke (1689), in contrast to Hobbes, is the founder of the Constitutionalism theory, this is still a social contract theory. This is the theory that is the basis of modern liberal thinking. To Locke God gave the world to mankind as a whole and he also gave the right to life, liberty and estate. Man should live in a state of perfect and complete liberty to conduct ones life as one best sees fit, free from the interference of others (IEP 2011). Each person has personal property rights and the political society is set up to protect those natural rights of life. Each individual consents to be governed by giving some of those rights in return for the state to preserve and protect their rights to life liberty and estate. From this we can deduce that social government has a social duty by way of a social contract to promote and protect the natural rights of its citizens. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1762) Rousseau judged that liberty was possible only where citizens as a whole had direct and full participation in the law making of the land. To Rousseau popular sovereignty was indivisible and inalienable. For Rousseau Citizens have to be able to choose fundamental rules by which they live and citizens must be able to revise them when they choose to do so. During the 18th Century British Citizens were viewed to be unable to do either. The most striking phrase from Rousseaus work is that the individual should be Forced to be free. From this he is saying that if an individual breaks the law then he should be forced to listen to what was decided as a participant of the collective. From the above we can see three perceptions of social political contract theory. Whereas Theory is the toolbox of political thinking Ideology is the workbench. This is where theories come together and are thrashed out in order to make a workable model of society. Ideology was first coined by Desutt de Tracey in 1796 and translates as the science of ideas. It is a belief or set of beliefs that individuals and political parties base their actions. Ideology contains three major steps. The first is the actual ideas themselves followed by a vision, goals of how society ought to be and finally methodological policy for modification or improvement detailing ways of attaining the goals created from the vision. Ideologies are developed because the theory of reality is often too convoluted to be understood and almost always are biased towards a particular group. Ideology has also been criticised for being the tool of ruling classes, allowing dominant sections of society to maintain their status and position in the hierarchy. Perhaps one problem of Ideology is that it can o ver simplify society and in turn mislead what is reality. Government parties have core ideology values and whilst in power that ideological approach is forced upon those that they govern, they accept a set of ideas and beliefs and those are not to be disputed. Marxism, developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels during the 19th Century is possibly the most read and recited of all ideologies, even though Marx himself did not believe that his ideas were ideological. To Marx Ideology was production of ideas, of conceptions, of consciousness, all that men say, imagine, conceive, and include such things as politics, laws, morality, religion, metaphysics. Marx and Engels Marxist ideology evolved around inequality and class division. The Marxist theory clearly defines that there is a struggle in life between a dominant class, the bourgeoisie, and an oppressed class, the proletariat. Thus the ideology, also the basis of the modern Socialist movement, is concerned with economic justice. From this Marx and Engels belief is that if you remove the means of production, thus the power, from the elitist bourgeoisie and transfer it to state control or to the workers, the proletariat, then you achieve economic justice and will be the end of exploitation of the oppressed. Marxist ideology does not embrace the Locke theory of individual right to personal property by actually advocating the abolition of such. Liberalism draws very much on the work of John Lockes social contract theory. It is concerned with maximum freedom for individuals, within the guidelines of the law. There should also be minimum interference from the state with regards to the divine rights of the individual. Liberalism is often thought of as probably the most dominant ideologies in the modern political landscape. This is probably because they are committed to build and safeguard free, fair and open societies, in which they seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one is enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity thus Liberalism actively promotes the dilution of power, encourages diversity and promotes creativity of the individual. Conservatism values the status-quo and actually rejects change and reform and views such action as dangerous and counterproductive. Unlike liberalism Conservatism argues that political society develops gradually over time out of custom and human experience and that there is no social contract, challenging authority is destabilising and dangerous. Core values for conservative government are to provide for human needs, especially the needs for order, stability and control. Government is not formed to protect rights in fact; the lack of order destroys society. Where theory is about one element of society ideology is multi-faceted whereby it encompasses a set of ideas/theories. Both theory and Ideology have the views of what is, what works and what ought to be. Without theory there could be no Ideology. I agree that each is different, to a point, and yet related. The difference is that the theory is written by and for professionals in the social science fields and the ideology is set out to make such theory digestible to the masses and helps the individual to understand their position in the social order. Government policy is affected by the relentless march of political theory, as society adapts to new policy and changes in the distribution of power so new theories emerge that further change the ideological approaches of those who wield the sword of power. Word count: 1507

Proposal: the Hunger in Ethiopia

Research Proposal Introduction/ Background Information: Ethiopia has been suffering from poverty and hunger for many years. Most of the people around the world are not aware of this massacre. Ethiopia is an agro-based country; they have only agricultural labor to invest on. The drought in Ethiopia has caused a huge impact in the economy. There are currently over 500,000 acutely malnourished children in Ethiopia. They have been getting foreign aid but reports in the conversations with many starvation victims confirm that the situation is still not improved.By increasing foreign aid, the foreign country can get certain benefits, they can assure military assistance, gain land to search for oil, and create an alliance. Our research study will bring awareness about the terrible situation in Ethiopia to the whole world. When this research study is successful, our prediction is that people all over the world will help and protest for more foreign aids. Ethiopia will receive enough aid to in vest on a permanent solution to poverty and many lives will be saved from starvation and malnutrition. The funding company which funds this research study will be reatly benefited because it will be appreciated and credited on all our research studies. The funding agency will be thanked by the people all over the world and it will be known by the whole world. We have high expectation that this study will be a success because similar work has been very successful in the past years. Invisible Children Kony 2012, a video published by Jason Russell which brings awareness to the world about the Ugandan criminal, was very successful. They have captured the attention of the people around the whole world.The video has gotten over 84 million views in just two weeks. Proposed Work: The intent of the proposed study is to learn about the suffering victims in Ethiopia. In this research study, interviews will be the primary research approach. It is anticipated that the victims will talk about the ir stories and variety of topics throughout the interview. It is anticipated that over 30 interviews will be conducted within a year. All interviews will be videotaped with the interviewee’s permission. The expected interview length is about an hour long.I will write field notes while observing, giving interviews and listening to the interviews from the tape after. I expect to obtain more information and data from the organizations that are already there to help the victims, papers, officials of the government of Ethiopia and any other subjects that relates with my research study. All the interviews and data will be saved and organized on computer software. Some Interviews will be edited and published in the internet where everyone in the world should have access to. We will also be advertising it in the internet nd in major cities of United States. I will create a webpage where we have our statistics and data. People all over the world are expected to be interacting with eac h other in our webpage, which creates awareness. I will interact with people on social networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook and email. Budget: I will need the following materials, equipment and personnel for a comfort success. I will need stationary material for recording, cameras, computers, microphones, sound systems and computer software for video editing and file storage. I will hire about 10 qualified interns nd employees for different tasks. Out of all the employees, some will be interviewers and journalists who will assist me with interviews and conduct their own interviews in different rural part of Ethiopia. Some of the employees will be in control of editing videos and uploading it on Internet webpage, manage the webpage and social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter. The webpage would have the options for people to make donations that go to the charity to help the victims. The estimated cost for this research project is about half a million ollars. The amount specified includes the material, equipment, personnel, travel expenses and salary for the interns and the employees including me. The research study is proposed to start in spring of 2012 and expected to finish in the middle of 2013. Conclusion/Recommendation: This project is very significant because many lives depend on it. It will give awareness to the whole world about the situation in Ethiopia. The action taken against this massacre is very helpful to these poor people who live their life with a dollar a day. This problem can be solved y being united and protesting for more aid, advertising, donating and collecting donations. Many lives can be saved. References: 1. Alexander, Douglas. â€Å"House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 03 Nov 2009 (pt 0001). † United Kingdom Parliament Home Page. 3 Nov. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. . 2. Gordts, Eline. â€Å"Ethiopia: Hunger During Worst Drought In 60 Years. † The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost. com, 17 Aug. 2 011. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. . 3. Sanders, Edmund. â€Å"Hunger Is Once Again Stalking Ethiopia. † Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 05 Aug. 2008. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. .

Swot And Strategy Evaluation Of Gambling - 876 Words

SWOT and Strategy Evaluation Gambling is large business in the United States and other parts of the world. The gaming industry produces billions in income each year. Gambling comes in many forms; old-style casinos, the internet, and even machine gaming at local companies such as truck stops. However, the gaming market is very modest and not without risk. Large corporations produce millions if not billions of dollars to gain a reasonable edge. A SWOT analysis and strategy evaluation should be accomplished to assess factors in the business. These steps are needed to security investing will deliver a cost-effective return for shareholders. SWOT Analysis The face of the gaming trade has many different companies’ types. The large part of these companies function casinos that offer a wide diversity of services. The services are intended to attract not only the hardened gambler but also the people involved in other generosities. 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The Type Of Blood Cancer - 1111 Words

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common type of blood cancer.1 It is found in plasma cells inside the intermedullary canal of the diaphysis of a long bone.2 Plasma cells are a type of white blood cell. They function to help the body fight infections by making antibodies that recognize and attack germs. MM starts when a plasma cell becomes abnormal in the bone marrow and begins to multiple quickly. These abnormal, now cancerous cells accumulate and eventually outnumber the production of healthy cells. Like normal plasma cells, myeloma cells also produce antibodies. However, the body cannot use them. These antibodies are known as monoclonal proteins, or M proteins.3 M proteins can build up in the body and cause problems, such as†¦show more content†¦MGUS is marked by the presence of M proteins, but there is a significantly lower level of them and no damage to the body occurs. 3% of people older than 50 have MGUS.3 1% of people with MGUS will develop MM per year.3 Signs and symptoms of MM can vary and early in the disease there may be none. When signs and symptoms do occur, they can include: bone pain, especially in your spine and chest, thinning or broken bones, nausea, constipation, loss of appetite, mental fogginess or confusion, fatigue, frequent infections, weight loss, weakness or numbness in your legs and excessive thirst.3 MM may be detected through multiple types of tests. Lab analysis of blood may reveal the M proteins produced by myeloma cells. Another abnormal protein produced from myeloma cells called beta-2-microglobulin may be detected in the blood.3 A urine protein level test may show M proteins, which are known as Bence Jones proteins, and confirm the presence of MM.2 A bone marrow biopsy may be done to determine the number of normal and cancerous plasma cells present. An initial skeletal survey is done for diagnosis and staging through diagnostic radiography. Images will include a lateral skull x-ray, AP and lateral views of the spine and AP views of the humeri, ribs, pelvis, and femora.4 MM appears as multiple punched out osteolytic lesions scattered throughout the skeletal system.2 If see n in