News Articles:
USA Today April 19, 2010
Europe flights resume air traffic could be half its normal value today if ash lessens
Today European air carriers are sending flights back up into the sky since the volcano. Over 63,000 flights have been canceled throughout Europe. Test flights were flown on Sunday to make sure it was safe to take passengers up into the air today.
USA Today April 19, 2010
Pope meets abuse victims, vows to protect the young
Pope Benedict XVI met on Sunday with sex-abuse victims to tell them that the Catholic Church was sorry for what had happened. The Pope was “ashamed and sorrowful” for what had happened. Several people are attempting to sue that catholic church for what has happened.
USA Today April 22, 2010
Gulf blast appears to be ‘blowout’
Ships and helicopters went out today to search for eleven crew members who are missing after an offshore oil drilling accident. The Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig, exploded at 10 p.m. on Tuesday. At this time eleven people are still un accounted for.
USA Today April 22, 2010
Secondhand shops at forefront of economic pinch
With the tough economic times, thrift stores have been receiving less donations, but the demand has gone up. The demand and needs is around ten times more than what they can supply. Because of the increased demand they need more demands to help.
USA Today April 22, 2010
Going truly green might require detective work
Spending in the green marketplace and sales in healthy products have gone up 41% since 2004. Many customers are beginning to agree that it is worth the extra cost to buy green products that are better for the environment.
USA Today April 26, 2010
States seek new ways to restrict abortions
Many of the states are debating or passing restrictions on abortions. According to Mary Spaulding Balch this year has been successful at trying to reduce abortions. The most significant legislation is a Nebraska law that would ban abortion at the 20th week of pregnancy.
USA Today April 26, 2010
Economists say recovery looks strong
The US is recovering stronger than expected. Even though the economy is regaining strength the jobless rate is still high. The risk that we will have a return recession anytime soon is unlikely the experts say.
USA Today April 27, 2010
Young adults less devoted to faith
A survey of over 1,2000 of people 18 to 29 72 percent claimed to be more spiritual than religious. There has been a steady decline in young adults who attend church. The survey found that about 15% were devoted to their faith.
USA Today 27, 2010
Nancy Drew still draws readers after 80 years.
Nancy drew books have been popular for over 80 years. There have been over 371 books created. The books are written to appear to young readers.
USA Today April 28, 2010
Keeping a lid on salt: not so easy
For years Americans have been consuming too much salt. Last week a report from the institute of medicine suggested that the government reduce the maximum amount of sodium that manufactures can use. Salt is one of the main causes of many peoples high blood pressure. If sodium intake was cut it could potentially prevent many early deaths caused by hearth attacks.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
5 News Articles:
USA Today April 13, 2010
Technology transforms giving
With the new technology it is making it easier for people to donate their money. Through text messages and internet it is now easier for people to donate money. More than $32 million dollars has been raised through texting for the Red Cross Haiti relief.
USA Today April 14, 2010
Girl, 11, rescued from Fla. Swamp
A girl was rescued today after spending four days in a Florida swamp. She had been reported missing and was found by a member of their families church. It is unknown why the girl was near the swamp.
USA Today April 14, 2010
Huge planets found orbiting backward
European astronomers reported that two of the nine planets were rotating backward from their normal orbit pattern. This is caused when planets stars bend light in a different direction so this causes the plants to do the same.
USA Today April 15, 2010
Deaths, close calls at animal parks
Sea world, Bush Gardens, and Six Flags have had animals kill three people and injure 16. Many minor incidents are not reported. With the increased accidents these parks are taking extra precautions to make sure their visitors are safe.
USA Today April 15, 2010
Library of Congress Plans to archive Twitter Posts
The Library of Congress will acquire every public tweet. There will be over billions of tweets archived. They are doing this because it will offer historical data throughout history.
USA Today April 13, 2010
Technology transforms giving
With the new technology it is making it easier for people to donate their money. Through text messages and internet it is now easier for people to donate money. More than $32 million dollars has been raised through texting for the Red Cross Haiti relief.
USA Today April 14, 2010
Girl, 11, rescued from Fla. Swamp
A girl was rescued today after spending four days in a Florida swamp. She had been reported missing and was found by a member of their families church. It is unknown why the girl was near the swamp.
USA Today April 14, 2010
Huge planets found orbiting backward
European astronomers reported that two of the nine planets were rotating backward from their normal orbit pattern. This is caused when planets stars bend light in a different direction so this causes the plants to do the same.
USA Today April 15, 2010
Deaths, close calls at animal parks
Sea world, Bush Gardens, and Six Flags have had animals kill three people and injure 16. Many minor incidents are not reported. With the increased accidents these parks are taking extra precautions to make sure their visitors are safe.
USA Today April 15, 2010
Library of Congress Plans to archive Twitter Posts
The Library of Congress will acquire every public tweet. There will be over billions of tweets archived. They are doing this because it will offer historical data throughout history.
Chapter 8 and 10
Chapter 8 Current and Former Communist Regimes
I. Communism:
a.China, North Korea, Cuba, and a few other countries are the only communists countries left.
b. The first communists regime was the (USSR) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
c. the Leninist State: 1. The Communists Party completely controlled political life. 2. Until the late 1950’s the Soviet Union controlled the entire Communist World. 3. In the late 1950’s the Communist world began to splinter.
d. Command Economy: The government owned all industrial enterprises and retail sales outlets.
e. In the 1980s the Communist countries found themselves in deep economic trouble.
II. Socialism, Marxism, Leninism
a. Socialism: Four characteristics
1. means of production are flawed.
2. most liberals are satisfied if a society can achieve equality of opportunity, which theoretically offers everyone the same chance to succeed.
3. democracy as practiced in liberal, capitalist society is too limited.
4. socialisms claim that providing for public ownership and control of a substantially more egalitarian society will improve human relations in general.
b. Marxism
1. Karl Marx
2. believed that societies passed through stages, evolving from primitive groups of hunters and gatherers and eventually turn into an industrialized society.
3. societies shift from one stage to another in a process called dialectic.
4. progress occurs as a result of changes in the distribution of economic power, historical materialism.
5. process occurs as a result of conflict between classes.
6. Marx thinks capitalism is a step forward
c. Stalinism
1. Joseph Stalin
2. totalitarianism: Stalin used the party, the mass media, and campaigns of terror to subjugate the population and then mobilize the people in pursuit of the leadership’s goals.
d. De-Stalinization
1. de-Stalinization: when his colleagues replaced him and they had a period of relaxation and reform
III. The Marxist-Leninist State
a. The Party State
b. The intuitions of the party state were its secretariat and politburo
c. The most important individuals were the general secretary and the members of the Politburo
d. Western observers called these regimes totalitarian
IV. The Crisis of Communism Suicide by Public Policy
a. In 1985 the European Communism’s final act began.
b. Glasnost: more openness in the political system
c. Democratization, beginning with the introduction of a degree of competition to the way the Communist Party was run.
d. Perestroika, economic restructuring, including a degree of private ownership
e. New thinking in foreign policy, especially improved relations with the West.
f. Revolutions first started in Poland
g. There are only 5 communists countries left: China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cuba.
V. Transitions
a. most conditions have improved in these countries
3 questions:
1. I think it was interesting how Marx says that society is slowly making progress over time even when they have their downs they are still slowly headed upward.
2. I am just curious in these countries with communist’s leaders how does the leader come to power. Like how does the country decide who will be in charge of everything since they can not vote?
Since the countries that call themselves communists are not really fully communists why do they object to becoming capitalists nations when they do not fully accept communism either?
Chapter 10: China
I. Thinking about China
a. The worlds most populated country.
b. remains a very poor country even though all the progress it has made
c. Hu Jintao currently governs China
II. The Evolution of the Chinese State
a. Confucianism: a code of social conduct that revolves around a few key principles.
b. China has gone through stages of ups and downs
c. Sun Yat-sen- one of the first Chinese to be westernized
d. Kuomintang or Nationalist Party
e. May Fourth Movement- against Confucianism
f. Mao and the Longest March
g. Zhou Enlai- form a united front to fight the Japanese
h. Lin Biao-gained control of Manchuria and started moving south
i. Great Leap Forward- where China attempted to make rapid progress in the transition to socialism and communism under Mao’s rule
j. Jiang Qing- eliminating anything Western and non-ideological from the theatres and airwaves.
k. The Gang of Four-Jiang, Zhang, Yao, and Wang
l. In 1973, Zhou announced that China would concentrate on the four modernizations-agriculture, industry, science and the military.
II. Political Culture and Participation:
a. Collectivism
b. Struggle and Activism
c. Egalitarianism and Populism
d. Self-Reliance
e. The average citizens actually participate in political life more than their counterparts in the west.
f. Democracy Wall-1978
g. Democracy Movement: the first large, reasonably well-organized protest movement against the CCP and its policies.
h. Falun Gong- organization that is hard to fit into western conceptual schemes.
III. The party State
a. one common denominator in Chinese politics since 1949- domination by the CCP.
b. The CCP has a smaller population the total population than the communists party of the Soviet Union.
c. The CCP leadership still controls all major appointments in the government and in the party itself.
d. Central Advisory Commission- advise the politburo and the rest of the official leadership.
IV. Public Policy: Perestroika Without Glasnost
a. some believe china will make one of the worlds leading economic powers in the near future.
b. China has remained one of the worlds poorest countries and has taken steps towards improving its conditions.
c. Special Economic Zones-created in 1979, foreign investors were given special tax rates and other incentives in these areas
3 Questions:
1. Hauss says that china will become one of the worlds economic powers someday, if so they why has the country been so poor?
2. I wonder why China is so set at rejecting western ideas.
3. I also why China claims to be a communists country but is communism light, they are not fully communists.
Chapter 8 Current and Former Communist Regimes
I. Communism:
a.China, North Korea, Cuba, and a few other countries are the only communists countries left.
b. The first communists regime was the (USSR) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
c. the Leninist State: 1. The Communists Party completely controlled political life. 2. Until the late 1950’s the Soviet Union controlled the entire Communist World. 3. In the late 1950’s the Communist world began to splinter.
d. Command Economy: The government owned all industrial enterprises and retail sales outlets.
e. In the 1980s the Communist countries found themselves in deep economic trouble.
II. Socialism, Marxism, Leninism
a. Socialism: Four characteristics
1. means of production are flawed.
2. most liberals are satisfied if a society can achieve equality of opportunity, which theoretically offers everyone the same chance to succeed.
3. democracy as practiced in liberal, capitalist society is too limited.
4. socialisms claim that providing for public ownership and control of a substantially more egalitarian society will improve human relations in general.
b. Marxism
1. Karl Marx
2. believed that societies passed through stages, evolving from primitive groups of hunters and gatherers and eventually turn into an industrialized society.
3. societies shift from one stage to another in a process called dialectic.
4. progress occurs as a result of changes in the distribution of economic power, historical materialism.
5. process occurs as a result of conflict between classes.
6. Marx thinks capitalism is a step forward
c. Stalinism
1. Joseph Stalin
2. totalitarianism: Stalin used the party, the mass media, and campaigns of terror to subjugate the population and then mobilize the people in pursuit of the leadership’s goals.
d. De-Stalinization
1. de-Stalinization: when his colleagues replaced him and they had a period of relaxation and reform
III. The Marxist-Leninist State
a. The Party State
b. The intuitions of the party state were its secretariat and politburo
c. The most important individuals were the general secretary and the members of the Politburo
d. Western observers called these regimes totalitarian
IV. The Crisis of Communism Suicide by Public Policy
a. In 1985 the European Communism’s final act began.
b. Glasnost: more openness in the political system
c. Democratization, beginning with the introduction of a degree of competition to the way the Communist Party was run.
d. Perestroika, economic restructuring, including a degree of private ownership
e. New thinking in foreign policy, especially improved relations with the West.
f. Revolutions first started in Poland
g. There are only 5 communists countries left: China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cuba.
V. Transitions
a. most conditions have improved in these countries
3 questions:
1. I think it was interesting how Marx says that society is slowly making progress over time even when they have their downs they are still slowly headed upward.
2. I am just curious in these countries with communist’s leaders how does the leader come to power. Like how does the country decide who will be in charge of everything since they can not vote?
Since the countries that call themselves communists are not really fully communists why do they object to becoming capitalists nations when they do not fully accept communism either?
Chapter 10: China
I. Thinking about China
a. The worlds most populated country.
b. remains a very poor country even though all the progress it has made
c. Hu Jintao currently governs China
II. The Evolution of the Chinese State
a. Confucianism: a code of social conduct that revolves around a few key principles.
b. China has gone through stages of ups and downs
c. Sun Yat-sen- one of the first Chinese to be westernized
d. Kuomintang or Nationalist Party
e. May Fourth Movement- against Confucianism
f. Mao and the Longest March
g. Zhou Enlai- form a united front to fight the Japanese
h. Lin Biao-gained control of Manchuria and started moving south
i. Great Leap Forward- where China attempted to make rapid progress in the transition to socialism and communism under Mao’s rule
j. Jiang Qing- eliminating anything Western and non-ideological from the theatres and airwaves.
k. The Gang of Four-Jiang, Zhang, Yao, and Wang
l. In 1973, Zhou announced that China would concentrate on the four modernizations-agriculture, industry, science and the military.
II. Political Culture and Participation:
a. Collectivism
b. Struggle and Activism
c. Egalitarianism and Populism
d. Self-Reliance
e. The average citizens actually participate in political life more than their counterparts in the west.
f. Democracy Wall-1978
g. Democracy Movement: the first large, reasonably well-organized protest movement against the CCP and its policies.
h. Falun Gong- organization that is hard to fit into western conceptual schemes.
III. The party State
a. one common denominator in Chinese politics since 1949- domination by the CCP.
b. The CCP has a smaller population the total population than the communists party of the Soviet Union.
c. The CCP leadership still controls all major appointments in the government and in the party itself.
d. Central Advisory Commission- advise the politburo and the rest of the official leadership.
IV. Public Policy: Perestroika Without Glasnost
a. some believe china will make one of the worlds leading economic powers in the near future.
b. China has remained one of the worlds poorest countries and has taken steps towards improving its conditions.
c. Special Economic Zones-created in 1979, foreign investors were given special tax rates and other incentives in these areas
3 Questions:
1. Hauss says that china will become one of the worlds economic powers someday, if so they why has the country been so poor?
2. I wonder why China is so set at rejecting western ideas.
3. I also why China claims to be a communists country but is communism light, they are not fully communists.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Hauss Chapter 4- The United Kingdom
Chapter 19: Canada
I. Thinking about Canada
A. Canada and the US share the world’s longest history of peace and longest peaceful border.
B. Few Americans know much about Canada
C. Canada is sparsely populated.
D. Canada is officially bi-lingual. They speak French and English.
II. The Evolution of the Canadian State
A. 1867 British North America Act
a. Levels of economic and finical control
b. Gave the federal government the upper hand over the providences
c. The BNA act contained important religious guarantees for the British minority in Quebec.
B. Decentralization of Federalism in the Modern Era
C. The Constitutional Problem- From the 1970s to the 1990s Canadians main issue was the constitution.
a. There was a lack of an amending formula
III. Political Culture
A. Canadians are usually quieter and more tolerant and more progressive on social issues than the US.
B. Canadians are probably to the left of Americans on most social issues.
C. Have liberal and tolerant cultures
D. A shift in political values towards a “post-materialist” perspective; peace, environment, and human rights
IV. Political Participation
A. The Canadian party and electors systems are very different from those in the US and tend to have more in common with those in Europe.
B. Broken Parties
C. Progressive Party- Representing the interests of small farmers
D. Liberal Party
E. Third parties have played a major role in Canadian federal politics
F. Canada uses first-past-the post electoral systems. The candidate with the most votes wins.
G. Religion has also been an important factor in voting behavior in Canada.
V. The Canadian State
A. Canada was closely modeled on British intuitions
B. The queen of England remains the titular head of state
C. The governor is usually advised by a group of advisors know as the Privy Council.
D. The cabinet must retain the support of the house of commons to stay in power.
E. The role of the House of Commons in the political system is to provide representation to individual citizens, to pass laws, and to provide the recruitment training of political leaders.
F. The Senate, or upper house of Parliament, has law-making authority; all bills must be passed by the Senate giving it an absolute veto over legislation.
G. The Courts-They have the power of judicial review through which they decide on the constitutionality of provincial and federal systems.
H. Supreme Court-highest court
VI. Public Policy: Moving to the Right?
A. Created a more extensive social service system
B. Canada has been less willing to follow international trends in foreign policy
C. Canada has converted its military into one whose primary mission is peacekeeping.
3 Questions:
1. We talked about in class how the Canadians do not like Americans, I was just wondered about how its public known that they don't like us, but we don't hear much about Americans not liking Canadians.
2. I thought it was interesting how Canada was apart of our original 13 colonies, i though it was interesting that we are not taught this in school.
3. I thought it was interesting how Canadians have more of the mind set of being peaceful with their military and we are more aggressive with ours.
Chapter 4: Great Britain
I. Thinking About Britain
A. Key Questions – 4 themes that set the UK apart from other democracies
1. Gradualism- has suffered less unrest and had more consensual history
2. Britain has had the best troubles of any of the major liberal democracies since the height of the collectivist period in the 1960s.
3. The 1980s and 1990s redefined British political life and spurred the renewal of support for free-market economics that has taken hold.
4. The impact of Blair and the “New Labour.”
B. The Basics:
1. The Good Friday Agreement
2. The UK has over sixty million people.
3. Racial issues have become politically significant over the past thirty years
C. The Evolutions of the British State:
1. Building a nation-state
2. Defining the relationship between the church and state
3. Establishing liberal democracy
4. Dealing with the industrial revolution
D. The Broad Sweet of British History:
1. Magna Carta- king not absolute monarch
2. Two houses of Parliament set up after kings request
3. England experienced two revolutions in the seventh century
4. Great Reform Act-1832
E. The Collectivist Consensus:
1. Beveridge Report- called for a social insurance program in which every citizen would be eligible for health, unemployment, pension, and other benefits.
F. The British Political Culture
1. Before the 1970s the British were remarkably tolerant of each other and the people who lead them
2. After the 1970s people began to express their concerns about the collectivist consensus
3. Protests began to illustrate people’s dissatisfactions with the British political culture. There protests were dangers because they proved rather fleeting; in large people the Thatcher government met them head-on. They were also dangerous because the analysts who predicted the end of the civic culture overstated the dangers the protest movements posed.
4. Identification with Britain as a whole is declining, especially among the Scots and Welsh.
5. No one thinks the UK will fall apart but many of the symbols and institutions that have held British culture together are losing their influence.
G. Political Participation
1. The Conservatives:
a. Natural Party of Government
b. Proportional representation
c. 3 reasons successful-
1. Leaders were pragmatic politicians who were flexible enough to change their polices when circumstances warranted.
2. The conservatives had a rather elitist but effective organization.
3. Their roots lay in nobility
2. The Labour:
a. Has had many criticism for being too extreme and out of touch with the
electorate.
b. In 1979 they were defeated because of a shift leftward
c. The most dramatic shift in the Labour politics came after Smith’s
sudden death in 1994.
H. The Liberal Democrats:
1. The newest major party
2. Is a merger of the Liberals and the Social Democrats
I. Minor Parties:
1. After 1974, the labour party tried to give Scotland and Wales self government.
J. The British Electorate: Shaped by the issue of Social Class.
K. Interest Groups: The TUC with the Labour and the Confederation of British
Industry with the Conservatives.
L. Structure: The Queen has no official power, she is more of a figure.
1. House of Commons- body that determines who governs and which laws
should be passed.
2. The key to the Brish state is the parliamentary part.
3. The head of the largest minority party becomes the leader of the opposition and appoints the shadow cabinet.
M. The Thatcher and Blair Revolutions:
1. Demoestic Politics
2. Foreign Policy
a. Europe- debate over Britain’s role in Europe
b. Iraq- decisions made by Blair to support American-led invasion of Iraq that drove him from office
1. Unlike the United States, the UK does not have a separation of church and state and i wonder why they chose not to have them separate?
2. I would have liked it if Hauss would have expanded on why Scotland, Wales, etc. have talked about becoming separate from England.
3.I think in general its interesting how the Queen is such an important figure, but she has no political power.
News Articles:
USA Today 3/16/10
Last Big airline drops free food
Continental Airlines is the last airline to stop supplying food and snacks for its coach passengers. This is significant because it marks the end of an era where a meal was included in an airline ticket. These changes have been made to reflect the market and economy.
USA Today 3/16/10
Study: doctors need tools to help patients slim down
A survey showed that many physicians don’t believe they have the tools needed to help people succeed at loosing weight. Many smaller practices don’t have staff trained especially in obesity treatment. 36% of patients who were told they needed to loose weight claim that their doctor never discussed how to go about dropping the weight with them.
USA Today 3/17/10
Pepsi is dropping out of schools
Pepsi announced that they are going to remove their high-calorie drinks from schools for kids ages 18 and under in more than 200 countries. They are doing this to help prevent childhood obesity.
USA Today 3/17/10
Poll: Worries about environment hit low
American’s level of worry about the environment has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Experts believe this is partly due to the fact that most Americans are worried about the economy instead of the environment.
USA Today 3/18/10
Claims for damaged, lost bags down 50%
There has been almost a 50% decrease in complaints about airport workers damaging or loosing bags. This success is partly contributed to the fact that the agencies have installed surveillance cameras in rooms wehre luggage is screen.
USA Today 3/9/10
Slowly, limits on pot are fading
A lawyer in California is concerned because he has concluded that the ban on marijuana is making is more accessible to kids, instead of less. He claims that kids say that its easier to get a hold of marijuana than alcohol because marijuana isn’t controlled by the government. He is beginning to think that if the government were to regulate marijuana then it would be harder for kids to get a hold of it.
USA Today 3/9/10
Gas heads back up to $3 a gallon this spring
Experts say that with the bad economy it could help gas prices from increasing. Factors that will help gas prices from going up are unemployment and refining capacity. Experts say that is the unemployment rate drops below 8.7% then Americans could see a rise in gas prices
USA Today 3/9/10
More urbanites have their pick of fresh fruit.
Many larger cities are putting in community green spaces where citizens can come and pick free fruit. This is benefiting those who live in the urban community not only because they get fresh produce from it, but because it gives them an opportunity to get outside and be in nature.
USA Today 3/11/10
Is the Global warming movement Cooling?
The efforts to stop global warming have been decreasing these last few months with the extreme cold weather. Not only are communities beginning to dought but also some scientists. One scientist is worried that other scientists are beginning to dought because he doesn’t want the public to also dought global warming.
USA Today 3/11/10
Box Office has 3-D to thank for record year
The box offices had a all time high record last year of $29.9 billion. This is increase is due to the increase in 3-D screens and the increase of ticket prices. This is important because in a society that is concerned about the economy people are still spending money on going out to the movies.
I. Thinking about Canada
A. Canada and the US share the world’s longest history of peace and longest peaceful border.
B. Few Americans know much about Canada
C. Canada is sparsely populated.
D. Canada is officially bi-lingual. They speak French and English.
II. The Evolution of the Canadian State
A. 1867 British North America Act
a. Levels of economic and finical control
b. Gave the federal government the upper hand over the providences
c. The BNA act contained important religious guarantees for the British minority in Quebec.
B. Decentralization of Federalism in the Modern Era
C. The Constitutional Problem- From the 1970s to the 1990s Canadians main issue was the constitution.
a. There was a lack of an amending formula
III. Political Culture
A. Canadians are usually quieter and more tolerant and more progressive on social issues than the US.
B. Canadians are probably to the left of Americans on most social issues.
C. Have liberal and tolerant cultures
D. A shift in political values towards a “post-materialist” perspective; peace, environment, and human rights
IV. Political Participation
A. The Canadian party and electors systems are very different from those in the US and tend to have more in common with those in Europe.
B. Broken Parties
C. Progressive Party- Representing the interests of small farmers
D. Liberal Party
E. Third parties have played a major role in Canadian federal politics
F. Canada uses first-past-the post electoral systems. The candidate with the most votes wins.
G. Religion has also been an important factor in voting behavior in Canada.
V. The Canadian State
A. Canada was closely modeled on British intuitions
B. The queen of England remains the titular head of state
C. The governor is usually advised by a group of advisors know as the Privy Council.
D. The cabinet must retain the support of the house of commons to stay in power.
E. The role of the House of Commons in the political system is to provide representation to individual citizens, to pass laws, and to provide the recruitment training of political leaders.
F. The Senate, or upper house of Parliament, has law-making authority; all bills must be passed by the Senate giving it an absolute veto over legislation.
G. The Courts-They have the power of judicial review through which they decide on the constitutionality of provincial and federal systems.
H. Supreme Court-highest court
VI. Public Policy: Moving to the Right?
A. Created a more extensive social service system
B. Canada has been less willing to follow international trends in foreign policy
C. Canada has converted its military into one whose primary mission is peacekeeping.
3 Questions:
1. We talked about in class how the Canadians do not like Americans, I was just wondered about how its public known that they don't like us, but we don't hear much about Americans not liking Canadians.
2. I thought it was interesting how Canada was apart of our original 13 colonies, i though it was interesting that we are not taught this in school.
3. I thought it was interesting how Canadians have more of the mind set of being peaceful with their military and we are more aggressive with ours.
Chapter 4: Great Britain
I. Thinking About Britain
A. Key Questions – 4 themes that set the UK apart from other democracies
1. Gradualism- has suffered less unrest and had more consensual history
2. Britain has had the best troubles of any of the major liberal democracies since the height of the collectivist period in the 1960s.
3. The 1980s and 1990s redefined British political life and spurred the renewal of support for free-market economics that has taken hold.
4. The impact of Blair and the “New Labour.”
B. The Basics:
1. The Good Friday Agreement
2. The UK has over sixty million people.
3. Racial issues have become politically significant over the past thirty years
C. The Evolutions of the British State:
1. Building a nation-state
2. Defining the relationship between the church and state
3. Establishing liberal democracy
4. Dealing with the industrial revolution
D. The Broad Sweet of British History:
1. Magna Carta- king not absolute monarch
2. Two houses of Parliament set up after kings request
3. England experienced two revolutions in the seventh century
4. Great Reform Act-1832
E. The Collectivist Consensus:
1. Beveridge Report- called for a social insurance program in which every citizen would be eligible for health, unemployment, pension, and other benefits.
F. The British Political Culture
1. Before the 1970s the British were remarkably tolerant of each other and the people who lead them
2. After the 1970s people began to express their concerns about the collectivist consensus
3. Protests began to illustrate people’s dissatisfactions with the British political culture. There protests were dangers because they proved rather fleeting; in large people the Thatcher government met them head-on. They were also dangerous because the analysts who predicted the end of the civic culture overstated the dangers the protest movements posed.
4. Identification with Britain as a whole is declining, especially among the Scots and Welsh.
5. No one thinks the UK will fall apart but many of the symbols and institutions that have held British culture together are losing their influence.
G. Political Participation
1. The Conservatives:
a. Natural Party of Government
b. Proportional representation
c. 3 reasons successful-
1. Leaders were pragmatic politicians who were flexible enough to change their polices when circumstances warranted.
2. The conservatives had a rather elitist but effective organization.
3. Their roots lay in nobility
2. The Labour:
a. Has had many criticism for being too extreme and out of touch with the
electorate.
b. In 1979 they were defeated because of a shift leftward
c. The most dramatic shift in the Labour politics came after Smith’s
sudden death in 1994.
H. The Liberal Democrats:
1. The newest major party
2. Is a merger of the Liberals and the Social Democrats
I. Minor Parties:
1. After 1974, the labour party tried to give Scotland and Wales self government.
J. The British Electorate: Shaped by the issue of Social Class.
K. Interest Groups: The TUC with the Labour and the Confederation of British
Industry with the Conservatives.
L. Structure: The Queen has no official power, she is more of a figure.
1. House of Commons- body that determines who governs and which laws
should be passed.
2. The key to the Brish state is the parliamentary part.
3. The head of the largest minority party becomes the leader of the opposition and appoints the shadow cabinet.
M. The Thatcher and Blair Revolutions:
1. Demoestic Politics
2. Foreign Policy
a. Europe- debate over Britain’s role in Europe
b. Iraq- decisions made by Blair to support American-led invasion of Iraq that drove him from office
1. Unlike the United States, the UK does not have a separation of church and state and i wonder why they chose not to have them separate?
2. I would have liked it if Hauss would have expanded on why Scotland, Wales, etc. have talked about becoming separate from England.
3.I think in general its interesting how the Queen is such an important figure, but she has no political power.
News Articles:
USA Today 3/16/10
Last Big airline drops free food
Continental Airlines is the last airline to stop supplying food and snacks for its coach passengers. This is significant because it marks the end of an era where a meal was included in an airline ticket. These changes have been made to reflect the market and economy.
USA Today 3/16/10
Study: doctors need tools to help patients slim down
A survey showed that many physicians don’t believe they have the tools needed to help people succeed at loosing weight. Many smaller practices don’t have staff trained especially in obesity treatment. 36% of patients who were told they needed to loose weight claim that their doctor never discussed how to go about dropping the weight with them.
USA Today 3/17/10
Pepsi is dropping out of schools
Pepsi announced that they are going to remove their high-calorie drinks from schools for kids ages 18 and under in more than 200 countries. They are doing this to help prevent childhood obesity.
USA Today 3/17/10
Poll: Worries about environment hit low
American’s level of worry about the environment has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Experts believe this is partly due to the fact that most Americans are worried about the economy instead of the environment.
USA Today 3/18/10
Claims for damaged, lost bags down 50%
There has been almost a 50% decrease in complaints about airport workers damaging or loosing bags. This success is partly contributed to the fact that the agencies have installed surveillance cameras in rooms wehre luggage is screen.
USA Today 3/9/10
Slowly, limits on pot are fading
A lawyer in California is concerned because he has concluded that the ban on marijuana is making is more accessible to kids, instead of less. He claims that kids say that its easier to get a hold of marijuana than alcohol because marijuana isn’t controlled by the government. He is beginning to think that if the government were to regulate marijuana then it would be harder for kids to get a hold of it.
USA Today 3/9/10
Gas heads back up to $3 a gallon this spring
Experts say that with the bad economy it could help gas prices from increasing. Factors that will help gas prices from going up are unemployment and refining capacity. Experts say that is the unemployment rate drops below 8.7% then Americans could see a rise in gas prices
USA Today 3/9/10
More urbanites have their pick of fresh fruit.
Many larger cities are putting in community green spaces where citizens can come and pick free fruit. This is benefiting those who live in the urban community not only because they get fresh produce from it, but because it gives them an opportunity to get outside and be in nature.
USA Today 3/11/10
Is the Global warming movement Cooling?
The efforts to stop global warming have been decreasing these last few months with the extreme cold weather. Not only are communities beginning to dought but also some scientists. One scientist is worried that other scientists are beginning to dought because he doesn’t want the public to also dought global warming.
USA Today 3/11/10
Box Office has 3-D to thank for record year
The box offices had a all time high record last year of $29.9 billion. This is increase is due to the increase in 3-D screens and the increase of ticket prices. This is important because in a society that is concerned about the economy people are still spending money on going out to the movies.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Comparative Politics Charles Hauss Chapter 2 Outline
I. Four Elections
a. Two common denominators to recent electoral history in the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany.
1. Elections determine who governs in all democracies.
2. Even though election stakes are high none of them have all critical
issues up for debate.
b. Differences- No two democracies are alike.
1. Not all democracies run their elections in the same way.
2. In the U.S. has a presidential system with a separation and divisions of
power.
II. Thinking About Democracy
a. The Basics
1. Rights- basic rights: freedom of press, religion, associations, and speech.
2. Competitive Elections- all elections are free, regular, and fair in which people can choose between two or more candidates.
3. Civil Society and Civic Culture- stable democracies have a civic culture in which people accept not just the rules of the political game but the elites who lead them.
4. Capitalism and Affluence- democracy can only exist alongside an affluent economy based in large part of private ownership of the means of production.
III. The Origins of the Democratic State
a. Domestic concerns matter more than international ones.
b. It is impossible to disentangle the history of democracy from that of Europe and North America.
c. Democracy in these countries has taken along time to develop.
d. Thomas Hobbes- If people were left to their own devices, the competition among them would be so intense that it would lead to the “war of all against all.”
e. John Locke- the state’s role was to protect “life, liberty, and property.”
f. The way democracy is created has to do with 4 transformations:
1. The creation of the nation and state
2. The role of religion in society and government
3. The development of pressures for democracy
4. The industrial revolution
IV. Political Culture and Participation.
a. The Civic Culture?
i. reasons for the collapse of democracy and the rise of fascism- political culture
ii. In successful Democracy- people have a sense of legitimacy and accept the “rules of the game.”
iii. The feeling of legitimacy has remained despite a drastic drop in most forms of political participation and trust in politicians.
iv. Consider more than just the values and assumptions of a political culture.
b. Political Parties and Elections
i. Political parties: the organizations responsible for contesting elections and forming governments afterward.
ii. Left- remains of the communist’s party.
iii. Social Democratic- traditionally supported the nationalization of industry, extensive social welfare programs, and greater equality.
iv. Liberals or Radicals- fundamental change; separation of church and state, a market economy, and democracy.
v. Christian Democratic- relationship between church and state
vi. Right- secular conservatives.
c. Catch-All Parties
i. attempt to appeal to all voters and literally catch them all.
d. New Divisions
i. women are beginning to have an increased role in political life.
e. Realignment?
i. Two parts
1. Dealignment always precedes realignment.
2. the right has gone a long way towards redefining itself. Conservatives has kept some of their traditional voters in the fold while appealing to new right wing materialists.
f. Interest Groups
i. They seek to promote the ideas of the interest groups.
ii. Since there are so many interest groups it is hard to reach a firm conclusion about them.
g. Political Protest
i. Two trends in protest
1. The angriest and loudest protest come from groups that feel they are least well represented.
2. Virtually none of it involves people who question the legitimacy of their regimes.
V. The Democratic State
a. Presidential and Parliamentary Systems
i. both are based on critical democratic principle that free and completive elections determine who governs.
ii. the American president often has to compromise, but in a parliamentary system the prime minister usually does not have to compromise because of a secure majority party.
iii. Parliamentary systems have cabinet responsibility- requires a prime minister and government to retain the support of a parliamentary majority.
VI. Public Policy
a. The Interventionist State
i. interventionist state- offer a variety of social services including…
1. Basic health care and education
2. Subsidized and/or free education at all levels including
universities.
3. Unemployment compensation
4. Pensions and other programs for seniors
b. Industrialized democracies all have capitalist economies because most
businesses are privately owned.
c.Foreign Policy
i. “political space” has changed so now it is easier for any of the
industrialized democracies to criticize and even reject Washington’s
initiatives on issues of national security.
d. Feedback
i. it is getting easier and more confusing to find out about politics at home
and abroad.
ii. average citizens view the world in their own terms, which may be
different from those of either the politicians or the media moguls.
e. Conclusions: The Worst Form of Government Expect For All the Others?
i. democratic regimes achieve a series of balances better than any other types of government:
1. Between the governors and the governed
2. Between the political world and the rest of the society
3. Between unbridled capitalism and the interests of those who do
not benefit from it.
4. Between personal freedoms and the need to maintain order and forge coherent public policy.
3 Questions:
1. The chapter talks about how democracies need to have an affluent economic base and I just wonder why democracy seems to require capitalism to be successful.
2. Under the Origins of the Democratic State section the author knows that democracy in these countries took a long time to develop. This just makes me wonder what exactly it is about democracy that makes it such a long process.
3. This isn’t really a question, but I though it was interesting how the chapter talks about how it is important for people to feel a sense of legitimacy in the government and even if voter turn out is low democracies are successful because the people still feel they are important, even if they don’t vote.
Comparative Politics Charles Hauss Chapter 3 Outline
I. Covering (or Not) The Uninsured
a. The U.S is the only industrialized democracy that does not even guarantee basic health care coverage to everybody.
b. The government does provide Medicaid and Medicare to the elderly and poor.
c. Thinking about the United States
i. The U.S. has a federal, where the government shares power with states, cities, counties, and other jurisdictions.
ii. The U.S. has a strong system of checks and balances.
iii. The way the U.S. is set up it requires politicians to compromise on almost every issue.
iv. The U.S. shares a decline in civic engagement with other industrialized democracies.
d. The Making of the American State
i. The Constitutional Order
1. According to Seymour Martin Lipset the most important even in the creation of the first nation was the adoption of the Constitution in 1787.
2. The founding fathers decided to concentrate power in larger jurisdictions such as the national government
ii. Since the Founders
1. The biggest crisis the US has ever faced was the civil war.
2. Even though American politics change the basic institutions and principles remain intact.
e. The American People and Politics
i. The American Political Culture
1. No more than a tiny minority of Americans have questioned the regime based on the Constitution of 1787.
2. Almost all Americans accept the idea of a weak state
3. Individualism remains one of the most widely held beliefs among Americans.
ii. Parties and Elections
1. The most common form of political participation in the US is voting in national elections.
2. Americans have a two party system
3. The Democratic part traditionally represents the “little man”
4. The Republican party traditionally represents the upper and middle class.
5. Democrats traditionally do best in the industrial Northeast and Middle West and West coasts and Republicans do better in the south, agricultural Midwest, and Rocky Mountain States.
iii. Social movements
1. New Left- added new issues, promotion of the civil rights and opposition of the Vietnam War.
2. New Right- More diverse than its left-wing equivalent.
iv. The Weak American State
1. The US has one of the weakest states of any of the industrialized democracies.
2. The US generally takes more time and is generally less effective than other governments.
3. The house and senate almost never pass identical versions of a bill.
4. 5 main factors that shape the way members vote
1. The President
2. The Party
3. The Member Peers
4. the Members constituents want
5. The Members own views
5. The American state usually cannot act either quickly or coherently
6. 3 factors to contribute to making the US a weak state
1. bureaucracy
2. The US is rare in giving its courts wide-ranging powers of judicial review.
3. federal system
II. Feedback
a. people rely primarily on network TV for their political information
3 Questions:
1. I did not realize that the US was the only industrialized nation that did not provide basic health care for everybody. This made me wonder why not until more recent years has the US not had to push to provide health care to everyone?
2. The US is considered a weak state because it takes a longer period of time to make actions, but I would not necessarily consider this completely negative because since the US takes longer to get legislation through by the time the legislation passes it is hopefully a compromise of what both parties want.
3. According to the table on page 58 the gap between the percentage of popular vote for republican and democrats has been decreasing; I wonder what reasons for this are?
News Articles:
USA Today 02/23/10
Obama unveils restart on health
President Obama proposed having a 10 year $950 billion plan that is opposed by the Republicans and is not yet endorsed by the Democrats. It is unclear whether or not the Democrats will be able to pass the bill on an election year. Even if Obama won 51 votes in the senate it is uncertain if the house would pass the bill.
USA Today 02/23/10
Americans back behind the wheel
Driving has started to increase in the past few months as the economy is slowly improving. Another way that they know that driving is up is that toll collections have increased. From 2007 to 2009 the dramatic drop in driving road deaths dropped and even with the increasing in driving lately road deaths are not expected to rise.
USA Today 02/23/10
Dogs help provide support in courtrooms
Courts have begun to use dogs to help calm victims and witnesses of violent attacks when they are testifying. This began in Seattle but is gaining popularity across the country. This works especially well with children because they may be afraid to talk to adults but are not afraid to talk to the dogs.
USA Today 02/25/10
‘Gaps’ found in lactose intolerance
At a National Institutes of Health conference it was discussed how many Americans believe they are lactose intolerant when they are really not. One should not completely eliminate dairy products from their diet unless confirmed by a doctor that one is lactose intolerant because doing so could harm ones bones, heart, blood pressure, and colon.
USA Today 02/25/10
Trainer killed in show at Sea World
An experienced animal trainer was killed at sea world. They believe that that trainer slipped and fell into the tank with the killer whale. This whale is also linked to two previous deaths.
USA Today 03/01/10
In Chilean quake, a warning for U.S.
An earthquake in Chile with a magnitude of 8.8 has sent tsunami fears across the pacific. As of Sunday the death toll from the earth quake is 700. Much of the west cost of California is at risk for having an earthquake, so the government is taking notice in how Chile is responding to the earthquake and how affective their methods of prevention were.
USA Today 03/01/10
For most places, this winter was a seasonal switcheroo
This winter has caused lots of snow in places where it does not normally snow much and little in areas that it normally does. In mid-February snow covered over two thirds of the country compared to normally only half the country is covered. Meteorologists believe that the strange winter weather can be attributed to El Nino, because the ocean temperatures are slightly warmer than normal.
USA Today 03/01/10
Crosby denies USA another miracle
The Americans received the silver metal at the Olympics after the Canadians scoring another goal in overtime. The NHL has sent it players four times to the Olympics, and Canada has won the gold twice.
USA Today 03/02/10
Postal service Seeks 5-day delivery
The U.S. Postal service is moving towards switching from delivery six days a week to five days a week. This week they will submit a request to the Postal Regulatory Commission and if they approve it, then it will have to be approved by congress. The suggestion for this decrease in days is because since more Americans can make payments online the postal service has continued to decrease the amount of mail it delivers.
USA Today 03/02/10
Weedkiller upsets frogs’ hormones
A herbicide used to kill weeds has been found to chemically castrate frogs, producing gender-bending effects. The effects of this are that it is causing many of these frogs to be unable to reproduce. About 75% or stream water samples done by the U.S. Geological Survey contain atrazine, a herbicide. Discussion of this chemical use being discontinued is being talked about as a precaution.
I. Four Elections
a. Two common denominators to recent electoral history in the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany.
1. Elections determine who governs in all democracies.
2. Even though election stakes are high none of them have all critical
issues up for debate.
b. Differences- No two democracies are alike.
1. Not all democracies run their elections in the same way.
2. In the U.S. has a presidential system with a separation and divisions of
power.
II. Thinking About Democracy
a. The Basics
1. Rights- basic rights: freedom of press, religion, associations, and speech.
2. Competitive Elections- all elections are free, regular, and fair in which people can choose between two or more candidates.
3. Civil Society and Civic Culture- stable democracies have a civic culture in which people accept not just the rules of the political game but the elites who lead them.
4. Capitalism and Affluence- democracy can only exist alongside an affluent economy based in large part of private ownership of the means of production.
III. The Origins of the Democratic State
a. Domestic concerns matter more than international ones.
b. It is impossible to disentangle the history of democracy from that of Europe and North America.
c. Democracy in these countries has taken along time to develop.
d. Thomas Hobbes- If people were left to their own devices, the competition among them would be so intense that it would lead to the “war of all against all.”
e. John Locke- the state’s role was to protect “life, liberty, and property.”
f. The way democracy is created has to do with 4 transformations:
1. The creation of the nation and state
2. The role of religion in society and government
3. The development of pressures for democracy
4. The industrial revolution
IV. Political Culture and Participation.
a. The Civic Culture?
i. reasons for the collapse of democracy and the rise of fascism- political culture
ii. In successful Democracy- people have a sense of legitimacy and accept the “rules of the game.”
iii. The feeling of legitimacy has remained despite a drastic drop in most forms of political participation and trust in politicians.
iv. Consider more than just the values and assumptions of a political culture.
b. Political Parties and Elections
i. Political parties: the organizations responsible for contesting elections and forming governments afterward.
ii. Left- remains of the communist’s party.
iii. Social Democratic- traditionally supported the nationalization of industry, extensive social welfare programs, and greater equality.
iv. Liberals or Radicals- fundamental change; separation of church and state, a market economy, and democracy.
v. Christian Democratic- relationship between church and state
vi. Right- secular conservatives.
c. Catch-All Parties
i. attempt to appeal to all voters and literally catch them all.
d. New Divisions
i. women are beginning to have an increased role in political life.
e. Realignment?
i. Two parts
1. Dealignment always precedes realignment.
2. the right has gone a long way towards redefining itself. Conservatives has kept some of their traditional voters in the fold while appealing to new right wing materialists.
f. Interest Groups
i. They seek to promote the ideas of the interest groups.
ii. Since there are so many interest groups it is hard to reach a firm conclusion about them.
g. Political Protest
i. Two trends in protest
1. The angriest and loudest protest come from groups that feel they are least well represented.
2. Virtually none of it involves people who question the legitimacy of their regimes.
V. The Democratic State
a. Presidential and Parliamentary Systems
i. both are based on critical democratic principle that free and completive elections determine who governs.
ii. the American president often has to compromise, but in a parliamentary system the prime minister usually does not have to compromise because of a secure majority party.
iii. Parliamentary systems have cabinet responsibility- requires a prime minister and government to retain the support of a parliamentary majority.
VI. Public Policy
a. The Interventionist State
i. interventionist state- offer a variety of social services including…
1. Basic health care and education
2. Subsidized and/or free education at all levels including
universities.
3. Unemployment compensation
4. Pensions and other programs for seniors
b. Industrialized democracies all have capitalist economies because most
businesses are privately owned.
c.Foreign Policy
i. “political space” has changed so now it is easier for any of the
industrialized democracies to criticize and even reject Washington’s
initiatives on issues of national security.
d. Feedback
i. it is getting easier and more confusing to find out about politics at home
and abroad.
ii. average citizens view the world in their own terms, which may be
different from those of either the politicians or the media moguls.
e. Conclusions: The Worst Form of Government Expect For All the Others?
i. democratic regimes achieve a series of balances better than any other types of government:
1. Between the governors and the governed
2. Between the political world and the rest of the society
3. Between unbridled capitalism and the interests of those who do
not benefit from it.
4. Between personal freedoms and the need to maintain order and forge coherent public policy.
3 Questions:
1. The chapter talks about how democracies need to have an affluent economic base and I just wonder why democracy seems to require capitalism to be successful.
2. Under the Origins of the Democratic State section the author knows that democracy in these countries took a long time to develop. This just makes me wonder what exactly it is about democracy that makes it such a long process.
3. This isn’t really a question, but I though it was interesting how the chapter talks about how it is important for people to feel a sense of legitimacy in the government and even if voter turn out is low democracies are successful because the people still feel they are important, even if they don’t vote.
Comparative Politics Charles Hauss Chapter 3 Outline
I. Covering (or Not) The Uninsured
a. The U.S is the only industrialized democracy that does not even guarantee basic health care coverage to everybody.
b. The government does provide Medicaid and Medicare to the elderly and poor.
c. Thinking about the United States
i. The U.S. has a federal, where the government shares power with states, cities, counties, and other jurisdictions.
ii. The U.S. has a strong system of checks and balances.
iii. The way the U.S. is set up it requires politicians to compromise on almost every issue.
iv. The U.S. shares a decline in civic engagement with other industrialized democracies.
d. The Making of the American State
i. The Constitutional Order
1. According to Seymour Martin Lipset the most important even in the creation of the first nation was the adoption of the Constitution in 1787.
2. The founding fathers decided to concentrate power in larger jurisdictions such as the national government
ii. Since the Founders
1. The biggest crisis the US has ever faced was the civil war.
2. Even though American politics change the basic institutions and principles remain intact.
e. The American People and Politics
i. The American Political Culture
1. No more than a tiny minority of Americans have questioned the regime based on the Constitution of 1787.
2. Almost all Americans accept the idea of a weak state
3. Individualism remains one of the most widely held beliefs among Americans.
ii. Parties and Elections
1. The most common form of political participation in the US is voting in national elections.
2. Americans have a two party system
3. The Democratic part traditionally represents the “little man”
4. The Republican party traditionally represents the upper and middle class.
5. Democrats traditionally do best in the industrial Northeast and Middle West and West coasts and Republicans do better in the south, agricultural Midwest, and Rocky Mountain States.
iii. Social movements
1. New Left- added new issues, promotion of the civil rights and opposition of the Vietnam War.
2. New Right- More diverse than its left-wing equivalent.
iv. The Weak American State
1. The US has one of the weakest states of any of the industrialized democracies.
2. The US generally takes more time and is generally less effective than other governments.
3. The house and senate almost never pass identical versions of a bill.
4. 5 main factors that shape the way members vote
1. The President
2. The Party
3. The Member Peers
4. the Members constituents want
5. The Members own views
5. The American state usually cannot act either quickly or coherently
6. 3 factors to contribute to making the US a weak state
1. bureaucracy
2. The US is rare in giving its courts wide-ranging powers of judicial review.
3. federal system
II. Feedback
a. people rely primarily on network TV for their political information
3 Questions:
1. I did not realize that the US was the only industrialized nation that did not provide basic health care for everybody. This made me wonder why not until more recent years has the US not had to push to provide health care to everyone?
2. The US is considered a weak state because it takes a longer period of time to make actions, but I would not necessarily consider this completely negative because since the US takes longer to get legislation through by the time the legislation passes it is hopefully a compromise of what both parties want.
3. According to the table on page 58 the gap between the percentage of popular vote for republican and democrats has been decreasing; I wonder what reasons for this are?
News Articles:
USA Today 02/23/10
Obama unveils restart on health
President Obama proposed having a 10 year $950 billion plan that is opposed by the Republicans and is not yet endorsed by the Democrats. It is unclear whether or not the Democrats will be able to pass the bill on an election year. Even if Obama won 51 votes in the senate it is uncertain if the house would pass the bill.
USA Today 02/23/10
Americans back behind the wheel
Driving has started to increase in the past few months as the economy is slowly improving. Another way that they know that driving is up is that toll collections have increased. From 2007 to 2009 the dramatic drop in driving road deaths dropped and even with the increasing in driving lately road deaths are not expected to rise.
USA Today 02/23/10
Dogs help provide support in courtrooms
Courts have begun to use dogs to help calm victims and witnesses of violent attacks when they are testifying. This began in Seattle but is gaining popularity across the country. This works especially well with children because they may be afraid to talk to adults but are not afraid to talk to the dogs.
USA Today 02/25/10
‘Gaps’ found in lactose intolerance
At a National Institutes of Health conference it was discussed how many Americans believe they are lactose intolerant when they are really not. One should not completely eliminate dairy products from their diet unless confirmed by a doctor that one is lactose intolerant because doing so could harm ones bones, heart, blood pressure, and colon.
USA Today 02/25/10
Trainer killed in show at Sea World
An experienced animal trainer was killed at sea world. They believe that that trainer slipped and fell into the tank with the killer whale. This whale is also linked to two previous deaths.
USA Today 03/01/10
In Chilean quake, a warning for U.S.
An earthquake in Chile with a magnitude of 8.8 has sent tsunami fears across the pacific. As of Sunday the death toll from the earth quake is 700. Much of the west cost of California is at risk for having an earthquake, so the government is taking notice in how Chile is responding to the earthquake and how affective their methods of prevention were.
USA Today 03/01/10
For most places, this winter was a seasonal switcheroo
This winter has caused lots of snow in places where it does not normally snow much and little in areas that it normally does. In mid-February snow covered over two thirds of the country compared to normally only half the country is covered. Meteorologists believe that the strange winter weather can be attributed to El Nino, because the ocean temperatures are slightly warmer than normal.
USA Today 03/01/10
Crosby denies USA another miracle
The Americans received the silver metal at the Olympics after the Canadians scoring another goal in overtime. The NHL has sent it players four times to the Olympics, and Canada has won the gold twice.
USA Today 03/02/10
Postal service Seeks 5-day delivery
The U.S. Postal service is moving towards switching from delivery six days a week to five days a week. This week they will submit a request to the Postal Regulatory Commission and if they approve it, then it will have to be approved by congress. The suggestion for this decrease in days is because since more Americans can make payments online the postal service has continued to decrease the amount of mail it delivers.
USA Today 03/02/10
Weedkiller upsets frogs’ hormones
A herbicide used to kill weeds has been found to chemically castrate frogs, producing gender-bending effects. The effects of this are that it is causing many of these frogs to be unable to reproduce. About 75% or stream water samples done by the U.S. Geological Survey contain atrazine, a herbicide. Discussion of this chemical use being discontinued is being talked about as a precaution.
Monday, February 15, 2010
New Articles
USA Today 02/08/10
Social Security races to ‘negative’
This article is about how social security is diminishing since so many people have to retire early because of the recession. It is expected that the next few years will have an even greater negative impact. A future problem that is predicted to also arise from this is when the Baby Boomers begin to draw social security; this will create more annual losses beginning around 2016.
USA Today 02/08/10
Blizzard whips up a 12-punch
The massive amounts of snow in the Northeast have brought that region of the country to a half. Many homes and businesses are without power and utilities. The snow is so bad that the federal agencies in Washington D.C. will be closed today. The bad weather is also affecting the airline companies and their ability to get flights off the ground.
USA Today 02/09/10
First lady says: ‘Let’s move’ on child obesity
Michelle Obama is taking action to help prevent child obesity. Thirty-two percent of children today are obese or overweight. By children being overweight it puts them at higher risks of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The website letsmove.gov is attempting to help people change their lifestyles.
USA Today 02/09/10
The cops are watching YouTube, too
The police are using internet sites such as YouTube and facebook to help them catch criminals. There have been several cases reported where people have committed crimes such as street fighting or racing, and the cops have found videos of it online and were able to identify and arrest the suspects. The police have also used facebook to catch a man who was convicted of a murder and wrote a friend a message about it online. This article is important because people need to realize that what they are posting online could be watched by the police.
USA Today 02/11/10
Storm paralyzes air travel
The blizzards in the northeast have caused almost as much travel delays as the attacks of Sept. 11th. On Wed. 5,700 flights were canceled. It is estimated that this storm will caused one of the worst transportation delays of the decade. This is highly impacting the airport because they are losing money with every flight they have to cancel.
USA Today 02/15/10
Alabama campus reels after shooting
Three professors at the University of Alabama-Huntsville were killed by a college. Classes at the school have been canceled this week. Amy Bishop is being accused of shooting six people at a faculty meeting on Friday. If she is convicted she will most likely face the death penalty of life in prison.
USA Today 02/15/10
U.S. draws down Haiti relief force
The United States is starting to withdraw troops from Haiti. The amount of troops is down to 13,000 from the 20,000 that were there on Feb. 1st. The U.S. is tempting to turn tasks back over to Haiti to try and help the government regain their stability.
USA Today 02/16/10
Bans sought for chemical found in baby bottles
Some states are working to ban BPA, a chemical found in food and drink containers. The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that BPA may have some concerns with development of fetuses, infants, and children. BPA is not federally regulated by is regulated by the states. Minnesota and Connecticut were the first two states to ban BPA in food and drinks used by children.
USA Today 02/16/10
Tiny cameras seen as future in police work
After a shooting of a police officer in Fort Smith, Ar. it was discovered that the office that was shot was wearing a tiny ear camera. By reviewing this camera the police were able to tell that the officer reacted as he should while working. These cameras are being tested by the police force to make sure that the way events are written down are actually how they are happening. One concern with the police force begins to test these cameras is privacy issues.
USA Today 02/18/10
Tale of two cities: Recession sometimes takes uneven toll
Studies are showing that while the recession is impacting the entire country some areas are being hit harder than others. In Grand Forks, ND. the jobless rate is 4%, while in El Centro, California the jobless rate is 27.7%. One reasons for the difference in the jobless rate across the country is that the construction and housing industry had such high growth before the recession that in sates like California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada where the construction industry made up a large part of the jobs. These states are now having higher jobless rates with the halt of the housing and construction world.
Social Security races to ‘negative’
This article is about how social security is diminishing since so many people have to retire early because of the recession. It is expected that the next few years will have an even greater negative impact. A future problem that is predicted to also arise from this is when the Baby Boomers begin to draw social security; this will create more annual losses beginning around 2016.
USA Today 02/08/10
Blizzard whips up a 12-punch
The massive amounts of snow in the Northeast have brought that region of the country to a half. Many homes and businesses are without power and utilities. The snow is so bad that the federal agencies in Washington D.C. will be closed today. The bad weather is also affecting the airline companies and their ability to get flights off the ground.
USA Today 02/09/10
First lady says: ‘Let’s move’ on child obesity
Michelle Obama is taking action to help prevent child obesity. Thirty-two percent of children today are obese or overweight. By children being overweight it puts them at higher risks of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The website letsmove.gov is attempting to help people change their lifestyles.
USA Today 02/09/10
The cops are watching YouTube, too
The police are using internet sites such as YouTube and facebook to help them catch criminals. There have been several cases reported where people have committed crimes such as street fighting or racing, and the cops have found videos of it online and were able to identify and arrest the suspects. The police have also used facebook to catch a man who was convicted of a murder and wrote a friend a message about it online. This article is important because people need to realize that what they are posting online could be watched by the police.
USA Today 02/11/10
Storm paralyzes air travel
The blizzards in the northeast have caused almost as much travel delays as the attacks of Sept. 11th. On Wed. 5,700 flights were canceled. It is estimated that this storm will caused one of the worst transportation delays of the decade. This is highly impacting the airport because they are losing money with every flight they have to cancel.
USA Today 02/15/10
Alabama campus reels after shooting
Three professors at the University of Alabama-Huntsville were killed by a college. Classes at the school have been canceled this week. Amy Bishop is being accused of shooting six people at a faculty meeting on Friday. If she is convicted she will most likely face the death penalty of life in prison.
USA Today 02/15/10
U.S. draws down Haiti relief force
The United States is starting to withdraw troops from Haiti. The amount of troops is down to 13,000 from the 20,000 that were there on Feb. 1st. The U.S. is tempting to turn tasks back over to Haiti to try and help the government regain their stability.
USA Today 02/16/10
Bans sought for chemical found in baby bottles
Some states are working to ban BPA, a chemical found in food and drink containers. The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that BPA may have some concerns with development of fetuses, infants, and children. BPA is not federally regulated by is regulated by the states. Minnesota and Connecticut were the first two states to ban BPA in food and drinks used by children.
USA Today 02/16/10
Tiny cameras seen as future in police work
After a shooting of a police officer in Fort Smith, Ar. it was discovered that the office that was shot was wearing a tiny ear camera. By reviewing this camera the police were able to tell that the officer reacted as he should while working. These cameras are being tested by the police force to make sure that the way events are written down are actually how they are happening. One concern with the police force begins to test these cameras is privacy issues.
USA Today 02/18/10
Tale of two cities: Recession sometimes takes uneven toll
Studies are showing that while the recession is impacting the entire country some areas are being hit harder than others. In Grand Forks, ND. the jobless rate is 4%, while in El Centro, California the jobless rate is 27.7%. One reasons for the difference in the jobless rate across the country is that the construction and housing industry had such high growth before the recession that in sates like California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada where the construction industry made up a large part of the jobs. These states are now having higher jobless rates with the halt of the housing and construction world.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Intro. To Comparative Politics Journal Entry 1
Comparative Politics Domestic Responses to Global Challenges by Charles Hauss Chapter 1:
I. What is Comparative Politics?
a. Politics around the world matter
b. The stakes of political life vary tremendously from place to place and time to time
c. Content-
i. We look and try to understand similarities and differences among nations
d. Method-
i. This gives us a way to look at and understand politics.
e. Science-
i. Attempts to develop a theory that covers an entire area or discipline.
II. The State: One Focus Among Many
a. 3 classifications
i. Industrialized Democracies- most resources, and has the greatest potential for creating and sustaining powerful states.
a. Has the strongest restrains on the use of its power.
ii. Communists- state is strong, but not enough to keep state indefinitely strong.
iii. Less developed countries- poor, have high rates of illiteracy, the government has not been able to generate courts or bureaucracies.
b. strong and weak states- strong states have more responsibilities and usually carry out these responsibilities out effectively.
i. strong states are usually wealthy, have popular support , and usually the government works well together.
c. Core concepts:
i. regime- set of institutions and practices the happen when one government is replaced by another.
ii. System- the regime and the government of the day.
iii. Democracy and capitalism
iv. Political cultures: reflects values of people
v. Identity- how a country defines themselves in racial, linguistic, ethnic or religious terms.
vi. Political Participation- elections, interest groups
vii. Public Policy- regulate what citizens can do
viii. Imperialism- the policy of colonizing other countries
ix. Totalitarianism
x. Globalization- the shrinking of social, economic, environmental and political life.
III. 3 templates:
a. Political system- 5 concepts: input, decision making, outputs, feedback, and the environment.
b. Inputs- the way citizens and groups interact with political life
i. Two types of activities 1. People who support 2. People who make demands of the state.
ii. Types of organizations: 1. Interest groups- deal with limited issues and represent a small amount of the population 2. Political Parties- tries to bring the interest groups together to help gain control over government
c. Decision Making- two main angles: the institutions structure and the beliefs, skills, and personalities of the leaders.
i. Institutions matter more in older, established regimes like Britain.
d. Output-public policy in system theory
e. Feedback- the process through which people find out about public policy and the ways in which their reactions to recent political events help shape the next phase of political life.
f. Environment- everything outside the political system.
IV. Historical and contemporary factors:
a. Imperialism- imposition of western political, economic, and cultural institutions on the rest of the world.
b. Globalizations-used to describe hoe international economic, social, cultural, and technological forces are affecting events inside individual countries.
V. States, Society, and globalization:
a. Inverse relationship. If the power of one increases, then the other must reduce.
Key Themes:
• Politics matters all around the world
• The stakes of political life vary from place to place and time to time
• There are similarities and differences between governments
• There are three different types of states, industrialized democracies, current and former communist regimes, and less developed countries, each has benefits and drawbacks.
• Globalization affects both large and small states by limited states from being able to do whatever they wish. Most states are beginning to lose their abilities to shape their own destinies due to globalizations.
• The government is important and is also used to term people in power at a certain time.
• In government the regime and the system are important parts that make up an important government.
• System theory has 5 key concepts: inputs, decisions making, outputs, feedback, and the environment.
Questions after reading?
• When the book talks about reasons the communist’s style regimes failed. I wonder what it is about giving people slight freedom that made them loose their repression. I would like this further explained.
• What makes it so hard for countries outside of Europe and northern American to democratize and create a market based economy besides wealth?
• Hauss talks about strong and weak states. I would like to know which states he considers weak and strong? I wish he would have gave examples of strong and weak states.
New events:
1. USA Today 1/25/10
States Go After Texting drivers- twenty-three states are working on legislation to ban texting and driving. Nineteen states have already passed legislation to prohibit it. The interest in this has come up due to the public disapproval of the accidents caused from using cell phones and driving.
2. USA Today 1/26/10
Teen Pregnancies, abortions rise- since 2006 the rise in teen pregnancies has risen 37%, this has also lead to higher abortions among girls ages 15 to 19. Even though the government has almost doubled spending on abstinence education the rise in these pregnancies still is increasing. This is important because the government is spending millions of dollars to try and reduce pregnancy rates, but is it really working? Also, this can be considered when discussing about pro life or pro choice.
3. USA Today 1/28/10
Obama Vows to Make Job creation Immediate Priority- Obama’s immediate goals for the country are to reduce business taxes, rebuild roads and rail lines. He has but regulating health care and climate change on the back burner. These are important because they are decisions that are will affect not only the country as a whole, but decisions made by Obama and the government will be ones that will personally affect each individual.
4. USA Today 1/28/10
Crew begins to raze Haiti hotel’s remains- construction crews have started removing the remains in Haiti. This has raised some controversy because some people still believe that their loved ones could still be trapped inside.
5. USA Today 1/29/10
Driver phone bans impact doubted- a new study shows that of traffic crashes have not decreased in some states that have banned cell phone use while driving. This is important since many states are considering banning the use of cell phones while driving, this article makes us question if banning the use of cell phones will really lower the number of automobile crashes.
6. USA Today 1/31/10
Army’s suicide crisis- army suicide rates have increased and to help prevent further suicides the army is taking special efforts to make sure that the soldiers believe that they are valued and wanted. In 2009 there were 160 confirmed suicides in the army. This is important because the with the ongoing war and suicide rates being up, we need to make sure we take extra precautions to make sure that soldiers feel that what they are doing is helping to serve their country and that they are greatly needed.
7. USA Today 2/1/10
States Keep up Spending Levels
State and Local government spending is up 0.1% since 2009 even though many programs were cut off, the spending still seems to have increased. They are worried about 2011 when federal aid will start to decrease.
USA Today 2/1/10
Lessons Learned in Alexandria
Obama is trying o decided where to hold the trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected conspirators. They do not want to hold the trail in Manhattan. They are searching for a civil court where the location can remain unknown.
8. USA Today 2/2/10
Big Dollars, Big Tasks for Budget
In Obama’s $3.8 trillion dollar budget proposal he is focusing on school funding increases, war spending, and middle class families and business to receive tax cuts. Items that will not be the main focus are the $100 billion dollar plan to return astronauts to the moon, raising taxes on wealthy people, and reducing the budget deficit.
9. USA Today 2/2/10
FFA proposes $2.5 M penalty on airline
The federal aviation administration is considering giving American Airlines a penalty of $2.5 million dollars for not giving accurate information to crew members about the weight of their baggage. This is important to address because the weight of the plane is very crucial and the exact weight has to be known.
10. USA Today 2/3/10
Shirt seen on role of military "mentors"
In a reaction to the increased rate of military suicides the defense secretary, Robert Gates, will be adding a mentor experience, where retired officers can talk with and give advice to current officers.
I. What is Comparative Politics?
a. Politics around the world matter
b. The stakes of political life vary tremendously from place to place and time to time
c. Content-
i. We look and try to understand similarities and differences among nations
d. Method-
i. This gives us a way to look at and understand politics.
e. Science-
i. Attempts to develop a theory that covers an entire area or discipline.
II. The State: One Focus Among Many
a. 3 classifications
i. Industrialized Democracies- most resources, and has the greatest potential for creating and sustaining powerful states.
a. Has the strongest restrains on the use of its power.
ii. Communists- state is strong, but not enough to keep state indefinitely strong.
iii. Less developed countries- poor, have high rates of illiteracy, the government has not been able to generate courts or bureaucracies.
b. strong and weak states- strong states have more responsibilities and usually carry out these responsibilities out effectively.
i. strong states are usually wealthy, have popular support , and usually the government works well together.
c. Core concepts:
i. regime- set of institutions and practices the happen when one government is replaced by another.
ii. System- the regime and the government of the day.
iii. Democracy and capitalism
iv. Political cultures: reflects values of people
v. Identity- how a country defines themselves in racial, linguistic, ethnic or religious terms.
vi. Political Participation- elections, interest groups
vii. Public Policy- regulate what citizens can do
viii. Imperialism- the policy of colonizing other countries
ix. Totalitarianism
x. Globalization- the shrinking of social, economic, environmental and political life.
III. 3 templates:
a. Political system- 5 concepts: input, decision making, outputs, feedback, and the environment.
b. Inputs- the way citizens and groups interact with political life
i. Two types of activities 1. People who support 2. People who make demands of the state.
ii. Types of organizations: 1. Interest groups- deal with limited issues and represent a small amount of the population 2. Political Parties- tries to bring the interest groups together to help gain control over government
c. Decision Making- two main angles: the institutions structure and the beliefs, skills, and personalities of the leaders.
i. Institutions matter more in older, established regimes like Britain.
d. Output-public policy in system theory
e. Feedback- the process through which people find out about public policy and the ways in which their reactions to recent political events help shape the next phase of political life.
f. Environment- everything outside the political system.
IV. Historical and contemporary factors:
a. Imperialism- imposition of western political, economic, and cultural institutions on the rest of the world.
b. Globalizations-used to describe hoe international economic, social, cultural, and technological forces are affecting events inside individual countries.
V. States, Society, and globalization:
a. Inverse relationship. If the power of one increases, then the other must reduce.
Key Themes:
• Politics matters all around the world
• The stakes of political life vary from place to place and time to time
• There are similarities and differences between governments
• There are three different types of states, industrialized democracies, current and former communist regimes, and less developed countries, each has benefits and drawbacks.
• Globalization affects both large and small states by limited states from being able to do whatever they wish. Most states are beginning to lose their abilities to shape their own destinies due to globalizations.
• The government is important and is also used to term people in power at a certain time.
• In government the regime and the system are important parts that make up an important government.
• System theory has 5 key concepts: inputs, decisions making, outputs, feedback, and the environment.
Questions after reading?
• When the book talks about reasons the communist’s style regimes failed. I wonder what it is about giving people slight freedom that made them loose their repression. I would like this further explained.
• What makes it so hard for countries outside of Europe and northern American to democratize and create a market based economy besides wealth?
• Hauss talks about strong and weak states. I would like to know which states he considers weak and strong? I wish he would have gave examples of strong and weak states.
New events:
1. USA Today 1/25/10
States Go After Texting drivers- twenty-three states are working on legislation to ban texting and driving. Nineteen states have already passed legislation to prohibit it. The interest in this has come up due to the public disapproval of the accidents caused from using cell phones and driving.
2. USA Today 1/26/10
Teen Pregnancies, abortions rise- since 2006 the rise in teen pregnancies has risen 37%, this has also lead to higher abortions among girls ages 15 to 19. Even though the government has almost doubled spending on abstinence education the rise in these pregnancies still is increasing. This is important because the government is spending millions of dollars to try and reduce pregnancy rates, but is it really working? Also, this can be considered when discussing about pro life or pro choice.
3. USA Today 1/28/10
Obama Vows to Make Job creation Immediate Priority- Obama’s immediate goals for the country are to reduce business taxes, rebuild roads and rail lines. He has but regulating health care and climate change on the back burner. These are important because they are decisions that are will affect not only the country as a whole, but decisions made by Obama and the government will be ones that will personally affect each individual.
4. USA Today 1/28/10
Crew begins to raze Haiti hotel’s remains- construction crews have started removing the remains in Haiti. This has raised some controversy because some people still believe that their loved ones could still be trapped inside.
5. USA Today 1/29/10
Driver phone bans impact doubted- a new study shows that of traffic crashes have not decreased in some states that have banned cell phone use while driving. This is important since many states are considering banning the use of cell phones while driving, this article makes us question if banning the use of cell phones will really lower the number of automobile crashes.
6. USA Today 1/31/10
Army’s suicide crisis- army suicide rates have increased and to help prevent further suicides the army is taking special efforts to make sure that the soldiers believe that they are valued and wanted. In 2009 there were 160 confirmed suicides in the army. This is important because the with the ongoing war and suicide rates being up, we need to make sure we take extra precautions to make sure that soldiers feel that what they are doing is helping to serve their country and that they are greatly needed.
7. USA Today 2/1/10
States Keep up Spending Levels
State and Local government spending is up 0.1% since 2009 even though many programs were cut off, the spending still seems to have increased. They are worried about 2011 when federal aid will start to decrease.
USA Today 2/1/10
Lessons Learned in Alexandria
Obama is trying o decided where to hold the trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected conspirators. They do not want to hold the trail in Manhattan. They are searching for a civil court where the location can remain unknown.
8. USA Today 2/2/10
Big Dollars, Big Tasks for Budget
In Obama’s $3.8 trillion dollar budget proposal he is focusing on school funding increases, war spending, and middle class families and business to receive tax cuts. Items that will not be the main focus are the $100 billion dollar plan to return astronauts to the moon, raising taxes on wealthy people, and reducing the budget deficit.
9. USA Today 2/2/10
FFA proposes $2.5 M penalty on airline
The federal aviation administration is considering giving American Airlines a penalty of $2.5 million dollars for not giving accurate information to crew members about the weight of their baggage. This is important to address because the weight of the plane is very crucial and the exact weight has to be known.
10. USA Today 2/3/10
Shirt seen on role of military "mentors"
In a reaction to the increased rate of military suicides the defense secretary, Robert Gates, will be adding a mentor experience, where retired officers can talk with and give advice to current officers.
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