Thursday, October 31, 2019
Wages ,Unions ,and Labor Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Wages ,Unions ,and Labor - Term Paper Example Moon (2011) cited that the weekly applications of unemployment insurance fell to a 3-1/2 year low. The unemployment rate was reduced to 8.6 percent last November from 9.0 percent in October this year (Dalgleish, 2011). Though this shows an improvement of 0.4 percent, the present unemployment rate is still high (Harrison & Berg, 2011; Felsenthal & da Costa, 2011). This improvement might be undone if the bill which cuts funds allocated for defense in the 2012 budget will be approved by the senate and the president. This bill will cost 800,000 jobs and this might rose up to 1.5 million jobs in the following decade due to legislation passed in August (Felsenthal & da Costa, 2011). High unemployment rate was one of the reasons why thousands of demonstrators marched on ports from Southern California to Alaska last December 12. This march included two of the largest labor unions in country: the longshoremen’s union and the Teamsters (Harrison & Berg, 2011). Part of the rally’s focus was for non-union members; independent workers who earn low wages such as truck drivers said Harrison and Berg (2011). High unemployment rate is one of the major problems of the economy of the United States at present times. ... The U.S. GDP and Unemployment Rate To analyze the current situation in an economic perspective, the country’s data on its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) must first be known together with its unemployment rate. It is important to take note of the economic output at the macro level According to Williamson (2008), â€Å"when the aggregate real GDP is high, the unemployment rate tends to be low since the two variables are countercyclical in nature (p. 594). Graphing these two sets of data will serve as a tool for analysis. Table 1. U.S. Gross Domestic Product 2011            Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter3         GDP 0.4 1.3 2.0 Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis Table 2. U.S. Unemployment Rate 2011                     Month Unemployment Rate January 9.0 February 8.9 March 8.8 April 9.0 May 9.1 June 9.2 July 9.1 August 9.1 September 9.1 October 9.0 November 8.6 Sou rce: Bureau of Labor Statistics Graph 1. U.S. GDP and Unemployment Rate 2011 Graph 1 show that the data is in accordance with what Williamson (2008) mentioned regarding GDP and unemployment rate. This further implies that despite the European debt crisis, the U.S. economy is still doing well at the moment, especially since an increase in GDP has been noted in the last quarter together with a significant decrease in unemployment. Production output has increased implying increased earnings. The number of people employed increased which means less spending for the government since the people who avail unemployment benefits decreased. If the bill which permitted the cut of funds in the budget for defense is approved, 800,000 workers will lose their job and the unemployment rate will increase once more. This will lead lesser production
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Strategies for counter terrorism in United States Essay Example for Free
Strategies for counter terrorism in United States Essay Strategies for counter-terrorism in United States Introduction            September 9/11 is a day that many people will never forget. It’s a day that’s the world’s peace was on the line. The attack on the world’s trade center proved that terrorism is a real threat in the world. That day I watched TV in shock watching people crying and wailing in pain. Many souls perished in the attack and others were maimed seriously. Counter-terrorism is an action taken to prevent the activities of political groups who use violence to try to achieve their aims. To come up with an effective counter-terrorist strategy, state government need the aim terrorists ‘ interest and goal in their state and what they aim to achieve in their mission. This analysis entails how terrorism occurs and the strategies that America has taken to counter it and challenges of each strategy.            The word terrorism originates from the word terrero which is in Latin, meaning fear. Usually terrorists are taken as Middle Eastern men who are motivated by their beliefs to harm innocent people. Unfortunately this vice is diverse, found everywhere in the world and used for any imaginable goal. Mostly terrorists are religiously or politically motivated. There are those homegrown and international. For the homegrown they organize and do it in their country (Cindy C Combs, 2003).            The word terrorism brings fear into many people while others misunderstand it. Terrorists are usually ideologically motivated whereby they use violence towards civilians so as to create fear and panic hoping to change policies or laws in a given country. There various practices used by terrorists to propagate their activities. One way terrorists is to create civil disorder. This can vary from legal protestation to illegal intimidation to the government. Various countries condone different dissent levels whereas in other peaceful assembly this is taken as terrorism. For sure destructive terrorism forms are religious, political, and quasi political. The political terrorist performs the terrorism hopping to change policies, normally in reference to profession, color or creed. The quasi political terrorism is one whereby terrorist’s tactics are used for personal gain. Finally religious terrorism looks at proliferating a person’s belief in the expense of others (Cindy C Combs, 2003). A firm stand should be taken against terrorism since it is very cruel and unjust.            Terrorism goes in and around diplomatic process with a purpose of disrupting safety and peace so as to achieve a goal. For many terrorists, a mission successful is considered when thousands of helpless, children and women lie as corpses in the streets. What many terrorist do is to set as small bomb maybe in a building which results in killing say, forty people and later detonate a larger bomb when crowd of people, policemen and medics gather to witness the outcome.            Terrorists attacks have taken place like hundred times in America and the exact figures are not clear since distinction between political violence and the domestic one is blurred. From the year 1999, there have been over fifty terror attacks which are separate, on domestic soil. According to the FBI’s NCTC records, there were over eleven thousand five hundred terror acts in the entire world by the year 2011. These attacks occurred in seventy two countries and led to approximately fifty thousand casualties of which thirteen thousand two hundred of the fifty thousand casualties suffered extreme trauma.            Each American government agency concerned with counterterrorism, has a purpose in the war against terror. The mission of Federal Bureau of Investigation is to counteract terrorist cells and operatives in United States and to aid in dismantling terrorists networks globally. In United States, numerous agencies including State Department, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency are mandated to counter terrorism. The main objective of the National Counter-terrorism Center is to orchestrate and integrate the formidable abilities of the American government devoted to defeating the threat of international terrorism and reducing the terror to Unites States interests at home and overseas (Jim S., 2001).            Counter terrorism strategy was paramount in the US national security even before the September 9/11 attacks. This is depicted whereby from the year 1958 to the year 1999, over forty legal acts dealing with war reinforcement against terrorism in a ranging degree were adopted. This acts brought about empowering of the state authority and also the agencies of law enforcement to detect and also repress the terrorism act in United States and overseas.            Most of the states use varied goals and sub-goals that dictate their counterterrorism policies. These vary depending on the state’s economic and political situation. Some of these goals include; preventing the attack, getting rid of terrorists and motivation and minimizing casualties and damages should the terrorist attack occur (Michael B. Kraft, Edward M., 2012).            Over the decade, United States has had high level of involvement in counter-terrorism actions. The time of struggle during which it fought against terrorism can be divided into two phases: this is after and before the occurrence of the 11th Sep, 2001. Phase one of counterterrorism is in relation to 1980s to 1990s. In this phase there were clear distinguished tendencies such as: use of military forces and new technologies. They used of military forces to fight international terrorist especially bombing their bases and their agencies. One of these operations was held during autumn-inter the year 2001 in Afghanistan. According to Bush G.W, they joined hands with the afghan people to overthrow the Taliban regime the defenders of the al-Qaida network- and supported a new democratic government to rise in its place. In the field of information technology, there has been a defense by the United States: the data system and the supervisory c ontrol that are applied in the oil and gas industries, pharmaceutical. In the water supply system, and in chemicals are very vulnerable since the implementation of the information technology. The attack of computers by viruses will have to play a vital role in military. Moreover, united States plan a major role in helping train new agents for counterterrorism in other countries.            Phase two started since autumn the year 2001. Thousands of people from eighty eight countries died as a result of 11th September attack. This attack led to the realization of the vulnerability of any country in the hands of terrorist. These have led to expansion of anti-terrorism cooperation in many countries. According to Paul Pillar, CRI agent who is working on Middle East countries and south Asia,’ the campaign against terrorism must be as diverse as terrorism itself’. He gave the difference among the following various counterterrorism measures; (1) The diplomacy which recognizes no borders among states, (2) the combination of many measures that complement one another, (3) blocking financial support to terrorists groups or even their sponsoring states. They would also try to track their cash flows though very difficult, (4) use of a considerably weak military force. Terroristic bases are normally not large targets and ther efore easy to destroy unlike the military bases which presents a large stationary, (5) intelligence activity is the most crucial tool to deal with terrorism. The challenge with this tool is that most of the terrorists’ data is fragmented, pregnant with meanings and usually highly questionable, (6) they would also combine different measures which complement each other.            One of the America’s main strategies of combating terrorism is diplomatic actions and economic sanctions against countries that tend to back-up terrorism activities. The best example of this is the United Nations mandating and leading international sanctions against West African countryâ€â€Libya due to the role it played in backing up terrorists who were involved in the bombing of Pan Am 103 in the year 1988.this was the first action that the entire world community took against terrorism. The United States sternly led this action with nations now being aware that US would discipline nations that support terrorism (Spindlove, C. E., 2007)..            The second strategy which included objectives and policies such strengthening coalitions to beat global terrorism was initiated in the year 2002.the main objective of this strategy is to compel other nations’ government to indentify and destroy terrorist organizations. For instance, when President George Bush was planning war on Iraq, he encouraged Americans to use the full influence they have and work hand in hand with allies and friends to ensure that all actions of terrorists are illegal so that terrorism is perceived as unacceptable behavior that no reputable government can support. This strategy depicts America as using a policy of global coercion but at the time of this strategy, America was waging a war on Iraq. One of the main challenges of this strategy is that it used weapons of mass destructions and the fear of terrorism to help gain back-up for the war using a policy of ‘’your nation is either with us or aga inst us.’’ (Spindlove, C. E., 2007).            The former U.S.A president said that the United States can no longer rely on deterrence to keep the terrorists at bay or defensive measure to thwart them at the last moment. The fight must be taken to the enemy, to keep them on the run. In order to succeed, America need the support and concert action of friends and allies (Bush G.W., 2010, p.8). Conquered with the president, â€Å"in this task of eradication, â€Å"deterrence†is a mere tactic†¦..to succeed in the long run, however ,the united state must address root causes or a next generation of terrorists will emerge. â€Å"They promised to make better the performance of making of decision, action and also for centralized decisions. They also said that the actions would be decided by those who can understand the political, military and also economic boundaries. They are the central authorities. Broad-front strategy, though seen as unwise and wasteful is what united state s hould conduct. As they have been dealing with issues of terrorists organizations, such as al Qaeda, the U.S.SA as realized that the head or the heat of the beast is never single. This means that the center of gravity to look at when attacking may not be there. Bush G.W. has outlined the main objects in the plan of fighting terrorism in United States. He said that the fight entails use of military force including other national power instruments to kill or catch the terrorists, refuse to give them safe haven, or power over any nation. Block them from getting access to WMD, and obstruct their means of support. This plan is also targeted on continuation of political reforms to guard peaceful Muslims in the whole world in their faith. He also said that responsible Islamic leaders should dissociate from an ideology that alters and exploits the Islam for ends that are destructive and rapes a proud religion. (Bush G.W., 2010, p.23).            The main counterterrorism plans are based on pre-emption, prevention, consequence management and defense. America is pursuing preemptive and proactive strategies to combat terrorism. The American security strategy is that of protection of its citizens and assets as it sees deterring and defeating terrorists as the ground for this defense. One of the main challenges of these policies is that they have internal conflict within themselves. On one hand, they seek to promote free and open societies globally while on the other hand, they seek to fight tyranny and terrorists. These strategies contradict each other as America is seen as promoting free and open societies while it benefits itself.            US usually attach much importance to getting from friendly countries rights to use their territory and tools for the USA armed forces, together with making the improved operating basis in dangerous and regions that are unstable. Today American troops are all over in one hundred and thirty countries of the world, in regards to Heritage Foundation. Most of these troops are majored in Arabic countries, together with Iraq base, Qatar, Kuwait and also in UAE (Spindlove, C. E., 2007).            In conclusion terrorism is a danger to world’s peace and stability. No groups of people should kill innocent people in the name of religion politics or ethnicity. Instead people from all religions, political or ethnic background should co-exist together and embrace peace. Unfortunately the terrorists consider a mission successful when hundreds of innocent souls lie in pools of blood. World leaders should unite their people and encourage them to shun away from terrorism and other related violence. The America’s counterterrorist policy is based on prevention; deterrence, pre-emption and limiting consequences if the act cannot be prevented. It also uses coercion as a strategy to help to strengthen coalitions for its strategies. America feels that exclusive of strong alliances and support from its friends and allies, terrorism will continue to grow and at one point, be a danger to its people and assets. References  Bush, George W. (2010). Decision Points. Crown Publishers. pp. 399–400. Palestinian extremists, many affiliated with the terrorist group Hamas, launched a wave of terrorist attacks against innocent civilians in IsraelMy views [on Israel and Hamas] came into sharper focus after 9/11. Cindy C Combs (2003), Terrorism in the Twenty First Century, (3rd Edition, New Jersey: Pearsons Educ. Inc.) Jim Saxton. (2001). Patterns of Global Terrorism and Threats to the U.S:Hearing before the Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism. Washington D.C: Diane Publishing Co. Michael B. Kraft, Edward Marks.(2012) . U.S Government Counterterrorism: A Guide to Who Does What. New York:CRC press. Paul R. Pillar.(2003). Terrorism and U.S Foreign Policy: Washington, D.C: R.R. Donnelley and Sons Harrisonburg, Virginia Spindlove, C. E. (2007). Terrorism Today. The Past, The Players, The Future. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. Source document
Saturday, October 26, 2019
The Political Communication Of India
The Political Communication Of India In the early years of Indian Independence political communication was considered to be addressing peaceful rallies and dropping election pamphlets from a plane to persuade the Indian Voter. The post liberalization has already seen three paradigm shifts, Firstly the Nehruvian Socialism in the 1960s, then the hard lined discipline of Indira Gandhi and economic freedom in the 1990s. the liberalization of the Indian economy has changed the way of communication ranging from cable television to telecommunication and then bringing on to the online platform. Earlier the communication during elections used to take place in rallies and depended a lot on politicians interpersonal skills. But the political parties are soon realizing the importance of this Digital Era to connect with the youth of the country. The Political parties know that the youth are going in the transformation from Digital Migrants to Digital Natives. They are present with their true identities on the Digital platform. This requires the political parties of India to adopt methods which have been never adopted before. In the recently hard fought Lok Sabha Elections of 2009, all major political parties of India had hired Ad and Media Agencies to manage their Brand Image. Understanding Political Communication Political communication is a sub-field of political science and communication that deals with the production, dissemination, procession and effects of information, both through media and interpersonally, within a political context. This includes all usage of Media, speeches by politicians, Opinion leaders in the community to influence the decision process and it also includes the formal and informal discussions in the general public. The Study of Political Communication revolves around 3 basic elements. The Political Party The Voter The Medium of communication The Political Party As per the Ace Electoral Network, A political party is defined as an organised group of people with at least roughly similar political aims and opinions, that seeks to influence public policy by getting its candidates elected to public office. Political parties perform key tasks in a democratic society, such as Aggregating and articulating needs and problems as identified by members and supporters Socialising and educating voters and citizens in the functioning of the political and electoral system and the generation of general political values Balancing opposing demands and converting them into general policies Activating and mobilising citizens into participating in political decisions and transforming their opinions into viable policy options Channelling public opinion from citizens to government To perform these above mentioned key tasks, the political party should be able to communicate their objective clearly to their Voters. With the increase in the number of mediums a party can use to communicate with their voter, a consistency in the communication objective should be must. Communication objective is derived from the Brand Proposition the party wants to display to the general public. Harrop (1990) perceives political marketing as being not just about political advertising, party political broadcasts and electoral speeches but covering the whole area of party positioning in the electoral market. Maarek (1995) conceptualises political marketing as a complex process, the outcome of a more global effort implicating all the factors of the politicians political communication. Maarek explained the Difference between commercial marketing and political marketing. Figure 1: Commercial and Political Marketing, two parallel strategies. In the above figure Maarek tries to point out the difference between Commercial Marketing and Political Marketing. Such a parallel cannot be drawn, as a partys product consists not of its political communications but of: a) Its ideological platform and its set of policy proposals. b) The party leader, the candidates and party officials. In Maareks view, political marketing has become an integral and vital component of political communication. In his words: Political communicationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦encompasses the entire marketing process, from preliminary market study to testing and targeting. The Voter The aim of any type of communication is to convince the receiver. All marketers try to convince their customers about the product. Here the marketer is the political party and the customer is the voter. But there are certain differences between mainstream marketing and political marketing with respect to the voter. Lock and Harris (1996) identify four main differences between mainstream and political marketing: All voters vote on the same day, everyone makes choice as per their own methods or requirements There is no cost attached to casting a mandate for a particular party, therefore no cost when considered from an individual point of view but a very huge cost from a societys point of view. Even though you must have voted for a particular party, even though its not elected ,you will have to live with it. There is no choice to vote for a political party or the candidate, basically the service given is unbundled. The candidate and the political party both are generally taken into consideration while making the choice. The main role of PR activities is to improve the perception of the political party or the candidate. Today political parties are involved highly in PR activities during elections; the Bhartiya Janata Party had the India Shining campaign in 2004 which triggered a new PR era in Indian Politics. The Congress party ran the Secular campaign successfully in 2009. No political party has left any stone unturned in the field of PR, whether it is print or television or even digital. The Indian Voter today is exposed to a minimum of three different kinds of medium in a day, it is important to reach out to this person when its most effective. It is very difficult to improve the perception of the candidate or the party in a short term; it requires a long term perspective with a consistent proposition to the voter. The Medium The early beginnings of democratic thought in the eighteenth century, political philosophers have recognized the crucial role of un-inhibited public debate and free speech, which was later, extended to the demand for a free press (Voltmer, 2007)The notion of a marketplace of ideas is based on the liberal belief that no single agency be allowed to have the last say on the course of politics. Rather, it is through public exchange of argument and counter-argument that the truth eventually emerges (Mill 1859, reprinted 1974). From the perspective of the marketplace of ideas argument, the media are usually assigned a more passive role, serving as a forum where a variety of groups and individuals are given the opportunity to express their views. Arguably the mass media serve as the main link between governments, political parties, candidates, etc. and voters, as the opportunities for direct communication between citizens and their representatives are extremely limited both in terms of the scale of the audience reached and the scope of the issues covered. However, the media are not just channels conveying the messages politicians want them to communicate to voters. They are also active participants in the creation of political messages (Cook 1998). In a democracy like India, The medium of communication is the single most important factor through which political parties reach out to the people. Political Speeches, coverage, events are all part of the medium of communication. Even hate speeches, rally by political parties only make sense if they are reported by the print or the television medium. In the print there are articles that report the unfolding of different events through the day, the television has live screening of interviews and events. As film stars became popular figures in Indian politics, movies became an important medium of political communication. This all is the part of the medium through which political marketing talks place. Today the digital medium is yet another medium which cannot be ignored by any political party. Blogs, Social media, websites, email, viral marketing and websites itself has brought about a paradigm shift in ways political parties could present itself to the voter. The print and television mediums are generally active only during election campaigns but the digital medium is generally active all through the year. The Digital Medium: The Game Changer Not so long ago, Television and Print were the mainstays of most marketers media plans with radio and outdoor and a few other things filling in the gaps where appropriate. Even with the emergence of the internet in the late nineties television commercials were heavily favored by the dotcoms as the way to build their brands. The internet is now over a decade, its certainly isnt new .In fact, any product that advertised itself as new ten years on would be laughed at or even sued by the authorities . Today Digital channels are mass and mainstream reaching global audiences. For example in some markets, a popular website can reach a staggering part of the population. Its not just the big portals or social networking sites that command large audiences. Perez Hilton, the web king reaches an estimated 5 million people daily via the blog. (David Meerman ,2004) While digital channels are now mass, they can also be extremely targeted allowing for singular interactions with consumers. This is one of the defining benefits of new media. Marketing through the digital platform can be extremely personalized in many ways. Personal Emails or SMSes might be tailor made to suit every individual needs. They can be content differentiation also, as different mailers could be sent to different individuals based on their likes and dislikes. New Media are essentially social. Everything in digital format can be easily replied to by everyone. The best part of digital medium, that it can be viral. Any exciting piece of communication through the digital medium can be easily replicated and produced in the same form. There are basically two types of Digital Marketing. The first one is the pull strategy and the second is the push strategy. The pull strategy basically consists of attracting consumers/visitors to a particular website or a blog or even watching a video (youtube). Here the initiative is on the consumer to visit the particular digital platform. The pull strategy requires a substantial marketing budget as the numbers of competitors are more. Also the pull strategy does not allow you to be personalized to the user, as the same content is viewed by all viewers. The push strategy basically consists of sending emails and SMSes to the target audiences. The push strategy could be extremely personalized, for example a polit ical party could send in different SMSes to people of a region affected by floods and a different message to people affected by Naxal issues. Use of Internet as a Political Communication Tool The internet is a perfect example of customer centricity in political communication. The internet acts as a one stop platform for people to interact with politicians, discuss their problems. The primary problem in India was that people were finding it tough to connect with politicians except during elections when politicians wanted their mandate. The internet as a platform itself can act as a connection tool for the people with the politicians. But internet is not utilized to its true potential; internet is often seen as a tool to spread awareness about a politician or a political party. (David Meerman ,2004) Before the internet platform emerged, it was believed that the people would go to the administration for help or issues, but the internet could give way to a system which would bring the government and political parties to the people. The focus of the internet could be to generate efficiency in the system which will indirectly benefit the government. But the important thing with the internet is that the tool works best when the consumer uses it for a dialogue and not a monologue. Online tools There are a variety of tools available today for use of political communication. These tools are generally used by the people for entertainment or networking purposes. These tools can consist of blogs, social networking sites, news sites, video streaming and group sites. These tools can be used by have great political applicability. These tools can be used to generate public attention and also to act as points of salience. The internet is generally open systems and are accessible all public. The internet today has no dependency on computers as the internet can be accessed through mobiles. Every tool present on the web today has a specific use and can be used to target niche audiences. Importance of youth in elections The analysts believe that the segment of youth would be the most critical in the forthcoming elections. Unfortunately this segment has registered a dismal participation in the elections upto this point. This segment of youth is identified as being rationale and will be having the capability of taking decisions. This segment can easily identify the right and wrong between things, they understand the importance to cast votes in elections too; the only thing that is lacking is a platform to connect with this target audience. The political parties today should be involved in giving out communication messages which are more relevant in times of today. The youth of today feel that they are disconnected with politics just because of the lack of use of appropriate communication tools by the political parties. That is why it is very important to understand the consumption of messages by this segment. Understanding the Psyche of the Indian youth in Elections The Indian youth is one of the largest segments of the Indian Society; they surpass any other segments present in the Indian Voting Canvas. In the recent Lok Sabha elections of 2009, the voting percentage among the youth was an abysmal 20%. The influencers in the case of youth are their parents, if the parents decide to cast their vote then the youth generally follow them otherwise they dont cast their vote. Most of the youth today does not find it intriguing enough to talk about politics, the trend is slowly changing but it is still an urban phenomenon. Most of the youth today look at the Election Day as a holiday; they generally plan out long weekend holidays on account of election days. The youth of today believe in the saying Be the change, they volunteer to NGOs and help other organization, they firmly deem that rather than relying on politicians or political parties, they themselves take the onus of changing the landscape of this country. Generally Youth does not cast their vote on the pretext of saying that their vote does not make a difference. The youth of today in the range of 20- 25 years, have seen all the major political parties at the centre (1996 2009), so the feeling of nothing changing in the Indian Landscape is pretty evident. The youth also believe in the fact that they have never been asked to vote. When researched this led to the vicious cycle phenomenon in Indian Politics, the Indian urban segment and youth are the two segments which generally registers the lowest amount of voting percentages. This is the primary reason why politicians and political parties pay very less or no attention to them. Due to no attention to them the youth do not get any personalized or communication that makes relevance to their life during election days. Many youth of today feel that the process of casting votes is a tedious one, as one never know how to register and when and where to vote. Before the Jaago re campaign, th ere was no particular online platform which educated the youth about the process of casting votes. Need and Rationale for the Study Changing voter profile of the country The voter profile of this country is fast changing, the faster the political parties adopt the change, better will be the results for the political party in the Long run. Media fragmented As the media of today is getting more and more fragmented, the traditional means of reaching the voter might not work, and innovative means of reaching the same voter might be needed. Americanization of Politics in India Learning from the recently concluded Americas Presidential elections, the use of social media had been used exhaustively along with other online tools. This can pave the way of the changing political propaganda as it takes place today Research Design Literature Review Knowledge and Learnings Content Analysis of Websites Conclusion/ Recommendation Learnings Expert Interviews Research Objectives Following are the research objectives: To analyze and compare the websites of different political parties and understand their offering in the digital medium To analyze the different promotional activities done by political parties on the digital platform. Research Methodology Information gathered through data published, websites, reports. The books and articles for reference would be sourced from the KEIC library of Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad In -Depth interviews would be conducted with professionals from the digital marketing industry and the people responsible for PR of political parties. Content Analysis of Websites would be done of the websites of the major political parties of India The content analysis of websites will be done on several labels like Information on the website, Informing the people, engagement with people, appeal to people , media releases given on the website and transparency achieved by the website Content Analysis in general is conducted in several discrete stages. Although the following stages are given in sequence, they need not be followed in the same order. Formulate the research question : Analyzing and comparing websites of different political parties in India ( Four national parties are taken in the consideration set) Define the population in question: The population would be all the data that is available on the internet about these political parties. Select an appropriate sample from the population: The sample for population would be the websites of these parties. (Official websites) Select and define a unit of analysis: The unit of analysis would be the pages on the website. Each page would be analysed from the website. The units would be : Information of the web site Interaction with People Appeal to the people Service to the people Media Coverage and Public Relations Transparency Sampling A panel of experts from the digital marketing industry would be chosen with their political knowledge in mind. For selecting the panel snowball sampling would be used The sample for selection of websites would be of the four national political parties of India Research Questions Some sample questions which would be asked to the panel of experts would be as follows How important do you feel is the online platform in todays age for political parties? Describe what is the appropriate time for political parties to use the online platform? Where is the online platform best likely to fit in the entire process of political propaganda? Could you tell us some campaigns which u liked/disliked by political parties? What would be the extent of use of online platform in political campaigns, five years down the line? Limitations Confidential information would be withheld as the topic of research is sensitive subject which is politics Data Collection The data collection was done in two phases for the Four National Parties of India. This was decided by the number of seats won by each of these parties in the recently concluded General Elections. The initial data was collected on January 5 January 7 2010. This data was recorded in an Excel sheet based on the selected variables. After this interviews were taken with the Media / PR heads o the respective political parties. This helped me in cross checking and validating their claims about the website and also to help me fill in gaps during my initial collection. Also a link analysis was done to check the traffic for these websites during the election period, as these links are more active during election periods. Data and Analysis The research would be done on the following websites: National Party Website URL Indian National Congress (INC) http://www.congress.org.in/ http://www.congress4india.com/ Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) http://www.bjp.org/ http://www.bjpindia.in/ Samajwadi Party (SP) http://www.samajwadipartyindia.com/ http://www.spmumbai.org/index.aspx Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) http://bspindia.org/ http://www.bahujansamajparty.net/ The Research was done on two websites of each political party. The first data collection was carried out on January 5 January 7 2010 and the second data collection was done between February 5 February 7 2010. The purpose was to find if the websites were updated. In all cases however the content was not changed. Findings of the Research The political parties have yet not realized the importance of the updates of the websites. They did not update the sites on a day to day basis, although it is technologically possible to update the contents in real time today. The sites of the Indian National Congress and the Bhartiya Janata Party are more updated than the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. There are more than 32 features on the INC website put together compared to 29 of the BJP party. The Samajwadi party and BSP havent updated their sites since a very long time; they have far less features than compared to the counterparts. The better contents and updates in the BJP site could be attributed to the experience of the BJP elections n 20004. New Media including internet was used extensively during the elections of 2004. BJP has hired a New Media agency for handling only their New Media campaigns in 2009. INC lagged behind in the use of internet during the elections so far and appeared to have attempted to catch up with the BJP. BJP has sites for all the states of India; these are for the local communication in the state. BJP had the India Shining campaign as the theme in which the party had extensively used New Media. Language of the Content of Website Maharashtra state has the local language called Marathi and Gujarat has Gujarati. There are 71, 936,894 (6.99% of the total population) Marathi Speaking people in India where as 46,091,617 (4.48% of total population) people of India speak Gujarati. This is against 90,000,000 (10.66% of total population) in India. Yet the parties have totally neglected the regional language. No one has given regional font for download. Campaign Strategists bank heavily on the local language to write text for bills, posters, billboards, and advertisements etc. Hence logically they should write contents of the sites in local languages to reach majority voters. However this study revealed that the sites depended only on English. None of the all the eight websites of political parties in Maharashtra and Gujarat had site analytics , date of the last update of the website and site map. The date for last updating is necessary in some situations. For Example political parties announce their candidates for elections in two three phases or more. They announce various lists and it changes even after announcements. If the date of last updating is given, the visitors of site can easily come to know whether it is an odd list or the latest one. This happens with other types of content too. Site Map is a feature that helps the user to easily locate the needed information on that site. They also act as a navigation aid by providing an overview of sites content at a single glance. If the number of links is very large, the site map helps visitors to access all content on the site. Webmaster: Details of the webmaster (email, phone or fax) are necessary because a visitor can write to him/her in case the site or part of it does not function. All sites had Telephone number to only the head quarters and no region wise contacts. All sites had given the indication of a copyright. This prohibited others from using the website content for free. Visitors counter is another feature which is neglected by these sites , the visitor counter helps getting everyone an idea about the popularity and utility of the site. Unit Analysis of Websites Information of the party Indian National Congress The site of the Indian National Congress had given Information about the history of the party , the latest manifesto, List of candidates and the current Office bearers. Bhartiya Janata Party The Bhartiya Janata Party had given Information about the Organisational Structure of the Party, History of the party, List of states under BJP rule and the current list of Member of Parliament Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi party had given information regarding the performance of the party in the recent elections and the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha Elections in 2009. There was no mention of any kind of History of the party and the party manifesto Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj party website was more focuses only on current activities of the party and no information about the past. They didnt have the list of candidates or constituency which they have won in the recent elections. There was no mention of any kind of organisational structure in the party. There was no mention of Alliance partners of any of the websites under perview Interaction with People Indian National Congress The website of the Indian National Congress had given option to submit their feedback, comments, suggestions and complaints. There was no Toll free number mentioned on their website. Bhartiya Janata Party The Bhartiya Janata party was more people and new media friendly they had subscription to RSS feed They also had an opinion poll on their website to know peoples view on a particular issue. Samajwadi Party The website of the Samajwadi Party had only contact numbers of the head office and respective branch offices. They had no other latest interactive features on their website. Bahujan Samaj Party The website was least interactive among websites of all the parties. The party was more interested in a monologue and not a dialogue with its voters. The website had no links or any other such things to keep the voters updated on the happenings. Appeal to the people Indian National Congress The Website of the Indian National Congress does not appeal to vote for it neither their alliances. There is no way that anyone interested in joining the party could apply for a position. There was no appeal for a donation for a noble cause. Bhartiya Janata Party The Website of the Bhartiya Janata Party does not appeal to vote for it neither their alliances. There is no way that anyone interested in joining the party could apply for a position. There was no appeal for a donation for a noble cause. Samajwadi Party The Website of the Samajwadi Party does not appeal to vote for it neither their alliances. There is no way that anyone interested in joining the party could apply for a position. There was no appeal for a donation for a noble cause. Bahujan Samaj Party The Website of the Bahujan Samaj Party does not appeal to vote for it neither their alliances. There is no way that anyone interested in joining the party could apply for a position. There was no appeal for a donation for a noble cause. Service to the people Indian National Congress Every website should be user friendly at the base level and somehow it should help us in the entire process of voting. The website of the Indian National Congress had no links for whats new on the website, FAQ s etc. Bhartiya Janata Party The website of the Bhartiya Janata Party had links whats new is happening to the political party in India. There was no service of any kind to the people. Samajwadi Party During Elections, finding your name on the voters list is one of the most tedious tasks for any voter. Samajwadi Party is the only party which is providing voters list to its users. This is one of the most useful features on any of the websites. Bahujan Samaj Party There is no feature of any kind on the Bahujan Samaj Party Website. The lowest on service to people. Media Coverage and Public Relations Indian National Congress The Media Coverage and Public Relations is an integral part of any website, it gives you a coverage on the latest happenings of the political party. The media coverage in the INC website give you info only on the election results and not on the party achievements in each of their state. Bhartiya Janata Party The BJP Website has put photo gallery section at the front of their home page and audio-video features to attract the visitors Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party has their media section updated and it has given it list of latest joins in the party on the website. The party is not in power in any state so its only mentioned its achievements when they were in power Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party uses it website to effectively communicate its latest achievements, especially in the state of Uttar Pradesh where its a ruling party. Other News of the party is lost in the clutter of information which is present in the website. Transparency Indian National Congress Transparency is one thing that the Indian voter likes to see with every political party. The site didnt try to remain transparent about declaring the assets of their candidates even though it was a simple thing to do. All the details of assets of a particular candidate are given on the site of the Election Commission of India. Bhartiya Janata Party The site didnt try to remain transparent about declaring the assets of their candidates even though it was a simple thing to do Samajwadi Party The site didnt try to remain transparent about declaring the assets of their candidates even though it was a simple thing to do Bahujan Samaj Party The site didnt try to remain transparent about declaring the assets of their candidates even though it was a simple thing to do Unit Analysis of Websites INC BJP SP BSP Information on the Website Interaction with people Appeal to People
Friday, October 25, 2019
The Young Goodman Brown Story, An Act of Faith :: Free Essay Writer
In his story "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne cleverly projects his attitude about the Puritan religion choosing a Christian love over the Puritan religion in this story of a mans journey to a revival. The name Hawthorne gave to his character is also significant as it implied Goodman Brown was a good man and the color brown meant that he was not perfect nor was he evil. This story highlights Goodman's commitment and faith to his wife's love and Christianity over the Puritan religion ultimately causing him to be subjected to suspicion by the community at a time where witch-hunts subjected the innocent to suffering and death. The story takes place at sunset in a Salem village during a difficult time for religion. Goodman keeps from his wife the details and purpose of his journey. He tells her good bye and makes it obvious he is leaving her behind out of obligation. He intentionally describes his wife's beauty as well as her love and desire for him. He did this to convey the first time he overcame temptation in favor of his religious obligation. His wife Faith reveals her inner desires for him. She attempts to convince him to stay but he externally exhibits his commitment to his religion obligation to make the journey while internally he is unsure about his religious convictions. Goodman reassures his wife of his faith in their relationship and assures her of his return. No doubt Hawthorn meant to show Brown's faith in the couples love for each other and the difficult choice he made to go on his journey. He leaves her behind, which shows that he is leaving sin behind because he resisted the temptation to s tay due to his obligation to go. "Dearest heart, " whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were close to his ear, "pr'ythee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed tonight. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she's afeard of herself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year! " "My love and my Faith, " replied young Goodman Brown, "of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee. My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs be done 'twixt now and sunrise. As a result, Goodman and his wife were fulfilling their obligations and obedience to each other.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Auto Insurance Essay
They can serve to insulate you from economic upheaval in the case your car is destroyed or stolen or even from bankruptcy in the event you are sued for damages someone sustained in an accident involving your car. The author guides the reader through several key criteria which should be considered in an analysis of their own policy. A 12 page overview of the world of automobile insurance. Choosing adequate automobile insurance can be one of the most cost effective things an individual can do in this modern age. Not only can automobile insurance This 6 page paper provides an overview of the basic management strategies of the USAA insurance company. This paper considers the management perspective and strategy, as well as the operational function of the company and the increasing importance of restructuring principles for the company. premiums whittle away a sizable chunk from an individual’s take-home pay, they can serve to insulate you from economic upheaval in the case your car is destroyed or stolen or even from bankruptcy in the event you are sued for damages someone sustained in an accident involving your car. The author guides the reader through several key criteria which should be considered in an analysis of their own policy. 6 pages. The BMW M3 has been the subject of many articles and consumer report studies recently. Rating cars is not only just an annual task for automotive journalists but it is also a subject which auto enthusiasts look forward to eagerly each season. Did their favorite car make it to the top? What did the critics have to say about it? And do these opinions agree with those who actually own these cars? This paper focuses on the BMW M3 in the sports car class. For those who own the BMW M3 it is likely they will claim that hands down it is the best sports car they have ever driven. Although not all of the auto magazines rated the BMW M3 as number one, most owners will disagree. The BMW M3 has everything a driver wants in a sporty car. By looking at several magazine articles and talking to drivers of these well-made and handsome cars, it is easy to conduct our own survey. Bibliography lists 12 sources.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Apostrophe Placement in Proper Names
Apostrophe Placement in Proper Names Apostrophe Placement in Proper Names Apostrophe Placement in Proper Names By Mark Nichol What do the brand names Bakers Choice, the Diners Club, and Mrs. Fields Cookies have in common? Besides prompting hunger, they’re all â€Å"supposed†to have apostrophes in their names. So, why don’t they? A choice that belongs to bakers is a bakers’ choice, a club that belongs to diners is a diners’ club, and cookies that belong to Mrs. Fields are Mrs. Fields’s (or, depending on which style tradition you adhere to, Mrs. Fields’) cookies. The name for the Diners Club gets a pass because it can also be argued that it refers to a club for diners, and thus is attributive (for the same reason that, for example, the name of the California Teachers Association lacks an apostrophe it serves, rather than is a possession of, teachers). But the baking-products company and the cookie maker, like Barclays Bank and many other businesses, evidently decided that apostrophes are confusing or distracting and opted to omit them. Similarly, the Hells Angels opted for a streamlined look at the expense of proper style, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to walk into the local chapter headquarters and start complaining about the motorcycle club’s error. (You go ahead I’ll wait for you here.) The Levi’s brand name for jeans and other apparel is problematic; technically, something that belongs to the company would be referred to as Levi’s’s, but we’ll yield to practicality and pretend that the owner is Mr. Strauss, and anything of his is Levi’s. And though I prefer that the possessive case be signaled with an apostrophe and an s, not the symbol alone, though â€Å"Thomas’s†would look better, I’ll cut Thomas’ English Muffins some slack. But the one company name that is indefensibly wrong is Lands’ End; this labels clumsily conjures multiple capes or points converging on one geographical coordinate. The misplaced apostrophe is reportedly the result of an early typographical error deemed too costly to correct; on such small but momentous decisions is derision based. Regardless of which possessive style you or your employer prefers, when it comes to proper names, writers and editors must bow to the usage of a name’s owners and in order to guarantee that the usage you use is correct, verify company, organization, and brand names on the website of the business or group itself. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Idioms About Numbers15 Great Word GamesHow to Style Titles of Print and Online Publications
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)