The United States Constitution Its Strengths And Flaws Politics Essay

The United States Constitution Its Strengths And Flaws Politics Essay In the late 18th century, the United States Constitution was designed as a foundation to build a stable governing structure for the 13 states that composed the United States around that time. These states were relatively different and consisted on predominantly rural and agrarian societies. Moreover, the same document regarded by these states as the supreme law of the land, serves the exact same purpose today as it did back in the day. The 200 year old Constitution of the United States, by far the oldest charter of government in the world, faces a time of increasing urbanization and technological developments. Nonetheless, its effectiveness at guiding this nation and providing individual freedom, economic stability, economic growth and social development has proven to be substantially enduring over the years. The United States Constitution is often referred to as a living constitution, because of its adaptability to the emerging and ever changing political and social views, needs and demands of Americans. Moreover, its enduring nature in a world of continued change has served as a role model for the evolution of numerous governmental institutions and their respective constitutions around the world. Its self-correcting and self-regulating nature made possible through amendments, the constitutional supremacy it embraces, the bill of rights, the separation of powers and its simplicity of design are major strengths of the constitution. The Constitution is a timeless document due to the adaptability of its nature. It was designed so that it could be amended as the needs of Americans changed over time. However, the founding fathers were well aware that amending the constitution should require significant complexity to avoid the approval and ratification of ill-conceived amendments. Moreover, they made sure that amending the constitution was in the best interest of the majority as opposed to a select few by putting into effect a dual process that Amendments must undergo in order to be approved and ratified. Furthermore, amendments are subject to judicial review by the courts, a process that originated from the Marbury v. Madison case and allows the courts to review and revoke unconstitutional measures carried out by other branches of government. The Constitutions supremacy draws the boundaries along which state governments and congress adopt and ratify legislation. Despite its supremacy the Constitution is not entirely the absolute authority for it can be amended by the people through their participation in open elections aimed to provide political representation in the various structures of government. Appointed and elected officials are subject to be removed from office under the constitution if convicted of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors; which serves as an intensive to fulfill their constitutional duties, that is with the exception of lifetime appointees of the supreme court and/ or federal judges. The reasoning behind such exception is to eliminate the impact external influences often have on public officials. The establishment of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution serves as a mean to protect the natural rights of the people. It is composed of the first ten amendments added to the constitution which aimed to protect individual freedoms from the government. The first amendment is perhaps one of the most important since it addresses delicate issues such as the separation of church and state allowing for freedom of religion. Also, it establishes freedom of speech, press, the right to assembly, right to petition the government, and protects individuals not only from the government but from each other by restricting libel. Moreover, subsequent amendments address other issues such as the right to bear arms, search and seizures, prohibition of self-incrimination, the right to trial by jury and counsel, reservation of powers to the state and people powers, among others. In addition, it has a significant influence on laws and policy-making under the principle for the people and by the people. It is the Bill of Rights along with other factors that distinguishes the United States from other less successful democracies around the world. The separation of powers among the three dominant structures of government is another strength of the Constitution. It allows for the overlap of authority among all government institutions and hinders the concentration of power in one of these institutions. Foremost, the Constitutions simplicity of design outlines the government structures and designated functions. Yet, it does not specify how power is to be distributed among the government institutions, resulting in an ambiguity that has made it possible for the Constitution to successfully guide the United States in the desired direction. Nevertheless both of these have been a source of conflict and harshly criticized for the broadness of the power allocated to the structures of government. As can be appreciated, the United States Constitution is deeply flawed, to the point where some of its strengths represent major threats to its original purpose put forth by the founding fathers. Although federalism is vital to avoid the concentration of power in a single structure of government, it blurs the concept of the separation of powers by providing the national government with sufficient protection to surpass the power allocated to states. In the time being there is not an easy approach to deal with this dilemma; however, it is not terribly hindered to solve as to set it aside for another 200 hundred years. Therefore, one of the first measures to deal with the problem in question is to narrowly draw the jurisdictional boundaries in order to define the power reserved for each structure of government, so that no structure has an unfair advantage over another. Such a measure should address the insufficient protection given to the states as compared to the national government. Another weakness of the United States Constitution is Congressional stagnation. The absence of term limits in Congress has proven to be an issue of high debate among politicians. It seems reasonable to argue that term limits in Congress would result in inexperienced individuals taking roles which have been adequately fulfilled by previous political officers and that the degree to which they represent their constituents as well as their ability to do is questionable. Nevertheless, it is crucial to point out that a large majority of incumbents, that is those currently in office, get reelected [INSERT STATS] to a point where most Congress representatives have rather established a career in Congress. Their reelection is primarily due to the low turnout of elections since the public is less involved in these elections as compared to presidential elections, name advertisement and credit obtained from the service provided to their constituents. Because elections take place every two years, reelection is the main drive for incumbents, which includes obtaining name recognition among their constituents and service credit within their districts. Incumbents aim to meet the interests and demands represented by the majority of constituents, which has proven to be very problematic due to the emerging concerns regarding whether they act as puppets to secure their seat or act in the faith of making a difference for their constituents by having their voices heard. Either way, incumbents enjoy unfair advantages over competitors since they are allotted higher campaign funds than subsequent competitors, for instance through free mail. Additionally, due to the large sums necessary to fund a successful campaign and the diminished chances of election when running against incumbents, the number of candidates is inconsequential, limiting the choices of voters. Lastly, the long term retention of office by legislators may result in corruption, through the means of lobbyists seeking that legislators address their cause which may not be related or benefit by any means the constituents that such legislator represents. The need to have checks and balances for Congress is evident; which constitutes the reason why term limits should be implemented in Congress. The power to establish term limits is delegated to the states and the people and further protected under the 10th amendment. Therefore, a state can propose an amendment by obtaining a two-thirds majority of state legislators to call for a constitutional convention, after which legislators must ratify the amendment with a three-fourths majority. Similarly the house and senate members can propose such amendment, which is very unlikely to occur due to the fact that the ratification of term limits will affect their personal interests. On similar grounds, the Electoral College has been harshly criticized since the purpose it served 200 years ago is viewed as rather outdated today. This election system is not only compelling in terms of its design but also the extent to which it is representative of the popular vote in presidential elections. For instance, in the 2000 election featuring George W. Bush running against Albert Arnold Gore for the presidency, Al Gore won the popular vote; however he did not win the election. Therefore, it is legitimate to question how accurately do outcomes of the Electoral College reflect the will of the people. Moreover, because the number of electoral votes allocated to states relies primarily on the number of district and house representatives of the states, it gives larger states the power to influence the outcome of presidential elections. Since larger states are delegated such power, most presidential candidates focus their campaign and attention on the states with the most elect oral votes; therefore, smaller states have a disadvantage regarding their political involvement in presidential elections and the value of their vote as compared to larger states and voter turnout can be further discouraged. The Electoral College can also result in a minority president being elected It is not terribly difficult to acknowledge that the removal of the Electoral College is by far the best strategy to solve the present situation. Nevertheless, the difficulty lies in designing a system that accurately represents the people. Some politicians argue that providing a representation of the electoral vote proportional to that of the popular vote would ease the problem at stake. However, it is very likely to raise new concerns, especially if both candidates running for office win 50% of the electoral vote, then a method for splitting the vote must be addressed, which complicates the nature of the Electoral College and furthermore defeats the initial purpose of correcting the flawed design of such institution. One way to do this without further complications is by establishing a direct vote system in which all individuals have an equal say in presidential elections and are equally pursued by the candidates running for office. Please discuss the suitability of the Constitution as a governing document for the contemporary United States. What are the strengths of the Constitution?   What are some of its weaknesses?   Should we attempt to reform the Constitution?   If so, why?   If not, why not?   You should rely heavily on course materials, but feel free to use any outside material that will help your argument. Is it public officials or government officials? Are supreme court justices and federal judges public officials too as compared to senators and house members? Paragraph about the separation of powers. Am I making my point clear enough, since its rather a transition into the weaknesses? Purposely chose it.. As can be appreciate ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Is this contradicting somehow?

Overcoming Obstacles as a Teacher in the Modern Day Essay

The teaching profession has always been a highly esteemed and revered occupation due to the fact that educators impart knowledge into the minds of every single individual throughout the population, whether the student decides to be a doctor, engineer, mechanic, politician or artist in adulthood, the foundation of their learning has came from a highly dedicated and resourceful educator. However, when examining this occupation in greater detail it can be observed that there are countless obstacles that effective teachers face every day. It is common knowledge that children have a short attention span and their teacher has the role of planning lessons, which engage the learner and guarantee that the lesson is one that interacts with the student and encourages them to be involved. They also must be aware of different methods to implement that will see the child remembering the material and retaining the information that the teacher is presenting for the future lessons. When teaching in the classroom, educators must be prepared when confronted with children showing ill desired and disruptive behaviours. It is the method in which the teacher reacts to these behaviours that will pave the way for the remainder of the year, if the teacher reacts in the correct manner and demonstrates to the child the expectations within the classroom then it can be anticipated that the student will understand what is and isn’t acceptable, a certain challenge. Attention is where learning begins and therefore attracting and upholding student attention is paramount (Curtindale, Laurie-Rose, Bennett Murphy, 2007). Attention capacity and duration is limited for every individual, this needs to be acknowledged in the classroom and strategies need to be formed to prevent students from neglecting important information in class. Learners find it particularly difficult and their attention easily shifts from one stimulus to another, caused by not only distractions from other students but also from outside the classroom. When students find it difficult to concentrate this can negatively impact not only their own learning but also the learning of others. Therefore, teachers must control and provide an environment that engages and holds students attention whilst teaching imperative material. Eggen (2010) states that effective teachers plan their lessons so students attend to what is being taught and ignore irrelevant stimuli. They must ensure that their lesson will be one that learners can actively be involved in and interact with, not just submissively require students to listen to what is needing to be taught, but experience it. Teachers may employ a variety of strategies to do this, from demonstrations to discrepant events and thought provoking questions. Another fundamental approach that creates an environment of achieving ones attention is calling on students by name. This guarantees that learners are aware that the teacher will not only call on the class as a whole but may call on them individually, by name, resulting in a need to be attentive. Chapin, O’Connor and Anderson (2009) make an interesting point however that as teachers we need to be mindful when calling on students to participate and remind them of their right to pass or ask for more time before answering in the classroom. The obligation to participate in a classroom does not equate to an obligation to give answers on demand† (Chapin et al. , 2009). When teachers practice these strategies for holding their learners attention and ensure that they are apart of the teaching not just observing it, the likelihood of the student’s memory retaining the material is also greatly increased. Another obstacle faced by teachers in the classroom is that of their learners retaining the material taught throughout the term, from one lesson to another. If any student in the class is having difficulty remembering the previous lesson, they have a high risk of falling behind in their learning and development, which can then lead to troubling behaviour. There are certain aspects of memory retention that must be understood and practiced in the classroom for students to achieve learning targets and overcome this impediment. These techniques are employed to take knowledge from a child’s working memory and encode it to be stored within their long term memory, ensuring that they are then able to recall this understanding and build upon it in future lessons. Schema activation is one such encoding strategy that involves activating prior knowledge so that new knowledge can be connected to it (Eggen 2010). One of the most effective ways of activating a student’s prior knowledge is through conducting reviews of the previous lesson before embarking on the new learning material. This ensures that the students form conceptual connections between what they have already learnt in the past and the material that they are about to be taught. Another effective method of encoding is material organisation, where related items of content are athered into categories that assist in illustrating the relationships between them. This can take the form of charts, models, outlines and hierarchies, which are all examples of organization systems. With the connections easily observable and the information well organized, the student is then able to retrieve this knowledge more easily, as stated by Ormrod (2006, pg190), Long-term memory retrieval is the process of â€Å"remembering previously stored information and â€Å"finding† it in memory†. If strategies are put in place by the educator in the classroom, the students will experience a greater retention of material and a greater ease at â€Å"finding† stored information from past lessons, also making certain that they are less likely to be disruptive and display adverse behavior, an obstacle that all teachers desire to prevent if possible. Classrooms are busy and often hectic places in which groups of students vary in interests and abilities must be organized and directed, in ways that maximize education and minimize disruptions. It is imperative that the teacher responsible for each class is equipped with knowledge and strategies that can be implemented when faced with undesirable behaviour from students. First and foremost, a teacher must show withitness within the classroom, they must notice the behavior of all students and respond quickly to unexpected events. The students will be much less likely to attempt negative behaviour knowing that the teacher is aware of every action and movement that occurs and the knowledge that there is a consequence, either positive or negative for every action. When faced with ill desired behaviour from a student, the teacher must first establish whether the student is going to take responsibility for their actions and if not, implement behavioral interventions – either reinforcement or punishment to ensure that the student understands that there are consequences for adverse behaviour. One approach that would create a rational response to the student’s behaviour would be to implement a negative reinforcement – for example, by taking away 5 minutes of the students free art time on Friday afternoon, whilst the rest of the class, has their full 30 minutes. Alternatively the teacher may use their judgment and decide to implement an effective form of punishment for the student instead. This may be a simple timeout for the misbehaving child or a more severe detention during their lunch break or after class. Regardless of the tactic that the teacher decides to use with this misbehaving student, once the student understands that there are consequences for poor behaviour, the probability of this behaviour continuing is scarce. Children that act in this manner and misbehave in class often look to their role model for discipline and in many situations their teacher may be their only adult role model in their life and therefore it is imperative that these situations are handled appropriately. In conclusion, it can be observed that there are many challenges that a teacher must overcome in their normal day-to-day occupation, with a majority of them that go unseen to the general public. Initially they must obtain the student’s attention and curiosity and then maintain it throughout the class, whilst having lessons planned around engaging the students and allowing them to experience what is being taught. They then must ensure that the pupil is being taught in a way that will ensure their long term memory to guarantee that they will remember the material and therefore build upon it in future lessons. Teachers must also be equipped with strategies and techniques to overcome ill desired behaviour from students in a way that creates an understanding of the expectations and classroom rules. Fortunately there are many teachers and educators that have gone before and paved the way for the future graduates, they have been willing to share their ideas, examples and methodology in regards to what they have found that has been successful and what has not. Techniques such as calling students by name to gain their attention, organizing new learning material in such a way that makes it easier for the students to retrieve it from their memory and implementing reinforcements in place of harsh punishment for students that are testing the boundaries within the classroom. This knowledge and experience from other mentors in the industry guarantees that the classroom of the future is not only a brighter place to be but also a well informed one.

Assignment: Change and Innovation Essay

In today’s society companies are finding that it is more demanding that they make changes in certain departments or in the entire company. May managers are faced with the question, â€Å"How do I make successful changes? † Another issue company’s face is the resistance to changes by employees. How can a company reduce the resistance from employees? What role do human resources play in managing change? Change is a part of moving forward in the company and keeping the company successful in years to follow. To make successful changes managers, employees, and human resources need to work together in making those changes. In companies there are factors that create a need for change. Some changes are motivated from external forces, such as competition or updating technology. Other changes are motivated by internal forces, such as employee attitudes, new equipment, and redesigning of jobs. When implementing changes the person who implements those changes are called a change agent. A change agent can be a manager or a non-manager. Mangers make smaller, less drastic changes and are more cautious about the outcome. Non-managers tend to make larger, more drastic changes because they do not have to deal with the repercussion of the change (Robbins, DeCenzo, & Coulter, 2011). Once the manager or non-manager implements the changes or changes that need to take place they have to make sure that the plan is followed by employees to have the biggest chance of success. When implementing the change from regular medical record to electronic medical record the first thing that needs to happen is, the change agent needs to accept the change and communicate the importance to the employees. The electronic medical records will be more successful if the change agent recognizes the impact on staff and adopts an open policy if one is not already in place. Committing to an open environment will establish trust and open-door policies. Open-door policies allow feedback and allow for employees and change agents to give and receive feedback with less defensive approaches. Employees need to feel comfortable when change is being implemented, providing training and allowing them to be a part of the change process are ways to help them feel comfortable. Allowing employees to help with the change making decisions will help them to accept the change. Employees that work with the customer may also have better insight on how to better provide for the customers. Providing the employees with training on why and how the change to electronic medical records will be implemented and making sure they know what is going on will help keep the employee more comfortable about the process. Letting employees know that some failure is okay will help ease them when failure comes. Changing agents need to look at failure as a positive learning experience and encouraging them to think the same way. Taking these steps and recognizing the employees efforts along the way can have a huge effect on if the employee feels positive about the change or not. If these practices are not implemented then employees may resist the change (Richards, 2012). Some common reasons why employees resist change are because they are afraid of the uncertainty, they may fear that the change will not work, change interrupts habit, and they may lose personal benefits or have personal losses due to the change. If an employee is not trained or allowed to give feedback they may resist changes due to uncertainty. Employees need to be trained on the reasons for the changing to the electronic system as well as how to use the system. Training employees may ease them out of their habit of the old way and into accepting the change and creating a new habit around this change. When a change in implemented in a company the employees resist the change due to the fear of the loss of status, money, or benefits they were getting from the old system. Employees should be told what changes will affect them personally and be allowed to give feedback on ways to minimize loses. All changes should be expressed in positive ways to help employees deal with their fears. Open-door policies and encouraging feedback will help with minimizing employees’ fears and resistance to change. Being proactive and allowing the employees give ideas for the change, along with supporting employees during and after the change will help resistance of employees be minimized (Robbins, DeCenzo, & Coulter, 2011). Human Resources (HR’s) also play a role in managing change. HR’s can act as the change agent and overlook the whole change process. HR’s can be in charge of setting a strategy, facilitating, training, and monitoring employee engagement, input and feedback. If a company does not feel that they want HR’s be in charge of the whole change then they may ask them to play no role at all or to evaluate the change effort once the change is complete. HR’s may have a small role or a big role in the change process at a company. Many companies are starting to give HR’s bigger roles and allowing them to be part of the change (APQC, 2012). Human Resources, manager, and even non-managers can implement change in a company. It is up to the person who is implementing the change to communicate, train, and support employees so that they feel comfortable with the change. Allowing HR’s and employees to be a part of the change can help everyone feel more at ease with the change. Failure should always be a learning experience and if a change agent gives employees a positive outlook and support while making the change then resistance will be minimized.

Perceptions of Men and Women Revealed in Susan Glaspells...

Perceptions of Men and Women Revealed in Susan Glaspells Trifles Human beings not only live in the physical world but also survive in the emotional world. Frequently, ones emotional world actually controls the actions one commits in the physical world. Perception plays an enormous part in what one feels is important and what one feels is unimportant. Is there a difference between perception of men and women? In Susan Glaspells story Trifles, she examines the difference of perception between men and women in a unique way by revealing these differences in the solving of a murder case. The difference between what the men and women perceive to be important pieces of evidence is astonishing. Glaspell uses symbols as interpreted by the†¦show more content†¦These are the women of the play. The stage is now set for Glaspell to reveal to the reader how important perception is. According to Glaspell, perception is not just interpreting the physical evidence but also the emotional motives that would cause such a desperate murder. As the investigation starts, the men are worrying about the crime scenes having been secured or not. The county attorney is questioning Mr. Hale about how he came to discover Mr. Wrights body. His answer is telling, although the county attorney does not perceive this answer as being of any importance. Mr. Hale is telling the county attorney that he had stopped to ask Mr. Hale to go in on a party line with him, although he had asked once before: I spoke to Wright about it once before and he put me off, saying folks talked too much anyway, and all he asked was peace and quiet (1173). At the time he discovered the body, Mr. Hale had thought that he would go to Mrs. Wright and get her to persuade Mr. Wright, although he says, I didnt know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John (1173). While none of the above is actual physical evidence, if there is any emotional perception of what kind of man Mr. Wright was, the country attorney does not comprehend it. Perception is in ones own eyes and, in this case, ears. The first physical piece of what could be considered evidence is the jars ofShow MoreRelatedSusan Glaspell s Trifles 1358 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Trifles† is written by the mid-1900s feminist author Susan Glaspell. The one act play depicts the conflict surrounding the murder of John Wright and his wife’s, Minnie Wright’s, involvement in his strangulation. While this drama appears to tell the simple tale of a murder investigation, Glaspell intertwines her feminist views into the plot. The male and female characters’ investigations of John Wright’s death reveal a deeper meaning. The stark contrasts between the men and women in the story displayRead MoreTrifles- Battle of the Sexes Essay1898 Words   |  8 Pagesthroughout our American history. Prior to 1848, women did not have a voice or a valued opinion; they were simply thought of as unseen and unintelligent. It took nearly 72 years before the 19th amendment to our Constitution was signed into law, granting women the right to vote (Infoplease). During the early part of the twentieth century, the duties and structures of women’s lives would have predisposed them to approach a problem from a different angle than that of men and even today, despite the significant