Essay on Martin Luther King Rhetorical Analysis - 1420 Words

Dreaming About Freedom Martin Luther King Jr.s I Have a Dream speech is one of the most successful and most legendary speeches in United States history. Martin Luther King Jr. was a masterful speaker, who established a strong command of rhetorical strategies. By his eloquent use of ethos, logos, and pathos, as well as his command of presentation skills and rhetorical devices, King was able to persuade his generation that the Negro is not free (King 1). His speech became the rallying cry for civil rights and lives on as an everlasting masterpiece. It is necessary to first understand Kings arguments before delving into the actual analysis. Kings main argument is that African-Americans are not free or equal according to the rights†¦show more content†¦He refers to the principles voiced by the nations founders in his appeal for racial equality. This strategy was especially important in light of the fact that the government was concerned that the Civil Rights movement might discredit the United States abroad. The government was worried that if they gave African-Americans freedom, the United States would be seen as weak and have been persecuting innocent people. Hence, it was perceptive of King to imply in the speech that he is not undermining the United States, but asking the country to do justice to the principles that were asserted to be the backbone of U.S. politics and society. King states, for example, that his dream was deeply rooted in the American dream, (King 2) and that he dreams of a day when Americans will be able to sing with new meaning `My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing (King 3). King then uses the words of that song to distinguish the different areas of the country where he hoped the United States would soon let freedom ring (King 3) for all its citizens. King alludes to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as being a promissory note (King 1) to all citizens, which those at the march were claiming as their inheritance. The speech gains power from Kings stressing that he was asking the United States to live up to its principles and thus to fulfill the greatness of its pronounced creed. More so than either ethos or logos, KingShow MoreRelatedMartin Luther King Rhetorical Analysis806 Words   |  4 PagesRhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King’s Speech â€Å"I Have a Dream† Likita M. Taylor ITT-Tech English 1320: Composition I November 12 2012 Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King’s Speech â€Å"I Have a Dream† â€Å"I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.† These are the opening words of Martin Luther King’s â€Å"I have a dream speech†, which he predicted will be the foundation of the Civil Rights MovementRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr.1046 Words   |  5 PagesRhetorical Analysis Essay Civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his memorable â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech while standing at the feet of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. His uplifting speech is one of the most admired during the civil rights era and arguably one of the best in American history. On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about the true American dream: equality. Although the video of his oral spectacle is powerful, the written document portrays exactly howRead MoreMartin Luther King Rhetorical Analysis1154 Words   |  5 PagesMuch of argumentative writing centers around rhetoric, the art of persuasion. Writers use certain rhetorical devices to engage and persuade their readers. Generally, we think of persuasion in terms of three rhetorical appeals. Aristotle first categorized these appeals based on logic (logos), ethics (ethos), and emotion (pathos). Most strong arguments have a balance of all three appeasl, although logos has proven to be more essen tial than the other two for a valid argument. In the same way theseRead MoreMartin Luther King Rhetorical Analysis1260 Words   |  6 PagesMartin Luther King Jr. advocates for non-violence throughout much of his â€Å"Letter from a Birmingham Jail.† However, he uses the extremist behavior of the black nationalists as a way to threaten the â€Å"white moderates† into siding with him on the issue of Civil Rights with the idea that he is the most moderate and sensible person leading the fight for equality. How can King justify using others’ violence to argue for nonviolence? Even though King’s tactics seems contradictory, it did help to encourageRead MoreMartin Luther King Rhetorical Analysis1098 Words   |  5 Pagesthe sermon â€Å"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God† by Jonathan Edwards and â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† by Martin Luther King Jr, both authors use several different effective rhetorical methods to convey their message s to the audience. Edwards (one of the best speakers in his time) and King (one of the most influential Civil Rights activists) both use these methods in an effective way. King and Edwards both use different methods to convey their messages, but it is important to analyze what one isRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King s Speech1460 Words   |  6 Pagesdiscussing, rhetorical analysis asks us to look not only at what a text says, or the meaning of the text, but also at how that meaning is created in the text. For this assignment, I want to challenge you to not just analyze the â€Å"ethos, pathos, and logos† of a text, but to delve deeply into how the text moves us to identify with its message, and to think, feel, or act in a specific way. One of the reason why this text became the most popular text of our century. First of the speaker Martin Luther KingRead MoreA Rhetorical Analysis Of Dr. Martin Luther King On The Church1256 Words   |  6 PagesA Rhetorical Analysis: Dr. King on the Church Missionary and Professor Charles Porter vocalizes a profound point during a lecture, â€Å"The only person who justifies us is Jesus.† This speaks measures regarding the Church and their responsibility to uphold justice. As people who claim to follow Jesus, the Church should be leading the charge against injustice. However, in the past century it failed to act upon the injustice of segregation. Analyzing Letter from Birmingham Jail, it becomes clear thatRead MoreMartin Luther King Letter Rhetorical Analysis710 Words   |  3 PagesIn a letter by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader uses various rhetorical devices to justify his actions for the nonviolent actions. His primary audience throughout the letter was to the clergymen who made accusations against Dr. King. He justifies his cause and argues the necessity of immediate action using rhetorical appeals such as ethos, pathos and logos. By using these various devices, Dr. King can gain the support needed for the Civil War Movement from his audience. Read MoreThe Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr.1139 Words   |  5 Pagesuse rhetorical devices and strategies to get their point across and try to convince the reader to believe in their perspective. It can also be used to get emotions from its readers, but that isn’t really the whole point of persuading someone. For instance, Martin Luther King Jr. uses an abundance of pathos in order to make the reader or clergymen feel sympathy towards the black people. Along with pathos, he uses logos and a bundle of hypophora. In order to obtain the goal of persuasion, Martin LutherRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr847 Words   |  4 PagesMartin Luther King Jr and The Civil Rights Movement Martin Luther King Jr was a protestor who became the most important spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement.  He was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP) and in 1954, he decided to take a position as a preacher at Dexter Avenue Church in Montgomery, Alabama. King felt as though it was his moral duty to help the civil rights movement which is why he planned many activities that will help

Human Resources Organizational Analysis - 1517 Words

HR challenges and strategy: Johnson Johnson Johnson Johnson Corporation is a well-known multinational company in the world. It was founded in 1881 and launched its first product in 1885 by three brothers named; Robert Wood Johnson, James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson. Robert Wood Johnson served as the first president of the company and work to improve the work performance of the company. Now the company has lunched more than 100 brands over these years to satisfy their customer. It supports the company based programs to improve health and create awareness. Along with its partners, it provides help to mothers and infants. Moreover, the company is working to support doctors, nurses, and other social organizations who are†¦show more content†¦To solve these challenges, the HR strategy of training and development can be deployed. Training is a process to improve and enhance the performance of workers. Most of the time training aim to sharpen and upgrade the capabilities of employees. Whereas, the development pro cess is initiated to develop new skills according to the future work needs. Training contributes in the betterment of current job activities while development deals with the skills which will be required in future. The training and development of employees will make the organization capable to deal with its competitors, minimize the ratio of conflicts and tension between the employers and employees and will also help in fostering the mission statement of organization. Effective Recommendation By implementing training strategies, employees stay abreast of the competition in other businesses thus giving them a competitive advantage; these training tools often enhance the capabilities of the employee making them a more valuable asset to the business model. But it is imperative to issue training not just to regular employees but also to those interchangeable within each department, for instance training for sales representatives in the advertising department allow firms to create new trends for marketing that set them aside from competition thus creating a competitive entry barrier from external threats. In an article titled â€Å"7 tipsShow MoreRelatedOrganizational Analysis: Human Resource Structure and Management2378 Words   |  9 PagesOrganizational Analysis Running Head: Organizational Analysis Organizational Analysis Introduction Human capital is the most important resource for an organization. The effective and efficient running of business operations is solely based on the performance of employees in the organization (Robbins Coulter, 2006). They create a liaison between the organization and its stakeholders and contribute towards its success and prosperity. Employees perform their duties and responsibilities at differentRead MoreFamily Dollar Human Resources Organizational Analysis7933 Words   |  32 PagesSummary/Overview of Family Dollar II. HR Scorecard- Analysis of Survey Results III. Strategic HR Plan IV. Business Case V. References I. Executive Summary/Overview of Family Dollar EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This organizational analysis is an assessment of Family Dollar Inc., in regards to its overall strategic Human Resource functions. The analysis and recommendations are based on survey results, which wereRead MoreOrganizational Change Scenario Analysis On Human Resource Management Strategies1970 Words   |  8 PagesHRM CONSULTANCY REPORT FOR LANX TEXTILES UK, BY IKECHUKWU ONYEJEKWE 2016 SECTION 1: ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE SCENARIO ANALYSIS Unit 1: Human Resource Management Strategies Assumptions †¢ My scenario organization is Lanx, the UK-based textile production company. †¢ Let us assume the managers in Lanx have 1-year duration to resume in Delhi, India. †¢ The company would undertake the training on intercultural communication within the 12 months period. †¢ The 5 managers will go without their familiesRead MoreHuman Resource Management Affects Organizations Performance1141 Words   |  5 PagesThe issue of how the human resource management affects organizations performance has always presented in academic world. Many scholars have done a lot of theoretical and field work, trying to prove that the contribution and impact of human resource management on organizational performance. Human resource management provides direction and enhances competitiveness in organization, and becoming a strategic partner in helping companies improves its performance (Ajit Kumar Kar, 2012). However, when itRead MoreThe Analysis Of The Equitable Employee Relations Since The Year 19681542 Words   |  7 PagesThe research has a focus on the analysis of the equitable employee relations since the year 1968. It is important for the understanding of the employee working conditions that existed in the workplace for the purpose of forming a comprehensive u nderstanding and relations to the current environment of businesses and organizations. There has been a lot of progress since the period of the Dagenham, 1968, to the current time. This has been mostly due to the industrial action and legislative changes thatRead MoreJob Dissatisfaction Is A Result Of Turnover Intention Among Nashua City Employees852 Words   |  4 Pagesor less contribute to job dissatisfaction, depending on the organizational culture and management behavior (Shahnawaz Jafri, 2009). The purpose of the study is to examine if job dissatisfaction that leads to poor job performance is related to turnover intention, or other factors such as employees’ trust of the organization, human resource management practices, inadequate training, employees job attitudes, and the role of organizational justice (Karim Rehman, 2012). The study’s findings will assistRead MoreHuman Resources. Sasnett Ross (2007) Notes That â€Å"The1185 Words   |  5 PagesHuman Res ources Sasnett Ross (2007) notes that â€Å"the human resource frame focuses on the needs of people. Leaders will value the feelings and relationships of people, and assume the organization must meet basic human needs through facilitation and empowerment† (p. 2). From my position as the organization’s senior enlisted advisor, there were numerous documented advisements to allocate fiscal year funds to contract IBM integration specialists, conduct hands-on data integrator training, andRead MoreEssay about Intro to Human Resources1561 Words   |  7 Pagesof questions originate from videos, 10% from assigned articles, 90% from lecture slides and book Example questions: 1. This job analysis tool uses the following scales to rate the importance of tasks: extent of use, amount of time, importance to the job, and possibility of occurrence. A. Fleishman B. Position Analysis Questionnaire C. O*Net D. Job Element Inventory 2. Your company is currently faced with a labor shortage. You need to correctRead MoreProject Report on Vodafone1093 Words   |  4 PagesThe Report 3. Vodafone being a multinational-cooperation implies a Chain Of Command organizational structure in which authority runs through the organizational hierarchy. It extends from the upper level of the organization to the lower levels of the organization. Vodafone has different departments with a head manager in place this makes the employees and workers of the organizationRead MoreInfluence Of Organizational Culture On Corporate Performance746 Words   |  3 Pagessupport the proposition that organizational culture is found to be a filter through which leadership influences various performance outcomes. Human Resource Management Organizational culture affects corporate performance. Corporate culture is a deeply embedded form of social control that influences employee decisions and behavior. Culture is persistent and operates unintentionally. It is an automatic pilot directing employees in ways that are consistent with organizational expectations. Corporate

The Civil Rights Movement

Question: Discuss about The Civil Rights Movement. Answer: The Civil Rights Movement was one of the most important events that were initiated by Sir Martin Luther king. According to his view he wanted the environment to be user-friendly and he also wished that all his sons should be treated equally irrespective of the color of their skin. After the introduction of the civil right movement, it has been figured out that the racism among individuals have been reduced to a great extent (King and King, 1993). It can be also seen that people understood the entire concept of the movement and they began respecting other people on their deed and not on their skin color. The several public areas such as the parks, monuments, businesses and many others areas have became free from racism to quite an extent after the implementation of the civil right movement. For instance a presentation of a European football match can be taken under consideration where before starting the game all the players took initiative to make sure that there is no racism among t hem neither in the field nor in their lives and to make other people aware of this cause they wore arm band that stated No to Racism (Shelton and ColoÃÅ' n, 2010). Every people attached to the community must follow and spread the message of no racism to every corner of the world so that we can abolish racism right from its grassroots. Since the era of Civil Right Movement in 1960 a lot of changes can be seen in the society and the community at present possesses a broader set of mind. Social organizations and the society are more helpful in maintaining a secure facility for the senior citizens of the community. References King, M. and King, C. (1993).The Martin Luther King, Jr., companion. New York: St. Martin's Press. Shelton, P. and ColoÃÅ' n, R. (2010).Child of the civil rights movement. New York: Schwartz Wade Books.

Platos Ideal City Essays - Socratic Dialogues, Dialogues Of Plato

Plato's Ideal City Socrates' ideal city is described through Plato in his work The Republic, some questions pondered through the text could be; How is this an "ideal" city, and is justice in the city relative to that of the human soul? I believe Socrates found the true meaning of justice in the larger atmosphere of the city and applied that concept to the human soul. Socrates describes his idea of an "ideal city" as one that has all the necessary parts to function and to show that justice is truly the harmony between the three sections of the city and soul in the human body. Plato introduces the idea of the happiness between groups in Book IV. Plato says, "in founding the city we are not looking to the exceptional happiness of any one group among us but, as far as possible, that of the city as a whole."(Plato 420b). I agree that in order to examine one thing that is difficult to comprehend, it is wise to look on a larger scale. In this case, Socrates had to examine the difference of a whole city and other concepts of cities in order to determine justice in the world and inner soul. In order to develop the perfect city Socrates had to develop the other ideas that contribute to the "ideal city", the City of Need, and the City of Luxury in order to develop the Perfect City. I believe Socrates in-depth discovery process for the perfect city is a great philosophical look into the idea of justice. Socrates brought up a subject many men at that time would never have thought about and Plato believed that the idea of justice was worthy of writing a literary work to pass his political philosophy on to future generations. Since the crucial elements of justice may be easier to observe on the larger scale like a city than on one individual. The focus for Socrates is a perfect city, because the city will represent human soul, Socrates says; "we'll go on to consider it in the individuals, considering the likeness of the bigger in the idea of the littler?"(Plato 369a). Plato's "ideal city" is really the search for the truth of justice, if Socrates is able to find the relationship between the soul and city in his "ideal city" then he would have the true meaning of justice. We saw from the reading how he came about braking down the city's parts and also that of the soul in order to see the reaction between three different regions which Plato and Socrates describe in The Republic. According to Plato, Socrates broke down the perfect city into three parts; each part is tied to a specific virtue that he believes will help define justice. The three virtues are wisdom, courage, and moderation. Wisdom is the whole knowledge, which describes the rulers of the city. The rulers should be the ones who incorporate philosophy and ruling together to rule the city wisely. Courage describes the guardians, who's job was to defend the city from invasion and take new lands for the city. The third virtue of the ideal city was moderation which is the concept of self-control and knowing ones role, also the concept of "one man, one job". The ideal city described in the work is ideal to me because it relates all essential parts to bring harmony among the different kind of people and the virtues that go hand in hand with to bring about justice. Therefore, the question arises, if I would want to live in the ideal city Plato has described in the work. My answer would be yes because it seems that everyone has a specific role to follow depending upon their abilities, both physically and mentally. When I look back to the early cities Plato discussed I agree with the city of need, but that is only part of the whole scheme of things. We need to add the luxurious things and leaders and the people to protect the city. No one of those first two cities could be great by its self, sure each one had their strong points but together they are harmonious to develop the perfect city. The perfect city needs both cities' traits, beginning with the basic philosophy if each person doing a specific job and doing to help the city. In the city of need, Socrates described that each tradesman had a particular job and now in the ideal city we can see that that trait is one

Accountability and Open Government Cheung, Chor-yung Essays

Accountability and Open Government Cheung, Chor-yung Essays Accountability and Open Government Cheung, Chor-yung Essay Accountability and Open Government Cheung, Chor-yung Essay In a civilized society, the use of political power is a profound responsibility. Holders of public offices can only exercise their authority legitimately if they do so in accordance with principles, rules, and procedures agreed by or acceptable to the society at large, and it is incumbent upon the public officials to justify their decisions with good reasons if challenged. Failure to do so will likely render their exercise of political power unacceptable. Legitimate power, in other words, must be subject to public scrutiny. Power holders who fail the test of public scrutiny will be held responsible, and they will have to step down from their offices if those failures are regarded as sufficiently serious. In the parlance of modern political studies, we call such a system an accountability system. Since accountability in this context comprises both the meaning of giving an account to explain and justify a government decision and of being responsible for its consequences, accountability also implies open government to facilitate public scrutiny of acts of government. Accountability and the Basic Law Accountability is a central but complicated concept in the Basic Law, the mini-constitution of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). A careful reading of the chapter on the political structure of the Basic Law shows that at least four different kinds of accountability can be identified in this constitutional document; they are legal, administrative, deliberative, and political accountability respectively. a) Legal Accountability Paragraph two of Article 43 of the Basic Law stipulates that the Chief Executive of the HKSAR is accountable to the Central Peoples Government (CPG) and the HKSAR in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law. More specifically, Article 64 provides that the HKSAR government (HKSARG) must abide by the law and be accountable to the HKSAR Legislative Council (Legco) and shall implement laws passed by the Legco and already in force. In other words, the Chief Executive must abide by the Basic Law to discharge his duties to implement the CPGs one country, two systems policy over the HKSAR and to act for the best interest of it. The Chief Executive (as the head of the HKSARG) and the executive authorities also have the legal obligation to observe the laws and to implement them as and when required in accordance with the due process. Failure to do so will make the Chief Executive and his officials legally accountable, and Article 73(9) also empowers the Legco to initiate impeachment pro ceedings against the Chief Executive if no less than one-fourth of all Legco members charge him with serious breach of law or dereliction of duties. b) Administrative Accountability As the Chief Executive is appointed by (Article 45) and accountable to the CPG, he is administratively a subordinate of the Premier of the State Council, who represents the CPG to make the appointment. The Chief Executive therefore should be held accountable to the Premier for the good administration of the HKSAR. Articles 57 and 58 of the Basic Law also prescribe that the Commission Against Corruption and the Commission of Audit, the heads of which are both principal officials nominated by the Chief Executive, shall work independently and be solely accountable to the Chief Executive in discharging their administrative duties to fight corruption and to audit public expenditure within the HKSAR respectively. Article 99 of the Basic Law provides that all civil servants shall be responsible to the government, which effectively means that they are all, via their respective line managers, accountable to the Chief Executive for the good administration and implementation of government policy. Since the introduction of the Principal Officials Accountability System (POAS) in July 2002, all principal officials with policy portfolios are all made directly accountable to the Chief Executive for the outcome of their respective policy portfolio (more on this in the next section). However, for principal officials from the disciplinary forces other than the Commissioner of the Commission Against Corruption (i.e. Commissioner of Police, Director of Immigration, and Commissioner of Customs and Excise) who are not responsible for policy making, administratively they are directly accountable to the Secretary for Security (herself also a principal official) as their departments fall within the ambit of the latters policy portfolio. c) Deliberative Accountability Article 64 of the Basic Law specifically prescribes that the HKSARs executive authorities shall be accountable to the Legco, in which two of the requirements (i.e., presenting regular policy addresses and answering Legco questions) are clearly related to providing information to and explaining and justifying government decisions in the legislature. I think it is reasonable to call this kind of requirements deliberative accountability, as they are meant to make the government accountable in providing regular information to the Legco to promote public debate and scrutiny of government action. d) Political Accountability It can be argued that the Basic Law also prescribes some form of political accountability between the executive and the legislature, in which the Chief Executive is required to resign in the event that his major policy fails to inspire confidence and support. However, the arrangements in the Basic Law in this respect are both unique and complicated. Similar to the parliamentary system in western democracies, Article 64 of the Basic Law stipulates that the HKSARG is accountable to the legislature for matters relating to taxation and public expenditure. It also requires that if the executive ultimately (cf Article 52) losses the confidence of the legislature in these matters or matters relating to major government legislation, the Chief Executive has to resign. However, Legcos initial refusal to approve a budget or a major government bill will not lead to the dismissal of the government of the day; instead, in Hong Kongs so-called executive-led system, the Chief Executive is given the advantage at this stage to dissolve the Legco (Article 50). Only when the new Legco again shows its lack of confidence in the government at a subsequent stage by refusing to pass the same bill that the Chief Executive is held politically accountable and is required to resign.1 It is also important to note that, unlike the common practice in a parliam entary democracy, the passage of a vote of no confidence against the executive in the Legco will not automatically lead to the fall of the government or any ministerial dismissal. While the arrangements in the Basic Law in this regard are rather uncommon, it is still reasonable to think that when it comes to political accountability, the executive is responsible for getting the support of the legislature in matters relating to taxation, public spending, and important government legislation, though it requires two consecutive legislatures no confidence in these matters to trigger the removal of a Chief Executive, which gives considerable leverage to the executive in manipulating the first legislature to succumb to its wishes. The Principal Officials Accountability System and Its Problems In July 2002, the second Tung Chee-hwa administration of the HKSAR introduced the POAS to the government, in which all policy making principal officials, comprising the Chief Secretary for Administration, the Financial Secretary, the Secretary for Justice, and 11 other policy secretaries, are no longer manned by civil servants. Instead, they have all become political appointees with direct policy responsibility to the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive admits that since 1997, government policy and operation have been subject to increasing critical scrutiny by the public, the media, and the Legco. The government acknowledges that in a sense, the introduction of the POAS was a response to calls for resignations of senior officials to take responsibility for serious policy failures since the changeover of sovereignty. For example, in March 1999, after having heavily lobbied the pro-government legislators, the government managed to just overcome a no confidence motion in the Legco against the Secretary for Justice for her alleged failure to defend the rule of law by disallowing the prosecution to proceed against a newspaper proprietor Sally Aw who was well connected to the Chief Executive on corruption charges. In June 2000, a motion of no confidence against the Chairperson of the Housing Authority and the Director of Housing was carried in Legco, for legislators had lost confidence in the two officials in their ability to reform the public housing sector and found them politically responsible for the short-piling scandal, in which corrupt officials allowed substandard piles to be built in government housing estates. Although the non-civil servant Chairperson, Ms Rosanna Wong, resigned voluntarily just before the passage of the vote, the Director of Housing, being a civil servant with security of t enure for his job, did not step down to take policy responsibility. In essence, properly understood, the POAS is a form of individual ministerial responsibility in which individual policy maker, unlike in the past, is required to shoulder the consequences of policy failures. There are, however, two fundamental problems with the POAS. First, as the Chief Executive is not popularly elected and the politically appointed principal officials are not responsible to the public or to the elected Legco, the POAS will only enhance the Chief Executives power to fire and hire principal officials if he finds their performance not to his liking instead of promoting democratic accountability. Second, since Hong Kong has yet to develop constitutional conventions governing the operation of individual ministerial responsibility, it is far from certain that the introduction of the POAS will enhance principal officials accountability. A case in hand to illustrate this is the penny stocks fiasco. The fiasco erupted less than one month after the introduction of the POAS, in which the local stock market lost HK$10 billion in stock value in one day caused by the ill-conceived proposal of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) to de-list stocks trading in the local market below 50 Hong Kong cents for 30 consecutive days without consolidating their shares. While both the Financial Secretary and the Secretary for the Financial Services and Treasury (SFST) are responsible for this policy area, they both refused to take responsibility, arguing that the HKEx was not a government department and the proposal was not initiated by the government, though the SFST subsequently admitted in Legco that he was sent a copy of the summary of the HKEx proposals in advance but failed to have read them before their public release. Although the Financial Secretary appointed an inquiry to look into the fiasco, there still have no signs of seeing the development and acceptance of constitutional conventions determining when and under what conditions a minister should be held responsible for indirect departmental faults (or the so-called vicarious responsibility of a minister). Likewise, before there are well established conventions governing the resignation and censure of responsible officials and regulating the relationship between politically appointed min isters and politically neutral civil servants, it remains to be seen if the POAS can really promote accountability and nurture a culture of responsible governance in the HKSAR. Accountability and Democracy Hong Kong is no democracy at the moment, with the Chief Executive being selected only by 800 privileged people and at least half of the seats in the legislature not returned by universal suffrage before 2007. Without democracy, no accountability system is secured, for not being responsible to the people, power holders will have no incentives to make the decision making process transparent, will explain and justify their decisions only at their discretions, and will not be held accountable even if their policies have already lost the confidence of the people. The POAS, as mentioned in the previous section, is flawed because principal officials are not even held responsible to the semi-democratic Legco, not to say to the people for policy failures. There is no institutional guarantee that the non-popularly elected Chief Executive will respect the judgment of the Legco and the people in issues related to the accountability of the principal officials. While it is true that the Basic Law has provisions providing for a system of accountability covering the legal, administrative, deliberative, and the political aspects, given the undemocratic nature of the present political system in the HKSAR, each and every one of this aspect needs to be reformed or strengthened if we take accountability seriously. In the case of legal accountability, while the Chief Executive is required to be accountable to the HKSAR, meaning that he shall discharge his constitutional and legal duties in the best public interest, it is far from secure that his perception of public interest will not be more in line with the 800 people whom have the power to select him than with the general public. We must also remember that Legcos power to impeach the Chief Executive in case of serious breach of law or dereliction of duties is not final, for even if the impeachment motion is carried with the support of two-third of the members, it is still up to the CPG to make the final decision to remove the Chief Executive. As regards administrative accountability, since the Commission Against Corruption and the Commission of Audit are there to check the executive authorities against corruption and inappropriate use of public expenditure, accountability will be enhanced if both Commissions are made accountable to the Legco instead of to the Chief Executive, as the latter, being the head of the HKSARG, is still part of the executive authorities whose performance and behaviour are required to be scrutinised by the Commissions concerned. Likewise, some other offices for the enhancement of administrative accountability not provided for in the Basic Law, such as the Office of the Ombudsman, should be made accountable to the Legco than to the Chief Executive. Deliberative accountability is one area in which the lack of democracy will make it highly ineffective. While the Basic Law requires the Chief Executive to present policy addresses to the Legco, the current Chief Executive Mr Tung Chee-hwa is, to say the least, most reluctant to appear before the Legco to answer questions, and his refusal to meet the public after the delivery of his Policy Address 2003 demonstrated that public deliberation of government policy will not be taken seriously without democratic accountability. Further, we must also remember that quality deliberation requires free access to relevant information. In this respect, the lack of legislation for free access to public information is a major handicap for the promotion of deliberative accountability, and a right balance must be struck in the protection of legitimate state secrets and the right of the media and the public to know about important and even sensitive official information. In addition, to further enhanc e the quality of deliberation in the Legco, Legco members and their political parties should be given more public funding to enhance their policy research capacity so that quality alternative policy proposals could be produced to compete with the governments proposals. Political accountability, in its full sense, cannot exit without full democracy, for policy makers can only legitimately exercise their political powers so long as they still have the confidence of the people. In this strict sense, the HKSAR will only have genuine political accountability the day when full democracy is introduced. This applies both to the election of the Chief Executive and of the Legco. If either one losses the mandate of the people, they have to step down from office. Under the present arrangements of a semi-democratic Legco and a Chief Executive returned by only 800 people, political accountability, at most, only applies to those Legco members who are elected by universal suffrage. This is a highly unsatisfactory situation and shows that the exercise of political power in the HKSAR falls far short of the civilised requirements of responsible government. The Basic Law nevertheless stipulates that the Executive Authorities and the Chief Executive are accountable to the Legco. They also need to get the support of the latter in matters relating to taxation and important government legislation. However, the Basic Law also gives the advantage to the Chief Executive to dissolve the Legco in case such a support is lacking in the first instance. Under the present circumstances, this executive-led feature of the political system will further undermine the ethos of accountability, for the hurdle for an elected Legco to climb in order to remove a non-popularly elected Chief Executive who has lost the confidence of the legislature is unreasonably high. Also, owing to the mixed composition of the Legco, with members returning both from indirect elections in small-sized functional/electoral constituencies and from direct elections under the proportional representative system, together with the requirement of split voting among Legco members in Leg co initiated proposals, the legislature is fragmented, making it almost impossible to form a coherent and effective alternative to the executive. The political accountability of the government to the legislature is therefore at best ineffective, at worst non-existent.

Man with the Movie Camera and the Male Gaze Essays

Man with the Movie Camera and the Male Gaze Essays Man with the Movie Camera and the Male Gaze Paper Man with the Movie Camera and the Male Gaze Paper Essay Topic: Invisible Man Man with the Movie Camera: The Male Gaze Between every audience and a film there will always lay a camera; this camera may seem transparent or not visible, but nevertheless there is a camera and a cameraperson filming the scenes. Laura Mulvey, within her essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, coins the term â€Å"male gaze,† where the intermediary, the camera, is metaphorically transformed to the eyes of a male, changing how we view cinema, as well as both men and women immortalized on the silver screen. Dziga Vertov, a Soviet director, wrote and directed an avant-garde, silent documentary film called Man with the Movie Camera in 1929. Despite being famous for its anti-narrative cinematical elements, the film includes a number of narrative developments of human movement in the Soviet Union, which portray power struggles between the government, men, and women. Vertov’s Man with the Movie Camera reflects Mulvey’s psychoanalytic male gaze by abstaining from the use of a visible subject or actors, its use of a wide and unusual variety of cinematic camera techniques, and a male perspective. Man with the Movie Camera lacks a clear or constant visible subject or actor, and thus supports Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze in cinema. The film, instead of having recognizable characters or actors, attempts to capture the life of a camera man, very much from the camera’s perspective. Vertov includes shots of the titular camera men within the film, but many of the scenes are montage or unstaged clips of daily life. By not utilizing strongly developed characters, the audience does not have a particular perspective to view the film, other than the exclusively male cameramen, but, by including the cameramen, with their cameras, filming within the film, as well having the audience view another audience watching the same movie, Vertov brings attention to the gaze itself; that there is, in this case, a man looking through the camera and creating the scene. Mulvey says that â€Å"There are circumstances in which looking itself is a source of pleasure, just as, in the reverse formation, there is pleasure in being looked at† (200). The male gaze in the example of scenes of cameramen filming with the film itself represents this pleasure of looking and of capturing a moment. Mulvey goes on to say that: â€Å"At first glance, the cinema would seem to be remote from the undercover world of the surreptitious observation of an unknowing and unwilling victim. What is seen of the screen is so manifestly shown. But the mass of mainstream film, and the conventions within which it has consciously evolved, portray a hermetically sealed world which unwinds magically, indifferent to the presence of the audience, producing for them a sense of separation and playing on their voyeuristic fantasy† (201). Man with the Movie Camera seems to counteract the illusion of cinema by drawing attention to the act of filming and the cameramen themselves and a lack characters. Furthermore, because the film is a silent documentary, though an orchestral soundtrack was produced to accompany the film, the characters that are present have no voice or audible connection to the audience, thus without a consistency of characters nor a voice attached to any of the subjects within the film the audience becomes aware that the camera can ultimately be an intermediary between the cameramen and them, and the illusion of narrative cinema is lost. Mulvey states that in film women are typically the objects, rather than the possessors, of gaze because the control of the camera, and thus the gaze, comes from the assumption of heterosexual men as the default target audience for most film genres, in this case, as a result of the male cameramen present in the film (200). Though there are no consistent human characters with Man with the Movie Camera, the camera itself seems become a subject itself. In the opening scene of the movie one of the various cameramen is positioned, by being superimposed, on top of another large, mountainous camera. In later scenes within the film, Vertov seeks to emphasize the power of the visual reach of the camera; it can go anywhere and be anywhere. For example, Vertov creates scenes in which the film superimposes a cameraman inside a glass of, women waking up and getting dressed, and a woman giving birth, and the baby being bathed. In another scene the camera is subject to simple animation in which it even evolves human movement like its cameramen. These scenes portray the gaze of the camera, thus the gaze of the man behind the camera – a literal male gaze, as having the power to film and objectify anything, from this the camera itself becomes the subject amongst a lack of actors. Man with the Movie Camera utilizes an unusually broad range of cinematic technique and staging, which reflect Mulvey’s male gaze of cinema. A majority of the scenes in the film appear to be completely not staged, as the audience is aware that the cameramen being filmed are simply attempting to gain shots of people of the Soviet Union in their everyday life and routine. By creating a seemingly realistic shot, Vertov changes â€Å"the function of film†¦ to reproduce as accurately as possible the so-called natural conditions of human perception. Camera technology†¦ and camera movements†¦, combined with invisible editing†¦ all tend to blur the limits of screen† (204). In one clip, Mikhail Kaufman, one of the cameramen, as well as Vertov’s editor, sets his camera up in a train car to film passengers sitting in a train car. Despite the people in the train car appearing staged, one child waves to the camera shyly, making the scene lose its formal, undisturbed feeling. In a similar way to voyeurism and the male gaze, Mulvey says â€Å"that of the spectator in direct scopophilic contact with the female form displayed for his enjoyment (connoting male fantasy) and that of the spectator fascinated with the image of his like set in an illusion of natural space, and through him gaining control and possession of the woman within the diegesis† (204). In the case of Kaufman filming what we presume as a diegesis of natural space, according to Mulvey the male gaze of the camera, the cameramen, and the audience creates a spectacle of the natural, or unstaged, world, which, as Mulvey puts in Freudian terms, creates a voyeuristic male fantasy. The film itself does contain sexual imagery, concurrent with the male fantasy. Scenes of a camera set up in a room continuously films women waking up and getting dressed, then undressed later, which literally fulfills the fantasy of voyeuristic male fantasy. Similar to the concept of the’ peeping to,’ The Man with the Movie Camera creates an unstaged world which entertains the male gaze. Amongst other cinematic techniques include many scenes involving track shots. Track shots, so named because the camera is usually set along a track in order to control its movement, mirror a gentle progression of movement, not entirely unlike human walking or running. In this sense, the film once again recreates a natural world through comparably human movement. Other techniques, such as extreme close ups, for example of people sitting in the audience viewing the movie, the same film, within the movie in the heater present the audience with another scene in which the viewer is associated with the active subject; the camera and its gaze – or the gaze of the titular characters, and the passive, objectified individuals, as well as the masses. Lastly, Vertov’s Man with the Movie Camera reflects Mulvey’s male gaze through it s portrayal of men and women through objectification. The basis of this argument comes from the assumption that the audience will take the perspective of the cameramen seen filming within the movie, whom are the only consistent characters, thus the audience will take on the gaze of the male. Mulvey says â€Å"the man controls the film fantasy and also emerges as the representative of power in a further sense: as the bearer of the look of the spectator, transferring it behind the screen to neutralize the extra diegetic tendencies†¦ as spectacle† (204). One of the first scenes in which women are visible on screen, is a montage of footage of cameramen working to achieve difficult or risky shots, such as sitting in front of a moving train or filming in a moving vehicle, spliced with scenes of women putting on pantyhose and braziers. This comes as a reflection of the male gaze by objectifying women through the comparison between men working with cameras and taking dangerous shots and women’s legs. In one, the men are usually facing the camera or their faces are at the very least visible to the viewer whilst they are filming, yet for the women their faces are never visible throughout this montage, only their bodies. This works on different levels to support a male gaze; it solidifies the association of the audience with the male by both showing men’s faces, and their gaze, and their relationship with the camera; women are not shown to be even capable of a gaze nor able to be equals with the male gaze by meeting it with their own. According to Mulvey, the male gaze is based upon the theory that â€Å"the paradox of phallocentrism in all its manifestations is that it depends on the image of the castrated woman to give order and meaning to its world. An idea of woman stands as a linchpin to the system: it is her lack [of a phallus] that produces the phallus as a symbolic presence; it is her desire to make good the lack that the phallus signifies† (198). Through this reasoning, The Man with the Movie Camera, no matter how artificial this montage may be interpreted, objectifies women as both a threat of castration and sexual objects, and portrays men as the both the men behind the camera and connected to the actively looking audience. Despite much of the film being nstaged, The Man with the Movie Camera contains a few scenes in which the events are staged or choreographed. The scene mentioned earlier, of the women getting dressed, is one of the few obvious examples of staging within the film, as well as a scene in which chess pieces are being collected in the middle of the chess board. By having scenes that are obviously staged or choreographed, especially amongst a vast majority of film that is natural, or, Vertov emphasizes such objectification. Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera comes to the viewer as a reflection Laura Mulvey’s psychological male gaze by having no consistent characters or narrative development, unusual cinematic and plot techniques, and by utilizing an objectifying male gaze. Vertov’s film, much like a majority of film of the silver screen from Hollywood’s day and age, clearly had examples of a male gaze a theory from Mulvey, a much more contemporary writer, despite many of its non-traditional, anti-narrative structure.

British Constitution Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

British Constitution Master - Essay Example This is who we are," said Mr Brown..I will stand up for British values. I will stand up for a strong Britain and I will always stand for you" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtmlxml=/news/2007/09/24/nlabour1324.xml British constitution has never been an absolutely rigid constitution. It establishes the fundamental laws and judicial review of legislation and administrative law is not totally bifurcated from constitution law. "A distinction is commonly drawn in continental countries between constitutional law and administrative law; but because English law is not codified or officially systematized, English jurists have found difficulty in determining the distinction" Jackson, Hood and Leopold (2001, p.9). The British constitution and the constitution law, definition of both are rather controversial, though the scope is unlimited because it covers all aspects of the relationship between individuals and authorities. Fundamental law of the state does not remain unalterable, and British constitution is the result of constitutional conventions as the constitution still stands unwritten. It declares Parliamentary Sovereignty (now with the European dimension), with autonomous power to the judiciary, which could sometimes, momentarily thwart any government effort1. Then Britain has to reckon with the EU and the connected laws, where most of the British laws were undermined and become subordinate to the EU laws. European Court of Justice can overrule all the acts of the Member Countries and the Courts in every member country, including Britain are asked to uphold the EU justice. In Britain this has become an issue of contention that Community law could override national laws. There are argume nts that British/People's/Parliamentary sovereignty is undermined and Constitution has lost its place. The limited sovereignty of the Member States still remains a difficult issue to gulp down not only in Britain, but also in many other member states. In addition, European Convention on Human Rights singed in 1950 could be considered as another encroachment in the national sovereignty. The decisions of the Court of Human Rights no doubt, are not directly enforceable depending on the circumstances; but it is coming closer. With the threat of home grown and external terrorism, Temporary Provisions are added into Prevention of Terrorism Act, 1989, might encroach individual rights in more ways than one. "Although constitutional theory tightly binds legitimacy and power with Parliamentary accountability, accountability and impartiality are considered to be increased by excluding certain functions from the constraints and influence of ministerial responsibility" Flinders (2002, P.17). Another issue that could threaten the constitution is the status of parliamentary sovereignty in Scotland, and the Queen's status was disputed on a few occasions2. Treaty and Acts of Union have been contested and the confusion still persists. "At any rate, with this possible, but unclear, exception for Scotland, the principle of parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom remains probably the most basic tenet of our constitutional law," Yardley (1995, p.25). Under the British Constitution, even though Parliament is supreme, House of Lords, represented by hereditary and created peers continue to exist. The twelve Lords of Appeal