Sociology Debates Pluralism and Elitism

Sociology Debates Pluralism and Elitism Sociology debates have evolved over two political theories namely: pluralism and elitism. The power elite theory however, seems to be true compared to the pluralist view which holds that participation in politics is democratic where people participate in politics through group membership by creating public policies on competitive and compromising basis.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Sociology Debates: Pluralism and Elitism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On the other hand, elitism maintains that political and decision making positions are held by elites who are unified for their personal gains and hence are not representative. This is very true as a great number of political leaders do participate in politics only for selfish gains rather than to serve their people. Additionally, power is only set aside for particular elite members and institutional positions are not open to other non elite members. This is e videnced in many political positions in many countries where the key positions in governments are held only by superior and intellectual members. This particular group takes control of the country’s economy where decisions are made based on personal interests rather than from a consensual basis. This domination by the elite groups results to conflicts between the leaders and the ruled. A good example of this rule is where a county’s political leaders raise tax payments from the citizens with the aim of raising their salaries at the expense of the tax payer while they themselves do not pay taxes despite the huge salaries and other benefits they get from the government. Since the elite groups are the decision makers, the members are left powerless as they have to obey and play by the decisions of their leaders. In this context, the top leadership positions have authority to run all the activities and programs in many fields such as legal issues, economic, scientific and civil institutions among others. The leaders and holders of these top positions are basically in charge of a country’s activities either directly or indirectly. Indirect programs such as banking, transportation and communication are also affected by the decisions made by the elite groups. This is a clear indication that the power of any country lies within only a single elite group rather than several groups which may have different perception of leadership. Therefore, the common citizens have no authority over matters concerning their lives and this leaves their lives at risk as the elite groups do not have their interests at hand. However, this does not mean that the elite groups operate under dictatorship. Rather, they operate in respect to constitutional laws and carry out their activities in an open manner and peacefully.Advertising Looking for assessment on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These characteristics are drawn from inheritance where leaders follow the footsteps of the previous leaders. All these rules by the power elite theory are true especially in today’s economy which has deteriorated greatly and increased the greed in elite leaders. They are gaining personal benefits at the expense of civilians who are suffering not only economically, but also politically and socially. This is because they do not have take in their lives as every activity concerning civilians is on the hands of the elite leaders who are the sole decision makers. Therefore, the elite theory is true opposed to the pluralist theory which maintains that political participation includes everyone and no single group is dominant over the others. In addition, the pluralist theory entails the agreement of groups with one goal of societal interests.

Free Essays on United Nations

When thinking of international actors, states come to mind for many. However, international actors can be most simply defined as any person, organization, or territory that has any economic or political influence on international affairs. Many intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations are international actors. Founded in 1945, the United Nations is one of the best known of intergovernmental organizations and is most definitely an international actor. The composition of the United Nations is quite simple. There are 185 member countries in the United Nations and, in the General Assembly, each member has one vote. The Security Council is made up of five permanent members (United States, Russia, France, United Kingdom, and China) and ten members that serve two-year terms. The Economic and Social Council is composed of 54 members, serving three-year terms, each with one vote. The Trusteeship Council has five members, each with one vote. Fifteen judges head the International Court of Justice, each serving a nine-year term. Finally, there are many associated agencies, including the World Heath Organization, the World Bank, and the Food and Agricultural Organization. For the most part, the United Nations is very democratic; however in, for example, the Security Council, the five permanent members could overrule the majority with a simple veto. This organization is structured like governments in many countries and makes decisions affecting most of the world, therefore, the United Nations is an international actor. One of the United Nations’ foremost goals is to promote international cooperation, peace, and security. This effects many countries both politically and economically; it strives to prevent international conflict, limit the severity of the violence if it does occur, and restore peace in the aftermath. It is the belief of the United Nations that military force should be used only in self-defense, and is ... Free Essays on United Nations Free Essays on United Nations Thesis The United Nations is not the answer to all of the world's problems; however, there are too many acts against humanity to be ignored. No single state or alliance has the ability to prevent these acts from taking place without making the condition worst. Because of all this a world organization must be set up to protect mankind from ourselves. The United Nations is the largest organization trying to keep these heinous crimes from taking place on a global level. I plan to show why the United Nations is useful today through the diamond conflict in Sierra Leone, and also what could improve the United Nations. About the United Nations The United Nations was established in the aftermath of a devastating war to help stabilize international relations and â€Å"give peace a more secure foundation†. On 25 April 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter. The charter committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to the UN its membership totals  HYPERLINK "un.org/Overview/brief1.html" l "footnote#footnote" 191 countries united â€Å"to advance the cause of human rights in practice terms: the right of life, the right to equality before the law, the right of freedom of opinion and expression and of arbitrary arrest and detention, the right to education, the right to work, the right to health, freedom of hunger, and all other human rights and fundamental freedoms.† The United Nations consists of six principal bodies: General Assembly; Security Council; Economic and Social Council; the Trusteeship Council; the International Court of Justice; and the Secretariat. In addition, there are 14 specialized agencies working in areas as diverse as health, finance, agriculture, civil aviation and telecommunications, linked... Free Essays on United Nations When thinking of international actors, states come to mind for many. However, international actors can be most simply defined as any person, organization, or territory that has any economic or political influence on international affairs. Many intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations are international actors. Founded in 1945, the United Nations is one of the best known of intergovernmental organizations and is most definitely an international actor. The composition of the United Nations is quite simple. There are 185 member countries in the United Nations and, in the General Assembly, each member has one vote. The Security Council is made up of five permanent members (United States, Russia, France, United Kingdom, and China) and ten members that serve two-year terms. The Economic and Social Council is composed of 54 members, serving three-year terms, each with one vote. The Trusteeship Council has five members, each with one vote. Fifteen judges head the International Court of Justice, each serving a nine-year term. Finally, there are many associated agencies, including the World Heath Organization, the World Bank, and the Food and Agricultural Organization. For the most part, the United Nations is very democratic; however in, for example, the Security Council, the five permanent members could overrule the majority with a simple veto. This organization is structured like governments in many countries and makes decisions affecting most of the world, therefore, the United Nations is an international actor. One of the United Nations’ foremost goals is to promote international cooperation, peace, and security. This effects many countries both politically and economically; it strives to prevent international conflict, limit the severity of the violence if it does occur, and restore peace in the aftermath. It is the belief of the United Nations that military force should be used only in self-defense, and is ...

Stock Market and Economy of Nigeria Research Paper

Stock Market and Economy of Nigeria - Research Paper Example Several effects of financial and stock market development on gross National product, Gross domestic development and Employment rate shall be used to establish the relationship. Excluding South Africa, Nigeria has the largest economy in sub-Sahara Africa. In the last two decades ,there has been no progress made in alleviating poverty, expanding and enhancing economic development despite the massive effort made and the many programmes established for that purpose's growth pattern of the Nigerian economy has been quite sluggish over the last two decades. The level of poverty is further exuberated by the pandemic of inequality. The economic performance has had a mixture as the macro-economy environment has witnessed positive and negative influences. Even though several programmes have been aimed at consolidating the arrangement for private sector -led economic growth and government demonstrated a commitment to implementing the privatization programme and improving major infrastructure, the realization of this goal could be met because of the disparity in monetary and fiscal policies. There has been marked improvement in power supply and the privatization of the telecommunications sector among, stimulated economic activities. But the economy has been unable to take fuel advantage of the development, as interest rate and inflation have continued to raise in response to high government spending and subsequent liquidity control measures. High interest rates during a period of time have attracted funs away from the stock market and constrained corporate access to working capital. Nevertheless the exchange rate has been relatively stable facilitating, planning and budget control for companies with high import content. For some time now, the Nigeria stock Exchange has recorded a major turnover growth, in 2001,the market turnover increasing by 104.9% from N28.1billion in 2000 to N57.6billion.In value terms, this is by for highest annual turnover growth of the exchange since also have increased both in primary and secondary market has been realized. In the stock capitalization in the total market value of 261 securities listed on the Nigeria stock Exchange appreciated by 40% to the end of 2001 at N662.6 billon. A combination of supplementary issue and price appreciation in the equities sector accounted for much of the growth in market capitalization. By the end of 2001 the Nigeria Stock Exchange share index grew by 35.2% to close the year at 10,963.11.Remarkably,the index had on 10th may 2001 crossed the 10000 points mark, And on 17th October 2001 reached all time high of 11,339.67 before dropping to its year end position. In lieu of the ever increasing favorable condition bestowed on the Nigeria economy, since the inception of democracy in May 1999, foreign investors continued to invest in Nigeria through the Nigerian stock exchange. The returns of the foreign portfolio transaction are soaring higher. The Nigerian stock exchange has remained focused on improving market infrastructure, expanding market investor base, and consolidating the global

History of Modern Science, Galileo and Newton Essay

History of Modern Science, Galileo and Newton - Essay Example Here in this paper, both are discussed; compared and analyzed in a deep manner as per their respective works which brought about a significant change within our modern day luxuries that mankind has in the present times. Galileo was born on 15th February 1564 and is widely regarded as an Italian physicist, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher of repute. He had a major hand in bringing about the scientific revolution within history. His name is synonymous with the very best in the world of innovators, physicists and thinkers since he was, is and will always remain a genius. Mankind owes a lot of gratitude to the personality of Galileo and hence the reason that he is still remembered as a hero notwithstanding a great amount of time has passed since he died – on 8th January 1642. Galileo brought to the fore his achievements in the line of improvements that he made towards the working domains of the telescope as well as the consequent astronomical observations with added support for the sake of Copernicanism. Without a doubt, this formed the basis as to why he was regarded as the "father of modern observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", â€Å"the father of Modern Scienceâ €  and the "father of science." Galileo studied the motion of uniformly accelerated objects which is usually there in all school and college curricula. The physics courses have special mention of such objects and it comes especially under the heading of kinematics. Galileo made contributions towards the field of observational astronomy which has entailed within it the discovery of the four largest satellites that Jupiter has and named as the Galilean moons. This was so done to give him honor and respect for his work. He also studied the sunspots, firstly made an observation regarding them and then analyzing them in the end. Further, he worked tirelessly towards the related fields of applied science and technology. (Shea & Artigas, 2003) On the other hand, Sir