Is Prime Ministers Question Time still an effective way to hold th UKe Government to account - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2235 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Politics Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Prime Ministers Questions is a weekly event, taking place on Wednesdays at midday in the House of Commons, in which Members of Parliament ask questions of the Prime Minister which he/she is obliged to answer over the course of approximately half an hour. Prior to 1997, this was instead two fifteen minute slots (Seaton and Winetrobe, 1999). The Leader of the Opposition is allocated six questions during this period. In the past, the Prime Minister has been able to transfer questions to relevant members of his/her Cabinet, and the Leader of the Opposition has foregone the opportunity to ask his/her allocated number of questions. Since the changes made under Tony Blair in 1997, the third-largest party (since then the Liberal Democrats) has been afforded the chance to ask two questions (Thomas, 2004: 5). The event has a long tradition in British politics and is considered a central element in the adversarial thrust of the parliamentary system and the House of Commo ns. It provides an opportunity for Members of Parliament to address questions and issues directly to the Prime Minister, and to have those issues answered and responded to (Gimson, 2012). As such, it is considered a cornerstone of the British political system. This paper will argue that it alone is not an effective means of holding the government to account, but that it forms an important constituent part in the wider adversarial democratic process of ensuring government accountability. It will also be noted that an increasing emphasis on point-scoring, machoism and unruly contentiousness is something which has detracted from the democratic effectiveness of Prime Ministers Questions. One of the central emphases of Prime Ministers Questions is that the issues raised and questions put to the Prime Minister are ones which he/she does not know in advance. It is therefore seen as an opportunity for Members of Parliament to challenge the Prime Minister away from any prepared or scripte d response. For this reason, Prime Ministers Questions has been valued by the opposition and in some cases feared by the Prime Minister as it forces him or her to be very well briefed on the issues of the day, as well as to improvise and respond quickly and efficiently to unanticipated questions or issues which might be raised (Cowley, 2001: 820). However, it has been argued, both by politicians and by commentators, that the unruly nature of some Prime Ministers Questions has meant that, rather than being an important part of the democratic process and a chance to hold the government to account, it has become something of a spectacle and an uncivilised shouting match. This problem has indeed been raised by the current Speaker of the House, John Bercow, who has identified the histrionics and cacophony of noise associated with the event (Mason and Edgington, 2014, n.p.). Bercow suggested in the same interview that female Members of Parliament in particular are driven to not attend Prime Ministers Questions because of the machoism and unruliness of the behaviour in the House (Mason and Edgington, 2014). To the extent that the nature of the event discourages certain Members of Parliament from attending suggests that it is less than ideally effective as a democratic process. If not all Members wish to attend, not all the potential questions and issues which could or should be raised in Prime Ministers Questions are going to be addressed. In such circumstances, it is possible that the emphasis is more on presentation and cheap point-scoring than on actual political processes and accountability, and that the ability of the Prime Minister to make jokes, cutting ripostes and other style over substance elements in the debating process has taken centre stage. Given the relatively short duration of the event à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" half an hour per week à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the possibility for unruly behaviour and disruption to undermine the process and ensure that little is actually said or achieved in the questioning session is all the greater (Murphy, 2014). Bates et al. (2014: 243) addressed in their research of Prime Ministers Questions from Margaret Thatcher through to David Cameron, the question of whether or not the event has become increasingly a focal point for shallow political point scoring rather than serious prime ministerial scrutiny. They found some worrying evidence of Prime Ministers Questions as both rowdier and increasingly dominated by the main party leaders with Prime Ministers increasingly expected to be able to respond to a wider range of questions, female MPs as likely to ask helpful questions but less likely to ask unanswerable questions than male counterparts and Members of Parliament being less likely to ask helpful questions and more likely to ask unanswerable questions the longer their parliamentary tenure. These all suggest a less than ideal process of holding the government to account. Thus it is necessary to distingui sh between adversarial discourse which serves a political democratic process in holding the government to account on the one hand, and confrontational or aggressive behaviour which is simply point-scoring and face-saving on the other. Bull and Wells (2011: n.p.), in their study of adversarial discourse in Prime Ministers Questions, analysed the concept of face-threatening acts, and identified six distinctive ways in which FTAs are performed by the leader of the opposition in questions and five distinctive ways in which the PM may counter FTAs in replies were identified. They concluded that face aggravation in PMQs is not just an acceptable form of parliamentary discourse, it is both sanctioned and rewarded, a means whereby MPs may enhance their own status through aggressive facework. These face-threatening acts were ones which, without constituting non-parliamentary language (i.e. language which is deemed by the Speaker of the House to be directly insulting towards another Member of Parliament), nevertheless aimed at embarrassing or undermining the person at whom they were directed. This so-called aggressive facework may serve a political purpose, and may constitute a challenge to the government and its representatives, but it is one which is based more on personality than politics, and one which therefore serves more of an interpersonal role within the House than it does a wider political role in ensuring democratic accountability. Mohammed (2008: 380) characterises Prime Ministers Questions in terms of institutional conventions, arguing that it has a structured purpose and format which achieves its ends by being institutionally defined. In other words, such a format for adversarial exchange, where there are clear rules and conventions of behaviour, is one which makes it effective and efficient in achieving its goals i.e. holding the government to account. Mohammed (2008: 380) highlights the initial situation of Prime Ministers Questions as being a mixed d ifference of opinion concerning a proposition evaluating the performance of the government. This suggests that although the topical questions put to the Prime Minister may not be critical or aggressive in their nature, that what is presupposed in the questioning is nevertheless a process of accountability. The Prime Minister is recognised as the centre of the process, and he/she is called upon as the main protagonist of the positive standpoint, since he is expected to always defend his government (sic) (Mohammed, 2008: 380). The emphasis on a single individual as representing the government and addressing the issues which are raised, and the executive manner of the role within the eponymous questions session, means that Prime Ministers Questions does have a recognisable symbolic value as a means of holding the government to account. As well as being well-codified and formalised, Prime Ministers Questions is valued as a means of holding the government to account in terms of its im portance (Lovenduski, 2012). This is reflected in the fact that Members of Parliament are present at Prime Ministers Questions to a degree which far exceeds their presence during normal proceedings in the House of Commons. Salmond (2014: 321) has argued in favour of Prime Ministers Questions as a democratic tool of accountability on these grounds, noting that the data demonstrates how these open QTs are associated with higher levels of political knowledge, partisanship, and turnout. In that they attract a large number of parliamentarians, and therefore a wider gambit of democratic representation, they are a means of ensuring that the largest possible proportion of the electorate is represented during the session. Moreover, these members of the electorate are able to effectively have their issues put directly to the most important politician in the country. This was made explicitly evident recently by Jeremy Corbyn, whose first Prime Ministers Questions session as newly-elected Leade r of the Opposition involved him addressing questions to David Cameron directly from those members of the electorate who had put them to him in emails and letters. He went so far as to directly name these individuals and thereby to literally employ Prime Ministers Questions as a platform in which members of the electorate could directly address their Prime Minister (BBC News, 2015). In the same session, Labours new leader said he wanted the weekly sessions to be less theatrical and Mr Cameron agreed there should be more focus on substantial issues (BBC News, 2015). This returns to the issue raised earlier of the degree to which style and point-scoring at the personal level has taken precedent over substance and addressing issues at the political level. Indeed, this call for not only Prime Ministers Questions but the political process more generally to become more substantial and less personality-oriented is one which has dominated the discourse of the last decade or so. Indeed, D avid Cameron promised when he was elected Leader of the Opposition to end Punch and Judy politics, and responded to Corbyn by saying that no one would be more delighted than me if Prime Ministers Questions were made into more of a genuine exercise in asking questions and answering questions (BBC News, 2015). As such, there is a continued recognition of the fact that political processes have to negotiate between personal and political, style and substance, in their practices. However, to the extent that both Corbyn and Cameron recognise this problem, and claim to be willing to change it, there is evidence that Prime Ministers Questions, if it has been less than ideal as a means of holding the government to account in the past, is likely to become more so in the future. To conclude, therefore, it can be argued that there are strengths and weaknesses to Prime Ministers Questions as a tool in ensuring government accountability to the electorate. Among the strengths, this essay has id entified three key elements. Firstly, it is a well-regulated, formal system with recognised rules and proceedings. This means that this regular event runs efficiently and can allow for a number of important questions to be asked directly to the most important politician in the land and direct representative of the government. Secondly, the fact that the Prime Ministers responses are not fully prepared in advance means that the session has an impromptu and spontaneous element which allows for potentially greater accountability. Thirdly, the session is well-attended by parliamentarians and well-recognised by people who follow politics (with its being broadcast on BBC2), and therefore it is also a high profile opportunity to raise issues and find the government accountable. However, whilst these benefits obtain, it is also notable that Prime Ministers Questions can be less than ideal as a means of holding the government to account. Causes of this include the relatively short length of the sessions, their comparative infrequency being held only once a week and, as identified above, the fact that cheap point-scoring and what has been identified in the literature as aggressive facework (Bull and Wells, 2011) constitute one of the central features of the questioning process. As such, there is the real possibility of what would otherwise be an effective means of holding the government to account descending into a competitive, mud-slinging match where the emphasis is on achieving personal goals rather than political ones. If the evidence of recent Prime Ministers Questions is reliable, it can be noted in closing, there is a suggestion that this emphasis is being decreased, and that Prime Ministers Questions may in the future become increasingly like the effective means of holding the government accountable that it has the potential to be. References Bates, S. R., Kerr, P., Byrne, C. and Stanley, L. (2014). Questions to the Prime Minister: A Comparative Study of P MQs from Thatcher to Cameron. Parliamentary Affairs, 67(2), 253-280. BBC News. 2015. Jeremy Corbyn asks David Cameron questions from public. BBC News 16th September 2015. Available online [accessed 19th October 2015] at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-34264683 Bull, P. and Wells, P. (2011). Adversial Discourse in Prime Ministers Questions. Journal of Language and Social Psychology. https://jls.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/10/01/0261927X11425034.abstract. Cowley, P. (2001). The Commons: Mr Blairs Lapdog?. Parliamentary Affairs, 54(4), 815-828. Gimson, A. (2012). PMQs: Thats the Way to do It!. British Journalism Review, 23(3), 11-13. Lovenduski, J. (2012). Prime Ministers questions as political ritual. British Politics, 7(4), 314-340. Mason, C. and Edgington, T. (2014). Female MPs shunning PMQs, says John Bercow. BBC News. Available online [accessed 19th October 2015] at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-27062577. Mohammed, D. (2008). Institutional ins ights for analysing strategic manoeuvring in the British Prime Ministers Question Time. Argumentation, 22(3), 377-393. Murphy, J. (2014). (Im) politeness during Prime Ministers Questions in the UK Parliament. Pragmatics and Society, 5(1), 76-104. Salmond, R. (2014). Parliamentary question times: How legislative accountability mechanisms affect mass political engagement. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 20(3), 321-341. Seaton, J. and Winetrobe, B. K. (1999). Modernising the commons. The Political Quarterly, 70(2), 152-160. Thomas, G. P. (2004). United kingdom: the prime minister and parliament. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 10(2-3), 4-37. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Is Prime Ministers Question Time still an effective way to hold th UKe Government to account?" essay for you Create order

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Analysis of the Relationship between Competition Policy and Economic Regulation Free Essay Example, 2250 words

Hence many countries and regions are now following the deregulation by trying to implement the best practices in other systems and avoiding the worst mistakes. A major problem with the deregulation is that it is based on a very weak logical foundation for improving efficiency. In the absence of competition, this may not be the case. It is important to note that the study of regulation cannot be done in isolation. It has to be studied in the social, political and economic context in which it exists. The relative powers of different interest groups play their part in formulating and shaping the regulations. Different regulatory mechanisms interact with each other and once implemented they play an important role as the motives of decision makers. A thorough understanding of the regulatory process is thus not possible without considering specific institutions, political structures and actors. According to this theory, government intervention or regulation is required only in case of mar ket failure when a market is unable to achieve a particular social object such as equality. Government intervention is needed to correct this failure. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of the Relationship between Competition Policy and Economic Regulation or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page The various tools of economic regulation are (Chris J Dolan)The two basic purposes of regulatory body are a promotion of conditions essential for the efficient working of marketplace and prevention of socially undesirable outcomes. These two purposes may not always be complementary.

Frederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life - 1516 Words

Grant Sumner Dr. Wiewora History 101 04/25/2017 Frederick Douglass To Douglass, freedom is more than merely freedom from the lash and cruel conditions. It also encompasses intellectual and emotional freedom. He sees that true freedom exists in the ability to read and reason and is a mental state; Douglass feels that slavery is not only a practice, but a mindset maintained through those practices. In Douglass’s Narrative of the Life, he maintains that slavery is an abhorrent practice that strips the humanity from both slaves and slaveholders alike, enabled by forcing ignorance onto the slaves. First, dehumanization of those enslaved in Douglass’s narrative can be separated into three categories: examples of the treatment of human beings in†¦show more content†¦In this situation, the slave owners have legal freedom to act upon their lusts; this results in slave women being helpless victims, and the mulatto children being subject to cruelty by their masters’s wives. In fact, this dehumanization goes back to the very constitution, where the Three Fifths Compromise can be seen in essence reducing someone to property, without rights, and only holding value in what the person can provide. The true method of dehumanization occurs in the forced ignorance that takes place: â€Å"By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant...They seldom come nearer to it than planting time, harvest time, cherry time†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (236). A birthday is a symbol of a person and their separation from animals. As Douglass mentions, they have just as much information in this regard as an animal, which is what they are being reduced to: animals bred for a specific purpose, to slave away for another person. The slaves only being able to identify their birth with a specific work related time of the year is evidence of this. Combining the lack of knowledge of one’s birth, they are stripped from their mothers at an early age â€Å"....hinder the development of the child’s affection toward its mother, and to blunt and destroy the natural affection of the mother for the child.† (237). This is the inevitableShow MoreRelatedThe Life Of Frederick Douglass s The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick 1306 Words   |  6 Pagesthe practice slavery as neither good nor bad, but just part of Southern life going on for hundreds of years. Frederick Douglass, a slave who had escaped to the North, after years of abuse through slavery, knew that in order to stop slavery, he had to persuade all the people in the North to vehemently oppose it as much as he did himself. Through the â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass†, which he published in 1845, Douglass focuses on the process of dehumanization he and thousands of others wentRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglas16 74 Words   |  7 Pagespopular in the southern states, among these slaves, one slave in particular impacted the 19th century was Frederick Douglass. Although he was a slave for most of his life, Douglass eventually became a freeman, a social reform, writer, and an abolitionist for slavery. However, before he became a freeman, Douglass experienced a brutal life as a slave. He faced dehumanization in his early life, but accomplished what most slaves we not allowed to do; which is getting educated, by self-educating himselfRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass1693 Words   |  7 Pagesin the city. Frederick Douglass the author of Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass was born and raised on the plantation as a slave. From his early years Douglass experienced life as a slave on a plantation. He was soon relocated to Maryland at the age of seven to the slave owner’s brother Mr. Auld. Douglass is moved back and forth from the plantation to the city. The areas of food, treatment and punishment, and clothing were contrasting between plantation and city. His narrative reveals theRead MoreAn Analysis Of Frederick Douglass s The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Essay1284 Words   |  6 Pagesof Frederick Douglass s NarrativeChristianity quite often, especially when associated to the system of slavery becomes even more of a contentious issue than it already is. In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass presents the theme of perversion of Christianity by slaveholders as a way to bring out the contradiction that lie deep within slaveholders adulterated interpretation of the belief system. In this paper, I will highlight these perversions that Douglass discussesRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of A Slave1662 Words   |  7 Pages The life of a slave was brutal, demeaning and dehumanizing; it ripped them away from loved ones, their identity, any concept of hope and any ink ling of one s worth as a person. Escape from a life such as that was almost inconceivable; which brings about the question of how did Frederick Douglass manage to free himself from enslavement. Frederick Douglass s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave asserts that Douglass needed specific mental and environmental parameters toRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass1281 Words   |  6 PagesFredrick Douglass Outcomes of Sentimentalism In the â€Å"Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, written in the month of August 1841, demonstrates the double purpose of the work as both a personal account and a public argument. Douglass introduces the reader to his own circumstances such as grief, sorrow and emptiness in his birthplace and the fact that he does not know his own age. He then generalizes from his own experience, by explaining that almost no slavesRead MoreThe Life Of Frederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass967 Words   |  4 Pagesthe United States many slaves like Fredrick Douglass had to escape to fight for freedom to become abolitionists. To expose the terror and cruelties that he faced from his owners and overseers as a slave as narrated in â€Å"Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass.† Being a slave was difficult from the beginning. In the case of Fredrick Douglass he was a product of unwanted love. Born into slavery with no record or â€Å"accurate knowledge of age.†(Douglass) He was the son of Harriet Bailey, who was â€Å"†¦theRead MoreThe Life Of Frederick Douglass s The Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass 983 Words   |  4 Pagesthe United States many slaves like Fredrick Douglass had to escape to fight for freedom. To become abolitionists. To expose the terror and cruelties that he faced from his owners and overseers as a slave wrote in the â€Å"Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass.† ​Being a slave was difficult from the beginning. In the case of Fredrick Douglass he was a product of unwanted love. He was born into slavery with no record or â€Å"accurate knowledge of age.†(Douglass) He was the son of Harriet Bailey, who wasRead MoreThe Slaveowner ´s Point of View in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass1118 Words   |  5 Pages In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass depicts his life as a plantation slave, offering misinformed northern Christians and reformers in-depth accounts of the physical and emotional cruelties of slavery. As Douglass recounts his relationship and interactions with the harsh Mr. Covey, he disputes the basis on which southern slaveowners defended slavery. Douglass dispels their claims of encompassing a Christian duty to civilize blacks who they deemed naturally inferiorRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave1434 Words   |  6 Pa gesAs the most famous abolitionist African American leader, Fredrick Douglass is a political, historical, and literary figure whose words still reverberate the true meaning of freedom and political, economic, and social equality for all. Born a slave, Douglass was able to recount his story to a pre-Civil War American public, which had a tremendous effect on the views whites had about slavery and its role in American society. Douglass became a self-educated man as he grew up within the entanglements

Integrity Free Essays

Danielle Shingleton Exemplification essay 10/3/10 Integrity We are presented with choices every day. Many are easy to make and cause very little stress, but some choices can be extremely difficult and have significant consequences. The difference between making the right choice or the wrong one is often determined be a persons character, which is based upon the qualities of integrity, responsibility, and honesty. We will write a custom essay sample on Integrity or any similar topic only for you Order Now Gaining an understanding of these three character traits and how to build them is critical to creating a lifetime of positive outcomes. Honesty is the quality or fact of being honest. Finding a pen off the floor and giving it to a teacher is honesty. Not keeping the pen was respectful and honest, in order to reach self actualization and have integrity, you have to have needs met like food and water, love and care from friends and family, especially self confidence. Honesty means basing one’s actions on an internally consistent outline of principles. Depth of principles and devotion of each level to the next are key determining factors. One said to have integrity to the extent that everything they do and believe is based on the same core set of values. While those values may change, it is their consistency with each other and with the person’s actions that determine their integrity. The concept of integrity is directly linked to responsibility. Responsibility is acknowledging that you are solely responsible for the choices in your life. Taking on a job while still in high school and maintain good grades if very possible. Accepting that you are responsible for what you choose to feel or think. Accepting that you cannot blame others for the choices you have made. And protecting and nurturing your health and emotional well being. When a person is trustworthy, he or she can be relied upon to be honest, reliable, and loyal which means they have integrity. But its equally important to be respectful, responsible, fair, caring, and demonstrate good citizenship. Good citizenship can be viewed in many ways. Hitler viewed his actions as reliable, honest, fair, and thought he was demonstrating good citizenship by eliminating a different race. The Nazis saw Hitler as a man with integrity. We saw Hitler as a cruel unfair man without integrity. Good character and integrity are easiest to demonstrate when facing public disapproval, but the true test comes when you can potentially get away with anything because then nothing is at stake but your own conscience. Trustworthy is very similar to truthfulness, uprightness, and honor. Truthfulness is when a person consistently tells the truth, and is honest. Honor is the equality of being honorable, and to show respect for others. These simple but powerful words are components of integrity. A person of integrity does exactly what he says and says exactly what he means. There is no conflict between his thoughts and actions. His actions are consistent with the values he professes. According to Dr. William Manninger, A building without integrity may receive structural damage, or even collapse, in a storm. Similarly, people without integrity are blown about by the winds of misfortune and destroyed by catastrophes, for they lack the firmness, solidity, and strength of character to weather any storm. This means that integrity is one of the six essential qualities that are the key to success. The other five are sincerity, humility, courtesy, wisdom, and charity. Integrity is about doing what is right rather than what is appropriate. Not everyone has integrity; the family life has a major impact on a person’s values and principles. When you have integrity you know it as much as everyone else around you does. Just because someone makes a few simple mistakes here and there doesn’t mean they have no integrity. Low integrity is when people get punished, they feel guilty, and lose respect from family and friends. You have a bad reputation, your actions result in problems, accidents, injuries, even death. You also get other people into trouble, by blaming everyone else but yourself. There are benefits to having high integrity, such as; being happy and making other people happy, you have peace of mind, and no guilt feelings. You feel good or satisfied at having done the right thing. As you gain respect from family and friends, you may become an inspiration to others. A person with integrity will have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity. it’s not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what profess but what we practice that gives us integrity. † â€Å"A person is not given integrity. It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times. † â€Å"Living with integrity mean: Not settling for less than what you kn ow you deserve in your relationships. Asking for what you want and need from others. Speaking the truth, even though it might create conflict or tension. Behaving in ways that are harmony with your personal values. Making choices based on what you believe, and not what other believes. † You cannot become â€Å"Integridized† in one day. In order to have integrity, you have to go through milestones in your life. No one can persuade you to become integridized. It’s all personal beliefs and doing the right thing. The majority of integrity comes from the home life. Family and friends play a major role in a person’s life. Being though the right things and to be honest and have goals and be true will have more integrity in life than anyone else. Let’s say one day you find one hundred dollars in your school. Would you keep it, or would you hand it to the teacher? You don’t lie, and you are reliable. You can always be depended on you are trustworthy; people are able to put their trust in you. That is integrity, by not keeping the money and turning it in. That little person talking to you in the back of your head telling you turn it in is part of having integrity! According to Mark D. Rasche, in his Biblical Integrity days of praise article, â€Å"let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee. † â€Å"Some have said that integrity can be measured by what a person does when no else is looking. While this may be an indicator of integrity, it is not the real litmus test. According to scripture, the true gauge of a man’s integrity is his heart. The worlds evaluates a person’s integrity from hat it see’s in a man’s outward behavior. God judge’s integrity from what he sees in a man’s heart, for â€Å"every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondered the hearts†. In other words, man measure integrity from the outside, and God measure integrity from the inside. † I truly believe integrity is not lost in America. Integrity is not found on the surface you have to dig deep within in to uncover it. You hear all the time people saying the, â€Å"There are no men of integrity left. † This is not true. Men and women of integrity are everywhere. Think about this, how many people pass your car, house, and your place of business each day and do not steal from it? We spend too much time focusing on people without integrity and we forget to celebrate and show gratitude to those who do what is right every day. What you focus you attention and actions on you will receive. If you search the world for examples of people failing you will find all the examples you are looking for. The same is true for those that seek examples of integrity. If you focus your attention on discovering people that do what is right you will find integrity everywhere you look. You might not have to look very far to find what you are searching for. Chances are you will only need to look inside yourself. Yourself improvement blog, article: the most important trait of successful people! States that â€Å"a life lived with integrity-even if it lacks the trappings of fame and fortune is a shining star in whose light others may follow in the years to come† says author of article Denis Waitley How to cite Integrity, Papers Integrity Free Essays When Corona goes out in public people stop and stare at his nose. Some even make mean comments about it. Corona demonstrates courage by facing them and standing up for himself not letting them get away for them being hateful. We will write a custom essay sample on Integrity or any similar topic only for you Order Now Corona is insecure about his nose but he does not let that Stop him from his everyday life actions with Roseanne. He builds courage by expressing how he feels towards her by his writing. Corona writes letters every day to Roseanne even though she thinks it is coming from a different man hat she loves. He has courage by giving his love away because she seems happy with the other man. He does not every admit his feelings because he fears the rejection of Roseanne. Overall, Corona exhibits courage by loving her so much that he does not want to see her hurt so, he hurts himself so she can be happy. The ability to have honesty is to do the right thing even if it may be hard. Honesty starts with a vision of what is right, not based on what somebody says is right but on what you feel in your heart is right. A year ago, en of my best friends wanted to participate in a talent show at school. She always had a thing for singing and she sang all the time. Where ever she went she had a song in her head. Unfortunately she did not have the best voice to carry out her songs. So one day sat her down before the show and I told her my opinion about the talent show. I cared for her and did not want her to get hurt or embarrassed so I told her that thought she should rethink the performance. I knew my best friend very well and I knew she would understand where was coming from, because she knew I would want her to o the same. Either way if she did it or not she knew would be there right in front of the stage encouraging her. I just wanted her to know how felt about her and her voice. She ended up taking my advice and decided not to participate. To this day, she brings up how thankful she was that had told her my opinion. Even though the truth may hurt, we tell the people we love our opinion so we can prevent them from being hurt. The ability to have morality is to stand in what you believe in even if you are the only one standing. Morality is beliefs about what right behavior is and what wrong behavior is. Rosa Parks, an African American woman is the definition of morality in my eyes. She was a Civil Rights activist. She refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. This helped launch nationwide efforts to end segregation of the public. She was tired of being divided with the rest of the world. She thought life was so much more than who sat where or who is allowed her. Rosa showed that she believed in equality and wanted a change. She became that change by showing that is okay to stand up for what you believe in. She taught and encouraged others to take action on what they thought was right. It takes a special person to stand up for what they believe in and show their morals when you know half of the world is against you. In conclusion, courage, honesty, and morality play a huge part in defining integrity. It is the ability to stand up for yourself, do the right thing, and stand up for what you believe in even if you are standing alone. I believe that anyone can have integrity, it just about who has the courage to stand up to the world and have your own voice heard over everyone else’s. How to cite Integrity, Papers

Assignment Sample on Diverse Marriage Practices

QUESTION- A compare and contrast analysis how the two cultures approach the topic from a culturally relativistic perspective? INTRODUCTION Marriage is a lawful unification of woman and man for life. The definition of marriage differs around various dimensions like; it is defined as commitment, an overall change in life or covenants and also intimate relationship among woman and man. Some cultures regard marriage as the societal backbone (Chakrabarti, Gupta-Mukherjee Jayaraman, 2009). The aim of marriage differs among the individuals and thus is considered as a transition in an individuals life. Marriage is segregated according to different communities and cultures in diverse regions of the globe like it is divisible in the form of Muslim, Indian, Xhosa, Chinese, Jewish, Christian, etc. All these cultures have diverse customs and have different sentiments involved with the marriage practice. This paper aims at understanding the different customs involved in the marriage practices of Islam and Christianity culture. OVERVIEW OF THE CULTURES Christianity Christianity is at present the biggest religion on the planet (Faelli, 2006). It has commanded western society for quite a long time and remains the dominant part religion of America and Europe. Christian conviction focuses on the life of Jesus of Nazareth, an instructor and healer of 1st-century Palestine. Christian is the biggest world religion right now (Lockard, 2007). It has in excess of 2 billion devotees (James, 2004), who order themselves under 34,000 separate categories (Religioustolerance.org, 2014). At first, Christianity was gotten from Judaism, as Jesus Christ was a Jew, as were his twelve devotees. Christianity is based for the most part around the life, passing and revival of Jesus Christ, and is monotheistic (Benedict, 2004). Christians trust in the Bible being the expression of God, and albeit some decide to take it more truly than others, it is for the most part thought to be enlivened by the Holy Spirit (Freedman, Myers Beck, 2000). Christians accept that Jesus Ch rist is the anointed guardian angel of the world and that his vicinity on earth was the satisfaction of the predictions made in the Old Testament about the Messiah who was to come and spare mankind from their wrongdoings (Gibbs, n.d.). Christian practices differ by division; however basic components incorporate a Sunday love administration, private and corporate supplication to God, study and perusing of the Scriptures, and interest in customs, for example, absolution and accord. Unique Catholic practices incorporate distinguishment of seven aggregate ceremonies, Sunday mass, commitment to the Virgin Mary and the examples of piety, and adoration of relics and spots connected with heavenly figures. Eastern Orthodoxy holds numerous practices in a similar manner as Catholicism, however is particularly recognized by the focal part of symbols: fancy pictures of Christ and the examples of piety accepted to give an association with the profound world. Islam Islam is the term that is mainly utilized in the secular academia to explain the different cultural practices among the Islamic people. The early form of culture of Muslim is associated with Arab. However with the drastic expansion of the empires of Islam, the culture has been influenced by Chinese, Pakistani, Persian, Somali, Egyptian, Filipino, Spanish, etc. The saying Islam signifies 'accommodation to the will of God'. Islam religion is the second biggest religion on the planet with in excess of 1 billion adherents (Esposito, 2003). In 2001 enumeration it is recorded that around 1,591,000 Muslims stay in UK, constituting around 2.7% of population (Bbc.co.uk, 2014). Muslims accept that there is one and only God. Allah is the word in Arabic word for God. As indicated by Muslims, God sent various prophets to humanity to show them how to live as per his law (Sturgis, 2009). Jesus, Abraham and Moses are regarded as Gods prophets. The Muslims accept that the last clairvoyant was Muhammad. Muslims accept that Islam has constantly existed, however for date and commonsense purposes, from the time of Muhammads relocation (Kaser, 2011). Muslims build their laws in light of their sacred book the Sunnah and Qur'an. Muslims accept the Sunnah is the handy case of Muhammad Prophet and that there are five fundamental Pillars of Islam. These columns are the presentation of confidence, supplicating five times each da y, offering cash to philanthropy, fasting and a journey to Mecca (atleast once) (Bbc.co.uk, 2014). COMPARE AND CONTRAST ANALYSIS Christianity Marriage Practices The first Christians traditionally accepted the Roman marriage structure. The Christian marriage is not a contract instead it is covenant relationship that the couples share with each other. Thus due to this reason, they see the symbol of Gods pledge with Abraham in Genesis in their marriage tradition. They believe that it is God gift process and the right atmosphere to build family and engage in sexual relations. In their custom it is very important for them to get marry in Church in front of God. Christian feels that marriage is a declaration of commitment and love in front of pubic thus the couples make this promise to each other in front of their family and friends (Geddes Griffiths, 2002). There are various covenant symbols of Christian marriage practices like: The friends and families of the groom and the bride are made to seat at two different sides of the church symbolizing the blood covenant, where many of them have made sacrifices to bring the couples together. The white runner in their marriage symbolizes the holy ground and the center aisle symbolizes the meeting ground. The seating tradition of bride and the grooms parents symbolizes they are responsible for the union of couple. In Christian marriage, the groom enters the church first, because it is believed that God took the initiative with Christ and came and called for his bride in the church (Manokaran, 2011). In Christian custom, the father escorts his daughter and gives away the brides hand which demonstrates that there is blessing of parents on the couples union and now it is the responsibility of the husband to take care. The bride mainly wears a white dress which signifies the purity of life and heart of the girl. In their wedding, the groom and the bride face each other, j oining hands which showing their commitment and covenant relationship publicly. Then the couples exchange rings which symbolizes that they are giving their talents, emotions, possessions and wealth to other. Then the groom removes the bridal veil which shows that couple has full right on each other (Hastings, Mason Pyper, 2000). Islamic Marriage Practices The marriage ritual or in general known as Nikah, is very simple in Islam culture. But many Muslims conduct multi-day celebrations for their wedding. The groom and the bride are separated from each other during their wedding and can see each other after their family permits (Brockway, 2010). The officiant goes and asks the bride and groom separately about their marriage consent for each other. Then a marriage contract is signed as a witness in front of witnesses from both the sides (Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2010). Once they sign the contract the couples are declared as husband wife. During the marriage process the bride wears a bright red a pleated skirt with blouse, ghagra that is embroidered in gold and a man generally wears a sherwani with a turban on their head. This is generally worn in Asian countries. But, majority of the brides go for white wedding dresses. In some cultures the Islam marriage encourages singing, dancing, lots of hilarity and noise which is generally kn own as dholki (Lapidus, 2014). The marriage ceremony of Islam includes reading Quran and exchange of Vows. In Islam unlike Christianity, the marriages are not union of soul-mates, or are not god gift instead they are social contracts that bring obligations and rights for both the parties and is only successful if they mutually cherish and respect each other. In some of the Islam communities, divorce is frequent and unlike other faiths a Muslim women need to have only one husband and a Muslim husband can have more than one wife maximum up to 4 wives (Bbc.co.uk, 2014). CONCLUSION In conclusion, it can be said that this paper has successfully identified the difference between Christianity and Islam culture by giving a brief overview of both the cultures. Since, the aim of this paper was to compare and contrast the marriage practices among the Christianity and Islamic culture, it is identified that there is huge difference between among both the cultures. The Christianity marriage is more of sacraments and the Islamic marriage is more of legal contract. The Christianity marriage takes place in front of their families and friends and the Islamic marriage is takes place initially in two separate areas and then the couples are permitted to see each other. The similarity between these two cultures is that they focus more on the purity and virginity of the bride or the female they are marrying with. There are various traditional practices that are carried out differently based on their rituals and beliefs. However, marriage in both the cultures still acts as a react ions and views across various aspects and changes the individual socially, economically and also intellectually. Traditionally it is the right that is given to the couples to share their lives with each other without any hesitation. This is the stage where the couples start taking major responsibilities of their life and also make choices and decisions for each other. REFERENCES Bbc.co.uk,. (2014). BBC - Religions - Islam: Islam at a glance. Retrieved 30 October 2014, Bbc.co.uk,. (2014). BBC - Religions - Islam: Weddings. Retrieved 30 October 2014 Benedict,. (2004). Introduction to Christianity. San Francisco, CA: Communio Books. Brockway, L. (2010). Your interfaith wedding. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger. Chakrabarti, R., Gupta-Mukherjee, S., Jayaraman, N. (2009). MarsVenus marriages: Culture and cross-border MA. Journal Of International Business Studies, 40, 216-236. Esposito, J. (2003). The Oxford dictionary of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. Faelli, R. (2006). Christianity: History, Beliefs, Worship and Celebrations (pp. 5-7). Blake Education. Freedman, D., Myers, A., Beck, A. 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