...Compulsory Voting? Not so Fast A critical review of political scholarship regarding compulsory voting Word Count: 1644 Compulsory voting has been a hotly debated topic in the political realm over the past few decades, with supporters on both sides bringing up a wide variety of arguments and beliefs for support. The proposed idea of compulsory voting is the idea that would make voting in a democratic parliamentary election mandatory for all citizens who meet the age requirement; failure to do so will result in a form of minor punishment such as a small fine. The theory behind compulsory voting is that it will increase participation in parliamentary election, thus creating a more legitimate representative democratic system. Current major democratic countries that currently employ an enforced compulsory voting system include Australia, Argentina, and Brazil. This paper will argue that voting should not be made compulsory in Canada, on the principles that there is no proof that increasing voter turnout will legitimize our representational democracy, and that we have the right to abstention. I will prove this argument by examining the political scholarship produced by Sara Birch, Justine Lacroix, and Annabelle Lever. The first academic journal I will be examining will be that of Sara Birch in her 2009 paper The Case for Compulsory Voting. In this paper, Birch is advocating that all democratic countries should implement a compulsory voting system. Birch’s primary point...
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...Internet censorship is the use of filters or ‘blocks’ to control what is published, access and viewed across the internet. It is used by parents, organisations such as schools and corporations and governments to restrict what their citizen’s access and post online. Internet censorship has occurred since the early days of the public internet, where governments around the world have attempted to address the issue of illegal material, political propaganda, harmful material or content deemed unsuitable for children. This essay will discuss the instances of internet censorship failing to work, including when governments have attempted to introduce legislation to restrict access to the internet, and the reasons for the failure. Censorship across the globe will be briefly covered as well as techniques governments which have filters in place use to censor information. Many countries practice internet censorship, where the internet is tightly controlled and speaking your mind on it can get you in serious trouble with the government. According to USA Today, North Korea has the most tightly controlled internet , with all websites being under control by their government. It is so tight that only 4% of the population has access to the internet. Appendix A shows how accessible the internet is in countries. Another highly controlling country is China, where the government severely restricts internet access to their citizens by blocking social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and...
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...FOUNDATIONS OF LAW 2010 Combined Law Essay Critically analyse the Australian Government’s proposed reforms for protecting and promoting human rights for the more vulnerable groups in Australia. A bill of rights alone will not protect the rights of the people. But nor will a majoritarian democracy. Contemporary democracy stands for more than just the primitive notion of according full power to the popular majorities of Parliament by the vote. It requires the recognition of Parliamentary sovereignty, and furthermore it calls for the preservation of the principles of rule of law, judicial independence and more importantly the rights of all individuals. Although the Government’s recently launched National Human Rights Framework promises a selection of human rights protection mechanisms, in light of its failure to provide a bill of rights that many Australians want, it is an inadequate attempt at promoting and protecting the more vulnerable groups. Even though the Framework claims that it reserves the function of statutory interpretation for the courts, in reality it empowers the Parliament with the capacity to “guide”[1] the courts into enacting legislation. The Government’s downplay of judicial influence cannot be ignored and this points to a discussion of whether Australia needs a bill of rights. The role of the courts also need to be evaluated with respect to the other branches of government, the legislature and the Executive, in an effort to attain a healthy balance between...
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...POL101 Research Essay by Mallory Watters Australia’s Political institutions and practices echo that of the British Political system, specifically the Westminster system. This is a result of Australia’s values reflecting religious tolerance, freedom of speech and association, and the rule of law. Although the Australian Political system shares many similarities with The British Westminster Political system, there are number of subtle differences at the same time. Australian politics operates as a multi-party system; there are two major parties, as a result of the coalition between the Liberal Party and National Party, and the Australian Labor Party. The leader of the elected party becomes the Prime Minister, and for the party to be in power it needs to have a majority in the House of Representatives in order to make and enact policies on behalf of their party and the country. Since the advancement of technology and the availability of television and radio, the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader have been identified by the public as the leader of their parties due to fact that they are the person that the public sees the most. As a result they have been key representatives of their party in order to get their message across in the shortest possible amount of time. Due to the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader being identified as the leader the achievements and failures of their political party fall heavily upon them. Thus many political spectators are seeing...
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...BUSM4157_1510 Corporate Governance and Regulation Individual Assignment: David Jones Adam Golding S3468032 Words: 2156 Executive Summary This essay examines the example of two former directors of retailer David Jones – Leigh Clapham and Steve Vamos. The two directors made the decision to purchase shares in the company during a delicate period for the company and while decisions were being made about it’s future. Discussion on the damage this decision caused to David Jones and the ensuing fallout, whereby the two directors and the chairman of the board were put in a position where they had no choice but to resign. This essay will address the role of a board within a company and the value-add component, as well as addressing the requirements for a company under the Corporations Act 2001. We will also examine the issue of insider trading and whether the actions of these board members could amount to a breach of the law, as well as speaking about ASIC and their investigation into the men. ASIC conducted a thorough, two month long investigation, only to find themselves no choice but to declare no further action could be taken. The area of risk management frameworks and whether the David Jones board members even followed their own stated frameworks, as set out in their constitution and printed yearly in their annual report were followed to the best of their ability. Finally, continual disclosure as a provision of the Corporations Act and the issue of...
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...Why do Poverty Reduction Programmes tend not to work out as intended? Discuss in relation to either i) states or ii) civil society organisations (NGOs or social movements or both). Introduction Mass poverty is the single most important economic and social issue on our planet today (Downer, 1997). ‘Poverty’ is a multidimensional concept involving the inability of people to meet their economic, social and other standards of well-being (OECD, 2001). Over the years a number of institutional approaches have been used to ensure the eradication of poverty from the society (Sarker and Rahman, 2006). One of these efforts is through a poverty reduction strategy. According to Barder (2009) ‘Poverty reduction’ is often described as the promotion of economic growth that will permanently lift as many people as possible over the poverty line. This line is defined as ‘the income levels below which people are defined as poor’ (World Banks, 2004). However, making poverty reduction strategies work has proven a much bigger challenge regardless of the fact that many efforts have been made towards alleviating it. Downer (1997) argues that the provision of opportunity for people to meet their basic needs has become the greatest challenge to most countries. Why then do poverty reduction programmes tend not to work out as intended? Pellissery (2005) points out that in developing economies, public authorities who are responsible for designing and implementing anti-poverty interventions are not sufficiently...
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...BIOGRAPHY Virginia Woolf, an English author, feminist, essayist and critic, was born on January 25th, 1882 to Sir Leslie Stephen, the editor of Dictionary of National Biography, and Madam Julia Prinsep Stephen, a nurse who published a book on nursing. Virginia’s maiden name was Adeline Virginia Woolf. She grew up in an atmosphere conducive to her future career as a writer since her father, Leslie Stephen, was a respected and well-known intellectual and writer. Although she was not sent to a university as her brothers, she was able to educate herself thoroughly by delving into the volumes of her father's vast library. Woolf grew up during a period of intense feminist activity in London and was an active member of various women's organizations. By the time she came into her own as a writer, significant advances had been made in women's rights. By 1918, a limited franchise had been granted to women in England. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her mother’s sudden death in 1885 and that of Stella, her sister whom she looked up to as a mother were the catalysts for Virginia’s mental breakdown. Modern scholars have suggested that her mental breakdown and subsequent recurring depression were as a result of the sexual abuse which she and her sister Vanessa were subjected to by their half brothers, George and Gerald Duckworth. Virginia married Leonard Woolf, a journalist, in 1912 and they collaborated...
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...------------------------------------------------- Flip-flop (politics) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "U-turn (politics)" redirects here. For the Serbian political group, see U-Turn (Serbian coalition). A "flip-flop" (used mostly in the United States), U-turn (used in the United Kingdom and Ireland), or backflip (used in Australia and New Zealand) is a sudden real or apparent change of policy or opinion by a public official, sometimes while trying to claim that both positions are consistent with each other. Often it will occur during the period prior to or following an election in order to maximize the candidate's popularity. Although the terms are often used against elected officials, non-elected public officials can also be accused of flip-flopping. Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, was accused of "an apparent flip-flop" in 2007.[1] Lawyers sometimes accuse their opponents of a flip-flopping as well. Contents [hide] * 1 Examples * 2 History * 3 Exculpatory, ameliorating and aggravating circumstances affecting public reaction * 4 Non-political use * 5 See also * 6 References | ------------------------------------------------- [edit]Examples The charge was originally used to attack politicians for advocating contradictory policies, often during elections, and frequently while denying the self-contradiction. * Example 1: "Candidate A, after finding out that weapons of mass destruction won't likely be found in Iraq, flip-flopped...
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...Essay Introduction: With the emergency of more and more stock corporate, an increasing number of people become shareholders. However, in some companies, directors or majority shareholders misuse their power to maximize their own interests while exploiting minority shareholders. This phenomenon is more serious in proprietary companies since directors and majority shareholders don’t need to comply with ASX listing rules[1] and minority shareholders are unlikely to be provided a market to sell their shares. Ultimately, they have to sell their shares to majority shareholders in an unfair price or sue the majority shareholders paying expensive litigation fees. By contrast, in public listed companies, this phenomenon is relatively rare since there is a market for minority shareholders to sell their shares and the company’s affaires are supervised by the public. To avoid being treated oppressively or unfairly, the Corporation Act provides a wide range of statutory remedies for minority shareholders. This essay will introduce some of the unfair or oppressive conducts and remedies available for minority shareholders to deal with these conducts. Oppressive and unfair conducts and available statuary remedies: Majority shareholders misuse their power for their own interests through many ways which are oppressive and unfair towards minority shareholders, an example of these conducts is diverting business opportunities from company. Some majority shareholders take advantage of their...
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...Robert Poole BSBMGT40A Show leadership in the workplace Due Date 03/07/2010 [pic] Table of Content Assessment Task 1 P3 Introduction P5 Body P5 3i. 5 Key Characteristics P5 3ii. Inspirational Leaders P7 3iii. Steve Irwin P7 3iv. Mahatma Ghandi P8 3v. Dalai Lama P9 Conclusion P11 References P11 Assessment Task 1: Questions A good leader should be able to demonstrate very good communication skills this will give them a good base to build and develop all other required skills to successfully lead a team. Leading by example, understanding the positions and duties of your team, interacting well with all walks of life and consistency with appreciation and discipline will not only gain the leader respect by the team, it will let the team know they can rely on their leader for help and guidance and knowing their boundaries and what is expected of them without confusion. Everyone wants’ to work in a safe and happy environment, organisations and individuals within the team should demonstrate ethical behaviours so we all can interact well together and create this stable friendly, safe and productive workplace. Demonstrating social interaction, equal opportunity and adhering to workplace policies such as oh&s and environmental can and will enable the team members to feel safe, happy and proud of their workplace and form strong bonds that can pull the team together when things do go wrong...
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...In the essay given, it identifies fiduciary duties of directors as the main issue. There are a few consequences of breaching fiduciary duties. Under general law, a failure to disclose a conflict of interest rendered the transaction voidable at the option of the company. Aside from rescinding the contract, the company can seek to obtain a range of remedies such as an injunction to stop the breach of duty continuing, a constructive trust over assets acquired arising from the breach of duty, an account of profits to strip away gains made by the breach of the duty or equitable compensation. For contraventions of the statutory duties, both ss182 and 183 are civil penalty provisions under s1317E. Therefore, breach of these provisions may result in a declaration of contravention being made by the court and thereafter ASIC may apply for a pecuniary penalty order (s1317G) and/or a disqualification order (s206C) and/or compensation for the company (s1317H). A serious contravention of ss182 or 183 which is dishonest or reckless may result in a criminal liability under s184 (2). This action may be taken by ASIC and/or the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. The word ‘fiduciary’ has its roots in the Latin word fiducia, which means trust or confidence. A fiduciary duty is a legal duty to act solely in another party’s interest. Parties owing this duty are called fiduciaries. The individuals to whom they owe a duty to are called principals. Fiduciaries may not profit from their...
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...Pamphlet Series No. 53 Governance of the IMF Decision Making, Institutional Oversight, Transparency, and Accountability Leo Van Houtven INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND 2002 Pamphlet Series No. 53 Governance of the IMF Decision Making, Institutional Oversight, Transparency, and Accountability Leo Van Houtven INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND Washington, D.C. 2002 ISBN 1-58906-130-6 ISSN 0538-8759 August 2002 The views expressed in this pamphlet, including any legal aspects, are those of the author and should not be attributed to Executive Directors of the IMF or their national authorities. Cover design and typesetting: IMF Graphics Section Please send orders to: International Monetary Fund, Publication Services 700 19th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20431, USA Tel.: (202) 623-7430 Telefax: (202) 623-7201 E-mail: publications@imf.org Internet: http://www.imf.org Contents Preface ............................................................................................... List of Abbreviations ........................................................................ I. II. Introduction ........................................................................... Quotas and Voting Power in the IMF: A System That Calls for Greater Equity ................................................... Role of Quotas and the Debate on the Quota Formula............ Further Work Toward Correcting Distortions and Enhancing Equity in Voting Power .....................
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...BUSINESS SCHOOL HARVARD SUCCESSFUL 65 APPLICATION SECOND EDITION E S S AY S APPLICATION BUSINESS SCHOOL HARVARD SUCCESSFUL 65 ECSNS A IYI O N S SE O D ED T With Analysis by the Staff of The Harbus, the Harvard Business School Newspaper ST. MARTIN’S GRIFFIN NEW YORK 65 SUCCESSFUL HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL APPLICATION ESSAYS, SECOND EDITION. Copyright © 2009 byThe Harbus News Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For-information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010. www.stmartins.com Library of Congress Cataloging...in..Publication Data 65 successful Harvard Business -School application essays : with analysis by the staff of The Harbus, the Harvard Business School newspaper / Lauren Sullivan and the staff of The Harbus.-2nd ed. p.em. ISBN 978...0..312...55007...3 1. Business schools-United States-Admission. 2. Exposition (Rhetoric) 3. Essay-Authorship. 4. Business writing. 5. Harvard Business School. 1. Sullivan, Lauren. II. Harbus. III. Title: Sixty...five successful Harvard Business School application essays. HF1131.A1352009 808'.06665-dc22 2009012531 First Edition: August 2009 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction ix xi I. Defining Moment Stacie Hogya Anonymous Anonymous David La Fiura Anonymous Avin Bansal Anonymous Brad Finkbeiner Anonymous 4 7 10 13 17 20 23 26 29 ii. UndergradUate experience John Coleman Maxwell Anderson...
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...You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Many high-level positions in companies are filled by men even though the workforce in many developed countries is more than 50 per cent female. Companies should be required to allocate a certain percentage of these positions to women. To what extent do you agree? Write at least 250 words. Model answer In many countries these days, females make up over 50 per cent of the workforce, and increasingly highly skilled women are taking managerial positions. However, it is still a fact that high positions such as CEO posts are still dominated by men. Although this is not desirable, I do not personally believe that imposed quotas are the solution. Firstly, I believe companies have a right to choose the best person for the job, whatever their gender, in order to contribute to the success of the business. Forcing companies to hire, promote and appoint women could negatively affect business in the short term and even the long term. Secondly, to my mind the solution to this problem should be solved outside the workplace. Girls need to be encouraged to take more male-dominated subjects at school and later at university, and to aspire to do well in their careers. Girls and boys also need to be taught equality from an early age. This education can take place in schools and career programmes and in the home. To those who argue that quotas are a good way to initiate this change, I would like to point out that artificially imposing rules has not always...
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...Dominican Republic and the Haiti. Diamond studied the politics of two presidents. the dominican Rafael Trujillo, who protected the enviroment and the dictator François, Papa Doc, Duvalier, who decided on politics of deforestatation of his country, Haiti. The author considered the bad politics of another main character, king George II, who was interested in sending merinosheeps from Spain to Australia, an idea which was succesful from 1820 to 1950 but then the farmers understood their lands lost fertility. Another main character is Tokuwaga Jeayasu, a shogun of Japan in 1600, who prohibited Christianity in 1600 and protected his country againt deforestation. The book takes us to a lot of places around the globe: Mayan cities, Rwanda, Viking colonies of Vinland or Greenland, Haiti and Dominican Republic, Easter Island and Polynesian colonies in Pacific, and the Chaco villages in New Mexico (United States). The time period was from 800 AC, when collapsed Mayan cities to 2005. Other locations are the Viking ships, isolated churches in Greenland, ghostly stone heads in Easter Island, sheep farms in Australia or the farmers of Montana (United States). The book is richly informative, with a lot of places of diferent peoples and cultures. All the characters were trying to build a wealthy society but they persued bad enviromental politics...
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