Cultural relativism or universalism ? An essay in political ethics
Essay - 10 pages - Political science
This is an essay on cultural relativism in the field of political ethics. Yesterday confined to anthropological studies, the idea infiltrated the domain of international morality after the Second World War. It developed from its original virtues of tolerance and understanding to more...
Is Russian political culture a serious obstacle to democratization?
Essay - 7 pages - Political science
From the end of the Cold War to nowadays, Russia has endeavored to reform itself so as to exit from a situation of crises. Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to give a new start to the economy of the Soviet Union, to reform its plethoric administration and take steps towards a more democratic,...
Is there a distinct American political culture?
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
We often assess that some behaviours are “American” and some “European”. Doing this, we mean there is a distinct American culture. Does it match for political culture? Political culture could be defined as a set of behaviours and habits towards the...
What role does the media play in the political process?
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
Since its beginning, about five decades ago, the mass media have been intertwined with political processes of every type, ranging from coverage of major political events and institutions to effects on campaigns and elections. In our liberal democracies, the media are central for the...
What are the most important features of contemporary Irish political culture? Has this political culture really change significantly since 1960? If so, why has this not had a greater impact on the political party system?
Essay - 2 pages - Political science
Irish political culture is often seen as a peculiar one compared to western European countries. The political culture might be considered as a psychological part of political system: the set of values and attitudes of a political community. According to J. Coakley, it...
"What accounts for the success of Silvio Berlusconi in Italian politics since the political crisis of the early 1990's?"
Essay - 8 pages - Political science
As the most dominant Italian politician of his time, Silvio Berlusconi has introduced important innovations in many fields of Italian politics: new ideological approaches, new coalition strategies, new campaign methods and a new leadership style and language. All of these innovations have had a...
What are the advantages and disadvantages of obtaining political information from TV and newspapers?
Essay - 9 pages - Journalism
If the Media industry is often seen as information and entertainment generators, it is especially the basis of our Western democracies. Indeed, the Media industry is certainly the most efficient and at least the most use mean to inform the people about politics. Media is then empowering Canadians...
Domestic Politics and American Foreign Policy: American & European political culture, an unsolvable misunderstanding?
Essay - 6 pages - Political science
The end of the cold war with the collapse of the Soviet Union enabled the emergence of the United States as a hegemonic power. At this time Realist Theories in International Relations predicted that a counterbalancing coalition should soon be organized. The European Union appeared as the most...
Political governance and corporate governance
Essay - 15 pages - Management
The 20th century was viewed as the age of management; the early 21st century is predicted to be more focused on governance. There is a distinction between politics and governance, where the former is regarded as cooperation between people with different points of view in order to improve the...
The universal human rights concept has its roots in western political thought, so can we say that it applies to all human beings?
Essay - 5 pages - Social, moral & civic education
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders...those are some of the many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) around the world based on the protection of human rights. Given they are international organisations, does it mean human rights are universal, i.e. they apply to...
Social, cultural, and political issues facing modern Israel
Thesis - 5 pages - Social, moral & civic education
The 1967 war resulted in a decisive victory for Israel over the combined forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. By launching a preemptive air strike, the Israeli Air Force was able to wipe out virtually all of Egypt's air force in one swift, massive attack. This guaranteed Israel air superiority...
Explain why French trade unions, which enjoy so little support, nevertheless seem to exert considerable political influence
Essay - 7 pages - Political science
In France, trade unions were legalised in 1884, but developed very slowly. Trade unions have never enjoyed phenomenal support in France as in the post-war period approximately 35% of workers belonged to a trade union as opposed to a mere 8-9% nowadays, which is by far the lowest proportion...
How adequate is the question of sovereignty in the political disputes within Britain about the desirability of joining the European communities? (1945-1973)
Essay - 7 pages - Political science
Britain was one of the first countries to imagine a European grouping after the Second World War. In Zurich, on 19 September 1946, Churchill called for a 'United States of Europe', which would be based on cooperation between France and Germany. Yet he saw no place for Britain in this...
A political analysis of: R. v. Badger
Thesis - 6 pages - Constitutional law
The supreme court of Canada stands as the highest level of court in Canada and is the final stop for all cases which have been appealed from the superior provincial courts. Unlike the lower courts, the supreme court of Canada seats up to nine judges with each appeal seating a minimum of 5...
A call for change : Socio-economic and political causes of the French revolution
Thesis - 5 pages - Social, moral & civic education
The French Revolution was a decade of political and social upheaval in France between the years of 1789 and 1799, which affected not only the French society and government, but had considerable repercussions for the rest of Europe as well. The primary changes that occurred as a result of...
To what degree does the evidence of contemporary cross-strait relations support the view that Taiwan and Mainland China are experiencing not only economic but also political convergence?
Essay - 5 pages - International relations
In 1949, after having lost the Chinese Civil War against the CPC, the Kuomintang retreated from Mainland China and established a government in Taipei, the largest city of the Taiwan Island, while continuing to claim its sovereignty over the whole China. At the same time, the People's Republic of...
Political representation in American thought
Thesis - 8 pages - Political science
Modern democracies are definitely linked to the concept of representation. We do not have any democracy which operates without resorting to representative governance. This principle is solely the fact of our modern times, it seems to have been necessary every time human being tried to implement a...
Try and identify Jonathan Swift's political stands
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
To put it simply, party politics in England during the 18th century were practiced in two different camps - Tory and Whig. Globally, the differences of opinion between the two were based on three key topics - (1) the origin of government, (2) the position of the Church in society and (3) the role...
Contrasting the Prince and the Sovereign: Considering Hobbes's political theory with reference to Machiavelli
Thesis - 5 pages - Social, moral & civic education
This approach contrasts with Hobbes's Leviathan, in which his focus is drawn more towards the social conditions and state of nature which leads a plurality of people to elect the sovereign. Whereas Machiavelli gives little consideration to the state of nature or the fundamentally contractual...
The political role of the judges in law and politics
Essay - 4 pages - Political science
My presentation is concerned with the relationship between law/the judiciary and politics. The laws relating to civil and criminal wrongs are indeed made either by Parliament in the form of Acts of Parliament (also called statutes) or by the judges themselves (then called the common law). The...
What is the function of representation in Hobbes conception of political power as presented in the Leviathan?
Essay - 5 pages - Political science
The notion of Representation is a key feature in democratic regimes. More stable than the direct participation of the people into political life, it supposes that the institutions of the State reflect the composition and the wishes of the people. A simple look at the title of the book-the...
Ibn Tulun Mosque - A study of Islamic architecture and its political, cultural and spiritual meaning
Thesis - 5 pages - Architecture
This paper will discuss the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo, one of the first Islamic Mosques built in Egypt. It will explore the symbolic meaning and the cultural aspects of the mosque design and its place within Tulun's dynasty. Petersen writes that the mosque is the central architectural form of...
The universal human rights concept and its roots in Western political thought
Essay - 4 pages - Philosophy
Commitment to the idea of cultural relativism is usually seen as precluding the acceptance of the idea of universal human rights. But is relativism against universalism a false dichotomy? Can we construct a “differentiated universalism” or a “non-ethnocentric universalism”?...
Do we have the right balance between responsibility for budget implementation and political accountability for the Union budget's use?
Essay - 5 pages - Government finance
The evolution of the budgetary procedure, with the new financial regulation of 2002, has increased the responsibility of the different actors and clarified the different management methods, increasing the transparency of the whole procedure. Those changes allow us to wonder if there is, today, a...
The yellow emperor's moral canon of politicized medical ideology the science behind politically correct medicine
Thesis - 5 pages - Medical studies
The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine makes many attempts to disguise itself as a scientific medical text that contains the secrets of well being and longevity. Though surrounded by this framework, the text itself contains very little in regards to medicinal remedies and ventures most...
How has the political economy of French capitalism evolved in the face of increasing global economic pressures?
Thesis - 10 pages - Economy general
‘The work was standardized, rigid; it has become adaptable, flexible. The institutions were paternalist, authoritarian; they have become permissive, liberal. A feeling of security reigned on the world. It is now the insecurity which is dominant' (Cohen, 2002) This international economic...
The Commission white paper on a European communication policy, an analysis of the conceptual and political issues at stake
Thesis - 5 pages - European union
While it symbolized the failure of national politicians, the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by the French and Dutch citizens in the referendum of Spring 2005 left the European establishment under the shock: it was evident that both the continuous strengthening of the European Parliament's...
Can the military be a-political? Should it be?
Essay - 3 pages - Political science
The world has been stunned since 1989 by the speed with which the countries of Eastern Europe abandoned four decades of Marxist-Leninist rule and moved into Western-style democracy and capitalism. Although the process of transition was, of course, delicate, it seems that very often economic and...
Is Fair Trade a tool to appease the conscience or a political lever?
Thesis - 9 pages - Political science
Fair Trade is an approach based on precise criterion of sustainable development; relations of exchanges of long duration and direct relations removing the intermediaries. According to these criterions, the Fair Trade organizations of North thus begin to buy these products at a just price which...
The practice of money laundering and politically exposed people
Tutorials/exercises - 20 pages - Political science
The practice of money laundering has long since been regarded as a criminal offence though it is primarily during recent times that the practice has been undertaken on such a scale as to pose a genuine threat to the international political and financial orders. This is due to its...
