BT Financial Group Major Threats and Opportunities for Increasing Wealth in Australia

Opportunities BT Financial Group is one of the largest investment companies specializing in the wealth management. Being the part of the Westpac Group, the company seeks to introduce the production and allocation of investment, retirement products, and superannuation (Our History, n. d.). Insurance operations also involve distribution of loans, deposits, and mortgage among the population.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on BT Financial Group: Major Threats and Opportunities for Increasing Wealth in Australia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Due to the fact that the BT Financial Group strives to advance living standards of aged people as well as increase the overall wealth of the population, it introduces as number of important measures and opportunities that can be implemented. To be more exact, the company should increase professional advice, enhance and promote investment, advance the insurance schemes as more an d more people plan to buy houses, introduce higher rates of investment products, and, finally, contribute to augmentation of margin loans among the population. In order to meet the needs of older generations, the BT Financial Groups should engage more resources and strategies. The major emphasis should be made on a fee-for-service arrangement for advice introduced to customers in the sphere of investments and pensions, eliminating any possible conflicts while preparing an investment portfolio. In addition, the company also implements changes to the sphere of professional standards to enhance the recruitment requirements and control specific frameworks for measuring the delivery of advice, where the major focus is made on meeting sophisticated product and service needs of clients (BT Financial Group, n. d.). Margin lending is one of the leading operations enhanced by the company’s intention to protect and improve wealth of the Australian population (James, 2007, n. p.). In who le, this operation provides greater opportunities for the company’s development because it creates a stronger platform for meeting the customers’ needs and demands. Beside higher quality standards of advising policies, the innovation approaches, particularly the newly established IT frameworks, will contribute to greater productivity and performance of BT Financial Group (Fan, 2011, n. p.).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hence, the introduction IT capability maturity system can initiate the company into a new strategic level for creating added value and for focusing on the most problematic areas of the production process. The opportunity to increase productivity has appeared due to customers’ growing demands whose request can be better controlled and operated with the introduction of the above presented framework. Threats For carrying out certain opera tions and activities, BT Financial Groups faces certain challenges and threats among which are rapidly aging generations, difficulties in knowledge managements, customers’ security, decline in population growth, and introducing innovations. For implementing the existing opportunities, high quality and professional advice provided by BT Company is essential for facing the problem of aging generation, which is the major threat to increasing wealth in Australia. Despite the fact that Australia is considered to be one of the most developed economies, it is still experiencing dramatic aging of its population (McCrindle, 2007, p. 5). Hence, the average age of the Australians is about 37 years compared to 28 years in 1976. If the median age increases, it can have significant influence on society. Insurance is another cornerstone of the company’s activities that needs to be considered and improved. The abundance of flood claims on the part of the BT’s clients has been a major threat to the managers, but the problem has been successfully overcome as the managers provided new mechanism for handling and controlling revenues and earnings despite the insurance payout increase (Woodington, 2011). More importantly, rise flood claims have provided the company with a much more favorable ground for strengthening its positions. Due to the development of small businesses in Australia, BT Financial Group has become more concerned with lending and borrowing being the major sources for carrying out small business transactions (BT Financial Group, 2011).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on BT Financial Group: Major Threats and Opportunities for Increasing Wealth in Australia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Indeed, the Australian business landscape tends to be overwhelmed with new opportunities for small-scale projects. Historical perspective analysis also shows that Australia is considered to b e the country where the dominating place is given to small businesses (Landstrom, 2009, p. 115). Attracting more customers is another challenge that needs to be overcome to increase the clientele percentage (Woodington, 2011). Particularly emphasis should be made on meeting customer needs and creating more values for customer via the external marketing process. Way Forward With regard to the opportunities and threats outlines above, the company should react in the following manner. First, in order ensure the quality standards and advice efficiency, the company also applies to a customer-centric approach for introducing innovations to investment and superannuation activities (BT Financial Group, n. d.). In fact, this customer-oriented culture contributes to creating a favorable ground for penetrating to all departments and sections of the company and enhancing the knowledge management (Deschamps, 2008, p. 84). Second, BT approach also involves the advisers at the beginning of the res earch and development process to ensure that a key strategic investment is congruent with the company’s needs. For ensuring the quality standards and advice efficiency, the company also applies to a customer-centric approach for introducing innovations to investment and superannuation activities (BT Financial Group, n. d.). In fact, this customer-oriented culture contributes to creating a favorable ground for penetrating to all departments and sections of the company and enhancing the knowledge management (Deschamps, 2008, p. 84). More importantly, BT approach also involves the advisers at the beginning of the research and development process to ensure that a key strategic investment is congruent with the company’s needs. Reference List BT Financial Group (2011). Wholesale and Retail Clients. BT Financial Group Submission. Web.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More BT Financial Group. Annual Review and Sustainability Report. Web. Deschamps, J. P. (2008). Innovation Leaders: How Senior Executives Stimulate, Steer, and Sustain Innovation. US: John Wiley and Sons. Foo, F. (2011). IT Framework Helps BT Tap Business Value. Australian IT. Web. James, A. (2007). BT Financial Group Streamlines Information Gathering and Saves A $ 540,000 Per Years. LivePoint. Web. Landstrom, H. (2009). Pioneers in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research. US: Springer. McCrindle, M. (2007). New Generation at Work: Attracting, Recruiting, Retaining and Training Generation Y. US: The ABC of XYZ. OECD Publishing (2010). OECD Economic Surveys: Australia 2010. Australia: OECD Publishing. Our History. BT. Web. Wooddington, M. (2011). BT Earnings Up Despite Floods. Financial Standard. Web. This report on BT Financial Group: Major Threats and Opportunities for Increasing Wealth in Australia was written and submitted by user Curt Conners to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Control Theory Corporate Crime Essay Example

Control Theory Corporate Crime Essay Example Control Theory Corporate Crime Essay Control Theory Corporate Crime Essay Conflict theory primarily argues that it is the economic system of capitalism itself that produces crime however, in order to understand the causes of corporate crime, the neoliberal framework and its utilization must be examined. Neoliberalism accords the state not to intervene or regulate the market, and in effect produces inequality but most importantly crime. Criminal acts are committed by the elites that are following the core of the neoliberal doctrine which is maximizing profits while minimizing costs. Corporate crimes are committed by executives or executive officers n behalf of corporations to further their own interests or the interest of the organizations. These crimes can result in harming the working class which may consist of employees, consumers, stockholders, or the general public (Snider, 2005; pg 170). These crimes vary from marketing unsafe products, maintaining unsafe workplaces, defrauding workers, environmental pollution, price fixing, anti-trust violations and other malpractices (Passas, 2005; pg 773). The analysis and understandings of the causes to corporate crime is crucial to Criminology because it costs society severely and entails; physical costs, financial costs, environmental amage, undermines the democratic system and undermines economic growth. However, these crimes remain unpunished because neoliberal knowledge claims allow these acts to remain invisible, unregulated, neutralized, difficult to prosecute, ambiguous in the law and in criminal status and have a lack of responsibility. Marxism hypothesizes that society is structured based upon the relationship of people to the production of material goods. In other words, those who own the means of production also control the works, politicians as well as the development of criminal and economic law. Following the Marxist perception, this essay will argue that corporate crime is not caused but rather it is a by-product of the neoliberal framework elites govern society by. THE POWER OF THE NEOLIBEARL DOCTRINE To begin with, the neoliberal framework was designed to benefit individuals and organizations of elite status which allowed them to gain independence and power from the state. This then allows them to engage in criminal activites and Justify them as responding to competitive forces from the market. Neoliberalism accords the government an active role in securing and producing the conditions for the market ut disagrees strongly with government intervention Codi, 2008; pg 67), which means the markets must be set free to follow their internal logic which is profit. This means that in order to cut costs; the most inexpensive means may be an illegal means. Key elites in the New World economy have invested billions of dollars, reputations and the power of nation states in obtaining certain interpretations (of laws, issues, scientific data) accepted and others rejected these claims are called neoliberal knowledge claims (Snider, 2005; pg 181). Furthermore, they push for certain nterpretation of laws of how to govern the market in accordance with the neoliberal privileges in a number of ways. For example, interpreting scientific data in ways that prove genetically engineered plants are safe, is worth a trillion dollars to the transnational companies that hold the patents on this genetic material and to the nation-states which grantee their legitimacy (Snider, 2005; pg 181). On the other hand, inequality is more closely related to the acceptance of the neoliberal ideology and its allied ideology of globalization; for instance, employees frightened of losing heir Jobs to third world works are more likely to accept lower wage Jobs, unsafe work conditions and higher levels of exploitation (Snider, 2004; pg 266). The neoliberal framework (that encourages pro-business behaviour) allows corporations to utilize whatever means possible in order to maximize profits which may result in exploiting the working class in a countless number of ways; from inducing them to consume harmful products to forcing them to succumb to unsafe working conditions. This result in a conflict between the culture of competition and ethical standards however, orporations are not like humans they are artificial legal entities with perpetual life chartered by the government for their existence (Nadar, 2004; pg 8). Corporations have achieved a status where they have all constitutional rights that people have except the right against self-incrimination. Corporations engage in criminal activites on a number of different levels that harm and affect the general public however, the public for the most part remains unaware of these activites because these elites invest in hiding the truth which thereby renders their actions invisible. THE INVISBALITY OF COPRORATE CRIME Secondly, Marxists argue that is it the connected ability of the powerful to manipulate values of society which is why corporate crimes are rendered invisible. Academics find it difficult to analyze corporate crime because large scale survey data is not available so researchers have to rely on non-objective crime statistics collected by impartial government agencies such as StatsCan or the Home Office which usually yield tiny samples (Snider, 2005; pg 186). Corporations do not want sociologist investigating their business practises, unlike traditional offenders they have the ability to resist such incursions. On the other hand, the Justice department for the most part has an inadequate budget for investigated let alone prosecuting corporate crimes. Police agencies cannot keep up with the geographic bounders of victimization, the mobility of the offenders and the complexities of the crimes because they usually involve investigating and prosecuting at the same time and also extensive knowledge of the corporate infrastructure which policing agencies, for a reason, are not equipped for (Schlegel et al. 1999; pg 15). According to Marxism, the law is developed and implemented by the elites to control the working class and rime is a product of class-based inequality, the policing agencies are funded by the government which are heavily influenced by the elites therefore, conflict theory asserts that criminal law is designed to target the working class in order to protect the interests of the elites. Conversely, unlike street crime there is a general lack of media attention with regards to corporate Wrongdoings however, in the rare instance that these cases are nature (Williams, 2008; pg 474) these are neutralizations, which purposely overlooking their status as crimes. Business culture from the neoliberal framework ot only provides incentives to engage in illicit activites but also contains justifications that can be used to neutralize ethical restraints; this is part of the neoliberal knowledge claims. For instance, when corporate Wrongdoings do surface to the publics attention they are quickly neutralized as accidents, isolated episodes, bad apples or voluntary consent. Accidents are portrayed as unintended, unanticipated and unavoidable events that could not be reasonably prevented (Williams, 2009-04-21). Isolated episodes are when organizations or individuals momentarily depart from their usual ethical behaviours and engage in criminal ctivites (Williams, 2009-04-21). In addition, bad apples is a theory of corruption that asserts the problem of an individual engaging in misconduct rather than the department as a whole, which means a lack of responsibility (Williams, 2008; pg 476). Last, voluntary consent is a neutralization for harms inflicted on employees that work in dangerous industries, the harms are neutralized by stating that those employees consented to those risks and conditions however, the company may not have fully disclose all the risks and harms (Williams, 2009-04-21). Corporate crime is systemic owever; its ability to neutralize its criminal activity and characterize it as rare accidents or uncommon wrongdoings allows it to continue without question. In addition to neutralizations, in the rare event that corporate crime is prosecuted, one of the most common ways of differentiated corporate crime from street crime is to point at the lack of Mens Rea which is the criminal intent to inflict harm (Schlegel et al. , 1999; pg 17). Nevertheless, clear conscious decisions are made when cutting back on workplace safety budgets, quality control funding etc. with the knowledge hat with these decisions human life may be harmed however, because corporations are seen as impersonal, faceless and complex entities which results in a lack of responsibility and therefore the harms are dismissed because there is no definitive way of knowing whether the intent was there. Moreover, because elites have the resources and are finically equipped they invest in hiding these truths. THE FAILURE OF REGULATION Moreover, the neoliberal framework asserts that the market remain deregulated, with that deregulation, corporations continue to engage in criminal activites until hey accumulate imbalances that contribute to finical crisis, the government must then intervene with regulations however, those regulations are quickly removed by corporate influence. History of regulation in Canada was weak from its initial attempt at regulating the market. To start with, Canadas Combines Investigation Act was designed to prevent competition in the market and to do so it criminalized corporate monopolies (companies that dominant specific products or services in the market), mergers and price discrimination. However, the legislation was weak because no rosecutions against corporations were registered, it never received adequate funding or enforcement and each attempt to strengthen it was strongly opposed by the elites (Snider, 2005; pg 173). This act lasted for over 96 years until 1969 when the Interim Report on Competition Policy was created and its policy implications were act it had little political support due to the political pressures from corporations (Snider, 2005; pg 174). For the next 10 years, several versions of the Bill were created and each weaker than the last finally in 1976 attempts at reforming laws that govern he market were abandoned (Snider, 2005; pg 174). In 1984, the Conservative government was elected with the new Prime Minister Brian Mulroney; following the neoliberal doctrine he denounced the anti-American and anti-business stance that the previous Canadian laws attempted to accomplish and created the Competition Act (Snider, 2005; pg 175). This Bill encompassed the neoliberal ideology, it compelled the government to create the conditions necessary for market exchange, it promoted competitiveness and enhanced business prosperity however to do this, mergers, monopolies and price discrimination was decriminalized. On the other hand, influential Criminologist Edwin Sutherland advanced the concept of corporate crime that not only revealed new types of crime but it also threatened to expose the traditional myth of the neutrality of the law (Shover et al. , 2006; pg 78). He pointed to the role of privileged and their power in shaping of the law as well the existence ofa double standard of Justice in the implementation of the law, with regards to benefitting the upper-class and controlling the lower class offenders. This concept raised the basic question about the nature of law and the intentions of the criminal ustice system. Furthermore, the neoliberal framework furthers the prevalence of greed, the systemic nature of corporate corruption, the necessity of regulation and the inherent instability of the capitalist mode of production (Williams, 2008; pg 472) that creates discernable forms of real harm. The neoliberal doctrine pushes for the failure of regulation in market societies which allows corporations to create their own governing through political influence and suitable environments for their malpractices. In addition, the Neoliberal doctrine has provided the means for corporate entities o gain insurmountable powers and influence in the political and economic realm; this allows them to keep the market and their behaviour unregulated and decriminalized. The main reason why their criminal practises remain legal and respected is that these industries have the ability to mobilize financial, political as well as other resources in order to avoid stricter regulation (Passas, 2005; pg 772), Furthermore, the globalization of markets (the dismantling of trade barriers between nations and the integration of economies Oodi, 2008; pg 17)) is another component of he neoliberal framework and it furthers the fragmentation of regulation. The more a corporation grows into new geographic areas, the less subjected it is to control, accountability and supervision. An example of this is the use of child labour in developing countries that export the manufactured goods to developed countries, the same countries that criminalize that practise (Passas, 2005; pg 775). This demonstrates the double standard set by capitalists nation-states whereas the laws that are created to criminalize these practises are only applicable when it is not in he best interest of these corporate entities. In contrast, over regulation and government interference in corporate business practises are claimed to be rendered uncompetitive or unprofitable, so when governments assert some form of regulation, thereby negatively affecting local communities or the whole country (Passas, 2005; pg 777). Corporations threaten governments by downsizing and taking their business elsewhere- to a less regulated state, therefore governments must obey these demands because they have become so dependent on their services, employment, and financial contributions to the economy. Furthermore, the government not only allows them to remain unregulated but corporations also activity participate in defining and legalization their own criminality. Ironically, when policy makers and legislatures, write laws outlawing rape, burglary, armed robbery, larceny and theft they do not consult or negotiate with the criminals who committed those crimes (Kappeler et al. , 2005; pg 160) but when legislatures enact laws in regulating corporations they actively seek input and advice from those they seemingly are setting out to punish thus, decriminalizing corporate Wrongdoings. Also, the laws that have been created to criminalize illegal acts by corporations are made to be so complex and full of loop holes that they are almost impossible to enforce. Decriminalization is the successful reduction of restriction, oversight thereby permitting individuals and organizations to operate with greater latitude (Snider, 2005; pg 83). Decriminalization in relation to corporate crime occurs daily, privileged and powerful interests have been successful in revising the internal revenue code to their advantage, leading to a substantially increased share of the tax burden shifted o the working class citizens (Snider, 2005; pg 85). This close relationship of the state and corporate criminals illustrates the state regulation of traditional crime while punishments for corporate criminals are being eliminated; incarceration rates for traditional blue-collar criminals are doubling. The working class are criminalized because of the inequality and brutalization of low wages and the frequent threat of unemployment. Prison which is seen as the control tool for the working class is both a material deterrent and an ideological weapon (Schlegel et al. 1999; pg 96) of the apitalist state ensuring the suppression of threats from below. The power gained by corporations allows them to strongly influence governments in relation to criminal law and policy making but most importantly making them dependant on corporations for their services. CATERING TO CORPORATE NEEDS Additionally, governments have now become so dependent on corporations for their economies that, employers are considered to be doing governments favour merely by setting up shop (Snider, 2005; pg 171). This means that nations and their subunits compete to offer business the best tax breaks, the highest subsides, the owest minimum wage levels and the least regulation (Passas, 2005; pg 775). The decriminalization of once illegal activites attracted international and fortune 500 companies to set up shop in Canada, shortly after these corporations convinced governments into massive privatization, keeping minimum wage at its lowest form possible with regards to inflation, decertifying unions as well as a variety of other exploitation and harms to the Canadian working class. The organizations that engage in what used to be called corporate crime seem to now be responded by reasoned persuasion, rewards with tax breaks and market incentives. Harsher punishments fill and overfill the prisons of modern capitalist societies (Snider, 2005; pg 174). Contrastingly, in an attempt for the government to appear fair to all its citizens, it has created laws that can be used by the non-capitalist class to protect themselves against the powerful such as: anti-trust monopoly laws, consumer laws, progressive tax and factory safety laws. However there is an immense struggle to have those laws evoked in the working class interest (Schlegel et al. , 1999; pg 98). Contrary to common assumption that these legal practises and industries are beneficial to society; as llustrated by the government catering to corporate needs, society is actually worse off by allowing certain operations and practises to continue. In a sense, the more these industries flourish the more societies fail for the non-capitalist citizens. Lastly, the neoliberal stronghold that drives elite behaviour has taken grasp of government officials, policy makers and politicians to further their own personal gains. To ensure corporate interests corporations need to obtain access; this is done through social contracts, personal favours, paid lobbyists and monetary contributions . The privileged gain the access needed to ensure their perspectives are known and taken seriously by political leaders and state managers (Shover et al. , 2006; pg 87). Then, these politicians make sure that the public is aware of the contributions and higher quality of life they receive by the presence and services of these industries. Critics say that one of the key reasons to why corporate crime is not pursued; is the all to close relationship between the financial regulators and the finical industry this is because many of the leaders in the securities commissions ome from the financial industry or were lawyers that previously served them (Schlegel et al. , 1999; pg 15). An example of this close relationship; a real-estate investor saw that a company that he had invested in was committing fraudulent crimes, he decided to report this to the Ontario Securitas Commission (OSC) and a sister company the Investors Dealers Association (IDA) [ a combination of up banks and brokerages]. The realtor realized that the one of the men he was reporting to about the fraudulent crimes was the same man that was committing those crimes nd was a member of the IDA (CBC Sunday Night, 2008- 11-23). It was concluded that the people he was complaining to were the same people that were the problem. Another instance of this relationship is of David Wilson who is now presently head of the Ontario Securitas Commission (OSC); he was previously the chief executive officer of the bank of Nova Scotia (who is guarding your money? ). Presently, Canada has a patch work of 13 regulators, provincially and other self-regulating watchdogs that attempt to regulate the markets of Canada (Biggs et al. , 2003; pg 3). They all regulate ndependently of one another and have different policies on regulation, this shows that there is no serious attempt at regulating the markets of Canada. Arguably, the credit crisis that we are seeing recently in Wall Street had already happened in Canada but did not receive publicity because the securities regulation system in Canada works with the investment industry to cover up its own bad behaviour and fraudulent activities (CBC Sunday Night, 2008- 11-23). According to Bay street analysts, it is estimated that Canadian investors loose $20 billion a year in fraud but are unaware of it (Zedner, 2006; pg 5). Moreover, politicians have been bought by fraudulent activity turns out to be working with those that commit those crimes. In summary, criminal law works, is the message, and harsher criminal law works best. However when it comes to crimes of marketing unsafe products, maintaining unsafe workplaces, defrauding workers, dumping toxic waste, misrepresenting the benefits or not disclosing the risks of products- criminal law does not work. According to Marxism, this is because criminal law is created to protect the interests of the elite and to control the working class from breaking out of the cycle of nequality created by the capitalist neoliberal claims. Breaking out of the cycle or disobeying its elements means committing a crime, criminal law is then a form of social control. Deviance and crime represent conflicts in society which are managed by the suppression of the ruled by the rulers. The public is unaware of the crimes because of the massive lobbying by corporations, elite investment in scientific, sociological and political knowledge claims, neutralizations of corporate incidents, decriminalization of corporate Wrongdoings and the generally invisibility of corporate crime. This then leads the public to believe that corporate crime is not a threat to society or their means of living. Also, the rare incidents that are available to public knowledge are deemed as natural incidents that occur from time to time because of the competitive nature of neoliberal capitalism. Conversely, elites have invested in convincing the public that street crimes are committed by the working class; and are imminent threats to society therefore, need deterrent action in order to maintain the quality of life in capitalist societies. Neoliberal claims further the rowth of corporations allowing them to participate in creating the laws that govern their activites; these claims have swayed politicians, market watch dogs, policy makers and governments. By this governments favour corporate actors because of the economic gains they will obtain for personal interests rather than providing a decent minimum wages, quality working conditions, safe products etc. for the working class. This proves that corporate crimes are a by-product of the neoliberal capitalism framework rather than having specific causes and this claim is an important tool for Criminology in order to understand corporate crime. The neoliberal ideology that has been adapted by elites and politicians ensures that the illegal and criminal acts that corporations commit remain invisible. From this essay, it has been noted that criminal law is used by corporate actors and politicians in order to maintain social order and suppress the working class. However, in a larger context and using the Marxist perception; how have laws and criminal Justice, as forms of social control, been used to contain class struggle and maintain class divisions at different times in different societies? Biggs, C. , Coleman R. (2003). Rules and Prevarications. CMA Management, 7(3) 1-20. CBC Sunday Night. (Nov. 23, 2008) Who is guarding your money? CBC, Toronto. Dean, Jodi (2008). Enjoying Neoliberalism. Cultural Politics 4(1), 47-72. Kappeler, V. , Potter, G. (2005). The Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice (4th Ed. ). Illinois: Waveland Press Inc. (Course Text) Nadar, Ralph (2004). Legislating Corporate Ethics. Journal of Legislation, 30, 193-204. Passas, Nikos (2005). Lawful but Awful: Legal Corporate Crimes. The Journal of Socio- Economics, 34, 771-786 Schlegel, K. , Weisburd, D. (1999). White-Collar Crimes Reconsidered (Revised Ed). Boston: Northeastern. Shover, N. , Hochstetler, A. (2006). Choosing White-Collar Crime. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Snider, Laureen (2000). Sociology of Corporate Crime: An obituary. Theoretical Criminology, 4(2), 169-206. Snider, Laureen (2004). Resisting Neo-Liberalism. Social and Legal Studies, 13(2), 265-289 Williams, James (2008). The Lessons of Enron. Theoretical Criminology, 12(4), 471-499. Williams, James (2009) White-Collar Crime l. Criminology. York University. (Lecture) Zedner, Lucia (2006). Liquid Security: Managing the Market for Crime Control. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 6(3), 276-288.

Effectiveness of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Essay

Effectiveness of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act - Essay Example Most parties have solicited for money from different sources, including corporations and individuals. However, a ban on â€Å"soft money† in 2002 brought changes in the role of money in political campaigns. This paper addresses the objectives and consequences of BCRA, and its effectiveness or ineffectiveness, basing on a variety of events in the political arena today. The main objectives of the BCRA are to restrict the use of corporate and union funds in federal elections, and control of communication in electioneering. Therefore, a ban on â€Å"soft money† and the controlled political advertisements are major concerns of BCRA. This is all in an effort to regulate the escalating cost of campaigns, and reduce corruption in electioneering. Wallison & Gora (2009) argue that raising of large sums of money by candidates has a corrupting influence in politics, and on the candidates’ policies. The opponents of this reform however, argue that large amounts of money are n eeded to fund the candidates’ campaign expenditures, as well as to hold meaningful political debates at the national level. Whether this law is seen in negative or positive light, what remains is that it has changed the way politics are played in America today. Smith argues that political parties need more money, and not less, in their campaigns. He also considers the electioneering communication restriction in BCRA as a violation of constitutional right of freedom of expression (Smith, 2003). The greatest determinant of the effectiveness of the BCRA is the emerging role of non-profit groups in the post BCRA political environment. The 2004 campaign was the first to be under the influence of BCRA. It is evident that the BCRA did not make political parties starve due to lack of finances. Surprisingly, the national political parties raised more hard money in 2003, than they did in both soft and hard money in 1999. The Democratic and Republican parties raised a sum of $371 millio n in hard money alone in the first year of post BCRA era, as compared to $266 million, a sum of both hard and soft money in the 2000 campaign period, before the BCRA. Today, the Republican Party raises more hard money than the Democratic Party. Nonetheless, both parties have increased their sum of hard money raised over years past the BCRA. Due to the restrictions by BCRA, Political Parties have maximized their money raising capabilities from the PACs and from individuals. This shows that the BCRA has not been effective in regulating the amount of money political parties acquire for their campaigns. BCRA’s restriction on soft money has made parties go for an alternative of hard money, which the parties can source from unrestricted sources. Political Parties today have turned to a large numbers of small donors, rather than a small number of large soft money (Malbin, 2003) BCRA has seen a significant reduction of soft money spent in electioneering. Different analyses have shown that today in the post BCRA era, it is quite hard to make soft money contributions. Today, there are no links between the electioneering non-profit groups, officeholders, and candidates. Before the BCRA, party officials directly connected the large soft money contributors and the public officials in whom they were interested. Soft money contributions were offered in exchange for access to officeholders and candidates. This situation served as the grounds for the U.S Supreme Court to ban soft money.

Air pollution Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Air pollution - Research Paper Example In this manner, the large particles emitted to the atmosphere settle on the ground, while the small particles are carried by the wind. Air pollution does not only damage the environment, but it also affects the health of the individuals in terms of skin and eyes irritation, and respiratory illness. Air pollution has been a concern of almost every individual in the world, and many are exerting effort in order to enact laws or individual awareness to end air pollution (â€Å"Air Pollution†). 3.0 Types of Air Pollution 3.1 Indoor Air pollution Air pollution occurs inside the houses, offices, schools, and other enclosed areas. Air pollutants indoor usually comes from cigarette or tobacco smoking, gases that come from stoves while cooking, chemicals, glue, and paint used in the building, and other hazardous fumes secreted by the materials of the building, and radon. Radon is considered as a radioactive gas which is emitted by decaying uranium rocks on the ground. Radon can easily b e trapped in structures that are energy-efficient where hot or cool air is kept inside. Therefore, due to this high concentration of gases inside the structure, radon can easily be trapped inside and can cause harm to the people inside the building. Nonetheless, the ventilation of the structure also plays a vital role in contributing to indoor air pollution (Thakur 68). 3.2 Outdoor Air Pollution Outdoor pollution occurs when the air pollutants from the burning of gases by vehicles, power and business plants, burning of garbage are formed into gases and particles which then emitted to the atmosphere. Some of these activities emit lead and mercury, which are considered as heavy metals, which then result to the formation of smog. Smog is a result of the reaction gasoline and petroleum combustion to sunlight. This reaction then forms a brown-colored smoke that also results to the creation of different harmful gases. From these different gases, ozone is also formed, which is a harmful ty pe of oxygen. Aside from smog, acid rain is also caused by air pollution. This occurs when nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide reacts with water vapor, which results to the production of nitric and sulfuric acid. The most common sources of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide are burning gas and oil by cars and factories (Thakur 68-69). 4.1 Effects of Air Pollution 4.1 Effects of Indoor Air Pollution Indoor air pollution can cause eye irritation, headache, skin irritation, and other health problems. Aside from this, if radon is inhaled in large amount, the person can also suffer from lung cancer. Sick building syndrome (SBS) can also occur if the air quality in a building is poor or low. SBS can elicit symptoms such as chills and fever, congestion of the chest, throat irritation, dry skin, and dizziness. These symptoms are not specific; therefore, these symptoms can also be caused by other ailments. However, an employee must seek an attention of a physician if the symptoms worsen during working shifts or hours and deteriorate after the shift of an employee (Thakur 68; Austin, Brimblecombe, and Sturges 90). 4.2 Effects of Outdoor Air Pollution Outdoor air pollution affects human beings and the environment. The short term effects of air pollution include pneumonia, irritation of the nose, skin, throat, and eyes, nausea, and headaches. Aside from this unpleasant odor from factories, garbage, clogged drainage systems also cause air pollution. On the other hand, the long-term

Battered woman Syndrome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Battered woman Syndrome - Essay Example Francine Hughes was married to an abusive man for thirteen years. She tried to leave, even divorcing her husband. However, her ex-husband moved back in. When Francine tried to go to school, her ex-husband would rip up her books. Francine would try to go back home, to the Department of Human Services, and even the police. No one could or would help. Finally, after her ex-husband raped her, Francine set his bed on fire. Francine was not verbally abused, but beaten, raped, and put in the hospital over and over for thirteen years. When she went to trial her defense was the Battered-woman Defense. A jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity. Francines case generated much interest in the United States, with the focus on domestic violence (Westervelt, 102). The book and movie The Burning Bed caused Americans to stop and think about abused women for the first time. This story happened in the late 1970s, with the book coming out in the early 1980s. At that time battered women needed a defense for protecting themselves from abusive spouses. Yet, as the 1980s wore on, the Battered-woman Defense started to be misused. Betty Broderick definitely misused this defense. Betty Broderick was not a battered woman, but a scorned one. It began when her husband, Dan, began an affair with his secretary. Betty felt that the deception was mental abuse. Finally, Bettys husband left her for his secretary. After a nasty legal battle, wherein she felt ganged up on, because Dan was an attorney, Betty was left with nothing. She had left her four children on Dans doorstep, so he could understand how she felt. It backfired. Dan kept the children. However, the courts did order him to pay $16,000 a month, plus insurance and other bills. Betty in the meantime started breaking into Dans home and vandalizing it. The final straw was when Dan married his secretary. Betty stole her daughters keys, let herself into Dans house, and

Challenges to Human Trafficking Prevention

Challenges to Human Trafficking Prevention Human trafficking is. Practically, it happens all over the world. Below is a story of one of the human trafficking victims who survived. In the TIP Reports of 2004 all the way through 2006, it was stated that about 600,000 to 800,000 victims are reported to be trafficked across international borders each year. According to International Labor Organization in year 2005, about 32 billion profits were made by the human trafficking industry. Victims can be trafficked in many ways. Scam, force and enforcement are several ways how victims can be trafficked.There are so many factors that can contribute to human trafficking. Among them are the ineffective anti-trafficking legislation, ineffective government enforcement, lack of education, poverty and many more. The list can go on and on but the main question is who should be blamed for the rise in human trafficking? Abraham Lincoln once said Even though many people agree that many agents play a role in combating human trafficking, the government should be solely blamed for the rise in human trafficking as they play the biggest role in contributing to the rise of this issue. Firstly, lack of government enforcement causes an increase in human trafficking. Government has weak implementation of anti-trafficking laws especially in countries like India. For example, the Nepals 2008 Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act has not successfully decreased the rate of human trafficking. According to Shyam Kumar Pokharel, the managing director of Samrakshak Samuha Nepal, this weak implementation of law has led the traffickers to operate without difficulty. There were many times traffickers were caught but only few of them were found guilty. This shows the weak implementation of law had not help to decrease the number of traffickers at all. Besides that, the government also practices non intervention in the immigration procedure and identification of traffickers. Most of the times the NGOs were the one who lend a helping hand instead of the government. There are many cases that were not reported. Up to the year 2010, only 123 cases were reported. These ca ses are only a portion of the actual number of cases of human trafficking. In addition, law enforcement is also often vulnerable by many like official indifferences. For example, in Thailand, the police do not want to acknowledge migrants who were mistreated by traffickers as trafficking victims. There was a case in April 2008 whereby 57 Burmese who were supposed to be trafficked into Thailand got suffocated in a container. The police denied the fact that they are trafficking victims instead stated that they are illegal immigrants. On the other hand, the United Nation classifies trafficking victims as. Furthermore, another reason for the increase in human trafficking is because criminals are gaining authority and law enforcement people are becoming more corrupt making it difficult to end human trafficking. Law enforcement is vulnerable by conspiracy with traffickers, lacking regulatory devices and failure to prosecute public officials involved in trafficking. Law enforcement also tends to have excessive controls over victims as they put their needs first he nce causing victims unwilling to be a witness. This just shifts the control from the traffickers to the law enforcement officials. Hence, it can be concluded that lack of government enforcement causes an increase in human trafficking. Secondly, lack of suitable and successful legislation on trafficking also contributes to the increase in human trafficking. Most of the countries had legislation that cannot counter attack the rise in this issue. The legislation in most countries does not take legal action directly on people convicted for human trafficking crime. Most of the time, the legislators take this issue lightly. Even when trafficking cases are very apparent, the traffickers might not be prosecuted for the crime of trafficking but for lighter punishment like prostitution or pimping. Besides that, existing trafficking laws are only confined to sexual exploitation and not other types of slavery. Next, governments focus too much on how to punish others but less on how to prevent this issue from rising. An example of an ineffective legislation is the Trafficking Victims Protection Act or TVPA. TVPA is the only national anti-trafficking law. One weakness about this law is that it only punishes those who can be ver ified guilty in the court that is those who are involved in force, coercion or scam. However, the traffickers can easily cover up this wrong doings and it would be a difficult task to prove these traffickers guilty. Besides that, this process might take months or even a few years. A trafficking victim does not have the capability to fight the case. With this, the TVPA seems meaningless as it could not really help the trafficking victims nor punish the traffickers. In addition, trafficked victims and not the traffickers were given cruel punishment. This happens because of the ineffective judicial system. Instead of helping those victims, the authorities mistreat the victims by locking them up in jail. Thus the authorities do not treat them as victims but as criminals. Das family is a good proof of this case. Das father had become one of the trafficking victims who were tricked to work in Bangkok. Das mother had to pay a large amount of money to get him back. Da and her mother went and beg. However, not long after that police picked them up and sent them to jail pending for their transfer back to Cambodia. On the other hand, the traffickers are well protected and are not punished for their wrongs. Occasionally, sex trafficking victims were sent back to their country of origin after being arrested in brothel raids. Then, they will have to face embarrassment as many people will look down on them. Hence, government should be blamed for ineffective anti-trafficking legislation. Thirdly, the situation in the country of origin also leads to human trafficking. One of the main causes of human trafficking is poverty. More than half of the citizens survive only on US$ 1 per day in places where victims stayed. Many victims of human trafficking came from poor country where they live in poverty. Then, the next question asked is who is responsible for causing poverty. Governments are the ones to be blamed as they refuse to acknowledge poverty. Although these trafficking victims knew that they are going to be underpay by private enterprise, these victims who are living in poverty are still attracted to the pay. This is because they know that this pay can help them rather than continue to live in poverty in their own country. Besides that, there are some governments that persuade their citizens to work abroad. In order to pay back the international debts, countries like Philippine had developed a program called the Philippine Labor Export Program to persuade their citi zens to work abroad for the in-flow of overseas income even though the work is hazardous. In addition, governments poor ruling politically, socially and economically also contributes to the increase of human trafficking. This causes countries to be prone to become a source of trafficking victims even if laws are carried out properly. Besides that, many children, even those as young as two years old are trafficked and exploited from Bangladesh, Pakistan, in South Asia and Africa and countries in the East Africa as camel jockeys in the Gulf states. These children have no bright future because they do not have useful skills or teachings and they are physically and psychologically traumatized for a very long time. Some of the victims of trafficking want to find for a better education but they were tricked and became victims of human trafficking. Thus, in terms of education, government is also responsible for the lack of education as the government do not do much to improve the education in their countries. Governments should be more engaged in and come out with positive ways to tackle the lack of education as it can cause human trafficking, eventually. Thus, governments are to be blamed for causing the country to be in a poor state and more citizens become victims of human trafficking. Fourthly, the lack of unity between governments and other institutions is also one of the causes for the rise in this issue. Since there is a lack of national anti-trafficking plans, most of these plans are developed within the perspective of each individual agencys mission. Eventually, plans are poorly developed as they are not based on a higher level supervision. National structures were established by South Eastern Europe and there is a noticeable progress made. However, the national structures that are established did not mean human trafficking was combated successfully. Combating human trafficking is initiated by the local NGOs then only it was supported by international and intergovernmental organizations. The purpose of this structure is to shift the duty to governments but instead governments take over the NGOs that was administrating the programs. In addition, there is also a lack of government programs and funding with other institutions. For example, in Romania, the government does not give much assistance with anti-trafficking NGOs and did not assigned funding for NGOs to provide services and carry out programs for human trafficking victims after National Agency against Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP) became an assistant agency of the National Police under the Ministry of Interior. There are different definitions by the government and NGO that causes a gap between them. Government defines human trafficking according to United Nation but the NGO defines trafficking based on the result only. In order to prove this, we can look at the different statistics of human trafficking by NGOs and governments. According to International Justice Mission, an NGO who claim to cooperate with the government to combat human trafficking state that almost 2 million children are exploited in the commercial sex trade. However, this contradicts wi th the statistics given by the U.S. Department of State in 2005 that stated 1 million children are exploited in the commercial sex trade. Based on the difference in statistic, we can say that NGO and governments have different definition of human trafficking. Hence, it can be concluded that lack of governments cooperation with other institutions also increases the number of human trafficking cases. However, there are some people who think that the media should be blamed for the increase in human trafficking as well. Newspapers, television and radio are examples of media that play a vital role in educating the public on human trafficking. Gradually, the Internet also can play a role in tackling this issue. The media can highlight the rise of this issue and how it affects everybody. Conversely,. There is no wide medias exposure on human trafficking issue on an international level and the coverage is somewhat inadequate. The media should give a report that is reliable and fair. They should also help to inform and increase the understanding of the public on the advantages, disadvantages and the perils of human trafficking. In America, the media was also one of the mediums for human trafficking. Newspapers, radios and especially the Internet gave false advertisements and false job opportunities in order to tricked American citizens to become victims of human trafficking. The media w as also used to support and promote demand for marketable sexual services. At the same time, private enterprise should also be blamed for the increase in human trafficking. Private enterprise should take part of the blame because 2.5 million out of 9.8 million abused by private sectors, are victims of human trafficking. Private sectors had made a lot of profits from trafficked victims and majority of the profit comes from industrialized countries. Besides that, there are times when the employers fail to work in the same mind with organizations to combat human trafficking. For example, an employers organization had started a program in Kunming City, China to motivate employers to go against exploitation of workers and human trafficking. This program also motivates employers to monitor themselves through anti-trafficking network especially in sectors where human trafficking is more obvious. However, employers seem to be neglecting this use or fail to see the importance of this issue to their work. There are some employers who refuse to join in trainings. Furt hermore, employers demand contradicts with this program organized by the employers organization. Thus, private enterprise should also blamed and not just solely the government. Many people blame the media for the increase in human trafficking. One thing that many people are unaware of is that many media are possessed by governments. A study was done in 97 countries and it was found that most of the media firms are possessed by the governments especially in broadcasting. Governments ownership is supposed to bring exposure of information like traditions which might not be provided by private enterprise. However, if the media is one of the mediums for human trafficking, this shows that the governments have weak ownership over the media. This all goes back to square one that is governments are the one to be blamed. Eventually governments are causing an increase in human trafficking. Besides that, many people also blame the private enterprise for the increase human trafficking but people should consider the responsibilities of the government in controlling the private enterprise. In actual fact, government should be blamed for they have not set strict rules and regulations. This is especially true in Japan where criminal organizations, like Yakusa, control the victims, more so sex trafficking victims, as law enforcer care less about them. This shows that governments are not paying attention to human trafficking and at the same time denying it. Thus, the government should set strict rules and regulations to prevent human trafficking. In addition, it was also said that labor inspection is governments responsibility. One of the main obstacles in labor inspection is the governments support in terms of financial. The budget allocation for labor inspection is very minimal and it is so little that there is nothing that can be done with that amount of money. Thus, it is said that weak labor inspection is directly affected by the government. When labor inspection is inefficient, it will also be hard to tackle human trafficking as well. On the whole, the lack of government enforcement in human trafficking, the lack of suitable and successful legislation on human trafficking, the situation in the country of origin and also the lack of cooperation between governments with other institutions causes an increase in human trafficking. Thus, the misconception of people about why the media and private enterprise should be blamed for human trafficking should be cleared. In conclusion, governments should solely be blamed for the increase in human trafficking as governments are one of the main contributors to the rise in this issue. Human trafficking can be combated if the government has proper governance. In order to solve this issue, governments, non-governmental organizations, private enterprise, media and local communities should work hand in hand as one-side approach would not be effective. Martin Luther King Jr., an American black leader and a Nobel Prize winner in 1964, stated that.

Poes Fall of The House of Usher Essay: Biographical Contexts

Biographical Contexts For The Fall of the House of Usher In the summer of 1838, Edgar Allan Poe left the city of New York, where he faced criticism and minimal recognition, and moved to Philadelphia, where he would soon gain profound success (Quinn 268). Just a year prior to this move, Poe married his cousin, Virginia Clemm, who accompanied him to Philadelphia (Wagenknecht 18). Little is known of Poe's time in New York other than the fact that he faced severe poverty with total earnings amounting to under one hundred fifty dollars (Peeples 31). Therefore, since Philadelphia shared the prestige with New York as a publishing center, it offered Poe new publishing opportunities and opened the doors to success (Quinn 268). He found this success editing Burton's Gentleman's Magazine from 1839-1840 and then Graham's Magazine from 1841-1842 (Peeples 74). During this time, Poe delivered lectures on American poetry, published thirty-six tales including "William Wilson," "The Masque of the Red Death," and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and also rel eased a collection of stories in 1840 entitled Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (Peoples 74). It was during this peak of Poe's publishing career that he published "The Fall of the House of Usher." This tale relates to various aspects of Poe's life including his occupation as an editor, his battle with alcohol and drugs, his psychological and emotional well-being, and the impact of death on his life and work. Although Poe found success while working for Burton and Graham, he did not find contentment, for neither Burton's magazine nor Graham's met Poe's expectations of his ideal publication. Poe was frustrated with his career and aspired to edit a magazine of his own, a magazine of ... ...mes of his publishing career, yet Poe faced many obstacles in his private life during this time including poverty and alcohol abuse. Although his alleged alcohol and drug addictions are issues yet to be settled, they were clearly an influence in his life and work. In addition to his habits regarding alcohol and drugs, his psychological stability has also been called into question. The impact of death, which was prevalent throughout his life, was tremendous. Regardless of the many struggles Poe encounter, he has emerged as one the greatest Romantic writers in American history. Â  Works Cited Peeples, Scott. Edgar Allan Poe Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1998. Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. New York: Coopers Square Publishers, 1969. Wagenknecht, Edward. Edgar Allan Poe: The Man Behind the Legend. New York: Oxford UP, 1963.