IFSM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

IFSM - Essay Example will consist a member from each of the departments in the company and a training on how to use and implement the IT programs should be facilitated by Carol and her team. The methodology for IT governance in the company should be through data sharing with all the relevant departments who consist of the governing body. The responsibilities of the governance body include inspection of data available through the IT systems, suggesting news ways or areas that need IT programs and ensure the program runs smoothly. Carol will need the support of each and every member of the governing body to ensure that the IT strategic plan works out as expected. The prioritization of the IT projects should be guided by market demands, customer retention and competition. Carol and her team should explore the new IT approaches used by their competitors and implement them in the company in a better way. Tracking should be the first IT project to be implemented, following by a Mobile APP that enables customers to pay for services at the comfort of their

Importance of Managers Cost Understanding Essay

Importance of Managers Cost Understanding - Essay Example Cost can be simply defined as an amount that has to be given up or to be paid in order to get something. It is therefore an expenditure that needs to be incurred. In business, cost usually comprises of monetary valuation of effort, time and utilities consumed, risks incurred, material, resources, and opportunity forgone in delivery and production of goods or services. All expenses may be costs, but not all of the costs (such as those which are incurred in getting an income generating asset) are expenses. (Business dictionary, 2011) Cost Analysis Cost analysis is the examination, accumulation and manipulation of cost information for healthy comparisons and projections. (Business dictionary, 2011) Cost Accounting Cost accounting forms budget and actual cost of processes, departments operations, or product and the analysis of profitability, variances, or social use of funds. It is a type of accounting process whose objective is to capture the company’s costs of production by estimating the costs of input at each step of production along with the fixed costs such as depreciation of capital equipment. At first it will measure and record such costs individually, then comparison between input and output or the actual results will be made to aid company management in measuring financial performance. (Investopedia , 2011) Cost Management It is the management of cost related activities results from collection, analysis, evaluation, and reporting of cost information used for estimating, forecasting, budgeting, and monitoring costs.( Business dictionary, 2011)... rtance of ‘Managers Cost Understanding’ Managers are making use of cost accounting for cost management to help form decisions that are profitable for the business. It is important that managers understand cost in order to cut cost and to improve profitability. Managers make use of cost accounting to calculate the unit cost of the product. This is helpful for managers for if the managers do not know the unit cost they will not be able to set the relevant selling price in order to break even or to realize profit. The calculation of profit per unit can also be known through the use of cost accounting. Cost understanding therefore is an essential management tool for effective management functions, this include performing budgetary planning & controls along with decision making. Managers depend on cost accounting to provide information of the actual cost processes, products, operations which is the foundation of the budget. This would help them analyze fluctuations and the ho w funds are to be use to cause profit. For managers this would help them provide a justification for cost cuts for a company in a manner that it increases profit. As a tool for internal usage versus tool for external users such financial accountants and such accounting does not make use of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). Management understanding of cost creates a financial value for a product, measure the expenditure into nominal amount of currency. The understanding works on the process of taking recorded historic costs and allocating it over a specific period of time over what outputs is produced. The actual output produce might differ from that of the predicted and this would affect the amount of cost that producer has to pass to the consumer. Hence, managers are able to focus on

Geographic Study of Mountain Area

Geographic Study of Mountain Area CHAPTER II STUDY AREA PROFILE 2.0 General: The study area (13858.83 ha) is a mountain range between River Pravara and River Mula Basin. The range started from western boarder at Ghatghar village and end eastern border at village Washere in the Akole tahsil, district Ahmendagar of Maharashtra state. The extent of study area is 19 ° 35 06.86 to 19 ° 30 13.08 N latitude and 73 ° 37 00.03 to 74 ° 04 24.65 E longitude. It covers parts of the Survey of India topographic sheet numbers 47 E/ 10, 11, 14, 15 and 47 I/ 2, 3. The depth and water-holding capacity of the soils are varied even if there is slightly change in slopes which is the one of the reason in the variation of forest land. The slope of the area is decreasing from NW to SE respectively and the height varies from 560 m to 1646 meters above mean sea level. Study area is distributed in the Sahyadri mountains (Western ghat) region of the Maharashtra state. Geologically this area formed from basaltic lava. Basalt rock prevent percolation of rainy, reservoir water in to underground zone. Due to rock type the soil cover is very shallow at the top of the mountain and increasing its deepness at foothill zones near water reservoirs. Basic Intrusive (Dykes) mainly found nearby this area. This are the approximate reasons of the shallow soil cover. Very shallow loamy, shallow clayey soil found on the moderate (1 °- 3 °) and stiff (3 °- 6 °) slope. Soil moisture impact on the amount of the vegetation cover with respect to soil type and slope. Therefore, North West and South zone have maximum vegetation cover compare to other land of the study area. It receives annual rainfall about 440.4 mm. The mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures are 39.80 C and 8.70 C respectively. Local tribal people engages with the agricultural activities at reclaimed land from forest area. Forestry is the second occupation after agriculture. 2.1 Geology: Study area is a part of Sahyadri Mountain Range (Western Ghat). Also called as Deccan Trap formed by basaltic rocks; amygdaloidal basalts form the bedrock. This area has shallow soil like loam, clayey; again divided in to sub types based on depth and slope classes. Overlying weathered and fractured rocks, resting on hard massive basalt. The basalts are nearly horizontal, separated by thin layers of ancient soil and volcanic ash (red bole). The basalt flows are nearly flat-lying (the sequence has a regional southerly dip of 0.5-1 °) and mainly belong to the Thakurvadi Formation (Fm) of the Kalsubai Subgroup (Khadri et al. 1988; Subbarao and Hooper 1988). The lithology of the area indicating that around 77.17 % area covered by 12-14 compound pahoehoe flows and some Aa flows (max 206m). Around 4.53 % by 2 compound pahoehoe flows (40-50m) and Megacryst compound pahoehoe basaltic flow M3 (50-60m) up to 3.26 %. Remaing 0.89% covered by 5 Aa and 1 compound pahoehoe basaltic lava flows (Max. 160m); 4-5 compound pahoehoe basaltic lava flows (Max. 150m), Basik Sill/Lava channels respectively. The regional stratigraphy of the Deccan basalts has been described by Beane et al. (1989), Khadri et al (1988), and Subbarao and Hooper (1988). Structural indices indicate the part of basic intrusive (dykes) in the part of noer-west and south-east. One fault line cross at the middle part of the study area. 2.2 Relief: Study situated at the middle of the tehsil Akole. It has horizontal shape and act like a natural water divider. Relief turn and fix the surface geographical landforms. The altitude of this area is varies from less than 640 meter (minimum) to 1646 meter (maximum). The formation of soil, natural vegetation cover and soil moisture conditions are totally controlled by the status of the relief. Contour lines demarcate the height of the study area above mean sea level. The Kalasubai (1646m) highest peak of the Maharashtra state located in the Akole tehsil. In the tehsil second highest peak Harishchandragarh (1422m) located in the south-west part of the study area. Relief decreasing toward to the Washere village of this mountain range. Drainage network flow depends on relief is explained in next point. 2.3 Slope: Slope of the study area calculated in degree (0 ° to 90 °) on the basis of contours. This slope of the area divided in to 7 classes. Gentle slope has up to 1 ° slope where water reserve and collected in dam. Soil depth, cover and types also depends on the nature of slope. Hill top and cliff sides has precipitous to very steep slope (12 ° to 90 °). At foothill slope moderate to steep (1 ° to 12 °) zone has maximum forest cover in north-west and south-west direction. Eroded material on the top hill concentrating on the foothill slopes and favourable for soil formation. That is why the in this area soil moisture, soil depth and vegetation cover found more than other zone. Soil types and different characteristics has been elaborated in the next point. 2.4 Drainage: Network of drainage is developing continually and it’s responsible for the different landform creation. Relief controlled the drainage flow and streams erode land surface in to different geographical landform features. Relief and streams has strong correlation. Study area has an origin point of the main river Pravara. River flows from north-west to north-east direction. This river has main and minor dam. Bhandardara is main dam situated on river Pravara, which is an important land-cover feature in study area. At the time of robust forest change analysis this water body play an important role. Soil moisture depend on drainage network and water reservoirs after rainy season. It made difference in the type of vegetation cover from dense forest to open scrub land. Drainage pattern related to slope and slope related to forest growth has been explained in detailed in the next point. 2.5 Soil: The growth and reproduction of forest cannot be understood without the knowledge of soil. The soil and vegetation have a complex interrelation because they develop together over a long period of time. The vegetation influences the chemical properties of soil to a great extent. The selective absorption of nutrient elements by different tree species and their capacity to return them to the soil brings about changes in soil properties (Singh et al. 1986). Soil element is one of the most important biophysical matter. Concentration of elements in the soils is a good indicator of their availability to plants. Their presence in soil would give good information towards the knowledge of nutrient cycling and bio-chemical cycle in the soil–plant ecosystem (Pandit and Thampan 1988). Generation of soil is depend on geology, topography, time span, climatic conditions, organic and inorganic factors, etc. Forests in general have a greater influence on soil conditions than most other plant eco system types, due to a well-developed ‘‘O’’ horizon, moderating temperature, and humidity at the soil surface, input of litter with high lignin content, high total net primary production, and high water and nutrient demand (Binkley and Giardina 1998). Study area is a hilly zone, soil is very shallow at the top-hills while excessively drained loamy soil (a rich soil consisting of a mixture of sand and clay and decaying organic materials) found at steep slopes north-west direction. Shallow well drained clayey soil and slightly deep excessively drained loamy soil found over moderate to gentle slope respectively. Clay soils, are made up of very fine, microscopic particles. These tiny particles fit together tightly, resulting in tiny pore spaces between them. The tiny pore spaces allow water to move through them, but at a much slower pace than in sandy soils. Clay soils drain quite slowly and hold more water than sandy soils. Loams soil capacity of maximum water holding (MWHC) approximately 0.18 inches of water per inch of soil depth, and clays hold up to 0.17 inches of water per inch of soil depth. However, soil types, soil elements, soil depth depends on the geology of the study area, explained in next point. 2.6Population and economic activities: Humans being living surrounding this area most are the tribal population. Primary economical activities including shifting cultivation, fishery, 2.7Spectral properties of plants in the forest: (1st ch) Interaction of radiation with plant leaves is extremely complex. General features of this interaction have been studied but many spectral features are yet unexplained. Gates et al., (1965) are considered pioneers, who have studied spectral characteristics of leaf reflection, transmission and absorption. Optical properties of plants have been further studied to understand the mechanisms involved by Gausman and Allen (1973), Wooley (1971) and Allen et al., (1970). It is the synthesis of the parameters like reflection of plant parts, reflection of plant canopies, nature and state of plant canopies and Structure and texture of plant canopies, which will be required to fully understand the remote sensing data collected from space borne and aerial platforms. They have been attempted for crop canopies through the development of models but not yet fully achieved. It will be initially required to discuss the electromagnetic spectrum and its interaction with vegetation canopies. Subsequent factors affecting the spectral reflectance of plant canopies with its possible applications in remote sensing technology would be discussed. The vegetation reflectance is influenced by the reflectance characteristics of individual plant organs, canopy organization and type, growth stage of plants, structure and texture of the canopies. The synthesis of the above four aspects provides true reflectance characteristic. However, various authors without fully achieving models to determine vegetation reflectance characteristics have studied effect of individual parameters. 2.6.1 Nature of the Plant: Numerous measurements have been performed to evaluate the spectral response of various categories of plants with a spectrophotometer (Fig. ***). For a plant in its normal state i.e., typical and healthy the spectral reflectance is specific of the group, the species and even of the variety at a given stage in its phenological evolution. The general aspects of spectral reflectance of healthy plant in the range from 0.4 to 2.6  µm is shown in figure ****. The very abrupt increase in reflectance near 0.7  µm and the fairly abrupt decrease near 1.5  µm are present for all mature, healthy green leaves. Very high; further in the far infrared >3.0  µm. Thus, the typical spectral curve of plant is divided into three prominent zones correlated with morphological characteristics of the leaves (Gates, 1971). 2.6.2 à ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Pigment Absorption Zone: The important pigments, viz. chlorophyll, xanthophylls and carotenoids absorb energy strongly in ultraviolet blue and red regions of the EMR. The reflectance and transmittance are weak. The absorbed energy of this part of this spectrum is utilized for the photosynthetic activity (Allen et al. 1970). 2.6.3 Multidioptric Reflectance Zone: In this zone, the reflectance is high, while the absorbptance remains weak. All the unabsorbed energy (30 to 70% according to the type of plant) is transmitted. They reflectance is essentially due to the internal structure of the leaf and the radiation is able to penetrate. The reflectance from internal structure is of physical more than chemical nature. Apart front the contribution of the waxy cuticle, the magnitude of the reflectance depends primarily upon the amount of spongy mesophyll. 2.6.4 à ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Hydric Zone: Amount of water inside the leaf affect the pattern of spectral reflectance with water specific absorption bands at 1.45  µm, 1.95  µm and 2.6  µm. Liquid water in a leaf causes strong absorption throughout middle infrared region. Beyond 2.5  µm the reflectance becomes less than 5% due to atmospheric absorption and beyond 3  µm the vegetation starts acting as quasi blackbody (Gates et al., 1965). There are numerous factors either internal of the plant or external coming from the environmental conditions have an influence on the specific spectral reflectance. The above descriptions are true only for a normal, mature and healthy vegetation. The factors which affect the spectral reflectance of leaves are leaf structure, maturity, pigmentation, sun exposition, phyllotaxis, pubescene, turgidity (water content) nutritional status and, disease etc. Important factors are pigmentation, nutritional status, anatomy of leaves and water content. While, sun exposition and phyllotaxy affects the canopy reflectance, phenological state and disease are linked to the primary factors affecting the spectral reflectance (Wooley, 1971). 2.7Spectral vegetation indices: Radiant energy intercepted by a vegetative canopy is primarily scattered by leaves either away from the leaf surface or to the leaf interior. The scattered radiation is reflected, transmitted or absorbed by leaves. The partitioning of radiation a reflected, transmitted or absorbed energy depends on a number of factor including leaf cellular structures (Gates et al. 1965; Kfipling, 1970; Woolley, 1971), leaf pubescence and roughness (Gausman, 1977), leaf morphology and physiology (Gausman et al., 1969 a, b; Gausman and Allen, 1973; Gausman et al., 1971) and leaf surface characteristics (Breece and Hommes, 1971; Grant, 1985). Leaves are not perfectly diffuse reflectors but have diffuse and specular characteristics. Leaf transmittance tends to have a non Lambertian distribution, while leaf reflectance is dependent on illumination and view angles. Knowledge of soils radiation interaction with individual leaves is necessary for several reasons like special to interpret and process remotely sensed data. Typical reflectance and transmittance spectrum of a individual plant leaf indicate three distinct wavelength regions in interaction: visible (0.4-0.7  µm), near infrared (NIR) (0.7-1.35  µm) and mid infrared (mid IR) (1.35-2.7  µm). Thus the typical spectral curve of plant is divided into three prominent zones correlated with morphological/anatomical/physiological characteristics of the leaves and these are Pigment Absorption Zone, Multi-Dioptric Reflectance Zone and Hydric Zone, etc. The analysis of all remotely sensed data involves models of many processes wherein the EM radiation is transformed (the scene, atmosphere and sensor) and whereby inference is made about the scene from the image data. The most common strategy for relating remote sensing data to vegetation canopies has been via the correlation of vegetation indices with vegetation structure and functional variables. This simple empirical approach has yielded substantial understanding of the structure and dynamics of vegetation at all scales. These indices are capable of handling variation introduced in a scene due to atmosphere or sensor and vegetation background influence in low vegetation cover areas. The capacity to assess and monitor the structure of terrestrial vegetation using spectral properties recorded by remote sensing is important because structure can be related to functioning, that is to ecosystem processes that are ultimately aggregated up to the functioning of the local-regional-global level of ecosystem. The categorization of the various spectral indices in to approximately five types. Such as Ratio Indices, Vegetation Indices, Orthogonal based Indices, Perpendicular Vegetation Indices and Tasseled Cap Transformation, etc. Remote sensing of cropland, forest and grassland involves the measurement of reflected energy of component in the presence of each other. The development and usefulness of vegetation indices are dependent upon the degree to which the spectral contribution of non-vegetation component can be isolated from the measured canopy response. Although vegetation indices have been widely recognized a valuable tools in the measurement and interpretation of ‘vegetation condition’ several limitation have also been identified. They are related to soil brightness effect and secondary soil spectral deviations. The use of site specific soil lines reduces soil background influence. In this context SAVI, GRABS and PVI holds greater promise in low vegetated areas. The vegetation indices are simplified method to extract information about vegetation parameter from multispectral data however, their use in spectral modeling needs to be studied in context of spectral dynamics of earth surface components. 2.8Resume`: Forest cover is an important natural resource for the environment and socio-eco on the surface of the earth. It can bridge the gap between nature and human beings conflicts. Changes in the forest land increase the imbalance in the ecosystem, climatic conditions, temperature, land degradation, drought prone zones, soil erosion, depending manmade activities, etc. The living tribes in the mountain hill as well as foot hill area utilized forest material for their domestic usages. Therefore, the objectives of detection and delineation of the forest land by using ordinary classification methods have been outlined in the present study. The methodology has been outlined in this chapter. The Landsat-5 TM and Landsat-7 ETM+ dataset has been suggested as a source of information to achieve the objectives of the study. The basic knowledge regarding spectral properties of the forest and physiographic elements as well as spectral vegetation indices area has been proposed for the second chapter to m ake information base study for image analysis, classification and interpretation in the next chapters. *********

Social Capital in the Developing World Essay -- International Developm

The globalized world today is getting very advanced in all areas and so has become very competitive. This then accommodates the use of a comparative approach in society. Comparative, an activity derived from the word comparison meaning to compare, it is defined as a research which uses data that are compared between at least two countries (Ragin, 1987). This comparative study is a very important phenomenon in the field of social science and commenced in the1960s and 1970s. It is used as an essential form of an investigating tool in analyzing the operations between different countries with a view to formulate solutions for under- developed countries and to give details of the development of social structuring in the framing of public policies (Ghorra-Gobin, discussion paper No. 40). In order to do a comparative analysis/study, a case study is usually done between two countries. The objective is to foster a better understanding of how and why certain scenarios occur in one country and how it relates to the same scenario in the other country. One such example is the political stability in Guyana (an undeveloped country) with a ranking of 26 % compared to the political stability in the United Kingdom (a developed country) with a ranking of 66% (worldwide governance indicators). A qualitative and quantitative format is utilized in order to assess systems within government and its political affiliates. Charles Ragin states that this comparative method can be used as a means of experience in using data from one country to another in order to improve stability. The main objective of the comparative approach method is mainly to improve efficiency, effectiveness, growth and development in under-developed countries and a... ...edge Publishers. New York, USA. ARTICLES Boyne, I., (2009). Gleaner Article: Jamaica's losing battle with corruption. Fukuyama, F., (2000). Social capital and civil society. Issues 2000-2074. IMF Institute. IMF Working Paper Ghorra-Gobin, C. The Comparative Social Science Approach. Discussion Paper No. 40. www.unesco.org/shs/most Gregory, R.J., (1999). Social Capital Theory and Administrative Reform: Maintaining Ethical Probity in Public Service. Vol. 59, No. 1 (Jan. - Feb., 1999), pp. 63-75. Blackwell Publishing. Public Administration Review. Powell, L. A. (2009). Probing Jamaica’s Political Culture: Main trends in the July-August 2006 Leadership and Governance. Department of Government, UWI, Mona, Kingston WEBSITES Worldwide Governance Indicators. www. info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.asp . Retrieved September 20, 2010.

Sociological perspectives

I have been observing the political events of many countries as they unfold. Among the most fascinating of all was that in Kenya, a country in Africa which drew attention of the whole world after being highlighted as a result of the post election violence. I watched the campaign rallies as they were captured by the TV stations that were mainly dominated by three political parties; the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), the Party of National Unity (PNU) and Orange Democratic Movement of Kenya (ODM – K). I then focused on the whole country as a social system and finally narrowed down my observation to the close competitors who eyed for the presidential seat( http://video. google. com/videoplay? docid=-8434875422533573659 ) This paper examines all my observations as pertaining to the above highlighted situation through ‘a sociologist eyes'. As I watched the campaign rallies, I noticed that among the major political parties, there were common agenda. This were poverty reduction, job creation, fight against tribalism and inequality. In my quest to know more about the reason behind having common agendas, I realized that this country was stratified into different groups based on tribes, religious background and economic status. Economically, there were two major groups, the poor and the rich. The poor blamed the rich for accumulating large amounts of wealth through corrupt deals. They pointed out some major scandals that led to poor economic growth which resulted to increased poverty in the country. Examples of such corruption scandal include the â€Å"golden berg† and the â€Å"Anglo leasing†. The poor claimed that they were exploited by the rich, a situation that they said led to marginalization of some people and widened the gap between rich and the poor. The rich were supporting the political regime that existed at that time and they supported President Mwai Kibaki whom they said was the best president that people should support if they intend to achieve a high economic growth rate. Of course these were the owners of means of production and they intended to maximize on increasing their wealth. The poor were supporting Mr. Odinga who unveiled his plan to reduce poverty and inequality – something that the wealthy class in the country termed as a threat to investment( http://video. google. com/videoplay? docid=-4385739074127652954 ) These two groups divided the country's population into two antagonistic groups and initiated conflict between themselves. The campaign took a different dimension when two tribes in this country came came out to out do each other and muscle out their way to compeat for the prestigious political position, the presidency. These tribes included Kikuyu and the Luo(http://video. google. com/videoplay? docid=6778777698786778125) As a result a debate for introduction of â€Å"Majimbo system† what can be referred to a Federal government came up. The two groups were once in another conflict since those behind PNU did not support a Majimbo government while those behind ODM and ODM -Kenya did( http://video. google. com/videoplay? docid=-5553237563976614777&q=kenya+politics+on+tv-+kibaki+and+raila&total=22&start=10&num=10&so=2&type=search&plindex=5&hl=en . As the election neared, another conflict came up. This time round, it was the Muslim community versus the Christian community where the Muslims wanted to get freedom to exercise their Sharia Laws. They claimed that they were never given freedom like the Christians who are the majority in the country. The Muslims therefore chose to support the ODM leader, Raila who had promised to address their grievances. The Christians rejected Mr. Raila ‘s proposal and threatened to demand their Christian laws to be enacted into state laws if the Muslims were given that â€Å"Special treatment† ( http://video. google. om/videoplay? docid=-1185250696841707886 This reminded me of the social conflict theory which holds that no society can exist without conflict (http://www. allfreeessays. com/student/Consensus_Conflict_Perspectives_in_social_theory. html ) As I watched the political campaigns, it was clear that these political leaders wanted to create a positive image of themselves in order to win many votes. In the â€Å"Front stageâ⠂¬  as Erving Goffman calls it in his theory of impression management or dramatical approach to social interaction, they gave all sorts of good promises. They promised to create jobs, reduce poverty, fight tribalism and inequality. In the â€Å"backstage† they would go to their tribes and call for their support, promise their tribes how they would benefit more than the other Kenyans and how they will appoint people from their tribes in government offices, something which was contrary to what they were promising the citizens in general. Challenging each other in political arenas and their respective credentials further worsened the relationship between the â€Å"actors† When chaos erupted in the country and things seemed to run out of control, the former UN Secretary General, MR. Koffi Annan together with Graca Machele and Benjamin Mkapa led Mediation talks. The two political leaders, Mr. Odinga and President Kibaki appeared in Televisions as a way to inform the Kenyans that they were not enemies and were working together to put things in place. This was just a â€Å"front stage† since later on they both accused each other for what was happening in the country and clearly brought out a good picture of the ‘back stage'. These kind of actions by Mr. Odinga and President Kibaki is what Goffman said was analogously equated to theoretical drama. In this case, Mr. Odinga and President Kibaki together with their close supporters were the actors while Kenyans became the audience. This is the theory of symbolic interaction ism(Herman N, Reynolds L, pp. 76) Kenya is a society that is made up of individuals and groups of people who interact with each other and espouse a sense of ‘we feeling'. They share many things in common including laws, the presidency among others and they all work together to improve their welfare and the country as a whole. Within the system there are sub systems which include political system, religious system, education and economic system among others. All these have a function to perform in order to ensure the social system functions properly. It is important to note that all societies consist of social structures which play different roles but must depend on one another. In the case for Kenya, the disputed election results led to chaos. This paralyzed all sectors of the economy. Many families were forced to break especially where the Luo intermarried with the Kikuyu. This was a state of anarchy and anomie that led to high levels of insecurity and deaths of thousands of innocent Kenyans. All learning institutions were closed down churches were burnt down and in general there was social disorganization in the country. All structures that bond Kenya as a society were weakened and if it were not for the mediation talks led by the international society Kenya would have been torn apart. I observed it and the theory of structural functionalism crossed my mind. According to the structural functionalism school of thought, any society comprises of social structures. These social structures play specialized and important functions that bind the members of the society together. (Robinson W, pp 314)

Equality of Condition Essay

In his book â€Å"democracy in America†, Alexis de Tocqueville provides a thorough study of the equality of condition as a distinctive feature of the democratic America and discusses some of the consequences it might have. He begins his writing by introducing the reader that during his stay in America the equality of condition struck his attention the most. In America, the democracy has reached another level that has never been seen before or experienced in any of the European countries but that are slowly progressing towards it. This level of democracy has created a society in which all persons are legally understood to be socially and politically equal. Despite all the benefits that the equality of condition brings to the society, it also tends to isolate people from one another and cut them off from the social beliefs and values. When this form of isolation is transformed into an extreme form of individualism, it creates selfishness and egoism among people. When these people come together to form a majority which in a democratic society enjoys a great amount of power, it might cause the tyranny of majority – de Tocqueville’s main concern. The concept of equality of condition is more complex than it first seems and a society based on this fact poses a threat to freedom. De Tocqueville argues that â€Å"the influence of the equality of condition extends far beyond the political character and the laws of the country and it has no less empire over the civil society than over the government, it creates opinions, gives birth to new sentiments, founds novel customs and modifies whatever it does not produce† (â€Å"Democracy in America† Heffner ed., 26). It is important to depict from this quote that a society based on the equality of condition, above all, creates the common opinion. In an equal society, the fact that all the members are resembled enables them to trust and support the common judgment and opinion. Furthermore, de Tocqueville argues that all the inhabitants of the democratic society are individually equal and independent to each other but if one individual alone tends to contrast the â€Å"totality of his fellows†, he will find himself insignificant and weak. Therefore in a democratic society, the public has, as de Tocqueville calls, â€Å"a singular power† where it enforces certain opinions and infuses such opinions in the intellect of their mind. Considering that in a democratic society, it is the majority that takes decisions, the public opinion will then become the law creating political omnipotence. Therefore, de Tocqueville claims that in the US the majority comes up with opinions and the individuals although they develop their personal thoughts have to adopt those that the majority offers since they, alone, are unable to contrast them. This, in turn, discourages and in a way prohibits them from developing their own intellectual thoughts. Thus, the equality of condition that gives rise to the majority opinion poses a great threat to the individual freedom of thought. During his stay in America, de Tocqueville discovered that the American people appeal only to their own individual effort of its own understanding. He has found that in America the tie which unites generation is broken and that nobody traces or cares about the ideas of their forefathers. In a society where everybody is equal and classes tend to disappear, no man can have an intellectual influence in the mind of another man since nobody looks at his fellows as being superior. Therefore, de Tocqueville argues that in a society based on the equality of condition, not only the trust of one man on another is destroyed but also the intellectual authority on any man. In absence of such intellectual authority, people develop their own believes and judgments within themselves different from the rest of the society. In the absence of an intellectual trustworthy authority capable of imposing social beliefs and values, people are left to seek the truth alone and when they fail to do so or such truth is against their personal judgment, they simply ignore it. Thus, an equally conditioned society tends to isolate people from one another and cut them off from a common set of social beliefs and values. This isolation that results from the equality of condition has dangerous consequences if it reaches extreme levels which de Tocqueville calls individualism. As a result of the individualism, the selfishness and the egoism of people will be born. The egoism and selfishness cause people in this society to develop a love for material gratification a love for richness. They want to acquire everything for themselves even if it is done in the expense of other people. Furthermore, according to de Tocqueville, these individuals do not change their character as they unite with each other or grow in number. In fact, they tend to enforce those selfish opinions but on a greater scale. The majority they create will then act as one selfish individual and in a pure democratic society is given the power to make laws and take decisions on behalf of everybody. Therefore, such a majority consisting of egoist people who fulfill their needs and greed in the expense of the other people composing a minority creates the tyranny of majority. In a democratic society, the ultimate reason that the tyranny of majority occurs, is the individualism which separates people from each other and from the social values and beliefs and allows people to establish selfish opinions that hurt the other people. Therefore, de Tocqueville argues that the establishment of â€Å"family†, â€Å"religion† and â€Å"patriotism† are necessary protections against such tyranny because they bring people together and enforce on them social and moral values. Families bind people together and connect them with each other. Members of the family are taught to sacrifice some of their personal gratification for his ancestors and descendants. Therefore, the establishments of families attempt to fight the selfishness that individualism has created. The members of the family in their childhood are taught morals and social values. The elderly in the family can influence the young ones because they are perceived to have some intellectual authority. Therefore, the family brings people close to each other, where one member of the family cares about the others, and to the social values avoiding the isolation. Patriotism also fights the selfishness and brings people together. De Tocqueville sees patriotism as one citizen making a personal sacrifice for the greater welfare of the public. He also argues that in a patriotic society people do not fail to faithfully support each other. A patriotic person believes that it is his duty to make himself useful to other fellow citizens. Therefore, patriotism also creates a strong community where the members care about one another. It breaks the isolation and consequently the individualism that the equality of condition creates. Religion also brings people close to each other and to the social and moral values. De Tocqueville argues that every religion places the object of men’s desire above any treasurer in the earth. Every religion imposes duties on men towards his fellow citizens and draws him away from the contemplation of himself. Furthermore, the main concern of religion is to purify and restrict the excessive and exclusive taste for well being which men in the periods of equality wishes. Man cannot be cured by the love of the riches but they may be persuaded to enrich themselves by none but honest means (â€Å"Democracy in America† Heffner ed., 152). Thus, religion serves as a superior intellectual authority which brings people together to each other and also enforces on them moral values that people abide to. In essence it fights both the isolation and the selfishness of people. The â€Å"family†, â€Å"patriotism† and â€Å"religion† fulfill the absence of a superior intellectual authority, create a strong community and bring people close to the social and moral values which lack in an egalitarian society. De Tocqueville emphasizes the importance of associations in a democratic society. In his opinion an association consists of a group people united by a common interest and who agree to promote their ideas in a certain manner. Simply, associations guide a group of people with divergent minds towards achieving a specific end. In order for an association to exist it has to have the liberty to create an opinion and the freedom to meet which a democratic society grants to them. De Tocqueville distinguishes between two types of associations; the political association and the civic association. The political association besides having the two liberties mentioned above, they also have the liberty to unite into electoral bodies and chose their representatives. A political association acts as a government within a government where the delegates of the association represent the collective force of their party just like the delegates of the majority. The civic associations include a large number of organizations starting from building inns, churches, schools and hospitals. While the political associations have one major goal that they try to achieve by electing delegates; the civic associations are less formal, include a larger number and attempt to improve the social life in the society. Political associations are sometimes used to organize revolutions like those in Europe whereas the civic associations are voluntarily created and peaceful in their nature. The political associations are similar to the political parties today who elect their delegates and compete for offices. The civic associations are very similar to the interest groups where a group of people form an organization and express their point of view in certain issues and attempt to influence those who already occupy offices. The civic associations like the interest groups include a greater variety of interests. De Tocqueville goes further to argue that the political and civic associations are necessary to retain an active community life in a democratic society. De Tocqueville argues that in a democratic society all the citizens are independent and feeble and they, alone, cannot do anything and cannot oblige another person to assist them. They all become powerless if they do not learn to help each other voluntarily. If they do not form associations, which are simply artificial ways of binding people, they might preserve their wealth but their independence as well as their civilization will be in jeopardy. Furthermore, in a democratic society, as I have discussed earlier, people tend to get isolated from tone another. Therefore, since civic associations are very diverse, they are necessary to voluntarily bring people together and create ties among them. Thus, they are crucial to retain an active sense of community life. The political and civic associations are very important in a democratic society in the attempt to avoid the tyranny of the majority. The minorities can create political associations and elect their delegates in order to directly fight the oppressive laws created by the majority. The civic associations can also be used by minorities to create a larger group and then together voice their opinion. The associations are also used to bring people together and avoid the creation of individualism which is very likely in a society based on the equality of condition. Political and civic associations are, therefore, necessary schools for democracy because they teach us how to avoid the tyranny of majority in advanced democracies. De Tocqueville’s philosophy is still relevant for our own time. Nowadays, the political and civic associations play a very important role in creating communities. As countries become more democratic, the number of associations in those countries increases because people as individuals become powerless and they are unable to defend their beliefs on their own. Today, the political and civic associations are very common and much more active that they have ever been. The political and civic associations enable people to unite and become active members of the society. As people join different organizations, they agree to help and support other fellow citizens. People unite and form associations because they have strong feelings for a cause they fight although such a cause might not directly affect them. Therefore, political and civic associations tend to correct and remove selfishness from the people. The existence of a large number of associations is the reason why we have not exp erienced the tyranny of majority although a number of countries have reached advanced levels of democracy.