US Democracy essays

US Democracy essays Is the Unites States Political System a Legitimate Democracy In any system which claims to be democratic, a question of its legitimacy remains. A truly democratic political system has certain characteristics which prove its legitimacy with their existence. One essential characteristic of a legitimate democracy is that it allows people to freely make choices without government intervention. Another necessary characteristic which legitimates government is that every vote must count equally: one vote for every person. For this equality to occur, all people must be subject to the same laws, have equal civil rights, and be allowed to freely express their ideas. Minority rights are also crucial in a legitimate democracy. No matter how unpopular their views, all people should enjoy the freedoms of speech, press and assembly. Public policy should be made publicly, not secretly, and regularly scheduled elections should be held. Since "legitimacy" may be defined as "the feeling or opinion the people have that government is based upon morally defensible principles and that they should therefore obey it," then there must necessarily be a connection between what the people want and what the government is doing if legitimacy is to occur. The U.S. government may be considered legitimate in some aspects, and illegitimate in others. Because voting is class-biased, it may not be classified as a completely legitimate process. Although in theory the American system calls for one vote per person, the low rate of turnout results in the upper and middle classes ultimately choosing candidates for the entire nation. Class is determined by income and education, and differing levels of these two factors can help explain why class bias occurs. For example, because educated people tend to understand politics more, they are more likely to vote. People with high income and education also have more resources, and poor people tend to have low political efficacy (...

Effects of the Alberta Tar Sands Development on the Environment Essay

Effects of the Alberta Tar Sands Development on the Environment - Essay Example The larger environmental impact of the oil sands is the use of cyclical steam stimulation to remove the in situ bitumen deep within the earth's surface. This process has a negative effect on the ecosystem in general especially within the tailing ponds. The research will look into the primary environmental effects of what the bitumen extraction has as well including what the major oil production companies are doing to alleviate this problem and not add further to the shaky ecosystem occurring in the oil sands production areas. The research will look into the efforts of Suncor Energy, Petro Canada, Husky Energy, Imperial Oil, Nexen, EnCana, Shell Canada, Syncrude Canada and Talisman Energy. Jackson (2004) writes that the problem with using ground water for steam extraction belies the problem that "the release of such chemicals to the subsurface and the subsequent contamination of groundwater was not appreciated until the late 1970s when their widespread presence was finally recognized. The lack of a technical paradigm explaining the processes of contamination and the potential adverse health effects prevented the anticipation of this problem" (Jackson, 2004). To further look at how environmental contaminants caused th... As of writing, the Kyoto protocol was signed by Canada which is designed to be "a treaty that imposes constraints on how much climate-changing 'greenhouse gas' - in particular, carbon dioxide - a signatory can emit. Since Alberta is a huge emitter of greenhouse gases, and the production of oil from tar sands is particularly carbon-intensive, it will make meeting the treaty's targets a lot harder" (Hess, 2006). Annotated Bibliography: Through both primary and secondary sources can the fulfilment of this thesis statement can be obtained. The primary sources include both environmental journals and published academic papers as a directive of this thesis, as well as including secondary sources from historical data and company records respecting this environmental challenge. An effort will also be made to contact the major oil companies through their media relations department to discuss the companies' environmental record to further enhance the topic statement. Sherrington, Mark. (2005). "Biodiversity Assessment in the Oil Sands region, northeastern Alberta, Canada. Sherrington's paper discusses the large numbers of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) that have been completed for approximately twenty oil sands projects over the past two decades. The EIA process in the oil sands has been unique with respect to the impact of the ecological health in relation to the overall goals to maintain biodiversity in the region. This impact addresses issues regarding vegetation, soil and landforms, watershed integrity and biodiversity through the landscape and biodiversity subgroup within the Sustainable Ecosystems Working Group (SEWG). The goal of the SEWG is to "sustain the natural

Monetary Policy of the U.S. Federal Reserve Essay

Monetary Policy of the U.S. Federal Reserve - Essay Example This paper discusses the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy. Most simple put the attempt by the Federal Reserve to establish balanced national income and help spur economic growth by controlling the size of the money supply is termed as monetary policy. It is implemented with the help of policy tools which usually consist of open market operations, discount rates, and reserve requirements. Open market operations are the strongest monetary policy tool consisting of the purchase and sale of treasury and federal agency securities. The federal open market committee normally specifies all short-term objectives related to open market operations. These objectives normally identify reserve targets or the desired federal funds rate. It is interesting to note that there have been diverse objectives over the years ranging from federal funds rate targets in the eighties to policy changes in the nineties. No matter what the short term objective the long term objective has always been price st ability and sustainable economic growth. Another integral monetary policy tool is the discount rate which most simply put is the interest rate being charged to depository institutions including commercial banks on loans they receive from their regional discount window (Federal Reserve Bank's lending facility). These loans include primary, secondary and seasonal credit each one with its own respective interest rate. The primary credit program consists of very short term loans to sound financial institutions. Those not eligible for primary credit are allowed to apply for secondary credit whereas seasonal credit is provided to those depository institutions that have fluctuating funding requirements. It should be noted that the discount rates on all three lines of credit vary with the rate on primary credit being the lowest followed by a higher rate on secondary credit whereas the seasonal credit discount rate is an average of selected discount rates. Reserve requirements are another monetary tool that which as the name signif ies are the number of reserve funds that a depository institution must hold as a safeguard against deposit liabilities. These reserves are held in the form of physical cash or deposits with Federal Reserve Banks with the board of governors having lone authority over any changes in the reserve requirements. The reserve requirements are not erratic and are determined using Federal Reserve Board Regulations.All of the above help the government implant its monetary policy and eventually result in a stronger economic power. Proper use of monetary policy can have extremely positive results which were visible during the first half of 2006 when the US economy showed speedy growth. Any change in the federal funds rate triggers a chain of events that affect other short-term interest rates, foreign exchange rates, long-term interest rates, the amount of money and credit, and, ultimately, a range of economic variables, including employment, output, and prices of goods and services.