Political Science Response Paper

Title: Political Science Response Paper: Political Democracy and Repression

In this chapter, Davenport (2013) is arguing that political democracy is related to state repression. In his view, political institutions in which the governed are involved in the governing process play a vital role in reducing the level of state-sponsored human rights violations. This occurs because leaders are subjected to a degree of accountability and oversight. According to Davenport (2013), democracy plays a more significant role than economic development in diminishing state repression (p. 126). Moreover, democracy is widely viewed as the most crucial solution for state repression. The author adds that democracy and repression have not been disaggregated across space and time (Davenport, 2013, p. 127). This problem is explained through reference to the way repression was linked to democracy in the United States between the 1940s and 1980s. According to Davenport (2013), governments perpetuate repression whenever the benefits outweigh the costs, repression is highly likely to succeed, and no viable alternative forms of social control exist. Democracy discourages repression by increasing its costs, establishing values regarding tolerance, and providing alternative methods of social control.

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In this chapter, the author observes that there is a debate on whether repression is diminished by the clarity with which leaders govern or by the extent to which an administration is democratic. Repressive agents in a country may be influenced different by various elements of political democracy. At the same time, scholars are preoccupied with economic development as a cure for repression, thereby neglecting the role of democracy. Against this backdrop, it is noteworthy that the United States has been the most successful democracy for two centuries, yet it has perpetuated repression against African Americans. They were subjected to slavery, voting rights restrictions, and segregation, and prohibition of intermarriage.

Davenport (2013) expresses the view that to understand why repression was perpetuated against African Americans, one must focus on two aspects of U.S. democracy that have often been neglected: party democracy and suffrage. The case of the United States shows that repressive behavior tends to have a significant impact on political democracy. Based on these observations, Davenport (2013) concludes that it is obvious that democracy influences repression, and future research should focus on determining where are how this influence occurs. To do this, researchers need to create a better connection that addresses aspects of policy making, political activism, and academic research. This will help them to understand, in a nuanced and disaggregated manner, how and where the relationship between democracy and repression occurs.

This reading is persuasive particularly in the way it explains the idea that political democracy influences repression and vice versa. It also persuades the reader to look closer home to realize that repression can occur even in the world’s most successful democracy. The reality of America’s repression against African Americans is best captured in Azikiwe’s (2016) article reporting that this year marks the 50^th anniversary of African Americans’ civil rights struggle through the Black Power Movement. The reading by Davenport (2013) fits in well with Azikiwe’s (2016) article because it explains how America has oppressed African Americans despite being the most successful democracy for two centuries. Davenport’s reading can be improving by providing more details of day-to-day experiences of the repressive experiences. On the other hand, Azikiwe’s article can be improved by blending the analysis of the struggle with diverse scholarly perspectives.

References

Azikiwe, A. (2016). “Black power–White backlash: 150 years of struggle for national liberation and socialism.” Global Research. February 28, 2016. Web.

Davenport, C. (2013). “Political democracy and state repression”. Michael Goodhart. (Ed.) Human rights: Politics and practice, second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Workplace Culture

Culture represents the environment that surrounds us all the time. Therefore, workplace culture can be referred to the environment surrounding employees and all stakeholders within a workplace. A workplace culture represents shared values, belief systems, attitudes and a set of assumptions shared by people within a given workplace. The workplace culture could directly influence the direction of the entity. Besides, the workplace culture inculcated is directly influenced by the management’s influence and the organization’s strategic direction. It is essential to build a conducive and positive culture in the workplace for various reasons. A positive workplace culture is important in improving teamwork, boosting employee morale and increasing productivity and efficiency within the organization.

Teamwork is critical to the success of various activities within the organization. A positive culture is one that enhances cohesion and collaborative work. As such, most employees will coexist helping each other. A new employee who enters an organization could learn the culture of teamwork and cohesion, and will automatically ascribe to these values. Notably, a good work culture also helps attract talent. A happy employee will share the information with other qualified workers hence attracting talent to the organization. Most importantly, positive workplace environment reduces stress in employees. This results in a subsequent increase in productivity since a happy employee is a hardworking employee.

A conducive and positive workplace culture means that the employees feel appreciated and valued. As such, the company could reap many benefits from such culture. Some of the benefits include increased productivity, enhances retention of the workforce and improves work performance. Without a positive and conducive workplace environment, the organization could lose best talent hence a decline in production which affects the entity’s reputation. As such, conducive and positive culture plays an essential role to the organization.

Coffee Shop

The business planned is of the coffee shop. The coffee shop name will be Sufcase. It will be started from a smaller scale to ensure profitability and to understand whether we should start the business at the same location or not. The coffee shop will have the capacity to deal with 30 customers with sitting facilities and also drive-thru services will be provided. The coffee shop locates in Muwailih Sharjah. The selected core is water conservation-minimize water loss, use innovative water source technologies.

In the coffee shop, first I will prefer to use potable water where suitable because it will help me to analyze where I am spending my money for water demands. It will be useful to ensure good health of the people and also less water will be wasted that might other shop managements gain through other means. The potable water includes rainwater and gray water. This idea will also help me to gather information about the consumption of water by my coffee shop different installed systems and know where the leakage is causing issues. Secondly, I have planned to apply the idea of reusing condensate water that can be easily collected by the installation of collection pans and transferring it to different systems with the help of drainage pipes (Swain, 2018).

The first sustainable development goal relates to my business is to ensure access to water and sanitation for all (United Nations Organization, 2021). The implementation of the innovative ideas of conserving water in my business will help to use minimal water and reuse it for shop system purposes. It will contribute to pursuing the goal of ensuring access to water for all as well as sanitation without wasting a lot of water quantity. The second SDG related to my business is to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (United Nations Organization, 2021). By implementing the plan of reusing the condensate water and the potable water will ensure the sustainable consumption of the water and complete maximum work by using minimal water. Also, I will not be wasting water that will indirectly be saved for others.

References

Swain, S. (2018, Dec 7). Water conservation strategies in Middle East. EcoMENA. Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://www.ecomena.org/water-conservation-middle-east/

United Nations Organization. (2021). Goal 6: ensure access to water and sanitation for all. UN Organization sustainable development goals. Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/

United Nations Organization. (2021). Goal 12: ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. UN Organization sustainable development goals. Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-consumption-production/

Business Law Communication

Arguably, in every commercial transaction, there must be a business law that lawfully governs and directs the commercial transaction between participants. The commercial’s chaos that involved Helen, Ellis, and Jeff the solution could be attained by examining the use of fraud in buying and selling.

Can a contract be built on a lie?

Though it is real but is possible under some circumstances; the contract agreement can be built on a lie (Wells, 2018). For instance, in the case examined in this paper, the contract was built on a lie.

Do you believe in ghosts?

I genuinely believe in the presence of ghosts. My belief on the ghosts’ existence is built from the ghost definitions that they are spirit and souls of dead individuals or animals which appears regularly to the living. Therefore, since people and animals die, their spirits and souls exist in the form of a ghost.

How to prove fraud and its elements, discuss if they are met here.

Fraud is defined as an act of crime that involves gaining money or any other financial benefits using a trick means or lying. When a fraud crime is suspected, it is proved through showing and demonstrating the actions of the defendant in the following elements of fraud; damage as a result, knowledge of the falsehood, intentional misrepresentation, and reliance on the fact. Helen and Ellis’s failure to reveal the hunting to Jeff, who was the buyer in this case before he agreed on the contract to buy a house, proves the incidents of fraud in this case (Wells, 2018).

Should Jeff get his down payment back even if there was a fraud?

Jeff’s down payment in case there was an incident of fraud should not process further because if the down payment is processed even with proof of fraud, it seller will suffer the loss.

If the court rules for the buyer, is it saying ghosts are real?

No, the court ruling for the buyer will be focusing on condemning the use of fraud in commercial transactions.

References

Wells, J. T. (2018). Principles of fraud examination. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Annotated Bibliography: Cognitivism

Introduction

Individuals’ cognitivism enable them to unconsciously engage in mental processes that facilitate uptake of information and subsequent decision-making. Human beings have to make new decisions daily based on existing knowledge or information that they have just acquired. Therefore, it is essential to analyze cognitive processes and how they relate with uptake of information and decisions made.

Xiong, A., & Proctor, R. W. (2018). Information Processing: The Language and Analytical Tools for Cognitive Psychology in the Information Age. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01270.

The authors of the article argue that cognitive revolution established a structure that accommodated a feedback loop. The capability to quantify information made it possible to create a consistent flow of data between different parties, which include reviews on what has already been achieved. Furthermore, the availability of statistical tools enable individuals to make scientific inferences on issues involving decision making among people. The advancement in technology intertwines the interaction between people and cyber environment. Accordingly, it is essential to understand the cognitive evolution of people that fits in the new environment.

Dong, A., Jong, M. S.-Y., & King, R. B. (2020). How Does Prior Knowledge Influence Learning Engagement? The Mediating Roles of Cognitive Load and Help-Seeking. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.591203.

Sometimes the learning process has its foundation on existing knowledge, especially in a scenario where the information learned is not new. It is interesting to identify the engagement of learners and information processing with existing knowledge. The study argues that even though an individual might have a lower information load, learning engagement is high with existing knowledge. Furthermore, it is easy for individuals with existing knowledge to apply help-seeking strategies when they experience difficulties. There is lower engagement with students lacking prior knowledge even though they might have higher cognitive load.

Winn, A., DelSignore, L., Marcus, C., Chiel, L., Freiman, E., Stafford, D., & Newman, L. (2019). Applying Cognitive Learning Strategies to Enhance Learning and Retention in Clinical Teaching Settings. MedEdPORTAL, 15. https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10850.

Cognitive learning involves critical strategies that enhances an individual’s capability to process information expansively and the ability to apply the knowledge acquired in new situations. Some of the cognitive learning strategies discovered to have a positive impact on individual’s information processing include interleaving, reflection, generation, elaboration, and spaced retrieval practice. The above strategies are effective for students who have a lot of information to process daily for their coursework. Implementing the multiple strategies will increase chances of the learners being able to process more information, which will increase their cognitive engagement.

Weinstein, Y., Madan, C. R., & Sumeracki, M. A. (2018). Teaching the science of learning. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-017-0087-y.

Education does not solely rely on evidence-based practices to facilitate uptake of information among the learners. Instead, some theoretical lessons have been involved where learners only have to process theoretical models to explain phenomenon. Cognitive learning strategies play a key role in enhancing uptake of information among the learners. Each strategy targets varying factors that influence uptake of information among individual students. Furthermore, the study argues that educators also influence the uptake of information among the learners. As a result, educators should also familiarize themselves with cognitive learning strategies so that they can optimize the learning process.

Swann, W. (2013). The impact of applied cognitive learning theory on engagement with e-learning courseware. Journal of Learning Design, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.5204/jld.v6i1.119.

In a learning environment, there are two types of learners, with one having intrinsic motivation because they were passionate about education and skills being acquired. Alternatively, there are those who lack inmate motivation and require some external factors to compel them to study. Cognitive engagement between the two groups differ since learners with intrinsic motivation have high levels of information processing. As a result, it is crucial to conduct a survey during admission to understand the type of motivation that learners have when they enroll for a specific course.

Conclusion

Cognitivism is a critical area that ought to be studied because it explains how people in different fields process information. For instance, it explains the level of engagement between learners with varying learning capabilities. Similarly, cognitivism also helps to understand the level of engagement between cognitive learning and technology.

References

Swann, W. (2013). The impact of applied cognitive learning theory on engagement with e-learning courseware. Journal of Learning Design, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.5204/jld.v6i1.119

Weinstein, Y., Madan, C. R., & Sumeracki, M. A. (2018). Teaching the science of learning. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-017-0087-y

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