Response Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response Paper - Assignment Example Additionally, with an introduction of innovative Korean entertainment products such as Korean movies and television programs, the situation is more likely to improve. The writer, therefore, analyses the integration of Korean culture in Japan through the perspectives of Japanese women who are fans of Winter Sonata (Chua & Iwabuchi, 2008). In the article, the writer creates a social conflict by explaining the differing opinion in the perception of Korean culture. In this regard, the writer’s mother has a pre juristic hatred against Koreans living in Japan despite her having a strong preference for the Winter Sonata, a Korean based television drama. The writer is very concerned because she had many Korean friends, she had learned the Korean language and had at one time taught it to primary school students. Her mother on the other had had limited information on Korean culture, as well as limited interaction with Koreans (Chua & Iwabuchi, 2008). The writer is puzzled by the popularity of the Winter Sonata in Japan despite the Korean prejudice. In the research, the author evaluated the differences among the Sonata fans. In addition, the writer also examined on the reason behind Sonora’s high popularity in middle-aged and elderly women. The author questions as to whether the show can be used to transform the negative perception of Korean culture by the Japanese society. Traditionally, the Japanese society had undermined the Korean culture due to historical reasons that are dated back in the early 1940s during the Second World War. Political and social injustices of the Korean society by Japan worsened the situation. In spite of this, the Korean culture has popularized a contemporary modern culture that is acceptable to Japanese culture. In this regard, the writer appreciates the role of Korean films, contemporary Korean music and international events (including the 2002 FIFA World Cup) as the main cornerstones of promoting integration of Korean society in

A Critical Review Essay Politics Essay

A Critical Review Essay Politics Essay Arend dAngremond Lijphart born in Apeldoom, the Netherlands is a world renowned political scientist specializing in comparative politics, elections and voting systems, democratic institutions and ethnicity and politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions. He is currently Research Professor Emeritus of Political Science Political science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior.at the University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego is a public research university in San Diego, California, California. The schools campus contains 694 buildings and is located in the La Jolla, San Diego, California community.His work has focused on the broader contrasts between majoritarian and consensus democracies. The origin of this article under review was an invitation Lipjhart received to deliver at the Stein Rokkan Lecture, Joint Sessions of Workshops of the European Consortium for Political Research in Leiden on April 3rd, 1993 (Lipjhart 1994a). He uses this opportunity to present a report at that time on the latest phase of his work-in-progress a large-scale project, on which he has been working since the early 1980s, that attempts the systematic mapping of the worlds democracies in terms of their principal institutional characteristics. My purpose is to demonstrate if there is one best model of democracy while evaluating the approach Lipjhart has taken. Part of the argument has already been offered by Lipjhart (1994a), and this paper builds on his work. I will demonstrate his strengths while explaining the various forms of democratic methods proportional representation, consensus and majoritarian including implications of his weaknesses. Sartori (1968:273) adequately summarises the electoral system as the most specific manipulative instrument of politics. Democracies: Forms, Performance and Constitutional Engineering Lipjhart (1994a) argues that the choice between majoritarian electoral systems and proportional representation (PR) systems, there exists an exchange, as both are good forms of democracy but there is better minority representation in proportional representation systems and with the majoritarian system it leads to effective government. While Lijphart advocated consociationalism primarily for societies deeply divided along ethnic, religious, ideological, or other divisions, he sees consensus democracy as appropriate for any society. Lipjhart (1994a) strongly suggested that the government by the people or, democracy, as stated by Abraham Lincoln, is an ideal rather than a precise form of governmental procedures and goals. Lijpharts (1994a) article compares the two basic models of democracy: majoritarian or Westminster as used in the United Kingdom and New Zealand and consensus which is used in major Western European nations such as Switzerland. He goes on to state that each of these models use a different approach of an electoral model at how to best represent the citizens. In consequence one may ask, is it more democratic to delegate policy-making power to the majority only or is it better to include minorities, as well? (Lipjhart, 1994a:2) Lipjhart (1994a:2) defines the majoritarian model is characterized by a one party majority executive; an executive that predominates over the legislature; a two party system; a one dimensional party system (in which the two main parties differ primarily on socio-economic issues); a disproportional electoral system; and a pluralist interest group system. This maintains that majority rule comes closer to the democratic ideal than a government responsive to a minority. Furthermore, Lipjhart (1994a:2) states that the other type of electoral system, the consensus democracy has the opposite six characteristics: multiparty coalition executives; executive legislative balance; a multi party system; a multi-dimensional party system (in which the parties differ on issues in addition to socio-economic issues, for example, on religious, rural-urban and foreign policy issues); more or less proportional electoral outcomes; and a corporatists interest group system. He contends that majoritarian system when compared to the consensus form of government is a result of the more divided a country is, the more it is a plural society- the more consensual its form of democracy tends to be (Lipjhart 1994a:2) while countries with a British political colonial past adopted the majoritarian model. Lipjhart (2000:4) then extends his comparative analysis to plurality versus proportional representational systems. Here he analyses 13 advanced industrial democracies with parliamentary systems of government, contrasting four that use majoritarian election methods and nine that use proportional representational methods. He argued three main points: He then goes on to use the same performance variables comparing consensus versus majoritarian democracy where he concludes that Western European democracies with their consensus democracies have superior political representation while arguing that the majoritarian democracies are not performing better economically and that concentrating political power in the hands of a narrow majority can promote unified, decisive leadership and fast decision making (Lipjhart 1994a:11-12). Lipjharts findings are in a particular time period and he argues (1994a:12) the special advantage because of the 1990s are not only the decade of democratization but also the decade of renewed ethnic conflict, and because ethnic divisions are generally deeper and more severe in the democratizing world than in the world of established democracies. In the end his evidence points to consensus oriented political cultures are a strong counterforce to the majoritarian institutional conservatism and they provide fertile soil for the consensus model of democracy (Lipjhart 1994a:15). There are many good arguments that Lipjhart (1994a) makes using his methods of analysis and illustrated evidence. The first benefit of Lipjharts paper, Schmidt (1997) agrees with Lipjhart and what he addresses to be a truly significant topic of political science, comparative politics and that the article focuses the attention with a precisely stated and highly relevant research question Lipjhart (1994a:1) what can the new democracies of and democratizing countries of Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa learn from Western Europe?. Schmidt (1997) supports Lipjharts claims, which centres on the concentration of the relationship between constitutional structures and forms of democracy while Lipjhart measures political performance. Schmidt (1997:194) comments that this question is related to a recurrent topic in political science: which political system is more advanced than others in coping with social, economic and political problems and why? Lipjhart (1994a:1) answers this indispensible task in representative democracies is performed by the electoral system- the set of methods for translating the citizens votes into representatives seats. Thus the electoral system is the most fundamental element of representative democracy. Lipjhart (1994a:3) further states the conventional wisdom is that there is a trade off between consensus and majoritarian democracy where he goes on to comment consensus democracy provides more accurate representation and in particular, better minority representation and protection of minority interests while majority governments produced by majoritarian election methods are more decisive, and are more effective policy-makers. Similarly, Sartori (1997:8) states that the major factor establishing the proportionality or disproportionality of the proportional representation (PR) is the size of the constituency, where size is measured by the number of members that each district elects. So and regardless of the mathematical fine points, the larger the constituency, the greater the proportionality. Hence allowing for better representation. While Schmidt (2002:148) agrees however, the view that the English-speaking democracies (regardless of whether the Westminster model or the checks-and-balances model is concerned) are superior is no longer regarded as tenable. The second argument in favour of this (1994a) article, Schmidt (1997:195) applauds Lipjhart on the quality of the research design, the methodology and the empirical results. Schmidt (1997:195) argues in contrast to more traditional case-oriented theories of the ideal state, Lipjhart (1994a) addresses the research question within the framework of an empirical comparative analysis of 21 constitutional democracies. Moreover, the work builds on extensive research, such as his 1984 book, Democracies, not to mention numerous articles on related topics. In substantive terms, Lijphart demonstrates significant commonalities as well as differences between various democracies, such as those between consensus democracies and majoritarian democracy. The third merit of the article By Schmidt (1997:195) is due to the successful effort on the part of Lijphart to bring work on more formal institutions state structures and constitutional structures back into the investigation of public policy and policy outcomes. Following his own impressive research in comparative politics, Lijphart does this within the context of a comparative framework. Lijpharts article inspires other scholars in the field to follow more closely the avenue of a more fully integrated comparative analysis of the relationships between institutions and public policy choices. Finally, Schmidt (1997:195) states that the author derives relevant recommendations for purposes of constitutional engineering from his analysis. Pointing to the weaknesses and strengths of the various forms of democracies, the author has lessons to offer not only for constitution building in established democracies, but also for new political systems such as the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. This demonstrates in a particularly convincing manner that high quality political science can generate high quality policy advice. However, this discussion is not without flaws and by careful examination and review of perspectives which might have been neglected by Schmidt (1997) support for Lipjhart (1994a), the following will include theoretical perspectives ignored and exaggerated claims not fully supported by argument or evidence. As Geddes (1990:132) states the effort here is not to discredit arguments or belittle authors, who are, after all, working within accepted conventions-but to demonstrate the deficiencies of the conventions. Discussion First, Schmidt (2002:148) states majoritarian democracies were long regarded as more stable, fitter for survival even under adverse circumstances such as during the interwar period and World War II, and better at problem solving. That belief largely mirrored the survival of the English speaking democracies in the 1920s and 1930s as opposed to the breakdown of a wide variety of democratic states and the rise of Fascism in Italy and of National Socialism in Germany and Austria in this period. Questioning this statement, according to consociationalist empirical democratic theory, such as that put forward by Lijphart (1999) and Lehmbruch (1975), negotiation democracies are often of equal strength and sometimes stronger than their majoritarian counterparts. There is little evidence and inaccuracy to state one is better than other from the evidence that is put forward by Lipjhart (1994a). Infact Satori (1997:69) states the necessary condition for the successful working of a consociational democracy is an elite cooperation whose intent counters the disintegrative tendencies of their society; but this necessary and most crucial condition disappears in the definition of consensus democracy. Second, Sartori (1997:69) argues there is a false belief that proportional systems are inherently superior to majoritarian systems and therefore that they are always to be preferred. He (Satori 1997:73) also states that in the pure form of PR generally backfires; and in the extremist package recommended by Lipjhart its defects boomerang and PR may turn out to be the kiss of death. Sartori (1997:28) thus as a result states once an electoral arrangement is in place, its beneficiaries protect their vested interests and struggle to go on playing the game by the rules they know. Third, another unproven claim by Lipjharts (1994a) article about the two types of electoral systems, he does not go into detail on the discussion of Duvergers laws and is very uncritical of those laws. Maurice Duverger was the first author to address the effects of electoral systems. Duverger as stated by Sartori (1997:29) formulated two laws, the first one states that plurality (majoritarian) systems tend to party dualism while the second law asserts that PR tends to mutlipartism, i.e., that it has a multiplying effect. Saroti was setting up his evidence to show the weakness of Duvergers laws in relation to Lipjharts views in the (1994a) article under review. Sartori (1997:30) goes on to demonstrate that weakness by stating Duverger assumes that a causal relation can be deduced from a correlation; that is to say, he misses the difference between cause of and associated with' while in the second law, he states a causal generalization is verifiable if and only if, the cause and the effect are clearly specified, whereas the effect of Duvergers first law (party dualism) defies underpinning, and the effect of his second law (multipartism) also suffers from excessive imprecision. Sartori comments that Duvergers laws are not consistent and that he can be easily use his evidence to fit his purpose. Sartori (1997:31) states the bottom line is, then, that a law is required to declare more than a regularity and cannot consist of a mere generalization. Furthermore, since a law stands so long as it is not falsified, it must be formulated so as to permit empirical confirmation or refutation. Fourth, consensus democracies are not necessarily better at policy formulation and implementation. Schmidt (2002:150) argues they are also faced with certain problems such as challenges requiring swift response, the rapid development of political alternatives and rapid decision making tend to overburden the consensus democracies. And so, too, do challenges which require the capacity to design and implement significant policy changes. Due to the large number of participants in policy deliberation and decision making, consensus democracies usually need longer periods of time to reach a consensus or initiatives may even get stuck in a blocked decision-making process. Schmidt (2002:150) adds a further weakness of consensus democracies lies in the lower transparency of the process of deliberation and decision making as well as the indistinct accountabilities of the participants in the negotiations. These deficits often are overlooked in the comparison of political performance levels of majoritarian and consensus democracies. Sartori (1997:72) argues if you reward divisions and divisiveness (and this is precisely what proporz and veto power do), you increase and eventually heighten divisions and divisiveness. In the end, then, Lipharts machinery may well engender more consensus-breaking than consensus-making. Fifth, in contrast to majoritarian democracies there is incomplete arguments made, Lipjhart (1994:11) argues that consensus democracy with regard to minority representation and democratic quality is not surprising because consensus democracy may be said to be designed so as to achieve more accurate representation of interests and broad participation in decision-making. While Powell (2000:234) comments that concentrated power is valued by majoritarians for enabling elected governments to carry out their promises (mandates) and for giving voters clear information about responsibility for government actions (accountability). Unless public opinion is very homogenous, however, concentrating power in the hands of the government will be detrimental to the normative principle of giving proportional influence to agents of all the electorate, which is the process most valued by the alternative vision. Sixth, another factor against consensus democracy is that some perform better than others. Schmidt (2002:149) argues other blind spots also include the asymmetric availability of performance data, with less systematic coverage of democracies in economically less-advanced states as a major gap, as well as the tendency to overlook both the imperfections of all consensus democracies and the wide range of variation in policy performance among consensus democracies. Powell (2000:52) argues clarity of responsibility is greatest when a single, unified political party controls both the national legislature and chief executive. If control of these critical policy-making points is dispersed among various parties or among individuals not firmly connected by political parties, then it will be much harder for citizens to determine who should bear the responsibility for policy success or failure and to use their electoral resources effectively as instruments for reward or retribution. Seventh, another weakness of Lijphart, is that he uses different concepts of democracy. Van Schendelen (1981:8) states in his first book, he refers to the election process, in the second (Democracies of Plurality) to Dahls concept of polyarchy. Between the two there exist, of course, important differences: for Dahl elections are only one element of polyarchy among many. Van Schendelen (1981:8) further states in his first conceptualization Lijphart leaves open the possibilities that political parties fully control the recruitment of candidates for an election; that in the interelection period the relationships between electors and elected are almost non-existent or antagonistic; that elites opinions and behaviour are non-representative of the peoples demands; and that elite-politics is full of secrecy and immune to popular control. Eighth, while Lipjhart focuses on certain countries for his research, Barbara Geddes (1990:131) states that there is a problem with selecting cases for study when the dependent variable originates from the logic of explanation. She (1990:131) further states when one sets out to explain why countries A and B have, say, developed more rapidly than countries C through G, one is implicitly looking for some antecedent factors X through Z that countries A and B possess, but that countries C through G do not. Geddes (1990) argues that the crux of the difficulty that arises when cases are selected on the dependent variable is that if one studies only countries A and B, one can collect only half the information needed, namely what A and B have in common which is what Lipjhart (1994a) does. She (1990:131) goes on to state unless one also studies countries C through G (or a sample of them) to make sure they lack factors X through Z, one cannot know whether or not the factors identified are cruc ial antecedents of the outcome under investigation. Countries A and B may be the only countries that have X through Z, in which case the hypothesis seems plausible. But many other countries may also have them, in which case the hypothesis would seem dubious. Schmidt (2002:148) clearly states one result of comparative studies of the behaviour, output and outcome of democracies has been that simple generalizations do not fit. According to Lijphart (1994a), no significant difference exists between the two types of democracies with respect to macro-economic policy outcomes and law-and-order-management. However, when it comes to softer political issues, consensus democracy turns out to be the winner. As a group, consensus democracies, Lijphart (1994a) argues, they perform better than majoritarian democracies in the protection of minorities, voter turnout, income equality and ratings of democratic quality. Schmidt (2002:151) continues with his discussion stating this finding is undoubtedly preliminary, and future work will require more detailed analysis of the impact of alternative explanations and control variables. However, the major point in this context is that Lijphart (1994a) has asked the right questions, such as do forms of democracy make a difference to policy outputs and policy outcomes and, if so, to what extent? Moreover, Schmidt (2002:151) continues his discussion the research published from many academics thus far has already produced fresh evidence on the costs and benefits of governmental systems with different political arrangements and different forms of democracy in particular. In contrast to this, policy deliberation in a non-majoritarian democracy is frequently characterized by extended bargaining, time-consuming searches for compromises and circuitous attempts to develop a political consensus such features are not at all suitable to politics as a spectacle (Edelm an 1988). Finally, Schmidt (2002:151) says the higher level of transparency and accountability of majoritarian democracies also weighs in their favour. Political leaders in a majoritarian democracy are more exposed and accountable to the general public, while responsibility and accountability in non-majoritarian systems often tends to evaporate in the countless networks typical of a negotiation democracy. Satori (1997:72) adds consociational democracy is a cross-pressured system held together by countervailing, solidaristic elites bent upon neutralizing the centrifugal pulls of their societies; consensus democracy is, instead, a one way slope that leads to a self-reinforcing system of minority appetites. CONCLUSION The catalogue of collected criticisms raised against Lijpharts views demonstrates at least one thing: his views are widely and fundamentally contested. But it also demonstrates that Lijpharts views have been taken seriously and that they have at least provoked critical debate and analysis among scholars. This critical inquiry attests to the substance and importance of Lijpharts efforts. I agree with Sartori (1997) where he states Lijphart seems to be more concerned about the applicability or the engineering potential of his theory than about its political science validity. If, along the basic lines of his essential views, democratic stability could be realized in highly unstable countries, then the theory may be weak, but not wrong. In consequence, Edelman (1985:2) states in their obsession with the state, men are of course obsessed with themselves. If politics is as complicated and ambivalent as the men who create it, it is to be expected that its institutions and forms should take on strong meanings: meanings that men cue and teach each other to expect and that are vital for the acquiescence of the general public in the actions of elites and therefore for social harmony. I support Lipjharts consociational democracy as it presents us with a challenging and provocative point of view. But, at the present time, it provides less than is needed for solid prescriptions for deeply divided societies anxiously searching for stable democracy. Perhaps, after rigorous analysis and evaluation, it might lead us to answers for problems confronting such societies. Any answers it might provide would certainly be highly valued by those who seek a stable, democratic political system.

The local labour market :: Business and Management Studies

The local labour market Whilst looking into the local labour market, I have decided to study some of the figures from the national statistics and look into how WPA would use them if they needed to recruit new employees both locally and nationally. Resident population and age The resident population of west Somerset, as measured in the 2001 census, was 35,075, of which 47 percent were male and 53 percent were female. The majority of the population in west Somerset are aged 30 to 59 with 38.3 percent of the population being in this age group. This is slightly less than the percentage of 41.5 percent in the age group of 30 to 59 in England and Wales. .6 percent of people in west Somerset and aged 16 to 19 compared to 4.9 percent of people in England and Wales. There is a very minimal difference, therefore if WPA wanted 16 to 19 year olds as they have just finished school and may be going into full time or part time work, west Somerset has almost the same percentage of this age group. If WPA wanted school leavers they could look locally and have the same number of people on average from that age group. Health and provision of care In west Somerset, 64.7 percent of people asked said they would describe their health as good, this is only slightly less than the percentage of people in England and Wales with 68.6 percent. In west Somerset however 25.5 percent of people would describe their health as fairly good this is higher than the national average of 22.2 percent. West Somerset had a higher percentage of people who had a long-term illness with 22.3 percent, the national average is 18.2 percent. If WPA were to use this information they could see that 90.2 percent of people in West Somerset said they had good or fairly good health, but 90.8 percent of people as a national average said they had good or fairly good health, this tells WPA that people living in Somerset have good health so they would have a very large selection of people living in Somerset who have a good or fairly good health to choose from, they could therefore attempt to recruit locally then if they are unsuccessful they can then recruit nationally where there is only 0.6 percent more people who said they had good or fairly good health. Economic activity – unemployment Unemployment rates are lower with 2.9percent in West Somerset compared to a national average of 3.4 percent. This means that there may not be a large selection of qualified people in the West Somerset area so WPA

Agricultural economics

Department of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala (Punjab), India. E-mail: 2Assistant Professor, Department of Distance Education, Punjabi University, Patiala (Punjab), India. E-mail: Abstract: A progressive agriculture serves as a powerful engine of economic growth of any country. It helps in initiating and sustaining the development of other sectors of the economy. In view of this, after independence the Government of India adopted a positive approach and specific programmes like new agriculture technology were introduced. Indian farmers being poor were not in a position to buy these expensive inputs.Then the Indian Government started the scheme of subsidies on the purchase of various agriculture inputs to facilitate the farmers. Subsidies are often criticized for their financial burden, on the other hand there is a fear that agriculture production and income of farmers would decline if subsidies are curtailed. The findings indicate that the increasing rate of total subsidies (f ertilizers, electricity and irrigation) is higher than gross cropped area (GCA) during pre, first as well as second phase of liberalization periods.There is a lot of variation to find out the relationship between gross cropped area (GCA) and in total subsidies in zones throughout the study period. The present study suggests that Government should keep aside its motive to please voters or strengthen the vote bank, it should frame rational policy in which small size category farmers, who are not actual beneficiaries of subsidies, could get more and subsides, which they do not want should be withdrawn.Keywords:-agriculture, electricity subsidy, fertilizers subsidies, irrigation subsidy, productivity. I. Introduction The socio – economic structure, which prevailed prior to the British rule in the country, resulted in the organization of self-sufficient villages. It has been maintaining some kind of static equilibrium. The Indian peasant, though not properly educated, has adequate experience of farming systems and he has been dependent on it for the means of living.The Royal commission of Agriculture in India observed that both the methods of cultivation and social organization exhibit that settled order which is characteristic of all countries in which the cultivating peasant has long lived in and closely adapted himself to the conditions of a particular environment. The Indian agrarian economy on the eve of independence was critical in situation. It could be characterized totally primitive, deteriorative and turbulent.After partition, the country is left with 82 per cent of the total population of undivided India as well as only with 69 per cent of land under rice, 65 per cent under wheat and 75 per cent under all cereals. The deficiency of food grains is quite alarming and aggravating at that time (Chahal, 1999). In view of this, after independence tremendous efforts are made to boost the economy through agriculture as one of the tools for development.The Government of India adopted a more positive approach and hence a well definedpolicy of integrated production programmes with defined targets and a proper distribution programme is adopted along with other measures for the overall economic development of the country. Specific programmes like new agriculture technology are introduced to convert agriculture into a successful and prosperous business, to bring more land under cultivation and to raise agriculture production. In India, the adoption of new agricultural technique is costly than that of traditional method of cultivation.In traditional method, inputs are least expensive, on the other hand, inputs in modern technology like high yielding varieties of seeds, fertilizers, farm mechanization and irrigation are very costly and Indian farmers being poor are not in a position to buy these expensive inputs. Then on the recommendations of food grain price committee (Jha Committee), the Government of India started the scheme of subsidie s on purchase of various agriculture inputs to facilitate the farmers (Singh, 1994).Subsidies have occupied agricultural economists for a long time because they are pervasive in agriculture, even though they are often applied in ways that benefit mostly richer farmers, cause inefficiencies, lead to a heavy fiscal burden, distort trade, and have negative environmental effects. Agricultural subsidies can play an important role in early phases of agricultural development by addressing market failures and promoting new technologies (Fan, 2008).All of these subsidies by reducing the prices of the inputs, served in the initial stages of green revolution, as incentives to the farmers for adopting the newly introduced seed-cum-fertilizer technology. These helped in raising the agricultural output, after some time, the amount paid on these subsidies began to rise. The input subsidies have often been accused of causing most harmful effect in terms of reduced public investment in agriculture o n account of the erosion of investible resources, and wasteful use of scarce resources like water and Agricultural Subsidies In India Boon Or Cursewww. iosrjournals. org 41 | Page power. Further, apart from causing unsustainable fiscal deficits, these subsidies by encouraging the intensive use of inputs in limited pockets have led to lowering the productivity of inputs, reducing employment elasticity of output through the substitution of capital for labour and environmental degradation such as lowering of water tables. (Gulati, 2003).In India, at present centre as well as state governments are providing subsidies on fertilizers, irrigation (canal water), electricity and other subsidies to marginal farmers and farmers’ cooperative societies in the form of seeds, development of oil seeds, pulses, cotton, rice, maize and crop insurance schemes and price support schemes etc. Out of these subsidies, the Central Government of India provides indirect subsidies to farmers on the purc hase of fertilizers from 1977, whereas state governments are providing subsidies on irrigation as well as on electricity (Government of Punjab, Agriculture Department, Chandigarh).Review of literature of the past theory and practice is necessary when conducting any research work. Sharma, (1982) examined the impact of agricultural subsidies on national income and agricultural production. For this purpose the author used the time period from 1970-71 to 1981-82 and a general equilibrium model. The study revealed that during this period, agricultural subsidies affected the national income and agriculture production positively. Gupta, (1984) tried to analyse the agricultural subsidies in India from 1970-71 to 1982- 83.The author used linear regression model. The study showed that during this period, the use of agricultural subsidies increased at faster rate but there was a large inter-state disparity. Sharma, (1990) revealed in this study that subsidies have become unsustainable. In orde r to release resources for higher investments in the agricultural sector, large scale price and institutional reforms are needed to relieve the pressure of subsidies on the exchequer. Gulati, (2007)reviewed the trends in government subsidies and investments in and for Indian agriculture.The author suggested that to sustain long-term growth in agricultural production and therefore provide a long-term solution to poverty reduction, the government should cut subsidies of fertilizer, irrigation, Power and credit and increase investments in agricultural research and development, rural, infrastructure and education. Promoting non-farm opportunities are also important. From the above studies, it may conclude that agriculture subsidies are a worldwide phenomenon.Some studies showed the distribution pattern of agriculture subsidies in different countries and in different states of India. Whereas some studies showed the impact of agriculture subsidies on income of farmers of different states of India, on agriculture production, on gross cropped area, on cropping pattern etc. Subsidies are often criticized for their financial burden. Some researchers assert to the extent that these should be withdrawn in a phased manner, such a step will reduce the fiscal deficit, improve the efficiency of resources use, funds for public investment in agriculture.On the other hand, there is a fear that agriculture production and income of farmers would decline if subsidies are curtailed. These are very important issues, which need serious investigation. Subsidies are often criticized for their financial burden. The objectives of the present study are to study the growth and distribution of agricultural subsidies in India, to study the impact of agricultural subsidies in India, to suggest ways and means for giving agricultural subsidies to farmers of India.The present study is related to agricultural subsidies in India from 1980-81 to 2008-09. In this study agriculture subsidies of fertil izers, electricity, irrigation (canal water), seeds, machinery etc. are discussed during pre-liberalisation period (1980-81 to 1985-86), first phase of liberalisation period (1990-91 to 1996-97) as well as during second phase of liberalisation period (2000-01 to 2008-09). For analysing the growth and distribution pattern of agriculture subsidies, five zones i. e.south zone (includes Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep), west zone (includes Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Goa, Daman and Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli), east zone (Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal), north zone (Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh) and north-east zone (Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim) have been taken.II. Gross Cropped Area in India Land is the fundamental basis for the most of the huma n or natural activities and is one of the major natural resources on earth. Agricultural productivity is entirely dependent on the availability of suitable land (State of Environment Punjab – 2007). In India, there are competing demands of area available for cultivation from increase in rural habitations, forestation, urbanisation and industrialisation.Consequently, gross cropped area in the country has registered a rapid deceleration in its growth over time (Bhalla, 2009). In this section, an attempt is made to analyse the gross copped area (GCA), total subsidies, fertilizers, electricity and subsidies at India as well as zone levels. The gross cropped area (GCA) in India during 1980-81 to 2006-07 is shown in table 1. This table reveals the west zone got topmost position, followed by north zone, south zone, east zone and north-east zone throughout the study period.In India, GCA has shown variations i. e. it has increased from 1,73,324 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 1,85,403 thousand hectares in 1990-91 and further increased to 1,88,601 thousand hectares in 1996-97, it has declined to 1,86,565 thousand hectares in 2000-01 and further declined to 1,75,678 thousand hectares in 2006-07. As zone-wise analysis shows that in west zone, the GCA has Agricultural Subsidies In India Boon Or Curse www. iosrjournals. org 42 | Page increased from 69,882 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 75,659 thousand hectares in 1990-91 and further increased to 78,097 thousand hectares in 1996-97 and declined to 72,833 thousand hectares in 2006-07.In north zone, it has increased from 38,806 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 42,132 thousand hectares in 1996-97 and declined to 39,780 thousand hectares in 2006-07, whereas in south zone, the GCA has increased from 32,363 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 34,688 thousand hectares in 1990-91 and further increased to 35,333 thousand hectares in 1996-97 and declined to 35,271 thousand hectares in 2000-01 and again increased to 36,368 thousand hectares in 2006-07.In east zone, the GCA has increased from 27,514 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 28,741 thousand hectares in 1990-91 and declined to 27,416 thousand hectares in 1996-97 and further declined to 20,246 thousand hectares in 2006-07, on the hand the GCA has increased from 4,759 thousand hectares in 1980-81 to 5,163 thousand hectares in 1985-86 and further increased to 6,451 thousand hectares in 2006-07 in north-east zone. Agricultural economics Agriculture is defined as â€Å"the cultivation of land for the purpose of producing food for man, feed for animal and fibre or raw material for industrial companies. It also includes the processing marketing of crops. In other words, it embraces all activities involved in the primary and controlled production of plant and animals, such as fishing, forestry, farming, livestock, poultry and small scale industries connected with processing of agricultural products. The agricultural sector forms the background of Nigeria economy despite concerted effort in industralisation.Agriculture occupies the pride place as the source of livelihood for over 70 percent of the population. It is recognized as a pre-requisite to economic development. With large scale dependence on agriculture for food, raw-material for industries etc, one would expect production to increase, rather it is disheartening to note that this is not the case. Agriculture has suffered some neglect due to lack of investment si nce the inception of oil boom in 1970. In fact, Nigeria is experiencing a decline in the space of agricultural production in general, this situation is causing a great concern to the government.Throughout the 1960s, Agriculture contributed 61. 5%. in the 1970s, it declined miserably be 2. 3%. This decline may be attributed to the domination of the nations export by oil since 1970 which accounted for 57. 6% of total export income and rose steadily, attaining an overwhelming proportion of 98% in 1981. As a result there was an absolute neglect in agriculture to both God (Gross Domestic Product) and export earnings which has been the major factor dictating the need to reactivate our agricultural products.The need for this re-activity and in effort to revamp this sector has been the reason for raising budgetary allocation in recent years to it. It rose from 6% in 1970s to 22% in 1984. this increase acts as incentive and motivation to farmers, but these farmers while engaging in these agr icultural ventures are exposed to a lot of problem like diseases and pest attacks, fire destructions, industrial pollution, machinery breakdown and other problems. To these problems, the farmers need some aids in solving or minimizing them. Finance has been one of themost significant problems in the expansion of agricultural production. This was as a result of the neglect of the agricultural sector following the oil boom of 1970s, when the oil sector become a major aspect of the Nigerian’s foreign exchange earning. This contributed to the inadequate funding of the agricultural sector unlike before the boom. Also the establishment of industries in the urban areas during the 1990 – 1994 National Development plan to boast industrialization drew the rural populace with constitute the farming population to urban cities for search of white color jobs.A stage has reached, that average Nigerians are now underfed. In the words of or P. N. C. Akimbo in 1990 â€Å"The average Ni gerian consumed on the average, some 20. 23 calories per day and 56. 46 grammes of protein per day compared to the food and agricultural organization (FAO)minimum of 21. 91 calaries and 53. 8 grammes of protein. The average Nigerian was and still, is among the worst fed in the world.As a result of these situations; the successive Nigerian Governments showed concern over the decline situation of Agricultural production through policies and programmes aimed at revamping the agricultural production in attempt to encourage increase food production â€Å"The federal Government in 1993 tried the National Accelerated food production in programme (NAFPP) during the General Yakulu Gowon’s regime; Under the leadership of General Obasanjo, the Operation feed the Nation programme â€Å"(OFN) in 1976; Green Revolution came up under President Shehu Shagari and Directorate of food Road and Rural infrastructure under the regime of General Basangida regime. Neither of these measures halted the Agricultural decline or any lasting effect on food production.This is because â€Å"little or no meaningful attempt has been made to change the under developed status of the rural dwellers notwithstanding that these people constitute about 95 percent of the total population engaged in Agricultural in Nigeria. It has been attributed that inadequate funding of agricultural project and programme has contributed in large measures to the government low production of Agriculture in Nigeria, and the government and other financial institutions forms the major sources of finance for Agriculture though policies and programmes. Then what role and impact has the central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as the bank at the apex of Nigeria Banking system, (Bank of last resort, bank to the government and Banker to other banks)† played to reinforce the government policies or revamp the agricultural sector of the economy.The under – developed characteristic of the Nigerian economy has made the central Bank of Nigeria to be activity involved in the promotion of rapid economic development of other sector especially agriculture through its development roles unlike in developed economics where the role of central Bank is restricted to development of the financial system. According to Dr Belshaw in his book entitled â€Å"Agricultural credit in economically under-developed countries he wrote that â€Å"in respect of agricultural credit, a central Bank has an important part to play by helping to establish, strengthen and promote the extension of commercial banking facilities and agricultural credit institutions. Professor G.Nwankwo also wrote â€Å"it for instance mistaken to think and believe that only the function of a central Bank is to control or regulate the financial system; it was not conoinced nor thought to be an appropriate function that a central Bank also has to the task of developing the financial system if non existed and of organizing and mobilization of reso urces for development. To this end, the central Bank of Nigeria embarked on some programmes and policies to curb the under economic development and low trend in agricultural production. These policies include the following : i. The provision of credit to marketing board for the purchase of some agricultural produce for export.This has become the sole responsibility of the central Bank of Nigeria since May 1968, when the commercial financial still was abolished by the federal Government. ii. The establishment of the Nigeria Agricultural Bank (NAB) in 1976, this Nigerian Agricultural co-operative societies, improve agricultural production and storage facilities and promote marketing of agricultural products through liberal credits to farmers at softer terms. The bank started with a capital of #6 million which has increased to #250 million in 1991 with the CBN contributing 40 percent while the Federal Government has 60 percent share. The functions of the banks includes: grant in of loa ns to small and medium scale farmers. iii.The CBM also used another instrument in financing of agriculture, this is through its credit guidelines contained in its monetary and fiscal policies circulars which required the commercial banks to give preferential treatment to Agriculture. iv. The establishment of Agricultural credit Guarantee scheme fund (ACGSF) in 1977 by both the federal Government and the central Bank of Nigeria. The Act provided #100 million subscribed by the federal government, and the CBN at the ration of 60 percent or #60 million to the federal Government, 40 percent or #40 million to CBN. This is to grantee for loan default made by commercial banks to farmers for Agricultural purposes to the time of 75% of the default. The CBN was also appointed the managing agent of the fund. 2. STATEMENT OF PROBLEMSDespite the various policies and programmes mapped out annually for the economic development of Nigeria with emphasis on Agriculture, the agricultural production lev el remained very low and recently on the decline. Finance has been traced to be the major handicap to the typical Nigeria farmer, inadequacy of modern farming equipment, inputs, basic infrastructure and storage facilities, marketing and distribution system. Then the central Bank of Nigeria – the apex bank has been mandated by the federal Government of Nigeria to find a solution to these problems. Consequently, the central bank of Nigeria through its agencies grant credit for the purpose of agriculture. But was faced with the following problems. – Inadequate public enlightenment – Mismanagement – Technological constraints – Poor land tenure system – Environmental constraints– Above all financial constraints. Identifying financial constraints as the major handicap to increase agricultural production. The federal government increased its spending on agriculture by 12. 7 percent in 1981 as against 6. 5 percent in 1970’s. a total of #8 million was allocated to agriculture during the five years National Development plan 1981 – 85. still not much has been achieved in food production. To this end, the federal Government through the CBN policies and programmes aimed at adequate financing to increase agricultural productivity, for a nation that can not feed herself is said to be economically undeveloped. 3. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDYThe major objective of this study is to determine and appraise the performance of the central Bank of Nigeria and its agencies to agricultural finance and development. This involves: i. To identify the central Bank of Nigeria policies in relation to Nigeria Agriculture. ii. To evaluate various measures introduced to boost agricultural production and agricultural financing and how this affected the realization of the agricultural goals and iii. To identify the problems associated with the implementation of these policies and suggest solution so as to improve agricultural production. 4 . SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Unless the cause of a problem is found, any attempt at solving the problem would likely be effort in futility. But when the basic causes of a problem are identified, solution would be easily found.This research work on the impact of central bank of Nigeria policies in relation to Nigeria agriculture would be of immense importance to the policy and credit guideline makers in ascertaining the efficiency of these policies on agriculture in particular and the economy in general. Also from the recommendations and suggestions, the problems and causes of failures in implementation would be taken care of. As the policies involves many financial and other credit institution the research would be of great worth to these institution, for instance, It would help in assessing the performance and cause of default in credit extension under the Agricultural credit Guarantee scheme fund (ACGSF), the Nigerian Agricultural co-operative bank (NACB) Credit and loan system. Th e research work when completed will be of use to the following: -The farmers and Agriculturist -The central bank of Nigeria (Federal Government).-The entire economy -Finally, this work will serve as an addition to the already existing literature and references in the area of policies of central Bank of Nigeria agricultural financing, monetary economics and finance in general. 5. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY The major source of some very vital data on the work of course is the central bank of Nigeria but because of its own policies, the major information areas are not accessible to the public. To this regard, the research has selected the salient roles of the central bank necessary for the research and finically examined and evaluated the effects of these policies in relation to agriculture.It is also very pertinent to state that the scope of this work generally is restricted to the programmes of agricultural financing that are directly under the supervision and control of the central ban k of Nigeria. 6. STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its policies and programmes has made remarkable impact in Agricultural financing in Nigeria. The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its policies and programmes has made no impact in Agriculture financing in Nigeria. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its polices and programmes has evaluated various measures introduce to boost agricultural production. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its policies and programmes has made no remarkable measure to boost agricultural production. 7. DEFINITION OF TERMSIt is necessary here to introduce operational definition of some concept to be commonly used in this study for better understanding of the study. These terms are as follows. Development: this means the process of sustained increase in both per capital income and total income accompanied by structural modification of the social economic and political environment. Economic growth: This refers to the steady process by which the productive capacity of the economy is increased over time to bring about rising levels of national income. Economic Development: This can be known as nothing less than â€Å"The upward movement of the entire social system or it many be interpreted as the attainment of a number of ideas of modernization such as a rise in productivity, social and economic equal section.Modern knowledge, improved institutions and attitudes and a traditionally co-ordinate systems of policy measures that can remove the host of undesirable conditions in the social system that have perpetuated a state of under development†. Financial Institution: These are institutions either private or public that channels loanable funds from savers to borrowers. Example commercial banks and development banks. Policy: This is a cause oaf action pursed by the government to achieve some development is also a source of raw materials for the teaming industries the product for which mo dern man has virtually become over dependent on†. Butterssing these parts.Enikanselu (1985) stated thus† agriculture besides providing food for the people contributes positively to capital accumulation for the purpose of financing the industrial sector†. He maintained that the role of Agriculture in the economic development of a nation includes providing an initial stage of development, the purchasing power for the industrialization of the economy by supplying the necessary raw – materials for industries. Uka (1986) in his own opinion on the importance of Agriculture to Nigeria economy assert that â€Å"Food is a basic necessity of life; and it is only on a firm basis of food production that virile economy can be founded.Besides, dependent on external sources of food supply has grave instability consequence because it ties the nations independence to the international policies. Writing on the importance of Agriculture and the preferential treatment given to it by the central bank of Nigeria in policy consider eration and allocation, Egba (1978) Stressed that â€Å"since 1969 when the first circular was issued to banks, the CBN has consistently given preferential treatment to agriculture which was included in the broad sector refered to as production†. This preferential treatment covers both the volume of loans allocated to the sector and the interest rate chargeable on such loans.Agriculture provides the greatest avenue for employment, income and food for Nigerian populace. Also the position of agriculture as a source of raw-materials for key industries and a major foreign exchange earner. Thus the government has given such priority to agricultural production because of its realization of the numerous contributions. A highly developed agricultural sector could make to the development of the Nigerian economy Olayade (1986) said â€Å"the agricultural sector provides employment for about 67% of the active population in the count ry. It is abundantly clear therefore that this sector has constituted the back bone of our economy until only recently.

Cloud computing Essay

1. How does Salesforce.com use cloud computing? Salesforce.com provides customer relationship management and other software applications using the software-as-a-service business model over the Internet. Cloud computing, also known as on-demand computing, eliminates the need for a business to make large up-front hardware and software investments and reduces the time to implement new programs. Subscribers to Salesforce.com don’t have to purchase or maintain any hardware (albeit personal computing devices) nor do they have to install any special operating systems, database servers, or application servers. Other than the monthly user subscription fee, businesses reduce their licensing and maintenance fees. Users access the Salesforce.com cloud through a standard Web browser or a mobile handheld device. Businesses using the Salesforce.com’s cloud have an easier time scaling their system as they increase or decrease their workforce – they adjust the number of subscriptions to the cloud. Salesforce.com offers some customization of its software so a business can adjust the software to unique business processes. It offers three types of clouds: Sales cloud, service cloud, and the custom cloud. The sales and service clouds help businesses improve sales and customer service. The custom cloud provides a venue for customers to develop their own applications for use within the broader Salesforce network. 2. What are some of the challenges facing Salesforce as it continues its growth? How well will it be able to meet those challenges? Salesforce.com faces the challenge of increased competition from traditional software methods and new services from current companies that try to replicate Salesforce.com’s business model. It also faces the challenge of expanding its services into other areas that allow business users to complete more necessary tasks. It is uncertain whether Salesforce.com will be able to meet the challenges. By implementing new, beneficial services that other CRM products do not offer, Salesforce.com can overcome the competition from leading service providers. Because Salesforce.com is partnered with Google, the implementation of new services, such as Gmail, Google Docs, Google Talk, and Google Calendar will be easy and cost-effective. 3. What kinds of businesses could benefit from switching to Salesforce and why? Agricultural, construction, manufacturing, retail, information, and real estate businesses could all benefit from switching to Salesforce. Each of these business types requires a method for keeping records of sales and handling sales information. All of the sales information could be stored in one place, Salesforce.com, and be managed by any authorized business employee. 4. What factors would you take into account in deciding whether to use Salesforce.com for your business? I would mainly consider the fact that â€Å"renting† the use of software, rather than purchasing a tangible copy, would save my business a significant amount of funds. The installation of software and the installation/configuration of hardware would be unnecessary, which would also decrease the amount of time to implement the software into the business. With Salesforce.com, the implementation time can be as little as a few days, unlike purchasing a copy of the product, which can take months. I would also consider the possibility of service outages and whether they would drastically affect the performance of my business. 5. Could a company run its entire business using Salesforce.com and App Exchange? Explain your answer. A company could run its entire business using the combination of Salesforce.com and App Exchange. Salesforce.com supports applications or add-ons that are capable of the following functions: Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, Finance and Administration, Human Resources. The latter functions are the necessities to run a business. App Exchange also allows functions like IT Management and Partner Relationship Management. These functions add to the list of services that are necessary or beneficial to running a business