Voting and Participation

According to the United States Bureau of Census, only about 55% of people eligible to vote have voted in the national elections held after every four years since 1960. Despite the fact that voter participation in the elections has recorded a slight increase in the last few decades, participation is still at a lower level when compared to other democracies of the western part of Europe.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Voting and Participation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the recent years, there have been attempts at enhancing voter participation as well as voter turnout through several means. These means include automatic registration of would be voters, installing home mail ballots, and others. Nonetheless, several Americans are wary of the fact that such attempts to enhance voter participation create negative impacts such as fraud as well as voter apathy. The people in support of enhanced voter participat ion have a superior argument compared to those against it since enhanced participation of voters increases the level of self-governance. The United Nations is an effective partner in matters relating to elections and voting. Throughout its functions, it continues to encourage nations to foster voter participation with a goal of improving self-governance. The Voting Right Act of 1965 This refers to a hallmark in the history of America. It is a legislation which ruled out any voting processes that appeared to discriminate against some groups and was the cause for marginalization of African Americans in the United States. This piece of legislation outlawed any federal state from forcing any kind of qualification to a voter or any other essential requirement in a manner that would hinder or obstruct the right of any individual to vote because of issues of race or the color of one’s skin. The then congress had a particular interest in using the act to disregard the process of need ing individuals who were actually qualified to vote to go through literacy tests successfully so as to be allowed to register as voters. This was the major way through which some of the states had denied the African Americans their right to vote. This piece of legislation was signed and enacted into law by the then president Lyndon Johnson. The process of Electing a New President The elections for a new president are normally conducted after a period of four years. The specific day is the first Tuesday of the month of November. This is a standard procedure which has to be followed strictly. There are also requirements for the qualifications of a person who can run for office. He or she should have clocked 35 years. They must also be natives of America and should have stayed there for a period not less than 14 years. Candidates for the presidency are selected through a campaign process which begins a previous year to the actual election year. Candidates announce their quest for offic e and the various parties select their preferred candidates.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More After party nominations, the final candidates conduct their campaigns all over the country in a bid to get more votes to their basket. Voters have to register to vote and this is done early enough. The people should satisfy all the legal requirements as well as age to be allowed to register as voters. Lastly, the president is identified by the number of Electoral College votes he garners and not necessarily the popular vote. This essay on Voting and Participation was written and submitted by user Zuri Lott to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The validity of Thucydides arguments in explaining the actions of Athens in the war

The validity of Thucydides arguments in explaining the actions of Athens in the war The History compiled by Thucydides as the former Athenian general who was accused of losing some of the battles and exiled from his native country remains the main source of historical records on the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens accompanied with their allies.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The validity of Thucydides’ arguments in explaining the actions of Athens in the war specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Though the manner of the presentation the historical data by Thucydides is affected by his Athenian background, his attempts to make his works objective allow the modern historians to evaluate the validity of the arguments provided by the various sides in the Mutilenian debate and the Melian dialogue regardless of the author’s personal views of them. The Mytilenian debate taking place in Athens in 427 BC was focused on choosing the punishment for the revolt in the city-state of Mytilene located on the island of Lesbos. The two contradicting argumentation lines discussed by Thucydides were presented by Cleon who insisted on putting all the Mytilenian adult male population to death and Diodotus who claimed that it would be unwise and offered softer measures (Freeman 1999, 206). Though the Diodotus’ offer was supported by the Athenians, the final remark made by Thucydides concerning the Mytilenians’ escape demonstrates that the historian did not entirely agree with the final solution (Thucydides 2011, 10). Regardless of Thucydides’ claim that his representation of the historical data was unbiased due to his exile, certain moment in his works unveil his prior involvement into the events and a definite position concerning the Athens choices and implemented war strategies. The historian provides a detailed description of the Cleon’s argumentation line (Bolotin 1987, 22). The main arguments outlined by Cleon included the criticism of the debat e in general which resulted in the delay of the punishment for the revolt. Moreover, this speaker claimed that the minor procrastination was to the benefit of the guilty party (Thucydides 2011, 6). Another Cleon’s argument concerned the underlying causes of the Mytilenian revolt. Cleon noted that it was not even a revolt but rather planned aggression which had to be punished respectively (Freeman 1999, 206). Cleon continued that the soft punishment of the Mytilenian population will result in negative implications from the side of the rest of the Athenians’ allies. Cleon’s argument was that the failure to punish the planned and aggressive revolt can cause the growth of revolts in other allies which would not be afraid to doubt the authority of Athens. In general, summing Cleon’s major arguments up, it can be stated that the speaker’s main claim is that the death penalty is the only possible punishment for the revolt of the ally (Bury Meiggs 1975, 2 61).Advertising Looking for essay on ancient history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To emphasize the importance of supporting his motion, Cleon even goes as far as raising the questions of Athens’ strategies in general, admitting that softening the punishment for Mytilenians would mean justifying them, whereas justifying them would imply disapproval of the Athenians’ power and implied strategies in general. As to the argumentation line developed by Diodotus, it should be noted that it was not only more humane, but also more persuasive which resulted in the public approval (Ehrenberg 1973, 367). The major arguments of this speaker were addressing Cleon’s points with the aim of proving the inappropriateness of Cleon’s method to the wide audience. Diodotus’ argumentation line was based upon the assumption that killing the innocent population would not only keep all the allies in fear , but also show them that their condition is desperate which can result in more accurate preparations of their future revolts (Thucydides 2011, 9). Thus, in contrast to Cleon’s argumentation line which was limited with the assumption that the utmost severity is the only possible way of establishing authority, Diodotus obtained a wider view of the possible consequences of implementing the unjust punishment for Mytilenians. Analyzing Cleon’s arguments from a modern perspective, it can be stated that the he as an orator used specific techniques intended to increase the persuasiveness of his speech, whereas most of his arguments can be defined as invalid. There are even particular logical fallacies which can be found in Cleon’s speech, such as the established links between not killing the peaceful population which was not involved into the revolt and the possible revolts in other allies threatening Athenians’ authority in general. As to Diodotus’ argum ents, these were much more valid and it is significant that it was the strategy adopted by the majority. The Melian dialogue dated back to 416/5 BC concerned the submission to the Athenian empire of the island of Melos which was traditionally recognized as one of the Spartan allies.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The validity of Thucydides’ arguments in explaining the actions of Athens in the war specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Regardless of Thucydides’ claim of making the representation of the historical data in is works objective and unbiased, through the analysis of the separate episodes of this dialogue and the chosen argumentation line, the historian’s Athenian background becomes obvious (Murray 1986, 196). In Fine (1983: 490), it was noted that reproducing the Melian dialogue, Thucydides seems to accept the Athenians’ arguments concerning the moral bleakness as the only possible p attern of interstate relations as axioms. The claim that justice is possible only between the equals, while the more powerful states are free to use their might whenever they would like to, is obviously invalid, but blindly accepted by the historian. Not expressing any shades of attitudes directly, Thucydides constructs the dialogue according to his personal priorities. Thus, the largest part of the dialogue is devoted to the argument of the Athenian spokesmen, whereas the assumptions of the Melian leaders are brief though much more valid. The main argument of the Athenian spokesmen concerns the doctrine based on the domination of the stronger state as the only possible doctrine. Thus, proclaiming the principles of democracy inside of their state, Athens rejected the mere possibility of establishing the relationships of equality with their allies. Recognizing their power, Athens do not agree to the offer made by Melians that the island Melos should be on friendly terms with Athens b ut should not be an enemy to any of the sides in the Peloponnesian war (Thucydides 2011, 15). Thus, due to the invalidity of the Athenians’ spokesmen and their unwillingness to listen to consider the assumptions of their opponents made the Melian dialogue ineffective. After the end of the negotiations, neither of the sides changed its position and it can be stated that it was rather the exchange of speeches between the Melian and Athenian leaders, whereas nobody considered the assumption of the opposite side and was not going to reach a compromise. Regardless of the fact that Thucydides’ representation of the historical data still contains certain signs of his personal bias, it can be stated that the historian’s attempts to make his works objective were rather successful, allowing the contemporary critiques to evaluate the validity of the arguments provided by the various sides of the dialogues. Conclusion In general it can be concluded, that disregarding Thucyd ides’s acceptance of the Athenians’ arguments as undeniable axioms, modern critiques can adequately evaluated the invalidity of Cleon’s claims in the Mytilenian debate and the assertions made by the Athenian spokesmen in the Melian dialogue. Reference List Bolotin, D. 1987. â€Å"Thucydides†. In L. Strauss J. Cropsey (eds.) History of political philosophy (pp. 7-32). 3rd edition. Chicago London: University of Chicago Press.Advertising Looking for essay on ancient history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Bury, J.B. Meiggs, R. 1975. A history of Greece, to the death of Alexander the Great. 4th edition. (1st edition, 1900.) Basingstoke London: Macmillan. Ehrenberg, V. 1973. From Solon to Socrates. Greek history and civilisation during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. 2nd edition. London: Methuen. Fine, J. V. A. 1983. The ancient Greeks: A Critical history. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Pp. 470-74, 490-91. Freeman, C. 1999. The Greek achievement: The foundation of the western world. London: Penguin. Pp. 2-3, 206-7. Murray, O. 1986. â€Å"Greek Historians† (Chapter 8). In J. Boardman, J. Griffin and O. Murray (Eds.) The Oxford history of the classical world. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. 195-97 Thucydides. 2011. History of the Peloponnesian war extracts. Melbourne: Trinity College Foundation Studies.

Sense of Lost Love Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sense of Lost Love - Essay Example The paper will take a linear narrative model, where I will start of the application process, outline the steps in the middle of the body, and end the project at the publishing phase. Section 2: The step By step Tutorial Guide The Pre-production Phase Brief The first step in the pre-production step is gathering the information and equipment or requirements needed for the application. I first of all determined the different forms of playback that will be met by the animation. Some of the delivery formats that I considered include the following: Format Resolution (pixels) Frames per Second HDTV (1080i) 1920 x1080 30 HDTV (720p) 1280 x 720 30 DVD 720 x 480 29.97 Web 480 x 320 24 PowerPoint Video 800 x 600 24-30 CD-ROM 640 x 480 24 Print image (8.5† x 11†) 2550 x 3300 N/A Retrieved from, http://www.frameworkmedia.com/pdfs/animation_process.pdf From the above table, it is clear that different formats differ in resolution requirements. I was also required to have an absolute sch edule time and a working budget range. I had to ensure that I provide a quality product in the scheduled deadline, so my aim was to decide on the design budget range prior to storyboarding. Style sheet This part of the pre-production phase included giving the details of graphic images used in my framework and motion graphic. Among the graphic images used were video footages, photographs, and illustrations to get the real image. Of significance also were PowerPoint presentations and supporting market content, prerecorded voice tracks, written narration scripts, court documents, and interviews with graphic experts to get the exact data required. It was essential to shoot video footage or take extra photographs during this period, specifically for complex procedures or animations that called for a high degree of realism and accuracy. Storyboard After I was through with the graphics details, my next step was to initiate the storyboarding procedure to establish what the actions of the gr aphics and how the animation will appear. I used various forms of storyboards, such as detailed drawings and napkin sketches, putting in mind the central visual elements at different points in the animation. In this context, I used the storyboard during the design and production step to generate all the assets and models essential for the animation. The storyboard was also necessary to ensure that all the necessities are met by the time the final animation is produced. A concept of importance that I considered was to set an approximated budget for my project before storyboarding. I used design decisions in the process to shun specifically difficult and unaffordable shots (frameworkmedia.com). Production Constructing the multimedia framework and applying the process The storyboard is now approved, and therefore the production phase sets in. My 3D dimension workflow and model is founded on Autodesk 3D max, a tool most often used in gaming and visual effects companies globally. During construction, the animation assets are modeled or drawn in a number of dimensions. I created my model from scratch in a 3d max. 3d models from the available CAD data to sped up the construction process. Finally, the 3d models illustrated the topology of the equipment that was finally animated. The degree of detail needed for the model was driven by the final resolution image and how near the camera was to the model and the