USA and Puerto Rico Essay Example for Free

USA and Puerto Rico Essay USA is one of the most impressive nations arranged in North America, while Puerto Rico is just the region of the USA, in spite of the fact that with a status of Commonwealth. Puerto Rico is arranged in the northeastern Caribbean. It is important to underline that the idea of political discussions among USA and Puerto Rico is continuous subject inside two states, yet in addition in United Nations. (Morris 1995) The USA is a sacred republic having the most established constitution on the planet. USA government is delegate vote based system and works through the congressional framework determined by Constitution. The legislature is in this manner spoke to by three branches: administrative (Congress is made up Senate and House of Representatives), official (the President and the Cabinet), legal executive (the Supreme Court). (Scott 1983) Puerto Rico has around the comparative government, be that as it may, contrasts are obvious. Puerto Rico’s government is Republican framework comprised of three branches just as the USA’: authoritative (Senate and House of Representatives), official (senator), legal executive (court). The distinction: official branch in USA is president, though in Puerto Rico is senator. (Morris 1995) USA monetary framework is industrialist blended economy introduced by partnerships, private firms and people performing macroeconomic choices. (Scott 1983) Puerto Rico’s economy can be depicted as horticultural, though in USA the farming assumes a minor job. USA biggest monetary part is administrations utilizing 75% of work power. The nation is wealthy in regular assets, for example, valuable metals, oil and coal. (Scott 1983) Puerto Rico doesn’t have so solid monetary potential and its primary donor is crops, particularly sugar. Be that as it may, the monetary conditions in the nation have been improved because of interests in innovation, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. (Morris) all in all it is important to state that USA contrasted and Puerto Rico has more grounded monetary and political potential and progressively huge impact on worldwide scale. (Morris 1995) References Morris, Nancy. (1995). Puerto Rico: Culture, Politics, and Identity. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Scott, John Anthony. (1983). The Ballad of America: The History of the United States in Song and Story. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society

Generalizations are the developments set by society which happen to be the check with which citizenry measure themselves up. These assignments come up because of the various leveled structures in the general public which characterize ones situation in that society and for the most part depend on preference. They depend on decisions and that it is time that brings them out (New 577).Advertising We will compose a custom article test on Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More For example there is the social separation whereby an individual either has a place with the higher economic wellbeing (predominant) or the low social class (substandard). The two gatherings have huge descriptors with which they portray the other. For instance, those in the high social class portray those from the low class as moronic, apathetic and heaps of other negative descriptive words. Then again those in the high social class are believed to be d edicated, clever thus numerous other positive descriptors. Structures of intensity in the public eye do to an extraordinary arrangement impact generalizing in the public eye. For example the instance of Coffey and his family are outsiders into Canada in Brian Moore’s tale The Luck of Ginger Coffey. Having settled in Canada, as a people of the foreigner network, they are guests and along these lines nearness to openings for work are a significant test. This is declined by the instructive foundation of Ginger (New 577). In this manner it very well may be seen that a person’s level of instruction can be a determinant in the sort of openings for work to their introduction. Training is given a need to be a determinant of the sort of employment an individual can get to. Society has along these lines generalized steady employments for example cushy occupations to be accessible to those with high scholastic capabilities and those without capability or less capability land hand s on positions. This imbalance of intensity prompts social generalizing of openings for work. Sex developments are likewise planned by society whereby the general public settles on who is to do what and to what degree subsequently highlighting practices in the public eye. For instance, in the family set up, a man is the normal provider of the family and in this way when a family neglects to make progress in the social structure, at that point the man is the one to be accused for that family’s disappointment. The desires for society are along these lines reflected in conduct, values displayed by the two people, jobs played by the two sexes the two of which have no sexual or natural affiliations (New 575). By not having the option to give enough to his family, Ginger can be viewed as a bombed man and subsequently bombed marriage since his significant other feels free to get hitched to Gerry Grosvenor who is better positioned to deal with her beyond what Ginger can. A man is in this manner delineated as the person who is to decide the bearing which his family is to take taking into account being monetarily stable.Advertising Looking for paper on sociologies? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The group of Ginger imagines that life on the opposite side of Montreal is far obviously superior to life in Ireland. This prompts their migration from Ireland to Canada. Their desires are so high with the end goal that they anticipate that life should end up being acceptable short-term. On the opposite this never occurs. This can be related with the normal simple â€Å"living the American dream† whereby effective life is believed to be programmed with intersection the guests into the â€Å"promised land† yet once they arrive; life shows up for the most noticeably terrible. They are met by the way of life stun as well as with the cost that accompanies embracing to the timetables of life there. In a half year, life has not changed for this family and significantly subsequent to attempting so much it isn't beating that (New 608). This applies to the current occasions whereby, life in the western nations has been generalized to be better than life in different pieces of the world which has prompted the deluge of individuals toward the western nations. Be that as it may, when workers arrive, it ends up being as troublesome as they could have never envisioned all the more particularly with regards to settling down and landing positions. It is far more atrocious when entire families move to these western nations. Life over the long haul ends up being a bad dream. Ginger and his family accordingly discover life troublesome and battle for endurance doing unspecialized temp jobs to a great extent. The Irish individuals are likewise thought to be nationalistic and Catholicism, along these lines Grosvenor expects that every single Irish individuals carry on and act similarly: â€Å"big oted, deceitful and customary and furthermore inventive, sentimental and innovative (New 582)†. The generalized ordinary Irish man has accordingly both the positive and negative traits. The adverse traits are seen through the individuals Grosvenor meets before the Coffeys and the positive properties are seen through the Coffeys.Those before the Coffeys are believed to be ardent Nationalists just as training Catholicism carefully. This clarifies the character related with a specific gathering of individuals particularly through their character towards what they unequivocally have confidence in. As represented in the story, the Irish individuals are related with Catholicism and which perhaps could have been taken adversely by others in the public eye who may have started from different foundations. Religion in this setting is hence observed to be related with a specific gathering of individuals which recognizes them from others. Energy then again is drawing out the character att ribute of the Irish as being nationalistic accordingly clarifying the reality about social generalizing. The social setting during which this content was composed endorsed sexual orientation jobs and directed the jobs of the two people in the public arena. At the point when the Ginger family moved to Montreal, Ginger planned for supporting and accommodating his family enough and furthermore making something for himself (New 583), Veronica considers him to be the one to help the family and Paulie imagines that daddies are the ones to land positions so as to help their families.Advertising We will compose a custom paper test on Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is the motivation behind why he is prepared to make a solid effort to satisfy his little girl and spouse. He is resolved that things will be alright some time or another and clutches the expectation that he will end up being a writer and have the option t o win his significant other back. So when Veronica shows worry over finding a new line of work, he doesn't care for the thought and feels that her job ought to be as a home producer since that is the thing that society had planned to make ladies to be. Ginger detests the way that Veronica has found a new line of work as a business woman; he even says that she won’t think that its simple attempting to turn into a provider. Along these lines, we can say that at the time it was very unreasonable for a lady to take care of her family since society had characterized sex jobs having a place with the two guys and females that is the reason it was difficult for Ginger to be persuaded that his better half could leave the limits of home and go out to work. Veronica finds money related autonomy and opportunity when she can accommodate her family for instance purchasing new things for Paulie and by and large accommodating the entire family all in all. This surprises Ginger so much yet re gardless her family turns out to be monetarily and monetarily freed. She would now be able to bear the cost of another look also in light of the fact that she has got great garments and to crown everything has consumed another space in another social setting. This draws out significantly increasingly unique importance to sexual orientation jobs in the public eye. This family now with the assistance of Veronica is far much happier than it was before she found a new line of work (New 591) this can best shade light on the significance of the two people endeavoring to praise each other in all angles in order to help in the raising of a family. Society ought to along these lines permit the two people assume equivalent jobs where conceivable so as to carry this to a reality. With her own activity where she is manager over her pay she even changes her haircut and wore make-up which makes her significantly progressively complex and wonderful something Ginger finds in her himself a similar s ociety which the content depicts is a general public whereby a lady ought not leave her better half for another man paying little mind to any circumstance and condition. Confronted with the danger of a bombed marriage Ginger discovers comfort in conventional qualities whereby the perfect family should stay together consistently. Paulie likewise shares in a similar assumption that â€Å"Catholics shouldn't divorce.† With the substance of issues in their marriage, Paulie goes about as the connection among them through whom they convey. This fundamentally shows the significance of youngsters in a family set up. They can help in taking care of issues in a family and become a motivation behind why families can be held together even with difficulties of separation and separation.Advertising Searching for exposition on sociologies? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More Society has in this way recommended it that families, particularly Christian families are to remain together. With the issue of separation coming up, Ginger will in general reprimand his better half for what is befalling them, he doesn't consider it to be an issue of his creation since he considers the to be as the wellspring of the issues that face them. The two people should transcend the social preferences so as to draw out their possibilities to praise each other for their own advantage all the more particularly in a family set up. With the ascent of woman's rights mindfulness whereby ladies try to free themselves from the customary burdens of pride all the more particularly in men, they ought to be bolstered by the entire society in light of the fact that their position is as useful as that of m

Providing Positive Reinforcement for Autistic Students

Providing Positive Reinforcement for Autistic Students Practical and easy-to-follow advice for providing positive behavioral reinforcement to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Written by noted ASD researcher and expert Dr. Janine Stichter, this resource includes an overview of reinforcement concepts, a breakdown of the levels of reinforcement, and more than 10 hands-on tips for providing positive reinforcement in classroom and one-on-one settings. If you're struggling to find ways to give positive reinforcement, or just need some fresh tips and suggestions, this resource is an excellent way to foster and reinforce positive classroom behavior with students who have ASD. Subjects: Social and Emotional Development (114) Social Skills (46) Mental Health (43) TYPE: Teaching Resource (1,011) iSocial, the University of Missouri, and the  Thompson Center for Autism and  Neurodevelopmental Disorders. The 32 lessons developed as part of this research-based collaboration have proven  efficacy in helping children with autism develop socialization skills. Seven years of research and studies in 60 schools  show that significant improvements can be made. For more information on how you can help children with autism and  support school requirements, please visit the iSocial website.?

Learning Styles and Skills

Romeo And Juliet Tragic Hero - 1306 Words

In Shakespeare’s classic play, Romeo and Juliet, the prologue refers to the title characters as â€Å"star-cross’d lovers† with a â€Å"death-mark’d love†, showing that the two are doomed from the start (Shakespeare 3). Being from two opposing families that are in a never-ending feud, Romeo and Juliet s love is forbidden. However, throughout the novel, the lovers defy their parents and pursue their fast-forming love with the help of supporting characters, such as Friar Lawrence, who are seemingly presented as beneficial characters that help the story progress. However, it can be argued that these †beneficial characters† are actually interfering with their relationship, and are a key factor in contributing to their deaths. Although fate is seemingly†¦show more content†¦Therefore, fate was not a major role in Romeo’s tragic death— rather, it was his flawed character traits that governed his choices. After receiving news of Juliet’s â€Å"death† from Balthasar, Romeo reacts immediately instead of taking a moment to reflect on what happened to her, as shown when he tells Balthasar, â€Å"Is it e’en so? then I defy you, stars! / Thou knowest my lodging. Get me ink and paper / And hire post-horses. I will hence tonight† (5.1.24-26). A few lines later, after Balthasar exits, Romeo says to himself, â€Å"Noting this penury, to myself I said / ‘And if a man did need a poison now / Whose sale is present death in Mantua [†¦],’† immediately deciding that he would poison himself rather than live in a world without Juliet (5.1.49-51). Even Balthasar recognizes Romeo’s impatient nature when he tells him, â€Å"I do beseech you, sir, have patience† (5.1.27). Although Romeo is a flawed character, Juliet loves him unconditionally and is exceptionally loyal to him— a trait that led to her demise. Like Romeo, Juliet has an immediate positive reaction when she first sees Romeo, stating â€Å"My only love, sprung from my only hate! [...] Prodigious birth of love it is to me / That I mustShow MoreRelatedRomeo and Juliet Tragic Hero Essay748 Words   |  3 PagesTragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare. For a play to be a tragedy there must be a tragic hero. In Shakespeare plays, tragedy is identified as a story that ends unhappily due to the fall of the protagonist, which is the tragic. In this play there are two tragic heroes. Romeo and Juliet are both the tragic heroes. To be a tragic hero they must be from a high estate, have a tragic flaw, and the tragic flaw is the cause of their downfall. A tragic hero must be fromRead MoreThe Tragic Hero in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Essay761 Words   |  4 PagesIn William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is a tragic hero.† This is according to Aristotle’s definition, a tragic hero is a character â€Å"who is neither completely good nor completely bad, but also a member of royalty.† Romeo is a tragic hero because he does many good things, but many bad things, as well. For example, he is a Montague and he marries Juliet, who is a Capulet. This is prohibited, so Romeo is bad. However, Romeo does everything he can to keep Juliet happy and risks his lifeRead MoreRomeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare818 Words   |  3 Pagesgiven credit for the popularizing of tragedies, causing a tragic hero to be seen as a reputable character. In Shakespeare’s story â€Å"Romeo and Juliet,† two ill-fated lovers are caught between the bitter hatred of their two families. Knowing their par ents would never approve, Romeo and Juliet struggle to keep their love a secret. Though the story ends in what most people would view as a tragedy, Romeo fails to meet the characteristics of a tragic hero established by Aristotle, who first created the literaryRead MoreConventions of a Shakespeare Tragedy1189 Words   |  5 Pagesare tragic hero with a tragic flaw, anti-hero, tragic fall, fate, and supernatural. A convention is something in Shakespeare that has a certain effect. The tragic hero always has a tragic flaw. A tragic hero cannot be a hero unless he has a tragic flaw. The tragic flaw brings the downfall of the hero. Othello is the tragic hero, because Othello is a character of nobility. He is good at the beginning but at the end he starts to become evil. ‘‘Othello’s downfall is jealousy (Othello’s Tragic Flaw)Read MoreImpulsiveness In Romeo And Juliet719 Words   |  3 PagesIn Shakespeares tragic play Romeo and Juliet the character of Romeo possess traits that exemplify himself as a tragic hero. Through the play, his impatience and impulsiveness pin him as a Tragic hero. Falling in love too fast, reacting without thinking and bringing down other with himself factors that lead to the downfall of Romeo and prove him as a Tragic hero. When we are first introduced to Romeo in this play he is heartbroken over a woman named Rosaline. In act one scene one Benvolio, is askedRead MoreElements that Make a Tragic Hero in Shakespeares Works Essay1117 Words   |  5 PagesElements that Make a Tragic Hero in Shakespeares Works In all of Shakespeares tragedies, the hero must suffer and in some if not most cases, die. What makes a tragic hero? One has to be a man of high estate: a king, a prince or an officer of some high rank. It was common practice for Shakespeare to tell of his tragic hero through the voices of others around his hero. This way we can understand his conflicts, his struggles, and flaws. Usually the heros own actions and obsessions bringRead MoreTragic Hero in Othelo by William Shakespeare996 Words   |  4 Pagesall very much alike. He has written many plays including Othello and Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare was a man who wrote plays that followed the same literary conventions. These conventions included tragic hero, fallacy, irony, and also suspense. A tragic hero is a male figure who is high in society and one who always has a tragic flaw. Most of them are rich and intelligent men. In the story of Othello, Othello is the tragic hero. He was a character of nobility. He was a high in class and had highRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet1139 Words   |  5 Pageswith immature and impulsive characteristics. The tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, written by the well-known author William Shakespeare centers on a corrupt society and the romance of two young lovers, each a member of one of the feuding families, the Capulets and the Montagues. The importance of wealth, status and pride in society causes each of the family’s to disregard and neglect the new love formed by their immature children, Romeo and Juliet. The neglectful decisions created by the familiesRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet987 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is centered around the tragic story of tw o â€Å"star-cross’d lovers†. A tragedy is a dramatic story that chronicles the downfall or death of a tragic hero. Tragedies usually depict the causes of a tragic hero’s downfall, which are most commonly a tragic choice or a tragic flaw. There is often some sort of greater power at play in tragedies, like fate. A key aspect of tragedies is both fate and free will leading to the downfall of a tragic hero. In William Shakespeare’sRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet Essay1591 Words   |  7 Pagesreaders than others. Romeo and Juliet, the tragic story of two â€Å"star-cross’d lovers† (Shakespeare, 5) who pursue their love for each other despite the feud between their families, is considered by some to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest works; however, the question of whether it is his greatest tragedy remains under dispute. This play is different from other Shakespearean tragedies in that in several ways, it does not fit the traditional characteristics or structure of a tragic work. It can be feasibly

Aristotelian Tragedy Macbeth Free Essays

Aristotelian Tragedy: Macbeth Aristotle is known widely for developing his ideas on tragedy. He recorded these ideas in his Poetics in which he comments on the plot, purpose, and effect that a true tragedy must have. The structure of these tragedies has been an example for many writers including Shakespeare himself. We will write a custom essay sample on Aristotelian Tragedy Macbeth or any similar topic only for you Order Now Many of Shakespeare’s plays follow Aristotelian ideas of tragedy, for instance Macbeth does a decent job in shadowing Aristotle’s model. Aristotle describes one of the most important elements of a tragedy to be a tragic hero. The tragic hero however must present certain qualities such as nobility and virtue. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth is a perfect example of a tragic hero. Macbeth begins the play coming home from battle, he is said to have fought with great courage and King Duncan himself awards him the title of the thane of Cawdor in reward for his bravery. The qualities make Macbeth a tragic hero as he possesses not only a noble title, but also the assets of a great warrior and hero. However, Aristotle emphasizes that if the tragic hero was as perfect as he seems than the audience would not be able to identify with him and this would not be considered a tragedy. Macbeth shows us his humanity very early in the play when he learns that Malcolm, Duncan’s son, will be the heir to the throne of Scotland. In response, Macbeth acknowledges that he himself should be awarded the crown and will not rest until royalty is his. Macbeth is an ambitious character, which is a quality that many humans can identify with. This ambitiousness is known as Macbeth’s tragic flaw. This leads to Aristotle’s next component of a tragedy, the tragic flaw. The hero’s tragic flaw must lead to the downfall of the character; his demise can be caused by no one other than himself. Macbeth’s ambitious personality leads him to become caught up in attaining power for himself. Macbeth’s ruthless behavior causes him to commit murder to Duncan in order to gain kingship. Even after his wish comes true, he continues to sacrifice the lives of others, including his close friend Banquo, to assure that he never loses his throne. However, Macbeth does not go unpunished as he suffers countless dreams and illusions that drive him to insanity. The loss of his wife also brings Macbeth to his final denouement. In the end, Macbeth is killed by Macduff; because of his arrogance he believed he was invincible even after being told his fate. Macbeth reaches his end through the same way he lived his life, through murder and deception. Many argue over the fairness of Macbeth’s life, but the goal of a tragedy in Aristotle’s view point is to strike fear and pity in the audience through harsh punishment upon the hero in extreme ways. Finally, Aristotle claims that in order for a tragedy to be effective, the fear and pity must be released from the audience through catharsis. First the tragic hero must gain some knowledge from his tragic life. Macbeth shows this self-realization in his ‘yellow leaf’ soliloquy when he expresses remorse for his actions. Also, in the end he knows he must fight until the end whether his fate is death. At this point the audience is cleansed of the emotions of the plot and the tragedy is finished. Macbeth is a primary example of a typical Aristotelian tragedy. It follows the structure necessary from the tragic hero, to his downfall and ultimately to the catharsis necessary for an original Greek drama. The aspects of this play are a perfect example of the tragedies of that era. How to cite Aristotelian Tragedy Macbeth, Essay examples

Palamon and Arcite Essay Example

Palamon and Arcite Paper Duke Theseus of Athens wins the country of the Amazons and marries Queen Hippolyta, taking her and her beautiful sister Emelye back to Athens. To his amazement, he sees women wailing, but not because of his return. These women have lost their husbands during the siege of Thebes, and Thebes cruel tyrant Creon refuses to bury the bodies. Theseus immediately vows revenge and rides to Thebes, where he vanquishes Creon and returns their husbands bones to the women. In a pile of bodies, pillagers find the young royal Theban knights Palamon and Arcite, who are cousins. They are still alive. Theseus sends them to Athens to be imprisoned for life, and returns home. Locked in a tower, Palamon one May morning sees Emelye walking in the garden, and falls instantly and madly in love with her. As he explains his love to Arcite, his cousin also spies Emelye and he too is captured by her beauty. immediately the cousins, who have been as close as brothers since birth, become sworn enemies over the love of Emelye. Another duke, Perotheus, arrives in Athens to visit Duke Theseus. Perotheus also knows Arcite well, and when he hears the knight is Theseus prisoner, he begs for Arcites release. We will write a custom essay sample on Palamon and Arcite specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Palamon and Arcite specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Palamon and Arcite specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Theseus agrees on condition that Arcite never be seen in any of Theseus lands, on pain of death. So Arcite returns to Thebes, heartbroken that he can never again see Emelye. At least Palamon, locked in the tower, can look at her, he moans. Meanwhile Palamon sighs that he is wretched, but lucky Arcite can gather an army in Thebes and return to conquer Athens to win the lady. Finally Arcite cant stand it anymore and risks returning to Athens to see Emelye. He is so pale and thin from lovesickness that hes unrecognizable, so he is able to become a page at Theseus court, still worshipping Emelye from afar. One morning Arcite is walking in a grove, exclaiming how unfair it is that he cant even disclose his identity. What he doesnt know is that Palamon has escaped from prison and is overhearing every word from behind a bush. He leaps out and vows to kill Arcite for loving Emelye. The two agree to meet the next day and fight to the death, but when they do, Theseus, Queen Hippolyta, and Emelye happen along and see the battle. Palamon tells Theseus the whole story, declares his and Arcites love for Emelye, and admits they both should die for disobeying him. Theseus has pity and declares a tournament joust instead. Each knight may enlist one hundred other knights and whoever wins the battle shall have Emelye. Palamon prays to Venus, goddess and planet of love. Arcite prays to Mars, god of war. In the heavens, Saturn promises Venus that her favorite, Palamon, shall win. Palamon is captured in the tournament, and Arcite wins. But as Arcite comes forward to accept Emelye, Saturn shakes the ground so that Arcites horse falls and kills him. As he dies, Arcite asks Emelye to have pity on Palamon if she ever marries. Years pass, and when mourning for Arcite is over, Theseus declares that the world must go on. He orders Emelye and Palamon to be married, since Palamon has suffered so long for her love. With this happy event, the tale ends. THESEUS, the wise duke, is firm but fair. We have a picture of him as the strong conqueror, but also as the figure who, like God, dispenses justice along with mercy. For this reason, some have seen Theseus as the major character in the Knights Tale. He personifies the idea of just and reasonable leadership. Its no accident that he rules Athens, the ancient center of learning and reason. He conquers the Amazon nation because it is fitting that a man should be the higher power over women. (This is according to the ideal of knighthood, not necessarily Chaucers own view. As we shall see, Chaucer pokes fun at some of the courtly conventions even though he greatly admires the Narrator-Knights behavior. ) Theseus is the representative of order, throughout the tale making a great show of ceremonies and gamessuch as the joust and the hunting of the hartthat are played by ordered rules. ARCITE believes that Theseus is not really his mortal enemy, nor is his cousin Palamon. But Arcite is the favorite of Mars, the god of war, so he does not listen to reason. Instead he follows his own willingness, which first leads him to go against his cousin, then against his own good fortune. Imagine having your life savedtwice, no lessand cursing your luck because you are set free rather than put to death. We are meant to see Arcite as a man foolish in his willfulness. He is blind to his good fortune: he even complains about men who bemoan fortunes twists, which is exactly what hes doing. Because of Mars he wins the joust, but he does not realize that fortune is changeable. Only at his death does he begin to see reason and ends the grudge hes been holding for so long against Palamon. Does PALAMON get the lady Emelye because hes the better, more valiant knight? He certainly is valiant in the joustit takes twenty men to capture himand he is the one who tells Theseus the truth about Arcites identity and their shared love for Emelye. But where Arcite is overly willful, Palamon refuses to put any stock at all in peoples ability to change their situations. He languishes in jail, believing that man is bounden to Gods observaunce. While some readers think that both men are ideal knights from a popular romance, others think Chaucer intended irony in their descriptions, and that indeed neither one of them is worthy of the lady. Or you might think that both are equally worthy, since each has his faults and blind spots yet sincerely upholds what he thinks is right. What about EMELYE, the object of affection in all this? For its hard to see her as much more than an object. Part of the humor of the Knights Tale comes from the fact that these two knights are pining away over beautiful Emelye for years, while she doesnt yet know they exist. They are ready to kill each other over her, yet we discover that she would rather stay a virgin than marry either one of them. We may not be quite sure how to take her because we see her only through the eyes of the two knights, who see her in different ways. A hint may be in the way she accepts the dictates of Diana, the goddess of chastity, that she must marry; and so she casts a freendlich eye on Arcite when he wins her hand. In general, were told, women follow the favour of fortune (line 1824), as the products of nature do.

The Japanese Internment essays

The Japanese Internment essays Throughout history, Canada has relatively been a supporter of multiculturalism. In the past Canada has had very few racial conflict, although there has been one incident which has had quite a controversial effect about human rights violations and discrimination. This thorn in Canada's side is the Japanese Internment which took place during the second world war. The Japanese Internment took place between the years of 1941 and 1949. At the time most of the Japanese population was concentrated in British Columbia, on the West Coast of Canada. The Japanese first immigrated to Canada to work on the rail road in 1900. By 1921 the Japanese population numbered nearly 16000 people and had possessed nearly half of the fishing licenses in British Columbia. In 1941 23000 Japanese were living throughout Canada. On December 7 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After the attack there government took all Japanese owned boats, radios, and cameras. After the public pressured the government, and they took action and the government moved all Japanese from a 100 mile wide security strip along the B.C. coast. Later the government gave a further statement that declared that all people of Japanese origin were considered aliens until the end of World War II. In the first year of the war the 21000 Japanese who were affected by the war regulations, were sent to various provinces across Canada. The government assured the provinces that the Japanese would stay in agriculture and would be removed after the war, at the provinces request. The remaining 12000 Japanese were taken to Interior Housing Centers in the middle of B.C. These housing centers consisted of four abandoned mining towns and two completely new communities. During the internment the Canadian Government claimed all the Japanese's land and possessions and sold them for a factor of the original cost. The government called this land claim's. ...

Frequency Definition in Science

Frequency Definition in Science In the most general sense, frequency is defined as the number of times an event occurs per unit of time. In physics and chemistry, the term frequency is most often applied to waves, including light, sound, and radio. Frequency is the number of times a point on a wave passes a fixed reference point in one second. The period or duration of time of a cycle of a wave is the reciprocal (1 divided by) of frequency. The SI unit for frequency is the Hertz (Hz), which is equivalent to the older unit cycles per second (cps). Frequency is also known as cycles per second or temporal frequency. The usual symbols for frequency are the  Latin letter  f  or the Greek letter ÃŽ ½ (nu). Examples of Frequency Although the standard definition of frequency is based on events per second, other units of time may be used, such as minutes or hours. For example, a human heart may beat at a frequency of 68 beats per minute.A 78 record on a turntable turns at the rate of 78 revolutions per minute or 78 rpm.

Consumer Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Consumer Psychology - Essay Example It determines for the consumer, how he sees himself. Personal self image is formed by the sense of identity, the feelings of self worth and self esteem (Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel, 2006). It can be explained as what qualities and attributes, one associate to his personality in order to define himself. This self-concept of an individual can be reflected through the choices he makes for himself. These choices are not just related to the decisions he made in his routinely life but this can be observed by every single gesture that he makes. Each action of an individual makes a specific statement about that person. While determining personal self-concept, the choices of products that one makes, also reveal much about a consumer and his needs. For example, a smoker, who has a personal self image about himself, to be a kind of a person who likes to be isolated, aloof, and lonely with nature or he associates himself to the cow-boyish image, he would rather prefer to have Malboro cigarettes. He would feel himself much related to Malboro’s brand and its advertisements. He would associate with that brand personality in a much better manner than any other consumer not having such attributes (Gehrt & Yan, 2004). Social self concept can be described as how consumers feel that others and society see them. This is how society interprets a person’s image and how society evaluates the choices of products and services made by an individual (De Mooij, 2011). For example if a husband chooses to gift his wife a Tiffany’s diamond ring on their anniversary publically in a party, then people would make an image about that husband, as him to be a very caring, loving and concerned husband. This is how consumer of a product would feel people think of himself. There is another concept that lies within the domains of social self concept is the ideal social self image, this concept is defined as an individual’s desire to

LEARNING STYEL ENGLISH Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

LEARNING STYEL ENGLISH - Essay Example n easy job especially as it requires a lot of patience and practice but it can be made easier and the goal can be achieved quickly if the teaching style is made according to the learning style of an individual and this is what Strategic Inventory Learning Language is all about. Learning of language in the best way can be done by first recognizing our own learning style and then working on that pattern. Learning styles can be observed by an individual or simply by the learning style checklist. Mostly our learning styles are developed at very early stages may be at pre-school time or elementary school years. I found out from the learning style checklist that I am a Visual Learner meaning that my learning abilities are best with the aid of pictures, graphs and images. I believe this is because from the very beginning of my schooling my parents and teachers emphasized on teaching me through practical means rather than just reading books. Usually our learning styles are at sub-conscious level therefore before working to improve learning abilities it is important to recognize our style. A strategic inventory for language learning is a formalized tool that answers the question of what method is best for one particular learner, or group of learners, to learn a foreign language. According to the author Strategic Inventory Learning Language is grouped into five strategies which are memory strategy, cognitive strategy, compensation strategy, meta-cognitive strategy, affective strategy and social strategy (Griffiths and Parr 251). Usually we follow one or two of the strategies sub-consciously. To realize our strategy we can observe our learning and studying habits or simply fill the SILL questionnaire. I found out that my sub-conscious SILL is Cognitive Strategies; which is that I read for pleasure in English to increase my vocabulary and to ensure quick and right sentence formation, also I try to find patterns in English which enables me to easily converse in the language.

Essay --

bizarre genetic disease that seems to accelerate ageing could hold the key to longer lives for children with progeria.Progeria is an extremely rare, fatal genetic condition which causes babies to age quickly. Progeria was first described in an academic journal by Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson in 1886 and also by Dr. Hasting Gilford in 1897 both man was from England (Nordqvist 1). After discovering the two people they later came up with a new name for Progeria called Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS). Today in life there 53 cases of Progeria around the world and only 2 in the UK.1 in every 4 to 8 million babies are born with Progeria. Progeria effect all race equal boys and girls. As newborn, children with Progeria usually appear normal at birth. However, within a year their growth rate slows and they soon are much smaller and weigh less than other children they age. Then later they begin to accelerate aging and some signs of progeria may start. Growth failure, Loss of body, Loss of hair, Skin starts to look aged, Stiffness in the joint, Hip dislocation, Generalized atherosclerosis, and stroke are all symptoms that child with Progeria will have. Children who suffer from Progeria are genetically susceptible to premature, progressive heart disease (Davis 2). Progeria appears to occur without cause and it is not seen in siblings of affected children. Children with Progeria have a surprisingly appearance. 90% of children with Progeria have a mutation on the gene that encodes Lamin A, a protein that holds the nucleus of the cell together (Conley 4). Lamin A protein makes the nucleus stable it leads to the process of premature aging among Progeria patients. Experts do not believe that Progeria is hereditary. In about 1 in ev... ...yday because you they never know when they might lose them. Progeria is not usually passed down in family. Children with Progeria often suffer from symptoms typically seen in elderly people (Davis1). People inherit the disease only one copy of the LMNA gene is enough to cause the disease because it is an autosomal dominant gene. The Progeria Research Foundation was created in 1999. Progeria does have parallels with normal ageing; at least in one key aspect how out blood vessels deteriorate. Researchers found that a drug known as rapamyein slowed and even stopped the disease progression the cells. Progeria only affected newborn babies. Progeria is a very rare disease that no one knows where it comes from. Research today is still haven’t come up with a way to stop the cure for Progeria. Some research found a way to make Progeria patients live longer then the age 13.

Impacts of Motivation in Employee Performance Essay

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Back Ground of the Study The study was attempted to investigate analytically the major causes of employees’ motivation in Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. To accomplish this, the research was considered to take appropriate data that relevant to the problem. Since, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia is the major sector that supports the current development of Ethiopia economy and the five years of transformation plan, so it should be better to take study to identify the major causes that affects of employees’ motivation toward their work and to propose necessary tools of solution to mitigate the problem. This will be at least a solution currently and in the future for the organization. The major initiatives to conduct this study are also one of the researchers is working in Commercial Bank of Ethiopia that observe most of employees are not satisfied or motivated to work. This forced the rest researchers to examine the basic problems of human resource management unable to conduct how frequently motivate emp loyees’ in the existing work place using financial and non financial tools. If this problems not solved, it may affects the image of the organization, belongingness workers etc†¦gradually. Considering this, it should be necessary to conduct study to identify the major causes of employees’ dissatisfaction in their work place that affects motivation, and the drawback of motivation packages relative to the image of the organization and its strategic plan which is to be â€Å"Classic Bank In The World†. To do an extensive study, the researcher performed methodological ways of gathering data pursuant to the problems and objective of the study paper. The employees are one of the vital resources or ingredient that will help organization to achieve its objectives. Employees supply their talents, knowledge, skill and experience towards to the achievement of organizational objectives. To get maximum performance from employees, the organization must have the necessary motivational scheme that encourages employees for better performance. Optimizing performance of employees by motivational factors is challenging and sensitive due to uniqueness of working force which came to organization from different socio-economical background. Performances of motivated employees create high productivity, innovativeness and good attitudes towards the organizations. There is a relationship between motivational factors and some facts of the employees behavior such as performance, turnover, absenteeism, poor attendance, willingness to do more, creativity, flexibility, and commitment to the organization. So motivation has important implications because it affects the individual quality of work, life, and performance. Therefore, managers are expected to have necessary skill on how to motivate employees. Commercial Bank of Ethiopia as a service rendering organization thereby maximizing its profit, its quality of service is highly determined by devotion of its employees. Therefore, the bank has to give importance to the recruitment of educated employees, to staff training and the improvement of workers’ benefit packages. Besides, it has to revise its benefit package with a view to motivating its staff towards greater efficiency and competence. In general, the study was focused on to investigate the real causes of employees’ dissatisfaction at their work place in the Bank and its impacts toward the image, rest of employees’ belongingness. 1.2 Back Ground of the Organization Currently, the Commercial Bank Ethiopia (CBE) has 15 district offices and above 300 branches throughout the country serving as market outlets. As the largest bank and development partner of the Ethiopian Government, the CBE has transferred Birr 1.23 Billion in 2008 1 to the coffers/treasure of the state. In 2005/2006, the market share of the Bank was 24% and 76% for credit extension and deposit mobilization, in that order. The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) is the leading Bank in the country. It has over 8,600 employees and close to 2 million accounts holders throughout the country, and total asset of Birr 73.7billion, total deposit and other liabilities of Birr 56.1 billion and outstanding loans of Birr 22.9 billion, and close to 70 years of solid accumulated banking experience. The CBE is in the forefront of the banking industry in meeting the financial needs of the various sectors, sub-sectors and ongoing varied investment projects in the economy. It has diversified credit portfolio with loan facilities extended ranging from farmers’ cooperatives to commercial farmers and large manufacturing and construction project. Commercial Bank of Ethiopia currently has given services for customers such as Deposit, Loan service, foreign currency service etc†¦ The CBE has a vision to be world a worldwide class commercial bank by 2025.It has also set a strategy of exceeding customers and stake holder’s expectation through service excellence and business growth supporting the development efforts in the country. Commercial Bank of Ethiopia currently played a great role for the development of the economy to achieve the million goal of the country. (CBE Public Relations Documentation, 2011). 1.3 Statement of the Problem It is obvious that currently Commercial Bank of Ethiopia is a major blood for the current economic growth of Ethiopia. In order to fulfill this, the company mobilized big amount of foreign and domestic currency to facilitate and support high investment process in the economy. To perform effectively this, the firm should have well developed human resource management tools to enhance the work forces motivation toward their work which help to create loyal and belonging employees in the work area. This has a direct relationship with the service quality level to satisfy the existing and prospect customers. Moreover to introduce new and modern type of working system throughout the organization, there should be also a sound strategy of workers motivation program, which helps to increase workers retention in the bank. Organizations that only focus on its goal, without considering the factors of employees motivation toward their works has become a cause of fragility of the business in the long run. In this essence, employees that are not satisfied in their organization could not be initiated to exert more efforts effectively in the organization, instead they will look for other opportunities externally and vote with their feet by moving their allegiance to competitors, and this will affect the firms in the long run. The outcomes of the research will help the organization to take the necessary corrective measurements in the future and to revise its motivation strategy of employees. Because of the above major problems, the existing employees’ lack confidence on the bank. Moreover, the bank faces problem of employees’ turnover due to lack of effective motivation, this also results in high cost of getting experienced employees and recruiting of new one. Therefore; regarding the above problem, the study attempted to respond the following basic research questions. 1.What is the feeling and attitudes of employees towards to motivational factors used in Commercial Bank of Ethiopia? 2.What are the consequences of job dis-satisfaction in Commercial Bank of Ethiopia? 3.What are the consequences of lack of motivated employees’ performance? 4.What is the effect of motivation on employees’ loyalty to the organization? 5.What kind of action should be taken by the bank to increase employees’ motivation toward work areas? 6.What are the basic factors for employees’ motivation in the work area? Is it financial or non financial benefits? 1.4 Objective of the study Due to lack of effective motivation, most employees are dissatisfied to their work place; this creates desperate work forces that perform their work till to get other opportunities of work in order to get the root of the problem the study set the following objectives. General objective The general objective of the study was to identify the causes and impacts of lack of employees’ motivation and to identify the basic causes of dissatisfaction of employees to ward their work, which aggravated lack of employees’ motivation. Specific Objective †¢To indicate which is the basic factors for lack of employees motivation currently in the bank †¢To show the relation between lack of employees’ motivation impacts and employees’ turnover. †¢To assess the potential consequences of lack of employees’ motivation in the Bank. †¢ To set appropriate recommendation for the problem based on the findings. 1.5 Significance of the study The study identified the major causes of employees’ dissatisfaction, which is a major factor that affects motivation of employees at the work area. The outcomes of the research help to increase employees’ satisfaction at their works that support to increase the service level of customers’ satisfaction. Moreover, increase of work force motivation has also a direct relationship to minimize turnover in the bank. The other advantages of increase of motivation of employees at the work area are enables employees to enhance their loyalty for the organization and at the same time employees’ belongingness increase. This also helps for the reputation of the image of the bank. Employees will increase their efficiency to serve their customers with smiling face. Moreover also; the study provided a hint for other researchers as a reference, and the findings of the study will help to give valuable information for top management to establish new system to increase employe es’ motivation. 1.6 Scope of the study The study considered major causes of employees’ lack of motivation in the Bank especially focusing in the area of Addis Ababa core operation. It scopes limited to study employees’ lack of motivation in Addis Ababa area only, by taking as a population and sample of the existing employees. 1.7 Limitation of the Study The major limitation of the study is constraints of time and collecting appropriate data from respondents since there was few samples unwillingness to return the questionnaires properly. 1.8 Research Methodology 1.8.1 Research Design The study applied the following types of research method to investigate the problems. The research is designed by using both Primary & Secondary data. 1.8.2 Source of Data & Methods of Data Collection The method of data collection carried out by distribution of questioners, which consist of both closed and open-end questioners. The questioners were being the main instrument of primary data collection. The secondary data gathered from different books, literature review, internet and printed materials. 1.8.3Sampling Design & Techniques A sampling technique of random sampling adopted by taking the sample from the selected four city branches and two departments of Manager and non-manager line staff employees of commercial bank of Ethiopia. The total population was taken 200. 1.8.4Methods of Data Analysis Descriptive and explanatory methods of data analysis applied. Test hypothesis for possible interdependence and effect relation ships conducted for easy understanding of trends of some patterns of distribution, table, percentage and interpretation of data conducted based on the response and theoretical concepts. 1.9 Organization of the paper The study paper included four chapters. The first chapter is about the introduction part which contains back ground, statement of problems, objective of the study, significance, methodology of research, limitation of the study and organization of the paper. In Chapter II, Theoretical concepts from internet are included. Chapter III included the important part of the study, which is data analysis and interpretation, this lead to the final Chapter IV, which described the summary of findings, conclusions and recommendation of the paper. CHAPTER TWO 2. LITERATURE REVIEW OF MOTIVATION 2.1 Motivation and Motivation Theory The term motivation is derived from the Latin word movere, meaning â€Å"to move.† Motivation can be broadly defined as the forces acting on or within a person that cause the arousal, direction, and persistence of goal-directed, voluntary effort. Motivation theory is thus concerned with the processes that explain why and how human behavior is activated. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). The broad rubric of motivation and motivation theory is one of the most frequently studied and written-about topics in the organizational sciences, and is considered one of the most important areas of study in the field of organizational behavior. Despite the magnitude of the effort that has been devoted to the study of motivation, there is no single theory of motivation that is universally accepted. The lack of a unified theory of motivation reflects both the complexity of the construct and the diverse backgrounds and aims of those who study it. To delineate these crucial points, it is illuminating to consider the development of motivation and motivation theory as the objects of scientific inquiry. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). 2.2 Historical Development Early explanations of motivation focused on instincts. Psychologists writing in the late 19th and early twentieth century have suggested that human beings were basically programmed to behave in certain ways, depending upon the behavioral cues to which they were exposed. Sigmund Freud, for example, argued that the most powerful determinants of individual behavior were those of which the individual was not consciously aware. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). According to Motivation and Leadership at Work (Steers, Porter, and Bigley, 1996), in the early twentieth century researchers began to examine other possible explanations for differences in individual motivation. Some researchers focused on internal drives as an explanation for motivated behavior. Others studied the effect of learning and how individuals base current behavior on the consequences of past behavior. Still others examined the influence of individuals’ cognitive processes, such as the beliefs they have about future events. Over time, these major theoretical streams of research in motivation were classified into two major schools: the content theories of motivation and the process theories of motivation. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). 2.3 Major Content Theories Content (or need) theories of motivation focus on factors internal to the individual that energize and direct behavior. In general, such theories regard motivation as the product of internal drives that compel an individual to act or move (hence, â€Å"motivate†) toward the satisfaction of individual needs. The content theories of motivation are based in large part on early theories of motivation that traced the paths of action backward to their perceived origin in internal drives. Major content theories of motivation are Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Alderfer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory, and McClelland’s learned needs or three-needs theory. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). 2.3.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Abraham Maslow developed the hierarchy of needs, which suggests that individual needs exist in a hierarchy consisting of physiological needs, security needs, belongingness needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Physiological needs are the most basic needs for food, water, and other factors necessary for survival. Security needs include needs for safety in one’s physical environment, stability, and freedom from emotional distress. Belongingness needs relate to desires for friendship, love, and acceptance within a given community of individuals. Esteem needs are those associated with obtaining the respect of one’s self and others. Finally, self-actualization needs are those corresponding to the achievement one’s own potential, the exercising and testing of one’s creative capacities, and, in general, to becoming the best person one can possibly be. Unsatisfied needs motivate behavior; thus, lower-level needs such as the physiological and security needs must be met before upper-level needs such as belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization can be motivational. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). Applications of the hierarchy of needs to management and the workplace are obvious. According to the implications of the hierarchy, individuals must have their lower level needs met by, for example, safe working conditions, adequate pay to take care of one’s self and one’s family, and job security before they will be motivated by increased job responsibilities, status, and challenging work assignments. Despite the ease of application of this theory to a work setting, this theory has received little research support and therefore is not very useful in practice. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). 2.3.2 Alderfer’s Erg Theory. The ERG theory is an extension of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Alderfer suggested that needs could be classified into three categories, rather than five. These three types of needs are existence, relatedness, and growth. Existence needs are similar to Maslow’s physiological and safety need categories. Relatedness needs involve interpersonal relationships and are comparable to aspects of Maslow’s belongingness and esteem needs. Growth needs are those related to the attainment of one’s potential and are associated with Maslow’s esteem and self-actualization needs. 1.The ERG theory differs from the hierarchy of needs in that it does not suggest that lower-level needs must be completely satisfied before upper-level needs become motivational. ERG theory also suggests that if an individual is continually unable to meet upper-level needs that the person will regress and lower-level needs become the major determinants of their motivation. ERG theory’s implications for managers are similar to those for the needs hierarchy: managers should focus on meeting employees’ existence, relatedness, and growth needs, though without necessarily applying the proviso that, say, job-safety concerns necessarily take precedence over challenging and fulfilling job requirements. (http://wwww.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf). 2.3.3 Motivator-Hygiene Theory. Frederick Herzberg developed the motivator-hygiene theory. This theory is closely related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but relates more specifically to how individuals are motivated in the workplace. Based on his research, Herzberg argued that meeting the lower-level needs (hygiene factors) of individuals would not motivate them to exert effort, but would only prevent them from being dissatisfied. Only if higher-level needs (motivators) were met would individuals be motivated. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). The implication for managers of the motivator-hygiene theory is that meeting employees lower-level needs by improving pay, benefits, safety, and other job-contextual factors will prevent employees from becoming actively dissatisfied but will not motivate them to exert additional effort toward better performance. To motivate workers, according to the theory, managers must focus on changing the intrinsic nature and content of jobs themselves by â€Å"enriching† them to increase employees’ autonomy and their opportunities to take on additional responsibility, gain recognition, and develop their skills and careers. 2.3.4 Mcclelland’s Learned Needs Theory. McClelland’s theory suggests that individuals learn needs from their culture. Three of the primary needs in this theory are the need for affiliation (n Aff), the need for power (n Pow), and the need for achievement (n Ach). The need for affiliation is a desire to establish social relationships with others. The need for power reflects a desire to control one’s environment and influence others. The need for achievement is a desire to take responsibility, set challenging goals, and obtain performance feedback. The main point of the learned needs theory is that when one of these needs is strong in a person, it has the potential to motivate behavior that leads to its satisfaction. Thus, managers should attempt to develop an understanding of whether and to what degree their employees have one or more of these needs, and the extent to which their jobs can be structured to satisfy them. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). 2.4 Major Process Theories Process (or cognitive) theories of motivation focus on conscious human decision processes as an explanation of motivation. The process theories are concerned with determining how individual behavior is energized, directed, and maintained in the specifically willed and self-directed human cognitive processes. Process theories of motivation are based on early cognitive theories, which posit that behavior is the result of conscious decision-making processes. The major process theories of motivation are expectancy theory, equity theory, goal-setting theory, and reinforcement theory. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). 2.4.1 Expectancy Theory. In the early 1960s, Victor Vroom applied concepts of behavioral research conducted in the 1930s by Kurt Lewin and Edward Tolman directly to work motivation. Basically, Vroom suggested that individuals choose work behaviors that they believe lead to outcomes they value. In deciding how much effort to put into a work behavior, individuals are likely to consider: †¢Their expectancy, meaning the degree to which they believe that putting forth effort will lead to a given level of performance. †¢Their instrumentality or the degree to which they believe that a given level of performance will result in certain outcomes or rewards. †¢Their valence, which is the extent to which the expected outcomes are attractive or unattractive. All three of these factors are expected to influence motivation in a multiplicative fashion, so that for an individual to be highly motivated, all three of the components of the expectancy model must be high. And, if even one of these is zero (e.g., instrumentality and valence are high, but expectancy is completely absent), the person will have not motivation for the task. Thus, managers should attempt, to the extent possible, to ensure that their employees believe that increased effort will improve performance and that performance will lead to valued rewards. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). In the late 1960s, Porter and Lawler published an extension of the Vroom expectancy model, which is known as the Porter-Lawler expectancy model or simply the Porter-Lawler model. Although the basic premise of the Porter-Lawler model is the same as for Vroom’s model, the Porter-Lawler model is more complex in a number of ways. It suggests that increased effort does not automatically lead to improved performance because individuals may not possess the necessary abilities needed to achieve high levels of performance, or because they may have an inadequate or vague perception of how to perform necessary tasks. Without an understanding of how to direct effort effectively, individuals may exert considerable effort without a corresponding increase in performance. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). 2.4.2 Equity Theory. Equity theory suggests that individuals engage in social comparison by comparing their efforts and rewards with those of relevant others. The perception of individuals about the fairness of their rewards relative to others influences their level of motivation. Equity exists when individuals perceive that the ratio of efforts to rewards is the same for them as it is for others to whom they compare themselves. Inequity exists when individuals perceive that the ratio of efforts to rewards is different (usually negatively so) for them than it is for others to whom they compare themselves. There are two types of inequity—under-reward and over-reward. Under-reward occurs when a person believes that she is either puts in more efforts than another, yet receives the same reward, or puts in the same effort as another for a lesser reward. For instance, if an employee works longer hours than her coworker, yet they receive the same salary, the employee would perceive inequity in the form o f under-reward. Conversely, with over-reward, a person will feel that his efforts to rewards ratio is higher than another person’s, such that he is getting more for putting in the same effort, or getting the same reward even with less effort. While research suggests that under-reward motivates individuals to resolve the inequity, research also indicates that the same is not true for over-reward. Individuals who are over-rewarded often engage in cognitive dissonance, convincing themselves that their efforts and rewards are equal to another’s. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). According to the equity theory, individuals are motivated to reduce perceived inequity. Individuals may attempt to reduce inequity in various ways. A person may change his or her level of effort; an employee who feels under-rewarded is likely to work less hard. A person may also try to change his or her rewards, such as by asking for a raise. Another option is to change the behavior of the reference person, perhaps by encouraging that person to put forth more effort. Finally, a person experiencing inequity may change the reference person and compare him or herself to a different person to assess equity. For managers, equity theory emphasizes the importance of a reward system that is perceived as fair by employees. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). 2.4.3 Goal-Setting Theory. The goal-setting theory posits that goals are the most important factors affecting the motivation and behavior of employees. This motivation theory was developed primarily by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham. Goal-setting theory emphasizes the importance of specific and challenging goals in achieving motivated behavior. Specific goals often involve quantitative targets for improvement in a behavior of interest. Research indicates that specific performance goals are much more effective than those in which a person is told to â€Å"do your best.† Challenging goals are difficult but not impossible to attain. Empirical research supports the proposition that goals that are both specific and challenging are more motivational than vague goals or goals that are relatively easy to achieve. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). Several factors may moderate the relationship between specific and challenging goals and high levels of motivation. The first of these factors is goal commitment, which simply means that the more dedicated the individual is to achieving the goal, the more they will be motivated to exert effort toward goal accomplishment. Some research suggests that having employees participate in goal setting will increase their level of goal commitment. A second factor relevant to goal-setting theory is self-efficacy, which is the individual’s belief that he or she can successfully complete a particular task. If individuals have a high degree of self-efficacy, they are likely to respond more positively to specific and challenging goals than if they have a low degree of self-efficacy. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). 2.4.4 Reinforcement Theory. This theory can be traced to the work of the pioneering behaviorist B.F. Skinner. It is considered a motivation theory as well as a learning theory. Reinforcement theory posits that motivated behavior occurs as a result of reinforces, which are outcomes resulting from the behavior that makes it more likely the behavior will occur again. This theory suggests that it is not necessary to study needs or cognitive processes to understand motivation, but that it is only necessary to examine the consequences of behavior. Behavior that is reinforced is likely to continue, but behavior that is not rewarded or behavior that is punished is not likely to be repeated. Reinforcement theory suggests to managers that they can improve employees’ performance by a process of behavior modification in which they reinforce desired behaviors and punish undesired behaviors. (http://www.csb.gov.hk/hkgcb/hrm/pdf.fcle/e-motivation). 2.5 People Motivation- Non – financial Notes Most business recognizes the need for non- financial methods of motivation. The main ones are described briefly below. 2.5.1 Job Enlargement Job enlargement involves adding extra, similar tasks to a job. In job enlargement, the job itself remains essentially unchanged. However, by widening the range of tasks that need to be performed, hopefully the employees will experience less repetition and monotony. With job enlargement, the employees rarely need to acquire new skills to carry out the additional task. A possible negative effect is that job enlargement can be viewed by employees as a requirement to carry out more work for the same pay. (http://tutor ). 2.5.2 Job Rotation Job rotation involves the movement of employees through a range of jobs in order to increase interest and motivation. For example, an administrative employee might spent part of the week looking after the reception area of business, dealing with customers and enquires. Some time might then be spent manning the company telephone switch board and then inputting data onto a database. Job rotation may offer the advantage of making it easier to cover for absent colleagues, but it may also reduce productivity as workers are initially unfamiliar with a new task. Job rotation also often involves the need for extra training. (http://tutor ). 2.5.3 Job enrichment Job enrichment attempts to give employees greater responsibility by increasing the range and complexity of tasks they are asked to do and giving them the necessary authority. It motivates by giving employees the opportunity to use their abilities to the fullest. Successful job enrichment almost always requires further investment in employee training. (http://tutor ). 2.5.4 Team Working and Empowerment Empowerment involves giving people greater control over their working lives. Organizing the labour force into team with degree of autonomy can achieve this. This means that employees plan their own work, take their own decision and solve their own problems. Teams are set targets to achieve and may receive and may receive rewards for doing so. Empowerment teams are an increasingly popular method of organizing employees at work. (http://tutor ).

The Issue Of Abortion And Women s Rights Essay - 1721 Words

The topic of abortion has been particularly controversial throughout the 2016 election. One of the main focuses of Hilary’s campaign was on the side of supporting abortion rights [4] and therefore the rights of women in America. On the other hand, Trump has made some conflicting arguments. In the past Donald Trump has been strictly pro-choice, but during his election he was anti-abortion. A Supreme Court ruling just this past summer turned back restrictions on abortion laws in Texas [4], devastating those who are anti-abortion and exciting those who are pro-choice for change moving forward. [3] Now, with Donald Trump as President, people are wondering what side he will take on this issue and where the fate of abortion and women’s rights will lie in this country. However, should Donald Trump have anything to say about Women’s Rights with the way he has run his election? 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Explain the rise of corruption and organised crime

Sample details Pages: 32 Words: 9487 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Corruption as will be examined was nothing new in the post-Soviet economy for its perceived rise and that of organised crime had their origins in the Soviet era. In the Soviet Union private enterprise on an individual or business basis had officially not been allowed from when the New Economic Policy was abandoned in the 1920s and with the forced collectivization of agriculture during the 1930s. Under the Stalinist State the economy was planned and commanded by the Communist Party via the Soviet Unions statestructure. In theory the Soviet State controlled every aspect of the Soviet economy. It set prices; it controlled industrial outputs, banking services and foreign exchange rates. However, in practice therewas a flourishing black market in luxury goods and foreign exchangerates before the political and economic reforms started by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s. His twin policies of Glasnost and Perestroika, political openness and economic restructuring were intended to prolong the Soviet Union. Instead the Soviet Union would collapse leaving its successor states working towards democracy and capitalism whilst facing up to the problem of increasing corruption and organised crime. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Explain the rise of corruption and organised crime | Politics Dissertation" essay for you Create order The level of corruption if not organised crime during the Soviet era might not be too easy to establish exactly. The Soviet authorities after all kept the true state of the economy hidden from the West even if its citizens experienced hardships and shortages. The leading members of the politburo had being the only ones with a realistic view of the economy. The liberalisation of the economy in all parts of the former Soviet Union since 1991 have generally led to an increase of corruption and organised crime. Clampdowns on organised crime and corruption have often been half hearted when they have been carried out both during and after the Soviet era. Explanations for this rise in corruption and organised crime will now be described and examined. Some of these causes pre-date the collapse of the Soviet Union whilst others emerged later. Black markets existed prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union often bringing consumers goods that were unavailable in the state run shops, goods that were sometimes exchanged instead of sold to avoid breaking the law. Hand in hand with the black markets went corruption and bribery. Black marketers frequently resorted to bribing communist party officials, the police and the KGB or they in turn extorted money off the black marketers. The KGB sometimes recruited some of the black marketers to inform on their rivals and their customers. The more the Soviet economy faltered the faster the black-market grew, providing people with goods not available in the shops. Those marketers that did not bribe officials often found their homes or businesses raided or got put in jail, those that paid up were allowed to go about their business undisturbed. The Soviet leadership started to have concerns about economic stagnation, organised crime and to a lesser extent corruption in the early 1980s but n one of them seemed to understand the extent of the economic malaise. The long years of stagnation continued until despite the rapid deaths of three general secretaries of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between 1982-1985. Leonid Brezhnev during his time in charge had done nothing to halt economic decline and in fact worsened it by accelerating the arms race with the United States and invading Afghanistan. It has been estimated that as much as 50% of the Soviet Unions annual budges was spent on defence or related products and projects. However that was money that the Soviet Union no longer had to spare. His immediate successor Yuri Andropov started a campaign against bribery and corruption that petered out with his death in 1984. When Gorbachev replaced Konstantin Chernenko a year later he pledged to reform the Soviet Union. Instead his policies would promote its collapse and lead to increased corruption and organised crime in the sixteen successor states. The problem with Stalinist economic planning was that it created and perpetuated a shortage economy motivated only by harsh orders from the centre. It kept most of the people equally poor except for those that found ways around the system. By the 1980s the idea of abandoning the communist command economy in favour of capitalism and liberal democracy gained ground not only in the Soviet Union but also in Central and Eastern Europe. For the reformers could look at the neo-liberal experience of the Thatcher and Reagan administrations, perhaps the devastating social and economic effects in parts of Latin America would have been more relevant. There was of course the example of the New Economic Policy that had allowed the Soviet economy to recover from the ravages of civil war, an attractive example to communists that wanted to reform the system but also for the non-communists that wished to replace it. There was one group of pro-capitalist economists that hoped to bring in a market system to Russia, they were the young reformers. Yeger Gaider whose family was amongst the elites of the Soviet nomenklatura ironically enough headed the young reformers. They were just looking for somebody to carry out their plans and not power for themselves, and would eventually team up with Boris Yeltsin a highly effective (when healthy) populist politician with only a limited understanding of economics. Alongside Yeltsin, they had the dream of dismantling communism. However the way in which communism was dismantled across the former Soviet Union would contribute greatly to the rise of organised crime alongside the already high levels of corruption. In the first years of Gorbachevs rule his government attempted topreserve the Soviet political system whilst reforming its economicsystem, little realising that these reforms would fail and thuscontribute to the rise of corruption and organised crime as well as thedisintegration of the Soviet Union. He wanted to make the system workto its full capacity without moving to a capitalist economy or inducingeconomic suffering. The government attempted to increase productivityby reducing alcohol consumption and the sickness that was oftenconnected to it, but he did not run an anti corruption campaignimmediately. Gorbachev would have banned vodka but feared the ban wouldbe circumvented by organised crime gangs, plus the tax revenues thatkept the Soviet government solvent. One man who had started ananti-corruption campaign was Boris Yeltsin who was the Moscow partyboss until his sudden dismissal by Gorbachev during November 1987.Gorbachev believed he had removed his greatest rival but had in factmade a very basic political blunder, as Yeltsin was no longercontrollable and determined to avenge his fall from power. By 1989 it became clear that the Soviet economic system wasunsustainable or beyond reforming and Gorbachev introduced somecapitalist measures. Those measures included allowing small privatebusinesses to operate from August 1990 and a series of de-regulationsand privatisations between October 1990 and July 1991. Economic reformsbrought increased opportunities to organised criminals and buddingcapitalist entrepreneurs, a distinction in the former Soviet Union thatis not always clear. The sudden creations of small businesses increasedchances for investments and money laundering or even to takeoverprivatised companies. Decades of communist economic and politicalrule left a legacy that was difficult to shake off immediately in thepost-Soviet era. Yeltsin and his contemporaries found it difficult tosee the world from outside of a communist perspective. The communistlegacy of patronage, privileges, corruption and perks would contributeto the rise of corruption and organised crime in the pos t-Soviet era.As the system started to collapse across the Soviet Union law and orderbegan to decline with it thus allowing increased opportunities fororganised crime and corruption as well as increased nationalist andethnic tensions. The political disintegration of the Soviet Union went hand in hand withits economic disintegration and declining levels of law and order inall the successor republics. The end of the Soviet Union was hastenedby the failure of the communist coup in August 1991. The Baltic Stateshad already broke away from the Soviet Union and was already on theirway to capitalist economies. Russian president Boris Yeltsin seemingto stand for the twin transition from communist state to liberaldemocracy and planned socialist economy to neo-liberal capitalismalthough this is not exactly what happened. Contrary to MikhailGorbachev, Boris Yeltsin had believed that the break up of the SovietUnion could be a positive rather than a disastrous event although manyof his Russian compatriots might not have agreed with him. For theother former republics it was a case of independence at last. Perhapsthose that took advantage of the break up through organised crime orcorruption would have agreed with him. The Yeltsi n government at firstenthusiastically backed rapid and radical reforms, radical economicscarried out by a group of advisors dubbed the the young reformers.Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union had veryprimitive banking and financial systems that presented apparently idealopportunities for Russian and foreign investors. Those acting as gobetweens in business deals could make small fortunes by doing so. Thetransition to capitalism offered the prospect of making millions, italso led to the increase in organised crime and corruption as gangstersthreatened investors, businesses and often fought each other. TheRussian and other governments seemed incapable of monitoring,containing or preventing that rise. The Yeltsin government was hampered in its efforts to control andadminister the regions let alone fight the rise in crime because theremaining regional governors were by and large communist nomenklaturaand apparatchiks and unwilling to do as Moscow commanded. Thesebureaucrats forged links with industrialists in their region providinga basis for ongoing and future corruption. The bitter power strugglesbetween President and Parliament during the 1992-1993 period distractedthem from trying to solve the countrys problems and allowed theregions greater autonomy and the increasing number of organised crimegangs free rein across much of Russia and the rest of the former SovietUnion. They also spent much time and effort trying to persuade thepublic the other side was more corrupt and had greater links toorganised crime than they did. One deputy governor indicated thescale of corruption in the remoter parts of Siberia that to start acompany you probably have to bribe forty bureaucrats. Organised crime gangs used the decline in government control toorganise protection rackets to fleece investors and small businesses.There was an alarming increase in violent crimes and murders as gangscompeted for control of their victims and clients or punished thosethat would not pay for their dubious protection. The number of killingsrelated to gang warfare escalated dramatically. Moscow and the newlyrenamed St Petersburg have been the centres of most of that gangwarfare. Corruption was not merely confined to the Mafia gangs it alsoextended to the police, the armed forces and civil servants. In Russiatraffic police were involved in robbing motorists also teaming up withlocal gangs to force motorists to hand over their cars, or to pay themfines for non-existent offences or face their cars being confiscated.Corruption and the buying and selling of any thing and everything wasso widespread that young female university students would aim to becomehard currency call girls or the mistre sses of oligarchs or wealthybusinessmen, whilst jobless youths would advertise their services forcontract killings. One ruthless organised crime gang even went as far as murdering carowners and disposing of their bodies to steal their cars. Organisedcrime and the number of crime gangs increased dramatically as thepolitical elites spent more time arguing amongst each other rather thanfighting crime and corruption. Nobody in the public or the mediabelieved that Boris Yeltsin would succeed in rooting out organisedcrime and corruption, after all every single Soviet leader had promisedto do the same since 1917. After all his only previous crack down oncorruption and organised crime in Moscow had been stopped it its tracksby Gorbachev when he was sacked as the Moscow party boss. The officialcrime figures for 1992 give a strong indication of the deterioratinglaw and order situation. The number of murders had increased by 40%whilst there was an even larger increase in robbery up by 60%. The overall number of registered crimes, bearing in mind that many crimesremained unreported went up to 2.76 million. In fact the contendingelites accused each other of corruption to score points off each otherwhilst the public were not interested in their squabbles and the 3,000or so crime gangs carried on regardless. Of the newly private runbusiness in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States those3,000 gangs were able to pocket perhaps as much as 40 % of the turnoveras early as 1993. Corruption was never to far from the surface in the former SovietUnion. It should have not been a surprise therefore that corruption andorganised crime would rise in the post-Soviet as they already hadstrong foundations and connections to outside crime gangs. During theSoviet era if an individual knew or bribed the right officials theycould get the best luxury items, property deals or their children intothe finest schools or universities. So nobody could doubt that therewould be greater levels of corruption when the restraints of the Sovietsystem were removed. In fact corruption dated back into the ImperialRussian past, were the civil service had been unsalaried but able toaccept gifts or payments in kind. The CPSU may have claimed to beresponsible for the leading role in society and the economy, some ofits members took a leading role in the black market or for a smallbribe get people things that would not normally be available. In Belarus the movement towards independence was given a new impetus bythe desire to be rid of greedy and corrupt communist party leaders.The unraveling of the Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe gave anopportunity for the more entrepreneurial members of the withdrawingSoviet army to make their fortunes. The pickings could be rich for theSoviet army had large areas of land and housing to sell. When Gorbachevmade a deal with the West German government to sell Soviet militarybases in the former East Germany back to them most of the best pickingshad already gone. The Soviet defence minister Dmitrii Yazov happilyjoined in the schemes that led to the disappearance of the Soviet armyassets without a trace. Yazov may have enjoyed making money forhimself but he was wholeheartedly against political and economicreform. He would be one of the main leaders of the August 1991 coup.After all under the Soviet system the higher an individuals positionwithin the party, the KGB or the armed forces the y could expect agreater share of the perks and the spoils. Just how much money the corrupt communist party members made may not beknown exactly, much of the evidence was destroyed just before the finalfailed coup of August 1991. Those party members that did not get intotrouble following the coup could find themselves in a good position tomake money in the brave new post -Soviet world. That was because theyalready knew how to operate in corrupt systems and some already hadlinks with organised crime. For many of the small traders that operatedlargely illegally during the Soviet era the only real differencebetween the past and the post-Soviet present was whom they paid for theprivilege of staying in business. Now they had to pay organised crimegangs to stay in business and to stay alive rather than bribe communistparty officials or members of the KGB, or if they were unlucky theywould have to pay them all. Corruption and organised crime increased inthe post-Soviet era but it had great potential during the Soviet eraand the right conditions woul d fuel a massive expansion. For much of the former Soviet Union these conditions were present inthe early 1990s. Petty crime was rumored to be rife amongst civilservants and state employees, for instance in 1993 the Russian InteriorMinistry recorded 13,000 such crimes, that was thought to be the tip ofthe iceberg. It was estimated that virtually all shops paid protectionand perhaps four fifths of businesses and financial institutes did thesame. The organised crime gangs had a virtual free reign on theirprospective victims, as the number of untainted police was inadequateeven if they could find any brave or foolish enough to testify. Themore successful entrepreneurs could hire bodyguards but that was not anoption for the smaller traders who had to pay up or face theconsequences. In Russia neither the transition to democracy and the switch to acapitalist economy has developed as the Russians and those in the restof the world that were interested hoped or expected. These transitionsunintentionally led to increased corruption and organised crime.Through a combination of the collapse of the archaic economic system,assets stripping by the Russians that brought utilities at cheapprices, government failings and last but no means least corruption.Russia was in a worse economic position than the Soviet Union had been,as were the majority of the former Soviet republics. Inward foreigninvestment during the 1990s did not make up for the vast sums that leftRussia of between $100 billion and $150 billion made by the oligarchsthat asset stripped Russias industries and infra-structure and doesnot include any of the profits made the organised crime gangs. Foreign investors, the more sensible ones at least were put off thepossibility of investing in Russia and other parts of the former SovietUnion by the high risk of their investment been ruined by having to paybribes to officials and protection to crime gangs. It seems that theonly people prospering in post-Soviet Russia are those that becamenouveau riche by their investments or those that made their money lesshonestly through extortion or corruption. Poverty and unemployment thatdid not officially exist during the Soviet era increased alarminglyduring the 1990s. Even if the poverty line is measured below a monthlyincome of less than $30 a month up to 40 million Russians appear tolive in poverty. That is alarming for a country that has the largestpart of the Soviet Union that had been a military superpower until1991. Economically Russias decline was remarkable for its severity,producing less than Belgium and barely a quarter more than Poland. In the immediate post-Soviet period the situation was more chaoticbecause all the former republics were still maintaining the old Sovietcurrency and printing money as if it was going out of fashion, addingto the inflationary consequences of ending price controls. The chaoticsituation increased the ease in which organised crime gangs couldoperate in the former Soviet Union. Whilst the resulting hyperinflation(added to by the removal of price controls) meant that many moreordinary people had to find alternative methods of supplementing theirincomes. Russia was not the slowest country to reform its economy orpolitical institutions Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Belarus accordingto European Bank of Reconstruction and Development were amongst theleast reformed and most poverty struck. In contrast the Baltic Statesof Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia progressed well enough to be admittedin the European Union by 2004. The adoption of free market capitalism brought an end to queuing inempty shops and replaced it with full shops where most people could notafford to actually buy anything. Hence people were searching for legalor illegal means of boosting their incomes and thus more likely tobecome involved in corruption and bribery. Uneconomic factories wereshut making millions unemployed. Under the Soviet system people hadless money but there was better state provisions and prices were fixedso inflation was virtually non-existent. The Soviet system had givenprivileges to countless petty state workers and junior party members.They were known as apparatchiks, whilst high ranking officials andsenior party members with better perks were known as nomenklatura. Withthe end of the Soviet system some of these apparatchiks andnomenklatura exchanged their privileges for money, those still in stateemployment that had remained honest now exchanged favours for bribes.Corruption increased during the post-Soviet er a simply out of economicnecessity right across all of the former Soviet Union as ordinarycitizens and government officials found that they did not enough tolive on. Throughout the former Soviet Union the pace of economicliberalisation varied. By the middle of 1994 the Baltic States and Russia in terms of thetotal percentage of gross domestic product generated by the privatesector of the economy were well ahead of the Asian republics, Belarusand Moldova. In Estonia and Latvia it was 55%, in Russia and Lithuania50 % with Belarus, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan lagged far behind ononly 15%. In post-Soviet Russia nomenklatura were better placed thanmost to survive the harsher economic climate particularly those thatlived in regions such as Siberia found it harder to survive especiallywhen state subsidies ended leaving food and fuel far more expensivethan in the major cities. The collapse of communism cut off many of theremote industrial and mining areas from the central government leadingto social and economic decay. Such neglect has allowed for the growthof organised crime and corruption as desperate people turn to drugs andalcohol. Drug and alcohol abuse leads to health problems or addiction.To counter some of the incursions i nto those remote areas by crimegangs the Putin government once more restricted travel in to thoseareas. A factor that contributed to the rise of organised crime in thepost-Soviet was the wide availability of weapons for organised crimegangs and individual gangsters or thugs to use. Weapons were oftenobtained from members of the armed forces. Military and naval personnelwere increasingly eager to sell weapons to supplement their wages,assuming they had been paid on time. The Russian commanders are said tohave done worse during the first Chechen war of 1994 -1996. They soldGrozny back to the rebels in August 1996 leading to the deaths ofdefenceless conscripts. Corruption within the Russian military seemsto be endemic, which given its role in maintaining central governmentauthority and internal security in some of the remoter regions of theRussian Federation certainly permitted and even encouraged organisedcrime to rise, for instance in Chechnya. During the second Chechen warthat began in 1999 the local police observed the illicit trade betweenRussian soldiers and local black marketers. These soldiers would exchange boxes of ammunition for locally distilledvodka or locally grown cannabis with the tacit approval of theirsuperior officers. Indeed officers often accompanied their men whenthese exchanges took place. The black marketers then sell theammunition to the Chechen fighters. Local police could intervene andarrest everybody but they have either been told not to or bribed notto. The army was supposed to keep all the roads into Chechnya secureto prevent the rebels escaping or gaining supplies and money. However,the reporter Anna Politkovskaya was told one person on foot must pay100 roubles; a light vehicle costs about 500-600 roubles.Politkovskaya did not readily accept those claims until shesuccessfully bribed the soldiers to get past the checkpoint. The greedand corruption of the army must have been counterproductive. They soldammunition that was used by the Chechens and they allowed access torestricted areas to anybody who could have smuggled weapons in andpeop le out. The corruption of the Russian armed forces in the area inand around Chechnya lowered the security and containment of Chechenfighters and contributed to the apparent ease in which rebels were ableto take hostages in the Moscow theatre during October 2002. Morehorrifically the siege of a Beslan high school in September 2004 showedthat the Russian military were incompetent as well as riddled withcorruption. Gangsters did not always buy weapons; they could often steal weaponsfrom poorly guarded or neglected military bases. Due to the SovietUnion having national service most of the organised crime gang memberscould already use weapons. Troops leaving the army could also consideremployment as either bodyguards for the newly rich and the justifiablyconcerned business owners or joining the organised crime gangsthemselves as thugs and assassins. Violent crime is probably not asprevalent as people in the West might believe, however crime gangswould have no qualms about settling accounts with intimidation, assaultand murder. Some murders have shown that the crime gangs and contractkillers are able to gain hold of sophisticated weapons such as rocketlaunchers to kill bodyguards as well as their bosses in St Petersburg.Gangs have to be well connected as well as rich to acquire suchweapons. The dramatic rise in the murder rate witnessed not only the deaths ofpoliticians (three members of the Duma were shot dead in cold blood)but also businessmen and journalists. Business executives and morelowly bank employees could be and were at risk of being killed due tothe rise in corruption and organised crime. Not many gang members wereafraid of being caught and convicted, for they were confident that evenif the police did catch them that either the police or the courts couldbe persuaded to let them get away with it. In the period between 1992and 1995, the number of killed bank workers ranging from clerks tosenior executives was 46. The most publicized killing was that of IvanKivelidi who had been the president of Rosbiznesbank. Kivelidi waspoisoned in August 1995 for not complying with the demands of organisedcriminals. There are still a high number of deaths as a result offighting between rival gangs still demonstrating that there are enoughguns and money up for grabs to make t he high risks of being killed seemworthwhile. Over 2,000 gang members are gunned down every year in gangwars in the Moscow region alone. Until the Putin presidency thesituation in St Petersburg had been worse although Putin seems to wantto clean up his home city. The difficulty and the danger of uncovering the true level of crimesbeing committed aided the rise in organised crime and corruption. Withso many bureaucrats, police and politicians involved or thought to beinvolved in corruption much of the uncovering of crimes and evidence ofcorruption came from the press and journalists or even rarelyindependently minded politicians. For journalists it was dangerous touncover and attempt to publish evidence and articles concerningorganised crime gangs and the high levels of corruption. Consideringthe increasing control of the media by the state or by oligarchs whoseown positions could be undermined by revelations of corruption ororganised crime it has not always been easy for reporters to go publicwith evidence they have gathered. To illustrate the dangerous positionjournalists found themselves in, 36 were killed between January 1994and May 1995 throughout the former Soviet Union whilst doing their jobsand reporting on not only corruption and orga nised crime but also theconflict in Chechnya. The uncovering of evidence of the corruption and fraud within theSoviet army during its time in East Germany and before its departureappeared to be a major scope for the Moskovskii komsomolets and itsinvestigative journalist Dmitrii Kholodov. For Kholodov it proved onestory too far as a bomb blew up him and his office during October1994. Even television reporters and journalists were not immune fromdanger. Following his research into the corrupt or dishonest sellingof television advertising Vladimir Listev was gunned down in March 1995before he could broadcast all his findings. At other timespoliticians, bureaucrats and business executives would inform or leakinformation about their rivals real or presumed links with organisedcrime and corruption for their own gain rather than in the publicinterest or to fight corruption itself. Whilst these bouts ofaccusations and counter accusations occupied the politicians and pressattentions they occasionally removed the expendable politicians an dbureaucrats whilst leaving the level of overall corruption untouched. As noted below the Books affair would be used to force the resignationsof some of the young reformers in 1999. Accusations of corruptionwould also be leaked to the press after an individual had lost theapproval of either President Yeltsin or President Putin. The primeexample of this were the accusations leveled against Boris Berezovskyafter he fell out with Putin, or more aptly when Putin regarded him asno longer useful to the Kremlin. Berezovsky is claimed to have stolenmillions from his companies and state run companies such as Aeroflot.All these events were from the early 1990s so the Russian governmenthad plenty of time to prove them or clear him. Berezovsky who went toexile in London has retaliated by campaigning against the Putingovernments increasing control of power. In Russia it appears thatthose involved in corruption or organised crime are relatively immunefrom arrest as long as they do not upset the Kremlin or theirpunishment becomes politically expedient for the governme nt. PresidentPutin is arguably searching for levers that will work to have inplace a national authority that functions as normal governments do. Corruption was a fact of life in the Soviet era and now seems even moreendemic in the post-Soviet period; ordinary Soviet citizens werecynical about the financial honesty of their political masters and thehigher-ranking communist party officials, a cynicism that continueswith post-Soviet politicians and officials. Evidence of corruption andbribery would often be collected by the KGB and used if the individualsconcerned fall out of favour senior party members, its successor stillcollects such information only now some its officers are more likely tosell sensitive information to the highest bidders. President Yeltsinonly renamed the KGB the FSB instead of abolishing it. He also retainedcontrol of the KGB records and evidence of the corruption theycontained Timely uncovering of bribe taking and corruption have oftenbeen used to discredit rivals and justify the dismissal of ministersand officials. Therefore presumably there is usually enough evidenceto act against many of those involved in corruption or organised crimebut not always the political will or judicial authority to do so. ManyRussians believe that most if not all government ministers andofficials are corrupt and susceptible to bribes. Officials are willingto risk public safety and even national security as well as theirreputations for the sake of bribes. Allegations and counterallegations of corruption were used in the 1990s during the powerstruggle between President Yeltsin and hard-liners such as Rutskoy andKhasbulatov. Corruption both in the Soviet era and afterwards existed and increasedbecause the majority of those accepting bribes or using their positionfor gain position or cash believed that they would not get caught. Evenif they did get caught the rate of convictions were not that high.Soviet era clampdowns on corruption under Andropov and Gorbachev onlycaught small fry and the same could apply during the post-Soviet era.The only notable high ranking communist to be convicted for corruptionwas Yuri Churbanov in 1988. Churbanovs father in law was the lateLeonid Brezhnev, the one time Soviet leader and General Secretary thattolerated corruption more than any other Soviet era leader. Churbanovgot caught taking $1 million in bribes. Perhaps the dishonest officialswere working on their version of Marxism, such as all bureaucrats arecorrupt but some are more corrupt than others are. The chairman of theKGB, Chebrikov was widely seen to be increasingly corrupt the more theSoviet Union imploded. Yeltsi n seemed unable if not unwilling toprevent corruption and organised crime increasing added to belief ofmany that they could get away with it. The rise of corruption and organised crime in the post-Soviet era canbe accounted for partly as a result of the previous illegality ofprivate enterprise. The sudden adoption of shock therapy in 1992occurred before any new corporate or financial regulations could beintroduced to ensure that competition between businesses would be freeand fair or those financial transactions could be above board and leavean audit trail. The government had not forewarned the Russian peopleabout the likely consequences of economic reforms. Hyper inflation andunemployment meant many of them got power, after all pensions, pay orbenefit payments could not keep pace with 245% inflation (that wasJanuary 1992 monthly total and equated to an annual rate well over2,000%). Soviet era political and economic elites away from the mainurban areas would often team up with local organised crime gangs. Theydid that to make up as much money as possible from the conversion tocapitalism. The switch to capitalism gave forme r party members andofficials chances to grab their share of the crumbling Sovietinfrastructures. Whilst people such as Boris Berezovsky and RomanAbramovich were on their way to making billions the Russian governmentwas running out of money. So short of money in fact that it had toreceive a $10.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund in1996. The problem for Yeltsin and the other leaders of the post-Soviet stateswas that the spine of the Soviet State had been the communist party.The power and influence of the Russian central government graduallywithered away during Yeltsins two terms as President. Poorly equippedand lowly paid Russian conscripts sold their weapons to Chechen rebels,in the city of Tver armed gangs extracted tolls from motorists;regional governors and companies, kept taxes that should have gone tothe Kremlin. Civil servants, teachers and health visitors moonlightedfor private businesses, as their wages were too low. Having publicsector employers on the payroll has proved highly invaluable fororganised crime and businesses. When bidding for local and centralgovernment contracts or highly sensitive information, senior officialand ministers have been known to provide organised crime gangs andbusiness executives with security permits that prevent their arrests.Another common fraud was for companies to set up fa ke non-existentrivals when they bid for central, regional and local governmentcontracts, ensuring they won the contracts. It was an alternative tobribing officials, which could prove expensive and did not always gainthe contracts anyway. The collapse in central government authorityextended to the law courts, if the defendant knew the right people orpaid the highest bribes they could get away with murder, fraud ortheft. According to Freeland Russia developed a kind of Hobbesiancapitalism, red in tooth and claw in which businesses preyed on smallerones and apparatchiks and racketeers preyed on everyone. Economic growth in Russia and peoples real monetary worth is hard tomeasure due to corruption, dishonesty, and the lack of a coherentbanking system and the lack of savings in bank accounts. Even if the central government took action against officials they couldoften be found jobs in local and regional government. Local mayors andgovernors especially those of Moscow and St Petersburg had lucrativecontracts to award for reconstruction and building projects. TheMoscow city council in particular gained a reputation for high spendingand legally dubious contract awards. The mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkovwould often give contracts to companies that had connections with hiswife. Luzhkov had presidential ambitions at one stage and was noadmirer of Boris Yeltsin but has better relations with Vladimir Putin.Not only was Boris Yeltsin unable to halt the rise of organised crimeand corruption in post-Soviet Russia he actually contributed to theproblem. Yeltsin contributed to the problem in various ways someaccidental others less so. He was unable to halt the decline in thepower of the central government, having spent most of his first term asPresident competing for control with the Ru ssian Supreme Soviet andthen the Duma. His second term was beset by his worsening health thatpartly explained his decision to retire early. Another contribution tothe failure to combat organised crime and corruption was the almostconstant changing of government ministers. Instability and uncertainlycontinued to plague central government meaning it was unable to controlthe country properly thus hampering any efforts to fight crime. WhenYeltsin did find capable Prime Ministers he would fire them if hethought they were getting too powerful and ambitious e.g. YevgenyPrimakov and Viktor Chernomyrdin. Of all his Prime Ministers the onlyone he trusted was the one man who would succeed him as President,Vladimir Putin. Finally there was the links with the so-calledoligarchs that Boris Yeltsin and his family had. The young reformers who had been out of power and influence since 1993still argued that further privatisations and action against corruptionwas needed to ensure Russias economic stability and well being.However with Boris Yeltsins re-election in 1996 they regainedinfluence particularly through Anatoly Chubais and Kokh, even the PrimeMinister Chernomyrdin believed they undermined his position. Forwhatever reason the Russian public believed that these young reformersshould be impeccably honest without any doubts about being corrupt. Onthe other hand ordinary Russians were expecting the older politiciansto be more likely to be corrupt. That public belief about the integrity of the young reformers stemmedfrom their claims to be clearing Russia of the unhealthy and unethicalrelationship between big businesses and the highest reaches of theKremlin and central government. They also hoped to clean out thebribery and corruption out of the Russian civil service and governmentdepartments. The young reformers intended actions seemed to threatenthe position of oligarchs such as Vladimir Gusinsky and BorisBerezovsky. However the oligarchs were able to break the youngreformers with a pre-emptive strike, ironically links between one ofthe young reformers and an oligarch gave Boris Berezovsky hisopportunity. Using their connections with the press the oligarchs wereable to discredit and then destroy the image of the young reformers asbeing incorruptible. Alfred Kokh was discovered to have received amodest $100,000 advance payment to write a payment on market reformsand privatisations in Russia. Kokh seemed to have helped (it wass uggested) his friend, the oligarch Vladimir Potanin to acquire stateenterprises namely Sviazinvest and Norilsk Nickel. Seeing thedirection events were moving in Kokh had the good sense to leave thegovernment and find elsewhere (but not as a writer). The youngreformers seemed to have resisted the oligarchs attempts to removethem from government and even persuaded Boris Yeltsin to sack BorisBerezovsky from his government post. That was until advances foranother book about economic policy were revealed on the radio and inthe press. Anatoly Chubais and four of his colleagues lost their jobs as a resultof the $450,000 fees they received from a book company directlycontrolled by one of Vladimir Potanins corporations. With thedeparture of the young reformers went the chance of any serious actionagainst corruption and organised crime until the emergence of the Putinpresidency, although he continued their economic reforms and policieswhilst he was Prime Minister. It was another example of corruption orfinancial irregularity being highlighted for political rather thaneconomic or legal reasons. The figures used to condemn Chubais and theothers would appear paltry compared to the sums that Berezovsky andother leading oligarchs were accused of taking after they fell out offavour with Putin. However for those Russians with good memories theallegations against Chubais were nothing new. He had been accused in1992 of selling state property to organised crime gangs and wealthyforeigners at amazingly reduced prices. Putin to t he surprise of someof the richest and most powerful in Russia turned out not to be the manto keep the cash flowing into the right pockets. Just how much Boris Yeltsins family and friends were closely liked toorganised crime and corruption became more apparent during August 1999.Two scandals showed that Boris Yeltsin either knew about or did notstop the rising level of corruption linked to the Kremlin. The firstone could have proved very problematic; Boris Yeltsin was so concernedhe almost ended his fishing holiday early. The Mabetex affair hadactually started to emerge at the start of 1999. There had been moneylaundering and corruption on such a vast scale that even the cynicalRussians were surprised. The first person to fall victim to thefollowing investigation was the chief of the Kremlin PropertyDevelopment, Pavel Borodin. Borodin was close to Boris Yeltsin but evencloser to both Boris Yeltsins daughters and son in laws. Borodin wasbelieved to have awarded billion dollar contracts on the basis that thehighest bribers, such as Behgjet Pacolli won them. The other scandal actually brought to public attention in the Unit edStates. Articles in the New York Times claimed that Russian organisedcrime gangs in conjunction with Russian government officials were usingAmerican banks to launder vast sums of their illegal earnings. Furtherinvestigations uncovered only a fraction of the $10billion claimed tohave gone through the Bank of New York. The Mabetex affair was far moreserious as Borodin had control of $600 billion. A Swiss court found himguilty of taking $30 million of bribes from Swiss companies in 2001. Since gaining the Presidency in 2000 Vladimir Putin has tried toreverse the rise in organised crime and corruption Putin regarded theweakness of the central government as being responsible for that rise.Not only did he wish to restore the states power to fight crime andcorruption he also wished to restore Russias economic andinternational position. His efforts to do this have met with domesticopposition and complaints from abroad due to the authoritarian methodsadopted to do so. Putin may have owed his swift rise to power to thepatronage of Boris Yeltsin and his powerful associates but Putinsoutlook owes a great deal to his career in the KGB and its successorthe FSB. Putin was unswervingly loyal towards Yeltsin who in turn didhis best to ensure Putin gained the presidential succession. Putin didnot believe he owed any such loyalty to the oligarchs that surroundedPresident Yeltsin and the Yeltsin family. Once in power Putin decidedto launch campaigns against organised crime and corrup tion, influencedperhaps by the similar anti-corruption campaign of one of his formerheroes Yuri Andropov. Unlike either Yeltsin or Andropov, Putin appearedto have age and health on his side. Putin is also a man capable ofmanipulating Russias incomplete and flawed democracy for his ownends. Before becoming Prime Minister, Putin had returned to head theFSB to ensure its loyalty to Boris Yeltsin and later himself. He spendhis second spell at the FSB prudently gaining information on hispotential rivals and opponents but it must also surely given him aninsight into the extent of corruption and organised crime in Russia. Putins image as been a tough leader in terms of trying to restore theKremlins authority, crushing the Chechen separatists and restoring lawand order contributed to his presidential election victories in 2000and 2004. In 2000 the victory was narrower with speculation if noproof that the election was not entirely free with some press claimsthat Putins popularity extended beyond the grave to more than amillion deceased voters. His margin of victory in 2004 was greater andapparently with only the votes of the living, when he got over 70% ofthe vote. Corruption and organised crime increased after the end of the Sovietera because it could be highly lucrative with little chance of beingcaught breaking the law. The oligarchs such as Boris Berezovsky (whomade his fortune from selling cars, aluminum and a media empire) orRoman Abramovich (who made his fortune in oil and aluminum) may or maynot have made their fortunes legally but they provided Boris Yeltsinwith support and favours for his family. In return Boris Yeltsin soldthem state oil and mining enterprises on the cheap. They would haveargued that was their reward for working and supporting the government.They would have preferred to call it influence rather than corruption.They had also helped the central government out of its worst financialposition by loaning it money in return for free or heavily subsidizedshares in soon to be privatised state enterprises. Yeltsin would havepreferred to take loans off the oligarchs rather than the InternationalMonetary Fund because they would not insist on social and economicreforms or restrict payments due to fears over human rights abuses inChechnya. The basic concept behind the loans for shares scheme wasthat the oligarchs got shares in public companies in return for lendingthe government money and bank rolling Yeltsins re-election campaign in1996. Yeltsin kept his promises and they got the rest of their shares.Their influence seemed complete when Potanin joined the government andChubais returned to office. Although the oligarchs were not corrupttheir power was not particularly healthy for democracy (or economic andmoral integrity). Such close links between government and big businesswould have raised major concerns in more established democracies. Thegreater economic stability of the Putins first presidential term meanthe longer needed their loans as much as Yeltsin had. There were however others whose fortunes were made by more definitecriminal methods. Russian investors have been the victims of scams andmass fraud on numerous occasions. One such scam was organised bySergei Mavrodi. He set up a bogus investment company known as MMMinvestments that defrauded many millions of Russians of their savings.The scam was a pyramid scheme that defrauded its millions of investorsof up to $15 million, only it was a Russian variant in that Mavrodi didnot get all the money. Although Mavrodi had masterminded the scheme helost 90% of his ill-gotten proceeds to private businesses taking theircut and paying off dishonest government officials. These unknown anduncaught officials would have threatened Mavrodi with jail if he didnot pay them, just like in the Soviet era but with much money atstake. That was how easy it could be to become a millionaire in BorisYeltsins Russia, providing you could afford to bribe enough people tostay in business. The only problem for Mavrodi was that the fraud had been on such alarge scale that his crimes could not remain undetected. He waseventually caught after five years on the run and went to jail. Russiais also a favorite destination for cars stolen from the rest of Europe,a form of organised crime aided by corruption that was on the rise inthe post-Soviet era. In Soviet days there was a long waiting list forcars but since then car ownership has spread. Russia is the idealdestination for exporting these stolen cars to, as it is such a vastcountry, has plenty of potential customers who do not ask questions,plus a high level of corruption amongst officials. The complicity andcorruption of high-ranking civil servants and police mean that theorganised crime gangs involved make a tidy profit without any fear ofbeing caught. Corrupt government officials even buy and use the carsthemselves both for private and official use. Vladimir Putin did not want as a first priority to reverse the rise oforganised crime and corruption seen during the post-Soviet period. Hedid however wish to regain as much of the central governments economicand political power plus its freedom of action. By driving Berezovskyinto self imposed exile and jailing Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Putin managedto subdue the other oligarchs into doing nothing to upset him or flaunttheir political leverage. Putin could not realistically over turn theeconomic changes of the Yeltsin era. The oligarchs may have achievedtheir vast fortunes due to the weakness of the Russian State andperhaps dubious ways of making money but Putin can hardly takeeverything back off them. The sheer number of privatisations had aidedthe astute, the dishonest as well as the corrupt to gain their unfairshare of the loot. The redistribution of state enterprises andbusinesses into private ownership was great, amounting to 88% of theSoviet era state sector in Russia alone. Putin admired the men thattried to make the Russian State strong like Peter the Great, Lenin andAndropov. For Putin rebuilding the infrastructure of the Russian Stateis a priority, as the collapse of Soviet authority was largelyresponsible for the rise of organised crime and corruption in the post-Soviet era. In some ways Putin is a throwback to a Stalinistapparatchick in that in his view the State is more important thanindividuals. Putin claims to be a democrat but his concept ofdemocracy is one were order and the state take precedence over people.On the other hand it means that restoration of state power should fillthe power vacuum that allowed the extraordinary growth of organisedcrime and corruption during the 1990s Another aspect to the rise in organised crime and corruption in thepost-Soviet economy was the increase in the hard drugs trade, which hadnot officially been recognised as existing in the Soviet Union.Illegal drugs and the trafficking of them were supposed to only happenin the capitalist decadence of Western Europe and North America. Sincethe collapse of communism the Russia and other former Soviet stateshave had as much trouble in countering the rise in the drugs trade.Ironically the production of opium and heroin originating fromAfghanistan and Pakistan increased greatly after the Soviet Unionsinvasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Proceeds from the drugs trade inWestern Europe and North America proved very lucrative to organisedcrime gangs that started to enter the Soviet Union. Money the opiumgrowers made from the trade was used to fund the Afghan resistance tothe Soviet occupation forces. When that was added to by unlimitedAmerican military and financial aid it was no wonder that the Afghanwar played a large role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Thechaotic and sudden collapse of the Soviet Union made it easier tosmuggle, supply and sell drugs and then launder the proceeds in theformer Soviet republics. St Petersburg was the main city to be affected by drug addiction, witharound 70,000 users by the end of the 1980s. Drug addiction hadalready been increasing before the end of the Soviet era but wideravailability of drug supplies and gangs supplying them worsened thesituation. Organised crime gangs were sure of making profits with somany addicts needing to feed their habits, plus they could control theprostitution and robberies that desperate addicts resorted to pay fordrugs. The harsh economic factors and the dullness of life after theend of the Soviet era led to an increase in alcohol and hard drug abuseas people tried to forget how awful their lives were. The high profitsand low risks of getting caught attracted rival gangs to the formerSoviet Union. Aside from corruption and organised crime the hard drugsexplosion has left Russia with another increasing problem the spread ofHIV and AIDS. The Russian government has failed to promote needleexchanges or safe sex, and if the estimates of 5 million people beinginfected by 2007 prove accurate it could pose a greater threat toRussias future than corruption, organised crime or Chechen terrorists. In the post-Soviet era organised crime and corruption affected andcarried out by ordinary citizens. Open-air markets sprang up in citiessuch as Moscow and St Petersburg particularly at the weekends, aspeople exercised their newfound rights to buy and sell in public. Itwas an ideal way for people to make tax-free cash in hand quickly. Themarkets were also a good opportunity for organised crime gangs as theycould recruit people to sell their fake and pirated goods at the sametime as laundering their money. The unregulated nature of the marketsof course presented the organised crime gangs the opportunity forextorting cash out of traders selling their own goods. These marketswere the ideal place to sell and obtain forgeries and fake goods at thefraction of the cost of original brands or to dispose of stolen goods.The trend bares a remarkable similarity to the markets and car bootsales across Europe. There are other ways in which ordinary Russians could make money tomaintain or improve their standard of living in light of harshereconomic conditions. For instance motorists were more than happy touse their cars as ad hoc and unauthorized taxis in Moscow whilstpensioners or the ill would sell their medical prescriptions to drugaddicts. In Russia there has been a rising trend of tax evasionamongst the rich, the poor, the powerful and the powerless. The richunder declare their income, or send their money to off shore tax havenswhilst the poor either two or three jobs or a main job were the bulk oftheir pay is given cash in hand. Pavel Borodin when he was not busytaking bribes claimed that at least 300 members of the Duma officiallyonly owned the Russian built Volga cars but were in fact the owners ofluxury European or American built cars that would have cost far morethan their official income. Falling government revenues canfinancially weaken the state and lessen the funds to combat c orruptionand organised crime. Therefore various factors contributed, aided and permitted the rise oforganised crime and corruption within the economic sector of the formerSoviet Union republics in the post-Soviet era. Whilst privateenterprise had been outlawed for virtually the entire Soviet era exceptduring the New Economic Policy and the last years of the Soviet Unioncorruption was already well established. Organised crime had also beenpresent although on a lesser scale during the Soviet era, as witnessedby the existence of the black market and the availability of harddrugs. Clampdowns on illegal traders were random and targeted at thosethat had not paid bribes to the relevant police or officials. The yearsof stagnation and corruption in the Soviet Union were sure to influenceeconomic and political shape of the former Soviet republics. Gorbachevfailed to keep the Soviet Union existing with the policies of glasnostand perestroika but the subsequent collapse of the Soviet system was acurse for the leaders of the successor states. However, it was an idealopportunity for the astute emerging business classes, organised crimegangs and those bureaucrats that were surprisingly easy to bribe tomake their fortune. Sometimes the distinction and links between thesegroups were difficult to detect or distinguish. When the Soviet Union finished its legacy financial and bankingsystems were backward and open to vast amounts of fraud and moneylaundering. Organised crime gangs were well positioned to takeadvantage of what remained of the old system before new systems wereput into operation, where they encountered people who got in their waythey found violence, threats and bribery effective means to get whatthey wanted. Through extortion, investment and takeovers theycontrolled much of the income from the new private enterprises. Economic decline and the threat to peoples livelihoods made acontribution to the rise of organised crime and corruption in thepost-Soviet economics of the former Soviet Union. When faced withhyperinflation, under employment and unemployment ordinary peopleresorted to second and third jobs, mass tax evasion or settingthemselves up as market traders. Those that worked as minor officialsor in the police could always make other people pay fees or fines andincrease the level of corruption yet further. Crime gangs andindividual fraudsters took advantage of corrupt officials, police andjudges to profit from their extortions and scams. Russia and the otherformer Soviet republics to a lesser extent seemed to be convulsed by anextreme form of economic Darwinism. In that economic Darwinism only themost ruthless, the meanest and the most immoral survived, the restwould go under. In the new Russia rich and poor seemed to forget all oftheir morals in the search for money. The primary reason for the rise in organised crime and corruption onthe post-Soviet economy was the economic and political vacuum thatdeveloped with the end of communism. New leaders such as Boris Yeltsinand Leonid Kravchuk in the Ukraine headed governments that introducedeconomic reforms that provided ideal opportunities for organised crimeand increased whilst reducing the power of their respective states.Gangs were able to exploit the lack of law and order to run protectionrackets, car stealing rings and intimidate or murder any journalist,politician or business people that got in their way. Many people tookthe physically safer option of doing as they were told and those thattook bribes counted their money stayed quiet. The relative weakness ofthe central governments especially in Russia meant local and regionalgovernors would often become linked with organised crime gangs andgladly reaped the rewards of their corruption. The hasty privatisationled to the emergence of billionaire b usiness tycoons such as BorisBerezovsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Roman Abramovich who boosteddwindling government funding by lending it money and buying stateenterprises at greatly discounted prices. The oligarchs had massed agreat deal of economic power and political influence especially underthe Yeltsin presidency. Corruption was rife in the Kremlin as well asin the cities and the regions most notably when Pavel Borodin wascaught in a multimillion scandal awarding contracts to the highestbribers. Conversely Vladimir Putin has restored the Kremlins power andattempted to counter the rise of organised crime and corruption. Putin has to some extent succeeded in controlling the oligarchs eventhough his crackdown has been selective, only targeting those that areno longer of use to his government. It would still seem that everybodyin Russia has a price, bribery and corruption are widespread, itappears to be deeply ingrained in Russian society whilst organisedcrime seems certain to continue as long there are vast sums of money tobe made. The profits from extortion, money laundering, the drugs trade,gun running and prostitution mean that rival gangs will continue withtheir violent turf wars. It is a sad indictment on the Russiangovernment that the crime gangs are in more danger from each other thanthey are from the forces of law and order. Civil servants, the police,government and the FSB all seemed willing to make money on the side.Even in the former Soviet republics that have made the most successfulswitch to liberal democracy and capitalism, namely Estonia, Latvia andLithuania organised crime still exists as it does throughout theWestern world. Governments can not prevent the basic economic factthat crime does pay for those that do not get caught. Bibliography Dejevsky, M. 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