Politics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Politics - Research Paper Example Elements of democracy It is the most common form of government in the world of today. Democracy comes from two words, demos means â€Å"people† and cracy means â€Å"rule of†, so the word democracy means the rule of people. The authority to take decisions rests with the people of such a government. Democracy is considered as the best way to show equality and liberty among people in a society2. Modern democracies have a number of characteristics. They have elections and voting which gives equal rights to political power. They encourage equality by not discriminating one group over another. Democracies allow people to control political actions. It emphasizes on citizen participation3. Democracy can exist on a variety of levels such as local and international. Forms of democracy There are two basic forms of democracy; one being direct and the other representative4. Direct Democracy It is that form of democracy in which all of the citizens of a political organization jointl y make the decisions for that group. When a matter needs to be solved and a decision has to be taken, all the members sit together and vote in favour or against the matter. Example of a direct democracy is ancient Athens. They used to come together, debate on the issue and jointly decide amongst each other5. One of the main advantages of a direct democracy is that the citizens feel important and included in the matter. All decisions have high degree of authenticity. On the other hand, it also has its own setbacks. It is not a realistic approach for large countries. It is impossible for people of a populous country like India to sit together and discuss on an issue. Another limit is its need for people to effectively participate. This requires that the citizens are well informed of the issue to be discussed. This needs the time of the citizens which today most of them do not have. Third, decisions are taken on majority’s opinions. In direct democracy, there can be a tyranny of majority. Majorities can unfairly suppress minorities’ rights. This is the reason direct democracy is only at regional and local levels6. Representative Democracy In this form of democracy, people choose officials to represent their group and to make decisions on their behalf. An official is selected through regular elections. In this form, the citizens still participate and have the authority to decide, but the chosen representative implements the policies on their behalf. Government which are based on the principles of representative democracy are titled as republics. Majority of today’s governments are republics, for instance, United States, Mexico, and European countries7. Representative democracy has several advantages over direct democracy. First, elected representatives can focus more on politics and become specialists on issues that average people do not have time. Second, the whole process of debating and then coming to one conclusion is quicker and less comp licated than direct democracy. Third, countries can save time and money on elections since they are held after every few years; where as in direct democracy there are campaigns for most of the issues. Fourth, chosen officials provide continuity in government and prevent major changes in policy. Lastly, the elected officials can make complex decisions which the public might hesitate to take8.

Can grading systems influence the motivation of students in further Essay

Can grading systems influence the motivation of students in further eductaion - Essay Example It is hard therefore to determine the extent of the effect of the grades on the student’s motivation. Grades are positive reinforcers that could increase the probability of the behaviour that produced the consequence of reoccurring. He sees grades as powerful judges of students’ success or failure. But he also suggests that grades have limitations as motivators. He discusses research that suggests that grades can interfere with the learning process and the quality of learning when students are only working to get the grade and therefore decrease intrinsic motivation. He even cited research that showed that â€Å"good† grades could also create unmotivated students. Since grades have variable effects on student motivations, Docan suggests that the way the grades are offered may determine the effect on student motivation. The common systems used include competency-based or criterion based grading where students are graded on achieving a certain competency in skills, and the point systems where students earn points for completing work. He cites Bressette (2002) who found that the use of a plus/minus system serves as an â€Å"excellent motivator for students to continue strong efforts on all assignments and examinations right up to the last day of classes†. It was also reported that fear of moving to a lower grade from lack of effort might also motivate the student. The debate of whether grades and any grading system can act as motivators for students continues with Chulkov (2006) who posits that the design of the grading system is not important in motivating the student. Part of his argument is connected to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. He believes that though grades may provide some extrinsic motivation, they have no power over students who are intrinsically motivated. In this study where grades were used to motivate students to complete coursework, it was found that