Critical Thinking Application Paper

Critical Thinking Application Paper All people make decisions when they are faced with situations that require decisive solutions. Large companies and organizations depend on the decisions made in achieving their goals and objectives. Decision making process involves the use of critical thinking when a situation arises. Critical thinking is defined as the ability of thinking in a rational and clear manner. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Thinking Application Paper specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It involves the capability of engaging in an independent and reflective thinking. The process of critical thinking ensures that conscious decisions are made (Lutchman, 2010). The application of critical thinking is in some situations is able to make the thinker make effective decision. Decisions are made using gathered information that relates to the problem (Lutchman, 2010). These are critically analyzed and through different assessment a decision is arrived at in solving a situation. Marquis and Huston (2009) notes that critical thinking is also called reflective thinking that uses evaluation; this makes it broader than problem solving and decision making processes. According to Lutchman (2010) critical thinking is a behavior that is learned and enables the thinker make conclusions based on the information but not the obstacles that may arise. The evaluation critical thinking paper gives an example that required critical thinking as well as the importance and benefits of critical thinking in decision making process. After closing the college during the summer holidays I had an internship program with one of grocery chains stores. I was placed as an assistant supervisor in charge of the customers care department. I had to report all the complaints brought forward to the supervisor or the manager if supervisor was not available. The decision I would make would be taken seriously and applied. I received a complaint from one o f the customers that one of the employee’s was rude and unethical. This was a serious offence in the company and any employee who broke it was either fired or suspended from work. After getting the full details of the complaint, it was evident that the employee had used words that portrayed racial discrimination. The worst part of it was that the employee was my classmate and a close friend. Decision had to be made on this indecency behavior that had violated the company’s policy and even the federal law. Racial segregation is a federal crime in the United States of America and racial profiling is not acceptable. Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Other than being my friend the employee who held the position of a cashier was the fastest and reliable one. So decision that required critical thinking had to be given in the next 24 hours. The fate of the e mployee depended on my decisions. The company didn’t want to loose a dependable employee, so did I not want to disappoint and lose a friend. Different viewpoints and scenarios of dealing with the matter were evaluated. At the end of the day two options on the decisions to be made remained, to either fire the employee or to suspend the employee and transfer him to another store. This was the hardest point to make a decision but through critical thinking a verdict that served the employee appropriately was achieved. The decision was not influenced by any external factor like friendship or influence of the company. The decision making process is made of several stages that are interrelated. For decisions making process to be complete critical thinking process is applied. The importance of critical thinking in decision making process is that it allows individuals make appropriate judgments (Lyer, Levin, Shea Ashton 2006). Judgments make a positive decision making process that m ay have an impact on the general welfare of an organization. For example, in the hospitals the assessment of patients is based on critical thinking of nurses. According to Lyer et al (2006) critical thinking helps in alleviating errors during the decision making process. For example, the Toyota Company uses critical thinking in deciding the stability of a car. This is to avoid errors that may affect the customers and its credibility. Through critical thinking decisions errors are avoided and minimized. Because critical thinking involves the use problem solving process and behavior that evaluates collected information or data. This aids in the decision making process because it forms the basis of the whole process. Iyer, Levin, Shea and Ashton (2006) notes that the benefits of critical thinking is that it helps in setting priorities, making inferences’ as well as constructing effective plan that can be followed in decision making process. Critical thinking helps in enhancing the thinking process where an individual becomes acquainted to the critical thinking (Marquis Huston2009). This enables to automatically respond to critical thinking when a problem is triggered. Lutchman (2010) notes that critical thinking gives the right conclusions on a particular issue from set of given information. After developing the skills a critical thinker can never be swayed away by emotions, or any other obstacle. The process of critical thinking acts as motivating agent in encouraging people to become better critical thinkers (Lutchman, 2010).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Thinking Application Paper specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In conclusion, critical thinking involves a learned process of evaluating a situation based on given information. It is used in decision making process and its importance is that it helps in solving problems. It also helps decision makers make right judgments and avoid unnecessary errors. The major benefit is that it helps in developing skills and motivates a critical thinker to become better. Reference List Lutchman, C. (2010). Project Execution: A Practical Approach to Industrial and Commercial Project Management. New York: CRC Press. Lyer, P. W., Levin, B. J., Shea, M. A., Ashton, K. (2006). Medical legal aspects of medical records. Tucson, AZ: Lawyers Judges Pub. Co. Marquis, B. L., Huston, C. J. (2009). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams Wilkins.

Mosquito coil from cows manure Essays

Mosquito coil from cows manure Essays Mosquito coil from cows manure Essay Mosquito coil from cows manure Essay The proponents choose this product because lots of mosquitoes are abundant during rainy season. Many get diseases from these harmful Insects that may lead to death. In order to minimize this problem, our group decided to make mosquito coil as repellent from mosquitoes. It Is an organic cool made from a cows manure that ensures no harmful chemicals and affordable. GREEN BANANA FRIES Materials: Green Bananas 1 h cup of cooking oil 1 cup of cheddar cheese Benefits: Banana helps maintain the level of energy. Bananas also have a lot of benefits in cardiovascular and digestive health. Banana is rich In Vitamin 86, Manganese, Vitamin C, Fiber, Potassium, Biotin, Copper and etc. Their easy portability, low expense, and great taste also help support their popularity in this exclusive group. It ill require small capital to be produced. Resources are more convenient and available most of the time. Target Market: Students Employees Drivers Uses: It is to promote healthy foods in the society and replace Junk foods with products that give more nutritional facts than an ordinary potato. Description: They taste as good as any fast food French fries and are healthier. It is Just the same as potato fries but different variety of main ingredient only. Rationale: I thought of creating a green banana fries to try a different variety of having a potato fries. I think this would also be possible to make since most people like eating bananas. I also would want to prefer bananas since students are much tired after class, even skips breakfast on morning, some also are fun of having late lunch or late dinner. And thinking about this, I found out that Banana helps maintain the level of energy. Green bananas also are the healthiest because they have all their vitamins where ripe ones lose most of them because theyre too ripe. Green bananas do not have a strong banana flavor at all. Its very deceptive and very healthy.

The New Politics of Public Policymaking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The New Politics of Public Policymaking - Essay Example The result of this process is seen in the form of government acts and laws that often indicate some level of skepticism in it (Dionne, pp. 23-49). The policymaking has to go through several steps that include â€Å"establishing agenda, formulation, adoption, implementation, evaluation, and termination† (CliffsNotes, n.p.). However, history shows that very few policies have come to the point of termination (CliffsNotes, n.p). Another important factor that affects this process is financial analysis. The government is responsible for needs to set up financial skill set and its existence guarantees recognition by politicians and bureaucrats of the need for generalist skills in policymaking (Levin, Landy, & Shapiro, 35-47). Collecting survey data must also be within the allotted budget because in order to make effective policies, survey data must be accurate. In 1970s, United States underwent a major energy crisis due to the decline in the oil production and consumed more amount of the worlds energy as compared to its population; this had a tremendous impact on the social and economic situation of the country. In addition to that, the post world war conditions in 1960s had dramatically increased the United States population as a result it had the highest mass standard of living in the world history. All these factors combined gave birth to environmentalism, a movement concerned with the living conditions of creatures on earth. The growth of the movement was further advanced by the adverse conditions and extreme protests of the 60’s, which challenged imperialism, racism, and violence. Despite these diminishing conditions government failed to come up with effective policies as the Nixons Watergate scandal was in full swing, making it hard for them to take productive measures. The publication of books like Betty Friedans The feminine

Whistleblowers. The Process and Risks Assignment

Whistleblowers. The Process and Risks - Assignment Example Some of the recent examples of whistleblowers are Sherron Watkins of Enron, and Cyntha Cooper of WorldCom. They exposed or provided firsthand information on financial scandals. The case of Coleen Rowley of the FBI as a whistleblower was unique in the sense that the reporting incident was regarding lapses in the intelligence field a few weeks before September 11, 2001 terrorists attack. The Process of Whistle Blowing An employee who has some information about illegal activities of any nature pertaining to his or her organization and he or she chooses to bring that in public is known as a whistle blower. Whistle blowing is encouraged to bring honesty, equality, justice, and freedom of speech in society at large. It has many advantages such as it can protect health of consumers and employees. During 1920s, the harmful effects of asbestos in the manufacturing units were suppressed by company managment thus jeopardizing the health of employees. Employees feel more comfortable if they find it easy to raise their concerns within the organization. Risks Associated with the Whistleblower Whistleblowers carry certain risks such as alienation, face reprisals, or victimization at their workplace and likely to be more intensely supervised for their acts. They may be considered less loyal to their organization or employer for their act of blowing the whistle against the organization. Luque (2007) reports about one of the study of whistle-blowers in which 90% reported about emotional stress, anxiety and depression after their acts of whistle blowing. Around 54% of them reported harassment at their workplace and 10% were the cases of attempted suicide. Case Studies Sherron Watkins – Whistleblower of Enron The case of Sherron Watkins, the former corporate vice-president of Enron, is worth enumerating for the psychological trauma that she faced after her act of whistle blowing. In the month of August 2001, Sherron Watkins wrote a memo to the CEO of Enron that explained ho w the accounts of Enron present a distorted accounting numbers. On this, the CEO directed for an investigation through Enron's own law firm that did not do an honest job. Soon, the New York Times published a story about Enron's accounting jugglery. Thereafter, a congressional committee delved into the issue and started investigating the matter. Overnight, Watkins came into limelight and became a celebrated whistleblower that exposed Enron's accounting misreporting. This had a catastrophic effect on the company. Not only Enron was compelled to sack 4000 employees from its payroll but the very next day they filed Bankruptcy Code protection under chapter 11. Enron shares plummeted like a big log from the high of $90.75/share in August 2000 to the dismal $0.067/share recorded on Jan 13, 2002 (Luque, 2007). Watkins suffered more of a psychological pressure when she first acted as a whistle blower. She was isolated and made unnecessary for the company. Most of her partners began hating he r as because of her 4000 employees lost their jobs (Luque, 2007). Cynthia Cooper – Whistleblower of WorldCom Cynthia Cooper was working as vice president of internal audit at WorldCom. On her routine investigations, she found that certain expenses were being capitalized thus inflating the yearly earnings by several billions of dollars. More she investigated, the stranger the reactions she confronted with from some of her colleagues. She sought an explanation from the Chief Financial Officer of the company. On this, she was asked to stop the audit until the next quarter -- a date to begin her normal audit as per routine. However, she did not stop on this and organized a meeting with the company's auditor KPMG. Finally, it was found that earnings

Poter Five Forces Essay Example for Free

Poter Five Forces Essay The environment analysis of Coca-cola industry can be done as :Buyers There are many companies to buy the soft drink products. The companies that purchase cold drink includes Fast food franchises, food store, convenience stores and vendings. Generally, the individual buyers for small retails do not have pressure on coca-cola industry. But, the large retailers like: Wal-Mart have pressure or bargainin power on the coca cola because of it’s large order quantity. But again , the bargaining power of the buyers is lessened because of the loyalty of the end consumers towards coca-cola. Substitutes Generally, there are many substitues of coca-cola. It includes water, coffee, tea, fresh juices, etc. Coca-cola is able to counter it’s substitutes through brand equity, advertisment and easy availability. Coca-cola has been spending a huge budget on it’s advertisment with different concepts and it is also easily available in almost every corner of the world. They also began to produce these substitutes (eg:- pepsi) on their own to tap into that segment of the market. Barrier to entry The barrier to entry in the cold drink industry is fairly high. The franchising agreement with the existing bottling companies prohibit bottler’s from taking a new soft drink companies. Even though there is the entry of any new soft drink company in the market, it would not be of any threat for coca-cola company. Suppliers The main ingredents of soft drink are carbonate water, phodphoric acind , sweetner and caffeine. The suppliers of these ingredents are not concentrated or differentiated. Many suppliers can be available easily. If a new soft drink company enters the market, it would be very easy for a new soft drink company to find a supplier willing to sell these ingredents to them. Rivalry Talking about today’s context , the main competitor of coca-cola is pepsi. These both soft drink is able to survive in the market giving throat to throat competition to each other. Both have their own marketing concepts, advertisment concepts and stategies. The slogan of coca-coal is â€Å"Open Happiness† which generally focuses on togetherness and spreading happiness. Likewise, other soda brands that became famous was Dr. Pepper because of it’s unique flavour. Thus, in this way the environment analysis on coca-cola can be done through â€Å"Poter’s Five Forces Model†.

Inventing A Writing Technology Essay -- Writing Technological Papers

"Inventing" A Writing Technology According to Walter Ong, an influential scholar of the relationship between technology and media, "Literacy is imperious. It tends to arrogate to itself supreme power by taking itself as normative for human expression and thought. This is particularly true in high-technology cultures, which are built on literacy of necessity and which encourage the impression that literacy is an always to be expected and even natural state of affairs" (316). Ong would probably agree that literacy is so embedded in our current technological culture that it has become part of the standard of living, a necessary requirement for functioning in this highly professionalized world. However, the point of Ong’s prior statement is not that writing is only a necessity but that writing is a necessity which has become so internalized it is often taken for granted. The process of writing is a highly evolved, technological entity often revered as a "natural" part of life when in reality writing has been arti ficially created by man. Writing is very much an artificial creation, not a natural occurrence. To illustrate how true this is and how much writing is taken for granted and internalized as natural to humans, an experiment was done. Students from Eastern Michigan University’s English 328: Writing, Style, and Technology class were challenged to invent a writing technology without using any manufactured utensils such as pens, pencils, paint, brushes, white-out pens, nail polish, electronic devices or paper. The purpose was not to invent a new alphabet but to invent a new method of writing. In addition, the assignment required the consideration of four other elements: permanence, portability, creativity, and the extent to ... ... Beginning with the first written script of the Samarians, writing has been developed and integrated into world cultures. Many cannot imagine speech without writing, and U.S. culture would probably have difficulty functioning without writing. So, to say that writing is natural is one of the most incorrect statements of all time because, in truth, writing is one of the most invaluable, and highly-developed technologies existing worldwide today. Works Cited Barron, Dennis. "From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies." Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Comp. Evelyn B. Tribble & Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 35-53. Ong, Walter. "Writing Is a Technology that Restructures Thought." Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Comp. Evelyn B. Tribble & Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 315-337.

Intercultural communication Essay

Perception in psychology is defined as a process of obtaining information through one’s senses and interpreting that information as something meaningful. Perception can either be programmed into or learnt by a brain, or it can be formed due to one’s culture. Culture based perception is in some way influenced by experiences of culture and environment. For example, a person’s perception of right and wrong may be based on the norms of the society he lives in. Some characteristics of the American culture and their examples Individualism – American youth ‘move out’ to gain independence and to build their lives. Equality – providing equal opportunities to candidates during job recruitment processes. Materialism – the culture of recycling and having garage sales depicts how Americans value material goods and don’t waste resources. Science and technology – strong encouragement for science projects during schooling, and promoting it through movies and television. Progress and change – research and development in various fields is strongly supported by the government, so that the country may continue to be progressive and become a pioneer in every field. Work and leisure – as much importance as work is given in the American culture, there is equal attention paid to leisure and recreation – as is evident through the countless getaways and recreational family parks present in the country. Competition – incentive plans at work, and similar reward systems during education promote the notion of healthy competition among the Americans. Work, Dress, Sex and Status In America, work and productivity are considered important to achieve a high standard of living which is why the annual number of work hours has been increasing every year. Dressing habits tend to be highly informal – concepts like â€Å"Casual Fridays† at work reflect this part of the American culture. Sex education is imparted at an early stage to students to increase awareness about and to minimize sexually transmitted diseases. The culture of discriminating based on social status has been fading out as the notion of equality has started to spread more powerfully. Theories by Hofstede, Hall, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck to Analyze Culture These theories and the studies that had been conducted by these people, in my opinion, are quite useful in this age of globalization and ever-diminishing boundaries. They highlight the importance of differences in cultures worldwide, while also highlighting the similarities and therefore helping cross-culture psychologists find a common set of human values. Bibliography Mick Underwood (2006) CCMS – Communication studies, Culture studies, Media Studies Infobase by Mick Underwood. Retrieved on February 20, 2007 from: http://www. cultsock. ndirect. co. uk/MUHome/cshtml/index. html Wikipedia (2006) Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved on February 20, 2007 from: http://en. wikipedia. org.

Structural Functional Approach

Retrieved from: http://www. cifas. us/smith/chapters. html Title: â€Å"A structural approach to comparative politics. † Author(s): M. G. Smith Source: In Varieties of Political Theory. David Easton, ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. p. 113-128. Reprinted in Corporations and Society. p. 91-105. FIVE M. G. SMITH University of California, Los Angeles A Structural Approach to Comparative Politics Comparative politics seeks to discover regularities and variations of political organization by comparative analysis of historical and contemporary systems.Having isolated these regularities and variations, it seeks to determine the factors which underlie them, in order to discover the properties and conditions of polities of varying types. It then seeks to reduce these observations to a series of interconnected propositions applicable to all these systems in both static and changing conditions. Hopefully, one can then enquire how these governmental processes relate to the wider m ilieux of which they are part. It would seem that this comparative enquiry may be pursued i~. various ways that all share the same basic strategy, but differ in emphases arid sta~ ­ ing points.Their common strategy is to abstract one aspect of political reality and develop it as a frame of reference. With this variable held constant, enquiries can seek to determine the limits within which other dimensions vary; as the value of the primary variable is changed, the forms and values of the others, separately or together, can also be investigated. Ideally, we should seek to deduce relevant hypotheses from a general body of theory, and then to check and refine them by inductive analyses of historical and ethnographic data. ActuaJ procedures vary. 113 114 /A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS Initially, we might expect anyone of four approaches to be useful in the comparative study of political systems. These four approaches use respectively the dimensions of process, content, function, and form as the bases for their conceptual frameworks. In fact, cOlIlparative studies based on process and content face insuperable obstacles due to the enormous variability of political systems. In centralized polities, the institutional processes of government are elaborately differentiated, discrete, and easy to identify.They are often the subject, as well as the source, of a more or less complex and precise body of rules which may require specialists to interpret them. In simpler societies, the corresponding processes are rarely differentiated and discrete. They normally occur within the context of institutional activities with multiple functions, and are often difficult to abstract and segregate for analysis as self-contained processual systems. Before this is possible, we need independent criteria to distinguish the governmental and nongovernmental dimensions of these institutional forms.The substantive approach rests on the category of content. By the con.. tent of a governmental system, I mean its specific substantive concerns and resources, whether material, human, or symbolic. As a rule, the more differentiated and complex the governmental processes are, the greater the range and complexity of content. This follows because the content and processes of government vary together. Since both these frameworks are interdependent and derivative, both presuppose independent criteria for identifying government. The functional approach avoids these limitations.It defines government functionally as all those activities which influence â€Å"the way in which authoritative decisions are formulated and executed for a society. â€Å"l From this starting point, various refined conceptual schemes can be developed. As requisites or implications of these decisional processes, David Easton identifies five modes of action as necessary elements of all political systems: legislation, administration, adjudication, the development of demands, and the development of support and solidarity. They may be grouped as input and output requisites of governmental systems.According to Almond, the universally necessary inputs are political socialization and recruitment, interest articulation, interest aggregation, and political communication. As outputs, he states that rule making, rule application, and rule adjudication are all universa1. 2 Neither of these categorical schemes specifies foreign relations and defense, which are two very general governmental concerns; nor is it easy to see how these schemes could accommodate political processes in non-societal units. Such deductive models suffer from certain inexplicit assumptions with1David Easton, â€Å"An Approach to the Analysis of Political Systems,† World Politics, IX, No. 3 (1957), 384. 2 Gabriel Almond, â€Å"Introduction† to Almond and James S. Coleman, The Politics of the Developing Areas (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961). A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITIC S / 115 out which the initial exclusive stress on political functions might be im- . possible. But despite their universal claims, it remains to be shown that Bushmen, Pygmies, or Eskimos have governments which are functionally homologous with those of the United States and the Soviet Union.Legislation, rule adjudication, and interest articulation are categories appropriate to the discussion of complex, modern polities rather than simple, primitive ones. But the problem which faces the student of comparative politics is to develop a conceptual framework useful and applicable to all. To impute the features and conditions of modern polities to the less differentiated primitive systems is virtually to abandon the central problem of comparative politics. The functional approach, as usually presented, suffers from a further defect: It assumes a rather special ensemble of structural conditions.When â€Å"authoritative decisions are formulated and executed for a society,† this unit must be territorially delimited and politically centralized. The mode of centralization should also endow government with â€Å"more-or-Iess legitimate physical compulsion. â€Å"3 In short, the reality to which the model refers is the modern nation-state. By such criteria, ethnography shows that the boundaries of many societies are fluctuating and obscure, and that the authoritative status of decisions made in and for them are even more so.Clearly bounded societies with centralized authority systems are perhaps a small minority of the polities with which we have to deal. A structural approach free of these functional presumptions may thus be useful, but only if it can accommodate the full range of political systems and elucidate the principles which underlie their variety. In this paper, I shall only indicate the broad outlines of this approach. I hope to present it more fully in the future. Government is the regulation of public affairs.This regulation is a set of processes whic h defines government functionally, and which also identifies its content as the affairs which are regulated, and the resources used to regulate them. It does not seem useful or necessary to begin a comparative study of governmental systems by deductive theories which predicate their minimum universal content, requisites, or features. The critical element in government is its public character. Without a public, there can be neither public affairs nor processes to regulate them.Moreover, while all governments presuppose publics, all publics have governments for the management of their affairs. The nature of these publics is therefore the first object of study. Publics vary in scale, composition, and character, and it is reasonable to suppose that their common affairs and regulatory arrangements will vary correspondingly. The first task of a structural approach to comparative politics is thus to identify the properties of a public and to indicate the principal varieties and bases of pu blics. 3 Almond, â€Å"Introduction,† p. . 116 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS As I use the term, public does not include mobs, crowds, casual assemblies, or mass-communication audiences. It does not refer to such categories as resident aliens, the ill, aged, or unwed, or to those social segments which lack common affairs and organized procedures to regulate them-for example, slaves, some clans, and unenfranchised strata such as the medieval serfs or the harijans of India. Such categories are part of one or more publics; they are not separate publics of their own.For example, in an Indian village, a medieval manor, or a slave plantation, members of the disprivileged categories constitute a public only if they form an enduring group having certain common affairs and the organization and autonomy necessary to regulate them; but the existence of such local publics is not in itself sufficient for the strata from which their memberships are drawn to have the status of publics. For this to be the case, these local publics must be organized into a single group co-extensive with the stratum. With such organization, we shall expect to find a set of common affairs and procedures to regulate them.The organization is itself an important common affair and a system of institutional procedures. By a public, then, I mean an enduring, presumably perpetual group with determinate boundaries and membership, having an internal organization and a unitary set of external relations, an exclusive body of common affairs, and autonomy and procedures adequate to regulate them. It will be evident that a public can neither come into being nor maintain its existence without some set of procedures by which it regulates its internal and external affairs. These procedures together form the governmental process of the public.Mobs, crowds, and audiences are not publics, because they lack presumptive continuity, internal organization, common affairs, procedures, and autonom y. For this reason, they also lack the determinate boundaries and membership which are essential for a durable group. While the categories mentioned above are fixed and durable, they also lack the internal organization and procedures which constitute a group. When groups are constituted so that their continuity, identity, autonomy, organization, and exclusive affairs are not disturbed by the entrance or exit of their individual members, they have the character of a public.The city of Santa Monica shares these properties with the United States, the Roman Catholic Church, Bushman bands, the dominant caste of an Indian village, the Mende Pora, an African lineage, a Nahuatl or Slavonic village community, Galla and Kikuyu age-sets, societies among the Crow and Hidatsa Indians, universities, medieval guilds, chartered companies, regiments, and such â€Å"voluntary† associations as the Yoruba Ogboni, the Yako lkpungkara, and the American Medical Association. The units just listed ar e all publics and all are corporate groups; the governmental process inherent in publics is a feature of all corporate groups.Corporate groups-Maine's â€Å"corporations aggregate†-are one species of â€Å"perfect† or fully-fledged corporation, the other being the â€Å"corporation A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS / 117 sole† exemplified by such offices as the American Presidency, the British Crown, the Papacy, governorships, chieftaincies, and university chancellorships. Corporations sole and corporate groups share the following characteristics, all of which are necessary for â€Å"perfect† or full corporate status: identity, presumed perpetuity, closure and membership, autonomy within a given sphere, exclusive common affairs, set procedures, and organization.The first four of these qualities are formal and primarily external in their reference; they define the unit in relation to its context. The last four conditions are processual and func tional, and primarily internal in their reference. The main differences between corporations sole and corporate groups are structural, though developmental differences are also important. Corporate groups are pluralities to which an unchanging unity is ascribed; viewed externally, each forms â€Å"one person,† as Fortes characterized the Ashanti matrilineages. This external indivisibility of the corporate group is not merely a jural postulate. It inevitably presumes and involves governmental processes within the group. In contrast with a corporate group, an office is a unique status having only one incumbent at any given time. Nonetheless, successive holders of a common office are often conceived of and addressed as a group. The present incumbent is merely one link in a chain of indefinite extent, the temporary custodian of all the properties, powers, and privileges which constitute the office.As such, incumbents may legitimately seek to aggrandize their offices at the expens e of similar units or of the publics to which these offices relate; but they are not personally authorized to alienate or reduce the rights and powers of the status temporarily entrusted to them. The distinction between the capital of an enterprise and the personalty of its owners is similar to the distinction between the office and its incumbent. It is this distinction that enables us to distinguish ffices from other personal statuses most easily. It is very possible that in social evolution the corporate group preceded the corporation sole. However, once authority is adequately centralized, offices tend to become dominant; and then we often find that offices are instituted in advance of the publics they will regulate or represent, as, for example, when autocrats order the establishment of new towns, settlements, or colonies under officials designated to set up and administer them.There are many instances in which corporate groups and offices emerge and develop in harmony and congr uence, and both may often lapse at once as, for example, when a given public is conquered and assimilated. These developmental relations are merely one aspect of the very variable but fundamental relation between offices and corporate groups. Despite Weber, there are a wide range of corporate groups which lack stable leaders, 4 Meyer Fortes, â€Å"Kinship and Marriage among the Ashanti,† in African Sys- tems of Kinship and Marriage, eds. A. R.Radcliffe-Brown and Daryll Forde (London: Oxford University Press, 1950), pp. 254-61. 118 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS much less official heads. Others may have senior members whose authority is at best advisory and representative; yet others have a definite council or an official head, or both. In many cases, we have to deal with a public constituted by a number of coordinate corporate groups of similar type. The senior members of these groups may form a collegial body to administer the common affairs of the public, w ith variable powers.Ibo and Indian village communities illustrate this well. In such contexts, where superordinate offices emerge, they often have a primarily sacred symbolic quality, as do the divine kingships of the Ngonde and Shilluk, but lack effective secular control. Between this extreme and an absolute despotism, there are a number of differing arrangements which only a comparative structural analysis may reduce to a single general order. Different writers stress different features of corporate organization, and sometimes employ these to â€Å"explain† these social forms.Weber, who recognizes the central role of corporate groups in political systems, fails to distinguish them adequately from offices (or â€Å"administrative organs,† as he calls them). 5 For Weber, corporate groups are defined by coordinated action under leaders who exercise de facto powers of command over them. The inadequacy of this view is patent when Barth employs it as the basis for denying to lineages and certain other units the corporate status they normally have, while reserving the term corporate for factions of a heterogeneous and contingent character. Maine, on the other hand, stresses the perpetuity of the corporation and its inalienable bundle of rights and obligations, the estate with which it is indentified. 7 For Gierke,s Durkheim,9 and Davis,10 corporate groups are identified by their common will, collective conscienc~, and group personality. For Goody, only named groups holding material property in common are corporate. 1! These definitions all suffer from overemphasis on some elements, and corresponding inattention to others. The common action characteristic of corporate groups rarely embraces the application of violence which both Weber and Barth seem to stress.Mass violence often proceeds independ5 Max Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, trans. A. R. Henderson and Talcott Parsons (London: Wm. Hodge & Co. , 1947), pp. 133-37, 302-5. 6 Fredrik Barth, Political Leadership among Swat Pathans. Monographs in Social Anthropology, London School of Economics, No. 19 (London: University of London Press, 1959). 7 H. S. Maine, Ancient Law (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd. , 1904), p. 155. S Otto Gierke, Natural Law and the Theory of Society, 1500 to 1800, trans. Ernest Barker (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957). Emile Durkheim, The Division of Labour in Society, trans. George E. Simpson (New York: Free Press of Glencoe, Inc. , 1933). 10 John P. Davis, Corporations (New York: Capricorn Books, 1961), p. 34. 11 Jack Goody, â€Å"The Classification of Double Descent Systems,† Current Anthropology; II, No. 1 (1961), 5, 22-3. A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS / 119 ently of corporate groups. Corporate action is typically action to regulate corporate affairs-that is, to exercise and protect corporate rights, to enforce corporate obligations, and to allocate corporate responsibilities and privileges.When a group hol ds a common estate, this tenure and its exercise inevitably involve corporate action, as does any ritual in which the members or representatives of the group engage as a unit. Even the maintenance of the group's identity and closure entails modes of corporate action, the complexity and implications of which vary with the situation. It is thus quite fallacious to identify corporate action solely with coordinated physical movements. A chorus is not a corporate group.The presumed perpetuity, boundedness, determinate membership, and identity of a corporation, all more or less clearly entail one another, as do its requisite features of autonomy, organization, procedure, and common affairs. It is largely because of this interdependence and circularity among their elements that corporations die so hard; but by the same token, none of these elements alone can constitute or maintain a corporation. An office persists as a unit even if it is not occupied, providing that the corpus of rights, r esponsibilities, and powers which constitute it still persists.To modify or eliminate the office, it is necessary to modify. or eliminate its content. Among ! Kung bushmen, bands persist as corporate groups even when they have no members or heads12 ; these bands are units holding an inalienable estate of water holes, veldkos areas, etc. , and constitute the fixed points of ! Kung geography and society. The Bushman's world being constituted by corporate bands, the reconstitution of these bands is unavoidable, whenever their dissolution makes this necessary.As units which are each defined by an exclusive universitas juris, corporations provide the frameworks of law and authoritative regulation for the societies that they constitute. The corporate estate includes rights in the persons of its members as well as in material or incorporeal goods. In simpler societies, the bulk of substantive law consists in these systems of corporate right and obligation, and includes the conditions and c orrelates of membership in corporate groups of differing type. In such societies, adjectival law consists in the usual modes of corporate procedure. To a much greater extent than is commonly ealized, this is also the case with modern societies. The persistence, internal autonomy, and structural uniformity of the corporations which constitute the society ensure corresponding uniformity in its jural rules and their regular application over space and time. As modal units of social process and structure, corporations provide the framework in which the jural aspects of social relations are defined and enforced. Tribunals are merely functionally specific corporations charged with handling issues of certain kinds. Neither tribunals nor â€Å"the systematic ap12 Lorna Marshall, â€Å"! Kung Bushmen Bands,† A/rica, XXX (1960), 325- 5). 120 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS plication of the force of politically organized society†13 are necessary or sufficient for t he establishment of law. The law of a primitive society consists in its traditional procedures and modes of corporate action, and is implicit in the traditional rights, obligations, and conditions of corporate membership. In such societies, units which hold the same type of corporate estate are structurally homologous, and are generally articulated in such a way that each depends on the tacit recognition or active support of its fellows to maintain and enjoy its estate.Thus, in these simpler systems, social order consists in the regulation of relations between the constitutive corporations as well as within them. In societies which lack central political organs, societal boundaries coincide with the maximum range of an identical corporate constitution, on the articulation of which the social order depends. Though the component corporations are all discrete, they are also interdependent. But they may be linked together in a number of different ways, with consequent differences in the ir social systems.In some cases, functionally distinct corporations may be classified together in purely formal categories, such as moieties, clans, or castes. The Kagoro of northern Nigeria illustrate this. 14 In other cases, corporations which are formally and functionally distinct may form a wider public having certain common interests and affairs. The LoDagaba of northern Ghana and Upper Volta are an example. 15 In still other cases, corporations are linked individually to one another in a complex series of alliances and associations, with overlapping margins in such a way that they all are related, directly or indirectly, in the same network.Fortes has given us a very detailed analysis of such a system among the Tallensi. 16 However they are articulated in societies which lack central institutions, it is the extensive replication of these corporate forms which defines the unit as a separate system. Institutional uniformities, which include similarities of organization, ideology , and procedure, are quite sufficient to give these acephalous societies systemic unity, even where, as among the Kachins of Burma, competing institutional forms divide the allegiance of their members. 7 To say that corporations provide the frameworks of primitive law, and that the tribunals of modem societies are also corporate forms, is simply to say that corporations are the central agencies for the regulation of public affairs, being themselves each a separate public or organ, administering certain affairs, and together constituting wider publics or associations of publics 13 Roscoe Pound, Readings on the History and System 0/ the Common Law, 2nd ed. (Boston: Dunster House Bookshop, 1913), p. 4. 14 M. G.Smith, â€Å"Kagoro Political Development,† Human Organization, XIX, No. 3 (1960), 37-49. 15 Jack Goody, â€Å"Fields of Social Control among the LoDagaba,† Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, LXXXVII, Part I (1957),75-104. 16 Meyer Fortes, The Dynamics 0/ Clanship among the Tallensi (London: Oxford University Press, 1945). 17 E. R. Leach, Political Systems of Highland Burma (London: G. Bell & Sons, Ltd. , 1954). A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS / 121 for others. By the same token, they are the sources or frameworks of disorder.In some acephalous societies, disorder seems more or less perennial, and consists mainly in strife within and between corporations. Centralization, despite its merits, does not really exclude disorder. In concentrating authority, it simultaneously concentrates the vulnerability of the system. Accordingly, in centralized societies, serious conflicts revolve around the central regulative structures, as, for instance, in secessionist or revolutionary struggles, dynastic or religious wars, and â€Å"rituals of rebellion. â€Å"18 Such conflicts with or for central power normally affect the entire social body.In acephalous societies, on the other hand, conflicts over the regime may proceed in one r egion without implicating the others. 19 In both the centralized and decentralized systems, the sources and objects of conflict are generally corporate. Careful study of Barth's account of the Swat Pathans shows that this is true for them also, although the aggregates directly contraposed are factions and blocs. 20 Societal differences in the scale, type, and degree of order and coordination, or in the frequency, occasions, and forms of social conflict are important data and problems for political science.To analyze them adequately, one must use a comparative structural approach. Briefly, recent work suggests that the quality and modes of order in any social system reflect its corporate constitution-that is, the variety of corporate types which constitute it, their distinctive bases and properties, and the way in which they are related to one another. The variability of political systems which derives from this condition is far more complex and interesting than the traditional dicho tomy of centralized and noncentralized systems would suggest.I have already indicated some important typological differences within the category of acephalous societies; equally significant differences within the centralized category are familiar to all. This traditional dichotomy assumes that centralization has a relatively clear meaning, from which a single, inclusive scale may be directly derived. This assumption subsumes a range of problems which require careful study; but in any event, centralization is merely one aspect of political organization, and not necessarily the most revealing.Given variability in the relations between corporations sole and corporate groups, and in their bases and forms, it seems more useful to distinguish systems according to their structural simplicity or complexity, by reference to · the variety of corporate units of differing forms, bases, and functions which they contain, and the principles which serve to articulate them. Patently, such differen ces in composition imply differences in the relational networks in which these corporations articulate. Such ifferences in structural composition simultaneously describe the variety of political forms 18 Max Gluckman, Rituals of Rebellion in South East Africa (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1954); â€Å"Introduction† to Gluckman, Order and Rebellion in Tribal Africa (London: Cohen & West, 1963). 19 Leach, Political Systems 0/ Highland Burma. 20 Barth, Political Leadership among Swat Pathans. 122 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS and processes, and explain differences in the scale, order, and coordination of polities.This is so because corporate organization provides the framework, content, and procedures for the regulation of public affairs. For this reason, the analysis of corporate structure should be the first task in the case study of a political system and in comparative work. For many political scientists, the concept of sovereignty is essential as the foundation of governmental order and autonomy. In my view, this notion is best dispensed with. It is a hindrance rather than a help to analysis, an unhappy solution of a very real problem which has been poorly formulated. In a system of sovereign states, no state is sovereign.As etymology shows, the idea of sovereignty derives from the historically antecedent condition of personal dominion such as kingship, and simply generalizes the essential features of this form as an ideology appropriate to legitimate and guide other forms of centralization. The real problem with which the notion of sovereignty deals is the relation between autonomy and coordination. As the fundamental myth of the modern nation-state, the concept is undoubtedly important in the study of these states; its historical or analytical usefulness is otherwise very doubtful.It seems best to formulate the problems of simultaneous coordination and autonomy in neutral terms. As units administering exclusive common a ffairs, corporations presuppose well-defined spheres and levels of autonomy, which are generally no more nor less than the affairs of these units require for their adequate regulation. Where a corporation fully subsumes all the juridical rights of its members so that their corporate identification is exclusive and lifelong, the tendencies toward autarchy are generally greatest, the stress on internal autonomy most pronounced, and relations between corporations most brittle.This seems to be the case with certain types of segmentary lineage systems, such as the Tallensi. Yet even in these conditions, and perhaps to cope with them, we usually find institutional bonds of various types such as ritual cooperation, local community, intermarriage, clanship, and kinship which serve to bind the autarchic individual units into a series of wider publics, or a set of dyadic or triadic associations, the members of which belong to several such publics simultaneously.Weber's classification of corpo rate groups as heteronomous or autonomous, heterocephalous or autocephalous, touches only those aspects of this problem in which he was directly interested. 21 We need also to analyze and compare differing levels, types, and degrees of autonomy and dependence in differing social spheres and situations. From comparative studies of these problems, we may hope to derive precise hypotheses about the conditions and limits of corporate autonomy and articulation in systems of differing composition and span. These hypotheses should also illuminate the conditions and limits of social disorder.Besides the â€Å"perfect† or fully-fledged corporations, offices and corpo21 Weber, Theory 0/ Social and Economic Organization, pp. 135-36. A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS / 123 rate groups, there are â€Å"imperfect† quasicorporations with must also be studied explicitly. The two main forms here are the corporate category and the commission. A corporate category is a clearl y bounded, identifiable, and permanent aggregate which differs from the corporate group in lacking exclusive common affairs, autonomy, procedures adequate for their regulation, and the internal organization which constitutes the group.Viewed externally, acephalous societies may be regarded as corporate categories in their geographical contexts, since each lacks a single inclusive frame of organization. But they are categories of a rather special type, since, as we have seen, their institutional uniformity provides an effective basis for functional unity. In medieval Europe, serfs formed a corporate category even though on particular manors they may have formed corporate groups.Among the Turkana22 and Karimojong23 of East Africa, age-sets are corporate categories since they lack internal organization, exclusive affairs, distinctive procedures, and autonomy. Among the nearby Kipsigi24 and Nandi25 clans are categorical units. These clans have names and identifying symbols, a determinat e membership recruited by agnatic descent, certain ritual and social prohibitions of which exogamy is most important, and continuity over time; but they lack internal organization, common affairs, procedures and autonomy to regulate them.Though they provide a set of categories into which all members of these societies are distributed, they never function as social groups. Not far to the south, in Ruanda, the subject Hutu caste formed a corporate category not so long ago. 26 This â€Å"caste† had a fixed membership, closure, easy identification, and formed a permanent structural unit in the Tutsi state. Rutu were excluded from the political process, as a category and almost to a man. They lacked any inclusive internal organization, exclusive affairs, autonomy, or procedures to regulate them.Under their Tutsi masters, they held the status of serfs; but when universal suffrage was recently introduced, Rutu enrolled in political parties such as the Parmehutu Aprosoma which succee ded in throwing off the Tutsi yoke and expelling the monarchy. 27 In order to become corporate groups, corporate categories need to develop an effective representative organization, such for instance as may now be emerging among American Negroes. In the American case, this corporate category is seeking to organize itself in order to remove the disprivileges which define it as a category.Some corporate 22 Philip Gulliver, â€Å"The Turkana Age Organization,† American Anthropologist, LX (1958), 900-922. 23 Neville Dyson-Hudson, to author, 1963. 24 J. G. Peristiany, The Social Institutions of the Kipsigis (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd. , 1939). 25 G. W. B. Huntingford, The Nandi of Kenya (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd. , 1953). 26 J. J. Maquet, The Premise of Inequality in Ruanda (London: Oxford University Press, 1960). 27 Marcel d'Hertefelt, â€Å"Les Elections Communales et Ie Consensus Politique au Rwanda,† Zaire, XIV, Nos. -6 (1960), 403-38. 124 / A STRUC TURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS categories are thus merely formal units lacking common functions; others are defined by common disabilities and burdens, though lacking common affairs. Under Islam, the dhimmi formed such a category; in India, so do the individual castes. The disabilities and prohibitions which define categories are not always directly political; they include exogamy and ritual taboos. Commissions differ from offices along lines which recall the differences between corporate categories and corporate groups.Like categories, commissions fall into two main classes: one class includes ad hoc and normally discontinuous capacities of a vaguely defined character, having diffuse or specific objects. The other class includes continuing series of indefinite number, the units of which are all defined in such general terms as to appear structurally and functionally equivalent and interchangeable. Familiar examples of the latter class are military commissions, magistracies, professorships, and priesthoods; but the sheiks and sa'ids of Islam belong here also.Examples of the first class, in which the powers exercised are unique but discontinuous and ill-defined, include parliamentary commissions of enquiry or other ad hoc commissions, and plenipotentiaries commissioned to negotiate special arrangements. In some societies, such as the Eskimo, Bushman, and Nuer, individuals having certain gifts may exercise informal commissions which derive support and authority from public opinion. The Nuer â€Å"bull,† prophet, and leopard-skin priests are examples. 28 Among the Eskimos, the shaman and the fearless hunter-warrior have similar positions. 9 The persistence of these commissions, despite turnover of personnel and their discontinuous action, is perhaps the best evidence of their importance in these social systems. For their immediate publics, such commissions personalize social values of high relevance and provide agencies for ad hoc regulation and gu idance of action. In these humble forms, we may perceive the seeds of modern bureaucracy. Commissions are especially important as regulatory agencies in social movements under charismatic leaders, and during periods of popular unrest.The charismatic leadership is itself merely the supreme directing commission. As occasion requires, the charismatic leader creates new commissions by delegating authority and power to chosen individuals for special tasks. The careers of Gandhi, Mohammed, Hitler, and Shehu Usumanu dan Fodio in Hausaland illustrate this pattern well. So does the organization and development of the various Melanesian â€Å"cargo cults. â€Å"30 But if the commission is to be institutionalized as a unit of permanent administration, its arbitrary 28 E. E. Evans-Pritchard, The Nuer (London: Oxford University Press, 940). 29 Kaj Birket-Smith, The Eskimo (London: Meuthuen & Co. , Ltd. , 1960); V. Stefansson, My Life with the Eskimo (New York: The Crowell-Collier Publishing Co . , 1962). 80 Peter Worsley, The Trumpet Shall Sound (London: McGibbon & Kee, 1957). A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVB POLma / 125 character must be replaced by set rules, procedures, and spheres of action; this institutionalization converts the commission into an office in the same way that its organization converts the corporate category into a corporate group.Moreover, in the processes by which corporate categories organize themselves as groups, charismatic leadership and its attached commissions are the critical agencies. The current movement for civil rights among American Negroes illustrates this neatly. Any given public may include offices, commissions, corporate categories, and corporate groups of differing bases and type. In studying governmental systems, we must therefore begin by identifying publics and analyzing their internal constitution as well as their external relationships in these terms.It is entirely a matter of convenience whether we choose to begin with the smallest units and work outwards to the limits of their relational systems, or to proceed in the opposite direction. Given equal thoroughness, the results should be the same in both cases. Any governmental unit is corporate, and any public may include, wholly or in part, a number of such corporations. These units and their interrelations together define the internal order and constitution of the public and its network of external relations.Both in the analysis of particular systems and in comparative work, we should therefore begin by determining the corporate composition of the public under study, by distinguishing its corporate groups, offices, commissions, and categories, and by defining their several properties and features. As already mentioned, we may find, in some acephalous societies, a series of linked publics with intercalary corporations and overlapping margins. We may also find that a single corporate form, such as the Mende Para or the Roman Catholic Church, cuts across a number of quite distinct and mutually independent publics.An alternative mode of integration depends on the simultaneous membership of individuals in several distinct corporations of differing constitution, interest and kind. Thus, an adult Yako81 simultaneously belongs to a patrilineage, a matrilineage, an age-set in his ward, the ward (which is a distinct corporate group), one or more functionally specific corporate associations at the ward or village level, and the village, which is the widest public. Such patterns of overlapping and dispersed membership may characterize both individuals and corporations equally.The corporations will then participate in several discrete publics, each with its exclusive affairs, autonomy, membership, and procedures, just as the individual participates in several corporations. It is this dispersed, multiple membership which is basic to societal unity, whether or not government is centralized. Even though the inclusive public with a centralized a uthority system is a corporate group, and a culturally distinct population 81Daryll Forde, Yako Studies (London: Oxford University Press, 1964); Kenneth Little, The -Mende of Sierra Leone (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd. 1951). 126 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS without this remains a corporate category, functionally both aggregates derive their underlying unities from the same mechanism of crosscutting memberships, loyalties, and cleavages. In the structural study of a given political system, we must therefore define its corporate constitution, determine the principles on which these corporate forms are based, and see how they articulate with one another.In comparative study, we seek to determine what differences or uniformities of political process, content, and function correspond with observable differences or uniformities of corporate composition and articulation. For this purpose, we must isolate the structural principles on which the various types of cor porations are based in order to determine their requisites and implications, and to assess their congruence or discongruence. To indicate my meaning, it is sufficient to list the various principles on which corporate groups and categories may be based.These include sex, age, locality, ethnicity, descent, common property interests, ritual and belief, occupation, and â€Å"voluntary† association for diffuse or specific pursuits. Ethnographic data show that we shall rarely find corporate groups which are based exclusively on one of these principles. As a rule, their foundations combine two, three, or more principles, with corresponding complexity and stability in their organization. Thus, lineages are recruited and defined by descent, common property interests, and generally co-residence.Besides equivalence in age, age-sets presume sameness of sex and, for effective incorporation, local co-residence. Guilds typically stressed occupation and locality; but they were also united by property interests in common market facilities. In India, caste is incorporated on the principles of descent, ritual, and occupation. Clearly, differing combinations of these basic structural principles will give rise to corporations of differing type, complexity, and capacity; and these differences will also affect the content, functions, forms, and contextual relations of the units which incorporate them.It follows that differing combinations of these differing corporate forms underlie the observable differences of order and process in political organization. This is the broad hypothesis to which the comparative- structural study of political systems leads. It is eminently suited to verification or disproof. By the same token, uniformities in corporate composition and organization between, as well as within, societies should entail virtual identities of political process, content, and form.When, to the various possible forms of corporate group differentiated by the combination of structural principles on which they are based and by the relations to their corporate contexts which these entail, we add the other alternatives of office, commission, and category, themselves variable with respect to the principles which constitute them, we simultaneously itemize the principal elements which give rise to the variety of political forms, and the principles and methods by which we can reasonably hopeA STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS / 127 to reduce them to a single general order. Since corporations are essential regulatory units of variable character, their different combinations encompass the entire range of variability of political systems on the functional, processual, and substantive, as well as on the structural levels. Within this structural framework, we may also examine the nature of the regulatory process, its constituents, modes, and objectives.The basic elements of regulation are authority and power. Though always interdependent and often combi ned, they should not be confused. As a regulatory capacity, authority is legitimated and identified by the rules, traditions, and precedents which embody it and which govern its exercise and objects. Power is also regulatory, but is neither fully prescribed nor governed by norms and rules. Whereas authority presumes and expresses normative consensus, power is most evident in conflict and contraposition where dissensus obtains.In systems of public regulation, these conditions of consent and dissent inevitably concur, although they vary in their forms, objects, and proportions. Such systems accordingly depend on the simultaneous exercise and interrelation of the power and authority with which they are identified. Structural analysis enables us to identify the various contexts in which these values and capacities appear, the forms they may take, the objectives they may pursue, and their typical relations with one another within as well as between corporate units.In a structurally homog eneous system based on replication of a single corporate form, the mode of corporate organization will canalize the authority structure and the issues of conflict. It will simultaneously determine the forms of congruence or incongruence between the separate corporate groups. In a structurally heterogeneous system having a variety of corporate forms, we shall also have to look for congruence or incongruence among corporations of differing types, and for interdependence or competition at the various structural levels.Any corporate group embodies a set of structures and procedures which enjoy authority. By definition, all corporations sole are such units. Within, around, and between corporations we shall expect to find recurrent disagreements over alternative courses of action, the interpretation and application of relevant rules, the allocation of positions, privileges and obligations, etc. These issues recurrently develop within the framework of corporate interests, and are settled b y direct or indirect exercise of authority and power.Few serious students now attempt to reduce political systems to the modality of power alone; but many, under Weber's influence, seek to analyze governments solely in terms of authority. Both alternatives are misleading. Our analysis simultaneously stresses the difference and the interdependence of authority and power. The greater the structural simplicity of a given system, that is, its dependence on replication of a single corporate form, such as the Bushman band or Tallensi lineage, the greater its decen- 28 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS tralization and the narrower the range in which authority and power may apply. The greater the heterogeneity of corporate types in a given system, the greater the number of levels on which authority and power are simultaneously requisite and manifest, and the more critical their congruence for the integration of the system as a whole.

Employee Motivation in Spanish Hotel Chains

Employee Motivation in Spanish Hotel Chains Introduction Purpose of the study There are several types of leadership feedback attributions in organizations. For instance, addressing feedback with anger may result in abusive supervision. On the other hand, addressing feedback as evaluation that is based on the results of poor performance may not give the ideal picture for proactive organizational behaviour module.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Employee Motivation in Spanish Hotel Chains specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As a result, the subordinates may feel disengaged and might not display optimal performance. Organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and involvement are critical elements within an effective organizational culture (Wang, Tsui, Xin, 201, p. 98). As a manager within an organization, job satisfaction should be the top priority towards the subordinates. Reflectively, job satisfaction translates into effective workforce since satisfied emplo yees will meet their needs while fulfilling the organization’s work values. Besides, strategies promoting job satisfaction accommodate equity among the employees, in terms of rewards and treatment (Slack, 2012, p. 23). It is therefore important to review the impact of corporate leadership on employee motivation in Spanish hotel chains. The analysis will be based on the causal attribution theory, goal setting theory, and abusive supervision theory. Previously, the leadership feedback channel was depicted as a linear process in which a supervisor directly conveyed messages to the subordinates and tracks their performance. In the twenty-first century, the feedback models are interactions of transaction processes where both the supervisor and the subordinates have an influence on each other as they interact within the realms of organizational cultural context.Advertising Looking for proposal on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 1 5% OFF Learn More Employee motivation captures the concepts of efficiency, efforts, ability, and strategies in place to accomplish an effective organizational behaviour (Chan Mcallister, 2014, p. 46). The need for leaders’ feedback efficiency necessitates more research in the area of feedback systems and their impacts on organizational behaviour within the hotel industry in Spain. It is for this reason that the research will attempt to provide a framework for employee motivation as directly influenced by the type of leaders’ feedback and response by the subordinates. The dependent variable is the feedback attribution while the independent variables are personal ability, social ability, and structural motivation. Research rationale Employee motivation effectiveness determines the level of performance of an organization and business sustainability amidst competition, in terms of effort and ability of the subordinates. This research will assist the organi zations within the Spanish hotel industry to implement effective leadership feedback styles that promote efficiency and sustainability of employee performance. It will be a compilation of best leadership feedback style practices among establishments with effective employee motivation system. The study will also provide recommendations on how organization can effectively manage their employee motivation strategies, as part of the active leadership feedback channel, in order to guarantee job satisfaction among the subordinates. Insufficient information exists concerning different leadership feedback styles and their influence on employee motivation within the Spanish hotel industry. The study will not be a magic bullet in the leadership feedback style and effective employee motivation proposal. It will only provide structures that must be combined with the values and goals of a particular organization to ensure effective behaviour as a management strategy. Therefore, organizations wit hin the Spanish hotel industry cannot implement the recommendations without reflecting on external and internal weaknesses in different organizational behaviour systems and leadership feedback styles.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Employee Motivation in Spanish Hotel Chains specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More If too much emphasis goes to emerging trends, then the case study organizations will not learn about the fundamentals of the practice that got those firms to their market positions. Research questions and hypothesis Research hypothesis Null hypothesis: Different leadership feedback styles have influence on the quality of employee motivation within the Spanish hotel industry. Alternative hypothesis: Different leadership feedback styles do not have influence on the quality of employee motivation within the Spanish hotel industry. Taking the role and importance of different leadership feedback styles into consid eration, this particular research study aims to analyse the degree to which different leadership feedback styles influence the level of employee motivation within the Spanish hotel industry. The research study also has particular sub-objectives that are mentioned below: To analyse the importance of different leadership feedback styles on employee motivation within the Spanish hotel industry. To explore the different leadership feedback styles adopted by three selected hotel operating in the Spanish hotel industry. To investigate the impact of different leadership feedback styles on the quality of employee motivation strategies in the Spanish hotel industry. Research questions How effective are different leadership feedback styles in the orientation of employee motivation within the Spanish hotel industry? What is the relevance of leadership feedback style in different employee motivation strategies within the Spanish hotel industry? How effective is the role of an organizational culture as a leadership orientation in employee motivation sustainability within the Spanish hotel industry? Literature review Organization motivation effectiveness and business performance Over the last few years, the roles and responsibilities of managers within a company have significantly changed. According to Spector (2008), leadership feedback style can be explained as the overall leadership approach practiced by managers towards their subordinates. Further, there are several types of leadership feedback styles in terms of managing the subordinates of an organization. Management style can undoubtedly have a huge impact on how the employees perform.Advertising Looking for proposal on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For example, employees in multinational organizations are free to decide their way of working and their managers follow a relaxed leadership feedback style, since it is suitable within such business environments (Chan Mcallister, 2014, p. 48). On the other hand, government and public sector firms follow a stricter leadership feedback style due to the high level of bureaucracy (Wang, Tsui, Xin, 2011, p. 101). According to Grenny (2012), each type of leadership feedback style serves a purpose grounded on the kind of operations and business environment and the situation. The highly efficient management styles are those that can help the managers to develop a good operating environment for all the individuals involved and motivate employees to put in their maximum efforts (Grenny, 2012, p. 11). Moreover, it is believed that management styles also have an impact on the quality of organizational behaviour within distinct industries such as the Hospitality Industry (Chan Mcallister, 201 4, p. 46; Sinclair, 2010). According to Jian et al. (2012), management style has a strong impact on employee motivation and ability to learn in an organization. Besides, highly effective managers differ in leadership styles based on knowledge and skills, the type of task, and time restrictions among other factors. These actions inspire and encourage optimal performance among employees (Jian, Kwan, Qiu, Liu, Yim, 2012, p. 685). On the other hand, Martinko et al. (2013) note that leadership feedback styles differ in different sectors and industries. The authors are categorical in stating that different operation systems determine the type of leadership style a company is practicing. Irrespective of the leadership style, the authors conclude that leadership feedback styles have an impact on organizational behaviour in terms of motivation and performance among the subordinates (Martinko, Harvey, Brees, Mackey, 2013, p. 123). Proper communication between the management and employees de termine the success of any organization (Wang, Tsui, Xin, 2011, p. 95). In fact, different leaders’ feedback styles have different impacts on the organizational communication channel. Thus, the choice of a management style is directly proportional to the effectiveness of communication in that particular restaurant (Moss Martinko, 2008, p. 126). Organizational and leadership ethics determine the level of participation by the employees and interventions passed through a feasibility test for implementation to initiate a cultural shift in the organization. Besides, communication ethics defines content policy based on the need to address work related habits in order to create a friendly workplace environment (Tepper, 2007, p. 268). As a result of properly structured organizational behaviour ethics, the work environment becomes holistic, that is, soft and socially friendly to the staff. Besides, healthy ethical communication culture creates structural goals which develop norms, e xpectations of specific behaviour display and appropriate guideline controlling interaction with one another (Jian et al. 2012, p. 687). Aspired ideals of a stable organizational behaviour model include the need for an organization to strive to develop a good culture by fostering a strong alignment with the monitored path of achieving its goals, missions and vision. The model has written rules of engagement, expected behaviour, and repercussions for deviation. The aspect of organization behaviour system should be made effective in order to minimize conflicts of interest. Thus, the concept of aspired and profiled structures must be laid down to aid exchange of information, professionalism and pro-activeness in issue based interaction between the supervisor and the subordinates (Wilhelm, Herd, Steiner, 2003, p. 540; Spector, 2008, p. 31). The part of principles in an effective organizational behaviour model encompasses laid down rules to enable the organization to be more efficient. This is in the form of a well organized hierarchy of workforce from management with administrative roles to service providing workers. Managers are empowered by the organization’s constitution to perform the role of prefects and offer leadership solutions upon consultation with one another. To control group behaviour, desirable leadership attributes are necessary, which are possessed by the managers gained over time in experience (Moss Martinko, 2008, p. 129). Therefore, â€Å"actions are most often attributed to four causes: effort and ability (both internal and dispositional causes), luck, and task difficulty (both external and situational causes)† (Slack, 2012, p. 24). Whenever there is a strong professional relationship nurtured on the values of appreciation and respect within an organizational communication model, hidden talents are easily displayable for business sustainability (Tepper, 2007, p. 269). The concept of leadership can be broadly defined as the intri nsic ability to internalise a setting with the intention of empowering a group or team to proactively and creatively contribute towards problem solving (Moss Martinko, 2008, p. 129). The main characteristics of leadership include adaptability, empowerment, commitment, contribution and critical problem solving skills. The aspect of adaptability effects the adjustments that may be required in exercising influence over a challenge. Through these adjustments, a person exercising leadership may be in a position to model a unique setting that reassures and discerns the wants and desires of the subordinates. The aspect of empowerment involves inspiring self-esteem and confidence among the subjects to align their feelings to specific intuition or instinct. These elements determine the effects of an organizational behaviour system on subordinate performance in terms of effort and ability (Powell, 2005, p. 19). Spanish hotel industry organizational effectiveness Several literatures indicate that the Spanish hotel industry is steadily growing in terms of scope and production (International Market Bureau, 2011, p. 2). The scope involves the increasing number of employees, while production involves management techniques that have been employed to ensure sustainable growth (Ernst Young, 2012, par. 8). This requires organizations within the industry to put in place suitable management techniques to ensure effective retention and attraction of employees. Moreover, proper communication between the staff members and top management is considered as an important factor behind the success of any business (Vaccaro, Jansen, Bosch, Volberda, 2012, p. 33). Organizations function best when the intra and intercommunication systems are perfect. Therefore, successful organizations manage information continuously. The practice of information management involves the science of processing information to facilitate informed decision making among managers. Thus, in reviewing performance bas ed on feedback received, it is important to handle the voluntary information with care to boost trust and confidentiality which form the pinnacle of organizational behaviour (Peterson, Smith, Martorana, Owens, 2003, p. 796). Therefore, it is critical to balance the feedback with the goals of such an organization as a remedy towards inclusiveness and active participation which translates into desirable performance. Research Methodology Research philosophy The researcher will be fully involved in preparing both quantitative and qualitative research phases, implementing the survey and interviews and analysing the data gathered. A sense of neutrality will be maintained and the researcher will conduct research as an explorer, whose goal is to establish the link between leaders’ feedback styles and effectiveness of organizational behaviour systems within the Spanish hotel industry. The large scale questionnaire survey for the quantitative phase will help identify which competencie s and feedback styles are most common, while the qualitative phase will help focus on actual management methods used and communication channels in different organizations (De-Rada, 2005, p. 63). Research Approach Use of the qualitative research approach will facilitate understanding of the individual attributes that contribute to poor performance. Attributes of the subjects under study will be qualitatively studied through observation where the researcher will collect data using an observation schedule during the interview process. This will allow the researcher to enter observed qualitative behaviour indicative of lack of motivation in an organization. Quantitative methods used in this study will generally apply to the analysis of the collected data where analytical tools such as chi square, regression and correlation methodologies will be used. These methodologies will help in identification of statistical patterns in the data on motivation collected from organizations using quest ionnaires and interviews (De-Rada, 2005, p. 69). Research Strategy Data, to will be collected through one-on-one interviews, will be scrutinized in detail. Each question asked will be comprehensive to ensure that respondents have an opportunity to give deep and answers that provide an insight into the research problem. Transcription will then be done to each of the recorded interview process. For each response from each participant, the recorded transcripts will be perused to coin relevant and most appropriate response. Factually, instances of divergent or convergent opinions by one or more respondents will be marked appropriately (De-Rada, 2005, p. 66). Validity and reliability determine the accuracy of collecting data in research. In order to achieve validity in the questions presented in the questionnaire, it is essential to carry out question pre-testing (De-Rada, 2005, p. 67). On the other hand, reliability quantifies the magnitude of consistency of research instruments and the outcome created by the same. The way in which an event is experienced is related to the way in which the person, who has experienced this event, can give a different perspective. However, in this qualitative study, the researcher will have the opportunity to get the perspective of the participants. Utilising these experiences as a framework from which to develop the study, the work is likely to reflect the unique understanding that the personal experiences bring to the development of case studies (Persily, 2013, p. 29). The interviews will be conducted by the researcher because of common characteristics of culture and sector. Data used This research will target employee randomly chosen from organizations within the Spanish hotel industry, since they have the knowledge of the feedback attribution and systems management strategies that promote employee motivation. A sample space of 100 participants will be interviewed. The sampling criterion that will be used in the initial sampling plan represents the true picture of the activities on the ground. Adaptation of this sample plan as authentic would not compromise the aspect of comparative study in decision making, that is, it gives room for comparison to another set of data. Methods and techniques used Research survey technique This research will be conducted using research survey study approach. The researcher chose qualitative approach rather than quantitative, because the scope of the research is focused, subjective, dynamic, and discovery oriented. The qualitative approach is best suited to gain proper insight into the situation of the case study. Besides, qualitative data analysis is more detailed than quantitative one. Moreover, this approach will create room for further analysis using different and divergent tools for checking the degree of error and assumption limits. The researcher will use direct interviews with open ended and close ended questionnaires to target respondents (De-Rada, 2005, p. 67). Use of the qualitative research approach will facilitate understanding of the individual attributes of organizational employee motivation effectiveness as influenced by the leaders’ feedback attribution. Attributes of the subjects under study will be qualitatively studied through observation, where the researcher will collect data using an observation schedule during the interview process. These methodologies will help in identification of statistical patterns in the data on motivation collected from organizations using questionnaires and interviews. For interviews, as long as an interviewee agrees to be recorded, the interview will be recorded. This will ensure that all points made by the interviewee are documented and available for consideration in the analysis. Research Plan Week 1: Research Commencement This stage will involve reviewing the research topic and rationale for the proposed hypothesis. This stage may take one week, since choosing the topic will be dependent on ava ilable literature. Week 2 3: Choosing the case study Choosing the case study will be very challenging as research papers adopt different approaches. Specifically, I will have to choose the most convincing research variables from different research articles with a diverse approach to the research questions. Week 4 5: Background research Since materials are available for the research topic, I will have an easy time in merging the relevant material to the research question. This stage may take two weeks to accomplish. Week 6, 7, 8: Conducting the literature review This stage will be very demanding, since different sources of information will be searched. The sources of information that will be probed include the internet, the university library, course notes and public libraries with relevant information on the topic of research. I will concentrate on scholarly papers, conference proceedings, and relevant books. Week 9, 10, 11: Conducting interviews, collecting data and analysing d ata This stage will be the most difficult in the research study. I will have to balance direct interviews, questionnaires, and other methods of research to present information about the topic. Data collected through one-on-one interviews will have to be scrutinised in detail. Open-ended and closed-ended questions will be used. Transcription will be done to each of the recorded interview process. For each response, from each participant, the recorded transcripts will be perused to coin relevant and most appropriate response. This part will be more time consuming than any other part of the research paper. Week 12 13: Research conclusion Emerging themes will be identified and the findings will be interpreted and related to the research question. I will have to manage the data findings and interpretation within the scope of the research topic despite any research dynamics that may arise in the process. The final study will be reviewed to confirm its comprehensiveness in answering the r esearch question before submission. References Chan, M., Mcallister, D. J. (2014). Abusive supervision through the lens of employee state paranoia. Academy Of Management Review, 39, 44-66. De-Rada, V. (2005). Influences of questionnaire design on response to mail surveys, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 61-78. Ernst Young. (2012). Research: Hospitality and leisure sector overview. Web. Grenny, J. (2012). Influence leaders. Leadership Excellence, 29(2), 11-12  International Market Bureau. (2011). Food service profile: Spain. Retrieved from https://gov.mb.ca/ Jian, Z., Kwan, H., Qiu, Q., Liu, Z., Yim, F. (2012). Abusive supervision and frontline employees service performance. Service Industries Journal, 32, 683-698. Martinko,M. J., Harvey, P., Brees, J. R., Mackey, J. (2013). A review of abusive supervision research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(2), 120-137. Moss, S. E., Martinko, M. J. (2008). The effects of performance attributions and ou tcome dependence on leader feedback behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 19, 259- 274. Persily, A. (2013). Team Leadership Partnering in Nursing Healthcare. New York, NY: Springer Publishing. Peterson, R. S., Smith, D. B., Martorana, P. V., Owens, P. D. (2003). The impact of chief executive officer personality on top management team dynamics: one mechanism by which leadership affects organizational performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 795-796. Powell, T. (2005). Total quality management as competitive advantage: a review and empirical study. Strategic Management Journal, 16(4), 15–37. Sinclair, M. (2010). Fear and Self-Loathing in the City: A Guide to Keeping Sane in the Square Mile. London: Karnac Books. Slack, N. (2012). Operations and Process Management: Principles and Practice for Strategic Impact. Alabama, Al: Pearson Education Limited. Spector, P. (2008). Industrial and organizational psychology: Research and practice. New York, NY: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Tepper, B. J. (2007). Abusive supervision in work organizations: Review, synthesis, and research agenda. Journal of Management, 33, 261-289. Vaccaro, G., Jansen, P., Bosch, J., Volberda, H. (2012). Management Innovation and Leadership: The Moderating Role of Organisational Size. Journal of Management Studies, 49(1), 28-51. Wang, H., Tsui, A. S., Xin, K. R. (2011). CEO leadership behaviours, organizational performance, and employees attitudes. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(1), 92-105. Wilhelm, C. C., Herd, A. M., Steiner, D. D. (2003). Attributional conflict between managers and subordinates: An investigation of leadermember exchange effects. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 14, 531-544.

How to Pay Someone a Compliment in English

How to Pay Someone a Compliment in English One of the nicest things you can do in any language is to compliment someone. You might want to compliment someone on what they did, how they look or what they have. Here are forms and phrases to compliment others in English. The examples below are arranged  into complimenting ability, complimenting looks, and complimenting possessions in both formal and informal situations. Complimenting Ability Use these phrases to compliment someone on an ability they have. If youd like to learn something from the person about his/her ability, start with a compliment. The person will probably help you learn more and be happy to talk about how to do it. Formal If you dont mind my saying, you are a(n) excellent/outstanding/superb (noun phrase)I must say you really know how to (verb)You are a fine (noun phrase)What a(n) excellent/outstanding/superb (noun phrase) you are!I admire your ability to (verb) Mr. Smith, if you dont mind my saying, you are an excellent public speaker.I must say you really know how to paint.I admire your ability to think on your feet. Informal Youre great at (verb ing)You can really (verb)  Wow, I wish I could (verb) as well as you!Youre an amazing/awesome/incredible (noun phrase) Wow! Youre great at skiing!You can really cook. This is amazing food!Youre an awesome student. Complimenting Looks Use these phrases to compliment someone on how they look. This section is divided into two categories: for women and for men. Its important to use the right language for the situation. If you pay someone a compliment on their looks in the wrong way, its possible that your compliment will not be accepted. Formal Notice how we ask permission to pay compliments on good looks in formal English. This is to ensure that no one gets the wrong idea about your intention. May I be so bold as to compliment your (dress/hair/outfit/etc.)?You are looking beautiful/handsome today.May I pay you a compliment? You really look beautiful/handsome/elegant/etc. today.I hope you dont mind, but you are looking beautiful/handsome today. Ms. Anders, may I be so bold as to compliment you on your dress?I hope you dont mind, but I just had to say how wonderful you look today.May I pay you a compliment, Mary? You really look fantastic today. Informal You look great today!Excuse me, are you a model?I really love your (dress/hair/outfit/etc.).What a beautiful (dress/shirt/blouse/haircut/etc.)! Wow, you look great today! Did you do something different?Sherry, what a beautiful dress!I really love your haircut. It makes you look like a movie star. ComplimentingPossessions Use these phrases to compliment someone on something they have. People are often proud of their possessions, especially major objects such as a house, a car, or even a stereo system. Complimenting someone on a nice possession is a good way to make small talk.   Formal I couldnt help but notice your (noun phrase)  What a lovely (noun) you have!You have such a wonderful / lovely / beautiful home / house / apartment / living room / etc.I have to admit Im jealous of your (noun phrase) Tom, I couldnt help but notice your Mercedes. Its a beauty!I have to admit Im jealous of your lovely garden.You have such a cozy home.   Informal Nice (noun phrase)I like your (noun phrase)Thats nice / pretty / beautiful.Cudos on the (noun phrase) dude. Nice car! Is it yours?Cudos on the computer dude. Where did you get it?Do you like my sweater? - Thats nice! Example 1: Ability Gary: Hi Tim. Great round today.Tim: Thanks, Gary. Gary: You can really hit the golf ball.Tim: Youre much too kind. Gary: No really. I wish I could drive as well as you.Tim: Well, take a few lessons. Itll happen. Gary: Ive thought about it. Do you really think it helps?Tim: I used to have a horrible drive. Try a lesson, its worth the price. Example 2: Looks Ms. Smith: Good morning Ms. Anders. How are you today?Mr. Anders: Fine, thank you. And you? Ms. Smith: Im very well. Thank you for asking.Mr. Anders: Ms. Smith, I hope you dont mind, but you are looking very well today. Ms. Smith: Thank you, Mr. Smith. Thats kind of you to say so.Mr. Anders: Yes, well, have a good day Ms. Smith. Ms. Smith: Will I see you at the meeting at 3?Mr. Anders: Yes, Ill be there.   Example 3: Possessions Anna: Thanks for inviting us over for dinner this weekend.Margaret: My pleasure, come right in. Anna: What a lovely home you have! I love the furniture.Margaret: Thank you. We like to call it home. Its cozy. Anna: You have such exquisite taste in decor.Margaret: Now you are exaggerating! Anna: No, really,  its so beautiful.Margaret: Thank you. Youre very kind.

The changing demographics in Texas have transformed electoral politics Essay

The changing demographics in Texas have transformed electoral politics - Essay Example The public policies and traditionally conservative politics of the state, together with the domineering responsibility of a leading structure, are entrenched in these cultural patterns (Zuczek, 2006). This paper will look at how the changing demographics in Texas have transformed electoral politics. Texas has diverse demographics. There has been a significant rise in the general population, with considerable increases among Asian Americans and Hispanics. Hispanics went beyond 35% of the Texas population in 2010. It is also estimated that they will have reach 41% by 2020. In addition, African Americans were approximately 30% of the Texas population during the Civil War, but are now almost 12%. Also, there is a small Native American population made up of three tribes; the Kickapoo, the Tigua, and the Alabama-Coushatta, making up 0.6% of the population. In addition, Asian Americans are approximately 2.7% of the existing population and are anticipated to rise to almost 4.2% by 2020. Angl os make up almost 52.5% of the population and are estimated to decrease as a percentage of the entire population in the next 30 years. In the first quarter of the 20th century, Texas will have a majority minority (Maxwell, Crain & Santos, 2013). The line between San Antonio and Texarkana in effect splits the subcultures of Texas. A large number of Anglos who settled west and north of this line were from the upper South and tremendously influenced by the individualistic subculture, which prefers limited government. Anglos who settled east and south of the line were by large from the lower South and fashioned by its traditionalistic culture (Zuczek, 2006). Politics in Texas is basically fashioned by the racial and ethnic makeup of the population, and, even though the concerns of minorities were historically overlooked, they are now getting increased consideration. This consideration can be accredited in part, to the rising number of minorities elected to local and state offices. Over the last ten years, the population of Texas has risen much quicker than the national average. Between 1990 and 2000, the population of Texas rose by approximately four million people (Maxwell, Crain & Santos, 2013). Movement from other states of the country with stout Republican Party traditions has played a significant part in the transformation of Texas’ conventional one-party Democratic political system into a two-party system. In spite of the sense of wide open spaces and size, Texas is an urban area, with almost 85% of the people living in urban areas. The rise in population presents new requirements on all levels of government, as will the rise in the average age of the population of the state (Maxwell, Crain & Santos, 2013). Almost 10% of the population in Texas was over 65 years old. This number is estimated to rise to 17% by 2030. In addition, significant differences in income levels and wealth exist in the state, leading to political benefits for people who have sig nificant financial resources. Therefore, the economic class has turned into a political subject and income is evidently associated to ethnicity and race, African Americans and Hispanics are more probable to get incomes lower than $15,000. Moreover, there are also significant diffe