Critic of the Application of Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory in Assessing and understanding employee motivation at work: a Ghanaian Perspective Essay

Critic of the Application of Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory in Assessing and understanding employee motivation at work: a Ghanaian Perspective. Patrick Ashiadey The Frederick Herzberg Two Factor Theory has had a considerable amount of practical and as well as theoretical influences. In fact, from a practical perspective, the influence of Herzberg’s motivation theory can be seen at every organizational level as well as within every department. From a theoretical perspective, Herzberg’s motivation theory can be perceived as having similarities to Maslow’s Theory of Need with the exception that for Herzberg’s theory, the needs aren’t placed in a progressive continuum, rather they are divided into two independent factors. Herzberg’s motivation theory emerged from a collection of data gathered by the interview of 203 accountants and engineers within the Pittsburgh area. The interview process consisted of asking the respondents to describe a work situation where they felt very happy as well as very unhappy. These descriptions were to include as many details as possible, including their feelings, the interpretation of the situation as well as the events that are suggestive of a change. The analysis of the responses confirmed the proposed hypothesis, where some factors where contributors to job satisfaction, while others were not. In addition, some factors were noted to be a source of dissatisfaction when absent. These were categorized as â€Å"Motivators† and â€Å"Hygiene† factors, the latter also being referred to as Maintenance Factors. (Wikipedia, 2013). Employee motivation in Ghana however takes on a different turn due to many factors that flaw the two factor Theory. This white paper seeks to discuss but a few of these factors. Firstly the difference in cultures and upbringing of the typical Africa especially the Ghanaian worker right from infancy to the work age differs from those used in the interview process as they are from entirely different geographical areas. Th e average Ghanaian lives on or below the poverty line and as such will be happy just having a job with his basic salary regardless of the existence of motivators or hygiene factors. The mentality of the average Ghanaian worker makes him fear joblessness as other forms of employment are hard to come by and that alone will motivate him or her to stay in the job in the absence of motivators or  hygiene factors. That is the theory does not take into account individual personality traits that could provide a different response to a motivator or hygiene factor. The Theory also lacks in the understanding of the inter-relations between some of the motivators which I totally agree with as can be seen from http://www.leadership-central.com/two-factor-theory.html#ixzz2g2Bs3nao in comparison to the dual structure theory. Example, one might receive adequate job recognition nut he or she may not be satisfied with the level of responsibilities therefore one would question the internal motivational value of job recognition for the individual. Lack of highly skilled personnel in the Ghanaian job market, makes the average Ghanaian worker dependent upon his or her professional level which would be more or less sensitive to one or the other of the factors. Frederick Herzberg’s sample space for his research included 203 accountants and engineers, a huge disparity from the large population of Ghanaian workers in the public sector who were only recently introduced to the single spine structure. Responses to the same questions posed to the accountants and engineers that led to the development of the theory would have produced different results as what mattered to a worker in the US would not necessarily have mattered to a worker in Ghana like recreational facilities. This leads us to the point where hygiene factors and motivators vary depending on the types of individuals involved and the nature of work examined. There is also the case where there exists no prove that highly satisfied people are also high performers per a research done on the internet. Example is the average Ghanaian worker in the public sector enjoying the new single spine salary structure still requiring some form of extra cash for him or her to carry out his or her civil duties. All said and done, it is a well-known fact that the Application of the Two Factor Theory is definitely well established within organizational settings. In fact, every leader has the responsibility to ensure that their employee’s hygiene factors are attended to and that proper motivators are implemented to increase job satisfaction. The most common mistake committed by leaders is to attend to the hygiene factor while expecting employee motivation. One application for Herzberg’s theory of motivation that isn’t well known is its importance in managing quality. A great paper by Heinz Weihrich shows the link between the Two Factor Theory  of motivation and quality. He equates the reliability or â€Å"R† factor of a product as being the hygiene factor and therefore customers have grown to expect products they purchase to be reliable. The â€Å"S† factor, the motivator, refers to the product features.

Nursing Home Administration

Nursing facility is a special environment which has a great impact on employees and their perception of duty and responsibilities. The nursing process is a dynamic and continuous cycle that aims to place the patient as an individual at the heart of the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of nursing care. Researchers states that the satisfaction of helping others and recognition and reward programs are the main factors which motivate employees of a nursing facility. On the one hand, there is a belief that nurses have an influence on patient care and ultimately on health outcomes. Satisfaction of helping others motivates employees to do their best and provide patients with the best services. The nursing process can be described as a merger of decision making skills with caring ability and is influenced by knowledge, research and experience. For the individual employees, satisfaction of helping others begins with a conscious choice to become involved in life beyond the self, not only because of personal reward, but because the activities tie them to the shared efforts, hope, and experiences of the broader community. Satisfaction means that an individual will seek to become fully engaged in the world of the community. Participation in community acknowledges the interdependence of human beings. In the ideal situation, employees seek to be integrated within the self and with helping people whose lives are touched by the mission of the agency. Satisfaction of helping others emphasizes belonging and duty above desires and rights. For nurses, satisfaction places acceptance of duties ahead of consideration of benefits. Work is undertaken not only as a response to a given set of incentives, but more importantly, because of a deep personal attachment to productive participation in the community (Recruitment and Retention 2000). Recognition and reward programs show that work and skills of employees are appraised by administration that value their efforts and knowledge. In many nursing facilities, the foundation of the performance appraisal and merit pay systems assumes that workers are primarily motivated by financial rewards which result from the accomplishment of clearly established and measurable performance goals. The recognition and reward are closely tied to eligibility for salary increases or, in the case of eligible middle managers, for merit pay adjustments. The system provides financial rewards and recognition in return for the achievement of monitored performance goals. The reward system relies on definite goals and expectations which are established and clearly understood between the supervisor and nurses. Theoretically, when these mutually understood conditions are present, employees are motivated; they draw on and apply their energy in appropriate directions to meet organizational objectives and are then appropriately rewarded (Beardwell et al 2004). The recognition and reward system depends on consistent and predictable procedures that can accurately establish and track employee performance. This involvement or attachment is chosen not just with a specific expectation of reward, but more importantly because the activity or attachment is meaningful in itself (Jennings, Murray, 2005). It might be assumed that any changes these employers made to the pay system would introduce a greater degree of individualization of reward. This could be achieved by simply increasing the proportion that was based on merit. The rewards to those who are seen to be outstanding performers are of two kinds: the formal and the informal. Many nursing facilities operated special annual award schemes for employees who made exceptional contributions. The award is a corporate-wide scheme designed to reward outstanding work and motivate employees. In sum, to be effective, an individual performance evaluation and reward system must first have credibility among employees. The pivotal issue in motivating employees to perform in organizationally defined ways is employee confidence that the system can produce the results it promises. The satisfaction of helping others and recognition motivate nursing staff and increase their commitment to work. References Beardwell, I. Holden, L., Claydon, T. (2004). Human Resource Management, London Pitman Publishing. Jennings, B., Murray, T. H. (2005). The Quest to Reform End of Life Care: Rethinking Assumptions and Setting New Directions. The Hastings Center Report, 35 (6), 52 Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Nurses. (2000). Retrieved 12 March 2007 from http://www.va.gov/OCA/testimony/docs/14je01TG2.rtf

Analysis Of The Barbie Doll Poem English Literature Essay

Analysis Of The Barbie Doll Poem English Literature Essay Since its debut in 1959, an unconceivable molded plastic statuette named Barbie has become an icon for little girls everywhere. The product line is one of the most successful in the history of the toy industry by selling over a Billion Barbie dolls worldwide throughout history in over 150 countries, with Mattel, Barbie’s inventor claiming that at least three dolls are sold every second. Barbie however has caused some controversy; many parents from around the world have argued that Barbie’s ultra-slim figure represents a ridiculous standard for a body shape and could give their child the wrong idea about what their body type should be like as they grow up. In the poem Barbie Doll, the author Marge Piercy suggests that an American Barbie Doll typically presents herself as being the â€Å"perfect† woman and this leads to people being jeered at for their appearance and expected to have a Barbie-doll-like figure. The doll is symbolic of the ways that women themselves have been made to think that’s what they should look like and what they strive for. A Barbie Doll can mislead children at a very young age and feel pressured to look and act in ways such as this unreal figure. When the word Barbie comes to mind, one usually thinks of her unrealistic body type-busty with tiny waist, thin thighs, and long legs; yet less than two percent of American women can ever hope to achieve such measurements. Who wouldn’t want to be all of that? As we grow up we realize it is all unrealistic and unachievable but as a child and young adult it can be misleading to girls around the world. Piercy uses four short stanzas to provide a sarcastic but brutal review of the cultural and societal expectations that American culture places on children, particularly young girls. The entire poem is written with a tone of depression and sadness. The young girl lives her life wishing to be someone else and apologizing about her culturally unacceptable image, which i s actually normal and healthy. In Stanza one, the speaker sets the tone of the poem by starting with a happy beginning, describing the girl playing with her new Barbie doll and how it can do everything such as pee-pee on its own and has her own mini sized appliances such as GE stoves and iron; which symbolize the duties an ideal mother is thought to perform. She wears makeup that represents confidence: â€Å"wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy† (Piercy 236). The red lipstick shows how sexuality is introduced to the child too early in life. All of these things mentioned are qualities that any girl would want to have. The doll presents an idealized image of the body. Line five is about what happens to a girl when they hit puberty; you gain weight and your features get bigger; â€Å"Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:/you have a great big nose and fat legs† (236). â€Å"The magic of puberty† (5) may be a sarcastic way of describing the maturing of a young woman. Nobody wants to go through that and would rather stay perfect and look like a Barbie doll.

Term project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Term project - Assignment Example Kansas was first settled by European Americans in the 1830s, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue. When it was officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854, abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri rushed to the territory to determine if Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided, and was known as Bleeding Kansas. The abolitionists eventually prevailed and on January 29, 1861, Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, the population of Kansas grew rapidly, when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into farmland. Today, Kansas is one of the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, sorghum, and sunflowers. Kansas is the 15th most extensive and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States. Kansas is bordered by Nebraska on the north; Missouri on the east; Oklahoma on the south; and Colorado on the west. The state is divided into 105 counties with 628 cities, and is located equidistant from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is located in Smith County near Lebanon. The geodetic center of North America was located in Meades Ranch, Kansas, Osborne County until 1983. This spot was used until that date as the central reference point for all maps of North America produced by the U.S. government. The geographic center of Kansas is located in Barton County. Kansas is underlain by a sequence of horizontal to gently westward dipping sedimentary rocks. A sequence of Mississippian, Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks outcrop in the eastern and southern part of the state. The western half of the state has exposures of Cretaceous through Tertiary sediments, the latter

Human rights in armed conflict and the relationship between Essay

Human rights in armed conflict and the relationship between international criminal law and international use of force, and the r - Essay Example This paper will examine the legal framework within which the human rights of individuals and territorial rights of nations around the world is critically examined. The paper will examine the research question, the reconciliation of national sovereignty and non-intervention with humanitarian intervention to preserve human rights. To this end, the research will examine the position of national sovereignty and the prevention of military intervention as posited by UN law against humanitarian interventions. This will involve a critique of international laws and the prevention of military intervention. The limits of military intervention in areas like humanitarian intervention and the right to protect as defined in international law and its justification for intervention. International Law Against Interventions The United Nations was formed in 1945 as a response to the large scale human rights violations and destruction that came with World War II1. The primary essence of the UN was to ens ure that nations were created and structured in a way and manner that they would serve the real and true interests of the citizens and people it serves, not interest groups and individuals who had selfish interests. The United Nations came up with different views and different efforts to prevent foreign aggression and international wars that could potentially destroy nations and cause large-scale wars and destruction. This was done through the formation of the UN charter that created a context of a â€Å"family of nations† that were required to deal with issues and matters according to universal standards preserved by the United Nations which became the basis for international law and the foundation of international relations2. One of the approaches for achieving international peace was through a system of guaranteeing the rights of different nations around the world. This way, there was the guarantee that foreign nations could not just invade weaker nations as it was in the two World Wars. The two World Wars and other wars that created major regional and continental destabilization like the Napoleonic wars were because nations rose up against other nations. So the UN found it necessary to create laws that were meant to negate and prevent other nations from attaching others. Some of the core rules and core regulations of the UN were integrated into the UN Charter. The UN Charter was meant to create the framework for the regulation of nations. Thus, Article 1 of the UN Charter set the preamble of the United Nations, its composition and values. However, Article 2 moved to set out the core and fundamental principles that defined the UN. Article 2(4) of the UN stated explicitly that: â€Å"All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations†3 This article indicates that the UN renders international aggression by one nation against another through the use of force as illegal. This is because the UN needed a framework to define the interactions of nations. Hence, the article makes it illegal and wrong for any nation to rise against another through military force or violence. Another angle through which Article 2(4) can be critiqued is on the grounds of preserving the territorial sovereignty of

Organizational Learning, Predictive Analysis and Emerging Technologies Research Paper

Organizational Learning, Predictive Analysis and Emerging Technologies - Research Paper Example 186). Secondly, this has awakened the organizations to the significance of organizational learning when managed in correlation to the objective of benefitting from the new technologies (Gilley & Maycunich, 2000, p. 186). Organizational learning has both social and technical dimensions, when delved on in the light of the recent technological innovations and developments. As per a technical approach towards organizational learning, learning is primarily about a seamless and applied storage, analysis, interpretation and response to the information and data existing within and outside the organizations (Gilley & Maycunich, 2000). These data and information may be both quantitative and qualitative. On the contrary a social approach towards organizational learning delves on the varied human aspects of predictive analysis like the personnel mindset and the technology related literacy at the disposal of employees (Gilley & Maycunich, 2000). In that context, technological literacy and a more adaptive approach towards facilitating a technology driven predictive analysis is something that can either be acquired through the regular social interactions within organizations like a joint effort aimed at making sense of some data and information, attempts to observe and emulate employees and colleagues who are technically skilled, situated practices, etc. Yet, everything could not be left to informal modes of gaining the right attitude and skills, and organizations are also required to pursue a more proactive approach. When it comes to implementing new technologies to facilitate a more accurate predictive analysis in organizations, Argyris (1977) holds that though inculcating a technological mindset is... The researcher states that the dawn of the 21st century represents a marked shift in the way organizations work and operate in the sense that many mundane aspects of the organizational working could conveniently be automated in the light of the varied emerging technologies. These emerging technologies not only pose new challenges within the domain of organizational learning, but also facilitate a more accurate predictive analysis, thereby adding to organizational productivity and profitability. In the current context, with new technologies coming to fore, the organizations simply cannot afford to ignore pursuing a theoretical approach towards organizational learning, when they promise a more factual and pragmatic possibilities in the area of predictive analysis. A lackluster attitude towards the very nature of learning in an organizational context portends degradation and loss, at least in a relative context. With the emergence of varied IT based technologies, which facilitate a mor e realistic and accurate conduct of predictive analysis, learning could be considered to be both a process as well as a product. In the domain or organizational learning, the researcher suggests that two big challenges before organizations are to align the employee mindset in consonance with the emerging technologies and to impart the required technical literacy. In conclusion, the benefits accrued from this will result in multiple gains facilitated by more accurate, prompt and reliable predictive analysis.

Break Down of Marriage Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Break Down of Marriage - Article Example Shukumar finally recognizes that their marriage is beyond salvation and he retaliates by revealing the secret of the gender of their miscarried child, to hurt Shoba. This story is about a couple, Shoba and Shukumar, who are wife and husband. Shoba is a proofreader and Shukumar is a teacher and undergraduate. The story starts with their present rift in their marriage. The narrative has flashbacks to explain the circumstances leading to their current situation. Shoba feels alienated, suffers from post-natal blues and other troubles after her miscarriage and late caesarian delivery. Shukumar has mistakenly assumed that she would recover from this experience but their lack of communication has created an abyss. Shukumar is motivated by his love for Shoba. He loves her and hopes that she would convalesce and that everything would return to normalcy. Shukumar loves Shoba even as she distances herself to him. He waits at home for her even when she tries to stay away from the house by getting more work outside. (Lahiri 2). While not working, he stays home to write his dissertation. Shoba leaves for work early in the morning before Shukumar wakes up. As a consequence, Shukumar does not feel motivated to arise from his bed before noon. The narrative says; 'But nothing was pushing Shukumar.' (Lahiri 4). He is motivated by his love for Shoba to cook as he cannot bear to see Shoba eating cereal for dinner because she does not cook anymore. (Lahiri 8). There is an apparent reversal of traditional roles as Shukumar becomes the house husband while Shoba 'treated the house as if it were a hotel'. (Lahiri 6). This is evidence to show that Shukumar's motivation is love and he still desires to stay in his marriage. Shukumar's obstacle is that he is ignorant of Shoba's source of unhappiness and this has caused a rift in their relationship. He is oblivious of the extent of Shoba's discontent with him. The narrative says; 'In the beginning, he had believed that it would pass, that he and Shoba would get through it all somehow. She was only thirty-three. She was strong, on her feet again.' (Lahiri 5). Shoba expresses her indifference to Shukumar when she does not bother to look beautiful for him but she does not reveal her source of discontent nor does she directly voice her dissatisfaction. (Lahiri 1-2). Shukumar is ignorant of Shoba's distancing herself from him when he wrongly assumes that Shoba is too busily preoccupied with her work to make efforts to look good for him. Shukumar's obstacle is his misconception that Shoba needs him. He deceives himself when he voices his confident opinion that she desires him to be around the house when the electricity is cut off. Shoba ignores his statement and Shukumar's obstacle causes him to overlook the signs of Shoba's cold attitude towards him. Another sign of their disunity and aloof attitudes lies in the fact that they did not celebrate Christmas that year. Shukumar's mistake was in the misconception that Shoba and himself would heal over the tragedy of losing their firstborn. Shoba's attitude shows that she was hiding her bereavement in her work and distant attitude towards Shukumar. Shukumar's deep bereavement fro his firstborn is an obstacle because

Head Injuries in Sports Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Head Injuries in Sports - Assignment Example What then becomes the main question is to what extent the current environment will attempt to ameliorate the risks that recent studies have indicated. As such, three of the fundamental questions which much be engaged with are concentric upon the following: 1) to what extent has mental health evaluations of current and former players revealed with regards to the health consequences of frequent and prolonged head injuries, 2) to what extent has this level of long-term head injury been discussed and researched within the medical community, 3) what preventative measures, both in the way that the game is played, coached, and recruited can help to ameliorate this risk and are any of these approaches likely to take hold within the current environment that defines today’s sporting environment. Additionally, and most importantly, the research will focus upon the level and extent to which stories pertaining to this topic have been represented and ultimately forgotten within the current news media of the past five years. As a means of informing this particular piece of research, the author has chosen to focus a level of analysis upon the death of Junior Seau; a renowned NFL player whose suicide has long been suspected to be the result of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encepalopathy). With the death by suicide of a well known footballer, Junior Seau, the attention of the news media and society has shifted towards the role that head injuries sustained in sport have towards the mental health and quality of life that players can expect to experience. Moreover, head injury is not something that is restricted to football, it is exhibited within sports such as boxing, hockey, and soccer on a daily basis (Neselius et al., 2012). Each of these sports, as well as a variety of others that are too numerous to list, create an expectation of contact and a high likelihood that sustained exposure of the

Write 1. a research question ( with detail) 2.The purpose of your Paper

Write 1. a question ( with detail) 2.The purpose of your 3.PICOT (well structured, and feasible) 4.A critic of the literature review of at least three reseach manuscripts 5.A proposal 6.Conclusion - Research Paper Example This results in additional costs for patients, caregivers, and the overall healthcare system. For instance, the UK spends between 1.4 and 2.1 billion pounds to treat pressure ulcers while in Australia, it costs approximately AUS $61,000 to treat a stage four pressure ulcer (Frantz, Gardner, Harvey, & Spetch, 1991). In the US, treatment cost per ulcer can range between $10,000 and $86,000. Although various interventions have been implemented in the prevention and treatment of ulcers, there is little research data regarding the effectiveness of measures adopted. The research will be conducted in government, institutional and private hospitals that handle inpatients as most cases of ulcers are reported among inpatients. Nursing personnel will be trained on how to assess risk among patients and mitigation measures that can be taken to prevent pressure ulcers. The staff will also be trained on early detection of the injuries. Data on patients at risk from developing pressure ulcer will be collected before and after training. The data will also include the number of patients who will develop ulcers over a four-week period before and after the training intervention. Data collected after nursing staff have undergone training will be compared to that collected before the training using various statistical analyses to determine whether there was a significant decline in the number of patients at risk of developing ulcers. Results of the analysis will also indicate whether training of nursing personnel is effective in reducing the number of patients developing pressure ulcers. The study will run for a period of three months. Clinical studies have shown that development of pressure ulcer during hospitalization can be alleviated by adopting appropriate mitigation measures (Severens, Hobraken, Duivenvoorden, & Frederiks, 2002; Vanderwee, Clark, Dealey, Gunningberg, & Defloor, 2007). These measures can include the development of methods and ways of

Wittgenstein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wittgenstein - Essay Example His earlier profession was an effect of Arthur and his mentor Russell Bertrand. His earlier profession was terminated in the Tractatus, which is based on the notion of rational problems that contributed to arguments of the logical language. His work tries to show the logic in philosophy and theoretical investigations. This is through revealing the logic and language used in philosophy as well as the technical approach of philosophical issues. The work of Wittgenstein on a rule of private language is still taken into considerations and his philosophical work as influenced varied field outside the work of philosophy. Therefore, the discussions within the research analysis provide different ways of understanding diverged philosophical writings of Wittgenstein. The Philosophical Features of Wittgenstein Wittgenstein’ logical concept is anti-theoretical; thus, it is not easy to classify them in the classical ideas. He focused on philosophical logic and language of philosophy, which a theory demonstrating his own meaning of philosophical ideas. He used a philosophical paradox of explaining the logic and language used in philosophical work, which he borrowed from the Greek sceptic (Pojman and Vaughn 192). He avoided the logic and language theory in 1929; thus started explaining ideas rather than describing them. Therefore, his work stood among the classical work because western philosophy mainly was conceived as the search for a new way of explaining ideas rather than describing them. Another feature is that Wittgenstein was non-sceptic because he believed that it was wrong for philosophers to use philosophical theorizing of ideas. This is one of the main reasons that made him abandon the philosophical method of theorizing ideas. This is because he taught that it was a risky way and liable to error. The philosophical theory was a method, which was commonly used by Emmanuel Kant, but the critique upon Kant’s way of theorizing ideas contributed to varied f orms of human experience. Wittgenstein never used the same way Kant was working, but his method in philosophical work led to the philosophical theory back to its origin. For instance, the way people construe or interpret feelings from objects that are not dependent and connect them to the physical world is one way that attributes Wittgenstein’s work. Ordinary Language Philosophy Wittgenstein encountered varied issues in placing ideas; thus, nearly all of his writing styles were almost the psychopathic quality. Therefore, he used an ordinary language that views traditional philosophical issues as deep-rooted in misunderstandings. This philosophy is built upon distorting what words actually imply in the daily use. The language philosophical approach that Wittgenstein used avoided philosophical theories. The ordinary language, which is sometimes referred as the Oxford philosophy, was linked with the work of Oxford professors in the 20th century (Pojman and Vaughn 192). The centr al point of rational words that Wittgenstein used in the common language tripped over the words that many scholars took in abstraction. Abstraction is the method through which principles are employed from classification and utilization of literal ideas. This method of abstraction was used in philosophy in order to enable philosophers to recognize some set of ordinary features in people. However, Wittgenstein was criticized for being totally misguided, and he has no general solutions to the philosophical problems. Philosophers are obliged to abstract the ordinary definition of words, but Wittgenstein extracted words in reverse. He could describe a theory in every situation, and he used imagery to reveal the problem structure under scrutiny. This reveals why many people have read and appreciated most of his philosophical

Government Branches Essay Example for Free

Government Branches Essay Which branch of government do you think is the most powerful and why? I believe the most powerful branch of government is the Legislative Branch, because of the power it processes to keep checks and balance on the other two branches of government. There are two different houses in the legislative branch, the first is the house if representatives and the senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members elected from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the United States territories. The states population determines the number of members elected from each state. There are 6 non-voting members that represent the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and four other territories of the United States. The senate consists of 100 members, two from each state. Members of the house are up for election or reelection every two year as opposed to the senate, which is every six years. Together they form the congress of the United States of America. Article 1 Section 8 lists the powers of congress. Some of the more important ones include the necessary and proper clause, the commerce clause, power to tax, power to spend, coin money, and ability to borrow money, these powers give congress the ability to make laws, buy and sell goods, control a federal budget and even borrow money from foreign countries. The necessary and proper clause is one of the most powerful in the Constitution. It allows congress to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this constitution. This has been used for all types of federal actions including the New Deal, McCulloch v. Maryland, integration in the states and in the federal kidnapping act. The power to tax and spend also gives congress an important power to control the federal budget, which includes Medicare, Medicate, Social Security, infrastructure, government, agencies, and maybe the most important, the Defen se budget. The House of Representatives is also given the power to impeach the President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States. â€Å"Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity and the outcome of which, depending on the country, can lead to the removal of that official from office or other punishment.† There is a two-step process in order to impeach an official. First â€Å"The House Judiciary Committee decides whether or not to proceed with impeachment. If they do, The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee will propose a Resolution calling for the Judiciary Committee to begin a formal inquiry into the issue of impeachment. Based on their inquiry, the Judiciary Committee will send another Resolution to the full House stating that impeachment is warranted and why (the Articles of Impeachment), or that impeachment is not called for. The Full House will debate and vote on each Article of Impeachment. Should any one of the Articles of Impeachment be approved by a simple majority vote, the President will be impeached. However, being impeached is sort of like being indicted of a crime. There still has to be a trial, which is where the US Senate comes in. The Senate will meet in private session to debate a verdict. The Senate, in open session, will vote on a verdict. A 2/3rds vote of the Senate will result in a conviction.† The Legislative Branch is more powerful than both the Executive Branch and the Judicial Branch because when it come down to the President voting on a piece of legislature or appointing a supreme court judge, congress has the last say. After a bill is passed by congress it is sent to the President for his vote. If the President veto’s the bill congress is able with 2/3 vote able to overturn the Presidents decision. Under Article 2, Section 2, of the US Constitution provides that â€Å"the President may nominate members of the Supreme Court, but that appointment only occurs with the advice and consent of the Senate. This means the Senate conducts an investigation of the candidates qualifications and personal background, determines whether he or she would adequately fulfill the role of Justice, then votes whether to approve or disapprove the nomination.† In the end each branch is supposed to provide checks and balances for one another, but without the approval or money tha t congress controls, the Executive Branch and Judicial Branch would have a hard time operating. Sources http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/legislative-branch http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/congpowers.htm http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/impeachment.htm http://people.howstuffworks.com/supreme-court-appointment.htm/printable

Meritocracy As An Ideology Sociology Essay

Meritocracy As An Ideology Sociology Essay Meritocracy can also refer to an idealised society where discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, gender, age, and other irrelevant characteristics is completely absent. Merit is the encompassing value, the basic and morally correct criterion for any and all social classifications, particularly in respect to socioeconomic standing and in public space. A notion, emphasising societal consensus on the means and processes of selection for particular roles through a system of sifting, sorting, and rewarding talent and ability, motivated by competition for qualifications that in turn structure access to wealth, prestige, and personal satisfaction. It is conceived as a repudiation of systems like aristocracy where individuals inherit their social status. A meritocracy resembles aristocracy in the classical sense of the term meaning rule by the best. What has happened over the centuries, however, is that aristocracy has become associated with hereditary privilege and a rigid class s ystem. Instead of this, a meritocracy promotes worthy individuals regardless of which social strata they happen to be born in and each individual has good fortune in proportion to the individuals deservingness (Rawls, 1999, Nozick 1974, Miller 1999). IQ tests primarily tap analytical, logic-based reasoning; and surely that kind of cognitive ability is related to performance in many job settings. But other kinds of cognitive ability are also related to performance and thus also represent merit. For instance: imagination, practical sense, and the ability to interpret others perspectives. By the same token, the effort component of Youngs formulation suggests that a number of personality factors may figure into a reasonable conception of merit. For example, being conscientious may enhance job performance. Of course, some individual traits and social skills may be rewarded because they reflect conformity to arbitrary group norms. It is not clear why the term merit should be identified so closely with mental ability as distinct from many other conditions and traits that improve the chances of social and economic success (Hauser et als, 2000, p. 203). David Miller (1996, 300) eluding on Walzer (1983) has indicated that a meritocracy is not only more stable but also more socially just if there are a number of socially recognised forms of merit: economic contribution would be one kind of merit, education and scholarship another, artistic achievement a third, public service yet another, and so forth. However these other conditions and traits do not contribute to a fair opportunity. In Rawls view, the correlation between ones social origins and ones outcome in life is zero in a meritocracy and as long as some form of the family exists in society fair opportunity cannot be achieved as (Rawls 1971, 64). The social context within which individuals grow up influences the achievements of equally competent persons. Success in the labour market is transmitted from parents to children, and the advantages of the children of successful parents go considerably beyond the benefits of the best education, wealth and genetic cognitive ability. Many of the criteria associated with individual talent and effort do not measure the individual in isolation but rather parallel the phenomena associated with aristocracy; what is called individual talent is actually a function of that individuals social position or opportunities gained by virtue of family and ancestry. Among these, for example, one might list ambition or drive, perseverance, responsibility, personal attractiveness, and physical or artistic skills or talents, along with access to social support and to favourable social and economic networks and resources. Access to education is partly defined by inheritance as much research has demonstrated (Bowles and Gintis, 2002; Bourdieu and Passeron 1990; Aschaffenburg and Maas 1997; Sacks, 2003; Ballantine 2001). Compiling evidence from other studies Herrnstein concludes that 80% of the differences in IQ among individuals is explained by inherited factors and 15% is explained by environmental factors (Herrnstein 1971, 171). Children from the upper class get upper class education, middle class children get middle class education, working class people get working class education, and poor people get poor education. Privileged young people can perceive reachable goals and develop lofty aspirations because they tend to benefit from high expectations and support networks from the fa mily and social milieu, as well as extensive economic and educational resources. Those who have the resources, via their parental background, will move through higher education, get well paid jobs, and postpone family plans until they are well into their thirties, building their financial and cultural capital significantly prior to family formation. Inheritance may provide access to powerful forms of social capital (who you know) and cultural capital (what you know). Bourdieu Passeron (1990) indicate that students who lack the required knowledge and skills with which to successfully navigate the parameters of middle class culture inevitably fail at school. It therefore seems that unequal educational opportunity is the driver of individual achievement. Research shows that as class rises so does the level of education. As a consequence, the expansion of higher education will broaden the gulf between rich and poor (Blanden et al. 2005). So achievement capacities are ascribed to social class. Thus, IQ tests measure intelligence as a reflection of inherent intellectual capacity combined with environmental influences. Thus parents can predispose their children to succeed or fail in life as they are a part of the environment that affect the abilities that children attain. Thus the first and foremost among non-merit factors is the effect of social class at birth on future life. Therefore truly equalizing childrens environments in an effort to create a system with equal opportunities for all would mean having to eliminate the family. Meritocracy thus could lead to a hereditary caste system that, far from promoting social mobility, actually makes social advancement nearly impossible for the lower orders. This could be the case if wealth and social position are or primarily distributed by unchangeable genetic characteristics of individuals. This argument can be reworked into the form of a Hernsteins syllogism: 1. If differences in mental abilities are inherited, and 2. If success requires those abilities, and 3. If earnings and prestige depend on success, 4. Then social standing (which reflects earnings and prestige) will be based to some extent on inherited differences among people. (Herrnstein 1971, 197-8) This implies that absolute equality of opportunity is an ideal that cannot be achieved. (Loury 1977, p. 176). For John Rawls, the question of distributive justice is rather different. He is not content to say that any person begins at some point in the process of acquisition and then is merely constrained by a set of rules and procedures to ensure fairness. Rather, the socioeconomic position of the agent is also considered. Rawls bases his query on how the agent is presented with the distribution of talents and social position. His conclusion is that these distributions are accidental and arbitrary. It is an accident that someone is born with whatever natural traits he may possess. The question is raised whether a meritocracy based on natural abilities is thus unfair. Some might contend, for example, that even if we do not deserve our natural abilities it is not unfair if we reap the rewards of those abilities because the system of reward is independent of the system of deserts. However, Rawls makes the case that social position is also random and arbitrary. The fact that natural abilities may or may not be rewarded in that society is an accident. To be rewarded based merely on an accident is not deserved. Thus, a meritocracy that is based on reward from undeserved social position is similarly unfair. Therefore, both natural abilities and social position may not be the basis of distributive justice because they are unfair. The naturally advantaged are not to gain merely because they are more gifted. The individual cannot help how she begins life. Why make her pay for her positive talents and advantages? The rectification of these disparities in Rawls is his difference principle that makes all inequalities subject to the stipulation that the least advantaged will benefit from them.

Influence Of Christianity In South Korean Politics Essay

Influence Of Christianity In South Korean Politics Essay Introduction South Korea as a country has a large number of Christian denominations unlike Japan or China where the dominant religion is Buddhism, Confucianism, or other traditional religions. The roles that the Christians played in Korea extends to social, economic and political field. This paper concerns with how Christian as a religion had an unprecedented influence in the political spheres in South Korea politics. South Korea apparently has more than 60,000 churches and is considered the most Christianized non western country.* Christianity was said to have entered Korea in the 18th and 19th century through China by the Roman Catholics. However it was met with a harsh treatment meted out towards these foreigners and even persecuted the converts. However, despite the persecutions the number of converts later increased more than before and for these missionaries they found a fertile land for the Christian as a religion to grow manifold and till today it remains so. The opening of the port in Korea led to the inflow of merchants who along with the trade came the influence of western ideologies, cultures and many others. It also lessened the oppressions against these Christians which created, in part, a condition that enabled the Christians to have more of a receptive welcome. Not only did they bring doctors, medicines from outside but also schools which would in the later stages play an important role for the Koreans in every aspect of their life-be it in economic, social, education, political and the likes. The political influence that came from outside of Korea further intensified for other foreigners to have a say in the political matters. And of course the degradation of the social order created a breeding ground for the rise of voices that were subdued before with the aid of foreign influence. The disadvantaged lots were more perceptive of these new changes and they knew that they were able to have a say in an otherwise country which was ma terially and ideologically held by the ruling classes-the Yangban class. It gave the lower discontented sections of the society freedom from the bondage of the Confucian social order. Education by the Christians and its introduction to democracy One of the major contributions that the Christian missionaries brought along in Korea was education and through this tool people were made to realize the importance of equality through education and the opposition of the elites. Education in olden days was available only to the rich and the elites of the Korean society with the usage of the Chinese scripts. With the mission to make the Koreans learn how to read bible the missionaries took efforts in making the hangul script available to all the common people. Through education the notions of human rights, liberty, equality, democracy and other western concepts came into force. It was involved in the propagation of activities such as the founding of politically independent newspapers which would serve an important means to either support the government or to criticize the wrongdoings of the government. Even the missionaries helped form unions for the workers for fair treatment and the rights of the workers. In education it provided the individuals with a cause for national independence with the protection of American missionaries. The large Christian presence in Pyongando province in part accounts for its prominence in the Independence movement during the early phases of Japanese rule. The Koreans had to undergo a lot of hardships during the Japanese rule and their economic and social was in a mess. . The independence club founded by the Christian missionaries was active in the remedying of corruption and compromised political order; this club had many Christians as its leaders. Although it was known that Catholics came first to Korea it was the Protestants that had a large growing number of converts who introduced the concepts of ideas concerned with national independence and other new liberal thoughts. In a way one can say that the role played by these missionaries were more of political than that of spirituality. One must however note that some of the Protestant Christian church lead ers at the later stage declared that any those Christians who were involved in activities other than spirituality should be banned from the churches as the church was supposed to be a place of worship and not a place for talks regarding issues that are related to labor, peace or international affairs. Christianity and Politics Even before the appearance of the two super powers in Korea, the political activity was very active even in North Korea. The church leaders were active in the participation of political activities that offered them quite a huge opportunity. The Soviet Union viewed Christian Church suspiciously because it wanted to establish a friendly relationship with Korea but the fact that Cho Mansik the then leader of CPKI (this CPKI was sponsored by church leaders) was a Christian and has a Christian background of his organization it was going to be a problematic situation for the Soviet Union as they viewed Christianity as something that was sympathetic towards the United States. The Soviets knew that the United States had introduced Protestantism to late Choson Korea and promoted it until the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941. In addition to that there were factors such as the growing influence of Christian leaders like Syngman Rhee and Yo Unhyong in the south as well. In this factor too, it became a necessary for the Soviets to not ignore the influence that Christianity as a religion was having over both North as well as South Korea. Syngman Rhee, the first president of South Korea was himself active in both the Independence club and the Youth Mens Christian Association (YMCA) and was educated in a school founded and run by U.S. Methodist missionaries. During the time of the Japanese rule the March First Independence movement of 1919 where the Christian churches played an important role posed a direct threat to the Japanese rule. Not only did it provided shelter to the intellectuals following their suppression by the Japanese but it also exercised an appeal to the people of Pyongando province who were very alienated from the mainstream of political or social life. During the early years of liberation the Christians had more support from the masses and had more potential in terms of political activities because of better education, experience in politics and administration which wasnt so for the other groups like the businessman, bureaucrats and policemen who were known to have collaborated with the Japanese durin g the colonial era. After the liberation of Korea from Japan and the outbreak of the civil war between the North Koreans and the South Koreans there was a huge displacement of the people from the north to the south because of the anti drive towards Christianity in north with its ideologies based on communism and these north Koreans had been the stronghold of Korean Christianity who formed the core of the church in the south. In fact Pyongyang was once the center of Christianity on the peninsula known as the Jerusalem of the East. These North Koreans supported Rhees efforts to establish an anti communist ideology. In his speech before a conference of Presbyterian churches he said that the most urgent problem that the South Koreans faced was that of the Soviet trained Red army which aspired to wipe out Christianity. He appealed to the church members for support of his government and to fight against communism. Rhees drive toward anti communism helped minimize the opposition to his government by the churches as they shared the similar ideologies.perhaps this explains a cordial relation between the government and the church during that time. During the reign of Park Chung Hee, the establishment of the Yushin system was criticized on the grounds that the system was corrupted and it violated human rights which involved kidnapping and torturing. In opposition to the government few incidents broke out in October which was to later have a major influence on other movements as such. The arrests of the church leader Rev. Pak Hyong gyu, Rev. Kwon Ho Gyong on 6th July 1973 on the charge of leading a rebellion against the government led many Christians to provide as many as 400 anti-Yushin leaflets causing the government to distort the actual incident through the usage of torture. Overtime the incident became very big that international body of church came in August 1st 1973 to investigate the matter. The government, due to pressures both from outside and inside the country, finally yielded to the demands and released the prisoners. This incident shows the crucial bitter battle between the Christian organizations and Park regime and the incident further promoted the churches dedication towards democracy and human rights. The opposition movement was indeed hugely responsible for the demand of the establishment of democratic institutions and that of the political and civil rights. Catholic politician Kim Dae Jung raised his voice against Park Chung Hee for intimidating the South Koreans through the Yushin system and he became famous for his campaingn against President Park and his strength at withstanding periods of imprisonment, exile, attempts to assassinate him and even death sentence. In 1997 Kim Dae Jung was elected and he was the first catholic to be elected as a president in South Korea. Even though he lost to his opponent the country would still have a catholic as its president for the opposition was also a catholic Lee Hoi Chang who lost to Kim Dae Jung by only 2 points. Kim Dae Jungs predecessor, Kim Young Sam was also a Christian, a Presbyterian leader who was elected as the president of South Korea in 1993 indicating the vitality of Christianity in South Korea. A liberation theory called minjung shinhak literally meaning the theology of people became a towering symbol of the rally of democracy, equality, social justice and human rights. Christian churches championed the causes for the people of Korea in political, economic and in social spheres. It was a strong supporter of democracy and campaigned against the authoritative, oppressive and military rule of the Korean government. Besides the university students the church as an organization forms the biggest group to oppose and criticize the government openly. It was also to be seen that most of the prisoners who were prisoned for engaging in anti government activities were church leaders, priests, students and journalists. Conclusion As we have seen Education was a very important instrument that the Christian Missionaries used to educate and produce intellectuals that would later participate in the political spheres. They would then probably have reflected those ideologies that they have imbibed during their education years in their political decisions as well. Some of the known Universities in South Korea that have Christianity as their background are Yonsei University and EWHA University among others. The alumni of these universities have enjoyed various social as well as political privileges. They have served in national cabinet and South Korea had the first female prime minister in Han Myeong Suk (also an alumnus of EWHA). The conception of freedom and basic rights as universal is central to Christian doctrine and perhaps its one of the many reasons as to why the Koreans after years and years of suppression found something in Christianity that they could finally be free from the subjugation and rule from foreign powers. Christianity has been used as a political tool by countries not just in Korea but also in other countries and is a powerful one that can be used for the betterment of society or for worse. In the case of South Korea it played a major role in the wake of liberalization from Japanese colonial rule and also in terms of monetary reliefs after the civil war where both the countries plummeted in poverty. The crossing of the South Korean priest and political activist Han Sang Ryol recently into North Korea from Beijing to Pyongyang who was of the view that Lees government was responsible for anti-reunification and upon which he was arrested for the violation of national security law is still a continuing evidence that Christian as a religion is still a tool that is being used for political purposes. With time one might even hope that Christianity serve a common ground for resolving problems between the two countries. However, it is of an importance to see that Christianity when used as a means for political reasons when actually it should be more of helping someone grow in faith it becomes a mere tool for other politicians to use for political gains and eventually peoples trust in the government would fail (which happened often in South Korea) and keep distance away from religion altogether as it has become something impure and a religion for the elites when it in fact started as an instrument to help the down casted lot. We all know how media especially the newspaper can harm or gain favor for the government in power and this knowledge is used to the maxim by the government to either financially support or threaten the opposing forces and in this case it was mainly directed towards these Christian organizations. South Korea as a country with a large number of Christians can spell trouble for the government if they go against some principles which would lead to mass protests and if there had been any casualties that government would face dire consequences; thus it became a necessity for the government to not take up policies or engage in activities that would anger these organizations and would even go to the extent of buttering them. In all one cannot ignore the major influence Christianity had in Korea-both North Korea (because the paper deals with only Christian influence in South Korea context much has not been written for North Korea) as well as South Korea in almost all aspects. Although one criticizes the motive behind the conversion from their tradition to Christianity stating reasons like easy access to monetary, position and other worldly gains (it is certainly true to some extent in that if the Christian missionaries have not made their appearance the history as we know of Korea might totally have been a different one) there have been some genuine reasons like the spread of equality, democracy, human rights and the likes. Despite the many accusations made against the Christianity as an organization in catering to the needs of other motivated politicians one cannot but help to remind that minus the Christians in economics, social, and even political spheres South Korea might not have been able to achieve such success in a matter of a short time which might be boisterous to say at one point but because the contributions it had made towards the development of South Korea had been enormous one cannot dismiss its role that easily. It is thus impossible to paint the whole of South Korea without a Christian element in it and the roles it had played significantly in other aspects besides the role of spiritualism.

The Battle of the Somme Essay -- Papers

The Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme involved the main allied attack on the Western Front in the 1st World War. It is mainly famous due to the loss of 58,000 British troops on the first day of battle (1st July 1916). The attack ran from 1st July until 18th November and was located upon a 30-kilometre front, from North of the Somme River between Arras and Albert. The offensive was planned earlier in 1915 and was intended to be a joint Franco-Anglo attack. The French Commander in Chief, Joffre, said that the aim was to drain the German forces of reserves, however territorial gain also had some input. Sir Douglas Haig was the Commander in Chief of the BEF who would be conducting the major offensive in 1916. Originally, although the British forces made up the bulk of the offensive forces, the attack was to be predominantly French. However the German siege on Verdun at the beginning of 1916 resulted in the diversion of almost all-French manpower and efforts as Falkenhayn had promised to bleed France white. This changed the intent of the Somme attack and the French ordered the planned date (1st August 1916) to be bought forward to 1st July, the aim now to divert the Germans from Verdun to the defence of the Somme. Haig now had no choice but to take charge of the attack in Joffre's absence. He used both the ideas of himself and those of General Rawlinson. On Saturday 24th June the attack proceeded by an eight-day preliminary bombardment on the German lines. The expectation being that all forward German defences would be destroyed leaving the at... ...Battle of the Ancre where the field fortress of Beaumont Hamel was captured. The British were finally progressing, but even this was bought to a halt when extremely bad weather caused the Somme offensive to end. The result had been an estimated 420,000 British casualties, a further 200,000 for the French and around 500,000 for the Germans and all for only 12 kilometres of land in Britain and Frances favour. Over 1 million lives were lost in this battle alone and all the Somme offensive was designed for was to divert German attention from the French at Verdun. Some believe this battle acted as a learning curve in the employment of artillery, which contributed to the victory in 1918. In my opinion it shows the severity and pointlessness of war. Hardly anything was achieved apart from the loss of thousands of lives.

Stereotyping :: Prejudice Stereotype

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"That person must belong to a gang, just look how he dresses†. How often have we heard somebody mention these things, yet, how often have we said something similar? I believe our society is based on the superficial things, which we categorize people because of the actions of a small percentage. All of the above statements are prejudicial notions used to define members of a social or an ethnic group, and are called stereotypes. Unfortunately, stereotypes negatively affect our ability to understand members of a different group or ethnicity, and are we usually resistant to change because of them. We stereotype various groups of people, but none like professional athletes and different ethnic groups in our country. Professional Basketball, Football, and Baseball players have been the victims of many stereotypes. Hearing people call them dumb is common. A misconception by many people is that pro athletes aren't educated. This is such a ridiculous situation since the vast majority of them have attended prestigious colleges and universities, and received degrees in different fields of study. A popular misconception is that the educations they did earn were in areas like Liberal Arts, or other general fields of study, which didn't challenge their mental capabilities. Another stereotype is that pro athletes received preferential treatment while in college. Many believe that if an athlete needs a certain grade to remain eligible to play sports, then the faculty would grade him or her lighter than the rest of the class. We have also stereotyped athletes as "above" the law. There have been, on occasion, incidents where a pro- athlete is treated better by the justice system than an average citizen would be in the same situation. We are satisfied to say it's because of the athletes’ fame and wealth, but fail to realize that it was probably a first offense, or to follow the story up and see that punishment was dealt accordingly. The mos t common stereotypes are those, which we have aimed at different ethnic or racial groups. African-American stereotypes are the most obvious. We have often stereotyped Young black men as gang members solely because of the kind of clothes they wear. The media constantly blasts images of black men involved in crime and gangbanging across the six o'clock news, but hardly ever the White or Asian doing the same. We have also stereotyped African- Americans as the largest ethnic group on public assistance, which is not true at all.

code of ethics :: essays research papers

What I have experienced over my 43 years of living, both personally and professionally, forms my thoughts, beliefs and feelings and therefore drives what I can call my personal code of ethics. The following briefly describes the core ideals that I maintain:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Honesty – I firmly believe that honesty is the best policy. It will have to be an extreme situation that involves serious injury, damage or other loss that will convince me that not being truthful is best. I realize that the truth can often be very painful, can cause anger, distrust and hatred but I feel that if I have been truthful and given someone all of the information, they will possibly hold me in a higher regard. This honesty will hopefully allow a greater trust between us and future dealings will be less likely to be strained.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Legal – I am a person that follows the laws of the land. I feel that it is wrong to steal, cheat, lie or mislead with the intent to make a personal gain. I strive to be a law-abiding citizen. I work in the pharmaceutical industry. The FDA code of regulations requires this industry to be very stringent in all that we do in the development and manufacture of drug products. This includes drug products for food and companion animals. Many times during the manufacturing process, conditions arise that would possibly render a product or process unsanitary or contaminated. Failing to stop a process and correct this type of situation is considered a federal offense and is a violation of the law that is punishable by jail. We have been trained to treat these conditions very seriously and follow regulations at all times. If we do not it is possible that someone could lose his or her life.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Empathy – When dealing with people and making decisions, I try to be empathetic and consider a person’s feelings and the effect my decisions could make on them and how they feel. I do not feel that it is acceptable for me to be responsible for anyone feeling badly.

On the Road Essay

â€Å"On the Road† is not merely a tale of adventure. It is a story of a journey of life. As the characters travel back and forth between places, they move from one phase of their life to the next. It is a story of friendship, realization, and growth. The story’s ending highlights the end of a journey for Sal. Furthermore, it shows his metamorphosis as a human and his growth in terms of maturity. Also, the last part of the novel shows how he transformed in term s of how he viewed life and the people around him, most especially Dean. Most important of all, the latter part of the novel shows a much needed transition and change in Sal’s life. As he journeys alone, it serves as a symbol and a metaphor of his growth and independence from Dean. His decision to venture out on his own without calling on Dean to join him is a metaphor. As was seen in the beginning of the novel, Sal was mesmerized with Dean’s outlook of the world. He was at awe with how Dean lived his life. He wanted the same life which was the reason he joined Dean in travelling around the country. However, as the novel came to an end, so did Sal’s enchantment with Dean and the life he was living. His decision to go out on his own is evidence that he changed his view of the world. It showed how he outgrew their old ways and moved on to more important and valuable things in life. No longer was he interested in simple fun and the happy-go-lucky life. He aspired for more significance and meaning. He craved for a more meaningful life. The ending of the novel shows how Sal transformed as an individual. It showed how he moved on to a better life. Sadly, this meant disassociation with Dean and the life he chose to live.

Computer Hacking Essay

Abstract: Recent discussions of computer ‘hacking’ make explicit reference to the disproportionate involvement of juveniles in this form of computer crime. While criminal justice, computer security, public and popular reï ¬â€šections on hacking seldom refer to formal criminological analyses of youth offending, they nonetheless offer a range of explanations for the over-representation of young people amongst computer hackers. Such accounts of hacking can be seen to converge with criminological analyses, by stressing a range of causal factors related to gender psychology, adolescent moral development, family dysfunction and peer-group and subcultural association. The homologies between ‘lay’, ‘administrative’, ‘expert’, ‘popular’ and criminological discourses, it is suggested, offer considerable scope for developing a critical, academically-informed, and policyoriented debate on young people’s participation in computer crim e. It has been noted that ‘youthfulness’ or ‘being a teenager’ appears as ‘a constant source of fascination and concern for politicians, media commentators and academic analysts’ (Muncie 1999, p.2), not least when involvement in supposedly ‘criminal’, ‘deviant’ and ‘anti-social’ activities is concerned. Whenever anxieties erupt about new threats to the moral and social order, ‘youth’ are seldom far away from the line-up of society’s ‘usual suspects’. Society’s perennial fascination with ‘youth and crime’ has itself become the object of sociological and criminological analysis, furnishing numerous explorations of the ways in which young people and their cultural commitments have become the ‘folk devils’ in successive waves of ‘moral panics’ about crime and disorder (Young 1971; Cohen 1972; Hall et al. 1978; Pearson 1983; Hay 1995; Sp ringhall 1998). Since the 1990s, academic commentators have observed how the Internet has emerged as a new locus of criminal activity that has become the object of public and political anxieties, sometimes leading to over-reaction (Thomas and Loader 2000, p.8; Littlewood 2003). Yet again, the category of ‘youth’ has ï ¬ gured centrally in discussions of the threat, especially in relation to ‘computer hacking’, the unauthorised access to and manipulation of computer systems. Politicians, law enforcement ofï ¬ cials, computer security experts and journalists have identiï ¬ ed ‘hacking’ as a form of criminal and deviant behaviour closely associated with ‘teenagers’ (see, inter alia, Bowker 1999; DeMarco 2001; Verton 2002). This association has been cemented in the realm of popular cultural representations, with Hollywood ï ¬ lms such as Wargames (1983) and Hackers (1995) constructing the hacker as a quintessentially teenage miscreant (Levi 2001, pp.46–7). While hacking in general has garnered considerable attention from academics working in the emergent ï ¬ eld of ‘cybercrime’ studies (see Taylor 1999, 2000, 2003; Thomas 2000), and some attention has been given to questions of youth (see Furnell 2002), few connections are made with the rich and extensive criminological literature of delinquency studies. On the other hand, those specialising in the study of youth crime and delinquency have largely neglected this apparently new area of juvenile offending (for an exception, see Fream and Skinner 1997). The aim of this article is not to offer such a new account of hacking as ‘juvenile delinquency’; nor is it to contest or ‘deconstruct’ the public and popular association between youth and computer crime. Rather, the article aims to map out the different modes of reasoning by which the purported involvement of juveniles in hacking is explained across a range of ofï ¬ cial, ‘expert’ and public discourses. In other words, it aims to reconstruct the ‘folk aetiology’ by which different commentators seek to account for youth involvement in hacking. Substantively, I suggest that the kinds of accounts offered in fact map clearly onto the existing explanatory repertoires comprising the criminological canon. Implicit within most non-academic and/or non-criminological accounts of teenage hacking are recognisable criminological assumptions relating, for example, to adolescent psychological disturbance, familial breakdown, peer inï ¬â€šuence and subcultural association. Drawing out the latent or implicit criminological assumptions in these accounts of teenage hacking will help, I suggest, to gain both greater critical purchase upon their claims, and to introduce academic criminology to a set of substantive issues in youth offending that have thus far largely escaped sustained scholarly attention. The article begins with a brief discussion of deï ¬ nitional disputes about computer hacking, arguing in particular that competing constructions can be viewed as part of a process in which deviant labels are applied by authorities and contested by those young people subjected to them. The second section considers the ways in which ‘motivations’ are attributed to hackers by ‘experts’ and the public, and the ways in which young hackers themselves construct alternative narrations of their activities which use common understandings of the problematic and conï ¬â€šict-ridden relationship between youth and society. The third section considers the ways in which discourses of ‘addiction’ are mobilised, and the ways in which they make associations with illicit drug use as a behaviour commonly attributed to young people. The fourth section turns to consider the place attributed to gender in explanations of teenage hacking. The ï ¬ fth part explores the ways in which adolescence is used as an explanatory category, drawing variously upon psychologically and socially oriented understandings of developmental crisis, peer inï ¬â€šuence, and subcultural belonging. In concluding, I suggest that the apparent convergence between ‘lay’ and criminological understandings of the origins of youth offending offer considerable scope for developing a critical, academically-informed debate on young people’s participation in computer crime. Hackers and Hacking: Contested Deï ¬ nitions and the Social Construction of Deviance A few decades ago, the terms ‘hacker’ and ‘hacking’ were known only to a relatively small number of people, mainly those in the technically specialised world of computing. Today they have become ‘common knowledge’, something with which most people are familiar, if only through hearsay and exposure to mass media and popular cultural accounts. Current discussion has coalesced around a relatively clear-cut deï ¬ nition, which understands hacking as: ‘the unauthorised access and subsequent use of other people’s computer systems’ (Taylor 1999, p.xi). It is this widely accepted sense of hacking as ‘computer break-in’, and of its perpetrators as ‘break-in artists’ and ‘intruders’, that structures most media, political and criminal justice responses. However, the term has in fact undergone a series of changes in meaning over the years, and continues to be deeply contested, not least amongst those within the computing community. The term ‘hacker’ originated in the world of computer programming in the 1960s, where it was a positive label used to describe someone who was highly skilled in developing creative, elegant and effective solutions to computing problems. A ‘hack’ was, correspondingly, an innovative use of technology (especially the production of computer code or programmes) that yielded positive results and beneï ¬ ts. On this understanding, the pioneers of the Internet, those who brought computing to ‘the masses’, and the developers of new and exciting computer applications (such as video gaming), were all considered to be ‘hackers’ par excellence, the brave new pioneers of the ‘computer revolution’ (Levy 1984; Naughton 2000, p.313). These hackers were said to form a community with its own clearly deï ¬ ned ‘ethic’, one closely associated with the social and political values of the 1960s and 1970s ‘counter-culture’ and protest movements (movements themselves closely associated with youth rebellion and resistance – Muncie (1999, pp.178– 83)). Their ethic emphasised, amongst other things, the right to freely access and exchange knowledge and information; a belief in the capacity of science and technology (especially computing) to enhance individuals’ lives; a distrust of political, military and corporate authorities; and a resistance to ‘conventional’ and ‘mainstream’ lifestyles, attitudes and social hierarchies (Taylor 1999, pp.24–6; Thomas 2002). While such hackers would often engage in ‘exploration’ of others’ computer systems, they purported to do so out of curiosity, a desire to learn and discover, and to free ly share what they had found with others; damaging those systems while ‘exploring’, intentionally or otherwise, was considered both incompetent and unethical. This earlier understanding of hacking and its ethos has since largely been over-ridden by its more negative counterpart, with its stress upon intrusion, violation, theft and sabotage. Hackers of the ‘old school’ angrily refute their depiction in such terms, and use the term ‘cracker’ to distinguish the malicious type of computer enthusiast from hackers proper. Interestingly, this conï ¬â€šict between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ is often presented in inter-generational terms, with the ‘old school’ lamenting the ways in which today’s ‘youngsters’ have lost touch with the more principled and idealistic motivations of their predecessors (Taylor 1999, p.26). Some have suggested that these differences are of little more than historical interest, and insist that the current, ‘negative’ and ‘criminal’ deï ¬ nition of hacking and hackers should be adopted, since this is the dominant way in which the terms are now understood and used (Twist 2003). There is considerable value to this pragmatic approach, and through the rest of this article the terms ‘hackingâ€℠¢ and ‘hackers’ will be used to denote those illegal activities associated with computer intrusion and manipulation, and to denote those persons who engage in such activities. The contested nature of the terms is, however, worth bearing in mind, for a good criminological reason. It shows how hacking, as a form of criminal activity, is actively constructed by governments, law enforcement, the computer security industry, businesses, and media; and how the equation of such activities with ‘crime’ and ‘criminality’ is both embraced and challenged by those who engage in them. In other words, the contest over characterising hackers and hacking is a prime example of what sociologists such as Becker (1963) identify as the ‘labelling process’, the process by which categories of criminal/deviant activity and identity are socially produced. Reactions to hacking and hackers cannot be understood independently from how their meanings are socially created, negotiated and resisted. Criminal justice and other agents propagate, disseminate and utilise negative constructions of hacking as part of the ‘war on computer crime’ . Those who ï ¬ nd themselves so positioned may reject the label, insisting that they are misunderstood, and try to persuade others that they are not ‘criminals’; alternatively, they may seek out and embrace the label, and act accordingly, thereby setting in motion a process of ‘deviance ampliï ¬ cation’ (Young 1971) which ends up producing the very behaviour that the forces of ‘law and order’ are seeking to prevent. In extremis, such constructions can be seen to make hackers into ‘folk devils’ (Cohen 1972), an apparently urgent threat to society which fuels the kinds of ‘moral panic’ about computer crime alluded to in the introduction. As we shall see, such processes of labelling, negotiation and resistance are a central feature of ongoing social contestation about young people’s involvement in hacking. Hacker Motivations: ‘Insider’ and ‘Outsider’ Accounts Inquiries into crime have long dwelt on the causes and motivations behind offending behaviour – in the words of Hirschi (1969), one of the most frequently asked questions is: ‘why do they do it?’. In this respect, deliberations on computer crime are no different, with a range of actors such as journalists, academics, politicians, law enforcement operatives, and members of the public all indicating what they perceive to be the factors underlying hackers’ dedication to computer crime. Many commentators focus upon ‘motivations’, effectively viewing hackers as ‘rational actors’ (Clarke and Felson 1993) who consciously choose to engage in their illicit activities in expectation of some kind of reward or satisfaction. The motivations variously attributed to hackers are wide-ranging and often contradictory. Amongst those concerned with combating hacking activity, there is a tendency to emphasise maliciousness, vandalism, and the desire to commit wanton destruction (Kovacich 1999); attribution of such motivations from law enforcement and computer security agencies is unsurprising, as it offers the most clear-cut way of denying hacking any socially recognised legitimacy. Amongst a wider public, hackers are perceived to act on motivations ranging from self-assertion, curiosity, and thrill seeking, to greed and hooliganism (Dowland et al. 1999, p.720; Voiskounsky, Babeva and Smyslova 2000, p.71). Noteworthy here is the convergence between motives attributed for involvement in hacking and those commonly attributed to youth delinquency in general – the framing of hacking in terms of ‘vandalism’, ‘hooliganism’, ‘curiosity’ and ‘thrill seeking’ clearly references socially available constructions of juvenile offending and offenders (on à ¢â‚¬Ëœhooliganism’ see Pearson (1983); on ‘thrill seeking’ see Katz (1988); Presdee (2000)). One way in which commentators have attempted to reï ¬ ne their understandings of hacker motivations is to elicit from hackers themselves their reasons for engaging in computer crimes. There now exist a number of studies, both ‘popular’ and ‘scholarly’ in which (primarily young) hackers have been interviewed about their illicit activities (for example, Clough and Mungo 1992; Taylor 1999; Verton 2002). In addition, hackers themselves have authored texts and documents in which they elaborate upon their ethos and aims (see, for example, Dr K 2004). Such ‘insider’ accounts cite motivations very different from those cited by ‘outsiders’. In fact, they consistently invoke a rationale for hacking that explicitly mobilises the ‘hacker ethic’ of an earlier generation of computer enthusiasts. In hackers’ self-presentations, they are motivated by factors such as intellectual curiosity, the desire for expanding the boundaries of knowledge, a commitment to the free ï ¬â€šow and exchange of information, resistance to political authoritarianism and corporate domination, and the aim of improving computer security by exposing the laxity and ineptitude of those charged with safeguarding socially sensitive data. However, such accounts ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’ do not necessarily furnish insights into hacker motivations that are any more objectively true than those attributed by outside observers. As Taylor (1999) notes: ‘it is difï ¬ cult . . . to separate cleanly the ex ante motivations of hackers from their ex post justiï ¬ cations’ (p.44, italics in original). In other words, such self-attributed motivations may well be rhetorical devices mobilised by hackers to justify their law-breaking and defend themselves against accusat ions of criminality and deviance. Viewed in this way, hackers’ accounts can be seen as part of what criminologists Sykes and Matza (1957) call ‘techniques of neutralisation’. According to Sykes and Matza, ‘delinquents’ will make recourse to such techniques as a way of overcoming the inhibitions or guilt they may otherwise feel when embarking upon law-breaking activity. These techniques include strategies such as ‘denial of injury’, ‘denial of the victim’, ‘condemnation of the condemners’ and ‘appeal to higher loyalties’. The view of hackers’ self-narrations as instances of such techniques can be supported if we examine hacker accounts. A clear illustration is provided by a now famous (or infamous) document called The Conscience of a Hacker authored by ‘The Mentor’ in 1986, now better know as The Hacker’s Manifesto. In the Manifesto, its author explains hackers’ motivations by citing factors such as: the boredom experienced by ‘smart kids’ at the mercy of incompetent school teachers and ‘sadists’; the experience of being constantly dismissed by teachers and parents as ‘damn kids’ who are ‘all alike’; the desire to access a service that ‘could be dirt-cheap if it wasn’t run by proï ¬ teering gluttons’; the desire to explore and learn which is denied by ‘you’ who ‘build atomic bombs, [. . .] wage wars, [. . .] murder, cheat and lie’ (The Mentor 1986). Such reasoning clearly justiï ¬ es hacking activities by re-labelling ‘harm’ as ‘curiosity’, by suggesting that victims are in some sense ‘getting what they deserve’ as a consequence of their greed, and turning tables on accusers by claiming the ‘moral high ground’ through a citation of †˜real’ crimes committed by the legitimate political and economic establishment. Again, we see an inter-generational dimension that references commonplace understandings of ‘misunderstood youth’ and the corrupt and neglectful nature of the ‘adult world’. Thus young hackers themselves invest in and mobilise a perennial, socially available discourse about the ‘gulf ’ between ‘society’ and its ‘youth’. Discourses of Addiction: Computers, Drugs and the ‘Slippery Slope’ A second strand of thinking about hacking downplays ‘motivations’ and ‘choices’, and emphasises instead the psychological and/or social factors that seemingly dispose certain individuals or groups toward law-breaking behaviour. In such accounts, ‘free choice’ is sidelined in favour of a view of human actions as fundamentally caused by forces acting within or upon the offender. From an individualistic perspective, some psychologists have attempted to explain hacking by viewing it as an extension of compulsive computer use over which the actor has limited control. So-called ‘Internet Addiction Disorder’ is viewed as an addiction akin to alcoholism and narcotic dependence, in which the sufferer loses the capacity to exercise restraint over his or her own habituated desire (Young 1998; Young, Pistner and O’Mara 1999). Some accounts of teenage hacking draw explicit parallels with drug addiction, going so far as to suggest that engagement in relatively innocuous hacking activities can lead to more serious infractions, just as use of ‘soft’ drugs like marijuana is commonly claimed to constitute a ‘slippery slope’ leading to the use of ‘hard’ drugs like crack cocaine and heroin (Verton 2002, pp.35, 39, 41, 51).

Ponzi Scheme

Introduction A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation. Objectives We learn how it started. We learn the key elements in running a Ponzi scheme. We learn how big a Ponzi schemes can get. We learn how a Ponzi scheme falls apart. We learn how to identify and avoid being involved in a Ponzi scheme. Methodology- This topic is from a secondary source. The scheme is named after Charles Ponzi, who became notorious for using the echnique in 1920.Ponzi did not invent the scheme (for example, Charles Dickens' 1844 novel Martin Chuzzlewit and 1857 novel Little Dorrit each described such a scheme), but his operation took in so much money that it was the first to become known throughout the United States. Five Key Elements in running a Ponzi Scheme: 1) The Benefit: A promise that the investment will achi eve an above normal rate of return. The rate of return is often specified. The promised rate of return has to be high enough to be worthwhile to the investor but not so high as to be unbelievable.Madoff, that had a great deal of credibility as he had been in the investment business since 1960. Madoff had also been the chairman of the board of directors of NASDAQ, an American stock exchange. The estimated losses from the Ponzi scheme are in between 34 and 50 billion U. S. dollars. Unravelling / Fallout of a Ponzi scheme -When a Ponzi scheme is not stopped by the authorities, it sooner or later falls apart for one of the following reasons

E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development

Public Organiz Rev (2010) 10:31–47 DOI 10. 1007/s11115-009-0087-6 E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan Published online: 9 July 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract This paper critically examines the progress made in introducing and implementing e-government programs and policies in Kazakhstan. It argues that in order to achieve the articulated development goals, the Kazakh government has moved toward e-government paradigm to ascertain a people-centered, accountable and transparent government.Available data substantiates that the initiative faces several challenges such as political support and relationship between political institutions, bureaucracy and citizens, digital divide, widespread corruption, lack of human resources, and inadequate infrastructural development, which needs to be amputated to improve public service delivery. This study illustrates some international development experiences to und erstand the benefit of e-government. Such experiences may serve as policy guidelines to the successful implementation of e-government to ensure overall development in Kazakhstan.Keywords Development . E-government . Kazakhstan . Service delivery Introduction Electronic governance has been widely endorsed as a solution to a range of predicaments in the public sector. With promises of decreasing corruption, cutting red tape, reducing government costs, and fluctuating participatory governance, the egovernance revolution has swept most nations, capturing the imaginations of policy makers and attracting the interests of citizens and business alike (Salem 2006).Electronic government evolves swiftly through defined stages, beginning with a web presence of public agencies (â€Å"interaction†) to a means for citizens around the clock seven days a week in the convenience of their homes (â€Å"transaction†) (Netchaeva 2002). This essentially creates a new ground for public sector operation. The S. H. Bhuiyan (*) Department of Public Administration, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), 4 Abai Avenue, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan e-mail: [email  protected] com 32 S. H. Bhuiyan equence of stages was depicted as inevitable, fueled by technology, citizen demand, and economic realities in the public sector (Mayer-Schonberger and Lazer 2007). The prime objective of any technological innovation is to improve the quality of human condition. This cannot be achieved by technological advances alone. First and foremost, they have to be successfully applied to human society. Such an approach is significant for governance and public administration because of its impact on a larger section of the society (Sharma 2002).To reap benefit of the information and communication technology (ICT), international development agencies are paying considerable attention to the gradual improvement of egovernment, particularly in developing countrie s. The most recent United Nations Report entitled e-Government Survey 2008: From e-Government to Connected Governance succinctly illustrates the importance of e-governance: ‘E-government can contribute significantly to the process of transformation of the government towards a leaner, more cost-effective government.It can facilitate communication and improve the coordination of authorities at different tiers of government, within organizations and even at the departmental level’ (UN 2008, p. xii). In the same vein, the 2001 Human Development Report entitled Making New Technologies Work for Human Development, commissioned by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), clearly portrays the role of ICT for development as it stated: ‘[I]t is time for a new partnership between technology and development. Human Development Report 2001 is intended as the manifesto for that partnership’ (UNDP 2001, p. iii). Again, in the UnitedNations system, the World Bank launc hed an e-government website, and in November 2002 its Information for Development Program released The E-Government Handbook for Developing Countries. Later on, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development convened the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva in December 2003, and in Tunis in November 2005. Outside the UN system, many initiatives were launched. One was the Roadmap for E-Government in the Developing World, released by the Pacific Council on International Policy in April 2002 (Holliday and Yep 2005, p. 239). Kazakhstan was a part of the USSR until its collapse in 1990.During the Soviet regime, public documents were largely shelved as ‘classified’, and thus restricting people’s access. Living with such cynic norms of governmental operation for years, the Government of Kazakhstan (GoK), after independence in 1991, quickly realized the need of a transparent and accountable government. In the midst of transitional challenges, the Gov ernment has chosen the introduction of e-government for the twin objectives of providing fast and quality access to public services and of improving public services’ effectiveness through the widespread use of ICT in the public sector (World Bank 2006).In order to measure how far e-government initiatives have contributed to the improvement of relationships between politicians, bureaucrats and citizens in post-independence Kazakhstan, this paper: (i) analyzes the background to the introduction of e-government programs and policies; (ii) describes the overall development of e-government; (iii) investigates the challenges facing the implementation of e-government initiatives; and finally (iv) highlights its contribution to development.In short, the main focus of this paper is to critically examine the progress made so far in introducing and implementing e-government programs and policies in Kazakhstan. This paper concludes by presenting a road E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challen ges and Its Role to Development 33 map showing how e-governance in Kazakhstan can be utilized as an instrument of development. In reality, Kazakhstan is in transition. Of the many transitions now going on, an important one is the shift from ‘closed’ to ‘information’ society.Here lies the significance of the present study, insofar as it analyzes how this shift is being negotiated in a crucial area of development, the public sector. There is much to gain from a critical assessment of the success of e-government initiatives have so far attained in post-independence Kazakhstan, as it sheds light on the challenges it is confronted with at present, which in turn helps to identify some of the ways as to how they can effectively be overcome. The existing scholarship on e-government in Kazakhstan is less than satisfactory.This paper is intended to make a contribution to the steadily emerging area of study focused on e-government in a local as well as global context. Methodology This paper is based primarily on secondary sources. Three sources in particular have been explored and analyzed: first, published academic journal and newspaper articles on e-government; second, reports published by the international organizations; and finally, review of websites of both public and private agencies in Kazakhstan and elsewhere.The latter contributes to our understanding regarding the contents and services they provide to citizens. What is E-government? E-government was introduced in the field of public administration in the late 1990s, though it has not been clearly defined and understood by scholars and practitioners of public administration (Moon 2002).The term e-government arises by analogy to the concepts and practices of electronic commerce applied to the public sector, referring to the delivery of government services to the public ‘on-line’ (typically over the Internet) or to the technological infrastructure required to deliver those s ervices (Brown 2005, p. 242). E-government denotes the strategic, coordinated use of ICT in public administration and policy decision-making (Haldenwang 2004).Similarly, by e-government, Tandon (2005) refers to the provision of efficient, convenient and transparent services by government departments and agencies to citizens and businesses. The Global study of E-government, a joint research initiative for global egovernment by the United Nations (UN) and the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), provides a comprehensive definition of e-government: Broadly defined, e-government includes the use of all information and communication technologies, from fax machines to wireless palm pilots, to facilitate the daily administration of government.However, like e-commerce, the popular interpretation of e-government is one that defines it exclusively as an Internet driven activity†¦to which it may be added â€Å"that improves citizen access to government information, services and expertise to ensure citizen 34 S. H. Bhuiyan participation in, and satisfaction with the government process†¦it is permanent commitment by government to improving the relationship between private citizen and the public through enhanced, cost-effective and efficient delivery of services, information and knowledge. It is the practical realization of the best that government has to offer. † (UN and ASPA 2002, p. 1)According to World Bank, e-government means to governmental use of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other agencies of government (cited in Sharma 2002, p. 607). The World Bank definition indicates the areas of operation of the concept and also lays down the broad benefits accruing out of this utilization of ICT to the field of governance, namely, to promote citizen empowerment, improve service delivery, strengthen accountability, inc rease transparency, or improve government efficiency (cited in Tandon 2005, p. ). This paper takes a wider view of e-government by adopting the application of ICT tools to the improvement of governance through building public-private partnership to achieve development. In this article, ‘e-government’ and ‘egovernance’, despite their subtle conceptual differences, are interchangeably used. Kazakhstan: context The Republic of Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia bounded in the West by the Caspian Sea, in the North by Russia, in the East by China, and in the South by Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan (see Box 1 for summary information).Extending over a territory of 2,725,000 square kilometer (Makhmutova 2001), it is the second largest country of the former Soviet Republics with a population of 15. 48 million in 2007 (World Bank 2008), of whom 4. 5 million are ethnic Russians (Wilson et al. 2002), and population density 5. 7 per square kilometer (Agency of Statistics of Kazakhstan website: www. eng. stat. kz). Kazakhstan continues to negotiate the enormous challenges inherent in any transition from a planned to a market economy and, in the last decade, has experienced plummeting production levels (Wilson et al. 002) and two-digit (now 11%) inflation continues to grow. In recent days, Kazakhstan makes considerable progress in almost all aspects of life. Although, critics expressed concern about the limit of the country’s democratic development and the lack of its commitment to hold free and fair elections. For example, the most recent Presidential elections were held in December 2005 when President Nazarbayev won a third term with more than 90% of the vote.The elections gained negative commentary from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which claimed they had not met international standard, citing campaign restrictions, interference in polling stations, multiple voting, pressure on voters, media bias and restric tion on freedom of expression (Keesing 2005 cited in Knox 2008, p. 478). In the same vein, in 2001, another scholar also observed: â€Å"It is as yet too early to herald the dawn of real democracy in Kazakhstan† (Robinson 2001).Kazakhstan’s economy has gone through stages of decline, stagnation, and high economic growth after independence in 1990. The period from 1990 to 1997 was the E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 35 period of negative economic growth, or at best stagnation (in 1995–1997, economic growth was close to zero) due to transformation in economic arrangements. It was only from 1998 that Kazakhstan entered the phase of strong and sustained growth (Agarwal 2008). In the first nine months of 2007, Kazakhstan’s GDP grew by 9. % (ESCAP, 2008). In 2007, GDP per capita was US$ 7,857 (UNDP 2007). However, GDP growth is projected to fall to 5% in 2008, and a modest increase to 6. 3% is penciled in for 2009 (ADB 2008). Over the period 1998–2004, the population living below the poverty line in Kazakhstan declined significantly from 39% in 1998, to 20% in 2004 (Agarwal 2008). The measures being taken by GoK to raise the living standards of the population have cut poverty levels by 1. 7% in 2006 by comparison with 2005 (to 18. %), and the figures for 2007 indicate that poverty levels have fallen to 12. 7% (UNESC 2008). The long-term development strategy ‘Kazakhstan 2030: Prosperity, security and improved living standards for all Kazakhs’ was adopted in 1997. It identified seven priorities for the country’s development: (i) National security, (ii) domestic stability and social cohesion, (iii) economic growth, (iv) health, education and welfare for the citizens of Kazakhstan, (v) energy resources, (vi) infrastructure, transport and communications, and (vii) a professional state.Since 1998 all the programs adopted in the country are being developed in accordance with the noted development strategy of the country, which aimed at improving the quality of life for the population by reducing social exclusion and raising the quality of social services, improving the environment, and involving civil society in development (UNESC 2008, p. 6). Box 1: Kazakhstan: summary information Head of State President Nursultan Nazarbayev, first elected in December 1991 and re-elected in 1999 and 2005. National Legislature Bicameral: 77-seat lower house (Majlis), 39-seat pper house (Senate). Language Kazakh is the state language. Russian is most widely spoken. Currency Tenge Exchange rate 2007 average US$ 1 ? 120 Tenge Unemployment rate 8. 8 (2003) Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) 99. 5 (2005) Life expectancy at birth (both genders) 65. 9 years (2005) GDP 104 billion US$ Internet users (per 100 people) 12 Time required to start a business (days) 21 Sources: Agarwal 2008; UNDP 2007; Wilson et al. 2002; World Bank 2008. The development initiatives of GoK have contribu ted to improving human development index (HDI).In 2007/8, the HDI for Kazakhstan is 0. 794, which gives the country a rank of 73rd out of 177 countries (UNDP 2007). In the contrary, the 36 S. H. Bhuiyan ongoing mammoth development activities also encouraged, it would seem, widespread corruption in the country. As a result, during the years, Kazakhstan consistently gained poor corruption perception index (CPI). A 2008 Global Country Report on the state of corruption launched by the Transparency International ranks the country 145th among 180 countries with a CPI 2. (Transparency International 2008). Admittedly, the backdrop painted a landscape that suggests the critical importance of implementation of e-government scheme in Kazakhstan with an aim to quick and quality access to public services, improving its effectiveness, combating corruption, poverty reduction through income generation, and thus building a breeding ground for development. The state of E-government in Kazakhstan Over all situation: benchmarking Kazakhstan has envisioned joining 50 most competitive countries in the world by 2030.In achieving this goal, ICT plays a critical role by readying the country for entry into the forum of competitive world. In doing so, Kazakhstan’s accomplishments in fostering e-government include (World Bank 2006): & & & & & Recognition of e-government as a priority at the highest political level and the elaboration of an e-government strategy; Establishment of the Agency for Informatization and Communications (AIC) as an independent regulatory authority empowered to implement state ICT policy; Creation of government agency Web sites (32 out of 42 government agencies have their own Web sites);Development of a number of corporate networks and databases (e. g. , integrated taxation, customs, pension information systems) by individual government agencies; and Enacting important legislations such as the laws on e-documents and esignatures. Kazakhstan has made substant ial progress in introducing ICT in public sector. In terms of e-readiness, the United Nations Report on the e-Governance Survey 2008 recognizes Kazakhstan as the leader of Central Asia, while the region has regressed the most since the 2005 survey.This global survey report has ranked the country 81 among 189 countries with an index value 0. 4743 as compared with 65 among 179 in 2005 (UN 2008, pp. 31–32). Table 1 shows e-government readiness in Central Asian countries. The table indicates that the countries in the region had a lower e-government readiness index than in 2005. In spite of government’s efforts, Kazakhstan slips from its 2005 position partly because 2008’s Survey had more focus on the interactive and transactional stages which largely remain unachievable, and thus the scores were lower (UN 2008).Another potential reason is its weak telecommunications facility. A 2004 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data shows that effective teledensity in the country was quite low, 16. 23 (ITU 2004). However, this number continues to improve. In 2000, the main telephone lines per 100 people were 12. 3 E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 37 Table 1 E-government readiness for Central Asia Country 2008 Index 2005 Index 2008 Ranking 2005 Ranking Kazakhstan 0. 4743 Kyrgyzstan 0. 4195 0. 4813 81 65 0. 4417 102 Uzbekistan 0. 4057 76 0. 114 109 Turkmenistan 0. 3262 79 128 †¦ Tajikistan 0. 3150 0. 3346 Region 0. 3881 0. 4173 132 117 World 0. 4514 0. 4267 †¦ Source: UN 2008, p. 32 which increased to 19. 1 in 2006, while in the same period mobile cellular subscriber increased from 1. 3 to 51. 2 (World Bank 2006). The e-Government Survey 2008 data shows that both mainline telephone and cellular user further increased to 19. 77 and 52. 86 respectively (UN 2008). E-government program objectives and implementation Kazakhstan’s e-government program incorporates a three-stage approach (World Bank 2006) : & & & st stage: creation of the basic components of e-government infrastructure, such as the governmental portal, a â€Å"payment gateway† providing a linkage with the banking system, national identification system, government-wide ICT network backbone infrastructure, creation of cross-agency information systems, provision of mainly informational and transactional e-government services, promoting Internet use among the citizens and bridging the digital divide. 2nd stage: expansion of the scope and depth of e-government services (predominantly of transactional nature) and comprehensive ICT-enabled reengineering of government administrative procedures. rd stage: ICT-based transformation of government agencies’ operation, building a fully-fledged information society, provision of e-health, e-education, e-culture, e-democracy and other services. Some tasks related to the first stage were implemented in 2006. On the April 12, 2006, e-government web-portal (www. e. gov. kz ) was launched which provides more than 900 information services (egov magazine 2007). This portal is tri-lingual: Kazakh, Russian and English. Laws ‘On Informatization’ and ‘On Amending Certain Legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Sphere of Informatization’ were developed and enacted.Interagency electronic workflow with digital signature has been implemented in 39 state bodies. A pilot model of National Authentication Center for physical and legal entities has been developed, and a pilot project on integrated transportation medium of state bodies has been implemented in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. In an interview with the egov magazine in July 2007, Kuanishbek Esekeev, the Chairman of AIC, reported that GoK had implemented, on 38 S. H. Bhuiyan an experimental basis, government databases on ‘Physical Bodies’ and ‘Legal Entities’, in six oblasts (regions).Moreover, 15 interactive services such as land register and address register software were developed and tested in pilot zones: Citizens’ Service Centers (CSC) of Almatinskiy and Saryarkinskiy regions, Astana (egov magazine 2007). To connect citizens with the web, till 2006, 460 public access points kicked off. Eleven classrooms for providing computer literacy were opened in several regions as a part of capacity development of public sector employees, where more than 1,500 civil servants have been trained (egov magazine 2007).In 1997, a state program was adopted to incorporate information technology (IT) into the general education system, so as to create IT network within the international education space. In 2007, the provision of computers to schools had reached one computer for every 21 pupils compared with one for every 62 in 2001 (UNESC 2008, p. 15). Besides, online instruction has been introduced into the teaching process, comparing a set of five subject schemas, and work has been progressing to connect the education system to t he Internet (UNESC 2008).The AIC is currently working to develop interactive services delivery through national e-government portal. In recent days, the Agency has been successful to deliver limited e-services. For example, it is possible to submit tax statements to the authorities as well as to clear mutual payments with the state budget through electronic channels in real time using digital signatures, which distinguishes Kazakhstan from other CIS countries (World Bank 2006, p. 10). In March 2006, a service has been launched, which enables citizens to submit applications to five ministries (e. . , Ministry of Economic Affairs and Budget Planning) and get an answer to his or her question in 3 to 5 working days. Almost all Akimats (city government) and ministries opened their virtual reception rooms. Visitors can download reference-document; get acquainted with legal base and search addresses of various offices (AIC website: www. aic. gov. kz). Future plans The transactional phase o f e-government development will allow citizens to pay for using public services via governmental portal.AIC is in the process to implement a payment scheme based on existing electronic transactional (payment) system of second-tier banks. GoK is committed to build a transparent information society that presupposes gradual increase of the portal users in number. It means this will eventually transfer public services delivery only in electronic form. As a move to this, AIC plans to provide 900 different kinds of services that are to be exhibited on the portal in 2009 (egov magazine 2007). The challengesIn 2005, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs has estimated that more than 60% of e-government projects in developing countries fail (Salem 2006). Likewise, Kazakhstan confronts with multifaceted challenges to the introduction of e-government, and some of them are described here. E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 39 Political suppo rt and relationship between political institutions, bureaucracy and citizens Kazakhstan e-government program receives strong support from the President and his office.AIC has been given a mandate to coordinate and lead the effort (World Bank 2006). But problem arises due to the government’s tendency to monopolize political power (Perlman and Gleason 2007), dodging the established norms of multi-party politics. As a consequence, in the August 2007 elections, the President’s political party â€Å"Nur Otan† (father land) received 88. 41% of vote and captured all seats, and thus became the only party in the parliament when none of the parties were able to meet 7% threshold required to obtain parliamentary seats (Bakenova 2008, p. 4; Iqbal 2007). It is corroborated that political elitism is compounded by the fact that Kazakh opposition political parties are in disarray and fractured, offering no real alternative to the voting public (Knox 2008, p. 487). Kazakhstan is dominated by a formal political elite and a highly centralized and power base comprising the Administration of the President of Kazakhstan and key stakeholders therein: the State Secretary, Head of Administration and Security Council Secretary (Knox 2008).Cummings (2005, cited in Knox 2008) argued that the elite system is a compelling factor behind the emergence and maintenance of authoritarianism in Kazakhstan. Given disintegrated political context, it is clear that political communication develops in line with one’s party affiliation, which limits the general trust in government. As a result, the nature of relationship existing between the party in power and opposition signals low quality of political development in Kazakhstan. The lack of political participation, however, compartmentalizes the development of e-governance.On the other hand, a major means through which interaction between citizens and politicians occurs is the parliamentary website, which is supposed to fac ilitate the top-down flow of information from the legislature to citizens, allow a bottom-up channel for feedback from citizens to the elected members, increase transparency by providing detailed information about legislative procedures and activities, expand the number of avenues for greater public scrutiny of the nature and processes of public policies and thus enhance the accountability of these elected politicians to their constituencies (Norris 2001, cited in Haque 2002, p. 38). To this point, Kazakh Parliament maintains a website (www. parlan. kz) and provides a list of basic information such as parliamentary activities, legislative acts, constitution, and list of parliamentary groups. It also provides an option to the website visitors to contact parliamentary secretariat to inform their queries and comments. The emergence of e-governance has significantly changed the nature of the relationship between citizens and public servants (Haque 2002). A 2002 World Bank survey made an assessment of Kazakhstan’s governance and service delivery.The survey suggests that general areas where Government can work on to improve the quality of public services through e-government. For example, the results of the survey indicated that households were not satisfied with their interactions with public officials (World Bank 2002). To improve this perception, ICT can be utilized for the reduction in the time that citizens and businesses have to spend to complete transactions with public bodies can be set as one of the performance indicators. If the transactions can 40 S. H. Bhuiyan e completed online, citizens do not have to spend the time to visit and wait at a public office, as long as they have an Internet connection (World Bank 2006, p. 20). Corruption In April 2005, the President of Kazakhstan signed a decree ‘On Measures to Step up the Fight against Corruption’ to strengthen discipline in the activities of state bodies and officials (Transparency Int ernational 2006, p. 185). Against this backdrop, petty corruption in the various form of bribe taking is a fixture of daily life (Gleason 1997, p. 379). High profile corruptions are also rampant.For example, the President of the state-owned Kazakh Telecom joint-stock company was sacked by Security Council when it was revealed that his monthly wage was $365,000 (Knox 2008, p. 487). Similarly, in 2007, Kazakh Anti-corruption Agency (financial police) filed charges against the selection committee of â€Å"Bolashak† (future) program, a presidential scholarship scheme that enables talented young Kazakhs to study in developed countries. The charges stated that many scholarships have been actually purchased through the corrupt jury decisions (Bakenova 2008, p. 94).It is widely believed that e-governance is promised to reduce corruption, which displeases corrupt political executives and bureaucrats, who, in turn, create building blocks to the implementation of e-government programs. Digital divide ‘Digital divide’—exclusion of groups within the population to get access to a computer—is another challenge that has received government attention. It reveals that only 12% of the population in Kazakhstan has skills to use PCs and half of them can use computer without being helped (egov magazine 2007), and only 12% are Internet users (World Bank 2008).To bridge the gap, the government is implementing Digital Inclusion Program for years 2007–2009. This program aims to increase number of ITC educated people by 15% and prepare the country to the transition from the industrial to information society (AIC website: www. aic. gov. kz/? mod=static&Ing=rus&id=22, accessed November 22, 2008). Many governments across the world have taken up measures to lessen the magnitude of the problem. Philippines and Hong Kong, for example, have facilitated this partly by providing free or subsidized access to computers and Internet) in designated public pla ces (Holliday 2002). Telecommunications infrastructure is relatively problematic, although there are examples of significant public intervention. To this effect, several municipal governments in Germany have facilitated the development of high-speed network cables, fiber optics, and public access to improve digital economy (Hasse 2002). Infrastructural development E-government operation requires strong technological infrastructure such as computing and telecommunications. A great deal of financial resources is involved to develop structure.In Kazakhstan, it is more burdensome due to its vastness and unique geographical structure. The government has so far (2005–2007) allocated E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 41 approximately US$380 million (World Bank 2006) for the purpose of e-government implementation. Let alone government fund is inadequate to meet required expenses, which warranted a partnership among public, private and donor agencies f or the accumulation of investments. Kazakhstan’s poor infrastructural readiness for egovernment also reflected in the e-Government Readiness Survey 2008 where it scored 0. 306 on infrastructure index (UN 2008). Human resources There is no denial that in most of the developing countries e-government programs suffer due to the lack of quality human resources. Kazakhstan is no exception. A 2006 World Bank report points out that even AIC, the lead organization to implement e-government, is struggling with the shortage of professional staff, leaving only 12–15 for the ‘informatization’ task (World Bank 2006). To overcome the challenge, GoK provides continuous training and education to develop professionals in this field.However, given the low public sector compensation packages, it is unclear whether the shortage of professionals will ever be overcome. Admittedly, Kazakh public administration suffers from migration of knowledgeable employees to its growing priv ate sector due to attractive emoluments. This will essentially constrain country’s journey toward e-government development. Poverty Given the gradual decline of the population living below the poverty line, the reduction of poverty is still an important policy goal for Kazakhstan (Agarwal 2008).However, a Gini coefficient (a measure of income inequality, with higher values denoting more unequal incomes) increased from 25. 74 in 1988 to 33. 85 in 2003 (ESCAP 2008). Income inequality is on the rise and took a defiant shape due to onslaught global economic meltdown, which also affects Kazakh economy. Consequently, rates of rural poverty continue to grow, and the economic necessity force migration from rural areas to the towns, which contributes to increase urban poverty too.According to UNDP, nearly 16% of the total population lives on less than US$2 per day (Euromonitor International, www. euromonitor. com/pdf/indonesia. pdf, accessed November 22, 2008). In this context, it is argued that a large population is unable to buy PCs (price of a PC ranges between 40,000–60,000 Tenge) and be connected with Internet (initial connection fee and deposit amount to nearly 20,000 Tenge even with the state-owned Kazakh Telecom). Apart from the above, there are disparities in the distribution of basic services in Kazakhstan (Gleason 1997).For example, a study shows that due to ageing Soviet transmission and distribution lines, electricity losses average 15%, reaching 30% to remote areas (cited in Cochran 2008, p. 1), which causes frequent power cut1 mainly in rural settlements and thus upset the prospect of their social and economic life. This poverty-ridden environment is often not receptive to adopt technological innovations, like e-government. 1 Kazakhstan produced 76. 3 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in 2007 and consumed just over that amount, 76. 4 billion kWh (Cochran 2008, p. 1). 42 S. H. Bhuiyan Harnessing privacyRapid adoption of global netw orks and technological innovations has raised many outstanding concerns from civil society over the protection of their privacy and personal data and has brought into focus the possibility of the rise of ‘Big Brother ’ (cited in Bhuiyan 2006, p. 114). In a similar vein, referring to Korea, Jho (2005) illustrates that the Korean government has faced fierce public opposition and suffered major setbacks in pursuing some of its ICT projects. This symptom worries yet growing civil society of Kazakhstan and effective dialogue with the government can reduce tension over the issue.E-government in the context of development New ICTs can make a significant contribution to the achievement of good governance goals (Heeks 2001). The e-governance permeates the four domains of government: its role in fostering economic growth and social cohesion, its relationship with the governed, its internal administration, and its relationship with the international environment (Brown 2005, p. 251 ). In each of these areas developing countries are faced with limitations on institutional capacity and infrastructure, financial resources and civil service skills that characterize—and prolong—lower levels of development (Brown 2005).Against this backdrop, efforts have been made for implementing e-governance in many developing countries and some of them were successful. The outcomes of those practices have shown improved government functioning, better service delivery, and triumph over many socio-economic, political and administrative ills. Among them, three cases are presented below to help us to understand the usefulness of using e-government to achieve development goals. Lessons learned from the cases have immense value to reorganize Kazakh public administration in line with e-government mandate.Case 1. Brazil: house of representatives e-participation The Brazilian House of Representatives website allows citizens to talk to their representatives and to participate in debates directly through the Internet. The Government of Brazil also provides an e-participation platform that permits Members of Parliament and citizens to communicate through chat rooms, discussion forums and the service â€Å"Falm com Deputado† or â€Å"Talk to the MP†. This form of eparticipation has enhanced the interaction between citizens and Members of parliament.In a country as vast as Brazil and with a geographically dispersed population, online participation has provided citizens with a greater voice in the creation of policies and laws. (UN 2008, p. 31) Case 2. Health service in Malta The Malta Health Ministry is an excellent example of providing customer service online. The portal allows citizens to apply for the European Health Insurance Card online. It has an electronic patient library provided through a partnership with a E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 3 private firm, which provides citizens with a medical encyclo pedia, information on surgeries and procedures, and has animated lessons. The portal also provides its citizens with a list of local pharmacies. (Source: http://www. ehealth. gov. mt/article. aspx? art=90 cited in UN 2008, p. 60) Case 3. E-seva program in Andra Pradesh, India The Government of Andra Pradesh has a clear vision to create a knowledge society by using IT in all aspects of development and governance (www. esevaonline. com, last accessed November 24, 2008).Consequently, E-Seva (electronic service) program was launched to effectively deliver public and social services to the citizens. This program offers services of multiple central, state and local government agencies as well as some private sector organizations. The salient features of E-Seva include the following: & & & & & & & 46 e-Seva centers (with 400 service counters) spread over the Twin Cities and Ranga Reddy District. All service counters are facilitated with an electronic queuing system. Operating from 8:00 a. m. to 8:00 p. m. , on all working days and 9:00 a. m. to 3:00 p. m. n holidays (Second Saturdays and Sundays). ‘One-stop-shop’ for over 66 government-to-consumer (G2C) and business-toconsumer (B2C). No jurisdiction limits- any citizen in the twin cities can avail of the services at any of the 46 e-Seva service centers. Online services: eForms, eFiling, ePayments. Payments by cash/cheque/DD/credit card/Internet. The Government of India data shows that e-Seva centers offer the total of 132 G2C services from 16 government departments, and 15 B2C services from 10 business firms. Services include, among others, online transaction processing of payments, issuance of certificates, and licenses.The number of transactions at e-Seva centers was initially under 5,000/month (August 2001). It quickly gained popularity and the number surpassed a million in July 2003. As of May 2004, the level of transaction is above 1. 1 million. (Source: http://www. esevaonline. com/ cited in World Bank 2006, p. 42) The first case makes it clear that interaction between MPs and citizens through Internet helps the former to better understand citizens’ opinions, grievances, and demands, while the latter participates in scrutinizing public policies and laws.Kazakhstan government needs to implement the practice, contextualizing it to the local conditions, to boost up contact between parliament members and citizens, a pre-requisite for ensuring good governance. The second case is focused on electronic delivery of customer services related to healthcare in an EU country, Malta. The dismal performance of healthcare sector in Kazakhstan (Iqbal 2007) warrants a major overhaul. As a part of perceived reform, GoK may experiment with the transferability of Malta’s practice in public healthcare outlets.The third example illustrates the significance of providing public services through public-private partnership (PPP) in Andra Pradesh, an Indian state. PPP is now a common stra nd of ‘third way’ government policy, with better efficiency promised 44 S. H. Bhuiyan from the private funding of public infrastructure through the transfer of risks to private concerns. In this perspective, GoK may consider to build PPPs as a potential strategy to deliver effective and efficient services to the citizens. Over and again, control of corruption and poverty reduction are two important development challenges that are being facilitated through e-government.These issues are in some detail discussed here. Corruption Heeks (1998) points out that the level of corruption in the public sector sharply decreases in countries where e-government exists. A survey in India has revealed that, in the states where e-government has been established even partially, the corruption rate has substantially fallen. The survey has found that in Kolkata and Mumbai, two Indian cities, due to implementation of e-governance in some public sector, corruption rate has declined to 19% an d 18% compared to 51% and 38% respectively in 2000 (Kabir 2008).Similarly, in Bangladesh, one may observe that due to computerization of Railway Reservation System, the number of black-marketers has decreased considerably. Elimination of the middle-men in citizen-government interaction, in fact, is the major factor eradicating corruption (Kabir 2008). Poverty reduction Admittedly, the Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank has made a significant contribution to the development of ICT in Bangladesh. During the years, Grameen philosophy has proved that ICT can be very useful to uplift the rural and disadvantaged communities in Bangladesh and beyond (cited in Hossain 2005).According to the founder of the Bank and Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus identified three key areas ICT can play an immediate role in helping the poor (Yunus 2004, cited in Hossain 2005) are: 1. Integrating the poor into the mainstream economy by expanding their market, eliminating the middle-men in their bus iness, and creating international job opportunities through service out-sourcing; 2. Bringing information, educational programs, skill training, and healthcare services, etc, all in a very user friendly way, even to the most remote villages; 3.Empowering the poor, particularly poor women, with a stronger voice that can be heard behind the borders of their villages, better access to information, and improvement in the democratic process. The study by Aminuzzaman et al. (2003) found a positive correlation between the uses of ICT and poverty reduction in Bangladesh. According to the findings, at the individual level, the Village Phone (VP) of Grameen Bank has contributed significantly to income generation of rural women (popularly known as phone ladies).Socially, it has given a new status and image to those women who are getting Bank’s support to start this venture both at the family and community levels. Moreover, at the community level, it has narrowed gaps between cities and villages by enhancing frequent communication between family members. Economically, it has increased business transactions and dissemination of information (Aminuzzaman E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 45 et al. 2003, p. 327). In an earlier but similar study by Bayes et al. 1999) also evaluated the role of VP (of Grameen Bank) within the context of rural development in general and of poverty reduction in particular. They came up with two basic conclusions: first, pursuance of pragmatic policies can turn telephones into production goods, especially through lowering transaction cost, and second, the services originating from telephones in villages are likely to deliver significant benefits to the poor in Bangladesh (Bayes et al. 1999). Kazakhstan suffers from rampant corruption and poverty.As a means to control corruption and eradicate poverty, the government can evaluate the suitability of the noted (or similarly designed) initiatives for implementati on in Kazakhstan. Conclusion The paradigm of e-government emphasizes coordinated network building, external collaboration, and one-stop customer services to facilitate efficient service delivery to citizens, and, thus, contrasts sharply with the traditional bureaucratic paradigm, which stresses standardization, departmentalization, and division of labor (Ho 2002).In order to keep pace with the articulated development goals, particularly to achieve Kazakhstan 2030, the GoK has started to move toward e-government paradigm to establish a citizen-centered, accountable and transparent government. Kazakhstan’s past political history was linked to the long-standing legacies of monopolism, clanocracy, and cynicism of the Soviet period (Gleason 1997, p. 379). In the new Kazakhstan, situation has not improved to the extent many had expected. The country is still marked by widespread corruption, abject poverty, digital divide, lack of infrastructural development and human resources.In t his context, egovernment offers opportunities, though rudimentary at the present stage, to the government to improve service delivery across the country. The international development experiences clearly portray the benefit of egovernment. Such experiences may serve as policy guidelines to the implementation of e-government in Kazakhstan, after careful evaluations to their acceptability in Kazakh society. An important challenge to e-government implementation in developing countries is the lack of financial resources. The case of Kazakhstan is very much the same.The honeymoon period of booming Kazakh oil economy is under stress. To continue the systematic implementation of e-government even during the sluggish economy, public-private partnership is a necessary strategy for the avoidance of huge initial investment costs. 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Kazakhstan e-government program and the road ahead. Washington, DC: World Bank (a joint economic research program with the Government of Ka zakhstan).The World Bank. (2002). Kazakhstan governance and service delivery: A diagnostic report. Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, Europe and Central Asia Region. Yunus, M. (2004). Petersburg Prize 2004- acceptance speech delivered by Professor Muhammad Yunus in the Prize giving ceremony on June 27, 2004, at the Development Gateway Forum 2004, held at Petersburg Conference Center, Kongiswinter, Germany Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Administration at Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), Almaty.He earned a Ph. D. in Development Studies from the University of Bonn, Germany. His research interests are in governance, public policy and administration, public management, organization theory and behavior, culture, knowledge and development. 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