Abstract This paper discusses how the government of the United States has State Courts of various kinds in every state ensuring the protection of the American public and how the State Supreme Courts constitute the highest position in all state court systems. It examines the structure of four State Supreme Courts (New Jersey, New York, Alabama and California) by looking at their composition, functions and a major case from each State.
From the Paper "The Alabama Supreme Court, the Court of Civil Appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals make up the Appellate Court system of Alabama (General Information). Shouldering judicial as well as administrative responsibilities, the Alabama Supreme Court ranks highest among the other courts of the state (General Information). "The Alabama Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction over all appeals where the amount in controversy exceeds $50,000 and appeals from the Alabama Public Service Commission" (General Information). All disputed as well as undisputed decisions made by the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Court of Civil Appeals can be reviewed by the Supreme Court General Information)."
An in-depth discussion of the distinctive characteristics of small states in the international community. Advantages and disadvantages of these states are also discussed.
Abstract This paper discusses, explores and evaluates the characteristics of small states and the advantages as well as disadvantages they face. The role of the international community, the UK, the U.S. and other developed countries in relation the small states are examined. Small states in the English-Speaking Caribbean in particular are examined. The paper shows how the thinking on small size states has evolved over the years.
From the Paper "The issue of small states in the international community is one that has been contentious and subject to various debates in both the developed and developing world. Indeed, small states have been, and are characteristic of quite a number of inherent disadvantages, albeit with some advantages, indicating a contradictory evolution on the thinking of small size of the years since 1945, and up to 2000. In this vein, United Nation conferences for example, in Barbados 1994; of UNCTAD in Malta in the 1970s and 1990; conferences in the U.S./Caribbean Summit in 1997 and the US Caribbean Trade and Investment forum in 1999, among others, identify the special problems faced by small states. Some of these conferences have recommended ways that such problems should be overcome, and contrasts the varying levels of development or lack thereof of small states, and their particular indices of vulnerabilities that should or should not be given priority by larger states in the international community."
Abstract This paper gives examples of states: independent states, states of the European Union, the United Arab Emirates and how they are operatie in international relations. It also looks at the development of rogue states, how they arise and how they are maintained.
Tags: international relations, states, rogue states
The following dissertation looks at the causes of the U.S. Civil War. It finds that there is not one single answer to the question as to why the southern states seceded from the union.
Abstract This paper focuses on the issues that ran concurrently with slavery, although the issue of slavery dominated the middle part of the 19th century in America in its causes of secession and the U.S. Civil War. The writer looks at the legislation that affected the southern states, like the: Nullification Crisis that affected South Carolina in 1832, the Declaration of Causes by the seceding states and the widespread division that affected America in the late 1850?s, the 1850 Compromise and the Kansas-Nebraska Bill that caused great turmoil between the northern and southern states. This paper also looks at why the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, caused such consternation that the southern states finally felt compelled to secede.
From the Paper "The election of Abraham Lincoln as president and the Republican Party coming to power was almost a sure thing before the splits in the Democratic Party. The splits just made it an almost certainty, and again it was over the issue of slavery, only this time instead of fighting against each other it was in fighting. This meant that secession was a sure thing, which would have pleased so many of the vocal southern firebrands. It is hard to see how some of the southern states thought that they could survive without being in the Union, as one state is far bigger and prosperous when it is in a group rather than as an individual. But the southern states had had to put up with so much provocation and pressure from the northern states and often an anti slavery president government that this was the final straw for them. Why should they have kept putting up with all this hassle and troubles during the mid 19th century over slavery, which was a way of life for them. Some southerners knew that slavery would eventually die out in the future, put when they are pushed so hard and so much about the issue of slavery, their attitudes are going to harden and they would eventually dig their heels in."
Abstract Of the many significant structural and ideological changes which have taken place in Europe's history, the French Revolution represents an important social shift in the relations between the "people" and the Church as a privileged partner with the State. By discussing how the French Revolution produced a dramatic and structural limitation in the relation of the Church to the state, I do not wish to suggest that the revolution resulted in a complete separation of the church and state. It does, however, signal important factors that contributed to the diminishing role of the Church in state and in public affairs.
Abstract The paper raises and answers the following questions. What is the scope of state autonomy in an age of "globalization"? Can states realistically achieve stability, autonomy, development and prosperity? How does the design of the international monetary system and the rules/norms of the international financial system impact the role of the state? What is the relationship between national-state and multi-national corporations?
From the Paper "Responses to the question of the scope of state autonomy within the context of globalization differ tremendously because the response ultimately reflects the responder's own attitude towards, and definition of, globalization. For some economists, such as Prof. Robert Wade, globalization has severely curtailed state autonomy to the extent which states are virtually incapacitated when confronted with a domestic financial or monetary crisis. In essence, the governance of financial markets has largely transferred from states to those international institutions and actors which, and who, function to order and manage the global financial and monetary systems. Theoretically speaking, that transference is justified by the overall aim of coordinating economic activity among and between states so as to reduce financial crisis and ensure the implementation of an economic agenda which moves towards economic growth and stability. However, as Wade points out, that aim has not been fulfilled as is evidenced in the fact that crises have increased. It is within the framework of financial and monetary systems that are increasing characterized by instability and susceptibility to shock resulting in crisis, that the issue of the scope of state autonomy acquires special significance."
Abstract This paper examines the separation of church and state as defined by the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of the First Amendment religion clause, especially the Establishment Clause. This has been a source of increasingly heated debate in American society and politics. The paper shows that many conservatives and religious activists are angry that lower state courts, federal district courts, and federal appeals courts have ruled that Ten Commandment displays violate Constitutionally mandated separation of church and state, and are applying unprecedented pressure on the judiciary at every level.
A discussion on whether the state should be providing financial support to families in need while considering the political, ideological, and historical issues involved.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 6 sources, 2006, $ 71.95
Abstract The question of whether the state should be providing money to families is a complicated one that involves not only political and ideological questions of the role of the state in society in terms of family policy, but also consideration of the history of the state in this role given the growth of non-traditional family units in recent years. In this context, this essay argues the thesis that the state should be providing money to families, but only through the intercession of non-governmental agencies that minimize the imposition of the ideological perspective of a particular government upon financial supports to families.
Abstract Using Ben Carniol's "Case Critical: Challenging Social Services in Canada", as well as Larry Jonston's "Politics: An Introduction to the Modern Democratic State," this paper discusses the welfare state in Canada, the development of it and its shrinkage within the past one hundred year. The author shows evidence that the modern welfare state is shrinking in today's society because of the advancement of right wing politics and the decline of Keynesianism as a solution to the problems of the people of Canada.
From the Paper "It is important to remember that Canada did not invent the welfare state, it was merely adopted during the development of the country. It was the adoption of these welfare state ideals, that has lead Canada to develop things such as free public Health Care, Employment Insurance, public education and welfare itself. Ben Carniol (2000) explains the welfare states creation in the terms of industrial England where it first surfaced in the modern form. The creation of a welfare state began when the capitalistic owners of large factories in England were beginning to become disgruntled by the constant visitation of representatives from the numerous charitable organizations that had formed in the country to help the poor and underprivileged survive in the new society that saw the factory owners compete for profits at the expense of the men who worked for them under sometimes extremely harsh conditions. It was agreed upon that some sort of central organization for the collection of charity from the owners would be necessary to ensure that the money was going to charity and not people who had begun cheating the system in order to make money for themselves."
Abstract The question itself defines a conflict which pits, on the one side the welfare state as a thing that "prevents a permanent and possibly underclass." The other side demands the end of the Welfare state because, simply enough, it is too expensive and "undermines individual initiative." This paper takes up a third position; namely that even a very brief recollection of the history of the welfare state will show it is inevitable, not merely possible.
Abstract This paper documents the rise and fall of the First Bank of the United States created in 1791. It describes the major criticism of the bank, how it interfered with the development of the banking system and economic growth. It explains how the Second Bank of the United States rose from the demise of the First Bank, and what caused the closure of the Second Bank.
Tags: Central bank, first bank of the united states, second bank of the united states, implied powers, constitutional law, madison, hamilton, washington, fiscal policy, inflation, veto
Abstract In this article, the writer looks at how the relationship between the states within the Government and the federal government has evolved in the United States of America. The writer discusses the issue of states rights. Further, the writer examines the nature of the Union and looks at the powers granted to the national Government by the constitution.
From the Paper "The debate over the role and power of individual states within the federalist system of government in the United States of America has raged since the dawn of our nation. Two main questions have fueled a raging debate over so called states rights, what is the nature of our Union and what are the powers and privileges that the Constitution grants to the national government and reserves for the states. Incredibly enough, we are still attempting to answer these questions today over two centuries since the adoption of the ... "
Abstract This paper is a brief comparison/contrast of state versus private prisons. As should become apparent, there are many problems afflicting the state prison system in the United States of America. That being said, the writer notes there are no guarantees that a private system will be the panacea some have felt it could and can be. In any event, the writer concludes that a conflation of the two might the best answer for America's woes.
Abstract This paper uses a hypothetical situation to consider the meaning of mental states and how to decide if someone experiences mental states, noting how some of the medical staff in this case offer several reasons to think that a friend really does not have mental states, while considering what this means and how we might judge a mechanical brain rather than an organic brain.
From the Paper "This investigation into the meaning of "mind" and of mental states is based on the following premise. A close friend, someone with whom you have had many conversations on a wide variety of topics so that you have a sense of her mind and how it works, is in a car accident. She is taken to the hospital, where, in the course of routine diagnostics, workers discover that she does not have a brain in the way that you or I do. Instead, in her skull is an extremely complex non-organic digital computer, capable of receiving optical/auditory/and other information from the environment, and that is capable of causing the movement of her body."
Abstract This paper analyzes the main concerns of the founders when the wrote the Constitution of the United States, explaining that the delegates wanted limits on the federal government's power over the states and the citizens of the nation. Because of their experience with the British crown and the absence of freedom that existed in England for the common man at the time, the framers wanted to ensure that at no time could the federal government reduce state or individual freedoms. The paper explains that this is why the Bill of Rights was included as the first set of amendments to the Constitution, as it directly ensured that certain freedoms were protected. These amendments also stipulated that the federal government had enumerated power, rather than absolute power; an action "intended to keep the central government weak and to the keep the political power close to the people".
