Abstract
This paper explains that, especially in large urban centers, organized labor, which has often played a major role in local life and politics, is seen at best as meddling and unnecessary and at worst as tools of unscrupulous politicians and demagogues. The author points out that, at times, some of the aspects of union membership, which provide for their members' social and financial security, are viewed as detrimental by business owners and municipal governments. The paper states that unionized construction firms can serve as "fronts" for the activities of the Mob and labor union and construction rackets are a major source of income for New York's leading crime families.

From the Paper
"Union contracts stipulate that workers must enjoy a level of independence requisite to the good performance of their jobs. On this level, unions perform a service that is extremely valuable to both the individual worker and to the larger society that makes use of his skills. The worker performs his job to the best of his ability because he believes that he is responsible for the quality of his work. Society benefits from the limitations imposed on the boss or manager who may be more concerned with cost overruns than with quality. Worker independence in the construction and plumbing industries may make the difference between the building that stays up, and the one doesn't, and between the bathroom that functions properly, and the one that doesn't. "

Tags:demagogues, politics, security, construction, families

Abstract
The following paper will argue that Night and Fog is a powerful film which illuminates why political engagement and intellectual engagement with the pressing issues of the day are vital to ensuring an informed, principled and morally disciplined citizenry that will not be easily swayed by demagogues playing upon their deepest, darkest fears. Over the next several pages, an effort will be undertaken to show how the film forces people to ask tough questions about human nature, about "civilized" human society, and insists that audience members look at human tragedy without succumbing to easy generalizations about this group or that group. The paper will also discuss how Resnais eschews melodrama and self-righteousness, anticipates audience resistance, and asks audience members to ponder the question: if those who operated within the bowels of the Nazi killing machine were not "responsible" (as some of them claim) then who is responsible? Are all of us, every time we decline to become involved in a just cause or allow ourselves to be swayed by a superficial argument also, in our way, guilty of permitting evil to flourish because of our own apathy? The power of the film is that it makes people think about things like this.

From the Paper
Communication Studies: Night and Fog - or Why Politics Matter The following paper will argue that Night and Fog is a powerful film which illuminates why political engagement and intellectual engagement with the pressing issues of the day are vital to ensuring an informed, principled and morally disciplined citizenry that will not be easily swayed by demagogues playing upon their deepest, darkest fears. Over the next several pages, an effort will be undertaken to show how the film forces people to ask tough questions about human nature, about "civilized" human society, and insists that audience members look at human tragedy without succumbing to easy generalizations about this group or that group. The

Tags:communication, studies, apathy

Abstract
This paper discusses how the journalistic side of the 20th century can be defined as the struggle for democracy and an independent media against propaganda and subservience to the state. It looks at how that struggle culminated during the first half of this century in the seizure of the means of communication by the demagogues of the 1930s and 1940s, Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, and their Cold War reincarnation of the 1950s, Joseph McCarthy, the ghost that still haunts U.S. journalism. It shows how modern journalism began around 1890 with the advent of a national system of communication and has had a pretty long run.

From the Paper
"The media has come under fire and censorship many a time for exposing the truth. Zambia's transition to multiparty politics in 1991 has not led to significant changes in state-media relations. The independent media is weak due to a hostile political and legal environment and severe economic conditions. The ability of the independent press to contribute effectively to democratic discourse is further constrained by its failure to live up to the professional role of the press in pluralist politics. (21) In Bangladesh government supporters seized hundreds of copies of the national newspaper, Janakantha because it had exposed a local officials involvement in drug smuggling."

Tags:hitler, stalin, cold, war, macarthy, propaganda

Abstract
Unique to the American democratic experiment, the Electoral College awards slates of electors from each state numerically equal to the state's congressional delegation, representatives plus senators. The paper shows that the electoral college, originally established to address regional divides and the fear of a demagogue, is an anqituated process that distorts voter participation. Fundamentally, the process is unfair because it violates the 'one man one vote' principle of America's democratic republic.

From the Paper
"However, according to Akhil Amar, a constitutional scholar at Yale University, "improvements in communications technology and the rise of political parties," make regional candidates very unlikely today (Amar 2). Furthermore, sharp regional issues such as slavery and tariffs are absent from the current political landscape. Some proponents of the current system point to the current election where George W. Bush won almost all of the southern and mountain states, while Al Gore won the pacific northwest and the New England states, as evidence that regional divides still linger. However, these are not the regional divides that the founders feared because each candidate still had significant appeal in every region of the country. Even in the infant days of the republic, the founders recognized that the Electoral College was, in the words of James Madison, "the worst possible system except perhaps for all the rest" (Best 23). However, since many of the problems that prevented a direct popular election no longer exist, the Electoral College is the equivalent of a "constitutional dinosaur" (Amar 3)."

Tags:2000, elections, political, science, Al, Gore, Bush, president

Abstract
This paper summarizes, compares and critically reviews Gasset's work, "The Revolt of the Masses" and Freud's work, "Thoughts for the Times on War and Death". Throughout, it attempts to place these works within their historical context of the period in which they were written as well as understand the thoughts and philosophies behind the authors.

From the Paper
"Freud and Gasset, as conservative intellectual men, have a unique perspective on what was to be the world's bloodiest century. Each wrote in the midst of struggles of with uncertain outcomes, and in both works surveyed their capacities for rational analysis was underscored by a tangible sense of fear. Despite this, the origins of their works and the perspective of each differ significantly. These discrepancies deserve close inspection."

Tags:intellectual, demagogues, masses, psychoanalyst, foreboding