Abstract This paper states that its research on the issue of civicengagement in global public policy confirms that citizens and peace activists all over the world have organized transnational networks in order to influencearmscontrol policies and bring about change. Their efforts have produced mixed results, from remarkable success to complete failure. Ultimately, their influence on armscontrol policy depends upon their ability to generate public support for arms reductions, for public support translates into political pressure on government policymakers. The paper brings historical examples from the Cold War to illustrate this, such as the Cuban missile crisis, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union, the Salt I Treaty, the Strategic Defense Initiative, and the START treaty. The paper concludes by stating that arms and militarism have been an inseparable part of every major empire or culture throughout human history and that this is a dilemma peace activists may not be able to resolve. The paper includes an annotated bibliography.
From the Paper "Civic engagement on arms control policy emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War in response to the development and deployment of nuclear weapons by the United States and the Soviet Union. After the fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union amassed huge arsenals of atomic bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic jet bombers, and ballistic missile submarines, and it seemed that conventional battles fought by massed armies of tanks and infantry would never occur again. The general consensus among government officials and the public as well was that possession of nuclear weapons was the new measure of any nation's military power."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that an examination of civicengagement in global public policy demonstrates that citizens have increasingly joined transnational networks to try to influence policy and bring about change. The writer points out that some of these campaigns have been very successful, some have had mixed success, and some failed to achieve their goals altogether. The writer discusses that in the 1980's, the civicengagement of millions of people to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union was a mixed success, for significant nuclear arms reductions were achieved, but nuclear war is still a threat to the survival of humanity. The writer maintains that many aspects of this civicengagement need to be examined and analyzed, not only because these efforts helped to end the Cold War, but because similar efforts are needed today to prevent new nuclear arms races from developing, both regionally and globally.
The writer concludes that examining civicengagement in global public policy demonstrates that concerned citizens have increasingly participated in transnational efforts to try to influence policy and effect change. The paper includes an annotated bibliography.
From the Paper "Criteria such as the signing and ratification of these treaties confirms the success of this civic engagement campaign, as does documented evidence that the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers were reduced by fifty-percent in many strategic and tactical weapons categories, while other categories such as short-range and medium range nuclear ballistic missiles were eliminated entirely. This was all achieved without any direct participation by citizens in international decision-making forums, and was produced primarily through domestic political pressure."
"This campaign was legitimate, for the nuclear arms race had escalated for decades after the first atomic bombs were developed, and the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers consisted of more than forty-thousand nuclear warheads by the early 1980's."
Abstract A comparison of American and Soviet armscontrol strategies during the Nixon administration, including SALT negotiations. The author looks at the motives and intentions of establishing armcontrol policies and the type of policies established.
From the Paper "In November, 1969, the United States and Soviet Union began the first major arms control talks in the history of the Cold War. As stated in class, both sides came to the talks with different goals in mind, and there were even differing motives on the American side itself. The United States approached the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) with the intention of establishing detente with the Soviet Union."
Abstract This paper examines how America has been characterised by a dramatic decrease in civicengagement and how this decrease is not only illustrated by low turnouts at presidential elections, which reveals a fall in electoral political participation, but also by lower civicengagement through active participation in social and political organisations. Robert Putnam suggests that American society's civic disengagement is, in large part, due to the development of the television. The paper argues that, if the American society is indeed characterised by a significant decrease in civicengagement, the development of television and other forms of media technologies does not lead necessarily to a more 'politically cynical' society.
Outline:
Putnam's Thesis: The Loss in Social Trust is Responsible For Less CivicEngagement The End of America's Republican CivicEngagement?
Conclusion
From the Paper "Mouritsen questions Putnam's concept of social capital by interrogating the 'civil' in Putnam's conception of 'civil society'. Mouritsen insists on the fact that Putnam puts largely the emphasis on a civic community that emerges almost spontaneously from the people, "from the microcosmos of society" (MOURITSEN, 2003: 651). Putnam's considerations on the forming of social capital are thus based on the assertion that voluntary forces emanating from the people, from 'below', constitute the foundation of a civic consciousness. Mouritsen therefore criticises a conception of civil society that appeals to a narrow sense of republicanism: in this logic, many social scientists used to see the civil society as a civic space emerging independently from state forces, according to the "classical republican ideology of self-governing citizens" (MOURITSEN, 2003: 652). "
Abstract This paper explains how the Carter administration attempted to halt Moscow's advance through armscontrol however the agreements negotiated by the Carter administration left the US at a dangerous disadvantage by allowing the Soviets a first strike capability.
From the Paper "In March, 1977, Secretary of State Vance presented the administration's "comprehensive proposal" to Moscow. Carter's position included two proposals. One offered to restrict American cruise missiles to a 2500 miles in exchange for Soviet reductions in SS-18s from 308 to 150. The second proposal left both cruise missiles and SS-18s unrestricted. The Soviets rejected both proposals. This gave the US the chance to continue development of the cruise missile unabatedly, but did nothing to address the rising Soviet threat. The fear of future vulnerability led Carter to reinforce Western Europe, deploying 35,000 more troops, more equipment, ground launched cruise missiles (GLCMs), and Pershing II intermediate range ballistic missiles. "
Abstract This research considers how armed conflict is shaped by a country's political stability, military expenditures and type of government. It theorizes that higher levels of political stability, smaller armed forces, and lower amounts of military expenditures will result in less armed conflict for a country. Also, a country's type of government (i.e. Democratic, Authoritarian, Socialist, etc.) will be of significant influence upon the amount of armed conflict that the country engages in. After analyzing the data for the 208 countries, the paper finds that there is in fact a strong negative relationship between the political stability of a country and its involvement in armed conflict. The more stable the political climate of a country, the less likely it is for that country to be involved in armed conflict, and the less stable the political climate of a country, the more likely it is for that country to be involved in armed conflict. With respect to a country's spending on its military, as well as the size of that military, the paper finds no significant relationship between these factors and a country's propensity to be involved in armed conflict. Furthermore, although the paper notes that communist and Islamic governments appear more prone to be engaged in armed conflict, it argues that this is merely a spurious relationship. It finds, instead, that a country's particular form of government has no real bearing on whether or not it will be involved in armed conflict. The paper includes several graphs and tables.
Paper Outline:
Abstract
Influencing Elements on Armed Conflict: Expectations from Previously Published Literature
General Methodology and Operationalization of Variables
Understanding Possible Causes Associated With Armed Conflict
Conclusion
Appendix: Graphs and Tables
Bibliography
From the Paper "The second indicator which we examined in order to test a possible relationship between armed conflict and military buildup and spending concerns the total number of armed forces a country supports in thousands . Recoded to allow greater legibility within a cross-tabulation, while the data support a relationship between low armed conflict and a lower level of armed forces, the relationship does not continue to the high level. Table 6 reports that countries with less than 500,000 total armed forces in the 0-250 category have low or low-medium levels of armed conflict 60% of the time, while countries in the 250.1-500 category reach 66.7%."
Abstract This paper examines how the rules of American social engagement come into play, not simply on a personal level, but are codified and defined on multiple levels. Through a review of the books, "Bowling Alone" by Robert B, Putnam, William K. Tabb's "Unequal Partners", and Alan Dawley's "Changing the World", it looks at how the changing and evolving rules of social engagement in America invariably relate to how, as a society, a complex nation such as America is constructed on a socially stratified level. It also explores how America functions on a globally stratified level among other nation states in a social and civic fashion and discusses how, although social engagement with one's peers, with one's fellow nationals, and with one's fellow human beings may have grown increasingly atomized and absent in recent years, it does not mean such laws have been erased.
From the Paper "All authors see a fundamental lacking in the way that Americans relate to other Americans, how America relates to the world community, and how America perceives its political responsibility to those in need within its borders and abroad. However, all three authors, because of the different paradigms they use to view this lacking of civic engagement, offer quite different solutions. Putman takes a sociological paradigm to examine American post-war Baby Boon social trends, Tabb uses the environmentalist and international relations paradigm of America's location in a global society, and Dawley takes the historian's point of view, contrasting the Progressive movement of the turn of the century with American social movements today, stressing the contemporary lack of political movements to cohere and achieve similarly internationalist and civic political ends."
Abstract This paper considers the case of Tillamook County, Oregon and reviews the civic life of the community in terms of its local economy and social institutions. In order to research a question of public administration -- that civic welfare relies on local capitalism and civicengagement, the county life and government are outlined and an analysis conducted.
From the Paper "In 1995, members of Congress and the Clinton Administration visited a number of communities in the state of Oregon looking for progressive government and viable local economies that could serve as models for reinventing government and civic welfare and accountability. Among the communities they visited were Tillamook County, a rural farming and fishing community in northwest Oregon. They reviewed the county's governance and found that it tied all aspects of government together in such a way that child care and education, for example, were effectively delivered in a systematic and synchronized manner, so that all government offices worked together to increase civic life (The Institute for Educational Leadership, 1996, p 22)."
Abstract This paper discusses how social capital is the currency of civil society by demonstrating the role of its mobilisation within social movements. It proposes that social capital is the currency of civil society in much the same way that financial capital is a component of the market sector. The first section briefly outlines three integral elements of social capital, networks, norms and social trust. It is followed by a discussion of the mobilisation of social capital as it pertains to social movements and promotes civicengagement. The conclusion reflects that the social capital/civil society and the financial capital/market sector analogy is justified, as social capital acts as civil society's bargaining tool.
From the Paper "The final continuous element of social capital is social trust. As an attribute of social capital trust encourages society to overcome quiescence and to take part in political activism by instilling confidence. Underpinning this confidence is a sense of mutual supportiveness of each other and for the cause, that has united them. Interwoven with social trust is the notion of reciprocity, or the implicit assumption that those participating will get something in return for supporting any form of civil action (Onyx, 2000:60-1). This assumption also motivates social movements, the link between social capital, civil society and bargaining becomes apparent. Davis argues that the public has a distinct lack of trust in government and its processes, he goes on to say that those possessing social capital are better equipped to initiate civic engagement (2001:2-4). Which brings us to one of the most common mechanisms for collective action, that of social movements."
Abstract This paper explains that the European Union's common asylum policy has developed over time and has been influenced by a number of political and economic factors. The author points out that the
EU's position has evolved in response to asylum issues and other emerging concerns such as armscontrol and human rights violations. The paper relates that thirteen years ago, common European agreement was reached through the Maastricht Treaty, which designated asylum policy as a matter of shared interest to European Union members.
From the Paper "The European Union's common asylum policy has developed over time and has been influenced by a number of political and economic factors. As this development has unfolded, Luxembourg's own position has evolved in response to asylum issues and other emerging concerns such as arms control and human rights violations. Essentially, "as political and economic co-operation has developed between the member states of the EU, the necessity of a common approach to issues such as immigration, border controls and asylum policy has become apparent." (ECRE) Thirteen years ago, common European agreement was reached through the Maastricht Treaty, which designated asylum policy as a matter of shared interest to European Union members. "
Abstract This paper supports the thesis that the U.S. government's history of providing arms to governments with known human rights violations undermines its claims of support for human rights. Although the US has the most stringent policies regarding export control on the books, the commitment to these policies and the inadequate methods of enforcement are of great concern. The paper specifically discuses the cases of Bahrain, Indonesia and Turkey. The paper concludes that the number of cases where the US provided arms to countries that practice human rights violations demonstrates that, regardless of what the US says in its policies, it still places the money made from arms sales higher than the lives of the people. The paper includes tables and graphs.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Literature Review
Case Studies
Arms Supplies to Oppressive Regimes
The Case of Bahrain
Indonesia
Turkey
Disarmament
Government Policy Versus Actions
From the Paper "One of the most famous instances of US human rights violations occurred in the 1980s under the Reagan administration. During this time, the Nicaraguan Sandinistas were considered to be a communist regime. In this scandal, the US helped to sell arms illegally to Iran to finance the Contras guerillas. The Contras were a ruthless group who instituted serious human rights violations against in their war against the Nicaraguan government . Nicaragua took the United States to court in the International Court of Justice."
Abstract This paper analyzes arguments against the right to bear arms and then, based on that analysis, counters those arguments and presents reasons why individuals should have the right to bear arms. The paper concludes that gun control laws do not make sense, and citizens must continue to be allowed to protect themselves with guns.
From the Paper "The basic premise of gun control is simple: it states that if people do bad things with guns, the simple solution is to eradicate guns. In turn, violence will end. While this sounds simple, it obviously does not make sense. Indeed, in putting aside all of the Constitutional arguments against gun control, even from a purely practical position, gun control is completely ridiculous. Moreover, it obviously cannot work; it cannot reduce the number of guns in criminal hands and it cannot reduce violence, especially because legislation will merely affect law-abiding citizens and not the perpetrators that are put forth as the reason for needing gun control."
Abstract This paper analyzes the historical background of the Second Amendment of the US Constitution in order to uncover the true intention of its framers. The paper then presents the commonly advanced arguments by opponents and supporters of gun control laws.
Outline:
Historical Background of the Framing of the Second Amendment
Arguments in Favor of the Second Amendment and the Right to Bear Arms Arguments for Gun Control and a Restrictive Application of 2nd Amendment
From the Paper "The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which declares: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" is perhaps the most controversial and misunderstood parts of the country's Constitution. The confusing language of the Amendment makes it open to differing interpretations and gives rise to a number of question, including: (a) Whether "the right to keep and bear arms" is a fundamental right that "shall not be infringed" by the States as well as the federal government; and (b) whether the right to bear arms is an individual right of all people or a collective right applicable only to a "well regulated Militia?" Opponents of gun control laws argue that restrictions imposed on keeping guns, whether enforced through state laws or federal laws, are a direct infringement on the fundamental right to bear arms guaranteed in the Constitution. Supporters of gun control, on the other hand, firmly believe that "right to keep and bear arms" referred to in the 2nd Amendment only applied to the militias that had existed in the 18th and 19th centuries whose functions have now been taken over by the police force and the national guards; therefore, the amendment has no relevance to the existing conditions and has become an anachronism."
Tags: gun, control, self-defense, militias, Bill, of, Rights
Abstract This paper discusses the views of both gun advocates and gun eradicates. This paper is slightly biased towards the views of gun advocates and their fight to protect their "right to bear arms". However several key points are discussed in favor of those who wish to abolish our right to bear arms.
From the Paper "The government has attempted to propose new gun regulations in order to decrease such crimes, violating the Bill of Rights. The 2nd amendment has protected the peoples right to bear arms for over 200 years, yet government policies are attempting to dismantle the ideas formed by our founding fathers to maintain a free democracy. They feel that depriving us of the right to possess firearms will solve all crime related issues. Contrary to their beliefs statistics and logic prove that firearms are the primary weapons against crime."
This paper addresses the current movement to create civics education within the classroom through contrasting existing political philosophies on the subject of conformity against the initiative to teach civics within the classroom.
3,900 words (approx. 15.6 pages), 8 sources, 2002, $ 142.95
Abstract This paper addresses the current movement to create civics education within the classroom through contrasting existing political philosophies on the subject of conformity against the initiative to teach civics within the classroom. This demonstrates how civics education rather than government education is a form of propaganda that promotes conformity.
