Czech Literature Essay

1. Characterize the main defining points of Czech pre 19th century history. Czech literature encompasses the provinces of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. The Czech literature is divided into many periods, the Middle Ages, the Hussite Period, the Baroque period and the enlightenment that ushered in the 19th century Czech literature. Czech literature is unusually tri-lingual, utilizing Czech, Latin then German. Most of the writers before wrote in other languages (i. e. German) that’s why some of these writers and their works were classified as Austrian Literature. Early evidences of Czech poetic work around 12th centuries are the two songs, Hospodine, pomiluj ny (Lord Have Mercy Upon Us) and Svaty Vaclave (Saint Wenceslas). In the 13th century, various political, social and cultural changes happened. Epics such as Alexandreis, the Chronicles of Dalimil, the lyrical pieces Island Song and Cunigund’s Prayer, signaled the birth of a unique Czech literature. Enters the Hussite Era wherein the sole purpose of the literature was to expand and spread the arguments and doctrines of Jan Hus. Jan Hus was a theological writer at the beginning of the 15th century wherein he wrote mostly in Latin, and then Czech later on. Nonetheless, he published a compilation of his sermons in Czech and created rules of orthography and grammar that would later on be the foundation of modern Czech. Jan Hus’ works catered to the masses and mostly consist of social situations. This period truly developed Czech religious songs as alternates for Latin hymns and liturgy. However, Hussite Literature was oftentimes invalidated by works defending Catholicism just like Jan Rokycana’s works. Humanism, a new trend in Bohemia replaced the Hussite era. This form of literature mainly dealt about rival writings of Catholics in Latin and Protestants in Czech. However, the Catholics finally emerged victorious after the Protestants were defeated in the Battle of the White Mountain. Therefore, there was persuasive re-Catholicization that leads to confiscations and eviction of all Protestants. There was a splitting of literature, the domestic Catholic and the exiled Protestants. This was known as the Baroque period. However, the Bohemian nobility was unlike any European nobility during that time, they held special courts for the nobles separate from the public. This division resulted to the inability of the Baroque period of literature to expand and develop. The best known figure in Baroque Czech writing was John Commenius, a teacher, theologian, and philosopher. He grew up in Bohemia but was later on exiled due to Protestantism; and with his death, Protestant literature died away with him. After the demise of Protestantism and the power of Catholicism, a new development occurred with the declaration of Emperor Josef II to end feudalism and to tolerate freedom of religion and ideas. This ushered enlightened classicism, or the application of rational reasoning to all aspects of life. Having a national language and a literature in one’s own language was seen as necessary to build an identity for the nation. A renewed interest in Czech folk literature and prose novels that relates the history and evolution of the nation of Czech, and a certain Czech poetic style was developed. 2. Describe the first phase of national revival. Major Figures The national revival was a spin-off from the enlightenment of Czech literature. These ideas were all about renewal of everything Czech; from science to the arts and theater. However, there would still be a long way to go from being independent from the German style and develop a unique Czech style. This task was especially hard since German influence had span for so many years and the Czech language was already losing out. Hence, the solidarity among Czech citizens was greatly established and its connection with Russia, as well as restoration of the historicism and instilling nationalism amongst its people. Step by step, promotion of Czech’s unique culture and traditions finally escalated to the point of politics. This means that Czech’s status as a government is equal to Germany, with Czech having its own constitutions and local autonomy. However, in 1848, there was an outbreak of revolution all over Europe and Germany had demanded unification of other European countries with them. This involved the lesser Germany or a greater Germany wherein Czech would be a part of, supposedly. However, Chancellor Matternich of Austria resigned a month before the first Austrian Constitution was proclaimed. Nevertheless, uprisings were still adamant and a convention met in Vienna aiming to end the Viennese revolution and Slavic nations who resists Germany’s offer of incorporating Austria into Germany as part of its greater Germany concept. Upon so many debacles an Austro-Hungarian Settlement was reached, but this agreement totally ignored Czech’s demands, which led to an assembly of people at significant sites in Czech history. So, an agreement between Austria and Czech was develop in 1871 and it included increased authority of Czechs assemblies. However this agreement was flawed such that it increased discontent of Germans and Hungarians living in Czech and further negotiations for the treaty was stopped. The relationship among Czechs and Germans worsen eventually, that this led to the formation of Germans in Bohemia their own enclosed German territory wherein German is the official language. 3. Early 19th century poets After the enlightenment period and the national revival struggle, Romanticism entered the Czech literature scene. Frantisek Palacky was the leading Slavic scholar with Vaclav Hanka (1791–1861) who produced Slavic texts that became part of Czech’s literary tradition and culture. Moreover, the entrance of three literary figures such as Svatopluk Cech, Jan Neruda, and Joseph V. Sladek introduced poetry that was leaning towards the rich and the aristocrats. Svatopluk Cech (1846-1908) was a Czech poet and novelist. He became famous for his love for freedom and democracy and his inclination to Pan-Slavism. This enthusiasm with politics was observed through out his many writings; just like The Adamites (1873), Zizka (1879), and Vaclav of Michalovice (1880). His satirical novel Excursion of Mr. Broucek to the Moon (1886) was also well-regarded as well as his idyllic prose In the Shade of the Linden Tree (1879). Jan Neruda (1834-1891) was a Czech essayist and poet. A native of Prague, his famous Stories from Mala Strana (1878) were derived from his childhood in Prague. It also showed ridiculous interpretation of the Czech middle class that illustrates Czech realism. Joseph V. Sladek (1845-1912) was a Czech poet and translator. His works were influenced by Shakespearean plays since he lived in the United States for two years and the taught English in Prague and translated much American and English writings into Czech. Sladek’s poetry were free-verses and short at some point, demonstrating his personal sorrows and nationalistic ideology. His collections were entitled Basne [poems] (1875) and Sluncem a stinem [in sun and shade] (1887). 4. Development of Czech Theater Early theater in Czech was mainly composed of secular and liturgical dramas that present religious themes. These dramas were usually performed by professional actors and magicians. The Baroque Jesuit Drama was usually school plays that were run by the Jesuit Order of Priests in the 16th and 17th century. The theme was usually about country folk as presented to the urbanized public. Professional theater was made available by foreign performers who traveled from one country to another. They are usually Germans and English, some others Italians, as well as French. Theater, did not escape the National Revival Project of the Czechs. Performances are to be executed using primarily the Czech language. Vlastenecke divadlo or the Patriotic Theater, the Bouda or the Shack, and the Nostitz Building of the National Theater, were the beginning of Czech Porfessional Theater. Czech professional theater reached the countrysides through J. A. Prokop’s company theater where they made their performances using puppets in 1849. Finally, the opening of the Prozatimni Divadlo or Provisional Theater in 1862, Czech Theater created its own identity apart from German Theater. Consequently, the first generation of Czech Porfessional actors emerged like Josef Jiri Kolar and Anna Kolarova-Manetinska. Czech Opera also grew unexpectedly with seven premieres by Bedrich Smetana and five Antonin Dvorak (Czech Republic Website). The opening of the National Theater in Prague in 1883 introduced Czech Theater to the whole of Europe. Performances in Czech language started to increase and styles such as realism and naturalism developed. Then in the beginning of the 20th century the avant-garde of Czech theater materialized and the works of Jiri Mahen, Frana Sramek and Viktor Dyk, ushered the symbolist and impressionist dramas. A new style of acting was also developing through focusing on the mind and pysche of the character, and this was presented by Hana Kvapilova and Eduard Vojan, among many others. The Municipal Theater at Kralovske Vinohradyopened in Prague in 1907, and Karel Hugo Hilar performed the art of expressionism in theater. The development of Czech Theater was accompanied by the growth of Czech Theater Critics as well as magazines such as Scena were published. In 1918, wherein the development of an Independent Czechoslovakia was starting to brew, litearary works became rampant representing nationalistic ideas and usage of Czech language. Styles such as Avant-garde in Fantasy and Comedy also emerged. However, when the Nazi Occupation reached Czechoslovakia, all theaters were closed in 1944. Then in 1948, Czech theater emerged again with a new purpose, Socialist Realism. This was mainly a propaganda of the communist regime to spread out their doctrines. But, in 1950s, small theaters took forms apart from the â€Å"official† theater, that fascinated a larger group of non-conformist audiences. This is where the famous Czech writer Milan Kundera began writing for theater. 5. Compare city and village prose Czech literature was not clearly divided accordingly as city and village prose. Through out the thorough research, no mention as to the theme about city or village was encountered, however, an inkling that the oral literature of Czech could perhaps be defined as village prose. Since Czech literature in its oral form existed before the coming of any influence, from the urban cities or from the west, folk poetry was used. Another is the emergence of Catholic themes that could probably date back as far as 863 A. D. when Moravia and Bohemia were converted into Christianity through the labors of St. Cyril and St. Methodius. All Czech literature began in this era and with the exception of Bulgarian literature, Czech literature is the oldest and the richest. Themes range from secular and religious prose and liturgies of the Catholic Church. As with the city prose, conceivably emerged through the influx of other styles as Czech literature moved on. With the addition of the romanticism that relates knight’s tales and crusaders and the feasts that were held in honor of them. Humanism that copied Roman and Greek literature, and Avant-garde styles such as impressionism and expressionism and political themes could also be referred to as city prose. 6. Compare the literary groups Ruch and Lumir In the 1840s, with the rise of Czech literature, publications and journalism were also growing on its own. These publications contributed a lot for the political liberation of Czech from Austria. Literary periodicals that are closely connected with this political theme are the Lumir and Ruch. Lumir begun c. 1875, focused on the need to develop a Czech literature that would reach the level of international standards through the writings of Jaroslav Vrchlicky and Julius Zeyer. Ruch, who started in 1868, however, focused on strengthening national traditions and themes through the writings of Josef Vaclav Sladek and Svatopluk Cech. Both periodicals were directed towards patriotism and nationalism through publishing writers that have some say about the political situation of the country. These writers, expressed their love for Czechoslovakia by creating historical novels such of Alois Jirasek or was commonly known as ‘the Czech Walter Scott’, (1851–1930). Works Cited Czech and Slovak literature. † Crystal Reference Encyclopedia. Crystal Reference Systems Limited. 06 Dec. 2007. Reference. com http://www. reference. com/browse/crystal/08865

Importance of Law to Different People Essay

Various schools of law define law from different angles and this is done by mainly looking at the purpose that is to be achieved. The meaning of law maybe different to a lawyer, a law enforcement agency, a law breaker and even a business man. If defined simply then law is a system, a set of rules and guidelines that are enforced/implemented through a set of different government institutions. It helps to shape politics, economics, and most importantly, society by serving as a mediator of relations between people and different groups (Various, 2011). They are considered to be the basic of behavior, and at the same time, orders established by the Government of a country. These guidelines are applicable to anyone and everyone, with the expectations that are followed rather than broken, without any discrimination. Law is the command of the sovereign. It imposes a duty and is supported by a sanction, which will be looked at further in this writing. Law is made of three elements: command, duty and sanction. To implement and enforce law and provide services to the public, a government’s bureaucracy, the military and police are vital. With all these organs of the state are creatures created and bound by law, an independent legal profession and vibrant civil society inform and support their progress (Various, 2011). Law is a fair means of keeping everyone equal in the eyes of the state, and rid out crimes which are the cancer of society. Law is a generic term which is further divided into categories so no walks of life isn’t out of the reach of the law enforcers. Law is not a man made phenomena as we can see law in effect in nature too. It is something that keeps things in balance. Some might argue that law isn’t required, but man in its nature is inclined to sway from the right code of conduct. Law doesn’t enforce something un-natural but kosher ways of doing things. The need of Law is fundamental, it sets up guidelines for appropriate behavior that has been perfected over time and based on moral beliefs. And also Law is a divine quality given to man to controls mans sinful nature for centuries. When can see the importance of Law in man life by the example of Adam and Eve, they had guidelines they had to follow, no matter how limited it was, and when they were broken they were punished for it. This shows that the need of Law or guidelines is something as natural to mankind as breathing. Law has a different meaning to a lawyer, a law enforcement agency, a law breaker and a businessman. A lawyer assists others in understanding the rule of law and provides his help to those who want to enforce the law for a particular purpose. The objective of a law enforcement agency is to promote law and ensure that it is being followed in an organized manner. A law breaker is not try to understand the rule of law and just wants to disrupt the society by breaking it. A business man has to follow the law in his day to day dealings and to a business man, law is mainly a set of rules and regulations that have to be followed in order to carry out the business. The objective of this paper is to highlight how various individuals perceive law and the meaning that law has to them. Law is there to serve different purposes and law can only be easily defined if this purpose is apparent. The aim of this paper is to show what perception different individuals have of law. It is very important to know the differences in perception of various segments regarding law to be able to understand how it would be defined by them. This would help us analyze and interpret the way they look at law and might help us in forming a mutual definition of law. It is necessary to shed light upon what law means to different segments in order to create a linkage among the common elements exist so it becomes easier for us to understand the actual meaning of law. Methodology The topic that has been covered in this paper can have a legal as well as a social impact. It can have a social impact because it highlights the different meanings that law can have to different individuals in the society which can assist the members of the society to understand how various individuals perceive law. Law is importance to all the individual but the degree of importance surely varies. The paper sheds light on the importance that different individuals attach to law hence having a society wide impact. The paper can have a legal impact because it shows us how the various segments of the legal system including the lawyers and law enforcement agencies perceive law and how essential law is to them. This can help us interpret their reaction towards various aspects and also help us understand how different segments within the legal system might work. What does law mean to a lawyer? Law has a great deal of significance to a lawyer. Law is needed to resolve these disputes and lawyers use these laws a valid ground for resolving such disputes, as exemplified by the famous story of the Judgment of Solomon. It was thought even from classical times that law performed a very important function – that of encouraging and helping people to do the right thing. For example, Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) argued that people needed the discipline of law to habituate them into doing the right thing, from which standpoint they could then appreciate why doing the right thing was the right thing to do and lawyers set examples for others through use of laws. Up until the 20th century, this view of law was accepted by law makers, with the result that the legal system contained a large number of ‘morals laws’ – that is, laws that were designed purely and simply to stop people acting immorally, according to the lights of Christian teaching on what counted as immoral behavior. For the lawyer law is formulated to improve the system of legal representation, ensure that lawyers conduct their business in accordance with the law, standardize lawyers’ behavior, protect the legitimate rights and interests of litigants, safeguard the correct enforcement of laws and bring into full play the positive role of lawyers in establishing a socialist legal system. Lawyer refers to personnel who have obtained a business license for setting up a lawyer’s practice in accordance with the law and who are providing legal services for the public. When setting up a practice, lawyers must abide by the Constitution and the law, and must scrupulously observe professional ethics and discipline. Lawyers who set up in practice must use facts as a basis and the law as criteria. Lawyers who set up in practice must accept supervision by the state, the public and litigants. Lawyers who set up in practice in accordance the law are protected by the law.

Indian Democracy at Crossroad

Avinash Shankar MAD12015 Politics Essay: 2 Topic Can post-colonial India's political experience be characterized as moving towards becoming more democratic Democracy, the form of government where supreme power is directly or indirectly vested in people, has become a global discourse that can be gauged from the fact that many post-colonial countries have adopted it with remarkable success.The dramatic global expansion of democracy in the last few decades in post-colonial countries speak volume of this most popular form of representative government. The ever fluctuating political dynamics coupled with changing socio-economic patterns since Independence has given new meanings to Indian democracy at each stage of its progression. India inherited a colonial state and kept much of its functioning architecture intact. Much of state practice, despite its massive quantitative expansion, is heavily governed by legislation passed somewhere between 1860 and 1947.During the 65-years of long journ ey, India as a nation has witnessed moments wherein democracy looked to find its true meaning, while moments like national emergency during Indira Gandhi’s regime qualify as the abysmal low that India touched as democratic nation. Adoption of socialist pattern, the middle path between capitalism and communism, at the early stage of our independence and a series of economic reforms that began in 1980s were primarily targeted at delivering the true essence of democracy in social, economic, and political spheres.This paper is an attempt to answer how Abraham Lincoln’s notion of democracy as a government of the people, by the people and for the people has been put to test in India on different social, political, and economic parameters at different stages of its progression since independence and whether ever changing political, social and economic dynamics have brought India closer to true democratic model. India retained a deep commitment to principles of parliamentary g overnment during the three decades after independence. Indian leaders described their approach planning nder a democratic pattern of socialism as a new model for Asian and African development. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who set the direction of India’s development during the first fifteen years of freedom, pointed to his country as an area of agreement between opposing ideologies of capitalism on the hand and the communism on the other. Under his leadership, the commitment to democratic social transformation was an integral part of India’s development strategy. Nehru also tried to incorporate Gandhian ideals of social reforms in his development programs.Nehru spoke of this mode of development as a third way which takes best from all existing systems—the Russian, the American, and sought to create something suited to one’s own history and philosophy. In the nascent stage of Independence, the Nehruvian socialist model of developmen t seemed to have worked well within the social and economic framework of India. But Nehru too had to face many challenges in the implementation of his development model. Nehru’s attempt to bring serious bourgeois land reforms was thwarted through a combination of feudal resistance, judicial conservatism, and connivance of state Congress leaderships.Although Congress was content to accept the continuance of semi-feudal rural power, it adopted massive plans for capitalist movement. Consistent with this general objective, the ruling elite adopted a plan for heavy industrialization and institutional control of capital goods industries through the state sector, a largely untried experiment at the time in the underdeveloped countries. Indira Gandhi who became Prime Minister after Nehru’s demise gave a new populist dimension to Indian politics.The shift of the Congress to populist politics quickly set up a new structure of political communication in which Indira could directl y appeal to electorates. While populist endeavors like Garibi Hatao (remove poverty) and nationalization of banks brought her good name, she has often been criticized for changing the Congress into a highly centralized and undemocratic party organization, from the earlier federal, democratic, and ideological formation that Nehru had led. Indira’s regime, in my opinion, was the beginning of the stage when India started to show its meaningful presence internationally.Creation of Bangladesh was the beginning of the India’s assertiveness at international level. Nuclear test conducted in 1974 was the extension of this assertiveness. Ironically Indira’s regime will also go down in history for bringing disrepute to democracy by imposing emergency in the most undemocratic manner. Perhaps it was the first blow to the essence of democratic model that India followed since independence. The manner in which rights and liberties, the two important tenets of democracy, were su spended during emergency reminds us how an authoritarian regime can play havoc in people’s minds.The emergency perhaps was the turning point in the Indian democratic history because it paved the way for major political and social shift. It was perhaps the trigger that led to the end of absolute majority era and ignited the undercurrent of regional politics played largely around caste and religious lines. Easwaran Sridharan and M. V. Rajeev Gowda however believe that the end of Congress’s dominance and fragmentation of the party system have stopped short of undermining the basic power-sharing characteristics of the system and have indeed contributed to democratic consolidation.While the seeds for the decline of one-power dominance were sown during Indira’s regime it became more apparent during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as the Prime Minister of India. Some scholars however believe that the decline of one-party dominance and the emergence of a large number of sm aller or regional parties which ensure that state-level elections are vigorously contested have had positive effects on competition. These developments represent political empowerment of historically marginalized groups and reflect favorably on the vibrancy of political entrepreneurship.I feel that mushrooming of small regional parties can also be attributed to effect of anti-defection law enacted during Rajiv’s regime. Emergence of regional parties has also led to political instability due to opportunist attitude shown by these parties time and again. Rajiv attempted to bring party reforms and rebuild Congress as an organized party. He also played a vital role in tackling Punjab problem that assumed alarming proportion during Indira’s regime. Rajiv can also be credited for bringing constitutional status to Panchayati Raj, one of most important tenets of Indian democracy.During Rajiv’s regime too the essence of democracy looked dismantled characterized by high-s cale violence against the Sikh community in the aftermath of Indira’s assassination. Coalition politics gained momentum after Rajiv’s assassination in 1991. Caste and religion became the driver and determinants of Indian politics thereafter. Anti-reservation protest in the aftermath of the implementation of Mandal Commission is the stark reminder of the despair that results when the advocates for meritocracy lose their battle against the saviors of petty caste politics.Hindu nationalist forces too jumped the bandwagon soon and tried to establish their presence in the Indian political arena through much talked about Ram Janmabhumi agenda. We are also witnessing a paradigm shift in the redistributive politics wherein leftist forces are happy with a kind of statism that protects the state sector even if it means stifling the rest of economy. On the other hand the proponents of Mandal fear that rolling back the state on economic reform issues at the moment when Backward Ca stes (BCs) are getting access to its resources would be exercise in bad faith.Of late, globalization and economic reforms have given a new dimension to Indian politics, and for that matter to Indian democracy. Development has become the main political agenda pushing caste and religion gimmicks on the backburner. Political results in two successive elections in Bihar mark the paradigm shift in people’s voting pattern. It shows how voters are trumping the populist agenda in favor of developmental agenda. It augurs well for Indian democracy. The ensuing paragraphs discuss at length achievements, challenges and issues that India faces as democratic nation.Despite the considerable success of the Indian state in holding free and fair elections, sustaining a free press, and dramatically expanding the franschise, the abuse of coercive state power remains one of the major problems. Frequently such power is used arbitrarily against the poor, minorities, and those who dare to challenge the state’s writ. Furthermore, police abuses are more pronounced in poorer states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where standards of accountability are sorely lacking. The evidence from such states of rampant deaths in police custody underscores the gravity of this ill.India as a democratic nation has underachieved when it comes to protecting human rights. Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1990 was aimed at containing ethno-religious insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. It allows armed forces to conduct counter-insurgency operations. Under the garb of this act, security forces often resort to extrajudicial killings. The 2002 Prevention of Terrorism Activities Act (POTA), that came into existence in the aftermath of a series of terror acts, was sometimes used against political opponents and also infringed upon the individual rights and civil liberties of Indian citizen.The secular structure of Indian democracy also looked threatened on many occasions. The project of secularism has inc reasingly been under threat as communal ideology and political forces have come to enjoy greater purchase in society and the polity. The demolition of Babri Masjid engineered by Hindu nationalist forces like Bajrang Dal, RSS, and VHP, doesn’t augur well for the secular structure of the country.The Hindu nationalists’ hostility to secularism became evident in a number of different arenas, ranging from a systematic attempt to alter history and socio-science science textbooks to party leaders’ willingness to countenance widespread state-sanctioned violence against Muslims, especially during bloody disturbances that rocked the western state of Gujrat. On the positive side, the growth of a plethora of nongovernmental organizations (NGO) focused on development, along with the growing participation of hitherto quiescent groups, are gradually resulting in a political system that is more accountable to the citizenry.The roles NGOs are playing have the potential to reshap e the much needed developmental path. In times to come, NGOs will play much meaningful role by representing face of common people largely ignored by political entities. However politicization and financial irregularities rampant at these rapidly multiplying NGOs could act as a deterrent to the primary objectives that these nonprofits stand for. At Independence, the imperative for welfare mechanism was obvious due to widespread poverty and lack of food security, specially in the rural areas.Even after sixty five years of Independence, a large percentage of Indian population officially are still subsisting below poverty line and incidents of acute food insecurity continue to occur. Since 1985 Kalahandi has been more or less uninterruptedly suffering from food crisis of alarming dimensions and proportions, officially and disarmingly described as drought, but unofficially, by critics, as famine. The politics of nomenclature apart, Kalahandi has become a metaphor for hunger in several ot her districts in the more backward hill areas of south-western Orissa.The most ugly part of the Kalahandi starvation issue was highlighted by the Baidyanath Mishra Commission Report that attributed starvation deaths in the region to a set of issues including corruption, fraud, misuse, wastefulness, and mismanagement of development. Enhancing food security at the household level is an issue of great importance for developing country like India where millions of poor suffer from lack of purchasing power and malnutrition. Right to food is a part of an overall goal of achieving the right to development.Attainment of self-sufficiency of foodgrains at the national level is one of the big achievements in post-independence period. After remaining a food deficit country for about two decades after independence, India has not only become self-sufficient in foodgrains but now has a surplus of foodgrains. Despite many poverty alleviation programs initiated since the time of Indira Gandhi, pover ty still remains one of the concerns and state and central governments need to look into it. Employment guarantee schemes like NREGA bring some hope even though effective implementation remains largely unaddressed.India has made significant progress in fostering high levels of economic and industrial development. But when it comes to ethnic conflict in India, four sets of causal conditions have usually combined in different ways in different areas to produce conflict and violence. First is the fear of assimilation or cultural dilution and unfulfilled national aspiration. Second is the process of modernization by inducing large-scale migrations and by raising standards of literacy and aspirations.This process of modernization has not only forced ethnic groups to live closely together and to compete for rewards and resources, but has also sharpened their sociopolitical awareness and increased their capacity to mobilize for collective action. The third reason is unequal development, po verty, exploitation, lack of opportunity, and threats to existing group privileges. Finally, political factors such as endemic bad governance, the growth of anti-secular forces, institutional decay, and vote-bank politics have also contributed to large scale ethnic conflicts.The role of mass media has become more important in today’s context. Mass media has played a positive role in highlighting issues of public concern such as corruption, electoral malpractices, and economic instability. Anti-corruption movement launched by social crusader Anna Hazare could become successful due to large scale involvement of mass media. On the flipside politicization and commercialization of mediums of mass media don’t paint rosy picture for the fourth pillar of Indian democracy. Another area where we need to work is the social security for unorganized workers.The social security problems for unorganized workers in India can be divided into two sets of problems. The first is the capab ility deprivation in terms of inadequate employment, low earnings, poor health, and educational status which are related to general deprivation of poorer sections of the population. The second is the adversity in the sense of absence of adequate fall back mechanisms to meet contingencies such as ill health, accident, death, and old age. Central and state governments also need to focus on social sector by ensuring larger allocation for such expenditure.On human development index India is not comfortably placed either. Infant mortality rate remains one of the major issues. The incidence of child labor is among the highest in the world. Women have significantly higher morbidity and mortality rates than men. Though we have made significant inroads in achieving greater literacy, the numbers don’t sound adequate. Human development conditions are particularly egregious in four northern states, Bihar, Rajasthan, UP, and Madhya Pradesh. It becomes apparent that our democratic aspirati ons are only partly realized.Large scale corruption, communalism, electoral malpractices, perverted forms of Muslim and Hindu radicalism, sponsored terrorism, regional separatist insurgencies, corporate-political nexus, apart from many other things, have been obstructing the India’s journey along the path of democracy. Through a series of economic reforms India has made its presence at international stage, but marginalized sections of Indian society are yet to reap substantial benefits from it. Strong political will is needed to put us in the forefront of successful democratic nations.We also need to get rid of the corrupt hierarchy of bureaucratic structure because it acts as a deterrent to the implementation of welfare programs. As the citizen of a democratic nation what hurts me most is the deep rooted corruption, not only because it has become an exercise of power and impunity for many, but also because it has made its locus in the minds of people where it has become stan dardized. We spent enough time passing the bucks as to which apparatus/ apparatuses of our social, economic and political systems has/have failed us as the democratic nation.It is not the time to retrospect what we achieved as a democratic nation in the long journey so far, rather it is introspection time for each actor of democracy including politicians, bureaucrats, and off course the most powerful people. This introspection will surely bring the urgency among actors to realize the accountability they owe to the democratic edifice of India that is standing tall after having weathered challenging times since independence. Spread of education and emergence of political, social, and economic consciousness among citizens give me hope that India will slowly inch closer to aligning herself ith the essence of true democratic values and ideals. I will choose to finish this manuscript on a positive note by going back to the famous quote of Harry Emerson Fosdick †¦ â€Å"Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people. † Bibliography 1. Mehta, P. B. , The Burden of Democracy . Penguin Books, New Delhi, 2003 2. Frankrel, F. R. , India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution. London: Oxford University Press, 2005 3. ibid 4. Karanjia, R. K. , Mind of Mr. Nehru,London: Allen & Unwin, 1961 5.Kaviraj, Sudipta, â€Å"A critique of the Passive Revolution,† Economics and Political Weekly 23 (Nov 1988): 2433 6. Chandra, Bipin, Mukherjee, Aditya, Mukherjee, Mridula. India after Independence, Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1999 7. Ganguly, Sumit, Diamond, Larry and Plattner, Marc F. , The State of India’s Democracy , Oxford University Press, 2009 8. Yadav, Yogendra, â€Å"Electoral Politics in the Time of Change: India’s Third Electoral System, 1998-99,† Economics and Political Weekly, August 21-28, 1999 9. Mehta, P. B. , The Burden of Democracy , Penguin Books, New Delhi, 20 03 10.Genteman, Amelia, Killings in Delhi Slum Expose: Unequal Justice for India’s Poor,† International Herald Tribune, January 6, 2007 11. See the National Human Rights Commission Report for 2004-2005, available at www. nhrc. nic. in 12. Jayal, NirajaGopal, ed. , Democracy in India Oxford University Press, New Delhi 13 Ganguly, Sumit â€Å"The Crisis of Indian Secularism,† Journal of Democracy 14, October 2003 14. see Ganguly, Diamond, Plattner 15. see Jayal 16. see Jayal 17. see Jayal 18. Dev, S. Mahendra, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2011 19. ee Ganguly, Diamond, Plattner 20. See Dev 21. Atul Kohli, ed. , â€Å"The Success of India’s Democracy,† Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2011 ——————————————– [ 1 ]. P. B. Mehta, The Burden of Democracy (Penguin Books, New Delh i, 2003), 106-107 [ 2 ]. F. R. Frankel, India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution (London: Oxford University Press, 2005), 4 [ 3 ]. F. R. Frankel, India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution (London: Oxford University Press, 2005), 25 [ 4 ]. R. K. Karanjia, Mind of Mr. Nehru (London: Allen & Unwin, 1961), 100-101 [ 5 ]. Sudipta kaviraj. A critique of the Passive Revolution,† Economics and Political Weekly 23 (Nov 1988): 2433 [ 6 ]. Bipan Chandra, Aditya Mukherjee, Mridula Mukherjee. India after Independence (Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1999), Chapters 11, 13 [ 7 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009), xviii-xix [ 8 ]. Yogendra yadav, â€Å"Electoral Politics in the Time of Change: India’s Third Electoral System, 1998-99,† Economics and Political Weekly (August 21-28, 1999): 2393-99 [ 9 ]. P. B. Mehta, The Burden of Democracy (Penguin Books , New Delhi, 2003), 168-169 [ 10 ].Amelia Genteman, Killings in Delhi Slum Expose: Unequal Justice for India’s Poor,† International Herald Tribune (January 6, 2007) [ 11 ]. See the National Human Rights Commission Report for 2004-2005, available at www. nhrc. nic. in [ 12 ]. NirajaGopal Jayal, ed. , Democracy in India (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 170 [ 13 ]. Sumit Ganguly, â€Å"The Crisis of Indian Secularism,† Journal of Democracy 14 (October 2003): 11-25 [ 14 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009), xxi-xxii [ 15 ]. Jayal, 198 [ 16 ]. Jayal, 199 [ 17 ].NirajaGopal Jayal, ed. , Democracy in India (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 200 [ 18 ]. S. Mahendra Dev, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 201), 101-103 [ 19 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democra cy (Oxford University Press, 2009), 49 [ 20 ]. S. Mahendra Dev, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2011), 201-202 [ 21 ]. Atul Kohli, ed. , â€Å"The Success of India’s Democracy (Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2011), 211 Indian Democracy at Crossroad Avinash Shankar MAD12015 Politics Essay: 2 Topic Can post-colonial India's political experience be characterized as moving towards becoming more democratic Democracy, the form of government where supreme power is directly or indirectly vested in people, has become a global discourse that can be gauged from the fact that many post-colonial countries have adopted it with remarkable success.The dramatic global expansion of democracy in the last few decades in post-colonial countries speak volume of this most popular form of representative government. The ever fluctuating political dynamics coupled with changing socio-economic patterns since Independence has given new meanings to Indian democracy at each stage of its progression. India inherited a colonial state and kept much of its functioning architecture intact. Much of state practice, despite its massive quantitative expansion, is heavily governed by legislation passed somewhere between 1860 and 1947.During the 65-years of long journ ey, India as a nation has witnessed moments wherein democracy looked to find its true meaning, while moments like national emergency during Indira Gandhi’s regime qualify as the abysmal low that India touched as democratic nation. Adoption of socialist pattern, the middle path between capitalism and communism, at the early stage of our independence and a series of economic reforms that began in 1980s were primarily targeted at delivering the true essence of democracy in social, economic, and political spheres.This paper is an attempt to answer how Abraham Lincoln’s notion of democracy as a government of the people, by the people and for the people has been put to test in India on different social, political, and economic parameters at different stages of its progression since independence and whether ever changing political, social and economic dynamics have brought India closer to true democratic model. India retained a deep commitment to principles of parliamentary g overnment during the three decades after independence. Indian leaders described their approach planning nder a democratic pattern of socialism as a new model for Asian and African development. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who set the direction of India’s development during the first fifteen years of freedom, pointed to his country as an area of agreement between opposing ideologies of capitalism on the hand and the communism on the other. Under his leadership, the commitment to democratic social transformation was an integral part of India’s development strategy. Nehru also tried to incorporate Gandhian ideals of social reforms in his development programs.Nehru spoke of this mode of development as a third way which takes best from all existing systems—the Russian, the American, and sought to create something suited to one’s own history and philosophy. In the nascent stage of Independence, the Nehruvian socialist model of developmen t seemed to have worked well within the social and economic framework of India. But Nehru too had to face many challenges in the implementation of his development model. Nehru’s attempt to bring serious bourgeois land reforms was thwarted through a combination of feudal resistance, judicial conservatism, and connivance of state Congress leaderships.Although Congress was content to accept the continuance of semi-feudal rural power, it adopted massive plans for capitalist movement. Consistent with this general objective, the ruling elite adopted a plan for heavy industrialization and institutional control of capital goods industries through the state sector, a largely untried experiment at the time in the underdeveloped countries. Indira Gandhi who became Prime Minister after Nehru’s demise gave a new populist dimension to Indian politics.The shift of the Congress to populist politics quickly set up a new structure of political communication in which Indira could directl y appeal to electorates. While populist endeavors like Garibi Hatao (remove poverty) and nationalization of banks brought her good name, she has often been criticized for changing the Congress into a highly centralized and undemocratic party organization, from the earlier federal, democratic, and ideological formation that Nehru had led. Indira’s regime, in my opinion, was the beginning of the stage when India started to show its meaningful presence internationally.Creation of Bangladesh was the beginning of the India’s assertiveness at international level. Nuclear test conducted in 1974 was the extension of this assertiveness. Ironically Indira’s regime will also go down in history for bringing disrepute to democracy by imposing emergency in the most undemocratic manner. Perhaps it was the first blow to the essence of democratic model that India followed since independence. The manner in which rights and liberties, the two important tenets of democracy, were su spended during emergency reminds us how an authoritarian regime can play havoc in people’s minds.The emergency perhaps was the turning point in the Indian democratic history because it paved the way for major political and social shift. It was perhaps the trigger that led to the end of absolute majority era and ignited the undercurrent of regional politics played largely around caste and religious lines. Easwaran Sridharan and M. V. Rajeev Gowda however believe that the end of Congress’s dominance and fragmentation of the party system have stopped short of undermining the basic power-sharing characteristics of the system and have indeed contributed to democratic consolidation.While the seeds for the decline of one-power dominance were sown during Indira’s regime it became more apparent during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as the Prime Minister of India. Some scholars however believe that the decline of one-party dominance and the emergence of a large number of sm aller or regional parties which ensure that state-level elections are vigorously contested have had positive effects on competition. These developments represent political empowerment of historically marginalized groups and reflect favorably on the vibrancy of political entrepreneurship.I feel that mushrooming of small regional parties can also be attributed to effect of anti-defection law enacted during Rajiv’s regime. Emergence of regional parties has also led to political instability due to opportunist attitude shown by these parties time and again. Rajiv attempted to bring party reforms and rebuild Congress as an organized party. He also played a vital role in tackling Punjab problem that assumed alarming proportion during Indira’s regime. Rajiv can also be credited for bringing constitutional status to Panchayati Raj, one of most important tenets of Indian democracy.During Rajiv’s regime too the essence of democracy looked dismantled characterized by high-s cale violence against the Sikh community in the aftermath of Indira’s assassination. Coalition politics gained momentum after Rajiv’s assassination in 1991. Caste and religion became the driver and determinants of Indian politics thereafter. Anti-reservation protest in the aftermath of the implementation of Mandal Commission is the stark reminder of the despair that results when the advocates for meritocracy lose their battle against the saviors of petty caste politics.Hindu nationalist forces too jumped the bandwagon soon and tried to establish their presence in the Indian political arena through much talked about Ram Janmabhumi agenda. We are also witnessing a paradigm shift in the redistributive politics wherein leftist forces are happy with a kind of statism that protects the state sector even if it means stifling the rest of economy. On the other hand the proponents of Mandal fear that rolling back the state on economic reform issues at the moment when Backward Ca stes (BCs) are getting access to its resources would be exercise in bad faith.Of late, globalization and economic reforms have given a new dimension to Indian politics, and for that matter to Indian democracy. Development has become the main political agenda pushing caste and religion gimmicks on the backburner. Political results in two successive elections in Bihar mark the paradigm shift in people’s voting pattern. It shows how voters are trumping the populist agenda in favor of developmental agenda. It augurs well for Indian democracy. The ensuing paragraphs discuss at length achievements, challenges and issues that India faces as democratic nation.Despite the considerable success of the Indian state in holding free and fair elections, sustaining a free press, and dramatically expanding the franschise, the abuse of coercive state power remains one of the major problems. Frequently such power is used arbitrarily against the poor, minorities, and those who dare to challenge the state’s writ. Furthermore, police abuses are more pronounced in poorer states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where standards of accountability are sorely lacking. The evidence from such states of rampant deaths in police custody underscores the gravity of this ill.India as a democratic nation has underachieved when it comes to protecting human rights. Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1990 was aimed at containing ethno-religious insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. It allows armed forces to conduct counter-insurgency operations. Under the garb of this act, security forces often resort to extrajudicial killings. The 2002 Prevention of Terrorism Activities Act (POTA), that came into existence in the aftermath of a series of terror acts, was sometimes used against political opponents and also infringed upon the individual rights and civil liberties of Indian citizen.The secular structure of Indian democracy also looked threatened on many occasions. The project of secularism has inc reasingly been under threat as communal ideology and political forces have come to enjoy greater purchase in society and the polity. The demolition of Babri Masjid engineered by Hindu nationalist forces like Bajrang Dal, RSS, and VHP, doesn’t augur well for the secular structure of the country.The Hindu nationalists’ hostility to secularism became evident in a number of different arenas, ranging from a systematic attempt to alter history and socio-science science textbooks to party leaders’ willingness to countenance widespread state-sanctioned violence against Muslims, especially during bloody disturbances that rocked the western state of Gujrat. On the positive side, the growth of a plethora of nongovernmental organizations (NGO) focused on development, along with the growing participation of hitherto quiescent groups, are gradually resulting in a political system that is more accountable to the citizenry.The roles NGOs are playing have the potential to reshap e the much needed developmental path. In times to come, NGOs will play much meaningful role by representing face of common people largely ignored by political entities. However politicization and financial irregularities rampant at these rapidly multiplying NGOs could act as a deterrent to the primary objectives that these nonprofits stand for. At Independence, the imperative for welfare mechanism was obvious due to widespread poverty and lack of food security, specially in the rural areas.Even after sixty five years of Independence, a large percentage of Indian population officially are still subsisting below poverty line and incidents of acute food insecurity continue to occur. Since 1985 Kalahandi has been more or less uninterruptedly suffering from food crisis of alarming dimensions and proportions, officially and disarmingly described as drought, but unofficially, by critics, as famine. The politics of nomenclature apart, Kalahandi has become a metaphor for hunger in several ot her districts in the more backward hill areas of south-western Orissa.The most ugly part of the Kalahandi starvation issue was highlighted by the Baidyanath Mishra Commission Report that attributed starvation deaths in the region to a set of issues including corruption, fraud, misuse, wastefulness, and mismanagement of development. Enhancing food security at the household level is an issue of great importance for developing country like India where millions of poor suffer from lack of purchasing power and malnutrition. Right to food is a part of an overall goal of achieving the right to development.Attainment of self-sufficiency of foodgrains at the national level is one of the big achievements in post-independence period. After remaining a food deficit country for about two decades after independence, India has not only become self-sufficient in foodgrains but now has a surplus of foodgrains. Despite many poverty alleviation programs initiated since the time of Indira Gandhi, pover ty still remains one of the concerns and state and central governments need to look into it. Employment guarantee schemes like NREGA bring some hope even though effective implementation remains largely unaddressed.India has made significant progress in fostering high levels of economic and industrial development. But when it comes to ethnic conflict in India, four sets of causal conditions have usually combined in different ways in different areas to produce conflict and violence. First is the fear of assimilation or cultural dilution and unfulfilled national aspiration. Second is the process of modernization by inducing large-scale migrations and by raising standards of literacy and aspirations.This process of modernization has not only forced ethnic groups to live closely together and to compete for rewards and resources, but has also sharpened their sociopolitical awareness and increased their capacity to mobilize for collective action. The third reason is unequal development, po verty, exploitation, lack of opportunity, and threats to existing group privileges. Finally, political factors such as endemic bad governance, the growth of anti-secular forces, institutional decay, and vote-bank politics have also contributed to large scale ethnic conflicts.The role of mass media has become more important in today’s context. Mass media has played a positive role in highlighting issues of public concern such as corruption, electoral malpractices, and economic instability. Anti-corruption movement launched by social crusader Anna Hazare could become successful due to large scale involvement of mass media. On the flipside politicization and commercialization of mediums of mass media don’t paint rosy picture for the fourth pillar of Indian democracy. Another area where we need to work is the social security for unorganized workers.The social security problems for unorganized workers in India can be divided into two sets of problems. The first is the capab ility deprivation in terms of inadequate employment, low earnings, poor health, and educational status which are related to general deprivation of poorer sections of the population. The second is the adversity in the sense of absence of adequate fall back mechanisms to meet contingencies such as ill health, accident, death, and old age. Central and state governments also need to focus on social sector by ensuring larger allocation for such expenditure.On human development index India is not comfortably placed either. Infant mortality rate remains one of the major issues. The incidence of child labor is among the highest in the world. Women have significantly higher morbidity and mortality rates than men. Though we have made significant inroads in achieving greater literacy, the numbers don’t sound adequate. Human development conditions are particularly egregious in four northern states, Bihar, Rajasthan, UP, and Madhya Pradesh. It becomes apparent that our democratic aspirati ons are only partly realized.Large scale corruption, communalism, electoral malpractices, perverted forms of Muslim and Hindu radicalism, sponsored terrorism, regional separatist insurgencies, corporate-political nexus, apart from many other things, have been obstructing the India’s journey along the path of democracy. Through a series of economic reforms India has made its presence at international stage, but marginalized sections of Indian society are yet to reap substantial benefits from it. Strong political will is needed to put us in the forefront of successful democratic nations.We also need to get rid of the corrupt hierarchy of bureaucratic structure because it acts as a deterrent to the implementation of welfare programs. As the citizen of a democratic nation what hurts me most is the deep rooted corruption, not only because it has become an exercise of power and impunity for many, but also because it has made its locus in the minds of people where it has become stan dardized. We spent enough time passing the bucks as to which apparatus/ apparatuses of our social, economic and political systems has/have failed us as the democratic nation.It is not the time to retrospect what we achieved as a democratic nation in the long journey so far, rather it is introspection time for each actor of democracy including politicians, bureaucrats, and off course the most powerful people. This introspection will surely bring the urgency among actors to realize the accountability they owe to the democratic edifice of India that is standing tall after having weathered challenging times since independence. Spread of education and emergence of political, social, and economic consciousness among citizens give me hope that India will slowly inch closer to aligning herself ith the essence of true democratic values and ideals. I will choose to finish this manuscript on a positive note by going back to the famous quote of Harry Emerson Fosdick †¦ â€Å"Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people. † Bibliography 1. Mehta, P. B. , The Burden of Democracy . Penguin Books, New Delhi, 2003 2. Frankrel, F. R. , India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution. London: Oxford University Press, 2005 3. ibid 4. Karanjia, R. K. , Mind of Mr. Nehru,London: Allen & Unwin, 1961 5.Kaviraj, Sudipta, â€Å"A critique of the Passive Revolution,† Economics and Political Weekly 23 (Nov 1988): 2433 6. Chandra, Bipin, Mukherjee, Aditya, Mukherjee, Mridula. India after Independence, Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1999 7. Ganguly, Sumit, Diamond, Larry and Plattner, Marc F. , The State of India’s Democracy , Oxford University Press, 2009 8. Yadav, Yogendra, â€Å"Electoral Politics in the Time of Change: India’s Third Electoral System, 1998-99,† Economics and Political Weekly, August 21-28, 1999 9. Mehta, P. B. , The Burden of Democracy , Penguin Books, New Delhi, 20 03 10.Genteman, Amelia, Killings in Delhi Slum Expose: Unequal Justice for India’s Poor,† International Herald Tribune, January 6, 2007 11. See the National Human Rights Commission Report for 2004-2005, available at www. nhrc. nic. in 12. Jayal, NirajaGopal, ed. , Democracy in India Oxford University Press, New Delhi 13 Ganguly, Sumit â€Å"The Crisis of Indian Secularism,† Journal of Democracy 14, October 2003 14. see Ganguly, Diamond, Plattner 15. see Jayal 16. see Jayal 17. see Jayal 18. Dev, S. Mahendra, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2011 19. ee Ganguly, Diamond, Plattner 20. See Dev 21. Atul Kohli, ed. , â€Å"The Success of India’s Democracy,† Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2011 ——————————————– [ 1 ]. P. B. Mehta, The Burden of Democracy (Penguin Books, New Delh i, 2003), 106-107 [ 2 ]. F. R. Frankel, India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution (London: Oxford University Press, 2005), 4 [ 3 ]. F. R. Frankel, India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution (London: Oxford University Press, 2005), 25 [ 4 ]. R. K. Karanjia, Mind of Mr. Nehru (London: Allen & Unwin, 1961), 100-101 [ 5 ]. Sudipta kaviraj. A critique of the Passive Revolution,† Economics and Political Weekly 23 (Nov 1988): 2433 [ 6 ]. Bipan Chandra, Aditya Mukherjee, Mridula Mukherjee. India after Independence (Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1999), Chapters 11, 13 [ 7 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009), xviii-xix [ 8 ]. Yogendra yadav, â€Å"Electoral Politics in the Time of Change: India’s Third Electoral System, 1998-99,† Economics and Political Weekly (August 21-28, 1999): 2393-99 [ 9 ]. P. B. Mehta, The Burden of Democracy (Penguin Books , New Delhi, 2003), 168-169 [ 10 ].Amelia Genteman, Killings in Delhi Slum Expose: Unequal Justice for India’s Poor,† International Herald Tribune (January 6, 2007) [ 11 ]. See the National Human Rights Commission Report for 2004-2005, available at www. nhrc. nic. in [ 12 ]. NirajaGopal Jayal, ed. , Democracy in India (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 170 [ 13 ]. Sumit Ganguly, â€Å"The Crisis of Indian Secularism,† Journal of Democracy 14 (October 2003): 11-25 [ 14 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009), xxi-xxii [ 15 ]. Jayal, 198 [ 16 ]. Jayal, 199 [ 17 ].NirajaGopal Jayal, ed. , Democracy in India (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 200 [ 18 ]. S. Mahendra Dev, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 201), 101-103 [ 19 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democra cy (Oxford University Press, 2009), 49 [ 20 ]. S. Mahendra Dev, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2011), 201-202 [ 21 ]. Atul Kohli, ed. , â€Å"The Success of India’s Democracy (Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2011), 211

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Human Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy and Aging - Essay Example in 2001. The scientists state that while the reduction of concentration of somatotropin during aging is documented, there were several problems with previous researches as they did not exclude the various gonadotropic hormones that were also reduced with old age. The study was performed on two groups, a young group, consisting of 8 men and 8 women, and an aging group consisting of 11 women and 10 men. All the subjects had similar body mass indexes and blood samples were taken from each of the test subjects every 10 minutes for 24 hours. The results from the research showed a marked decrease of 32-56% of growth hormone concentration, each according to its sex. 81% of the young group secreted the highest amount of growth hormone during the night period, while 62% of the aging group secreted most of the growth hormone during the day period. The researchers reached the conclusion that there is a decrease in secretion of growth hormone as age increases for both sexes. The reduced concentr ation of growth hormone was, in turn seen as a lack of growth hormone releasing hormone. (Russel-Aulet et al.) Another research focuses on the problem of sarcopenia, which represents a syndrome that manifests itself as a decrease in skeletal muscle mass, as well as in muscle work output. As the natural process of aging involves degradation of skeletal proteins, sarcopenia is expected to appear in most of the elderly, but this condition can be aggravated by the lack of exercise, leading to more frequent physical injuries such as hip fractures. Aware of the low concentration of several hormones that affect protein anabolism in old age, amongst them the growth hormone, the scientists researched the coupled human growth hormone replacement therapy with resistance exercise, which is known to reduce the effects of sarcopenia, in people aged 60 and over. Although the research can be viewed as retrospective, as it presents the various experiments, as well as the results, performed by other researchers, a case-control trial was described that was performed by the authors of the paper. The study invol ved men from 62-75 years of age which were involved in a 16 week exercise program, consisting of modest to high-intensity training in the form of weight lifting exercises with a small repetition. It encompassed muscles from both the upper and lower extremities. One group was given a dose of 12-24 g/kg/d of growth hormone, while the other, control, group performed the same exercises, but was not given anything. The result from their research, as well as results from other researches, led the scientists to conclude that there is not much difference in muscle mass and strength between the control group and the group that received somatotropin. An increase in muscle mass was present, however, but not focused on the skeletal muscles. Furthermore, the scientists concluded that there were significant side effects from the use of somatotropin replacement therapy in aging people, further criticizing the use of somatotropin as a means to prevent sarcopenia. (Zachwieja, Yarasheski). Sarcopenia is but one of the many physiological

SHRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SHRM - Essay Example Satisfaction in the workplace translates into happiness and fulfillment in life. Work and life balance suggests a balance for life and what people do. There is to be a blending equality that includes work, family, pleasure, fulfillment, and satisfaction. Some skeptics argue that there is actually no relation between life and work. What works in the workplace has no correlation with what is happening at home. But recent surveys and experiences revealed that organizations adopting family-friendly and work-life balance policies and programmes motivate workers to be more productive. Work-life balance creates satisfaction among family-oriented workers. Work-life balance has been given much attention lately because this has convinced employers of the economic benefits for organizations. There is a feeling that satisfied workers create satisfied customers. This is linked to ‘valuing’ work and value-added supply chains. But there are a lot of workers who are dissatisfied with th eir jobs. There are arguments and counter-arguments on the effectiveness of work-life balance which can be explained later in the following sections of this paper. Background Our first concept of work can be traced from the Bible. Work is considered a burden and a form of punishment. God imposed work to punish Adam and Eve. Our present ideas and philosophies are still linked to this punishment view. This could be one of the reasons why man continues to build, innovate, and reinvent new things, technologies, robots, etc., to give ease and comfort, to avoid the ‘punishment’, and not ‘to work’ in the process. Archeological findings tell us that mankind had learned to use rudimentary tools as far back as 2.5 million years ago. The tools were used for hunting and making art. Cave hunters were specialists in making tools. Man learned to make machines to enable him to satisfy his basic need for food, and successive inventions would tell us that there are some task s that we would choose not to do if we had the choice and that there are some activities which we would much prefer others to do on our behalf. (Firth, 2002, p. 17) Technological breakthroughs are an outcome of this concept. Computers, the Internet, Information Technology, robotics and other inventions, permit man to be more dependent on machines and technology. The concept of work changed over time but the real meaning is still there. With complexity in the workplace, organizations formed, multinational corporations and now global organizations evolving, the concept of work remains – ‘it is really that tiresome to work’. But man has to work for money in order to buy food, clothing, shelter for his family, and to have a career in the process. The concept of work has evolved. This is where work-life balance was invented. Organizations continue to provide innovations to make life for the workers easier. Definitions and Concepts A definition for work-life balance th at is widely accepted is provided in the website Actnow (2009): â€Å"Work life balance is about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work. It is achieved when an individual's right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society† (Actnow, 2009). What is stressed in this definition is that the workers have a measure of cont

Organizational Philosophies and Technology Essay - 2

Organizational Philosophies and Technology - Essay Example of the core factors that form company culture include shared norms and values of the employees, organizational policies, behavior of managers and executive body, mission of the organization, common goals and objectives, and the way or technology through which an organization makes its employees reach those goals and objectives. In this paper, we will discuss the role which technology plays in shaping the organizational culture. Corcoran (n.d.) states, â€Å"Implementation of new technology forces change†. Technology plays a key role in setting and managing ethical standards and guidelines for the employees of a company. Managers can make use of technology to inject the sense of ethics in the minds of the employees. For example, installation of observation cameras in the workplace makes employees stick to the ethical values and standards set by the administration of the company. Under observation, employees do not perform any act, which is not considered ethical for the workplace environment. In this way, employees adopt such ethical values that not only make them progress in their professional careers without any bad points in the character sheet but also create a peaceful and ethical work environment in the company. Technology provides managers with the tools that they require for setting ethical standards. Managers give tasks to the employees and provide them with the necessary technological equipments to accomplish those tasks. In this way, managers guide their employees to make the best use of technology. Using technology, managers can also know the type of communication that takes place between their employees. Managers of many companies communicate ethical standards set by their companies to the employees by writing the ethical standards on the desktop wallpapers of the computer systems. In this way, employees of a company become fully aware of the ethical standards of the company, which help employees perform their tasks in accordance with those

Organic farming overview in Australia Assignment

Organic farming overview in Australia - Assignment Example The second set of methods to control weeds, pests and diseases include crop rotation; use of natural pesticides; careful crop choice and planning; increase of genetic diversity; use of resistant crops; engage good cultivation practices; and encourage important pest-eating predators. Lastly, organic farming also entails good animal husbandry and the careful use of water resources (Rigby & Caceres, 2001). Organic farming provides long-term benefits to the environment and people, which represents the main aim of engaging in organic farming. The first aim is increasing soil fertility in the long-term, and the use of organic materials helps strengthen the potential of the soil. Second, organic farming helps control both diseases and pests without causing harm to the environment, while third, organic farming ensures that the water used remains safe and clean for consumption (Rigby & Caceres, 2001). ... The essence is that organic farming has several benefits, especially in terms of reduced costs (Rigby & Caceres, 2001). Organic farmers strive to do their best to produce food from the environment using systems that are close to those that naturally exist, and work on the premise of a closed agricultural circuit. For instance, soil fertility that results from manure use and the soil formation of the said organic matter plays the role of a fertilisation agent by reducing the loss of nutrients and water, and lessening erosion (Taus, Ogneva-Himmelberger & Rogan, 2013). Furthermore, farm inputs such as fodder and manure should in principle be produced within the farm or the neighbouring ones so that the need for external inputs is reduced. In essence, the use of hand works as opposed to mechanisation has reduced environmental effects, for instance the practice of mechanical control of weeds as opposed to the use of herbicides (Taus, Ogneva-Himmelberger & Rogan, 2013). Organic farming gre atly contributes to sustainable development, coupled with increased economic activities with some important added value. Scientific papers have been written the world over concerning organic farming, and the statistics they provide show an increased volume of global sales of organic food and drink. Research reveals there was a 43% increase, equivalent to USD25.5 billion, between 2002 and 2005 (Taus, Ogneva-Himmelberger & Rogan, 2013). Despite the fact that organic farming is practised in a number of countries, studies show that uptake is concentrated in North America and Europe, and they also stand out as areas with greater supply and demand. According to the World of Organic

Shitology Essay Example for Free

Shitology Essay There have been many stories told in the past about Gods. Every story has its own supernatural spin, providing a forceful sense of cause and effect events. This almost always forms the cultural plot to describe a bad or good point in time. Certain sequences of myths describe a situation where god destroys mankind for not going through with their intentions when they created mankind, by creating a massive flood. These stories include: â€Å"Noah’s Ark†, â€Å"Tata and Nena†, and the â€Å"Deucalion†. All of these stories have cultural aspects that provide similarities and differences in each other. One thing that is important to point out is that â€Å"Tata and Nena†, â€Å"Deucalion†, and â€Å"Noah’s Ark† all explain what happened to the world after it was destroyed, in different ways. For example in the story of â€Å"Deucalion†, â€Å"Tlaloc then appeared to them and said, â€Å"This is how I am repaid for saving your lives? † They were changed into dogs† (Bierlein30). In the story â€Å"Tata and Nena†, they were asked to only eat corn but instead they ate fish, so then Tlaloc got mad and turned them into dogs, in a world that was completely destroyed with no intention of repopulation. In the â€Å"Deucalion† story, â€Å"These rocks were transformed into people who repopulated the earth† (Deucalion30). Rocks were thrown behind Zeus who then was turned to people who soon remade the world all over again. Also the myth of â€Å"Noah’s Ark† has a different story, â€Å"God then repopulated the world with what Noah had saved. Like the one of each animal† (Noah29). God decided to make the world again and used the animals Noah saved to do so. This all proves that all of the stories had a different way of explaining what happened to the world after it was destroyed. All of the myths describe a different culture involved. Like, In the story â€Å"Deucalion†, â€Å"And it rained for 9 days and 9 nights until the entire world was flooded except for two mountain peaks in Greece, Mt Parnassus and Mt. Olympus, the latter being the home of the Gods†(Deucalion30). This shows that the Greek gods were ignorant and made it rain everywhere except in the Greece Mountains where they were staying. In â€Å"Tata and Nena†, â€Å"During the era of the Fourth Sun, the Sun of Water, the people grew very wicked and ignored the worships of the gods† (Bierlein30). The Aztec gods were mad at humans for not listening to them, and so they decided they needed to flood the whole world. This shows that no one cared at all about anything the Aztec gods wanted. Also, In â€Å"Noah’s Ark†, God flooded the world and then saved Noah. He then repopulated the world and the Jews were afraid of the flood. God then promised the Jews he would not do another flood (Noah29). God basically said he’s tired of destroying the world with water, and he’ll leave the Jews alone for awhile. It’s really obvious that all of the destruction of the world was all to show a side in which they came from and eventually rejoiced. In the stories of â€Å"Tata and Nena†, â€Å"Deucalion† and â€Å"Noah’s Ark† all have similarities. Like in â€Å"Tata and Nena†, â€Å"The god’s became angry and Tlaloc, the god of rains, announced that he was going to destroy the world with a flood† (Bierlein30). This proves that â€Å"Noah’s Ark†, â€Å"Deucalion†, and â€Å"Tata and Nena† all had moody gods that would wipeout the world with a flood if things weren’t going as planned. In the â€Å"Deucalion† he was asked to go in the boat away from the flood. â€Å"These rocks were transformed into people who repopulated the earth† (Deucalion30). In both of the stories of â€Å"Deucalion† and â€Å"Noah’s Ark† the world was repopulated after the destruction. In the story of â€Å"Noah’s Ark†, â€Å"God asked Noah to take his family and get a male and female of every animal then to build an ark† (Noah29). In both stories of â€Å"Noah’s Ark† and â€Å"Deucalion† they were asked to do something and were saved from the flood in the end. This makes it crystal clear that stories have very similar actions during the flood. Noah’s Ark†, â€Å"Tata and Nena†, and the â€Å"Deucalion† showed many similarities and differences. It also showed how Aztec, Jewish and Greek cultures presented their myths, and for the most part, explaining much more than just a flood. To this day there are people who claim they have found huge wooden boats relating it back to these myths. The truth is that people will believe whatever they want to believe. Al Gore is a firm believer in UFOs, and that’s not crazy in our society. The only difference between that and â€Å"Noah’s Ark† is that there are multiple flood myths passed on from century to century.

A Doll’s House Essay Example for Free

A Doll’s House Essay Nora will do anything to please her authoritarian husband Torvald. Per Torvald’s instructions, Nora focuses on such womanly disciplines as dancing and taking care of babies, while he sees to all the affairs of money. But when a past financial mistake comes back to haunt Nora and Torvald finds out, the result is an explosion of fury and a shocking revelation that changes the course of the entire family forever (Garland, 1973). Nora Helmer; seems completely happy. She responds affectionately to her husband’s teasing, speaks with excitement about the extra money his new job will provide, and takes pleasure in the company of her children and friends. She does not seem to mind her doll-like existence, in which she is coddled, pampered, and patronized. Torvald Helmer; embraces the belief that a man’s role in marriage is to protect and guide his wife. He clearly enjoys the idea that Nora needs his guidance, and he interacts with her as a father would. He instructs her with trite, moralistic sayings, such as; â€Å"A home that depends on loans and debt is not beautiful because it is not free.† Torvald likes to envision himself as Nora’s savior, asking her after the party, â€Å"Do you know that I’ve often wished you were facing some terrible dangers so that I could risk life and limb, risk everything, for your sake.† Krogstad; is the antagonist in the film but he is not necessarily a villain. Though his willingness to allow Nora’s torment to continue is cruel, Krogstad is not without sympathy for her, as he says, â€Å"even money lender, hacks, well a man like me, can have a little of what you call feeling, you know.† Krogstad has reasonable motives for behaving as he does; he wants to keep his job at the bank in order to spare his children from the hardship that come with a spoiled reputation. Unlike Torvald, who seems to desire respect for petty selfish reasons, Krogstad desires it for hi s family’s sake (Garland, 1973). From a Feminist perspective, a group whose members learn socially constructed expectations based on gender roles, social class, race, age, sexual orientation, marital status, and other factors. The husband is the dominant force in the family while the wife acts like a doll in a doll’s house. The wife makes sacrifices while the husband was more concerned about his reputation. From a Symbolic Inrteractionist perspective, a group, like others, whose interactions are governed by the communication of knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, values, and roles? The husband has a false sense of masculinity, that of a super-hero. The husband belittles his wife and tells her that she will not be able to interact with the children because of her sacrifice for her family. She is physically abused and told not the leave the house. When she is right the husband gives her money to spend on the family. From a conflict perspective, a group that experiences problems due to social inequality; the family and its members must compete for limited resources that are controlled by powerful groups. Krogstad is replaced at the bank because of Torvalds’ selfish reasons, which put his family in poverty. Krogstad uses blackmail to keep his job at the bank (Benokraitis, 2011). It is the 1890s in Norway, Nora’s’ father is dying. Her husband Torvald is in need of a climate change from Norway to Italy to save his life. Torvald tells his wife they can’t afford to take a vacation. Nora goes to the bank and asks Krogstad to raise the money for her. They raise the money by Nora forging her father’s signature. Krogstad forges some documents and gets the money for Nora. Word gets out about what Krogstad does and it ruins his reputation in town so he and his family live in poverty. Meanwhile Nora and her family go on the vacation to Italy and save her husbands’ life. Torvald gets a promotion at the bank where he and Krogstad works. Word gets out that Torvald is replacing Krogstad so he visits Nora to remind her of who helped her and discovers that she has forged her father’s signature. Krogstad blackmails Nora to save his job at the bank. Nora tells Krogstad that her husband will defend her. Krogstad reminds her of Torvalds masculinity. Nora goes to her husband to save Krogstad’s job. Torvald dislikes Krogstad because he calls him by his Christian name, instead of Mr., so he puts Krogstad in his place by using his power to take away Krogstad’s job and putting his family in poverty (Garland, 1973). Torvald receives the letter with the IOU from Krogstad, and he verbally abuses Nora by calling her stupid, liar, hypocrite, and a criminal. He physically slaps her and states know I am at the mercy of an unscrupulous man. Torvald tells her that she is just like your father with no religion or morals. You have ruined everything and will not be allowed to raise our three children. Nora changes out of her costume into her street clothes. She commands Torvald to sit and listen to her. This is the first time in eight years of marriage that they have sat down to talk about anything serious. Nora tells her husband that she has never been treated as a human being. Her father treated her like a doll child, husband treats her like a doll wife and now she treats her children like doll‘s playing with them. Torvald tells her now you can be educated. Nora states I will educate myself and I have to stand on my own two feet. Torvald tells Nora you can’t leave you have duties to your husband and children. Nora states my duty is to myself as a human being. Nora asks is society right or am I right; I will have to find that out for myself (Garland, 1973). Torvald and Nora are in a conflict-habituated marriage, Social Learning Theory; Nora states that she was treated like a doll child by her father, then her father handed her over to Torvald and she conformed to the doll house that he provided for her. Nora thought that because she was Torvalds’ wife and mother of his three children that he would sacrifice for her.†Wheel Theory† of love; rapport, self-revelation, mutual dependency and personality need fulfillment (Benokraitis, 2011). This movie hit home for me you spend all those years bearing children and sacrificing for love and family and what thanks do you get. Good for Nora leaving Torvald and she left him with the children double whammy on Torvald’s masculinity. Men have a false sense of what masculinity is when he states; â€Å"no man would sacrifice his honor, not even for love.† And Nora states, â€Å"Millions of women have.† I went through the same thing with my children’s father; he would often tell me that â€Å"my reputation is the most important thing to me.† Works Cited (2011). Marriages Families Changes, Chioces, and Constraints. In N. V. Benokraitis, Theiretical Perspectives On Families (pp. 32-40). Upper Saddle River: Karen Hanson. Garland, P. (Director). (1973). A Dolls House [Motion Picture]. (2011). Marriages Families Changes, Chioces, and Constraints. In N. V. Benokraitis, Theiretical Perspectives On Families (pp. 32-40). Upper Saddle River: Karen Hanson. Garland, P. (Director). (1973). A Dolls House [Motion Picture].

Differences Between Spice And CMMI Information Technology Essay

Differences Between Spice And CMMI Information Technology Essay Software quality is increasingly becoming a necessity with growing number of firms dependent on IT infrastructure and mission critical softwares for their business processes. The capability maturity model and SPICE have been the two most comprehensive models for software process development that have resulted in a robust system for improving development process (Marshall, Mitchell 2004). A lot of applications have been developed with the use of such models. However, in spite of a lot of differences between the two models, there has been little focus on the key differences between the two models. While the capability maturity model is the best known software process improvement, the ISO/IEC 15004 is a suite of standards that are expected to affect the continuous evolvement of Software CMM (Paulk 1999). In this essay, the basic aim is thus to lay down the primary and secondary differences between the two maturity models in SPICE and CMMI. Further, through diagrammatic representations, the paper tries to list out the key differences between the models. CMMI: The capability maturity model (more popularly known as CMM) had its origins from a book published in 1989 by Watts Humphrey in his book Managing the Software Process. The basic theme behind the capability maturity model integrated (CMMI) is process improvement (Glazer et al 2008). It must be understood that CMMI is a process model and not a process standard. CMMI consists of process oriented activities that can be used collectively to attain the process area and business goals of an organization. CMMI practices are also meant to encourage organizations to use other process models based on the organizations need and practices. Primary Attributes of CMMI: The capability maturity model has certain primary attributes associated with it. It has been observed by Hoggerl M and Sehorz (2006) that process area, goals and practices are the three key concepts of CMMI. As stated earlier, the CMMi is a list of pre-defined processes that are stated under CMMI. According to the authors (Hoggerl Serhorz), the CMMI consists of 25 specific process areas within the development processes. Primary attributes of CMMI according to these researchers are thus process management, project management and engineering and support (Hoggerl Sehorz 2006). There are five basic maturity levels defined in the CMMI model. These are detailed in the table below Software CMM Maturity Model Description 1. Initial Software processes characterized at this level are ad-hoc and occasionally chaotic. At this stage, very few processes are defined and the success of the processes depends on the individual efforts and heroics 2. Repeatable The process management processes are defined at this stage. They are basic in nature and are generally derived from earlier successes 3. Defined The software process for both the management and execution are defined and are well documented during this phase 4. Managed Detailed measures for the evaluation of the software processes 5. Optimizing Continuous improvement processes are carried out using quantitative feedback from the process and from piloting of innovative ideas Table 1. CMMI Maturity Stages Secondary Attributes of CMMI: Within the primary attribute of project management, the authors Hoggerl Sehorz (2006) suggest that there are some processes which are specific in nature. These are referred to as the secondary attributes of CMMI. Some of the common secondary attributes include planning, monitoring, supplier management and team management. Within process management too, there are certain secondary attributes. Organizational focus, definition, training and innovation are some of the common secondary attributes that can be placed under the process management criterion. The engineering section of the CMMI model has a lot of scope for improvements. Thus, the secondary attributes under this section are vital to the process improvement. Some of the secondary attributes under the engineering section include requirement management, integration, verification and validation (Hoggerl Sehorz 2006). Within the support section (primary attribute of CMMI), there are some secondary attributes too. These include con figuration management, quality assurance, decision analysis and organizational environment (Hoggerl Sehorz 2006). The entire set of attributes is better presented in the composite features diagram shown below. For understanding a composite feature diagram, it must be noted that the maturity of a software process is best understood in five different levels. Although these levels vary from organization to organization, they can still be generalized as initial, repeatable, defined, managed and optimized (M, Paulk. M, Konrad. S, Garcia.1995;M, Paulk.1999). During the initial level, the processes are not ordered. During this stage the processes are chaotic and mostly depend upon the individual efforts. As per its name, the repeatable processes repeats itself; the success of earlier processes. Therefore, Paulk et al (1999) states that the defined maturity levels in the whole process go through the standards policies to fulfill the process. A proper documented plan of action is one of the most important aspects in the completion of a defined maturity model. However, the managed maturity models are tested quantitatively for the processes and product quality (M, Paulk. M, Konrad. S, Garcia.1995; M, Paulk.1999). The optimized maturity models are concentrated on innovation and continuous improvements through feedback mechanisms. A look at the advantages and disadvantages of CMMI model would be in line with the above discussions. Advantages of CMMI: CMMI has a number of benefits. According to Konrad, Shrum and Chrisis (2003), the CMMI model provides a good coverage for the average product life cycle than any other process improvement products when they are used alone. Moreover, CMMI can be integrated with any of the other software improvement models and can be implemented to provide robust functionalities. Although the main focus of CMMI was on product and service engineering, it was also built to provide enterprise-wide process improvement (Chrissis, Konrad, and Shrum 2003). Disadvantages of CMMI: Even though CMMI provides with a lot of functionalities for robust functioning, it is still not easy to implement within organizations. CMMI is not a process; it is rather the characteristics defined that should be present within an ideal process. Thus, the problem with process improvement is not that of a missing standard but to implement the standard in the perspective of the organization (M, Niazi. D, Wilson, D, Zowghi.2003). Since CMMI does not provide the actual implementation steps, it is not advisable to use in certain scenarios. Diagram 1. CFD For CMMI With such a brief description of CMMI, the concepts about the model are made clear. The next section of the paper discusses about the SPICE or the ISO/IEC 15504 process maturity model. SPICE: (ISO/IEC 15504): The SPICE model also known as the ISO/IEC 15504 is an emerging international standard on software process assessment that defines the number of software engineering processes and scales them to measure their capability (Emam, Birk 1999). The basic difference between the CMMI and SPICE is that while CMMI is a model consisting of steps that might be required in an ideal software process; SPICE is a standard for software process implementation that needs to be followed. The emerging ISO/IEC 15504 international standard is an attempt made to harmonize the existing assessment of models that are in the common use. It is an European model that is based on the quantitative score of assessment associated with the performance of the organization or the project (Emam Birk 1999). A software process assessment (SPA) provides a quantitative score that reflects the organizations or projects implementation of the best practices as defined in the assessment model. Thus, the more number of best practi ces that are adopted the more higher the quantitative score is expected to be. This score obtained from the baseline current implementation provides a perfect framework for making process improvement decisions and also serves as a means of tracking improvement efforts. Attributes of SPICE: SPICE model is based on five different processes. These processes were created in different nationalities and became accepted internationally. The five processes are customer-supplier, engineering, supporting, management and organization. Each of these processes has a capability level on which it is marked quantitatively. These levels begin from 0 to 5 ranging from incomplete process (0) to an optimized process (5). These processes are further marked using what is called as process attributes. It is the base premise of the software process assessment that the resultant quantitative scores are the predictors of the performance of the project or the organization that is assessed. In all, there are nine attributes in SPICE. As with CMMI, the nine process attributes are linked with the five processes. The nine attributes are Process Performance Performance Management Work Product Management Process Definition Process Deployment Process Measurement Process Control Process Innovation Process  Optimization. Similar to CMMI, the ISO/IEC 15004 has five process areas. These are known as levels. Each key process area is described in terms of its key practices that contribute to satisfying its goals and are allocated to produce common features. These key activities describe the specific function of the infrastructure and activities that contribute to produce the most effective implementation and institutionalization of the key process area (Paulk 1999). These five process areas are described in the table below Level Focus Key Process areas 5 Optimizing Continuous improvement Prevention of bugs, defects Technology Change Management Process Change Management 4 Managed Product process quality Quantitative process management, Software quality management 3 Defined Engineering organizational support Organization process focus, Training programs, Process definitions, Integrated software management, Peer reviews 2 Repeatable Project management processes Requirements Management, Software project planning, Project Tracking Oversight Quality Assurance, Subcontract Management, Configuration Management 1 Initial Competent people and heroics Adapted from: Paulk 1999 Diagram 2. CFD for SPICE: Differences between SPICE CMMI: SPICE CMMI Primary Attributes: SPICE model is more focused on Process Improvement. Primary Attributes: CMMI model is more generalized as it considers the organization as a whole Secondary Attributes: Acquire, supply, develop, operate, evolve, and supporting software processes. Secondary Attributes: Optimizing, managing, defining, re-using the software processes. SPICE is a European model CMMI is an American model Not much difference between the lead-assessor and the other members of the team. Every member of the team is responsible. Heavily depending on the lead assessor, CMM was the earlier version of CMMI. OO-Spice is the latest version of Spice. CMMI integrated Spice in one of its process. ISO/IEC 15504 model. SPI (Software Process Improvement) model Thus, the differences between the process maturity models have been highlighted. With these differences, it becomes easier to identify whether or not a particular model (like CMMI) or a standard (like SPICE) might be usable in a given organizations scenario. Ideal Model CFD: The attributes of both the CMMI and SPICE can be integrated to provide an ideal model for software development. This model is represented in the below diagram. Diagram 3. IDEAL CFD Conclusions Recommendations: Both SPICE and CMMI are said to improve software process development. While the CMMI is a set of standard processes that need to be carried out for the ideal software development process, SPICE is a standard that needs to be followed for effective implementation. Although there are some differences and similarities between the two models, both can be used in a combination to provide excellent software development process. The ideal CFD lists out the key processes that are a combination of both SPICE and CMMI that can be used in the software development lifecycle. Both SPICE and CMMI can be used in different circumstances and/or can be combined according to the organizations needs. After evaluation the advantages and disadvantages of both the models/standards, it can be said that both SPICE and CMMI can be used in a combination to provide the most efficient models for software development. These models can comprise of stages which are a combination of both the recommended models. Thes e combinations would depend according to the requirements of the organizations. For organizations with little time requirement, CMMI would be beneficial since it first maps timings and then plans the modules of the software development phase. On the other hand, if the organization seeks to achieving and maintaining a high standard of implementation that can bring a competitive edge, then it might want to involve more processes out of SPICE or the ISO/IEC 15004 standard. Therefore, the use of a particular model is dependent entirely on the needs and requirement analysis of the organization.