Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Essay

Brief Summary and â€Å"Arrangement† of the Book: Malcom Gladwell distributed the most charming book, â€Å"Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,† which he broadened the milestone style of his main universal smash hit The Tipping Point. Gladwell changed the thoughts of how individuals comprehend the world inside its fast choices. The Blink is about the intensity of intuition without speculation, which decisions that appear to be settled on in immediate arrangements in a matter of seconds of an individual that can’t be as basic as it might appear to be. Squinted talked about the numerous components that influence the people decisions, culture, and even their accomplished, in which told how they can be improved. Gladwell states different reasons and models why the human cerebrum is important to settle on a right choice without deduction and analyze data that is important to pick a game-plan, which he named this capacity as â€Å"thin-slicing.† The â€Å"Blink† is organized beginning with a profitab le presentation, trailed by a few parts, end, and extra-printed components, for example, the afterword, author’s notes, record, and finished with an exceptional segment of a perusing bunch direct. Presentation. The Statue that Didn’t Look Right-The creator starts by presenting the idea of prompt responses to individuals whether it’s physical or passionate reactions. Along these lines, Gladwell’s story identifies with a specific sort of a sculpture by the J. Paul Getty Museum in California, which was known as a kouros. He continues to clarify the scrutinizing of the sculpture and to learn reality of how proprietors keep up the exhibition hall to remain open in broad daylight. Despite the fact that the historical center confronted a few clashes, it was demonstrated that the proprietorship archives were fashioned, but then the exhibition hall revived. Part I. â€Å"The Theory of Thin Slices: How a smidgen of Knowledge Goes a Long Way†: The principal part accounted how Gladwell presents the fundamental idea of the â€Å"thin-slice,† specifying the way people’s personalities can settle on lively choice but then make decisions also. He utilizes various ideas to delineate the people inside their capacity of speculation without intuition, in giving a case of wedded couples. By watching tapes of wedded couples, the examination group started to indicate a framework that uncovers some profound seatedâ problems in the marriage through their non-verbal communication examples and signals. Section II. â€Å"The Locked Door: The Secret Life of Snap Decisions†: The setting of this section talks about the narrative of how more often than not, we make snap decisions unwittingly and settle on speedy choices from it. The creator clarifies the distinctive investigation that was never really demonstrate his thinking by the understudies who took part in little tests. This can urge us to reexamine of how certain we are with our considerations. Gladwell likewise shows how people appear to be normally apprehensive with vagueness, so we unwittingly make stories that represent choices we make or inside our activities. Section III. â€Å"The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall for Tall, Dark, Handsome Men†: This section comprises of the effect of the Warren Harding blunder, which has the negative side to quick reasoning and it influences the precision of the manner in which we settle on quick choices. Because of this mistake, individuals can make others make bogus ends with no reasoning further. At the end of the day, we can have a superior control with our musings and even structure an increasingly exact judgment for ourselves. Part IV. â€Å"Paul Van Riper’s Big Victory: Creating Structure for Spontaneity†: In this part, the creator talks about the instance of Paul Van Riper, an officer in the Marine Corps inside military way of thinking. He clarifies how quick judgment calls wasn’t the best decision since its result is rarely sure. Frequently, Gladwell battles, the best choices are made by depending on just a couple of snippets of data which could simply delay the procedure and not become valuable. Part V. â€Å"Kenna’s Dilemma: The Right-and Wrong-Way to Ask People What They Want†: The creator centers around an alternate idea in this part portraying about Kenna, a stone artists who might get an alternate responses from a group of people. Gladwell exhibits that expelling an issue from its typical setting makes it extremely hard for us to really settle on exact choices. In the long run it is understood that a great many people would consistently make erroneous judgment when it did not depend on their range in information and how it will requests to other people. Part VI. â€Å"Seven Seconds In the Bronx: The Delicate Art of Mind Reading†: The writer determines the negative results that can happen when a progression of decisions are settled on in quick choices. Gladwell utilizes a specialist examines, similar to a man named Amadou Diallo, who was shot and executed by cops after the misinterpretations that occurred and turned into a colossal errors. This shows the sort of adrenaline surge can cause the mind inâ creating an unseemly activities and could hurt the others around us. End. â€Å"Listening with Your Eyes: The Lessons of Blink†: To finish up this novel, the creator relates that the intensity of choices made in a matter of seconds lies without different elements and its activities. The book closes with Glawell urging perusers to take this exercise and gain from it so as to make positive results and change the propensity for settling on fast choices. Logical Analysis: Exigence-Malcolm Glawell was propelled by his longing to show individuals that settling on fast choices have more an incentive than what we really think. He says, â€Å"I accept that the errand of understanding ourselves and our conduct necessitates that we recognize there can be as much incentive in a matter of seconds as in long stretches of balanced analysis.† (17), recommending that we should concentrated on what we really know, and inspected the procedures of how we think in settling on choices with the end goal for it to make a positive result and convey a superior world. Crowd The crowd would apparently be for the individuals who accept that the best choices are made after a specific measure of time in gathering and breaking down of top notch data. The reality of how â€Å"decisions made rapidly can be very piece in the same class as choices made mindfully and deliberately.† (14). His composing is coordinated to individuals who regularly establish snap decisions and first connections for better methods for comprehending the world and by not having faith in the legitimacy of squint choices. Reason Gladwell’s object is to instruct ourselves to think legitimately and purposely in controlling our fast discernment inside it reliable arrangement of reasons. The author’s object was, â€Å"to shape and oversee and teach the oblivious reactions.† (16). His motivation illuminates and instructs the perusers for them to make a move and utilize their capacity in developing ourselves. The errand of â€Å"Blink† is to persuade individuals regarding a persuading his perusers that snap decisions and initial introductions can be instructed and controlled. The author’s reason edifies and teaches the perusers for them to make increasingly positive result with regards to deciding. Logos-The writer gave an understanding of utilizing consistent intrigue such asâ statistics because of how this book depends on a genuine story. Gladwell alludes to the research facility work of a therapist named John Gottman at the University of Washington. Gottman has made a coding framework that can be utilized to break down a tape in each possible feeling that a wedded couple may communicate during a discussion. This coding framework focal points of each enthusiastic subtlety, bits of exchange, and development identified by the sensors that is figured in which can be utilized to foresee, with 95% precision whether that couple will even now be hitched fifteen years after the fact (21). Another model was the means by which the creator incorporated the observers’ appraisals which anticipated with superior to 80% precision of relationships around this time (47). From the measurements that he gave, the perusers would know about creation choices with just little data given in a short measure of time. Feeling Gladwell may have not utilize a compelling feeling yet rather he had the option to utilize his method in tending to the peruser straightforwardly which expands the measure of correspondence among himself and the peruser. On â€Å"The Warren Harding Error,† the peruser is approached to step through an exam on oblivious associations. Nonetheless, with the goal for him to pick up this association inside his peruser, now and again, he poses inquiries, for example, â€Å"That was simple, right?† and more expressions like â€Å"Now attempt this†¦ did you notice the difference?† (78-80). It is known as the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which was a conceived in making associations. Consequently, Gladwell’s method gives the peruser a feeling of being recognizable to this test and prompts all the more understanding with those conditions when fast perception drives us off track. Ethos-â€Å"Bink,† by Malcolm Gladwell alludes to the unbelievable works of taught and experienced people like John Gottman an analyst at the University of Washington (18.) Another reference was Paul Ekman and Silvan Tomkins, which they built up the Facial Action Coding System, or FACS (204). This framework amassed the standards for perusing and deciphers a huge number of blends of developments or its activities that make up outward appearances. Malcolm Gladwell is likewise the creator of the number 1 worldwide hit The Tipping Point. Gladwell is a staff essayist for The New Yorker and was once in the past a business and science correspondent at the Washington Post (back spread). The writer sets up his validity to get the peruser toâ acknowledge his ability as an essayist. Style/tone-The author’s in general tone was intense because of the measure of data th

The level of deficit spending by the federal government Personal Statement

The degree of deficiency spending by the government - Personal Statement Example I figure the legislature should slice its spending for this to be accomplished in a way that everybody will be fulfilled. In respecct of raising duties, the rich have come out firmly in resistance. They contend that they as of now are overburdened. As indicated by Porter (12), the facts confirm that the high pay workers in the States pay a ton of expense. They are supposed to be represent the greatest portion of the taxation rate. It is noticed that the shortfall in the government has been a phenomenally petulant issue in the political scene in the course of the most recent couple of years. It is expressed that the present deficiency remains at about $15 trillion dollars. It is normal that if everything holds steady; the figure will rise essentially in the following couple of years (Jeffrey standard 2). A few government officials and financial experts contend that the national salary levels are not on the hazardous levels yet. They state that the legislature should expand its costs so as to maintain a strategic distance from another downturn. The present shortfall is supposed to be a consequence of high spending on troopers, awards to help the state funded schools, street development, infrastructural undertakings, and Medicare for seniors (Hubpages standard 4). Another factor that has additionally realized the shortfall identifies with government income as recently demonstrated. Income is the measure of cash gathered by the legislature. They are by and large gotten from charge, custom obligations, and offer of government property among different sources (Porter 12). For the administration to have the option to lessen the deficiency, it should initially have the option to diminish the measure of cash that it spends on government-supported projects or increment the measure of cash it takes from charge. Jeffrey (standard 2) proposes that, not exclusively does the administration raise more income when it raises charge paid by the rich Americans yet it could accomplish this without hindering monetary development of the nation. Doorman (12) expresses that

Stablecoins, Rather than Cryptocurrencies, Might be the Future of Money

Stablecoins, Rather than Cryptocurrencies, Might be the Future of Money There’s a lot of talk about how cryptocurrencies are the future. Many people expect them to revolutionize how we do trade.In any case, aren’t they a product of technology and innovation? And aren’t technology and innovation the driving forces behind change and convenience?Cryptocurrencies have certainly come a long way. Since 2009 when Bitcoin was created, there has been no going back.You would think that Bitcoin was all that was needed. Or maybe just a few alternatives would be good enough for the expected change. Not so.New cryptocurrencies are always coming up faster than they can be counted. By the end of 2018, there were over 2,500 cryptocurrencies.However, only 25 out of those made up 90% of the total market capitalization.And you know what? Bitcoin took 59% of the total market capitalization of those 25. clearly, Bitcoin still reigns.Still, the cryptocurrency journey has been long. But there is certainly some progress.Coinbase, a leading US crypto exchange saw user numbe rs grow from 0.4 million in Jan 2017 to 5.6 million by June 2018.Of all ICOs (the cryptocurrency version of IPOs), only 8% have become successful.Fraudsters have also developed an interest in cryptocurrencies. Each day, scams cost investors $9 million worth of cryptocurrencies.But even with achievements, something still holds them back.To a large extent, there’s one thing that is really making it difficult for cryptocurrencies to replace fiat money.If this one thing is taken care of, then the revolution will indeed take place.This challenge is the inability of cryptocurrencies to maintain stable prices.As a means of exchange, it’s necessary that the payment method used should be stable. There’s no way a currency will be changing value radically as witnessed in the case of cryptocurrencies.Consider the below graph showing the price of Bitcoin in the span of 1 week. Source: OmenicsMaking Cryptocurrencies StableEfforts have been made to make cryptocurrencies as stable as possible. Unfortunately, they haven’t paid off. The reason is connected to the fact that these currencies are decentralized in nature.If you think of how fiat money works, the federal reserve (or any other central bank) is squarely in control.From the supply to the value, the central bank is in charge of keeping things in order.Of course, there are instances that even the central bank may find it difficult to do this. For example, in cases of extremely high inflation, all the normal actions which the central bank can take will offer little help.Such cases are however more of an exception than the norm. So generally, the control of money is central. Eliminating this central control is part of the vision of cryptocurrencies.And in all the research and innovation efforts, the solution seems to be stablecoins. At least as far as price stability is concerned.The stability of cryptoc urrencies will help drive adoption rates. Once that is done, there will be no stopping the revolution.But what are these stablecoins and how are they solving the stability problem?How Stablecoins Differ from Other CryptocurrenciesFirst of all, stablecoins are cryptocurrencies. They therefore have the same underlying technology as Bitcoin, Ethereum and the others.There is however a big difference which has been brought about by the need of stability as explained above.Stablecoins are cryptos which are meant to serve only this one purpose. With price value being stable, it will be easier for coin holders to be able to more easily determine the value of their holdings.Many of the stablecoins in operation attain their stability by undergirding their value using fiat money. The most common being the US dollar.This is referred to as collateral.Some however use different means to achieve the same results.There are at least three common types of collateral used by stablecoins.The type of co llateral is what usually differentiates them from one another at the highest level.TYPES OF STABLECOINSThe collateral used to make stablecoins stable is a form of asset. Since the asset has its own value, the value of the stablecoin then gets determined by the asset’s value.Whereas some assets are simple to understand, like the US dollar asset, some are relatively complex.Here is a brief discussion on the various types of collateral used.Fiat-CollateralizedThis is the most common and is also the easiest to understand of the three types.As the easiest to understand, it’s also the one which has received the highest adoption.And the currency used as collateral is the US dollar.Stablecoins having the US dollar as the underlying asset have attracted a lot of attention from stock traders. Early adopters have also jumped onto the bandwagon. Those new to the crypto world also find it easy to embrace them due to their simplicity.In this type, every coin is valued at $1. This means that t he rate of the coin to the dollar is 1:1.When the value of a coin is pegged at 1 US dollar, you can easily tell how much your investments are worth. In the real world of physical goods and services, you can determine how much you can own or do.For example, using the coin value, you can easily determine whether you can buy a new TV, car, home etc.The success in stability and adoption are however not without challenges.Fiat-collateralized stablecoins have been accused of going against the principle of decentralization.This is because fiat money is controlled by a central agency. All the control is therefore in the hands of that agency. As such, critics raise this as an issue and attempt to invalidate the coins.An example of this is Tether (USDT).Crypto-CollateralizedAnother form of collateral is using a different cryptocurrency. This has its own set of challenges.Naturally, all cryptos are unstable in their value. In order to achieve acceptable stability, these stablecoins peg their v alue on a mix of cryptocurrencies.This provides a shield because the coin does not depend on only one crypto as collateral.Still, these stablecoins are not fully stable and haven’t been embraced much. The fact that the mix of collateral is the same unstable cryptocurrencies makes it difficult to attain stability.All the same, these are more accepted among the cryptocurrency community compared to the fiat-collateralized coins. This is because they maintain decentralization.An example of this is MakerDAO/DAI Non-CollateralizedThese stablecoins are the most technically advanced of all three. Their lack of collateral is based on complex algorithms which find their basis in economics.Having no collateral, they rely on their own systems to control the supply and value of their coins. This is why they are also referred to as algorithmic stablecoins.As such, these coins handle both these aspects using the code specified during creation.The supply of any currency is directly connected to i ts value.Therefore, to reduce an oversupply which reduces the value, the system comes up with “bonds” for selling. As speculators buy these, the supply of the coins reduces.If the supply is too low, thereby increasing the price, more coins are issued. This has the effect of bringing the price back to the defined normal.Algorithmic stablecoins utilize the system of Seigniorage Supply to achieve this. And interestingly, this mode of operation is actually what is done by central banks.One of the ways central banks regulate the value of their currencies is by controlling supply. If there is an option which is truly technology driven, then it is this one.As with the other types, a challenge exists for these too. The bonds can be a tricky investment option since they have to guarantee a profit.An example of this is NuBits (USNBT).BENEFITS OF USING STABLECOINSStablecoins have undoubtedly ushered in a new dawn. This is especially for early adopters of technology and speculators.And as t heir stability continues dominating conversations, more entrants are coming into the market. This is how the market looked like as at May 2019. Source: Finance MagnatesTheir use has been embraced for a variety of reasons.Here are some of them.Make it Easy for Cryptocurrencies to be AdoptedThe original cryptocurrencies were difficult to understand, thus difficult to both appreciate and embrace. All the technical jargon and explanations left many believing that this was for geeks.It was difficult to prove their use in the real world of exchanging goods and services. But stablecoins are slightly different, especially the fiat-collateralized type.When you explain to a layman that stablecoins are a form of digital money, it’s easy to see how. The fact that one coin has the same value of one US dollar makes it easy to be understood.Once it’s understood, then adoption becomes easy. And if they can be widely accepted, then they will have achieved their goal.Reduced VolatilityAs their name suggests, these coins are intended to be stable in price. That is also the biggest reason for their developmentâ€"reduce price volatility.To t his end, all the three types are promising acceptable results. But of the three, the fiat-backed stablecoins are the winners this far.A coin like Tether   has already experienced a lot of success on this basis.The coins backed by other cryptocurrencies are yet to be widely embraced.This is because of the underlying challenges with cryptocurrencies generally being unstable.It thus doesn’t become easy to convince someone that a crypto will be stable yet it has its backing on an unstable asset.Can Be Easily ValuedStablecoins, especially the fiat-backed type can easily be valued. It’s actually as easy as just getting the account balance and using the dollar symbol to understand or communicate the value.For example, you may have 1,000 Gemini Dollars. This simply means that you have 1,000 US dollars. This will make it easy for adoption into the daily transactions in the world.For example, a camera may cost $100. To buy it, you will only need 100 Gemini dollars. This means that to enab le payments at the POS, only a stablecoin payment option may be needed for the retail outlets.When developers come up with these, everything will flow quite easily.Faster and Cheaper Money TransferBeing a digital solution, there are bound to be many advantages of this technology. One of them is that they facilitate faster and cheaper money transfer.Imagine a situation where it usually cost your bank $2 to transfer money to your relative in another country. This is the total cost from the employee, power bill and audit for human error.Now imagine all these removed. Probably the cost of system audits is 50 cents. If the bank is to use an advanced means for the transfer, it will be both cheaper and faster.This is what JP Morgan is doing using their JPM Coin.LIMITATIONS OF USING STABLECOINSNothing can be all advantageous and lack any disadvantages.As stablecoins continue to grow towards maturity, it pays to consider their shortcomings.This will help you determine whether to jump in righ t now or to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.Most are Only Backed with the USDThere are several stablecoins which are already enjoying some degree of acceptance.These are mostly the fiat-backed types. Whereas that is a good thing, there is one potential drawback.Most of them are pegged on the US dollar.This might be as a result of many of the companies being American. It might also be due to the fact that the US dollar is the currency used in international trade as well as in holding reserves.Either way, this may prove problematic. Being new and with little proof of tested and verified long-running successes, over-reliance on the dollar may not be the best idea.As it is, some countries and regions are already toying with the idea of abandoning the dollar for use with reserves. Some are suggesting different currencies for reserves while others are looking to return to gold.Since stablecoins are aiming at replacing fiat money, consistency is a must. Just as fiat money was initially based on gold , the same needs to apply to stablecoins.But having one currency as the backbone of stablecoins may not work for the long-term.In any case, as a technological solution, other countries will obviously want their currencies to be the collateral.And just how practical will it be, for instance, for China and Iran to run their stablecoins on the USD?Do Not Factor in InflationIf you are an investor, you know that you can never value your investments at a 1:1 rate to the dollar. Neither can you do the same with any currency.Why?There is inflation to be factored in.One principle of investment says that the value of money held today is not the same as of money to be received tomorrow. This is referred to as the Time Value of Money. For example, you may buy 1,000 stablecoins. At the moment of purchase, your investment is worth $1,000. However, what happens if the rate of inflation rises?With a higher inflation rate, the value of money reduces.The 1:1 rate of value stays the same. If $1 becomes less valuable, so does your investment. This means that stablecoins do not provide investors any considerable protection against inflation.Fiat-Collateralized Type Aren’t DecentralizedAs cryptocurrencies, stablecoins need to maintain a decentralized nature.This is one of the criticisms the fiat-backed type is battling. And although it has already taken off and seems to be gaining popularity, some are rejecting it for being centralized.The fiat-collateralized stablecoins have three main points of control.The first is the underlying assetâ€"in most cases the USD. The US dollar is itself controlled by a central agency. As such, it is a centralized system. Secondly, the money used to back the coins must be available in a physical sense for the sake of withdrawals back to USD.That money is usually stored in a bank.That is another party introduced right there. Mind you, the bank is controlled by its own management.It’s also under the control of the same central agency contr olling the USDâ€"the federal reserve.The third point of control is the organization running the stablecoin.The way cryptocurrencies originally function, is by setting all the rules in the code. There is very little change from external sources that can be done to change how things work. If there is a need for change, forks are developed.But in the case of these coins, change can be introduced at various levels. This is against the philosophy of cryptocurrencies being decentralized.Requires Faith in the Underlying AssetOne of the biggest limitations is the need to have faith in the underlying asset.If the coin is backed by the USD, then you must have faith in the USD.You must first of all believe that it is a worthy asset to back your coins on. Although the US dollar has for decades enjoyed the faith of many, geopolitics can easily bring about changes to this.And before that even happens, there is already a stablecoin backed by the Euro and a stablecoin backed by the Japanese Yen.The se inconsistencies might be okay for local trade. But for international trade, there has to be one asset being used just as the USD is currently being used.CONCLUSIONStablecoins are under continuous development and improvement.Still, they have already established themselves as a possible future of money.If only the challenges facing them can be conclusively addressed, then we might experience the biggest change of the millennium.

Dirt Bikes U.S.A Improving Decision Making and...

INFO 1400 Koffka Khan Tutorial 6 Running Case Assignment: Improving Decision Making: Redesigning the Customer Database Dirt Bikes U.S.A. sells primarily through its distributors. It maintains a small customer database with the following data: customer name, address (street, city, state, zip code), telephone number, model purchased, date of purchase, and distributor: http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_laudon_mis_10/62/15946/4082221.cw/index.html. These data are collected by its distributors when they make a sale and are then forwarded to Dirt Bikes. Dirt Bikes would like to be able to market more aggressively to its customers. The Marketing Department would like to be able to send customers e-mail notices of special racing events and of†¦show more content†¦1-4 Case Study: The Terrorist Watch List Database’s Troubles Continue 1. What concepts are illustrated in this case? Managing data resources effectively and efficiently is the third major concept in this case. No information policy has been established to specify the rules for 1. sharing, 2. disseminating, 3. acquiring, 4. standardizing, 5. classifying, and 6. inventorying information. Data administration seems to be poor. Data governance that would help the organizations manage the availability, usability, integrity, and security of the data seems to be missing. It would help increase the privacy, security, data quality, and compliance with government regulations. Lastly, data quality audits and data cleansing are desperately needed to decrease the number of inconsistent record counts, duplicate records, and records that lacked data fields or had unclear sources for the data. 1-5 Case Study: The Terrorist Watch List Database’s Troubles Continue 2. Why was the consolidated terror watch list created? What are the benefits of the list? The FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, or TSC, was established to organize and standardize information about suspected terrorists between multiple government agencies into a single list to enhance communications between agencies. A database of suspected terrorists known as the terrorist watch list was born from these efforts in 2003 in response toShow MoreRelatedProject Managment Case Studies214937 Words   |  860 Pagesliable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be availableRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesc ontemporary texts in informal logic – keeping an eye on the sorts of arguments found in books on formal logic – forget, or underplay, how much of our daily reasoning is concerned not with arguments leading to truth-valued conclusions but with making choices, assessing reasons, seeking advice, etc. Dowden gets the balance and the emphasis right. Norman Swartz, Simon Fraser University v Acknowledgments For the 1993 edition: The following friends and colleagues deserve thanks for their

Comparing The Iliad And The Bible, Jesus And Hector Die

When it comes to death, most people tend to sympathize with the victim of death while others dwell on the pleasures the deceased had brought them while they were living. In our readings there were many instances where the individuals were remembered for the honor and glory they showed and for the extreme measures they took for leaving this world a changed place. The differences in reactions to mortality in our texts is most apparent. People strive to give their lives meaning in the face of death in each of the texts, however there is a difference between what is worth dying for. Throughout the Iliad and in the bible, Jesus and Hector die for different reasons; while on dies for honor and glory, the other dies for the salvation of others. Honor is defined as a high respect given to an individual that brings credit. To receive honor is paralleled to being crowned with jewels and being regarded as a role model to all. The society that the Iliad portrays is â€Å"centered on the battlef ield of achievement and its rewards† (Homer, xxi). The figures in Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, partake in events that will allow them to â€Å"receive more honor and more material rewards† even if it means that they must indulge themselves in heightened risks that could end in death (xxiii). Hector, one of the most pivotal characters in the poem, illustrates the lust for glory and ignorance of everything else that holds just as much importance. As his character is strengthened, it can be seen that every

Political Family Free Essays

Chapter 1 Introduction to the Study Chapter 1 covers five parts: (1) Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study, (2) Statement of the Problem, (3) Significance of the Study, (4) Definition of Terms, and (5) Delimitation of the Study Part 1, Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study, presents the rationale for the choice of the problem. Part 2, Statement of the Problem, describes the major and specific questions that this study will seek to answer. Part 3, Significance of the Study, cites the benefits that could be derived from the findings of the study. We will write a custom essay sample on Political Family or any similar topic only for you Order Now Part 4, Definition of Terms, presents the conceptual and operational definitions of the key terms that will be used in the study. Part 5, Delimitation of the Study, specifies the scope of the study with regards to the variables, the participants, and the instruments that will be used to gather data. Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study â€Å"The family is the strongest unit of society, demanding the deepest loyalties of the individual and coloring all social activity with its own set of demands. † Jean Grossholtz (1964, 86-87) In the Third World, the elite family has long been a leading actor in the unfolding of the national pageant. More, specifically in the Philippines, elite families can be seen as both object and subject of history, shaping and being shaped by the processes of change. These families have provided a strong element of continuity to the country’s economic and political history over the century past (McCoy 1994, 1). In 1950s Robert Fox (1959, 6) described the Philippines as â€Å"an anarchy of families,† in which the Philippine political parties usually have acted as coalitions of powerful families. The rise of powerful political families was attributed to the Republic’s emergence as a weak, postcolonial state (McCoy 1994, 10-11). According to McCoy (1994, 13), after Spain and United States colonial rule, the Republic thus developed as a state with both substantial economic resources and weak bureaucratic capacity. It is this paradoxical pairing of wealth and weakness that opened the state to predatory rent seeking by politicians. Based on Migdal’s research (1988, 9) on Third World politics, he finds that the source of the state’s weakness—the social organizations such as â€Å"families, clans†¦tribes, patron-client dyads† continue to act as competing sources of authority. Despite the apparent influence and significant factor of the family upon wider society and its politics, most historians, both Filipino and foreign, have ignored this problem. According to Schneider (1969, 109-110), instead of studying and analyzing the Philippine political history through the paradigm of elite families, they have generally treated Philippine past and politics solely through as an interaction of state, private institutions, and popular movements. Even social scientists, despite an obligatory bow in the direction of the family, have generally failed to incorporate substantive analysis of its dynamics into rendering of the country’s social and political processes. Social science as often happens in the study of the Philippines thus diverges from social reality, according to Alfred W. McCoy (1994, 1). At present, there is still a lacking scholarly analysis of either individual Filipino families or family-based oligarchies. While other Southeast Asian societies have produced some useful biographies and autobiographies, the Southeast Asian regions still have little nondynastic family history that can serve as a model for future Philippine research (McCoy 1994, 2). One of the provinces in the Philippines that have no study about family-based politics is Aklan. The Province of Aklan is located in the Northeast portion of Panay Island. It was the oldest province in the Philippines organized in 1213 by settlers from Borneo as the â€Å"Minuro it Akean. In 1565 Miguel Lopez de Legaspi landed in Aklan, and divided the â€Å"Minuro it Akean† five encomiendas which he distributed among his farming followers. Along with political change, the Spaniards introduced Christianity. In 1716, the area of the â€Å"Minuro it Akean† was designated as a province but it was called Capiz. After the Americans took the country from Spain in 1901, Don Natalio B. Acevedo, Aklan delegation head, presented the first memorial for the separation of Aklan from Capiz to the Junta Magna headed by Commissioner Dean C. Worcester. For the same purpose, the Aklanons in Congress filed numerous bills, including Urquiola-Alba bill in 1920, the Laserna-Suner bills in 1925 and 1930, and the Tumbokon bill in 1934. Aklan finally became an independent province when President Magsaysay signed into law the Republic Act 1414 on April 25, 1956. This was made through the efforts of Congressman Godofredo P. Ramos, and then the province was inaugurated on November 8, 1956. (Aklan Directory 2011, http://www. aklandirectory. com/aklan/, ret. 9/16/2012) Political families thrive in all but one province in the Philippines. From Batanes to Tawi-tawi, with the exception of Kalinga, members of political families hold public posts, both elective and appointive. GMA News Research has identified at least 219 political families that dominate the country’s political landscape. (2011, http;//www. gmanetwork. com, ret 9/30/2012) Like these provinces, Aklan’s history is also filled with family-based politics. In order to better understand the present political situations, studying the political history of Aklan in the lens of the familial perspective can led to discover new dimensions in our national history. The history of a political family in a particular province can be a microcosm of the kind of politics that happens in the Philippines. Thus, this study offers this perspective and understanding. Statement of the Problem This study is conducted to find out the political history of Aklan, through the case study in historical method of a selected political family in the province. Unlike Latin America, much more of the Philippine social research treated the country’s political history through its formal institutional structures rather than on the importance of the family and family history. However, it can be seen that in the works of several theorists and researchers like Wolf, Grossholtz, Kuznesof, Freyre, and Schneider, political families in the Philippines and around the world are found to have a more dominant force in shaping the society’s history including political, social, and economic institutions. Specifically, this study will seek to answer the following questions: 1. How the political family in Aklan emerged? 2. How do they maintain their influence in the province? 3. What are the family’s political practices to retain power? Significance of the Study This qualitative research may be significant primarily to historians in analyzing the centrality of family-based politics to many periods and problems in the Philippine history. For social scientists, this study will help them delve the roles of family as a primary unit of political organization; and will serve as a model for future Philippine research. For political science students, the findings of this study will help them understand the influence of political families on the course of Philippine politics. This study will also help politicians to formulate political strategies and practices based on the history of a political family. Lastly, this study can be added as a significant literature on the political history of Aklan; as well as, it can provide meaningful information for other related literatures. Definition of terms For the purpose of achieving clarity of meaning and interpretation, the following terms were defined. The Case study approach as an empirical inquiry investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context. (Yin 1984, 24) The Historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write histories in the form of accounts of the past. (2012, http://en. ikipedia. org/w/index. php, ret. 9/30/2012) A  political family  is a  family  in which several members are involved in  politics, particularly  electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several  generations  or multiple  siblings  may be involved. (2012, http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php, ret. 9/ 30/2012) The Province of Aklan  is located in the Northeast portion of Panay Island, and has a total land area of 1, 817. 9 km? which is composed of 17 municipalities. It has a total population of 495, 122 (NSO 2007 census), and Kalibo is the capital town. (Aklan Directory  2011, http://www. aklandirectory. om/aklan/, ret. 9/30/2012) Delimitation of the Study This study will be conducted during the first semester of the school year 2012-2013 until the second semester of the school year 2013-2014. This will be conducted among a purposively selected political family in the Province of Aklan. The case study in historical method will be used in this study to investigate the political history of the Province of Aklan. The researchers in order to collect detailed data needed in this study will employ participant observations, key informant interviews, directly interview the participants, and examine relevant records, documents, and reports. Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature Chapter 2 includes previous studies on political families which are divided into the International Context, the Philippine Context, and the Visayan Context. The International Context includes the previous studies on family-based politics and the history of elite political families around the world. The Philippine Context includes studies about the Filipino family and Philippines as a weak, postcolonial state that led to the emergence of political families. The Visayan Context includes case studies of two political families in the Visayas — the Lopez family and the Osmena family. Political Families The International Context In almost any country in the world, there are always leading political elite families that exist. A significant number of these families can be traced in United States, Brazil, and Mexico. In the United States, the well-known Adams Family of Massachusetts has been the subject of much autobiographical and biographical research. Meanwhile, the Pessoa family is popular as leading actors in Brazilian politics, and the Sanchez-Navarros’ family of Mexico is known for both wealth and power. For several decades, Latin American historians have used detailed microstudies of elite families to discover new dimensions in their national histories. As Gilberto Freyre (1964, 155 and 161), a pioneer in this field, once argued, anyone studying a people’s past will find that historical constants are more significant than ostensibly heroic episodes and will discover that what happens within the family is far more important than often-cited events in presidential mansions, in parliaments and large factories. Applying this perspective to Brazil, Freyre found that Brazil’s most distinctive elite families emerged in the sugar districts of the northeast during the sixteenth century- fusing land, sugar, and slaves to become patriarchs of â€Å"untrammelled power† or unlimited power and â€Å"total fiat† or absolute decree. Arguing that the patriarchal family still exerts a subtle influence on the â€Å"the ethos of contemporary Brazilians,† Freyre cites the case of President Epitacio Pessoa who in the early decades of this century was known as â€Å"Tio Pita† (Uncle Pita) in recognition of his penchant for appointing male relations to key government posts. Another historian, Linda Lewin (1979, 263) has produced some of the most refined historiographic reflections on the connection between familial and national history in her writing on the Pessoa family of Paraiba State in Brazil. By the late 1970s the field of family history was so well developed in Latin America that another Brazilian historian Linda Lewin (1979, 263) stated that the â€Å"family-based† approach to the political history as a â€Å"commonplace in Brazilian history. Many historians had already employed the family historiography as an approach in discovering different dimensions of Brazilian political history thus making it popular around Latin America. Similarly, an essay by Felstiner (1976, 58) on the role of kinship politics in Chile’s independence movement began with the words â€Å"the importance of the family in Latin America goes unquestioned. † Many historical documents show that the leading elite families in Chile, such as the O’Hig gins family, started the movements for independence against the Spanish colonizers. A decade later, Latin American historians were still unanimous in their belief that the elite family played a uniquely important political role in their region. Introducing eight essays, Elizabeth Kuznesof and Robert Oppenheimer (1985, 215) observed that the family in Latin America is found to have been a more central and active force in shaping political, social, and economic institutions of the area than was true in Europe or United States. Indeed, they found that institutions in Latin America society make much more social sense, particularly in the nineteenth century, if viewed through the lens of family relationships. As democracy flourished in the young Latin America, elite families engaged in the political arena and started to stabilize political institutions, such as the electoral system and civil society. Charles H. Harris, a historian, (1975, 314) stated that the Sanchez-Navarros’ family is one of the oldest and most influential families of Spanish descent in Mexico since 1577. The Sanchez Navarro family’s â€Å"latifundio† or an estate composed of two or more haciendas  is composed of seventeen haciendas and covers more than 16. 5 million acres—the size of West Virginia. It is said to be the largest  Ã¢â‚¬Å"latifundio† ever to have existed, not only in Mexico but also in all of Latin America. In Harris’ discussion of the acquisition of land, the technology of ranching, labor problems, and production on the Sanchez Navarro estate, and of the family’s involvement in commerce and politics, he finds that the development of the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"latifundio†Ã‚  was only one aspect in the Sanchez Navarros’ rise to power. He also emphasizes the great importance of the Sanchez Navarros’ widespread network of family connections in their commercial and political activities. Reflecting their rich historical traditions, America have also produced impressive family histories. Political families are not a new concept in the United States. The Adams family of Massachusetts, for example, has been the subject of autobiographical and biographical research. (Musto 1981, 40-58) The  Adams political family  is one of the most prominent political families in United States history, originating in Massachusetts and having a profound impact on the development of the nation’s path from the 18th century and onwards. The family has produced numerous important New England politicians as well as two Presidents – John Adams (1797-1801) and George Adams (1851-1861) but also several ambassadors and literary figures. The children and grandchildren of the Adams family were raised with the idea that public service was expected of you. (2011, http://seattletimes. com/html/nationworld/2004164299_dynasty05. html, ret. 10/10/2012) Similarly, like other developed and developing countries around the globe, the history of Philippines is also shaped by elite families that play leading roles in the control and influence on institutions of the government. The Philippine Context The political families are the actors that have played in the political landscape of the Philippines and have shaped the outcome of the past and are engaged in shaping the future of the Philippines. The Philippine history should not only be viewed as the interaction of different institution of society such as the state, civil societies, the Roman Catholic Church, and the different popular movements. Instead, we should also dissect its political history through the paradigm of elite families. The importance of family-society relationship in the Philippines based on Jean Grossholtz’s description (1964, 86-870, â€Å"the strongest unit of society demanding the deepest loyalties of the individual and coloring all social activity with its own set of demands. † He then remarked that the communal values of family are often in conflict with the impersonal values of the institutions of the larger society. Many Filipino historians have been critical, and they generally disregarded the leading families and provincial elites in the Philippines on ideological grounds. Nationalistic historians have dismissed the country’s elites for being traitors and conformists to the colonizers. Teodoro Agoncillo (1960, 644-645), one the most famous historian in Philippine history, remarked that the ilustrados have betrayed the revolution. Renato Constantino (1975, 232), a contemporary of Agoncillo, called the same elites as collaborators. According to the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Jose Maria Sison, the country’s elites were a small alien element – either rural feudal landholders or urban, comprador bourgeoisie as cited by Guerrero (1979, 234-249). According to McCoy (1994, 4), most Filipino biographies, the potential building blocks for elite-family studies, are more hagiography (idolizing biography) than history. Many of these biographies are funded by the family or the person that is the subject of these biographies. Biographers write as if death has cleansed what misdeeds their subject has done in society. Such accounts, McCoy added, are exoneration from the charges of their enemies, silence about their cunning or corruptions, and a celebration of their contribution to the nation. McCoy commented that the weak state and powerful political oligarchies have combined to make a familial perspective on national history relevant. The Philippines has a long history of strong families assuring social survival when the nation-state is weak. In the 20th century, the state has collapsed, partially or wholly, at least four times in the midst of war and revolution. After independence in 1946, moreover, the Philippine central government lost control over the countryside to regional politicians, some so powerful that they become known as warlords. In Philippine politics a family name is a valuable asset. A good name translates strongly to an advantage in polling. Believing that an established name carries cachet and qualification, parties often favor a promising scion of an old line when selecting candidates. Many Filipino politicians use their kinship networks (McCoy 1993, 10), to assure their ascension to power. A kinship network is a working coalition drawn from a larger group related by blood, marriage, and ritual. As elite families bring such a flexible kinship ties into the political arena, elections often assume a kaleidoscopic complexity of coalition and conflict, making Filipino politics appear volatile. It has a unique capacity to create informal political team that assigns specialized roles to its members, thereby maximizing coordination and influence. The Visayan Context Most of the well-known political families in the Philippines have political roots in their home provinces. Whether in the provinces of Luzon, Visayas, or Mindanao, there would always be certain political families that would dominate the political arena. The Lopez Family In Alfred McCoy’s essay (1994, 429-517) â€Å"Rent-Seeking Families and the Philippine State: A History of the Lopez Family† illustrates the close connection between state power and the private wealth by elite families in the Philippines. He says that in the Philippine setting, the study of a single rent-seeking family may be the most appropriate way of bridging the gap between western economic theory and the Filipino familial paradigm. Among the leading Filipino families, the Lopezes are, by virtue of their history, well suited for such a case study. Seeking knowledge of the family’s origins and early character, McCoy’s essay begins in the 1870s when the Lopezes enter the historical record as pioneer sugar planters on the plantation frontier of Negros Island. But early on 1850s, they already first appeared to be local merchants. Basilio Lopez served as one of Jaro’s cabeza-de barangay and later as a gobernadorcillo. The growth of their political and commercial influence paralleled the emergence of national political elite (McCoy 1994, 440-441). While the second generation consolidated property and position within a regional planter elite, their children made a successful transition to sugar milling and commerce during the 1920’s. In the five generations of the Lopezes it has a history of both skillful male and female entrepreneurs and politicians (McCoy 1994, 441-444). However, among the family’s twenty-six hundred descendants, it was Eugenio and Fernando Lopez, who initially raised the family’s position to first rank of national prominence. Backed by Eugenio’s growing wealth, Fernando Lopez was appointed as a mayor of Iloilo City for two years in September 1945. He quickly secured overall leadership of the province, relegating Jose Zulueta, his ally, to the position of perennial challenger. His career as provincial politician involved the using violence to advance their interests. In 1946 the Lopezes shifted their capital and residence to Manila. They traded in influence and avoided violence. No longer rooted in the land or dependent upon the social power of the provinces, the Lopezes came to depend upon the state, through the medium of presidency, for the financial and regulatory concessions that would assure the prosperity of their corporations. With the Lopez brothers’ relations with a succession of Philippine presidents, they prospered under the administration of their allies from their patron Quezon, Sergio Osme? a, Elpidio Quirino, and Manuel Roxas. In 1947, he was elected to the Senate. In 1965, the presidential candidate was Ferdinand Marcos. Fernando Lopez, despite his presidential aspirations, became Marcos’ vice-presidential running mate, creating a ticket that married private wealth to populist appeal. The Lopez alliance with Marcos was a strategic blunder born of tactical necessity. To insure the defeat of incumbent President Macapagal, the Lopezes had felt compelled to ally themselves with Marcos. Eugenio Lopez used his money, media, and machine to make Marcos president in 1965 elections. Not long after, Eugenio Lopez launched a major expansion and diversification program at Meralco. Again, with the Lopez support Marcos was reelected in 1969. In January 1971, however, a break occurred, which erupted into what may be the most public and vitriolic split in the Philippine political history. According to Marcos, the Lopezes were demanding concessions to advance their interests. According to the Lopezes, Marcos was demanding shares in their family corporations. Using the Manila Chronicle, the Lopezes began an attack, publishing exposes of graft within the administration. When a delegation of Tondo workers called upon the president at the battle’s peak, Marcos vowed: â€Å"we will crush the Lopez oligarchy to pieces. † After suffering five months of media criticism, Marcos finally sued for peace by paying a call on Eugenio at his Paranaque residence (McCoy 1994, 508). Sixteen months later in Marcos’s declaration of martial law, the Lopez family became the main target of his â€Å"revolution from above. † He used the same licensing powers that had built the Lopez wealth to destroy the family’s fortune and transfer their assets to a new economic elite composed of his own kin. Paul Hutchcroft (1991, 414-450), a political scientist said that, â€Å"using the state and its army, Marcos became the first president since Quezon to reduce the autonomy of provincial elites. He employed economic regulations, backed by threat of force, to pursue the main aim of his rule-changing the composition of the country’s economic elite. In Negros Occidental, for example, Marcos created a new stratum of supralocal leaders whom he financed with rents. On July 1975, Eugenio Lopez died of cancer in San Francisco while Geny Lopez remained in prison on capital charges. In the end, Marcos did not destroy the Lopez family’s accumulated legitimacy, contacts, and skills (McCoy 1994, 518). Marcos’s fall from power in 1986 heralded the restoration of the Lopez fortunes. In the restoration of the family’s fortunes under President Aquino, it is argued that Eugenio Lopez succeeded in handing down enough of his capital and skills to perpetuate his family’s position within the national economic elite. In his essay, McCoy (1994, 431) explains the role of rents for it has a good deal about the weakness of the Philippines and the corresponding strength of Filipino political families. As defined by James Buchanan (1980, 7-8) rents appear when the state uses regulation to restrict â€Å"freedom of entry† into the market. If these restrictions create a monopoly, the economic consequences are decidedly negative—slowing growth and enriching a few favoured entrepreneurs. Competition for such monopolies, a political process called â€Å"rent-seeking,† can produce intense conflict. Anne Krueger (1980, 52-57) has argued that in many Third World countries rents are â€Å"pervasive facts of life. † In India such restricted economic activity accounted for 7. 3% of their national income in 1964, while in Turkey rents from import licenses alone represented about 15 percent of the gross national product in 1968. In the Philippines, political economists have applied this theory to explain how the Palace’s rent-seeking courtiers after Marcos era used state power to plunder the country. Manuel Montes (1989, 84-148), a Filipino economist, argues that â€Å"the economic structure of the country stimulates, encourages, and provides the greatest rewards to ‘rent-seeking’ activities. † As evidence for this provocative reconceptualization of rent-seeking, Montes offers his readers a superficial catalogue of businessmen who have served regimes from Quezon to Marcos. In the presidency of Manuel Roxas,† says Montes in a typical passage, â€Å"Soriano, Eugenio Lopez†¦ and Jose Yulo were influential businessmen. † The story of Eugenio Lopez illustrates that for over thirty years, he had used presidential patronage to secure subsidized government financing and dominate state-regulated industries, thereby amassing the largest private fortune in the Philippines (M cCoy 1993, 429-430). In the Philippines, the succession of presidents has played partisan politics with the state’s economic powers, awarding loans and creating rents to reward the political brokers who assured their election. Underlying the executive’s partisan use of state power are political elites who fuse public office with private business. For the elites to justify the high risk of campaign investments, public office must promise extraordinary rewards. More than any other entrepreneur of the Republican era, Eugenio Lopez, Sr. , mastered the logic of political investment. The Lopez brothers, being the most successful rent-seekers, formed corporate conglomerates that relied in some way upon the state licenses. Since all of their major corporations were in some sense due to rent system, their commercial success involved a commingling of business and politics. Such a system leaves an ambiguous legacy (McCoy 1993, 435-437). Not only in Western Visayas had leading political families emerged as national actors but also a significant number are found in Central Visayas. The Osmena Family Another political family that has long dominated the political landscape of the Philippines for many years since the beginning of the 20th century is the Osmena family of Cebu. The Osmenas rose to prominence when Sergio Osmena, Sr. was elected governor of the Province of Cebu and then as Speaker of the Philippine National Assembly during the American colonial period. He was eclipsed only in power by the political maneuverings that Quezon made to overpowering him in the National Assembly and capturing the post as the President of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935. After World War II, Sergio Osmena, Sr. went back to the Philippines as President to establish his control as head of the government in the Philippine archipelago. Osmena’s son, Serging, later became the governor of Cebu and candidate for the Presidency in the 1969 election against Ferdinand Marcos. The present generation of Osmenas is still politically active in Cebu and in national politics. The Osmenas dominated the political world of Cebu not through the usual guns, goons, and gold that are usually used by their political rival like the Sottos, Cuencas,and Duranos. The Osmenas dominated the provincial politics of Cebu because they are highly skilled in the craft of politics. (Resil, 1993, p. 316) They are wealthy, but their wealth do not equate for their capacity to coerce people to vote for them. They use their wealth skillfully, by using it for political gains. They are not as rich as their opponents who have huge haciendas but they show their prowess as politicians during elections. Elections are an exercise deeply inscribed in the Filipino political imagination. Theoretically, an election provides the occasion for society to take cognizance to itself. This is the time when citizens are most self-conscious, a season of stock-taking, when voters reflect on their collective state and history and make choices about leaders, policies, and â€Å"futures†. The â€Å"democratic space† or surface that allows an unlimited range for diverse values and commitments is most visible in incumbents submitting themselves for popular judgement and candidates presenting ideas of government, in the public exchange of contrary views, and, finally, in the voter weighing his or her options and casting a ballot in the ritual’s inner sanctum, the polling booth. (Mojares 1993, 319) The reality of Philippine politics is not tidy. Intensive exploitation of mass media and propaganda techniques crowd public space during the electoral season. There are restrictions of thought and action; however, beneath the diversity and dynamism of election, these restrictions, according to Mojares (1993, 319), are an underdeveloped party system, elite dominance and ideological sameness of candidates, exclusion of those who fail to muster the considerable resources needed to mount a campaign, the subordination of issues to particularistic concerns, elaborate forms of terrorism and fraud, and the cultural baggage of traditional values of power and dependence. Elections, therefore, do not constitute a free field but are in fact, an arena in which the existing limits on participation are further exercised and enforced. In Philippine elections we have a case in which the elite or dominant class usually constructs political reality for citizens. This process may be seen in the centrality accorded to the election itself as field of action and a channel for effecting political change. In elections, obeisance is rendered to the â€Å"state† of the people are constituted or reconstituted as its â€Å"subjects†. In effect, the periodic holding of elections nourishes and renews the government’s system. In the process, it also tends to reify the existing system and deemphasize other areas of political work such as mass organizing, interest-group lobbying, and â€Å"armed struggle. †(Mojares 1993, 320) Elections, by their very nature, provide us with a concentrated expression of the process of ideological domination. This is one area in which Osmena phenomenon is important since the Osmena have built their dominance less on sheer economic power (though the use of such power was basic in their rise) or physical repression (though they were not innocent of its methods) than on their mastery of the instrumental aspects of electoral power building. From this they draw their distinctive character as Filipino kingpins. Skillful management of ideological practices takes precedence over reliance on superior economic leverage (as in the case of the Lopez family), a system of traditional patronage (as in the Durano Family), a mix of religion and militarism (as in Ali Dimaporo), or systematic electoral fraud as what the Marcoses did. The matter of ideology both as the world of social meanings and the politician’s stance in this world is germane to achieving an understanding of the Osmenas. In electoral contest in Cebu, public discourse has been dominated by conservative politicians. Political speech gravitates around the two poles of personality and issues. The Osmena discourse skillfully combines both personality and issues. Personality is the low mode of discourse and encompasses the verbal abuse, muckraking, vulgar humor, and gossip. Issue is the high mode, consisting of the presentation of government platforms or the qualifications and social ideas of candidates. It is not however a systematic exposition of ideology but a minimalist statement of general and abstract principles and a isting of specific projects. Public discourse on politics is neither wholly open nor free. Control of public channels of communication, elite construction of tradition, selective deployment of languages, and the limits of Philippine language situation-in concert with material conditions that sustain attitudes of political subjection- prosper ideological domination. The Osmenas are maste rs in the management of politics and are, in fact, the ones who inaugurated in Cebu politics the systematic use of modern mass media for electoral purposes. They are skilful in the selection of messages and the manipulation of symbols so effective in Philippine electoral politics, particularly in the context of the structurally undeveloped urbanism of Cebu. Theirs is an ideology of â€Å"developmentalism† and â€Å"modernity† with its promise of rational management, bureaucratic efficiency and technocratic expertise in the design and execution of public projects. It is a minimalist ideology, however, in its loose aggregation of generalities and particularities and in its avoidance of a systematic critique of structures of social and economic domination. The Osmenas have put their considerable entrepreneurial and organizational skills to good use in their electoral campaigns such as in managing finances, contracting a quality staff for media packaging and opinion surveys, and running an efficient campaign organization. They have a fund of political experience, an organizational network built up through many elections, the support of big business and the persuasive reputation of â€Å"winners. † The Osmenas have defined their electoral campaigns in terms of â€Å"crusades† that use primordial symbols of democracy, autonomy, and progress. More adept than their opponents in ceasing the ideological high ground, the Osmenas have defined political reality in advantageous terms. They appeal to both the past and the future, on one hand by resurrecting selective images of the past, and on the other hand, by evoking visions of a modern, progressive future in their campaign speeches. Underlying, the Osmena phenomenon is a practice of conservative politics, one that restricts the distribution of power and constructs the politics as pulitika. According to Reynaldo Ileto (1984, 10), pulitika is the perception of politics as a process of bargaining, with implicit self of factional interest involved. The interaction between the colonial power and its native wards was pulitika. At another level, it refers to the practices by which leaders cultivate ties of personal loyalty and indebtedness to them and simply attract votes. In the Philippines, pulitika is not politics (whether construed broadly as the totality of public or civic life or narrowly as democratic bargaining or consensus building). Rather, it is that field of politics largely constructed and dominated by the elites. It is in this context that families with economic resources and political skills come perpetuate themselves in power. The specific character of the Osmena dominance has been shaped by such factors as the American ethos of rational government, the personality, and temper of the Osmenas themselves, their belief in the electoral system and the characteristics of the region in which they have founded their beliefs. To a significant extent, the Osmenas are not only instrumentalists but true believers in the precepts of liberal democracy and free enterprise. Theirs, however, is a minimalist ideology subordinated to the exigencies and demands of action in the realm of pulitika. It is also an ideology that mobilizes people around their leadership does not empower them nor seriously address the structural problems of Philippine society. The Osmena dominance has been shaped as well by the practical grosser realities of power maintenance in the Philippines, which require of leaders not only ideological competence but expedience skills in realpolitik, in the lower-oder devices of lying, bribery, horse trading, and thuggery. Political culture has constructed the families like the Osmenas, for a political family is the sum not just what its members posses or do but of how it is regarded in the community. Politicians like the Osmena’s adjust because of the altered conditions: modifying the rhetoric by adding new messages, revising their campaign style and addressing new issues. By doing so they can appropriate new symbols, coop new leaders, re-establish new borders that keep political action bounded yet pressures from the below will make it increasingly difficult to give new life or maintain the old boundaries. To the extent that these pressures build and are not meaningfully confronted, the Osmenas may find that no longer holds sway, that the terms of the struggle have shifted radically, and that the struggle for power is now taking place elsewhere. Synthesis Elite families can be seen as both object and subject of history, shaping and being shaped by the processes of change. In many countries all over the world, elite families engaged in politics to gain power and influence, in turn they shape the history of their country. Among these are political families from Brazil, Mexico, and United States. As the family-based approach in history was employed and developed in these countries, the interest to utilize this approach in the history of Southeast Asian countries grew. The Philippines as a weak, postcolonial state became a breeding ground for strong and influential political families that defined the history of the country. The leading family of Cebu, the Osmenas, emerged through the use of their skills in statecraft. The Osmenas have displayed their brilliance in organizing their political machinery and the employment of symbols during elections. Meanwhile, the Lopezeses of Iloilo, started as hacienderos until they became leading national actors and businessmen in 1950s. The great influence, wealth, and success of the Lopez brothers until today can be attributed to their rent-seeking activities. Chapter 3 Research Design and Methodology Chapter 3 has four parts: (1) Research Design, (2) Data Sources and Collection, (3) Site and Participant Selection, and (4) Data Treatment Procedures and Analysis Part 1, Research Design, discusses the structure of the study and the research approach to which the study will be anchored. Part 2, Data Sources and Collection, addresses the sources of the data and presents the research method that will be employed. Part 3, Site and Participant Selection, describes the rationale for choosing the setting of the study on how the participants will be collected. Part 4, Data Treatment Procedure and Analysis, details the specific procedures in analyzing the data that will be collected during the study. Research Design This study will follow the principles of the qualitative research. According to Holloway (1997, 2), qualitative research is a form of social inquiry that focuses on the way people interpret and make sense of their experiences and the world in which they live. A number of different approaches exist within the wider framework of this type of research, but most of these have the same aim: to understand the social reality of individuals, groups and cultures. Researchers use qualitative approaches to explore the behavior, perspectives and experiences of the people they study. The basis of qualitative research lies in the interpretive approach to social reality. In line with the research design, the researchers will utilize the case study as the approach for this study. The case study approach (Yin 1980, 2) is a research strategy entailing an empirical investigation of a contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence, and is especially valuable when the boundaries between the phenomenon and context are blurred. RESEARCH DESIGN Experiential Knowledge Preliminary Interviews Literature Review Preliminary Conceptual Model Observation Interviews Documentary Evidence Findings Revised Enhanced Conceptual Model Working Hypotheses Member Checks Final Report Data Sources and Collection Historical method will be used to investigate the political history of Aklan in the lens of familial perspective. Historiography, according to Furay and Salevouris (1979, 223-224) is the study of the way history has been and is written, it is the history of historical writing. In studying historiography, there is no need to study the events of the past directly, but the changing interpretations of those events in the works of individual historians. The researchers in order to collect detailed data needed in this study will employ participant observation. Participant observation (Pearson 1995, 1) refers to a form of sociological research methodology in which the researcher takes on a role in the social situation under observation. The researchers will also directly interview the participants. Interviews (Lincoln, Y. S. , and Guba 1985, 37) provide very different data from observations: they allow the evaluation team to capture the perspectives of project participants, staff, and others associated with the project. In the hypothetical example, interviews with project staff can provide information on the early stages of the implementation and problems encountered. Key informant interviews will also be conducted. Key informant interviews (Pearson 1995, 1) are qualitative in-depth interviews with people who know what is going on in the community. The purpose of key informant interviews is to collect information from a wide range of people including community leaders, professionals, or residents who have firsthand knowledge about the community. The researchers will also conduct document studies. Existing records often provide insights into a setting and/or group of people that cannot be observed or noted in another way. This information can be found in document form. Lincoln and Guba (1985, 198) defined a document as any written or recorded material not prepared for the purposes of the evaluation or at the request of the inquirer. Documents can be divided into two major categories: public records, and personal documents (Guba and Lincoln 1981, 22). Site and Participant Selection The selection of the setting for this research will be the Province of Aklan. Two reasons were seen necessary for the researchers: first, there are several political families in the Province of Aklan, and second, the province has a rich political history. The participant for this research will be conducted among a purposively selected political family in the Province of Aklan. Data Treatment Procedure and Analysis A case study analysis consists of making a detailed description of the case and its setting. (Creswell 2007, 163) in analyzing the data, the researchers will create an organized file for data. They will then read through texts and make margin notes from its initial codes. After organizing and reading the data, the researchers will describe the case and its context. The researchers will then use categorical aggregation to establish themes or patterns. After establishing the themes or patterns, the researchers will use direct interpretation to interpret the case. They will then develop a naturalistic generalization. Lastly, after developing a naturalistic generalization, the researchers will present an in-depth picture of the case or cases using narrative, tables, and figures. How to cite Political Family, Essay examples

Competitive Analysis Porter’s Five-Forces Model free essay sample

The collective impact of competitive forces is so brutal in some industries that the market is clearly â€Å"unattractive† from a profit-making standpoint. Rivalry among existing firms is severe, new rivals can enter the industry with relative ease, and both suppliers and customers can exercise considerable bargaining leverage. According to Porter, the nature of competitiveness in a given industry can be viewed as a composite of five forces: 1. 2. FIGURE 3-3 The Five-Forces Model of Competition Potential development of substitute products Rivalry among competing firms Potential entry of new competitors Bargaining power of suppliers Rivalry among competing firms Bargaining power of consumers Potential entry of new competitors CHAPTER 3 †¢ THE EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT 75 TABLE 3-10 Intensity of Competition Among Firms in Different Industries (A through H industries only) Year-End Profit Margin 2006 2008 6 2 5 1 7 5 16 8 18 6 12 4 7 3 2 10 10 2 5 0 4 3 3 5 4 3 4 6 7 8 -13 9 -8 3 5 5 10 32 4 -1 7 7 1 3 -10 12 2 7 1 7 -10 3 2 2 3 1 -47 -5 Year-End Return on Investment 2006 2008 6 2 8 3 4 5 1. 3 7 8 7 1 5 8 3 4 4 6 5 6 1 7 4 5 8 4 9 6 6 3 8 -14 34 -10 2 6 0. 3 12 20 5 0 3 9 2 5 -3 2 4 7 1 11 -8 5 4 3 7 1 -43 0 Industry Aerospace and Defense Airlines Apparel Automotive Retailing Beverages Chemicals Commercial Banks Computer Peripherals Computer Software Computers, Office Equipment Diversified Financials Diversified Outsourcing Services Electronics, Electrical Equipment Energy Engineering, Construction Entertainment Financial Data Services Food and Drug Stores Food Consumer Products Food Production Food Services Forest and Paper Products General Merchandisers Health Care: Insurance Health Care: Medical Facilities Health Care: Pharmacy Home Equipment/Furnishings Homebuilders Hotels, Casinos, Resorts Source: Based on John Moore, â€Å"Ranked Within Industries,† Fortune (May 4, 2009): F-46–F-60. We will write a custom essay sample on Competitive Analysis: Porter’s Five-Forces Model or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 3. 4. 5. Potential development of substitute products Bargaining power of suppliers Bargaining power of consumers The following three steps for using Porter’s Five-Forces Model can indicate whether competition in a given industry is such that the firm can make an acceptable profit: 1. 2. 3. Identify key aspects or elements of each competitive force that impact the firm. Evaluate how strong and important each element is for the firm. Decide whether the collective strength of the elements is worth the firm entering or staying in the industry. Rivalry Among Competing Firms Rivalry among competing firms is usually the most powerful of the five competitive forces. The strategies pursued by one firm can be successful only to the extent that they 76 PART 2 †¢ STRATEGY FORMULATION provide competitive advantage over the strategies pursued by rival firms. Changes in strategy by one firm may be met with retaliatory countermoves, such as lowering prices, enhancing quality, adding features, providing services, extending warranties, and increasing advertising. Free-flowing information on the Internet is driving down prices and inflation worldwide. The Internet, coupled with the common currency in Europe, enables consumers to make price comparisons easily across countries. Just for a moment, consider the implications for car dealers who used to know everything about a new car’s pricing, while you, the consumer, knew very little. You could bargain, but being in the dark, you rarely could win. Now you can shop online in a few hours at every dealership within 500 miles to find the best price and terms. So you, the consumer, can win. This is true in many, if not most, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales transactions today. The intensity of rivalry among competing firms tends to increase as the number of competitors increases, as competitors become more equal in size and capability, as demand for the industry’s products declines, and as price cutting becomes common. Rivalry also increases when consumers can switch brands easily; when barriers to leaving the market are high; when fixed costs are high; when the product is perishable; when consumer demand is growing slowly or declines such that rivals have excess capacity and/or inventory; when the products being sold are commodities (not easily differentiated such as gasoline); when rival firms are diverse in strategies, origins, and culture; and when mergers and acquisitions are common in the industry. As rivalry among competing firms intensifies, industry profits decline, in some cases to the point where an industry becomes inherently unattractive. When rival firms sense weakness, typically they will intensify both marketing and production efforts to capitalize on the â€Å"opportunity. † Table 3-11 summarizes conditions that cause high rivalry among competing firms. Potential Entry of New Competitors Whenever new firms can easily enter a particular industry, the intensity of competitiveness among firms increases. Barriers to entry, however, can include the need to gain economies of scale quickly, the need to gain technology and specialized know-how, the lack of experience, strong customer loyalty, strong brand preferences, large capital requirements, lack of adequate distribution channels, government regulatory policies, tariffs, lack of access to TABLE 3-11 Conditions That Cause High Rivalry Among Competing Firms 1. High number of competing firms 2. Similar size of firms competing 3. Similar capability of firms competing 4. Falling demand for the industry’s products 5. Falling product/service prices in the industry 6. When consumers can switch brands easily 7. When barriers to leaving the market are high 8. When barriers to entering the market are low 9. When fixed costs are high among firms competing 10. When the product is perishable 11. When rivals have excess capacity 12. When consumer demand is falling 13. When rivals have excess inventory 14. When rivals sell similar products/services 15. When mergers are common in the industry CHAPTER 3 †¢ THE EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT 77 raw materials, possession of patents, undesirable locations, counterattack by entrenched firms, and potential saturation of the market. Despite numerous barriers to entry, new firms sometimes enter industries with higher-quality products, lower prices, and substantial marketing resources. The strategist’s job, therefore, is to identify potential new firms entering the market, to monitor the new rival firms’ strategies, to counterattack as needed, and to capitalize on existing strengths and opportunities. When the threat of new firms entering the market is strong, incumbent firms generally fortify their positions and take actions to deter new entrants, such as lowering prices, extending warranties, adding features, or offering financing specials. Potential Development of Substitute Products In many industries, firms are in close competition with producers of substitute products in other industries. Examples are plastic container producers competing with glass, paperboard, and aluminum can producers, and acetaminophen manufacturers competing with other manufacturers of pain and headache remedies. The presence of substitute products puts a ceiling on the price that can be charged before consumers will switch to the substitute product. Price ceilings equate to profit ceilings and more intense competition among rivals. Producers of eyeglasses and contact lenses, for example, face increasing competitive pressures from laser eye surgery. Producers of sugar face similar pressures from artificial sweeteners. Newspapers and magazines face substitute-product competitive pressures from the Internet and 24-hour cable television. The magnitude of competitive pressure derived from development of substitute products is generally evidenced by rivals’ plans for expanding production capacity, as well as by their sales and profit growth numbers. Competitive pressures arising from substitute products increase as the relative price of substitute products declines and as consumers’ switching costs decrease. The competitive strength of substitute products is best measured by the inroads into the market share those products obtain, as well as those firms’ plans for increased capacity and market penetration. Bargaining Power of Suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers affects the intensity of competition in an industry, especially when there is a large number of suppliers, when there are only a few good substitute raw materials, or when the cost of switching raw materials is especially costly. It is often in the best interest of both suppliers and producers to assist each other with reasonable prices, improved quality, development of new services, just-in-time deliveries, and reduced inventory costs, thus enhancing long-term profitability for all concerned. Firms may pursue a backward integration strategy to gain control or ownership of suppliers. This strategy is especially effective when suppliers are unreliable, too costly, or not capable of meeting a firm’s needs on a consistent basis. Firms generally can negotiate more favorable terms with suppliers when backward integration is a commonly used strategy among rival firms in an industry. However, in many industries it is more economical to use outside suppliers of component parts than to self-manufacture the items. This is true, for example, in the outdoor power equipment industry where producers of lawn mowers, rotary tillers, leaf blowers, and edgers such as Murray generally obtain their small engines from outside manufacturers such as Briggs Stratton who specialize in such engines and have huge economies of scale. In more and more industries, sellers are forging strategic partnerships with select suppliers in efforts to (1) reduce inventory and logistics costs (e. g. through just-in-time deliveries); (2) speed the availability of next-generation components; (3) enhance the quality of the parts and components being supplied and reduce defect rates; and (4) squeeze out important cost savings for both themselves and their suppliers. 13 Bargaining Power of Consumers When customers are concentrated or large or buy in volume, their bargaining power represents a major force affecting the intensity of competition in an industry. Rival firms may 78 PART 2 †¢ STRATEGY FORMULATION offer extended warranties or special services to gain customer loyalty whenever the bargaining power of consumers is substantial. Bargaining power of consumers also is higher when the products being purchased are standard or undifferentiated. When this is the case, consumers often can negotiate selling price, warranty coverage, and accessory packages to a greater extent. The bargaining power of consumers can be the most important force affecting competitive advantage. Consumers gain increasing bargaining power under the following circumstances: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. If they can inexpensively switch to competing brands or substitutes If they are particularly important to the seller If sellers are struggling in the face of falling consumer demand If they are informed about sellers’ products, prices, and costs If they have discretion in whether and when they purchase the product14