Problem Set in History - Essay Example

? History Assignment a. Political socialisation is the process with which people learn attitudes and values so as to fit into political life (KRITSER, 2002). As such, there are certain factors that propagate political socialisation which can in turn also affect partisanship. A core factor that affects the process of political socialisation is communication. This can also affect partisanship. With regard to children and their parents, the communication between them might subconsciously result in the child becoming a partisan of a political ideology. This is also true in the case of couples. However, studies show that it is more likely for a woman to follow the partisanship of the husband as compared to the contrary scenario. Genetics can also play a vital role in partisanship. Genetics is vital in the political socialisation of an individual. This is sourced from the fact that there is a predisposition to incline towards certain issues in the society. The perception of peer groups can affect political socialisation. This then, in turn, affects partisanship of the individual. However, the effect of these groups is thought to be of lesser power as compared to parents. b. Bipartisanship has always characterised the agenda of presidential elections. Each one of them endeavours to increase bipartisan interactions with the opposition. However, this is rarely an easy undertaking. This stems from the presence of barriers within the political system. The political system, in place, has resulted in the presence of Congress members who have little institutional knowledge. As such, their reconvened notions are always to counter the arguments of the opposing party. Insider knowledge is vital in the performance of congress members. This is exemplified by the relative bipartisanship evident in a significant number of politically older Congress members. Aside from this source of partisanship, there exists a crucial element that is responsible for partisanship. The political system is responsible for instituting reforms that limit the amount of campaign donations from a single source. This necessitates the campaign to search for funding from several sources. These subsequent interactions by the donors results in political socialisation. As such, when in Congress, these ideologies are in most cases different from those propagated by the rival party. 2. a. In such a situation, the Democrats would be campaigning for the bill. This is probable since they operate under the premise that the benefit of the general public should be of the core concern. All through the entirety of the House sessions and political stance of the current administration, this has always been their unspoken mantra. This is best exemplified by their stance on the AIG situation. The Democrats were against the hefty package payout to the giant insurance firm. The Republicans are most likely to be against the bill. In line with their stance on the bailout, it can be assumed that they will be catering the upper class citizens, especially the millionaires. As such, they will put up convincing arguments to justify their stance. Arguments might be in the form of the bill being in detriment to the country as it scares investors. At this juncture, the passage of the bill is a demanding affair. b. In a country with a parliamentary system, the complexities mentioned above are almost non-existent. This stems, in part, from the fact that partisanship is not significantly entrenched in the American system. In a parliamentary system, the opposition does not endeavour to solely reject the policies proposed by the government. As such, once an appropriate higher number of members accept the bill, it moves to the head of state (MAISEL, 2007). 3. A nation is defined as a group of people unified by their nationality or ethnic background. A distinguishing factor is that nations are not associated with any geography. On the other hand, a state is an independent country: sovereignty. It is geographical location that is governed by a sovereign government. Conflicts most often characterise situations where states are aligned with nations. When this situation is left unattended, it often culminates in civil wars. 4. Recession and Unemployment a. Lorraine: The best approach to dealing with recession has to be instigating spending. Ken: How do you propose to instigate government spending when we are in depression? Lorraine: We will borrow from foreign sources and inject this surplus into the economy. In this way, the economy will not stagnate and this will experience growth while in recession. The country will maintain its competitiveness all through the recession (LINDEN & MANDERS, 1999). As such, companies will be in a position to employ more workers, thus reducing joblessness. Ken: Your proposal is a short term one. It will eventuate in this country having a negative credit rating and will have to be reduced. I am proposing to cut government spending. This country needs investors, but your approach will impede their endeavours. Investors do not want to invest in a country that is actively endeavouring to reduce its trade deficit. Thus, we should not borrow. In so doing, the government will not need to raise taxes, inflation rate will not increase, and the bonds of the country will be significantly appealing (LATHAM & PROWLE, 2012). Lorraine: I agree with you that my approach has some drawbacks. However, the drawbacks of your approach are much more serious. Your approach will not solve the problem of employment; rather, it will cause more unemployment. b. Large Debt and Deficit Lorraine: The Keynesian approach is best suited to reduce large debt and deficit. Since the government has instigated spending in the economy, it is projected that income will increase. Additionally, instigating expenditure will attract investors, thus increasing income. This increase in income will be used to reduce the deficit after the recession. This is hinged on the belief by Keynes that the deficit should not be settled during the downturn. Ken: Debts can only be reduced when the government spends less. Unless this is undertaken, a country can go into default, thus limiting its sources of credit in the future. 5. Daniel Kahneman describes the cognitive and emotional factors that affect the decisions made by individuals and firms in the economic context. He believes that psychology plays a role in the making of decisions. Kahneman supports the experimental and survey based techniques of behavioural economics. This is, however, contradictory to the beliefs of classical economists who favoured revealed rather than stated preferences. References KRITSER, H. M. (2002) Legal systems of the world: a political, social, and cultural encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif, ABC-CLIO. LATHAM, R. & PROWLE, M. (2012) Public services and financial austerity: getting out of the hole? Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. LINDEN, J. T. J. M. V. D. & MANDERS, A. J. C. (1999) The economics of income distribution: heterodox approaches. Cheltenham, UK, E. Elgar. MAISEL, L. S. (2007) American political parties and elections: a very short introduction. New York, Oxford University Press. Read More