Economic Development amid the Non (or Semi) Democratic political Term Paper

Economic Development amid the Non (or Semi) Democratic political institutions in Southeast Asia - Term Paper Example There are reports claiming that during the 2008 referendum which concurred with the cyclone Nargis, victims of the cyclone in the cyclone-affected areas were forced to vote ‘yes’ for the national referendum. The Union of Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) which is a non-military/civilian wing of the dictatorship threatened to cut relief supplies or inflict violence to anyone who voted against the proposed constitution. The new constitution was thus supported and enacted with 92.48% of the voters endorsing it. This indicates that despite the presence of opposition, total democracy was far from reach in Burma because these democrats were not likely to win the elections and referendums. These activities were oppressed and controlled by the nondemocratic military regime. Apart from inhuman treatment of the people, there was also a violation of the right of freedom of speech by the military regime. Burma citizens had little power to critic and correct the militaris ed nondemocratic political regime. Zarnagar, a comedian and a dissident was arrested for criticising the ruling generals in public for their sluggish and inadequate response to the cyclone Nargis. He was charged with offences of public order and his computer and many banned films were seized by secret police. When human conditions worsened because of the unmerited fuel price increase in 2007 in Burma, Charles Petrie, the United Nations Burma country chief, issued a statement on UN Day concerning the worsening humanitarian crisis in Burma. Because of this, he was expelled. Generally, the militarised nondemocratic government reinforced its rule by making use of pervasive security apparatus with Directorate of Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI), the military intelligence organization... The intention of this study is Burma as an example of how the economy of a nation can suffer because of poor leadership styles. For about half a century, the country has been under a militarized nondemocratic government which has grown to become more and more oppressive over time. the country has witnessed one of the worst violations of human rights because of a bad political regime. In efforts to maintain thumb of rule in the country the regime formulated poor and unattractive economic policies which have discouraged both local and foreign investment in the country. The land policies have acted as disincentives for the people to undertake land development and this has retarded the competitiveness of the nation’s agriculture. There are many and powerful global examples of highly developed nations that are ruled by democratic civilian governments. The US, UK, Canada, South Africa are just but a mention. This means that there are hopes that the end of the nondemocratic militari zed regime will bring Burma back on the road to development. Economic development is an important prerequisite for greater stability, prosperity, equality, stability, and better livelihoods. With the recent advent of the new Burma’s civilian, democratic government, it is of due significance that the international community should help direct the new Burma’s government into achieving economic developments that are sustainable. This will be very instrumental in ensuring that the repressed people of Burma receive the right food, education, health, security and happiness they deserve.

Research In Human Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Research In Human Relations - Essay Example Let us now define research through its characteristics. Research begins with a problem or a question followed by the setting of goals and devising of a method or specific plan. The main problem is expounded by a hypothesis and assumptions regarding the cause or possible solutions are accepted as part of the research process. Research is not only about data gathering, but it is likewise concerned with the interpretation of data as a means to arrive at a solution to the problem or an answer to the main question (Andersen). There are four basic research design elements. These elements include treatments, measures, time and groups or individual. We shall focus on the time element for the purposes of this paper. Time is very important as it determines the degree and quality of observed changes. There are two classifications of research design under the time element: cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. A cross-sectional study is carried out at one instance, while a longitudinal study occurs over a period of time with a series of measurements (Trochim, 2006). A cross-sectional study includes observation of diverse groups of people of various age levels or a cross-section of a population. A longitudinal study involves observing and gathering information from the same group of people over a period of time. The focus of cross-sectional studies is on the differences between groups at a certain point in time, while the focus of longitudinal studies is on individual change over an extended period of time (A Research Typology, 2004). Since a cross-sectional study is done at only one instance, the expenses and time needed to gather data are very minimal. This is an advantage of the cross-sectional strategy. It is more convenient for both the participants and the researcher because there is only one period for data gathering (King, 2001). The participants need not go back for other sessions and researchers do not need to maintain contact with participants and sustain a budget for data collection over a long period of time. Another advantage is the large amount of diverse data that can be collected at one time. This data is very useful to the researcher in the immediate analysis and solution of a problem, and may also be very helpful to other researchers searching for similar data. A major di sadvantage though of this strategy is its failure to measure the actual individual changes that will occur or may inevitably be experienced by the subjects. It is a static representation of the variables and causes and effects cannot be measure accurately. In attitudinal or perception studies more often used in Psychology, a cross-sectional study is not dependable because many factors may affect the disposition or attitude of a person at a given time. Personal problems or emotionally disturbance experienced by subjects very close to the data gathering session may affect their responses. The elimination of outside factors can be done through a longitudinal study where subjects are contacted at different periods where their experiences and personal dispositions are varied. The main advantage of a longitudinal study is its ability to determine actual changes and trends that happen over a vast interval of time because it documents information from each subject at specific age levels and records comparisons between subjects across different timelines. Patterns of changes and causes of