4) In the democracy of the United States, voting is an integral part of the democratic process. For some, voting is a way to support their views and the candidates they share them with. Others see it as simply their patriotic duty, something they know they should do, though not for any reason other than it is their duty to do so. Voting has, apparently, been linked to one’s socialization by their parents. If a child was exposed to regular voting as a child, they are more likely to vote than if someone has told them it is the right thing to do (Barner-Barry & Rosenwein, 1985). Woshinsky points to numerous different possible social factors that would determine how someone votes. Early learned norms, like Barner-Barry and Rosenwein’s exposure to voting, often play a key part in developing a pattern. Demographic variables, such as class, religion, region, age, and gender may also affect how a person votes (Woshinsky, 1995). The 1996 Presidential election can be used to show how these affect the outcome of elections.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton defeated challenger former Senator Bob Dole by a convincing margin. A CNN Exit poll broke down how different groups voted and why they may have done so. President Clinton opened the gender gap more than has been ever recorded by an exit poll, gaining the votes of 17% more women than Dole, 54%-37%. When the economic situation of each respondent was analyzed, 67% of those who said they were “better off” now than they were four years ago voted for Clinton, as compared to only 25% voting for Dole. Comparatively, those who said they were worse off than they were four years ago voted by a 2 to 1 margin for Dole. This is understandable. It has been said that Americans vote their pocketbook. When the economy is good and people are happy, they do not like to disrupt things by electing a new president (Clinton benefits, 1996).
Clinton may have faced some problems when his character was called into question. A majority of voters said that they did not feel the Clinton was honest and trustworthy. This belief is often times a key in how someone votes, as it is related to how that person was brought up. However, Clinton was saved by the fact that another majority felt the candidate’s stances on the issues were more important than their character (Clinton benefits, 1996).
For many people, the economy is a big factor in how they vote. Of those who said the economy was a major issue, 58 percent of Floridians chose Clinton as compared to 27 percent voting for Dole. Voters did support Dole on a few issues. Seventy six percent of the voters surveyed supported Dole’s 15 percent tax cut, as compared to only 16 percent favoring Clinton’s plan. People also thought of Dole as the person to reduce the federal deficit by a 53 to 29 percent margin (Clinton Benefits, 1996). The belief systems of those who favored a tax cut lead them to prefer Dole’s plan, though in reality, not the same percentage of people voted for Dole. This would suggest that the other factors mentioned earlier, race, class, and religion, have a great impact on who someone supports.
5) Decision-making and justice often times go hand in hand. In times of civil and/or political unrest, the decisions made be those in charge often deal with the limiting of rights and enforcement of justice as the leaders see it. If that means the use of tanks on civilian protestors, so be it. Other nations have beaten protestors and some nations tear-gas their demonstrators. There is even one nation that has both tear-gassed and killed protestors. That nation: the United States of America. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, riots over the Vietnam War were prevalent across the U.S. This particular extreme use of force took place in Kent, Ohio. An anti-war protest turned violent and the National Guard was called in. By the end of the day, the soldiers had killed four students and tear-gassed hundreds more. There are several forms of justice. Procedural justice is based on the way the legal decision was made. Distributive justice deals with the substance of the justice. Procedural justice is easier to establish than distributive, since how justice was handed down is dealt with in procedural justice. Microjustice is the fairness by which public resources are distributed to people within the political system. Macrojustice deals with the aggregate fairness by which the resources are distributed. The big difference between the two is macrojustice ignores the attributes of the recipients and specifies a priority for certain funds to be distributed. Equity based justice works only as long as there is an agreement on what counts as an investment and the relationships between investments to outcomes (Barner-Barry & Rosenwein, 1985).
The annual World Trade Organization s meeting was held in Seattle, Washington as a chance to showcase the city. Unfortunately, what the world got was a look at how the U.S. has taken to handling protests. Protestors say that the city had plenty of notice that there were going to be hundreds of protestors at the rally, protesting the presumed unfair trade practices of the WTO. The peaceful protestors had been joined by a few dozen anarchists, who have been accused by the protestors as being the ones who committed most of the vandalism and looting through out the downtown (Hearing, 1999). By November 30, the mayor of Seattle had imposed a curfew and had called in the National Guard to help maintain order. The police force had spent much of the previous days using pepper spray to keep the protestors back and away from the delegates (Seattle Mayor, 1999). The mayor had decided on using a distributive form of justice, authorizing the police department to use force to keep the protestors at bay and calling in the National Guard. He thought that these steps would allow the meetings to continue in peace, though they did not. By the end of the conference, over 500 people had been arrested by the Seattle police. The police chief hastened his resignation, taking full responsibility for how things were handled during the riots (Seattle police, 1999).
The Bay of Pigs Invasion shows how one government may try to force its ideas on another nation through the use of force. On April 15, 1961, U.S. bombers disguised as Cuban aircraft took off and attacked airstrips, though they only caused minimal damage. The next day, 1500 guerillas trained by the CIA landed at the Bay of Pigs, south of Havana. President Kennedy, facing condemnation for the bombings, cut off air support to the fighters. The Cuban air force was able to destroy ships carrying ammunition and other necessities to the guerillas. Within 72 hours, all 1500 of the rebels were either captured or dead (Cuba, 1998). President Kennedy had only been president a matter of months before he cleared the invasion to take place. He had been briefed by out-going President Eisenhower and his staff on the plan. The CIA had devised the plan based on a number of perceptions. Those perceptions turned out to be false. The threat of the spread of Communism was so real that Kennedy had authorized the use of force to prevent the spread. He felt personally responsible for what happened (Interviews 1998). Kennedy had chosen to use a distributive justice stance in allowing the attacks to go on. He saw the microjustice system in Cuba and was afraid that it would spill into the United States.
Works Cited
Question #1
1) Barner-Barry, Carol and Rosenwein, Robert. (1985) Psychological Perspectives on Politics Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, INC.
2) Bash, Dana. (1999) Congressional, administration budget negotiators continue to seek resolution. Retrieved December 10, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/11/29/budget/index.html
3) Clinton signs final fiscal 2000 budget bill. Retrieved December 10, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/11/29/spending.sign/index.html
4) Clinton waives abortion prohibition. Retrieved December 10, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/11/30/abortion.waiver/index.html
5) Franken, Bob. (1999) GOP struggles to pass budget cuts. Retrieved December 10, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/10/26/franken.budget/index.html
6) White House and GOP negotiators agree on plan for 100,000 new teachers. Retrieved December 10, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/11/11/budget.teachers/index.html
Question #2
1) Barner-Barry, Carol and Rosenwein, Robert. (1985) Psychological Perspectives on Politics Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, INC.
2) Defining Moments in Chechnya in 1996. Retrieved December 9, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/EVENTS/1996/year.in.review/world/chechnya/chechnya.html
3) Few Flee Chechnya Capital. Retrieved December 12, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/1999/WORLD/europe/12/12/russia.chechnya.02/index.html
4) Woshinsky, Oliver H. (1995) Culture And Politics Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Question #3
1) CIA Factbook. (1996) Croatia. Retrieved October 12, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html/hr
2) CIA Factbook. (1996) Cuba. Retrieved October 12, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html/cu
3) CIA Factbook. (1996) The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Retrieved October 12, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html/cg
4) CIA Factbook. (1996) Switzerland. Retrieved October 12, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html/ch
5) Woshinsky, Oliver H. (1995) Culture And Politics Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Question #4
1) Barner-Barry, Carol and Rosenwein, Robert. (1985) Psychological Perspectives on Politics Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, INC.
2) Clinton benefits from gender gap. Retrieved December 11, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/news/9611/06/exit.poll.update/index.html
3) Woshinsky, Oliver H. (1995) Culture And Politics Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Question #5
1) Barner-Barry, Carol and Rosenwein, Robert. (1985) Psychological Perspectives on Politics Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, INC.
2) Cuba Episode Recap. Retrieved December 11, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/10/recap/3.html
3) Hearing on WTO, police actions in Seattle draws hundreds. Retrieved December 11, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/1999/US/12/09/wto.council.hearing.ap
4) Interviews: Theodore Sorensen. Retrieved December 11, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/interviews/sorensen
5) Seattle mayor declares civil emergency as WTO unrest grows. Retrieved December 11, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/US/9911/30/wto.03/index.html
6) Seattle police chief resigns following WTO riots. Retrieved December 11, 1999 From World Wide Web: http://www.cnn.com/1999/US/12/07/seattle.police.chief.asp/
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