The Social Contract and Its Impact on American Politics

The Social Contract and Its Impact on American Politics The term social contract refers to the idea that the state exists only to serve the will of the people, who are the source of all political power enjoyed by the state. The people can choose to give or withhold this power.  The idea of the social contract is one of the foundations of the American political system. Origin of the Term The term social contract can be found as far back as the writings of the 4th-5th century BCE Greek philosopher Plato. However, it was English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) who expanded on the idea when he wrote Leviathan,  his philosophical response to the English Civil War. In the book, he wrote that in early human history there was no government. Instead, those who were the strongest could take control and use their power over others at any time. His famous summation of life in nature (before government) is that it was nasty, brutish, and short. Hobbes theory was that in the past, the people mutually agreed to create a state, giving it only enough power to provide protection of their well-being. However, in Hobbes theory, once the power was given to the state, the people then relinquished any right to that power. In effect, the loss of rights was the price of the protection they sought. Rousseau and Locke The Swiss philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) and English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) each took the social contract theory one step further. In 1762, Rousseau wrote The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right, in which he explained that government is based on the idea of popular sovereignty. The essence of this idea is that the will of the people as a whole gives power and direction to the state. John Locke based many of his political writings on the idea of the social contract. He stressed the role of the individual and the idea that in a state of nature, people are essentially free. When Locke referred to the state of nature, he meant that people have a natural state of independence, and they should be free to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature. Locke argued that people are thus not royal subjects, but in order to secure their property rights, people willingly give over their right to a central authority to judge whether a person is going against the laws of nature and needed to be punished. The type of government is less important to Locke (except for absolute despotism): Monarchy, aristocracy, and republic are all acceptable forms of government as long as that government provides and protects the basic rights of life, liberty, and property to the people. Locke further argued that if a government no longer protects each individuals right, then revolution is not just a right but an obligation. Impact on the Founding Fathers The idea of the social contract had a huge impact on the American Founding Fathers, especially Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) and James Madison (1751–1836). The U.S. Constitution starts with the three words, We the people..., embodying this idea of popular sovereignty in the very beginning of this key document. Following from this principle, a government established by the free choice of its people is required to serve the people, who in the end have  sovereignty, or supreme power, to keep or overthrow that government. Jefferson and John Adams (1735–1826), often political rivals, agreed in principle but disagreed about whether a strong central government (Adams and the federalists) or a weak one (Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans) sufficed best for supporting the social contract. Social Contract for Everyone As with many philosophical ideas behind the political theory, the social contract has inspired various forms and interpretations and has been evoked by many different groups throughout American history. Revolutionary-era Americans favored social contract theory over the British Tory concepts of patriarchal government and looked to the social contract as support for the rebellion. During the antebellum and Civil War periods, social contract theory was used by all sides. Slaveholders used it to support states rights and succession, Whig party moderates upheld the social contract as a symbol of continuity in government, and abolitionists found support in Lockes theories of natural rights. More recently, historians also have linked social contract theories to pivotal social movements such as those for Native American rights, civil rights, immigration reform, and womens rights.  Ã‚   Sources and Further Reading Dienstag, Joshua Foa. Between History and Nature: Social Contract Theory in Locke and the Founders. The Journal of Politics 58.4 (1996): 985–1009.Hulliung, Mark. The Social Contract in America: From the Revolution to the Present Age. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2007.  Lewis, H.D. Plato and the Social Contract. Mind 48.189 (1939): 78–81.  Riley, Patrick. Social Contract Theory and its Critics. Goldie, Mark and Robert Worker (eds.), The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought, Volume 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 347–375.White, Stuart. Review Article: Social Rights and Social Contract- Political Theory and the New Welfare Politics. British Journal of Political Science 30.3 (2000): 507–32.

Advanced HealthCare Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Advanced HealthCare Management - Essay Example the organization and they help in establishing plans through which they effectively cooperate to fulfill the aims of such organizations in the most amicable ways. In health care, teams help in implementing the plans of the institutions they serve so that they offer services that can establish them quality deliverers for the benefit of their clients. Teams that are established in different organizations have different characteristic that produce significant impact on the performance of such at the individual or organizational level (Burns, Bradley & Weiner, 2012). This implies that at to ensure that a team is to produce exemplary results that will trigger the success of the organization; the teams that exist in must have a well focused on the goals. One factor that leads to good performance of a team and consequently improves the productivity of the organization is communication among the team members that are involved in establishing it. Communication ensures that team members are in a position to exchange relevant data among themselves and lead to improvement of the quality of services they offer to clients. In health care, teams ensure that all the people are in a position to supply the information about a specific field of study which turns out to be relevant to the care they give to the people to patients. On the contrary, failure in the communication results to low performance of the team because the members lack the updated information that can be of help in implementing care (Woodcock & Francis, 2008). Another characteristic of a team that has an impact on performance is the diversity that is represented by the team members who work together because they have different backgrounds. The diversity in a team can work for the improvement of a team if they work to bring together knowledge in different fields that will ensure they diversify the perspective of looking at the care. On the other hand, diversity in the group can cause conflicts that can weigh down

The Tortilla Curtain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Tortilla Curtain - Essay Example The increasing number of criminal elements in the neighborhood who create havoc by engaging in robberies such as the one that has left the Candidos with nothing to sustain their life, threatens to expose the immigrants’ safe haven to scrutiny by security and immigration agencies in the foreign land. In light of this potentially bleak future, Delaney’s character enables him to blend well within the society, at least temporarily. The cuts the image of a liberal individual with a clean driving record riding in a roadworthy Japanese car with unique registration details, before accidentally hitting Candido. My fear is that Delaney’s accident free driving record and his customized number plate, meant to attract the least of the public attention to his movements within the neighborhood seems to be compromised the moment his car rams Candido taking away his productivity. Delaney’s uncontrolled emotions also present a fearfully bleak future for him especially when he threateningly points a gun at Candido for causing a fire in the neighborhood. ... entially depicts the generosity of the owners of the food store and that of the donor customer towards members of the poor people in the neighborhood. The plot outlines the socio-economic and political gap between the higher-end and the lower-end segments of the society; and a concerted effort by some segments of the society to bridge it through business promotions and charity campaigns. (b) Even though the Mossbachers have secured an apartment inside the walled neighborhood with secure gates, they are depicted as having a fair share of their own unique challenges. The family is infuriated by the wrath of nature witnessed in the killing of one of their two pets by a coyote. Boyle’s narration of their agony in response to the dog killing incident is seemingly more unbearable to the couple than the suffering of fellow illegal immigrants, most of who are like the Candidos, who struggle to secure basic needs in vain (37). Candido and his pregnant wife are left with nothing after t he robbery incident, a situation that prompts them to scavenge at fast food shops. Question # 4 The US government’s deployment of millions of illegal migrants to various sectors to provide casual labor such in local farms, homes, construction sites, and food joints, and care facilities presents a moral dilemma as most of them fled their native countries due to unbearable socio-economic and political conditions. The resulting enactment of tough immigration laws that are aimed at excluding illegal aliens from doing government jobs has ethical repercussions as well. On the one hand, the aliens’ denial of government jobs in various sectors leaves them with the option to turn to fewer private investors and property owners for livelihood. The huge number of the undocumented aliens who run into

Evolution Theory Essay Example for Free

Evolution Theory Essay Darwin spent five years exploring the world. Darwin traveled to many places mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. As he traveled from place to place, Darwin was surprised, by the similarities between the species. He wrote in his journal of the Galapagos Islands, there is even a difference between the inhabitants of the different islands; yet all show a marked relationship with those of America, though separated from that continent by an open space of ocean, between 500 and 600 miles in width. At this early stage of his life, along with graduating college Darwin soon began collecting evidence for his theory of Evolution and natural selection. While on his journey Darwin made many observations. They were mainly about the different species he saw on the Galapagos Islands. Each island had a different variation of birds. He noticed that the beak sizes of the finches were different on each island because of the size seeds they ate. Darwin noticed that organisms reproduce more offspring than can survive. Each individual offspring has unique characteristics that can be hereditable. Most of Darwin’s observations focused on the idea of natural adaptions. Darwin noticed that the body parts an animal used the most for survival, evolved over periods of time. Meaning if a giraffe tends to use its neck a lot, it will extend in length throughout time. This is an organism’s natural adaption to, living within its environment. These observations lead to the theory of Evolution. Aside from this Darwin observed the competitive field among organisms. An organism’s physical adaption can either make or break them. Survival of the fittest is key in every habitat. Through evolution, organisms have been allowed to make physical and behavioral adaptions that can be beneficial towards survival. In his theory Darwin states that organisms have visible differences. This difference can be inherited from the offspring’s parents. Another point is that organism’s produce more offspring than can survive. From these organisms that are produced, many do not reproduce later on in life. Since so many organisms are reproduced there is a fight for the survival of the fittest. Individuals best suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully. The characteristics that make them best suited to their environment are passed on to offspring. Individuals whose characteristics are not as well suited to their environment die or leave fewer offspring. Organisms change over time, this is the theory that Darwin tries to prove known as evolution. It is believed that organism adapt t their environment and change over periods of time. The species that live in present day are descendants form those in the past. All organisms on Earth are united by one common ancestor. These are the major points form Darwin’s theory of Evolution. I feel that Darwin’s theory is very accurate. Organisms adapt over time and this adaptions help with natural survival. Evolution occurs over periods of time and has leaded us to our modern state. Every organism is the descendant of a prehistoric ancestor. There are visible similarities, but sometimes it may be hard to tell an organisms’ ancestor. I feel that if changes occur gradually it can be easily noticed that organism’s physical, behavioral and outer appearances change.

The Bluest Eye: How Society Took Pecola’s Innocence Essay example -- T

The immoral acts of society raped Pecola Breedlove, took her innocence, and left her to go insane. The Random House Dictionary defines â€Å"rape† as â€Å"an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse; despoliation; violation.† The Random House definition perfectly describes what happens to Pecola over the course of the novel. From Pecola’s standpoint, society rapes her repeatedly, by their judgmental attitudes towards everything that she is; she is â€Å"ugly,† she is poor, she is black. In Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Morrison shines a critical light on society, illumining the immoral acts that it participates in, through the story of how a little girl is thrown by the wayside since she does not embody the societal ideal. Instead of one human antagonist for our protagonist, Pecola, we see most of society as the antagonist. The immoral acts of society destroy Pecola Breedlove from the inside out. One of the first immoral acts that society introduces to Pecola is lust – lust for â€Å"whiteness†, for beauty. She is taught from a young age that beauty is one of the standards that she will be held up to. In addition, society tells her that the key of being beautiful is being white, something Pecola never can be. One of the major quotes in the book shows just how powerful common belief can be. â€Å"†¦they stayed there because they believed they were ugly†¦ No one could have convinced them that they were not relentlessly and aggressively ugly,† [Emphasis added] (Pg. 28). Although, Morrison does not actually say that the Breedloves were physically ugly, she implies that society told them they were ugly, therefore they believed they were ugly. This belief came from society setting a standard that Pecola could never reach. Sadly, this poor little girl did n... ...nd Jane† lifestyle that Morrison introduces us into, we see a poor girl that is put down and society rapes. You may think Pecola was just one horribly unlucky child, that her problems are the cause of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Yet, that is a naà ¯ve way of thinking; the evidence obviously shows that Pecola was tormented because society told everyone that she is an ugly â€Å"little black bitch†, that happened to be raped, making her even less human. Therefore, any negative event that happens to her, small or large, is something she is expected to have and she brought it on to herself. To me, the biggest argument that Morrison makes with her first novel is that society is the most powerful judge in our everyday life. If society deems use to be not worthy of its care or time, we should expect hell from it; and Pecola Breedlove is deemed not to be worthy.

Does violence on televison lead to violence in real life? Essay

The debate on television violence has been on going for many years now and has produced a wide and varied set of views and research results. Many well established psychologists have attempted, through various types of experiments and observations, to either support or negate a link between violence on television and the violent episodes in â€Å"real† life. These sets of data have thrown up some interesting views and personal conclusions regarding the subject of television violence, and we will show the varying views and conclusions that some of these psychologists have reached; and by using a respected and well known system we will try to show the views of a small section of our community. Previous research into the link between violence and television Over the years numerous psychologists have produced thousands of experiments and or research to support or negate the link between violence and television. In 1987 a psychologist named Cumberbatch produced data on the actual amounts of violence found to be in British television programmes. He concluded that 30% of the programmes contained some form of violence, with an overall frequency of 1. 14 violent acts per programme and 1. 68 violent acts per hour. Each act of violence lasted an average 25 seconds leading to violence occupying just over 1% of total television airtime. His research showed that in 26% of violent acts death occurred, but in 61% no injuries were shown and the victim was portrayed as being in pain or stunned. In 83% of cases, no blood was shown as a result of a violent act, and considerable blood and gore occurred in only 0. 2% of cases. Cumberbatch also revealed that most perpetrators of violent acts were more likely to be portrayed as â€Å"baddies† rather than â€Å"goodies†, and violence occurred twice as frequently in law breaking than in law-upholding contexts. His research, although neither for or against violence on television, gives us an idea of the amount of violence on television we are exposed to. Howitt and Cumberbatch in 1974 analysed 300 studies of television violence and it’s direct effect on children’s behaviour, they played down the link between television violence and the children’s behaviour. A further study into the relationships between the media and violence carried out by Eron 1987and Phillips 1986 found a different conclusion. They concluded that a positive correlation between the amount of aggression viewed at 8 and later aggression at 30 could be seen. George Gerbner (1989) researched television and its influences on human behaviour and said: † Television influences human behaviour because there are â€Å"routes† or mechanisms whereby the content of television can have an effect on what we do, and how we act. Thus, part of televisions influence comes about because of how we learn (by observation and imitation), because of how we respond to certain kinds of story material (arousal/desensitisation), and because of the structure of our inhibitions and the way television provides the kind of stimulation necessary to release them (disinhibition). I called these behavioural mechanisms, because for the most part the influence was shown on some activity† (p128 The Psychology of Television) Aletha Huston (university of Kansas 1989) studied the effects of television violence on children’s behaviour and stated: † Children who watch violent television programmes, even ‘just funny’ cartoons, were more likely to hit out at their playmates, argue, disobey class rules, leave tasks unfinished, and were less willing to wait for things than those who watched the non violent programmes. â€Å"(p 142 The Psychology of Television) We can see from the varying studies, different results and opinions of these psychologists just how hard it can be to support or negate a link between violence on television and in real life. How the questionnaires were prepared in class In a classroom environment we produced a questionnaire on peoples opinions relating to the link between television violence and real life. The class split into small groups of three or four and discussed possible questions to add to the questionnaire, trying to have a balance of pro television and anti television questions. The individual group questions were discussed and eight questions picked to make up the actual questionnaire, these questions consisted of four pro television and four anti television, the questions were set out so an anti television was followed by a pro television question. The obvious reason for the split into pro and anti television is to try and produce a questionnaire that will give the people taking part a non-biased set of alternate answers.

A Critical Study Of World Religions By Craig Martin

In his book, A Critical Introduction to the Study of World Religions, Craig Martin aims to introduce undergraduate students to a socio-functional approach in exposing the methods in which religion disrupts class equality. He succeeds by using intelligible explanations, arguments, and examples to skeptically understand how man is shaped by religion. Martin uses a functionalistic approach to understand the role religion plays in society, exploring each object with hermeneutical suspicion, believing, for the sake of this study, that any supernatural claims are false. By exploring such concepts as classification, structured society, and habitus, Martin explains how â€Å"we, as humans, are a product of society†. He focuses on answering questions such as â€Å"what’s going on† and â€Å"whose interests are served† by skeptically looking at the way in which people use legitimation, authority, and authenticity to push their own agendas. Craig Martin is the Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at St. Thomas Aquinas College. He serves upon the North American Association for the Study of Religion, and is the author of five books that primarily deal with the complex relationship between society and religion and the â€Å"religious experience†. Martin begins by demonstrating the difficulty of defining religion, instead opting for a colloquial use. From this base, he moves outward, primarily focusing on the class structure of society, demonstrating how people are formed by insider/outsiderShow MoreRelatedThe Religious Ritual Of Snake Handling Essay1305 Words   |  6 PagesCraig Martin, author of A Critical Introduction to the Study of Religion, defines â€Å"functionalism† as an approach where scholars â€Å"look for a particular function religion might play in society† (8). Religion plays a large function around the world and for all people, regardless if one is religious or not. 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