Key Differences Between Civil Law And Criminal Law Essay

Key Differences Between Civil Law And Criminal Law - Essay Example In this respect, people are likely to be convicted of the crime they committed or to be set free on the bases of lack of substantial evidence to charge them with the crimes they could have committed. According to different issues in administration of justice between two or more people or concerning organisations, there are two kinds of laws that can be identified. These laws include the criminal law, which deals with crimes and legal punishment in which the offenders are accorded the due punishment and; and civil laws, which is designed to settle disputes between two people or organisation and ends up in the compensation of the victims. These kinds of laws are used to handle different cases and they give different kinds of judgement for what should be done in a case where one party is found guilty (Padfield, 2006, p4). They also differ in terms of filing and appealing as well as in terms of the kind of the people who should be involved in approving the judgment of the case. The evalu ation of these laws gives incite of how cases are handled in a courtroom where a case is presented to the jury for determination of the issues and passing of judgement. In determining a case, it must first be categorised according to its effects on the state or the involved and it is handled according to different laws that are in the state. In this respect, different cases can be filed by specific parties in case they happen to affect two parties who are present in the case or their representatives. For example, in criminal laws, a case can only be filed by the government or a state against an offender in a certain issue. This means that a defendant to such a case is asked to disapprove the evidence raised by the government through its different organs so as to be set free, failure to which, they will be subjected to different punishments. The filing in a case falling under the civil law is done by a private party who was affected directly by the offence that is reported in the cas e in a court of law. This means that a person affected in the case are the only people who can file a case against the people who offend them and them or their representatives like lawyers are supposed to follow the proceedings of the case (Padfield, 2006, p47). Another difference between the two laws is that in the case of civil law, victims are punished by reimbursement or compensation to the person who wins in the case. The court in involved in a case of civil law orders a person to make compensation to the people they offended and that means that they are asset free on the condition of making full reimbursement or presenting a plan to do so. It means that an affected person do not necessarily have to suffer in prison in the case of losing a case in the court but can go free but at a condition that they will be able to make compensation for things they have done on the people. Civil law does not award any cases of punitive damages unless in a tort law where the intent of an offen der is determined to have been malicious, negligent or a willingly disregarding the person involved in the case. On the other hand, offenders in the cases dealing with criminal laws are incarceration in a jail, they can be charged a fine payable to the government or in some cases they are executed. Crimes falling under the criminal law are divided into two categories according to the punishment length of incarceration and the severity of the cases. In this case, there are felonies, which are given the maximum punishment of incarceration in prison for a period length of not less than one year and misdemeanours crimes are given a maximum incarceration in

Effect of Social Media on Political Participation

Effect of Social Media on Political Participation Has social media led to substantial changes in citizens’ repertoires of political participation? In the past few decades, an upsurge in the use of social networking sites (SNS) has been witnessed (Bode et al., 2014). Ever since the emergence of social media, the deliberation of how and to what extent they altered the way people engaged in politics has been ardently discussed. To understand this question, one should first examine it in two directions, the definition of social media and political participation, before moving on to the discussion of whether or not there are changes over time. Undoubtedly, any authority would be ill-advised to underestimate the power of the internet. If using the internet and sending text messages can modify the foreground of a nation and overturn ingrained authoritarianisms; if they have the ability to change the fortune of an unknown man into an overnight star; if they have magic for fixing the ‘illness’ of the society by pressuring governments, is it possible for anyone to resist using these types of media to achieve their goals? It is an undeniable fact that the current society is a world where all kinds of social media are almost inevitable. Since the launch of social media over 10 years ago, one can fairly address that there have been some enormous changes in people’s everyday lives. According to Jeroen Van Laer and Peter Van Aelst, â€Å"A notable feature of recent public engagements with the internet is its use by a wide range of activists and groups engaging in social and political protest† (Aelst et al., 2010). Tufekci and Wilson (2012) provided an example of this statement. They noted that, â€Å"Since the ‘‘Arab Spring’’ burst forth in uprisings in Tunisia and in Egypt in early 2011, scholars have sought to understand how the Internet and social media contribute to political change in authoritarian regimes† (Tufekci et al, 2012). The two mentioned assertions of each scholar have shed some light on the influence of the internet. This essay will deal with the following aspects of the question of whether or not social media reforms the means of civic participation in politics, a) what is political participation; b) what is the role of social media in the sense of taking part in the policy-making procedure. Finally, the essay will be concluded by the outcome of the discussion in question. To begin with, the definition that was given by Boyle and other scholars in ‘Expressive responses to news stories about extremist groups: A framing experiment’, they proposed that the term ‘‘expressive action’’ included talking to friends and family about politics, sending letters to the editor, contacting public officials and attending rallies (Boyle et al., 2006). However, as Rojas, H. and Puigà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Abril, E mentioned in their journal (2009), â€Å"Verba et al. (1995) narrowly define political participation as ‘an activity that has the intent or effect of influencing government action–either directly by affecting the making or implementation of public policy or indirectly by influencing the selection of people who make those policies’ (Rojas et al., 2009). Either way, one thing is clear, political participation is a set of activities to affect who decides or decision itself in any possible way. In ‘Mobilizers mobilized: Information, expression, mobilization and participation in the digital age’, a number of hypotheses were suggested by Rojas, H., and Puig-Abril. These hypotheses embodied a model explaining the cycle of the interactions between Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as Figure 1 they proposed below. As the result of their study, assumptions of informational uses of ICT resulting expending expressive behaviours in the online sphere are sturdily supported. Furthermore, the relative significance of blogs as a source of information that accelerates such expressive behaviours is also suggested in this study. Nevertheless, one interesting result was noted that there is no support for a direct relationship between online expressive behaviours and offline participatory behaviours. This implies that online political activists may not be as enthusiastic as they are online when it comes to taking part in the policy-making procedure offline (Rojas et al., 2009). Political participation on social media is referred to as ‘political SNS use’ by Bode (2014). The definition of ‘political SNS use’ is using SNS for political intentions, for example, displaying a political preference on one’s profile page or becoming a ‘fan’ of a politician (Bode et al, 2014). However, another argument suggested that while one is studying ‘political SNS use’, the disadvantages that it presented should not be overlooked. One example of this is addressed in one of Clair Cain Miller’s articles of The New York Times. Miller stated that due to the convenience that the internet provides, it is useful for promoting events, such as the Arab Spring to the Ice Bucket Challenge. However, people might be reluctant to express themselves because of the urge for obtaining recognition (Miller, 2014). With the exact reason, people tend to interpret the various signals in social media, as liked or hated. As these signa ls become clearer, the reluctance of people to express their views online increases; hence, the differentiation between the different positions will turn into a more serious situation and those who share the same or similar points of view will be even more unified (Miller, 2014). Citing from Bode’s journal, â€Å"although social networking sites were not originally conceived of as political tools, politicians have quickly adapted to use them as such (Bode et al, 2014). The internet has given civil society new tools to support their claims. In the recent years catchphrases, such as, ‘‘Twitter Revolution’’ or ‘‘Facebook Revolution’’ have been high-lighted (Tufekci et al, 2012). However, one should keep in mind that social media alone did not cause the revolutions and demonstrations (Joseph, 2012). In the case study of the Arab Spring, it was the urgent need of four things; namely, justice(Adala), freedom (Hurriya), dignity (Karama), and respect (Ihtiram) which pushed the citizens participating in those protests, and social media merely played the role of supporting the combustion by providing the platform for exchanging and spreading the information. Due to the falling costs and expanding capabilities of mobile phones, the traditional communications have been enriched with capacities of taking pictures and videos. Within the past decade, communities in which it had long been difficult to access information were converted into massive social experiments fuelled by an explosion in channels of information (Aelst et al., 2010). The evolution of new communication technologies brought new forms of political communications. In Jeroen Van Laer and Peter Van Aelst’s journal, they categorised 4 new forms of political communication; namely, a) Internet-supported action with low thresholds. In this category, donation of money, consumer behaviours, and legal protests and demonstrations are involved. It is believed that donating money is the most primary way to engage in a social movement that involves almost no risks or commitments (Aelst et al., 2010). b) Internet-supported action with high threshold, which means transnational demonstrations, transnational meetings, and Sit-in / occupations and more radical forms of protest. One case study of this section is the Harvard Progressive Student Labour Movement at Harvard College. The incident was for demanding higher living wages for the institution’s security guards, janitors and dining-room workers. This movement was initiated with the occupation of several university administrative offices in 2001. Eventually, the ‘real-life ’sit-in at Harvard College was accompanied with a ‘virtual sit-in’ in order to increase media attention and to broaden the pressure on administration officials (Constanza-Chock 2003;Biddix Park 2008). c) Internet-based action with low threshold. This includes actions that are solely performed online: online petitions, email bombs and virtual sit-ins. Any Face book user can generate a group to protest or support a specific cause and invite other members to ‘sign’ this cause by taking part in this group. d) Internet-based action with high threshold. This involves Protest websites, Alternative media sites, Culture jamming, and Hacktivism. The definition of culture jamming was coined by Stolle and other researchers, â€Å"changes the meaning of corporate advertising through artistic techniques that alter corporate logos visually and by giving marketing slogans new meaning (Stolle et al., 2005). These ‘attacks’ are all blurring the line between what is legal and what is not. These tactics are then labelled as ‘electronic civil disobedience’, ‘hacktivism’ or as ‘cyber terrorism’, and depends on the point of view (Denning 2001; Vegh 2003). Using and managing social media as a participatory tool is not the same thing. The real challenge is how to utilize social media to properly take part in the decision-making process. It is indeed that the world needs diverse voices and with the help of social media, everyone is granted the power to ‘have a say.’ Social media did not merely become a tool in hands for those who actively want to have a say, they also bind the communities which were not asked to take actions previously. However, one should bear in mind that ‘saying what’ is the most crucial part of participating in politics. The results from Bode’s study are compelling,†-political SNS use is not a dead-end, but instead provides an impetus for greater political participation (Bode et al, 2014). Perhaps it is worth acknowledging here that social media have indeed changed the citizens’ repertoires of political participation. The evidence is compelling, although there are some op posed arguments. The development of ‘political SNS use’ is promising and is a study worthy for future research. Bibliography Biddix, J. P. Park, H. W. (2008) ‘Online networks of student protest: the case of the living wage campaign’, New Media Society, vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 871–891. Bode, L., Vraga, E. K., Borah, P., Shah, D. V. (2014). A New Space for Political Behavior: Political Social Networking and its Democratic Consequences.Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19(3), 414-429. doi: 10.1111/jcc4.12048 Boyle, M. P., Schmierbach, M., Armstrong, C. L., Cho, J., McCluskey, M. R., McLeod, D. M., et al. (2006). Expressive responses to news stories about extremist groups: A framing experiment. Journal of Communication, 56, 271–288. Constanza-Chock, S. (2003) ‘Mapping the repertoire of electronic contention’, in Representing Resistance: Media, Civil Disobedience and the Global Justice Movement, eds A. Opel Pompper D. Praeger, London, pp. 173–191. Denning, D. E. (2001) ‘Activism, hacktivism, and cyberterrorism: the internet as a tool for influencing foreign policy’, in Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy, eds J. Arquilla D. Ronfeldt, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, pp. 239–288. Joseph, S. 2012. ‘Social Media, Political Change and Human Right’, Boston College International Comparative Law Review. Laer, J. V. Aelst, P. V., (2009) INTERNET AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTACTION REPERTOIRES.Information, Communication Society,13(8). Available at: http://www.academia.edu/262038/Internet_and_Social_Movement_Action_Repertoires_Opportunities_and_Limitations> [Accessed: February 19, 2015]. Miller, C. C., 2014. How Social Media Silences Debate.The New York Times, [Online]. 0, 0. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/27/upshot/how-social-media-silences-debate.html?abt=0002abg=1 Rojas, H., Puigà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Abril, E. (2009).Mobilizers mobilized: Information, expression, mobilization and participation in the digital age.Journal of Computerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Mediated Communication, 14(4), 902-927. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01475.x Stolle, D., Hooghe, M. Micheletti, M. (2005) ‘Politics in the supermarket: political consumerism as a form of political participation’, International PoliticalScience Review, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 245–269. Tufekci, Z. Wilson, C., 2012. Social Media and the Decision to Participate in Political Protest: Observations From Tahrir Square. Journal of Communication. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01629.x/pdf> [Accessed: February 19, 2015]. Vegh, S. (2003) ‘Classifying forms of online activism: the case of cyberprotests against the World Bank’, in Cyberactivism. Online Activism in Theory and Practice, eds M. McCaughey M. D. Ayers, Routledge, New York, London, pp. 71–95. Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L., Brady, H. E. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic volunteerism in American politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press

Baptism Essay -- essays research papers fc

Baptism is the door to life and to the kingdom of God. Baptism in Christian churches, the universal rite of initiation, performed with water, usually in the name of the Trinity or in the name of Christ. Orthodox and Baptist churches require baptism by total immersion. In other churches, pouring and sprinkling are more common. Most churches regard baptism as a sacrament, or sign of grace; some regard it simply as an ordinance, or rite, commanded by Christ. Therefore, Baptism is the sacrament of faith by which we, enlightened by the Spirit's grace, respond to the Gospel of Christ. Scriptural Basis Jesus was baptized by John at the beginning of his public ministry. Although it is uncertain that Jesus himself baptized, the risen Christ commanded his disciples to preach to and baptize the nations as the sign of God's coming rule. Thus, from the outset, baptism became the Christian rite of initiation. Purpose and Symbols The purpose of this sacrament is to purify your soul and to destroy all evil. That is one of the main reasons why water is used for a symbol. Water is both destructive and creative which matches baptism. Water was used as a symbol of purification in many religions at a very early date. Other symbols of baptism include oil, a white cloth, and a candle. People able to receive Baptism Infants were probably baptized in the early church. Baptism was often postponed as long as possible. Between the 4th and 6th centuries, however, infant baptism began to be required...

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk: Motivations, Ideas, and Impact Essay

The most attractive feature of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s life, one admired both in Turkey and internationally, is how he embraced modern philosophical ideals and applied them to his own country despite tremendous resistance. The life of Ataturk, in a very real way, is symbolic of the ever-present conflicts that exist between traditional values and modern evolutionary approaches to social and political forms of organization. Although he is commonly referred to both popularly and in the academic literature as the Father of Modern Turkey, it is fair to extend this characterization by designating Ataturk as one of the founding fathers of all modernizing societies facing barriers imposed by those preferring more traditional forms of political and socioeconomic organization. His actions as the first president of the modern Turkish republic, to be sure, have been emulated by other leaders around the world seeking to create modern nation-states in order to compete with the technologically-superior countries commonly referred to as the West. Any understanding of Ataturk’s impact on Turkey, and within the context of international modernization struggles and conflicts in subsequent times, demands an understanding of his fundamental beliefs regarding modernization in Turkey, how he implemented these ideas in practice, and how he thereby came to symbolize the evolutionary pattern of societies and political systems in historically traditional societies. As an initial matter, in order to understand how Ataturk developed his political philosophy, it is necessary to understand that his thought was influenced by many sources. Specifically, he was battling against the traditional political theories of the crumbling Ottoman Empire while simultaneously struggling intellectually to determine how to create a new Turkish Republic using certain political approaches favored by the West. He spent a great deal of time in France and was deeply influenced, for example, by the French Jacobins and their belief in the development of a more secular state that was independent of the Catholic church; indeed, one scholar notes that Ataturk and the Young Turk group of which he was a part â€Å"concluded that, just as the Catholic Church was said by French liberals to pose a threat to the French Third Republic, so Islam presented a threat to modern Turkey† (Candar 88). The development of a secular state was thus the most important foundational element of Ataturk’s political philosophy. This would not be easy, however, because Islam was the dominant religious influence and it was a widely held conviction. More, as the Ottoman Empire was crumbling, many foreign countries invaded and Ataturk was compelled to unify and defend what would become modern Turkey against imperial invaders. He was therefore required to fight both an internal battle designed to create a unified modern nation-state while also fighting external enemies determined to make claim to lands the Ottoman Empire could no longer protect. Ataturk succeeded in both respects. The remarkable feat about unifying the people who would become and remain the modern Turkish republic is that â€Å"there was no such thing as a Turkish ethnicity. Turkish was, if anything, a language group. The Turkish-speaking warrior hordes that poured out of Central Asia beginning a thousand years ago were of mixed blood† (Fromkin 14). He thus created a national identity from an extraordinarily diverse group of tribes and people. This national identity, moreover, evolved in sharp contrast to the dominant Islamic identity which preceded Ataturk’s reign. On assuming power as Turkey’s first president, for instance, he made the decision to delegitimize the religious role of the sultan and to completely redesign the Turkish nation-state. His rationale for this substantial departure from the past was that â€Å"After assessing the failures of the empire, Ataturk believed that the decline could be attributed, in part, to the inability to compete with the West† (Vertigans 42). Borrowing from the West, he worked tirelessly to establish a modern bureaucratic system, to remove Islam from the political system, and to prepare Turkey to compete and develop with the stronger western powers using the same basic administrative and political institutions. While much of the modern Middle East struggles with radical Islam, and some countries have political systems dominated or deeply influenced by Islam, modern Turkey remains comparatively moderate in terms of the role that Islam plays in political life. This fact can be traced directly to Ataturk and is considered one of the most enduring aspects of his leadership. Indeed, â€Å"Instead of being neutral on the question of the religious practices and beliefs of its citizenry, the Kemalist state seeks to remove all manifestations of religion from the public sphere and put them under the strict control of the state† (Yavuz 60). Modern Turkey, in sum, is an advanced Islamic country, its political system controls and moderates Islam, and it is an ally of the United States and being considered for admission to many organizations comprising the European Union. All of this was accomplished despite internal opposition from traditionalists in a diverse land and from imperial aggression from abroad. In the final analysis, though Ataturk certainly used murder and oppression as political tools, he is in the bigger picture a figure to be admired because he unified a country, he created a new national identity, and he created a secular state in a region dominated by Islam. Ataturk serves as a model for transcending religious domination of political institutions and for demonstrating that national identity and national unity do not depend on an underlying ethnic purity. Modern countries struggling with the move from traditionalist systems to modernity would be well-advised to study the leadership practices and the political philosophy of Ataturk. Works Cited Candar, Cengiz. â€Å"Ataturk’s Ambiguous Legacy. † The Wilson Quarterly Autumn 2000: 88. Questia. Web. 2 June 2010. Fromkin, David. â€Å"Ataturk’s Creation. † New Criterion Apr. 2000: 14. Questia. Web. 2 June 2010. Vertigans, Stephen. Islamic Roots and Resurgence in Turkey : Understanding and Explaining the Muslim Resurgence /. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003. Questia. Web. 2 June 2010. Yavuz, M. Hakan. â€Å"The Case of Turkey. † Daedalus 132. 3 (2003): 59+. Questia. Web. 2 June 2010.

Natural environment Essay

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater introduces an essential factor the architect incorporated in the perspective of organic architecture by striking the balance between technology and the environment. He utilized building materials in the likes of concrete and steel, contemporary resources which appeared quite artificial to the average man or woman (Hoffman 18; Levine 217). Technological advancement usually denotes an unwelcoming and unattractive facet of society, not just in the environmental realm but in the social aspect as well. At the same time as the country progresses towards the 20th century, the relationship between technology and the environment grew all the more crucial as far as the designs Wright conceives. He acknowledged that the technological advancements constitute an vital element of the society into which humanity is born. As an architect, he considered it his purpose to identify the common ground where technology and the environment exist in harmony with one another (Hoffman 18; Levine 217). The spectacular profile and structures he conceptualized, particularly in his most recent works became feasible with the aid of technological advances. Nonetheless, it took a human factor for cultivation (Hoffman 18; Levine 217). However, others believe that the building materials he incorporated were far from what were generally regarded as organic elements found in nature. In what manner can the cantilevered concrete, a feature of the structure communicate with the environment? In response to that query, the architect requests his audiences to consider nature as an abstract form (Hoffman 21; Levine 217). Wright suggests that his audiences treat nature as an innate feature of the material. The moment an individual identifies the fundamental component of masonry, brick, and wood, their nature was identifiable every time they are being utilized allowing them to function in the rising contemporary society (Hoffman 21; Levine 217). Undeniably, his works has evermore altered the landscape of the country, and similar to several built environments, his brand of architecture mirrored the socio-cultural aspects of the times beginning in the year 1890 until 1960 (Hoffman 21; Levine 217). Analyzing his designs would even offer significant insights concerning the concepts of organic architecture. His influence in field of architecture remains undisputed. The character of the structures he designed imposed not a style rather a manifestation of awareness which encouraged other versions of the forms in the contemporary society (Hoffman 21; Levine 217). Several other architects drew inspiration from the proximity of environmental occurrences (Hoffman 21; Levine 217). The Fallingwater serves as a contemporary representation of the basic need to identify with nature by means of immersion. Forming a cantilever above the waterfall of a winding creek, the Kaufmann house is nestled amid the forest. The rhythm of flowing water is heard around the place and suspended balconies offer the feeling of blending with nature. Such connection delivers an intimate connection with the built as well as the natural environment. The clean geometric architectural forms start to expose the inherent properties present in the basic structure of the natural environment. Works Cited Hoffmann, Donald. Understanding Frank Lloyd Wright’s Architecture. Chelmsford, Massachusetts: Courier Dover Publications, 1995. Levine, Neil. The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1996.