Abstract
This paper proposes a for and against argument on the issue of campaign finance reform. It examines how campaign finance reform has been raised as an important political issue for some time and there have been several recent proposals to deal with such reform. It looks at how these proposals deal with concerns about the growing amount of money needed for political campaigns and about how that money is acquired by candidates. It analyzes the McCain-Feingold Bill which addresses this issue and has been much debated for the constitutional issues involved. It evaluates how one side of the argument cites reasons why money is too prevalent in politics today and why the way campaigns are funded should be changed. It then cites the other side--that campaign funding is a matter of free speech and should not be changed in any way.

From the Paper
"For many people today, people who can be heard on talk shows across the nation, people who speak on television and campaign for change, people who refuse to vote or have anything to do with the political process--for these people and others, political corruption is such a fact of life that they cannot separate the idea of government and government officials from corrupt practices. One reason for this perception is the knowledge that politics is expensive and that running for office requires vast amounts of money, and people want to know what those giving large campaign contributions want for their money. Public funding is an alternative to the current system, and it would be enhanced further by caps on campaign spending. The scandal today, as numerous commentators have pointed out, is not what is illegal but what is legal, with distinctions made between "hard" money and "soft" money that serve the needs of the political parties and yet do not answer the concerns of the public."

Tags:mcCain-feingold, bill, constitution, government

Abstract
An examination of the the Electoral College and the support and opposition that exists for it. The author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the Electoral College arguing that the Electoral College is the best and most systematic and fair way to run elections. Included is a background to the Electoral College and a thorough description of its formation and duties.

) Why do we have the Electoral College?

2) The Founding Fathers disputed how the president would be chosen

i) By direct vote of the people

ii) By Congress

b) Compromised with the Electoral College

c) Thesis Statement

3) Description of the Electoral College

a) How many there are

b) How they are chosen

c) How the people vote for them

d) How the President is voted for

4) The Electoral College has opposition

a) Electors don?t have to vote the way they pledged

b) There can be a tie in the Electoral College

b) The popular vote winner may lose the election

5) There can be a tie

a) How there can be a tie

b) Why it could be a problem

6) Electors don?t have to vote the way they pledged

a) The states and their penalties

b) An Example of an elector changing his mind

c) Why it could be a problem

7) The popular vote winner may be the loser

a) How it is happening in this election

b) A past example

c) Hillary?s promise to abolish the Electoral College

d) What would happen without the Electoral College

8) Oppositions solution is to abolish the Electoral College

a) Why it should be abolished

i) A possible tie

ii) Electors can change their vote

iii) The popular vote winner losing the election

b) Why the Electoral College should not be abolished

i) One problem can be fixed

ii) Another has a solution

iii) The last is not really a problem

9) A possible tie

a) Unlikely because each state would have to go a specific way

b) The solution that is already made

10) Electors can change their minds

a) Only 9 of over 18,000 have

b) It is hard to get an elector to change his or her mind

c) The solution is to pass a law

11) The minority may win the election

a) The Electoral College forces candidates to include more people than if there is no Electoral College.

b) Without it, the election would be decided by people that lived in the large cities

c) Small communities would?t be significant enough for candidates to use their campaign money

d) The majority of the US would be left out

e) Why every vote counts in the Electoral College

12) The Electoral College is the best way to run an election

a) The elector flaw can be fixed

b) There is already a solution to the tie problem

c) The majority losing is better than only letting big cities have a say in the election

From the Paper
"You don't know? What do you mean you don't know?" Gore has already won the popular vote! Three weeks later, and the US doesn't know who the 43rd president will be! Each candidate is still scrambling to get the 270 Electoral votes needed to win. But, if Gore has the most votes, why is there still a race? What are these Electoral votes? When our Founding Fathers were setting the policies for the elections, there was a debate. Some said the election of the President should come directly from the people; others said the people could not handle the responsibility, and Congress should do it. They compromised, and came up with the Electoral College. A couple hundred years later, the Electoral College is still in use, and there is support and opposition for it."

Tags:politics, voting, fair, equal

Abstract
This paper looks at how King Louis XIV of France used the remodeling of his magnificent palace at Versailles, and the visual art in the palace, as a propaganda tool. The author discusses Louis' constant campaign for absolute power as a divine ruler. The paper pays close attention to the architecture at Versailles.

From the Paper:

"King Louis XIV used visual arts within the palace of Versailles to establish the primacy of the French monarch. Louis XIV wanted to legitimatize his form of strict absolutism through art. The pinnacle of this propaganda campaign was the remodeling of the chateau of Versailles into a palace. He and his artists made specific choices to flaunt his wealth and give the king credibility. The gardens, grand staircase, hall of mirrors and salons parade with grandeur and thick allegorical comparisons between the Gods and Louis. The propaganda was effective in targeting its three intended audiences to the degree that later monarchs and artists mimicked it. "

Tags:allegory, art, france, history, king, monarchy, palace, louis, mirror, hall, ceiling, france

Abstract
Analysis of the January 20, 1961 speech. Discusses the setting, purpose, and components of the address. Choice of language and delivery. Use of commonplace vocabulary. Kennedy's argument that the rights of man were historically given by God. Relevance of speech to contemporary world in light of 9/11. Quotes significant passages.

From the Paper
"Analysis of John F. Kennedy s Inaugural Address,
Delivered Friday, January 20, 1961

The Situation
President Kennedy beat out Richard Nixon by an extremely small margin, and the campaign was a bitter one. The nation was also at war in Vietnam, there was a strong Cold War going on with Russia, and there was also some fear that Kennedy, the first-ever Catholic president might create a non-secular government. On the morning of the inauguration, it was snowing in Washington, and many people wanted to cancel the outdoor swearing in. Kennedy demanded that it be held outdoors as tradition dictated.

The Speech
The Beginning
The first part of the speech was designed to acknowledge and embrace a ..."

Abstract
This essay compares two newspaper articles dated April 8, 2011, from the Herald Sun and the Age, respectively, which report on the Australian government's proposed legislation to mandate plain packaging for cigarettes by July 2012. The writer examines how the stories are communicated, using discourse analysis and political economy theory. The writer maintains that despite popular opinion about the quality of the two papers, the Herald Sun's article is more balanced and informative than The Age's article which is one-sided and quite likely influenced by the fact that The Age has received a great deal of funding, through advertising, from cigarette companies. The writer argues that the media is a powerful apparatus for persuading consumers to hold a particular view, and the media frequently proliferates information in a way that dictates mainstream opinion, rather than passively informing society. The paper includes the articles and the figures contained in them.

From the Paper
"The Herald Sun's article; "Cigarette packaging to go ugly olive green under proposed laws", has less dubious discourse and appears to be more balanced than The Age's article; "Warning: ciggie packs may become plain gross". The two Melbourne based newspapers, The Herald Sun and The Age, are commonly acknowledged to cater for readers with different demographics. The Herald Sun is a tabloid newspaper, owned by News Corporation. The Age is a broadsheet daily newspaper, owned by Fairfax Media, and is more highly regarded by academics. The Herald Sun is often considered to be of inferior quality in regards to journalistic practice and standards. However, conflicting to common academic opinion, The Age's coverage of the article influences readers to be more critical of the proposed legislation as it frames itself around 'an industry response' and fails to give a balanced report of the story. Comparatively, The Herald Sun gives much more neutral and thorough account of the story. This surprising exposure leads one to question the power relationships and discourse that may have influenced each article."

Tags:smoking, cigarettes, government, plain, packaging, media

Abstract
This paper contends that as Australia is a liberal democracy, voluntary voting is desirable. The paper argues this by stating the positive liberal democratic effects that a voluntary voting system would have such as
drastically increasing overall political activity, enhancing the current political system by making it more democratic in nature and the advancement of the fundamental rights of Australia's citizens.

From the Paper
"Far from decreasing political activity, voluntary voting would in fact increase political activity. This would be primarily caused by two major effects resulting from people no longer having to vote for the better of multiple parties, but rather only voting when a party shows itself as worthy of the effort. Firstly, parties and party supporters would be forced to become more involved in the local issues of the people and the community in order to motivate the electorate to vote for them. Secondly, campaigning would become just as prominent in safe seats as it is in marginal seats, as the number of votes from safe seats would no longer be guaranteed. When one considers that current party election efforts focus primarily not just on marginal seats but on swinging marginal seats, which make up only 7% of the population, it's obvious that the resulting increase in political activity would be drastic. "

Tags:democracy, liberalism, electorate, citizens

Abstract
Money and special interest groups play an important role in the U.S. Congress. Due to the high cost of running a campaign two assumptions are regularly made, namely that money can buy votes and that those groups or businesses that have contributed funds, will be favourably treated by their candidate when forming legislation. This paper critically analyses those assumptions by examining key examples such as the influence of the tobacco industry and by examining esteemed political analyst views. The paper is divided and analysed on two distinct lines. Firstly, whether or not money and special interests can get a candidate elected and secondly whether money and special interest groups can have influence and to what degree, over the way in which elected candidates vote on legislation.

From the Paper
"The influence of money in the US Congress therefore begins with the election of members to the Congress. In order to increase their chances of election, candidates run extensive campaigns which include: television and newspaper advertisements, public appearances, pamphlets, door knocking and many other methods to gain voter support. In recent decades these election expenses have grown more than 300% faster than the cost of living . The average cost of a Lower House campaign has risen to more than US$500,000 and a Senate campaign to US$4.5 million . Due to these exorbitant campaign cost very few people in lower socio-economic groups run for Congress as they neither have the funds themselves nor are they likely to have contacts with big businesses to financially support their campaign. "

Tags:congress, federal, pac, politics, legislation

Abstract
This paper examines how the concept of one vote, one value has been strongly debated in Australia and has gained increasing momentum over the past decade. It looks at how strong arguments exist for electoral reforms and how reform would promote equality amongst voters, equality of law and the provision of an effective representative democratic system. It also shows how equally strong arguments exist for the electoral laws to remain unchanged in places such as rural Australia since rural electorates would become too large to manage. Other issues such as international covenant on civil and political rights and electoral history are also discussed.

From the Paper
"It was not until 1968 when serious action was taken to apply the concept of one vote, one value to Australia's political system. On two occasions Lionel Murphy attempted to introduce a bill that would effectively require that; votes shall be so far as practical equal in value. On both occasions debate was adjourned on the motion of Liberal Senators, as a result the issue was never properly debated. The cause was revived in 1972 when the Australian Labor Party sought to implement the Constitutional Review Committee's recommendations of reducing the variation from the quota from twenty percent above or below, down to a maximum variation of ten per cent above or below the quota and that a fresh distribution should take place in all states where one quarter of the divisions do not fall within this ten percent distribution margin."

Tags:political, rural, electorates, system, rural, electorates

Abstract
This essay concentrates on the events of 1975's consitutional crisis and whether or not Sir John Kerr exercised his reserve powers correctly. The paper includes an outline of a "direction of the future" showing how the reserve powers should be used in the future. In the 1975 supply crisis, some of Australia?s most controversial political decisions were made. The Governor-General (GG) of the time, John Kerr, made the decisions under the ?reserve powers?. Finally, a "direction of the future" is outlined on how the reserve powers should be used in the future.

From the Paper
"The Facts Under s53 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (1990), the Senate has the power to reject or defer budget appropriation bills (money bills), which are required for the ordinary annual services undertaken by the government . On 16 October 1975, the Senate passed a declaration moved by Liberal Senator Cotton . The declaration provided that the Government's money bills would not be passed until "the government agreed to submit itself to the judgment of the people". "

Tags:fraser, general, governor, john, kerr, malcolm, powers, reserve, s53, s57, senate, whitlam

Abstract
This paper focuses on Government to Citizen (G2C) transactions mainly in the US. These include citizens' services and digital democracy. The concept of electronic government is to provide services and information to citizens electronically, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As the demand for electronic services increases, governments are challenged to provide these services to citizens. Digital democracy may be defined as any electronic exchange of value in the democratic process. The spectrum includes Online Campaigns, Internet Voting, and Constituency Participation.

What is e-government?
Citizens Services
Digital Democracy
Political Online Campaigning
Disadvantages of Web advertising
Online Fund Raising
Internet Voting
On-line Voting Initiatives
Why Internet voting?
Requirements of an Internet voting system
Security Problems meeting requirements of an Internet voting system
Implementation Problems
Vision
The Impact of the Internet on Democracy
Direct Democracy
Representative Democracy
Digital Divide
Conclusion The year 2005

Tags:campaign, fund, internet, online, politics, raising, voting