Literature Courework Essay

Choose two stories from ‘An Evening in Guanima’ that you considered to be the â€Å"best† or your favourite. Explain the reasons for your choice considering: theme, characters and writer’s style. The author got her inspiration for these stories from her birthplace, Cat Island, which many believe was originally called â€Å"Guanima† by the Lucayans. She frequently visited her grandparents in Port Howe, where, via storytelling, she discovered the fascinating world of Bahamian folklore. Therefore, it was for this reason ‘An Evening in Guanima’ was created. One of my personal favourites is â€Å"The Girl on the Gallows† because of the writer’s style – which I felt encompassed varied techniques; impressive characterization and theme. Another favourite is â€Å"The Gaulin Wife† with its distinct writer’s style, ingenious characterization and obvious, clear-cut theme. I love the writer’s extremely descriptive writer’s style; it paints picturesque scenes of this exotic land and enabled me to visualise the characters while learning about their personalities. â€Å"The sheen of Christa’s skin, the colour of honey from bees feeding on wild marigolds†¦ and no less golden and beautiful was her hair† – this allowed me to effortlessly visualise Christa and Glinton describing her personality as being â€Å"sweet† told me she was a kind-hearted character. On the contrary, the author used words like â€Å"jealous† and â€Å"spiteful† when describing Anacarla and this, to me, denoted a vicious character. Christa was portrayed as a becoming yet humble girl with a kind personality while Anacarla on the other hand, was portrayed as â€Å"a cruel viper of a princess†. This made me despise Anacarla but feel nothing except fondness and sympathy toward Christa. I greatly admired the manner in which Glinton intertwined structure and symbolism when discussing the bird-messengers. She structurally highlighted the words â€Å"Princess† and â€Å"Queen† by capitalizing them and used each type of bird to symbolize both Christa and her impending destiny. The first bird was common; a duck, this to me represented Christa’s humble social status as â€Å"a daughter of the common people†. The second bird was an iridescent parrot which, I felt represented Christa’s undeniable beauty. The bird’s feathers were used to fashion a bonnet for â€Å"a sour-faced woman who had no eye for their beauty† and I took this to mean that this woman did not appreciate the bonnet’s inordinately beautiful plumage. In the same way Christa’s rejected admirers and jealous rivals ceased to appreciate her beauty when she was sentenced to be hung. The third and final winged-messenger was a powerful, majestic eagle. It was observed that this was the only messenger that addressed Christa as â€Å"some-day Queen† and because of her prowess the eagle was able to soar above the clouds, thereby evading hunters. From my perspective, the eagle soaring above the clouds symbolized Christa rising in status and power to the prestigious position of queen. The theme of this story was that â€Å"Good always triumphs and evil doers eventually get what’s coming to them†. This made me feel optimistic that this theme would hold true to real life. I like the title of â€Å"The Gaulin Wife† because it is short and has an interesting key word. I like the fact that the title is short because it does not reveal much about the story, leaving me to puzzle over what the story will entail. This coupled with the use of the key word â€Å"Gaulin† piqued my interest and prompted me to read the story. The writer’s style added to my joy in reading the story because it contained an abundance of Bahamian dialect. I felt the writer infused the writing with Bahamian dialect in order to add a â€Å"cultural flavour† to the story. This, in turn, made the story more interesting to me. This technique was used in the line â€Å"her ma musse pity frog or goggle-eye fish†. It was lines like this that showed me that the main character was disrespectful and completely inconsiderate of others’ feelings. The author’s description of his actions also added to my perception of his personality. The fact that he promised to wed several girls before leaving them â€Å"high and dry† showed me the narcissistic and down right cruel aspects of his personality. This characterization flowed perfectly into the theme which was â€Å"Bad karma tends to seek out those who deserve it†. I gravitated toward â€Å"The Girl on the Gallows† because of its writer’s style, my favourite technique being the imbedded symbolism, and characterization – which made me feel different emotions toward the characters; I despised Anacarla but sympathized with Christa. I chose â€Å"The Gaulin Wife† because of the use of dialect in the writer’s style and the clear-cut, hard-to-miss theme.

Dirty Pictures (Film Analysis)

The film Dirty Pictures released on year 2000 is loosely based on the story of Robert Mapplethorpe and his photography in late 1980's. Most photos of the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe is actually uncontroversial however few of them– some sadomasochistic in nature– seem to offend. The inclusion of these provocative and seemingly offensive pictures in art exhibit has been highly criticized by the authority and feasted by the local media.Bennis Barrie, the curator of the Cincinnati Arts Center is inevitably accused of promoting pornography as he displays Mapplethorpe's naked images and graphic displays of homosexual offensive activities in Cincinatti art museum. Barrie initially knows that some of Mapplethorpe's photography may receive negative criticisms because of its provocative depictions of humans' mutual sensuality however as a curator he recognized that art encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations and emotions. He believes that an artist de serves a freedom of expression.However Mapplethorpe photographs became the center of controversy when these were exhibited at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts. Dennis Barrie who is the Museum director was being accused and condemned by the right wing conservatives. The rest of the film revolves in public debate towards how freedom of expression should be applied. The character of Barrie in the initial part of the movie is being portrayed as a modest and ordinary man who have a simple lifestyle. However after the exhibit, he was suddenly thrown into extraordinary circumstances as he deals with the enormous pressures of ugly public debate.He faced personal intimidation since his reputation and career were at stake. Furthermore, the issue pressed against him affected the emotional aspects of his family. The film effectively illustrates the emotions of a couple struggling to decide and do the right thing while dealing with the political pressures brought by the issue of displayed sensua l photographs. Though Barrie comes off as a man sophisticated and knowledgeable about contemporary arts but he is a little bit innocent about his stand since he was faced with unreasonable political pressures.The involvement of big conservative figures made this issue highly politicized. As a result, the jury who are also heroes of this story, experienced personal pressures of their own. At the end however they manage to navigate their way to the right decision after Barrie made a profound kind of speech about freedom of expression. Even if Barrie was being acquitted in the film, the local conservative group believes that this trial would have a chilling effect on future art exhibitions.Since freedom of expression has been positively justified in the film, there is a great possibility that curators and artists will always make an excuse to not restrict them in any kinds of mode of expression since this is after all their right. However, the conservatives subtly stand that the author ity should give restrictions especially in displaying sexually explicit photos to avoid public intimidation. The film inevitably shows Mapplethorpe controversial photos. A number of the actual Mapplethorpe's photos that were the heart and reason of the controversy were used in production.Though the photos are shown in shortcuts but the film allows the viewers to have a glimpse to both the controversial photos and the extraordinary beauty and story of all the photos in general. Apparently, he is not only interested to capture humans sexuality but his portraits, photos of flowers and landscapes illustrate his love in beauty. Mapplethorpe's â€Å"The Perfect Moment† collections air different angles of expression. His photographs were not confined in nudity however the authorities only favored and noticed one side by giving obscenity charges against the curator.Since big people also offered their own perspective towards the provocative photographs, it seems that the issue became politically motivated. Meanwhile, the film also looks like a documentary one since the filmmakers highlights new interviews from cultural and conservative figures about their personal perceptions in the issue. Meanwhile the filmmakers in the movie also incorporated many inter cut scenes from the original events collected from the archives of the local media (e. g. the trial and that attempted closing down of the art museum).The movie demonstrates that the beauty of art depends on how people perceive it. Their level of appreciation depends on their personal tastes, values, cultural and social orientation. In the movie, the characters were obviously divided by two– those who are open minded who believe that any kind of art depiction even in a sensational manner is just but a manner of expression that is natural to the artist; and the conservatives who believes that pornography negatively affect the viewers as it arouse malicious intent and emotions.However the film with the cha racter of Barrie reminds the public to uphold their right of expression and their right to choose what they art they would want to see and appreciate. No matter how disgusting and offensive a particular art might be, it has its every right to be exhibited. Any contemporary or classic art form is not exclusive to elite. The film subtly emphasized that an average and ordinary person can understand and appreciate art and art definitely do not only belong to specific few.

The Different Between Thai and American Wedding

The word marriage throughout the world has always been a symbol of unity between humans. Marriage represents in many ways the celebration of happiness for all people of different backgrounds, beliefs and cultures. When we look across the globe, we realize that in each place around the world marriages has its own traditional wedding. What are the weddings traditional in two different cultures? For example, Thai and American weddings have customs and traditions that are different in many ways. Initially, in traditional Thai weddings or marriages, an arrange marriage by a matchmaker or money dowries to future in-laws are considered the norm. In American weddings, two people fall in love and then a wedding is planned. In contrast, the Thai groomsmen’s families must give a dowry to the family of the bride. This arrangement is to guarantee a bride’s social and financial future will be protected and secured. Next, within American weddings religion has played the biggest role in how marriages are performed. For instance, Catholic wedding ceremonies are traditionally united in a church or place of worship, or may be married by an ordained priest outside of church. Many Thai people practice Buddhism, and in many Thai traditional wedding ceremonies, they are conducted in the presence of monk. Finally, wedding gifts are also common in both American and Thai weddings. The difference is in the kinds of gifts that are received. In the Thai custom, the bride and groomsman will typically present each other with a small gift and gifts that were given in cash by guests are placed in envelopes and then brought to a wishing well. In the American custom, wedding gifts are a way to help the couples set up their new home together. In conclusion, many people around the world have traditions really different from one culture to another. Nevertheless, marriages are considered a happy and most joyous occasion no matter where you are at in the world.

Information System Management Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Information System Management Assignment - Essay Example I will discuss about the basic needs for the outsourcing for some parts of our IT operation and system development. Then the second part of this report is aimed to discuss the implementation of the home working/ teleworking scheme within Chrichton. This section will concentrate on the teleworking implementation, its advantages and disadvantages and ways by which we can implemented within the organization. This section provides the brief introduction of the company. Crichton was established as a family business in 1964, increasing and selling plants in marketplaces throughout the Midlands and south of England. The corporation has developed a standing for high excellence at small price and by means of knowledgeable family members manning the marketplace stalls, the business raised quickly. Near the beginning of year 1968, Crichton opened their first permanent shop on a site near busy route just north of London. Through the 70s and 80s Crichtons sustained to develop, spreading into garden accessories like that the garden furniture, children’s play equipment and barbecues and garden planning/ design.1 (As provided in the case study) This section is about the basic establishment of the corporate information system that was implemented to augment the on the whole business. In 2006, the decision was taken by the Crichton family that they should move into internet based sales in addition to the accessible shops. After protracted negotiations, Crichton brought the diggitin web business, with Hanson becoming a member of the management board at Crichton. Astely was retained to manage the web operation and associated garden design applications. Gee, who was frustrated with an increasingly desk-based role at diggitin left to resume her gardening/landscape business. She remains active in the diggitin online forums, for which she is paid. By 2008 Crichtons permanent workforce had grown to nearly 400 and turnover

Digital forensic analyst Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Digital forensic analyst - Case Study Example The paper also outlines how the cases have had an impact on the trajectory of digital computer forensic and the work of digital forensic analyst. Case 1: U.S. v. Diaz The case between U.S and Diaz involved marijuana in New Mexico. In this case, Jesus Manuel Diaz had more than 1000 kilograms of Marijuana he wanted to distribute in the United States using his trucking company, JD Easyline (Admin, 2011). In December, 11th 2009, the United States district court heard that Daiz drove his truck eastbound from Mexico to the Arizona border where he intended to distribute Marijuana hidden in his truck. Being the Diaz wanted to cross the border with the marijuana onboard his truck, he had falsified the paper work detailing the real weight of the truck and the merchandise onboard. After arriving at a border booth, he went ahead to get the paperwork necessary for him to cross the border with the truck, but the credential booth was closed on that day. As a result, Diaz went out of his truck and met Officer Smid, whom he presented all the paper work including his driving license in pursuit of a clearance letter. However, Smid was worried about the weight Diaz had quoted in his paper work. The gross weight of Diaz’s truck was way below what Smid expected. Smid argued that an empty truck with fuel weighed close to 33,000 pounds. However, Diaz had pointed that the merchandise onboard was 9,762 pound, which concerned Smid because some weight was uncounted in the truck. Smid inspected Diaz paperwork and questioned the discrepancy in weight, which Diaz attempted to explain. He argued that some shippers often put more weight on the truck than necessary. An inspection of the truck revealed that Diaz did not have a CB radio and he had four cellphones. Furthermore, Smid discovered the Diaz was uneasy and was scratching his head, a behavior he had not displayed at the start of the conversation. The seal of the truck was a commercial seal and Smid noted that there was some air freshener in the truck, though this was missing in the bill of lading. A through search of the truck using a sniffer dog revealed more the 3,300 pounds of marijuana (Admin, 2011). In addition, a laptop computer and printer, Diaz used to falsify and print the bill of lading was found. A computer forensic testified in the court that Diaz had deleted a program he used to create a false bill of lading to justify the additional weight of marijuana. Forensic analysis revealed that the bil l of lading was not the one the dollar store issued to Diaz. This evidence in this case had a significant impact on the case because it Diaz was found guilty and convicted. While Diaz had succeeded to alter the bill of lading, the work of computer forensic allowed the prosecutor to prove that Diaz had deleted software he used to make and print a false bill of lading. The case underscores the role of digital forensic analysts in discovering deleted files and linking the same to cases pending before courts of law. Moreover, the case proved that digital forensic analyst could determine the authenticity of documents by finding programs used to create them. In such cases, it would be easy for investigators to gather evidence

Accounting for Decision Makers -Discussion Question Assignment - 2

Accounting for Decision Makers -Discussion Question - Assignment Example The decision to further process a product after the split-off point invites further costs and revenues known as the incremental costs and revenues (Sell-or-process-further decision, 2013). Management accountants can support the decision to process further only if it generates more revenue than costs. Based on the case of the Port Allen Chemical company, raw material D is used in the production of products E and F. Based on the case, $ 100 is the cost of converting 100 liters into 60 liters and 40 liters of products E and F respectively. Therefore, the cost of producing 60 liters of product E = (60/100)*100 = $ 60, while the cost of producing 40 liters of product F = (40/100)*100 = $ 40. Product F can be sold at $ 6 or can be further processed at an additional cost of $5/liter and can be sold for $ 13/liter. Based on the information, the incremental revenue per liter = (13 – 6) = $ 7. The approach of the analysis is incremental costs as done below (Hartgraves & Morse, 2015). Based on the above table, the decision to process product F further generates more revenue than the cost incurred ($ 80). The incremental approach states that when the difference between the incremental revenue and incremental cost is positive, the process further decision should be implemented. Otherwise, the decision to sell is suitable (Hartgraves & Morse, 2015). Therefore, Port Allen Chemical Company should further process product

Discuss the relevance of psychological models to explain some of the Essay

Discuss the relevance of psychological models to explain some of the barriers to the implementation and maintenance of exercise in the field of exercise for health - Essay Example The Transtheoretical Model (TTM; Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982, p. 83) has been used to facilitate positive behaviour change towards physical activity. The model is a combination of stages of change, self-efficacy, temptation, decisional balance and processes of change. The first stage, the stage of change, has been widely adopted by health and fitness professionals to help individuals move through the six theoretical stages: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, termination with a positive outcome (progression) or negative outcome (relapse). In the pre-contemplation stage the individual is not identifying the need for an exercise programme within the next 6 months. While smoothly moving to the next stage - the contemplation, the individual has begun to form an idea about exercising and eventually initiates it within the next 6 months. The preparation stage involves planning to start exercising within the next 60 days. The action period represents the first 6 months after commencing the exercise programme. In the maintenance stage a sustained exercise programme is developed which lasts no more than 6 months. The termination of the exercise program would mean that the individual has successfully changed his/her behaviour and consolidated the life-style in accordance with it. According to Prochaska & Velicer (1997) the termination stage is when an individual has embedded in himself/herself in an exercise behaviour for more than five years and has no desire for temptations and a maintains a robust self-efficacy for a health y lifestyle. There is a possibility for a relapse phase to appear. The relapse can happen during any one of the enumerated stages. The relapse results in returning of the individual to the previous stage. According to Bandura (1997) it is vital for a theoretical stage model

Globally Optimized Operations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Globally Optimized Operations - Research Paper Example Nonetheless, all parties logistically involved in optimized operations must ensure they work together for the success of the supply chain. Secondly, a wise investment in IT also spearheads a successful achievement of chain supply logistics. Variety of quantity chain supply practices are available, though lack informational values. Supply chain to some extent can be ineffective if companies do not embark on a selective mode of IT solution that best suits their specified supply chain requirements. It is preferably important to ensure that all budget considerations, logistical operational goals and other relevant optimal operations factors are put in place. These factors are predominantly the most effective tools for regaining control over operation procedures and proving supply chain customers with visibility and service. This research paper explains the globally optimized operations. Globally optimized operations analytically must provide clear and conscious information. Logistically, using a single automated database ensures that trading partners can fasten their communication variables in a language compatible with other companies. The communication aspect of globally optimized operations ensures that the logistical companies easily identifies themselves with common and key performance indicators that provide superimposed levels of integration for the shared processes and systems in the global corporation system. Ideally, keeping the staff’s skills up to date may also act as a rationally globally operationalized operations element. The IT department of the optimized operation or the technology resource should have an overwhelmingly quality-assured process (Bomze, 2007). Quality assurance in the globally optimized operations ensures all the skills are current and moves in a forward direction, which is in line with all the logistical operations. The docum entation of the optimized operations and learning resources must be put in

Descartes Meditation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Descartes Meditation - Essay Example Despite the fact that Descartes does recognize him to be a being that is imperfect, he has an ability to entertain God’s idea as a perfect existence. The fact that he is not able to form such an idea by himself, there has to be the idea’s greater course. This argument basis itself on a scholastic belief that there has to be as much reality within the cause same as within the effect (Rene, p.70). Therefore, any perfection ideas require their perfect causes. To respond to the argument, one can deny the principle as well as claim not to have God’s perfect Idea. Rather, an individual can claim to have an approximation only, of the perfect idea. Due to the fact that individuals’ idea of God would not be perfect then, it would not need a perfect course, as well as the conclusion, would not follow. It is in the fifth meditation that the second argument of God’s existence occurs. Despite the fact the there is different wording, it recalls the ontological argument of Anselm in the 11th century. Descartes’ consideration here is the perfect being idea as well as what is contained in such an idea. If the being happens to perfect truly, then it would not lack anything. Consequently, there is no chance that it would lack existence. Therefore, the essence of God does contain his existence (Rene, p.89). God’s existence argument following essentially from his essence has implications as well for the thought of the evil deceiver that is mentioned within the 1st meditation. If god happens to be perfect, there is no way he can be a deceiver. In addition, there is no way he can lead an individual into error. Deceit, as well as an induced error, would not be consistent with an imperfect being’s character. Due to the fact that he cannot lead an individual into error, the individual will be able to obtain knowledge on all the matters he doubted within the 1st meditation, particularly the truth on material objects. Descartes claimed that error does not  arise within the ideas of individuals, which are within individuals’ conscious states themselves, however, in judgments that individuals make, there exists something distinct from individuals’ conscious ideas, which cause such ideas to exist within the conscious minds of individuals.  

Paraphrasing and Summarizing Essay Example for Free

Paraphrasing and Summarizing Essay Paraphrasing is restating someone else’s ideas in your own words while providing proper in-text citations and references to acknowledge the original source, and let the readers know that the idea is not yours. It plays an important role in academic documents, legal documents, articles journals, etc. It requires crucial thinking, understanding and writing skills to rephrase a document in your own words.| paraphrasing reflects the understanding of a person rather than the writer who has presented the original work. Moreoever, a good quality paraphrased version of a work can be more concise and yet thorough than the original piece of writing. A summary is a concise version of a long detailed text while keeping the context clear. A summary can also be called an abstract, synopsis, executive summary or recap of the original. It highlights the main points of the original text, but it is smaller than the main article. Without summaries, a reader would have to read the entire text that definitely needs a lot of time. Instructions Summarizing 1. Read the original text straight through, quickly but thoroughly. 2. Reread the original material, highlight ideas that stand out to you as being important, and underline key terms. 3. Break the text into sections, with each conveying one of the authors main points. The goal of a summary is to express the central ideas of the original work, leaving out secondary material. 4. Write your summary in sentence form, using the main points and key terms as the muscle of your summary. Try to keep the ideas in your summary organized in the same sequence as in the original text. 5. Compare the original text to your summary to ensure you have covered the main ideas and havent left out any key terms. Paraphrasing 1. Read the original text straight through, quickly but thoroughly. 2. Reread the original material, taking note of the concept the author is trying to convey. 3. Express the text in your own words without changing the authors meaning. The goal of a paraphrase is to rewrite the original text without leaving out anything of substance. 4. Compare the original text to your paraphrase to ensure you have captured the essence of the authors ideas and have not quoted the text directly. The paraphrase must be written with language and sentence structure entirely your own.

Can Participatory Democracy Replace Representative Democracy Politics Essay

Can Participatory Democracy Replace Representative Democracy Politics Essay Over the past years, it has been observed that liberal democracy and it is choices of representations that is founded on appropriation of power through provoked consent has not been able to deliver freedoms and development and therefore, is considered a non functional choice. This essay is arguing that participatory democracy is not only a viable alternative to representative democracy. But it is the only viable option for the troubled societies of the modern era; it descends from democracy in its true form direct democracy and hence leads to progress and development. Which constitute it attraction as a renewed theory seeks response to representative democracy crisis. This essay used the model of Kerala in India to provide a case example of that participatory democracy with all its positive achievement is yet, to be empowered through proper participation and enriched experiences. Using critical analysis the essay will provide discussions on the notions of democracy in general, representative democracy and its critiques and overview of participatory democracy origins and features shortly try to draw the distinction between participatory democracy and deliberative democracy consecutively then overview of discussions around the Model of Kerala participatory democracy, finally discussions between PD/RD in the context of the developing world. Democracy: the contested notion According to William Connolly, democracy is a fundamentally contested notion on which it is impossible to reach an agreement (Barber, 1984). Although the differences in opinions might be frustrating it still does not destroy the worth of the contested concept. Before we indulge in the discussion whether participatory democracy is a viable alternative to representative democracy or not, we must understand what those terms stand for and how contested visions interpreted them, but first understanding the term democracy in its essence. Although a recent article by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen (2005) highlights revealed evidences that democracy has been theorised in many civilisations including Asian, African as well as in European and American. But, as part of our Eurocentric knowledge (said 2003); the word democracy commonly makes its origins from ancient Greece. With the supremacy of the Roman Empire, the theory of democracy declined. However, it found its way back into the European thought with the fall of the Roman Empire, primarily because of the translation of Aristotles politics into Latin in the early 1260s. (Beetham 2005) Since then debates on democracy have become a vital part of the Western culture and have continued to grow and merge into mainstream thought process. It is interesting to note that when Aristotle spoke about democracy in his work, he meant direct democracy; a form in which people rule and are ruled in turn. The underlying issue is that self-government is deemed as a critical element of democracy or in fact the essence of democracy. In present times where most discourses on democracy are occupied by discussions on election; elections are held for relatively longer times, indulge in exhaustive policy-drafting roles, the conditions of democracy are not met and hence the government no longer remains a democracy but turns into an oligarchy, despite the participation of all citizens in the election process. However, with due course of time, with redefinition, the notion of democracy has gained a new history to a certain extent, one which has almost nothing to do with its roots in ancient Greece (Bruce 2004). The previous concept of democracy had evolved because of historical incidents where lower classes, mostly the peasants, acquired a more active and unique civic status. Hence this form democracy origin begins with European feudalism rather than Athenian democracy. In our modern era, many people regard democracy as sacrosanct, and they are not eager to adopt or even try different governing. Amartya Sen (1999) in his article Democracy as a Universal Value, building on the argument that there are diverse origins for democracy criticising the tendency toward oversimplification that The practice of democracy that has won out in the modern West is largely a result of a consensus that has emerged since the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution(p.15) and it need to be exported to the rest of the world. He rejects the claims that Asian values and traditions are not supportive for democracy, providing examples from Asia and Africa history, making the point that democracy is a universal value (p.16). One important issue coincided democracy practice and theory is the majority rule. Dahl (1989) provides rational justification for accepting the majority rule using four different ways including: maximising the number of people who can exercise self-determination in collective decisions (p.138); majority rule is more likely can reach correct decisions, finally it maximise the utility based on maximising the satisfaction on decisions and there is no other cost-effective rule. Although justification form authors who favour or disfavour majority rule are always present it has been accepted in most practices of democracies. For instance see David Estlund (1997), who argues against the majority rule and fair proceduralism and favour of fair deliberative proceduralism. However, in this regard the term democracy has been understood as government by consent (Bhagwati 1995). The term democracy became a reference to a field where different parties test the strength and feasibility of their respective point of views, or even as a reward to be accomplished by a party that can provide the most solid, logical and convincing arguments (Barber 1984). The western practice of democracy was heavily shaped by the consequent politics of representation that followed the French and American revolutions, moving away from the face to face interaction of the ancient Athenian city direct democracy to representative democracy (Dahl 1989). REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY Similar to the overall democracy concept, the notion of representative democracy is no less contestation (Saward 2008). The varieties of human experiences in practicing representation enriched the notion, and made it almost impractical to define using dictionaries statement. The theories have gone far, for example Michael Saward (2008) is claiming that all democratic politics is representative politics (p.1005), denying that the direct democracy is not more democratic than the representative democracy and representative democracy is not in contrast with direct democracy but incorporating it. However, I can outline three peculiarities in order to understand representative democracy mainly 1) Election: people vote to elected officials to be considered as their democratic representatives; they have 2) Delegation: they are delegated by their trustees, to practice 3) Mediation: they are assigned to speak on behalf of social groups interests within a forum normally referred to as assembly or parliament etc, having discussions to reach a 4) Collective decision making( Laver and Kenneth A. Shepsle 1994). In short, Representative democracy is about having fair voting process and the result of that voting determine who will decide and what decision are going to be decided. Representation is based on the assumption that members of the society and social agents thriving for Nobel goals of their own society can act as the engineers of social evolution, in settings of cooperation, harmony, dialogue, respect for variations in culture and also for economic agents, opens up bright promising avenues for growth and progress. Primarily this assumption is challenged by the situation of the developing world of today where many democracies collapsed (Diskin 2005). In the early seventeenth and eighteenth centuries coupling the growth of liberal thought in many western regions, division of powers theory and human right culture that claimed by the mentioned revolutions; the overall representative democracies form of governance and mixed governments has referred to as liberal democracies. Best example for this is England, which a mixed government where the King represented monarchic principle, the aristocratic one being represented by the House of Lords and the House of Commons symbolizing democracy. Now since the King was also identified as an executive, the legislature being the House of Commons, and the House of Lords at least to a degree as the judiciary (Chavez and Franklin 2004). Â  Within a representative democracy it is assumed that wide-ranging public and political association bonding the society, triggered from outside the political dome of liberal democracy for a mutual enlistment of forces of the entire society and productive cadres from the political groups set up the stage for a powerful and solid representative democracy (Gruegel 2002). In a similar manner as they interact in real life in social procedures and dealings. Expertise, skill and charisma are the true skills of any good governance, but only once reliability, democracy and integrity are ensured (Huber and Stephens 1997). Leadership is not by self-postulation in representative democracy which prevents turning suspected support, intellect or expertise into the key sources for any claims to leadership. Gentle, honest, moral, intelligent and social skills acquire enough space to speak for it and perform in a political liberation operation based on progress, representation and ideology, rather than be dominated into exclusion by the immorality and deficits that hold command over the otherwise political scene (Kaufman 1997). David Beetham (2005) out line some principles to distinguish representative democracy form other forms particularly oligarchy to justify rule by the few including equal right for all citizens to elect and be elected for all public office except for those position that requires special qualifications. Transparent official and legal access to it, freedom of expression, and the right of forming associations including media firms and other forms of associations, with the possibility of influencing decisions from the bottom up, the rights of citizens are legally protected and they have the right to vote on constitutional amendments and changes. Undeniably, those are human rights together with other political, social and economical rights are essential frame work for any of our modern eras forms of democracy, but not necessarily related only to the representative democracy. The overall practice and theory of liberal democracy or representative form of governance has been critiqued and challenged by many political theories, importantly in this essay I will provide a brief overview about those theories, because re-theorising direct democracy in the name of participatory democracy has built its advocacy on the below areas of analysis: The domination of elite theories: the classics elite theorist like Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca, and Robert Michels, tried to articulate the gap between the governing group and the rest of society and highlight the domination of powers in few people hands, interestingly the critiques goes both side socialist and liberal arenas as it focus on the issue ultimate domination by few people to take the decisions, for Michels within any attempt to institutionalise the society there are going to be an iron law of oligarchy: an ultimate domination by few people in case of governments they are beaurocrats. A more recent attempts to articulate the same gap arguing that the public policies are and administration outcomes not reflecting the will of the citizens, but rather they are from an elite consensus (Bachrach 1967; Van den 1979). The Marxist critiques of the state being a tool in the hands of the oppressor ruling class; which focus on the structural classification of the society, and articulates the domination of economical sphere, upon the politics and ideology without the necessity for ruling class members to personally oversee the workings of the government. In the Marxist views the liberal democracy has been seen as distancing the masses from any genuine form of participation, and creating representative bodies (parliaments) which exclude and alienate the bulk of the population (Blaug and Schwarzmantel 2003 p.232) The anarchist critiques which emphasises the rule of propaganda in controlling the public, and the media is naturally in the hands of the powerful (Chomsky 2003 p. 246) and see the state has broken the social contract ; hence the call is for resistance and rebellion for aim of free Society. The modern political theories critiques, one dimension is the claims that economic factors exert a powerful effect on voting decisions, depending on government economic performance the political support can operate (Sander 1994 p.93). Another dimension is the valid critique that within a representative democracy there are dynamics for exclusion. One convincing critique is the feminist one, which clarify the fact that the basic unit of liberal democracy has always been a man, an actor in the public sphere, a male property accumulator (Blaug and Schwarzmantel 2003 p.301). Given the destructive nature of the criticism that dominated the discourse around liberal democracy (Duncan 1983 p.196), the liberal theorists in return considered remittances by practicing deliberative opinions polls and referendums in expanding the practice of democracy (Beetham 2005). David Beetham (2005) theoretically argues that a government can be a democracy only to the extent that that the selection to every office, or to each office, except the ones which necessitate expertise and skill, ought to be made by lot. This implies that nobody gets to enjoy the same position more than once except for the case of military positions (Beetham 2005), thus any theory of civic skills must take into account that citizens are embedded in networks of social, as well as political, relationships(Mutz 2006 p.150). One can argue Beetham (2005) that changing the faces would not change facts outlined by the above theories that representative democracy is not representing the will of people. Conse quently, led to what Herbert Marcuse stated as a mutilated crippled and frustrated human existence (as cited in Duncan 1983 p.195). Participatory democracy: For participatory democracy a likely starting point is the notion of sovereignty or of self-government. Amongst the contemporary theories of democracy, this is the oldest and the only one that is widely accepted by citizens and political leaders, the theory was initially presented in writings of Thomas Paine, United States constitutions preamble and even in Lincolns address of Gettysburg (Beetham 2005). A key component of this concept is political independence, that is, a given set of people shall not administer themselves if they were subjected to any form of governance by anybody outside that set/group. This is considered as an essential requirement for participatory democracy. Another prerequisite is that the given independent set cannot be subjugated by any monarchy, any other traditional aristocracy, or any other group, but is only accountable to and is controlled by the population in general (Pinkney 2003). The theoretical starting point of this stipulation is that in general p eople are fundamentally concerned with leading their own lives and have a basic right to do so (Gaventa 2004). Digging in ancient Greeks theories of direct democracy and thoroughly studying the social contract of Jean Jacques Rousseau together with on liberty of John Stuart Mill, Carole Pateman (1970) came up with notion of participatory democracy aiming to reconstruct democracy by providing structural institutions reforms for participation. According to her the distinction criterion of the ideal form of participatory democracy, that draws the basic distinction between representative and direct democracy; is the equal opportunity of citizens to participate in decision making and in creating institutional platform for this participation based on the argument that individuals and institutions cannot be understood apart from each other. She takes the discussion further to look at the conditions of equal participation arguing that having representatives in the public domain will not ensure proper level of engagement of citizens on decisions affecting them. One of her major views, is the more part icipation the more stable system of democracy can be obtained. She argues that all social and political including family, employment institutions are to be democratised in order to reach the aspired ideal of representative democracy. She also emphasised the necessity of democratic training to be grounded at the family level as foundation for political public participation. A major shift in Patemans notion of participatory was done by Benjamin Barber (1984) who also draws his work on Rousseau and the classics, he critiques of representative democracy which he considers thin meaning not very democratic and contradicting the Western values of social Justice, equality and freedom because of the second outline in the previous mention peculiarities of representative democracy saying: It delegates and thus alienates political will at the cost of genuine self-government and autonomy. As Rousseau warned the instant people allows itself to be represented it loses its freedom. Freedom and citizenship are correlates; each sustain and give life to the other (p.145). For him the absence of community sense in representative democracy makes equality just a fiction while social justice depraved by encroaching self-sufficiently and personal autonomy. Going back to Sen (2005) and Said (2003) and many others, indeed those principles and values are not Western, they are just human values, maybe Benjamin Barber failed to express the manner of values and relate them to the West, but he succeeded to emphasise the role of community in order to strengthen participatory democracy. When he prioritise community participation over individual participation, indicating that community participation when combined with essential training means real participation in setting the agendas for deliberation, legislation and on policy implementation. The individual participation is just another rational for individualism. From the same point of favouring training, without direct link with literature of participatory democracy or the mentioned theorist framework, Paulo Freire (1970) coming from socialist prospective and using Marxists lexicons writing Pedagogy of the Oppressed a book that influenced and informed participatory democracy theory and practice. Freire (1970) laid out important foundations for developing world experiences of participatory; first by directing participation from the intellectual rhetoric of the west into the developing countries, secondly by centring the dialogue in the heart of participation to reach consensus and agreements and indeed the earlier dialogue begins the more truly revolutionary will be the movement (p.128); thirdly and most importantly attributing the theory with social movement aspects of empowering the people through abolishment the teacher-student dichotomy as very basic roles in participation. To summarise the explanation of notion of participatory democracy, I can extract from the reviewed materials and from the above discussion cornerstones of participatory democracy, which involve 1) Democratic active political participation in all society institutions 2) Direct community involvement in dialogue and decision making. 3) Expansion of people participation in governance. 4) Empowering the community through the provision of relevant trainings. 5) Expansion of civil society role within the society. It is very important to distinguish between participatory democracy and deliberative democracy, because there is overlapping between participative and deliberative theories as both points of views are mutually supporting. In general, participatory democracy stresses on the extent of citizen participation, while on the other hand, deliberative democracy focuses on the quality of citizen participation (Fisher 2003). In order to comply with the participatory standard, it is essential for all citizens to be politically active with an additional requirement that their involvement be sincere and not driven be any logical reason. While these positions are unique, some advocates of either view contest the benefits of embracing the other one. In short, the advantages of complete citizen partnership will increase if their participation was reasonable, whereas, more widespread participation would boost the advantages of reasonable debate amongst the public. The most vivid distinction in the two ways is that participatory democracy possesses the tendency to absorb and merge civil society into its political system, whereas, the deliberative democracy identifies and even acknowledges the independent reality of the political domain (Webster 2002). Finally, in deliberative democracy different views continues to discuss until reframing a point of view that is mutually acceptable, while in participatory people may accept voting as an exit mechanism from the discussion. Having discussed the cornerstones of participatory democracy, it is now worthy to mention that over the past twenty years or so participatory institutions have gained popularity throughout the developing nations in an attempt to intensify the quality of democracy. In countries such as India, Brazil, Indonesia, Venezuela, local governments have experimented with participatory form of government to foster accountability and create active and well-informed citizens which help in establishing the atmosphere for realizing social justice (Prendergast 2005). In these states, participatory democracy has been able to produce set political and social progresses which have immensely deepened the quality of democracy (Fisher 2003). Social capital was generated, empowerment of citizens became a possibility and most of all government systems started to became fair and transparent. Insights of participatory democracy More relevant to reality than theory is to provide a case, in order to analyse the rigour of the claims in the previous analysis of the theoretical framework, through summarising the outcomes of many studies and researches done around one case which is Kerala in India. The justification for selection of Kerala could be: it is an experience of participatory democracy within a developing country, it attracted hundreds of scholars from around the globe by claiming success in transforming the society (Ramanathaiyer and MacPherson 2000), literature is available, the size of participation claimed is very big compared to other places, it involve both rural and urban areas, it is relatively happened within an worlds largest democracy and the developing countries oldest democracy when compared to other examples of Porto Alegre of Brazil and south Africa, it broke through and within a society feudalism specifically caste system and then draw some lessons learnt from the case. Note worthily the Kerala model of participatory democracy has been referred to: in consulted literature as socialist democracy (Heller 2009; Williams 2009) participatory development Participatory governance (Fung and Wright 2003; Hordijk 2005). For the aim of consistency and for the subject of our essay I will keep it as Participatory democracy. Inheriting a burden of a developing region, with a diversity of social stratifications the socialist governments in Kerala adopted participatory approach in engaging the people in their own development (Parayil 2000). Village councils empowered through involvement in the preparation of detailed development plans that are then put to vote in village assemblies, 140 Assembly constituencies created, mass planning and participation conducted at least 10% of the population participated in planning activities, public meetings and seminars are routine for instance Maitreesh Ghatak and Maitreya Ghatak (2002) states that:Since 1998 meetings have been regularly held in practically all of the around forty-five thousand constituencies over the state(p.49)., trainings learning-by-doing workshops to directly involve citizens in decision making, the process made to connects the peoples deliberations to actual decisions is more direct and less subject to bureaucratic alteration, social-economic data collection, cadastral plan updating by citizens, On the construction of small bridges and roads many cases of public taking, and drains by themselves, participatory developmental project skills and experiences developed leading to mobilisation of local resources and voluntary networks and excellent projects deliverable in many cases below the estimated budgets, have been reported. Hundreds thousands of citizens are volunteering in planning execution of developmental projects. Networks and structures of expertise retired skilled workers were created and made functional. Mass social and community mobilisation campaigns conducted (Heller and Isaac 2003; Parayil 1996; Ramanathaiyer and MacPherson 2000; Ramachandran 2000). Many strategies to enhance citizen participation were adopted including but not limited to: (1) allocation of funds that mandates that certain amounts must be spent on interventions targeting the needs of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, addressing women, children, the disabled, and the elderly; (2) participation, in which one-third of the number of seats in the committees and assemblies is reserved for women and a proportionate number is reserved for marginalised castes and historically disempowered tribes and communities in the assemblies; (3) massive capacity-building and awareness raising intervention and campaigns to sensitize the involved with the planning process as well as the assemblers and committees; and (4) continuous monitoring and evaluation for these components at many levels (Chettiparamb 2006). The allocation of funds in practice was proportionally high Starting in 1996, about 40 per cent of the state government controlled funds were devolved from the bureaucra cy to panchayat village planning councils (Ghatak and Ghatak 2002 p.53). It has been argued that this led to corruption cases (Das 2000), Indeed it did at the beginning but through transparency and participation in monitoring the practice has remarkably improved in terms of development there have been some positive outcomes already, including a decline in the prevailing cynicism towards development activities(Datta 1997 as cited in Crook and Sverrisson 1999). Kerala participatory democracy model has already established its success in development, centring planning and mass participation as instruments of social mobilisation in decentralised administration; in which the ultimate aim of decentralisation has to be to give opportunity for as much direct participation of people in daily governance as possible (Isaac 2000 p.7). As well as supporting microfinance, which aims, alleviate poverty and empowers women (Devika and Thampi 2007) In this state of 30 million of population, successive waves of social movements, a rich and competitive sector of civic organizations and citizens who know and use their rights have kept political parties and the State accountable, producing Indias most competitive party system and its most efficacious state (Heller 2000). Chettiparamb (2006) stressed that the confidence in civil society institution that competent of decision making was moderately aligned with goals of participatory democracy, democratic decentralization, and deliberative planning (p.188). Success was based not on upraising some subaltern vision but by first destroying feudalism through popular land reform policies and incorporating many people in the anti feudalism policies and campaigns, then continuing to expand a participation on civil society. The expansion of political and social citizenship can become the basis for creating social change in Kerala. Applying examples from farming, small industry, and the informal sectors, Patrick Heller (1999) analysis of the political dynamics through which active participation has reduced the capitalist growth and transformed the state from a period of open class struggle and oppression relationships to one of citizenship conciliation. His work concludes that the model provide broader indulgent to the complicated relationship between participatory democracy and market economies in the context of developing country. Ramachandran (2000) explains that high participation in Kerala and devolution of government into institutions and the government commitment in participation have increased the government expenditure on education and this is the explanation for higher literacy and better health awareness in Kerala. Citing comprehensive statistical records and using a Chinese methodology in evaluating the development in Kerala, Ramanathaiyer and MacPherson (2000) research revealed a paradox that the state has achieved high scores according to the Physical quality of Life Index and Human Development Indicator and low economic growth according to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures in compared to other states which adopted representative notions in governance. Although the research has well documented the success of Keralas participatory democracy model it remained sceptical to the overall Known development goals and their contradictions with each other for example; achieving higher literacy rate does not really translate into higher employment where unemployment reaches 21.19 per cent(p.45). However, relatively recent statistical records provides evidence on growth and improvements and sustainability in Keralas human development indicators; surveys proves that as well, such as the National Famil y and health National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) (MHFWGI 2006); for instance in 2007 a research by Zacharia and Rajan indicated that unemployment has dropped to 9.4 per cent (Kumar 2007). Hence Sen (1999) capabilities argument in development as freedom: there is more to be achieved in development than just GDP statistics, however, poverty is a major but not the only problem in the developing world, Kerala model stimulated the debate on the many concepts of development. The Kerala model of participation remarkable achievement in social development indicators has led to question united nations common used indicators such as literacy rate, infant mortality rate, life expectancy, fertility rates, etc whether they are reflexive indicators for social development, While poverty still in the state (Kurien 2000). In contrast there are some scholars who argue that GDP as indicator is not properly reflexive and thus illusory (Pritchett 2000) or Kerala income is underestimated (Ahluwalia 2000). Veron (2001) is arguing that Kerala model addressed some failures in term of community based sustainable development, relying on ecological and environmental aspects incorporated in his drew conceptualisation of sustainable development. He also sees the participation has not gone deep enough, thus Kerala model has already included allocation of increased funds for village development plans, and has implemented decentralised planning process that that aims to involve the civil society at every stage (p.612). Since the 1960s Kerala received attention accreditation and praises, for instance Samuel Huntington (1968 as cited in Heller 2009) describes it as an example of successful political modernization in the developing world. And continued to be judged positively for example Amartya Sen (1997 cited in Parayil 2000) appreciated it with concerns about the economic growth. There are many legitimate questions about what would happen when the socialist movement stop wining the elections?; Can this participatory mov