The Development Context Essay -- Politics Political Economics Essays

The Development Context This study falls at the intersection of several key themes or debates in International Development. These include the debate about the role and effectiveness of official international assistance agencies, the body of thought on the micropolitical forces which shape the development assistance process, and the debate over the ecological limits to and sustainabiltiy of economic growth. The following sections will review the most important concepts and some of the authors associated with those themes. 1) What do international donor agencies do, and do they do it well? Some discussion has been given in the literature to approach taken by international donor agencies to development assistance. For the most part, this discussion has focused on the fact that large governmental and bureaucratic agencies lack the flexibility to adapt to changing conditions and be effective at grassroots-level implementation. In a scathing condemnation of official international development assistance, Korten (1990) asserts that such efforts are defined by the bounds of bureaucratic convenience, and that there has been a strong preference in international assistance for short-term, narrowly-focused, and self-interested efforts.' Hellinger et al. (1988), in an assessment of the U.S. Agency for International Development, suggest that even when more farsighted and well-designed approaches emerge, they "face internal structures, operational procedures, and reward systems geared to promote objectives related primarily to expansionary ' David C. Korten, Getting to the 21st Century, West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1990, pp. 36-137. and survival interests of the AID bureaucracyi' In the context of this criticism and dom... ...r: Lynne Rienner. 1988. Hirschmann, David. "Women and Political Participation in Africa". Public Domain. 1990. Kasfir, Nelson. "Explaining Ethnic Political Participation". (in State of Development in the Third World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1986.) Kolenda, Pauline. Caste in Contemporary India: Beyond Organic Solidarity. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. 1985. Korten, David C. Getting to the 21st Century. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press. 1990. Lipsky, Michael. "The Rationing of Services in Street-Level Bureaucracies". Street-Level Bureaucracy. New York: Sage Foundation. 1980. Meadows, Donella et al. Beyond the Limits. Post Mills, VT: Chelsea Green. 1992. Robertson, C. and I. Berger. Women and Class in Africa. New York: Holmes & Meier. 1986. Ibid, p. 24. Samarasinghe, Vidya. "Hangin' in at the Margin". Public Domain. 1992.

End Justifies the Means

Does The End Justify The Means? First, let's try to understand the sense in which the word â€Å"justifies† is used in the familiar statement that â€Å"the end justifies the means. † After that we can consider the problem you raise about whether it is all right to employ any means – good or bad – so long as the end is good. When we say that something is â€Å"justified,† we are simply saying that it is right. Thus, for example, when we say that a college is justified in expelling a student who falls below a passing mark, we are acknowledging that the college has a right to set certain standards of performance and to require its students to meet them.Hence, the college is right in expelling the student who doesn't. In most societies, killing a human being is seen as a bad thing to do. But what do you do when a country declares war against you? The â€Å"end† in this case is the end of the war. If you do nothing and stick to your moral grounds , you will be destroyed, but the war will be over. If you take up arms to defend yourself, you are violating your moral code for the sake of stopping the war.. An enterprise can succeed only if it has a goal. To achieve that goal an effective method should be adopted.The method can be harmless with no violence in it. Or it can be hard and cruel which calls for a lot of violence. In both cases the goal is the same. Only the method of achieving it is different. The proverb, a very disputable one, means that if the goal is good the methods adopted for achieving it do not matter. It can be good or bad. The Florentine statesman, Machiavelli, in his book THE PRINCE advocated this doctrine. According to him, it is justifiable to go to any extent for achieving a good cause. It may be necessary to use violence sometimes.It will be harmful to some people. But all that can be justified if the goal is good. Some great Indian leaders and thinkers like Gandhi have opposed this doctrine. According to them it is not only necessary that goal should be good but the means adopted for achieving it should also be good. In some countries governments  resort  to anything for suppressing riots. When peaceful requests and talk fail to bring about the desired result, they use sheer force to suppress such riots. They argue that it is for the common good of the ublic. Whatever be the truth, the doctrine ‘the end justifies the means’ happens to be a very controversial one which provokes much thinking and dispute. This phrase, originating from Niccolo Machiavelli's book â€Å"The Prince†, is interpreted by some to mean doing anything whatsoever that is required to get the result you want, regardless of the methods used. It does not matter whether these methods are legal or illegal, fair or foul, kind or cruel, truth or lies, democratic or dictatorial, good or evil.Some agree that the statement is correct; however, others don’t see it that way. . When a man re aches worthy means with unworthy methods, how does that feel within a human soul? Because people have a Conscience, whenever they like it or not, people have to feel for others when they do something bad.. Another view, the benefits from something outweigh the process attained. For example if somebody cured cancer, but he/she had to kill one cancer patient to find the cure.They would say that the fact that they cured cancer made the loss of one life to save many worth it. The other way would mean something like the process makes the outcome worth it, which doesn't make much sense. On the other hand, if the end is worth the cost, then it is fine to eliminate the undesirables. However, the problems arise when judging if it is worth it, and if the undesirable might be of potential value later. For example, assassinating undesirables that are murderers is justified in that it saves future lives.

Practice Restaurant Dialogue for Ordering Food

Ordering food in a restaurant is one of the most basic tasks for English learners—after all, eating is essential and so is talking about eating— but it can also be one of the most daunting. This simple lesson is aimed at beginners who are practicing ordering for the very first time. Use this lesson, dialogue, and sample menu to help ESL students learn how to order  food in a restaurant using basic vocabulary Preparing for the Dialogues Simple dialogues will help students to order food and speak in a socially acceptable way in a restaurant while  challenging listening-comprehension exercises will help boost their passive-understanding skills. Before having students perform the dialogue below, ask them to name different types of food they might find in a restaurant. Write the vocabulary on the board and make sure students also take notes. After they do so: Give students the dialogue and menu, and ask them to read through it carefully. Point out the use of would like for asking for and making requests. You may also want to make sure they notice the use of here you are instead of please when handing someone something.Pair students and ask them to role-play ordering food in a restaurant using the menu below (or a more interesting menu you may have on hand). Both students should switch roles a number of times.If you have access to a computer, improve passive understanding by doing a  listening- comprehension  exercise, like the one found in this practice script.   Finally, ask students what are some ways  (dialogues, thematic texts, and narrative stories)  they can use to help them improve their listening-comprehension skills in English. Dialogue: Ordering Food in a Restaurant Have students pair up to practice the following dialogue, then have them switch roles. Waiter: Hello, Can I help you?.Kim: Yes, Id like to have some lunch.Waiter: Would you like a starter?Kim: Yes, Id like a bowl of chicken soup, please.Waiter: And what would you like for your main course?Kim: Id like a grilled cheese sandwich.Waiter: Would you like anything to drink?Kim: Yes, Id like a glass of Coke, please.Waiter: Would Pepsi be OK? We dont have Coke.Kim: That would be fine.Waiter:  (After Kim has her lunch.) Can I bring you anything else?Kim: No thank you. Just the bill.Waiter: Certainly.Kim: I dont have my glasses. How much is the lunch?Waiter: Thats $6.75.Kim: Here you are. Thank you very much.Waiter: Youre welcome. Have a good day.Kim: Thank you. Same to you. Sample Menu Use this menu to practice ordering food in a restaurant. Have students swap out different food and drink items to modify the above dialogue, or let them create their own dialogues. Joes Restaurant Starters Chicken Soup $2.50 Salad $3.25 Sandwiches - Main Course Ham and cheese $3.50 Tuna $3.00 Vegetarian $4.00 Grilled Cheese $2.50 Slice of Pizza $2.50 Cheeseburger $4.50 Hamburger $5.00 Spaghetti $5.50 Drinks Coffee $1.25 Tea $1.25 Soft Drinks - Coke, Sprite, Root Beer, Ice Tea $1.75