Education In Texas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Education In Texas - Essay Example However, due to the enforcement of accountability system has successfully created various educational changes in the state. As a result, a clear improvement has been observed in high-poverty schools with a gradual increase in students’ academic achievements. The paper critically analyzes different reforms and evolution of public education in Texas over the years in a detailed manner, which was implemented to meet the needs of state’s diverse population. These educational reforms revolve around the improvement of the State’s educational goals, to promote accountability in order to attain achievements by the students and to improve the efficiency of public schools. Background of Public School Education in Texas: Education in Texas holds an eminent position. People in Texas are highly concerned about the education of their children. The Texas Declaration of Independence (1836) has pointed out the many errors committed by the Mexican government in establishing a uniform educational policy within the state. For the first time in 1840, the very first Anglo-American public school law was enforced in Texas which was aimed to support public school in each county. Soon after the law was passed, another step was taken by the state government in 1845. In the state constitution of 1845, it has been mentioned that the state government would give away one-tenth of the annual state tax revenue in the support and development of the public schools. During the same year, another school law was enforced by the state government. ... Public education in Texas has remained in continuous evolution. It faced another change after the Civil war and Reconstruction, when the new constitution of the new state in 1876, granted 45 million acres of public land in the support of public schools and passed the instructions that the revenue generated from the new Permanent School Fund would be put in bonds. However, again in 1884, the law for public school was rewritten. Many amendments were made in the Permanent School Funds Program (Source: TEA). The Current Situation of Public School Education in Texas: Recently, different laws have been introduced in the state which gave liberty to all and every city and town to develop and administer their own schools. As a result, different independent schools in various districts have been established. During 1900, there were 526 districts in which the high schools were given the primary status in public school education. But recently, it has been estimated that there are around 1039 ind ependent schools in Texas State. In 1911, another law was passed for the betterment and development of the rural high school education. This law revolved around giving support to the teachers by the state in their salaries and expansion of rural schools in the districts (Gene Preuss). With the passage of time, a remarkable improvement in the education was observed. However in late 1939, the first-term Texan Governor W. Lee O’ Daniel highlighted many problems that were faced by the public schools especially in rural areas. He termed those problems as, â€Å"inequalities of opportunities in public school system (Gene Preuss).† According to his studies and research, rural schools were faced with

Topics for Cause and Effect Essays Essay Example for Free

Topics for Cause and Effect Essays Essay A cause and effect essay aims at explaining the reasons and results of an event or situation. †¢It is one the most popular essay types in the academic world. †¢It is beneficial for a student to write a cause and effect essay because it propels him to think of the situation in depth to come up with the reasons for the birth of that situation and its eventual impact on everything it affects. †¢It encourages the mind to think analytically and investigate a situation in its true light. Writing a cause and effect essay needs key understanding of the topic and keen attention to detail. †¢It may seem like it is an easy thing to do but you cannot go far beyond the introduction if you do not put analytical skills into writing it. †¢Such types of essay basically targets two main points, why the event or situation took place and how did it made its impact. †¢You have to remember to concentrate your cause and effect essay to revolve around these two points and do not let it deviate from its main focus. Cause and effect are two approaches that are closely related so it is sometimes a bit tricky to differentiate between the two. Therefore, it is imperative that you understand the topic properly before approaching it. You should choose an excellent cause and effect topic. †¢This topic should help you relate one event to another, ultimately revealing its causes and effects. †¢You should aim at writing it in such a way that it keeps the reader hooked on to it, keeping them on the edge of their seats. Cause and effects of media violence †¢Analyze the cause and effect of excessive TV viewing †¢Cause and effects of land pollution Cause and effects of teenage depression †¢Cause and effect of global financial crunch †¢Cause and effect of terrorism †¢Cause and effect of policies made by United Nations on the world †¢Cause and effect of threatening of North Korea to start a nuclear war, on the world †¢Cause and effect of using too much of mobile phones †¢Cause and effect of having irrational fears Cause and effect of noise pollution †¢Cause and effect of some minor inventions †¢Cause and effect of generation gap †¢Cause and effect of the weather on mood †¢Passage of a national health program, cause and effect †¢Technology and its effect on human freedom and happiness in society †¢Cause and effect of extreme weather conditions around the globe apart from human activities †¢Cause and effect of SSRIs on adolescents †¢Cause and effect of mercury on community health. Cause and effect of multilingualism on the learning of additional languages †¢Cause and effect of native language instruction on the ESL development of adults: a synthesis of the research †¢Cause and effect of sleep deprivation to work productivity †¢The influence of TV advertising on gender identity †¢What are the actual and potential consequences of nuclear leaks and meltdowns? †¢What are the causes and effect of the computer revolution? †¢What are the causes of unrest in Ireland? †¢What are the effects of the illiteracy? †¢What caused the AIDS epidemic? What caused the proliferation of the bubonic plague in the Middle Ages? †¢What causes rain, and what are the usual effects of it? †¢What effect can have the vanishing of the animal and plant species? †¢What effect does the business participation on the Internet have on privacy considerations? What is the debate over this issue? †¢What effect does the Internet have on businesses and corporations? †¢What effects can be attributed to phenomena such as Apartheid? †¢What effects can be attributed to phenomena such as El Nino? †¢Write a cause and effect essay about acid rain Cause and effect of showing violence in the movies †¢Cause and effect of racism †¢Cause and effect of smart phones in our daily life †¢Causes and effects of land pollution †¢Cause and effects of media violence †¢The effects of sleep deprivation to work productivity †¢The effects of leaking military technology to the civilian societies. †¢The causes of extreme weather conditions around the globe apart from human activities †¢What causes rain, and what are the usual effects of it? †¢Effects of using mobile phones too much †¢Generation gap; causes and effects.

Gloria Naylors Mama Day Essay -- Gloria Naylor Mama Day Literature Es

Gloria Naylor's Mama Day Gloria Naylor's Mama Day takes place in two distinct environments, each characterized by the beliefs and ideologies of the people who inhabit the seemingly different worlds. The island of Willow Springs, comprised solely by the descendants of slaves, is set apart from the rest of the United States and is neither part of South Carolina nor Georgia. As such, its inhabitants are exempt from the laws of either state and are free to govern themselves as they see fit. Only a worn-out bridge built in 1920 connects the inhabitants to the mainland, but the people of Willow Springs are entirely self-sufficient. They believe in the ways of their African ancestors and respect the heritage of Sapphira Wade, the original "Mother" who convinced her master to deed the island to his slaves. They live in the present yet believe in the power of supernatural forces and herbal or root medicine. Mama Day, whose imposing presence in Willow Springs is felt by all of the inhabitants, best understands that he r world is founded upon the power of belief. Belief in that which may seem to defy all rational or logical sense. In New York, however, Cocoa finds herself amongst a group of people who seem distant and interested in only themselves. Stemming from many different backgrounds, the people of New York are always in a rush and "moving, moving, moving ---and to where?" (19). No one knows for sure. Just like the subways, racism in New York moved underground, and Cocoa experiences it as she desperately searches for a job. After having lived in New York for seven years, Cocoa still has not found a suitable mate. Only when she meets George does she start believing again in the goodness and sincerity possessed by some. George is t... ... that Ruby is the source of Cocoa's illness, and admits to Dr. Buzzard that he only believes in himself (292). When he finally visits the other place, he is appalled by Mama Day's "mumbo jumbo" but after seeing Cocoa's condition worsen, he eventually submits to her plan. His inability, however, to understand that a pair of empty hands are all that Mama Day needs costs him his life. George's inability to believe in that which he could not understand leads to his demise. Unfortunately, as Naylor reminds us, "Rational America" insists that everything should have a rational basis. As products of this rational society, we never accept things at face value because we constantly dig deeper in hopes of completely understanding that which may be eluding us. Sometimes, however, it is best to cast aside reason and accept things for what they are and what they represent.

Ecological Threats Essay

A cycle is a series of change which comes back to the starting point and which can be repeated.[1][2] The term â€Å"biogeochemical† tells us that biological, geological and chemical factors are all involved. The circulation of chemical nutrients like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and water etc. through the biological and physical world are known as biogeochemical cycles. In effect, the element is recycled, although in some cycles there may be places (called reservoirs) where the element is accumulated or held for a long period of time (such as an ocean or lake for water).[1][2] Water, for example, is always recycled through the water cycle, as shown in the diagram. The water undergoes evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, falling back to Earth clean and fresh. Elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another through the biogeochemical cycles. Systems Chloroplasts conduct photosynthesis and are found in plant cells and other eukaryotic organisms. These are Chloroplasts visible in the cells of Plagiomnium affine — Many-fruited Thyme-moss. Ecological systems also known as ecosystems have many biogeochemical cycles operating as a part of the system, for example the water cycle, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, etc. All chemical elements occurring in organisms are part of biogeochemical cycles. In addition to being a part of living organisms, these chemical elements also cycle through abiotic factors of ecosystems such as water (hydrosphere), land (lithosphere), and/or the air (atmosphere).[3] The living factors of the planet can be referred to collectively as the biosphere. All the nutrients—such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur—used in ecosystems by living organisms are a part of a closed system; therefore, these chemicals are recycled instead of being lost and replenished constantly such as in an open system.[3] The flow of energy in an ecosystem is an open system; the sun constantly gives the planet energy in the form of light while it is eventually used and lost in the form of heat throughout the trophic levels of a food web. Carbon is used to make carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, the major sources of food energy. These compounds are oxidized to release carbon dioxide, which can be captured by plants to make organic compounds. The chemical reaction is powered by the light energy of the sun. It is possible for an ecosystem to obtain energy without sunlight. Carbon must be combined with hydrogen and oxygen in order to be utilized as an energy source, and this process depends on sunlight. Ecosystems in the deep sea, where no sunlight can penetrate, use sulfur. Hydrogen sulfide near hydrothermal vents can be utilized by organisms such as the giant tube worm. In the sulfur cycle, sulfur can be forever recycled as a source of energy. Energy can be released through the oxidation and reduction of sulfur compounds (e.g., oxidizing elemental sulfur to sulfite and then to sulfate). Although the Earth constantly receives energy from the sun, its chemical composition is essentially fixed, as additional matter is only occasionally added by meteorites. Because this chemical composition is not replenished like energy, all processes that depend on these chemicals must be recycled.

Multicultural Case Study

MCE Problem Solving Case Study Section 1: Problem Identification The problem identified is gender bias that male students have towards female teachers. The conflict is many male students do not respond to female teachers the same way they respond to male teachers. These students feel that they do not have to follow directions/instructions from female teachers and will not complete assignments given without constant reminders. Male students who show this type of bias to female teachers are either from a single parent home, one where the female role is not respected, socialization of the student, or even a more affluent home.These students are not held responsible for their actions at home and feel that they are not accountable at school for their behaviors. Male students who come from single parent homes usually carry more responsibility at home and will attempt to carry this role over into the classroom. He feels that he is the more dominant member of the household and that he is alw ays in control. This student will not always complete assignments taken home because of his responsibilities and may or may not do well on quizzes and tests.He may feel that these assignments have no bearing on his current situation because he is more focuses on survival for today and less worried about the future. The male students who come from a home where the female role is not respected will carry this attitude over into the classroom. When he is presented a classroom situation with a male teacher he is respectful, but when placed a classroom with a female teacher he acts out or refuses to give her the proper respect. He feels that he superior to her and does not have to listen to her.Socialization of the student could also play a role in gender bias against a female teacher. The loud male student will always catch the attention of the teacher where as the quite soft-spoken female student will be overlooked. This attention can cause the male student to continue to act out in th at teacher’s class. A male student who comes from a more affluent home, the parenting comes in the form of money or gift giving. These students will hold a sense of entitlement in all situations causing them to feel that they are not responsible for their actions or behaviors.Even if corrected or punished at school they know that they will receive no punishment at home. They also realize that this provides a way out of that specific teacher’s class for a day or more. Section 2: Perspectives The first group affected by this problem is female teachers. These teachers begin to feel less confident in their teaching and begin to second guess themselves. It threatens the teacher authority level in the classroom when one student continues to disrespect, because it shows other students that they too can get away with it.After continual defiance or disrespect from students, teachers can begin to over react to situations that could be prevented with patience. Also, this disrupti on can prevent the teacher from accomplishing that day’s lesson because she is constantly correcting behaviors. Along with threatening a teacher’s authority these students can also cause fear in teachers. The next group affected is the male students. One effect could be the over generalization of all male students being placed into the same category as the defiant male students.This creates tension between the teacher and the entire male classroom population. This can also create a hierarchy between the males in the class by allowing the loud, defiant male to become the defacto leader, while the others follow. This action causes the teacher to lose control of the classroom, allowing that male to take control. The third group affected is the female students. The quiet, soft-spoken female will often be overlooked, while the dominant male will receive all the attention in the class.When the female students do well, they still do not receive the positive reinforcement they are due. After being exposed to this type of behavior the female students may begin to act out or defy authority figures because they feel that would gain more attention from the teacher. Also, seeing female teachers treated this way in the classroom can cause the female students to view this behavior as acceptable in everyday society. This can carry over into their lives, present and future. The fourth group affected by this problem is the parents of the students in the classroom.As a parent, you expect your child to receive an adequate education while in school, but if your child’s class is constantly disrupted they are not receiving an adequate education. The teacher may not be able to cover all curriculum scheduled for that allotted time because of student(s) being disruptive in the classroom. Also, if your child sees this behavior on a daily basis, he or she may begin to think that it is appropriate and may begin to mimic the behaviors. The last group affected is the sc hool.First, if the teacher is unable to cover the necessary material or teach the material effectively the school’s test scores may begin to drop and will cause them to not reach their Adequate Yearly Progress. The administration will have to focus more on discipline issues rather than on the positive aspects of the school. The effect may also be seen with other teachers and their view of that specific teacher or classroom. Section 3: Challenges and Opportunities One challenge for the teacher, parents, and school is the agreed upon level of reinforcement given to that student, whether it be positive or negative.A challenge to the teacher is not allowing that student’s behavior to effect her attitude towards the rest of the male population in her current class and in future in classes. Another challenge to the teacher is attempting to make up lost instructional time that was given up when dealing with the disruptive/disrespectful student. This can put stress on her and the other students. A challenge presented to the male student, is that if allowed to continually disrespect female teachers in school it will negatively affect his relationship with all female authority figures, police officers, bosses, and significant other, in his adult life.One challenge presented to the female student is to be acknowledged and appreciated for doing the right thing in and out of class. This can also apply to male students who respect the female teacher and her authority. An opportunity for the teacher would be for her to learn how to effectively manage her classroom and diffuse hostile situations. It allows the teacher to grow professionally in both the science and the art of teaching. All students have the opportunity to learn what acceptable behavior is in the school setting and this behavior will hopefully carry over into their adult lives.The school has the opportunity to create a culture of acceptable behavior and to create a learning environment that provid es an adequate education to all students. It also allows the school to create a precedent for future problems that may arise because of similar behavior issues. Section 4: Strategies †¢ Teacher could collaborate with other female teachers in order to get ideas about how to handle these situations. †¢ Do not ignore the problem, even if it seems small at that time. †¢ Set rule and expectations from day one. Let the students know that you are in control of the classroom. Develop a rewards system to reward student for positive behaviors. Take notice of successes in school or extracurricular activities. †¢ Give the student a daily job, in which he feels that he is important and is relied on. †¢ Involve as many outside parties as possible to help correct or improve behaviors. These parties could be parents, other teachers or coaches. †¢ Create a mentoring style program to provide the student with a positive example from an older student. †¢ The teacher m ay have to get administration involved if the behavior(s) a level beyond that teacher’s control.Section 5: Solutions The solution can be divided into three separate and distinct stages: 1. Proactive 2. Constructive 3. Reactive In the proactive stage, the teacher must show that she is in control of the room from day one and assert this authority to insure that the students understand the rules, policies, and expectations. She must have confidence in her abilities as a teacher. In this stage, she must also have her approaches and tools needed to handle violations of rules, policies, and expectations clearly defined.She must be consistent in the enforcement of the rules, policies, and expectations in the classroom. In the constructive stage, the teacher must respond quickly to any demonstrations of rude or disrespectful behavior and must be consistent in recognizing these behaviors. The teacher should respond to the student with positive feedback, provide guidance or correction for more appropriate. In the reactive stage, the teacher could first collaborate with other teachers and determine methods to prevent the behavior from occurring. She needs to also reiterate the rules, policies, and expectations of the class.Next, she could develop a rewards system to acknowledge positive behaviors from that student in her class. One possible reward could be for the student to have a daily task. This task could be handing out papers or taking the attendance to the front office. The task should make the student feel important and noticed by that teacher. Once it reaches the level where the teacher is unable to handle discipline in class, she needs to involve as many outside parties as possible. These can include coaches, parents, other teachers, and/or administration. Section 6: ExpectedThe solution gives each party impacted by the problem a fair and equitable opportunity to learn, teach, and be successful. The students are provided a safe and consistent learning env ironment, while being provided the rules, policies, and expectations of the classroom. This also provides the teacher with less stressful atmosphere that facilitates student learning. Section 7: Reflections Section 8: References Jana Bernhardt (2012). Am I Buggin Ya Yet? Dealing With Difficult Student Behaviors. [ONLINE] Available at: HTTP://thisisjustforfun. com/uploads/5227_NADE%20presentation. ppt25 Feb. [Last Accessed 25 February].

Effects of Caffeine on Cognitive Performance and Mood essays

Effects of Caffeine on Cognitive Performance and Mood essays There is a wealth of research demonstrating that caffeine can improve aspects of cognitive performance and mood, but few has concluded that caffeine could enhance working memory. This study measured the effects of caffeine on several measures of alertness and cognitive performance, while cognitive performance focused on tasks that need the use of working memory. Forty-eight undergraduates at the University of Hong Kong participated in the study. They were asked to perform in three tasks, i.e. the finger tapping task, forward digit span task and backward digit span task, and were also asked to fill out an alertness questionnaire. The level of alertness and psychomotor speed were significantly increased, but there were no significant differences in the performance of the working memory tasks. Discussion focuses on whether caffeine could really have an effect on cognitive performance or that it only induces effects on certain cognitive tasks. It has been suggested that glucose when comb ined with caffeine would enhance memory, but not when consuming caffeine alone, and this is the area which we find it beneficial to all and worth having further research on. Caffeine is present in many widely consumed drinks, such as coffee, tea or coke; but very few of us would stop and think about its effects on our alertness and cognitive performance. There is now a very large literature on the behavioural effects of caffeine, and it has remained the subject of debate despite the years of research. However, one difficulty faced by researchers trying to determine the effects of caffeine is that the research evidence is always far from consistent. For example, many studies found that consuming caffeine would reduce reaction time comparing with a placebo (e.g. Scholey and Kennedy 2004; Yeomans et al. 2002), but on the other hand, some studies failed to find any effect of caffeine on mood or performance (e.g. Foreman et al. 1989; Smith et al. 1997). T...

Baumrind Parenting Styles Essays

Bronfenbrenner/ Baumrind Parenting Styles Essays Bronfenbrenner/ Baumrind Parenting Styles Paper Bronfenbrenner/ Baumrind Parenting Styles Paper Microsystem A system which is closest to the person and the one in which they have direct contact with (immediate relationships and activities). Mesosystem The interactions/relationships between the different parts of a persons microsystem. Exosystem a setting that does not involve the person as an active participant, but still affects them (Larger social settings such as communities). Macrosystem The cultural environment in which the person lives and all other systems that affect them. (Culture) Bioecologial Theory Theory describing the nested social and cultured contexts that shape development Authoritative Parenting High in Warmth but exerts firm control Authoritative Parenting This type monitors children closely, setting clear standards and communicating high expectations for behaviour. They are rational and supportive in their approach to discipline, and are willing to negotiate in disciplinary matters. Authoritative Parenting Often produce independent children. Authoritarian Parenting High in control and low in warmth and responsiveness. Discipline can be harsh and punitive. Authoritarian Parenting This type sets firm limits and expect their children to follow orders. They often have a because I said so kind of attitude. Authoritarian Parenting Often produce antisocial children who are not independent. Permissive/Indulgent Parenting This type is warm but they have little control over their children. Permissive/Indulgent Parenting This type of parenting has very few rules or consequences for their children. They also see themselves of more of a resource than a role model. Permissive/Indulgent Parenting Often produce spoiled children and the children are often more impulsive and prone to drug use. Neglectful-Rejecting Parenting Low in warmth and control (uninvolved) Neglectful-Rejecting Parenting This parenting style puts very little effort in and they take care of their own needs first. Often these parents have significant problems of their own, which limit or inhibit their ability to meet the needs of their children. Often these parents are depressed or battling with an addiction. Neglectful-Rejecting Parenting Children are more prone to antisocial behaviours when presented with this parenting style.

The Roman Republic and Its Government

The Roman Republic and Its Government The Roman Republic began in  509 B.C. when the Romans expelled the Etruscan kings and set up their own government. Having witnessed the problems of the monarchy on their own land, and aristocracy and democracy among the Greeks, they opted for a mixed form of government, with three branches. This innovation became known as a republican system. The strength of the republic is the system of checks and balances, which aims to find a consensus between the desires of the various branches of government. The Roman Constitution outlined these checks and balances, but in an informal way. Most of the constitution was unwritten and laws were upheld by precedent. The Republic lasted 450 years until the territorial gains of the Roman civilization stretched its governance to the limit. A series of strong rulers called Emperors emerged with Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., and their reorganization of the Roman form of government ushered in the Imperial period. Branches of Roman Republican Government Consuls: Two consuls with supreme civil and military authority held the highest office in Republican Rome. Their power, which was shared equally and which lasted only one year, was reminiscent of the monarchial power of the king. Each consul could veto the other, they led the army, served as judges, and had religious duties. At first, the consuls were patricians, from famous families. Later laws encouraged plebeians to campaign for the consulship; eventually one of the consuls had to be a plebeian. After a term as consul, a Roman man joined the Senate for life. After 10 years, he could campaign for consulship again. The Senate: While the consuls had executive authority, it was expected that they would follow the advice of Rome’s elders. The Senate (senatus council of elders) predated the Republic, having been founded in the Eighth Century B.C. It was an advisory branch, initially composed of about 300 patricians who served for life. The ranks of the Senate were drawn from ex-consuls and other officers, who also had to be landowners. Plebeians were eventually admitted to the Senate as well. The primary focus of the Senate was Rome’s foreign policy, but they had great jurisdiction in civil affairs as well, as the Senate controlled the treasury. The Assemblies: The most democratic branch of the Roman Republican form of government were the assemblies. These large bodies - there were four of them - made some voting power available to many Roman citizens (but not all, as those who lived in the outreaches of the provinces still lacked meaningful representation). The Assembly of Centuries (comitia centuriata), was composed of all members of the army, and it elected consuls annually. The Assembly of Tribes (comitia tributa), which contained all citizens, approved or rejected laws and decided issues of war and peace.The Comitia Curiata was composed of 30 local groups, and was elected by the Centuriata, and served mostly a symbolic purpose for Rome’s founding families. The Concilium Plebis represented the plebeians.

Neoliberalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Neoliberalism - Essay Example A contemporary addition is the inclusion of technological changes. According to economic liberals the line between political and economic power is so faint that they both concurrently wield enough propensity to affect society. The main difference however, between economic power and political power is the inherent weakness of efficiency in politics. In order words, the state lacks the capacity to process the information required to facilitate the process of efficient allocation. In a related sense the state beaurocracy can serve as a draw back to meaningful progress, thus the main motivation behind the argument in favor of less state involvement in economic activities in the view of liberals. Soon after the official end of the Second World War, the world witnessed a radical confrontation of the previously held foundational theories of economic liberalism. In many ways this can be said to be a direct result of an emerging global order that divided the world into the "haves" and the "have nots." It became apparent that most of the conventional theories failed to work for the developing world. It therefore sparked off a new dispensation economic theories that sought to address these visible imbalances at all levels.

Participative Leadership Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Participative Leadership - Term Paper Example This paper discusses various aspects and forms of participative leadership. Participative leadership plays an important role in empowering the organization’s members as well as instilling perception that the employees can establish their work roles and achieve consequential work. Participative leadership is arguably one of the modern styles of leadership that emphasizes on follower’s perspective and creates a distinctive leadership style and approach. There are varieties of forms of participative leadership that can be applied by the leadership or management. A number of theorists agreed on distinctive and meaningful decision making procedures namely autocratic, consultation, joint decision and delegation. It is important to note that the decision making procedures vary from non participative autocratic decision making which is almost outdated to very participative decision making procedures. In participative decision making procedures, the members have great influence on the outcome of the decision made. However, there are both positive and n egative influences of participation (Ricketts, 2011). Participative leadership offers an array of potential benefits such as higher decision quality and overwhelming approval by the participants. The participants are normally satisfied with the decision making process as well as having a good opportunity for developing decision making skills. Participative decision making process may lead to contribution and sharing of knowledge. Members of the organizations may have vital knowledge, talent or skills in solving the issue at hand which the leader may not have thus improving the quality of decision made. Participation in decision making can further make the participants perceive the decision as their s by owning it thus boosting the implementation of the decision. This kind of leadership usually emphasize on avoidance of issues that bring conflict amongst members by either improving on the issues

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Annotated Bibliography Example llows analyzing the behavior of a patient from several aspects and suggests pilot randomizes control trail as the method to control the severity of the disease. The source provides an understanding about individual and collective behavior of people facing through Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The condition of the patient mentioned in the paper relates to the cases analyzed in the paper therefore, this source can be useful to assess the behavioral of the patient. As the source studies the behavior of the patient and allows understanding distress and anxiety situations it can be used to determine the actual fact and severity of the disease; As the patient facing through dementia exhibits behavioral deficit that can cause families and spouse to face social distress, therefore the source is important to analyze the behavior, causes, symptoms and methods to cure the disease. The source is a research paper analyzing the signs and symptom of dementia and its behavioral and neuropsychological aspects. It further relates the disease with the frontal lobe feature and its effects on the behavior of the patient. The data included in the study of behavior and psychological signs and symptoms of disease. The source can be useful to determine the behavioral and psychological aspects of the patient. There are several phases mentioned in the paper with the variance to the behavior and psychological aspects that can be used to analyze the severity of the disease in the case. The source further aims to relate different behaviors subjected to severity and intensity of dementia. In addition, the source aims to emphasis the frontal lobe symptoms to relate with the cognitive deficits with the increasing severity and frequency of aggressive, depressive and psychosis symptom. The patient mentioned in the case has the problems of hypertension, aggression, anxiety and depres sion. This source can analyze the severity of the disease further it provides an understanding about the

Israel & US aid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Israel & US aid - Essay Example The United States policy aims at promoting trade and cooperation with other nations. However, the United States has gone through economic downturn while the Chinese communist government has been rising rapidly (China Times, 2011). China is the greatest creditor to the United States and is uncomfortable with a single country’s global reserve currency. China believes the US should cut spending on social security and military. According to People’s daily, Beijing was angered by the decision to downgrade the US debt by S & P. The Chinese stepped up criticism against the United States and complained of the scheme of worldwide currencies that has been subjugated by the US dollar. The primary reason is the desire for Beijing to protect its financial interests (McGrego, 2012). According to a Chinese official Xinhua, the mounting dept and opinionated battles with US have dented the illustration of US overseas. The Chinese officials asserted that the US must cease its addiction to debt and learn to live within its means (China Times, 2011). This shall ensure safety of the Chinese assets in dollars. According Jamil, Beijing is unhappy with the checks subjected to the Chinese investors in the United States. China accuses the united states of checking the political background of Chinese investors. One of the Chinese officials, Wang, criticized the united states of discrimination and overspending on military at the expense of the economy (UPI, 2012). The Chinese policy aims at protecting its international interest like increasing its military presence and military budget. The United States has been opposing increased military spending in China. China is exerting influence in places it never affected before. For decades, China did business with regimes like Iran and Sudan which were unfriendly to the United States (McGregor, 2012). Presently the Chinese are doing business with America’s closest allies. China surpassed the United States to become the

Response to Intervention instead of Special Education Screening Research Paper

Response to Intervention instead of Special Education Screening - Research Paper Example Lack of Consistent Measurement/Standards b. Lack of Training on Measurement Tools Associated with RTI c. Difficulty in Using RTI across Large Numbers d. Local vs. National Standards IV. Current Variations of RTI Use a. RTI to Replace Regular SPED Screening b. RTI in Conjunction with SPED screening c. No RTI V. Recommendations for Future Methodology a. More Standardized Criteria for RTI Results b. RTI Use for Entire Population c. Continue SPED Screening d. Implement a Shared Approach Using both Tools/Systems Response to Intervention instead of Special Education Screening I. Introduction Description of RTI Response to Intervention, commonly referred to RTI in the education discipline is a form of academic intervention and a multilayered approach that provides services to students by specifically providing the type of education that suit their level of academic need through the corresponding level of instruction. It is a new model in education used in the United States which specificall y functions as a special education identification method (Harlacher, Nelson Walker & Sanford, 2010, p.30). RTI is composed of different levels of instructional supports within which the students are assigned on the basis of the results gathered from screening and progress monitoring data. There are variations to the structure of RTI model but the most common example is the three-tiered model. Tier 1 is composed of scientifically based curriculum with differentiation in terms of instructions to be able to prevent possible learning difficulties

Israel & US aid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Israel & US aid - Essay Example The United States policy aims at promoting trade and cooperation with other nations. However, the United States has gone through economic downturn while the Chinese communist government has been rising rapidly (China Times, 2011). China is the greatest creditor to the United States and is uncomfortable with a single country’s global reserve currency. China believes the US should cut spending on social security and military. According to People’s daily, Beijing was angered by the decision to downgrade the US debt by S & P. The Chinese stepped up criticism against the United States and complained of the scheme of worldwide currencies that has been subjugated by the US dollar. The primary reason is the desire for Beijing to protect its financial interests (McGrego, 2012). According to a Chinese official Xinhua, the mounting dept and opinionated battles with US have dented the illustration of US overseas. The Chinese officials asserted that the US must cease its addiction to debt and learn to live within its means (China Times, 2011). This shall ensure safety of the Chinese assets in dollars. According Jamil, Beijing is unhappy with the checks subjected to the Chinese investors in the United States. China accuses the united states of checking the political background of Chinese investors. One of the Chinese officials, Wang, criticized the united states of discrimination and overspending on military at the expense of the economy (UPI, 2012). The Chinese policy aims at protecting its international interest like increasing its military presence and military budget. The United States has been opposing increased military spending in China. China is exerting influence in places it never affected before. For decades, China did business with regimes like Iran and Sudan which were unfriendly to the United States (McGregor, 2012). Presently the Chinese are doing business with America’s closest allies. China surpassed the United States to become the

Rock and Roll History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rock and Roll History - Assignment Example The giant electronic screen behind the stage showed the various band members and the other guest artists from time to time, focusing on one individual at a time. There were times also when the said electronic screen showed some fancy cartoons or caricatures of people. B Description of the Performance – the band was quite remarkable because the band members played all their songs all the way back to their start as a band. In other words, the mixture of the songs was eclectic and there was hardly any misstep in their performance. Band members memorized all their songs, even the old ones, and Linkin Park did not limit itself to purely rock and roll songs or the usual rap metal songs in their albums. For fans of this band, their performance was considered one of the best so far but on the other hand, those who hate the sound of rap may find their music too hard on their ears. All the thumping and the shouting at times may sound like irritating noise instead of soothing music to unfamiliar ears. The sheer volume of the sound system made the song lyrics inaudible most of the time although many of the fans are already familiar with these songs. On the whole, it was an awesome performance. Instrumentation was good while the articulation of the sou nd at high volume was excellent. C Description of the Artists/Band (musical genre) –the songs of Linkin Park are associated with rap metal music and also with nu metal (or alternatively termed as new metal, neo-metal, or aggro-metal) which is a type of music that is heavy on metal combined with hip-hop music and hardcore punk with additional mixtures from grounge music (characterized by growling vocals and sounds from distorted electric guitars) using apathetic, ennui, or angst-filled lyrics. The sub-genre of music from the Linkin Park band is somewhat a cross or blend between two styles of music which are hip-hop and

Parliamentary Sovereignty Essay Example for Free

Parliamentary Sovereignty Essay With reference to relevant domestic case law outline the â€Å"mechanisms† adopted by the British Courts to maintain the Doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty in the context of applying European Law. Particular reference should be made to the cases of Bulmer v Bollinger and Factortame. Parliamentary sovereignty is a fundamental principle in the constitution of the United Kingdom. It is where the Parliament is the supreme legal authority, which has the power to create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass a law that a future Parliament cannot change. In the British constitution, a statute is generally regarded as the highest form of the law, therefore Parliament is seen as the sovereign law maker. However the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty has been altered and limited by the UK decision to become a member of the European Community in 1973 when the European Communities Act 1972 came into force. Parliament must now legislate consistently with European Community Law. The terms of the European treaties as interpreted by the European Court of Justice require member states to limit their sovereignty, by Parliament giving direct effect and primacy to EU Law. The European Court of Justice states that European Community Law should be enforceable in the courts of member states and that EU law prevails domestic law of member state, which includes the United Kingdom. The ECJ, as the judicial institution of the Community, is the backbone of that system of safeguards. It is responsible for interpreting questions of EC law and provision is made in the Treaty for references to the ECJ by national courts. Decisions of the ECJ, upon a reference, are reached by majority vote and are binding on all domestic courts of all Member States. Under Article 234 the ECJ has achieved the principle of supremacy and its uniform application in all Member States when Community law may be in conflict with domestic legislation. The ECH, as the guardian of legality and instrument of cohesion within the Community, has from the start been in a strong position to define the status of Community law and to gibe it precedence when in conflict with the national legal systems of the various Member states. The first case where the Court made a statement on the nature of European law is the famous case of Van Gend en Loos dealing with the principle of direct effect of EC Treaty provisions and the degree to which individuals can rely on such terms to hallenge measures of national law. It was in a second important case, two years later, however, that the ECJ expanded on its constitutional theory of the Community, declaring again that the states had created a sovereign Community by limiting their own sovereign rights. The case was Costa v Enel, the Court basically decided that community law had supremacy over national law. To this day the judgement is the bedrock of the importance of Community law in all Member States of the European Union. Without this decision Community law would have remained merely international law. Not until the doctrine of supremacy did Community law become truly ‘supranational’ as intended in the European treaties. It was in Bulmer v Bollinger that Lord Denning stated: â€Å"The Treaty of Rome is like an incoming tide. It flows into the estuaries and up the rivers. It cannot be held back. † The early generous and realistic approach was seen in the case of Macarthys v Smith (1981) where Lord Denning discussed the feature between mere inconsistencies and deliberate derogation. Where the incompatibility is inadvertent, he suggested that English Courts should apply EC law, on the assumption that Parliament anticipated to perform its treaty obligations. On the other hand, where the incompatibility was deliberate, he was of the belief that English law should triumph. In this case Lord Denning asserted that â€Å"it has priority. It is not supplanting English law. It is part of our law which overrides any other part which is inconsistent with it. † However, it was not until the Factortame litigation that the true implication on parliamentary sovereignty became noticeable. The cases of R v Secretary of State for Transport Ex Parte Factortame (1989), changed Lord Dennings principle. In this case the UK courts applied for an Article 177 reference. Due to the extensive time it take to respond to reference, the UK applied for an additional ruling asking if they could in the meantime still apply the Act as it conflicted with Articles 52 and 221 of the Treaty of Rome. The ECJ ordered the UK to temporarily suspend the 1988 Act, which the UK parliament had not done before. Therefore, this relentlessly undermined the supremacy of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty.

Analysing Corruption and Organised Crime in Russia

Analysing Corruption and Organised Crime in Russia Corruption as will be examined, was nothing new in the post-Soviet economy for its perceived rise and that of organised crime had their origins in the Soviet era. In the Soviet Union private enterprise on an individual or business basis had officially not been allowed from when the New Economic Policy was abandoned in the 1920s and with the forced collectivization of agriculture during the 1930s. Under the Stalinist State the economy was planned and commanded by the Communist Party via the Soviet Union’s state structure. In theory the Soviet State controlled every aspect of the Soviet economy. It set prices; it controlled industrial outputs, banking services and foreign exchange rates. However, in practice there was a flourishing black market in luxury goods and foreign exchange rates before the political and economic reforms started by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s. His twin policies of Glasnost and Perestroika, political openness and economic restructuring were intended to prolong the Soviet Union. Instead the Soviet Union would collapse leaving its successor states working towards democracy and capitalism whilst facing up to the problem of increasing corruption and organised crime. The level of corruption if not organised crime during the Soviet era might not be too easy to establish exactly. The Soviet authorities after all kept the true state of the economy hidden from the West even if its citizens experienced hardships and shortages. The leading members of the politburo had been the only ones with a realistic view of the economy. The liberalisation of the economy in all parts of the former Soviet Union since 1991 have generally led to an increase of corruption and organised crime. Clampdowns on organised crime and corruption have often been half hearted when they have been carried out both during and after the Soviet era. Explanations for this rise in corruption and organised crime will now be described and examined. Some of these causes pre-date the collapse of the Soviet Union whilst others emerged later. Black markets existed prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union often bringing consumers goods that were unavailable in the state-run shops, goods that were sometimes exchanged instead of sold to avoid breaking the law. Hand in hand with the black markets went corruption and bribery. Black marketers frequently resorted to bribing communist party officials, the police and the KGB or they in turn extorted money off the black marketers. The KGB sometimes recruited some of the black marketers to inform on their rivals and their customers. The more the Soviet economy faltered the faster the black-market grew, providing people with goods not available in the shops. Those marketers that did not bribe officials often found their homes or businesses raided or got put in jail, those that paid up could go about their business undisturbed. The Soviet leadership started to have concerns about economic stagnation, organised crime and to a lesser extent corruption in the early 1980s but none of the m seemed to understand the extent of the economic malaise. The long years of stagnation continued until despite the rapid deaths of three general secretaries of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between 1982-1985. Leonid Brezhnev during his time in charge had done nothing to halt economic decline and in fact worsened it by accelerating the arms race with the United States and invading Afghanistan. It has been estimated that as much as 50% of the Soviet Union’s annual budges was spent on defence or related products and projects. However, that was money that the Soviet Union no longer had to spare. His immediate successor Yuri Andropov started a campaign against bribery and corruption that petered out with his death in 1984. When Gorbachev replaced Konstantin Chernenko a year later he pledged to reform the Soviet Union. Instead his policies would promote its collapse and lead to increased corruption and organised crime in the sixteen successor states. The problem with Stalinist economic planning was that it â€Å"created and perpetuated a shortage economy motivated only by harsh orders from the centre.† It kept most of the people equally poor except for those that found ways around the system. By the 1980s the idea of abandoning the communist command economy in favour of capitalism and liberal democracy gained ground not only in the Soviet Union but also in Central and Eastern Europe. For the reformers could look at the neo-liberal experience of the Thatcher and Reagan administrations, perhaps the devastating social and economic effects in parts of Latin America would have been more relevant. There was of course the example of the New Economic Policy that had allowed the Soviet economy to recover from the ravages of civil war, an attractive example to communists that wanted to reform the system but also for the non-communists that wished to replace it. There was one group of pro-capitalist economists that hoped to bring in a market system to Russia, they were the ‘young reformers’. Yeger Gaider whose family was amongst the elites of the Soviet nomenklatura ironically enough headed the young reformers. They were just looking for somebody to carry out their plan s and not power for themselves and would eventually team up with Boris Yeltsin a highly effective (when healthy) populist politician with only a limited understanding of economics. Alongside Yeltsin, they had the dream of dismantling communism. However, the way in which communism was dismantled across the former Soviet Union would contribute greatly to the rise of organised crime alongside the already high levels of corruption. In the first years of Gorbachev’s rule his government attempted to preserve the Soviet political system whilst reforming its economic system, little realising that these reforms would fail and thus contribute to the rise of corruption and organised crime as well as the disintegration of the Soviet Union. He wanted to make the system worktop its full capacity without moving to a capitalist economy or inducing economic suffering. The government attempted to increase productivity by reducing alcohol consumption and the sickness that was often connected to it, but he did not run an anti corruption campaign immediately. Gorbachev would have banned vodka but feared the ban would be circumvented by organised crime gangs, plus the tax revenues that kept the Soviet government solvent. One man who had started Ananta-corruption campaign was Boris Yeltsin who was the Moscow party boss until his sudden dismissal by Gorbachev during November 1987.Gorbachev believed he had removed his great est rival but had in fact made a very basic political blunder, as Yeltsin was no longer controllable and determined to avenge his fall from power. By 1989 it became clear that the Soviet economic system was unsustainable or beyond reforming and Gorbachev introduced some capitalist measures. Those measures included allowing small private businesses to operate from August 1990 and a series of de-regulations and privatisations between October 1990 and July 1991. Economic reforms brought increased opportunities to organised criminals and budding capitalist entrepreneurs, a distinction in the former Soviet Union that is not always clear. The sudden creations of small businesses increased chances for investments and money laundering or even to takeover privatised companies. Decades of communist economic and political rule left a legacy that was difficult to shake off immediately in the post-Soviet era. Yeltsin and his contemporaries found it difficult to see the world from outside of a communist perspective. The communist legacy of patronage, privileges, corruption and perks would contribute to the rise of corruption and organised cr ime in the post-Soviet era. As the system started to collapse across the Soviet Union law and order began to decline with it thus allowing increased opportunities for organised crime and corruption as well as increased nationalist and ethnic tensions.   The political disintegration of the Soviet Union went hand in hand with its economic disintegration and declining levels of law and order in all the successor republics. The end of the Soviet Union was hastened by the failure of the communist coup in August 1991. The Baltic States had already broke away from the Soviet Union and was already on their way to capitalist economies. Russian president Boris Yeltsin seeming to stand for the twin transition from communist state to liberal democracy and planned socialist economy to neo-liberal capitalism although this is not exactly what happened. Contrary to Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin had believed that the breakup of the Soviet Union could be a positive rather than a disastrous event although many of his Russian compatriots might not have agreed with him. For the other former republics, it was a case of independence at last. Perhaps those that took advantage of the break up through organised crime or corruption would have agreed with h im. The Yeltsin government at first enthusiastically backed rapid and radical reforms, radical economics carried out by a group of advisors dubbed the ‘the young reformers’. Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union had very primitive banking and financial systems that presented apparently ideal opportunities for Russian and foreign investors. Those acting as go-betweens in business deals could make small fortunes by doing so. The transition to capitalism offered the prospect of making millions, it also led to the increase in organised crime and corruption as gangsters threatened investors, businesses and often fought each other. The Russian and other governments seemed incapable of monitoring, containing or preventing that rise. The Yeltsin government was hampered in its efforts to control and administer the regions let alone fight the rise in crime because the remaining regional governors were by and large communist nomenklatura and apparatchiks and unwilling to do as Moscow commanded. These bureaucrats forged links with industrialists in their region providing basis for ongoing and future corruption. The bitter power struggles between President and Parliament during the 1992-1993 period distracted them from trying to solve the country’s problems and allowed the regions greater autonomy and the increasing number of organised crime gangs free rein across much of Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union. They also spent much time and effort trying to persuade the public the other side was more corrupt and had greater links to organised crime than they did. One deputy governor indicated the scale of corruption in the remoter parts of Siberia that to start â€Å"accompany you probably have to brib e forty bureaucrats.† Organised crime gangs used the decline in government control to organise protection rackets to fleece investors and small businesses. There was an alarming increase in violent crimes and murders as gangs competed for control of their victims and clients or punished those that would not pay for their dubious protection. The number of killings related to gang warfare escalated dramatically. Moscow and the newly renamed St Petersburg have been the centres of most of that gang warfare. Corruption was not merely confined to the Mafia gangs it also extended to the police, the armed forces and civil servants. In Russia traffic police were involved in robbing motorists also teaming up with local gangs to force motorists to hand over their cars, or to pay them fines for non-existent offences or face their cars being confiscated. Corruption and the buying and selling of anything and everything was so widespread that young female university students would aim to become hard currency call girls or the mistresses of oligarchs or wealthy businessmen, whilst jobless youths would advertise their services for contract killings. One ruthless organised crime gang even went as far as murdering car owners and disposing of their bodies to steal their cars. Organised crime and the number of crime gangs increased dramatically as the political elites spent more time arguing amongst each other rather than fighting crime and corruption. Nobody in the public or the media believed that Boris Yeltsin would succeed in rooting out organised crime and corruption, after all every single Soviet leader had promised to do the same since 1917. After all his only previous crack down on corruption and organised crime in Moscow had been stopped it its tracks by Gorbachev when he was sacked as the Moscow party boss. The official crime figures for 1992 give a strong indication of the deteriorating law and order situation. The number of murders had increased by 40%whilst there was an even larger increase in robbery up by 60%. The overall number of registered crimes, bearing in mind that many crimes remained unreported went up to 2.76 million. In fact, the contending elites accused each other of corruption to score points off each other whilst the public were not interested in their squabbles and the 3,000or so crime gangs carried on regardless. Of the newly private run business in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States those3,000 gangs were able to pocket perhaps as much as 40 % of the turnovers early as 1993. Corruption was never too far from the surface in the former Soviet Union. It should have not been a surprise therefore that corruption and organised crime would rise in the post-Soviet as they already headstrong foundations and connections to outside crime gangs. During the Soviet era if an individual knew or bribed the right officials they could get the best luxury items, property deals or their children into the finest schools or universities. So, nobody could doubt that there would be greater levels of corruption when the restraints of the Soviet system were removed. In fact, corruption dated back into the Imperial Russian past, were the civil service had been unsalaried but able to accept gifts or payments in kind. The CPSU may have claimed to be responsible for the leading role in society and the economy, some of its members took a leading role in the black market or for a small bribe get people things that would not normally be available. In Belarus the movement towards independence was given a new impetus byte desire to be rid of greedy and corrupt communist party leaders. The unravelling of the Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe gave an opportunity for the more entrepreneurial members of the withdrawing Soviet army to make their fortunes. The pickings could be rich for the Soviet army had large areas of land and housing to sell. When Gorbachev made a deal with the West German government to sell Soviet military bases in the former East Germany back to them most of the best pickings had already gone. The Soviet defence minister Dmitrii Yazov happily joined in the schemes that led to the disappearance of the Soviet army assets without a trace. Yazov may have enjoyed making money for himself but he was wholeheartedly against political and economic reform. He would be one of the main leaders of the August 1991 coup. After all, under the Soviet system the higher an individual’s position within the party, the KGB o r the armed forces they could expect greater share of the perks and the spoils. Just how much money the corrupt communist party members made may not beknown exactly, much of the evidence was destroyed just before the final failed coup of August 1991. Those party members that did not get into trouble following the coup could find themselves in a good position to make money in the brave new post -Soviet world. That was because they already knew how to operate in corrupt systems and some already had links with organised crime. For many of the small traders that operated largely illegally during the Soviet era the only real difference between the past and the post-Soviet present was whom they paid for the privilege of staying in business. Now they had to pay organised crime gangs to stay in business and to stay alive rather than bribe communist party officials or members of the KGB, or if they were unlucky they would have to pay them all. Corruption and organised crime increased in the post-Soviet era, but it had great potential during the Soviet era and the right c onditions would fuel a massive expansion. For much of the former Soviet Union these conditions were present in the early 1990s. Petty crime was rumoured to be rife amongst civil servants and state employees, for instance in 1993 the Russian Interior Ministry recorded 13,000 such crimes, that was thought to be the tip of the iceberg. It was estimated that virtually all shops paid protection and perhaps four fifths of businesses and financial institutes did the same. The organised crime gangs had a virtual free reign on their prospective victims, as the number of untainted police was inadequate even if they could find any brave or foolish enough to testify. The more successful entrepreneurs could hire bodyguards but that was not an option for the smaller traders who had to pay up or face the consequences. In Russia neither the transition to democracy and the switch to capitalist economy has developed as the Russians and those in the rest of the world that were interested hoped or expected. These transitions unintentionally led to increased corruption and organised crime. Through a combination of the collapse of the archaic economic system, assets stripping by the Russians that brought utilities at cheap prices, government failings and last but no means least corruption. Russia was in a worse economic position than the Soviet Union had been, as were most of the former Soviet republics. Inward foreign investment during the 1990s did not make up for the vast sums that left Russia of between $100 billion and $150 billion made by the oligarchs that asset stripped Russia’s industries and infra-structure and does not include any of the profits made the organised crime gangs. Foreign investors, the more sensible ones at least were put off the possibility of investing in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union by the high risk of their investment been ruined by having to pay bribes to officials and protection to crime gangs. It seems that the only people prospering in post-Soviet Russia are those that became nouveau riche by their investments or those that made their money less honestly through extortion or corruption. Poverty and unemployment that did not officially exist during the Soviet era increased alarmingly during the 1990s. Even if the poverty line is measured below a monthly income of less than $30 a month up to 40 million Russians appear to live in poverty. That is alarming for a country that has the largest part of the Soviet Union that had been a military superpower until1991. Economically Russia’s decline was remarkable for its severity, producing less than Belgium and barely a quarter more than Poland. In the immediate post-Soviet period the situation was more chaotic because all the former republics were still maintaining the old Soviet currency and printing money as if it was going out of fashion, adding to the inflationary consequences of ending price controls. The chaotic situation increased the ease in which organised crime gangs could operate in the former Soviet Union. Whilst the resulting hyperinflation (added to by the removal of price controls) meant that many more ordinary people had to find alternative methods of supplementing their incomes. Russia was not the slowest country to reform its economy or political institutions Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Belarus according to European Bank of Reconstruction and Development were amongst the least reformed and most poverty struck. In contrast the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia progressed well enough to be admitted in the European Union by 2004. The adoption of free market capitalism brought an end to queuing in empty shops and replaced it with full shops where most people could not afford to buy anything. Hence people were searching for legal or illegal means of boosting their incomes and thus more likely to become involved in corruption and bribery. Uneconomic factories were shut making millions unemployed. Under the Soviet system people had less money but there was better state provisions and prices were fixed so inflation was virtually non-existent. The Soviet system had given privileges to countless petty state workers and junior party members. They were known as apparatchiks, whilst high ranking officials and senior party members with better perks were known as nomenklatura. With the end of the Soviet system some of these apparatchiks and nomenklatura exchanged their privileges for money, those still in state employment that had remained honest now exchanged favours for bribes. Corruption increased during the post-Sovi et era simply out of economic necessity right across all the former Soviet Union as ordinary citizens and government officials found that they did not enough to live on. Throughout the former Soviet Union, the pace of economic liberalisation varied. By the middle of 1994 the Baltic States and Russia in terms of the total percentage of gross domestic product generated by the private sector of the economy were well ahead of the Asian republics, Belarus and Moldova. In Estonia and Latvia, it was 55%, in Russia and Lithuania50 % with Belarus, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan lagged far behind on only 15%. In post-Soviet Russia nomenklatura were better placed than most to survive the harsher economic climate particularly those that lived in regions such as Siberia found it harder to survive especially when state subsidies ended leaving food and fuel far more expensive than in the major cities. The collapse of communism cut off many of the remote industrial and mining areas from the central government leading to social and economic decay. Such neglect has allowed for the growth of organised crime and corruption as desperate people turn to drugs and alcohol. Drug and alcohol abuse leads to health problems or addiction. To counter some of th e incursions into those remote areas by crime gangs the Putin government once more restricted travel in to those areas. A factor that contributed to the rise of organised crime in the post-Soviet was the wide availability of weapons for organised crime gangs and individual gangsters or thugs to use. Weapons were often obtained from members of the armed forces. Military and naval personnel were increasingly eager to sell weapons to supplement their wages, assuming they had been paid on time. The Russian commanders are said to have done worse during the first Chechen war of 1994 -1996. They sold Grozny back to the rebels in August 1996 leading to the deaths of defenceless conscripts. Corruption within the Russian military seems to be endemic, which given its role in maintaining central government authority and internal security in some of the remoter regions of the Russian Federation certainly permitted and even encouraged organised crime to rise, for instance in Chechnya. During the second Chechen war that began in 1999 the local police observed the illicit trade between Russian soldiers and local blac k marketers. These soldiers would exchange boxes of ammunition for locally distilled vodka or locally grown cannabis with the tacit approval of their superior officers. Indeed, officers often accompanied their men when these exchanges took place. The black marketers then sell the ammunition to the Chechen fighters. Local police could intervene and arrest everybody, but they have either been told not to or bribed motto. The army was supposed to keep all the roads into Chechnya secure to prevent the rebels escaping or gaining supplies and money. However, the reporter Anna Politkovskaya was told â€Å"one person on foot must pay100 roubles; a light vehicle costs about 500-600 roubles†. Politkovskaya did not readily accept those claims until she successfully bribed the soldiers to get past the checkpoint. The greed and corruption of the army must have been counterproductive. They sold ammunition that was used by the Chechens and they allowed access to restricted areas to anybody who could have smuggled weapons in and people out. The corruption of the Russian armed forces in the area in and around Chechnya lowered the security and containment of Chechen fighters and contributed to the apparent ease in which rebels were able to take hostages in the Moscow theatre during October 2002. More horrifically the siege of a Beslan high school in September 2004 showed that the Russian military were incompetent as well as riddled with corruption. Gangsters did not always buy weapons; they could often steal weapons from poorly guarded or neglected military bases. Due to the Soviet Union having national service most of the organised crime gang members could already use weapons. Troops leaving the army could also consider employment as either bodyguard for the newly rich and the justifiably concerned business owners or joining the organised crime gangs themselves as thugs and assassins. Violent crime is probably not as prevalent as people in the West might believe, however crime gangs would have no qualms about settling accounts with intimidation, assault and murder. Some murders have shown that the crime gangs and contract killers are able to gain hold of sophisticated weapons such as rocket launchers to kill bodyguards as well as their bosses in St Petersburg. Gangs must be well connected as well as rich to acquire such weapons. The dramatic rise in the murder rate witnessed not only the deaths of politicians (three members of the Duma were shot dead in cold blood) but also businessmen and journalists. Business executives and more lowly bank employees could be and were at risk of being killed due tithe rise in corruption and organised crime. Not many gang members were afraid of being caught and convicted, for they were confident that even if the police did catch them that either the police or the courts could be persuaded to let them get away with it. In the period between 1992and 1995, the number of killed bank workers ranging from clerks to senior executives was 46. The most publicized killing was that of Pivanilide who the president of Rosbiznesbank had been. Kivelidi was poisoned in August 1995 for not complying with the demands of organised criminals. There are still a high number of deaths because of fighting between rival gangs still demonstrating that there are enough guns and money up for grabs to m ake the high risks of being killed seem worthwhile. Over 2,000 gang members are gunned down every year in gang wars in the Moscow region alone. Until the Putin presidency the situation in St Petersburg had been worse although Putin seems to want to clean up his home city. The difficulty and the danger of uncovering the true level of crimes being committed aided the rise in organised crime and corruption. With so many bureaucrats, police and politicians involved or thought to be involved in corruption much of the uncovering of crimes and evidence of corruption came from the press and journalists or even rarely independently minded politicians. For journalists it was dangerous to uncover and attempt to publish evidence and articles concerning organised crime gangs and the high levels of corruption. Considering the increasing control of the media by the state or by oligarchs whose own positions could be undermined by revelations of corruption or organised crime it has not always been easy for reporters to go public with evidence they have gathered. To illustrate the dangerous position journalists found themselves in, 36 were killed between January 1994and May 1995 throughout the former Soviet Union whilst doing their jobs and reporting on not only corrup tion and organised crime but also the conflict in Chechnya. The uncovering of evidence of the corruption and fraud within the Soviet army during its time in East Germany and before its departure appeared to be a major scope for the Murkowski Komsomolsk and its investigative journalist Dmitrii Kholod. For Kholod it proved one-story too far as a bomb blew up him and his office during October1994. Even television reporters and journalists were not immune from danger. Following his research into the corrupt or dishonest selling of television advertising Vladimir Listed was gunned down in March 1995before he could broadcast all his findings. At other times politicians, bureaucrats and business executives would inform or leak information about their rivals real or presumed links with organised crime and corruption for their own gain rather than in the public interest or to fight corruption itself. Whilst these bouts of accusations and counter accusations occupied the politicians and press attentions they occasionally removed the expendable politici ans and bureaucrats whilst leaving the level of overall corruption untouched. As noted below the Books affair would be used to force the resignations of some of the young reformers in 1999. Accusations of corruption would also be leaked to the press after an individual had lost the approval of either President Yeltsin or President Putin. The prime example of this were the accusations levelled against Boris Berezovskyafter he fell out with Putin, or more aptly when Putin regarded him as no longer useful to the Kremlin. Berezovsky is claimed to have stolen millions from his companies and state-run companies such as Aeroflot. All these events were from the early 1990s, so the Russian government had plenty of time to prove them or clear him. Berezovsky who went to exile in London has retaliated by campaigning against the Putin government’s increasing control of power. In Russia it appears that those involved in corruption or organised crime are relatively immune from arrest if they do not upset the Kremlin, or their punishment becomes politically expedient for the government. President Putin is arguably â€Å"searching for levers that will work †¦ to have in place a national authority that functions as normal governments do†. Corruption was a fact of life in the Soviet era and now seems even more endemic in the post-Soviet period; ordinary Soviet citizens were cynical about the financial honesty of their political masters and the higher-ranking communist party officials, a cynicism that continues with post-Soviet politicians and officials. Evidence of corruption and bribery would often be collected by the KGB and used if the individuals concerned fall out of favour senior party members, its successor still collects such information only now some its officers are more likely to sell sensitive information to the highest bidders. President Yeltsinonly renamed the KGB the FSB instead of abolishing it. He also retained control of the KGB records and evidence of the corruption they contained Timely uncovering of bribe taking and corruption have often been used to discredit rivals and justify the dismissal of ministers and officials. Therefore, presumably there is usually enough evidence to act against many of t hose involved in corruption or organised crime but not always the political will or judicial authority to do so. Many Russians believe that most if not all government ministers and officials are corrupt and susceptible to bribes. Officials are willing to risk public safety and even national security as well as their reputations for the sake of bribes. Allegations and counter allegations of corruption were used in the 1990s during the power struggle between President Yeltsin and hard-liners such as Rosko and Khasbulatov. Corruption both in the Soviet era and afterwards existed and increased because the majority of those accepting bribes or using their position for gain position or cash believed that they would not get caught. Even if they did get caught the rate of convictions were not that high. Soviet era clampdowns on corruption under Andropov and Gorbachev only caught small fry and the same could apply during the post-Soviet era. The only notable high ranking communist to be convicted for corruption was Yuri Churbanov in 1988. Churbanov’s father in law was the late Leonid Brezhnev, the one-time Soviet leader and General Secretar Analysing Corruption and Organised Crime in Russia Analysing Corruption and Organised Crime in Russia Corruption as will be examined, was nothing new in the post-Soviet economy for its perceived rise and that of organised crime had their origins in the Soviet era. In the Soviet Union private enterprise on an individual or business basis had officially not been allowed from when the New Economic Policy was abandoned in the 1920s and with the forced collectivization of agriculture during the 1930s. Under the Stalinist State the economy was planned and commanded by the Communist Party via the Soviet Union’s state structure. In theory the Soviet State controlled every aspect of the Soviet economy. It set prices; it controlled industrial outputs, banking services and foreign exchange rates. However, in practice there was a flourishing black market in luxury goods and foreign exchange rates before the political and economic reforms started by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s. His twin policies of Glasnost and Perestroika, political openness and economic restructuring were intended to prolong the Soviet Union. Instead the Soviet Union would collapse leaving its successor states working towards democracy and capitalism whilst facing up to the problem of increasing corruption and organised crime. The level of corruption if not organised crime during the Soviet era might not be too easy to establish exactly. The Soviet authorities after all kept the true state of the economy hidden from the West even if its citizens experienced hardships and shortages. The leading members of the politburo had been the only ones with a realistic view of the economy. The liberalisation of the economy in all parts of the former Soviet Union since 1991 have generally led to an increase of corruption and organised crime. Clampdowns on organised crime and corruption have often been half hearted when they have been carried out both during and after the Soviet era. Explanations for this rise in corruption and organised crime will now be described and examined. Some of these causes pre-date the collapse of the Soviet Union whilst others emerged later. Black markets existed prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union often bringing consumers goods that were unavailable in the state-run shops, goods that were sometimes exchanged instead of sold to avoid breaking the law. Hand in hand with the black markets went corruption and bribery. Black marketers frequently resorted to bribing communist party officials, the police and the KGB or they in turn extorted money off the black marketers. The KGB sometimes recruited some of the black marketers to inform on their rivals and their customers. The more the Soviet economy faltered the faster the black-market grew, providing people with goods not available in the shops. Those marketers that did not bribe officials often found their homes or businesses raided or got put in jail, those that paid up could go about their business undisturbed. The Soviet leadership started to have concerns about economic stagnation, organised crime and to a lesser extent corruption in the early 1980s but none of the m seemed to understand the extent of the economic malaise. The long years of stagnation continued until despite the rapid deaths of three general secretaries of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between 1982-1985. Leonid Brezhnev during his time in charge had done nothing to halt economic decline and in fact worsened it by accelerating the arms race with the United States and invading Afghanistan. It has been estimated that as much as 50% of the Soviet Union’s annual budges was spent on defence or related products and projects. However, that was money that the Soviet Union no longer had to spare. His immediate successor Yuri Andropov started a campaign against bribery and corruption that petered out with his death in 1984. When Gorbachev replaced Konstantin Chernenko a year later he pledged to reform the Soviet Union. Instead his policies would promote its collapse and lead to increased corruption and organised crime in the sixteen successor states. The problem with Stalinist economic planning was that it â€Å"created and perpetuated a shortage economy motivated only by harsh orders from the centre.† It kept most of the people equally poor except for those that found ways around the system. By the 1980s the idea of abandoning the communist command economy in favour of capitalism and liberal democracy gained ground not only in the Soviet Union but also in Central and Eastern Europe. For the reformers could look at the neo-liberal experience of the Thatcher and Reagan administrations, perhaps the devastating social and economic effects in parts of Latin America would have been more relevant. There was of course the example of the New Economic Policy that had allowed the Soviet economy to recover from the ravages of civil war, an attractive example to communists that wanted to reform the system but also for the non-communists that wished to replace it. There was one group of pro-capitalist economists that hoped to bring in a market system to Russia, they were the ‘young reformers’. Yeger Gaider whose family was amongst the elites of the Soviet nomenklatura ironically enough headed the young reformers. They were just looking for somebody to carry out their plan s and not power for themselves and would eventually team up with Boris Yeltsin a highly effective (when healthy) populist politician with only a limited understanding of economics. Alongside Yeltsin, they had the dream of dismantling communism. However, the way in which communism was dismantled across the former Soviet Union would contribute greatly to the rise of organised crime alongside the already high levels of corruption. In the first years of Gorbachev’s rule his government attempted to preserve the Soviet political system whilst reforming its economic system, little realising that these reforms would fail and thus contribute to the rise of corruption and organised crime as well as the disintegration of the Soviet Union. He wanted to make the system worktop its full capacity without moving to a capitalist economy or inducing economic suffering. The government attempted to increase productivity by reducing alcohol consumption and the sickness that was often connected to it, but he did not run an anti corruption campaign immediately. Gorbachev would have banned vodka but feared the ban would be circumvented by organised crime gangs, plus the tax revenues that kept the Soviet government solvent. One man who had started Ananta-corruption campaign was Boris Yeltsin who was the Moscow party boss until his sudden dismissal by Gorbachev during November 1987.Gorbachev believed he had removed his great est rival but had in fact made a very basic political blunder, as Yeltsin was no longer controllable and determined to avenge his fall from power. By 1989 it became clear that the Soviet economic system was unsustainable or beyond reforming and Gorbachev introduced some capitalist measures. Those measures included allowing small private businesses to operate from August 1990 and a series of de-regulations and privatisations between October 1990 and July 1991. Economic reforms brought increased opportunities to organised criminals and budding capitalist entrepreneurs, a distinction in the former Soviet Union that is not always clear. The sudden creations of small businesses increased chances for investments and money laundering or even to takeover privatised companies. Decades of communist economic and political rule left a legacy that was difficult to shake off immediately in the post-Soviet era. Yeltsin and his contemporaries found it difficult to see the world from outside of a communist perspective. The communist legacy of patronage, privileges, corruption and perks would contribute to the rise of corruption and organised cr ime in the post-Soviet era. As the system started to collapse across the Soviet Union law and order began to decline with it thus allowing increased opportunities for organised crime and corruption as well as increased nationalist and ethnic tensions.   The political disintegration of the Soviet Union went hand in hand with its economic disintegration and declining levels of law and order in all the successor republics. The end of the Soviet Union was hastened by the failure of the communist coup in August 1991. The Baltic States had already broke away from the Soviet Union and was already on their way to capitalist economies. Russian president Boris Yeltsin seeming to stand for the twin transition from communist state to liberal democracy and planned socialist economy to neo-liberal capitalism although this is not exactly what happened. Contrary to Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin had believed that the breakup of the Soviet Union could be a positive rather than a disastrous event although many of his Russian compatriots might not have agreed with him. For the other former republics, it was a case of independence at last. Perhaps those that took advantage of the break up through organised crime or corruption would have agreed with h im. The Yeltsin government at first enthusiastically backed rapid and radical reforms, radical economics carried out by a group of advisors dubbed the ‘the young reformers’. Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union had very primitive banking and financial systems that presented apparently ideal opportunities for Russian and foreign investors. Those acting as go-betweens in business deals could make small fortunes by doing so. The transition to capitalism offered the prospect of making millions, it also led to the increase in organised crime and corruption as gangsters threatened investors, businesses and often fought each other. The Russian and other governments seemed incapable of monitoring, containing or preventing that rise. The Yeltsin government was hampered in its efforts to control and administer the regions let alone fight the rise in crime because the remaining regional governors were by and large communist nomenklatura and apparatchiks and unwilling to do as Moscow commanded. These bureaucrats forged links with industrialists in their region providing basis for ongoing and future corruption. The bitter power struggles between President and Parliament during the 1992-1993 period distracted them from trying to solve the country’s problems and allowed the regions greater autonomy and the increasing number of organised crime gangs free rein across much of Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union. They also spent much time and effort trying to persuade the public the other side was more corrupt and had greater links to organised crime than they did. One deputy governor indicated the scale of corruption in the remoter parts of Siberia that to start â€Å"accompany you probably have to brib e forty bureaucrats.† Organised crime gangs used the decline in government control to organise protection rackets to fleece investors and small businesses. There was an alarming increase in violent crimes and murders as gangs competed for control of their victims and clients or punished those that would not pay for their dubious protection. The number of killings related to gang warfare escalated dramatically. Moscow and the newly renamed St Petersburg have been the centres of most of that gang warfare. Corruption was not merely confined to the Mafia gangs it also extended to the police, the armed forces and civil servants. In Russia traffic police were involved in robbing motorists also teaming up with local gangs to force motorists to hand over their cars, or to pay them fines for non-existent offences or face their cars being confiscated. Corruption and the buying and selling of anything and everything was so widespread that young female university students would aim to become hard currency call girls or the mistresses of oligarchs or wealthy businessmen, whilst jobless youths would advertise their services for contract killings. One ruthless organised crime gang even went as far as murdering car owners and disposing of their bodies to steal their cars. Organised crime and the number of crime gangs increased dramatically as the political elites spent more time arguing amongst each other rather than fighting crime and corruption. Nobody in the public or the media believed that Boris Yeltsin would succeed in rooting out organised crime and corruption, after all every single Soviet leader had promised to do the same since 1917. After all his only previous crack down on corruption and organised crime in Moscow had been stopped it its tracks by Gorbachev when he was sacked as the Moscow party boss. The official crime figures for 1992 give a strong indication of the deteriorating law and order situation. The number of murders had increased by 40%whilst there was an even larger increase in robbery up by 60%. The overall number of registered crimes, bearing in mind that many crimes remained unreported went up to 2.76 million. In fact, the contending elites accused each other of corruption to score points off each other whilst the public were not interested in their squabbles and the 3,000or so crime gangs carried on regardless. Of the newly private run business in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States those3,000 gangs were able to pocket perhaps as much as 40 % of the turnovers early as 1993. Corruption was never too far from the surface in the former Soviet Union. It should have not been a surprise therefore that corruption and organised crime would rise in the post-Soviet as they already headstrong foundations and connections to outside crime gangs. During the Soviet era if an individual knew or bribed the right officials they could get the best luxury items, property deals or their children into the finest schools or universities. So, nobody could doubt that there would be greater levels of corruption when the restraints of the Soviet system were removed. In fact, corruption dated back into the Imperial Russian past, were the civil service had been unsalaried but able to accept gifts or payments in kind. The CPSU may have claimed to be responsible for the leading role in society and the economy, some of its members took a leading role in the black market or for a small bribe get people things that would not normally be available. In Belarus the movement towards independence was given a new impetus byte desire to be rid of greedy and corrupt communist party leaders. The unravelling of the Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe gave an opportunity for the more entrepreneurial members of the withdrawing Soviet army to make their fortunes. The pickings could be rich for the Soviet army had large areas of land and housing to sell. When Gorbachev made a deal with the West German government to sell Soviet military bases in the former East Germany back to them most of the best pickings had already gone. The Soviet defence minister Dmitrii Yazov happily joined in the schemes that led to the disappearance of the Soviet army assets without a trace. Yazov may have enjoyed making money for himself but he was wholeheartedly against political and economic reform. He would be one of the main leaders of the August 1991 coup. After all, under the Soviet system the higher an individual’s position within the party, the KGB o r the armed forces they could expect greater share of the perks and the spoils. Just how much money the corrupt communist party members made may not beknown exactly, much of the evidence was destroyed just before the final failed coup of August 1991. Those party members that did not get into trouble following the coup could find themselves in a good position to make money in the brave new post -Soviet world. That was because they already knew how to operate in corrupt systems and some already had links with organised crime. For many of the small traders that operated largely illegally during the Soviet era the only real difference between the past and the post-Soviet present was whom they paid for the privilege of staying in business. Now they had to pay organised crime gangs to stay in business and to stay alive rather than bribe communist party officials or members of the KGB, or if they were unlucky they would have to pay them all. Corruption and organised crime increased in the post-Soviet era, but it had great potential during the Soviet era and the right c onditions would fuel a massive expansion. For much of the former Soviet Union these conditions were present in the early 1990s. Petty crime was rumoured to be rife amongst civil servants and state employees, for instance in 1993 the Russian Interior Ministry recorded 13,000 such crimes, that was thought to be the tip of the iceberg. It was estimated that virtually all shops paid protection and perhaps four fifths of businesses and financial institutes did the same. The organised crime gangs had a virtual free reign on their prospective victims, as the number of untainted police was inadequate even if they could find any brave or foolish enough to testify. The more successful entrepreneurs could hire bodyguards but that was not an option for the smaller traders who had to pay up or face the consequences. In Russia neither the transition to democracy and the switch to capitalist economy has developed as the Russians and those in the rest of the world that were interested hoped or expected. These transitions unintentionally led to increased corruption and organised crime. Through a combination of the collapse of the archaic economic system, assets stripping by the Russians that brought utilities at cheap prices, government failings and last but no means least corruption. Russia was in a worse economic position than the Soviet Union had been, as were most of the former Soviet republics. Inward foreign investment during the 1990s did not make up for the vast sums that left Russia of between $100 billion and $150 billion made by the oligarchs that asset stripped Russia’s industries and infra-structure and does not include any of the profits made the organised crime gangs. Foreign investors, the more sensible ones at least were put off the possibility of investing in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union by the high risk of their investment been ruined by having to pay bribes to officials and protection to crime gangs. It seems that the only people prospering in post-Soviet Russia are those that became nouveau riche by their investments or those that made their money less honestly through extortion or corruption. Poverty and unemployment that did not officially exist during the Soviet era increased alarmingly during the 1990s. Even if the poverty line is measured below a monthly income of less than $30 a month up to 40 million Russians appear to live in poverty. That is alarming for a country that has the largest part of the Soviet Union that had been a military superpower until1991. Economically Russia’s decline was remarkable for its severity, producing less than Belgium and barely a quarter more than Poland. In the immediate post-Soviet period the situation was more chaotic because all the former republics were still maintaining the old Soviet currency and printing money as if it was going out of fashion, adding to the inflationary consequences of ending price controls. The chaotic situation increased the ease in which organised crime gangs could operate in the former Soviet Union. Whilst the resulting hyperinflation (added to by the removal of price controls) meant that many more ordinary people had to find alternative methods of supplementing their incomes. Russia was not the slowest country to reform its economy or political institutions Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Belarus according to European Bank of Reconstruction and Development were amongst the least reformed and most poverty struck. In contrast the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia progressed well enough to be admitted in the European Union by 2004. The adoption of free market capitalism brought an end to queuing in empty shops and replaced it with full shops where most people could not afford to buy anything. Hence people were searching for legal or illegal means of boosting their incomes and thus more likely to become involved in corruption and bribery. Uneconomic factories were shut making millions unemployed. Under the Soviet system people had less money but there was better state provisions and prices were fixed so inflation was virtually non-existent. The Soviet system had given privileges to countless petty state workers and junior party members. They were known as apparatchiks, whilst high ranking officials and senior party members with better perks were known as nomenklatura. With the end of the Soviet system some of these apparatchiks and nomenklatura exchanged their privileges for money, those still in state employment that had remained honest now exchanged favours for bribes. Corruption increased during the post-Sovi et era simply out of economic necessity right across all the former Soviet Union as ordinary citizens and government officials found that they did not enough to live on. Throughout the former Soviet Union, the pace of economic liberalisation varied. By the middle of 1994 the Baltic States and Russia in terms of the total percentage of gross domestic product generated by the private sector of the economy were well ahead of the Asian republics, Belarus and Moldova. In Estonia and Latvia, it was 55%, in Russia and Lithuania50 % with Belarus, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan lagged far behind on only 15%. In post-Soviet Russia nomenklatura were better placed than most to survive the harsher economic climate particularly those that lived in regions such as Siberia found it harder to survive especially when state subsidies ended leaving food and fuel far more expensive than in the major cities. The collapse of communism cut off many of the remote industrial and mining areas from the central government leading to social and economic decay. Such neglect has allowed for the growth of organised crime and corruption as desperate people turn to drugs and alcohol. Drug and alcohol abuse leads to health problems or addiction. To counter some of th e incursions into those remote areas by crime gangs the Putin government once more restricted travel in to those areas. A factor that contributed to the rise of organised crime in the post-Soviet was the wide availability of weapons for organised crime gangs and individual gangsters or thugs to use. Weapons were often obtained from members of the armed forces. Military and naval personnel were increasingly eager to sell weapons to supplement their wages, assuming they had been paid on time. The Russian commanders are said to have done worse during the first Chechen war of 1994 -1996. They sold Grozny back to the rebels in August 1996 leading to the deaths of defenceless conscripts. Corruption within the Russian military seems to be endemic, which given its role in maintaining central government authority and internal security in some of the remoter regions of the Russian Federation certainly permitted and even encouraged organised crime to rise, for instance in Chechnya. During the second Chechen war that began in 1999 the local police observed the illicit trade between Russian soldiers and local blac k marketers. These soldiers would exchange boxes of ammunition for locally distilled vodka or locally grown cannabis with the tacit approval of their superior officers. Indeed, officers often accompanied their men when these exchanges took place. The black marketers then sell the ammunition to the Chechen fighters. Local police could intervene and arrest everybody, but they have either been told not to or bribed motto. The army was supposed to keep all the roads into Chechnya secure to prevent the rebels escaping or gaining supplies and money. However, the reporter Anna Politkovskaya was told â€Å"one person on foot must pay100 roubles; a light vehicle costs about 500-600 roubles†. Politkovskaya did not readily accept those claims until she successfully bribed the soldiers to get past the checkpoint. The greed and corruption of the army must have been counterproductive. They sold ammunition that was used by the Chechens and they allowed access to restricted areas to anybody who could have smuggled weapons in and people out. The corruption of the Russian armed forces in the area in and around Chechnya lowered the security and containment of Chechen fighters and contributed to the apparent ease in which rebels were able to take hostages in the Moscow theatre during October 2002. More horrifically the siege of a Beslan high school in September 2004 showed that the Russian military were incompetent as well as riddled with corruption. Gangsters did not always buy weapons; they could often steal weapons from poorly guarded or neglected military bases. Due to the Soviet Union having national service most of the organised crime gang members could already use weapons. Troops leaving the army could also consider employment as either bodyguard for the newly rich and the justifiably concerned business owners or joining the organised crime gangs themselves as thugs and assassins. Violent crime is probably not as prevalent as people in the West might believe, however crime gangs would have no qualms about settling accounts with intimidation, assault and murder. Some murders have shown that the crime gangs and contract killers are able to gain hold of sophisticated weapons such as rocket launchers to kill bodyguards as well as their bosses in St Petersburg. Gangs must be well connected as well as rich to acquire such weapons. The dramatic rise in the murder rate witnessed not only the deaths of politicians (three members of the Duma were shot dead in cold blood) but also businessmen and journalists. Business executives and more lowly bank employees could be and were at risk of being killed due tithe rise in corruption and organised crime. Not many gang members were afraid of being caught and convicted, for they were confident that even if the police did catch them that either the police or the courts could be persuaded to let them get away with it. In the period between 1992and 1995, the number of killed bank workers ranging from clerks to senior executives was 46. The most publicized killing was that of Pivanilide who the president of Rosbiznesbank had been. Kivelidi was poisoned in August 1995 for not complying with the demands of organised criminals. There are still a high number of deaths because of fighting between rival gangs still demonstrating that there are enough guns and money up for grabs to m ake the high risks of being killed seem worthwhile. Over 2,000 gang members are gunned down every year in gang wars in the Moscow region alone. Until the Putin presidency the situation in St Petersburg had been worse although Putin seems to want to clean up his home city. The difficulty and the danger of uncovering the true level of crimes being committed aided the rise in organised crime and corruption. With so many bureaucrats, police and politicians involved or thought to be involved in corruption much of the uncovering of crimes and evidence of corruption came from the press and journalists or even rarely independently minded politicians. For journalists it was dangerous to uncover and attempt to publish evidence and articles concerning organised crime gangs and the high levels of corruption. Considering the increasing control of the media by the state or by oligarchs whose own positions could be undermined by revelations of corruption or organised crime it has not always been easy for reporters to go public with evidence they have gathered. To illustrate the dangerous position journalists found themselves in, 36 were killed between January 1994and May 1995 throughout the former Soviet Union whilst doing their jobs and reporting on not only corrup tion and organised crime but also the conflict in Chechnya. The uncovering of evidence of the corruption and fraud within the Soviet army during its time in East Germany and before its departure appeared to be a major scope for the Murkowski Komsomolsk and its investigative journalist Dmitrii Kholod. For Kholod it proved one-story too far as a bomb blew up him and his office during October1994. Even television reporters and journalists were not immune from danger. Following his research into the corrupt or dishonest selling of television advertising Vladimir Listed was gunned down in March 1995before he could broadcast all his findings. At other times politicians, bureaucrats and business executives would inform or leak information about their rivals real or presumed links with organised crime and corruption for their own gain rather than in the public interest or to fight corruption itself. Whilst these bouts of accusations and counter accusations occupied the politicians and press attentions they occasionally removed the expendable politici ans and bureaucrats whilst leaving the level of overall corruption untouched. As noted below the Books affair would be used to force the resignations of some of the young reformers in 1999. Accusations of corruption would also be leaked to the press after an individual had lost the approval of either President Yeltsin or President Putin. The prime example of this were the accusations levelled against Boris Berezovskyafter he fell out with Putin, or more aptly when Putin regarded him as no longer useful to the Kremlin. Berezovsky is claimed to have stolen millions from his companies and state-run companies such as Aeroflot. All these events were from the early 1990s, so the Russian government had plenty of time to prove them or clear him. Berezovsky who went to exile in London has retaliated by campaigning against the Putin government’s increasing control of power. In Russia it appears that those involved in corruption or organised crime are relatively immune from arrest if they do not upset the Kremlin, or their punishment becomes politically expedient for the government. President Putin is arguably â€Å"searching for levers that will work †¦ to have in place a national authority that functions as normal governments do†. Corruption was a fact of life in the Soviet era and now seems even more endemic in the post-Soviet period; ordinary Soviet citizens were cynical about the financial honesty of their political masters and the higher-ranking communist party officials, a cynicism that continues with post-Soviet politicians and officials. Evidence of corruption and bribery would often be collected by the KGB and used if the individuals concerned fall out of favour senior party members, its successor still collects such information only now some its officers are more likely to sell sensitive information to the highest bidders. President Yeltsinonly renamed the KGB the FSB instead of abolishing it. He also retained control of the KGB records and evidence of the corruption they contained Timely uncovering of bribe taking and corruption have often been used to discredit rivals and justify the dismissal of ministers and officials. Therefore, presumably there is usually enough evidence to act against many of t hose involved in corruption or organised crime but not always the political will or judicial authority to do so. Many Russians believe that most if not all government ministers and officials are corrupt and susceptible to bribes. Officials are willing to risk public safety and even national security as well as their reputations for the sake of bribes. Allegations and counter allegations of corruption were used in the 1990s during the power struggle between President Yeltsin and hard-liners such as Rosko and Khasbulatov. Corruption both in the Soviet era and afterwards existed and increased because the majority of those accepting bribes or using their position for gain position or cash believed that they would not get caught. Even if they did get caught the rate of convictions were not that high. Soviet era clampdowns on corruption under Andropov and Gorbachev only caught small fry and the same could apply during the post-Soviet era. The only notable high ranking communist to be convicted for corruption was Yuri Churbanov in 1988. Churbanov’s father in law was the late Leonid Brezhnev, the one-time Soviet leader and General Secretar