Corruption et le déclin de la République romaine

This paper takes a look at the role of corruption in ending the Roman Republic. It does not purport to hold up corruption as the single deciding factor in the Roman Republic's collapse but rather hopes to show that corruption did have a responsibility in bringing down a 500 year-old institution. This dissertation was written by reviewing existing sources be they historical or analytical so as to find the elements needed to come to a conclusion answering the question posed above. The structure followed by this paper is as follows: the author first exposed how the Roman Republic's political system was organized and how it functioned. Secondly, the author defined corruption and detailed a historical example of this insidious entity. Finally, the fall of the Republic is chronicled and the role of corruption in this collapse is uncovered. To conclude, the author found that corruption did in fact play a non-negligible role in the overthrow of the Roman Republic.Cette dissertation essaye de présenter quel a été le rôle de la corruption dans la chute de la République romaine. Toutefois, ce texte n'essaye pas d'assigner un rôle décisif à la corruption, mais tente plutôt de montrer que la corruption (parmi plusieurs autres facteurs) avait une responsabilité dans l'effondrement d'une institution vieille de plus de 500 ans. Cette rédaction a été écrite en révisant plusieurs sources historiques et analytiques existantes afin de trouver les éléments qui ont servis à répondre à la question ci-dessus. La structure de cette dissertation va comme suit: premièrement, l'auteur a exposé l'organisation et le fonctionnement de l'appareil politique qu'était la République romaine. Puis, l'auteur a définit la corruption et détaillé un exemple historique de cette entité insidieuse. Ensuite, l'auteur a chroniquer l'écroulement de la République et a mis à jour le rôle de la corruption dans cet affaissement. En conclusion, l'auteur à découvert que la corruption a joué un rôle non-négligeable dans la destruction de la République romaine.

Dragon Fears: An Examination of Canadian Perceptions of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises

“What’s so scary about the CNOOC-Nexen deal?” 1 reads an article regarding the recent takeover bid. Although the deal has been fully approved, the question is one of many still gripping the issue over CNOOC’s (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) takeover bid of Nexen, a Calgary based oil and gas company. 2 However, this ongoing issue has broader implications; specifically if Chinese state-owned enterprises (hereafter SOEs) present a challenge or opportunity for Canadian national security interests. With the decline in trade and economic activity in the United States, Canada’s largest trading partner, new opportunities for Canada have presented themselves. China is one of them, a rapidly developing state whose hunger for energy continues to grow. The uneasiness that has come with the CNOOC-Nexen deal and the Canadian government’s recent response, displays the misguided approach of Canada towards the growing Chinese power. This paper explores the erroneous conceptions of Chinese SOEs, the implications of this and the possible solutions that can benefit Canada in the long term.

The Justice of Inequality: Argumentation Ethics and Radical Non-Aggression

Questions of inequality of wealth frequently arise during times of economic hardship. The stagnant recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis is no exception. Many are quick to condemn inequality as an unjust social phenomenon. This article considers the ethical status of such claims by examining whether inequality is fair or not. Using a neo-Kantian framework first put forward by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, the paper elucidates the presuppositions implied by human action and uses these as a basis for political rights. Once inviolable rights to ownership of one’s person and property are established, it follows that income inequality in the absence of coercion is fair. However, since such a condition does not describe modern society, little can be immediately said about the justice of current levels of inequality.

Ownership and private property from the perspectives of Hegel and Marx

The concept of private property has been widely explored and debated among scholars,since different conceptions of freedom are directly involved. Different notions of freedom have also been analyzed from the perspective of key figures in the history of modern political thought such as those from Hegel and Marx. This essay explores the theme of private property, analyzing how freedom is important for both theorists, but at the same time how their approaches diverge. Through the analysis and examination of their texts this paper argues for the Marxist approach since it provides a solution to the problem of inequality in regards to freedom.

Hope Beats Fear? : The Assent of the Saskatchewan Party to Power and the Fall of the NDP

The purpose of this paper is to trace the assent of the Saskatchewan Party and examine their current success in the province that has been historically hostile to conservative parties of any iteration. Saskatchewan’s “Natural Governing Party” has long been considered the NDP, and the province’s political culture has been long entrenched with a social democratic lean. This paper builds on and applies the work of Dr Jared Wesley and Michael Moyes in “Selling Social Democracy: Branding the Political Left in Canada” to the context of Saskatchewan and the Sask Party. This paper looks at the tactics and success of political branding and shows how the Sask Party used many of the same branding techniques traditionally used by left wing parties all across the country to great success.

The Unite the Right Movement and the Brokerage of Social Conservative Voices Within the New Conservative Party of Canada

2003 marked a year of significant change in the political landscape, particularly for the Canadian right. After ten years of division, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PCs) and the Canadian Alliance united to create the Conservative Party of Canada. This union required a balancing of the interests of both of its founding parties who, on certain issues, espoused very different views. One important example of this was social conservatism. In this paper, the author examines the new party’s attempt to balance the two parties’ differing opinions on social conservatism. In order to accomplish this, the paper first examines the differences between the two parties, and then examines how conflicting interests were resolved under the banner of the ‘New Conservative Party.’ The author concludes that by deliberately declarin socially conservative issues beyond the scope of party policy, the new conservative party has been able to strike a balance between the interests of the voting population and the interests of its more socially conservative members, who are able to express their preferences by means of a free vote.

Perspectives on Foreign Intervention in Contemporary Politics

The world of politics is a fast moving one; what is true one moment may not be true of the next. Unfortunately, the full scholarly process is not always well suited to dissecting swiftly moving issues, as good scholarship is based upon careful reflection and critical review—time consuming processes. However, sometimes it is necessary for scholars to provide advice on the go, as situations evolve and develop in real time. These judgments may lack the meticulously researched analysis that is possible when events are viewed in hindsight. However, these judgments are no less important, as they will often determine how political actors respond to changing events. With the current state of global affairs, it is almost impossible not to address the variety of perspectives on the place and polices of foreign intervention. Such dialogues are contrasted between an understanding of the moral rights of the state. These two camps are contrasted in the following way. The first, arguing for intervention, believes that the state has a moral obligation to represent its idealized values in the global environment. As a result, intervention is required to promote and maintain these values. The second, arguing against intervention, believes that the state has a moral obligation to respect the sovereignty of foreign nations. Such positions are only made more complicated by the faith placed in institutions and other non-state actors to address such issues. However, the reality of global politics requires that states make decisive choices on such matter, and bear the consequences these choices can have on both international affairs and domestic politics. This is not merely a simple question of two perspectives, but rather, how these perspectives balance and effect actual policy.

Why are Extreme Right Parties so Popular in Europe?

This topic has witnessed a real increase in media coverage due to the recent activity of extreme right parties across Europe, notable being in the past year the Greek parties and the Dutch stance regarding immigration. For answering the question, and following the pathway of the module, the essay is looking at the extreme right parties in four European countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. Research for this paper has been focused mostly on the specialised literature, Pietro Ignazi being brought into discussion the most. Because of the large variables over years, the essay is looking at the parties from the 1960s until the early 2000s.