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Country culture comparison paper
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Social cultures, governmental structures, and institutional strength vary based on the country in question. Generalizations cannot be made about the world because each state has a unique and formative history, which lays a path on which the country tends to continue. In Hacker’s article, which explored health care systems around the world, he touched on the idea of path dependence. Once policies have been enacted, the state must oblige by them. He describes path dependence as implying that “seemingly small, even happenstance, changes at one point in time may have large eventual consequences through self reinforcing processes of societal response” (Hacker 77). His view of the importance of history stands above most other factors as an explanation …show more content…
Brazil serves as an example to complicate the theory of the idea of historical significance in relation to political futures. He says that “if the historical record contradicts the thesis of early tolerance, Brazil’s later racial order was not so preordained. Instead, the past was reconceived into a benign image, unlike elsewhere… Brazil’s distinctiveness did not then rest upon less historical discrimination” (Marx 8). However, historical legacies in the United States and South Africa of institutionalized racism and official exclusion created legitimate systems of “difference” and undeniably led to deep social cleavages and cultural solidarities between racial groups (Marx 6). Because of Western Europe’s “white nationalist” idea, which in essence claimed that God created white people as a dominant group of people, societies did not change even after scientists affirmed race as having no scientific base (Marx 7). Perhaps this means that history matters, but it does not function as the only factor. It matters when it benefits the majority group, and offers a sustainable path of …show more content…
In that way, history is of the utmost importance. The authors argue that becoming democratic is a process, and a certain sequence of events, including shifting from a traditional to a rational society, are essential in order for democratization to occur effectively (Inglehart and Welzel 5). As a country develops economically, a middle class emerges, life expectancies increase, education becomes more widespread, and highly educated groups of people become accustomed to thinking for themselves (Inglehart and Welzel 6). Modernization does not cancel out a country’s history; in fact, the authors note that “although the publics of industrializing societies are becoming richer and more educated, that is hardly creating a global culture. Cultural heritages are remarkably enduring” (Inglehart and Welzel 5). In a similar way of thinking to Hacker, Inglehart and Welzel accept that each state has had a unique experience on the world stage and internally; therefore, though history certainly lays the tracks for the train, it does not make derailment
Becker uses rhetorical questions such as “What are we to think of this sudden reversal in fortune and prestige? How explain it? What to do about it?” (149). these questions are raised by Becker, intended to create thought and leave the reader pondering. Despite the euphoric image that Becker creates for democracy he understands that although grandiose in theory, is highly reliant on the present condition of the citizens. He states that they must be “capable of managing their own affairs” (152). However, Becker provides an enumeration for this rhetoric. In order for democracy to survive, Becker recognizes that certain conditions need to be present, mobility, necessity for economic security, ease of communication and industrial prosperity. (151-152).
Racial identity is a complicated thing to examine when looking at the social politics of Brazil. The film Brazil in Black and White and Benedita da Silva’s book both tackle the issues of racial identity in similar manners. Brazil has the second highest black population in the world, following only Nigeria, yet Afro-Brazilians are heavily unrepresented in Brazilian education, government, and media. Benedita da Silva, being an Afro-Brazilian congresswoman faced these issues on a personal level and her criticisms are integral in understanding the marginalization of blacks in Brazil.
What is culture? Culture is the characteristics that describe a certain group of people. Culture defines those groups of people through religion, language, food and arts among many more. Culture is made up of many long lived traditions passed on through different regions. Brazilian culture is one of the most diverse out there. Some would say it has similarities to American culture when relating it to a "melting pot". Over 75% of the country follows the Roman Catholic faith. The official language of Brazil is Portuguese due to mass Portuguese settlements in much earlier centuries. Brazilian culture has a main focus on family unity and most Brazilians have a large number of family members.
Racism (n): the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other race (Wordnet search, 1), a controversial topic in today’s society, a subject that many people try to sweep under the rug, but yet a detrimental problem that has been present in America since the colonial era. Will this dilemma come to a halt? Can all Americans see each other as equals despite their skin color and nationality; and what role has it played in past generations versus today’s generations and how will it affect our future? Has this on going way of thinking gotten better or worse? These are questions raised when many think about the subject; especially members of American ethnic groups and backgrounds, because most have dealt with racial discrimination in their life time.
Since the inception of a democratic government in the United States’ early history, many have held that a liberal democracy should be the standard to which all other governments should attempt to emulate (CNN.com, 1). As the world’s leading super power, the United States sets an exampl...
The myth of racial democracy in Latin America has some similarities and differences with the racialized social structure that exists in the United States. Both regions will blatantly deny the existence of racism in the creation of
A country’s health care system refers to all the institutions, programs, personnel, procedures, and the resources that are used to meet the health needs of its population. Health care systems vary from one country to another, depending on government policies and the health needs of the population. Besides, health care programs are flexible in the sense that they are tailored to meet health needs as they arise. Among the stakeholders in the formulation of a country’s health care system are governments, religious groups, non-governmental organizations, charity organizations, trade/labor unions, and interested individuals (Duckett, 2008). These entities formulate, implement, evaluate, and reform health services according to the needs of the sections of the population they target.
Racism: a Short History George Fredrickson makes an argument ultimately against the dichotomy between civilization and savagery, specifically the resurgence of ethnoreligious bigotry that, according to him, replaces 20th century race theory in order to justify continued inequities and sociopolitical oppression worldwide in Racism: A Brief History. His book delineates the rise of modern race theory, beginning in Medieval Europe and synthesizing an explanation for the existence and success of the overtly racist regimes, the United States, South Africa, and Nazi Germany. Fredrickson cautions, however, that racism can easily become interchangeable with religious bigotry when facing corporatism that aims to alienate, marginalize, and devalue human beings as mere consumers with little agency or any collective sense of identity. Racism's ultimate goal, according to Fredrickson, is to establish a permanent hierarchal order that "has two components: difference and power." Fredrickson's analysis is probably one of the most direct and functional definitions of racism that I have run across in a while.
Newman, Alex. “Examining Healthcare: A Look Around the Globe at Nationalized Systems.” The New American. 15 Sep. 2008: 10. eLibrary. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.
Black youths arrested for drug possession are 48 times more likely to wind up in prison than white youths arrested for the same crime under the same circumstances. Many people are unaware how constant racism has been throughout the years. It is important to understand the problems of racism because it is relevant to society. Racism in America is very real and Americans need to know it.
The Brazilian culture is one of the world’s most wide ranged and diverse. This is a result due to it being a melting pot of nationalities, as a result of centuries of European domination as well as slavery, which brought large groups of African migrants across Brazil’s borders to live in and influence the local cultures with their ancient customs and ideas. The European settlers also brought ideas, innovations and belief systems with them, molding the local societies remarkably. All of these varying influences have made the modern-day Brazilian culture is unique and very elaborate (Meyer, 2010).
There have been enormous efforts to spread democracy as a political system throughout the world by the developed democratic countries and the international development organizations including the World Bank. By the late 1990s the United States alone spent over a half billion dollars to promote democratic expansion throughout the world (Diamond, 2003). These were done considering that the democratic system leads towards development. As a result in the late 20th century we saw a huge political transformation towards democracy. During the last few decades a huge number of countries adopted democracy as their political system. However, it retain a big question how far democracy is successful in bringing development of a country? At this stage, some people also criticizes the effort of democratization arguing that it is done without considering the context of a country, sometimes democracy is not ideal for all countries and it is an effort to extinct diversity of political system. In studying the literature regarding the debate, we found a paradoxical relationship between democracy and development. Some argue that democracy has failed to ensure expected outcomes in terms of development. While others confronted that democracy has a considerable impact on development. Another group of people argue that form of political system actually does not have any impact on development process. On the verge of these debates, some development institutions and academics throw light on why democracy is not working properly, and what measure should be taken to make it more successful in bringing effective development of developing countries. Consequently, this writing is an effort of revisiting the different views about impact of democra...
As a nation, Brazil has a long and eventful history, involving both its post-colonial status as an ex-member of the Portuguese imperial regime and the long term history of its pre-colonial indigenous tribes. Borrowing from information provided by Boris Fausto, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo in his book A Concise History of Brazil, it is clear that Brazil is a country confused in its post-colonial identity. While colonialism brought massive wealth and prosperity to a nation that is rich with resources, the question of the treatment of the remaining indigenous tribes remains a deep-rooted issue for many Brazilians.
Throughout history different types of instrumental regimes have been in tact so civilizations remained structured and cohesive. As humanity advanced, governments obligingly followed. Although there have been hiccups from the ancient times to modern day, one type of government, democracy, has proven to be the most effective and adaptive. As quoted by Winston Churchill, democracy is the best form of government that has existed. This is true because the heart of democracy is reliant, dependent, and thrives on the populaces desires; which gives them the ability for maintaining the right to choose, over time it adjusts and fixes itself to engulf the prominent troubling issues, and people have the right of electing the person they deem appropriate and can denounce them once they no longer appease them. In this paper, the benefits of democracy are outlined, compared to autocratic communism, and finally the flaws of democracy are illustrated.
Again, it is important to note the normative subtext that underlies these studies. In the case of Huntington, Przeworski & Limongi, and many studies on the subject, there is an implicit, and often explicit, assumption that democracy is the most developed form of governance. This cultural bias towards a Western model of government, and specifically a ...