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The role of the media in democracy
The role of the media in democracy
The role of the media in democracy
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Local government is critical for rule and order in our society. Citizens depend on local government for many of the smaller decisions that are specific to a particular zone or area. Local government also plays a large role in national decisions. In order to improve, the local government should first ensure they have the trust of the citizens they are elected or appointed to serve. Most people view the government as self-serving and inefficient. In order for the system of local government to sustain for years to come, it must put processes in place similar to a successful business. There has to be plans for improvement, more accountability, and sustainability. They need to address the issue of lack of transparency on their actions or reasons …show more content…
In order to know they matter to the government, citizens should have the opportunity to make sure their voices are heard before another election. “Administrators focus on what matters. Politicians focus on what matters to others.” Politicians are the face of the government for many citizens who are not as involved in government. The government should prioritize issues based on need and feasibility. That is not to say that sometimes items aren’t put on the agenda for political gain. The process and cost of some tasks, while important, may cause some issues to be put on the back burner. It is the responsibility of the politician to ensure that the citizens’ top priorities are a center focus. The politician should communicate with citizens and collaborate with them on ideas and possibilities to improve their top priorities such as education and safety. The key is an open line of communication between the local government and …show more content…
The technology that surrounds us can provide a wealth of information. While the government was the creator of many of the technologies, such as the internet, it has not capitalized on these tools. The use of technology can break down the barrier between government and citizen. There are so many platforms and social medias that can provide an inexpensive yet effective way of sharing information. When thinking about community leadership we also want to remember that “technology plays a bigger role in your responsibilities than you probably realize.” Technology is also a tool for government to raise awareness or give visuals of their response to people and their
The municipal restructuring in Ontario from 1996 to 1999, whether voluntary or involuntary, was the most comprehensive process of municipal reforms since the Baldwin Act of 1849 (Frisken 30). After the election of Harris’ Conservative government in 1995, municipal reform took on a life of its own as it was followed with substantial activity between 1996 and 1999 (Sancton 135-56). This research paper looks to categorize, describe and evaluate the substantial activity that took place between the province and its municipal subordinates. While other papers have argued whether the change of the fiscal relationship was to benefit the province or if the structure of local government had simply become outdated, the issues of why the reforms occurred is not the focus of this research. However, what this paper will evaluate is whether the substantial activity made any long-term changes in the system by outlining the numerous reforms and examining their impact. This paper will begin by assessing the financial reform, which was the starting point for more extensive changes, followed by functional, structural and legislative reforms during 1996 to 1999.
Municipal control or an alternative delivery method? This is the question that has intrigued all levels of local government and created intense debates between taxpayers across municipalities. The services that municipalities provide are often vital to the existence of a local area. The issues of accountability, cost savings, quality of service and democracy often arise when choosing the best options to deliver services to a municipal area. In recent years the concepts of privatization, alternative service delivery and public-private partnerships are often promoted as ways cut down on overburdened annual city budgets and promote a higher quality of service to citizens. Municipalities have historically always provided basic services such as fire protection, water purification/treatment and recreational facilities. However, would private companies or another municipality be able to better deliver the same services more efficiently or at a lower cost? The city or town often provides a political grass roots approach to most local problems. Municipalities are better positioned and have a wider scope to provide services to their constituents in order to ensure quality of service that does not erode accountability and transparency, or drive the municipality deeper into debt.
This helps to ensure that the residents get the services they need in a more effective way since they can make the local leaders accountable. This would be more difficult if the local leaders were handling large counties with many residents. However, in the case of Texas, it has too many branches of local government. This brings about more challenges to service delivery than benefits. One of the ways this happens is through increasing the bureaucratic processes. The addition of an extra layer of government such as through local governments only increases the hurdles the citizens have between them and service delivery. Another problem arises with regards to the ability of the many branches to handle specialized services. Some of the commonly needed services by residents include water provision, garbage collection, sewage management, flood prevention, among others (Flores et al.). These require resources that may not be available to the smaller branches of the local government. Therefore, consolidation of some of these local governments would help to improve efficiency in the service
The relationship between a local government and its people is typically a combined form of stability, as well as discordant moments of tension and rising-to-dramatic change. More specifically, the political climate of the local government differs depending on how those people view the three aspects of their governmental calls and needs: rights and responsibility of the people, obligations of their government, and limits on the local governmental authority.
Some of the advantages of having a federal government are that the national level of government can work on the bigger picture tasks while the state government solve the local and specific issues, so that each departments time can be used wisely and efficiently. Furthermore, if citizens took their everyday problems to the national level, then the national government would be over worked and the citizen might have to travel far to even reach the states capital. Each side of the
Local government is commissioned to its state constitution and it is subject to the legal environment created by the state’s structure and laws just like the way the state government should not conflict with the federal law. State governments is a reflection of the federal government since it has an elected head of the executive branch who is the governor, a self-governing judiciary, and a commonly elected legislative division.
Democracy has been the root of a limited government, the system of which government powers are distributed so that one group of leaders do not have too much influence. The limited government has been structured to keep peace amongst all parties that are involved in the government. And under the U.S. Constitution, citizens are given ultimate power by their right to choose their representatives through the democratic process of voting. Each levels of the government are limited as they have their own responsibilities. The city government has the most local level of government as the residents elect a city council and mayor to represent their interest at the city level. All city governments establish housing and health regulations, and are responsible
The topic of technology and our society has become a very controversial subject today. Many people believe that technology is an essential component of our modern world, helping us to improve communication from farther distances as well as giving us easy access to important information. On the other hand, there is the opinion that too much technology is affecting social interactions and our basic development. “Technology…is a queer thing, it brings you great gifts with one hand, and stabs you in the back with the other.” (Carrie Snow.) The CBC Documentary “Are We Digital Dummies” displayed the pros and cons when it comes to modern technology that we use in the western world everyday.
One of the problems today is that America’s distrust for their leaders because they view them as ineffectual and removed. There is a need in America to democratize the public planning process and decision-making process. Many times projects, developments, and policy decisions are made without significant public input and participation. This often leads to m...
Public Administration involves the development, implementation and management of policies for the attainment of set goals and objectives that will be to the benefit of the general public. Since Public Administration involves taking decisions that affect the use of public resources there is often the question of how to utilize public resources for maximum public good. The National Association of Public Administration has identified four pillars of public administration: economy, efficiency, effectiveness and social equity. These pillars are equally important in the practice of public administration and to its success. This paper seeks to explain the role of each of the pillars in the practice of public administration.
It is through the implementation of advocacy strategies through technology integration that have allowed practice to evolve. According to Edwards and Hoefer (2010), communication technology that allows real-time updates and expansive reach include social networking sites, online journals or blogs, and video sharing technology, like YouTube. Social networking sites are online communities that built on social interactions and relationships. In these environments there are opportunities to share ideas that can lead to large scale changes. Similarly, online journals or blogs present idea sharing for those subscribing or interested in the topic selections. Video sharing adds a facet of sharing information that can complement or strengthen a perspective. According to Tetloff, Hitchcock, Battista, and Lowry (2014), videos can encourage partnership, engage a community, and inspire thinking that is not sculpted by a preconceived notion or faculty of negative influence. The use of these technologies provide a social media venue to share messages and connect people to advocate for change and ultimately affect how and what policies are adopted for local and large scale
There are two kinds of municipalities (city/town). General- Law powers are defined by the states Government code. City government establishes municipal policy and enacts and implements local ordinances. City governments are responsible for providing services which directly affect the lives of their residents like police ...
From the words of United States President Barack Obama "Call your members of Congress. Write them an email. Tweet it using the hashtag #My2K." (Coffee). Social media has played an increasing and larger part in today's government. Social media has the power to influence elections and connect the people to the policy makers in new ways.
There has to be order and support in the governing system. Every person that makes up a community should have a job. Everyone should work together and enjoy working together. cooperation in a community is key. When everyone works together parts work smoothly. You need people willing to get out there, and communication is where that begins.
OECD has noted that Electronic government particularly refers to the use of the Internet as a tool to achieve better government (OECD 2003). Effective e-government seeks to achieve greater efficiency in government performance by making services easier to access, ensure accuracy, and improved efficiency (Almarabeh and Abu Ali, 2010). While government is still seen as inefficient, ineffective, or unresponsive and depriving citizens of abilities to engage in public affairs, e-government becomes a natural extension of the technological revolution that has accompanied the knowledge society by adding new concepts such as transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in the evaluation of government performance (Mohammad et al. 2009). E-government has the potential to increase transparency in public administration by making it easier to relay information of activities to those being governed (Drüke 2007). La Porte, Demchak, and De Jong (2002) also argue that a change in current management techniques to include more collaborative relationships can help government become more efficient, effective, and