Background and Politics in John Milton`s Paradise Lost

Milton has dramatic vision of God in history, re-creating the key stories of Scripture. Once an active participant in the political turmoil of seventeenth-century England, he now asserts in Paradise Lost â€Å"Eternal Providence† that transcends not only his contemporary England but also the sinful works of men in history. Milton finds the will of God, not in the reformation of the political world, but in the spiritual reformation of each individual. Thus he becomes a prophet, seeing the things invisible and proclaiming the values that are eternal.Recent critics have called attention to Milton's view of history reflected in his Paradise Lost. They tend to lay much emphasis on his political awareness to see spiritual aspects that underlie Milton's poetic imagination. Christopher Hill (1978), for example, stresses the importance of a historical approach to Milton's Paradise Lost. Hill connects Milton's ideas, or even his theology, to the political circumstances of seventeenth-ce ntury England.For Hill, it is astonishing if Paradise Lost is not about politics; he calls it â€Å"a different type of political action from those which have failed so lamentably† (67). It is true, that Milton's concern with political circumstances is an important element that enables him to perform his role as a prophet and to participate in the historical process with a prophetic vision of teaching and correcting his contemporaries. Paradise Lost is obviously political poem. The text conceals the historical traces of its own composition so skilfully that readers are likely to forget its political significance.While Paradise Lost was evidently composed over the long period before and after the Restoration, it saw new political problems in post-revolutionary society. Among Milton's three major poems, the brief epic thus addressed itself most specifically to the Restoration audience. The purpose of this paper is to historicise Paradise Lost as a Restoration poem in order to p ropose a new political way of reading the epic. No English writer dealt more directly with Eden lost and redeemed than John Milton, and this work analyses his uses of Paradise to express his ambivalence about empire.After the establishment of Puritan Massachusetts in 1630, British colonial energies (and Milton's) were absorbed by internal conflicts through the civil wars of the 1640s and into the Interregnum of the 1650s—an introversion brought to an end by Oliver Cromwell in 1654—1656 with his unilateral Western Design against Spanish America. However much Paradise Lost (1667) reveals Milton's double-mindedness about such designs, there can be little doubt that the highwater mark of Miltonic anti-imperialism is found in Paradise Regain'd (1671).It is in this brief epic that heroism is most fully reimagined along Augustinian and humanist lines. Here Jesus, Christendom's moral model, rejects first the temptations of patriotic conquest and, beyond these, the temptations of universal virtue. Therefore, Milton's poetic message is for his contemporary England. Even though Milton as a poet-prophet does not ignore the situations in which he is placed, the message he delivers in Paradise Lost contains a spiritual meaning that transcends the political and temporal world of his time.A similarity between Milton and Isaiah can be found in their pursuit of the timeless truth that God is our salvation. Isaiah foresees that truth in the future history of Israel, while Milton sees it in Adam's historical preview, which is also a historical review for Milton. With regard to Isaiah's prophetic vision, Hobart Freeman argues that â€Å"Not every prophecy needs to be traced to a definite contemporary historical situation, nor directly applicable to the generation to whom it is spoken.†If we apply this to Milton's poetic work, Milton â€Å"speaks from an ideal, future standpoint as if it were the present or past† (166). Milton clearly demonstrates his ro le as prophet in the last two books of Paradise Lost by immersing himself in future events in order to allow Adam a vision of the restoration of man from his fallen state. Paradise Lost deals with God's handling of human affairs in history, and out of that context, delivers the spiritual message to the individual man. The first is the revelation of divine truth, the second the illumination of the mind.Milton presents in Paradise Lost two important aspects of God's purpose: first, God's macrocosmic purpose in history, and second, His microcosmic purpose in each individual soul. These two elements, historical and spiritual, are essential components of the poem. Milton in his writings shares the fundamental outlook that traces its roots to the ideology of holy war. In the case of the Civil Wars, this occurrence is only natural considering the extent to which the Civil Wars were looked upon as holy wars both by those who upheld in battle the cause of God against the king and by those wh o inculcated holy war ideology into the warriors.It is no accident that the War in Heaven is conceived as a civil or â€Å"Intestine War† (6. 259). In this sense, Abdiel, that most outspoken of nonconformists, refers ironically to himself as a â€Å"dissenter† and to the host of God as â€Å"sectarians† (6. 145-47). Milton saw no contradiction in the fact that as one who supported the rebellion against God's so-called vicegerent on earth, he could write an epic portraying the evils of rebelling against God's true â€Å"Vice-gerent† in Heaven (5. 609).Milton's celestial battle transcended the conflicts of Milton's own time and expressed the larger conceptions of holy war, conceptions that are both cosmic and apocalyptic. The historical orientation of Paradise Lost in the political context of Restoration society requires a juxtaposition of the brief epic not so much with Milton's political pamphlets before the Restoration, like Eikonoklastes (1649) or The R eadie and Easie Way (1660). Paradise Lost is historically in closer proximity to Of True Religion than to any other polemical piece of the author.With all their generic differences, the two works, sharing the plain style peculiar to the Restoration Milton, were published in a crucial period before and after the Declaration of Indulgence in 1672, when Restoration society was groping for a new direction after the lapse of the Clarendon Code which had imposed public regulations on the matter of private faith. Paradise Lost appeared when Milton's contemporaries were eager to settle the developing issue of the relationship between the public and private spheres in Restoration society.And should I at your harmless innocence Melt, as I do, yet public reason just, Honor and empire with revenge enlarged By conquering this new world, compels me now To do what else though damned I would abhor. —Satan, John Milton, Paradise Lost 4. 388—92 Whoever fights monsters should see to it t hat in the process he does not become a monster. —Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil 4. 146 In October 1568, 114 English seamen, their ship badly damaged by a battle in the Gulf of Mexico, voluntarily stranded themselves on the coast of the Yucatan peninsula.They stepped ashore into what would become forthe British one of their most luridly imagined hells: a howling tropical jungle, steaming with disease, crawling with exotic vermin, peopled with fierce tribesmen, and, worst of all, governed by Spaniards. Fifteen years later one survivor, Miles Philips, landed back in England alone, bearing on his body the marks of chains, the rack, and the lash, and bearing in his mind the kind of stories that haunt the hearer's sleep. These stories, which further blackened the already â€Å"Black Legend† of Spain, he recorded for Richard Hakluyt, who included them in his 1589 Principal Navigations (9:398—445).We cannot adequately understand the British Empire or its lit erary productions unless we see them in the tremendous Spanish shadow that loomed so large at the empire's birth. Paradoxically, Spain's empire very nearly made British expansion impossible, and yet it created conditions that made British imperialism feasible. Furthermore, Spanish threats made English colonization seem materially necessary; and above all, Spanish atrocity made the English response seem—to most Protestant imaginations, at least—spiritually righteous.Indeed, Spain menaced the English Protestant imagination far longer than it menaced the English nation. As a case in point, this work examines one of the enduring literary fruits: that encyclopedic piece of Protestant imagining known as Paradise Lost. Composing 150 years after Las Casas first compared the conquistadors to demons, and nearly a century after the last serious Spanish threat to English interests, John Milton nevertheless chose to compare his Prince of Darkness to a conquistador. Throughout his e pic, Milton amplifies Satan's audacity and atrocity with frequent, implicit parallels to Cortes's conquest of Mexico.These Spanish inflections afforded Milton special means to demonize the Devil. They also suggest the degree to which the British were able to transmute their own daunting imperial liabilities into ideological advantages and virtues. Many parallels between the Satanic and Iberian enterprises in Paradise Lost involve basic matters of setting and plot. David Quint has looked for analogues mainly to Portugal and the East, demonstrating that Satan's voyage in books 2 and 3 parodies Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India, as rendered by Luis de Canoens in Os Lusiadas.But Milton's allusions to Spain's western discoveries are equally suggestive. These begin with Satan's commission in Pandemonium. Speaking under the Vatican-like dome of Hell's capital, his lieutenant Beelzebub climaxes the hellish consult by proposing the â€Å"easier enterprise† (2. 345) o f an attack on the â€Å"happy isle† (2. 410) of this â€Å"new world† (2. 403). †¦ here perhaps Some advantageous act may be achiev'd By sudden onset: either with Hell fire To waste his whole Creation, or possess All as our own, and drive as we were driven, The puny habitants, or if not drive, Seduce them to our Party †¦ (2. 362—68) Beelzebub envisions a kind of geopolitical coup, one that we can recognize as analogous to Spain's American outflanking of its Islamic and Christian rivals at the end of the fifteenth century (Hodgkins 66). Also, while Satan the navigator may resemble da Gama and Columbus, as a traveler he is even more like the wily Cortes. There is more at work in Satan's successful voyage than mariner's luck, skill, and perseverance; there is also, most essentially, interpersonal guile.In his crucial negotiations at the frontiers guarded by Sin, Death, and Chaos in book 2, Satan seems less like Columbus the earnestly persistent and more like Cortes the trickster. First of all, both Satan and Cortes opportunistically stoke the fires of resentment and dissension. Cortes's chaplain, Gomara, writes that, upon reaching the Mexican coast, Cortes found Montezuma's outlying imperial vassals ripe for rebellion and sought their aid and direction. The Indians of Cempoala and of Tlaxcala further inland were â€Å"not well affected to Mutezuma, but readie, as farre as they durst, to entertayne all occasions of warre with him† (Purchas 15. 509).Similarly, in Paradise Lost, Sin and Chaos, while nominally subject to God â€Å"th' Ethereal King† (2. 978), willingly receive Satan's flattering promises that his mission will yield rich booty and restore their rightful power and sovereignty over the realms lately possessed by the divine Emperor. â€Å"[I] shall soon return, † Satan assures his daughter and lover, Sin, â€Å"And bring ye to the place where Thou and Death †¦ shall be fed and fill'd / Immeasurab ly, all things shall be your prey† (2. 839—40, 843—44).Further on, Satan implores the personified Chaos to â€Å"direct my course, † for, he promises, Directed, no mean recompense it brings To your behoof, if I that Region lost, All usurpation thence expelled, reduce To her original darkness and your sway (2. 980—84). So Chaos blesses the venture and shows the way, and Satan wastes no time in launching out on the last leg of his journey to â€Å"this frail World† (2. 1030). After Satan's voyage and earthly landfall, Milton's reimagining of earth and Eden as an idealized western planting permeates the poem.Though he explicitly compares the â€Å"gentle gales† that â€Å"dispense / Native perfumes† to the exotic east of â€Å"Mozambic† and â€Å"Araby the blest† (4. 156—63 passim), aromatic breezes also announce the American shore: from Columbus's first scent of San Salvador and Hispaniola, to Michael Drayton' s Edenic Virginia and Andrew Marvell's imagined Bermudas, the west is also the land of spices (Knoppers 67). Yet Milton evokes not only pre-Columbian America's fragrant garden delights but also its golden and urban splendors.The conquistadors came west for treasure, and Satan has an eye for it as well—the â€Å"golden Chain† that Satan sees linking Earth to Heaven (2. 1051), the â€Å"potable gold† of Earth's rivers (3. 608), and especially the â€Å"vegetable gold† hanging from the Trees of Life and Knowledge (4. 218—20; 9. 575—78). Similarly, Cortes wonders at the Mexicans' â€Å"simplicitie† in undervaluing their abundant gold and touts it as a literally consumable elixir, telling Montezuma's emissary that â€Å"he and his fellowes had a disease of the heart, whereunto Gold was the best remedie† (Purchas 15. 507— 8).Similarly Satan, by claiming to have consumed the golden fruit, persuades innocent Eve in book 9 of its transformative powers (9. 568—612). However, when Satan first sees the Earth, Milton compares the view to a city, not to a garden, and the view is strikingly similar to the Spanish scout's first sight of the Mexican capital from the barren volcanic pass of Mount Popocatepetl, looking down on the cities glittering on Lake Texcoco. In Paradise Lost, the epic simile unfolds as Satan Looks down with wonder at the sudden view Of all the World at once.As when a Scout Through dark and desert ways with peril gone Obtains the brow of some high-climbing Hill, Which to his eye discovers unaware The goodly prospect of some foreign land First seen, or some renown'd Metropolis With glistering Spires and Pinnacles adorn'd, Which now the Rising Sun gilds with his beams (3. 542—44, 546—51). Likewise, in Gomara's words, Tenochtitlan and its sister cities were â€Å"an exceeding goodly sight. But when Cortes saw that beautiful thing, his joy was without comparison†¦. Whoeve r hath good eyesight might discern the gates of [Tenochtitlan].. . . These Towres [of the cities Coyoacan and Vizilopuchtli] are planted in the Lake, and are adorned with many Temples, which have many faire Towres, that doe beautifie exceedingly the Lake†¦. [and] many drawne Bridges built upon faire arches† (Purchas 15. 520—21, 522, 523). Even the roadways into Tenochtitlan and Eden are similarly convenient. Gomara writes that the Mexican capital was entered over â€Å"a faire calsey [causeway], upon which eight horsemenne may passe on ranke, and so directly straight as though it had been made by line† (Purchas 15.523). Likewise, Satan sees â€Å"A passage down to th' Earth, a passage wide† (3. 528). In terms of England's domestic affairs, Milton's return to poetry after 1660 was no mere quietism or withdrawal from politics, but rather, as Laura Lunger Knoppers has suggested, â€Å"a complex internalization of Puritan discipline that can carry on the Good Old Cause in the very theater of the Stuart monarchy. † Thus in Paradise Lost, Milton seeks to restore right reason with an eventual view to restoring right rule at home. In other words, his retreat is strategic.Similarly, beyond the domestic sphere, when Paradise Lost exploits colonial imagery so extensively so soon after the failure of Cromwell's â€Å"imperial republic, † Milton is not merely spiritualizing a language of defeated earthly hopes (Barnaby 56). Instead, he is practicing another kind of strategic retreat, engaging in what Blake aptly called â€Å"mental fight†Ã¢â‚¬â€stiffening the heart's sinews against all temporally and temporarily ascendant tyrannies, whether in the heart or at home or abroad. He is biding his time, the reader's time, the nation's time, serving by standing and waiting for Providence to show his hand.Like Cortes the conquistador, like the conquistadorial Satan, Milton knows that conquest, and reconquest, start with the sou l's invisible empire. And Milton never fully abandons his belief that war against flesh and blood has its place in the wars of the spirit. Works Cited Barnaby, Andrew. â€Å" `Another Rome in the West? ‘: Milton and the Imperial Republic, 1654—1670. † Milton Studies 30 (1990). Hill, Christopher. Milton and the English Revolution. New York, 1978. Hodgkins, Christopher. Reforming Empire: Protestant Colonialism and Conscience in British Literature.University of Missouri Press: Columbia, MO, 2002. King, James. An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977. Knoppers, Laura Lunger. Historicizing Milton: Spectacle, Power, and Poetry in Restoration England. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1994. Milton, John. Paradise Lost; Paradise Regained; Samson Agonistes. Collier Books: New York, 1962. Purchas, Samuel. Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas His Pilgrimes. 20 vols. Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons, 1905—1907.

Rainy season

The wet season, monsoon season or rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfalloccurs. It usually lasts one or more months. The term â€Å"green season† is also sometimes used as aeuphemlsm by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the tropics andsubtropics. under the K ¶ppen climate classification, fo In contrast to areas with savannaclimates and monsoon reglmes,medlterranean climates have wet winters and dry summers.Tropical rainforests technically do not have dry or wet seasons, since their ainfall is equally distributed throughout the year. Some areas with pronounced rainy seasons will see a break in rainfall mld-season, when the Intertroplcal convergence zone or monsoon trough moves poleward of their location during the middle of the warm season. When the wet season occurs during a warm season, or summer, precipitation falls mainly during the late afternoon and early evening hours.The wet season is a time when air qualityimproves, freshwater quality improves, and vegetation grows substantially, leading to crop yields late in the season. Floods cause rivers to overflow their banks, and some animals to retreat to higher ground. Soil nutrients diminish and erosion increases. The incidence of malaria increases in areas where the rainy season coincides with high temperatures. Animals have adaptation and survival strategies for the wetter regime.Character of rainfall: In areas where the heavy rainfall is associated with a wind shift, the wet season becomes known as the monsoon. [7] Since rainfall during the wet season is predominantly due to daytime heating which leads to diurnal thunderstorm activity ithin a pre-existing moist airmass, rainfall is mainly focused during the late afternoon and early evening hours within savannah and monsoon regimes.This also leads to much of the total rainfall each day falling during the initial minutes of the downpour,[6] before the storms mature i nto their stratiform stage. [8] While most locations have only one wet season, areas of the tropics can experience two wet seasons as the monsoon trough, or Intertropical Convergence Zone, can pass over locations in the tropics twice per year. Since rain forests have equitable rainfall throughout the year. hey do not technically have a wet seasom The situation Is different for locations within the Mediterranean climate regime.In the western United States, during the cold season from September through May, extratropical cyclones from the Pacific ocean move Inland Into the region due to a southward migration of the Jet stream during the cold season. This shift in the Jet stream brings much of the annual precipitation to the and also brings the potential for heavy rain and strong low pressure systems. [10] The peninsula of Italy experiences very similar weather to the western United States in this regard. Areas affected Areas with a savanna climate In Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Ghana, Burkina [1 3] 5] and Botswana have a distinct rainy season. 1 7] Also within the savannah climate regime, Florida and East Texas have a rainy Monsoon regions include southeast Asla(lnclualng Inaonesla ana nortnern sectlons 0T Australla's Nortn, [21] Polynesia,[22] Central America,[23] western and southernMexico,[24] the Desert Southwest of the United States, southernGuyana, portions of northeast Brazil. Northern Guyana experiences two wet seasons: one in late spring and the other in early winter. 25] In western Africa, there are two rainy seasons across southern sections with only one across the north. 27] Within the Mediterranean climate regime, the west coast of the United States and theMediterranean coastline of Italy, Greece,[28] and Turkey experience a wet season in the winter months. [29] Similarly, the wet season in the Negev desert of Israel extends from October through May. [30] At the boundary between the Mediterranean and monsoon climates lies the Sonoran desert, which r eceives the two rainy seasons associated with each climate regime. [31] The wet season is known by many different local names hroughout the world. For example, the wet season period of the year in Mexico is known as storm season.Effects In tropical areas, when the monsoon arrives daytime high temperatures drop and overnight low temperatures increase. [32] During the wet season, a combination of heavy rainfall and in some areas, such as Hong Kong, a wind more off the ocean, significantly improve air quality. [33] In Brazil, the wet season is correlated to weaker trade winds off the ocean. [26] The pH level of water becomes more balanced due to the charging of local aquifers during the wet season. Rainy Season The wet season, monsoon season or rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfalloccurs. It usually lasts one or more months. The term â€Å"green season† is also sometimes used as aeuphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the tropics andsubtropics. Under the Koppen climate classification, fo In contrast to areas with savannaclimates and monsoon regimes,mediterranean climates have wet winters and dry summers.Tropical rainforests technically do not have dry or wet seasons, since their rainfall is equally distributed throughout the year. Some areas with pronounced rainy seasons will see a break in rainfall mid-season, when the intertropical convergence zone or monsoon trough moves poleward of their location during the middle of the warm season. When the wet season occurs during a warm season, or summer, precipitation falls mainly during the late afternoon and early evening hours.The wet season is a time when air qualityimproves, freshwater quality improves, and vegetation grows substantially, leading to crop yields late in the season. Floods cause rivers to overflow their banks, and some animals to retreat to higher ground. Soil nutrients diminish and erosion increases. The incidence of malaria increases in areas where the rainy season coincides with high temperatures. Animals have adaptation and survival strategies for the wetter regime.Character of rainfallIn areas where the heavy rainfall is associated with a wind shift, the wet season becomes known as the monsoon. Since rainfall during the wet season is predominantly due to daytime heating which leads to diurnal thunderstorm activity within a pre-existing moist airmass, rainfall is mainly focused during the late afternoon and early evening hours within savannah and monsoon regimes. This also leads to much of the total rainfall each day falling during the initial minutes of the downpour, before the storms mature into their stratiform stage.While most locations have only one wet season, areas of the tropics can experience two wet seasons as the monsoon trough, or Intertropical Convergence Zone, can pass over locations in the tropics twice per year. Since rain forests have equitable rainfall throughout the year, they do not technically have a wet season. The situation is different for locations within the Mediterranean climate regime.In the western United States, during the cold season from September through May, extratropical cyclones from the Pacific ocean move inland into the region due to a southward migration of the jet stream during the cold season. This shift in the jet stream brings much of the annual precipitation to the region, and also brings the potential for heavy rain and strong low pressure systems. The peninsula of Italy experiences very similar weather to the western United States in this regard.Areas affectedAreas with a savanna climate in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Ghana, Burkina Fa so, Darfur, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Botswana have a distinct rainy season. Also within the savannah climate regime, Florida and East Texas have a rainy season.   Monsoon regions include southeast Asia(including Indonesia and Philippines), northern sections of Australia's North, Polynesia, Central America, western and southernMexico, the Desert Southwest of the United States, southernGuyana, portions of northeast Brazil. Northern Guyana experiences two wet seasons: one in late spring and the other in early winter.In western Africa, there are two rainy seasons across southern sections with only one across the north. Within the Mediterranean climate regime, the west coast of the United States and theMediterranean coastline of Italy, Greece, and Turkey experience a wet season in the winter months. Similarly, the wet season in the Negev desert of Israel extends from October through May. At the boundary between the Mediterranean and monsoon climates lies the Sonoran desert, which receive s the two rainy seasons associated with each climate regime.The wet season is known by many different local names throughout the world. For example, the wet season period of the year in Mexico is known as storm season. Effects In tropical areas, when the monsoon arrives daytime high temperatures drop and overnight low temperatures increase. During the wet season, a combination of heavy rainfall and in some areas, such as Hong Kong, a wind more off the ocean, significantly improve air quality. In Brazil, the wet season is correlated to weaker trade winds off the ocean. The pH level of water becomes more balanced due to the charging of local aquifers during the wet season.Water also softens, as dissolved materials lower in concentration during the rainy season. Erosion is also increased during rainy periods. Arroyosthat are dry at other times of the year fill with runoff, in some cases with water as deep as 10 feet (3. 0 m).   Leaching of soils during periods of heavy rainfall deple tes nutrients.   The excessive runoff from land masses significantly impacts nearby ocean areas, which are more stratified, or less mixed, due to stronger surface currents forced by the heavy rainfall runoff.FloodsWidespread flooding can occur if rainfall becomes excessive, which can lead to landslides and mudflows in mountainous areas. Such floods cause rivers to leave their banks and homes to go underwater. Floods can be exacerbated by fires during the previous dry season, which cause soils which are sandy or composed of loam to become hydrophobic, or repellent of water.There are various ways government organizations help their residents deal with wet season floods. Flood plain mapping is conducted, which helps diagnose what areas are more prone to flooding. Instructions on how to control erosion through outreach is also done via telephone or the internet.HumansThe wet season is the main period of vegetation growth within the Savanna climate regime. However, this also means that wet season is a time for food shortages before crops reach their full maturity. This causes seasonal weight changes for people in developing countries, with a drop occurring during the wet season until the time of the first harvest, when weights rebound. Malaria incidence increases during periods of high temperature and heavy rainfall. Animals Cows calve, or give birth, at the beginning of the beor wet season[clarify].The onset of the rainy season signals the departure of the Monarch butterflyfrom Mexico. Tropical species of butterflies show larger dot markings on their wings to fend off possible predators and are more active during the wet season than the dry season. Within the tropics and warmer areas of the subtropics, decreased salinity of near shore wetlands due to the rains causes an increase in crocodile nesting. Other species, such as the arroyo toad, spawn within the couple of months after the seasonal rains. Armadillosand rattlesnakes seek higher ground.

The Unfulfilled Aims and Golas of the Ministry

To establish whether this statement is true, the promises and reputation of Disraeli must first be identified. In his speeches in 1872 at Crystal Palace and in Manchester†s Free Trade Hall, Disraeli once again showed his skills as an orator. He laid out three basic aims or policies that he wanted to pursue, should he get in power. These were; to conserve the institutions in Britain, uphold British interests abroad and to improve the standard of life for the general population and especially the working classes. Disraeli had also created a reputation for himself with the 1867 Reform Act. He had successfully destroyed the liberal party and due to the nature of the act, extending the franchise by a considerable number, had acquired a reputation for being more open minded about matters of reform, even though the act was mainly passed through necessity, because the act would be passed and it was just a question about which party would do it. He had also tried successfully to establish the Conservative Party as the nationalistic party in the government, the one that would uphold British interest abroad and repair the damage that he claimed that Gladstone was causing. The Alabama arbitration and the dealings that Gladstone had with Russia over the situation in the Black Sea were perfect opportunities for Disraeli to show how Gladstone was destroying Britain†s Empire by his weakness in his dealings with other major powers. This meant that when Disraeli cam into power he had to act upon his criticisms of Gladstone as he had condemned the way that Gladstone had put his faith so strongly in arbitration rather than in action and the way that Gladstone was more concerned about the way that the negotiations were carried out rather than the end result. The only way that Disraeli could fulfil his promises about the welfare and conditions of the people and conserving the institutions was by bringing about various social reforms. In his famous speeches in 1872 he promised the people that he would improve the standard of their lives and give them â€Å"air light and water†. To an extent it would be fair to say that he achieved this although some of the acts that were meant to do this were not very effective at all. The Factory Legislations in 1874, 1875 and 1878 were major steps in Disraeli achieving what he had promised. These were some of his more effective acts because they were compulsory and the consequence of this was that it had a further reaching effect than a large number of the acts that Disraeli passed. In this respect it is very similar to the Public Health Act in 1875 because this also had aspects of it that were compulsory, for example the local councils were compelled to employ a Ministry of Health. The fact that acts like these were compulsory and not permissive is what makes them more successful than the others. While other acts would appear to conform to Disraeli†s claims that he was fulfilling his promises, upon closer inspection they did not have much effect upon the lives of the workingman. The Friendly Societies Act in 1875 was another act that could be used to support the statement that Disraeli†s was a government that lived up to its promises. The societies were formed as a kind of self-help organization and Disraeli†s government supported this, which indicates that he was trying to live up the promise that he would improve conditions for the working classes. The Labour Legislation and the amendment of the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act in 1875 were other legislations that lived up to the promises of Disraeli, because they both attempted to change the law in order to make it more fair and even for the workers so that they could negotiate on equal grounds as the employer and to ensure that the laws were equal for both parties involved. The Enclosure of Commons Act in 1876 was an act that showed Disraeli trying to fulfil his promise that he would provide enjoyment of â€Å"air light and water. † However convincing these acts may seem to be in arguing that Disraeli lived up to his promises it must be recognised that there were a great many acts that he passed that were either totally ineffectual or would work in principle but not in practice. The River Pollution Prevention Act in 1876 was a totally ineffectual act. In principle it was supposed to prevent the factory owners who were polluting the rivers from doing so but in practice the pollution of the rivers continued and the act did not stop pollution. This is one of many examples of Disraeli†s government attempting to fulfil the promises that Disraeli made, but in the end passing an ineffectual act that simply does not achieve half as much as was promised. While these acts may have set a precedent to other acts in the future, they do not achieve very much at the time. Other acts like the Sale of Food and Drugs Act in 1875 show how that while the act looks to be a major act, it is only a permissive act that gives the power of change to the local councils who have men on their board who own the shops that are going to lose revenue if they are no longer allowed to adulterate the food or Drugs that they sell. As it was not in their interests, and as it was an enabling act, they simply did not bother to put anything into practice. There was a similar situation with the Merchant Shipping Act and the Artisans Dwelling Act in 1876 and 1875. These two were both permissive instead of compulsory, and both gave the power to change to those who would not benefit and may well lose out if they put the laws into practice. In the case of the Merchant Shipping Act the initiative was left with the owners of the ship who were never personally in danger abroad the ships and profited from the overloading. Again, in the Artisans Dwellings Act it was the councils decision whether to build houses or not, and to do this would require a raise in taxes for the rest of the constituency, and so the council may lose the next election so would not do anything. To illustrate this, by 1881, only ten out of 87 towns would take any action under the act. The Education Act in 1876 was not a very successful act either because it did nothing to ensure that the laws would be carried out until 1891 so there was a high level of truancy and children still worked when they should not, so although it added to the growing improvement of the education system, it did not really change anything significantly. The foreign policy that Disraeli followed between 1874 and 1880 was one that certainly appeared to be consistent with the reputation that Disraeli had acquired. It was very aggressive and he appeared to be fulfilling promises that he had made in 1872. His severe criticism of Gladstone†s weaknesses on foreign policy was one factor that formed peoples expectations that he would act upon the criticisms and that his foreign policy would be constructed so as to protect British interests abroad. Disraeli lived up to his reputation and promises in his foreign policy more than he did at home with his domestic policies. However it was not as he had promised to the people. He had promised to uphold British interests abroad, and to a certain extent he did, but there were events that he could not control and certain concessions that had to make to foreign powers that diminished the influence and threatened the power that Britain held abroad. The problems with Russia were a prime example where he had to concede and let Russia have a fleet in the Black sea even though this was against the interests of Britain. He could not realistically deliver all that he promised, as there would be times like these where he had to make concessions. On the other hand it must be said that Disraeli managed to fulfil the majority of his promises and reputation in regards to his foreign policy, even if at times he did not mean to. In a lot of his speeches a lot of what he said was rhetoric, but when men like Frere and Lytton took him at face value, and started wars with the Afghans and with the Zulus and started wars in order to preserve the British interests in those particular areas, they put action to his words. Even if Disraeli did not actually want these wars, which he did not, the two wars were both in keeping with the reputation that he had gained for being a very aggressive imperialist, even if these wars did work to his detriment. The Congress of Berlin was one of the high points of Disraeli†s foreign policy because in this he managed to rebuild Britain†s reputation as a major imperial power, which adds to the evidence that he did live up to the reputation that he had acquired, and he made secret agreements with the Turks, Russians and Austria-Hungary in order to preserve British interest in that area. The purchase of the Suez Canal shares in 1875 was another one of Disraeli's best judgements because for years on from then it was one of the biggest trade routes in the world and Britain†s involvement in it was a major asset to Britain†s power as an imperial nation. One side of Disraeli†s foreign policy that cannot be ignored is the fact that Disraeli took massive risks in his policy and could have got Britain involved in a war with Russia without nay powerful allies and with an obsolete navy, and also agreed to defend one of Turkeys frontiers without the resources to do so. The fact that was lucky and managed to steer clear of any problems is a credit to Disraeli as it would have been very easy for him to make a very costly mistake. Though Disraeli passed a large number of reforms for his time, he still managed to fulfil his final promise of his 1872 speeches and conserve the institutions. The institutions that he meant were the aristocracy, like the rich landowners and the Anglican Church. While someone like Gladstone was a fanatical Anglican, Disraeli was only really interested in it to keep everyone else happy. It has been argued that acts like the Education Acts sole intention was to prevent the board schools which were more financially popular with the working or lower classes from getting too much of a hold on the education system because most wanted the Anglican churches from being the dominant force in education and the board schools were not. During his period in rule, he did not do anything that was actively conserving the constitutions, he simply avoided doing anything that would offend or threaten the institutions. It would be fair to say in conclusion that while Disraeli fulfilled some of the promises that he made, he did not do so with all of them. His domestic policy is a hard one to say whether he achieved accomplishment of the aims that he laid down in 1872. He certainly tried to do so, as the number of acts that he passed, and the nature of them indicate that they were probably passed with the interests of the people that it would effect, in mind. However there are some opinions that argue that all of the acts passed in Disraeli†s era were in reaction to public opinion at the time. While this is not totally fair to Disraeli, there is a lot of evidence pointing to this being a major contributing factor to the decision. In the case of the Education Act the other politicians were mainly or all Anglican and so wanted to conserve the churches hold over education, in the 1876 Merchant Shipping Act, the reason was predominantly to pacify the people who worked on the docks and Samuel Plimsoll as he was getting particularly worked up over the issue. However far it is possible to give credit to these ideas, it would be unfair to Disraeli to say that he tried to passed acts solely to pacify public demand it is much more likely to be that he was more genuine in his actions than that. However, the did not live up to all of the promises that he made, he may have set a precedent for governments before him in what their duties were to the people, but to the majority of the people of the time he did not have the ability to pass anything that would significantly change their lives. This was due to a number of limiting factors, like a hostile cabinet and a general public that were already sick of reform after a great reforming ministry from Gladstone. In his foreign policy in upholding the interests of the British Empire Disraeli fared a little better. He did not make any disastrous decisions in terms of upholding British interests abroad, although his attitude to problems got him into trouble at home, and did not make any major concessions to foreign powers. His diplomacy in Turkey in 1878 probably saved the Turkish Empire and he was aggressive to an extent that nearly got him into trouble. He certainly lived up to his reputation and promises in his foreign policy, although certain reckless comments landed him in trouble. Overall I think that Disraeli†s government did not live up to the promises that Disraeli made in 1872 and although his foreign policy was very similar to what people would expect and so lived up to his reputation, he did not deliver on the domestic front. The reasons for this were not solely attributable to Disraeli, but the fact remains that he did not deliver what he promised, and if anything the situation worsened with the depression even though this was not his fault. Disraeli tried hard to deliver what he promised but the government, the budget and the attitude of the people, who were not overly enthusiastic to more reforms, limited him in what he was able to do. The Unfulfilled Aims and Golas of the Ministry To establish whether this statement is true, the promises and reputation of Disraeli must first be identified. In his speeches in 1872 at Crystal Palace and in Manchester†s Free Trade Hall, Disraeli once again showed his skills as an orator. He laid out three basic aims or policies that he wanted to pursue, should he get in power. These were; to conserve the institutions in Britain, uphold British interests abroad and to improve the standard of life for the general population and especially the working classes. Disraeli had also created a reputation for himself with the 1867 Reform Act. He had successfully destroyed the liberal party and due to the nature of the act, extending the franchise by a considerable number, had acquired a reputation for being more open minded about matters of reform, even though the act was mainly passed through necessity, because the act would be passed and it was just a question about which party would do it. He had also tried successfully to establish the Conservative Party as the nationalistic party in the government, the one that would uphold British interest abroad and repair the damage that he claimed that Gladstone was causing. The Alabama arbitration and the dealings that Gladstone had with Russia over the situation in the Black Sea were perfect opportunities for Disraeli to show how Gladstone was destroying Britain†s Empire by his weakness in his dealings with other major powers. This meant that when Disraeli cam into power he had to act upon his criticisms of Gladstone as he had condemned the way that Gladstone had put his faith so strongly in arbitration rather than in action and the way that Gladstone was more concerned about the way that the negotiations were carried out rather than the end result. The only way that Disraeli could fulfil his promises about the welfare and conditions of the people and conserving the institutions was by bringing about various social reforms. In his famous speeches in 1872 he promised the people that he would improve the standard of their lives and give them â€Å"air light and water†. To an extent it would be fair to say that he achieved this although some of the acts that were meant to do this were not very effective at all. The Factory Legislations in 1874, 1875 and 1878 were major steps in Disraeli achieving what he had promised. These were some of his more effective acts because they were compulsory and the consequence of this was that it had a further reaching effect than a large number of the acts that Disraeli passed. In this respect it is very similar to the Public Health Act in 1875 because this also had aspects of it that were compulsory, for example the local councils were compelled to employ a Ministry of Health. The fact that acts like these were compulsory and not permissive is what makes them more successful than the others. While other acts would appear to conform to Disraeli†s claims that he was fulfilling his promises, upon closer inspection they did not have much effect upon the lives of the workingman. The Friendly Societies Act in 1875 was another act that could be used to support the statement that Disraeli†s was a government that lived up to its promises. The societies were formed as a kind of self-help organization and Disraeli†s government supported this, which indicates that he was trying to live up the promise that he would improve conditions for the working classes. The Labour Legislation and the amendment of the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act in 1875 were other legislations that lived up to the promises of Disraeli, because they both attempted to change the law in order to make it more fair and even for the workers so that they could negotiate on equal grounds as the employer and to ensure that the laws were equal for both parties involved. The Enclosure of Commons Act in 1876 was an act that showed Disraeli trying to fulfil his promise that he would provide enjoyment of â€Å"air light and water. † However convincing these acts may seem to be in arguing that Disraeli lived up to his promises it must be recognised that there were a great many acts that he passed that were either totally ineffectual or would work in principle but not in practice. The River Pollution Prevention Act in 1876 was a totally ineffectual act. In principle it was supposed to prevent the factory owners who were polluting the rivers from doing so but in practice the pollution of the rivers continued and the act did not stop pollution. This is one of many examples of Disraeli†s government attempting to fulfil the promises that Disraeli made, but in the end passing an ineffectual act that simply does not achieve half as much as was promised. While these acts may have set a precedent to other acts in the future, they do not achieve very much at the time. Other acts like the Sale of Food and Drugs Act in 1875 show how that while the act looks to be a major act, it is only a permissive act that gives the power of change to the local councils who have men on their board who own the shops that are going to lose revenue if they are no longer allowed to adulterate the food or Drugs that they sell. As it was not in their interests, and as it was an enabling act, they simply did not bother to put anything into practice. There was a similar situation with the Merchant Shipping Act and the Artisans Dwelling Act in 1876 and 1875. These two were both permissive instead of compulsory, and both gave the power to change to those who would not benefit and may well lose out if they put the laws into practice. In the case of the Merchant Shipping Act the initiative was left with the owners of the ship who were never personally in danger abroad the ships and profited from the overloading. Again, in the Artisans Dwellings Act it was the councils decision whether to build houses or not, and to do this would require a raise in taxes for the rest of the constituency, and so the council may lose the next election so would not do anything. To illustrate this, by 1881, only ten out of 87 towns would take any action under the act. The Education Act in 1876 was not a very successful act either because it did nothing to ensure that the laws would be carried out until 1891 so there was a high level of truancy and children still worked when they should not, so although it added to the growing improvement of the education system, it did not really change anything significantly. The foreign policy that Disraeli followed between 1874 and 1880 was one that certainly appeared to be consistent with the reputation that Disraeli had acquired. It was very aggressive and he appeared to be fulfilling promises that he had made in 1872. His severe criticism of Gladstone†s weaknesses on foreign policy was one factor that formed peoples expectations that he would act upon the criticisms and that his foreign policy would be constructed so as to protect British interests abroad. Disraeli lived up to his reputation and promises in his foreign policy more than he did at home with his domestic policies. However it was not as he had promised to the people. He had promised to uphold British interests abroad, and to a certain extent he did, but there were events that he could not control and certain concessions that had to make to foreign powers that diminished the influence and threatened the power that Britain held abroad. The problems with Russia were a prime example where he had to concede and let Russia have a fleet in the Black sea even though this was against the interests of Britain. He could not realistically deliver all that he promised, as there would be times like these where he had to make concessions. On the other hand it must be said that Disraeli managed to fulfil the majority of his promises and reputation in regards to his foreign policy, even if at times he did not mean to. In a lot of his speeches a lot of what he said was rhetoric, but when men like Frere and Lytton took him at face value, and started wars with the Afghans and with the Zulus and started wars in order to preserve the British interests in those particular areas, they put action to his words. Even if Disraeli did not actually want these wars, which he did not, the two wars were both in keeping with the reputation that he had gained for being a very aggressive imperialist, even if these wars did work to his detriment. The Congress of Berlin was one of the high points of Disraeli†s foreign policy because in this he managed to rebuild Britain†s reputation as a major imperial power, which adds to the evidence that he did live up to the reputation that he had acquired, and he made secret agreements with the Turks, Russians and Austria-Hungary in order to preserve British interest in that area. The purchase of the Suez Canal shares in 1875 was another one of Disraeli's best judgements because for years on from then it was one of the biggest trade routes in the world and Britain†s involvement in it was a major asset to Britain†s power as an imperial nation. One side of Disraeli†s foreign policy that cannot be ignored is the fact that Disraeli took massive risks in his policy and could have got Britain involved in a war with Russia without nay powerful allies and with an obsolete navy, and also agreed to defend one of Turkeys frontiers without the resources to do so. The fact that was lucky and managed to steer clear of any problems is a credit to Disraeli as it would have been very easy for him to make a very costly mistake. Though Disraeli passed a large number of reforms for his time, he still managed to fulfil his final promise of his 1872 speeches and conserve the institutions. The institutions that he meant were the aristocracy, like the rich landowners and the Anglican Church. While someone like Gladstone was a fanatical Anglican, Disraeli was only really interested in it to keep everyone else happy. It has been argued that acts like the Education Acts sole intention was to prevent the board schools which were more financially popular with the working or lower classes from getting too much of a hold on the education system because most wanted the Anglican churches from being the dominant force in education and the board schools were not. During his period in rule, he did not do anything that was actively conserving the constitutions, he simply avoided doing anything that would offend or threaten the institutions. It would be fair to say in conclusion that while Disraeli fulfilled some of the promises that he made, he did not do so with all of them. His domestic policy is a hard one to say whether he achieved accomplishment of the aims that he laid down in 1872. He certainly tried to do so, as the number of acts that he passed, and the nature of them indicate that they were probably passed with the interests of the people that it would effect, in mind. However there are some opinions that argue that all of the acts passed in Disraeli†s era were in reaction to public opinion at the time. While this is not totally fair to Disraeli, there is a lot of evidence pointing to this being a major contributing factor to the decision. In the case of the Education Act the other politicians were mainly or all Anglican and so wanted to conserve the churches hold over education, in the 1876 Merchant Shipping Act, the reason was predominantly to pacify the people who worked on the docks and Samuel Plimsoll as he was getting particularly worked up over the issue. However far it is possible to give credit to these ideas, it would be unfair to Disraeli to say that he tried to passed acts solely to pacify public demand it is much more likely to be that he was more genuine in his actions than that. However, the did not live up to all of the promises that he made, he may have set a precedent for governments before him in what their duties were to the people, but to the majority of the people of the time he did not have the ability to pass anything that would significantly change their lives. This was due to a number of limiting factors, like a hostile cabinet and a general public that were already sick of reform after a great reforming ministry from Gladstone. In his foreign policy in upholding the interests of the British Empire Disraeli fared a little better. He did not make any disastrous decisions in terms of upholding British interests abroad, although his attitude to problems got him into trouble at home, and did not make any major concessions to foreign powers. His diplomacy in Turkey in 1878 probably saved the Turkish Empire and he was aggressive to an extent that nearly got him into trouble. He certainly lived up to his reputation and promises in his foreign policy, although certain reckless comments landed him in trouble. Overall I think that Disraeli†s government did not live up to the promises that Disraeli made in 1872 and although his foreign policy was very similar to what people would expect and so lived up to his reputation, he did not deliver on the domestic front. The reasons for this were not solely attributable to Disraeli, but the fact remains that he did not deliver what he promised, and if anything the situation worsened with the depression even though this was not his fault. Disraeli tried hard to deliver what he promised but the government, the budget and the attitude of the people, who were not overly enthusiastic to more reforms, limited him in what he was able to do.

Group Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Group Decision Making - Essay Example Various factors like the number of people in the group, group structure and purpose affect the functioning of group decision making process. Over the years, research has revealed that group decision making is an integral part of organizational life which has certain advantages and disadvantages. However one should be very careful during the group decision making process because it creates an environment in which fears and weaknesses of individual members can be overshadowed by the effects of group cohesiveness, causing the group to agree on extreme solutions to the given problem. Five Major Categories of Group Decision Making In the following pages, I will discuss the five major categories of group decision making as described in the text book and assess how two subcomponents, within each category, may help or hinder the value of an effective decision. Individual vs. Group Decision Making Over the years, research has proved that groups are far superior to individuals when it comes to problem solving and decision making (Blinder & Morgan 2005). The interaction among group members have been found to generate better ideas, insights and strategies that are unique to the group decision making process. ... The presence of other officers would have a positive impact on his performance and he would execute his work well. However, if this new recruit is placed in a board room where an army commander is developing a battle plan with senior officers, the presence of other officers would have a negative impact on his performance. This is so because of his lack of adequate training, expertise and inability to contribute to the task at hand. In this case, the presence of this new recruit may also turn out to be a hindrance to making an effective battle plan. Involvement and Commitment Involvement of group members in the decision making process has been found to have a positive and potentially strong relation with performance (Black & Gregersen, 1997). It not only gives an opportunity to explore knowledge but also helps identify innovative ways to find a solution to the problem (Black & Gregersen, 1997). As part of my role as a manager of a linguist program in Afghanistan, I recently called for an internal meeting in my organization with about 15 local national linguists (LNL) so that I can assign them to military units where their services can be utilized. I presented a situation and then asked each LNL to respond with their thoughts on the issue. This exercise helped us to improve the quality of the decision as each member was involved in the analysis of the situation and presented their view of how they would address the issue. This was helpful for us as a group to identify the skills and talents of each LNL and place him in a unit where he can be most effective. This process also helped each LNL to feel committed to the mission and goals of the organization. In this situation, involvement of LNLs in the decision