The Transformation Of Political Science And The Rise In Crime Rates


The current field of political sciences is dominated by a multitude of ideas that have never in its history featured so prominently in this discipline. The general belief that it has lost its focus once and for all is from time to time counteracted by different opinions. One of those is that the world has come full circle, that mankind has experimented out all possibilities in terms of ideological thinking and that the liberal democracy as we know it has come out of the process as the prize winner both politically and economically. Some define this as the end of history. It also goes by the name of ultra modernism. Globalization fits in perfectly and all reflects the increasing complexity that we are finding our world to involve us in and which, in order to come to terms with the bigger magnitude of the whole, we are describing in essentially vague terms.

Francis Fukayama who wrote a now famous essay entitled ‘The End of History’, in The National Interest on the subject first launched the idea that history might have died a death in the 1980s. The idea has persisted during the subsequent historic reality-altering events leading to our understanding of the world in terms of security and globalization, even though the liberal ground is under siege from left and right wing ideologies, parts of which are finding their way into the democratic liberal discourse.

However inappropriate it essentially is to define the new ‘winning ideology’ -- the political science discourse is rife with arguments in favor of departing from old fashioned foundationalism and swapping this for a-systemic ideas gathered from all other disciplines— we are at this time almost as happy with any theory that offers a firm grip on reality as the third world would be with a cure for poverty. Much though the world is changing and much though this fast change is reflected in the sciences, the a-systemic ideas making up the political sciences might not necessarily reflect what’s going on in society one hundred percent adequately.

Issues like crime and other ‘anti social behavior’ are significantly underexposed in areas of political scientific studies, say researchers. Our highly developed society and increased sophistication in all the disciplines that results in political sciences being a highly esteemed area for study, delivering no doubt high caliber students to society, does not necessarily guarantee a tangible decline in crime rates. We are missing out something big time. Is this the whiplash of a-systemic thinking we all intuitively fear?

If you may believe studies undertaken by political scientists, in future, we won’t have a lot of room for corruption and evil wrongdoers in our society. Leaf through an average new book on political science and find hardly a line, let alone a chapter, dedicated to the evil side of human nature. What makes us all think that synchronizing everything automatically leads to a better world and therefore a less violence prone society? In the same breath, you might ask, what is the new Left, the new Right, the Libertarian and the other political mainstream thinking on issues such as the Third World? For all our great knowledge and speedy technology-supported understanding of what is going on, we are still not much better at remedying the main problems the world is faced with.

Criminology is part of the exercise of deconstructing the past, deconstructing other disciplines and constructing new ideas from a mixture of all of them which keeps social scientists busy these days. Yet it’s not enough apparently to translate into better thinking on the way safety and society can be organized.

Whether a certain approach to crime really is to blame for its rise is debatable. What is certain is that modern societies have become safer and more comfortable in many areas but that crime has risen in equal proportion. “When it comes to crime, or more broadly stated 'antisocial' behavior, society has actually become less safe. Crime constitutes an insecurity risk which is difficult to control. Many citizens and organizations will at some stage fall victim - usually completely unexpected -to behavior which can harm them, physically or financially”, according to a recent research report by the Foresight Institute of the Netherlands, a semi official consultancy. It is one of the few studies in this field.

The increasingly Old World definition of the nation state was primarily driven by the desire to resist this sort of danger, the researchers say. They continue that the way we deal with crime has evolved too. It is at this point that state organization is likely to really begin to crumble. A prime, if not the prime raison deter for governments is keeping a population relatively safe and free from crime. The more governments are perceived to be failing in providing the desired high level of societal safety, the less justification there is for governments and their imposing taxes on a country’s population.

Changes in the way crime is perceived include treatment of the issue in more scientific disciplines than ever. Yet some, including Fukayama, argue that the social sciences lack a distinct central view on human nature, which stems back from the post Kant era. The only reason that I feel you can raise the human nature argument again is that over the last 30 years in the life sciences there has been a lot of empirical work that has made the concept respectable to scientists. Yet social scientists and certainly people in cultural studies have yet to get that message, says Fukayama. They are very resistant to the notion of human nature.

The issue is grappled with mostly by people who try to integrate crime studies into a whole range of disciplines. “Crime has lost its exclusiveness, the approach to crime and crime prevention is no longer exclusively the responsibility of the police and the judicial authorities”, say the Foresight institution researchers. This coincided with a tangible change in society too. In the early 1980s, there was a sea change in the approach to crime and crime prevention. Inspired by understandable self-interest, individual citizens, and organizations in the community and local authorities started to feel that they bore a responsibility for crime prevention. Nevertheless, the results are not particularly overwhelming and the researchers at Foresight say that for the situation by the year 2010, some areas of research are still vastly underrepresented.

One real life example of high profile people sharing this concern is the situation on the Guernsey islands off the coast of the UK. You’d say this small island offers a perfect case to study the govern ability of a country with a limited population, to try and test the limits of a system to the full. Politicians might well be aware of this. At least, they appear to have a clear idea and are aware of the unique nature of their society and of the effects of the rules they invent. The measurability of crime renders the subject a good target for analysis, sophisticated ideas of governance and societal structures. The self-consciousness leads to frequent interesting debates by politicians on this island. Recently, a senior politician attributed the perceived rise in crime and anti-social behavior the effect of "woolly liberal" thinking. He said the increased emphasis on human rights in particular is to blame for the rise in crime.

The politician said that his government’s human rights act had led to offenders becoming "untouchable" by the authorities. Warning of the dangers of liberal thinking, he pointed out that there’s no common sense in Guernsey’s human rights laws which others believe ensure rights and responsibilities of citizens are balanced out rather evenly. He said the woolly thinking underlying the human rights ideas on the island led to alcoholism among the younger population for one.

This is one of the issues where the argument that improved technology in the hands of police and law enforcers is going to do the trick, won’t do completely. Developments in modern technology and improved understanding of changes in social control are central to ideas about stamping out crime. The foresight researchers recommend that there should be a radical reorganization of how financial resources are made available to this effect, if crime prevention is to bear any fruit.

Research efforts need to be stepped up dramatically if modern society is to develop adequate knowledge in any form or shape. They believe that the demand for scientific knowledge by the institutions, municipalities, government departments and private sector agencies might seem to be a professionalization of the area, but that in fact it does often not mean anything, especially not in the long run.

Fundamental scientific research into issues which are already playing a part at this time needs to be stepped up, the institute believes, in order to keep up with the criminal sector. They predict that by 2010, crime will have changed radically as a result of technological and economic developments and changes in social control and cohesion. There is a great need for fundamental research, for interdisciplinary knowledge and knowledge about long-term, ongoing issues such as criminal careers, say the researchers. In the next ten years there will also be a need for more theoretical research focusing on normative and empirical issues.

The wildly diverging ideas about human beings in the social sciences is exacerbated with a dramatically lowered emphasis on any blatant negative aspects of society in postmodern political science due to the death of positivist thinking. You could argue that this is at the heart of the problem of surging crime despite increased wealth of societies.

The political sciences appear most promising in their capacity for addressing the anomalies. It is the best discipline to do so, because it does not plan at neutrality. And, what’s more, the political scientist’s loyalties and engagements will not necessarily be predictable and stable over time. If it doesn’t yield immediate tangible results, it at least is a start. And it makes for less dry reading of the articles and books describing what’s perceived as the state of play in these sciences. You’d imagine that anyone coming up with a theory involving the axiom that history has ended, would be prone to fantasy.

And that’s somewhat true; academic attention for total fantastic ideas as a means to understand or create is on the rise. It’s much under attack from critics who say this is a foolish activity, especially when keeping in mind the idea that when you walk the streets of your town you can be subjected to a criminal attack at any given moment. Skeptics will imply that much of the storytelling anyway misses out large parts of reality, especially the less attractive features. Which is, however, not to say that blind spots are not being reduced.

But somehow, the rationale itself is changing for the criticism of the ways modern science works. The criticism for instance on the way politicians work, who seem keener to know about the cultural trends, popular culture, the media and power than in the labyrinthine workings of party and parliamentary democracy is that they are not sticking to their own field. Yet the new approaches favored in the political sciences leave more leeway for alternative ways that allow for a greater number of methods to assess reality than many predecessors ever dreamt of.

In stead of a total abandonment of all serious work, modern political science presents us with a mixture of both regurgitated theories of old time philosophers and original, rather broad based ideas. And in new, often surprising, ways.

Skeptical post modernists will contend that as there is no correct method for political research and researching the political, that it might be wise to adopt an anti-rules method, while the affirmatives may adopt something that can be termed ‘anything goes’. But perhaps several methodologies are best blended together to come to a robust approach to researching a problem. Much hinges too on one’s perspective on history.



Written by Angelique van Engelen

Power And Politics
Many of the leaders in our society are guided by unhealthy intentions. Instead of seeking to serve the people and heal our nation’s ills, their actions and decisions are primarily motivated by their desire for power. Many of the people running our country are run by their addictions to approval, sex, power and control.

Unfortunately, few truly healthy individuals want to submit themselves to the necessary abuses inherent to our political races - the verbal abuse both given and received, the huge amounts of money spent, the integrity sacrificed through the concessions, lies and manipulations offered in order to win.

Our system of electing our officials is so corrupt that there is little possibility of attracting a person with a strong, personally responsible, loving inner adult self. This is not to say that none of our elected representatives are honest and caring. Some are certainly motivated by positive intentions but, unfortunately, they constitute a minority.

There is no training required in personal responsibility to run for office. Our leaders are not required to heal their dysfunctional aspects in order to become honest and trustworthy people. The prerequisites for political positions mostly include having enough money, enough powerful people behind the scenes, being male, and being white.

Our political arena is designed to attract wounded people who need approval and power in order to feel worthy and validated. Obviously, such a person, with little or no internally derived sense of self-worth and integrity, is very susceptible to corruption. As the adage says: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Power corrupts when a person is motivated by his or her desire for power over others, and few people have accomplished enough inner healing to transcend the desire for control over others.

A healthy person in office who is more concerned with serving the people than with getting re-elected could accomplish a great deal. Such a person was depicted in the movie Dave. In this film the actual president is in a coma and the White House officials, seeking to conceal the truth from the public so they can maintain control, put a look-alike into the president’s seat. Dave, however, is a man of heart, and rather than allowing himself to be controlled he sets about making necessary changes - cutting money where it is not needed and allocating it into more crucial avenues, like child care and the creation of jobs. He even takes responsibility for the corruption of the actual president and gracefully "dies" as the actual president is dying so the vice-president, a man of great integrity who was maligned by the power structure, could take over in his rightful place. The movie is, of course, a fantasy. Sadly, we would never elect a man of such integrity - a straightforward, honest, caring, and financially middle-class man like Dave. Our election process does not allow for this.

Revamping our election process would give people like Dave an opportunity to run for office. We desperately need people who care more for the common good than for their own popularity. We need brilliant, creative, honest and caring people to lead our country, but this will never happen with our present election system. We have incredible talent in this great country of ours, talent that could eliminate hunger and homelessness, and heal the internal wounds that create health problems, drug abuse, racism, violence and crime. But this talent is rarely tapped because running our country has been based on the earthly values of greed and power over others rather than the spiritual values of honesty, compassion and caring.

Unfortunately, neither our government nor most big businesses are based on the spiritual principles of compassion and caring about the common good. I have no doubt that if our government was based on spiritual principles we would not have the hunger, homelessness, crime, health problems, and drug abuse that are endemic to our modern society.



About the Author:
Margaret Paul, Ph.D., best-selling author of eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You” and co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process.

By: Margaret Paul, Ph.D

Problems That Are Being Caused by SUV’s

Millions and millions of people are going crazy for many of the new SUVs that are on the market today. People are going crazy over the great new look of these vehicles, but there are things that people are not being informed of. These vehicles are not without their problems.

SUVs are being advertised in such a way to make people think that they are a great way to get back to nature. They are in a sense a return to nature. However, there are some problems that people are not aware of. In actuality these vehicles cause a great deal of environmental problems. Research has shown that these vehicles are destroying our natural resources.

While SUVs are being advertised as off road vehicles, most people do not take them off road at all. It has been found that out of all SUVs being bought only five percent of the drivers take them off-road. Most if not all are being used for everyday purposes. You may not think that his is a big deal but it has been found that SUV sales have increased steadily since 1985 and now account for one in four new vehicle sales today.

Driving SUVs have a greater impact on the environment then most other vehicles. This is due to double standards set by law and government regulations. Current regulations allow SUVs to have far worse fuel economy than other vehicles. SUVs are not considered cars; they are characterized as light trucks. Light trucks only have to achieve 20.7 mpg, whereas all other cars have to achieve 27.5 miles per gallon. Some SUVs are not even being subjected to any federal regulations.

This is just one of the many problems that are being caused by SUVs. There are many other problems associated with these vehicles and before you rush out and buy them cause they look great, you should be aware of the problems that they are causing to the environment.

Written By: James Hunt

Dateline does it again

Date line has done it again; Friday night they aired another episode of “To Catch a Predator”.

As much as I would have to commend them for their efforts, I would have to question their actions and miss information. If the NYPD did a set up like Dateline’s without obtaining a court order to do so, it would be entrapment. Yet Dateline not being a legal organization is permitted to continue with the entrapment procedures. I would also have to question their legal stand on promoting themselves on-line as minors to lure predators. Shouldn’t we leave police work to the police? What legal background do they have to conduct themselves in such a manner?

In contacting dateline I did not get into all these aspects. I simply approached them on the basis that they are showing one side of the coin. As much as there are sex offenders out there who will re-offend, there are those that wont. To tell the story and only show the one side is not doing justice to their viewers. In expressing this, I received a response rather quick. I was informed that on Friday nights show they would have an expert speaking of the other side. I watched the show and I am not sure just what other side they were trying to show, but it sure wasn’t what I contacted them about.

Their so-called expert needed to update his information. This expert gave some good information and point of views as well as some not that good. However he was wrong on one thing, it was stated that there is now where for someone with sexual deviant issues to get help, unlike an alcoholic who can go to AA or a drug addict who can go to a drug program. The truth is that there are places for people with improper (illegal) sexual thoughts to get help before their ends up being a victim. The problem is that society focuses on locking up those who commit sexual crimes, and spends no time focusing on helping those with thoughts of illegal sexual action prior to the crime. We see it on TV all the time, ads for gambling problems, drinking problems, drug problems, depression problems, the list goes on. There are even adds for those with problems performing, but where are the ads for people with improper (illegal) sexual thoughts? It’s time to make these places known and let those who need the help get it before they have a victim.

One of these places is located in Brooklyn, NY; it is called Mustard Seed. You can visit their web site at www.mustardseedforensic.com or call them at (718) 875-7411. They specialize in prevention counseling for sex offenders as will as those in fear of offending.

If you need help, please get it before you ruin your life as well as the life of someone else.

If you know of any other places to get help, please e-mail them to localnews@worldbreak.com I will be more then happy to share them with our readers.

Written by A. Wallace

Identity Theft - What Is The Contribution of The Internet?

Identity Theft - What Is The Contribution of The Internet? Identity theft , also known as ID theft, identity fraud and ID fraud, describes a type of fraud where a criminal adopts someone else’s identity in order to profit illegally. It is one of the fastest growing forms of fraud in many developed countries. In the UK identity theft is increasing at the rate of 500% each year and, according to Which Magazine, 25% of the population have either suffered from identity theft or know someone who has. In the USA, a report issued by the Better Business Bureau revealed that, in 2004, over 9 million Americans became victims of identity theft with the total sum defrauded being $52.6 billion. With figures like this, it’s no surprise that there is a certain amount of concern regarding computer and internet security. After all, the Internet is basically a mechanism for exchanging information and the possibility that some of the information exchanged may be more than intended is never far from many Internet users’ minds. It’s easy to imagine criminal masterminds worldwide using the Internet to hack into computers in order to gain access to information with which to advance their devilishly cunning schemes. However, as revealed in the report, the facts of the matter are a little more down to earth and the Internet, far from making you more at risk to identity theft, can help to significantly cut your losses if you do fall victim this type of fraud. According to the Better Business Bureau’s research the main methods by which criminals gain access to information used for identity theft fraud are as below: Lost or stolen wallet, checkbook or credit card. 28.8% Accessed as part of a transaction. 12.9%* Accessed by friend, acquaintance or relative. 11.4% don’t know, refused, no answer. 11.1% Information accessed by corrupt employee. 8.7% Stolen paper mail or fraudulent change of address. 8.0% obtained some other way. 7.4% Computer spy ware. 5.2% Information stolen from garbage. 2.6% Computer viruses and/or hackers. 2.2% Emails sent by criminals posing as legitimate business. 1.7% * 12.9% due to transactions? 10.4% offline transactions, 2.5% online transactions. In total, when the instances where information was accessed during transactions are subdivided into online and offline transactions, only 11.6% of the information used to carry out identity theft fraud was obtained from computers. Of this more than half was obtained by the use of spy ware, viruses or hacking? The risk of which can be greatly reduced by installing the appropriate protection software and ensuring that this is kept up to date. Not only did the survey reveal that the internet was not a major source of illegally obtained personal information, but it was also found that those fraud victims who checked their financial records using the internet, ATM machines or other electronic methods suffered financial losses which were, on average, 8 times lower than those of victims who used traditional paper statements to monitor their accounts. This very significant reduction was attributed to the rapid discovery of the fraud due to, real time monitoring. Of course, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t exercise caution when using the Internet or take care to protect the personal information, which you may have stored on your PC. However, as long as you install suitable virus, firewall and spy ware protection, and keep this continually updated the Internet can, should be more of help than a hindrance when it comes to avoiding identity fraud.
About The Author Hamish Hayward Don't become a victim of identity theft. Get the facts. http://www.id-theft-info.com

By Hamish Hayward