Black Death and the Witch Hunts

Black Death and the Witch Hunts Mohammad Aldousari The Black Death which was caused by the great famine that hit Europe was the cause of the rapid change in the demography of the continent, A turning point in the course of the medieval struggles was the Black Death, which killed on an average, between 30 and 40, of the European population (Federici, 2004). The death toll was further accelerated by the fact that the malnutrition caused by the famine compromised the resistance of the people against diseases (Federici, 2004). As the death mainly affected the peasants who provided labor in the lands of the nobility, their competence in work reduced due to the eventual possibility of facing death. The scarcity of labor that followed the Black Death consequently raised the wages of the peasants and gradually the living conditions (Federici, 2004). With the improved conditions for the peasants, they revolted against the rule of the nobility which was successful in most of the countries. The political class turned the peasants against themse lves as a counter-revolution method by allowing the men to degrade the peasant women, a condition that set grounds for witch hunts.0 Before the Black Death, the role of women in the society was mainly doing reproductive work. The society was organized in a patriarchal manner, and most of the productive work was done by the males in the society (Federici, 2004). The work that was left for the women was mainly doing housework in their masters house and others duties such as spinning wool (Federici, 2004). The work done by the women was wage less and was viewed as a social service to the society. However, their most important role in the society was giving birth. By their virtual act of giving birth, they provided children who would ensure the continuity of the society. The process of giving birth was also seen as the process by which labor was produced by giving rise to individuals who would work in the lands of the nobility and as soldiers in the army. After the Black Death, the role of women in the society changed and completely took a new turn. With the people increasingly moving to the city, some of the women were left as single mothers to fend for their families (Federici, 2004). The fact that the single women with families needed to provide for their families coupled with the scarcity of labor at present, allowed the women to access paying jobs due to the reduction of the gender division. The women were, therefore, able to accumulate wealth in contrast to the previous situation before the Black Death (Federici, 2004). The avenues through which women acquired wealth were further broadened by the legalization of prostitution in the European countries as a measure to combat acts of homosexuality that proved to be a threat to the procreation process (Federici, 2004). For the women, the acquired status was good and even worth defending. The witch hunts were beginning by the political classes that ruled Europe after the aftermath of the Black Death (Federici, 2004). The devastating effects that the epidemic had caused to the economy of the continent necessitated the political classes to take matters that dealt with population growth and reproduction into their hands. The reason for the control of the reproduction process was an as a result of the labor crisis that ensued with the event of the Black Death (Federici, 2004). Therefore, the reproductive crimes that came in the way of population growth were heavily punished. Witches were, therefore, punished as they were thought to prevent to population growth by sacrificing children to the devil, a belief that spearheaded the witch hunts. Furthermore, witches were seen to have the ability to cause harm to individuals, and the hunts were also a protective mechanism. References Federici, S. (2004). Caliban and the Witch. New York,NY: Autonomedia.

Country : Czech Republic

It is very important for any student of history and politics of nations to have a deep grasp and understanding of the political, historical, social, economic and structural revolution of nations. This is very important for them to be able to produce an accurate analysis and recommendation of policies. No one will be able come up to an accurate analysis without tracing the history of a particular nation. No two nations are entirely similar.This is why it is necessary for us to study each nation separately to be able to come up with a scholarly and viable set of analysis and recommendation. In this paper, I am are going to review and analyze the Czech Republic. I am going to provide some of the most important and basic information about the Czech Republic including its political framework, ideological status, government arrangement, civic socialization, current issues and other important facts that will be useful for any student of political science in the production of analysis and re commendations for the said country.Constitution The current constitution of the Czech Republic which was ratified in December 16, 1992 and became effective in January 1, 1993 is a consequence of the inability of the former Czech and Slovakia to arrive to document that will be able to come up to a structure and framework that will be able to adopt the inputs of the two republics. As a result, the Czech-Slovak federation was dissolved and decided to go on their own ways (Country Review 34). IdeologyAs a former communist country that is under the sphere of the Soviet Union, the Czech Republic experienced first hand the disadvantages of the said system. As the Soviet collapsed and lose the hold to the Czechs, the republic adopted a western style of governance with democracy and liberalism as the most important foundations in the structure and arrangement of the government and its economy. Government Model and Currency The Czech Republic is democratic state with a parliamentary governmen t.It is governed by the Constitution of the Czech Republic and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms that had been around since 1993. It is one of the most well developed post- Communist state up to date. A former centrally planned economy modeled from the USSR, the Czech Republic today is a thriving market economy that is open and taking advantage of the investments that came from foreign investors. The republic is now a member of the European Union. However, its currency remains to be Czech koruna despite its advantageous position by shifting to Euro.(Central Intelligence Agency) Political System, Political Parties, Party Structures There are numerous political parties or political clubs in the Czech Republic. They consist of the major and minor players in the houses. The major groups are Civic Democratic Party Parliamentary Club which is a center-right and euroskeptic party and Czech Social Democratic Party Parliamentary Club which is characterized by its major inclinati on to the left side of the spectrum.Some of the minor players are the Bohemia and Moravia Communist Party Parliamentary Club which is also a extreme left party and a product of the former communist party in the republic, Christian and Democratic Union which is a conservative and Christian party and a part of the government coalition, the Green Party Parliamentary Club is a centrist party whose majority of the support came from major cites like Prague, the capital of the republic. (Kabelova, House of Parliaments) Electoral Process As a parliamentary, the civic population will elect their representatives that will hold the office in the Chamber of Senate and Senate.The suffrage in the Czech Republic is 18 years old. These public elected officials will elect the head of the government from their ranks for the next five years by absolute majority vote. (Country Review 35-37) Executive Branch The head or the leader of the executive branch of the Czech Republic is called president. The cu rrent president of the Czech Republic is President Vaclav Klaus which was elected and came in to power in March 7, 2003. The president is elected by the Parliament and is legible to hold the office for five years.The president is also allowed to govern for two terms. Vaclav Claus was reelected in February 15, 2008 and scheduled to govern until 2013 (CIA World Fact Book). Vaclav Claus was a member and the founder of Civic Democratic Party, a center-right party in the Czech Republic and is known for his euroskepticism (i. e. skepticism to the structure and policies of the integration of Europe by the European Union). (Country Review 16-17) Legislative Branch The highest law making body in the Czech Republic is known as the Parliament of the Czech Republic.It is composed of two separate houses namely the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Senate is comprised with 81 seats that are elected by the citizens of the republic. They are to hold the office for six years. On the other hand , the Chamber of Deputies is comprised of 200 seats that are elected to serve for four years. Both of the legislative houses possess the power to initiate the formulation and legislation of laws. They are also tasked to elect the president by a vote characterized with absolute majority for the two chambers.They can also passed a motion or vote of no-confidence to the government with an absolute majority votes that will derail the power to the elected government and shall make room for a new election. (Country Review 35-36) Judicial Branch The Judicial branch of government in the Czech Republic is composed of a Constitutional Court, a Supreme Court, a Supreme Administrative Court, high, regional and district courts. The president is tasked to appoint 15 judges of the CC that will hold the office for 10 years. (Kabelova, Courts of Law)Political Socialization and Political Participation In terms of its native citizens, the Czech Republic had managed to retained the former wide practice of civilian accessibility to the government. There is an open door policy in the different offices of government wherein citizens can talk to officials first hand. Town meetings are also common wherein citizens conduct scheduled meetings with their head of municipalities and cities once in a while. (Migration Policy Index) Recent Issues High level of corruption in the government offices in the Czech Republic poses a major concern.There are many surveys that conclude the that the public does not trust the officials in the government including many political parties. One agency even released a report that only 18 percent of the population trust the government officials and the political parties. Other studies tackles the continuous decrease of government effectiveness since the mid 1990s. Despite the numerous claims and allegations of corruption in the government, there is no conviction of high level officials for committing corruption. (US. Department of State)With this problem, the government must establish an independent body that will put the suspects to trials. The body should possess the capability to convict the suspects to prison or other punishments. Also, the body should be structurally and legally arranged to be immune as much as possible to the influence of the outside influences. On the other hand, the migrants in the Czech Republic are experiencing unfair treatment in relation to its native counter parts. There is no effective electoral rights for the migrants in the Czech Republic. Their political liberties are limited.The migrants are only consulted through a representative who was appointed by the government. Migrants cannot form their own association unless there is a considerable number of Czech natives. No foreigners, including EU citizens can join Czech political parties. (Migration Policy Index) There is also a growing concern in relation to the discrimination of women on the Czech Republic. Under the law, men and women are regarded as equ al in all aspects including family law, property law and the judicial system. Women in the Czech Republic can be found more often in the lower median salary.Women's salary in the republic is less than 25 percent when compared to their men counterparts. Women are more likely to be unemployed when compared to men. Lastly, there is only a small population of women who were given senior positions in the government and in the corporate world. (US. Department of State) As a member of the European Union, the EU must increased its awareness on the rampant inequality in the Czech Republic. It must exercise its administrative and economic edge to convince the government to adopt a more migrants/foreigner friendy policies.Unless there is no pressure from the outside, we cannot expect any changes to be adopted by the Czech government. Evaluation No one can deny the development of the Czech Republic after its shift to a liberal democratic system. However, despite this achievements, we cannot als o take for granted the shortfalls and limitation of the government in many important aspects – those I stated above. Most of this problems can be rooted to the Czech Republic's communist past that can be still engraved in some parts of the population. After all, a single generation only had passed since the shift of the Czech Republic from a communist structure.In this sense, we conclude that the achievements and developments that had been achieved by the Czech Republic cannot be undermined with its shortfalls. As it always stated, changes is impossible overnight. In many cases, for these problems and limitation to be corrected, time and effort is needed. As long as the officials and the citizens of the Czech Republic take in mind their problems and limitation, we can expect a more developed Czech Republic, not only in economic conditions but also on to its social, political and structural conditions. ConclusionIn this paper, we had discussed the different important aspects a nd information of the Czech Republic ranging from its political, economical and structural conditions. With these information in hand, we had been able to address the issues and problems in the republic. With the factual information and scholarly assessment that we had gathered, we had been able to come up to recommendations that are more likely to work due to its reliance to factual information. Once again, we had improved the importance of the knowledge and understanding of a specific country for us to come up to a viable and accurate analysis and recommendations.Works Cited Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook: Czech Republic. 2010. Web. Accessed 23 May 2010. Country Watch. Country Review: Czech Republic. Country Watch. 2010. Web. Accessed. 23 May 2010. Kabelova, Andrea. Czech Republic Political System. Legislative, executive and judicial power in the Czech Republic. 2010. Web. Accessed 23 May 2010. Migration Policy Index. Czech Republic – Political participatio n. Strategic thinking on equality and mobility. 2010. Web. Accessed 23 May 2010. U. S. Department of State. Czech Republic: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. U. S. Department of State. 2010. Web. Accessed 23 May 2010.

A Short Analytical Paper of Abraham Lincoln’s “a House...

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