NOKOBLOPO

Japan lost control of Korea after defeat in WWII, leaving Soviet troops in the north end of Korea and United States troops in the Southern end of Korea, the 38th parallel of latitude as the divider. Neither of the two powers could decide on a form of government to carry out, leading to the selection of two different leaders. The Republic of Korea in the South elected Syngman Rhee and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north elected Kim Il Sung.
In 1950, the Korean War began when North Korea attacked South Korea. The United States entered the war defending the South while the Communist Chinese joined forces with North Korea, leading to the armistice in 1953 where the previous boundaries were essentially reinforced between the two sides.

In 1994 Kim II Sung, North Korea's ruler since 1948, died. His son, Kim Jong II, who is was very young, took over and was named “Great Leader,” the same title his father held. North Korea suffered a serious famine in the mid- and late 1990's. In 2000, South Korea's President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong II pledged to work toward the eventual reunification of their countries. 100 people from each country were temporarily reunited with family they hadn't seen since the start of the Korean War.

In 2002 North Korea began to conduct a nuclear weapons program, which violated the 1994 agreement with the United States, South Korea, and Japan not to engage in such a program. Mistrustful of North Korea's intentions, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the United States began to hold a series of multiparty negotiations with North Korea in an effort to persuade it to discontinue using nuclear technology.

Currently North Korea is headed by Kim Jung Il's successor, Kim Jong-un. North Korea is still under a strict regime and is virtually closed off from the rest of the world. No phone calls can be made out of the country and the leaders are viewed as royalty-- any slightly suspicious remark or act of treason can result in execution. One prison camp in North Korea is three times the size of Washington D.C. They have one of the world's largest standing armies and continue to be an underground nuclear threat, though the situation is less sever for now.

I think the regime will change with time. As the Frontline video showed, defectors are risking their lives to get information of the outside world in, while North Koreans are illegally smuggling information out at the same time. There is a growing awareness that I believe will potentially lead to a revolution of the people, as they realize the conditions of their living compared to the rest of the world.



Works Cited

"History of South Korea." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.

"North Korea Profile." BBC News. BBC, 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

"Secret State of North Korea." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.

Essay 10

While interest groups and political parties each play a significant role in the United States political system, they differ in their fundamental goals.
The fundamental goal of interest groups in the political process is to influence policy. An interest group shares a set of beliefs that they wish to be heard and acted upon by the government and its people. They seek to do so by a variety of methods that target either the public or the policymakers (i.e. the government). One popular method used by interest groups is grassroots lobbying, which the process of influencing the public in order to influence legislation in the decision-making process. This process often involves mass mobilization, in which committed members of the group will often make phone calls, write letters, contact policymakers, and demonstrate. Another process includes campaign contributions, where interest groups seek favor with a particular party candidate by donating money.
The fundamental goal of political parties in the political process is to elect people to office, with no particular set of beliefs being promoted. By electing the corresponding candidate they hope the candidate will later make decisions that correspond to their values.
Though interest groups and political parties differ in their fundamental goals, they can actually benefit one and other if their goals and interests coincide. Interest groups support the goal of political parties in the political process by monetary contributions, for example. By giving a direct contribution to a political campaign in order to gain their support or seek favor, interest groups not only help themselves by promoting their interests, but help the political party financially to get their leader elected. Another way the two can benefit each other is if an interest group makes an indirect contribution, such as creating a television ad that promotes their interest and associates it with a particular political party or their candidate. In both scenarios, interest groups gain access to government and political parties benefit from their actions.

Essay 9

DATA for 2009_4 (below)
Viewer’s Ages and Frequency of Viewing of Network Nightly News: 1974 and 2002 Combined
1974 frequently (%) rarely (%)
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18-29 45 13
30-44 50 12
45-64 68 8
65+ 71 5

2002 frequently (%) rarely (%)
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18-29 19 22
30-44 22 17
45-64 40 11
65+ 53 8

The policy agenda is composed of all issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually involved in politics at any given point in time. It is organized in such a way that the most important issues are first and so on.
The national news engages in setting this agenda by raising awareness of important issues. By broadcasting and providing information, it draws the attention of not only the public, but the government and policy makers as well, which can then lead to organization and agenda setting- prioritizing the issues to be dealt with.
Though Congress can gain media attention, the President is the most useful person for this job. He is one person, while Congress is composed of multiple people. The president speaks with a single voice, while Congress has many voices, and he represents the nation entire nation rather than a district or state. The president is more powerful than any single member of Congress and, therefore, is most closely listened to by the public.
As the table provided shows, young people view less TV news than older people and vice versa. People in all age categories viewed less TV news in 2002 than they did in 1974. This being said, the President will need to rely on alternate forms of media to gain the attention of the public rather than the nightly news, as he is only reaching a select portion of the population.

Holiday Song

Jingle Votes (With Emma Su and Tanna Reid)

Campaigning through the snow
In a presidential primary
The candidate gets the mo'
In a race to beat John Kerry

He wants to be on top
The president has the power
But don't forget three branches
The check each other each hour

Oh, jingle votes, jingle votes
Jingle all the way
Oh what stress it is to be
In a presidential campaign

Oh, jingle votes, jingle votes
Jingle all the way
Oh the money that goes into
A presidential campaign

He's got a plan in mind
Reform the tax policy
He hopes the people find
His ideas are quite worthy

Come election time
The votes we count away
The people call the shots
He has won the day!

Majority Parties

The majority party in the United States House of Representatives has the advantage of holding committee chairs and committee powers, setting the agenda, and controlling debates. (insert factual info)

The House and Senate differ in their formalities. For example, the House does not have a formal filibuster procedure, whereas the Senate does. The House has a formal rule of unanimous consent, whereas the Senate does not.

Even if the House of Representatives and the Senate are both controlled by the Republican party, for example, the Senate can still stop the passing of a bill by a filibuster. (Insert more info)

Campaign Finance Reforms

Eliminating soft money is the act if prohibiting or regulating campaign contributions to political parties and/or contributions for party building. Many proponents of this proposition argue that eliminating soft money would level the playing field if an election. Soft money is often used to get around federal limits on hard money....
Opponents of the proposition argue that the first amendment protects the right to soft money tactics and elimination also contradicts the ruling in the Buckley v. Valeo case....
Raising limits on individual contributions is a proposal to increase the dollar amounts individuals may give to a campaign, party, or PAC. Proponents of this proposal argue that this will allow candidates to spend less time fundraising, decrease the influence of PACs, decrease restrictions on the first amendment and eliminate the problem in which limits are not indexed to inflation. Opponents argue that this proposal would allow the rich to buy more influence and drive up the money of campaigns as a whole