The Right Way to Stake a Tree

Tree staking is never done with the intention of harming a tree. On the contrary, staking a tree reflects a desire to promote root and trunk growth and may protect a young tree from severe weather damage.  But improper staking can hurt a tree. Fast Facts The three cardinal sins of tree staking:Staking too highStaking too tightlyStaking too long Risks of Staking Some tree planters dont understand that rather than help a trees root and trunk growth, improper tree staking can have negative consequences and could undermine a supportive trunk and root system. When an artificial supporting system is attached to a sapling, it prevents the wind-bending exercise needed to make trunk cells more flexible and to encourage spreading root support. The tree will put most of its resources into growing taller but discourage growth in trunk diameter and root spread. When the stakes are removed, a lack of trunk and root development could make the tree a prime candidate to be broken or blown down in the first good windstorm. It would have lost the supportive protection of natural development. Improper Staking Although trees staked improperly will grow  taller, trunk caliper or diameter will decrease, a loss that will result in a weakness the tree cannot overcome during  stressful  weather  conditions. Related to trunk diameter is taper, the reduction in trunk diameter from the butt to the top. A tree grown under natural conditions develops a genetically coded taper or trunk form that serves for a lifetime. Staking a tree causes less trunk taper and possibly even a reverse taper. Under this restricted condition, a trees xylem, the woody vascular tissue that carries water and minerals throughout the tree, will grow unevenly and yield a smaller root system, resulting in problems with water and nutrient uptake. The same thing can happen if the tree rubs on or is girdled by overly tight stake ties. Then, after the stakes are removed, the tree will be more likely to snap in high winds. When to Stake Most correctly dug balled and burlaped trees or container-grown  tree seedlings and saplings dont need staking. If youre planting bare-root seedlings  on a questionable site, you might consider staking them for a short time. If trees must be staked, attach  the stakes to the tree as low as possible but no higher than two-thirds the height of the tree. Materials used to tie the tree to the stakes should be flexible and allow for movement all the way down to the ground so that trunk taper develops correctly. Remove all staking material after roots have established. This can be as early as a few months  after planting but should be no longer than one growing season. Notes From a Horticulture Expert Linda Chalker-Scott, who has a doctorate in horticulture from Washington State University, says there are several reasons why people improperly stake trees: Containerized nursery trees often are staked for stability, and many consumers don’t understand that the staking material should be removed upon transplanting.Oral and written information from some retail nurseries instructs customers to stake their trees, whether or not they should. These instructions are sometimes incorrect and unnecessary.Some landscape architect specs describe outdated staking procedures that are followed by landscape installation companies.Little to no aftercare is provided for many tree installations. Without a management plan as part of an installation agreement, staking materials wont be removed at the appropriate time, if ever. According to Chalker-Scot: The first two practices are probably responsible for most incorrect staking in home landscapes, while the last two factors are probably responsible for most incorrect staking in public and commercial landscapes.

`` On Liberty `` By John Stuart Mill - 1458 Words

John Stuart Mill was an English philosopher and a progressive in British politics during the 17th century. He lived during a time of political transformation in England caused by the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution brought social mobility to the middle and lower class, along with more political participation. With this newfound freedom, the people of England felt their liberties were being diminished because they had the ability to accomplish all the more but in some cases, could not. This was just one question of liberty brought up during the time Mill was developing intellectually (Sparks 186). Mill wrote many works that trifled with the idea of gender equality, government structure, and economic principles, to name a†¦show more content†¦The largest and arguably most influential point Mill makes in his essay is that the harm principle does not only apply to the government anymore but to all of society. In making this argument he is defining societal value s in that it shaped areas in which society must respect personal liberties. He constructs his statement on how the harm principle is applied to society in three parts. His first assertion pertains to the liberty of one’s own mind. He states, â€Å"the inward domain of consciousness; demanding liberty of conscience, in the most comprehensive sense; liberty of thought and feeling; absolute freedom of opinion and sentiment on all subjects, practical or speculative, scientific, moral, or theological† (Mill 20). In saying this, Mill means that a person’s liberty cannot be persecuted if they never act on them. Any thoughts a man may have are his own thoughts and he may think whatever he would like to think. This has shaped societal values because no one is truly obligated to share what they think today, nor is it a societal norm to criticize one’s opinions if they differ from your own but it does happen. His second statement addresses the control one individual can have over another. He claims that an individual can plan their life as they please, and should not be met with the pressure of what others may see as being abnormal (Mill 20). By saying this, Mill expresses theShow MoreRelatedThe On Liberty By John Stuart Mills2164 Words   |  9 Pages ON LIBERTY In John Stuart Mills’ profound work, On Liberty he preaches against the conformity of the nations and outwardly encourages and restlessly defends voice of the individual. The philosopher expresses the importance of individuality by warning against forces such as the government and other citizens silencing their opinion. Though Mill’s gives due recognition to virtues such as free speech, liberty and individualism he also rightly places limitations on our freedoms to ensureRead MoreIndividualism And Liberty By John Stuart Mill1196 Words   |  5 Pages In the essay, Liberty, written by John Stuart Mill, Mill states that individualism is the theory that â€Å"[o]ver himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign† (7). Before coming to this conclusion, Mill first explains that individualism and liberty were defined in ways far different from definitions now and that true individualism did not exist until later in history. It takes him several paragraphs and even chapters to finally suggest that a man, by himself, is free to do whatRead MoreJohn Stuart Mill s On Liberty1700 Words   |  7 PagesJohn Stuart Mill’s â€Å"On Liberty† essay, published in 1859, portrays Mill’s perception of liberty with an emphasis on individuality. 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Whereas, Wilson’s views coincide with the idea that individuals generate decisions based off of historically discoveredRead MoreJohn Stuart Mill s On Liberty And Utilitarianism Essay2257 Words   |  10 PagesThis essay examines and inspects liberty and order conflict based on the writings of philosopher John Stuart Mill, titled On Liberty and Utilitarianism. We will discuss how his p hilosophical views on equality as fundamental to what it means to be human. We will interpret John Stuart Mill’s theorist view on equality as fundamental to the good or bad functioning of the state? The question and debate we would also raise will be, is equality be integral the arrangements of power? Lastly, we wouldRead MoreJohn Locke And John Stuart Mill s On Liberty Essay1748 Words   |  7 PagesPolitical philosophers over time have developed their own conceptions of liberty and the relationship of individuals to not only society, but also the state. Political philosophers such as, Aristotle and Plato have more of an ancient conception of liberty and the role the individual plays in society and to the state. Whereas, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill have developed a more modernized conception of liberty and the role of the individual to the state and society. Plato’s work theRead MoreJohn Locke And John Stuart Mill s On Liberty Essay1200 Words à ‚  |  5 PagesPolitical Philosophers over time have developed their own conceptions of liberty and the relationship of individuals to not only society, but also the state. Political Philosophers such as, Aristotle and Plato have more of an ancient conception of liberty and the role the individual plays in society and to the state. Whereas, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill have developed a more modernized conception of liberty and the role of the individual to the state and society. Plato’s work theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Text On Liberty By John Stuart Mill1642 Words   |  7 PagesAccording the text ‘On Liberty’ by John Stuart Mill, his position with respect to free speech is that even one person had a specific opinion, mankind is not given grounds to silence him. Mill’s argument regarding free speech is valid because he protects the liberty of the individual over the popular opinion of society. I agree with Mill’s point of view because I also believe that everyone should have the voice to express what they wish, excluding when it causes harm to others. Mill begins the text byRead MoreA Rhetorical Analysis of On Liberty by John Stuart Mill1638 Words   |  7 PagesA Rhetorical Analysis of On Liberty John Stuart Mill, an English philosopher and a political economist, had an important part in forming liberal thought in the 19th century. Mill published his best-known work, _On Liberty,_ in 1859. This foundational book discusses the concept of liberty. It talks about the nature and the limits of the power performed by society over an individual. The book also deals with the freedom of people to engage in whatever they wish as long as it does not harm otherRead More John Stuart Mill on Individual Liberty Essay2353 Words   |  10 PagesJohn Stuart Mill on Individual Liberty Definition of Individual liberty In his work On Liberty, Mill placed much emphasis on individual liberty and its vital role in political society. To Mill, this phrase may be defined as the liberty of the individual to be the final judge over his actions; to decide what is right and wrong and to act upon that standard. On a secondary level, it also implies ones freedom to pursue ones own individuality. Mill believed in a society in which each individual

The members themselves Essay Example For Students

The members themselves Essay Select two approaches/methods for working with clients/users, which have been discussed on the course. In a comparative discussion provide a justification for which approach would be more effective at empowering the client/user. In this essay I aim to contrast and then compare the methods of both person centred counselling and group work to provide a justification of which approach would be more empowering to a service user. The way I have decided to structure this essay is to describe each approach separately, starting off with an outline of their backgrounds followed by an account of their theories and how they are applied to service users and then justify which approach would be more effective at empowering. The person centred approach, is the approach developed by Carl Rogers, and is sometimes for that reason called Rogerian counselling or therapy. It is an approach that recognises the innate potential of each individual to resolve his or her difficulties. The intention is to support and enable the service user to formulate their own solutions and apply them of their own choice. Most of us are far more creative than we realise, and in the pressure and tension of daily life lose sight of our greatest asset and resource, which is ourselves. What the Person Centred approach aims to provide is that if we approach another person in a certain way, we can enable them to grow and develop and work through any problems they may have. And the suggestion is really that any approach, which is genuinely going to help people, must involve working in that same way. People centred approach entails three qualities; the first quality is empathy; many people believe that this is the single quality, which is most important in all forms of therapeutic listening. It means getting inside the world of the person who comes for therapy, so that the person feels accepted and understood. Two things are important about this, firstly that the empathy should be accurate, and secondly that the empathy should be made known to the client. Both of these are learnable skills, and they do make a huge difference to the relationship between service user and counsellor or therapist. The second quality is genuineness, if empathy is about listening to the service user; genuineness is about listening to yourself, really tuning in to yourself and being aware of all that is going on inside yourself. It means being open to your own experience, not shutting off any of it. And again it means letting this out in such a way that the service user can get the benefit of it. Genuineness is harder than empathy because it implies a lot of self-knowledge, which can really, only be obtained by going through ones own therapy in quite a full and deep way. It is the term, a fully functioning person, Rogers word for the person who has completed at least the major part of their therapy who can be totally genuine. The third quality is unconditional positive regard, it means that the service user can feel received in a human way, which is not threatening. In such an atmosphere trust can develop, and the service user can feel able to open up to their own experiences and their own feelings. In a therapeutic situation where these qualities are operating, Rogers found, clients go through a sequence of stages that more and more closely approach being fully functioning persons, able to take charge of their own lives and really be themselves. The approach is unique in its own way, because when using the approach with a service user/ client the counsellor/ therapist does not intervene and has no intention of intervening. The service user/ client is given the freedom to take control of his or her own problems, and direct him or her towards a solution. .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 , .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 .postImageUrl , .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 , .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702:hover , .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702:visited , .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702:active { border:0!important; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702:active , .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702 .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u8fb682401da1bf9b819de1b4c13ba702:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Judicial Activism EssayThe basic concept is that the counsellor/ therapist trusts the actualising tendency of the service user and truly believes that the service user/ client, who experiences this trust and warmth, would eventually resolve his or her own problems. The sole aim of the person centred is to make possible of personal growth through the relationship between the therapist and the client. Group work is founded to be one the most effective way of integrating members together with a shared or common problem. Social workers, counsellors and therapists are using group work methods with clients or user groups to promote a change or to provide therapeutic therapy; group work can also be a form of method used by professionals, of aiding a group or members of a group toward individual adjustment and increased participation in community activity by making use of the mechanisms of group life, as suggested by Payne (1991 p24) group work aims to, provide settings enabling individuals to use the group or environment to gain personal competences and perhaps insight to function more effectively in groups and in ordinary life. . The composition of groups varies as well, with family therapy and marriage counselling common forms in recent years. Peer group therapy usually consists of a group of individuals who have similar problems, and can be mediated by a psychoanalyst or by the members themselves. Many people seeking help prefer this sort of group therapy to individual therapy, largely because of the comfort derived from knowing that others share their problems.

The Crucible Essay Paper Example For Students

The Crucible Essay Paper The most powerful character in this scene was Abigail, who was played by Abby. She used strong gestures and strong facial expressions to show that she was the most dominant character out of all the girls, and that she had the power to make the girls do what she wanted them to do. In this scene, Abigail is telling the girls not to say anything about what went on in the woods. She knows that there is a possibility that the girls may say something, so she tries her best to scare the girls into not saying anything. Abigail creates her intimidating presence by standing upright with a straight back and her head lifted upwards so that she is looking down her nose at the other girls. She never breaks eye contact with the person that she is talking to, showing her higher status and her power. Abby rarely raised her voice, and she spoke in a calm tone even when she was threatening the girls. I thought this worked well, but if I were to play the part of Abigail in this scene I would try to raise my voice when threatening the girls, to make more of an impact. We will write a custom essay on The Crucible Paper specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Brigid played her role very well, as she was Mercy Lewis, and she showed her fear for Abigail very well, as she spoke in a small voice, showing that she didnt want to speak loudly in case any of the adults heard her. When Abby was talking to her, she used little hand movements to show that she was nervous. She tried not to make eye contact with Abigail and when she did make eye contact, she looked away quickly showing that she was intimidated by Abigail. Laura was playing the role of Betty. For the first part of the scene she lay perfectly still on the bed, which bought a sense of mystery to the scene. Whilst Abigail, Mercy and Mary were talking, Betty starts whimpering and screaming and the other girls dont know what to do with her. The whole scene got frantic at this point, and Laura used her voice well as she was screaming at the top of her lungs I want my mama. This showed that Betty was very scared of what had happened, and of Abigail. When Abigail tried to touch her, she threw her arms in the air showing that she didnt want to be touched at all. Laura shouts her lines, in a strong and distressed voice and when she tells Abigail what they had all done, Abigail hits her across the face and Betty collapses on the bed crying. This again shows Abigails power over all the girls and Betty lies on the bed again, sobbing to herself. This shows the audience that Betty is scared of getting up again in case Abigail will be there when she does.

Americanization of Russia and its Impact on Young Generation

Introduction Currently, the world is characterized by globalization and its effects are evident in all countries. It affects all sectors which are inclusive but not limited to political, economic and cultural sector. Culture is one of the sectors which are greatly affected by globalization because it is a wide topic which refers to people’s way of life.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Americanization of Russia and its Impact on Young Generation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, although there is free flow of cultural ideas between different countries and different continents, American culture has extended to almost all countries in the world since it is considered to be superior to other cultures (Marling pp.7). As a result, all the other cultures in the world have been greatly impacted by the American culture. Russia is no exception as the American culture has had great impact on it. Sinc e culture is diverse, this paper shall focus on the positive impacts of the American culture on Russian language and some cultural changes that have been caused by Americanization. Background Information Cultural diffusion is a common occurrence in the age of globalization as there are many factors that influence the same. Although all the other countries are affected by Americanization, Russia has been greatly affected especially due to the Western domination in to the East after the fall of the USSR. Consequently, Russia is characterized by American cultural symbols. Although there are negative changes especially in relation to spending, Americanization has contributed greatly to social improvement. Since language is often used a means of communication, it has been seriously affected by the Americanization. This is due to the fact that that globalization has facilitated free movement of people from Russia to America (Bogardus pp.189). On the same note, people from America can sett le in Russia and as a result, Russian language has been greatly influenced by the American English. Americanization of the Russian Language Russian language is one of the Eastern Slavonic languages and it is spoken by about two hundred and seventy seven million people from Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. However, it is also spoke in other countries like United States, Canada, Israel, Finland and Poland to name just a few.Advertising Looking for research paper on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The language has got a long history as it dates from the tenth century although it appeared in writing much later in the seventh and the eighteenth century. However, despite the fact that it was only a few authors who would have written in Russian during the era of the Soviet Union, a lot of people were using the language by then (Ager Para 2). In view of the fact that language is prone to growth, Russian langu age has been growing rapindly since its establishment. Despite the fact that Russian language has been greatly influenced by English, there is a big difference between the two languages as studies indicate that it takes ten percent longer to communicate in Russian than in English. As highlighted earlier in this paper, American influence on the Russian language had been in existence for quite some time. As a result, the language has been affected in various ways. For instance, there are some America words that have been incorporated in the Russian language. Moreover, English became a very popular in Russia especially towards the end of the end of the twentieth century. Consequently, a lot of people especially the young people and children started to communicate purely in English. To make the mater even worse, some could not even communicate in Russian although it is their vernacular while others can only hear but cannot use it for speaking even at home. Studies indicate that American ization of the Russian language was not only a matter of concern to the scholars but also to the parents. Due to that, many parents made it a rule for their children to communicate purely in Russian especially in the home set up. According to the studies of Melnyk (Para 4), influence of English on Russian language increased during the post Soviet era although before then there were still some similarities. For example, the same studies illustrate that some English words like weekend and girl friend are pronounced the same way in the Russian language. However, during the post Soviet era, influence increased due to Western movies, teaching of English in Russian Universities, Western press as well as due to the increased Western books in Russia. Currently, due to technological advancement and development of a global economy, more English words related to the same fields are being used in the Russian language.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Americanizati on of Russia and its Impact on Young Generation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Such words are inclusive but not limited to email, broker, voucher, browser, coupon, user and provider. Most words in Russian slang are characterized by Russian affixes and English roots. For example, Russian words like mastdait meaning to criticize originates from English meaning must die. Due to Americanization, some of the Russian words are currently being used while referring to some of the English words which have got similar sounds. For instance, studies of Melnyk (Para 6) illustrate that a word like mylo which means soap in Russian is used while refereeing to email just because the two words have got similar sounds. Additionally, young people in Russia are currently using a lot of English words in their vocabulary such as cool and wow. Impact of Americanization and Other Cultural Changes on Young People As much as Americanization in any country aff ects people across all the age brackets, young are affected more than any other group in the society. This is due to the fact that it is the group that is most active not to mention that it is also the group that interacts more with the foreigners. Most of the young people travel to America for study purposes and interact with Americans in the local learning institutions. In addition, it is the same group that is greatly influenced by music and the American movies. As a result, there is so much change in their life due to Americanization. Their language is mostly affected as the study indicates that their speech is characterized by slang which has got its roots in English. No one can negate the importance of a vernacular language but on the other hand, there are numerous benefits that a bilingual or people who know more than one language reap. In reference to Russian language, Americanization is very important as it is easier to express oneself in English more than in Russian. On th e same note, it is important to point out that Americanization has led to development of certain words that are very helpful in expression.Advertising Looking for research paper on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Americanization of Russian language is very significant to immigrants from Russia in the United States. This is due to the fact that it prevents or eliminates culture shock as knowledge of some of the American words helps Russians to get assimilated easily in the American culture. Culture shock becomes a major problem especially to people who are not acquitted with the American way of life. For instance, in the studies of Luria, Seymour Trudy (pp. 100), a mother explains that her daughter was constantly ill after they settled in the United States. Once consulted, the pediatrician explained that the main cause of colds and flu was due to culture shock as it caused an inner struggle. The mother reported that once the daughter learnt the American language and mannerism, her problem of sickness ceased. Such a case illustrates that even though Americanization has negative implications, there are some positive effects as well. Conclusion and Recomendation As much as linguistics and other scholars are doing their best to stop Americanization of Russian language, the situation will remain unless a sound intervention is sought. This is due to the fact that the problem occurs so naturally. For instance, Russians who settle in America start to use American words such as landlord, insurance, deposit and rent in their speech to be able to communicate well. Likewise, Americans who settle in Russia borrow some Russian words and begin to use them in their speech. Therefore, the problem may not be eliminated easily especially in this era characterized by free movement of people from one country to another. In addition, media is a great contributor to the same since in a country like Russia; there are a lot of American movies and music (Kouznetsov pp. 293). However, having said that, the importance of preservation of a vernacular language cannot be underestimated. In that case, it is important for the right measures to be put in place to control if not eliminate further Americ anization. Studies of Marsh Marsh (pp. 522) illustrate that in the twenty first century, the government has prohibited making any announcement and advertisement in any other language expect Russian. Some parents are also doing their best to ensure that their parents use Russian since it is their vernacular language. Other important measures ought to be put in place failure to which Americanization will not only continue, but also and take root in Russia. Works Cited Ager, Simon. Russian (Ð  Ã'Æ'Ã' Ã' Ã ºÃ ¸Ã ¹ Ã' Ã ·Ã'‹Ð º). 2010. Web. Bogardus, Emory Stephen. Essentials of Americanization. Chicago: BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2009. Print. Kouznetsov, Victor. † Information and Cultural Changes in Present Day Russia and their Influence on the Political System.† Information and Cultural Changes. Print. Luria, Harriet, Deborah M. Seymour and Trudy Smoke. Language and linguistics in context: readings and applications for teachers. London: Routledge, 2005. Print. Marling, William. How â€Å"American† is globalization? Baltimore: JHU Press, 2006. Print. Marsh, Rosalind and Rosalind J. Marsh. Literature, history and identity in post-Soviet Russia, 1991-2006. Bern: Peter Lang, 2007. Print. Melnyk, Yuliya. The influence of English on the Russian language. 2010. Web. This research paper on Americanization of Russia and its Impact on Young Generation was written and submitted by user Amel1a to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Medical Advancement And Predatory Criminals Essay Example

Medical Advancement And Predatory Criminals Essay Example Medical Advancement And Predatory Criminals Paper Medical Advancement And Predatory Criminals Paper Anthropological research data has shown the violence is an inherent conduct among the primate species (Walker, 2001). In society, criminal violence is a common occurrence and legislators have suggested that the behavior of criminals be analyzed in order to identify any psychological patterns that are consistent among these particular types of individuals. In the past few decades, neurobiologists have proposed that an individual’s condition, which encompasses empathy, morality and free will, is holistically influenced by the frequency of stimulation and assembly of the neurons of an individual. Such notion is contradictory to the concept of Cartesian dualism, which states that the brain and the mind are two independent entities that coordinate with each other. To date, the accumulation of research reports from the field of neuroscience is gradually affecting the concepts and effectivity of the justice system because of the shifting in the concept of human behavior and response to different stimuli. Neuroscience has influenced our current understanding of the multiple factors that govern violent behavior among criminals. The 19th century classic report of Phineas Gage regarding the anti-social behavior that emerged after massive damage of the prefrontal cortex of his brain from a railroad accident is now considered as the birth of the field of forensic neurology (Harlow, 1848). Today, computerized imaging of his fractured skull has shown that the autonomic and social nerve systems are the specific damages that were affected, thus resulting in a totally different individual. Such observation, together with research results gathered from war veterans, has led to the conclusion that violent criminal behavior is caused by injuries to the frontal lobe of the brain. It has then been proposed that injury to the prefrontal cortex of the brain causes a condition that has been coined as acquired sociopathy or pseudopsychopath (Blair and Cipolotti, 2000). It is interesting to know that there is an 11% reduction in the size of the grey matter of the prefrontal cortex among patients diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder (APD) (Raine et al. , 2000). A related observation has also been observed between intelligence and alterations in the grey matter of the prefrontal cortex. The temporal lobe of the brain has also been determined to influence an individual’s emotional response and aggression, wherein lesions in the amygdale of the temporal lobe result in an individual’s failure to recognize fear and sadness among the faces of other people (van Elst et al. , 2001). The connection between the decreased expression of the monoamine oxidase A enzyme and reactive violence has already been established (Caspi et al. , 2002). Monoamine oxidase A is responsible for the catabolism of monoamines such as serotonin (5-HT). The working hypothesis currently accepted is that the prefrontal-amygdala connection is altered, resulting in a dysfunctional aggressive and violent behavior, resulting in criminality in particular individuals. In a recent study conducted by Young et al. (2007), the association between an individual’s opinion and his corresponding actions was proven using neurobiological support that an area of the brain was responsible for such behavior. This particular area of the brain, the right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) was observed to play a major role in an individual’s beliefs and further classifies these notions as either negative or neutral. The negative beliefs that are generated in this section of the brain thus triggers whether an individual would want to cause harm in another individual. This revolutionary concept of acknowledgment of belief is the first form of neurobiological data that describes the connection between the brain and moral judgment. Four states of mind were described to be influenced by the activation of the RTPJ, of which 3 states were harmful and 1 was neutral in outcome. The 3 harmful states of mind included intentional injury, attempted mischief and unintentional damage. In addition, the report described that an increase in the stimulation of the RTPJ generally resulted in an individual either attempting or purposely causing harm to another individual. Such stimulation of that particular of the brain is thus responsible in an individual’s judgment of morality and behavior in society. The recent report of Young et al. (2007) has motivated scientists to develop a microchip to may be surgically introduced into the brain of an individual in order to regulate the response of the RTPJ and ultimately prevent an individual from committing harmful acts. The plan of requiring the surgical insertion of this microchip into the brains of criminals and using the presence of this microchip as main basis for release or parole of a convicted criminal is unethical because this can be perceived as a form of eugenics. This field of genetics involves the active selection of individuals with appropriate features that are deemed worthy of being included in society. For several decades, there have been several attempts in selecting which individuals will be allowed to survive around the world. The principle of eugenics is mainly based on picking specific physical and anatomical features that are classified as good or bad and those individuals with poor or bad features are treated with biomedical tools in order to change their features. An extreme form of eugenics is the mass destruction of certain populations in society by another group of individuals, as was evident in Hitler’s eradication of the Jews. An advocate of the biological connection of criminality would employ the concept of eugenics in screening individuals that show a potential to show criminal and anti-social behavior. To make things more complex, the features that were described to be triggered in the brain, such as the RTPJ, may also be used as criteria in admission to schools and workhouses. An extreme reaction would even result in construction of facilities that would enclose candidates or suspects for criminal behavior. A biological discrimination would thus be observed and this unfair basis of screening individuals would create more chaos in society. Eugenics may also be translated as a screening tool in picking which criminals will be kept in prison and which individuals will be freed and this action will be mainly based on the biological features of whether the criminal may be rehabilitated or transformed into a normal non-aggressive person. The so-called degenerate individuals would be kept off the streets in order to prevent interaction with non-degenerate individuals, as well as to prevent future crimes in the community. In addition, society would be introduced to the option of strictly selecting partners for marriage because they will be taught to pick partners that show obvious physical differences from the consensus physical features of criminals. It is thus inappropriate and unethical to require criminals to have the microchip surgically inserted into their brain unless the criminal himself volunteers for this procedure. Should the criminal be given the choice, the surgical insertion of the microchip may be possible, yet the ultimate role of microchip usage in the determination of freedom of a human being is still questionable. The criminal may opt for the microchip because he knows that he will be released soon after the procedure is completed. However, knowing that all biological species evolve through time, another section of the brain may develop capabilities in triggering criminal behavior and after several decades or centuries this problem of criminality will still be around because a new region of the brain is not stimulated to cause criminal behavior among individuals. More importantly, there are also research reports that contradict the microchip concept, wherein the RTPJ is not the sole brain regions that controls the mind (Mitchell, 2008). This contradictory report thus suggests that there more research and investigations should be performed in order to better understand the connection between the brain and the theory of mind and moral judgment. References Blair RJ and Cipolotti L (2000): Impaired social response reversal. A case of ‘acquired sociopathy’. Brain 123:1122–1141. Caspi A, McClay J, Moffi tt TE, Mill J and Martin J (2002): Role of genotype in the cycle of violence in maltreated children. Science 297:851–854. Harlow J (1848): Passage of an iron bar through the head. Boston Med Surg J 13:389–393. Mitchell JP (2008): Activity in right temporo-parietal junction is not selective for theory-of-mind. Cereb Cortex 18:262-271 Raine A, Lencz T, Bihrle S, LaCasse L and Colletti P (2000) Reduced prefrontal gray matter volume and reduced autonomic activity in antisocial personality disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 57:119–127. van Elst LT, Trimble MR, Ebert D, van Elst LT (2001) Dual brain pathology in patients with affective aggressive episodes. Arch Gen Psychiatry 58:1187–1188. Walker PL (2001): A bioarchaeological perspective on the history of violence. Annu Rev Anthropol 30: 573–596. Young L, Cushman F, Hauser M and Saxe R (2007): The neural basis of the interaction between theory of mind and moral judgment. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104(20):8

Ethnography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethnography - Essay Example Ethnography refers to a collection of qualitative methods usually utilized in social sciences. These qualitative methods in most cases focus on close observation of social interactions and practises. These methods used in ethnography enable a researcher to interpret as well as build on theories that outline the occurrence of a given social process, the reasons that underlie a given occurrence within the society (Andrew, 1988: p.45). Ethnography studies the social interactions of people within a given society, their perceptions, as well as, their behaviors in relation to particular communities, organizations, teams and groups. The roots of this study trace down to the anthropological studies of rural minute areas, usually from a very remote setting. The central aim of this policy is to determine the provision of a rich as well as holistic insight into the views and actions of people. In addition, this study also considers their nature such as the sights and sounds within their environ ment or the location of their residence. The collection of this information follows several outlined features about the cultures of a give society. As such, there are several policy issues outlining the ethnography tendencies within the society (Clifford, 2013). ... As such, ethnography entails a graphical representation as well as in writing of a particular culture of a group within the society. As such, the relevant authorities come up with different policies that follow the concept of ethnocentrism (Hoey, 2013). An understanding of ethnography enables these companies to trade properly in new areas with different cultures from those of their homeland. In addition, it enables these organizations to dispel ethnocentrism from leaders or management teams of their organizations. Ethnocentrism is the tendency to overlook the cultures of other groups or factions in the society. An ethnocentric person feels that other cultures are inferior to theirs, and as such, assumes that his or her culture is the best in the society. Furthermore, he or she ends up making critical management decisions based on their culture, irrespective of the cultures surrounding the communities within which his or her organization operates. For instance, an American company ope rating in Kuwait appoints an ethnocentric individual to head the delegation. Kuwait has a very different culture compared to the American culture. As such, it is very wrong for a manager from the United States to impose American cultures on Kuwait nationals when operating in their home country. On the contrary, this American manager should try to operate like a native from Kuwait (Egger, 2008: p.94). The most common policies of the study of ethnocentrism occur in the investment and expansion analysis of multinational corporations. Most of these companies that expand into foreign territories foe market expansions as well as exploitation of investment opportunities have to

UK Investment in China Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

UK Investment in China - Assignment Example The fÐ °ll in foreign direct investment (FDI) since 1999, Ð °nd ChinÐ °Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s growing shÐ °re, worry most developing countries. But Ð °n in-depth look reveÐ °ls new Ð °nd promising trends. The decline is lÐ °rgely Ð ° one-time Ð °djustment following the privÐ °tizÐ °tion boom of the 1990s. FDI is coming from more countries—Ð °nd going to more sectors. The conditions for Ð °ttrÐ °cting FDI vÐ °ry by sector: in lÐ °bor-intensive mÐ °nufÐ °cturing, for exÐ °mple, efficient customs Ð °nd flexible lÐ °bor mÐ °rkets Ð °re key, while in retÐ °il Ð °ccess to lÐ °nd Ð °nd equÐ °l enforcement of tÐ °x rules mÐ °tter most. Sorting out the microeconomic issues by sector will be good not only for FDI but Ð °lso for domestic investors. While ChinÐ ° Ð °ccounts for 39 percent of the FDI to developing countries, it Ð °lso Ð °ccounts for Ð °lmost 30 percent of the developing world’s populÐ °tion. In fÐ °ct, relÐ °tive to GDP, ChinÐ °Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s performÐ °nce in Ð °ttrÐ °cting FDI is good but not extrÐ °ordinÐ °ry, with FDI Ð °t 3.8 percent of GDP in 1999–2002. Nineteen developing countries did better over the sÐ °me period. ChinÐ °Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s performÐ °nce looks even less extrÐ °ordinÐ °ry if Ð °djusted for the round-tripping of FDI through Hong Kong (ChinÐ °), which some estimÐ °tes suggest mÐ °y Ð °ccount for Ð °s much Ð °s 30 percent of totÐ °l FDI to ChinÐ °. ChinÐ ° retÐ °il investments continuously grow (12 % in 2005) Ð °nd remÐ °in very Ð °ttrÐ °ctive. However, becÐ °use internÐ °tionÐ °l retÐ °ilers Ð °re fueling this growth, mÐ °rket sÐ °turÐ °tion is Ð °lso on the rise. More thÐ °n 40 foreign retÐ °ilers hÐ °ve entered the mÐ °rket to dÐ °te. From the generÐ °l review of the FDI in ChinÐ ° it cÐ °n be concluded thÐ °t Tesco hÐ °s potentiÐ °l to enter Chinese mÐ °rket Ð °nd to stÐ °y successful on it. This is due to the FDI trend Ð °nd its success in recent decÐ °des. ... The compny is plnning to open 16 new stores in Chin, three of which will be in Donggung. nnul retil sles in this region incresed more thn 17% in 2005, mking it one of the most promising res in Chin. Tesco lso opertes 41 hypermrkets in the country through joint venture with Ting Hsin. With Wl-Mrt nd Crrefour firmly entrenched nd Tesco gining ground, the retil mrket is poised for some interesting developments in the next few months. However, sturtion levels, especilly in Chin's more ttrctive tier-one centers, re incresing. Tesco interntionl strtegy should be bsed on the six elements shped in compny's report over ten yers go: Be flexible - ech mrket is unique nd requires different pproch ct locl - locl customers, locl cultures, locl supply chins nd locl regultions require tilored offer delivered by locl stff - less thn 100 of Tesco's Interntionl tem re ex-pts Keep focus - to be the leding locl brnd is long term effort nd tkes decdes, not just few yers Be multi-formt - no single formt cn rech the whole of the mrket. whole spectrum from convenience to hypermrkets is essentil nd you need to tke discounter pproch throughout Develop cpbility - developing skill in people, processes nd systems nd being ble to shre this skill between mrkets will improve the chnces of success in chllenging Mrkets Build brnds - brnds enble the building of importnt lsting reltionships with customers. In order to make a profound environmentl udit for Tesco, SWOT analysis is conducted. This analysis is a way of looking at the Tesco as a business, where the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation can be contrasted with the threats and opportunities of the outside business environment. Table 1 Tesco - SWOT

Diabetes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diabetes - Research Paper Example There are two types of diabetes, type one and type two diabetes which are more or less the same but differ regarding the causes, treatment and implications. There are three categories of diabetes. 1) Type 1 Diabetes Type 1diabetes refers to the situation where the body fails to secrete insulin and is known by several names like early diabetes. This type of diabetes develops at early ages of 40 and typically begins in people’s teenage or tender ages (Eisenbarth et al. 101). Type 1diabetes is not as prevalent as type 2 in the sense that it accounts for merely 10% of total cases of diabetes (American Diabetes Association 1). Permanent insulin injections are recommended as a remedy to this category of diabetes. Similarly, standard blood tests to detect the degree of sugar in the blood are recommended along with strict adherence to specified diet (American Diabetes Association 1). 2) Type 2Diabetes Type 2 diabetes occurs in cases where the body fails to generate adequate insulin fo r the required functions or when the body fails to appropriately react to insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the most prevalent among the two and accounts for more than two thirds of total cases of diabetes (Eisenbarth et al. 102). ... Therefore, type 2 diabetes is a chronic illness that is more widespread than type one and is a developing illness which becomes severe with the passage of time. In as much as patients may reduce its severity through exercise and other measures, it becomes very necessary to take insulin as time passes. Similarly, the chances of developing the disease are higher as a person progresses in age (Food and nutrition informational centre 1). Causes Type 1 diabetes is supposed to be an autoimmune illness. The body’s immune system purposely assails the cells in the pancreas that generate insulin (Eisenbarth et al. 44). 1. A predisposition to contract type 1diabetes can run in families, but hereditary causes are much more widespread for type 2 diabetes. 2. Environmental aspects, including widespread unavoidable viral illnesses, may also lead to type 1diabetes. 3. Type 1 diabetes is mainly common in individuals of non-Hispanic, Northern European origin, followed by African Americans, alon g with Hispanic Americans. It is comparatively uncommon in those of Asian origin. 4. Type 1 diabetes is somewhat more widespread in men compared to women. Type 2diabetes has strong hereditary links, implying that it tends to operate in families. Numerous genes have been recognized, and several are under investigation which may compare to the causative factors of category 2 diabetes (Eisenbarth et al. 45). Risk factors for contracting type 2 diabetes comprise the following: high fat diet, increased consumption of alcohol, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, soaring blood triglyceride levels, ethnicity, aging and high blood pressure (Food and nutrition informational centre 1). Treatment The main objective in treating

Marketing Strategies of UK Political Parties

Marketing Strategies of UK Political Parties In this paper we examine the use of political marketing in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. It focuses on the hypothetical theoretical aspects of marketing frameworks, which are identified and applying these frameworks to the marketing strategies of the political parties within the UK and the US. Additionally, we compare and contrast certain aspects of the marketing frameworks that have been identified with the parties, analysing whether the use of the frameworks are inherently present with regard to their electioneering and campaigning strategies. Political marketing has come to be an increasingly exciting and integrated phenomenon that the majority of significant public figures and political employees are vividly aware of. It holds the potential to transform politics as we know it, and exert a tremendous influence on the way everyones life is run, but we will only ever reach a greater understanding of the existing and potential consequences of political marketing if we acknowledge and accept the breadth and nature of the phenomenon. The reason why marketing can be attached to politics is that in essence they share some common tenets: the aim to understand how political organisations act in relation to their market and vice versa. Furthermore, marketing, being somewhat more prescriptive, provides tools and ideas about how organisations could behave in relation to their market in order to set aims and objectives, so that at the end they can achieve their goals. It can help an organisation understand the demands of its market. T he idea of a political system that meets peoples needs and demands links back to traditional politics: Jones and Moran (1994, 17) argue that British democracy means that the people can decide the government and exercise influence over the decisions governments take. Political marketing is simply a way of doing this in the 21st century with a critical, well informed and consumerist mass franchise. The evidence suggests that major British parties are not just applying the techniques of marketing, but its concepts. They appear to be determining their policies to match voters concerns (using findings from survey research and focus groups) rather than basing them on ideological considerations. Therefore, they are attempting to become what is known in business terms as ‘market oriented and designing their ‘product to suit consumer demands. This would imply a new role for political parties, one at odds with the traditional role assumed by the standard literature. It may also cause potential problems for political parties in the long-term, as well as having significant normative implications for politics as a whole. This paper therefore explores the full potential of political marketing on a theoretical level integrating management, marketing and political science literature to find out how British political parties and the US political parties have used marketing and become market-oriented. It will examine the extent to which the ‘New Labour Party in 1997 exhibited behaviour in line with this model and comparing this with the Conservatives in 1979. We would also consider its use in the US by the Republican and Democratic political party and how it has affected the political landscape. It will be seen how the Conservative party used marketing to inform policy design, a model which ‘New Labour followed but to a greater extent, using results from market intelligence to push for changes to the role of the memberships and further centralisation of power to ensure a clear organisational structure within the party. In more recent times, the endorsement of George W. Bush (jnr), by the Repub lican Party in the US and how the product, i.e. his behaviour over the election period leading up to his election win was galvanised through political marketing. It is hoped that this paper will highlight how the implications of political marketing are much wider than at first sort. Marketing is a form of management or method used primarily by business organisations. It has evolved to include the design and promotion of a product to ensure that the goals of the organisation, the prime one being to make profit in the case of a business, are met. It is not just about selling, or in this case campaigning. As Levitt (1960: 50) argues, that the difference between marketing and selling is more than dynamic. Selling focuses on the needs of the seller, marketing focuses on the need of the buyer. The current marketing philosophy focuses on how firms can satisfy customers wants, and adopt what is called a market-oriented approach as this is deemed the most effective way to meet the firms goals Drucker (1954:37). Cannon (1996:6) found that with business organisations the idea that firms exist, first and foremost, to satisfy customers needs has not been accommodated easily into the operations of many organisations. It is likely in this case, to be even more difficult with a political party, which is bound to consist of many ideas and attitudes to how the party as a whole should behave, not the least, different theories of the meaning of democracy and the role of the elites. Kotler and Andreasen (1987:505), suggest that everything about an organisation, which includes, its products, employees facilities, and actions, all communicate something to the general public. Not only the nature of the leader, but also the behaviour and rights of the partys members could be influential in attracting or repelling voters. As Shaw (1994:175) puts it, the British Labour party failed to win the 1992 general election because (amongst other factors), despite changes in policy, the then leader of the party, lacked the time and support to transform the party itself, a fatal weakness, since the character and behaviour of its activists at the time, its ethos, language and rituals, and most importantly, its close association with the trade unions, all alienated the electorate. A party with the wrong approach to gain the attention of the voting electorate is more likely to fail. As Scullion and Dermody (2004:361), argues that the campaigns employed by the political parties were being accused of failing to engage a disinterested young electorate. In their comparison of New Labour (UK) and New Democrats (US), Ingram and Lees-Marshment (2002:5), state that systemic differences between the countries, the UK and US, substantially condition the scope, focus, and application of political marketing and although American campaigns maybe the breeding ground for technological innovation and birth of political marketing, there is more potential for the use of political marketing in Britain, due to the more centralised nature of political parties and campaigns and to the component delivery of the marketing model. This article found that Labours approach was far broader in scope, influencing aspects of its policies, personnel, internal organisation, and leadership behaviour. One should also understand that the use of marketing as a tool for political gains is not a new thing. Eisenhowers use of direct male in the early 50s in the US, and in the UK, Margaret Thatchers use of the Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency (Scammell, 1994:23). H owever, there has been an increasing use of marketing methods in political campaigns over the latter part of the twentieth century (Smith and Saunders (1990: 295), Wring (1997:1131). To date the dominant paradigm has been to adapt consumer goods marketing ideas and frameworks (Baines and Egan, 2001:1), especially the marketing mix concept (Niffenegger, 1989:45). Other frameworks might provide a more fruitful basis for analysis. The broadening theory of marketing was based upon the notion that marketing ideas and techniques could be utilised whenever value is exchanged between two parties, e.g. charities, churches, and political parties, (Kotler and Levy, 1969:10). It was argued later that differences of form and content (Lock and Harris, 1996: 21), and structure and process (Butler and Collins, 1999:55) existed, and that value exchange was not so straightforward. Baines, Harris, and Newman (1999:1) additionally state that this commercial and political difference, when suggesting tha t political campaigns usually operate with shorter, more intense promotional campaigns, in oligopolistic markets, with polarised levels of voter loyalty, and differing potential for the degree of marketing orientation in different countries. It can be argued here that structural changes in the political landscape had an impact on the perceived need for adoption of marketing techniques. Voters are perceived to be less involved and less loyal than in the past (Ware, 1995: 6). This may partly be due to voter apathy, which is a growing trend in most western democracies. There are a number of factors that are central to the need for marketing in campaigns. They are lack of actual or perceived product differentiation; increasing numbers and frequency of electoral contests and referendum held, or simply because voters have more compelling distractions stimulated by increased wealth and leisure time. To cast ones vote was and is seen as less of a duty than was largely the case in the past. This is why marketing has evolved to be used as a way of demand intervention. Marketing and political campaigning or vice-versa can be deemed as inseparable, because of its strategic importance to the outcome of any election. Such is the perceived value of marketing that no political party and few individual candidates would challenge the role marketing plays in the modern campaign and electoral process. With all this in mind, this paper moves on to explore the full potential of political marketing on a theoretical level identifying the literature that a political party might use marketing and become market-orientated. It will examine the extent to which the Labour party in 1997, exhibited behaviour in line with this model and comparing this with the Conservative party in 1979. Additionally, the Republican party of the US would also be mentioned and examined with regard to correlations or differences between the use of this model, in the UK and the US between the political parties. Therefore the remainder of this paper is set as follow: Chapter 3: Theoretical concepts of Political Marketing Chapter 4: Labour Party use of political marketing, 1997-2001 Chapter 5: Conservative Party use of political marketing, 1997-2001 Chapter 6: The use of political marketing in the US in comparison to the UK Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusion References and Bibliography. Political parties use political marketing to determine their policies, organisation, communication and, ultimately, potential delivery in government. Political parties were traditionally perceived as bastions of ideology, dogma, idealism and rhetoric. In the twenty-first century, however, most if not all-political parties in the UK of varying ideologies, histories, sizes and fortunes are aware of political marketing. The extent to which they choose to use it, the form they adopt, and their success at adopting a market orientation may vary, but all understand the pressure from the political market to satisfy the general populace. Depending on their nature, political parties can use marketing in various ways. Parties differ in their size and goals. Major parties are large, established organisations whose dominant goal is to win control of government, therefore to win a general (or devolved) election. The Conservative and Labour parties in the UK are major parties and so try to use political marketing to win an election. Their market consists of the electorate, in addition to anyone else who has influence on voters, although the parties do not need to win support from everyone to gain power. Their product includes all aspects of their behaviour. Although a major party generally asks political consumers to vote for it on the basis of what it promises to do in government, its policy promises or party manifesto which it lays out to the general electorate, voters also take into account other aspects of party behaviour such as leadership, party unity, organisation, and the behaviour of members, because these may aff ect the ability of the party to deliver on policy promises. The current marketing philosophy focuses on how firms satisfy customers, and adopt what is called a market-orientation as this is deemed as the most effective way to meet the firms goals (Drucker, 1954:37). It can be argued here that if a political party implements the marketing philosophy, it will seek to meet voters needs and wants, thus producing voter satisfaction, and in doing so gain electoral support to meet its own goals. Orientation is a concept that the major parties should adopt, which is based on an attitude towards how they behave in relation to the electorate. There are three main political marketing orientations (Lees-Marshment 2001:692). Market-oriented parties (MOPs) design their product, including policies, leadership and organisation, to suit what political consumers demand, in order to achieve their goal of winning a general election. This does not mean they simply follow what everyone wants to them to do, because this would be impossible anyway, because demands are complex and competing. Instead they need to go through a complex process of stages. This is shown in Box 3.1. Box 3.1 The Process for a Market-Oriented Party Stage 1: Market intelligence Party finds out what voters need and want by: †¢ Keeping an ear to the ground, talking to activists, meeting the public; †¢ Using quantitative research (electoral results, public opinion polls and privately commissioned studies) and qualitative research such as a focus group. Stage 2: Product design Party designs behaviour (including leadership, members, policies, staff, constitution and symbols) according to voters demands. Stage 3: Product adjustment Party designs product to suit the electorate at large and then needs to make sure it considers other factors: †¢ Achievability, determine whether the product design is achievable; †¢ Internal reaction analysis, to alter design to ensure it will obtain the support of enough MPs and members to ensure its implementation; †¢ Competition analysis, this is to promote opposition weaknesses and highlight own strengths; †¢ Support analysis, this is with the view of focusing on winning the support of voters, it does not have, but needs to win. Stage 4: Implementation   The findings from stages 1 – 3, must be implemented. The majority must accept the new behaviour broadly. This requires effective and considerate organisation and management. Stage5: Communication This includes the so-called near-term or long-term campaign, but also ongoing behaviour. The party ensures that communication helps it achieve electoral success; attempts to influence others in the communication process, such as journalist and opposition parties; and uses selling techniques such as direct mail and targeted communications Stage 6: Campaign This can be said to be the final chance for the political party to communicate with the voters. Stage 7: Election The party goes through the election. Stage 8: Delivery The party carries out promises made once in government. Box 3.2 The process for a Product-Oriented Party Stage 1: Product design The party designs its behaviour according to what it thinks best represents them. Stage 2: Communication This includes the so=called near-term or long-term campaign but also ongoing behaviour. Not just the leader, but all MPs and members, send a message to the electorate. The organisation is clear and effective; it is designed to advance arguments. Stage 3: Campaign The official election campaign period starts leading up to the election. 4: Election The general election takes place. Stage 5: Delivery on promises made during election as stated on the partys election manifesto The party will deliver its product in government. Box 3.3 The Process for Sales – Oriented Party Stage 1: Product design The party designs its behaviour according to what it thinks best. Stage 2: Market Intelligence The party aims to discover voters response to the product, especially voters who do not support the party but might, so that communications can be targeted on them. Informally, it keeps an ear to the ground, talks to party members, creates policy groups and meets with the public. Formally, it uses quantitative research (electoral results, public opinion polls and privately commissioned studies) and qualitative research such as a focus group. Stage 3: Communication This includes the so-called near-term or long-term campaign but also ongoing behaviour. Not just the leader, but all MPs and members send a message to the electorate. Attempts are made to ensure all communication helps achieve electoral success, and to influence others in the communication process. The organisation is clear and effective designed to advance arguments. It also makes use of selling techniques such as direct mail and targeted communications to persuade voters to agree with the party. Stage 4: Campaign   The official election campaign period kicks in up until election. The party continues to communicate effectively as in stage 3.   Stage 5: Election The general election. Stage 6: Delivery The party will deliver its promised product in government. Other parties with different goals may not choose to use political marketing in this way i.e. Box 3.1. However, if the dominant goal of a party is to advance a particular policy, rather than win an election, it maybe more product oriented. Product – Oriented parties (POPs) decide their behaviour or product themselves without much care for the opinions of political consumers, or rather, they assume that voters will realise that it is right and vote for it accordingly. Their process is quite simple: see Box 3.2. A product – oriented party refuses to change its ideas or product even if it fails to gain electoral or membership support. If a party is a small or minor party, with the main goal being not to win a general election but to put ideas on the agenda, this may be the most appropriate political marketing orientation. However, most partys overtime, grow to be concerned about their performance. They may then move to a sales orientation position, retaining the same product or behaviour, but using political marketing communication techniques, see Box 3.3. Market intelligence is used not to inform the product design, but to help the party persuade voters it is right and has sound electoral policies. Sales-oriented parties are often perceived as the more manipulative, because they use marketing to persuade or change public opinion. Current research indicates that the trend in the UK, at least amongst the major political parties, is towards the market-oriented approach (Lees-Marshment 2001). The trend is to evolve from product through to sales and then finally a market orientation, responding to the gradual rise of the political consumer. Major partys can however, win power using a market-orientation and then switch back to a sales or product once in power. Political parties often find it harder to rema in in touch with the public and responsive to the demands of political consumers once they are in government. Other small UK parties tend to adopt any one of the three orientations. Parties such as the Scottish National Party have moved through the classic product-sales-market –oriented cycle. The use of marketing by political parties is not as easy as the theory suggests. The latest research in political party marketing suggests that despite the desire of both the Conservative and Labour parties to adopt and maintain a market orientation, many obstacles get in the way. This will be fully explained in the following chapters. The Labour party has been one of political marketings success stories of the new century, at least on the surface. Using political marketing to become more in touch with the public, reduce any unwanted historical baggage, and even relabelled itself as ‘New Labour, it first became market oriented in order to win the previous election in 1997. It remains the fullest example of a market-oriented party, following the model to the greatest degree of any party ever seen. However, after obtaining the mandate of power from the UK electorate, the party met many obstacles to delivering on its 1997election promises. This is a major potential weakness: Labour support is very much based on promised outputs, so it needs to be seen to deliver. It is in the context that Labour attempted to maintain a market orientation and retain its electoral support during 1997 – 2001. Table 4.1 The Labour government and Delivery, February 2000 ‘There is a lot of talk at the moment about whether the present government is or is not ‘delivering. From what you know, do you think that it is or is not delivering on each of the following? Source: Gallup Political Index Delivery in government on the 1997 election promises Delivering the political product as stated previously is not an easy task. It is one of unanswered potential conundrums at the heart of political marketing (Laing and Lees-Marshment, 2002:19). The Labour party understood this. The party talked constantly about the need to deliver. It copied business and started to issue an annual report on its delivery of its promises (Labour Party 1999: 3-7, 2000). Labour undoubtly succeeded in some areas, such as constitutional reform, with the introduction of devolution in Scotland and Wales and the removal of hereditary peers from the House of Lords. However, Labour failed to convince many voters that it had made real improvement to standards in the public services, which is the core part of the 1997 product. Public resentment about Labours failures to deliver grew, Table 4.1, gives you the evidence. There was also dissatisfaction with the Labour party. A report from the Labour party itself based on its private polls leaked in the independent warning that the partys huge lead in the opinion polls masks the fact that people are turning against the Government because they believe it is failing to deliver its 1997 general election party manifesto. In July 2000 a MORI survey indicated that 57% of respondents did not think the leader of the Labour Party had kept the parties election promises. See the following table: Table 4.2 Perceived performance of the prime minister, July 2000 Since becoming prime minister in May 1997, do you think, Tony Blair has or has not delivered election promises made in the partys election manifesto? Source: MORI telephone survey 20-22, July 2000 Labour therefore still needed to utilise political marketing, but this time to maintain rather than win support. Stage 1: Market Intelligence The Labour party conducted substantial market intelligence. Philip Gould conducted focus group work for the party; Greg Crook ran a rolling programme of opinion polling (Cook, 2002:87); the partys advertising agency, TVWA London, also conducted research (Lawther, 2002:1). Labour also analysed results of elections to local authorities, the devolved institutions, the European parliament and parliamentary by-elections (Cook, 2002:88). It took account of negative criticism despite the overall positive polls and continued to monitor the performance of the opposition. During 1997 – 2001 Labour continually discussed voters needs. Stage 2: Product design The New Labour product offered to the electorate in 2001 was extremely similar to that offered in 1997, with greater determination to deliver in the second term. Policy: In terms of policy, the focus remained on raising standards in the public services, such as health and education. The party retained its commitment to low income tax and competent economic management. There were slight changes in terms of greater investment in public services in order to improve them, but such moves were made without a call o increase tax. Stephen Lawther, polling coordinator for the Scottish Labour Party, argued that Labour put forward a strong product: †¢ Minimum wage; †¢ 1 million new jobs; †¢ Lowest unemployment in 25 years; †¢ Lowest inflation in 30 years; †¢ Winter fuel allowance;   Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Record investment in schools in hospitals; †¢ Small class sizes; †¢ A nursery place for every 4 year old; †¢ 10,000 more nurses in the NHS; †¢ Working families tax credit reduction; †¢ Scottish parliament (devolution), (Lawther, 2002). Leadership: As leader, the prime minister continued to exercise strong and determined control over his party and the senior leadership and cabinet in particular. The prime minister enjoyed extremely high popularity scores in public opinion polls until the end of the 1997-2002 periods, when he began to attract criticism for being smarmy, arrogant and out of touch with the national electorate. In June 2000, the prime minister was even slow-hand-clapped by the Womens Institute. Internal membership: Changes were made within the party with the aim of making members more involved (Seyd 1999:390-391). Members-only sessions were introduced at the annual party conference, to ensure members had a chance to air their views without damaging the party externally. Partnership in power, a series of proposals to change certain organisational structures within the party, devolved policy-making to the National Policy Forum to provide greater consultation with the membership. Nevertheless, party membership slumped from 420,000 after 1997 election to just 320,000 by mid-1999. Many of those who remained were de-energised (Seyd and Whiteley, 1999). This reflects the limited application of marketing to the membership, (Lees-Marshment, 2001a). The foundations of Labours support have been eroded, making it even more crucial that the party satisfy voters through delivery on public services. Party Unity: The leadership exerted significant control over the partys participation within the new devolved institutions in the selection of the leadership candidate for the Welsh assembly, which aroused significant discontent among Labour party activists. Another case was the election for the London mayor. After failing to be selected as the Labour candidate, an old left-winger, Ken Livingston, stood as an independent after calls from the public to do so, and won. This was an indication of the discontent at the grassroots of the Labour party: an issue that Labour continues to struggle with, due to its use of political marketing. Stage 3: Product Adjustment Achievability: Learning in government that delivering on the 1997 pledges, particularly those about the quality of public services, was extremely difficult, the party made promises for the next term of office in terms of inputs rather than outputs, such as ‘x number of nurses or police rather than reduce waiting list or lower levels of crime. Inputs are easier to deliver because they are easier to control (Lees-Marshment and Laing, 2002:20). The 2001 pledges were: †¢ Mortgages to be as low as possible, low inflation and sound public finances; †¢ 10,000 extra teachers and higher standards in secondary schools; †¢ 20,000 extra nurses and 10,000 extra doctors in a reformed NHS; †¢ 6,000 extra recruits to raise police numbers to their highest ever level; †¢ Pensioners winter fuel payment retained, minimum wage rising to  £4.20, and most recently to  £5.25 an hour. Internal reaction analysis: The decline in membership that Labour experienced after 1997 suggests failure of internal reaction analysis. The new system of policy-making was criticised for restricting the opportunity for debate at conference and ignoring the work of policy forums (Seyd, 2002:95). The selection processes used for the Scottish parliament, Welsh assembly and London mayor also indicated a lack of internal reaction analysis and generated further discontent. Competition analysis: Labour engaged in a significant competition analysis in terms of its planning for the campaign. It was keen that voters would see the election as a choice between the parties rather than a referendum on Labours mixed record of delivery (Gould, 2002:57, Lawther, 2002:1). Posters reassured voters about the party, saying, ‘Thanks for voting Labour, but also reminding them of potential problems the Conservatives might bring, with posters headed ‘Economic Disaster II). Support analysis: Labour analysed voters who were former Conservatives that had defected to the party in 1997, and found that this group would stay with the party. Attention then shifted to mobilising people to vote, as the party feared it could lose support due to a low turnout. Labour played on the emotion of fear at a prospective Tory victory, commissioning the famous ‘wiggy poster of the then leader of the Conservative party, warning ‘Get out and vote or they get in. It tried to put forward the vision that the work goes on and voters needed to give the party more time. Stage 4: Implementation The leader of the Labour party insisted on strict party unity: i.e. all ministers had to agree any interaction with the media and the press office of the Labour party, to ensure unified communication from government. The partys leader had a few difficulties passing legislation. And ambitious MPs knew they had to keep in line with the leadership if they wished to advance their careers. Blair (the leader of the Labour Party) followed the market-oriented party model to fine detail, promoting those who followed the product design and sidelining those who voiced dissent. Nevertheless Labour was criticised for being too ‘Control Conscious. Stage 5: Communication Labour continued to control communication from the party and also central government. The Government Information Service was used to communicate the governments message and delivery (Scammell, 2001). Government spending on advertising increased massively in the four years between 1997 and 2001 (Grice, 2001). Party communication was also focused on delivery: party political broad casts during the elections to the European parliament, for example, focused on the governments achievements, rather than European issues. Communication did not succeed in convincing voters that the government had delivered as initially thought. Stage 6: Campaign The character of the partys product and its delivery performance in office determined Labours campaign. It focused on the need to deliver, asking for more time to do its job. Labour used target marketing and campaigned most heavily in marginal seats where it was assumed that its efforts would have the greatest effect (Cook, 2002:87). In Scotland Labour sent out targeted direct mail in the form of a letter from both the leader of the party and the deputy leader to segments of the market such as Scottish National Party (SNP) floaters, and Labour also ran health rallies and a pledge day to reinforce key themes. The campaign was closely co-ordinated from the partys Millbank headquarters, with an integrated marketing communications structure. Responding to market intelligence, significant effort went into getting the vote out, through ‘Operation Turnout. This assessed the party identification and voting history of electors in target seats and sent a direct marketing message to them to get them to vote (Lawther, 2002). Nevertheless, the underlying public dissatisfaction with public services was brought to the fore when Blair was accosted by the partner of a patient complaining about the poor standards of care in the NHS in a di Marketing Strategies of UK Political Parties Marketing Strategies of UK Political Parties In this paper we examine the use of political marketing in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. It focuses on the hypothetical theoretical aspects of marketing frameworks, which are identified and applying these frameworks to the marketing strategies of the political parties within the UK and the US. Additionally, we compare and contrast certain aspects of the marketing frameworks that have been identified with the parties, analysing whether the use of the frameworks are inherently present with regard to their electioneering and campaigning strategies. Political marketing has come to be an increasingly exciting and integrated phenomenon that the majority of significant public figures and political employees are vividly aware of. It holds the potential to transform politics as we know it, and exert a tremendous influence on the way everyones life is run, but we will only ever reach a greater understanding of the existing and potential consequences of political marketing if we acknowledge and accept the breadth and nature of the phenomenon. The reason why marketing can be attached to politics is that in essence they share some common tenets: the aim to understand how political organisations act in relation to their market and vice versa. Furthermore, marketing, being somewhat more prescriptive, provides tools and ideas about how organisations could behave in relation to their market in order to set aims and objectives, so that at the end they can achieve their goals. It can help an organisation understand the demands of its market. T he idea of a political system that meets peoples needs and demands links back to traditional politics: Jones and Moran (1994, 17) argue that British democracy means that the people can decide the government and exercise influence over the decisions governments take. Political marketing is simply a way of doing this in the 21st century with a critical, well informed and consumerist mass franchise. The evidence suggests that major British parties are not just applying the techniques of marketing, but its concepts. They appear to be determining their policies to match voters concerns (using findings from survey research and focus groups) rather than basing them on ideological considerations. Therefore, they are attempting to become what is known in business terms as ‘market oriented and designing their ‘product to suit consumer demands. This would imply a new role for political parties, one at odds with the traditional role assumed by the standard literature. It may also cause potential problems for political parties in the long-term, as well as having significant normative implications for politics as a whole. This paper therefore explores the full potential of political marketing on a theoretical level integrating management, marketing and political science literature to find out how British political parties and the US political parties have used marketing and become market-oriented. It will examine the extent to which the ‘New Labour Party in 1997 exhibited behaviour in line with this model and comparing this with the Conservatives in 1979. We would also consider its use in the US by the Republican and Democratic political party and how it has affected the political landscape. It will be seen how the Conservative party used marketing to inform policy design, a model which ‘New Labour followed but to a greater extent, using results from market intelligence to push for changes to the role of the memberships and further centralisation of power to ensure a clear organisational structure within the party. In more recent times, the endorsement of George W. Bush (jnr), by the Repub lican Party in the US and how the product, i.e. his behaviour over the election period leading up to his election win was galvanised through political marketing. It is hoped that this paper will highlight how the implications of political marketing are much wider than at first sort. Marketing is a form of management or method used primarily by business organisations. It has evolved to include the design and promotion of a product to ensure that the goals of the organisation, the prime one being to make profit in the case of a business, are met. It is not just about selling, or in this case campaigning. As Levitt (1960: 50) argues, that the difference between marketing and selling is more than dynamic. Selling focuses on the needs of the seller, marketing focuses on the need of the buyer. The current marketing philosophy focuses on how firms can satisfy customers wants, and adopt what is called a market-oriented approach as this is deemed the most effective way to meet the firms goals Drucker (1954:37). Cannon (1996:6) found that with business organisations the idea that firms exist, first and foremost, to satisfy customers needs has not been accommodated easily into the operations of many organisations. It is likely in this case, to be even more difficult with a political party, which is bound to consist of many ideas and attitudes to how the party as a whole should behave, not the least, different theories of the meaning of democracy and the role of the elites. Kotler and Andreasen (1987:505), suggest that everything about an organisation, which includes, its products, employees facilities, and actions, all communicate something to the general public. Not only the nature of the leader, but also the behaviour and rights of the partys members could be influential in attracting or repelling voters. As Shaw (1994:175) puts it, the British Labour party failed to win the 1992 general election because (amongst other factors), despite changes in policy, the then leader of the party, lacked the time and support to transform the party itself, a fatal weakness, since the character and behaviour of its activists at the time, its ethos, language and rituals, and most importantly, its close association with the trade unions, all alienated the electorate. A party with the wrong approach to gain the attention of the voting electorate is more likely to fail. As Scullion and Dermody (2004:361), argues that the campaigns employed by the political parties were being accused of failing to engage a disinterested young electorate. In their comparison of New Labour (UK) and New Democrats (US), Ingram and Lees-Marshment (2002:5), state that systemic differences between the countries, the UK and US, substantially condition the scope, focus, and application of political marketing and although American campaigns maybe the breeding ground for technological innovation and birth of political marketing, there is more potential for the use of political marketing in Britain, due to the more centralised nature of political parties and campaigns and to the component delivery of the marketing model. This article found that Labours approach was far broader in scope, influencing aspects of its policies, personnel, internal organisation, and leadership behaviour. One should also understand that the use of marketing as a tool for political gains is not a new thing. Eisenhowers use of direct male in the early 50s in the US, and in the UK, Margaret Thatchers use of the Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency (Scammell, 1994:23). H owever, there has been an increasing use of marketing methods in political campaigns over the latter part of the twentieth century (Smith and Saunders (1990: 295), Wring (1997:1131). To date the dominant paradigm has been to adapt consumer goods marketing ideas and frameworks (Baines and Egan, 2001:1), especially the marketing mix concept (Niffenegger, 1989:45). Other frameworks might provide a more fruitful basis for analysis. The broadening theory of marketing was based upon the notion that marketing ideas and techniques could be utilised whenever value is exchanged between two parties, e.g. charities, churches, and political parties, (Kotler and Levy, 1969:10). It was argued later that differences of form and content (Lock and Harris, 1996: 21), and structure and process (Butler and Collins, 1999:55) existed, and that value exchange was not so straightforward. Baines, Harris, and Newman (1999:1) additionally state that this commercial and political difference, when suggesting tha t political campaigns usually operate with shorter, more intense promotional campaigns, in oligopolistic markets, with polarised levels of voter loyalty, and differing potential for the degree of marketing orientation in different countries. It can be argued here that structural changes in the political landscape had an impact on the perceived need for adoption of marketing techniques. Voters are perceived to be less involved and less loyal than in the past (Ware, 1995: 6). This may partly be due to voter apathy, which is a growing trend in most western democracies. There are a number of factors that are central to the need for marketing in campaigns. They are lack of actual or perceived product differentiation; increasing numbers and frequency of electoral contests and referendum held, or simply because voters have more compelling distractions stimulated by increased wealth and leisure time. To cast ones vote was and is seen as less of a duty than was largely the case in the past. This is why marketing has evolved to be used as a way of demand intervention. Marketing and political campaigning or vice-versa can be deemed as inseparable, because of its strategic importance to the outcome of any election. Such is the perceived value of marketing that no political party and few individual candidates would challenge the role marketing plays in the modern campaign and electoral process. With all this in mind, this paper moves on to explore the full potential of political marketing on a theoretical level identifying the literature that a political party might use marketing and become market-orientated. It will examine the extent to which the Labour party in 1997, exhibited behaviour in line with this model and comparing this with the Conservative party in 1979. Additionally, the Republican party of the US would also be mentioned and examined with regard to correlations or differences between the use of this model, in the UK and the US between the political parties. Therefore the remainder of this paper is set as follow: Chapter 3: Theoretical concepts of Political Marketing Chapter 4: Labour Party use of political marketing, 1997-2001 Chapter 5: Conservative Party use of political marketing, 1997-2001 Chapter 6: The use of political marketing in the US in comparison to the UK Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusion References and Bibliography. Political parties use political marketing to determine their policies, organisation, communication and, ultimately, potential delivery in government. Political parties were traditionally perceived as bastions of ideology, dogma, idealism and rhetoric. In the twenty-first century, however, most if not all-political parties in the UK of varying ideologies, histories, sizes and fortunes are aware of political marketing. The extent to which they choose to use it, the form they adopt, and their success at adopting a market orientation may vary, but all understand the pressure from the political market to satisfy the general populace. Depending on their nature, political parties can use marketing in various ways. Parties differ in their size and goals. Major parties are large, established organisations whose dominant goal is to win control of government, therefore to win a general (or devolved) election. The Conservative and Labour parties in the UK are major parties and so try to use political marketing to win an election. Their market consists of the electorate, in addition to anyone else who has influence on voters, although the parties do not need to win support from everyone to gain power. Their product includes all aspects of their behaviour. Although a major party generally asks political consumers to vote for it on the basis of what it promises to do in government, its policy promises or party manifesto which it lays out to the general electorate, voters also take into account other aspects of party behaviour such as leadership, party unity, organisation, and the behaviour of members, because these may aff ect the ability of the party to deliver on policy promises. The current marketing philosophy focuses on how firms satisfy customers, and adopt what is called a market-orientation as this is deemed as the most effective way to meet the firms goals (Drucker, 1954:37). It can be argued here that if a political party implements the marketing philosophy, it will seek to meet voters needs and wants, thus producing voter satisfaction, and in doing so gain electoral support to meet its own goals. Orientation is a concept that the major parties should adopt, which is based on an attitude towards how they behave in relation to the electorate. There are three main political marketing orientations (Lees-Marshment 2001:692). Market-oriented parties (MOPs) design their product, including policies, leadership and organisation, to suit what political consumers demand, in order to achieve their goal of winning a general election. This does not mean they simply follow what everyone wants to them to do, because this would be impossible anyway, because demands are complex and competing. Instead they need to go through a complex process of stages. This is shown in Box 3.1. Box 3.1 The Process for a Market-Oriented Party Stage 1: Market intelligence Party finds out what voters need and want by: †¢ Keeping an ear to the ground, talking to activists, meeting the public; †¢ Using quantitative research (electoral results, public opinion polls and privately commissioned studies) and qualitative research such as a focus group. Stage 2: Product design Party designs behaviour (including leadership, members, policies, staff, constitution and symbols) according to voters demands. Stage 3: Product adjustment Party designs product to suit the electorate at large and then needs to make sure it considers other factors: †¢ Achievability, determine whether the product design is achievable; †¢ Internal reaction analysis, to alter design to ensure it will obtain the support of enough MPs and members to ensure its implementation; †¢ Competition analysis, this is to promote opposition weaknesses and highlight own strengths; †¢ Support analysis, this is with the view of focusing on winning the support of voters, it does not have, but needs to win. Stage 4: Implementation   The findings from stages 1 – 3, must be implemented. The majority must accept the new behaviour broadly. This requires effective and considerate organisation and management. Stage5: Communication This includes the so-called near-term or long-term campaign, but also ongoing behaviour. The party ensures that communication helps it achieve electoral success; attempts to influence others in the communication process, such as journalist and opposition parties; and uses selling techniques such as direct mail and targeted communications Stage 6: Campaign This can be said to be the final chance for the political party to communicate with the voters. Stage 7: Election The party goes through the election. Stage 8: Delivery The party carries out promises made once in government. Box 3.2 The process for a Product-Oriented Party Stage 1: Product design The party designs its behaviour according to what it thinks best represents them. Stage 2: Communication This includes the so=called near-term or long-term campaign but also ongoing behaviour. Not just the leader, but all MPs and members, send a message to the electorate. The organisation is clear and effective; it is designed to advance arguments. Stage 3: Campaign The official election campaign period starts leading up to the election. 4: Election The general election takes place. Stage 5: Delivery on promises made during election as stated on the partys election manifesto The party will deliver its product in government. Box 3.3 The Process for Sales – Oriented Party Stage 1: Product design The party designs its behaviour according to what it thinks best. Stage 2: Market Intelligence The party aims to discover voters response to the product, especially voters who do not support the party but might, so that communications can be targeted on them. Informally, it keeps an ear to the ground, talks to party members, creates policy groups and meets with the public. Formally, it uses quantitative research (electoral results, public opinion polls and privately commissioned studies) and qualitative research such as a focus group. Stage 3: Communication This includes the so-called near-term or long-term campaign but also ongoing behaviour. Not just the leader, but all MPs and members send a message to the electorate. Attempts are made to ensure all communication helps achieve electoral success, and to influence others in the communication process. The organisation is clear and effective designed to advance arguments. It also makes use of selling techniques such as direct mail and targeted communications to persuade voters to agree with the party. Stage 4: Campaign   The official election campaign period kicks in up until election. The party continues to communicate effectively as in stage 3.   Stage 5: Election The general election. Stage 6: Delivery The party will deliver its promised product in government. Other parties with different goals may not choose to use political marketing in this way i.e. Box 3.1. However, if the dominant goal of a party is to advance a particular policy, rather than win an election, it maybe more product oriented. Product – Oriented parties (POPs) decide their behaviour or product themselves without much care for the opinions of political consumers, or rather, they assume that voters will realise that it is right and vote for it accordingly. Their process is quite simple: see Box 3.2. A product – oriented party refuses to change its ideas or product even if it fails to gain electoral or membership support. If a party is a small or minor party, with the main goal being not to win a general election but to put ideas on the agenda, this may be the most appropriate political marketing orientation. However, most partys overtime, grow to be concerned about their performance. They may then move to a sales orientation position, retaining the same product or behaviour, but using political marketing communication techniques, see Box 3.3. Market intelligence is used not to inform the product design, but to help the party persuade voters it is right and has sound electoral policies. Sales-oriented parties are often perceived as the more manipulative, because they use marketing to persuade or change public opinion. Current research indicates that the trend in the UK, at least amongst the major political parties, is towards the market-oriented approach (Lees-Marshment 2001). The trend is to evolve from product through to sales and then finally a market orientation, responding to the gradual rise of the political consumer. Major partys can however, win power using a market-orientation and then switch back to a sales or product once in power. Political parties often find it harder to rema in in touch with the public and responsive to the demands of political consumers once they are in government. Other small UK parties tend to adopt any one of the three orientations. Parties such as the Scottish National Party have moved through the classic product-sales-market –oriented cycle. The use of marketing by political parties is not as easy as the theory suggests. The latest research in political party marketing suggests that despite the desire of both the Conservative and Labour parties to adopt and maintain a market orientation, many obstacles get in the way. This will be fully explained in the following chapters. The Labour party has been one of political marketings success stories of the new century, at least on the surface. Using political marketing to become more in touch with the public, reduce any unwanted historical baggage, and even relabelled itself as ‘New Labour, it first became market oriented in order to win the previous election in 1997. It remains the fullest example of a market-oriented party, following the model to the greatest degree of any party ever seen. However, after obtaining the mandate of power from the UK electorate, the party met many obstacles to delivering on its 1997election promises. This is a major potential weakness: Labour support is very much based on promised outputs, so it needs to be seen to deliver. It is in the context that Labour attempted to maintain a market orientation and retain its electoral support during 1997 – 2001. Table 4.1 The Labour government and Delivery, February 2000 ‘There is a lot of talk at the moment about whether the present government is or is not ‘delivering. From what you know, do you think that it is or is not delivering on each of the following? Source: Gallup Political Index Delivery in government on the 1997 election promises Delivering the political product as stated previously is not an easy task. It is one of unanswered potential conundrums at the heart of political marketing (Laing and Lees-Marshment, 2002:19). The Labour party understood this. The party talked constantly about the need to deliver. It copied business and started to issue an annual report on its delivery of its promises (Labour Party 1999: 3-7, 2000). Labour undoubtly succeeded in some areas, such as constitutional reform, with the introduction of devolution in Scotland and Wales and the removal of hereditary peers from the House of Lords. However, Labour failed to convince many voters that it had made real improvement to standards in the public services, which is the core part of the 1997 product. Public resentment about Labours failures to deliver grew, Table 4.1, gives you the evidence. There was also dissatisfaction with the Labour party. A report from the Labour party itself based on its private polls leaked in the independent warning that the partys huge lead in the opinion polls masks the fact that people are turning against the Government because they believe it is failing to deliver its 1997 general election party manifesto. In July 2000 a MORI survey indicated that 57% of respondents did not think the leader of the Labour Party had kept the parties election promises. See the following table: Table 4.2 Perceived performance of the prime minister, July 2000 Since becoming prime minister in May 1997, do you think, Tony Blair has or has not delivered election promises made in the partys election manifesto? Source: MORI telephone survey 20-22, July 2000 Labour therefore still needed to utilise political marketing, but this time to maintain rather than win support. Stage 1: Market Intelligence The Labour party conducted substantial market intelligence. Philip Gould conducted focus group work for the party; Greg Crook ran a rolling programme of opinion polling (Cook, 2002:87); the partys advertising agency, TVWA London, also conducted research (Lawther, 2002:1). Labour also analysed results of elections to local authorities, the devolved institutions, the European parliament and parliamentary by-elections (Cook, 2002:88). It took account of negative criticism despite the overall positive polls and continued to monitor the performance of the opposition. During 1997 – 2001 Labour continually discussed voters needs. Stage 2: Product design The New Labour product offered to the electorate in 2001 was extremely similar to that offered in 1997, with greater determination to deliver in the second term. Policy: In terms of policy, the focus remained on raising standards in the public services, such as health and education. The party retained its commitment to low income tax and competent economic management. There were slight changes in terms of greater investment in public services in order to improve them, but such moves were made without a call o increase tax. Stephen Lawther, polling coordinator for the Scottish Labour Party, argued that Labour put forward a strong product: †¢ Minimum wage; †¢ 1 million new jobs; †¢ Lowest unemployment in 25 years; †¢ Lowest inflation in 30 years; †¢ Winter fuel allowance;   Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Record investment in schools in hospitals; †¢ Small class sizes; †¢ A nursery place for every 4 year old; †¢ 10,000 more nurses in the NHS; †¢ Working families tax credit reduction; †¢ Scottish parliament (devolution), (Lawther, 2002). Leadership: As leader, the prime minister continued to exercise strong and determined control over his party and the senior leadership and cabinet in particular. The prime minister enjoyed extremely high popularity scores in public opinion polls until the end of the 1997-2002 periods, when he began to attract criticism for being smarmy, arrogant and out of touch with the national electorate. In June 2000, the prime minister was even slow-hand-clapped by the Womens Institute. Internal membership: Changes were made within the party with the aim of making members more involved (Seyd 1999:390-391). Members-only sessions were introduced at the annual party conference, to ensure members had a chance to air their views without damaging the party externally. Partnership in power, a series of proposals to change certain organisational structures within the party, devolved policy-making to the National Policy Forum to provide greater consultation with the membership. Nevertheless, party membership slumped from 420,000 after 1997 election to just 320,000 by mid-1999. Many of those who remained were de-energised (Seyd and Whiteley, 1999). This reflects the limited application of marketing to the membership, (Lees-Marshment, 2001a). The foundations of Labours support have been eroded, making it even more crucial that the party satisfy voters through delivery on public services. Party Unity: The leadership exerted significant control over the partys participation within the new devolved institutions in the selection of the leadership candidate for the Welsh assembly, which aroused significant discontent among Labour party activists. Another case was the election for the London mayor. After failing to be selected as the Labour candidate, an old left-winger, Ken Livingston, stood as an independent after calls from the public to do so, and won. This was an indication of the discontent at the grassroots of the Labour party: an issue that Labour continues to struggle with, due to its use of political marketing. Stage 3: Product Adjustment Achievability: Learning in government that delivering on the 1997 pledges, particularly those about the quality of public services, was extremely difficult, the party made promises for the next term of office in terms of inputs rather than outputs, such as ‘x number of nurses or police rather than reduce waiting list or lower levels of crime. Inputs are easier to deliver because they are easier to control (Lees-Marshment and Laing, 2002:20). The 2001 pledges were: †¢ Mortgages to be as low as possible, low inflation and sound public finances; †¢ 10,000 extra teachers and higher standards in secondary schools; †¢ 20,000 extra nurses and 10,000 extra doctors in a reformed NHS; †¢ 6,000 extra recruits to raise police numbers to their highest ever level; †¢ Pensioners winter fuel payment retained, minimum wage rising to  £4.20, and most recently to  £5.25 an hour. Internal reaction analysis: The decline in membership that Labour experienced after 1997 suggests failure of internal reaction analysis. The new system of policy-making was criticised for restricting the opportunity for debate at conference and ignoring the work of policy forums (Seyd, 2002:95). The selection processes used for the Scottish parliament, Welsh assembly and London mayor also indicated a lack of internal reaction analysis and generated further discontent. Competition analysis: Labour engaged in a significant competition analysis in terms of its planning for the campaign. It was keen that voters would see the election as a choice between the parties rather than a referendum on Labours mixed record of delivery (Gould, 2002:57, Lawther, 2002:1). Posters reassured voters about the party, saying, ‘Thanks for voting Labour, but also reminding them of potential problems the Conservatives might bring, with posters headed ‘Economic Disaster II). Support analysis: Labour analysed voters who were former Conservatives that had defected to the party in 1997, and found that this group would stay with the party. Attention then shifted to mobilising people to vote, as the party feared it could lose support due to a low turnout. Labour played on the emotion of fear at a prospective Tory victory, commissioning the famous ‘wiggy poster of the then leader of the Conservative party, warning ‘Get out and vote or they get in. It tried to put forward the vision that the work goes on and voters needed to give the party more time. Stage 4: Implementation The leader of the Labour party insisted on strict party unity: i.e. all ministers had to agree any interaction with the media and the press office of the Labour party, to ensure unified communication from government. The partys leader had a few difficulties passing legislation. And ambitious MPs knew they had to keep in line with the leadership if they wished to advance their careers. Blair (the leader of the Labour Party) followed the market-oriented party model to fine detail, promoting those who followed the product design and sidelining those who voiced dissent. Nevertheless Labour was criticised for being too ‘Control Conscious. Stage 5: Communication Labour continued to control communication from the party and also central government. The Government Information Service was used to communicate the governments message and delivery (Scammell, 2001). Government spending on advertising increased massively in the four years between 1997 and 2001 (Grice, 2001). Party communication was also focused on delivery: party political broad casts during the elections to the European parliament, for example, focused on the governments achievements, rather than European issues. Communication did not succeed in convincing voters that the government had delivered as initially thought. Stage 6: Campaign The character of the partys product and its delivery performance in office determined Labours campaign. It focused on the need to deliver, asking for more time to do its job. Labour used target marketing and campaigned most heavily in marginal seats where it was assumed that its efforts would have the greatest effect (Cook, 2002:87). In Scotland Labour sent out targeted direct mail in the form of a letter from both the leader of the party and the deputy leader to segments of the market such as Scottish National Party (SNP) floaters, and Labour also ran health rallies and a pledge day to reinforce key themes. The campaign was closely co-ordinated from the partys Millbank headquarters, with an integrated marketing communications structure. Responding to market intelligence, significant effort went into getting the vote out, through ‘Operation Turnout. This assessed the party identification and voting history of electors in target seats and sent a direct marketing message to them to get them to vote (Lawther, 2002). Nevertheless, the underlying public dissatisfaction with public services was brought to the fore when Blair was accosted by the partner of a patient complaining about the poor standards of care in the NHS in a di