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I believe that we chose undocumented immigrants as our region of conflict for various reasons. Such topics have been very popular in recent media as well as topics of political debate as well. Although, each of these publicized arenas fail to mention the empathic components of this debate. These include the reasons why these individuals are deciding to flee to America. Many of these immigrants are seeking hope, safety, and more opportunity when they flee their countries. Many American’s question why said individuals do not just take the traditional route and become citizens the legal way. The American Immigration Council states that it is not as easy as one may assume. Citizenship is basically not offered unless you fall under one of these three categories: employment, family reuniting, and humanitarian protection (American Immigration Council,2017). Often citizens in the United States fail to look past politics and wear the shoes of the immigrants, however, by doing so, maybe just maybe, their views on such issues would change drastically.

As Rudnick discussed in her Ted Talk, we are a nation of immigrants. Nearly 99% of citizens living in the United States have ancestors that came from foreign lands (Rudnick,2012). Such statistics reveal that almost all of us are indeed immigrants. This made me realize that the current US immigration policies are highly unfair. Logically thinking, none of us really control these borders, since “Americans” actually stole this land from Native Americans many years ago. How can individuals who do not rightfully own this land tell others who can and cannot enter. I feel this right should be given to the Native Americans. The way that we currently treat immigrants is highly unacceptable. I feel that the Dream Act should certainly be passed, because it allows many of these immigrants to remain in the United States. Although the numbers of this act have significantly plummeted recently, this Act is very significant because it allows immigrants to obtain an education and financial aid.

However, upon Trump’s presidency numerous changes have been made regarding these undocumented immigrants. According to Hwang (2017) : “On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security issued two policy memos instructing Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to identify and deport every undocumented immigrant they encounter. While the memos still prioritize undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes – similar to the Obama administration's policies – the new policy briefs demonstrate a hard-liner attitude against all undocumented immigrants by widening prioritization to people arrested but not convicted of crimes and people deemed a public safety threat” (Hwang, page 1, 2017). As we can see from this quote, even those who have not convicted a crime are being targeted under Trump’s administration.

In the Immigration Game Experience, which has numerous duplicates, stimulates experiences of border patrol as well as immigrants trying to make their way into the United States. The game is very controversial and displays numerous prejudice examples. For instance, when one is migrant mode, it is extremely difficult to survive and successfully make it through. Just like reality I believe. However, in patrol mode, you have the better advantage. I was unable to survive in immigrant mode, and I feel many others struggled as well. One unjust advantage would be speed, immigrants cannot move as quickly as those in border patrol mode (Webster,2013).

Catholic Social Teachings as well as the college mission statement believes that we should except everyone equally. Whether they are within the United States legally or illegally. All individuals under these principles are deserving of respect and love. None of us can truthfully relate to these instances, therefore, we should never judge or treat such individuals differently. Whatever trouble they are trying to escape is legitimate. We are all children of God, and God places no borders, so neither should the United States.

I have learned a lot from reviewing this region of conflict. Prior to this research, I did not really have an opinion of this topic. I sort of feel sick about hearing these topics on the news constantly. I can somewhat understand why the United States chooses to have such strict rules, however, I feel that they really shouldn’t have the choice. Native Americans are the ones who really own the land, and I am almost certain they would have no issue allowing these undocumented immigrants into the United States borders. I feel that if we, even for one minute put our feel in the immigrants shows, we would realize that they are more similar to us than different. Which means they deserve respect and care.

The endings of A Street Car Named Desire in the movie and in the play by Tennessee Williams are very different. Initially, they both follow the same storyline, which follows Stella’s struggles between choosing Blanche or Stanley. Near the end, Kazan changes the turning point from what Tennessee Williams wrote. The impact of the different endings dramatically changes the reactions from the audience.

In the play, Eunice is telling Stella that she cannot believe what Stanley did because her life needs to go on. Stella takes the baby, and she goes back to Stanley, and when the baby stopped crying it is as if life is back to normal. When Blanche is gone they treat their lives no differently than when she was there. In this case, Stanley wins the “poker game,” because he has a better hand than Blanche. Stella cries frantically and it shows how badly she feels about admitting Blanche into an insane asylum. The end of the play says “7 card stud.” This tells the audience that the play has gone back to normal. This ending is very different from the movie because Stella makes a different decision than she does in the book.

In the movie, Stella does not go back to her normal life. The book has Eunice giving Stella the baby, but in the movie Eunice does not give Stella the baby and as Blanche is being forced to leave Stella thinks about what Stanley has done. It makes her too sick to even think of Stanley, and she says “Don’t you touch me, don’t ever touch me again.” She relays the amount of hatred she has toward Stanley and it impacts the decision she makes in the end. When Mitch watches Stella being taken away he yells at Stanley and says, “what have you done to her?” and this skepticism was not shown during the play. The movie does not have life going back to normal and although Blanche did not win the poker game, Stanley did lose. Stella goes back inside to Eunice as Stanley continues to call for her. This change is very difficult to comprehend because the result of the play and the movie are opposite. This ending shows the change between who has won the pot: Stanley, Blanche or No One.

As a result of the alternate endings the audience becomes very confused as to why they are so different. If a change had been made earlier in the movie it would not be as drastic as making a change to the ending. This alters the meanings that can be interpreted by the play and movie. The question that many still wonder is why are the endings different if the movie was produced only a couple years after the book? The alternate endings have a negative impact on how people interpret the endings.

Works Cited

1. Williams, T. (1947). A Streetcar Named Desire. New Directions.
2. Kazan, E. (Director). (1951). A Streetcar Named Desire [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures.
3. Boulanger, C. (2000). "A Streetcar Named Desire" on Film: The Impact of Elia Kazan. Literature Film Quarterly, 28(3), 234-240.
4. Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2010). Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire. Infobase Publishing.
5. Thompson, M. (1998). Drama after Darwin: Does Tennessee Williams's 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Tell Us Something About Human Nature? Journal of American Studies, 32(2), 195-213.
6. French, P. (2018). The Making of a Masterpiece: Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire. Bloomsbury Publishing.
7. Griffin, A. (2011). Representations of Madness in the Plays of Tennessee Williams. Palgrave Macmillan.
8. Cowan, M. (2003). A Streetcar Named Expire: Tennessee Williams's Psychological Landscapes. The Southern Quarterly, 41(3), 69-81.
9. Mahabir, A. (2001). Menageries and Theatres of Desire: Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire. South Asian Review, 22(2), 173-190.
10. Spoto, D. (2005). The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams. Da Capo Press.

In the study of Psychology, particularly human behaviour, both aggression and fear are hotly debated topics among theorists. Aggression and fear are both inherent in our world and both serve different functions. Fear refers to a personal fear and can be observed on a personal level, whereas aggression is a group subject, usually concerned with more than one person. These two very primal emotions seem almost out of place in this modern world, and so the conflicting theories, which attempt to explain both fear and aggression, can differ tremendously in their attempt to rationalize this facet of human behaviour. The two topics I will discuss in this essay are, as I mentioned, still disputed today. By addressing them we can see the controversial nature of psychology.

Psychologists consider Fear and Anxiety to be almost exactly the same thing. Fear is the 1. An unpleasant emotion caused by threat of danger, pain, or harm (Oxford 2002) anxiety, or anxiousness is 1.feeling of worry or unease (op. sit.). So similar are the two in terms of psychological study, they have been baled together. There are many different theories throughout the psychological community concerning fear, its origins and meanings.

Social learning Psychologists, for example, take a very definite stance on fear, they believe that it is a learnt emotion and is not a genetic reflex or understanding we are born with. Social Learning psychology proposes 'True fear requires a rather sophisticated level of cognitive development' (Schnell et. al. 1975, p. 167).

Social learning Psychologists suggest that true fear, what we think of as fear, can only be truly experienced when a child has learnt about 'fear'. To be afraid of something a child must either have experiences something with negative effects or experience something described to them as frightening. The child who fears must have a memory of fear. A child, excepting outside influence, can never fear something new. 6-month-old Roberta when approached by the big hairy monster was not frightened. She could only ever truly fear the monster if she had a) already met it once and it had hurt her, roared loudly or similar, or b) been told the story of a monster with descriptions of it's appearance and negative deeds.

This means that also fear experienced through gradual conditioning. John was smacked when he ate lollies, so when he thinks of lollies, John becomes anxious (Atkinson et. al. 1983).

Social learning psychologists, when studying fear are always fascinated to report the reinforcing nature of fear, that fear, if not analysed and confronted, never gives the sufferer a chance to rid them of fear. Jenny who is scared of spiders, will scream and run from them, (which itself is a self perpetuating action as it increases anxiety) never allowing herself to see that spiders are quite unlikely to attack, and indeed, are more inclined to remove themselves from such an exciting atmosphere. (op. sit.)

Another well-regarded theory of fear is that of famous Psychologist, Sigmund Freud. Freud believed that, firstly, there are two kinds of fear, objective anxiety and neurotic anxiety. Objective anxiety is described as the practical response to danger (Schnell et. al. 1975); Freud believed that objective anxiety is a positive, and necessary reflex, and therefore did not explain this fear in great detail. He was far more interested in our unwarranted fears and so wrote in depth about, what he considered a fascinating side to human fear: Neurotic Anxiety.

Neurotic anxiety is a term coined by Freud to describe the anxiety that springs from a person's unconscious. More specifically the anxiety is a result of unconscious conflict between the id, and the ego or super ego, a subject is most often unaware of the root of their anxiety as it is hidden in the unconscious and many defence mechanisms have been employed to divert the conscious from cause and conflict. For example Jeffery may have sexual feelings towards his sister (id) but knows, subconsciously, that it is morally unacceptable to feel that way (ego), and so has intense inner turmoil at an unconscious level. This produces anxiety, and as it is at a subconscious level is Neurotic Anxiety. (Atkinson et. al. 1983)

Neurotic anxiety is dealt with, using defence mechanisms, another important part of Freud's theory. This could take many different forms such as; reaction formation, an unconscious dislike of a friend could express itself as a clingy overly-loving relationship; repression, repressing the anxiety and not addressing it; or sublimation, someone could feel an intense hate of a family member, but knowing it would be unacceptable to act upon, and having no other outlet, might express themselves artistically.

As anxiety had differing schools of thought, so does the topic of aggression. Where we have looked at Freudian and Social Learning theory with Anxiety, we will view aggression from the viewpoints of behaviourists and John Dollard, one of the original authors of the frustration-aggression theory.

Aggression is a very interesting part of human behaviour, what interests Psychologists is intraspecific aggression, or aggression on ones own species. Aggression is hostile or violent behaviour or attitudes (Oxford, 2002). And it is the explosion of aggression, how it is expressed and its strange manifestations with in the human race that make it such a popular topic of study.

Behaviourists believe that intraspecific aggression is a positive act. Intraspecific aggression can disperse a population with the aggressive protection of territories, also in the case of aggressive behaviour resulting from mating rituals; it often means the stronger males will reproduce (Carlson, 1987). This suggests though that in the case of humans, intraspecific aggressive behaviour is no longer a necessary part of our evolution and sustenance, so why does it exist?

Behaviourists answer this question with a typically biological answer, that aggression is learned. This is not often the result of a child being a victim of or witness to domestic violence, but behaviourists believe the large amounts and extended exposure to of violence on television and in video games cause children to imitate aggressive behaviour (op. sit.) . For example Paul, who has watched his father beat his mother from a young age, is more likely to be aggressive, or Jessica who watches vast amounts of violent television is more likely to play violently in the playground.

The frustration-aggression hypothesis is a controversial aggression theory. John Dollard and associates penned the first frustration-aggression theory, in 1939. It proposed that frustration is the cause of aggression. Frustration is produced by feelings of un-met goals. This thwarting of someone's efforts to reach their goals creates an aggressive drive, which inspires action to stop, injure or eliminate the person or article preventing their success and causing their frustration. Dollard and his company of psychologists supposed that when this aggression is expressed only then is the aggressive drive reduced. For example, Robert a rugby player attempts to score trys throughout his rugby match, however the other team continue to stop him, this frustrates Robert which gives birth to his aggressive drive, when Robert continues to be frustrated, he is more likely to execute a rougher-than-usual tackle, or initiate a fight (perhaps this is why brawls are not uncommon in Rugby).

Both aggression and anxiety are fascinating subjects to study in psychology because of the many conflicting, convincing theories that surround them both. Both have a necessary role in human development and both continue to divide psychologists.

In their normal expression, aggression is structuring group behaviour and fear has a role in helping individuals avoid risky situations. However, these behaviours can often be expressed in ways that lead to difficult outcomes for individuals and groups, psychologists of all persuasions will continue to try to understand the tension and difficulties implicit in this.

While watching Fetch Clay, Make Man, and during the conversation we had with the stage manager, I connected a lot of what we had mentioned in class with what I saw and heard. The first thing I noticed during the show was something that was brought up in the in class discussion, and that was the fringe that was hanging from both sides of the stage. The moment that a transition started to happen where furniture moved through the fringe, I immediately thought about how the fringe could catch on something that was moving through. Luckily, on the night that I went to see the show, the fringe didn’t get caught on the furniture after it was pulled back. I actually thought, while seeing the show, “that’s something that went in to the run book,” referencing the management of the fringe after a transition.

Another thing that the fringe brought up is the communication between the stage manager and the assistant stage manager during the run of a show. We talked in class about how important being able to have a good line of communication between the SM team is, especially because after the rehearsal process, the SM and the ASM are no longer side by side. Hearing about how the SM and the ASM, during the performances, were able to discuss, and even joke a little, about the fringe showed to me how well their SM team was able to communicate during the run of the show. I also think that because they have worked together before, it made it easier to keep up that level of communication. This also brings up a point that was made really early in the semester, that making good relationships with the people you work with on a show will only help going forward. It was clear that the good relationships that the SM team share was very beneficial to a successful run. In addition, because they were able to joke about the fringe in a lighthearted way, they did another thing that we discussed in class, which is to utilize the tenets from Fish!, specifically “Choose Your Attitude.” They could have instead gotten very frustrated at the fringe every time, but instead, by laughing and joking about it, they made dealing with the fringe less of an issue, which made everyone happier and more productive.

Another instance of relationships that I thought of when we discussed the show was the relationships between stage managers during a co-production like Fetch Clay was. This was apparent when she discussed the quality of the work that the other stage manager did on the first leg of the production. I think that not bringing up the quality of the work to the other theatre is a good decision, because doing so now wouldn’t help anything, and might hinder the relationship between Roundhouse and the other theatre.

Also, I thought that it was remarkable how she was able to make her own blocking script and tracking sheet if the original paperwork was missing so much, based only on a recording of the show and a couple of days of rehearsal. While watching the show, I was noting how different items and actors moved on stage in each scene. There were a lot of instances where I consciously thought about the tracking of items on stage. One instance was when Stepin Fetchit left his hat on the couch when there was a flashback transition, and then he went and grabbed it back up after the flashback was over. I was thinking about how we talked about knowing where a prop is at all times, and I thought this was a good example, because if in rehearsal they were to work just the transition back into the present to the end of the scene, it would be important to preset the hat on to the couch, as that is something that will be picked up after the transition was over, which is something that we talked about in class.

As for future shows that I will watch, I will definitely see them differently going forward. I already am noticing the technical elements more as I am watching the show, but now I am actively looking for how the stage manager calls cues as a part of the whole process. I am also thinking about how the SM team is communicating, if I see something that would require good communication (like with the fringe in Fetch Clay). Now that I am in this class and are thinking like a stage manager, a lot of the more backstage things are coming to mind as I watch a show.

Maintaining a family can be difficult. In many instances, fathers have to work countless hours to keep their family afloat. Therefore, they rarely have time to interact and bond with their families which creates problems among them forming a happy relationship with their children. The love fathers give toward their children can be taken for granted. The poems “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke and “My Winter Sundays” by Hayden Robert illustrate this experience in two different scenarios. The poet in “My Papa’s Waltz” describes the experience through recalling the times he would rough-house with his dad. While the poet in “My Winter Sundays” describes the experience in a more sad and appreciative manner as the poet realizes how much his father did for him.

The fathers in both poems are described similarly as both poems are about the troubles of a working dad. Theodore Roethke in “My Papa's Waltz” tells a story of a child and his memories that happened late at night with his father (possibly his own childhood). His memories seem to be about his father. His father seems to be an alcoholic as he is often drunk as he arrives home late at night stinking of alcohol. Once his father is home, he waits to waltz (dance) with him. The poem then goes on to say they danced until pans in kitchen slid off the kitchen shelf. The poem also describes the father to have battered knuckles and rough palms which suggests that he works hard and possibly a lot. Finally, the father waltzed him to sleep in bed. In “Those Winter Sundays”, Hayden Robert also tells a story of a child and his memories with his dad (also possibly his own childhood). His memories describe the times his father would wake-up every morning to get dressed for work in the cold darkness and before leaving he would prepare the family for the morning. He prepared the family by gathering firewood and keeping the house warm and then waking the family up. Although he did not receive any thanks, he did it anyway. Overall, the fathers in both poems are hard-working men trying to support their families and rarely have time to bond with their children.

In both poems, the poets describe a flashback of theirs with much respect and love for their dads. The title “My Papa Waltz” infers that the poet respected and loved his father. When children call their dad “Papa”, it shows that they are close and that they admire and respect their father because “Papa” is a friendly word that is more personal over saying “dad” or “father”. Also, the word “waltz” implies a joyful and formal dance. As a result, the title of Roethke’s poem and the way he describes his father at times in the poem is generally positive. Another illustration of the child's respect and affection for his father is shown by the things he overlooks and ignores to go on with dancing with his dad. For instance, the child ignores the discomfort in his ear from scraping against the buckle of his belt. Also, in the poem, it states “the whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy; / But I hung on like death”. Roethke doesn’t seem to fully approve everything his father does to or for him, however, he still loves him despite his drunkenness and sometimes aggressive behavior. In Hayden's poem, he remembers his dad as selfless and self-sacrificing as he says, “Sundays too my father got up early” which means he even worked on Sundays. Also, the child does not have any negative remarks about his dad outside of not being close to him. He remembers his father with respect and love, but also with some remorse as he says, “speaking indifferently to him”. Him speaking indifferently with his dad means he is not interested in his dad and does not appreciate him. However, the child later says, “What did I know, What did I know / of love’s austere and lonely offices” which shows that he deeply regretted not giving enough thanks and appreciation for what his dad did for him. Ultimately, both children in the poems loved their father deeply despite their hardships and uneasy relationship.

Even though Theodore and Hayden had different struggles bonding with their fathers as their fathers worked countlessly to support them, they both showed respect and love for their fathers. This respect and love may not have been a huge concern to them when they were children, but now, as they mature and grow older, they start to understand why their fathers acted the way they did as they reflect upon themselves through their poems.

Works Cited

1. Hayden, Robert. “Those Winter Sundays.” 1966.
2. Roethke, Theodore. “My Pap's Waltz.” 1942.

Women in the field of literature have been looked down on as subordinates and belittled for a very long period of time. Prior to the 19th century, women were placed in the opinion of the cult of domesticity, where women were to stay at home and be submissive to the husband. Despite this, Charlotte Perkins Gilman brought out her radical views in her work, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a short story written in 1890. The woman, Jane, in the story undergoes the feeling of being imprisoned by trying to live up to the high hopes of her husband and to have individuality. The story consists of the journal entries by the narrator that deals with the way she was treated by her husband to gain back her mental stability. Although the story relates to the treatment of women in the late 1800s this story was a way through which Gilman raised awareness of the struggles faced by women in that time period. “The Yellow Wallpaper” contains various symbolic elements that connect to events that women encountered.

In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the symbolism of the wallpaper, the narrator’s journal, and the nursery to represent the suppression and confinement of women in society in the late 1800s. The wallpaper is interpreted in various ways and can have two meanings, her controlling husband and how the society controls women. Gilman expresses that, “At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be”. The narrator distinguishes with the woman that is trapped behind the wallpaper and her innermost self knows that she is confined but her consciousness has the mindset that what her husband, John, does is best for her. The narrator comes in reason with her frustration and the condition as she is forced to be in bed for “recovery” and sees the “bars” which are the ones like in prison cells. The woman that is seen trapped behind the wallpaper is actually the narrator herself that expresses the narrator’s own feelings of frustration and helplessness towards the idea of being trapped and imprisoned by the bars of a patriarchal society. Gilman also expresses that, “I don’t like to look out of the windows even — there are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast. I wonder if they all come out of that wall-paper as I did?”. The woman has been trapped in the room with the wallpaper where she cannot do the things she wants and only has to follow her husband’s instructions.

When she tries to find her way out and is so frustrated that she has freed the woman behind the wallpaper she sees how she was drawn away from her own identity and the connection that she has been keeping away from. The realization that there are other women like her in this world who are oppressed makes her frightened to even look at them. The wallpaper has become such a big part of her life that she is in love with it but as the story progresses she starts to be disgusted by it because of its effect on her mental state. The moment when she destroys the wallpaper serves how she breaks free from the system of patriarchy and the repression. It shows how she does not have to follow these values and can do what appeases to her. The writer of the article states that “….symbol of the story which not only represents the narrator’s state of mind but becomes that state of mind”. The narrator becomes so attached to the wallpaper that she becomes one with it, relates to the trapped woman and treats it like a living thing. The wallpaper also represents the deteriorating condition of the narrator and how it has become part of her life. The destructive patterns on the wallpaper are all out of order which represents the narrator’s state of mind, how she lacks the enlightenment to order her thoughts and later on finding tranquillity by destroying the wallpaper.

Symbolically, the wallpaper is a way of showing how it represented the domestic life the women were placed to abide by in the late 19th century in the United States. The journal of the narrator is symbolic to that of a woman’s escape from the norms of the society and the lack of self-expression. The writer of “The Yellow Wallpaper” states that “I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me”. The one main obstacle in her life that prevents her from doing what she likes and makes her feel better, which is writing, is her husband John. He restricts her from improving and living a satisfied life by controlling every aspect of her being. The only way the woman can express her frustration and get rid of depressing thoughts is by writing, which she is not allowed to. John restricts her from having an outlet to express her creativity, thus leading her to be mad and frustrated. The journal is an insight to her deteriorating mind and shows how John treats her as the subordinate to him. It represents the patriarchal society and the norms that literally ties women to subordinate roles in the domestic sphere. The journal can be a way of seeing it as an opposition to her husband and the dominance of the men in existing reality. The mindset of fixed roles in society has led to male-dominance and the systematic roles in the community where the women are meant to be dutiful at home and the men are the brain in the society. Gilman also says, “John is a physician, and perhaps — (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind) — perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster”. While the husband is someone who has a respectable and a professional job it is expected for the women to be a housewife and suppressed from gaining any form of education. The story being in the format of a journal lets the reader know all the deep thoughts of the narrator.

Although she knows that she is getting worse she can do nothing but be submissive to her husband. Therefore, she is unable to express her distress and instead complains over the respect she does not get through writing in her journal. Korb expresses that, “Unfortunately, because the text is her only place of true self-expression, it becomes as oppressive as the room, as oppressive as her husband”. The journal is the only place she can be herself and the only thing that she can rely upon at this point in time. Writing the journal gives the narrator a sense of assurance and stability throughout her struggles by keeping her sane. The journal becomes another example of oppression because that is the only place she can express herself which she is not allowed to but still writes refusing to follow her husband’s orders. The place the woman confined in is a nursery that is very isolated, which shows how the husband tries to intercept from her engaging to the outside world and taking away her identity. In another light, the room can also be seen as a secure place where she can do what she wants, which is writing. Gilman describes the room by saying, “It is a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore. It was nursery first and then playroom and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls”. The room is described in a way that she is not familiar with because it is her husband’s choice, she can do nothing but listen and follow his orders. The description of the various details in the room like the window and the patches in the walls suggests that the room is some sort of prison cell. The room or the nursery is the clear representation of confinement and her misery makes her mind portray the images of the room in an unfamiliar way. The writer of this article states that “Because John believes that he is supposed to function as the thinking partner in his marriage, he won’t let his wife think for herself”.

The woman in the story is so oppressed that she is in dilemma with herself, her thoughts are filled and consumed by her husband instructions and his orders that she thinks of himself before her. In the story the husband locks his wife in the room is a way of showing his power over her. The woman feels guilty for thinking about herself and her condition which is about her depression and her relationship with her husband in an oppressive marriage. The writer of the article emphasizes, “The woman is legally a child; socially, economically, and philosophically she must be led by an adult – her husband; and therefore the nursery is an appropriate place to house her”. The nursery is a way of indicating her status in society. The nursery has windows that are blocked with bars which makes the room look like a prison instead of a happy place for children. The narrator is eternally held captive from becoming an adult and is held back from being free. The bars prevent her from being active and working to be a successful woman. The idea of confinement related to the symbol can be seen as how women are not capable enough to perform roles out of the household as good as men. Hence, women were denied the opportunity to exhibit their capacity to do works outside of their domestic life. The idea of repression and the captivity of women are portrayed through the wallpaper, the journal and the nursery mentioned above in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The story is indulged with various symbols that all connect with each other and can create many conclusions and ideas depending on the reader.

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The key symbol, the wallpaper, demonstrates the male dominance and the fixed role in society which led to the frustration and maddening emotions of the narrator which can be related to women in general. Secondly, the journal is a symbol that shows the unavailability to express oneself and breaking free from the typical behaviour expected from a woman. Finally, the nursery is a way of showing how she is being stripped of having her own values and being imprisoned by her husband, John. This short story shows how people need to start thinking about the fixed roles seriously and to bring women’s oppression visible to society. Overall Gilman expresses her radical views and portrays that people should learn to change the oppressive mentality before being absorbed by it and to disregard the social norms.

Works Cited

1. Gilman, C. P. (1890). The yellow wallpaper. The New England Magazine, 5(5), 647-656.
2. Schilb, J. (2013). Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”: A symphony of subversion. The Explicator, 71(4), 277-281. doi: 10.1080/00144940.2013.810129
3. Mitchell, S. (2012). Madness and gender in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Women’s Studies, 41(3), 297-313. doi: 10.1080/00497878.2012.659927
4. Jones, J. (2008). Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”: A psychoanalytic reading. Explicator, 66(4), 215-220. doi: 10.3200/EXPL.66.4.215-220
5. Zaretsky, R. (2003). “The Yellow Wallpaper” and women’s discourse. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, 22(1), 43-57.
6. Tang, S. (2015). Self-rejection and self-expression in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 5(2), 75-82. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2015.52008
7. Berman, J. (1993). “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s neglected masterpiece. Studies in American Fiction, 21(1), 77-83.
8. Knight, D. (2010). Madness in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”. English Studies, 91(2), 200-214. doi: 10.1080/00138381003721618
9. Schulz, M. (2013). The gender politics of “The Yellow Wallpaper”: A multidisciplinary discourse analysis. Feminist Media Studies, 13(1), 37-52. doi: 10.1080/14680777.2012.741713
10. Landrum, R. E. (2011). “Too terribly good to be printed”: Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a feminist critique of popular psychology. Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies, 32(2), 1-22. doi: 10.5250/fronjwomestud.32.2.0001

Many can agree that musicals are an internationally popular film genre, due to the emotional outlet and creative plots they offer to their audience. An example of this would be the Broadway musical, P. T. Barnum “The Greatest Show on Earth”. The context of this musical is set in the 19th century of using the circus to reinvent show business to what we acknowledge today. This musical inspired director Michael Gracey to create “ The Greatest Showman” which used modern and complementary art as a source for viewers. According to the website, IMDb, “ The Greatest Showman” is an awarding winning movie that was released on December 20, 2017. This film had a soundtrack that was well received by the general public leading it to be the first soundtrack released in four years to sell one million copies in the U. S. This movie consists of 11 songs with highly inspirational lyrics created by Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The cast features multiple highly acclaimed and recognized actors such as Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Zendaya, and Keala Settle. In this movie, “The Greatest Showman”, various literary elements were displayed such as theme, metaphors, and conflict.

After watching The Greatest Showman, this film conveyed empowering messages for the audience. Some which include, believing in your dreams, self- acceptance, listening to your heart. The theme of believing in your dreams was a key component within the movie. When P. T. Barnum had his mind set on creating something from nothing, there were people who underestimated and did not believe he could do it. But with his persistent attitude, he never gave up and with that, he conquered his dream and became a worldwide sensation. Another theme the movie highlighted was self- acceptance which was shown when the circus performers were being isolated by society due to their physical appearance. But with the song track provided within the movie called “This is Me”, a national anthem sung by the circus performers as motivation for people to understand the liberation of being caged in by other people’s perspectives. This song helped people regain their confidence and learn to love themselves for who they are. Lastly, another theme would be following your heart. Interracial love was demonstrated in this movie which is a controversial issue prevalent in today’s society. Phillip Carlyle and Anne Wheeler dealt with the constant battle of being together due to the color of their skin. But they didn’t let the society’s perceptions ruin their happy ending.

Overall, powerful themes were conveyed throughout the movie which inspired the audience in different ways. Not only was different themes displayed in the movie, but also metaphorical actions were shown as representations of current societal issues. This movie metaphorically depicted the circus “freaks” as minorities in today’s society. The circus performers were seen as inferior compared to everyone else due to their appearance. The Greatest Showman also metaphorically showed the diversity within the circus performers. Everyone had their own story and background which was portrayed in the movie. Throughout the movie, the conflict Man vs. Himself was portrayed within the movie when P. T. Barnum lost sight of who he was. P. T. Barnum got carried away with trying to fit in with the upper class, which caused him to succumb to the life of fame and allow his decisions to overshadow his vision. He neglected his family who supported his dreams even when others didn’t. Luckily with the help of circus performers, he soon realizes what he truly lost which encourages him to make amends with the loved ones he hurt. The Greatest Showman incorporated literary elements such as theme, metaphors, and conflict into the storyline.

Play is important for children, there are plenty of reason why play is an important thing for children such as learning how to socialize, learning their cognitive, exploring their imagination and much more from just simply having fun. For example, in the video 'Cute Is a Four-Letter Word' by Sarah Curtis she talks about how important play is and how it affects children to adulthood. In the Video she stated that there were two groups of children who were split up, one group was direct instructions for play and the second one was free play and it shown a big difference by allowing children to play freely. Thesis statement: This essay will reflect on my observation of children free play.

Topic sentence: During free play Chole went to the dramatic area to play in the kitchen with some friends, as soon as she got to the kitchen, she told one of her friends “ok you can get the drinks and I can get the food and we can eat.” They started looking around the kitchen and grabbing all the cups, plates and utensils, the friend than told her “Chloe I need juice” Chole reply back to her “we have no more juice I need to make a order” Chole than went over to the counter and grab a toy ice cream sandwich and place next to her ear. The friend looks and said “Chloe that’s not a phone” Chloe look at her and said “well it’s my pretend phone” Chloe went on and pretended it was her phone and place an order for some juice.

Topic sentence: Soon after placing an order for juice Chloe saw some friends playing in the block area, she went to the block area and ask them “what are you guys doing?” one of the friends at the block area told her “we playing with the cars” Chloe ask them “can I have one car?” the friend replied and said “no you can’t play with us” Chloe got upset and told them “fine I'm going to go on a bus and you guys can’t ride on it” as she walks of, she was stomping her feet and went back to the dramatic area (Kitchen). She told some of her friends at the kitchen “you guys let's make a bus” one of the little girls said “Chloe but we don’t have a bus” Chloe started getting the chairs and placing them one behind another. Chloe told her “see we have a bus, I sit in the front” Chloe got super excited and ran to the drawing center and told two of her peers “guys look I made a school bus!” she than started running back to the dramatic play where her bus was at.

They all sat on a chair where it was lineup and ready to go, as they sat on the chairs they laugh and giggle. Chloe told her friends “put your seat belt on guys”. One of the little boys who was at the block area came over and ask her “can I play too?” Chloe told him “I don’t have room, I only have four chairs” as she got up and counted the chairs “1, 2, 3, 4, see I only have four chairs” Chloe reassure him he can have a turn when someone leaves. The little left back to the block area and Chloe and her friends went on playing, the girls are singing and chatting away as Chloe was driving the bus.

Topic sentence: In the SLUSS Handout there are different characteristics of play. The first one is play is voluntary, the second one is play requires active involvement, the third one is play is symbolic, the fourth one is play is free of external rules, the fifth one is play focuses on actions rather than outcomes and the last one is play is pleasurable. Functional play is often a play that a child is enjoying the time, or they are playing with toys such as feeding a baby, pushing a car and anything that is a development for their social skills or cognitive. In my observation a little girl who I name Chloe is in the kitchen playing with her friends socializing and enjoying her free play. A symbolic play is children who plays and use toys or object to represent an abject, a sample from my observation is when Chloe is in the dramatic area playing in the kitchen is using an ice cream sandwich toy as a phone.

Conclusion paragraph: In conclusion to my observation essay I found that throughout free play Chloe’s play was functional and symbolic play equally. She switches from function play to symbolic play off and on, she was all over the class socializing with her peers.

References

1. Talks, T. (2013, July 10). Retrieved March 10, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7y6ZgQCnvw&feature=youtu.be
2. Valuing Play (2003) David Elkind

Introduction

Should follow an “upside down” triangle format, meaning, the writer should start off broad and introduce the text and author or topic being discussed, and then get more specific to the thesis statement.

Thesis statement

Cornerstone of the essay, presenting the central argument that will be elaborated upon and supported with evidence and analysis throughout the rest of the paper.

Topic sentence

The topic sentence serves as the main point or focus of a paragraph in an essay, summarizing the key idea that will be discussed in that paragraph.

Conclusion paragraph

Should follow a right side up triangle format, meaning, specifics should be mentioned first such as restating the thesis, and then get more broad aboutthe topic at hand. Lastly, leave the reader with something to think about and ponder once they are done reading.

Written by William Shakespeare at around 1606, ‘Macbeth’ is a play set to entertain King James At the beginning of the play Macbeth is portrayed as a tragic hero, but at the end of the play he is portrayed as a villain. A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy in drama. In his Poetics, Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be. In this essay I will analyze the examples of how Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as a tragic hero at the beginning of the play and as a villain at the end using language, structure and form.

The introduction of ‘Macbeth’ as a warrior is crucial to the play, as a tragedy depends on our witnessing of a great man falling. Macbeth is portrayed as a hero, he is presented as “brave” with a “disdaining fortune”. The quote “disdaining fortune”, exaggerates Macbeth’s heroism and presents Macbeth as a very fortunate and lucky man, however the quote “unseemed him from the nave to the chaps” suggests that there is another face to Macbeth which is very violent and cruel making Macbeth two-faced. The phrase “For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name” suggests that Macbeth was viewed as a hero by King Duncan and therefore King Duncan gave Macbeth the title thane of Cawdor and Glamis. ‘Chivalry’ is the code of conduct and is expected to be followed by every knight, it says that a knight should protect the people that cannot protect themselves, for example elderly, children and widows, and that they should be always loyal to the king. To become a knight, one must have an excellent reputation, as you can’t be a criminal and then try to be a knight, one must be highly skilled and disciplined, because if you aren’t faithful and disciplined then you can just betray the king and hurt or even kill him. To be a knight you must be faithful to the church and god because he is the most important person, and lastly you must be sworn by the code so you always follow and honor it.

After the interaction of the three witches Macbeth wasn’t sure if what they were saying was right about him, the three weird sisters said that he was going to be thane of Cawdor and then king. The witches also said that Banquo’s sons will be kings as well, which made both Banquo and Macbeth think. After Macbeth was introduced as thane of Cawdor he started wondering if what the witches said was true, if he was going to be king. This made Macbeth very happy but then he thought about Banquo’s sons being kings which started to make him paranoid. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be king or Banquo’s sons were going to be kings, when he was sure that the witches were telling the truth he started to think of ways to become king. When he returned from the battle, the king wanted to see, him and Malcolm which was the king’s son, to tell them something very important. At that moment, the king announced who was going to be king after him, Macbeth was expecting to be him, but the king said it was going to be Malcolm. At that moment Macbeth was thinking: “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall, or else o'erleap, for in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;

Let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.” This suggests that Once he learns that King Duncan has named Malcolm the Prince of Cumberland and heir to the crown of Scotland, Macbeth isn't content to wait around for 'chance' to intervene. He decides that he must act, or 'o'erleap' the obstacles in his path to the throne. Which made Macbeth very curious about the way or time he is going to become king.

After those trail of black thoughts Macbeth started thinking of very cruel ways to be king, he tells his wife, Lady Macbeth about everything. There is an argument that Macbeth's fate is not predestined and that transgressive female characters such as Lady Macbeth push him further into 'blood'. Declaring 'we will proceed no further in this business', Macbeth evidently undergoes a mental process by which he comes round to the idea of murdering Duncan. He does this as a result of his wife's manipulation, her leverage being his manliness. She mocks him, forcing him to act to prove her wrong: “When you durst do it, then you are a man “She is unsympathetic 'you do unbend your noble strength to think so brainsickly of things' and even critical of her husband, despite the fact she was unable to carry out the murder of Duncan herself. “My hands are of your colour;but I shame to wear a heart so white” Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's hands are of the same colour, hat is, red from the blood of Duncan. Yet Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into acting innocent, she accuses him of being weak and her words suggest that they will be found out if he cannot pull himself together and collect himself. This is consolidated by her demand that he 'look like th' innocent flower, but be the serpent under't'. In such a manner, Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into keeping their heinous deed a secret. She wants to be queen, even if she has to coerce her husband into murdering the king to become this. Lady Macbeth took advantage of Macbeth’s sadness and manipulated him into killing the king the knight they were going to celebrate about the victory in the battle. Lady Macbeth planned how to kill the king, she was going to poison the guards and then blame it on them, but Macbeth didn’t want to do it because was honored and appreciated by the king. Lady Macbeth tries to convince Macbeth but Macbeth says: “Prithee, peace: I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none.” This suggests that When Macbeth tries to insist that the murder plot is off, Lady Macbeth needles him and makes a few impotence jokes until he finally gives in, saying 'I dare do all that may become a man”. Macbeth is offended and by wanting to prove that he isn’t a man he kills the king.

After the abhorrent and inhumane act, Macbeth started losing his mind in remorse and fright. He started being paranoid about what else the witches said and from his paranoia he told a murderer to kill Banquo’s family and him. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth struggles terribly with his guilt. He worries that he could not pronounce the holy word, 'Amen,' when one of Duncan's chamberlains said, 'God bless us'. Macbeth fears that this means that he is damned. Further, he hears a voice cry out that he will never be able to sleep peacefully again because he murdered Duncan while he was asleep and powerless. In fact, Macbeth is so guilt-ridden that he mistakenly brings the murder weapons with him from the room, and when Lady Macbeth orders him to return them, he cannot. He says, 'I'll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done'. Macbeth feels that there is so much blood on his hands that, if he plunged them into the ocean, the blood would turn the whole sea red. Obviously, this cannot be true, but the exaggeration works in the service of another truth: Macbeth's guilt is overwhelming him. However, Macbeth's guilt fades away quickly. Though he'd felt a great deal of ambivalence regarding the murder of Duncan, he seems to experience no hesitation whatsoever when ordering his next murders: his former best friend, Banquo, and Banquo's son, Fleance. Then, after Banquo's murder, instead of guilt, Macbeth feels only anger that Fleance is still alive. No more worrying about the state of his soul; now he worries only about the security of his throne. He grows more vicious, certainly, and more ruthless. And in his desperation to maintain his power, Macbeth does become paranoid. After the dinner party at which he sees Banquo's ghost, he tells Lady Macbeth of the lords, 'There's not a one of them but in his house I keep a servant fee'd'. In other words, despite their apparent loyalty to him, Macbeth pays a spy in each of the noble's homes to report back to him. In Macbeth's most brutal act yet, he orders the deaths of Macduff's innocent wife, children, and even servants to punish Macduff for his disloyalty. Macbeth's growing brutality is actually conveyed by the way the murder scenes are portrayed. Duncan's murder takes place off stage; we only see Macbeth's reaction to it. Macbeth becomes more ruthless, and Banquo's murder takes place on stage, but at least his child gets away. Finally, at his most tyrannical and evil, the audience witnesses the murder of a woman and her children on the stage, preventing us from maintaining any form of sympathy with him; at this point, Macbeth is a monster.

After the killing of Banquo and his family except from Banquo’s son, Macduff unites people and makes an army to go fight Macbeth and claim the throne. The fight between Macbeth and Macduff occurs in Act 5, Scene 8. The witches said that Macbeth will be defeated only when trees move, the confrontation begins when Macduff calls to Macbeth: 'Turn, hellhound, turn!' Macbeth still, at least partially, believes he cannot be defeated by Macduff because, as the witches predicted, Macbeth cannot be killed by a man born of woman. I say 'at least partially,' because the rational side of Macbeth knows his situation is hopeless. Macbeth’s wife commits suicide in hope to help Macbeth win the battle. He feels nihilistic after his wife dies, and he feels like a baited bear, a bear chained to a tree and attacked by dogs for the enjoyment of an audience. He has also seen Birnam Wood move, this means that the soldiers used tree logs as camouflage because Macduff learnt from the witches that Macbeth will be defeated only when trees move so Macduff puts Macbeth in a bad situation thinking he won’t survive. Macbeth knows he is doomed. He begins the fight with Macduff, however, still holding on to the idea that he can't be defeated. After all, he has just killed Young Siward with relatively little trouble. After listening to Macbeth brag of his charmed life, though, Macduff informs Macbeth that he was not born of woman. Nevertheless, Macbeth faces Macduff and fights nobly. The fight moves offstage, and the result is not known until minutes later, when Macduff enters the stage carrying Macbeth's head. Macbeth is thus killed, and Scotland is cleansed from evil.

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To conclude the essay, I believe that Macbeth's character change is too extreme. From being a loyal subject and essentially a good man, he becomes a terrible tyrant, and in the end he is behaving like a madman. It was not logically necessary for Macbeth to turn into such a hateful tyrant just because he committed a murder to become king. Shakespeare made him a tyrant to justify the military intervention of the English monarch.

Table of contents

1. Introduction
Empirical StudiesStrengths and Weaknesses
2. Conclusion
3. Bibliography

Introduction

A federal state is one in which sovereignty is constitutionally split between at least two territorial levels so that independent governmental units at each level have final authority in at least one policy realm. While federalism is considered a successful political tool to enhance democracy, good governance, citizen proximity and management of diversity in practice, it is under the scrutiny of much criticism. Most often, the system is blamed for creating unnecessary duplication of government and overlapping of potentially contradictory policies. More specifically, it is often accused of being at the root of many collective action problems in the formulation and implementation of economic and other politics. A collective action problem occurs in a situation where a group would benefit from cooperating but certain members of that group have little incentive to contribute to the collective effort. This can occur in federalism when a central government is interested in pursuing long-term politics, improving macroeconomic indicators, achieving monetary stability and avoiding crises to attract international investments and promote economic growth on a national scale. While on the other hand, the constituent units may be more inclined to follow short-term local goals that will make their electors happy and will increase the probability of being re-elected. Additionally, these collective action problems aggravate through the degree of importance that veto players play. A veto player is an individual or collective actor whose agreement is necessary for a change in the political status quo.

From a societal standpoint, the federal political system is a well-established and recognized governance that has been adopted by many developed and developing countries. Over half of the members of the Group of Twenty, including some states encompassing the largest population proportions in the world, such as India, Brazil and the United States are governed by federations. An increasing amount of non-federal states have in the past years proposed or taken steps to decentralize functions to their regions to obtain some of the competitive advantages of federalism. There is a vast range of statistical data regarding the impact of federalism on economic indicators and so many series of indicators can be studied. Survey also exists on the perceived impact of federal governance adding another set of data for the researcher. Hence the study is scientifically relevant as it allows to draw robust conclusions and address the inefficiency in the design of federal states today.

The pursuit of clashing economic policies between the central government and its constituent units is a collective action problem that can cause economic mismanagement. Economic mismanagement is observable through a multitude of indicators, such as a country displaying falling rates of economic growth in contrast to peer countries, high rates of corruption and inefficient policy implementations.

In this essay I will discuss the main empirical findings on the causal relationship using three academic studies. To begin with, all three academic studies in this paper recognize that numerous variations exist in the form of federal institutions across the developed and developing world. Differences in the degree of fiscal decentralization, differences in characteristics and the way federalism is operated will influence the economic outcome of the country. Wibbels states that political representation of subnational political units and the number and size of provinces can all be expected to influence macroeconomic policies. Intergovernmental fiscal systems and hierarchical rules are among the important building blocks in a more nuanced approach to the varieties of federalism.

Empirical Studies

The three studies that incorporate a vast range of perspectives and test the outcomes of federalism under different measures conclude a negative impact on economic indicators and support the existence of a causal relationship with economic mismanagement. Wibbes analyses the impact of federalism on 46 large federal and unitary countries between 1979 and 1995 by measuring units of national economic adjustment, volatility level, and crisis frequency. His findings confirm the predictions that macroeconomic performance and reform implementation is negatively affected in the 10 countries where federalism operates. Basing his study on a survey, Treisman observes that federal states were perceived to be more corrupt by populations. He suggested that the division of power that the different levels of government entail seemingly poses a burden on enterprises and entices higher rates of venality and bribery. In the last study, Rodden investigates 43 OECD countries and notices that large and persistent aggregate deficits occur when subnational governments are simultaneously dependent on intergovernmental transfers and also free to borrow. On the other hand, he stressed that long-term balanced budgets among subnational governments are found when either a central government imposes borrowing restrictions or when subnational governments have both wide-ranging taxing and borrowing autonomy.

All three studies imply the greater responsibility of fiscal decentralisation for these negative economic outcomes. Decentralisation in terms of political and administrative policies was also studied but the results are weaker and less conclusive. In fact, the more fiscal powers are decentralised the stronger the causal relationship appears to be. The decentralisation of expenditure, taxation policies or the capacity to borrow seems to have the strongest negative impact on the economic indicators.

When sub-governments are dependent on transfer from the national government or when the center cautions their credit, the negative impact tends to be worse. This outcome is to be expected when the constituent units are reliant on the central government for funds and certain that credit accountability will be supported unconditionally. It acts as an incentive for sub-governments to be less careful in terms of expenditure and deficit levels. Wibbles argues that the macroeconomic and fiscal imbalances are in part structurally determined by the devolved political and fiscal institutions that create incentives for subnational governments to avoid the political costs of fiscal adjustment. Rodden explained that when constitutionally or politically constrained central governments take on heavy co-financing obligations towards subnational units. This implies that central government to take up responsibility in case of fiscal issues in lower level governments. Treisman attributes corruption to subnational officials deciding how much bribes to extract from businesses so that both levels have the power to regulate.

Finally, Wibbels, Rodden and Treisman all agree on the dangers of adopting federal systems in developing countries. These countries have more difficulty to borrow as credit access will be much more limited for the sub-national entities, generating inefficiencies. Additionally, sub-entities of developing countries commonly have poor institutional structure and lack of human capital to implement policies. At last, developing countries could be more exposed to corruption not because their population tends towards it but because the preventing mechanisms of checks in balances are not in place. These statements also apply to sub-governments in smaller developed countries who do not benefit from the economies of scale of larger states, have less access to credit and possibly more corruption as fewer checks in balances exist.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Rodden’s main strengths in his research are the three mathematical models he uses and adjusts to capture the pure effect of federalism and validate or reject his hypothesis. Multiple hypotheses are tested then validated, rejected or adjusted to reach the models. Rodden employs a robust multi-model approach and tests for the control variable in his findings. Rodden combines the use of time series and cross-section analysis in his approach and also attempts to compensate for data difference and countries disparity in the equations. One could argue weakness in the initially low comparability of the data as high variability between the federal system characteristics studied exists in terms of size or centralisation. Additionally, the small amount of data for some series and the relatively short period of ten years analysed can be considered a weakness too. Finally, the R² coefficient that evaluates the models’ proportion of variance is relatively low and the disparity of findings makes the conclusion more mixed.

Treisman’s study includes more context around what can influence corruption and result in mismanagement besides federalism as the impact of federalism on corruption is only one of the six factors this study analyses to explain corruption. This study has the merit to broaden the investigation and show other factors that impact economic indicators while demonstrating the same negative impact of federalism with a strong correlation. The study cautions around giving too much importance on the result of endogenous variables and makes sure to not double count their effects. It is inclusive in terms of diversity of geographies and countries covered and tests twelve hypotheses such as corruption will be lower in federal states and corruption will be higher in federal states so to consider the impact in both directions. Nevertheless, Treisman bases his results on a perception survey and not real statistical data on corruption. The study also only focuses on corruption which is not the only driver for mismanagement. While the causal relation between federalism and corruption is only one of the six theories studied, it is done over a short period of time so the study could be considered too superficial to draw conclusions on the specific impact of federalism.

Wibbels focuses on macro-economic impacts and the success of reforms in large countries while considering both federal and unitary governments. The strength of the study is to distinguish between the effects of macroeconomic reforms, fiscal and political federalism. Wibbels argues that theories often take the isolated case of the United States to demonstrate the non-negative impact of federalism on economic performance. He proceeds to compare theoretical literature that supports or rejects this claim to his empirical findings. The study is robust due to the extensive time period studied and the comparability of the countries studied in size because Wibbels narrows down the analysis to large and developed nations with GDP rates exceeding ten billion US dollars. In this manner, Wibbels restricts the study frame to capture only the impact of federalism and obtain stronger models. As a result of the strong operationalisation, he achieves more robust statistical results of the effect measured. One can argue that Wibbels builds hypothesis only in the direction of the negative impact of federalism. He also only tests three hypotheses; the success of macroeconomic adjustment, volatility levels and crisis frequency. Furthermore, he limits the characteristics of federalism to two provinces that are represented at a national level and have elected legislature on their own, which significantly simplifies the reality and reduces federalism disparity.

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Conclusion

This analytical essay has shown a negative relationship of certain design of federalism on economic performances. The empirical studies used were relevant in the investigation of the causal relationship as they attempt to describe a political and economic phenomenon not under a general federal system but in terms of specific unaddressed collective action problems. Although the studies vary greatly in terms of variables considered, ranging from macroeconomic indicators to perceived corruption levels, their empirical data confirms a negative causal relationship between federalist systems and economic mismanagement measured. While this causal relationship is not present in all federations, it becomes prominent in those states that allow too great of a fiscal autonomy to their subnational governments and fail to regulate their decentralization proportionally. In other words, federalist systems fail to address their collective action problems when central governments grant too much independence to their constituents units which creates too great a space for fiscal imbalances and lack of accountability. As a learning, one could conclude that the move to federalism should be done with caution especially in the case of emerging nations where the design of the system should limit fiscal decentralisation and control the autonomy granted to the sub-units to avoid the predicted negative economic impact.

Bibliography

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