Effects of Federal Mandates on Intergovernmental Relations Essay Example for Free

Effects of Federal Mandates on Intergovernmental Relations Essay Public Policy making is a central task of the Government. There has been concerns regarding the influence federal mandate on intergovernmental relations. In order to understand and evaluate these influences we will discuss the influence of the intergovernmental lobby over the Medicaid program. We will also analyze the importance of interest alignment between the federal and states Governments and auditing transparency in order to ensure smooth working of these public programs. Medicaid is the health insurance program that is administered by the states and funded jointly by federal and state governments (Weissert 1992). The Medicaid has an important place in the history of medical treatment in the U. S. An organisation noble in conception has two dimensions to put up with. The dual dimension challenges are to cope up with the changing needs of patients with ever increasing costs due to advances in medical knowledge, medicines and technology. From the other side the pressure is to find solutions in the restricted budget and to handle the changing political pressures. From its beginning the Medicaid gone through many reforms. Researchers have identified few challenges facing Medicaid in order to cater the needs of the patients. They are keeping it clear to engage service users in decisions or engaging the wider public. Secondly to develop a link between the public and the health system. Third, Quick solutions through open discussions. The fourth is to take a long run at this. Finally, achieving above goals and much more from the Medicaid by engaging users and patients in the decision making process. The last few decades have seen a major change in the Primary care requirements, increase in the ageing population, widespread of chronic diseases, increase in the patient’s awareness, and greater accountability due to increased exposure (Coote, 2005). This has created a paradigm shift in the requirements of patients. The increasing trend of client centred services has made it important for the Medicaid to find ways to provide rapid and easy to access primary care to the patients. According to the Department of Health change plan the vision of change in Medicaid should be directed towards the needs of the patients rather than the service providers. In order to undertake the change process effectively the professional role of the NHS staff should also be transformed. These steps towards modernisation were indicated: ) Adoption of change by the Medicaid staff. 2) Government’s role in getting rid of barriers in the way to change. 3) The method for education and training should also be restructured. Since the Medicaid program is undertaken with the combine efforts of the federal and state governments it can clearly provide the picture of the influence of states in intergovernmental relations. The administration of the Medicaid program provides the state governments with experience, management abilities and the information of the important aspects of effectiveness of such programs for low-income group. Both the federal and state governments fund the Program. It is often the case that there is vast difference in the goals of both state and federal governments. In order to justify the expenses it is mandatory for the federal government to undertake audit programs (Anton 1997). The process of testifying Medicaid program has always remained controversial as it has been noticed many times that state agency faces lesser criticism while warranting on the Medicaid program. This has remained a moot issue between the state and federal governments as often conflict arises on the same issue between the two government levels. A lack of collective action has been felt between both the federal and state level governments. The situation seems to threaten the federalism. State governments have the expertise to undertake analysis and suggest improvement measures but these expertise are not used to promote intergovernmental relations hence adversely effecting the potential program improvements. Both the state and federal governments at a set rate fund the cost for the Medicaid program. It has been observed that the governments of different states keep on experimenting with different payments mechanisms mostly aimed at reducing their cost through transferring their the cost of the program to the federal treasury (Weissert and Weissert 2006). The states use different funding processes in order to draw down funds from the central government without spending their own funds. One such way is to increase the payment rate for the eligibility of public care providers. This higher payment rate in turn gives rise to the share of the federal government. The state governments get back the portion of the surplus through tax imposition or voluntary contributions. Although many states use this surplus amount in the provision of other public facilities to the people but still there has been doubts regarding the proper and transparent use of these funds. States use two such programs: Under disproportionate share hospital payments (DSH payments) program the state governments provides higher amounts of funds to public hospitals and community health centers which serve people from low income group. Through the Upper payment limits (UPL) states reimburse some of these providers up to the highest Medicaid reimbursement rate (Weissert and Weissert 2006: 267). These programs are implemented to cover the costs of care provision to low-income Medicaid and uninsured patients. The states use intergovernmental transfers (IGTs) to transfer back the funds at the different levels of government. The reliability of these (IGTs) as the evidence of payment recycling is suspicious. Although it is through the federalism the possibilities for acquiring information regarding the policies increases because of the improved chances of experimentation due to decentralization but on the other hand it is also federalism which acts as a constraint to undertake measures according to that information. The higher degree of discord between the federal and state level governments’ results in shape of the wastage of the state potential which can be used for the well being of the nation at federal level. This is what we call the â€Å"failure of federalism,† where the state level expertise are not acknowledge in national policymaking.

With Reference To At Least Four Different Poems, Explore How Cultural E

With Reference To At Least Four Different Poems, Explore How Cultural Identity Is Represented By The Various Poets The four poems I have selected to focus on all portray a cultural identity in their own unique way. 'Wherever I hang' and 'The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping', are both written by Grace Nichols, a poet of Guinean background. I have also chosen to explore 'Dream Variation' by Langston Hughes as well as 'Half-Caste' by John Agard. I have chosen this selection of poetry because I feel that each poem has great merit in successfully challenging the racial disparities of the modern world. Grace Nichols unsurprisingly tends to base her poems around the inequality between the black and white communities; this is reflected in her poem 'Taint'. The poems I have chosen to investigate by her are 'The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping' and 'Wherever I hang'. I chose to include these poems because they are in contrast to many of her other poems and it's content mainly comments on how white and black lifestyles differ rather than her usual theme of black persecution. The other two poems I have chosen by the two different poets both concentrate more on black discrimination like 'Taint' and are more similar to that poem, in this respect, than the two poems I chose by Grace Nichols. Langston Hughes writes a detailed analysis of the desires of the average Black man in his poem "Dream Variation". Hughes was related to John Mercer Langston, who was the first Black American to be elected to public office, in 1855. Born into a family with a strong sense of culture but a desire to be accepted, it is foreseeable that his poem reflects his aspiration of cultural freedom. Hughes uses representative imagery to portray... ...e wants to live she will live despite all obstacles-despite all cultural differences. The four poems use various methods to convey their points, overall the most effective being the humorous approach. Grace Nichols most effectively conveys her cultural identity via her sarcastic and amusing method of writing. This encourages the reader to think more deeply about the poem and understand the idea of culture identity, which could help acceptance of various cultures in Britain. Despite this, I personally feel "Half-Caste" is the most striking poem, stirring emotions deeper than mere amusement. The poem allows us to understand how people of mixed race must feel when this term is used and the implications of such a word. Although fairly aggressive, this poem conveys most constructively the message of the necessity for acceptance, to whoever the reader may be.

The Victory of Spanish over the Aztecs

The victory of Cortes over the Aztec was the result of certain military advantages the conquistadors enjoyed, as well as specific problems that weakened the Aztec people and made the empire more vulnerable. It is almost impossible to believe that a small amount of Spanish soldiers were able to conquer the mighty Aztec empire in this historic battle. As soon as Cortes and his army arrived to Mexico in 1519, where the Aztec used to live.They were kindly received by the emperor Montezuma, and their main goal of coming to Tenochtitlan was the gold. According to Sahagun, (2009), ‘’ when the Spanish had given the gold, they seemed to smile, to rejoice and to be very happy. Like monkeys they griped the gold’’, (p. 112). Despite their small number, the Spanish has defeated the Aztec, because of many advantages, such as the military technology they had, which were based on firearms, swords made by steel and iron and riding horses were a great advantage.Also, they ha d better weapon and a lot of the Aztec were scared of horses. Moreover, the Spanish looked like gods to the Aztecs, because of their aggression in killing people. What is more, the diseases that the Spanish carried, like smallpox and malaria, helped them a lot in victorious. â€Å" The pustules that covered people caused great desolation; very many people died of them, and many just starved to death; starvation regained, and no one took care of others any longer† (Sahagun, 2009, page 114).On the other hand, before the Spanish reached Mexico, there were many problems that faced the Aztecs, for example because of the Aztecs religion, it requested a large number of human sacrifices, which considered as an honor, where to be made to the Gods. â€Å" Once when Duran asked why the people were not content to sacrifice animals, he was told that the sacrifice of humans was the honored offering of a great lord â€Å" (Duran,2009,page 407). Furthermore, the Aztecs were not able to be united with other tribes, so the Spanish took this point as an advantage, by united with other tribes to fight the Aztecs.All of these factors were important reasons to destroy the Aztec’s civilization. In conclusion, the Spanish had no mercy in fighting with Aztec and they made many massacres back that time. They used many powerful battle methods against the Aztec, like swords, horses and diseases . Also, there were some interior troubles inside the Aztec society such as human sacrifices. after long battle between the Spanish and the Aztec and a long siege of the capital Tenochtitlan, where much of the population died from hunger and diseases.

Ending Animal Cruelty - 647 Words

Animal testing is used internationally to understand and create medicines and to test the safety of products. Almost 20 million animals are experimented on and killed annually worldwide, an estimated eight million of which are subjects in experiments involving pain while at least 10 percent of these animals do not receive painkillers (Andre Velasquez, 1988). Clearly these experimentations are reducing the quality of life for these animals, and as such there has been growing criticism of animal testing and the ethical questions that arise when studying these experiments. There is also a concern for the consequential threats to scientific and biomedical progress that they bring, however alternative testing methods have produced equally effective results therefore ending the debate over whether such experiments are necessary (â€Å"Animal experimentation†, 2014). Overall, animal testing is unethical and must be stopped as it is immoral to inflict suffering on non-consenting sen tient beings and there are reasonable and successful alternatives available. Animals are conscious beings with desires, beliefs, and the ability to experience pain and pleasure. Their lives have inherent value and using them as simply a means towards our ends is unethical. Philosopher Jeremy Bentham described his philosophy of utilitarianism as â€Å"the greatest happiness or greatest felicity principle†, and applied a form of ethical utilitarianism to animal rights. If the moral worth of an action isShow MoreRelatedShould Circus Be A Pernicious Performance?1231 Words   |  5 PagesWhat do you think of when you hear the word circus? A magical place full of swirling colors, performing animals, and creepy clowns? Or maybe you think of acrobats, elephants, and trapezes? Sure, everyone loves going to the circus. 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