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State and Local Government

Final Exam

Q – 1:

a) Define political parties and discuss the functions and roles of political parties.

Answer: this refers to a group of people who have the similar views or objectives and

opinions who become united in the process of public policy making through democracy

through electing their preferred candidates into a state or country political or legislative office.

Through the above definition, functions and roles of a political party can be easily assessed.

The main function however is to raise awareness among the general public so as to educate

them and motivate them into participating in issues that affect them while promoting their

demands and needs through the right political channels in avoidance of confusion and conflicts.

They are established to contest and argue for the rights of their members as well as to recognize

and forward the entire interest of its stake holders to their relevant authorities. The political

party’s general manifesto focuses on the promotion and aggregation of interests and rights of

its members and supporters which now established a drive to contest for rights and to secure

their stakeholders interests.

The establishment of a political party is through certain effective policies that people

always require and procedures that ascertain the direction of their efforts. Therefore, there is

setting up of a clear agenda which helps in directing their efforts and struggles in the right

direction. It is as well as responsible for the balance and management of interests of various

individuals who are members if the party to avoid any disagreements or conflicts. There is

education of its members through continuous dispersion and sharing of information which

assists them in development of their skills and good attributes. Cumulatively all these functions

enable a party in a country or state to from or organize itself

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Q – 1:

b) Discuss Direct Democracy and Direct Action

Answer: Also known as pure democracy, direct democracy is where individuals decide

over policy initiatives. This is quite different from present day democracy where people decide

and select their representatives who in tern make policies and rules on behalf of the people who

elected them. Indirect democracy on the other hand, people without the intervention of an

intermediary decide on policies and law.

Direct democracy provides three powers:

 To the people or voters

 Enables peole to reject, contest and repeal law

 To remove an official from their office

Similarly, actions that a group or an organization of people takes to reveal an existing issue

and bring it to light, find solutions to an existing problem or suggest an alternative solution to

a problem is known as direct actions. This includes non violent or violent actions to a lesser

degree such as protests, strikes, civil disobedience and demonstrations. They are usually taken

with the initial purpose to:

 Obstruct the initiative or another political party

 To prevent dome sort of action from being executed which is critically objected

 To collaborate with traditional stakeholders to resolve prevailing problems e.g the

government institutions
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Question 2

a) The crime explosion and its impact and crime reduction and its impact.

Crime explosion can be regarded as state policies failure as well as failure of law

enforcement agencies. However, crime has several causes. The sudden increase on the rate of

crime has affected the life of the common man as even in their own homes, they feel insecure.

Some of the problems that cause sudden increase in crime rate are:

 Moving to another city due to poverty, criminal nature or seeking a job. Often if

someone is a criminal, the criminal activities are carried onto the next city

 Drug addiction as anyone who is addicted to drugs will do anything to satisfy the

craving or addiction without any ethical considerations

 Lack of adequate crime control policy

 Social injustice can provide motivation as an excuse to participate in unethical and

criminal activities

The impact of crime explosion can be much harsh and dangerous. Migration and killing of

people is the most common outcome as an area under high crime alert can lose their population.

The economy in this area is heavily affected as there may be a sudden decline of the

manufacturing and production activities. The state budget will be affected as more money will

need to be allocated to law enforcement agencies to bring back law and order

Crime Reduction and its impact: the following can be done as an attempt to reduce

crime:

 Strict policies can be implemented regarding the imprisonment of criminals as an

attempt of reducing crime

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 Provision of security to the general public and education of criminal acts that are

suspected

 Curb drug addiction as the drug peddler provides opportunities and chances for the

abuser to commit crime by supplementing their lifestyle with drugs

Impact of crime reduction:

 New opportunies of business establishment thus improving the economy

 Change of preferences of law makers as thy would prefer to start their development

projects in areas with lower rates of crime

Q–2

b) Policing and law enforcement:

The main task of the police is law enforcement and priorities are set according to the

crime levels in a city. They are also responsible for maintaining law and order and to be on the

lookout on anyone who is breaking the law as well as bringing the law breaker to court to

provide justice to the innocent. Law enforcement will move from an area where there is low

concentration of crime to an area wit high concentration of crime. These agencies paly a vital

role in developing and maintaining a society morally and economically by the arrest of

criminals and uprooting crime from its roots