French Politics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

French Politics - Research Paper Example Sarko represents UMP (Union pour un mouvement populaire). He is neo-liberal, authoritarian, pro-American and pro-Israeli. Except for Socialist Francois Mittereand's 14 years reign, France has been ruled by right wing forces since 1958 when Charles de Gaulle ushered in the new Republican regime. Paving the way for the electoral victory of the 52-year old leader of the French Right were the simultaneous decomposition of the French Left and Sarkozy's successful unification of the three streams of the Right - neoliberal, national and fascist. When Sarkozy became "Monsieur le President de la Republique," the 23rd French chief of state, the sixth since the new Constitution of 1958 that initiated the Fifth Republic of France, his true intentions for promised new directions were still ambiguous. Upon the election of Nicolas Sarkozy there was a strong current in the media - both in France and internationally - claiming that "things had changed". Sarkozy, it was said, was the man who would cut back the "gluttonous" French state, "modernising" the economy by curbing the power of the unions and replacing the France of the 35-hour-week with a new more "flexible" culture that valued "hard work". French workers had to prepare for Sarkozy's onslaught. As we have seen with November's rail strikes, university occupations and rioting in the suburbs, resistance to Sarkozy is deep-rooted. Some activists have used the catch-cry "Sarko-facho" ("Sarkozy-fascist"); portrayed him as nothing but a lickspittle of George Bush; or, as the Iranian media now have it, a Mossad agent. Yet most of the French President's pronouncements seem to be in tune with the anti-working class, conservative and authoritarian political tradition of General de Gaulle. On the other hand, Sarkozy's underlining of great national objectives means distancing France from the spirit of liberal free trade. The French Left accuses Sarkozy of being authoritarian and of unstable character. The Left's electoral campaign early this year aimed at trying to rouse his ire and demonstrate his incapacity of leading la douce France. The crude reality is that while the French Left claims a monopoly on morality, the political Right dominates this largely conservative, extremely traditional nation. We only have to think back to spring 2006 when the previous UMP [Gaullist] government attempted to introduce the CPE law to undermine young workers' job stability, or 2005 when it backed the EU Constitution. The continuity in the history of the French right is examined in some detail in the latest issue of the Ni Patrie ni Frontires journal*, which devotes some 62 pages to assessing the character of so-called "Sarkozyism". Sarkozy has taken on great personal power, setting great store by his own image and casting himself as somewhat of a national saviour, in the mould of de Gaulle or a Napoleon. The assertion that Sarkozy represents an

Literacies for learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Literacies for learning - Essay Example 8. Ward, D., 2007, Volcanoes Influence Climate, 7th June 2007, Accessed on 27th August 2009, Retrieved from http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/climate/geosphere_volcanoes_influence_on_climate.html It was back in 1783, that Benjamin Franklin first developed a relationship between the volcanos and the global climate. He had observed a vast change and abnormal chill that had come into the summers and also the other changes like the freezing of the ground, snow not melting and also severe winters and constant fog. Post this there have been several researches that have been carried out to check for the effects of volcanos on the global climate. I support the fact that volcanos do in fact affect the world climate. There are several reasons why the large volcanic eruptions have high effects on the global climate. Firstly, it has been noted that the levels of carbon – di – oxide that is emitted has a strong ‘greenhouse effect’. This effects the heat radiation and forms a type of insulation around the planet. The green house is an essential part of the planet as it allows the survival by maintaining the temperatures of the planet. The level of CO2 that is emitted in the atmosphere by humans is very high and the volcanos add to this level of pollution. Secondly, the ash and the aerosol clouds of the large volcanic eruptions spread through the atmosphere. One of the best examples for this is the case where the Krakatau volcano erupted in the Indonesian Islands and this spread to South Africa by the next day and across the Globe within a week. The other effects that have been faced is the global warming, and the high levels of sulphur – di –oxide that is produced by the volcanos also leads to further cooling of the temperatures across the world. Thus this exposition highlights that there are several effects of volcanos on the global temperatures and the