Australian Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Australian Economy - Essay Example The unstable nature of growth however affected the general economic climate in a way. For instance, because the economic wave stability was generally unpredictable, investors could hardly predict what the future held for them in investing in Australia. Specific Governmental and Reserve Bank Economic Policies that were introduced in the last 2 years - Budget The budget has the tendency of deciding the future economic hopes of a country because it serves as the blueprint economic policy implementer. For this reason, the government of Australia took certain important steps by way of their budget that were directed towards ensuring economic growth. One of such policies through the budget was the fact that the government through the budget encouraged the establishment and opening of new small and medium scale businesses by the introduction of Small Business and General Business Tax Break, which was â€Å"expanded to allow a bonus deduction of 50 per cent to small businesses with a turnov er of less than $2 million that acquire an eligible asset between 13 December 2008 and 31 December 2009 and install it ready for use by 31 December 2010† (Australian Regulatory Compliance Review, 2010). Again, the budget was highly focused on human resource and labor in general as the pension age was slightly increased to 67 years. This was aimed at retaining and cheering experience in the labor front and ensuring that the human resource base to man Australia’s economic drive was not depleted. Finally, the government saw a lot of hope in the future of the economy of Australia, planted in the need for the country to be self sufficient as far as production is concerned. For this reason, â€Å"The Federal Government used the Budget to launch a new paper on innovation that powered ideas paper canvasses proposed improvements and incremental changes to the existing National Innovation System† (Australian Parliamentary Library, 2010). - Interest Rates The last two years were years that the world as a global entity was resurrecting from previous years of economic shock, meltdown, crisis or however it may e described to depict an undeserving situation. For this reason, it was very important that the policies by the reserve bank and government would be centered on the people and empowering them to be investment oriented. For this reason, the periods of 2009 and 2010 was one season that the reserve bank maintained most of its lending and interest rates. The reserve bank with consultation with the government also ensured that the interest rate was generally low and affordable for borrowers. In some cases, there were even downward cuts on the interest rates and reasons for these decisions included the need to boost the demand for credit to undertake investment projects as demand for credit rose just 0.6% (Rate Detective, 2011). Again, there was the need to conform to global trend such as China cutting its official interest rate by 1.08% (Rate Detective, 2011). Such a move was necessary to ensure that investors did not opt for countries with lower interest rates but for Australia. - Export Promotion Policy In times of economic recovery, exports have been identified to be more profitable to countries than imports (Koduah, 2008). This is because exports attract a lot of revenue in the form of taxation. Knowing this, the Australian government over the last two years was not blind on putting measures

Information About Strategic Teaching, Strategic Learning and Thinking Skills Essay Example for Free

Information About Strategic Teaching, Strategic Learning and Thinking Skills Essay Teachers, whether brand new to the classroom, or veterans of many years of service, are always looking for ways to make what they do more effective and more efficient. That even goes for students in teacher preparation programs, as well it should. Efficiency is a measure of what is obtained (results) in relation to what was expended (resources). Effectiveness is a bit more elusive. To be sure, effectiveness in anything, including teaching, can be difficult to describe and to measure. The following is a discussion about some fundamental principles that may lead to actual improvement of instruction. Please read on. In order to use any instructional technique effectively, anyone who teaches must, of necessity, understand the fundamental principles and assumptions upon which the specific technique is based. There is certainly no shortage of descriptions or labels for activities that may be classified as pertaining to instruction. From the ever-popular lecture method to complex student-teacher, student-student interactions, instruction encompasses a broad range of teacher behaviors. At one end (the lecture method) the teacher is an imparter of information, and the students are the intended recipients of the information the teacher imparts. At the other end of the range of teacher behaviors are methods in which teachers interact with students in vastly more complex ways. Most researchers and experts in the field are in agreement that the most permanent and meaningful learning takes place at this end of the range. Strategic teaching, and, concomitantly, strategic learning are techniques in which significant student-teacher interaction and resultant learning and thinking are at the high end of the scale. To learn strategic teaching techniques, and to foster the ability of students to engage in strategic learning, it is important to define some terms. In fact, one of the principles of strategic teaching is to define terms. Below are terms that are relevant to this process. Strategic teaching describes instructional processes that focus directly on fostering student thinking, but goes well beyond that. Strategic teaching and strategic learning are inexorably linked. A strategic teacher has an understanding of the variables of instruction and is aware of the cognitive requirements of learning. In such an awareness, comes a sense of timing and a style of management. The strategic teacher is one who: 1. s a thinker and decision maker; 2. possesses a rich knowledge base; 3. is a modeler and a mediator of instruction. Variables of instruction refer to those factors that strategic teachers consider in order to develop instruction. These variables, as the name implies, change, and therefore the teacher must be aware of the nature of change as well as the actual variables themselves. These variables are: 1. characteristics of the learner; 2. material to be learned (curriculum content); 3. the criterial task (the goals and outcomes the teacher and learner designate); 4. earning strategies (goal directed activities in which learners engage). In teaching content at the elementary, middle, or secondary level, the strategic teacher helps guide instruction by focusing on learning strategies that foster thinking skills in relation to the content. In connecting new information to what a student already knows, learning becomes more meaningful, and not simply retained for test-taking purposes. There are numerous strategies that teachers can develop that accomplish this purpose. To give one information is not difficult, but to help one be able to develop the tools to both know what information is relevant and the means to acquire it, is perhaps the most important function of any social studies teacher. There are numerous techniques for engaging students in thinking about content. Besides thinking skills, there are such practical matters as how best to present a lesson on weather, teaching map and globe skills, helping students work together in groups, how to question effectively, and how to answer student questions. The first and foremost criterion is that the teacher thoroughly know the content, the second criterion is that the teacher have a set of rules for classroom management that are understood and implemented, and the third criterion is that the teacher have the resourcefulness and knowledge to rehearse unfamiliar techniques, and more importantly, have the capacity to adjust any lesson plan to maintain academic focus. Many of these tasks are learned on-the-job. Nothing you can learn in any course is more valuable than learning what to do when you dont know what to do. When you can do that, you are well on your way to becoming a great teacher. Strategic Learning Strategic learning is, in effect, a highly probable outcome of effective strategic teaching. Reduced to its essentials, strategic learning is learning in which students construct their own meanings, and in the process, become aware of their own thinking. The link between teaching, thinking, and learning is critical. As a teacher, if you are not causing your students to think about what you are presenting, discussing, demonstrating, mediating, guiding, or directing, then you are not doing an effective job. You must be more than a dispenser of information. You must create conditions and an environment that encourages thinking, deepens and broadens it, and which causes students to become aware of how they think. The process of thinking about how we think is referred to as metacognition. In helping students create knowledge, it is useful to think of knowledge as occupying space that can be thought of as a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid is declarative knowledge, or knowledge of what is. Declarative knowledge is akin to awareness. One step up on the pyramid is procedural knowledge, or knowledge of how something works, or functions. At the top of the pyramid is conditional knowledge, or knowledge of when or why a particular procedure will work. Conditional knowledge is closely related to the predictive function of knowledge. When students develop a broad and deep system of conditional knowledge, they are able to predict more accurately, solve problems more efficiently, and in a sense, are more free because they can identify and articulate more options from which to choose. Strategic learning is a valuable system to help your students develop conditional knowledge. Content Connections The creation of knowledge is, in the most practical and profound sense, a primary and direct result of learning. As teachers, we must strive to assist our students to develop intellectual tools by which they can create knowledge. Any knowledge, once created, becomes a part of a larger system that enhances learning and is capable of integrating and accommodating new information with greater efficiency and reliability. Each person creates knowledge in similar, yet uniquely distinct ways. Connecting information provided or described by others in novel and personal ways is a key to learning and developing knowledge. The more one knows, the more one can know. The idea of content links or connections is not exactly new, but offers some unique opportunities to chart your own course, learn, and add to your knowledge system. Enter the idea of Constructivism. Constructivism is a philosophy as well as a psychology of education. Constructivism is about how knowledge is created.

Development of Competent Nursing Skills

Development of Competent Nursing Skills Introduction This essay focuses on a reflection on the development from novice, to competent beginner, to skilled practitioner in the light of my own development in clinical nursing practice. It is based on the signposts identified within my clinical learning portfolio and focuses on the notion of the helping role and caring skills within nursing practice. It utilises a reflective framework to better identify and reflect upon the journey from novice to practitioner. The model for reflection I have chosen is Gibbs Reflective Cycle (see Appendix). Reflection has been described as as a process of internally examining and exploring an issue of concern, triggered by an experience which creates and clarifies meaning in terms of self, and which results in a changed conceptual perspective (Boyd and Fales, 1983). Therefore, the experiences of my three placements are explored under three rotations of Gibbs Cycle. Meretoja et al (2004) state that nurses self-recognition of own level of competence is essential in maintaining high standards of care. I have chosen the caring role based on my own recognition of the level of competence achieved in this area. Cycle One Novice to Advanced beginner What Happened. I had to assist a patient in with personal care; make them comfortable in bed and collaborate in pressure area management; assist with toileting, washing, mouthcare, and application of emollient cream. I also had to document care and any deviations from the norm. Feelings I was very aware of my inexperience and of the trust this patient placed in my and the nursing team. I was also aware of the intimate nature of the care I was providing, and the fact that it was basic care also highlighted the fundamental role such care has in supporting health promotion and patient wellbeing. Evaluation I was uncomfortable at first, and clumsy in the provision of the various aspects of care. However, my mentor was informative, supportive and helpful, which assisted me in doing the various tasks. However, I found it difficult to complete these as quickly as I should have. I did learn to communicate with the patient and provide a sensitive approach. Analysis This situation required fundamental aspects of the caring role. It also demonstrates the link between basic nursing care an every other aspect of nursing. The NMC (2004) requires nurses to provide individualised care for their patients. The care for this person was based on their own needs and adapted as those needs changed. I was able to identify those needs and develop competency in providing care at this level. The caring role was very rewarding but physically and emotionally taxing However, I was still in the process of identifying particular needs and responding to them, such as toileting, which required me working with others in a collaborative manner, which I did not find easy. I also realised how much I did not know about nursing. Conclusion In this situation, I could have developed more collaborative working skills and modelled myself on those around me more actively ie., copied the ways in which other nurses and healthcare assistants provided care. When I did do this, it was effective. But I found that despite my enthusiastic approach, my knowledge base meant that I did not always understand the rationale for what I was doing. Action Plan The action plan from this was to take the confidence and competence I had developed in the practical skills and incorporate them into all aspects of the caring role. It was also to identify areas where my knowledge base was lacking, and seek out this knowledge. Keeping knowledge up to date is a requirement of the NMC code of condut (NMC, 2004). Working collaboratively is another NMC requirement (NMC, 2004). Taking this knowledge forward into practice made this process of reflection a learning activity. Cycle Two Advanced Beginner What Happened As part of my role assisting with patient care, I had to monitor pain levels and assist with providing analgesia as prescribed, along with monitoring its effectiveness. This was a surgical placement, and I also discussed with elderly patient their coping and wellbeing after hospital discharge. I engaged in health education and support to enable clients to be self-caring. I was also responsible for monitoring wellbeing through performing and recording clinical observations, recording fluid balance and reporting any abnormalities. I was also involved in providing personal care to patients in a safe manner, especially in the disposal of waste products. Feelings To begin with, I felt glad to be working at a more advanced level of competency, and felt confident in my basic nursing skills including performing clinical observations. However, the increased demand also meant increased pressure and I was aware of this. Again, I felt that I had developed a degree of competency but was very aware of my need to develop further knowledge and skills. The caring role involved supporting people and I had to access other professionals to ensure I gave the right information and that my care had been effective. Evaluation It was good to find that I had the clinical competence to effectively monitor clinical status. However, the complex nature of patient needs meant that I still didn’t always know the answers to their questions. Being involved in discharge planning was an enabling activity for myself and the patients. I developed competence in the administration of medications, under supervision, including controlled drugs, but felt I still needed more practice and skill in this area. Colleagues noted my competence and qualified staff were happy to delegate a range of appropriate tasks to me. Analysis It would appear that the caring role means the provision of patient centred, holistic care. This was achievable in this situation but required a lot of knowledge and the ability to provide focused attention and empathic care whilst carrying out complex clinical nursing tasks. This was harder to achieve, and I was made aware of my continued learning needs around medication and surgical care, for example. However, I must have developed some competence as qualified staff were happy to delegate to me and to act on my feedback. Conclusion It is hard to see what else I could have done, except perhaps done more reading around surgical care, discharge planning and the nurse-patient relationship. Action Plan It was possible to identify future learning needs, and so my action plan included building on my current competence by engaging in more advanced practice, under supervision. Having the confidence to engage in more complex nursing tasks will help me to achieve more competence in advanced practice in the future. Recognising the demands of the caring role means that I will view future practice as based upon this role. Cycle Three Competent Level What Happened. I monitored patients with chronic pain and helped with analgesia. I also supported patients with freedom of choice for their own care (NMC, 2004) and provided personal and palliative care in sensitive manner. I mastered more advanced practical nursing skills including aseptic technique and safe disposal of sharps. I fully documented all care given, and recorded medication given, and communicated to staff at shift change during the nursing handover. Feelings During this experience, I felt that my knowledge and experience in the caring role was finally coming together. I was confident and happy in engaging with patients and providing empathy and a supportive manner, whilst also carrying out more complex clinical tasks appropriately and effectively. It was very nerve-wracking giving handover, but I became more confident as I had more practice. Evaluation I was able to provide care of a high standard, and recognise my sphere of competence and seek help when needed. I was able to engage in effective caring relationships with clients, meet their individual needs, but also value my own input into their wellbeing. Analysis It was obvious that I had moved on to a level of nursing competence which allowed me some autonomy. I was able to act with less direct supervision, but still access the support of the whole care team. The caring role extended to the provision of all care, including end of life care, and I was able to utilise my knowledge and experience and also identify my learning in action, and my future learning needs, which have changed since the first reflection. Conclusion The change from novice to competent practitioner in the caring role has demonstrated not only the acquisition of skill but the incorporation of clinical abilities into what is really a way of being with patients. Action Plan Signposting future learning needs is important following this reflection. I was able to identify the need to still learn advanced clinical skills and perhaps know more about the range of other professionals who could enhance care in individual situations. Conclusion This reflection has signposted my development towards competent nursing practice. The caring role encompasses provision of basic care, advanced techniques, medication and pain relief, health promotion, end of life care and collaborative care. It seems to be the fundamental and most important part of nursing practice. Collaboration and coordination, as well as the holistic management of the situation, are highly recognized as meaningful characteristics of competent nursing practice (Meretoja et al, 2002). References Boyd E, Fales A. (1983) Reflecting learning: key to learning from experience. Humanist Psychol 23 (2) 99–117. Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing. A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic, Oxford Meretoja, R., Leino-Kilpi, H. Kair, A. (2004) Comparison of nurse competence in different hospital work environments Journal of NursingManagement.12(5) 329–336 Meretoja, R., Eriksson, E. Leino-Kilpi, H. (2002) Indicators for competent nursing practice Journal of Nursing Management 10(2) 95-102 Nursing and Midwifery Council (2004) Code of Conduct Available from www.nmc-uk.org Accessed 30-4-07.

Comparison And Contrast Of William Blakes Poems Essay -- essays resear

Comparison and Contrast of William Blake's Poems Introduction (Innocence) Piping down the valleys wild, Piping songs of pleasant glee, On a cloud I saw a child, And he laughing said to me: "Pipe a song about a lamb!" So I piped with merry chear. "Piper, pipe that song again;" So I piped, he wept to hear. "Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe; Sing thy songs of happy chear:" So I sung the same again, While he wept with joy to hear. "Piper, sit thee down and write In a book, that all may read." So he vanish'd from my sight, And I pluck'd a hollow reed, And I made a rural pen, And I stain'd the water clear, And I wrote my happy songs Every child may joy to hear. Introduction (Experience) Hear the voice of the Bard! Who Present, Past, & Future, sees; Whose ears have heard The Holy Word That walk'd among the ancient trees, Calling the lapsed Soul, And weeping in the evening dew; That might controll The starry pole, And fallen, fallen light renew! "O Earth, O Earth, return! "Arise from out the dewy grass; "Night is worn, "And the morn "Rises from the slumberous mass. "Turn away no more; "Why wilt thou turn away? "The starry floor, "The wat'ry shore, "Is giv'n thee till the break of day." The Chimney Sweeper (Innocence) When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry "'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep. There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, That curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd: so I said "Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair." And so he was quiet & that very night, As Tom was a-sleeping , he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned & Jack, Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black. And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he open'd the coffins & set them free; The down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run, And wash in a river, and shine in the Sun. Then naked & white, all their bags left behind, They rise upon the clouds and sport in the wind; And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father & never want joy. And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark, And got with our bags &a... ...and comfort, in 'Infant Sorrow' the baby is brought forth in pain and sorrow. At the center of Blake's thought are two conceptions of innocence and experience, 'the two contrary states of the human soul'. Innocence is the characteristic of the child, experience is the characteristic of the adult. (Characteristic, NOT the body)The Innocence poems deal with childhood as the symbol of an untarnished innocence which ought to be, but which in modern civilization cannot be. These poems all have a childlike directness and a sense of controlled joy in the human and natural world that show none of the signs of a grownup writing for children. In innocence, there are two factors. One is an assumption that the world was made for the benefit of human beings, and the other is ignorance to this world. As the child grows, his conscious mind accepts 'experience', or reality. His childhood innocence is forgotten and lost forever, for innocence is not knowing experience. Blake can wrote his innocence books before he had been exposed to the social injustices of his time. Also, one can write abo ut innocence from remembering it. However, living innocence, and writing about it are two different things. Comparison And Contrast Of William Blakes Poems Essay -- essays resear Comparison and Contrast of William Blake's Poems Introduction (Innocence) Piping down the valleys wild, Piping songs of pleasant glee, On a cloud I saw a child, And he laughing said to me: "Pipe a song about a lamb!" So I piped with merry chear. "Piper, pipe that song again;" So I piped, he wept to hear. "Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe; Sing thy songs of happy chear:" So I sung the same again, While he wept with joy to hear. "Piper, sit thee down and write In a book, that all may read." So he vanish'd from my sight, And I pluck'd a hollow reed, And I made a rural pen, And I stain'd the water clear, And I wrote my happy songs Every child may joy to hear. Introduction (Experience) Hear the voice of the Bard! Who Present, Past, & Future, sees; Whose ears have heard The Holy Word That walk'd among the ancient trees, Calling the lapsed Soul, And weeping in the evening dew; That might controll The starry pole, And fallen, fallen light renew! "O Earth, O Earth, return! "Arise from out the dewy grass; "Night is worn, "And the morn "Rises from the slumberous mass. "Turn away no more; "Why wilt thou turn away? "The starry floor, "The wat'ry shore, "Is giv'n thee till the break of day." The Chimney Sweeper (Innocence) When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry "'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep. There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, That curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd: so I said "Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair." And so he was quiet & that very night, As Tom was a-sleeping , he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned & Jack, Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black. And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he open'd the coffins & set them free; The down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run, And wash in a river, and shine in the Sun. Then naked & white, all their bags left behind, They rise upon the clouds and sport in the wind; And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father & never want joy. And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark, And got with our bags &a... ...and comfort, in 'Infant Sorrow' the baby is brought forth in pain and sorrow. At the center of Blake's thought are two conceptions of innocence and experience, 'the two contrary states of the human soul'. Innocence is the characteristic of the child, experience is the characteristic of the adult. (Characteristic, NOT the body)The Innocence poems deal with childhood as the symbol of an untarnished innocence which ought to be, but which in modern civilization cannot be. These poems all have a childlike directness and a sense of controlled joy in the human and natural world that show none of the signs of a grownup writing for children. In innocence, there are two factors. One is an assumption that the world was made for the benefit of human beings, and the other is ignorance to this world. As the child grows, his conscious mind accepts 'experience', or reality. His childhood innocence is forgotten and lost forever, for innocence is not knowing experience. Blake can wrote his innocence books before he had been exposed to the social injustices of his time. Also, one can write abo ut innocence from remembering it. However, living innocence, and writing about it are two different things.

Fahrenheit 451: Journal #3 Quote Analysis Essay

In the quote above, Faber describes books and their content to Montag, who as started to rebel against society through books. Faber was a very special and memorable person Montag met in a park a few years back. They had a conversation in which Faber recited some poems to him and because of that, Montag knew he was a rebel; a reader. He was the only person Montag could think of that would help him in his situation. Faber is the one that uttered this quote and is, by far, my favorite character in the book. The way he describes books is so unique. He uses many figures of speech to explain books and even society. Because of this, what he says usually has indirect meanings. Take this quote for example. This quote contains metaphors and personifications that describe Montag’s society and why books are burned. â€Å"Pores in the face of life† is a personification that represents the â€Å"problems in life.† Pores on our faces are unwanted, ugly, problematic. Same with the issues in our lives. It makes people unhappy, and brings torture in their lives. People are afraid of this; therefore, they are removed, avoided. Books reveal these â€Å"pores in the face of life,† so they are removed as well. That’s how Montag’s government controls Montag’s society. Through fake, hollow happiness. The government digs a hole and buries the locked treasure box filled with everyone’s emotions (excluding happiness) and issues deep inside the hole. Heck, they even teach society to do that themselves! For the next sentence, â€Å"flowers† is a metaphor for ideas. â€Å"Good rain† and â€Å"black loam† represents creativity and imagination. â€Å"Flowers† need Good rain† and â€Å"black loam† to blossom into something grand, special, unique. But, because the â€Å"flowers† are growing on other â€Å"flowers,† they become identical to it. Each and every â€Å"flower† grows on each other until the world is covered in identical flowers. A few are different, yes, but they slowly dwindle through the influence of the identical â€Å"flowers† and the disturbance of nature those â€Å"flowers† created. Those â€Å"special flowers† may transform into an â€Å"identical flower,† or, they die. Journal #4 May 5, 2013 â€Å"†¦They were gone. The Hound was gone. Now there was only the river and Montag floating in a sudden peacefulness, away from the city and the lights and the chase, away from everything.† (Pg. 140, Fahrenheit 451) This quote occurs after Montag kills Beatty and two other firemen, as well as burn the Salamander, after his house was burnt by them. Because of that, he is now being chased by firemen in helicopters and Salamanders, and a more efficient and high tech Mechanical Hound. Montag visits Faber one last time, receiving money, new clothes, and directions from him, and then runs into the river, which carries him away to safety. The Hound and firemen then loses track of him. This quote is where, in my opinion, the climax ends and the resolution starts. It’s when Montag completes his transition from â€Å"mindless follower† to â€Å"independent thinker.† All with nature’s aid. Nature, at this moment, is shown as something that overrules technology. Even when it’s faced with the highest, most efficient technology that the humans can create, nature wins. Nature was able to bring Montag to safety from the Hound and the clutches of society and technology, to help him escape from everything that was holding him back. The peace and relaxation nature provides help Montag complete his thinking process, which was incomplete because he couldn’t really think when he was surrounded by the fast-moving, overly colorful things, people that didn’t give a damn about anything except for themselves and their happiness, and a government that’s watching your every move. Not until he was completely separated from all that was he able to accept his new self and to move on; to make peace with his inner conflicts. Even he wasn’t able to accept and make peace when he was with Faber, someone he trusted and cared for. He was wounded by technology and healed by nature.

Democracy Aims of the Ninth Amendment

â€Å"We the People of the United States†¦ do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. † Within those opening words, the framers of the U. S. Constitution made clear their intentions for democracy in America and their disregard for previous despotic institutions. No longer viewing the individual†s highest duty to be obedience to the state, our founding fathers displayed a firm commitment to bolstering the significance and dignity of the individual. This new found faith in the ability of the populace to govern itself is known as democracy. Democracy itself is an ideal that was developed by the ancient Greeks around 500 B. C. Inherent in all of the freedoms of democracy are certain â€Å"inalienable rights† that are guaranteed to every citizen who resides under that democracy. Following the Constitutional Convention, Federalists, who supported the ratification of the Constitution, obtained the support by promising that an enumeration of the rights of all citizens that would be added as an amendment to the Constitution after it had been ratified, to Anti-Federalists who opposed ratification due to the lack of enumerated rights. In order to outline and expound upon those rights, the Constitution was amended almost immediately following its ratification in 1788. The Bill of Rights, as the first ten amendments have come to be known, was put into effect on the fifteenth day of December, 1791, and is a formal declaration given by the government to define the fundamental liberties of its citizens and thus limit its own power. The first eight amendments contain the essential rights of every citizen, as well as certain procedural precautions instituted to insure the protection of those rights. The enth amendment guarantees the limitation of federal control to those and only those powers granted it in the Constitution. Inherent in the ninth amendment is the vitality of democracy in the United States. The ninth amendment reads: â€Å"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. † Amendment nine, while protecting citizens from the infringement of the government on the unenumerated rights of the individual using rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights, also levels any implied hierarchy of rights making no single right of any greater importance than another. The preservation of democracy in America is vitally dependent upon the ninth amendment as illustrated by its inherent ideologies that made it an amendment, its modern judicial implications in relation to the topics of the day, as well as its ability to reinforce those attributes that keep a democracy operating. Once the Constitution had been put into effect and representatives had been sent to Congress, it was time for the amendments that had been promised, to be sent before Congress. The leader in the proposition of amendments to the new Congress was James Madison, the â€Å"Father of the Constitution. † Madison†s chief intention in proposing his amendments to the Constitution was to prevent â€Å"†¦ the abridgment of the freedom of the people by [the] gradual and silent encroachments of those in power. † Madison originally proposed fifteen amendments that were to enumerate all of the inalienable rights of United States citizens. Of those fifteen, twelve were accepted by Congress to be sent to the states for approval under the process outlined in the Fifth Article of the Constitution. What would become the ninth amendment was seen even then as innocuous, but Madison was able to support its importance asking, â€Å"If an enumeration be made of all our rights, will it not be implied that everything omitted is given to the general government? † Democracy, as a free-state, relies inevitably on the protection of the freedoms of the individual; because all of the freedoms that an individual has a right to cannot simply be listed, it is vitally important that those rights which are not spelled out in the body of law that protects the individual continue to be protected from usurpation by the government. Through inference this amendment implies in its own wording that the rights that are listed in the Bill of Rights are so important that they needed to be spelled out, but there are other natural rights belonging to United States citizens that were equally important, but too numerous to mention. These â€Å"natural rights† include the right to choose your own mate, the right to reproductive choice, the right to determine the manner of your child†s education, and even covers rights to personal privacy. Certainly no man would argue the personal, as well as democratic significance of these rights. Thus, Madison, foreseeing the possibilities of the rise of the federal government to the already massive position of power that it now occupies kept it from denying Americans all of those rights that even they take for granted, because they cannot be found specifically enumerated in The judicial implications behind the ninth amendment are innumerable, mainly due to the fact that on a regular basis the government does its best to work its way into the private lives of individuals and instruct them on how to better their conduct in the ace of social morality. One pressing issue facing the people of the United States today is that of doctor-assisted suicide. To date, it has been ruled that suicide is in essence self-murder and accordingly, if murder is illegal so must all forms of it be illegal as well, self and otherwise. However, in light of the unenumerated rights guaranteed to citizens by the ninth amendment, this â€Å"right to die† inherently belongs to the individual as it does ot infringe upon the rights of others. Another modern political debate is that of the legality of homosexuality. Seeing as how, regardless of their sexual orientation, homosexuals are citizens of the United States of America, they also have the right to decide for themselves the person with whom they engage in sexual relations. Sexuality is, therefore, one more of the unenumerated rights bestowed upon the people under the â€Å"innocuous† amendment. Wisely effected for this use, the ninth amendment was cited in the case of Roe v. Wade in the determination of a woman†s right to have an abortion. This right, while not enumerated in the Constitution is still a right of the people under the ninth amendment. The ninth amendment, while famously misunderstood and misinterpreted by Judge Robert Bork in his 1987 confirmation hearing, has only recently been utilized as a tool in the fight for the preservation of the individual citizen†s democratic rights. Bork demonstrated his ineptitude and his inability to be a Supreme Court Justice by stating that he could not logically view the ninth amendment from the mindset of the Constitution†s framers. The ability of a Supreme Court Justice to trust his own insinuations into the minds of our founding fathers is what allows them to make a clear, responsible and accurate assertion about the ramifications of the wording of the Constitution. Unenumerated rights are, by definition, rights that are not specifically listed and are, therefore, more or less unknown. If it was possible to enumerate all of the rights that are delegated to the people under the ninth amendment then it would have been done and the innocuity innate in its creation would be forever erased. As those rights remain constantly emerging and on the verge of emerging the Supreme Court will have to continue to expand its interpretation and better use the ninth amendment for the protection of the intrinsic rights of the American citizen. Democracy itself is reliant upon several things to keep it working: citizen participation, voluntary action and education. The ninth amendment strengthens the wide-spread participation of the citizenry by entrusting them with rights that are God-given, rights that are so innately human that they need not be itemized in the body of law that was created to itemize the inborn rights of all citizens. Any and every individual has the right to run for public office. Each individual is also capable of supporting which ever political party he feels best represents his own personal opinions. He also retains the right to keep those personal opinions to himself if he so chooses. Another characteristic of democracy is its faith and dependence upon education. Although widespread participation is a significantly substantial aspect of democracy, it alone does not ensure the proper maintenance of good government. An active populace is nothing if it is not an educated populace. Education is not an institution that can be left to sort itself out, either. Whether an individual should choose to attend public or private schools, continue to a college or university, or perhaps be taught directly by his parents at home is a right that remains his under the ninth amendment. Without the freedoms and rights that are built-into the educational systems of America by the ninth amendment, the ability of the nation to take action, keep informed, vote intelligently and produce leaders worthy of public trust and responsibility would be drastically diminished. The lack of force inbred in all democracies requires a distinct amount of voluntary action to replace it. The right of the citizen to participate or not to participate in the everyday workings of the democracy in which he lives is always his. The ninth amendment can in that manner work against itself, but thanks to the safeguard of education it can be assumed a majority of the individuals inhabiting a democracy are there of their own free will and there because they wish to cooperate with and for the established system and not against it. The successful operation of American democracy, as well as that of any other democracy, is dependent upon the rights granted to the people of the United States by the ninth amendment. In The Federalist, â€Å"Number 47,† James Madison said that, â€Å"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. † Madison proposed the Bill of Rights in order to avoid allowances for the federal government to secure a position of tyranny as well as to promote the permanent establishment of democracy. Amendment nine of the Bill of Rights is the amendment that best exemplifies the preservation of that new state of democracy in America by withholding from the national government all those rights that went unenumerated in the Bill of Rights, but which continue to be retained by the people. The right to personal privacy, the right to a choice of educational institutions, the right to receive an abortion, the right to choose your own sexual orientation, the right to follow the political party of your choosing and even the right to die are all bestowed upon the citizenry by the ninth amendment. Democracy, as an institution of sentiment, law and government, could not survive without the guarantee of the ninth amendment that the people shall retain those rights which were given them with birth and which will neither be denied nor disparaged. The increasing clarity of the ninth amendment will continue to provide boundless possibilities for the people of the United States to not only continue in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but also to inhibit federal interference with that goal.