Our blog topic for the semester was to investigate Healthcare systems around the world, and how they differ amongst nations with similar political systems. To end the semester, it is important to apply the course material and what we’ve learned to the topic that we have explored throughout the semester.  Through investigating Healthcare systems in Cuba, France, and other nations,  focusing mainly on Universal healthcare, I have concluded that the type of regime in a country does not determine the type of healthcare system in that nation.

            Healthcare systems are institutionalized and broadly based on the political sentiments of individuals in a nation.  The United States, while it values freedom and equality, does not provide for universal healthcare for its citizens.  In its healthcare system, the United States chose to value freedom over equality, while other nations such as Cuba value equality over freedom.  Cubans argue that this provides a greater freedom for many citizens.  Higher taxes are a sacrifice that citizens endure to pay less for unexpected surgeries or expensive medications.  The culture of a nation does not determine its healthcare system.  The rational self-interest of the governing body decides what is best for the citizens in its nation. 

Ukraine has just recently come out of an election where President Victor Yushchenko was re-elected for his second term.  This being said, there has been some controversy building between the Ukrainian Parliament and the president.  

 New laws limiting presidential powers sparked a conflict between parliament and President Victor Yushchenko over cabinet appointments. On April 2 Yushchenko dissolved parliament and called for new elections after dozens of politicians from pro-presidential parties defected to a coalition headed by Yushchenko’s political rival, Viktor Yanukovich.  

 Along with these political issues developing, the media in Ukraine is trying to distinguish itself from the Ukrainian Government.  Much like in Italy, the media was strongly biased towards certain political figures, allowing for more representation.  

 Journalists and media outlets continue to work free of direct government interference, but threats and physical attacks against journalists critical of government officials or other prominent figures remain a problem.  

 

These certain issues developing in the Ukraine can be found somewhat similar to those discussed in the comparative case studies discussed in the Diamond and Morlino text.  The link to the article can be found here

 

 http://hrw.org/englishwr2k8/docs/2008/01/31/ukrain17712.htm

Comparative Politics is the study of various Political systems around the world.  We studied different regime types and aspects of political culture.  We looked at what makes a State, and how political instability can lead to the upheaval of an entire nation.  Some key characteristics are necessary for a country to become democratic, and numerous authors debated what these necessities are.  Throughout the selected readings, we were able to obtain information regarding the necessary governmental and individual ideologies which played a role in the development of a government.

We were asked many questions, throughout the semester, of what makes up a government. We began to answer these questions by analyzing and comparing different states, found on the World Values Survey, and seeing whether these states were strong and prospering or if they have failed.  We researched the political history, economic history and social history to find out what made them fail or what made them succeed.  This was our first analysis of “comparative politics”, gaining the ability to compare to states and their governments.  We then analyzed quotes from Huntington, regarding the Confucian Ideology and the Chinese Government, whether Iraq is the Islamic problem, and how God and Caesar play roles in the development of democracy.  Lastly, we focused and culminated much of our class discussion with a mock German Election.  By researching each party within the German government, and researching in depth our respective parties, we were able to understand how an election would undergo.  This tied together everything we’ve learned in comparative politics, with the comparisons and ideologies of political parties and how they correlate to form the strongest regime.  

Overall, we have learned  that comparative politics is not just a general study of a government and how it functions.  It is an in-depth analysis of how a government functions, why it functions this way, and what major factors influence it’s function.  

Stephen and Jackie

The political culture in the United States is different than that in Cuba regarding healthcare.  The U.S. does not value universal because we have a different political culture. In the U.S. we believe healthcare should be provided by oneself and in Cuba they believe that society should provide for everyone. (ie: their political culture believes in benefitting society.)

 “What does Cuba get for sending doctors around the world? They get nothing. They really care about people. They really believe that people deserve and have a right to health care. They believe people deserve life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,”  

 

Article found here   

This past Tuesday’s German election seemed to be one of the highlights of the semester for me in our class.  I found it very exciting to be able to participate in the mock election.  I felt that this was one of the more crucial parts of our semester.  The ability to participate in something like this gave us, or atleasst me, the true understanding of the material we were studying.  Our individual write-ups and our speech’s allowed us to research our party and the district we were running for.  This gave us the opportunity vote and elect for our respected opponents.  The following class we broke off into our respected parties and discussed our the main focus of our parties and which elements we were able to sacrifice and deal to another party to correlate with.  Our party, the free democratic party or FDP, had the largest council, which consisted of six party members.  The discussion we created between each of the groups was to try and make deals to form the strongest political correlation.  Needless to say, our party spoke very well and had very strong ideas, but were lazy when it came to trying to correlate with other groups, therefore, the other three groups formed a partnership and outvoted us.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-03-23-iraq-casualties_N.htm

As the article describes, casualties in Iraq are astronomical.  The war in Iraq has dragged on. However, many are reluctant to withdraw from Iraq until we are successful. What defines a “success” in Iraq? Clearly, the region is experiencing mass casualties and is still far from stable. If Fish’s notion that Islam is incompatible with democracy is indeed true, then it is impossible to bring democracy to a country such as Iraq. The ideals of Islam and the Ideals of Islam simply are not cohesive.  Islamic societies are patriarchical societies.  Women in this societies are subordinate to males and do not have many rights.  Even though this social norm has an iconic character, the ‘tradition’ has perpetuated in Islamic societies.  This said, Islam, is fundamentally incompatible with democracy, a regime type that is based on freedom and equality for all.  However hard we struggle to implement a viable democracy in Iraq, it may not ever happen. 

In Conclusion, the war effort in Iraq is essentially pointless. Many feel that the fallen soldiers and mass bloodshed, must be justified by completing the task of securing Iraq’s government. Unfortunately, this may never be a possibility. 

Societies differ in how individuals define themselves and their relationship to one another as well as their relationship to government and the state.  These unique relationships re, according to O’Neil, “bound by shared institutions that define how human relations should be conducted.” One such institution is the healthcare system of a nation.  In France, does the happy, close-knit society allow for the excellent health care system that they have, or is this excellent healthcare system the cause of the happiness the French feel?

 

The French healthcare system, classified as the “best health system in the world” in 2000 by the World Health Organization, provides universal healthcare for its citizens. 

 

“The success of the French health system is evidenced in the general health of the French population”, says one article.  The life expectancy of a French citizen increases more than three months each year, and French women have the second highest life expectancy rate in the world.

One article described the healthcare system:”The French government provides a number of diverse and comprehensive healthcare rights. For more than 96 percent of the population, medical care is either entirely free or is reimbursed 100 percent. The French also have the right to choose among healthcare providers, regardless of their income level. For example, they can consult a variety of doctors and specialists or choose a public, private, university or general hospital. Moreover, the waiting lists for surgeries found in other government supported healthcare systems do not exist in France.”

To fund this system 60% of the funds come from workers’ salaries and the remaining 40% come from indirect taxes on alcohol and tobacco and by direct contribution paid by all revenue proportional to income. 

On the surface, it appears that health insurance reimburses medical care providers less in France than in other European countries. However, more than 80 percent of French people have supplemental insurance, often provided by their employers. The poorest have free universal healthcare, which is financed by taxes. Additionally, the treatment costs for those who suffer from long-term illnesses are completely reimbursed.

Overall, it appears the French healthcare system likely a factor in the happiness of the French.  Nevertheless, more importantly, it is French society that allows for a system like this to be so successful.  The French have a national identity that is strengthened through nationalism and a common ethnicity.  This bond and the more homogeneous society allows the French citizens to favor a system that benefits the entire population.  In contrast, the United States does not favor universal healthcare—most likely because people do not want to be paying for other individuals, unlike themselves, to benefit.  It is France’s strong state and nationalistic citizens that allow for the success of a universal system. 

Gas prices are staying within the three dollar range, and experts say that the barrel of oil with not fall below $60.

 Slower consumer spending and rising unemployment – traditional harbingers of an economic downturn – are unlikely to drastically reduce energy prices. Oil isn’t expected to fall below $60 a barrel from its current level of $90 and gasoline should bottom out around $2.30-2.50 a gallon from around $3 currently, experts say. 

“That’s the floor, even in a global recession,” said Simon Wardell, an oil analyst at consulting group Global Insight. “The overall balance is going to remain pretty tight.”

 

 http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/21/news/economy/gas_prices_recession/index.htm?postversion=2008012213

 

“President Bush proposed a series of short-term tax cuts Friday that he said would provide a boost for the struggling U.S. economy.” President Bush has done so to keep a fundamentally strong economy healthy.http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/18/news/economy/bush_package/index.htm?postversion=2008012213

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