Research Topics: Kyoto Protocol

GLOBAL WARMING: RALLYING FOR AN ALL-STATE INVOLVEMENT IN THE KYOTO PROTOCOL

Thesis Statement             All states should be involved in addressing the problem of global warming through their involvement in the Kyoto Protocol for the following reasons: Ø      Global Warming is an international phenomenon caused by the aggregate emission of greenhouse gases by the activities of all states.   Ø      Environmental damage to the atmosphere and natural resources is an irreversible effect that boils down to the issue of the continued existence of man.   Ø      Global warming extends beyond political differences and personal interest because the effects of global warming do not discriminate against culture, race, gender or economic status.   Ø      Economic costs of limiting greenhouse gas emissions by all states are less than the cost of not taking responsibility for global warming in the long run.       Working Outline 1.0 What is Global Warming? 2.0 What are the causes of Global Warming? 3.0 What actions of international scale are being made to address Global Warming?      3.1 What is the Kyoto Protocol? 3.2 What are the environmental issues? 3.3 What are the political issues? 3.4 What are the economic issues? 3.5 Why should all states be involved in the Kyoto Protocol?   Research Paper Draft             Global warming is an environmental damage of international proportions caused by greenhouse effect. Greenhouse effect refers to the heat-trapping effect of the rising concentrations of carbon dioxide and other gases emitted by burning fossil fuels, deforestation and other human activity into the atmosphere creating a barrier that traps the sun’s heat inside the earth. (Cline, 1992) Due to the international effect of the phenomenon, there is the realization that minimizing its effect needs international cooperation. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol developed during the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. The purpose of the protocol is the promotion of policy change on phasing out incentives, tax exemptions and subsidies to industries attributed with majority of greenhouse gas emissions and giving these incentives to environment friendly industries. (Chambers, 2001) However, the nature of global warming and climate change covered by the Kyoto Protocol exacts only voluntary compliance (Wiener, 1999). The Kyoto Protocol takes effect only after it is ratified by 55 countries including the countries attributed with 55% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and states determine the amount of cutback in emissions to be achieved in 2012. It was only in February 2005 that the protocol came into effect. The Kyoto Protocol had weaknesses since it does not impose a ceiling or a minimum level of compliance to be able to achieve significant results (Gardiner, 2004) and it does not expect compliance from developing countries that ratified the protocol (Page, 2002). Nevertheless, it is a necessary solution to global warming. The primary environmental concern in the issue of global warming is stopping the century-old practice of indiscriminate emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to prevent its effects. The heat trapped inside the earth affects the agricultural sector and our food supply because of drought and heat stress. The melting of glaciers increase the seawater level causing flooding in areas below sea level. Rapid deforestation limits the ability of nature to absorb the mass of greenhouse gases and rainfall increasing water runoff causing landslides and flooding. (Vitousek, 1994) No state can contest these effects so that involvement by states in the Kyoto Protocol, which is the first international effort to address global warming, is justified by these effects. The primary political issue raised by non-participating states is the conflict between the protocol’s regulation of fossil fuel trading and the WTO principle of free trade. However, the Kyoto Protocol can exist together with free trade because states are free to define the targeted decrease in their greenhouse gas emissions. (Lisowski, 2002) Thus, this issue is capable of settlement with clarification of the provisions of the agreement. Thus, this political issue is not a sufficient justification for non-participation in the Kyoto Protocol.               The primary economic issue in global warming is weighing the economic cost of global warming and the economic cost of limiting the use of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases. On one hand, the benefit-cost analysis (Cline, 1999) conducted based on US conditions in the early 1990s showed that the cost of global warming already amounted to trillion annually. The agricultural losses due to drought and heat stress amounted to billion. Melting of glacial ice increasing the seawater level causing floods contributed billion. Warmer weather increases electricity consumption for air-conditioning amounting to billion. Water run-off that curtails water from dropping into water basins contributes billion. Increase in urban pollution due to warmer weather amounts to billion. Deaths due to heat waves amounts to a conservative billion annually calculated through lost earnings. The loss of the long-term value of forests amounted to billion. The melting of mountain snowcaps amounts to a loss of $ 1½ billion to the ski industry. On the other hand, US refused to ratify the protocol because it contends that it will incur economic loss of 0 billion, affecting 149 million jobs. The US projects that it will experience a decrease in real GDP and consumption by as much as 1.2 percent and 1.0 percent respectively by 2010 with the Kyoto Protocol. The limitation on the trading of fossil fuels will also increase the price of gasoline by as much as 36 cents for a gallon, natural gas by as much as 42 percent, and electricity by as much as 36 percent by 2010. There is also loss due to the limitation in the trading of permits to as much as 4.2 percent of the baseline GDP. (Lasky, 2003) It is in terms of economic issue that participation in the Kyoto Protocol becomes an issue.              Global warming is an environmental damage of international scale that developed due to the aggregate contributions of states. However, no single state takes responsibility for their individual contributions because the atmosphere is deemed an unlimited resource. No state owns it and every state has the right to utilize it. No state can prevent another from exploiting or destroying the atmosphere. This is why the Kyoto Protocol is voluntary. States should voluntary assume the burden of addressing global warming. Environmental and political reasons coupled with the economic cost of global warming justify the voluntary participation of all states in arresting global warming for sustainable development and the future of humankind. References Chambers, B. (ed.) (2001). Inter-Linkages: The Kyoto Protocol and the International         Trade  and Investment Regimes. New York: United Nations University Press.    Cline, W. (1992). The Economics of Global Warming.  Washington D.C.: Institute for       International Economics.   Gardiner, S. (2004). ‘The Global Warming Tragedy and the Dangerous Illusion of            the      Kyoto Protocol’. Ethics & International Affairs, 8(1), 23+.   Lasky, M. (2003). ‘The Economic Costs of Reducing Emissions of Greenhouse Gases: A Survey of Economic Models’. Washington D.C.: Congressional Budget Office.   Lisowski, M. (2002). ‘Playing the Two-level Game: US President Bush’s Decision           to         Repudiate the Kyoto Protocol’. Environmental Politics. 11(4),        101-119.     Page, B. (2002). ‘The Kyoto Protocol: The Origins of Our Dilemma’. Journal of      Business Administration and Policy Analysis. 30-31, 125+.   Wiener, J. (1999). ‘Global Environmental Regulation: Instrument Choice in Legal           Context’. Yale Law Journal. 108(4), 677+.   Vitousek, P.M. (1994). ‘Beyond Global Warming: Ecology and Global Change’. Ecology,           75(7), 1861-1876.                 Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

GLOBAL WARMING: RALLYING FOR AN ALL-STATE INVOLVEMENT IN THE KYOTO PROTOCOL

Thesis Statement All states should be involved in addressing the problem of global warming through their involvement in the ...

International Environmental Laws

Effective non-compliance procedures have been more the exception rather than the rule in multilateral environment agreements               The international environmental laws that were produced in the 1992 Kyoto Protocol is one that continued to establish over the years in their non-compliance. The agreement for international law has shown that while there may be an international protocol to follow, individual laws with regards to the decisions of the country for their own safety are also in effect. The agreements are done through legal claims which is held and recognized internationally. Moreover, international laws are also based on the hold of the United Nations Organization when it comes to the membership of the people. In the United Nations Environment Programme discussed the ideas of non-compliance especially with regards to the decisions of the Parties and how this can be practiced depending on the country’s policies. In the effect of non-compliance, it is not the rule of the higher organizations to focus on, yet it is based on the ideas of the government on how the corporations are able to meet the requirements of the country’s environmental law. Multilateral environmental agreements depend on the relationships and the arrangements made by several countries especially as based on their findings. Such of the discussed subjects were the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants[1] and Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.[2]             Companies that do not comply to the procedures that were given to them shows that they are more likely to focus on the environmental problems that the people are having. Sand[3] pointed out that the environment is everyone’s concern especially in providing for climatic security, biological security, and chemical security. Such may be achieved by enforcing such laws within the country. Environmental consciousness is becoming one of the most discussed subjects in countries, one of which is Australia which has also taken part of. The method that is being used here is more on the federal ruling rather than the absolute enforcement, thus showing that there is more focus on the exception.[4]             While taking part in the effort to ensure the environmental security of the country, Australia also takes part in establishing the ways in which they can ensure the safety of their own area, especially by focusing on the international laws that have been established within the country and also the ones that were placed on them as mandated with their multilateral environment agreements. There are some methods in dealing with the non-compliance of the environmental treaties especially with the multilateral environmental issues.[5]             One of the advantages of the multilateral environmental agreements is that the shared vantage of the point gives more advantage regarding the ideas that the countries and the organizations may use, and thus they may effectively ensure the security of the methods that they may use for the protection of the country, especially as based on their co-existence in a pre-defined space. By being vigilant in their investigations, the members of the organizations will be able to determine the methods that may be used in the establishment of their powers. Saunders[6] elaborated the constitutional treaties within the Australian continent and the legislations as based on the various ways that the state can exercise their power. One of the discussed subjects is the inconsistency of the legislation concerning the discussion of their laws, especially when it comes to the determination of the validity of some claims. Moreover, it was also pointed out that there have been questions on the validity of some claims when it comes to the responsibilities of states and the ways that they believe they should take care of their environment.             It is the need for the responsible take that the government have on their assigned turfs. Enforcement of legislations should be followed by the different states and also the agreements must be based on the established acts that are already being enforce within their own states. This lessens the confusion that the other states may have when it comes to dealing with the policies of other states and also gives a relative basis on the similarities of their environmental capabilities.             Information flow is also one of the most major concerns, and the exchange of knowledge has to be established as based on the agreement. In doing so, there is also the need for the agreement regarding the scientific developments and researches that the countries are having. It was pointed out, however, that such agreements are more likely to be established based on the economic advantages rather than the environmental advantages that these may bring to the states.[7] The flow of information between the stipulated states may give the legislators the idea on how to handle the precarious differences that states hold on their laws.             The exception rule that the Australian government has focused is one that shows an almost passive reaction to problems that are currently showing. Scientific researches have continued to reiterate the great changes that have been occurring over the years and how they will affect the different parts of the world, yet this has been treated as more of a warning rather than a real occurrence. The specific enforcement of the legislation may send message to the people regarding their lack of actions regarding the matter, especially when it comes to the dissemination of information that may be helpful for the outcome.             At the same time, exception may also bring some problems regarding the possibility of sustainable development that the country may have, especially in taking advantage of the knowledge that are given. While it has been given that Australia has several resources that can be protected, these knowledge that are continuously being discovered can be used to establish better protection and security for the environment while also establishing a way that they can continue to support the demands of the people. At the same time, the availability of information and new regulations that will control not only the environmental use but also the abuse of the resources may be helpful. This is not simply the question on whether these should be the decisions of other states within the agreements but they are all part of the decisions that the legislators have to decide on for the future of the country and—more importantly—the people.   References   “Australia” in Yearbook of International Environmental Law, 1998 ed.   Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. 2001, December 11, [on-line]; available from http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_fish_stocks.htm   Holland, K. M. (1996). “Introduction.” In Federalism and the Environment: Environmental Policymaking in Australia, Canada, and the United States, ed. Brian Galligan, Kenneth M. Holland, F. L. Morton, 3-16. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.   Palmer, Geoffrey. 1992. New Ways to Make International Environmental Law. American Journal of International Law 86: 259-283.   Redgewell, Catherine. n.d. Non-Compliance Procedures and the Climate Change Convention [on-line]; available from http://www.geic.or.jp/climgov/03.pdf   Saunders, Cheryl. 1996. The Constitutional Division of Powers with Respect to the Environment in Australia. In Federalism and the Environment: Environmental Policymaking in Australia, Canada, and the United States, ed. Brian Galligan, Kenneth M. Holland, F. L. Morton, 55-76. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.   Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. 2001, May 22. [on-line]; available from http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/ September2003/report.htm. [1] Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. 2001, May 22. [on-line]; available from http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/September2003/report.htm. [2] Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. 2001, December 11, [on-line]; available from http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_fish_stocks.htm [3] Palmer, Geoffrey. 1992. New Ways to Make International Environmental Law. American Journal of International Law 86: 259-283. [4] Holland, K. M. (1996). “Introduction.” In Federalism and the Environment: Environmental Policymaking in Australia, Canada, and the United States, ed. Brian Galligan, Kenneth M. Holland, F. L. Morton, 3-16. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. [5] Redgewell, Catherine. n.d. Non-Compliance Procedures and the Climate Change Convention [on-line]; available from http://www.geic.or.jp/climgov/03.pdf [6] Saunders, Cheryl. 1996. The Constitutional Division of Powers with Respect to the Environment in Australia. In Federalism and the Environment: Environmental Policymaking in Australia, Canada, and the United States, ed. Brian Galligan, Kenneth M. Holland, F. L. Morton, 55-76. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. [7] “Australia” in Yearbook of International Environmental Law, 1998 ed. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

International Environmental Laws

Effective non-compliance procedures have been more the exception rather than the rule in multilateral environment agreements ...

How will Taxes Effect e-commerce in a Global Economy

The rationale behind this research proposal presentation involves the process of E-commerce and Taxation as how the taxes effect e-commerce within the global economy as the Internet Tax Freedom Act, provides ban on the state taxation of Internet transactions and that the legislators are expected to vote on whether to extend the ban or to make it permanent within issues and that the decision will affect e-commerce businesses. This issue impacts on any business selling goods and services over the Internet that the Internet taxation issue doesn’t directly affect e-commerce in the global economy as e-commerce has grown and struggled to establish itself as the Act prohibits taxes on Internet access, taxes on specific products sold online that are not taxed offline and duplicate taxes on transactions that the states could tax.  Electronic commerce tax administration in Canada was the subject of Tax Executives Institute (TEI) comments to Canada’s Minister of National Revenue as it should continue to receive input from the business community in the efforts to work towards better agreement on taxation of electronic commerce. Several specific issues were addressed.             The proposal will examine the growth of electronic commerce in commercial activities and administrative issues that arise from electronic commerce and adopt the important methods to address certain issues. The research aims and objectives will help shape the policy positions to participate in the consultative process in order to appreciate the opportunity to discuss such views.   AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aims and objectives for this research proposal will need to understand how e-commerce and taxation works in effect to the global economy in Canada with support to TEI as this presentation aims to give a clear emphasis of e-commerce taxation as to what it brings forth for the positive integration of its aspects within the reality of achieving a better global economy in e-commerce business success and opportunities. The Canadian government should work to develop the necessary legal framework for electronic commerce to ensure effective intellectual property protection in the digital environment; clear rules on jurisdiction, applicable law, and enforcement and on liability and contractual obligations involved in electronic commerce and a fair, equitable tax regime for electronic commerce.       The Objectives 1. To develop a Strategy for E-Commerce 2. To provide and adopt guiding principles about E-Commerce 3. To ensure that requirements for electronic commerce figure notably in its policies and programs. 4. To use Web site to advertise to residents and non-residents of Canada the implications of doing business in Canada on the Internet and e-mail information to interested parties. 5. To approach appropriate organizations to arrange electronic links to the Web site to provide users with information on the tax implications of having business on the Internet. 6. To be active in the workings of the OECD to address electronic transactions. Priority should be given to considering and applying existing concepts to electronic commerce before choosing to pursue alternative or new concepts with respect to changes to the model tax treaty are known and the need to address the taxation of electronic commerce.       7. To integrate Electronic Commerce and Process Redesign There must continue to redesign and re-engineer its business processes in combination with electronic commerce initiatives for program and service delivery. The result may be fundamentally new approaches to delivery in some areas. 8. To have a Strategic Approach to Electronic Delivery Channels There needs to consider developing program and service delivery design principles that promote the strategic use of electronic deliver channels and should promote the acquisition of skills and competencies in selecting and using electronic delivery channels strategically. 9. To enhance Tax Compliance The country should continue to explore the strategic use of the Internet and other emerging technologies and techniques to enhance tax compliance and should maintain a current awareness of software available to ease the burden of tax compliance on small businesses.           VALUE OF RESEARCH The value of research is surprising arising from electronic commerce of the dot.com economy has not altered the new reality of the tax world. It is critical both from the perspective of growth, innovation and competitiveness and from that of maintaining a viable and effective basis for the state that people do the right thing. The hallmark of a global economy is greater mobility of economic transactions and economic agents in enjoying choice for purchases of goods and services to live in communities that best meet the needs within the outcome of greater choice is efficient economies and better living standards.   LITERATURE REVIEW Approaches to E-Taxation Tax electronic commerce is a controversial subject as there are many governments and international organizations issued reports on the taxation of electronic commerce and a large academic and popular literature developed. Canada has been no exception in this publishing maelstrom. Canadian feature of waiting for the OECD some more definitive utterances have begun to emerge, the appropriate tax treatment of electronic commerce remains very much in flux in Canada.     Don’t Tax E-commerce In the United States there argues that the new forms of business being transacted on the Internet should be exempt from taxation in order to facilitate and encourage the spread of the e-economy. Taxes on e-commerce are taxes on innovation and cripple the development of the new economy. Countries that pursue the pernicious policy of taxation, members hamper their ability to compete effectively in the emerging new economy. In reality, it appears that “most arguments regarding externalities are based on politics, not economics.” (Goolsbee 2001, p. 19) Nonetheless, even some who recognize both that the case for taxation exemption is at best transitory and that governments are to surrender tax base willingly appear to take solace in the view that, try as governments might, the combination of e-commerce, financial innovation and globalization will provide at least some temporary tax relief for this innovative sector.             Tax It Like Anything Else In sharp contrast, most governments, led by the OECD, argue that it is critical to develop and enforce effective methods of taxing electronic transactions, both in order to ensure a level playing field for bricks-and-mortar competitors and to be able to finance needed public-sector activities. The OECD has argued that taxation should be neutral and equitable between all forms of commerce, that compliance and administrative costs should be minimized and that the potential for tax evasion and avoidance should be minimized. General criteria for a good tax system are usually easy to state, and even to agree to. Implementing them effectively, however, can be quite another matter. Some have suggested that this aim may be accomplished only by increased co-operation among national and sub-national governments, and perhaps even by the adoption of explicit base-sharing arrangements (Smith 1998).             Really Tax E-commerce Finally, a few proponents of taxing e-commerce have even taken the view that electronic commerce offers not so much a challenge to the sustained productivity of the existing tax system as an opportunity to exploit a new one–the so-called bit tax (Cordell et al. 1997). Bit-tax supporters recommend levying a small charge on the transmission of information by electronic means as others suggest limiting such taxation only to encrypted information or taxing the capacity to receive such information. Whether the idea is to impose a tax on the flow through the pipeline, the size of the connection, it has little merit. It may be politically attractive to generate a lot of revenue by levying a small charge on a large flow, not least when much of the tax would likely be collected from a few large companies. Indeed, it may even be argued that the incidence of such a tax might be progressive to the extent there is a so-called digital divide, with the better-off in society making much more use of electronic commerce than the less fortunate. Canada need to adjust its tax system to the realities of e-commerce (Repss 2000) within the issued major reports on the subject, as have the European Union and the OECD began requiring that any non-EU business that supplies online services to consumers resident in the EU must collect value-added tax (VAT) at the rate applicable in the resident state (Gnaedinger 2003).     Revenue Matters Tanzi and Schuknecht (2000) argue that citizens have, on the whole, received relatively little value for expansions of the state sector much beyond 30 percent of GDP. They may be right unless major changes are made soon in pension and health systems, demography alone seems likely to lead to still further expansion of the state in many countries. Canada is no exception. Robson (2001) recently argued that with unchanged policies, health care alone may sop up another 4 percent of GDP in Canada. An OECD study (Dang, Antolin, and Oxley 2001), taking into account other age-related spending raises the expected increment in spending to almost 9 percent of Canada’s GDP as the validity of all such projections may always be questioned and, in reality, increases of this magnitude would imply a large and unsustainable deficit, a major cut in programs, a substantial increase in taxes seems clear is that significant reductions in the size of the tax bill facing Canadians appear unlikely in the near future. Tanzi (2000) believes that the effect of e-commerce on tax revenue, though so far not relatively large, is thus not a small technical point, but rather a potentially critical influence on the development of future public policy. It deserves close attention (Messere, de Kam, and Heady 2003).       The VAT issue has been most discussed in the European Union, as has the retail sales tax in the United States. Since Canada is the only country in the world with both a VAT and retail sales taxes (Doernberg et al. 2001, 117-18). Buyers are thus taxed indirectly, effectively paying the tax on both the value added by these purchases and that added by their sales when they make them. This mechanism requires sellers to have information on the nature of the buyers and their VAT identification, if they have one. Henceforth, such system already exists (Bird and Oldman 2000) when purchases are made from unregistered nonresident vendors, in principle the reverse charge is paid directly by the buyer, as with the “use tax” familiar from U.S. retail sales taxes these levies depend on individual initiative and are hence unlikely to be effective in practice. Canadian Internet access and web hosting services are subject to GST, regardless of whether the persons receiving the services live in Canada or abroad, because CCRA has explicitly characterized servers to be telecommunications facilities and subject to GST because zero-rating is not applicable to telecommunications services, Canadian suppliers are required to charge GST on supplies to nonresidents unless the latter are also in the business of supplying telecommunication services (Vincze and Schwartz 2000) by enforcing VAT even on B2B transactions rests on the efficacy of tax audit, under the EU system, VAT taxpayers are responsible for ensuring that zero-rated sales are made to eligible recipients, a harmonized system of VAT invoices, with specific information requirements (Strauss 2000).   PRIOR RESEARCH Electronic commerce will greatly increase the mobility of goods consumption as shoppers search websites for bargains far away, and as goods are delivered by private shippers such as FedEx and UPS. E-commerce will enhance the mobility of services consumption as households buy education, entertainment, insurance, legal, and accounting services from distant suppliers. Falling airfares will enable households to spend more of their tourist and health dollars in distant locations. Investment income will become highly mobile as pension funds and brokerage firms develop worldwide networks and households seek to diversify their portfolios. The essential point is to emphasize has to do with tax convergence between national systems. If tax systems designed on a blank slate, the most practical way to accommodate e-commerce would entail adoption of the origin principle of border tax adjustments for retail sales, value-added and similar consumption taxes. Under the origin principle, taxes are not imposed on imports of goods and services, but they are imposed on exports. From an administrative standpoint, it is much easier to collect taxes on firms at the location of production than on households at the place of delivery. It is even truer for services arriving by internet at the computers of individual buyers. However, tax systems have inertia because they affect capital values, location decisions and political interests.     METHODOLOGY   Conduct a review of literature on E-commerce and Taxation as to how taxes affect e-commerce in Canada’s global economy in order to develop useful principles behind the underlying issues in dealing with e-commerce taxation within a definite structure of its context views per se. The realization of primary and secondary data sources within the desired integration of qualitative and quantitative research methodology. There needs to have a good sense of application and analysis of needed facts and information to achieve the aims and objectives as well as to have a valid support of any research findings and its evidences. There needs to incorporate case studies and comparative surveys with regards to the prevalence of e-commerce and taxation within the principal cities of Canada in order to carry out relevant strategies as well as useful models for the support of e-commerce and taxation in effect to the global economy. The case studies are to base within the significant process situation that will discuss and explain the reality behind Canada’s E-commerce taxation as of today’s epoch.             The survey will be in a form of questionnaire procedure and will be developed with set of questions that will have to focus on the research objectives as discussed above. The questionnaire will be answered by 100 Canadian e-commerce suppliers and retailers within as this could give realistic data as to how taxes really work in  pursuance of e-commerce within the global economy. The questions in the questionnaire will seek to evaluate the importance and the function of taxes in e-commerce business transactions as the questionnaire will be distributed to the randomized sample of Canadian respondents across the cities of Canada. Moreover, data analysis will use the basic statistics method and usage to ensure that the results and findings are of valid and reliable implication of e-commerce and taxation in effect to the global economy rather than other related matters that could spoil the accuracy and spontaneity of data and information respectively.                     TIMESCALE   May 2006: Draft the Research Proposal document June 2006: Review of Literature July 2006: Assessment of Research Methodology and agree the conduction August 2006: Administration of the research process to support the essential data needed for the completion of the study September 2006: Do the case study and the survey October 2006: Compile and Administer the Questionnaire November 2006: Collection of questionnaire and data analysis December 2006: Final Writing of the Report Project                           APPENDICES It is in the revenue system that has been widened by the expansion of e-commerce and that gives rise both to a range of estimates of potential revenue losses (Goolsbee 2001; Bruce and Fox 2000) and to the need for radical simplification and harmonization of state and local sales taxes if they are to survive (McLure 2000). Canada suffers from some of the same problems in collecting taxes on taxable goods purchased out of province but has to some extent been saved by its geography and its courts. Most Canadians outside of the National Capital Region do not live near a provincial border and courts have been kinder to tax collectors, the provincial sales tax administrators thus start from a considerably stronger position than their U.S. counterparts. As Bird and Gendron (1998, 2001) show, Canada is already in this fortunate position. Even without a good national VAT, various systems may be conceived to make destination-based sales taxes workable. Canada does not have to explore such refinements, nor does it have to worry too much as yet about the problems driving the sales tax discussion in the U.S., largely because not only is there already a well functioning national VAT (the GST), but there are provincial VATs in provinces, as well.       Thus, one way to deal with problems may be to reduce the importance presently attached to the characterization of income in determining its tax burden. Under present conditions, distinguishing a royalty from a service fee from interest from dividends from a management fee is often an exercise in futility, with the best lawyer and accounting firm winning. Nonetheless, considerable attention has been paid, notably in the OECD working groups. The importance of this distinction is that profits are, under existing rules, primarily subject to tax in the country of source, while royalties are taxed in the country of residence, although subject to source withholding. Although some degree of agreement has been reached in principle on some of these matters at the OECD, experience demonstrates that it can be a very long way from principle to practice in international tax matters of how to source income from e-commerce. Some tax authorities have attempted to reformulate source rules to capture cyber income (Li 1999). The new OECD commentary, says that servers constitute a permanent establishment “in some circumstances”, but websites do not. (Li 2000) Revenue may not be the main issue for economists, who focus more on the impact of taxes regardless of who they are paid to, but it certainly matters to policymakers that would gain from extending residence concepts to encompass e-commerce income, favor extensions of the concept.       As Doernberg et al. (2001, 388) put it: E-commerce can be intangible, multi-jurisdictional and easily  located in tax havens. It poses great challenges to tax authorities. Effective administration relies on the tax authorities’ power and means to obtain information in order to assess a taxpayer’s tax liability by identifying taxpayers, identifying and verifying transactions, and establishing a link between taxpayer and the transactions. E-commerce has the potential to make it difficult or impossible for tax authorities to obtain information or to enforce tax collection. Taxpayers may disappear in cyberspace, reliable records and books may be difficult to obtain and taxing points and audit trails may become obscure. Perhaps, the real danger of e-commerce’s effect on taxation may lay not so much in the erosion of the tax base as in the erosion of privacy as governments take defensive action (Cockfield 2002). The creation of an international fiscal leviathan to swallow up the world’s tax base and divide it among participating countries carries with it the risk of authoritarian misuse, as do lesser moves in the same direction to harmonize and unify tax systems across jurisdictional boundaries.             BIBLIOGRAPHY Asher, M. “Globalization and Fiscal Policy: Rationale for Reform in Southeast Asia”. In Public Policy in Asia: Implications for Business and Government, edited by M. Asher, D. Newman, and T. Snyder. Westport: Quorum Books, 2001. Beck,Hanno, and Aloys Prinz. 1997. “Should All the World Be Taxed? Taxation and the Internet.” Intereconomics 32 (March/April): 87-92. Bentley, Duncan. 2003. “International Constraints on National Tax Policy.” Tax Notes International 24 (June 16): 1127-44. Bernstein, Jack. 2000. “Canadian Taxation Issues for Electronic Commerce.” Tax Notes International 21 (July 17): 263-71. Bird, Richard M. 2002. “The Tax Kaleidoscope: Perspectives on Tax Reform in Canada.” Canadian Tax Journal 18 (5): 444-78. Reprinted 2002 in vol. 50: 668-92. Bird, Richard M.1994. Where Do We Go from Here? Alternatives to the GST Toronto: KPMG Centre for Government. Bird, Richard M., and Donald J.S. Brean. 1986. “The Interjurisdictional Allocation of Income and the Unitary Tax Debate.” Canadian Tax Journal 34 (6): 1377-1418. Bird, Richard M., and Pierre-Pascal Gendron. 1998. “Dual VATs and Cross-Border Trade: Two Problems, One Solution?” International Tax and Public Finance 5 (3): 429-42. Bird, Richard M., and Pierre-Pascal Gendron. “CIVAT, VIVAT, and Dual VAT: Vertical ‘Sharing’ and Interstate Trade.” International Tax and Public Finance 7 (6): 753-61. Bird, Richard M., and Kenneth J. McKenzie (2001) “Taxing Business: A Provincial Affair?” C.D. Howe Institute Commentary 154. Toronto: C.D. Howe Institute. Bird, Richard M., and Jack M. Mintz. 2000. “Tax Assignment in Canada: A Modest Proposal.” In Harvey Lazar, ed., The State of the Federation, 2000-01: Towards a New Mission Statement. Montreal; Kingston, Ont.: McGill-Queen’s University Press.   Bird, Richard M., and Jack M. Mintz. 2003. “Sharing the International Tax Base in a Changing World.” In S. Cnossen and H.-W. Sinn, eds., Public Finance and Public Policy in the New Century. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Bird, Richard M., and Francois Vaillancourt. 2001. “The Role of Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Maintaining an Effective State in Canada.” In Richard M. Bird and Thomas Stauffer, eds., Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Fragmented Societies. Etudes et colloques 33, Institut du Federalisme, Fribourg. Basle: Helbing & Lichtenhahn. Bird, Richard M., and J. Scott Wilkie. 2000. “Source-vs. Residence-Based Taxation in the European Union: The Wrong Question?” In S. Cnossen, ed., Taxing Capital Income in the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bird, G. and R. Rajan. “Time to Reconsider the Tobin Tax Proposal?”. New Economy 6 (1999): 229-33. Bird, R. and D. Chen. “The Fiscal Framework for Business in Asia”. In Fiscal Framework and Financial System in East Asia: How much Do They Matter, edited by W. Dobson, pp. 21-89. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998. Bruce, Donald, and William F. Fox. 2000. “E-commerce in the Context of Declining State Sales Tax Bases.” National Tax Journal 53 (4): 373-88. Canada. 1998a. Minister’s Advisory Committee on Electronic Commerce. Electronic Commerce and Canada’s Tax Administration. A Report to the Minister of National Revenue. Ottawa. April. –. 1998b. Minister of National Revenue. Electronic Commerce and Canada’s Tax Administration. A Response to the Minister’s Advisory Committee’s Report on Electronic Commerce. Ottawa. September. –. 2001. Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. GST/HST and Electronic Commerce. Discussion Paper. Ottawa. November. –. 2002. “GST/HST and Electronic Commerce.” GST/HST Technical Information Bulletin B-090. July. Catts, Timothy. 2003. “Sponsors Call for Permanent Extension of U.S. Internet Tax Moratorium.” Tax Notes International 30 (April 7): 39.       Clay Karen. and Robert P. Strauss. 2001. “Trust, Risk and the Growth of E-Commerce: Nineteenth Century Lessons for the Twenty-first Century.” in James Chen, S., J. Martinez-Vazquez, and S. Wallace. “Foreign Direct Investment and Tax Competition in Southeast Asia”. Mimeographed. 1997. Doernberg, Richard L., et al. 2001. Electronic Commerce and Multijurisdictional Taxation. London: Kluwer Law International. Geist, Michael. 2001. “E-borders loom, for better or worse.” Globe and Mail (Toronto), June 28, p. B15. –. 2002. “E-commerce tax policy penalizes Canadian business.” Globe and Mail (Toronto), September 5, p. B9. Giles, David E.A., and Lindsay M. Tedds. 2002. Taxes and the Canadian Underground Economy. Canadian Tax Paper 106. Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation. Goolsbee, Austan. 2000. “In a World without Borders: The Impact of Taxes on Electronic Commerce.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 115 (May): 561-76. –. 2001. “The Implications of Electronic Commerce for Fiscal Policy (and Vice Versa).” Journal of Economic Perspectives 15 (1): 13-23. Harris, D., R. Morck, J. Slemrod, and B. Yeung. “Income Shifting in U.S. Multinational Corporations”. In Studies in International Taxation, edited by A. Giovannini, R. Hubbard, and J. Slemrod. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. Heller, P. and Symansky, S. “Implications for Savings of Aging in the Asian `Tigers’”. IMF Working Paper No. 97l 136. International Monetary Fund, 1997. Hufbauer, G. “Tax Policy in a Global Economy: Issues Facing Europe and the United States”. Mimeographed. February 2000. Keen, Michael, and Stephen Smith. 1996. “The Future of Value-Added Tax in the European Union.” Economic Policy 23 (): 375-411, 419-20. –. 2000. “Viva VIVAT!” International Tax and Public Finance 7 (6): 741-52.   Li, Jinyan. 1999. “Rethinking Canada’s Source Rules in the Age of Electronic Commerce: Part 1.” Canadian Tax Journal 47 (5): 1077-1125. Li, Jinyan. 2002. “Consumption Taxation of Electronic Commerce: Problems, Policy Implications, and Proposals for Reform.” Paper presented to the 32nd Annual Workshop on Commercial and Consumer Law, Toronto, October. Li, Jinyan. 2003. International Taxation in the Age of Electronic Commerce: A Comparative Study. Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation. McLure, Jr., Charles E. “The Taxation of Electronic Commerce: Background and Proposal.” In Public Policy and the Internet: Privacy, Taxes and Contracts, edited by Nicholas Imparato, 49-113. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 2000. M. Saunders, P. Lewis & A. Thornhill Research Methods for Business Students Pearson Education 2003 Edition OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2002. Measuring the information Economy. Paris: OECD. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Electronic Commerce: The Challenges to Tax Authorities and Taxpayers. Pads: OECD, 1997. Rath, T. “The E-commerce Boom: Cash is Stampeding into Internet Stocks, Again”. CBS Market Watch, 23 June 1998. Repss, Agris. 2000. “Electronic Commerce and Tax–Where Is Latvia Now?” Tax Notes International 21 (October 23): 1855-56. Sanusian, Silvia. 2000. “Taxation and E-Commerce: Preliminary Notes on the Notion of ‘Permanent Establishment’ from an Argentine Perspective.” Tax Notes International 21 (October 23): 1845-52. Smith, Ernest H. 1998. Federal-Provincial Tax Sharing and Centralized Tax Collection in Canada. Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation. Statistics Canada. 2003. “Electronic Commerce and Technology.” The Daily, April 2. Ottawa.     Strauss, Robert P. 2000. “State Taxation of Internet Activities: What Role for the Federal Government?” H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management working paper. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University. April. Tanzi, V. Taxation in an Integrating WorM. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1995. Tanzi, V. “Globalization, Tax Competition and Future of the Tax Systems”. IMF Working Paper No. 96/141. International Monetary Fund, 1996. Tanzi, V. “The Impact of Economic Globalization on Taxation”. International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation Bulletin, August/September 1998, pp. 338-43. Tanzi, V. and P. Shome. “The Role of Taxation in the Development of East Asian Countries”. In The Political Economy of Tax Reform, edited by T. Ito and A. Krueger. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. Vincze, Jim, and Randy Schwartz. 2000. “Canada Keeps Apace with E-Commerce Taxation.” Tax Notes International 21 (August 14): 767-73. Vording, Henk. 1997. “Taxation in an Internet Economy: The Choice between Effectiveness and Individual Privacy.” Paper presented to the International Institute of Public Finance, Kyoto, August. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

How will Taxes Effect e-commerce in a Global Economy

The rationale behind this research proposal presentation involves the process of E-commerce and Taxation as how the taxes effect e-commer...

Information on Climate Change

Dear Vic Fabe, For the 5th bog style short entry story this week, can you please ask the writer to write something interesting and the most updated information on Climate Change problem and please send to me before 12 March? I received a comment for the last post from a classmate who was trying to show off her knowledge by stepping down other people. she said : ” you might want to look into the 2007 bail climate change conference and see what was achieved; it was meant to be a roadmap for after Kyoto. from what i remember, Australia finally signed the Kyoto protocol and even the us was ready to commit to some kind of action plan..” And another comment from instructor: “Remember, these are not essays we are writing, but news reports.” Attached is the good example from classmate, maybe will be useful for the writer: Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Information on Climate Change

Dear Vic Fabe, For the 5th bog style short entry story this week, can you please ask the writer to write something interesting and the mos...

Non-Governmental Organization

Non-Governmental Organizations     INTRODUCTION               This paper discusses the issue about non-governmental organisations (NGOs), specifically about the understanding towards them. It presents and discusses basic definitions and facts about NGOs and cites relevant examples that display their influences on public opinion and government policies. Different types of NGOs that stand for different issues have been around for years, trying to serve the people by being the medium that delivers the plea and messages to those who are in authority. Is this an advantage or disadvantage to the society? How much influence does NGOs have on public opinion and government decision-making? This paper, after defining an understanding on NGO, will also try to assess the level of their influences on both the public and the State.   What is an NGO?   According to Ball and Dunn (1995), an organization may be correctly labelled an NGO if it has four characteristics identified by The Commonwealth Foundation, a London-based NGO study group. An NGO should be: voluntary, independent; not-for-profit; and not self-serving in aims and related values (Ball and Dunn, 1995). An NGO can also be referred to as a Nonprofits or Not-for-profit Organisation, Independent Sector or the Third Sector, Philanthropic Sector or Charitable Organisation, Civil Society Organisation etc.    NGOs perform important roles in today’s society. The fact that they have been recognized by the UN as important contributes to their credibility and prestige. . Edwards (2000) stated that there is already a consensus among the donor community that a strong civil society is crucial to successful development performance. The UN recognizes this, and as Secretary General  have stated, “…In today’s world, we depend on each other” (UN Department of Public Information, 2003). The UN basically recognizes, however, that NGOs are the most helpful type of civil societies. He stated that “The extent to which NGOs are able to organize themselves around broad networks focusing on specific issues will have a bearing on the form and impact of their involvement in the work of the Organization” (2004, p.3). Furthermore, (2004) stated that civil societies are also key participants in peace-building, reconciliation and transitions to civilian administration. With all this appreciation of the UN on civil society, particularly NGOs, it is important to note that civil societies are not just NGOs but are much broader than that. With their emergence as being helpful in achieving a decent strong society, there is no doubt that their promotion is highly advisable.   According to (2004), civil societies specifically NGOs still lack the capability to operate in their full strength in underdeveloped countries. The UN stated that the increasing participation of NGOs in intergovernmental bodies needs to be addressed. According to the UN, NGOs from developing countries are underrepresented. This is partly a result of the lack of resources of NGOs from developing countries to cover travel and accommodation costs. The UN noticed that level of attendance of NGO representatives from developing countries in standing United Nations meetings is low. This will be remedied by creating a single trust fund that supports the travel and accommodation of accredited NGOs. Accreditation of NGOs is also part of the partnership program of the UN with civil society, and being accredited means winning the support of the Organization.    The extent to which NGOs are able to organize themselves around broad networks focusing on specific issues will have a bearing on the form and impact of their involvement in the work of the UN. Carothers (1999) explained that NGOs play important, growing roles in developed and developing countries. They shape policy by exerting pressure on governments and by furnishing technical expertise to policy makers. They foster citizen participation and civic education. They provide leadership training for young people who want to engage in civic life but are uninterested in working through political parties. Furthermore, they promote many individual ideas that lead to peace promotion.   NGOs were deeply involved before and during the creation of the UN (Alger, 2002). Before the founding of the United Nations, NGOs led the charge in the Geneva conventions of 1864; multilateral Labour conventions adopted in 1906, and the International Slavery Convention of 1926; all stemmed from the work of NGOs who infused the international community with a spirit of reform (1998).   NGOs have long been held in high esteem particularly those that have been around for some time as well as those whose activities have borne fruit for the betterment of mankind. Examples are the Greenpeace movement which espouses protection and preservation of the natural planet earth through the conservation of natural resource programs, World Wildlife Fund which is similar to Greenpeace but focuses more on the wildlife as unwilling victim of humanity’s increasing civilization and industrialization, the Red Cross and Red Crescent which deal more with casualties of war at the varying stages of armed conflict: intermediation, caring for casualties during the war and post-war rehabilitation both for the warring factions as well as those who are disinterested but directly affected by the war.   Types of NGOs                 There are different types of NGOs by orientation. They are: charitable orientation; service orientation; participatory orientation; and empowering orientation (William, 1991). Charitable organizations are NGOs that focus on meeting the needs of the poor i.e. distribution of food and clothing, provision of housing, or relief activities on the victims of natural disasters. Service organizations, on the other hand, are those who provide people with health services, family planning lessons, or education services. Participatory groups are those NGOs who participate with local projects by providing cash, materials and other forms of contributions. Finally, empowering organizations focus more on educating the poor about the different social, political and economic factors that affect their lives (William, 1991).               NGOs also vary when it comes to level of operations. There are community-based organizations, city wide organizations, national NGOs and international NGOs (William, 1991).   NGO: a Type of Civil Society     An NGO is basically a type of civil society.   (1998) stated that civil society acts as the mediator between the citizen and the state. The model constructed by Up off and Krishna (2004) clearly illustrates this definition (see figure 1).                 Figure 1: Civil Society as a buffer between the state and the individuals     Up off and Krishna (2004) explained that this model is relevant but more of a rhetorical rather than an analytical model of civil society, and it have led to premature closure and simplification of the civil society concept. But then again, this simplified interpretation offers relevant explanation on how civil society connects the state and the individuals. Individuals of a particular society have but a small voice when they try to communicate and reason with the government alone. This lack of organizational support can lead to the point that most individual’s pleas and ideas are ignored. But through civil society, individuals can have a representative of their pleas or a medium to make their voices heard by the state.   Basically, there are NGOs that focuses on peace and cooperation missions which can communicate and negotiate the ideals of the public similar to theirs to the state. For instance, the Mine Ban Treaty implemented in 1999 was caused by NGOs. According to Rutherford (2000), the NGOs utilized the Internet as a medium to communicate with both the citizens and the government. International governments were convinced of signing such treaty because of the creation of a wide-ranging coalition against land mines with wide ethnic, geographical, organizational and religious diversity. Land mines can be a disruption of peace as it claims lives intentionally or unintentionally. But with the help of civil society, land mines have been banned, making peace won over disruption.   In addition, civil society also contributes to the empowerment of democracy. According to Carothers (1999), an active, diverse civil society discipline the state, ensure that citizens’ interests are taken seriously, and foster greater civic and political participation. He cited from Putnam that a weak civil society leads to a lack of “civic engagement” and “social trust.”   The NGO Influence               It can be said that NGOs today are already established groups that are recognized by the State. NGOs have developed their reputation as groups that have no other concern but the welfare of the citizens, through addressing the different issues that bothers or disrupts the order within the society. As Clark (1995) stated: “The economic, informational and intellectual resources of NGOs have garnered them enough expertise and influence to assume authority in matters that, traditionally, have been solely within the purview of state administration and responsibility”. Clark (1995) argued that the influence of NGOs grew mainly because of their great difference from the State. The first rationale is that compared to the State that performs many functions, with national security as a top priority, NGOs focus on single issues or sets of issues to the exclusion of others. Further, NGOs commit themselves to causes that states’ priorities frequently subordinate to other foreign policy interests or ignore entirely. Finally, NGOs’ scope is narrower and their membership is less ideologically diverse than the issues and citizenry to which states are accounted to (Clark, 1995).               In the study conducted by(2001), it was found that environmental NGOs played a huge role in the Kyoto Protocol. It was concluded that those Egos that participated in the protocol convinced United States Vice-President Al Gore to attend the convention, and convinced the EU to hold out reduction targets. Also, NGOs played an influential role in the Desertification Convention. It pushed the financial mechanism in the convention, such as the national diversification funds (2001). NGOs also helped emphasized theirs and local community participation ( 2001). However, not all people warmly welcome the strong influence of NGOs. Singleton et al (2000) cited from a magazine editorial that NGOs are strong enough to influence the United Nations, and are in need to be regulated. It stated that NGOs have elevated themselves into a kind of additional consistency of national and international governance that demands all kinds of regulations (Singleton et al, 2000). The editorial strongly suggested the need to regulate the NGOs that are notorious of characteristics such as being unrepresentative, undemocratic and are only concerned with their own personal agenda (Singleton et al, 2000).   Think Tanks behind NGOs                 Another way to explain the strong influence of NGOs on public opinion and government policies is the participation of Think Tanks behind them. Think Tanks are basically non-profit research organizations, which engage in public policy analysis and research, and often advocate solutions. Majority of them are oriented to the political ‘right’. Their approach is by checking the staff list and the board of governors. Further, they express their ideas through newspapers and articles (Singleton et al, 2000).               One example of Think Tanks in Australia is the Samuel Griffith Society, an organization with the aim to: defend the existing Australian constitution; oppose further government centralization of power; redress the balance of power in favor of the States; defend the Parliament against the Executive; and defend the Judiciary (Singleton et al, 2000).             On another hand, in terms of influencing public opinion, an example of a Think Tank is the Evart Foundations. It focuses on promoting ideals of labor movement, such as: equality, participation, human right, and social justice (Singleton et al, 2000).   The HIV/AIDS Issue                 The HIV/AIDS issue is one of the specific social issues that several NGOs push. The problem of HIV/AIDS is not just any other health issue because its increase is related to many cultural factors. Several NGOs such as World Vision, Action for AIDS, and many others push different measures to counter the socially related factors that contribute to the increase of people infected with HIV/AIDS.     The Different NGO Approaches on HIV/AIDS                 NGOs can be considered as interest groups, which mean groups that are protecting a specific interest such as the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Interest groups have three types – they are: promotional groups; sectional groups; and hybrid groups (Singleton et al, 2000). Promotional groups promote a cause that they think everyone should favor. On the other hand, sectional groups defend the interests of particular groups or sections within the community. Finally, hybrid groups display aspects of both promotional and sectional groups (Singleton et al, 2000).               NGOs on the issue of HIV/AIDS implement different strategies. However, like all other NGOs, they include: publicity activities such as meetings, advertisements, letter to the editors, interviews on television and radio; campaigning in elections in support of the group’s policies; negotiating with other groups or building alliance; attracting members and funds; lobbying and bureaucracy; research and analysis; lobbying ministers; lobbying ministerial staff; hiring professional lobbyists; and resorting into court actions; and the use of mass media (Singleton et al, 2000).               One example of a specific HIV/AIDS NGO is World Vision. The group incorporates different approaches, but they based all approaches on one single campaign. The main programmed of World Vision on the HIV/AIDS issue is its HIV/AIDS Hope Initiative.  This programmed focuses on three aspects: prevention; care; and advocacy.               This program has a huge potential to influence public opinion and policies concerning HIV/AIDS. First, in the prevention aspect, because it targets to educate specific groups (children 5 to 15 years old; pregnant and breast-feeding mothers; and persons at high risk of infection), the chance that they would change the public opinions of those groups regarding sex and HIV/AIDS will be huge. Further, the way they show care on those who already have the disease will also influence on the perception of how to help people with AIDS. Finally, through their advocacy approach (that is, to urge governments to adopt policies and programs that prevent new infections and care for the infected and the affected), they may influence government policies on HIV/AIDS.               An example of the strong influence of the HIV/AIDS Hope Initiative program of World Vision on public opinion and government policies is its ability to garner cooperation from other stakeholders. In the study of O’Shaughnessy (2005), it was shown that World Vision was able to gain the cooperation of UNPAID and Thai/Burma government to its programs. One of the respondents stated that World Vision was able to bring Rangoon and Bangkok health officials together and has established meetings between two hospitals across the border together. Furthermore, it was able to garner cooperation from groups such as UNICEF, UNSAID, Provincial Public Health in Ramón, the District Government in Romero, and many other NGOs and other government departments and agencies in different locations.               The World Vision program also garnered volunteers with the communities and has promoted cooperation with the private sectors.               World Vision also stated that their HIV/AIDS programs in Asia improved the local capacity to respond on HIV/AIDS (Brandt, 2001). They also found increasing community awareness about HIV/AIDS, and initiated additional activities such as orphan care and helping the poor (Brandt, 2001). World Vision can also influence public opinion about sex greatly with its ABC principle in HIV/AIDS prevention: Abstinence outside of marriage; Being faithful within marriage; and Condom use if ever a person won’t practice faithfulness or abstinence.               Another example of an HIV/AIDS NGO is Action for AIDS. AFAR also focuses on prevention and awareness. It has four objectives: to provide support and assistance to persons living with HIV and AIDS (Paws); to increase awareness, education and understanding of AIDS and HIV infection; to combat discrimination and stigmatization of (Paws) and their loved ones; and to encourage AIDS-related research activities in Singapore (Action for AIDS, 2006).               Compared to World Vision, AFAR have more diverse programmers. First, it has the “Anonymous HIV Testing & Counseling Clinic”, which provides pre-and post-test counseling for clients, with test results are available within 20 min of doing the test.               AFAR also has a publication called “The ACT”. It deals with medical, social, cultural and personal issues, and reviews and updates Alfa’s activities. The publication is free to members and volunteers, to schools, libraries, community organisations, medical and dental clinics and hospitals (AFAR, 2006).               Another program of AFAR is the HIV Education Outreach Program. Here, AFAR trained educators who can speak to groups and organizations to help raise AIDS awareness (AFAR, 2006).               AFAR also has a Teen Outreach Program which has the purpose of serving a vacuum in the HIV/AIDS educational outreach to out-of-school teenagers. They also have the ‘Be Aware, Be Safe Program’, which is an interactive and informative sessions for youth in school settings.   AFAR also has a Woman and Girl Outreach program and a special program for Muslims. The objectives of the programs are to make the target population aware about the basics of HIV/AIDS and to teach them ways on how to avoid getting the disease. AFAR also has programs for high-risk heterosexual men, men having sex with men, and women having sex with women (AFAR, 2006).   World Vision and AFAR are HIV/AIDS NGOs that both implements hybrid approach. They are hybrid in a sense that they protect and promote a particular cause, which is the awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS, and also protect the interests of groups that has the same aim as theirs. However, there are other HIV/AIDS NGOs that only focuses on one interest group approaches – either sectional or promotional. While such groups have their own strengths, they can be least effective since they have limited means to communicate their objectives through. Because AFAR and World Vision are hybrid, they can better push their objectives to the government and to the people. Being a promotional group enables them to promote their cause freely with the use of different mediums, while being sectional enables them to tie with government bodies to enhance the effectiveness of a specific project.             Which Strategy is better?                 All interest organization strategies mentioned above have different purposes and level of effectiveness. For instance, publicity activities may be effective if the organization plays the right cards. That is, the effectiveness of this approach may depend only on the popularity of the type of media that the organization will use for publicity. The question is how many people can the medium reach, or how much volume does the medium distribute? Another concern in this type of approach is how effective the contents of the publicity campaign will be. If for instance, the representative who will participate in this publicity is not effective in clearly describing the demands or goals of their organization, then there will be a question of effectiveness – on how well their demands gained sympathy from targeted audience.               Another approach mentioned earlier is the strategy of campaigning in elections. This approach may work if the politician that the organization supports wins the election because their demands will be recognized. However, if the politician they support loses, then there will be less chances of getting their demands noticed. This move can be very risky since it’s a win-lose situation for the NGO.               The means of negotiating or building alliances with other groups is another strategy that interest groups like NGOs use. This approach may be effective as it may create a solid foundation for the organization. Networking may also help the organization learn new things from their partners or access areas that were inaccessible before. However, this may also be a disadvantage because it can brew competition from within the network. It can also limit the operation of the group to the network’s interests or policies.               Attracting members and generating funds is another strategy, basically to keep up the operation of the organization. Members can be used as mediums to preach the aims of the organization, while the funds can be used to produce new campaigns. However, the problem here is making sure that the members are real serious of joining the organization, or are really motivated to join because they fight for a similar cause. Some people join organizations for conformity and may not essentially contribute to the organization’s cause.               Lobbying is another form of strategy that NGOs or interest groups use. Lobbying is basically a means to persuade someone or a group that has more position power to participate or support the cause of the interest group. Lobbying ministers or ministerial staff may help the organization in getting its concerns noticed. However, there is a need here to know which lobbying approach should be used. That is why; there are some NGOs who hire professional lobbyist, whom mostly are former politicians. According to the Sydney Morning Herald (2002), an interest group hiring o former top public servant acquires significant advantages because such senior figures know how the system works and how they work it. However, the disadvantage of this is that hiring a former public servant may lead to government scrutiny. This may also introduce concepts of corruption within the NGO, given if the public servant they hired used to be a corrupt one.               Research and analysis is another NGO strategy that can either be effective or not. As mentioned, there are NGOs being led by Think Tanks that purely focus on research and analysis, and present their findings on the government. However, while this strategy may be a good way to convince the public or the government about a particular type of problem, it may also be a problem since most research findings are subjected into scrutiny. Questions about the validity of the research may arise, and as a result, this may prevent the government or the public from taking any action about the particular issue. Furthermore, counter-research on the research undertaken by the organization may also serve as a problem as there will be ambiguity regarding which results are correct or more valid.               Court action is another strategy that may work in favor for the organization. However, due to the fact the court actions are complex and time consuming, such strategy may be a disadvantage to the organization.               Finally, a strategy that NGOs can use is the utilization of mass media. The media may have the greatest advantage above all of the strategies mentioned because of it provide the widest reach ever. Through the use of television, using commercials or shows, billions of audience around the world will be able to watch the campaigns. Radios and newspapers, on the other hand, may also reach people on the national level. On the other hand, the use of Internet may reach a wider scope of audience, but mostly people who are internet savvy. However, the shortfall of this approach is it is too expensive and may have a short lifespan.   The Issue of NGO Credibility                 In today’s modern world of information bliss and post-cold war setting, NGOs are playing a critical role in ensuring that the voices of the civil societies are being heard by those who are in the governmental position. For years, NGOs have fought to alleviate poverty, protect human rights, preserve the environment, and provide relief worldwide. However, there are some questions that still need answers that shade heavily the credibility of NGOs. The issue of NGO credibility basically scopes questions such as: how many NGOs actually exist, and what are their agendas? Who runs these groups? Who funds them? And, perhaps most significantly, to whom are NGOs accountable, and how and what influence do they actually have on world politics? (McCann and Johnston, 2005).               The growth of international funding is one of the issues that greatly relates with the questionable status of NGOs. McCann and Johnston (2005) pointed out that foreign funding can raise question to NGOs credibility because it can lead to doubt on whether the supported NGOs are being dictated by the donors, specifically directing their goals for personal agendas. The danger here is that NGOs can be exploited through the dictates of these financial providers.               The issue of funding sources contributes to the development of NGOs’ poor public image. The lack of clear financial management rules shadows the credibility of the NGOs, as they lead to money-laundering acts, as well as being used by politicians for their own campaigns or political gains.               Another issue of credibility for NGOs is the question of accountability. NGOs are often not transparent enough for the private sectors and governments to trust. Although it was proven that they can expose accountability issues of government departments or corporations, they themselves have problems of accountability ( 2005).               NGOs have grown into a large scale sub-industry that rivals the very government institutions or departments they attack and this fact subjects them to competition and the laws of competition (Jordan, 2005). Governments are starting to question the accountability of NGOs because they feel threatened and they feel that there is a need to assess the status of their critics as well – if they are following the standards of transparency and accountability, the quality of services and products they donate, and many others. Because NGOs are subjected to scrutiny, many complex issues within their organizations are being discovered. For example, NGO Monitor.org (2006) has pointed out a particular funding issue in Finland between financial supporters and NGOs. The key background of the issue is that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Development Cooperation (here after FAD) of the Finnish Government distributes governmental funds for the “promotion of global security reduction of widespread poverty [and the] promotion of human rights and democracy” in developing countries (NGO Monitor, 2006). However:”… there are a number of organizations who receive money from Finland whose work contradicts the official goals of Finnish development cooperation. Such NGOs also contribute to misinformation and hostile and rejections attitudes towards the state of Israel, among the international media, diplomatic and development-organization communities”.               Those who question the credibility of NGOs in terms of accountability also fear the continuous growth of their influence over international bodies. Steinberg (2006) of NGO Monitor stated: “The hijacking of the Durban anti-racism conference in 2001 by anti-Israel NGOs illustrated the dangers of politically motivated humanitarian groups that derive credibility simply on the basis of mission statements promoting “universal human rights.”               Such examples demonstrate that there is a mixed opinion on NGOs, on whether or not they contribute to the welfare of the society. But in order to understand, NGOs must be subjected to scrutiny the same way that they scrutinize the operations of other organizations. However, NGOs can improve their credibility by being transparent either through releasing annual reports of costs, or adopting modern financial management approaches. NGOs should answer the questions ‘for whom’ they are accountable to, and ‘for what’ purpose or purposes (Jordan, 2005). Jordan (2005) suggested that NGOs should learn to assess the motives behind their donors to allow the opportunity for organizational learning. If the donor is too stringent to undergo assessment, then that donor may not be too sincere or may have other agendas aside from helping or donating. The academic community should also take responsibility in reviewing and assessing such an issue. NGOs should not be tolerated with everything because they are also organizations that should follow the right standards, specifically in terms of transparency and limitations.   Conclusion               This paper concludes that HIV/AIDS hybrid groups that use multi-strategies in campaigns may have the edge over the other groups. The reason for this is because they have more flexibility than the others, more agile, and has more option when pushing support for their campaign. Both promotions and sectional approaches are important for campaigns because it gathers more sympathy from public and governments that are concerned with the issue. It will show the image that the organization is knowledgeable about the interest that it pushes.               Additionally, an organization can be more successful in influencing public opinion or government policies if it utilizes a wide range of campaigns on different types of media, such as television, radio, newspaper and internet. However, because only large international NGOs can afford such budgets, it is concluded in this paper that International NGOs that have promotional and sectional approaches, and utilizes mass media campaigns are the most influential NGOs. Some examples of these NGOs are the World Vision and the UNPAID. These NGOs have the widest reach of audience, has the most influential lobbyists, and uses other means of strategies that may further expose their campaigns. It is concluded in this paper that budget is important for an NGO since this will allow the utilization of mass media campaigns – an imperative to influence more people and has more positioning power when suggesting policy changes to the government.               However, the irony behind the importance of budget for NGOs is that it blends with the issue of transparency and accountability. On the one hand, generating budget or soliciting donations from various sources may contribute greatly to the campaigns of the NGOs, making them reach as many people as possible around the world. On the other hand, funding sources, depending on how large the amount they contribute, may dictate the very operation of the NGOs, or may have power over control. A budget that is also poorly financially managed may have an adverse effect on the very core of the organization since problems such as corruption or money-laundering schemes may arise. That is why NGOs should resort to programs that will build up their transparency to regain the trusts of the State and their critics. NGOs should build up financial management programs and release reports of their operations for transparency. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Non-Governmental Organization

Non-Governmental Organizations INTRODUCTION This paper discusses the issue about non-governmental organisations (NG...