Functions of the household (hukou) registration system in mainland China

Introduction The household registration system (hukou) was introduced in China to regulate the number of people moving from rural to urban areas. Its main functions were to control the migration of people and to help enforce the one child family planning policy.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Functions of the household (hukou) registration system in mainland China specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Through this system, it was difficult for the people residing in rural regions to enjoy the facilities available in urban areas. Because of its discriminatory nature, it faced a lot of opposition and some reforms had to be conducted. The reforms have led to a slight alteration of its functions in contemporary mainland China although the main one still remains as migration regulation. This paper is going to look at the functions of the hukou system in mainland China today. Discussion Although the system is currently not as powerful as it was in the 1950’s, it continues to exist in some parts of mainland China. One of its functions is resource allocation among citizens. Through this system, the government decides how national resources are to be distributed. An example is the sharing of gasoline between those in rural and those in urban areas. People in rural areas can access more of it than their urban counterparts. The urban dwellers are encouraged to use public transport since it is in good condition and it is cost effective. They therefore receive lower gasoline rations than rural citizens. Economic development in mainland China has been achieved because of this function of resource allocation. This is in contrast to the past where those with rural hukou were denied access to a number of facilities (Fan 40). The household registration system performs the vital function of population registration. Through the system, government is able to collect important data regarding its citizens. Such data is important for economic planning and resource allocation.Advertising Looking for essay on asian? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The hukou system serves the same purpose as the national identification systems used in other countries. It is also used to regulate business activity within mainland China. This is because it is a prerequisite for getting a business license. Therefore, before any citizen can start operating a business, the authorities can first assess the person through the information provided by the hukou and determine whether it is appropriate to give the license (Yusuf 81). Regulation of internal migration is another function of the hukou system. People who wish to migrate from one region to another have to cancel their current hukou by applying for a certificate known as the Migrant Hukou Certificate. They use this certificate temporarily as they await a permanent Hukou. It is only after the permanent h ukou has been granted that the citizen can enjoy certain privileges (Huang, 141). Public services and certain types of employment are accessible depending on the type of permit a migrant holds. Such restrictions especially on jobs discourage movement of people from one region to another particularly rural urban migration. Citizens therefore choose to move within a limited distance within which they can freely access resources. The hukou system is mandated with the transfer of permits from rural to urban hukou. The system therefore controls the levels of unemployment. If people were free to migrate from rural to urban areas, there would be a problem of urban excess as experienced in other major towns of the world. The jobs available in the cities would therefore not be enough to cater for everyone leading high levels of unemployment and poverty (Dillon 64). The hukou system performs the function of social control. There is at least one police officer at every police station whose dut y is to control and regulate the hukou registration. There are also undercover police officers in each hukou who are expected by law to watch over households within such hukou. The officers are responsible for updating information relating to each household member. Through this updated information, the police are aware of the people who require to be monitored closely within the society. The police have close contact with citizens and the overall effect of this is that national security is maintained at all times.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Functions of the household (hukou) registration system in mainland China specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Through the computerized hukou system, it is possible for personal information to be shared among different police departments. The system therefore helps in communication between law enforcement agencies (Wang 46). Maintenance of political stability is another funct ion that the hukou system performs. Through the police, the hukou system helps to monitor each citizen therefore people have to maintain good conduct at all times to avoid scrutiny. This helps dictators within mainland China to exercise their power without any political unrest taking place. The system also performs the function of environmental control. If people were allowed to freely move to urban centers, there would be environmental degradation due to overcrowding in such cities. Forest cover would have to be cleared to pave way for residential buildings (Wang 46). Conclusion It is therefore clear that because of the kind of data contained in the household registration system, authorities are able exercise control over citizens. It has however become easier for people to acquire urban hukou either through marriage or through inheritance from parents. One disadvantage of this system is that it poses a risk of conflict between urban and rural dwellers because of its discriminatory nature. Works Cited Dillon, Michael. Contemporary China: an introduction. London New York: Routledge, 2009.Print. Fan, Cindy. China on the move : migration, the state, and the household. London New York: Routledge, 2008. Huang, Xiaoming. The institutional dynamics of China’s great transformation. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, England New York: Routledge, 2011. Wang Fei-Ling. organizing through division and exclusion: China’s Hukou system. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 2005.Print. Yusuf, Shahid. China urbanizes: consequences, strategies, and policies. Washington, D.C: World Bank, 2008.Print.Advertising Looking for essay on asian? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This essay on Functions of the household (hukou) registration system in mainland China was written and submitted by user Rihanna Nelson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Epilepsy essays

Epilepsy essays Robert J. Gumnit, a M.D., writes in his book Living Well With Epilepsy that all people suffering from seizures feel like that they are outcasts of society. They feel different than other people. They are scared to interact with others in public for fear of having a seizure and being made fun of. Some of the greatest people had seizures, such as Socrates, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Thomas Edison. People should not have to deal with this insulting everyday or even at all if possible. If people were more educated about epilepsy then they would not taunt epileptics, much less care that they even have seizures. To bystanders, convulsions look to be life threatening. The first time a person sees another have a grand mal seizure, which consists of lost of consciousness and convulsive movements of the body, they more than likely think that the person is dying. Then again, some seizures are life threatening. In a book entitled Epilepsy and the Family by Richard Lechtenburg, yet another M.D., there is a story of a woman who has a seizure while driving. The police find her dazed and confused, as well as uncooperative in the middle of a traffic jam. She was so confused she could not follow their instructions to leave the car. As a result, she was handcuffed, forcibly removed, and then booked for resisting arrest. She was injured in the struggle and lost several thousand dollars worth of cash and checks that she was carrying with her on her way to the bank. All of this happened because she wanted to conceal the fact that she had seizures, so she wore no identification saying that she had the dis order. Even with a physicians letter, she was still required to appear in court to answer to charges brought against her. She was ashamed of her disability and that is what it got her. Over a thousand dollar loss and charges brought against her just because she was too embarrassed to tell people that she had seizures. ...

Depression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Depression - Essay Example The humiliation they suffered and the agonies they had to endure in order to feed themselves were highlighted in news stories, pictures and reports which were seen and experienced worldwide. The first two photographs depict the agony and forlorn state of affairs of those times in an effective manner, which leaves nothing to the imagination of the beholder. Nature is a great teacher and the human race, despite its superiority to the lower animals, can succumb to its vagaries, which can have a stark similarity to an animal in distress. Floods, droughts, earthquakes, famines, war, other man made as well as natural disasters have thrown up eras of great tragedy and human suffering, which can be heart rending when looked at retrospectively. The 1936 photographs by Dorothea Lange showing a mother with her children tell a story which is not at all difficult to interpret for a person with basic intelligence. The despondency is clear in expression in the mother as well as the elder child whose face though hidden from view in the second photograph, show emotions of despair, desperation and the sense of resignation. The empty bowl in front of the woman indicates the state of affairs and depicts the shortage of food which was prevalent in that era. When such basic necessities are not met, it inflicts great damage to the psyche of the sufferer, which is clearly reflected in the facial expression of the mother. She seems intelligent enough to be aware of the gravity of the situation she seems to be in. The bowed heads of both mother and child indicate depression as the dominant emotion as depicted in their expression as well as demeanor. Obviously they are suffering from lack of food, shelter and seem to be resigned to their fa te. The little baby held fondly by the mother seems to have been lulled to sleep after suffering pangs of hunger. The little boy is shown clinging to the pole in order to support himself. His eyes are closed, either in

International Financial Theory on the basis of Empirical Evidence Essay

International Financial Theory on the basis of Empirical Evidence - Essay Example The PPP theory states that there will be price equalization of goods internationally once they are measured in the same currency due to arbitrage forces (Pilbeam, 2006). This theory is based on the law of one price, which states that identical products when sold in different markets will sell at the same price when expressed in common currency. The main assumptions for this law to hold good are the presence of a competitive market structure, absence of transport costs and other barriers to trade (Sarno and Taylor, 2002).There are two types of purchasing power parity; the absolute and relative power parity. The absolute power parity theory states that a rise in the home price level relative to the foreign price level will result in an equivalent depreciation of the home currency against the foreign currency. Relative power parity states that there will be adjustments for the exchange rate by the amount of inflation differential between two countries (Pilbeam, 2006). The main problem w ith the PPP theory is that it does not distinguish between traded and non-traded goods. Many studies have shown that this distinction is important for testing PPP since traded goods are determined mainly by international competition while non-traded goods are influenced by domestic supply and demand conditions (Officer, 1976, 1986). At the same time, some other authors have showed distinction between traded and non-traded goods as unclear (Sarno and Taylor, 2002).The other limitations are the assumptions underlying the PPP theory like perfect competition, absence of transport costs and barriers to trade which are questionable. Further, it is very difficult to find identical products to be compared for testing PPP in different countries (Rogoff, 1996). Thus PPP is theoretically ambiguous and remains and empirical question. Three types of empirical evidence for PPP have been done .They are based on graphical representations, simplistic data analysis and

Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Knowledge Management - Essay Example There are no doubts in the fact that the business environment of this globalised world has been changed radically due to the revolution that the world has witnessed in information technology. The marketplace has become increasingly competitive, competition is becoming cutthroat, suppliers have become intelligent, customers have become more demanding, and substitutes are increasing in number. General Electric is the only corporation which has been able to survive amongst the top 10 companies that appeared on the Dow Jones Index in 1900. Furthermore, only four out of the Fortune 500 companies of 1900 were able to make it to the 21st century (Davenport & Prusak, 2000, pp. 20-21). It appears that the marketplace is now operating on the principle that used to govern the earliest human societies, â€Å"survival of the fittest†. Alice Carol once wrote something which perfectly depicts the business environment of today. â€Å"Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep you in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that† (Rao, 2005, p. 36). In order to ensure that organisations are â€Å"running twice as fast†, they have come up with a variety of procedures and techniques to improve their profitability, productivity and exploit all possible opportunities. Knowledge management is amongst one of them. The raw material, which was made available to them, included steel drums, logs, pontoons, and some rope. However, the real catch was that these managers, from different countries, were not allowed to communicate with uttering a single word from their mouth (Voelpel & Han, 2005, pp. 55-56). Therefore, the communication was talking place with the help of diagrams and sentences on the flip charts.

The Lottery and A Good Man Is Hard to Find Analysis

The Lottery and A Good Man Is Hard to Find Analysis Fiction/Short Story Essay In both of the short stories, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor, both authors use characterization, character names, and symbolism to portray their characters values and beliefs and their strengths and weaknesses in a similar yet different matter. The characters names and symbols in each story support the theme of each story that they were created in. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor seemed to use the more modern for the time the book was written and basic description of evil-good people who face the wrath of a disturbed man for no reason. The story was far more complex than just its description of evil, and was interesting in many ways, but not so much interesting in its depiction of the evil character. Overall, Id say the story supported traditional thoughts about what a disturbed character was, the Misfit, someone who was a criminal and who killed those who crossed him with little to no reason. The Misfit can be seen as more evil if one looks at the story more literally and to a deeper point, understanding the grandmother as his actual biological mother. However, this would mostly serve to support the nature of the disturbed characters that already exists. A person who would kill his own mother for any reason would likely fit into anyones classical definition of disturbed. The main disturbed characters in this sho rt story are: The Grandmother and the Misfit. The Grandmother is the manipulator in the story, she doesnt want to go to Florida because shes got relatives to see in Tennessee and seizing at every chance to change Baileys mind. (OConnor 567). To try and gets her way, she trying to scare her son with reports of a criminal on the loose and guilt trip him about taking his children there. This is said by the grandmother: Just you read it. I wouldnt take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldnt answer to my conscience if I did. (OConnor 567). With the Misfit, he was the mysterious criminal who had run into the family and killed them all as he assumed that they were in his way of escaping. His moment of zenith was him saying: I found out the crime dont matter. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later youre going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it (OConnor 578). Th e symbols in the story are the Misfits car, the dark forest, and the cloudless, sunless sky; each of these foreshadowed the events of death were to come. I didnt see The Lottery by Shirley Jackson as portraying a disturbed character, but more as disturbing ways in their society. While there were sinful deeds being done, it would be nearly impossible to pin them on any modern individuals in the story, and therefore is slightly different from the other story that we have read and discussed. However, the evil is presented as taking the lives of innocents, a common theme wherever evil is presented. The main characters in this story are: Tessie Hutchinson, Old Man Warner, Mr. Summers, Bill Hutchinson, and Mr. Harry Graves. Tessie was the unlucky one of the drawing and was stoned to death, she is a type of hypocrite in the story. That she is excited to participate in the lottery, but objects when her family name is called, it is now unfair. As shouted by Tessie to her husband: Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers. You didnt give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasnt fair! (Jackson 6) Mr. Warner was the oldest, and declare that this prevents the barbaric state from returning to the village. Mr. Graves helps with the lottery, as well as Mr. Summers assisting in the ritual. The symbols in this story are: The lottery as the main importance of the day as it is meant to be as a human sacrifice to the higher beings, the black box as to symbolize the choice as to who will die today, the stool could represent the holy trinity, and the stones as a way to generate a crowd to come and watch and/or participate. The Lottery had started as a way to sacrifice for a good growing season, but soon became a routine in their daily lives annually. Both of these stories have similar thematic connections within them to match up with the Southern Gothic genera, as defined as disturbed people doing disturbing things. Jackson and OConnor use central characters to show how men have the power to misrepresent reality into something the people accept into everyday life as a tradition in The Lottery said in the story they half listened to the directions, (Jackson 4) and in A Good Man Is Hard to Find the character, Misfit, does not remember why he was locked up, but killed the family to save them from sinning again in order to keep up his mind straight. Both stories were shocking in their grade of disturbing and callousness, and I agree with both authors representation of the nature of disturbing and the way people respond to it. In both of the short stories, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor, both authors use characterization, character names, and symbolism to portray their characters values and beliefs and their strengths and weaknesses in a similar yet different matter. In this way they show that years apart from each other, the Southern Gothic genera will remain the same. As for the similarities between all the characters in both short stories, they will remain the same and have fatal endings. In A Good Man Is Hard to Find it is a more traditional evil represented throughout, while in The Lottery it represent an evil and disturbed society they live in. Citation Page Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery PDF in Canvas. 1948 OConnor, Flannery A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Written Communications II: Reading,  Writing, Researching, Citing. Edited by Spencer Richardson-Jones. W.W. Norton and  Company, 2014. Pp. 567-590 OConnor, Flannery. A good man is hard to find. New Canadian Library, 2015. Jackson, Shirley. The lottery and other stories. Macmillan, 2005. Lohafer, Susan. The short story. The Cambridge Companion to American Fiction After 1945 (2012): 68.

Witches :: essays research papers

Witches American history has few subjects as interesting as witchcraft, because it confronts us with many Ideas about women. It confronts us with fears about women, the place of women in society, and with women themselves. Also, it confronts us with violence against women and how the problems of society were often blamed on women. Even though some men were executed as during periods of witch hunting, witches were generally thought of as women and most who died in the name of witchcraft were women. In the United States, witchcraft took place among too educated of people to dismiss it as mere "superstition." (P.10) The first person that was executed, as a witch, in America was Margaret Jones, in 1648. Jones was a midwife and lay healer, who was accused of several different practices. Minister John Hale, who witnessed Jones's hanging in Boston when he was a boy, later said that she "was suspected partly because that after some angry words passing between her and her Neighbors, some mischief befell such neighbors in their Creatures, or the like: [and] partly because some things supposed to be bewitched, or have a Charm upon them, being burned, she came to the fire and seemed concerned." (P.20) Hale included neither of these charges in his list of the evidence presented against Jones, but suggested that the crimes had to do with her medical practice. She was accused of having a "malignant touch," Hale noted, and her medicines were said to have "extraordinary violent effects." When people refused to take her medical advice, he added, "their diseases and hurts continued, with relapse against the ordinary course, and beyond the apprehension of all physicians and surgeons."(P.21) Hale also mentioned that Jones was believed to possess psychic powers: "some things which she foretold came to pass accordingly; other things she could tell of ... she had no ordinary means to come to the knowledge of."(P.20) John Hale pointed out that several of Jones's neighbors tried to get her to confess and repent. One of them, he said, "prayed her to consider if God did not bring this punishment upon her for some other crime, and asked, if she had not been guilty of stealing many years ago." (P.22)Jones admitted the theft, but she refused to accept it as a reason for her conviction as a witch. Hale's writings, on the other hand, showed that stealing, and other crimes such as fornication and infanticide, were regularly associated with witchcraft, by both the clergy and the larger population . . . " (p. 22) This first account, in Karlsens' study, brings to the surface some of