Womens Engagement in Politics

Womens Engagement in Politics Why are there relatively few women engaged in political activity? Introduction It is evident that women are underrepresented in government and in general do not engage in political activity in the same numbers as men do. Various explanations have been used to explain this phenomenon: entrenched discrimination on the part of candidate selectors, elite theory as well as the Supply and Demand Model. This paper visits each explanation in turn finding some value in each. Finally, the argument is made that another possibility is that the system has been created by men for men. When states and constitutions were created in today’s developing countries, women did not have the right to vote, own property or engage in any political activity. Therefore, one could argue that the terms of the social contract on which liberal democracies are based are male- centric and do not allow for the equal representation of women. Theoretical Perspectives: Women and Democracy Beyond the basic interpretation of democracy as â€Å"rule by the people†, scholars have noted that democracy has evolved, changing over time and space and responding to evolution in public affairs. As explained by Meny â€Å"it is commonly accepted that democracy has varied over time, evolving from a rather elitist and restrictive form to a more open and participatory form of government† (Meny, 2002, p.10). Dahl identifies three evolutionary waves, or â€Å"transformations† of democracy, from the Greek city- state to the republic and finally to the nation- state (Dahl, 1989). Furthermore, Dahl identifies the basic criteria for a democratic process as: effective participation, voting equality at the decisive stage, enlightened understanding, control of the agenda by the people, and equal opportunity (Dahl, 1989). Effective participation is the requirement for citizens to have an equal chance of expressing preference for the political outcome, and their choice should be weighed as equal to that of any other citizen. Enlightened understanding means that citizens should be informed in their choice and have an understanding of the system. At first glance, therefore, one would be surprised with the arguments posed by some Feminists that standard definitions of democracy such as the above are discriminatory against women and legitimize a gender- biased system. Waylen asserts: â€Å"democracy defined in these ways becomes a ‘political method’ simply an institutional arrangement to generate and legitimize leadership† (Waylen, 1994, p.332). To help us understand statements like these, we should consider the distinction between different kinds of â€Å"equality† and the historic inequality democratic systems have imposed on women. There is an important distinction between equality of opportunity and equality of result. If a system merely aims at equality of opportunity then giving women the right to vote and come forward as candidates would be an end in itself; but if equality of result is sought, then one would see that external factors diminish the value of equality of opportunity (Karam ed. 199 8). A historic overview of â€Å"democracy† reveals that as a system in application, it is embedded with inequality. The democrats in ancient Greece excluded women, slaves and immigrants and considered foreigners to be â€Å"barbarians† and therefore inferior to the Greeks. At a minimum, democracy requires that people have the right to vote, and this right was not given to women until recently: 1919 in West Germany, 1920 in the USA, 1921 in the UK and 1971 in Switzerland (just to name a few examples of developed and democratic states). In accounting for this inequality, Feminists emphasize the concept of patriarchy and the distinction between the public and private sphere. Patriarchy[1] means â€Å"rule by fathers† and mainstream political theory argues that this system has been obsolete and no longer n existence since more than three hundred years ago. Feminists, however, have always been pointing out that it still exists. Pateman argues that patriarchy has been replaced by â€Å"fraternity†[2] through the establishment of the social contract. Patriarchy has its foundations in the separation between the public and the private sphere, thereby keeping women confined in the private sphere, removed from politics: â€Å"The division of public and private life as one that differentiates the woman (private) from the man (public) is the overarching ideological tool of patriarchy† (Corrin 1999 quoting Eisenstein 1984). Liberal Democracy This system aims to check both the tyranny of the majority and the abuse of power by a government, usually through a system of checks and balances. The system merely aims at equality of opportunity (and not equality of result or of condition) and accountability through voting. It assumes that society consists of a plurality of interests which compete with each other over influence over political outcomes. As a result of this competition a stalemate may occur which means little or piece meal change to the system can be achieved and thus the status quo perpetuates. This model embraces the distinction between the public and private sphere. [3] Feminists therefore criticize liberal democracy and assert that inequalities between husband and wife reduce the value of political life for women. Feminists also feel that a â€Å"gender- neutral† approach to citizenship (as is proposed by liberal democracy) actually serves to exclude women. Phillips argues that concepts such as the individual, citizenship, rights etc are male categories (Phillips, 1991). Participatory Democracy This model requires social equality and emphasizes participation. It challenges the private- public distinction and proposes that for democracy to be meaningful in the public sphere there must also be democracy in the private sphere. Feminists agree that voting is not enough and that there must be discussion and participation. However, feminists argue that this model also creates an elite of â€Å"active† citizens. As certain categories of women such as housewives have less free time, they are less able to be â€Å"active† in public affairs and would therefore be disadvantaged. Elite Theory Elite theory assumes that throughout history there has been a group of people who â€Å"rule† and the rest who are ruled by them. Essentially this theory is about power and its distribution. Gaetano Mosca argues that the existence of the elite and its dominance depends on its organizational position and abilities. Mosca believes that the more organized minority will prevail over the less organized majority. Mosca distinguishes between an upper stratum elite (small group of political decision- makers) and a lower stratum of the elite, who perform lesser political functions. Mosca saw elite- formation as inevitable; if the mass were to rise against the elite and replace it in government, another small group would rise from within the masses and prevail over the rest. Mosca saw elite theory and democracy as compatible (Rush, 1992). Michels drew upon Mosca’s â€Å"iron law of oligarchy† and argued that like all other organizations, political parties are dominated by their leadership. Pareto diverges from the Marxist notion that the elite are defined in economic terms, and argues instead that it is human attributes such as motivation and abilities which define it (Rush, 1992). Political Recruitment The Selection Process Norris and Lovenduski identify three levels of analyzing political recruitment: a) systematic factors such as the legal system, the electoral system and the party system, which set the context for analysis, b) context- setting factors such as party organization, rules and ideology, c) factors influencing directly the recruitment of individual candidates such as resources and motivations of applicants and the attitudes of â€Å"gatekeepers† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). The recruitment process is generally evaluated by testing whether the system is democratic (involving local activists and grassroots members), whether it is fair (treating all applicants equally), whether it is efficient (as a decision- making process) and whether it is effective in producing candidates of a high standard (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). There are six main types of selection process and these are: 1) informal- centralized, where constitutional mechanisms may be in place but in essence patronage controls outcomes and rules are largely symbolic 2) informal – regional where factions bargain in order to get good positions for their candidates, 3) informal- localized where the decision over which selection procedure will be used depends on local groups and therefore procedures vary and the system is open to manipulation by small groups 4, 5) formal- centralized/ formal- regional where party leaders at national or at regional level have the power to choose candidates and 6) formal- localized where constitutional rules and guidelines create a standard procedure and all applicants are treated equally (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). According to Norris and Lovenduski: â€Å"in the long term the main change in recruitment within British parties has been in process rather than power. There has been a gradual evolution from an ‘informal- localized’ system based on patronage in the nineteenth century towards more ‘formal- localized’ system today based on more meritocratic standards† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.5). Supply and Demand In analyzing trends in political recruitment, Norris and Lovenduski present the Supply and Demand Model : â€Å"based on a ‘supply and demand’ model, the study distinguishes between the factors influencing the ‘supply’ of candidates willing to come forward and the factors influencing the ‘demand’ of party selectors in making their decisions† ((Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.14). On the Demand side, selectors choose based on perceptions of the candidates’ abilities, experience etc. Such perceptions can be affected by discrimination and stereotyping either in a positive r in a negative way. Direct discrimination is judging people as members of groups instead of as individuals. Imputed discrimination amounts to selectors favouring certain categories of candidates e.g. women or racial minorities (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). On the Supply side, selectors may argue that certain categories of people such as women do not come forward as candidates. Motivation and constrained resources may affect potential candidacies. Also, demand and supply are inter-related; some may be deterred from coming forward out of fear of discrimination (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). Applied to the case of women, the Demand side proposes that women may have lower resources in terms of money and time as well as lower levels of political ambition and confidence. On the supply side, selector may employ direct or imputed discrimination against women: â€Å"the basic problem is that selectors are not enthusiastic about women candidates. They believe the electorate does not want them. They do not see women as having the same commitment as men. They do not know how to categorize them †¦ in short, they apply different standards† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.115 quoting Mitchell 1982). Party Selection In the Conservative Party, following the Chelmer Report 1972 the rules guiding procedures were revised. This slightly strengthened the role of party members at the expense of the constituency executive committee. In 1980 the Conservative Central Office introduced managerialist selection boards to scrutinize candidates on the Approved List before they could apply. These boards aimed to produce better quality candidates and fairer procedures (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). The Labour general party modernization in the 1980s included selection rules reform. Thus, there was a mandatory reselection for incumbents, a formalized selection procedure and power shifted downwards to an electoral college of all members. To encourage more women candidates the Party altered short listing rules and introduced more training programs (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). For the general election 1997 Labour introduced women-only shortlists whereby a proportion of local parties were required to shortlist only women candidates for selection. The policy was then withdrawn as it was found in breach of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. The Electoral System According to Norris and Lovenduski â€Å"the British electoral system is commonly seen as contributing towards the localism of the selection process, by strengthening the links between individual MPs and their constituency† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.28). The British first- pass- the post system is based on a 651 plurality, single member districts and opportunities are determined by the number of seats. Voters can vote for or against individual candidates, but have no say over who is placed before them as a candidate (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). The incumbency turnover further constrains opportunities to enter parliament. The rise of â€Å"careerism† whereby MPs enter parliament at a younger age and see their position as a career further supports this proposition. The party system is a further constraint; traditionally the UK was considered a two- party system, but this has gradually been weakened in the post- war period (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). Conclusions: Accounting for Women’s Under representation The Discrimination Argument Some feel that women are discriminated against by part selectors: â€Å"discrimination by gatekeepers is probably one of the most common explanations of the social bias in our parliament† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.123). However, it is difficult to establish proof of this discrimination. Others feel that at present the system is open to women and explain the under representation in terms of structural constraints such as lack of confidence or the difficulty to combine family life with a career in politics (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). There is also the argument that selectors may not be biased themselves, but may feel that the electorate has biased perceptions. Therefore, to avoid ‘losing’ they do not select ‘risky’ candidates such as women or ethnic minorities. In general, ‘winning’ candidates are perceived as local, white, middle class and male: â€Å"perceptions of anticipated electoral gains and losses reflect, and thereby reinforce the dominant class and racial biases within parliament† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.136). The Elite Theory argument An application of elite theory to liberal democracies at present, confirms the validity of this model. Electoral systems may mean that the voters do not have a genuine choice and that this lies in the hands of the selectorate, usually party officials: â€Å"studies in a number of countries show that in socio- economic terms the differences between successful and unsuccessful candidates are not great and that the selection of candidates is often in the hands of a small group of party leaders and activists† (Rush, 1992, p.66). The Social Contract Revisited Nadezhda Shvedova identifies the difficulties women face in achieving equal representation in government: political, socio-economic, and ideological/psychological obstacles (Karam ed. 1998). Political obstacles include: the type of electoral system ( Shvedova believes proportional representation is better for increasing women’s representation), prevalence of the â€Å"masculine model† of political life e.g. the â€Å"predator mentality† that is supposedly alien to women, and lack of party support. Arguments of socio-economic obstacles usually stem from the theory that higher development brings more democratization; Ideological/psychological obstacles are the traditional social roles assigned to women and men, women’s lack of confidence, the perception of politics as a â€Å"dirty†, and the way in which women are portrayed in the mass media. In newly democratized countries mechanisms such as quotas have been devised to ensure equal representation. Quotas are introduced to make sure that women constitute a certain percentage of the members of a public body such as a candidate list, committee, parliament assembly, or government. They usually aim at achieving at least a â€Å"critical minority† of 30-40% for women (Karam ed. 1998). The three most common forms of these mechanisms are: constitutional quotas which reserve seats in the national parliament for women, election law quotas which are written in national law, and political party quotas which are adopted by political parties to achieve a certain percentage of women as candidates. According to Dahlerup, â€Å"History seems to prove that the implementation of a quota system is made easier in a new political system than in an older one, where most seats might be ‘occupied’, and consequently a conflict may arise between the interests of new groups versus those of the incumbent† (Karam ed. 1998). Countries that have implemented quotas for women are : Uganda, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Eritrea, Tanzania, Belgium, Italy and Namibia (Karam ed. 1998). An example of a newly democratized state where women played an important role in creating the institutions and the foundations of the state is South Africa. According to Seidman â€Å"During the South African transition women activists played a surprisingly important role in the negotiations, in the elections, and in designing the new state. Women’s participation is already leading to new approaches in policy making and, I will suggest, to the construction of a new vision of gendered citizenship† (Seidman 1999, p. 288). This illustrates the ambiguous relationship between development and democracy, and the relationship between the role played by women in freedom or independence struggles and their subsequent role in the new state. . However, it is more difficult to implement such mechanisms in older democracies where rules of procedure and systems are entrenched. Another reason is that the liberal democratic model creates systems that are less â€Å"gendered† than the participatory democracy model, for example, would. This may not have been done to purposely discriminate against women; it may be more about the general ideology of liberal democracy. A good illustration would be the case of the USA where the founding fathers of the American Constitution aimed at creating a â€Å"free† society. â€Å"Free† however, does not imply equal in resources or in condition. Liberal democracy can be therefore criticized because the state will strive to achieve the equality of disadvantaged people; it is more likely to act as a neutral mediator or even observer in the free, pluralist system, where the strongest group/ elite will prevail. It therefore follows that in such a system, reforms to improve the r epresentation of women in political activity will be piece-meal and gradual. References Corrin, C. (1999). Feminist Perspectives on Politics, Essex, Pearson Prentice Hall. Karam, A. (ed) (1998). Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, Stockholm, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). Waylen, G. (2003), Gender and Transitions: What Do We Know?, Democratisation, 10 (1), p. 157- 178. Waylen, G. (1994), Women and Democratisation: Conceptualising Gender Relations in Transition Politics. World Politics, 46 (3), p. 327- 354. Seidman, G. (1999), Gendered Citizenship: South Africa’s Democratic Transition and the Construction of a Gendered State, Gender and Society, 13 (3), p.287-307. Phillips, A. (1991), Engendering Democracy, Cambridge , Polity. Pateman, C. (1988), The Sexual Contract, Cambridge, Polity. Meny, Y. (2002), De la democratie en Europe: Old Concepts and New Challenges, Journal of Common Market Studies, 41 (1), p. 1-13. Dahl, R. (1989), Democracy and Its Critics, New Haven; London, Yale University Press. Rush, M (1992), Democracy and its Critics, Harvester Wheatsheaf, Prentice Hall. Norris, P. and Lovenduski, J. (1995), Political Recruitment: Gender, Race and Class in the British Parliament, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 1 Footnotes [1] Adrienne Rich defines patriarchy as â€Å"a familial- social, ideological, political system in which men by force, direct pressure, or through ritual, tradition, law and language, customs, etiquette, education, and the division of labour, determine what part women shall or shall not play† (Corrin 1999, p.8 quoting Rich 1997). [2] Fraternity means â€Å"rule by brothers† and is seen by Feminists such as Pateman as equally discriminative against women as patriarchy [3] Plato and Aristotle had made this distinction in their writings (Phillips, 1991)

Nineteenth Century Short Stories Essay

The highly censored and controlled Victorian society contained a large contrast, with a small proportion of the rich-elite, composed often of aristocrats and judges. The majority however, was extremely poor, often struggling to provide for their families let alone themselves. In the strictness of life at the time, many people delved into stories of the more humorous and less controlled sides of life. Authors did not put their characters into regular, day-to-day scenarios that would seem rather dull and boring, but created light, dramatically complex narratives that involved people in desperate situations, such as the man that must choose between three women hiding in his truck. In the first story, ‘Tony Kytes, Arch Deceiver’ by Thomas Hardy, a young man is in a situation in which he must choose a woman to marry, being the only attractive young man in this village, he has a lot of control and authority over these women. Throughout the story, the women are portrayed as gullible and desperate, as we see in the climax of the story in which three different women are hiding in the same car. In the end of the story, Tony loses control and seems to be less in command of the situation and becomes manipulated by the three women who are competing with each other in order to secure Tony as a husband. The women finally find out that they have all been promised to become Tony’s wife, and Unity and Hannah leave, pretending to be strong women who are unaffected by this heart-breaking situation. Tony is left with Milly, to which he proclaims ‘†¦It does seem as if fate had ordained it that it should be you and I, or nobody, and what must be must be†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This line is very important as it links in with the theme of fate which applies to the other stories. The next story is called ‘Old Mrs. Chundle’ by Thomas Hardy. It portrays and old woman who is very separated from the rest of her village. The author states that she has never even ventured past the next town from hers. One day, Mrs. Chundle is visited by the Curate who asks her for some food. Mrs. Chundle refuses to sit next to the curate, saying ‘Oh, faith, I don’t want to eat with my betters- not I’. The Curate persuades Mrs. Chundle to go to church; she tells him that she is nearly deaf and would not be able to hear anything. Throughout the rest of the story, we see the curate create various devices in an attempt to get Mrs. Chundle to go to church. However, Mrs. Chundle is forced to rely on the Curate until he eventually leads her to her death when she runs up the hill to get to church on time. The final story, the Stolen Bacillus by H.G Wells, tells us the story of an anarchist who visits a bacteriologist. During the visit, the sheer potential of the destruction caused by the bacteria that he witnesses sparks his anarchy, impelling the young man to steal a batch of the perceptually dangerous bacteria, thinking that he could destroy an entire city with its unfathomable power. The scientist and his wife pursue the man through the streets of London in informal clothes, onlooker cheer thinking this is fast fuelled race, this also gives us the impression that this bacteria is very dangerous. The anarchist stops and the scientists think it’s too late. The final twist in the ending of the story is that the man drinks the virus thinking that he has now gained the ability to destroy the entire country through the power of cholera, but instead he drank a special bacterium that is used to turn monkeys blue. In the same story, the Anarchist is portrayed as a confused but clever man that wants to cause as much devastation and destruction as possible to society. He quotes ‘†¦.those mere atomies, might multiply and devastate a city! Wonderful!’ From this you can clearly see that this man’s objectives are to cause as much destruction as possible to the city. A ‘†¦.slight gleam of satisfaction appeared on the pale man†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ after he at living cultures of this bacterium, with the author stating that ‘†¦morbid pleasure†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ appeared from the man as he was inspected by the scientist. This makes the reader aware that this man has not come to learn about bacteria, but rather to find out how to use them to cause devastation. The way the bacteriologist is portrayed is also important, as he believes that it is a burden to keep that bacteria once muttering, ‘†¦..I am obliged to †¦.’ .The message verbalised by the author is that people should be judged by their appearance if you do not know them and that we should never underestimate the power of nature. The main character in Old Mrs. Chundle is clearly old Mrs. Chundle. Mrs Chundle is an old, deaf woman, who is clearly quite happy living on her own, she has never ventured past the nearest town in her whole life. One day, she is visited by the curate who asks her for some food. It is then revealed to us that she is nearly deaf and has trouble hearing people. The curator asks her why she does not go to church and she explains her condition. Throughout the story, the Curate attempts to help her by thinking of various ways she would be able to hear the church services. In the end of the story, Mrs. Chundle is let down by the curate who promised to come over and read to her. The main character in Thomas Hardy’s story is obviously Tony Kytes, he is described as ‘†¦ ‘Twas a little, round, firm, tight face, with a seam here and there left by smallpox’ but this was not enough to ‘†¦hurt his looks in a woman’s eye†¦.’ He was the ‘women’s favourite’ and loved all of them. He was highly involved with ‘all the rest of the scandalous stuff’ and told to us by the author. The message from the story is clearly ‘Looks can be deceiving’ and that you cannot change fate. The relationships between the author and narrator’s attitudes towards women in ‘arch deceiver’ clearly shows us that at the time, mean were quite sexist towards women and believed that all of them were desperate and would do anything to get married, such as in this story where they fight over an clearly dishonest man. The main relationship in Old Mrs. Chundle is the relationship between here and the curate. It is a very strange relationship due to the fact that as soon as the curate came into Mrs. Chundle’s life she dies. However we can see that the curate has helped Mrs. Chundle die happy as she managed to hear the word of God. All of the stories I have mentioned contain unexpected endings which add humour or sadness into the stories. Thomas Hardy’s novels both contain very different endings. In ‘Arch Deceiver’, the ending was expected as we knew that nothing good would happen at the end of the situation that Tony was in. After a large argument between Tony and the three women at his house, the women leave and Milly is left to marry Tony. He tries to worm his way out of the situation that he has gotten himself in by saying that it was fate that they would get married. In his other story, Old Mrs. Chundle, the Curate breaks a promise he had made with the rector saying â€Å"She’s probably forgotten by this time that you promised.† The Curate eventually goes so Mrs. Chundle doesn’t get angry with him, and finds out that she has died. In the story by H.G. Wells, the twist would have seemed humorous at the time but the overall effect of the story has decreased over time. The twist is that after the anarchist drank the bacteria, thinking that he would cause immeasurable devastation, he begins to turn blue. The twist is not very effective and is quite stupid, which is quite unexpected from an author as great as H.G Wells. In conclusion, I believe that the narrative with the best use of drama through language was the stolen bacillus, this is because Wells can clearly describe to us what is happening, and it is told in a way which sounds realistic. The story with the best relationships is Old Mrs. Chundle as we are told the story of an old woman who died as soon as there were new influences in her life. The story with the best ending is the Stolen Baccilus as it was the most unexpected. Wells uses language in such a way that makes you believe that the anarchist would succeed, although the ending is stupid, it was the most surprising and contained a strange twist.

Blizzard the Century

Blizzards, the most dangerous of all winter storms are characterized by 20 degrees Fahrenheit and winds of at least 35 miles per hour. Along with low temperatures and wind, blizzards also bring in heavy snowfall (Blizzards, 1999). The second week of March 1993 is a significant date in the history of the Eastern United States because it is the day when it was struck by one of the most intense blizzards ever known. Record low pressures, wind speeds, low temperatures and snowfall amounts guaranteed that this storm would win the title â€Å"Storm of the Century† even while it lasted.Later, it came to be referred to as â€Å"Superstorm '93† or â€Å"The 1993 Superstorm† (Wendland, 1993). This was a highly devastative storm that killed over 250 people and resulted in the canceling of almost 25% of the United States flights for two days. It simultaneously affected the lives of 130,000,000 people in the United States. While it may not be the worst storm ever, it did affe ct a large area. On the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale it would have been a category 3. The storm affected 26 states and 50% of the US population. Formation:From March 12th to the 15th, 1993, the blizzard of the century caused huge damage to the Easter United States. According to computerized information from the National Weather Service, an intense winter storm was beginning to form and grow significantly in the Gulf of Mexico. It was found that the storm was the outcome of three different atmospheric disturbances: a major cluster of thunderstorms in the Gulf of Mexico, a band of snow and rain from the Pacific, and gusty winds with light snow from the Arctic Circle (Sander and Conner, 2006). Weather forecasters described the phenomenon as a â€Å"disorganized area of low pressure†.As they observed it closely, they predicted that a terrible storm can bubble up from the Gulf of Mexico, if the low pressure area happens to meet colder air over the northern areas of the United St ates. This happened very soon. The low pressure area was met by an arctic high pressure system in the Midwestern Great Plains, brought into the mid-latitudes by an unusually steep southward jet stream. When the powerful high-pressure system entered the Great Plains through the unusually southward polar jet stream, the cold weather moved into the eastern part of the United States naturally.Because of this temperatures dropped to below freezing point of water and snow fall occurred. A cyclonic low pressure system that happened to be spinning directly to the south of Nova Scotia added to the low temperatures and snowfall and this set the stage for the truly fearsome storm. By Thursday, March 12th, the storm became very perceptible on the Florida coast due to its high winds, tornadoes and a storm surge twelve feet above normal. The next day, the storm moved across the southeastern states, leaving destruction and total chaos all along its path and paralyzing Eastern Kentucky (Sander and Conner, 2006).Description: The storm caused wide and varied effect across the nations. There were thunderstorms in Texas. Usually, Texas has only rain and not much snow. The blizzard of 1993 brought to Texas in March, a lot of snow fall. In the state of Florida the barometric pressure dropped to record lows, and as the thunderstorms swept across the state, eleven tornadoes claimed seven lives. A mild snowfall began over upstate New York and New England between 6:00 and 7:00 am Saturday, March 13. This increased in intensity and soon the blizzard raced through the Mid Atlantic states.Snowflakes the size of a person’s fist was reported for a time with the passage of one of the thunder snow bands at Bridgeport, CT (UCAR, 2006). Due to the combination of heavy snow and high winds, there was zero visibility at most places. New York and the six New England States all declared disaster emergencies during the height of the storm. Most of the major roads were closed to travel and thes e included the Northway, I-88, Thruway, and Massachusetts turnpike. Secondary roads were already blocked by snow.Almost all airports were shut down. Snow piled up to record levels for many cities in the Northeast (UCAR, 2006). Impact of the Blizzard: The blizzard of 1993 was one that broke many records in the history of Kentucky, through the amount of snowfall and size. The travel department was the most affected and over 4,000 motorists were stranded. To cope with this crisis situation, emergency shelters were set up over much of Eastern Kentucky. High school gyms and public facilities were opened up for stranded people to sleep in.The National Guard was brought in for their services in order to clear roads, and to open twenty armories as additional shelters for motorists. There needed to be immediate disaster relief. Public Works met this challenge by plowing and removing snow, salting streets and checking for icy conditions (PPW, 2006). Crews worked around the clock to restore sa fe driving conditions, and Pittsburgh streets quickly returned to normal (PPW, 2006). Record low temperatures were predominant in the land area stretching from the Gulf Coast to Maine. Every major airport along the east coast was forced to close.Homes also fell into the sea or received damage by wind or waves on the west coast of Florida, along the outer banks of North Carolina, and on Long Island. Fallen tree limbs and power lines left 3 million people along the storm’s path in the dark (Sherman, 2006). The blizzard caused dramatic weather changes in many places such as Birmingham, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee which were buried by paralyzing snows and frozen by unseasonable cold. The severe cold following the storm preserved much of the snow, prolonging travel nightmares for a couple days over the south where most roads were never plowed.The combined effects of high wind and heavy wet snow downed thousands of miles of power lines leaving millions of people in the dark for up to a week in some cases over the south. Tornadoes struck Tennessee and Ohio valleys, as well as the Appalachians on Friday night March 12 (UCAR, 2006). The tornadoes along with highly powerful straight line winds from the parent severe thunderstorms, and the massive storm surge along the west coast, inflicted millions of dollars in property damage. During the peak of the storm, roughly 1/3 of the country was simultaneously being affected by harsh winter weather.Insurance claims from Texas to Maine tallied damage estimates in the billions of dollars. The toll in human life was extensive. Approximately 285 fatalities nationwide can be directly attributed to the storm. The psychological impact in the Southern states, where average high temperatures in March tend to run into the 60s Fahrenheit, was magnified by the fact that it struck a week before spring. A NASCAR event at Atlanta Motor Speedway had to be postponed a week due to the storm. Many factory roofs c ollapsed due to weight of the snow.Snowdrifts on the leeward sides of buildings resulted in the falling of poorly anchored decks in houses. Many people had to be rescued from the Appalachians and many of them were on the Appalachian trail, or visiting cabins and lodges in remote locales. Boone, North Carolina was surprised by 24 hours of sub zero temperatures along with storm winds, which gusted as high as 110 miles per hour. Electricity was not restored to many isolated rural areas for a week or more. Farther to the South, numerous super cells developed over the state of Florida, leading tornadoes and lightning strikes. Impact Data:This blizzard was the largest in terms of the area it affected. More than half of the country's population in twenty-six different states was affected by the blizzard of 1993. 44 deaths in Florida were attributed either to the tornadoes or other severe weather (Lott, 1993). During the storm, school activities and government services in 30 counties were a ffected. In fact 73 out of Kentucky's 120 counties were found to be eligible for reimbursement for the cost of emergency snow removal. The massive March 1993 blizzard killed five people in Kentucky and over 270 people nationwide (Lott, 1993).The damage costs exceeded 1. 6 billion dollars. Hence, the blizzard of 1993 became the fourth costliest storm in U. S. history. At least 18 homes fell into the sea on Long Island due to the pounding surf. About 200 homes along North Carolina's Outer Banks were damaged and may be uninhabitable. Over 160 people were rescued at sea by the Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic. At least 1 freighter sank in the Gulf of Mexico (Lott, 1993). Scientific Data: The storm stretched from Canada to Central America. But the main impact was felt in the Eastern United States and Cuba.Areas as far south as Atlanta, Georgia received 5 to 50 inches (13 to 130 cm) of snow, accompanied by hurricane-force wind gusts and record low barometric pressures. Prior to the storm, the record for a single day's snowfall had been 18 inches in Kentucky. This snowfall covered most of Eastern and Southeastern Kentucky with about 30 inches of snow. London, Kentucky measured a depth of 22 inches, while Jackson and Closplint both had 20 inches of snow on the ground. The maximum snowfall was measured at Perry County – 30 inches.Powerful winds raged across Kentucky blocking any kind of relief effort put up by people. Winds up to 43 miles per hour were recorded in Pike Co. , and a 30-mph clip blew over much of the state. The heavy snows, coupled with high winds created large snow drifts – 8-10 feet in many places such as Pikeville and London – over roads and highways. I-75 from Lexington to the Tennessee border was shut down for two days, as was I-64 from Lexington eastward. All state and federal highways south of I-64 and east of I-75 were also closed.The maximum snow depth recorded from the blizzard was 56 inches on Mt. Leconte in T ennessee. Millions of people woke up to snowfalls as deep and frequently deeper than 3 feet (1 meter), and in places high winds had heaped drifts to depths of 30 feet (9. 5 meters). It was later measured that the snowfall put down by the storm was nearly 12. 91 cubic miles (53. 96 cubic kilometers). As the storm moved northward, it became stronger and stronger and caused severe drops in pressure. The barometric pressure in parts of New England dropped to record low levels – 28. 35 inches Hg (960 mb).Such low reading is usually seen only in the centers of extraordinarily strong hurricanes. Across may parts of New England, temperatures on the worst blizzard day (March 13, 1993) failed to exceed 14 °F (-10 °C), which was a unusual phenomenon in this region. Birmingham recorded a record low of 2 degrees Fahrenheit during the storm. Fifteen tornadoes in Florida killed 44 while 6 inches of snow fell on the Florida Panhandle. Mount LeConte in Tennessee received 56 inches of snow . 43 inches fell at Syracuse, NY, 27 in Albany, NY, 20 inches at Chattanooga, TN, 16 in Roanoke, VA.Winds over 100 were reported on the Dry Tortugas (west of Key West, FL), in North Carolina on Flattop Mountain while winds over hurricane force were reported from Louisiana and Florida to New York and New England (Sherman, 2006). The storm also set records for snowfall in places such as Birmingham, Alabama, where 33 centimeters fell, and Cooperstown, New York, which had 71 centimeters. Powerful winds that were stronger than many hurricane forces smashed the gulf coast, Appalachians, and eastern seaboard. Equipment on oil drilling platforms off the Louisiana coast measured the wind power as close to 99 mph on Friday evening, March 12.Winds estimated up to120 mph blasted the Florida west coast early Saturday, March 13, producing a six to ten foot storm surge. Winds up to 100 mph were measured over the mountains of North Carolina Saturday afternoon, March 13. And, 81 mph winds measured a t Boston's Logan International airport Saturday evening, March 13, closed the facility and aided in the shut down of the city. Snowfall Records: The incredible data can be summarized as follows (UCAR, 2006): †¢ 35. 6 inches of snow in twenty four hours (10am Saturday – 10am Sunday. ) The previous record was 27. 2 inches set in January 1925.†¢ 22. 1 inches of snow on Saturday, March 13, breaking the old snowfall record for that date which was 4. 1 inches set in 1961. †¢ 19. 9 inches of snow on Sunday, March 14, breaking the old snowfall record for that date which was 8. 6 inches set in 1956. †¢ Seasonal snowfall by March 14 measured 174. 8 inches making the 1992-'93 season the snowiest on record, breaking the old record of 166. 9 inches set in the winter of 1991-'92 †¢ March snowfall totaled 49. 3 inches as of March 14 making March 1993 the snowiest on record at Syracuse breaking the old record of 41.4 inches set in 1932. Thunderstorms and Lightning: O n Saturday morning, March 13, 1993, people in the Eastern United States heard the raging sound of strong wind and the crashing sounds of thunder. They could see flashes of light amidst heavy blowing snow. They were perplexed. How could there be thunder and lightning in the middle of a blizzard. Although it is an unusual occurrence, thunderstorms can accompany a snowstorm. This weather phenomenon is known as thundersnow. Snow falls are produced when warm rising moist air meets too cold air close to the earth’s surface.Most snowstorms do not produce thunder and lightning because the dynamics in the atmosphere are not unstable enough to create this interesting phenomenon. Only an extremely powerful winter storm system, if accompanied by intensely cold air in the upper regions of the troposphere, can produce thundersnow. The blizzard of 1993 also produced an unusually large number of lightning flashes – up to 5000 an hour. Richard Orville, of Texas A & M University, has st udied this blizzard lightning (Orville, 1993)), examining data from a network of magnetic direction finders.These devices were used to record the characteristics of lightning flashes from cloud to ground across the US. Each of the flashes recorded in Orville's survey was reported by at least two direction finders within 600 kilometers of the flash. At this range, the detectors can distinguish between flashes carrying negative charge downwards, which accounts for most of them, and those carrying positive charge downwards which produce the remaining 13 per cent. There was maximum lightning near Florida, probably because of the warmth of the waters of the Gulf Stream.Overall, the storm produced 59 000 cloud-to-ground flashes, with a peak of 5100 flashes an hour and a maximum density of strikes of 0. 16 per square kilometer just south of Tampa, Florida. Orville in the New Scientist, dated 11 September 1993 said: â€Å"The reasons for the high flash rates [and] the apparent rapid cessat ion of cloud-to-ground lightning as the storm propagated north of the Carolinas is still to be determined. † Subtropical Derecho: In addition to the blizzard, a serial derecho occurred in the U. S. state of Florida on March 12 and 13, 1993.The derecho moved into Florida and Cuba around midnight on March 13 and moved out of Cuba just before sunrise. During its stay, the derecho resulted in ten tornadoes one of which killed three people when it struck a home. In Cuba wind gusts ranged between 100 to 130 mph according to a research team from the Institute of Meteorology of Cuba. The derecho resulted in 10 deaths in Cuba and caused US$1 billion in damage in Cuba alone (Wikipedia, 2006). The Human Angle: Media reporting on the Blizzard of 1993 have helped to keep the memories of that historical day alive.â€Å"†¦ The Blizzard of '93 is about to commence †¦ All preparations should have been made †¦ I wonder what the forecaster who sat here 105 years ago today [was th inking]. † – Warren Snyder, Senior Forecaster for the National Weather Service Office in Albany, New York typed these words in his early morning state forecast discussion on March 13, 1993 (Smith, 2006). Eric Thomas on WBTV-Charlotte declared that â€Å"†¦ this may not be just the storm of the century†¦ but the strongest storm in the history of mankind.† The New York Times reported: â€Å"The Blizzard of 1993 became a blizzard in the metropolitan region during a three-hour stretch at midday yesterday when visibility dropped below a quarter of a mile from falling and blowing snow and winds blew at least 35 miles an hour† (NYT, 1993) Apart from media reporting, citizens have also shared their experiences on that historic day. Emily Flowers remembers marching in the St. Patrick's parade of 1993 with the Brashear High School marching band. She recollects that there was really no one to witness the parade and the marchers were covered in snow by parad e's end.She was then stuck up at her boyfriend’s house for three days. Terry Griffith recollects that on that stormy day, â€Å"the busses and streetcars stopped running. The taxi cabs stopped service. The parkway and all ways out of the city were closed. All the hotels were booked and if you were still downtown by 4 pm you were really stuck† (Griffith, 2006). Conclusion: The Blizzard of 1993 was truly the Storm of the Century in terms of its intensity, area covered and record snowfalls. Such natural disasters as the blizzard of 1993 awaken man to his own vulnerability in the face of nature’s immense powers.These disasters also enable the growth of science and help in bringing mankind together to study, understand and learn coping strategies for the future. Bibliography: Lott, Neal (1993). The Big One! A Review of the March 12-14, 1993 â€Å"Storm of the Century†. National Climatic Data Center: Research Customer Service Group. May 14, 1993. ftp://ftp. ncd c. noaa. gov/pub/data/techrpts/tr9301/tr9301. pdf PPW (2006). Blizzard of 1993. Pittsburgh Public Works. http://www. city. pittsburgh. pa. us/pw/html/blizzard_of_1993. html Griffith, Terry (2006). The Pittsburgh St.Patrick's Day Parade remembers the blizzard of 1993. http://www. pittsburghirish. org/parade/Blizzard/index. htm. Orville, E. Richard (1993). Cloud-to-ground lightening in the blizzard of 1993. Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 20, Issue 13, p. 1367-1370. http://adsabs. harvard. edu/abs/1993GeoRL.. 20. 1367O Sander, David and Conner, Glen (2006). Fact Sheet: Blizzard of 1993. http://kyclim. wku. edu/factSheets/blizzard. htm Wendland, Wayne. Weather and Climate Impacts in the Midwest. March 1993: Midwestern Climate Center. Vol. III, No. 4. â€Å"Blizzards†. http://www. weather.com/breaking_weather/encyclopedia/winter/blizzard. html. (October 21, 1999). Sherman (2006). Storm of the Century. http://snrs. unl. edu/amet498/sherman/blizzard93. html UCAR (2006). The Bl izzard of 93. http://eo. ucar. edu/webweather/blizzardstory. html NYT (1993). THE BLIZZARD OF '93; It Was, Indeed, Blizzard of '93. http://query. nytimes. com/gst/fullpage. html? res=9F0CE3D81F39F937A25750C0A965958260 Smith, Tony (2006). Storm of the Century. http://www. valdostamuseum. org/hamsmith/thunderflood. html#blizzard Wikipedia (2006). 1993 North American Storm Complex. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The

The Rights Opportunity Commission Has Filed Suits Against...

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