Study Set 10

Bipolar International System

- A Bipolar international system is a distribution of power in which two states have the majority of economic, military, and cultural influence internationally or regionally. Often, spheres of influence would develop. For example, in the Cold War, most Western and capitalist states would fall under the influence of the USA, while most Communist states would fall under the influence of the USSR. After this, the two powers will normally maneuver for the support of the unclaimed areas. - An example is the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War - in the bipolar system of the Cold War, each of the blocs (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, and the Warsaw Pact) sought to negotiate rather than fight, to fight minor wars rather than major ones, and to fight major wars rather than fail to eliminate the rival bloc. Alliances tend to be long term, based on relatively permanent, not shifting, interests. - In a tight bipolar system, international organizations either do not develop or are ineffective. In a looser system, international organizations may develop primarily to mediate between the two blocs.

Lobbying

- A group whose members share certain goals and work to bring about the passage, modification, or defeat of laws that affect these goals. Lobbies (also called interest groups or pressure groups ) can be long-standing (such as minority groups struggling to have their civil rights guaranteed) or ad hoc (such as a community threatened by proposed construction of a nuclear power plant). Lobbies may use grassroots methods, such as local rallies and campaigns, to build support for their cause and often employ professional lobbyists, who testify before congressional committees and approach policymakers in all government branches. Powerful lobbies, such as the AFL-CIO and the American Legion, with millions of members, have succeeded in establishing influence in Washington, D.C. - Although lobbies have received a bad name, they have also been instrumental in protecting or advancing human rights. In the 1950s, for example, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed lawsuits in state and federal courts challenging existing segregation laws. As a result of these suits, the Supreme Court eventually declared such laws unconstitutional.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

- An agreement that came into effect in January 1994 between the US, Canada, and Mexico to remove barriers to trade between the three countries over a ten-year period. - The three countries phased out numerous tariffs, (with a particular focus on those related to agriculture, textiles and automobiles), between the agreement's implementation and January 1, 2008. NAFTA's purpose is to encourage economic activity between the United States, Mexico and Canada. - About one-fourth of U.S. imports comes from Canada and Mexico, which are the United States' second- and third-largest suppliers of imported goods. In addition, about one-third of U.S. exports are destined for Canada and Mexico. - Critics of NAFTA, however, were concerned that NAFTA would move U.S. jobs to Mexico. - This Agreement superseded the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Canada - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce credits NAFTA with increasing US trade in goods and services with Canada and Mexico from $337 billion in 1993 to $1.2 trillion in 2011, while the AFL-CIO blames the agreement for sending 700,000 American manufacturing jobs to Mexico over that time

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

- An association of European and North American countries, formed in 1949 for the defense of Europe and the North Atlantic against the perceived threat of Soviet aggression. By 2005, the alliance consisted of 26 countries, including several eastern European nations. NATO's purpose is to safeguard member countries by political and military means. - Its 19 members have used NATO as a framework for cooperation in military, political, economic, and social matters. The North Atlantic Treaty calls for the peaceful resolution of disputes, but article 5 pledges the use of the member nations' forces for collective self-defense.

Proportional Representation

- An electoral system in which seats in a legislature are awarded to each party on the basis of its share of the popular vote. The United States does not use a system of proportional representation. Membership in the Senate and the House of Representatives, for example, is based on individual candidates' receiving a majority of votes. Such a system strongly encourages the formation of only two major political parties. - Note : In Israel and some nations in Europe, a system of proportional representation guarantees that small parties will have official recognition in the government, thus leading to a multiparty government. - Note : Though proportional representation has been attempted in a few American cities, many American politicians argue that it tends to fragment the government, preventing quick and decisive action. - Ex. Countries with parliaments elected by proportional representation are often cursed with myriad political groups. - Proportional representation is thought to be able to eradicate the problems of gerrymandering and malapportionment, as well as minimising the practice known as pork barrelling, but also from abiding to the basic tenet of liberal democracy: majorities may rule, but all of the people should be represented.

Records Management responsibilities include:

- Assisting agencies/departments in the development, utilization, disposition, retention, and destruction of records - Training agency Records Officers - Providing the appropriate forms and advice on the correct utilization of those forms for monitoring and managing agency records - Making recommendations for the efficient management of agency records - Providing recommendations and updates to the Public Records Commission (PRC), which governs the Records Management Division.

Example of some of the responsibilities of SOS Records Analyst:

- Assisting the Public Records Commission with implementing new policies pertaining to public records issues.

Democratic Peace

- Democratic peace is the proposition that democracies are more peaceful in their foreign relations. This idea dates back to Immanuel Kant. - Some counterexamples include: the Spanish American War (the U.S. and Spain were both democracies) and the 2006 Israeli-Lebanese War - critics of the theory maintain that democracies are more likely to go to war with non-democracies than other non-democracies are

Example of some of the responsibilities of SOS Records Analyst:

- Drafting new rules and procedures of the Tennessee Public Records Commission.

Failed States

- Failed states can no longer perform basic functions such as education, security, or governance, usually due to fractious violence or extreme poverty. Within this power vacuum, people fall victim to competing factions and crime, and sometimes the United Nations or neighboring states intervene to prevent a humanitarian disaster. - States fail not only because of internal factors. Foreign governments can also knowingly destabilize a state by fueling ethnic warfare or supporting rebel forces, causing it to collapse. - Somalia is probably the clearest example of a failed state. With a life expectancy of only 51 and an infant mortality rate of 2 out of 10 it tied for the worst rating on refugees and internally displaced people, human rights, and factionalized elites.

Discuss Three Characteristics of a Parliamentary System

- In a parliamentary system of government, the Head of State and the leader of the government are two different people, as opposed to a presidential system where both roles are filled by the president. Often times the head of the government is the Prime Minister and the head of state is part of a monarchy. - The executive part of a parliamentary form of government includes the Prime Minister and a group of advisers. The executive part of a parliamentary form of government includes the Prime Minister and a group of advisers - The parliament is the legislative branch of a parliamentary form of government. They are responsible for debating and voting on laws. If there is a majority, the bill will instantly become a law because it does not need the approval nor can it be vetoed by the prime minister. - In a parliamentary system the parliament holds the most power out of other roles of the government because it rules by the majority. Similarly, because of being ruled by the majority party, a parliamentary form of government remains free of effective checks and balances.

Nelson Mandela

- President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 - He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 as an activist for the African National Congress (ANC). - He became the country's first democratically elected president in 1994, serving until 1999. - Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 - Nelson Mandela was a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC), which opposed South Africa's white minority government and its policy of racial separation, known as apartheid. - The government outlawed the ANC in 1960. Mandela was captured and jailed in 1962, and in 1964 he was convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison. - He also helped establish multiracial elections which would occur in 1994.

Commonwealth of Independent States

- The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) formed when the former Soviet Union totally dissolved in 1991. - At its conception it consisted of ten former Soviet Republics: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. - This group of states (countries) loosely agreed to work together on a large list of mutual issues, including economics, defense and foreign policy. - The headquarters of the organization is in Minsk, Belarus. - It also promotes cooperation on cross-border crime prevention. - There are currently nine full member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States. - The "Creation Agreement" remained the main constituent document of the CIS until January 1993, when the CIS Charter was adopted. The charter formalised the concept of membership: a member country is defined as a country that ratifies the CIS Charter.

French Fifth Republic

- The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced in 1958 - The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system - The Fifth Republic emerged from the ashes of the French Fourth Republic, replacing a weak and factional parliamentary government with a stronger, more centralized democracy. - The impetus behind the creation of the Fifth Republic was the Algerian Crisis. The former general Charles de Gaulle used the crisis as an opportunity to create a new French government with the stronger office of President. - As Algeria disintegrated into civil war and Paris feared a military putsch at home, the last president of the impotent Fourth Republic, René Coty, asked de Gaulle to take over in his stead. - The new president's most immediate problems were the Algerian conflict and the inflation caused by the war. He attacked the latter, with considerable success, by introducing a program of deflation and austerity.

Why is it important to maintain a good Records Management system?

5. To Ensure Regulatory Compliance The only way an organization can be reasonably sure that it is in full compliance with laws and regulations is by operating a good records management program which takes responsibility for regulatory compliance. Failure to comply with laws and regulations could result in severe fines, penalties or other legal consequences.

Records Retention Schedule

A records retention schedule is the cornerstone of an effective records management program.

Five W's of Record's Management

A successful, cost-effective records management program is dependent upon consistent, comprehensive training of records officers, coordinators, and others who must touch state records. Understanding of the five W's of records management is paramount in empowering teams of records managers within each agency.

Secretary of State: Division of Records Management

As of October 2012, the Office of the Secretary of State began oversight of the Records Management Division.

Secretary of State

As the secretary of state is elected by the legislature, in Tennessee the secretary of state's office is considered to be part of the legislative branch, not the executive branch, of government.

Records Dispostion (Destruction) Authorization

DO NOT DESTROY A RECORD WITHOUT AN RDA

Zachary Matteson

Friend, gave me a tour of Tennessee state Library & Archives and explained his work/responsibilities, former employee of Tennessee State Library and Archives, former english teacher at Nashville State Community College

Secretary of State: Director of Records Management

Mr. Callaghan

Secretary of State: Director of Human Resources

Ms. Bahou

About Tre Hargett

Since elected secretary of state, Secretary Hargett has made it his continuing priority to increase transparency in state government. For example, he has worked with his colleagues to make the proceedings of numerous boards and commissions more accessible to the public.

About Tre Hargett

Tennessee's 37th Secretary of State. Elected by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2009.

Tennessee Public Records Commission (PRC)

The Commission (PRC) establishes records retention and disposal schedules and helps to improve the efficiency of records storage.

Secretary of State: Division of Records Management

The Records Management Division is further directed by the Public Records Commission (PRC) to serve as administrative liaison between state agencies and the PRC; to establish procedural guidelines for paper and electronic records oversight and retention; and to coordinate efforts supporting the state's Paperwork Reduction and Simplification Act of 1976

Secretary of State: Division of Records Management

The Records Management Division was established to assist state agencies in establishing systematic controls for the efficient use and sound preservation of state records.

Mission: Office of the Secretary of State

The mission of the Office of the Secretary of State is to exceed the expectations of our customers, the taxpayers, by operating at the highest levels of accuracy, cost effectiveness, and accountability in a customer-centered environment.

Retention Period

The retention period of a document is an aspect of records management. It represents the period of time a document should be kept or "retained" both electronically and in paper format. At the termination of the retention period, the document is usually destroyed.

These are all records regardless of format:

Whether Physical or Electronic.

Soft Money

- "Hard money" is from political donations that are regulated by law through the Federal Election Commission. Whereas, "Soft money" is money donated to political parties in a way that leaves the contribution unregulated. - political contributions made in such a way as to avoid the United States regulations for federal election campaigns (as by contributions to a political action committee) - A good example of soft money is the campaign funding that politicians get during election years. The money received is not recurring and it is to be used explicitly for election related expenses. - These terms are also used to refer to political contributions in the United States, which can be made directly to a specific candidate (hard money) or indirectly to parties and committees (soft money) - "Soft money" refers to unregulated, unlimited contributions to political parties for so-called "party-building" activities. Traditionally, soft money donations have been used for get-out-the vote drives, voter registration efforts and ads that say "Vote for Democrats" or "Vote for Republicans." Potential uses of soft money, however, were limited by Congress with the passage of the 2002 campaign finance law known as McCain-Feingold.

Demagogue

- A Demagogue is a political leader who appeals to the emotions, fears, prejudices, and ignorance of the lower classes in order to gain power and promote political motives. - someone who becomes a leader largely because of skills as a speaker or who appeals to emotions and prejudices. - Two of the most famous historical demagogues are said to be Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. - In popular usage, "demagoguery" simply means "effective rhetoric on behalf of a political agenda I dislike." - Demagogues appealed directly to the emotions of the poor and uninformed, pursuing power, telling lies to stir up hysteria, exploiting crises to intensify popular support for their calls to immediate action and increased authority, and accusing moderate opponents of weakness or disloyalty to the nation. - a person who with his speeches rouses the prejudices of the people. - A demagogue is usually a politician who rouses people and wins them over to his side by appealing to their prejudices and emotions. A white leader who rouses the prejudices of the whites against the blacks, and a black leader who rouses the prejudices of the blacks against the whites with their speeches are demagogues.

Electoral College

- A body of electors chosen to elect the president and vice president of the United States. - Every state is represented by a different number of Electors, and the number each state gets is based on how many Senators and U.S. Representatives the state has. - The Electoral College was established by our country's forefathers. The group was established to ensure that the election of the President and Vice President was based on popular vote, in addition to Congressional vote. - The Electoral College is governed by the Office of the Federal Registrar - Electors are appointed to their position in the Electoral College by the political parties they are affiliated with. They are normally appointed during party conventions or by a vote of the party's primary committee in each state.

Coalition Government

- A coalition government is one in which several political parties must cooperate to run a country - These types of governments are often considered somewhat weak because there is no majority party - Often, it might be difficult to know how an issue is going to turn out, unlike in some countries where there are two major political parties. In those cases, it is rare when a majority party does not get its way. - In Iraq, for example, a coalition government was created in 2004 in an effort to bring the country together after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government. - In this example, various leaders from different religious sects and regions of the country were brought together in an attempt to create policies that would be regarded as beneficial to the Iraqi people as a whole, not just one particular group. - Well-known countries that have been run by coalition governments include Germany, Italy, India, Ireland and Israel, among others.

Reign of Terror (France)

- A phase of the French Revolution aimed at destroying all alleged pockets of resistance to the revolution. Robespierre was a leader of the Terror, during which thousands were sent to the guillotine. - The Terror grew out of fears that counter-revolutionary forces were threatening the revolution, but soon led to indiscriminant executions of nobles, clergy, and the educated in general, though the majority of victims are thought to have been peasants who denounced each other for personal rather than political reasons. The terror's leader, Maximilien Robespierre, exercised dictatorial powers as head of the Committee of Public Safety until his own beheading. Political stability eluded post-revolutionary France until Napoleon seized power in 1799. - Seeing the turmoil that was both within and surrounding France, the leading political party known as the Jacobins determined that they would crush any resistance within their new nation. They established neighborhood watches that were intended to find anyone who was not loyal. These watches would turn in suspected traitors, who would often be put to death. This period of time is known as the Reign of Terror, and lasted from July 1793 until July 1794, during which approximately 17,000 individuals were executed.

Public Opinion Polls

- A public opinion poll is a type of survey or inquiry designed to measure the public's views regarding a particular topic or series of topics. Trained interviewers ask questions of people chosen at random from the population being measured. Responses are given, and interpretations are made based on the results. It is important in a random sample that everyone in the population being studied has an equal chance of participating. Otherwise, the results could be biased and, therefore, not representative of the population. - Polls are simply a measurement tool that tells us how a population thinks and feels about any given topic. - Two of the most common ways in which public opinion polls are conducted are telephone and face-to-face interviews. - Polls may serve a variety of purposes. Those reported in the media, for example, may be used to inform, to entertain, or to educate. In an election, well-run polls may constitute one of the most systematic and objective sources of political information. - Polls cannot identify the likely future actions of the public in general, nor can they predict the future behaviour of individuals. They are also inappropriate as tools for exploring concepts unfamiliar to respondents. One of the best predictors of how people will vote is, simply, the vote that they cast in the last election.

Example of some of the responsibilities of SOS Records Analyst:

- Advising agency records officers on the development of records disposition authorizations in accordance with the Tennessee Public Records Act.

Interest Group

- All interest groups share a desire to affect government policy to benefit themselves or their causes. Their goal could be a policy that exclusively benefits group members or one segment of society (e.g., government subsidies for farmers) or a policy that advances a broader public purpose (e.g., improving air quality). They attempt to achieve their goals by lobbying—that is, by attempting to bring pressure to bear on policy makers to gain policy outcomes in their favor. - They bridge the gap between the public and lawmakers, and seek to influence public opinion, elections, and public policy. - The greatest concern over interest groups in recent years has been their contributions to political campaigns. Many argue that interest groups have far too much control over members of Congress. - Members of Congress are influenced by two main constituencies: voters and special interest groups. They must listen to both groups' concerns and try to balance them. - Lobbyists provide in-depth information to members of Congress and testify at hearings. Their techniques have become very sophisticated and very effective. - Special interest groups form Political Action Committees (PACs) for the purpose of raising money to support political campaigns.

World Court

- Established at The Hague, the court was empowered to render judgments in disputes between states that were voluntarily submitted to it and to give advisory opinions in any matters referred to it by the Council or the Assembly of the League. - Although the United States never joined the court (because the Senate refused to ratify the protocol), there was always an American jurist on the bench. - popular name of the Permanent Court of International Justice, established pursuant to Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. - In the course of its existence, the court rendered 32 judgments and 27 advisory opinions.

Huey Long

- He promised every family enough money for a home, car, radio, pension, and college education. - He planned to run for president but was assassinated before he could do so. - Long rose to national prominence during the Great Depression by becoming the country's most impassioned advocate of redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. - The popular novel and feature film, All the King's Men, was based on Long's life. - Long advocated free higher education and vocational training, pensions for the elderly, veterans benefits and health care, and a yearly stipend for all families earning less than one-third the national average income - Long charged that the nation's economic collapse was the result of the vast disparity between the super-rich and everyone else. - Meanwhile, the conservative national media dismissed Long's program, lampooning Long as a "hick", "buffoon", "communist", "socialist" and "fascist dictator". - Long countered that the national newspapers were the pawns of the wealthy Wall Street financiers who were threatened by his program.

Meiji Restoration (Japan)

- In 1868, the "great general" who ruled Japan in the feudal period, lost his power and the emperor was restored to the supreme position. The emperor took the name Meiji ("enlightened rule") as his reign name; this event was known as the Meiji Restoration. - When the Meiji emperor was restored as head of Japan in 1868, the nation was a militarily weak country, was primarily agricultural, and had little technological development. - For the next twenty years, in the 1870s and 1880s, the top priority remained domestic reform aimed at changing Japan's social and economic institutions along the lines of the model provided by the powerful Western nations. - In an effort to unite the Japanese nation in response to the Western challenge, the Meiji leaders created a civic ideology centered around the emperor. - The abolition of feudalism made possible tremendous social and political changes. Millions of people were suddenly free to choose their occupation and move about without restrictions. - This phenomenon is one of the major characteristics of Japan's modern history.

Stratified Sample

- In statistics, stratified sampling is a method of sampling from a population. - In statistical surveys, when subpopulations within an overall population vary, it is advantageous to sample each subpopulation (stratum) independently. - Stratification is the process of dividing members of the population into homogeneous subgroups before sampling. - A real-world example of using stratified sampling would be for a political survey. If the respondents needed to reflect the diversity of the population, the researcher would specifically seek to include participants of various minority groups such as race or religion, based on their proportionality to the total population - In general the size of the sample in each stratum is taken in proportion to the size of the stratum. This is called proportional allocation. - Stratified sampling is a probability sampling technique wherein the researcher divides the entire population into different subgroups or strata, then randomly selects the final subjects proportionally from the different strata. - the population is divided into strata and a random sample is taken from each stratum - Stratified sampling is not useful when the population cannot be exhaustively partitioned into disjoint subgroups.

Trustee Theory of Representation

- In the USA, we have most often chosen to follow the Trustee model of representation - What we have today, instead of representatives working solely for the best interests of their constituents, is a perversion of the Trustee model whereby the elected representatives are now voting strictly for the best interests of their political party and their corporate sponsors. - Poll after poll show the majority of voters support most of the issues that the representatives of the two parties vote against. And with voters getting so little representation through the Trustee model, why do we continue to support it? We continue to support it because both major parties now rely on the wealthy corporate elite for the bulk of their campaign funding, and we essentially have no choice but to elect a representative that will be solely concerned with the best interests of those "who brung 'em" -- the party leadership and their sponsors, the wealthy corporate elite. - Laws and repeals of laws that reduce the essential regulations we need to protect ourselves from the predations of that "maximize profits" philosophy that the corporate elite lives by. They have, in essence, turned off the burglar alarms, laid off the police, paid off the judges, shot the watchdogs, and confiscated the guns. The main target of those laws today is the American Middle Class. - These 'trustees' have sufficient autonomy to deliberate and act in favor of the greater common good and national interest, even if it means going against the short-term interests of their own constituencies. The model provides a solution to the problem of uninformed constituents who lack the necessary knowledge on issues to take an educated position.

Delegate Theory of Representation

- In this model, the representative is expected to act strictly in accordance to mandates from his/her constituents - A model of representative democracy in which the representative sees her or his role as carrying out the will of the people who elected her or him. - A form of representation whereby the people decide on the legislation to be passed and the representative simply puts the bill together and votes for it, as directed by the constituents. With that model, the representative is in the employ of the constituents and not some corporate leaders. And if our representatives have to vote strictly according to the will of the majority of their constituents, why would any corporate lobbyist want to offer him money or lucrative jobs? Simply, they wouldn't. - The basic issue comes down to this: do we want to elect someone who does not have to represent or answer to his constituents like a Trustee does, or do we want to elect someone who will do what we tell them like a Delegate does - These delegates act only as a mouthpiece for the wishes of their constituency, and have no autonomy from the constituency

Qualities of Public Opinion

- Intensity - How strongly people are willing to express opinions - Fluidity - Drastic change in a short amount of time - Stability - Remains stable/constant over time - Latency - Unexpressed opinions that may manifest into attitudes or beliefs - Relevance - Issue of concern at a particular time, which changes according to events

Marshall Plan

- Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative to aid Europe, in which the United States gave $13 billion (approximately $120 billion in current dollar value) in economic support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II. - The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-devastated regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again. - The Marshall Plan aid was divided amongst the participant states roughly on a per capita basis. - A larger amount was given to the major industrial powers, as the prevailing opinion was that their resuscitation was essential for general European revival. - The initiative is named after Secretary of State at the time, George Marshall. - a programme of US economic aid for the reconstruction of post-World War II Europe (1948-52) Official name European Recovery Programme - It was proposed by the United States secretary of state, General George C. Marshall. - Some opponents of the plan saw it as an example of American economic imperialism

Nationalism and War

- Nationalism has been closely associated with the most destructive wars of human history; the states responsible for initiating both the First and the Second World Wars have historically been examined as the epitome of the dangers of nationalism. - Nationalism was a significant cause of World War I. In the years prior to war, many Europeans nurtured a firm belief in the cultural, economic and military supremacy of their nation. This arrogance and overconfidence was fuelled by the jingoistic press. - The German nation was comparatively young, formed by the unification of 26 German-speaking states or territories in 1871. German nationalism was the political glue that bound together these disparate states. - The leaders of post-1871 Germany relied on nationalism to consolidate and strengthen the new nation. - Anti-German literature in Britain focused on a future war with Germany and even a future German invasion. 4. German nationalism was predicated on the belief that Britain sought to deprive Germany of her 'place in the sun'.

Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

- The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan is a major conservative political party in Japan. - The LDP has been in power since 1955, except for a brief period between 1993 and 1994, and from 2009 to 2012 - The LDP traditionally identified itself with a number of general goals: rapid, export-based economic growth; close cooperation with the United States in foreign and defense policies; and several newer issues, such as administrative reform. - The LDP had over five million party members in 1990, but by 2012 it had around 800,000. - The party has generally worked closely with business interests and followed a pro-U.S. foreign policy. - During nearly four decades of uninterrupted power (1955-93), the LDP oversaw Japan's remarkable recovery from World War II and its development into an economic superpower. Abe's government initially enjoyed strong popular support, as its policies (dubbed "Abenomics") produced strong economic growth in 2013 and early 2014. Following the implementation of the second raise in the consumption tax in April 2014, however, the country's economy declined and was in recession by autumn. Consequently, the popularity of Abe and the LDP dropped considerably.

North-South Conflict

- The North-South divide is broadly considered a socio-economic and political divide. - The north-south divide has more recently been named the development continuum gap. This places greater emphasis on closing the evident gap between rich (more economically developed) and poor (less economically developed) countries. - Although most nations comprising the "North" are in fact located in the Northern Hemisphere, the divide is not primarily defined by geography. - The expression "North-South divide" is still in common use, but the terms "North" and "South" are already somewhat outdated. As nations become economically developed, they may become part of the "North," regardless of geographical location - the difference between the rich and poor countries of the world, which is shown by people's standard of living and by the level of industrial and economic development. The expression the North is used to mean the richer countries which are mainly in Europe, North America, and parts of East Asia, and the South is used to mean the poorer countries of Africa, Asia, and Central and South America - Today's North-South gap traces its roots to the colonization of the Southern world regions by Europe over the past several centuries.

Exit Polling

- The definition of an exit poll is a list of informal questions asked of a percentage of voters as they leave a place for voting, often used to predict election outcomes. An example of an exit poll is a question about which presidential candidate a voter chose. - They are used to predict the outcome of the election before the polls are closed. - Similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll. - Pollsters, usually private companies working for newspapers or broadcasters conduct exit polls to gain an early indication as to how an election has turned out, as in many elections the actual result may take hours or even days to count. - Unlike telephone opinion polls that ask people which candidate they intend to vote for several days before the election, exit polls are surveys of voters conducted after they have cast their votes at their polling places. In other words, rather than a prediction of a hypothetical future action, they constitute a record of an action that was just completed. - An important example of the significance of exit polls is illustrated by The United States' funding of exit polls in Eastern Europe and other countries in order to help detect fraud.

French Revolution

- The event at the end of the eighteenth century that ended the thousand-year rule of kings in France and established the nation as a republic. - The revolution began in 1789, after King Louis the 16th had convened the French parliament to deal with an enormous national debt. The common people's division of the parliament declared itself the true legislature of France, and when the king seemed to resist the move, a crowd destroyed the royal prison (the Bastille ). A constitutional monarchy was set up, but after King Louis and his queen, Marie Antoinette, tried to flee the country, they were arrested, tried for treason, and executed on the guillotine. Control of the government passed to Robespierre and other radicals — the extreme Jacobins — and the Reign of Terror followed (1793-1794), when thousands of French nobles and others considered enemies of the revolution were executed. After the Terror, Robespierre himself was executed, and a new ruling body, the Directory, came into power. Its incompetence and corruption allowed Napoleon Bonaparte to emerge in 1799 as dictator and, eventually, to become emperor. Napoleon's ascent to power is considered the official end of the revolution.

Address Four Functions of Political Parties

- The four roles of political parties are: selecting candidates to run for office, keeping the other political parties in check, keeping the public informed on issues and organizing the government. - As of 2014, there are two major political parties in the United States government, Democrats and Republicans, making the country a two-party system. - Occasionally, candidates from other parties will run for office, such as Ralph Nader of the Green Party, who was a presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000.

Just War Doctrine

- The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just. The criteria are split into two groups: "the right to go to war'' and ''right conduct in war''. The first concerns the morality of going to war and the second with moral conduct within war. - Just War theory postulates that war, while very terrible, is not always the worst option. There may be responsibilities so important, atrocities that can be prevented or outcomes so undesirable they justify war. - Just war theory is an attempt to provide acceptable conditions for international conflict.

Political Economy

- The study and use of how economic theory and methods influences political ideology. Political economy is the interplay between economics, law and politics, and how institutions develop in different social and economic systems, such as capitalism, socialism and communism. Political economy analyzes how public policy is created and implemented. - Political economy thus can be understood as the study of how a country—the public's household—is managed or governed, taking into account both political and economic factors. - A division of economics that focuses on how the combination of politics and economics influences the economy. For instance, the economy can shift in a different direction depending on the current political party in control.

Winner Take All Political System

- The winner-takes-all voting system allows only a single winner for each possible legislative seat and is sometimes termed a plurality voting system or single-winner voting system. - The Winner-take-all system yields governing bodies that do not truly reflect voter preferences - This voting system is usually coupled with a two-party political structure, as in the United States, for example, where the only real choice is between Republicans and Democrats - This system favors the appearance of more conservative political regimes - Multiparty proportional representation systems typically give rise to left-center governments that favor redistribution, while majoritarian two-party systems typically give rise to right-center governments that oppose redistribution - This system tends to overrepresent majority constituencies and underrepresent majority constituencies - In the US House of Representatives, for example, candidates in 435 separate geographically defined districts compete for office every two years. The winning candidate in each district is the one receiving the most votes. This sounds very democratic, but it can produce perversely undemocratic outcomes. For example, if a single political party receives 51 percent of the votes in every district election in a state, that party would get 100 percent of the legislative seats, leaving almost half of the electorate without anyone to speak for their interests in government. This procedure for selecting legislative members violates the principle of fair representation.

Discuss Four Agents of Political Socialization

- These agents of socialization influence to different degrees an individual's political opinions: family, media, peers, and religion. These factors and many others that people are introduced to as they grow up will affect their political views throughout the rest of their lives. Political beliefs are often formed during childhood, as parents pass down their ideologies to their children and so on. - The agents a child surrounds him/herself with during childhood are fundamental to the child's development of future voting behaviors. - Religious tradition can have a strong effect on someone's political views. For example, Protestants tend to be more conservative (in countries where Protestants are not great majority) - Family is a primary influence in the development of a child's political orientation, mainly due to constant relationship between parents and child - While family and school are important early in life, what our peers think and what we read in the newspaper and see on television have more influence on our political attitudes as adults. - The family may be losing its power as an agent of socialization, however, as institutions take over more of child care and parents perform less of it.

One Party Domination

- This system in the USA is evidenced by the fact that congressmen and state house members in most states get re-elected 98% of the time they try. - A dominant-party system, or one-party dominant system, is a system where there is "a category of parties / political organizations that have successively won election victories and whose future defeat cannot be envisaged or is unlikely for the foreseeable future." - A wide range of parties have been cited as being dominant at one time or another, including the African National Congress in South Africa and the Indian National Congress in India. - Many one-party dominant states are dictatorships where only one party can by law be in control, but some one-party dominant states are real democracies, where there are no limits by law against other parties. For example, A case of this was Mexico, where Presidential candidates (person running for this governmental office) of the Institutional Revolutionary Party were popularly elected for more than 70 years.

Gerrymander

- To change the boundaries of legislative districts to favor one party over another. Typically, the dominant party in a state legislature (which is responsible for drawing the boundaries of congressional districts) will try to concentrate the opposing party's strength in as few districts as possible, while giving itself likely majorities in as many districts as possible. - Some politicians change the boundaries of their voting districts in order to benefit themselves or their political party. To manipulate the boundaries like this — often viewed as unfair — is to gerrymander. - An example of a gerrymander is a creation of a smaller voting district to take away votes from a particular candidate. - Gerrymandering has been condemned because it violates two basic tenets of electoral apportionment—compactness and equality of size of constituencies. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling of 1964 stated that districts should be drawn to reflect substantial equality of population.

Vladimir Putin

- Vladimir Putin has been the President of Russia since May of 2012. - For 16 years Putin was an officer in the KGB, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before he retired to enter politics in his native Saint Petersburg in 1991. - As Russia's president, Putin and the Federal Assembly passed into law a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. - After Russian president Boris Yeltsin resigned the presidency, Putin was elected president in 2000. - Although he has opposed American president George W. Bush's plans for an antimissile defense system, he has cooperated with Bush in responding to the threat of terrorism, which Russia has faced in Chechnya. - During Putin's first premiership and presidency, from 1999 to 2008, real incomes in Russia rose by a factor of 2.5, while real wages more than tripled; unemployment and poverty more than halved, and Russians' self-assessed life satisfaction also rose significantly. - In 2014, Russia was temporarily suspended from the G8 group as a result of its annexation of Crimea.

Division of Records Management: Certificate of Records Destruction (Disposition)

- When records are destroyed in agency, a Certificate of Records Destruction form must be filled out and submitted to Records Management through your agency records officer. - This form documents the destruction date, record series, RDA number, date range for the records, volume destroyed, and destruction method. - Records Management maintains all of the CRD's and uses this information to monitor the record destruction process to ensure compliance with RDA requirements and statewide policies.

Presidential Press Conferences

- When the President of the United States holds a press conference, he takes questions from the press pool in a specific order: wire services (for decades, Helen Thomas of UPI had the first question prior to her being invited to stay away after asking pointed questions about rights of Palestinians), broadcast networks, national newspapers, newsmagazines, video and, lastly, regional newspapers.[citation needed] In crisis situations, it holds a special value. It offsets all burning questions at that particular moment. - The presidential press conference dates at least back to Woodrow Wilson's presidency in 1913 - In theory, press conferences serve a useful purpose; they allow presidents to explain their policy decisions to the public, and they provide the press, working on behalf of the public, the opportunity to hold the president accountable for those decisions. - In this elaborate game, reporters have to be careful, because if they go over the edge and appear to be overly hostile to the president, they may not get called on in the next press conference. - The questions are not scripted, although his aides alert him to the likely content and the hot-button issues. - Reporters typically try to make the question as broad and open ended as possible, and often link questions together

Camp David Accords

- agreements between Israel and Egypt signed in September of 1978, that led in the following year to a peace treaty between those two countries, the first such treaty between Israel and any of its Arab neighbors. - Brokered by U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter between Israeli Prime Minister and the Egyptian President - the agreements became known as the Camp David Accords because the negotiations took place at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. - Israeli Prime Minister Begin and Egyptian Pres. Sādāt were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1978 for their contributions to the agreements. - Rarely had a U.S. President devoted as much sustained attention to a single foreign policy issue as Carter did over the summit's two-week duration. - In the end, while the Summit did not produce a formal peace agreement, however, it successfully produced the basis for an Egyptian-Israeli peace, in the form of two "Framework" documents, which laid out a formula for Palestinian self-government in Gaza and the West Bank. - Under the pact, which was denounced by other Arab states, Israel agreed to return the Sinai peninsula to Egypt, a transfer that was completed in 1982.

Proportional Representation

- an electoral system designed to represent in a legislative body each political group or party in proportion to its actual voting strength in the electorate. - Proportional representation offers voters more choices, opens up political debate to a wider range of views, and allows the working class and the poor to gain a real voice in the legislative process - This voting system also engenders government policies more favorable to the interests of less-advantaged citizens. Social welfare expenditures, for ex- ample, are significantly higher in countries where legislators are elected through proportional representation. - Elections in most European democracies operate according to one or an- other system of proportional representation. Though the procedures vary from one country to the next, the basic principle underlying this type of sys- tem is straightforwardly democratic: political parties are allocated legislative seats according to their share of the vote. A party that wins 20 percent of the votes receives approximately 20 percent of the seats in the legislature. This election method encourages the formation of multiple political parties, and it enables minority parties, including labor and socialist parties, to participate effectively in the exercise of political power, usually in coalition with more centrist parties.

Zionism

- an international movement originally for the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine and later for the support of modern Israel. - a worldwide Jewish movement that resulted in the establishment and development of the state of Israel. - A movement for (originally) the re-establishment and (now) the development and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel. - The Jewish national liberation movement which proclaims that the Jewish people constitute a nation and are entitled to a national homeland. - A religious variety of Zionism supports Jews upholding their Jewish identity, opposes the assimilation of Jews into other societies and has advocated the return of Jews to Israel as a means for Jews to be a majority nation in their own state. - Critics of Zionism view it as colonialist, racist and exceptionalist ideology that led advocates to acts of political violence and terrorism during Mandatory Palestine, followed by the exodus of Palestinians, and the subsequent denial of their human rights.

Institutional Revolutionary Party (Mexico)

- is a Mexican political party that held power in the country for 71 years - The PRI is a centrist party member of the Socialist International - the PRI is not considered a social democratic party in the traditional sense; however, its modern policies of neo-liberalism and privatization have been characterized as centrist or even as liberal. - The PRI is the largest political party in Mexico, according to numerical observation. - Mexican political party that dominated the country's political institutions from its founding in 1929 until the end of the 20th century. - The PRI was founded during a period of conflict with the Roman Catholic church, rebellion in the military, and disputes with the United States. In effect, the party represented the institutionalization of the new power structure that had emerged as a result of the Mexican Revolution. - The PRI has been widely described as a coalition of networks of aspiring politicians seeking not only positions of power and prestige but also the opportunity for personal enrichment.

Multi-party Political Systems

- is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coalition. - In the vast majority of multi-party systems, numerous major and minor political parties hold a serious chance of receiving office, and because they all compete, a majority may not control the legislature, forcing the creation of a coalition. - Multi-party systems tend to be more common in parliamentary systems than presidential systems - there are multiple political parties capable of taking charge of the government. Since the parties tend to be well structured and separate, they also tend to represent either different ends of the political spectrum or specific issues relevant to the country in question.

Ethnic Cleansing

- is the systematic forced removal of ethnic or religious groups from a given territory with the intent of making it ethnically or religiously homogeneous. The forces applied may be various forms of forced migration (deportation, population transfer), intimidation, as well as mass murder. - Ethnic cleansing is usually accompanied with the efforts to remove physical and cultural evidence of the targeted group in the territory through the destruction of homes, social centers, farms, and infrastructure, and by the desecration of monuments, cemeteries, and places of worship. - The crimes committed during an ethnic cleansing are similar to those of genocide, but while genocide includes an intent at complete or partial destruction of the target group, ethnic cleansing may involve murder only to the point of mobilizing the target group out of the territory. - The term ethnic cleansing was widely employed in the 1990's to describe the brutal treatment of various civilian groups in the conflicts that erupted upon the disintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. - The term also has been attached to the treatment by Indonesian militants of the people of East Timor, many of whom were killed or forced to abandon their homes after citizens there voted in favour of independence in 1999

Judicial Review

- review by the US Supreme Court of the constitutional validity of a legislative act. - The principle by which courts can declare acts of either the executive branch or the legislative branch unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has exercised this power, for example, to revoke state laws that denied civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution. - The power of courts of law to review the actions of the executive and legislative branches - Though judicial review is usually associated with the U.S. Supreme Court, which has ultimate judicial authority, it is a power possessed by most federal and state courts of law in the United States. - The concept is an American invention. - In the United States, the supremacy of national law is established by Article 6, Clause 2, of the U.S. Constitution. Called the Supremacy Clause, it states that "This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof ... shall be the supreme law of the land." It goes on to say that, "judges in every state shall be bound thereby." This means that state laws may not violate the U.S. constitution and that all state courts must uphold the national law. State courts uphold the national law through judicial review.

International Terrorism

- terrorism practiced in a foreign country by terrorists who are not native to that country. - The term international terrorism means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country. - Some definitions of international terrorism include just violence, but a few years ago, for example, the Islamic Army in Yemen warned for- eigners to leave the country if they valued their lives but did not actually carry out its threat. - International terrorism can be attributed to the same type of events as social revolution, revolt, uprisings, and any kind of political, social, ideological, or religious unrest. - International terrorism is a term describing the utilization of fear and intimidation, including violence, brutality, and invasion of privacy, across national boundaries with the purpose of political, social, economic, ideological, religious, ethnic, or cultural change. - International terrorism has an anti-American, anti-Western trend because these countries view the spread of "global Western economy and culture," an increasing U.S. presence in the Middle East (Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan) and the Pacific Rim, Western development of the Caspian oil reserves (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan), and flourishing Western technological development in the Middle East and Pacific Rim as a threat to their powers and traditional ways of governing. It's not sur- prising, then, that many of the international terrorist organizations are state sponsored.

Right to Revolution (John Locke)

- the "right to revolution" formed an integral part of John Locke's social contract theory - in John Locke's famous work, Two Treatises of Government, he tried to define the origins and basis for social conditions and relationships. - Locke declared that under natural law, all people have the right to life, liberty, and estate; under the social contract, the people could instigate a revolution against the government when it acted against the interests of citizens, to replace the government with one that served the interests of citizens. - In some cases, Locke deemed revolution an obligation. The right of revolution thus essentially acted as a safeguard against tyranny. - Locke affirmed an explicit right to revolution in "Two Treatises of Government" - Revolutionary movements subsequent to this, all drew on Locke's theory as a justification for the exercise of the right of revolution.

Public Opinion

- the attitude of the public, esp as a factor in determining the actions of government - Public opinion is a complex phenomenon, and scholars have developed a variety of interpretations of what public opinion means. One perspective holds that individual opinions matter; therefore, the opinions of the majority should be weighed more heavily than opinions of the minority when leaders make decisions. A contrasting view maintains that public opinion is controlled by organized groups, government leaders, and media elites. The opinions of those in positions of power or who have access to those in power carry the most weight. - Public opinion is often made concrete through questions asked on polls. - Politicians routinely cite public opinion polls to justify their support of or opposition to public policies. - Interest groups and political parties use public opinion polls to promote their causes. - The mass media incorporate reports of public opinion into news story about government and politics. - Public opinion can be defined most generically as the sum of many individual opinions. More specific notions of public opinion place greater weight on individual, majority, group, or elite opinion when considering policy decisions.

Collective Security

- the cooperation of several countries in an alliance to strengthen the security of each. - a system of maintaining world peace and security by concerted action on the part of the nations of the world - Collective security is one type of coalition building strategy in which a group of nations agree not to attack each other and to defend each other against an attack from one of the others, if such an attack is made. The principal is that "an attack against one, is an attack against all." - Proponents of collective security say it is a much more effective approach to security than individual countries trying to act alone, as weaker countries cannot possibly defend themselves, and countries that try often become involved in never-ending arms races which actually detract from, rather than enhance, their security over the long term. - Opponents of collective security maintain, although nations are pledged to defend each other, many countries will refuse to do so, if such an act is not in their own best interests or is thought to be too risky or expensive. In addition, it has been argued, collective security arrangements will turn small struggles into large ones

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

- the military doctrine that an enemy will be deterred from using nuclear weapons as long as he can be destroyed as a consequence; "when two nations both resort to nuclear deterrence the consequence could be mutual destruction" - is the doctrine of a situation in which any use of nuclear weapons by either of two opposing sides would result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender. - The primary application of this doctrine occurred during the Cold War (1950s to 1990s) between the United States and Soviet Union, in which MAD was seen as helping to prevent any direct full-scale conflicts between the two nations.

Why is it important to maintain a good Records Management system?

1. To Foster Professionalism A business office with files askew, stacked on top of file cabinets and in boxes everywhere, creates a poor working environment. The perceptions of customers and the public, and "image" and "morale" of the staff, though hard to quantify in cost-benefit terms, may be among the best reasons to establish a good records management program.

The five W's of records management include:

1. Who (Who all is involved with records management) 2. What (What are Public Records) 3. When (When are Public Records utilized) 4. Where (Where does one access public records) 5. Why (Why is Records Management important)

Why is it important to maintain a good Records Management system?

2. To Control the Creation and Growth of Records- An effective records management program addresses both creation control (limits the generation of records or copies not required to operate the business) and records retention (a system for destroying useless records or retiring inactive records), thus stabilizing the growth of records in all formats.

Why is it important to maintain a good Records Management system?

3. To Reduce Operating Costs - Recordkeeping requires administrative dollars for filing equipment, space in offices, and staffing to maintain an organized filing system (or to search for lost records when there is no organized system).

Why is it important to maintain a good Records Management system?

4. To Improve Efficiency and Productivity Time spent searching for missing or misfiled records is non-productive. A well designed and operated filing system with an effective index can facilitate retrieval and deliver information to users as quickly as they need it.

Popular Vote

A popular vote works just like it sounds. A group of people vote on an issue or candidate. The votes are then tallied and the issues or candidates are then rank-ordered. The person or issue with the most votes wins. Therefore, a popular vote is really just a method of selecting a candidate or adopting an issue based on a majority of the total voters in an election.

War Crimes

A war crime is a serious violation of the laws and customs of war (also known as international humanitarian law) giving rise to individual criminal responsibility. Examples of war crimes include: - initiating a war of aggression - murdering, mistreating, or deporting civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps - murdering or mistreating prisoners of war or civilian internees - forcing protected persons to serve in the forces of a hostile power - killing hostages - killing or punishing spies or other persons convicted of war crimes without a fair trial - wantonly destroying cities, towns, villages, or other objects not warranted by military necessity - Most war crimes fall into one of three categories: crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and traditional war crimes. - Following World War II, for example, the Allies prosecuted a number of leading Nazi officials at the Nuremberg Trials for crimes against peace. During the war, the Nazis had invaded and occupied a series of sovereign states, including France, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Austria. Because those invasions were made in an effort to accumulate wealth, power, and territory for the Third Reich, Nazi officials could not claim to be acting in self-defense. Thus, those officials who participated in the planning, initiation, or execution of those invasions were guilty of crimes against peace.

Public Records Commission (PRC): Secretary of State: Division of Records Management:

Created by statute to determine and order the proper disposition of state records. No record or records shall be scheduled for destruction without the unanimous approval of the voting members of the Public Records Commission.

6. To Safeguard Vital Information

Every organization, public or private, needs a comprehensive program for protecting its vital records and information from catastrophe or disaster, because every organization is vulnerable to loss. Operated as part of the overall records management program, vital records programs preserve the integrity and confidentiality of the most important records and safeguard the vital information assets according to a "Plan" to protect the records.

"Non-records" include

Examples of "non-records" include: Brochures, Reference Materials, Extra Copies, Drafts, Obsolete Catalogs, Bulletins, Trade Journals, Manuals

Electronic Records:

Examples of Electronic Records include: Servers, Computer files, Documents on a collaborative workspace, CD/DVD

Physical Records:

Examples of Physical Records include: Paper, Microfilm, Microfiche, Videos, Photographs

Eddie Weeks

Legislative Librarian at the Tennessee General Assembly, gave me a tour of the Legislative Library and explained his work/responsibilities

Paperwork Reduction and Simplification Act of 1976:

Legislative intent: Information reporting requirements of the state government have proliferated to the point that they have placed an unprecedented paperwork burden upon citizens and businesses. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state to reduce, simplify and minimize these requirements and the forms they necessitate to the fullest extent consistent with the necessity of gathering data sufficient to assure the efficient and effective operation of the necessary programs of state government. It is essential that there be a comprehensive and ongoing examination of the policies and procedures of the state government that have produced this paperwork burden in order to assure that this policy is fully implemented on a continuing basis.

The Public Records Commission:

Members include: - Secretary of State - Comptroller of the Treasury - State Treasurer - Director of Legal Services - Commissioner of General Service - Attorney General - Executive Director of Historical Society

Record Retention

Record retention period: Number of years prescribed by a law for which certain records must be kept before their final disposition.

Records Management

Records retention schedules, the Public Records Commission (PRC), the Tennessee Public Records Act (PRA), Records Destruction Authorization (RDA), Certificate of Records Destruction (CRD) forms, File Cutoff dates, the difference between records and non-records, the Five W's of Record's Management, and the Paperwork Reduction and Simplification Act of 1976

What do I have in common with Secretary Hargett?

Secretary Hargett earned a B.B.A. in Accounting with "Honors" from Memphis State University and his M.B.A. from the University of Memphis. I am also an "honors" student at TSU. I graduated from High School with "honors recognition" from the National Honors Society.

About Tre Hargett

Secretary Hargett is the chief executive officer of the department of state.

Duties and responsibilities of the Tennessee Department of State:

The Tennessee Department of State and its various boards and commissions fulfill a critical role for state government including "estimating revenues upon which the state budget is based, acquisition and disposal of real property, oversight of tens of billions of dollars in employee retirement investments, and establishing important higher education policies and priorities.

Tennessee Public Records Act

The Tennessee Public Records Act is a series of laws designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of government bodies at all levels in Tennessee.

"File cutoff" (File cutoff date)

The file cutoff date is a break or stop in the filing of a current records series, based on a predetermined event. Once files reach their cut-off dates, they should remain in an active file system for at least one year, and then be transferred to inactive storage. Cut-off dates add structure and control to file maintenance by establishing a timeline to move files to inactive storage or off-site storage.

Records Disposition Authorization (RDA)

The method of destruction depends on criteria described in the Records Disposition Authorization

Public Records

The test for determining whether a record is public is "whether it was made or received in connection with the transaction of official business by any governmental agency." Examples include: Budget Documents, Payroll Documents, Election Documents, Contracts, Revenue Reports, Investigation files, Audit reports, Personnel's files

Common definition of "Records Management":

the field of management responsible for the systematic control of the creation, maintenance, use, and disposition of records

Direct contribution to employment

the number of direct jobs within the Travel & Tourism industry