1A) Describe the three generic business-level strategies to gain competitive advantage over other firms operating in the same industry. Provide examples of any industry of your choice.

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Business-level strategy can be defined as the strategy that is chosen by a company to hold a competitive advantage within the market that it is involved with. Such a strategy has to be chosen by firms because of the intense competition that exists within a certain industry and thus managers, see the need to formulate business-level strategies that are geared towards creating and maintaining a competitive advantage over the rival firms in the same industry.This is a choice that a firm has to make when it chooses to compete in a single product market where every firm's products share the some similarities.

There are three generic strategies that were developed by Michael Porter, who is a distinguished Harvard professor and author of numerous books and articles that deal with the competitive advantages of companies and nations, that are considered to the cornerstone of strategies that you formulate to give you an edge in competing with your rivals and making above average economic profits for your firm. These strategies are cost-leadership, differentiation and focus. The strategy that you choose depends on numerous factors, both internal and external. These factors could include type of industry, cost of raw materials, type of labour skills required, technology, governmental factors, consumers and many more such factors.

We will now look at the three generic business-level strategies in greater detail and find out how these strategies work.

The textbook, ManagementA Pacific Rim focus, defines cost-leadership, the first of the three strategies we will be looking at, as a, "strategy … emphasising organizational efficiency so overall cost of providing products and services are lower than that of the competitors."

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This strategy called cost-leadership, involves the very delicate process of being able to produce or be able to deliver goods or services that are of standards acceptable to customers at a cost that is considered to be the lowest among all the competitors in the given market. This does not however, imply that the good that the cost-leader sells or that the service you provide is in any way an inferior good when it is compared to a competitors product but, a product or service that is of the same or of comparable quality that is cheaper than the rest of the rival's products. If a good is deemed to be of inferior quality when compared to a competitor's then, the customer will decide to go with the good or service that is of a higher quality because he perceives this good to be of better value than the cheap good or service that the cost-leader is producing.

The implementation of this strategy by a firm will also imply that this firm has to be an industry leader in terms of volume sold because, for the firm to be able to make an above average profits, it has to sell very high quantities because the profits that the cost-leader makes on a single unit is negligible because of the strategy that the firm has decided to implement.

There are various ways for a firm to go about implementing a strategy such as cost-leadership. The firm has to analyse its situation, its resources and then decide on which course to take in order for it to become a cost-leader in its market.

The first and most important way that a firm can become a cost leader is through the process known as economies of scale. Economies of scale is defined as the process whereby, the mass production of the good in large quantities reduces the per unit price of producing the good. Thus, by being able to produce the good at a low price, the firm is able to sell its product in the market at the cheapest price thus, establishing itself in the market as a cost-leader.

The second way to achieve cost-leadership is through the cutting down or the trimming of unnecessary costs such as overhead, administrative as well as other costs that have the potential to increase the per unit cost of the product. Such a move has to also include cutting of costs in major areas such as promotions and advertising. This is done because, cost that are involved with promotions and advertising are always passed to the customer and since, the firm wants to be a price-leader in its market, it has to streamline its costs and not add on unnecessary costs that have the potential to increase the per unit cost of the good and thus, risk the firm losing its cost-leader status in the industry.

The learning curve effect also plays a very important role in the reduction of the per unit cost of the product. The learning curve effect is defined as the "percentage decrease in additional labour cost each time output doubles." It is a proven fact that every time the output doubles, the labour costs that arise from the production of additional units usually declines by 80%. A figure is attached in appendix section labelled Appendix 1 which shows a learning curve that adheres to this 80 percent rule.

Technology plays a very pivotal role in the reduction of the per unit costs of the product. Better technology will ensure that the products are produced at a cheaper price than compared to before then new technology was adopted. Better technology will also ensure that there is a decrease in the number of defects that is produced and thus, the unit cost of the good will be lower than compared to before the adoption of new technology. The reduction of defects will also help to keep the unit cost of the product down.

Finally, the cost-leader needs to have a very good logistics network to supplement its production capabilities. The logistics network should encompass both the input as well as the output parts of the operations. A good logistics network ensures that the company saves warehousing costs for both its raw materials as well as its finished goods. The other plus factor about having a good transportation network is that, you can transport your goods where you want and when you want without any hassles. This will ensure that the consumer always has access to your products and does not have to settle for a substitute.

A firm that aims to be the cost-leader in its market displays a few characteristics that are similar to all cost-leaders regardless of what market it is in or what good it produces. One such characteristic is the fact that this firm has to follow a policy that makes it very capital intensive when it comes to the manufacturing or the production of the good. This is because to cut costs related to labour, the firm has to invest heavily in new technology as well as new machines that will reduce its reliance on the labour force and thus in the long run cut costs that have the potential to be passed on to the consumers.

The second strategy, that was formulated by Porter, which we have to look at, is called differentiation. The textbook defines this business-strategy as the, "strategy … involving attempting to develop products or services viewed as being unique to the industry." This is the process whereby firms, that follow this strategy, produce or deliver services that the consumer feels is of use to him and there is no other product in the market meets his or her criteria's for buying the good or service. These products are unique when compared to the goods or services produced by the competitors because, they have features or special aspects that cause this particular product to differ from the other existing products. And, it is because of this very difference in features that the consumer perceives that the differentiated product as important enough to buy. Customer perception is very important when you employ a business strategy such as differentiation. Only if a customer is able to perceive that the good that the firm is selling is of a higher quality will he buy the good or service.

The other reason why some firms opt to choose a strategy such as differentiation is because, that with the differentiation of products, the firm will have the option to serve a much bigger segment of the market if it chooses to. They can do this by gearing different products i.e. the same product with varying features to serve different segments whose needs and requirements will be different. How many segments a firm should opt to target depends completely upon the company and its capabilities. Should it have the resources and the capital, it will be a very good move to target every segment is the market so as to capture a chunk of business from every segment thus, becoming a major market player.

There are various methods that a firm can employ so as to differentiate it products from the rest of the products that are in the market. How you differentiate is not very important. But, when the differentiation is done, the features or designs employed must be visible enough for the consumer who is about to buy the product to perceive it as important enough to buy. As I have mentioned before, the perception that the consumer has, is an important determinant is to how well the product sells in the market segment.

The simplest way that a firm can go about differentiating a product is by changing its features. The firm should be able to provide features and designs that consumers see the need for. To succeed in doing this, you need to be aware of the changing needs of the consumer. This is usually done through conducting market surveys and using other channels and means through which a firm is able to get inputs from the consumer as to what features or designs they prefer. This way, the firm will have the ability anticipate what the consumer demands and also stay ahead of the competition by giving what the consumer demands.

Another method that firms use to pursue their differentiation strategy is through the use of a very large product mix. This, simply explained, implies that the firm does not have to product one product with all the features and designs loaded into it but, they can create a spectrum of products with varying features and designs. This will also ensure that the firm produces goods, for the same market, that are unique. This is also a very useful method that firms employ to cater to more than one segment of the market.

The use of a product mix also ensures that the products or services that you produce or deliver are made from similar raw materials as only their features and designs differ. This also helps the firm save some costs involved with the stocking and sourcing of different raw materials. By having the same materials for the different products and services, the firm ensures that the processes for the manufacture of the good is relatively the same and thus, this ensures that money is saved as no retooling has to be done to produce different goods. This cost saving can in turn be passed on to the consumer thus, giving the consumer an added incentive to buy the product over the firms competitors.

A firm enjoys a differentiation strategy when it is the first firm in a new industry. This is a process known as the first mover advantage. This simply implies that since the firm is the first one in the market, the product or service that the firm puts out to the consumer is the only one in the market and thus, it enjoys the benefits of the differentiation strategy because it is a new product that no consumer has seen before and thus, it is different in all aspects. But, as new entrants begin to trickle into the industry, the first mover needs to begin the process of true differentiation by implementing one of the many methods that are available to it. This will ensure that the firm does not lose ground to the new rivals and stays on top. This has to be done if the new mover wants to still be able to enjoy above average economic profits that it enjoyed as a new firm in a new market.

Brands and firms that are well known in a particular industry also use the differentiation strategy. They like to differentiate themselves from the rest of the products or services in the market by banking on the fact that people will recognize their brand and know that it stands for good quality, design or features. This type of brand differentiation always depends on the perception of the consumers. If the consumers perceive that a known brand to be of a higher quality, then they will buy the product or service. This is where tools like promotion and advertising come in where the firm tries to inform the consumers of the difference between its products and the other products that exist in the market.

Firms that decide to adopt this strategy need to keep improving and updating their products to prevent the competition from reaching the standards that the firm has set. To do this, the firm needs to invest heavily in research and development to ensure that they have access to the latest breakthroughs first. To be profitable using this strategy, the firm has to be able to hire, train and retain high skilled workers, unlike the cost-leadership strategy which makes use of low-skilled labour, to produce their high end products. Since the product is of high quality, unique and now mass produced, it requires the skills of highly qualified workers to produce and deliver them. Last but not least, there as to be a high level of coordination between the various departments of the firm such as marketing, management, research and development. This is done to ensure that the operation of the firm is a smooth one and also to make sure that the customers needs are received, manufactured and put out into the market before the competition has a chance to deliver the product. This will ensure that a company following this strategy will make profits that are above average.

The last of Porter's generic business strategies that we look at is called focus. The textbook defines focus strategy as the, "strategy outlined by Porter entailing specialising a position of overall cost leadership, differentiating or both, but only within a particular portion or segment, of am entire market." The use of such a strategy ensures that you try to integrate a set of actions, from both the differentiation as well as the cost-leadership strategies to produce goods that only cater to one small segment of the market as a whole. The segment that you choose to concentrate on depends on where you feel that you can make the highest profits.

Within the focus strategy itself, a firm can opt to choose one of two more specific strategies that suit the firm best. Focused cost-leadership strategy, a strategy which offers low priced products to customers in only one segment of the market, is one of these strategies. The other one being focused differentiation strategy which offers unique or varied products to customers in more than one segment of the market. The second option is usually chosen if the firm wants to be able to compete in more than one segment thus, increasing its overall profits.

The advantages of adopting a focus strategy are many. There are also some disadvantages to being too focused. We will look at these advantages and disadvantages in more detail.

One very important advantage of adopting a focus strategy is the ability of the firms to be able to quickly change or adapt to an ever changing environment. This is possible because of the smaller size of the companies when compared to a cost-leader or a firm that practices differentiation. This is very advantageous because, an every changing environment can help or hinder the firm from making profits. Thus, to counter the effect of an ever changing environment, the firm needs to react quickly and change with it or risk getting left behind.

Again, because of the size of the firm and the vast resources available to it, a firm can use this to its advantage and be able to embrace new technologies and processes that become available to the firm. This is also helped by the fact that a firm that follows this strategy, has to employ a highly skilled workforce and such a workforce, will be able to change faster. By moving quickly to adopt such new technologies and processes, the firm can further cut costs and produce higher quality products that will appeal more to the consumer. By cutting costs, they can also to aim to compete in the focused cost-leadership strategy where they can maximise profits by selling cheaper than rivals.

The last advantage that I will list in this paper for the focus strategy is about the advantage the a firm that practices the focus strategy has over its rivals because of the knowledge and experience that this firm possesses in areas dealing with its core competencies. It is always an acknowledged fact that, for a firm to compete against its rivals, it had to use the experience is specific core areas that the firm is better at than the rival firms. This is how focus strategy based companies compete. They focus on areas they are experienced in and it is in these areas that rivals cannot compete with these firms because of their prior experience and strong brand presence that has already been established because of it reputation in that particular segment.

One major disadvantage for a focus strategy based company when the firm becomes too focus in such a way that it serves consumers in one small sector of one segment. If environmental changes were to cause a decline or a full termination of the population in the niche segment that the firm is competing in, the firm will have no more consumers on whom to bank so it has put itself in a corner. Thus, to prevent a situation like this from taking place, the firm should recognise from the start that the focus segment should not be one that is too narrow and it must give itself some room to move and make changes as necessary when there is a change in the environment. It is because of this, that companies in this segment need to constantly be performing an activity known as environment scanning. This is to ensure that they can anticipate future trends, changes and designs and make changes to be prepared for the environment change when it occurs. This way, the firm does not lose out when there is a shift in trends or fashions.

One final disadvantage is that, if a particular firm who follows a strategy such as cost-leadership or differentiation, decides to supply products that also appeal to your niche market and, because of the strategy that they adhere to, their costs will be very much cheaper when compared to a firm that follows the focus strategy. The problem arises when consumers of this niche segment, that the focus strategy based firm is targeting, choose products that are from these other firms. The focus strategy based firm is unable to fight back because it is simply not geared to counter firms that can produce numerous unique products or products that are very much cheaper. Thus, a firm that wants to adopt a strategy such as focus, has to assess the risks of potential entrants to the niche segment, that may arise before embarking on such a strategy and make arrangements to counter such a move should the scenario come true.

I will now look at the automotive industry to illustrate with examples as to how the different firms with the industry adopted and worked with the three generic strategies that were described in great detail in the first part of this answer.

Everyone is familiar with the famous words by Henry Ford, "You can have any colour as long as it is black." This very clearly illustrated how convinced Henry Ford was with the cost-leadership model. The Ford motor company was formed in 10 by Henry Ford whose aim was to provide the people with a cheap and affordable car that any middle class employed person could own. Henry Ford's firm produced low cost standardised products and, consumers had to substitute low cost for features. He achieved this with his very famous car the Model T. He became the first person to use the cost-leadership strategy with the implementation of a process that we today term as mass production. He established assembly lines through which he maximised his outputs. To become an even greater cost-leader, Ford motor company also practiced vertical integration when the started to produce many of the production line machines in firms that Ford owned. This was also done because at this early stage in the automotive market, there were no machines that were available to this industry thus, Ford had to make their own machines and with this, they effectively saved costs in the long run. With the establishment of such a system, he was also able to employ low skilled workers who were given specific jobs, like tire fitting, on the assembly lines. He took the cost-leadership model a step further by standardising even the colour of the cars that his firm produced. All these factors made his firm a highly effective cost-leader in the automotive field. But, as we will see later, this very strategy was what caused his company to lose ground in the market to other companies such as General Motor Company.

With the use of this strategy, Henry Ford emphasized innovation more in the field of process improvement i.e. how to better improve the production so as to cut more costs. By doing this, he effectively ignored the demand for innovation in the field of design and improvement of the Model T. This was the one disadvantage in his cost-leader strategy that cost the company dearly when new entrants saw the flaw in his strategy and exploited thus, eroding his market share. Appendixwill show you how dramatic the loss in market share was when new entrants came and filled the void that Ford had left by now being an innovator.

General Motor Company did not always start out as a company that practised differentiation for its business strategy. Before it became an industry leader using the differentiation strategy, it had a very relaxed wait and see approach that would have bankrupted the company had the management not realized this and changed its business strategy to one of differentiation.

General Motors Company (GM) was founded in 108 by William Durant, a carriage merchant, as Buick Motor Company. From 108 to 111 he consolidated major car companies such as Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Oakland (Pontiac) and called the consolidated company GM. In 115, he added the Chevrolet, the crown jewel to his already full stable of car makes at GM. Though he acquired all these companies, Durant had no idea how to truly consolidate these companies and how to standardize the flow of information and what the management structure of the company was going to be like. He also had no effective financial or cost controls over the whole organization. This was because he was unable to decide on what the structure of the company was going to be like and what kind of a business strategy he wanted to adopt.

In the early, 10's a person by the name of Alfred Sloan took over the management of GM and immediately set about restructuring the company.He adopted the model that Dupont was using, the multidivisional strategy for the way the company was to be structured. Along with this, he also imposed divisional, administrative, cost and financial costs in order to standardise the flow of information to one format that all divisions could decipher.

The most important thing he did after he took over was to restructure the product lines by divisions so as to gear up for a very "aggressive" differentiation in which, every division would have a part to play to kill the competition. His differentiation strategy consisted of two parts. The first part would be to use his flagship division, Chevrolet, to directly compete with Ford's Model T and work to steal business from Ford. This would cut Ford's market share and thus, it would lose its position as a market leader. His second part of the differentiation strategy was to use the rest of the car divisions he had at GM to effectively cover all the different price ranges that existed within the market so as to prevent any new entrants from venturing into the market and also to compete with the small player that existed within these price divisions.

All these changes made GM an industry leader within 10 years of the strategy of differentiation being implemented. With this strategy, Alfred Sloan effectively lowered the costs of his cars by using economies of scale when he standardised the core structure and workings of the car and only changing designs and features according to the divisions. He was also effective in targeting all the different users that existed in the different price ranges and segments. His divisions were also instructed to carry out continuous innovations both in the process as well as the design and features areas unlike Henry Ford who only concentrated with innovation that dealt with process improvement. GM also carried out innovation in all different market segments and not just one segment thus, making sure again that all they remained market leaders.

In contrast, Rolls Royce, is a company that was founded in the early 100 too, is an exclusive

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Legends of the Sith

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Star Wars

Legends Of The Sith

Prologue

Once there was a Sith Lord named Darth Voltres, who cast a reign of terror and destruction across the galaxy. But there was a story that was untold about his past, he was once a Jedi Knight, Guardians of peace and protectors of the Republic, his name was Exar Kun.No one new why he turned away from the Light Side of the force and embraced the Dark Side, this is a story to tell us the truth behind the Evil of Darth Voltres.

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Chapter 1

"Droid Destroyer behind you Exar!" yelled Master Bias "Yes I see him Master", Exar turned his Jedi Star Fighter, dodged the laser beam blasted right at him and fired, destroying the Droid Destroyer. " Excellent flying skills" exclaimed Master bias "We are winning this war because of you".

Master Bias was Exar Kun's Jedi Master who taught Exar the ways of the Light Side of the Force.

After the battle Exar and Master Bias was ordered to assist in a battle that was raged between the Jedi Knights and Droid Imperials.

They landed their Star Fighters on the outer reaches Dantonie, suddenly some Destroyer Droids ambushed them, which was part of the Droid Imperial Army.

Chapter

Exar yelled igniting his lightsaber "Shall we call for help because we are outnumbered by Droid Imperials" "No use the force to defend, and we shall survive this attack" exclaimed Master Bias, suddenly a Droid Imperial shot his blasters at Exar, in a instantly Exar deflected the laser with his lightsaber and jumped in the air and sliced the Droid Imperial in half with his lightsaber as he landed, then he went on with his attack on the Droid Imperial forces slicing and deflecting as he went on, and then he turned to his master who was indeed in trouble, trying to over come 5 Droid Imperials, Exar went to help his Jedi Master but Master Bias yelled "don't worry about me Exar I'll be fine!" and in a spilt second Master Bias used the Force to slice all of the Droid Imperials, then all of a sudden Jedi Star fighters flew over the Jedi and blasted all of the remaining Droid Imperials. "Thanks for the assistance Master Dromes, now take us to the Command Centre near the port of Dantonie" said Master Bias "whatever you say Master Bias" replied Master Dromes. Then Exar asked Master Bias "Why don't we continue on with the battle then retreat to the Jedi Command Centre?" "Because I have business to a attend to my young Jedi, using the force is only to defend never to attack" replied Master Bias, but then Exar said angrily "We can help defeat the Droid Imperial armies and end this war!" "Not another word out of you Exar, we will not have this argument again!!" yelled Master Bias. The two Jedi walked into Jedi Star Fighter and Master Dromes flew them to the Jedi Command Centre.

Chapter

As Master Bias and Exar left the Jedi Star Fighter, they walked into the Jedi Command Centre to meet some other Jedi Knights to discuss some matters with the oppressing Droid Imperial. "They are overwhelming us at every offensive they make, so how do we stop the Droid Imperial Armies with our limited Jedi?" asked Jedi Master Mace Windu, "We shall use the force to overcome and protect the Republic" replied Master Bias, "That is impossible the Light side of the Force is weakening and the Jedi will be soon in danger!" said Jedi Master Ben Kenobi, which then caught the eye of Exar which then he exclaimed " Jedi Masters, why don't we create our own army for the Jedi and they will assist us in combat" "An excellent option young Exar, maybe with this young boys knowledge of creating an army, will then maybe the Jedi Knights will defeat the Imperial Droids." said Master Syfo Diyas, Ben Kenobi then worryingly said, "With out the Jedi Council approving such an act we will never get that army to assist us" "I'll take myself and young Exar to the Jedi Council on the planet Coruscant and produce an answer to this question" exclaimed Master Bias.

Chapter 4

"How long will it take us to get to Coruscant, Master?" asked Exar, "Well judging by the speed of this ship, it will take us exactly 15 mins, and that's depending on the traffic on Coruscant" answered Master Bias, "umm, Master Bias while we are waiting in the Jedi Council, could I do some research in the Republican Library?" asked Exar "yes of course Exar" answered Master Bias.

As the Transport Ship got to the docking station on Coruscant the two Jedi caught taxi to the Jedi Council. While Master Bias was waiting in the Waiting Room, Exar went off to look for The Republican Library.

When Exar got there, the librarian warned the young Jedi not to go to the forbidden section, Exar agreed and started reading about a new Lightsaber technology were when you drop lightsaber it automatically switches off, "how interesting" wondered Exar who was reading when all of a sudden and cold breeze drew his attention to the forbidden section, Exar got up out of his seat and walked down a hall way to the forbidden section, but as he walking down there he felt some mysterious force lead him to a dark book about the Dark Side of the Force. As opened and started to read, he was bewildered by the teachings of the Dark Side and impressed by the power of becoming a Sith Lord, an agent of evil who uses Hate, Fear, Aggression and Power to rule the Galaxy, the book also taught him how weak the Light Side of the Galaxy was compared to the power of the Dark Side. As Exar was reading on he heard whispers in his head, voices telling him to go to the Sith Temple on a Planet of Koribyyin. Suddenly Master Bias comes running in yelling"Stop reading that book! You are not aloud to be in here, now come with me to the Jedi Council to discuss the army situation", "Ok Master" said Exar who was still bewildered by reading that book.

Chapter 5

The two Jedi were waiting from admission to enter were the Jedi Masters were holding discussions. "Please enter Master Bias" said the leader of the Jedi Council, which was Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. "Now tell us the solution you thought of ending this war with the Droid Imperials, young Exar?" Exar immediately said "Master Jedi, the solution I thought of is that we should create a army to assist the Jedi fighting in the war, but there is a question why isn't all of the Jedi Knights helping in the war against The Droid Imperials?" "You have great thinking skills for a young Jedi Exar, but I wasn't going to release this information until the war with the Droid Imperials was over, but there is a new menace threatening the Republic, The Sith Lords have returned." said Master Luke, "But how? We destroyed the Sith Lords thousands of years ago?" asked Master Bias, Master Luke replied "Yes we did extinguished The Sith but now they have returned and attacking all of the Republic forces and yielding a power so great that not even all of our forces, will we not triumph" "Master Luke why hasn't The Sith used this weapon already, they would of destroyed us by now if they did" asked Exar, Master Luke replied " In secret we were able to dispatch a team of Jedi Commandoes to infiltrate the Sith Forces and assassinate there leader Darth Bane, there fore with out a leader The Sith cannot fire there weapon, which will surely destroy the Republic." "But it is only a matter of time when they choose another leader, that is powerful enough to lead them to victory" said Jedi Master Boga. "Are you all blind? Can't you see that we need an army to destroy our enemies, why are you standing around and just talking about your problems when they can be solved!" yelled Exar then Master Bias replied "Show some respect Exar, you do not" "Hold your tongue Master Bias, I'll talk to him" said Master Luke "yes Master Luke" Master Bias replied looking at Exar angrily "There is much anger in you Exar, why do you think we are doing nothing? We are losing hundreds of Jedi Knights is this war against the Droid Imperials and I fear we are going lose more in this war upcoming against the Sith" Exar angrily replied "Well we would save a lot more Jedi Knights if there was no more stupidity in this Jedi Order, This Jedi Order will self destruct and I will not be apart of this Order when it happens!" Exar then walked angrily out of the council room. "Stop him Master Bias before he turns to the Dark Side" yelled Master Luke, "I'm already on my way Master Luke"

Chapter 6

As Exar stormed of from the council meeting, he went back to the library and got that book he read earlier about the Dark Side of the Force, just as Exar was making his way out of the Republican Library, Master Bias stopped him and said "Stop Exar, if you leave with that book you hold, you will be kicked out of the Jedi Order" "I don't care about this weak Jedi Order, I don't want to be apart of a Order were your killing your own people and is full of corruption, now get out of my way!" yelled Exar "Stop all of this anger, let it go and comeback with us!" Master Bias said calmly "Never!" Screamed Exar and he used the force to stun and push Master Bias out of the way, leaving Master Bias unconscious on the floor. Stunned at his actions Exar escaped from the Republican Library before more Jedi were called in.

Chapter 7

As Exar left Coruscant on his Star Fighter he was followed by to other Jedi Star Fighters demanding him to come back to the Jedi Order, by saying this, it enraged Exar and Exar soon fired his blasters at one of the Jedi Star Fighter, which instantly hit and destroyed the ship. Sensing the Dark Side within Exar, the other Jedi Star Fighter retreated back to the Jedi Council to tell them the bad news. As Exar was flying away to his home planet Alderran, a whisper in the Force told him to go to the Sith home world of Koribyyin and find an Ancient Temple. Exar decided to find out why this voice in the Force was telling him to go to Koribyyin.

On arriving on the Planet of Koribyyin, Exar encountered a strange man called Nags, Nags was a old man who Exar sensed that The Force flowed through him, so Exar went up to Nags and said "Hello, my name is Exar Kun, could you please give me the whereabouts of a Ancient Temple" "Sorry I don't know what you are talking about young man" Nags said, but as Exar turned away in frustration, Nags sensed some Dark Force inside of him, Nags stopped Exar and asked "Excuse me I quiet didn't get your name young man" Exar replied "I'm Exar Kun, former Jedi in the Jedi Order" "and what are you doing here young Jedi?" asked Nags "Ever since I stole a book from a Republican Library I have been hearing weird voices inside of my head that is telling me to find a Temple on this Planet" Exar replied and in an instantly Nags released the prophecy has come true. "You must come with me now Exar, I'll show you were that temple is" said Nags, Exar agreed to come with Nags to find the Ancient temple.

Chapter 8

Over the next few days Nags and Exar travelled the country side, Exar was growing impatient and was going to kill Nags when all of a sudden when they reached the top of a high hill, they saw a great Temple, it was as tall as most of the skylines on Coruscant and huge engravings on the side. Nags told Exar to immediately go down by the entrance on the Temple, and then all of a sudden Nags disappeared. Exar was confused but followed the instructions of Nags and went down near the entrance of the Temple. After a few hours of waiting near the entrance of the Temple, Exar was beginning to get angry when all of a sudden a dark figured appeared near the Temple, Exar asked "Nags is that you?" the dark figure replied "No, my name is Naga Shadow" then Exar asked in fear "The Sith Lord Naga Shadow that disappeared after the Sith Wars?" Naga Shadow replied "Yes, and while I'm asking why would you really come hear to seek the Ancient Sith Temple?" "I want to learn the ways of the Sith and seek the end of the corruption plaguing the Republic" replied Exar. "Enter this Temple, your strength in the force will be tested and many fierce puzzles will you find, If you succeed, you will become a Sith Master with unlimited powers in the Dark Side, if you fail you will pay the ultimate prize…. Death".

Naga Shadow disappeared and Exar entered the Sith Temple.

Chapter

As Exar was walking inside the great Temple, he sensed great evil within, then all of a sudden a terrifying creature jumped out of the darkness, it was a Rancor, a creature three times the size of a human, thick armour and huge terrifying teeth and claws. Exar looked at the Rancor and ignited his lightsaber, then the Rancor lunged at Exar, Exar sidestepped the beast and swung his lightsaber cutting the Rancor on the back, the Rancor moaned in pain, turned around and took another lunge at Exar, this time Exar was ready, in anger Exar used to Force so he could jump over the Rancor and sliced the beasts head off as he landed, the Rancor fell lifelessly to the ground with blood splattered every were. Exar fuelled with Dark Side powers laughed at the pitiless creature and went on more further in the Temple. Exar soon found a Sith Weapon, a double-bladed lightsaber with Red Blades lying on an ancient stepping stone, Exar picked up the weapon, then suddenly the walls around him began to move and Blasters attached to the walls appeared, as Exar ignited his double-bladed lightsaber, the blaster started firing at him, as Exar jumped out of the way he got shot in the arm, Exar got up, enraged he started deflecting laser bolts and moved toward the blasters on the wall, in an instant he slicedof the blasters in half destroying the weapons instantly, then just as he turn around another blaster appeared out of the wall and started firing, Exar blocked the laser bolt, used the force to jump in the air and sliced the last blaster. Exhausted by his ordeal Exar sat down for a rest. After ten minutes of having a rest, the dark figure of Naga Shadow appeared, Naga Shadow said "I must say well done my young Sith, you have completed nearly all of these tests" Exar cut him off and blasted " you nearly got me killed Naga!" just as Exar said that he ignited his new lightsaber and lunged toward Naga Shadow, Naga disappeared and reappeared behind Exar saying "hold your temper young Sith! There is one more test behind this door" Naga Shadow disappeared and Exar went through the last door leading to the test. As Exar stood in an empty room annoyed at being trapped he started yelling, in an instant the whole room started moving and shaking violently, then all of a sudden large boulders started collapsing on Exar and engulfing to whole room. Barely alive Exar heard the voice of Naga Shadow in his head "use the Dark Side of the force to heal your wounds and complete your trials!" Then in agony Exar used all his strength he could possibly muster and felt power searing through his muscles and in an instant blasted his way free and by doing this he felt Hate, Anger and Power consume his Soul.

Chapter 10

As Exar walked out of the Temple he found Naga Shadow and entire armies of Sith Warriors bowing down to him, "All hail to the Dark Lord of the Sith! Darth Voltres!!" shouted Naga Shadow, Darth Voltres smiled hatefully at the armies of the Sith. Then a transport came down and escorted Darth Voltres and Naga Shadow to the Sith Command Ship in Space. On board the Sith Command Ship the commanders told Darth Voltres about the progress of the war with the Jedi Knights and about the fate of the Droid Imperials, which was destroyed at the hands of the Jedi. The Commanders also informed the building progress of the Super Weapon the Sith have created. "It's a weapon that the Jedi Knights do not no about and will surely destroy the Jedi Order and along with it the Republican Forces" exclaimed a Sith Commander, "you fool, the Jedi know about this so called weapon of mass destruction and I heard that they were able to destroy some of the super weapon in a previous space battle? Who was in charge of protecting the Super Weapon?" said Darth Voltres "I was my lord but I. I…ARGHH. I cant breathe!" said Sith Commander Kohl Harkins just as he feel to the ground lifeless, "I will not tolerate Failure in the New Sith Empire!" yelled Darth Voltres, he used the force to Choke Sith Commander Kohl Harkins. Naga Shadow asked Darth Voltres "what shall we do now my Lord?" Darth Voltres answered "we shall attack the Jedi Fortress on the Klemo System" "but that is were the Jedi keep all there machinery of war, and they number in thousands!" asked Sith Commander Larry Vulcan "I do not care about how many Jedi there are, if we destroy the Jedi strong hold in this system, Victory in this war will be inevitable!" answered Darth Voltres

Chapter 11

"Preparing to jump to Light Speed, Alert all Commands, 5,4,,,1" said a Sith Commander, and in an instant the Sith Armada went to attack the Jedi Forces on the Klemo System. While they Sith Forces went to attack the Jedi Stronghold, Darth Voltres sensed a disturbance in the force while meditating, he immediately equipped his lightsaber and took 5 Sith troopers with him to investigate. While Darth Voltres and his Sith Troopers was moving in on the disturbance they heard some gun fighting and immediately saw about four Jedi Commandoes run into them. "Ohh some Jedi have paid us a visit is see?" said Darth Voltres smiling evilly, the Jedi were stunned to see the former Jedi as a Sith Master, suddenly Darth Voltres electrocuted two of the Jedi with Force Lighting instantly killing them, the rest of the Jedi Commandoes ignited there lightsabers and attacked Darth Voltres who then used the Force to push the Jedi back then commanded his Sith Troopers too kill the remaining Jedi Commandoes. It was a fierce battle but the Jedi Commandoes were too powerful to easily eliminated the Sith Troopers, Darth Voltres said "What a waist of material" then he looked at the Jedi Commandoes and ignited his Double Bladed Lightsaber. The Jedi pressed on the attack swinging there lightsabers at Darth Voltres, he blocked a swing at his legs then another at his head, then he blocked a direct swing at his chest with one end of his lightsaber and attacked the Jedi Commando with the other end of his lightsaber, slicing his chest open, the Jedi fell to the ground dead, the remaining Jedi looked in horror to see his former Master fall to the ground dead, he tried to flee but it was to late, Darth Voltres swung his lightsaber and decapitated the young Jedi's head off.

Darth Voltres walked back to the command post on his command ship and gave instructions to the Sith Commanders on the coming battle, "when we first come out of light speed I want to divide half of the Sith Armada and I want it directed towards the Star on that solar system, then when the Super Weapon is in range fire it upon the Star, this will ultimately destroy the Star resulting in a Super Nova which will destroy all of the Orbiting planet including Kremos the Jedi home world, if any one fails me I will destroy them slowly, do I make my self clear Commanders?" "Yes my Lord!" replied the Sith Commanders.

Chapter 1

"Coming out of light speed in 5,4,,,1" Said a Sith Commander, a Sith official ran up to Darth Voltres who was sitting on his command chair, said "My Lord we have just exited light speed, and we have underestimated the Jedi Armada, there numbers have double since we last scanned the area!" "Hmm we have a Sith Traitor among us" snickered Darth Voltres "but that is impossible my Lord, no one that foolish would betray us" "Bring me Commander Larry Vulcan" demanded Darth Voltres "Right away my Lord" answered the Sith Commander. In about 5 mins Commander Larry Vulcan came running in saying "What is it my Lord?" "Why did you betray us Commander" Darth Voltres said and started using the Force to choke Sith Commander Larry Vulcan, Larry Vulcan tried to explain but Darth Voltres gave him no mercy and soon killed Larry Vulcan.

"Deploy the fleet and get to battle stations," demanded Darth Voltres, the Sith Armada entered Jedi territory and immediately half of the Sith Armada split from the main fleet and headed for the Star in the Klemo System. The Jedi Fleet sensed the aggressive move and also moved into battle formations. Darth Voltres hailed the Jedi Fleet commanding them to surrender, the Jedi Captain answered back "we will never surrender to the Sith, we will die fighting!" Darth Voltres laughed and ordered Sith Dark Fighters to attack the Jedi Fleet.

Chapter 1

A huge space battle commenced, Sith Dark Fighters attacked and overwhelmed Jedi Star Fighters. Darth Voltres was watching the space battle and looked for the Jedi weak point in the Fleet, he found one and immediately ordered all fire power in the Main Sith Armada to concentrate on the Jedi Command Ship, The Sith ships fired, damaging the Jedi Command Ship badly, the Sith ships fired again and destroyed the Jedi Command Ship, this disarrayed the rest of the Jedi Armada. All of a sudden the Sith Commander from the spilt Sith Armada hailed the Sith Command Ship and told Darth Voltres he is in range of the Star, Darth Voltres gave orders to fire the Super Weapon, the Sith Commander then commanded the Sith engineers to fire the weapon, and in a great blast, they fired at the Star, the star all of a sudden went black, and then a huge explosion occurred, Darth Voltres commanded his fleet to evacuate the area. A huge shock wave was blasted through space, destroying every thing in is pathway The Sith Armada got out of the way and reformed near the other star system called Vemouse and set up a huge base on a Planet called Hoth. The Jedi home world Kremos and the Jedi Fleet got destroyed and the Jedi Order were stretched thin among the Galaxy. The Jedi entered a Dark Time where they were hunted by Bounty Hunters and Sith Assassins, but the remanding Jedi fled to the Outer Rim, a place far away, on the outskirts of the Galaxy, and started rebuilding The Jedi Order.

Chapter 14

Years Later

During the Dark time the Sith built a huge Empire, Enslaving races and made their Capital of the Sith Empire a planet called Hoth. Darth Voltres and Naga Shadow set up a Sith Training Academy at Hoth, near a site of Ancient Ruins, a well-protected place from enemy bombardment. Darth Voltres and Naga Shadow immediately started collecting Force Sensitive People and taught them the Arts of the Sith Order, Darth Voltres best student was Darth Imperious, who then promoted Darth Imperious to command of The Sith Armada. One day Darth Voltres was practising his lightsaber skills alone when he felt a disturbance in the Force, Darth Voltres looked around to find a figure was standing in a Brown Robe, the figure said "Exar Kun, your days of Darkness are numbered " Darth Voltres sneered "Well if it isn't my old Jedi Master, Master Bias" "ohh its good to see that the Dark Side hasn't warped your mind yet Exar" exclaimed Master Bias "I don't go by that name any more Master Bias, my name is Darth Voltres and your time is over!" yelledDarth Voltres who then ignited his lightsaber and charged at Master Bias, who then ignited his lightsaber and a ferocious lightsaber battle endured. Darth Voltres swung his lightsaber at Master Bias, Master Bias blocked and made a counter strike at Darth Voltres legs, Darth Voltres blocked the attack and then made a stabbing move directed at Master Bias chest, Master Bias quickly blocked and jumped back. "You have consumed much hatred Exar and you are a powerful Sith Lord, but your efforts of Galaxy domination are in vein and will soon end" said Master Bias quietly, Darth Voltres laughed at his efforts to anger him and released a surge of powerful Force Lighting at Master Bias, who then blocked the Force Lightning with his lightsaber, Darth Voltres then jumped swinging his lightsaber in the air directed toward Master Bias, Master Bias dodged the attack and kicked Darth Voltres in the chest as he landed, Darth Voltres winded and enraged took a swing with his lightsaber at Master Bias, Master Bias blocked the attack but slipped on a rock, Darth Voltres took this opportunity and punched Master Bias in the face, Master Bias stumbled on the ground, Darth Voltres laughed victoriously and took a swipe with his lightsaber at Master Bias lightsaber handle, which then destroyed the weapon, Darth Voltres ready to make the final killing blow on his Former Jedi Master said "you shouldn't of come back here Master Bias" Master Bias replied "I once remembered a Jedi who had a heart of gold, took pride at what he done and was a good friend, now it comes to me seeing you like this, a slave to the Dark Side and a evil shadow looming over the Galaxy" Darth Voltres explained "If only you knewthe Power of the Dark Side" "Then my Friend is truly dead" said Master Bias, then Darth Voltres swung the final blow cutting Master Bias head off. Darth Voltres laughed to himself "He was only a Jedi"

Chapter 15

As Darth Voltres was training his Sith Apprentices an alert came through to him "Jedi Star Cruisers are heading your way, proceed to attack formation" said a Sith Official on a recording speaker. Then a Sith Commander came running to Darth Voltres "My Lord, the Jedi have overwhelmed us at every front" Darth Voltres screamed back "Were is Naga Shadow and Darth Imperious!?" "Our reports have just came back telling us they were escorting some prisoners to the Alderran System when they were attacked by the Jedi and then boarded by some Jedi Commandoes, they destroyed many Jedi Commandoes but they were surrounded and the Jedi Commandoes eventually killed them" replied the Sith Official, Darth Voltres screamed in anger but it was too late, "Alert! Alert! Jedi Knights have infiltrated the Sith Training Academy, Alert! Alert!"

After intense fighting Darth Voltres and some few remained Sith Lords were surrounded by Jedi Knights, Darth Voltres ordered the Sith Lords to attack to the end, they did, all of them died, then Darth Voltres saw Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, in rage Darth Voltres attacked Luke but Luke was to strong for him, Darth Voltres was on the ground surrounded by Jedi Knights, breathing for some air and yelled " You Jedi will all Die!" and then he got up, mustered all the Dark Energies he had and attacked Luke again, he swung his lightsaber, Luke blocked the attack, then made an unexpected lightsaber move on Darth Voltres, Luke cut Darth Voltres lightsaber handle in half and then stabbed Darth Voltres in the stomach, screaming in pain, Darth Voltres was lying on the floor then he made one last effort to kill a Jedi, he took a knife and through it at Luke, it pierced Luke in the shoulder and then a Jedi Knight came up behind Darth Voltres, cut his hand off and then with one last blow, cut Darth Voltres head off.

Chapter 16

Darth Voltres, lying on the ground dead. His Sith Empire defeated, over 5 billion people died in his war. He destroyed worlds and entire colonies. It took years for the Galaxy to repair it self and finally a New Republic emerged over the ashes.

The Jedi Knights took Exar Kun's body and buried it beneath an Ancient Temple to conceal his Soul there forever.

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History

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The theory of democracy is commonly thought to date back at least to ancient Greek times - but it has

overcomed a series of historical events that transformed it, giving it a more complete definition and

becoming the dominant form of political organisation during the 20th century.The word "democracy"

comes from the Greek words demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning rule). By putting these twoOrder Custom history paper

words together it can be derived that democracy means "government by the people".In ademocratic

systems citizens elect officials to structure political decisions, formulate laws, and administer

programs for the public good. In the name of the people, such officials can deliberate on complex

public issues in a thoughtful and systematic manner that requires an investment of time and energy

that is often impractical for the vast majority of private citizens.In the dictionary definition,

democracy is defined as "government in which the poeple hold the ruling power either directly or

through elected representatives; rule by the ruled " ( Guralnik and Neufeldt, 366).By far, amidst

numerous definitions and interpretations regarding democracy, President Lincoln has given us

perhaps the best-known definition of democracy in American history. By "government of

the people, by the people, and for the people," he meant, the essentials of democratic

government are applicable to all nations that aspire to a democratic society.

Protecting minority rights: If by "democracy" we mean rule by the majority, then one of the

great problems in a democracy is how minorities are treated. By "minorities" we do not mean

people who voted against the winning party, but rather those who are indelibly different from the

majority by reasons of race, religion, or ethnicity. In the United States, the great problem has been

that of race; it took a bloody civil war to free black slaves, and then another century before people

of color could count on free exercise of their constitutional rights. The problem of racial equality

is one that the United States is still wrestling with today. But this is part of the evolutionary

nature of democracy, the drive to become more inclusive and to grant to those who are different

from the majority not only protection against persecution but the opportunity to participate as full

and equal citizens. Examples of nations treating their minorities in a bloody and horrible manner

are numerous, and the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews is only the most vivid illustration. But no

society can aspire to call itself democratic if it systematically excludes specific groups from the full

protection of the laws.

By Melvin I. Urofsky

"...that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not

vanish from this earth."

-- President Abraham Lincoln

Gettysburg Address, 1863

Speaking at the dedication of a national cemetery at Gettysburg in the midst of a great

civil war fought to preserve the United States as a country, President Lincoln gave us in his

ringing conclusion perhaps the best-known definition of democracy in American history. By

"government of the people, by the people, and for the people," he meant, the essentials of

democratic government he so well described are applicable to all nations that aspire to a

democratic society.

Democracy is hard, perhaps the most complex and difficult of all forms of government. It is

filled with tensions and contradictions, and requires that its members labor diligently to

make it work. Democracy is not designed for efficiency, but for accountability; a

democratic government may not be able to act as quickly as a dictatorship, but once

committed to a course of action it can draw upon deep wellsprings of popular support.

Democracy, certainly in its American form, is never a finished product, but is always

evolving. The outer forms of government in the United States have altered little in two

centuries, but once we look past the surface we discover great changes. Yet, most

Americans believe -- and rightly so -- that the basic principles underlying their government

derive directly from notions first enunciated by the framers of the Constitution in 1787.

In these papers, we have tried to explicate what some of those principles are, indicating a

little of their historical development and explaining why they are important to the workings

of government in the United States in particular as well as democracy in general. Because

any democracy is an evolving system, the papers also indicate some shortcomings of the

U.S. governmental system, and how the nation has tried to address those problems. No

one claims that the American model, as successful as it has been for the United States, is

the model that all democracies should follow. Each nation must fashion a government out

of its own culture and history. But these essays do identify fundamental principles that, in

one form or another, must be present in all democracies. The exact manner in which laws

are made, for example, can vary widely, but no matter what the forms, they must obey

the root principle that the citizenry has to be involved in the process and feel ownership of

those laws.

What are these root principles? We have identified 11 that we believe are key to

understanding how democracy has evolved and how it operates in the United States.

Constitutionalism: Law-making must take place within certain parameters; there must

be approved methods for laws to be made and to be changed, and certain areas -- namely

the rights of individuals -- must be off limits to the whims of majority rule. A constitution

is a law, but at the same time it is much more than that. It is the organic document of a

government, laying out the powers of the different branches as well as the limits on

governmental authority. A key feature of constitutionalism is that this basic framework

cannot easily be changed because of the wishes of a transient majority. It requires the

consent of the governed expressed in a clear and unambiguous manner. In the United

States, the Constitution has been amended only 27 times since 1787. The framers made

the amendment process difficult but not impossible. Most of the amendments have

extended democracy by enlarging individual rights and wiping away differences based on

race or gender. None of these amendments were lightly undertaken, and when adopted, all

had the support of a great majority of the people.

Democratic Elections: No matter how well designed a government is, it cannot be

considered democratic unless the officials who head that government are freely elected by

the citizens in a manner perceived to be open and fair to all. The mechanism of an election

may vary, but the essentials are the same for all democratic societies: access of all

qualified citizens to the ballot, protection of the individual against undue influence in the

casting of the ballot, and an open and honest counting of the votes. Because large-scale

balloting is always subject to errors and fraud, care must be taken to avoid these as much

as possible, so that if there is a problem or a close election -- as happened in the 2000

presidential election in the United States -- the people will understand that despite the

difficulty, the results can still be accepted as binding upon them.

Federalism, State and Local Governments: The United States is unique in its federal

system of government, in which power and authority are shared and exercised by national,

state, and local governments. But if the model is not suited to other nations, there are still

lessons to be learned. The further government is from the people, the less effective it is

and the less it is trusted. By having local and state governments, Americans can see some

of their elected officials up close. They can tie policies and programs directly to the men

and women who enacted them and who implement them. In addition, decentralization of

authority makes it all that much harder to effect an illegitimate takeover of the

government. The principle that democracies ought to decentralize power and responsibility

may not matter much in a small and relatively homogeneous country, but it can be an

important safeguard in large and heterogeneous nations.

Creation of law: History records that formal laws have been made by mankind for five

millennia, but the methods different societies have used to make the rules under which

they will live have varied enormously, from edicts by god-kings to majority vote at village

meetings. In the United States, law is made at many levels, from local town councils, on

up through state legislatures, to the U.S. Congress. But at all these levels, there is a large

input from the citizenry, either directly or indirectly. Law-making bodies recognize that

they are responsible to their constituents, and if they do not legislate in the people's best

interests, they will face defeat at the next election. The key to democratic law-making is

not the mechanism or even the forum in which it takes place, but the sense of

accountability to the citizenry and the need to recognize the wishes of the people.

An independent judiciary: Alexander Hamilton remarked in The Federalist in 1788-89

that the courts, being without the powers of either sword or purse, would be "the least

dangerous branch" of the government. Yet courts can be very powerful in a democracy,

and in many ways are the operating arm through which constitutional constraints are

interpreted and enforced. In the United States, the courts may declare acts of Congress

and of state legislatures invalid because they conflict with the Constitution, and may enjoin

presidential actions on similar grounds. The greatest defender of individual rights in the

United States has been the court system; this is made possible because most judges have

life tenure and can focus on legal issues without the distraction of politics. While not all

constitutional courts are the same, there must be a body that has the authority to

determine what the Constitution says, and when different branches of government have

exceeded their powers.

Powers of the presidency: All modern societies must have a chief executive able to

carry out the responsibilities of government, from the simple administration of a program

to directing the armed forces to defending the nation in wartime. But a fine line must be

drawn between giving the executive sufficient powers to do the job and, at the same time,

limiting that authority to prevent a dictatorship. In the United States, the Constitution has

drawn clear lines around the powers of the president, and while the office is one of the

strongest in the world, its strength derives from consent of the governed and the ability of

the occupant of the White House to work well with the other branches of government. Here

again, the actual organization of the chief executive's office is not the issue, but rather the

constraints imposed upon that office by such principles as "separation of powers." In a

democracy, a president must rule through his or her political skills, establishing a

framework of cooperation with the legislature and above all with the people. At the same

time, the citizenry must feel secure that constitutional constraints ensure that the

president or prime minister is always the servant, and not the master, of the people.

Role of a free media: Closely tied to the public's right to know are a free media --

newspapers, radio and television networks -- that can investigate the workings of

government and report on them without fear of prosecution. English common law made

any criticism of the king (and by extension the entire government) a crime known as

seditious libel. The United States eventually did away with this crime, and in its place

created a theory of the press that has served democracy well. In a complex state, the

individual citizen may not be able to leave work to go watch trials, sit in on legislative

debates, or investigate how a government program works. But the press is the surrogate

of the citizen, reporting back through print and broadcast media what it has found so that

the citizenry can act on that knowledge. In a democracy, the people rely on the press to

ferret out corruption, to expose the maladministration of justice or the inefficient and

ineffective workings of a government body. No country can be free without a free press,

and one sign of any dictatorship is the silencing of the media.

Role of interest groups: In the 18th century, and in fact well into the 19th, law-making

represented primarily a dialogue between the voters and their elected representatives in

Congress or in state and local governments. Because the population was smaller,

governmental programs more limited, and communications simpler, there was no need for

citizens to resort to mediating organizations for assistance in making their views known.

But, in the 20th century, society grew more complex, and the role of government

expanded. Now there are many issues that voters need to speak about, and in order to

make their voices heard on specific matters, citizens create lobby groups, groups

advocating public and private interests, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

devoted to single issues. There has been much internal criticism of this aspect of American

democracy, and some people claim that those interests with access to large sums of

money can make their voices better heard than those with fewer resources. There is a

certain truth to that criticism, but the fact of the matter is that there are hundreds of

these groups who help to educate the public and lawmakers about particular matters, and

in doing so they help many individual citizens of ordinary means get their views known to

their lawmakers in a complex age. With the age of the Internet upon us, the number of

voices will increase even more, and these NGOs will help to refine and focus citizen

interest in an effective manner.

Creation of law: History records that formal laws have been made by mankind for five millennia,

but the methods different societies have used to make the rules under which they will live have

varied enormously, from edicts by god-kings to majority vote at village meetings. In the United

States, law is made at many levels, from local town councils, on up through state legislatures, to

the U.S. Congress. But at all these levels, there is a large input from the citizenry, either directly

or indirectly. Law-making bodies recognize that they are responsible to their constituents, and if

they do not legislate in the people's best interests, they will face defeat at the next election. The

key to democratic law-making is not the mechanism or even the forum in which it takes place, but

the sense of accountability to the citizenry and the need to recognize the wishes of the people.

Constitutionalism: Law-making must take place within certain parameters; there must be

approved methods for laws to be made and to be changed, and certain areas -- namely the rights

of individuals -- must be off limits to the whims of majority rule. A constitution is a law, but at the

same time it is much more than that. It is the organic document of a government, laying out the

powers of the different branches as well as the limits on governmental authority. A key feature of

constitutionalism is that this basic framework cannot easily be changed because of the wishes of a

transient majority. It requires the consent of the governed expressed in a clear and unambiguous

manner. In the United States, the Constitution has been amended only 27 times since 1787. The

framers made the amendment process difficult but not impossible. Most of the amendments have

extended democracy by enlarging individual rights and wiping away differences based on race or

gender. None of these amendments were lightly undertaken, and when adopted, all had the

support of a great majority of the people.

"The aim of every political constitution is...first to obtain for rulers, men who

possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue the common goal of

society."

-- James Madison

The Federalist, No. 57

Democratic Elections: No matter how well designed a government is, it cannot be considered

democratic unless the officials who head that government are freely elected by the citizens in a

manner perceived to be open and fair to all. The mechanism of an election may vary, but the

essentials are the same for all democratic societies: access of all qualified citizens to the ballot,

protection of the individual against undue influence in the casting of the ballot, and an open and

honest counting of the votes. Because large-scale balloting is always subject to errors and fraud,

care must be taken to avoid these as much as possible, so that if there is a problem or a close

election -- as happened in the 2000 presidential election in the United States -- the people will

understand that despite the difficulty, the results can still be accepted as binding upon them.

By determining peacefully those who shall govern and by bestowing legitimacy on the decisions

they make, elections provide answers to crucial questions faced by any political system. These

goals are more easily achieved when the characteristics of an electoral system encourage a widely

shared perception that elections are both free and fair. Factors encouraging this perception are a

franchise and an access to the ballot that are more inclusive than exclusive; an equality of votes so

that no vote counts more than another; and election outcomes determined by rules established in

advance, with minimal cheating and fraud in the casting and counting of votes. These standards

for free and fair elections have not been static over American political history. Their evolution has

reflected each generation's experience in grappling with the nature of political community, the

latitude of lawful dissent, representation, and electoral structure and administration.

Electoral structures and procedures

Electoral rules and practices may also contribute to, or detract from, a sense that elections are free

and fair. Consider voting impediments, vote counting, and campaign finance regulations.

One conspicuous fact about elections in the United States is the widespread phenomenon of

nonvoting. (Voting in the United States is voluntary, not legally required as it is in some

countries.) Even in high-visibility presidential elections, voter turnout in recent years has hovered

around 50 percent. That is, fully half the eligible voting population (almost all citizens over 17

years of age) does not vote. This rate contrasts with a turnout of about 65 percent -- a

modern-day high -- in the presidential election of 1960. Thus, when President Bill Clinton won

re-election in 1996 with 49 percent of the popular vote in an election in which the turnout was

only 49 percent, he was the choice of slightly less than one quarter of the eligible electorate.

What is responsible for this trend? Factors such as a decline in a sense of civic and community

obligation, voter apathy stemming from a perception that elections do not make a difference in

one's life, and an increase in the percentage of two-wage-earner households may depress turnout

-- as well as the sense in recent national elections that no great issues are at stake in a prosperous

time of peace.

It is also important to keep in mind that voting in the United States entails three different

decisions. Aside from deciding to vote and deciding for whom to vote, the prospective voter must

also have registered to vote. This requirement seems to impede voting because registration rolls

usually close weeks before the election itself. Moreover, because registration is done by state and

within states by counties, and within counties is organized by precincts, persons who have

recently relocated will almost always have to re-register or make sure that their existing

registration has been transferred. So the mobility of the American population suggests that there is

always a certain number of would-be voters who are kept from the polls because of registration

requirements. Whether systems for easier voter registration, as when one applies for or renews a

drivers license (the so-called "motor voter" plan), will improve turnout rates remains unclear.

In the counting of all ballots, legal safeguards have been developed over the years to minimize

error and to assure fairness. This is why the laws of all states provide for recounts in certain

instances and permit the initial apparent loser to contest the election. Otherwise, doubts about the

accuracy of the vote count may undermine public confidence in the integrity of elections and

subtract from the legitimacy of the declared winner. No better example exists than the extended

presidential election of 2000 that highlighted all too clearly problems that can arise in the usually

mundane process of counting votes.

Free and fair elections are essential in assuring the "consent of the governed," the bedrock of

democratic politics. They are at once both power- and legitimacy-conferring instruments, just as

unfair and dishonest elections may cast doubt on one's claim to office and diminish one's ability to

govern.

Few argue that electoral politics in the United States is perfect. Some of its features from time to

time have hindered, deflected, muted, or distorted the people's consent. Yet, for several reasons,

most Americans believe that overall their electoral system is fair and honest. First, with the

noticeable and instructive example of the conflicts leading to the Civil War nearly a century and a

half ago, elections in the United States operate effectively: By determining winners and losers,

they accomplish what elections are designed to do. Defeated candidates and their supporters

willingly, if not cheerfully, defer to the victors and acknowledge their right to rule. This is no

small achievement. Such acceptance presupposes a stable political system where ultimate values

and interests are rarely, if ever, at risk.

Second, the frequency of elections means that no party or faction within a party is guaranteed

permanency in office. Today's majority might be replaced by a much different majority tomorrow.

This is a key point of democratic theory: Majorities are in flux. Third, majorities may be transitory

because the electoral system protects the right to compete. An election without opportunity for

serious opposition is a hoax.

Finally, U.S. elections link voters with officeholders. The latter depend upon a majority of voters

to govern. The people therefore perceive elected officials as their agents, authorized to act on

their behalf. Elections in America have made public officials the servants of the people, rather than

people the servants of the government.

However one measures the progress in democratic politics that the United States has made, other

nations may well choose not to follow the American model in all its particulars. Some features of

electoral politics in the United States persist only as remnants of history. An American nation

getting under way in the 21st century would not select its chief executives through the Electoral

College. It might not choose to retain an equal vote for each state in the Senate. Other features,

such as a guarantee of a free press or popular election of members of Congress, would doubtless

remain. Nonetheless, lessons emerge from America's democratic experience that point to

characteristics that are probably essential to the maintenance of a stable democratic process

elsewhere.

First, access to the vote and the ballot should be widely available, with no vote worth more than

any other vote. To restrict the political community on the basis of gender, political beliefs,

ethnicity, or religion, for instance, undercuts a regime's legitimacy. An inclusive franchise, by

contrast, encourages all elements of a society to perceive a stake in the existing order because

each has a chance eventually to prevail.

Second, encouraging high turnouts of voters in elections should be a priority. Low voting

turnouts should be cause for concern, if not alarm. Not only may they result in election of officials

without the support of a majority of the eligible electorate, but they exaggerate the influence of

well-organized and intensely motivated interests.

Third, a high level of freedom for political speech is crucial to the democratic process. Restricting

lawful dissent not only inhibits electoral politics by stifling opponents, but repression of opinion

may drive dissidents from legitimate channels of political participation into violent means of

protest.

Fourth, elections and the system of representation must enable a majority of the people to control

the government, yet safeguards must be in place to prevent a majority from overwhelming and

destroying a minority. Nonetheless, arrangements that assign undue electoral weight to minority

interests may frustrate a central element of consent of the governed: legislation that efficiently

reflects the will of the majority. Otherwise, minority views displace those of the majority or so

cripple the decision-making process that the government becomes incapable of acting at all.

Fifth, because elections function effectively only if most people perceive them to be free and fair,

procedures must be in place to respond quickly to allegations of voting dishonesty. Without such

remedial devices, electoral politics may quickly be perceived as a fraud.

Finally, free and fair elections may prove difficult to maintain in a society marked by deep

cleavages among a large part of the population over the most vital questions. Sometimes the

health of a political system can be gauged by the issues that do not dominate a campaign and by

the propositions that never appear on any ballot.

"Democratic institutions are never done," observed Woodrow Wilson over a century ago. "They

are like living tissue -- always a-making. It is a strenuous thing, this living of the life of a free

people." Close scrutiny and probable change remain the order of the day. Awareness of the flaws

in an electoral system is as important as appreciation of its virtues.

Bush, Mark E. Does Redistricting Make a Difference? Partisan Representation and Electoral

Behavior (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993)

Chute, Marchette GaylordThe First Liberty: A History of the Right to Vote in America,

1619-1850 (Button, 1969)

Gillette,William The Right to Vote: Politics and Passage of the Fifteenth Amendment (Johns

Hopkins University Press, 1965)

Huntington,SamuelThe Third Wave: Democratization In The Late Twentieth Century

(University of Oklahoma Press, 1993)

Grofman, Lijphant, eds. Electoral Laws and Their Political Consequences (Agathon Press,

1986)

Keysser, Alexander The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United

States (Basic Books, 2000)

Kirk, Harold PorterA History of Suffrage in the United States (AMS Press, 1971)

Rogers, Donald W.ed. Voting and the Spirit of American Democracy: Essays on the History of

Voting and Voting Rights in America (University of Illinois Press, 1992)

Please note that this sample paper on history is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on history, we are here to assist you.Yourpersuasive essay on history will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality.

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CITY OF SAN DIEGO ¡V FINAL ANALYSIS

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The City of San Diego is ideally located in Southern California on the Pacific Coast near the U.S.- Mexico border.International trade with Mexico and the Port of San Diego has been major contributing factors to the growth and stability of the economy within this City.In the past, defense contracts made up the majority of the revenues that the city depended on for the budget.However, in recent years the shift has been more toward international trade, high-tech manufacturing and research, professional services and the tourism industry.With this shift in the business focus, San Diego has been one of the few successful cities in California to maintain its revenues, reduce its expenditures and report a somewhat secure financial status. Giving way to part of this success is the fact that San Diego has concentrated on improving its business assistance programs, cutting costs and changing policies to become more business friendly.Due to the success of the business incentive programs, the increase in tourism and the industry shift, San Diego has managed to maintain its revenues and balance its budget.The City follows GASB guidelines and reports its budgetary information accordingly.The mission of San Diego's city council is to provide cost effective accounting, auditing, and fiscal management services to the Mayor, City Council, and City management; to work in partnership with the Mayor, City Council, and City management to help create positive change and assist them in the performance of their mission; to protect the interests of the general public; and to enhance the reputation of San Diego as a fiscally well-managed City.

OVERVIEW

With the diversification of business in this City, the citizens have conformed and created an equally diverse populace.The population of this great city plays a large role in the law-making process.Through the Initiative and Referendum process, citizens of San Diego have the right to have any amendment or proposition brought before the city council as long as they have gathered signatures of at least three percent (%) of the city's registered voters. This process allows the citizens to bypass both State and Local legislators and have an issue of concern put directly on a ballot for voters to either pass or reject. Many of the changes brought before the council do not make it past the city meetings, however some of the requests do make it on the ballot for public election.Many propositions have been passed due to the public feeling the need to pass what they perceived as a protective measure against ¡§big government¡¨; however, they have created a shortfall for the government by limiting the funds available.

Total population of San Diego is 1,76,700, which is a 10% increase from the 10 census.The population growth has made this city the seventh largest in the country and the second largest within the state of California.Due to this increase in population, the city is increase its tax base and maintain its current budget status.The median age of San Diego's population is , with two-thirds less than age 5 and only 10% over 65. Because of the focus on the telecommunications industry, nearly one-third of San Diegos workforce is over the age of 5 and has at least a bachelors degree. Due to the close proximity to Mexico, the Hispanic representation in the community is 5% Hispanic helping to spark the international business contacts.The remaining population ratios are 4% White, 8% African American, and 1% Asian or other.

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Based on available data, more than 6% of San Diegans are currently employed, with the median family income approaching $40,000.Industries in San Diego have shifted from primarily defense in nature to manufacturing, tourism, international trade and agriculture. The telecommunications boom, software and biotech are among San Diegos fastest growing industries.San Diego has become the nations center for wireless industries with the city being dubbed Telecom Valley and a thriving port due to the available waterways in the San Diego area.

The City of San Diego encompasses 4.40 square miles of land giving the city a unique advantage of having room to expand and grow without the image of overcrowding.The majority of the citizens believe the quality of life within the city to be excellent.A total of 7,60 gross acres of land is set aside in Parks and Recreation sites and maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department.A staggering % of the land in San Diego is classified as vacant, allowing for additional growth.The remainder of the land is zoned as 7% for residential; % for public/semi-public; % for commercial/industrial; and 10% for agriculture.

With 7% of the available land deeded as residential and an additional % vacant, the opportunity for growth in the residential market is open to most anyone who would be interested.Housing in San Diego is handled primarily through two departments, The Affordable Housing Task Force and The Redevelopment Agency.The Affordable Housing Task Force consists of 0 members who represent community organizations and planning boards, housing and environmental supporters, charitable organizations, academics, affordable housing developers, realtors, apartment owners, business and labor. The primary responsibility of the Task Force is identifying areas of change that will result in an increase to the Citys affordable housing stock.The Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Diego was created by the City Council in 158 to alleviate conditions of blight in older, urban areas. This Agency is able to use special legal and financial methods to improve economic and physical conditions in selected areas of the City. The Redevelopment Agency obtained this authority through the state of Californias Health and Safety Code (Section 000-et.seq.), also known as the California Community Redevelopment Law. (City of San Diego, 00)

City documents report that the unemployment rate for 000 was at .0 percent, 001 was at .1 percent and the projected rate for 00 was .5 percent.At the Financial Forecast meeting in March 00, the unemployment rate as of January 00 was calculated at 4.4 percent.This is up from the projected numbers of 00 but well below the national and local levels.

San Diego's governmental structure is similar to most every city in the country with the various departments reporting to supervisors of the numerous programs such as Accounting Services, Auditing and Financial Computer Systems.Those supervisors in turn report to the City Auditor and the Comptroller, who answer to the City Council and finally, the Mayor.The citizens also play an important role in the governmental process due to their ability to bypass the legislators and have referendums presented directly to the general public.

BUDGETING

The City of San Diego's budgetary policies conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) applicable to governmental units. The accounts of the City are organized on the basis of funds or account groups, each of which is considered a separate accounting entity. The City's Governmental Funds and Expendable Trust and Agency Funds use the modified accrual basis of accounting. Governmental Fund Types are those through which most governmental functions of the City are financed and include the General Fund, Special Revenue Funds, Debt Service Funds, and Capital Project Funds.

The City of San Diego's Annual Fiscal Year 00 Budget incorporates the vision and priorities expressed by the Mayor and the City Council. In addition, the development of the Annual Fiscal Year 00 Budget took into consideration the priorities of each Council Member. Continuous departmental customer surveys and Community Budget Forums, where the City Manager and Council Members discuss the budget with various community groups, are areas where citizen input is implemented.

The City of San Diego's Budget Process begins annually every September.The Financial Management Department develops both the guidelines and the schedule for the budget preparation process.Beginning in October and lasting through December, Financial Management distributes the City Manager's budget policy guidelines to the departments and the Departments submit their base budget requests for review by the Financial Management Department. From December through March, the City Manager presents the initial budget status report to the Mayor and City Council and requests budget priorities and policy direction for the upcoming fiscal year. Citizen input on services and develop priorities is obtained for the City Manager's budget development.In March, the City Manager recommends a program of projects to be funded by Community Development Block Grant funds.Recommendations for funding are presented to the City Council for consideration. The Proposed Budget is finalized and the Financial Management Department prepares the Proposed Budget document.Next, the City Manager submits the Proposed Budget to the Mayor and City Council at the first City Council meeting in May and files a copy with the City Clerk's Office. Public comment is received at this time.The Mayor and City Council adopt the Annual Budget no later than the last City Council meeting in June. City Agency budget proposals are also presented to the Mayor and City Council in June.During July, citizen input is provided through Ordinance, which requires two noticed public hearings, usually held on consecutive days. This gives City officials the legal authority by the Mayor and City Council to expend resources.The Mayor and City Council adopt the Annual Tax Rate Ordinance no later than the last City Council meeting in August.In September the Financial Management Department prepares the Annual Budget and in October, the Annual Budget is printed and distributed

The City Council adopted a balanced budget for Fiscal Year 00 totaling $.1 billion including $7. million for General Fund expenditures, $680. million for Enterprise Fund operations, $88.4 million for Special Revenue Fund operations, $11.0 million for Debt Service and Tax Funds, and $411.4 million for Capital Improvements Program expenditures, with an adjustment for interfund transactions of $16. million.

RESOURCES

Once the budgets are approved and implemented, it is important to monitor the spending focus within the municipality and follow the manner in which they allocate and spend their resources.Financial resources for governmental funds include cash and other assets that it expects to be turned into cash during the normal course of operations. The city's highest source of revenue in recent years has been through the revenue received from Agencies and Private sector sources at 7%.Property and Sales taxes each account for 17% of revenues. Other sources of revenues for the city include Special assessments, other local taxes, licenses and permits, fines and forfeitures, charges for current services, revenues from the use of money and property and other miscellaneous sources.

Under the section ¡§Proposed Annual Budget Fiscal Year 004¡¨ summaries can be found for items such as their capital improvements programs and maintenance assessment. In ¡§Schedule 1 Summary of City Funds¡¨ there is a breakdown of what much of city revenue is spent on including salaries, citywide program expenditures, community and economic development, and development services. Improving the communities of San Diego has been a huge focus of the proposed 004 spending. The City feels that it is vital to restore neighborhoods in order to bring in more residents and a greater sense of pride in the communities. It is an issue of importance that is clearly reflected in the city's budget.

As such the Citizen's Assistance department Citizens Assistance administers the Citywide Route Slip System and Assignment Information Management Tracking System for responses to public inquiries, complaints and service requests directed to the Citys legislative officials and City Manager. This Department also performs ombudsman services, and is responsible for tracking City Council Priorities and providing quarterly updates to the City Council.Since the Citizens Assistance Department now has its own budget, it will explore funding options in order to pursue the consolidation and automation of the Assignment Information Management Tracking System, and the Route Slip Tracking System, which are systems used to respond to inquiries and complaints.Also, in fiscal year 00, the Citizens Assistance Department will begin a new process to transfer the City Council Priorities into a CD-ROM format for a simplified and more widespread transmittal.To allow for the cost of this department some budgetary adjustments were made, such as, a reduction in the supplies and services accounts was made.

The city of San Diego also has a Special Projects department that is composed of several distinct programs with unique responsibilities. The functions of the programs include coordinating citywide special projects, events and volunteer efforts; providing information and services to increase the accessibility of City services to communities; and raising funds to enhance City projects and programs.San Diego has seen it is necessary to have unique departments and programs in order to help the city prosper and grow.

Comparing prior year budgets to the current budget, there were reductions made in the General Fund with a % reduction from the prior year as well as several vacant positions being eliminated in order to save budgeted funds.All other funds remained constant with the prior year's budget and no layoffs had to be scheduled.The city was also able to plan for the additional resources that could be available to San Diego due to SuperBowl XXXVII, scheduled for January 00.Expenditures matched budgeted revenues in the General Fund, Special revenue funds expenditures exceeded budgeted revenues by 47.6 million, Enterprise Funds expenditures exceeded budgeted revenues by .8 million with 168.0 million coming from prior year and 14.4 million coming from reserves.Original budget for Capital Project funds were 411.4 million with actual expenditures reported at 14.1 million.Budgeted Expenditures for Internal Service funds were 10.5 million with the restricted use for purchases of services and products from other internal funds.Interfund transaction adjustments were included for a total of($16.) million.The Interfund transaction account is used to move resources into those funds in need of additional resources to complete the fiscal year.(City of San Diego, 00)

CAPITAL PROJECTS

The capital projects that the municipality participates in can have a dramatic effect on their financial statements and can have a huge impact on the users of those financial statements. Questions that should be answered regarding the Capital Projects information should include

1.Will the projects become long-lived assets?

.What types of long-term debts will the municipality incur in completing the capital project?

.What are the repayment provisions?

In July 00, the City Manager was directed by the City Council to implement a program that would pre-qualify contractors for City public works projects to construct, replace and improve the Citys aging infrastructure. As a result of this directive, the Engineering and Capital Projects Department developed and implemented a Contractor Pre-Qualification Pilot Program.Effective February 1, 00, contractors bidding as a prime contractor for City of San Diego public works projects, which exceed $50,000, must be pre-qualified. In order to become pre-qualified, the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and required Financial Statements must be submitted for review and scoring. Once pre-qualified, contractors will retain that status for one year following notice of qualification. The type of Financial Statements required depends on the range of projects the contractor is interested in bidding.

Project Range Required Financial Statements

$50K - $1 MillionCompiled Financial Statements

$1,000,001 - $10 MillionReviewed Financial Statements

$10,000,001 and aboveAudited Financial Statements

The process for pre-qualification involved a structured process that must be completed and followed by all contractors interested in completing any projects for the city.They were required to complete and submit the pre-qualification questionnaire, along with appropriate financial statements; city staff was to verify the information submitted in the questionnaire and financial statements, and interviews with the contractors previous clients; the city staff would use standardized rating criteria to evaluate and score the questionnaire and interviews, and will determine the contractors maximum bidding capacity; once pre-qualified, contractors would have one-year eligibility to bid on City projects with an annual renewal of pre-qualification status being required.After the decision has been made that there is a need for the capital projects, a notification is sent out to receive bids on the projects.As stated earlier, if the cost is more than $50,000 a pre-qualification is required of all contractors.The division in need of the project must interview prospective constructors and submit its selections to the City Manager.The construction award phase begins with the purchasing agent for construction bids. As soon as the low bidder has been identified, the project manager requests for City Manager action or City Council action. The contractor provides the City with the appropriate documents and a contract is issued. The Purchasing Agent then sends a Notice to Proceed to the Field Engineering Division of Engineering and Capital Projects and the project is now under their jurisdiction.

Once the contracts are signed, the project now has a cost associated with it and the City is required to record these resources in the Capital Projects fund.

The Capital Projects fund include public improvement projects that encompass building fire stations, libraries, parks and parks buildings, police stations, bikeways, drainage, streetlights, traffic signals, street improvements, and water and sewer facilities. The Water Department has three projects that they are working on; The City's Bayview Reservoir Replacement Project, the Mid-City Pipeline Project and the Waring Road Pump Station Project.All three projects are part of the City of San Diego Water Department's citywide Capital Improvements Program. Water infrastructure improvements (replacements, upgrades and expansions) are underway throughout the City's water system, including pipelines, water pump stations, reservoirs and treatment plants. These improvements will help ensure a safe and reliable water supply, protecting the region's job base, environment, and overall quality of life for generations to come. The Metropolitan Wastewater Department (MWWD) provides regional wastewater treatment and disposal service for two million people living and working in 16 local cities and districts. Upon completion of the publicly used sewer lines, sewer pump stations, water treatment plants, and other water and sewer related projects, these Capital Projects under construction would be included as fixed capital assets.

Fixed capital assets provide services in periods beyond those in which they are completed or acquired.As such, these assets will be classified as long-lived assets.Long-lived assets are a key component of many of the services provided by any government.They include its police cars, administrative buildings, and its utility lines and roads.All of the projects currently under construction meet the criteria.All completed projects would be classified as long-lived assets and would be subject to the new GASB Statement No. 4, which requires governments to show depreciation of their assets on their full accrual, government-wide statements.

The Capital Projects are funded in a variety of ways.The Capital Outlay Funds are used exclusively for the acquisition, construction and completion of permanent public improvements, replacement or reconstruction of public facilities, including buildings, real property, and other improvements of a permanent character. Repair or maintenance expenditures cannot be made from the Capital Outlay Funds. Revenue for the Capital Outlay Funds is derived primarily from an annual Sales Tax allocation, but it can come from other sources per Section 77 of the San Diego City Charter. In addition, certain projects have allocations of Housing and Urban Development Section 108 loan funding. These loans are received during the fiscal year, and they are paid back in anticipation of future Community Development Block Grant receipts.Split Funding is a method by which two different revenue sources are used to fund a capital project on a percentage basis. This approach is most commonly used in the Water, Metropolitan Wastewater, and Airports Capital Improvements Programs to differentiate revenue sources that are frequently used for projects within these programs.The city of San Diego also funds its capital projects from revenues, fees, and service revenues from the various entities within the city.The city itself has little long-term debt to fund any of its capital projects.

One of the most important factors involved when discussing the capital projects that the city of San Diego may be affiliated with is what are the repayment provisions? A huge of money is poured into these causes, it is important for all involved to be able to realize just when and how this money is to be repaid. A capital project that the city of San Diego has borrowed funds for is the construction of a new community center.Funds will be used for a new senior center as well as public works improvement projects, among other items. The terms of repayment on this particular loan is twenty years. ¡§By agreement with the SEDC, $100,000 of tax increment will be transferred to the city annually for their share of the repayment and the city will allocate the remainder of the repayment from District 4's annual CDBG allocation.¡¨ Security and collateral is also discussed for this loan. The collateral will have to be identified before any approval. ¡§The senior center will be built on parkland and the city is still reviewing legal issues regarding the use of such property as collateral.¡¨

Clearly, many areas of the city of San Diego's budget and other financial statements can be greatly affected by the capital projects that the city is involved in. Decisions for the future must take these projects into consideration and be able to calculate if they will play a positive or negative role in the city's financial affairs. Each factor involved, will the projects be considered long-lived assets, what types of long-term debts may occur and what are the repayment provisions, are all vital questions that have been asked and analyzed for their affect on San Diego. (City of San Diego, 00)

CAFR

As stated in the text, the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) included all the necessary information such as a brief description of the financial statements, an analysis of the government's overall financial position, changes in the capital assets, and a discussion of the condition of infrastructure assets, just to name a few.The City of San Diego appears to be adhering to all requirements set forth by GASB statements.The MD&A also explained that the City of San Diego had implemented the new GASB Statement No. 4 which required the municipality to report its financial data in the government-wide format.

The Notes to the Financial Statements include the overview for the various policies of the city, fund activity and balances, and summary of the financial statements.The Notes include

¤Summary of Significant policies

¤Reconciliation of Government-wide and Fund Financial Statements

¤Cash and investments

¤Capital Assets

¤Governmental activities Long-term debt

¤Business-Type Activities Long-term Debt

¤Discretely presented component unit long-term debt

¤Governmental activities short-term debt

¤Discretely presented component unit short-term debt

¤Lease commitments

¤Deferred compensation plan

¤Pension Plans

¤Post Retirement Health Insurance

¤Interfund receivables, payables, and transfers

¤Risk Management

¤Fund Deficit

¤Commitments

¤Contingencies

¤Third party debt

¤Closure & Pot Closure Care Cost

¤Operating Agreements

¤Restatement of beginning balances

¤Subsequent events

The additional disclosure that was required and that was not included in the Management Discussion and Analysis was pertaining to the San Diego City Employees Retirement System (SDCERS).Effective June 0, 001, the fund was 8.% fund, which is indicative of sound financial health for a benefit plan.

The major fund types used by the City of San Diego include the General Fund, Enterprise Fund, Special Revenue Fund, Capital Improvements, and the Debt Service and Tax funds.The General Fund is the only fund that could be affected by the current recession due to the State of California currently reporting a deficit of $6 - $5 million.The Enterprise Fund, Special Revenue Fund, Capital Improvements Fund and the Debt Service and Tax Funds are all fully funded either by prior distributions or current user fee revenues staying at the level required to cover expenditures.

The current account groups listed within the MD&A included Capital Assets and Outstanding Debt.The financial data was listed in detail with specific assets listed in the two-column format and the debt detail included how the revenues were distributed by government activities and business type activities.

The City of San Diego originally passed a balanced budget totaling .1 billion dollars.Although the current budget that was presented was balanced at the time it was approved, there are now issues with being able to remain within the budgeted perimeters including a shortfall in revenues due to the slow economy.The projected shortfall in the General Fund revenues is expected to be $0 million due to the State of California being in deficit mode as well.Due to the increases in health care costs, the General Funds Worker's Compensation expenditures are expected to be $6 - $8 million over budget.

While the economic forecast for the near future is uncertain, the City Manager, the City Auditor and Comptroller and the departments have been working diligently to resolve the issues and end the year with a balanced budget, as required in the City Charter.Some of the steps taken to date to help reduce the deficit include an increase of Vehicle License fees, reduction in non-essential maintenance and repairs in the Parks and Recreation Department as well as for the Library system, street improvements will done on an as needed basis with a determination of the importance of the repairs, any open positions within the Fire and Police departments will remain unfilled and all unnecessary training will be deferred.However, looking at the national trends, the City of San Diego has been performing better than the national and State averages due to the housing market and San Diego's diversified economic base.While the unemployment numbers may be higher than the previous year, they are still lower than the national average.San Diego is maintaining a constant line of revenues during this time of recession due to the diligence of the city officials and the citizens.

References

City of San Diego.(00, October). Annual Fiscal Year 00 Budget ¡V San Diego at a Glance. [Online]. Available http//www.sannet.gov/budget/annual (00, June ).

Granof, Michael H. (001). Government and Not-for-Profit Accounting (second ed). New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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