Law

Over the past few decades, the institution of marriage in the United States has undergone considerable transformations. Undoubtedly, one of the most fundamental changes followed the U.S. Supreme Court decision to repeal all states’ bans on same-sex marriage and to legalize it on the whole territory of the United States. This decision answered two questions presented by the petitioners: 14 same-sex couples and two men whose partners are deceased, all residents of the states that had bans on same-sex marriages and other related restrictions. The first question is whether the State is obliged to license a marriage between two persons of the same sex. The second question is if it has to recognize such a marriage licensed in other states. The present essay aims to critically discuss the U.S. Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriages. In the beginning, it examines the arguments of the plaintiffs, which were based on two clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, and explains the ruling of the Court. Then it goes on to examine what societal changes might have influenced the Court’s decision. Furthermore, the paper analyses the arguments produced by the dissenting justices and provides a critical perspective on the issue.

The plaintiffs argue that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects their right to marry, as this right is inherent in the concept of liberty enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment. Although there is no exhaustive list of liberties protected by the Clause, its protection applies to most of the rights contained in the Bill of Rights. Moreover, “these liberties extend to certain personal choices central to individual dignity and autonomy, including intimate choices that define personal identity and beliefs” (Eisenstadt v. Baird, 1972). In light of this, the Court has well-established jurisprudence of treating marriage as the right protected by the Constitution. For instance, in Loving v. Virginia (1967), the Court repealed bans on interracial marriages, affirming that marriage is “one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.” Although it is undeniable that the Court’s previous jurisprudence on the right to marry was focused on gender-differentiated couples, the plaintiffs argued that the same rationale should equally apply to same-sex couples.

This argument rests upon four basic principles that were used to defend the position of the plaintiffs. First of all, the decision concerning marriage is one of the most fundamental that a person can make and brings about profound changes to this person’s destiny. It is thus enshrined in the concept of individual autonomy. Secondly, this choice protects intimate association and commitment between two individuals in a way that is more profound than any other decision would make possible. The third principle draws upon the protection of families and children since the prohibition to marry impedes the sense of stability of the children growing upon in a family with same-sex parents. Finally, the argument draws upon the fact that marriage lies at the heart of the social order, and it is for this reason that States provide support and various benefits to married couples. Yet, this support and benefits are denied to same-sex couples, which, however, seek not to destroy the traditional institution of marriage, but to enjoy the privileges granted to other families.

The argument of the plaintiffs goes on to draw upon the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that is closely linked to the Due Process Clause since fundamental liberties should be secured by equal protection. The interrelation between these two clauses has long been established by the Court’s jurisprudence, the most prominent cases being Loving v. Virginia (1967) and Lawrence v. Texas (2003). In the latter case, the Court has already acknowledged this interconnection in the context of LGBT rights. Thus, in this case, it is argued that not only do the bans infringe upon the plaintiffs’ liberty, they also hinder the proper application of the principle of equality.

The Supreme Court ruled that under the Due Process and the Equal Protection Clauses the same-sex couples have the right to conclude marriage and to have their marriage concluded in other States legally recognized. Central to this decision is the opinion of the Court that, although this right was not directly addressed in the Constitution, injustice tends to become more apparent depending on the times. Accordingly, “when new insight reveals discord between the Constitution’s central protections and a received legal stricture, a claim to liberty must be addressed” (Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015). Moreover, the Court recognizes that this claim can be addressed through the democratic process that exists at the state level. Although recognizing the importance of the democratic process, the Court affirms that individuals whose rights are harmed may use their right to constitutional protection. Thus, even though it could have been possible to wait until the issue is resolved through such processes, the role of the Constitution is to resolve the legal issue in question.

It is difficult to underestimate the role of the Court’s jurisprudence that has laid the foundation for this ruling. In Romer v. Evans (1996), the Supreme Court found that State provisions prohibiting anti-discrimination laws concerning homosexual persons were unconstitutional. After this first positive case addressing LGBT rights, the Court invoked the right to privacy to repeal the prohibition of sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex (Lawrence v. Texas, 2003). Finally, in U.S. v. Windsor (2013), the Court ruled that the federal government could not justify its refusal to grant marital deduction benefits to married couples based on the fact that the partners are of the same sex. Therefore, it is evident that the Court has developed substantial jurisprudence related to the rights of same-sex couples. However, until the case of Obergefell v. Hodges was brought to the Supreme Court, the right to marry was still not universally recognized.

It is important to examine the wider societal context that prepared the ground for this decision. In 1986, in Bowers v. Hardwick, the Court upheld the constitutionality of the criminalization of certain homosexual acts. Since then, society has undergone significant transformations regarding family and other aspects of private life. Homosexual couples have begun to live more openly, their visibility contributing to a change of public perceptions. There have been numerous public campaigns and debates, as well as scientific research that have contributed to this change of societal attitude. Moreover, progress was evident in other spheres of society, such as in the matter of women’s rights, and so on. Consequently, the change of societal attitudes made possible further changes at the constitutional level.

However, given the persistent disagreements regarding same-sex unions, the Court ruling was not taken unanimously. One of the arguments that were produced by the dissenting justices is that the role of the Court consists of merely interpreting the already existing law. Resolving the policy, and not the legal question of whether same-sex union constitutes marriage, the judges “violate a principle even more fundamental than no taxation without representation: no social transformation without representation” (Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015). Moreover, according to Justice Thomas, liberty has traditionally been understood as freedom from government infringement, not entitlement to state benefits. Subsequently, as long as the government does not intervene in the couple’s family life, it does not violate their liberty. Finally, the dissenting justices pointed out that the legalization of same-sex marriages is a threat to religious freedoms. The conflict between the two is inevitable as individuals and institutions will be confronted with the claims to endorse same-sex marriages.

The argument that this question should have been resolved using the democratic process has its strong points. Nonetheless, it is also evident that justice should not be a matter of decades for those who seek it. The cases of plaintiffs demonstrate that the outcome of waiting for too long might be that the person might never obtain justice. Moreover, as regards the conflict between religious freedoms and marriage equality, the dissenting justices do not specify which aspect of religious freedoms can be violated by this ruling. In general, their arguments tend to draw upon traditional attitudes towards societal norms, which should not replace legal analysis.

In conclusion, the legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S. has generated public debate and divided public opinion. While the arguments for the legalization draw upon the Due Process and the Equal Protection Clauses under the Constitution, the opponents maintain that this question had to be resolved using the democratic process. At the same time, the parties do not agree on the question of whether this decision infringes upon religious rights. This decision was made possible by profound and irreversible societal changes that occurred over the past decades and influenced the Court’s interpretation of the constitutional provisions.

References

Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986).

Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972).

Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003).

Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967).

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S.__ (2015).

Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996).

U.S. v. Windsor, 570 U.S.__ (2013).

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal law that was ratified by the United States Congress in 1966 (Pozen, 2005, p.634). Under this law, the federal government agencies (i.e., FBI, CIA, etc.) are legally compelled to provide information to the public on a need basis (Kreimer, 2007, p.1149). Any individual, including U.S. citizens, academic institutions, and organizations (as well as foreign nationals) can file an FOIA request. In 1974, the Act was modified to enhance agency compliance. It was also revised in 1996 to allow better access to electronic information (National Security Archive, 2009, par 1).

Benefits associated with the Freedom of Information Act

FOIA requests are more suitable for those individuals and organizations that want to make large requests that comprise numerous dissimilar types of confidential and non-confidential documents. Whereas confidential documents are subject to Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR), the Freedom of Information Act covers confidential as well as non-confidential materials. In case an FOI request is denied, the requester can appeal the decision within the federal agency and then institute legal proceedings against the agency in the court of law. However, the requester is barred from instituting legal proceedings in the court if the duration for processing his/her MDR request has not expired. FOI requesters are thus advised to seek MDR only if they have ample knowledge about the record they need (National Security Archive, 2009, par 5).

Risks associated with the Freedom of Information Act

There are a number of problems that a requester can run into during the FOIA process. These include:

Delays. It is important to note that FOIA offices may take time to respond to an FOIA request since these offices receive numerous FOIA requests. Thus, requesters are advised to submit precise requests that will make it easy for the FOIA officers to locate the required document swiftly (National Security Archive, 2009, par 11).

Operational File Exemption. There are a number of federal agencies that are exempted from FOIA review requirements. These federal organizations that enjoy operational file exemptions include the National Security Agency (NSA), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). These organizations are allowed by this law to exempt whole or part of their operational files from being subjected to the search/review requirements as stipulated by FOIA (National Security Archive, 2009, par 12).

Dubious Secrecy. FOIA has homogenized language as well as precise directives for redaction processes. However, differences might emerge in relation to the decision to hold back information, both within and between federal agencies. These discrepancies may exist during the appeal process and follow through to a final decision (National Security Archive, 2009, par 13).

Recommendations on how to improve the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Although the FOIA program provides a useful avenue with regard to information dispensation, it is highly decentralized and has numerous and different DOD Components missions, functions, organizations, and locations. As a result, there are a few selected areas that must be improved. These include organizational structure and manning; training; and backlogs/resources (Donley, 2006, p.11).

Organizational structure and manning. A majority of FOIA offices are located within numerous dissimilar institutional elements. For example, some FOIA Offices are found within a functional institution such as I.T. systems, which do not contribute to the overall mission of FOIA. Thus, the first step should be to ascertain the current locations of all FOIA offices in order to establish homogenous standards within the DOD. This will optimize the efficiency of all FOIA offices (Donley, 2006, p.11).

Staff training. According to one study, only 76% of Freedom of Information Act staffs have obtained some form of FOIA training. In addition, it has been established that senior FOIA leaders are not conversant with the FOIA requirements. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop a training program (i.e., FOIA Officer Certification Programme).

The residential training program must be tailored for staff attorneys, senior leaders, as well as FOIA personnel on a biennial basis (Donley, 2006, p.12).

Resources and backlog. FOIA Offices have limited manpower resources to handle numerous requests. It is imperative that the required manpower is determined to minimize the backlogs in the FOIA Offices, especially those with a backlog that exceeds 50 requests. Some of the remedial measures to be implemented include identification of FOIA Offices with backlogs that exceed 50 requests, provision of adequate resources to FOIA Offices with heavy backlogs; and development of a staffing program for the identified FOIA Offices (Donley, 2006, p.18).

Computer Abuse Law

Computer and internet usage has escalated in recent years, given the low costs associated with procuring a computer and internet connectivity. What’re more many people and different organizations nowadays prefer to carry out personal and/or business transactions via computers and automatic agents. However, given the anonymity associated with computer/internet usage, computer-related crimes are on the rise.

Computer abuse entails crimes committed against the computer, the information/materials enclosed therein (i.e., data and software), as well as its uses as a processing device. Examples of computer abuse include cyber sabotage, unlawful use of computer services, and hacking. On the other hand, cybercrime entails unlawful activities carried out via electronic communication media. One of the major concerns facing individuals and organizations relates to identity theft and cyber-fraud that are committed via the illegal use of online surveillance technology, spoofing, and hacking. There are also other types of criminal activities carried out via online platforms such as industrial espionage, cyber-terrorism, pornography, defamation, and sexual harassment (Kunz & Wilson, 2004, p.3).

Many countries have enacted several laws to curb computer-based crimes. It is worthy of mentioning that computer crimes are somewhat new phenomena associated with the digital era. What’s more, such crimes have an adverse impact on the role of computers and the internet as valuable resources that transcend physical frontiers with regard to communication and information sharing. It is against this backdrop that new unified legislations are urgently needed to protect and enhance a systematic digital environment. Computer crimes are simply novel ways to perpetuate conventional offenses via an electronic platform. As such, the current state laws are inadequate to curb the computer-based crimes (Kunz & Wilson, 2004, p.4; Doyle, 2010, p.1). The following section will compare computer and internet legislation in three states, namely: New York, Texas, and Washington D.C.

New York Legislative Model

The New York Penal Code [Article 156] reflects the state’s legislative effort to combat a wide range of computer abuses. For example, the Penal Code describes five distinct computer-related crimes: criminal possession of computer-related information, illegal duplication of computer-related information; computer interference; computer trespass; and unlawful use of a computer. In addition, New York’s Penal Code defines a computer as a device(s) that can mechanically execute logical, arithmetic, storage, or recovery operations on computer data. The New York statute also offers the defendant various avenues to defend himself/herself from computer-related accusations.

For example, according to N.Y. Penal Code § 156.50, the defendant can argue that he/she had [1] authority to use the computer; [2] the right to destroy or change in any way the computer program or data; [3] the permission to duplicate, reproduce or copy the computer program or computer data (Kain, 2008, p.16).

Thus, under this Penal Code, an individual is deemed guilty of computer abuse if he/she intentionally uses or gain access to a computer network, computer service, or computer device without prior consent from the owner. In other words, an individual commits a computer crime when he/she (without prior consent from the owner) accesses a computer device, computer network, or computer service with an intention to commit a crime or aid in the commission of computer-related crime. According to the New York Penal Code, computer abuse is divided into four degrees. Computer tampering (fourth-degree) is the most basic of the computer-related abuses.

It takes place when an individual unlawfully accesses a computer device, service, or computer network and deliberately adjusts it in any way or obliterates a computer program or computer data of another individual. The severity of the crime depends on the presence of exacerbating factors such as international destruction or alteration of computer material, prior convictions for an Article 156, and the effects of such destruction or alterations in the amount exceeding US$ 1,000 (Kain, 2008, p.16).

Texas Legislative Model

Texas is among states that have enacted computer security laws to address computer-related crimes. For example, the 69th Texas Legislature integrated Section 33 into the Texas Penal Code. This Legislation describes various forms of computer-related abuses as well as the relevant punishments for such crimes. For instance, computer damage that exceeded US$ 2,500 is deemed a third-degree crime. However, in 1989, the 71st Texas State Legislature introduced an amendment that widened the scope of computer-related offenses as well as penalties provided by Section 33. For instance, computer damage that exceeded US$ 750 is now deemed a criminal act (Revello, 1996, p.15).

In addition, Information Resource Management was ratified in 1989 under the 71st Legislation resulting in the formation of the Department of Information Resources (DIR). The newly ratified Act requires DIR to formulate and publish standards and guidelines relevant to the management of information resources. In pursuant to the Information Resource Management Act, DIR established a Texas Administrative Code, known as Information Security Standards [1 TAC 201.13b], which compels state agencies to protect the confidentiality of information owned by the state (Revello, 1996, p.15). What’s more, DIR employs 1TAC 201.13b to allocate the task for providing security to information technology assets, data information assets as well as risk management to senior administrators in every state agency.

According to the IRM Act, a state agency is described as any council, office, board, commission, or department within the judicial or executive branch of the Texas state government. In addition, the Act defines information resources as any software, equipment (i.e., the computer) or procedures that are invented to gather, process, and broadcast information. Thus, the abovementioned agencies are legally required to fight computer-related offenses that fall within the scope of definitions discussed above (Revello, 1996, p.16; Clayton, 2006, p.5).

The Washington Legislative Model

According to the Washington statute, computer abuse occurs when an individual, without prior consent, deliberately gains access to a computer (and information therein). For example, in State v. Olson case, the police (defendant) was found guilty, under the statute, for unlawfully accessing a computer and acquiring print-outs that identified codes of a local college when there was no ongoing investigation of those codes. However, the Court of Appeal annulled the conviction and stated that the defendant (as part of his work) had the power to access the computer and that he was not prohibited by the statute to use the information (Kain, 2008, p.4).

The state-based Legislation mentioned above demonstrates a lack of clear definition with regard to the nature and scope of computer-related crimes (Cheon et al., 2009, p.82; Almahroos, 2007, p.597; Brenner, 2001, par. 1). The following section will recommend a union legislative model that can be adopted by all states in order to combat computer-related offenses.

Combined Legislative Approach

The advantage of an omnibus law is that it addresses computer-related crimes comprehensively. Such a law can provide the impetus for cooperation and convergence as a joint statement for inter-state policy objectives. What’s more, a combined legislative model that is generally ratified can generate a consistent set of decrees and enforcement processes in various states. For example, the Cybercrime Convention may present an apt platform to promote dialogue and general consensus as well as information sharing among different states in order to produce effective inter-state legal solutions for computer crimes (Keyser, 2003, p.289; Archick, 2004, p.2).

The Cybercrime Convention is the only viable option that can effectively protect all states from computer-based crimes that are executed through the internet. The effectiveness of the Cybercrime Convention is subject to three salient aspects:

• The synchronization of state-based Legislation on computer-based crimes. The main aim of the Cybercrime Convention is to produce consistency among signatory states with respect to the nature and scope of laws that criminalize computer crimes. For example, the Cybercrime Convention demands consistency with regard to the legal description of terms such as traffic data, service providers, computer data, and computer systems (Schjolberg & Ghernaouti-Helie, 2011, p.9).
• The effectiveness of the Cybercrime Convention rests on the ability of signatory states to set up efficient local investigative processes and powers that address computer crimes as well as electronic evidence. It is thus imperative that all states have consistent powers for inspecting computer crimes as well as collecting evidence. These powers must include interception of content records, search and seizure, and disclosure of traffic records (Schjolberg & Ghernaouti-Helie, 2011, p.9).
• The setting up of a rapid and efficient system of state collaboration with regard to the investigation and prosecution of computer crimes. In addition, the combined legislative approach will create a system that facilitates reciprocated support among signatory states. The role of reciprocated support in combating computer crimes cannot be understated, given that internet usage transcends state borders. For instance, a computer-related offense executed in New York may have adverse effects in Texas. Thus, a combined legislative model will provide a widespread avenue for punishing perpetrators of such crimes in different states (Schjolberg & Ghernaouti-Helie, 2011, p.9).

References

Almahroos, R. (2007). Phishing for the Answer: Recent Developments in Combating Phishing. Journal of Law and policy for the Information society, 3(3), 595-621.

Archick, K. (2004). Cybercrime: The Council of Europe Convention. Web.

Brenner, S. (2001). State Cybercrime Legislation in the United States of America: A Survey, 7 Rich. J.L. & TECH. Web.

Cheon et al. (2009). Analysis of Computer Crime in Singapore using Local English Newspapers. Singapore Journal of Library & Information Management, 38, 77 -102.

Clayton, R. (2006). Complexities in Criminalizing Denial of Service Attacks. Web.

Donley, M.B. (2006). Department of Defence (DoD) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Improvement plan for Executive Order (EO), 13392: Improving Agency Disclosure of Information. Web.

Doyle, C. (2010). Cybercrime: An Overview of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Statute and Related Federal Criminal Laws. Web.

Kain, R. (2008). Independent Contractors and Computer Crimes: The Impossible Prosecution. Web.

Keyser, M. (2003). The Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime. J. Transnational Law & Policy, 12(2), 287-326.

Kreimer, S. (2007). Rays of Sunlight in a Shadow War: FOIA, the Abuses of Anti Terrorism and the Strategy of Transparency. Lewis & Clark Review, 11(4), 1141 -1220.

Kunz, M., & Wilson, P. (2004). Computer Crime and Computer Fraud. Web.

National Security Archive. (2009). FOIA Basics. Web.

Pozen, D. (2005). The Mosaic Theory, National Security and the Freedom of Information Act. The Yale Law Journal, 115, 628-679.

Revello, R. (1996). A Descriptive Analysis of Computer Security Measures in Medium Sized Texas Counties. Web.

Schjolberg, S & Ghernaouti-Helie, S. (2011). A Global Treaty on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime.Web.

Introduction

Human security has emerged as the opposite of national security. While national security is concerned with resolving issues related to the country’s borders, human security focuses on people’s well-being and is related to human rights (Saladino slide 31). Human security relies on two main concepts: freedom from fear, meaning the absence of violence, and freedom from want, which means not being subject to threats and long-term illnesses (Ostergard and Griffin 3). This essay aims to observe how human security offers explanations and solutions to such worldwide problems as food security, global health, and environmental security. Evidence shows that this new paradigm can be efficient if it is complementary to national security.

Food Security

Food and water security is a crucial problem, especially in developing countries. Widespread hunger, water shortages, and the changeability of food prices are the most important concerns of this issue (Committee on World Food Security [CFS]). Overall, food security is a condition in which people always have “physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food” (Saladino slide 24). It is based on four principles, the first of which is available, meaning that all individuals in all countries have enough food (Saladino slide 25). The second principle is access, which means making sure that people can afford products (Saladino slide 26).

Utilization is the third pillar, and it relates to the way consumers use foodstuffs (Saladino slide 27). The final principle is stability, meaning that it is necessary to provide basic food security regardless of conflicts, bad weather, economic crises, and other issues (Saladino slide 28). These four pillars provide an explanation of what a country should consider guaranteeing food security for its citizens.

Since human security differs from national security, these concepts emphasize different aspects of food security while searching for the solution to this problem. Since human security is closely related to human rights, it takes into consideration people’s right to food (CFS). The suggested solutions include identifying and assisting those who are food insecure, paying special attention to vulnerable populations such as children, women, and the elderly (CFS). Human security is concerned about all people in the world rather than citizens of a particular country, and, therefore, it encourages international assistance to marginalized and poor communities (CFS).

National security, on the contrary, cares for people within a state and aims at protecting domestic resources and seeking domestic food independence (Saladino slide 30). It cannot be said that one security paradigm is better than the other in handling food insecurity; rather, they should be combined to both provide individuals with nutrition and protect domestic products.

Global Health

Human security is also concerned about the health of the world population. It addresses issues that are not confined to a particular country but are common for all people (Ostergard and Griffin 3). According to this new paradigm, such problems as famine, terrorism, and epidemic illnesses cannot be regarded as a concern of one nation, and, therefore, traditional national security cannot handle them effectively (Ostergard and Griffin 3). Therefore, human security offers a better explanation of the ways of handling global health issues.

According to the new security paradigm, there are several aspects of health security. Researchers distinguish three major concerns of human security related to global health: violence, poverty, and infectious diseases (Ostergard and Griffin 9). Conflicts in one country may harm its citizens’ health, and they can influence neighboring countries either by direct interference or by the inflow of refugees (Ostergard and Griffin 9).

Poverty and global health are interrelated because poor people often cannot afford proper nutrition, clean water, and shelter, and they cannot improve their position because diseases prevent their work productivity (Ostergard and Griffin 13). Infectious diseases are a human security concern since they can cause an epidemic (Ostergard and Griffin 14). If a state fails to stop an outbreak, infections may spread over its borders, as happened with the Ebola epidemic in West Africa (Ostergard and Griffin 14). All three aspects are interrelated and constitute a human security concern.

Although human security concerns about global health go beyond the focus of national security, a state plays an important role in addressing global health issues. If a country cannot deal with a health issue within its borders, it may affect the population in the neighboring states (Ostergard and Griffin 16). Therefore, to ensure global health security, governments should be prepared to handle outbreaks and prevent severe diseases.

Possible solutions offered by national security include forcing immigrants and refugees to undergo medical examinations on entering a country to identify infectious diseases and prevent their spreading (Bunnell et al. 7). A partnership among countries is also a necessary measure because it may help to stop an outbreak before it crosses the borders (Bunnell et al. 7). Thus, a state’s participation is essential in ensuring global health security.

Environmental Security

Environmental security has become a security concern not so long ago. During the Cold War, states were concerned only about the safety of their territories, and all their concerns about their population were related to military aspects (Rucktäschel and Schuck 72). After the end of the Cold War, the priorities of governments shifted. The human security paradigm emerged to change the focus of security from a state to individuals or expand national security so that it took citizens into consideration (Rucktäschel and Schuck 76). Environmental security, in its turn, considers not only individuals but also the world as a whole, which makes it be more extended than national security (Rucktäschel and Schuck 76).

According to the human security paradigm, not states but humans are the major agents who cause and damage the environment (Rucktäschel and Schuck 76). However, although individuals have the primary influence on nature, they are unable to resolve environmental issues themselves (Rucktäschel and Schuck 77). It implies that environmental security requires the actions of a state.

Environmental issues have a significant impact on human security, especially in the most affected regions. Climate-related disasters lead to great expenses, damaged homes, and food and water insecurity (Modéer). Experts say that global warming is a crucial environmental problem nowadays, which should be addressed within the next 12 years (Modéer). If humans do nothing about it, it will cause more droughts and floods, increased sea levels, and decreased yields of crops (Modéer).

Since individuals alone cannot cope with this problem, states should take measures to ensure environmental security. For example, governments can encourage emission reduction, transit to renewable energy sources, and invest in the ecological use of land (Modéer). Thus, a people-centered approach to security emphasizes the need to address environmental issues, but the participation of a state is necessary to meet this requirement.

Conclusion

To sum up, human security is a new paradigm that shifts the focus of security from a state to individuals. It also tries to expand the concept of national security so that it takes into consideration not only borders but also individuals. Human security involves such issues as food security, global health, and environmental security. It explains why and how these problems affect the population. However, the solutions to these problems require the involvement of a state.

Works Cited

Bunnell, Rebecca E., et al. “Global Health Security: Protecting the United States in an Interconnected World.” Public Health Reports, vol. 134, no. 1, 2018, pp. 3-10.

Committee on World Food Security. “Section 5: Uniting and Organizing to Fight Hunger.” CFS. Web.

Modéer, Ulrika. “Why Does the UN Focus on Climate-Related Security Risks?” United Nations Development Programme. 2019. Web.

Ostergard, Robert L., and Jeffrey A. Griffin. “Global Health and Human Security.” The Oxford Handbook of Global Health Politics, edited by Colin McInnes et al., Oxford University Press, 2018. Oxford Handbooks Online. Web.

Rucktäschel, Kathrin, and Christoph Schuck. “Non-Traditional Security Issues and the Danger Not to See the Forest for the Trees: A Critical Analysis of the Concept of Environmental Security.” European Journal for Security Research, vol. 3, no. 1, 2017, pp. 71-90.

Saladino, Christopher. “Food Security: Global, National, and Local.” Political Science, 2018, Virginia Commonwealth University. Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.

The crime of arson thrives on the availability and tenacity of a fire; devoid of a fire or if a fire is not tenacious enough, arson will fail. To solve arson cases, the investigators must understand fundamental and essential facts about fire. Having background knowledge on fire helps crime busters to not only understand how arson occurred but also what the perpetrators used in committing the crime. This section of the paper addresses what a fire is from its physical properties, the fire triangle, the oxidation process, accelerants, and how detectives can locate and retrieve trace elements of accelerants from fire debris.

According to the US National Fire Protection Association (2019), fire is not a thing but is instead a chemical reaction known as oxidation. As an oxidation process, fire (or combustion) happens rapidly, releasing light, heat, and sound. The heat energy released by this process (exothermic) makes temperatures to soar, causing the temperature of the fire’s immediate surrounding to rise as well. The fire also emits smoke, which is a toxic waste of fire debris. Van Wagtendonk (2006) defines fire as a process that combines hydrocarbons with oxygen to give out carbon dioxide, water, and heat energy as a chain reaction occurring fast at elevated temperatures.

The fire triangle is a framework that depicts the components that constitute a fire. The fire triangle has three elements; these are fuel, heat, and air. The fuel is the matter that the combustion process consumes; it is the source of the hydrocarbons to combine with oxygen to produce fire. For combustion to occur, there needs to be a sufficient supply of oxygen (or oxygen-containing-air). The third element is heat, which commences and sustains combustion. It is the heat that ignites the fuel into a fire; heat facilitates the combination of hydrocarbons (in the fuel) with oxygen without which combustion would not occur. The heat to sustain the reaction comes from the reaction itself. Consequently, there has been a new proposition to add a fourth element to the triangle to make a tetrahedron. The fourth element is the uninhibited chain reaction that is feedback between the heat and the fuel that produces a gaseous fuel utilized in the flame. It is out of the chain reaction that heat necessary to maintain fire(combustion) arises.

Fire as a reaction is an oxidation process. Oxidation is the process or the reaction that combines an oxygen molecule with another substance, compound, or elemental molecule forming an oxide. Oxidation can be either rapid or gradual; as an oxidation process, combustion is similar to rust formation on iron nails, the only difference being the speed of the reaction. In the case of the rapid oxidation process, the process is highly exothermic, leading to an uninhibited chain reaction that sustains the oxidation reaction henceforth, making it challenging to suppress provided the necessary reagents and conditions necessary for oxidation are available.

In combustion, an accelerant either starts or hastens the burning (fire). Primary accelerants are the ignitable liquids used to initiate or hasten a fire (Ferreiro-González et al., 2016). According to Interfire Online website (2019b), the ignitable liquids include acetone, carbon disulfide, Coleman fuel, ethyl alcohol, ethyl ether, Fuel Oil no. 1 ((kerosene, aviation fuel, coal oil, range oil), Fuel Oil no. 2 (diesel, home heating fuel), Gasoline (Motor fuel, gas), isopropyl alcohol, kerosene, lacquer, lacquer thinner, methyl alcohol, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), mineral spirits, naphtha, paint thinner, toluene, turpentine, and xylenes. The most commonly used accelerants are petroleum-based commodities such as gasoline, diesel, and kerosene (Ferreiro-Gonzalez et al., 2016). These products are cheap and easy to access because they are not controlled commodities. Other than their ready availability, these products are easy to ignite. For instance, gasoline is highly flammable and composed of over 300 volatile hydrocarbons produced from the fractional distillation of petroleum. As Interfire Online website (2019b) reports, American forensic research facilities report gasoline as the leading commonly used and identified ignitable liquid accelerant.

Once they burn, ignitable liquids leave behind two things; ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) (Rankin & Petraco, 2014; Ferreiro-Gonzalez et al., 2016), and ignitable liquid pour patterns (Rankin & Petraco, 2014). The ILRs are the burnt remains of the ignitable liquid, while the pour pattern is a depiction of how the arsonist applied the accelerant. Investigators look for, analyze, and categorize ILRs from the fire debris following the American Society for Testing and Materials International (ASTM International) standard by way of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) (Ferreiro-Gonzalez et al., 2016). Investigators obtain debris samples from a point they suspect the application of an ignitable liquid and take these samples to a laboratory. At the research facility, specialists isolate ILRs from the fire debris before vaporizing the ILR for chromatographic tests. “Passive Headspace Concentration with Activated Charcoal, ASTM E1412, is the standard practice separation of ILRs from fire debris most commonly used in the United States” (Ferreiro-Gonzalez et al., 2016, p.696). According to Interfire Online (2019a), when there is a combustion of volatile vapors atop an ignitable liquid accelerant pool, there is a distinct burn pattern left on the structure different from the patterns of other combustible material. These are the patterns detectives look for. Material lying on the floor before the fire more often presents the best potential sites to collect debris within the pour pattern on floors that impervious to moisture.

References

Ferreiro-González, M., Barbero, G., Palma, M., Ayuso, J., Álvarez, J., & Barroso, C. (2016). Determination of ignitable liquids in fire debris: Direct analysis by electronic nose. Sensors, 16(5), 695 – 706. Web.

Interfire Online. (2019a). Accelerant evidence collection. Web.

Interfire Online. (2019b). Fire and arson accelerants. Web.

National Fire Protection Association. (2019). NFPA – Reporter’s guide: All about fire. Web.

Rankin, J., & Petraco, N. (2014). Interpretation of ignitable liquid residues in fire debris analysis: Effects of competitive adsorption, development of an expert system, and assessment of the false positive/incorrect assignment rate. Web.

van Wagtendonk, J. (2006). Chapter 3: Fire as a physical process. In N. Sugihara, J. van Wagtendonk, J. Fites-Kaufman, K. Shaffer, & A. Thode (Eds), Fire in California’s ecosystems (pp. 38-57). University of California Press. Web.

Introduction

Racial profiling is a form of profiling in which the study of the behavioral characteristics of a particular subject is determined on the basis of racial and national characteristics. From the point of view of analysis, the essence of the use of such profiling is insignificant, due to the fact that, first of all, its functioning is based on prejudices and stable views that have developed in a certain a community. However, this practice is present in American forensics, as a result of which it is extremely important to identify and outline modern realities.

Overview

Description

Closer in meaning to the racial profiling used in criminology is its particular formulation, such as the totality of certain properties and features of an object that characterize certain objects or phenomena. However, when working with this term, some lawyers or sociologists studying criminal law disciplines cannot give an exact definition of the profile and establish its connection with criminology.

In addition, it is important to note that modern American criminology today have developed a wide and rather complex structure of profiles that has features for each of the countries, some of which do not have common characteristics with each other. In this context, an attempt is made to characterize the modern classification of profiles. Analyzing the classification of existing profiles by American criminologists and social literature, it becomes clear that racial profiling is a combination of personal biological, psychological and social qualities of a person, studied with the aim of interpreting his behavior and actions.

The migration can also be a part of criminology and it can be based on race and ethnicity of individuals involved (Garner, 2015). In law enforcement practice, the following types of profiles are distinguished as criminal profiling, visual profiling, DNA profile, and location-based profiling.

This direction of racial profiling involves providing law enforcement specialists with criminal profiling with necessary information about an unknown criminal, which will help in his capture. The necessary features for using criminal profiling are the series of crimes, the commission of crimes by the same criminal, and by the same group. Seriality of crimes means the commission of two or more crimes by one and the same person, and these torts must have the same intent of the subject, similar mechanism and intent of committing crimes.

Racial Visualization

Visual racial profiling requires the knowledge of the appropriate profiler in the field of criminology, human psychology, and special care. Unlike the first type of racial profiling, visual is actively used in the system of federal crime. It is used primarily by police during mass events, and in transport. A similar mechanism to this profiling is gaining popularity for use in America, but practically unconnected with the criminological area, profiling by the type of employee danger. It is important to note the fact that the emergence of the racial profiling approach comes from Jim Crow era, when he enacted vagrancy laws (Cadore, 2015).

The approach consists in revealing by the invited psychoanalysts the deceitfulness of the statements of employees of offices, commercial firms and other organizations. The main tasks of office profiling are to prevent employees from committing offenses, to identify possible criminal features of their character, and to determine the professional burnout of employees.

Racial Profiling and Location

Location-based racial profiling is one of the latest varieties of profiling, originating from criminological geography and is used, as a rule, in conjunction with criminal profiling. The object of this method is directly the criminogenic geo-sites, that is, the places most prone to commit crimes on their territory. In another study, it is stated that the practice of racial profiling consists of a specific set of rules and assumptions regarding Black males, which further institutionalizes racism (Iverson, 2015).

Most bodily harm on the streets in large cities can occur in the vast majority in the so-called unfavorable areas of the city or city. This is due to lower levels of social control over crime, poor terrain infrastructure such as lack of lighting, and damaged roads.

Since racial profiling can be aimed at working with serial and mostly violent crimes, the task of geographic analysis is to study the places where victims were found after the crime was committed. However, another study on red light camera violations demonstrates the fact that there is a link between one’s racial identity and the disproportion in minority violations. It is important to indicate the element pf profiling is involved because the prevalence of a specific racial composition on a block (Eger, Fortner, & Slade, 2015).

This may also include the determination of their last place of residence, the locations of their possible tracking down by the offender, that is, the establishment of a geographical criminal-victimological connection. Geographic profiling is also aimed at working with a mental assessment of the geography of the offender, that is, ascertaining his location, movements in non-criminal, criminal, post-criminal periods. The main task of this type of racial profiling is to find the reason for choosing the movements of criminals, to determine their geographical categorization.

Racial Portrait

The psychological portrait of the offender should not be identified with the search portrait used exclusively in forensics, which is built solely from the visible external characteristics of the offender, which the victims and witnesses could see. The structure of the search portrait includes only the material data of the offender, such as his height, gait, and external data. It also depends only on the degree of perception and other mental processes of the person who saw him, the psychological portrait is characterized exclusively by working with an unknown criminal, establishing his mental and social characteristics, which are formed in the cognitive activities of profilers solely on experience, imagination, thinking and intuition.

Another article describes the fact that there is a dangerous form of color-blind racism in the United States, because it is manifested in highly subtle form, such as racial profiling (Bonilla-Silva, 2015). The result of a psychological portrait, as a rule, is the alleged sex, age, social status, place of residence, and the reasons for the aggressive offense. This information is only auxiliary to law enforcement agencies, which can help them in finding an unknown criminal. Officially, criminal profiling has its distribution in the FBI.

The departments can offer a wide range of services to assist law enforcement in investigating crimes. This includes analyzing the crime scene, creating profiles of unknown criminals, predicting the future behavior of the offender, including the scene of the subsequent crime, investigative recommendations, strategies, and analysis of random relationships. In addition, in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies and scientific institutions, the department’s specialists also conduct research in the investigation of crimes, thereby improving their skills and knowledge in the field of criminal profiling.

It is also stated that there is a negative Black male imagery, where the racial profiling leads to discriminatory terminology connotations (Smiley & Fakunle, 2016). Contrary to frequent judgment, criminal profiling profilers may not directly participate in the investigation of crimes and they may not participate in the detention of criminals.

Common Approaches

The function of criminal profiling is interviewing, surveys by profilers of convicted criminals. The expected results from such interviews may be the receipt of a confession from the offender, in the event that he does not confess to the crime. This also includes an indication of the whereabouts of the victims of the crime, if it is unknown and the offender did not want to release this information. It is suggested that there is an evident implicit bias and structural racism, which lead to the oppression of African American males in the United States (Wyatt-Nichol & Seabrook, 2016).

Telephone communication with criminals can be taken into account when they call their relatives or close victims for various purposes. Such a study includes many factors, such as, for example, the study of the personal motivational characteristics of criminals, the characteristics of victimology in a certain series of crimes, as well as the relationships between offenders and their victims.

Behavioral Considerations

Behavior based racial profiling is type of racial profiling is characterized by assessing and predicting the behavior of the subject of crime on the basis of certain informative signs, features of appearance and its behavior. Unlike criminal profiling, the visual is aimed at working with visible alleged offenders. First of all, such profiling involves identifying potentially dangerous individuals preparing to commit a crime with the aim of harming an unlimited circle of people. For instance, traffic stop citations are partially guided by racial profiling, which is an issue due to the factor of racism (Vito, Grossi, & Higgins, 2017).

One can distinguish such types of racial profiling as type-visual profiling – a set of external manifestations of a participant in mass behavior that is adequate to the content, place and time of a social role played by him. Race-based mass profiling that identifies individuals prone to anti-legal behavior in crowds. Also, the function of visual profiling is to identify the lies of the respondent or answering when answering questions from a profiler or police officer.

For example, the case of Trayvon Martin shows that the racial profiling is prevalent in the United States, which means that children of minority groups should be prepared for this type of discrimination (Desai, 2019). Most often, such approaches can be used in transport, train stations, stadiums, airports, concert halls. The falsehood of a potential subject is determined by specialists by analyzing its verbal and non-verbal communicative methods of communication.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the term racial profiling today has a broad nature of its meaning and can be based on prejudice and racism. In relation to the system, one can state the fact that only visual racial profiling is used, which is used to prevent terrorist acts and other mass crimes. In addition, the probabilistic nature of the use of profiling can be indicated. It works with intangible substances, has no logical connection and is based only on the intuition of professionals.

However, the development of racial profiling can adversely affect the investigation of many crimes, given their complexity, especially when traditional forensic methods cannot help in the investigation. In addition, the knowledge gained about the practice of criminal profiles could play a positive role in studying the behavior of criminals and, therefore, identify reserves to deter this type of crime.

References

Bonilla-Silva, E. (2015). The structure of racism in color-blind, “post-racial” America. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(11), 1358-1376.

Cadore, Z. (2015). Accepting the unacceptable: Judicial backing of racial profiling in America. Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, 28-31.

Desai, S. R. (2019). Humanizing Trayvon Martin: Racial profiling, implicit biases, and teacher education. Urban Education, 54(8), 1031-1057.

Eger, R. J., Fortner, C. K., & Slade, C. P. (2015). The policy of enforcement: Red light cameras and racial profiling. Police Quarterly, 18(4), 397-413.

Garner, S. (2015). Crimmigration: When criminology (nearly) met the sociology of race and ethnicity. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 1(1), 198-203.

Iverson, S. V. (2015). Racial profiling as institutional practice: Theorizing the experiences of Black male undergraduates. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 52(1), 28-49.

Smiley, C., & Fakunle, D. (2016). From “brute” to “thug:” The demonization and criminalization of unarmed Black male victims in America. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 26(3-4), 350-366.

Vito, A. G., Grossi, E. L., & Higgins, G. E. (2017). The issue of racial profiling in traffic stop citations. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 33(4), 431-450.

Wyatt-Nichol, H., & Seabrook, R. (2016). The ugly side of America: Institutional oppression and race. Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, 23(1), 20-46.

Executive Summary

Human activities have caused the near-surface air temperature of the earth to rise at a higher rate than expected. The human activities have led to this due to the increased release of greenhouse gases. The earth’s warming has been coined as global warming which has been defined as the increase of earth’s average temperature. When high volumes of greenhouse gases are released to the atmosphere, these gases trap the heat and light from the sun resulting in the increased temperatures. With the increased gases, the natural cycles such as carbon and precipitation cycles have changed leading to the change in weather and finally to climate changes.

Instances of global warming have been experienced. For example, the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas, the floods in Pakistan and the drought and heatwaves of Russia have been associated with global warming and climate change. Due to this problem, there have been efforts by world governments to check and control the release of greenhouse gases and England has not been left behind with its introduction of the energy policy and other acts which are seeking ways of cutting the carbon emissions by certain percentages. These legislations are likely to change the way most companies operate since they have to follow the same policies in their production processes and thus may need to invest in more efficient technologies.

Introduction

For about three decades now, climatologists have been claiming that human activities have caused the near-surface air temperature to rise at a high rate. This has been as a result of human activities which interfere with the composition of air. The industrial carbon emissions have been increasing and if the same rate remains, world temperatures will rise by about 2^o to 5^o degrees (World Bank 2010).

Global warming

To this, global warming is thus defined as the increase in earth’s average temperature ranges. It is caused by increased emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide methane and nitrous oxide to the air. These gases then trap the heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere and this in return increases the temperatures (McKinney Schoch Yonavjack 2007).

Greenhouse gases are those gases that are in the atmosphere and prevent the loss of heat to the outer space. Thus they are essential for living things survival but their overproduction is leading to global warming and climate change effects. They are produced through normal human activities such as combustion of organic matter, transport systems and even decomposition of organic matter. These among other human activities contribute to the increase of greenhouse gases and thus global warming.

The increased temperatures are not suitable for living things survival since they lead to alteration of ecologies due to changing weather patterns. They have also resulted in increased sea level as well as the emergence of new diseases such as malaria due to the presence of good multiplication areas for the pathogens as well as the vectors (Houghton 2004). Global warming thus leads to climate change.

Climate change

Climate change is the change in the ordinary or the average weather which we are used to or which a certain region experiences. The change of the features associated with weather such as temperature and precipitation seasons are as a result of global warming. It is thus important to indicate that global warming and climate change are not the same but one leads to another whereby global warming leading to climatic changes.

Scientific evidence about global warming

In the world, there have been instances where we have experienced the effects of global warming and they include:

In the Himalayas, the ice has been melting and the glaciers are moving down the mountain in a very fast manner.

In the photo above, we can see how the glaciers have melted and are moving down the mountain. Unless the government and people who are living in these areas are well prepared, the rapid melting of the glaciers will increase the vulnerability of the residents as well as lack of water in future years. The above melting of lakes can also lead to the formation of the Glacial Lake Outburst Floods thus there is need for the global community as well as the local governments in these risk-prone areas to introduce long term resilience and adaptation programs (People and Planet 2010).

Another case which has been associated with global warming is the recent flooding in Pakistan and the heat waves which were experienced in some places of Russia. According to experts, the year 2010 was the warmest since reliable temperature records began in the middle of the 19th century. With the floods in Pakistan being associated to global warming and leaving about 1600 people dead as well as more than 2 million homeless it seems like if people do not change the way they interact with the earth, similar catastrophic occurrences might occur in future.

In the year 2010, Russia also experienced the worst drought ever experienced for the last 10 years and this drought led to break out of fires which killed almost 700 per day prompting the country even to ban any grain export and the drought was also associated to the impacts of global warming (Doyle, 2010).

The threat of any future legislative controls imposed by the British Government to our products and those of Green Industries

The British government in its 2007 White Paper titled “meeting the energy challenge” indicated the strategies it intended to use to address the long term energy challenges likely to be faced by the country and its citizens with the climate change and global warming effects as well as in the use of the scarce resources whose sources are declining at a very high rate (Department of Energy and Climate Change 2009).

Joining other world countries, the British government has committed to reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases emission as indicated in the Energy policy. With the UK releasing a less than 5% carbon gases in the world, a long term scheme of reducing carbon emissions has been set which among them will be through carbon trading policies and program which have been enacted to see the reduction of greenhouse gases. With such laws, the Green Industries since they have to adopt new technologies which minimize carbon releases since the release of more carbon than the allocated units will mean the companies buying credits from other companies which are not exploiting their carbon units but at a higher price or paying a fine to the government as extra taxes (Fells& Whitmill 2008).

The climate change act of 2008 is another law which has been legislated in a bid of the government to control carbon emissions and it puts a framework to achieve a mandatory reduction of carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050. This means that if the law becomes fully functional, all companies in the use would have to set emission reduction strategies to make sure it goes in line with the country’s objective of reducing the emissions (Department of Energy and Climate Change, 2009)

Published in the year 2009 also is the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan. The plan puts in detail what needs to be done to reduce carbon emissions by 34% come 2020. Within this plan, the plan estimates that 40% of the electricity will be produced from low carbon sources as well as ensuring that the new cars made in the factories will emit 40% less carbon compared to the 2009 levels. With the government also establishing that a 5% of the fuels produced will have to originate from renewable sources by the year 2010, this means that the Green Industries will have to change their manufacturing process, for example, the company at Cambridge where the company is a leading manufacturer of both the motor vehicle and aircraft engines, the engines will have to be designed in such a way they can burn the renewable energy as well as design exhausts which can inhale and exhale air in a higher rate to ensure that the fuel consumption is more efficient (National Strategy for Climate and Energy, 2009).

Through the energy policy and with the government introducing the issuance of energy performance certificates and the display energy certificates means that all Green Industries plc will have to ensure that energy-saving mechanisms are introduced and employed in all the companies to ensure that it complies with the regulation as required by the government.

Conclusion

Global warming is the increase in earth temperatures due to the increased release of greenhouse gases due as a result of human activities. Greenhouse gases include Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide. When these greenhouse gases are released in excess to the atmosphere, they trap the sun’s heat and light and this has resulted in the increased temperatures which in return has caused the change in climatic conditions.

It has been a major concern to government and watchdog organizations all over and this has led to the creation of policies and enactment of laws whose main aim is to reduce carbon emissions.

Recommendations

As the governments enact a law which seeks to reduce the release of greenhouse gases, it is important for the processing, manufacturing and all the other forms of industries to start investing in new technologies which seek to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere because government policies may force them either to phase out or pay excess taxes due to their excess release of greenhouse gases.

Reference List

Department of Energy and Climate Change: 2009. Energy White Paper: Meeting the Energy Challenge. Web.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: 2009. Climate Change Act 2008. Web.

Fells, I; & Whitmill, C. 2009. A Pragmatic Energy Policy for the UK. Web.

Doyle, A. 2010. Analysis: Pakistan Floods, Russia Heat Fit Climate Trend. Web.

Houghton, J. T. 2004. Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. 3rd Edition: Cambridge University Press.

McKinney M, L; Schoch M, R; Yonavjack, l. 2007. Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions. 4th Edition: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

National Strategy for Climate and Energy. 2009. The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan. Web.

People and Planet. 2010. Global Warming Cause of Glacial Melting and Glacial Floods. Web.

World Bank. 2010. World development report 2010: Development and climate change. World Bank Publications.

The decline of union density and membership in Australia indicates diminishing influence of trade unions. The decrease is one of the most remarkable industrial issues that the country is facing. According to Bailey, Price, Esders, and McDonald (2010), less than a half of Australian youth and adults have or are likely to join a trade union. Union decline in Australia is not a new scenario but rather a long predated decrease of the award system, whereby state and federal tribunals imposed industrial regulations. Similar to other public institutions, the instability of Australian trade union’s strength is a reflection of historical forces, which are beyond the control of the unions. This paper discusses the history of union membership and density in Australia, as well as the impact of their decline.

History

There has been a long-term affirmation that unionism started in Australia in 1850 as a result of the transformation of the country’s economy by the discovery of gold. At that time, only skilled craft workers, miners, as well as seafarers were allowed to join a trade union (Bongiorno, 2011). However, by 1880 other different occupational groups became unionists and this saw the number of employees belonging to trade union account for 20% of all workers.

The improvement did not last since union density reduced from 62% to 49% from 1954 to 1970 as a result of structural changes in the economy. Due to the job losses that were caused by a recession, which occurred in 1981, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) signed a pact with the federal Labour Party in 1983, agreeing to go back to centralized wage fixation. In the agreement, the Labour Party on its part promised ‘an industry development policy’ to give a boost to manufacturing.

Following the selection of Hawke-Keating Labour government in 1983, a return to centralized wage fixation took place. Nevertheless, the new government floated the dollar, privatized government-owned enterprises and reduced tariffs, an agenda that seemed neo-liberal. Manufacturing industries continued to be crippled, and only 15.5% of the total Australian workforce was employed in factories by 1986. For instance, between 1981 and 1984, 14,000 workers at Port Kembla Steel Works were laid off. The low manufacturing employment level caused devastation to many long-established unionized communities (Barry, 2016).

Other than producing a temporary shock, these massive job losses severely weakened trade union organization and reduced the confidence of voters in the ability of the government to guard their jobs. These negative changes also caused more disintegration amongst working-class communities and between workers and their political representatives who had a significant influence on labourism (Peetz & Bailey, 2011). The majority of Australian trade unions were left “confused” after the Labour party to which they remained affiliated embraced free market principles with no clear guiding ideology.

Apart from erosion of its historical base by social and economic changes unionism in Australia was also negatively affected by the formation of New Right employer associations together with think-tanks like Business Council of Australia as well as the H.R. Nicholls Society in the 1980s. The ACTU argued that multi-skilling and refurbished awards were major factors that could contribute to the enhancement of the economic competitiveness. The arbitration system was dismantled as a result of demand for the so-called reforms by both the ACTU and employers (Woodward, 2010).

In 1986, employees’ trading off provision was the main determinant of wage increments. ‘Award restructuring’ started in 1986 and 1991 when many industrial relations focused on enterprise-based bargaining. Non-collective agreements then started taking effect in 1993. In 1996, anti-union legislations such as provisions for personal Australian Workplace Agreements were put to effect. In 2005, WorkChoices legislation was passed, and as a result, many union rights such as ready access to union-covered workplaces were revoked (Anderson, Gahan, Mitchell, & Stewart, 2011). Union density declined from 45.6% to 18.9% between 1986 and 2008 as absolute membership decreased from 2.7 million to 1.7 from 1990 to 2008.

Contrary to previous periods, the public sector recorded a significant fall of union density from 70.6% to 41.9 between 1986 and 2008. The decline was as a result of a huge downsizing in the 1990s and increase of part-time employees. Nevertheless, the influence of marginalization of the union was more in the private sector than in the public one. By 2008, just 13.6 % of workers in private sector were trade union members (Wilson & Spies‐Butcher, 2011).

A wide body of research concluded that unions had lower chances of losing their members if there were strong delegate structures in workplaces rather than overlying on arbitration. However, other researchers argued that union decline led to the absence of union delegates. However, it is evident that arbitration was the foundation of workplace unionism. Very few unions were ready for the end of arbitration, and this is clear since even the most organized ones experienced sharp membership falls.

By 2009, only 21% of workers in the manufacturing sector had a union ticket. Between 1996 and 2009, the union density of the coal industry (which had many unionized workers previously) dropped to 46% from 85%. By 2006, manufacturing jobs were only 10% of the total jobs in Australia. However, more workers continued joining the poorly unionized industries (Wilson & Spies‐Butcher, 2011). The retailing industry employed over one million workers; the highest number as compared to other industries, but only 15% of them was unionized. The number of part-time workers, especially casual employees, sharply increased since 1986, and by 2009, they accounted for 30% of the total workforce, 12 % higher than in 1986. Only 14.6% of these employees had a union ticket in 2009.

Mid-2009 marked a dawn to a new industrial relations regime, which increased enthusiasm among unionists and an increase in union membership was soon evident. Between 2008 and 2009, absolute union membership increased from 1,752,900 to 1,835,100 (Cooper, 2010). The public sector gained more members as compared to the non-public sector since its union density increased to 46.3% from 41.9%. As a result of this robust performance, the overall union density in Australia increased to 19.7 from 18.9. Nevertheless, the persistence of the favourable industrial relations environment was uncertain.

The Gillard federal government came back to power in 2010, and due to lack of a clear mandate, its survival is dependent on politicians and rural Independents (Ellem, 2013). Labour governments in New South Wales and Queens land stand at a risk of being evicted from office. Considering these political uncertainties, the union movement can only depend on itself for continued recovery.

The decline in the number of workers joining trade unions is persistent despite strong community support for such unions. In not more than 25 years ago, almost 50% of male Australian employees were members of trade unions, but to date, only 14.4% has a union card (Fenna, 2016).The Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that the level of trade union membership and trade union density in Australia has significantly dropped since the 1980s. In fact, only one out of ten employees in the private sector is a member of a trade union. As reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, union membership decreased greatly between 2013 and 2014, leaving just 15% of all employees as members (Kelly, 2015).

Reasons for the Decline of Australian Unionism

Australian union density and membership decreases were caused by three main factors: change of structures in the labour market, union reaction to new strategies adopted by employers, and institutional factors. Change of structures in the labour market includes actualization, increased part-time work, high product market competition, the rise of industries and jobs with traditionally low union density, and increased self-employment, as well as alternative employment arrangements (Räthzel & Uzzell, 2011). The changes contributed to almost a half of the fall of union density from the 1980s to 1992.

However, the proportion has been lower since then. According to Holgate (2015), the rising competition in product and service market has a significant influence on deunionisation. The current competition, which is higher than in the 1970s, has been triggered by macroeconomic reforms, tariff reductions and microeconomic reforms, tariff cuts, and a recharged Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. A company experiencing monopoly finds it unproblematic to cater high salaries for its workers.

The ability to remunerate highly is because the prices in non-competitive markets are usually high and as a result, the firm reaps more profits than it would in a competitive market (Abbott, MacKinnon, & Fallon, 2017). In the absence of monopoly, markets become more competitive and prompt management to come up with cost-cutting strategies and adopt stronger anti-union tactics to minimize the wage bill.

Institutional factors refer to the changes in legislations that have had a negative influence on union membership. These changes comprise of the employment relationship de-collectivization and the pulling out of union recognition (Barnes & Markey, 2015). Between 1990 and 1995, five out of six state governments implemented legislation whose aim was to prohibit compulsory unionism (Mitchell, Gahan, Stewart, Cooney, & Marshall, 2010).

This move encouraged individual bargaining and made it easy for workplaces to move to non-award coverage. The impact of the legislation was almost similar to 1920s when existing Labour governments implemented laws supporting obligatory union membership and salary arbitration. In the late 1980s, over half of Australian employees were required to be union members to fulfil the conditions of employment (Markey, 2011).

However, in 1990, union membership ceased to be an employment requirement and many workers opted to withdraw from being members of trade unions (Cole & Limb, 2016). The unions that were most severely affected by the change of legislation were those that heavily relied on compulsory union laws. The influence of the legislation change on unions became worse when the Howard Government nearly stopped mandatory union membership countrywide soon after its election in 1996, making it hard for trade unions to enrol new members and hold protests.

The decline of union membership and union density in Australia is also as a result of new strategies by employers and the failure of unions to adjust according to the changes (Buchanan, Oliver, & Briggs, 2014). This factor has been overlooked for a long time as a potential cause until recently. Anti-union trends are evident in Australian employer behaviour, yet unions have not managed to counter this new attitude, leading them to make poor strategic choices (Cooper & Ellem, 2011). A precise example of poor union strategy is a scenario whereby unions have been focusing on ‘market share’ instead of concentrating on ‘expansionary’ unionism. This strategy has led to the waste of resources when unions are involved in costly coverage disputes.

Impacts

As result of the decline of union density and union membership in Australia, the current product markets in the country have become more competitive than they were in the 1970s (Muir & Peetz, 2010). This increased competition is as a result of a series of changes such as highly rivalry in the markets, rising wage inequality, and legislations that have made it difficult for unions to organize (Bowden, 2011).

Besides, there has been a significant reduction of strikes since many employees do not belong to unions, which would otherwise facilitate them. Furthermore, any workplace needs that were previously met solely by unions are now being attended to by new organizations. Due to decreased union membership and union density, unions are shifting back to their nineteenth-century role of providing services such as insurance, legal advice, as well as adult learning. Development and success in the workplaces can be remarkable occurrences, but they cannot happen without regard for employees’ rights, salaries, wellbeing, and other favourable conditions (Fells, 2016).

Conclusion

After several recessions interrupting a brief recovery of unionism in the early 1970s, new problems overwhelmed industrial labour. Various efforts such as deregulation of industrial relations, an increase in unstable employment, and anti-union strategies by employers together with further economic changes were all focusing on reducing industrial labour to mere minority movement status. In this regard, only 20% of wage and salary earners are unionized. Although the decline of unionization has been in existence for decades, terming the condition as terminal should be done with hesitation. The death of industrial labour has been predicted very many times, but it seems to live longer than expected.

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