Free Essays on Democracy

Democracy How many of you know what democracy means to the American citizens? If you ask most young people what democracy is they will say its America’s government but for the most part that is all they know. Of course we’ve briefly discussed it in past years of schooling but nothing has really stuck with me or made me even think about it. Now, though, what democracy is has become clearer. It’s what America is based upon, for the people, by the people, and is the people, right? After reading a few articles on democracy and discussing it with others some new ideas and theories have came to mind. At this point in time, and in the past, democracy has been the best form of government for the American people. When I think of democracy, freedom is the first thing that comes to mind. Liberty also comes to mind and the actual definition of liberty is freedom from external control. Thinking about external control reminds me of a monarchy or dictatorship which are the exact opposites of democracy. Generally these types of government involve only one ruler while in America we have many representatives, yet it is the people who have the say in making choices by the way of votes. Its how the voting system is set up that really separates America from how other countries run their governments. Americans get to vote on laws and choose what they’d like to keep and what they wouldn’t. This is unique and beneficial but it really only works for the majority, not the minority. The reason why it only works for the majority is the majority of the votes decides what laws pass and what laws don’t. The minorities then are not happy because what they wanted did not happen. This can cause frustrations and make the minority unsatisfied with the final result. With each form of government come certain laws, as evident by history. These laws in democracy’s case are political, but before there were common laws to go with Liberty. Po... Free Essays on Democracy Free Essays on Democracy Interest Groups Interest groups are a group of people who share common traits, attitudes, beliefs, and/or objectives who have formed a formal organization to serve specific common interests of the membership. Examples of interest groups would include such disparate organizations as the Auburn Chamber of Commerce, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the elementary school P.T.A., the Teamsters Union, the Southern Baptist Convention, the American Numismatics Association, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Brangus Breeders Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Cosa Nostra, and the Benevolent Order of Elks. Interest groups typically have formal admission to membership, dues, elected officers, by-laws and regular meetings, and they often provide information and regular opportunities for communication through newsletters or magazines, sponsor recreational or educational activities, organize volunteer public service projects, make deals for g roup discounts or group insurance and so on. Larger interest group organizations may have full-time paid officers or professional staff to manage and to supplement the efforts of member-volunteers in furthering the work of the organization. Many interest groups at least occasionally engage in some form of lobbying or other political activities with respect to issues that touch directly on the common interests that are the organization's reason for being for example, the PTA may organize support for a bond issue election to pay for erecting a new school building. Some interest groups have political activity as their principal or only reason for being in the first place. Interest groups that exist primarily for exerting political influence as a means of affecting government policies or legislation are often referred to by the narrower term pressure groups. Since more and more activities have become politicized with the expansion of th... Free Essays on Democracy [TOC] Introduction:- Democracy is a tender topic for a writer: like motherhood and apple pie it is not to be criticized. One will risk being roundly condemned if he, or she, points out the serious bottleneck that is presented when a community attempts, through the democratic process, to set plans for positive social action. A man is not permitted to hesitate about its merits, without the suspicion of being a friend to tyranny, that is, of being a foe to mankind?2 The notions of government and of democracy are independent notions and do not, from what I can see, depend on one another. What is likely required for the masses of people, as we see in "modern" world societies, is an established system of government. Where there is a need for an established system of government, it will likely naturally come about; and do so, whether, or not, it has the consent of the people, real or imagined. Putting aside, for the moment, the arguments of Hobbes and Locke, I believe, on the basis of plain historical fact, that governments come about naturally and maintain themselves naturally without the general will of the people; indeed, I believe, with many others I suspect, that our long established democratic governments in the world (the United States and Canada being among them) did not come about by the general will of the people, at all; nor is it necessary that it should it be maintained by the will of the people.3 One should not conclude, therefore, th at democracy is necessary for good government: It may not be. What is necessary for optimum prosperity is a state of acquiescence, which, as it happens, is the hallmark of western democracies. It may be, that the only thing needed is but the trappings of democracy. An individual or group of individuals may take and maintain power by the use of coercive force. From history we can see that this is the usual way by which power is gained, and maintained. However, it has long been understood t... Free Essays on Democracy Democracy How many of you know what democracy means to the American citizens? If you ask most young people what democracy is they will say its America’s government but for the most part that is all they know. Of course we’ve briefly discussed it in past years of schooling but nothing has really stuck with me or made me even think about it. Now, though, what democracy is has become clearer. It’s what America is based upon, for the people, by the people, and is the people, right? After reading a few articles on democracy and discussing it with others some new ideas and theories have came to mind. At this point in time, and in the past, democracy has been the best form of government for the American people. When I think of democracy, freedom is the first thing that comes to mind. Liberty also comes to mind and the actual definition of liberty is freedom from external control. Thinking about external control reminds me of a monarchy or dictatorship which are the exact opposites of democracy. Generally these types of government involve only one ruler while in America we have many representatives, yet it is the people who have the say in making choices by the way of votes. Its how the voting system is set up that really separates America from how other countries run their governments. Americans get to vote on laws and choose what they’d like to keep and what they wouldn’t. This is unique and beneficial but it really only works for the majority, not the minority. The reason why it only works for the majority is the majority of the votes decides what laws pass and what laws don’t. The minorities then are not happy because what they wanted did not happen. This can cause frustrations and make the minority unsatisfied with the final result. With each form of government come certain laws, as evident by history. These laws in democracy’s case are political, but before there were common laws to go with Liberty. Po...

Cómo recuperar impuestos pagados en EE.UU. por turistas

Cà ³mo recuperar impuestos pagados en EE.UU. por turistas En Estados Unidos, los turistas internacionales pueden recuperar los impuestos que pagaron por sus compras pequeà ±as en solo dos –Louisiana y Texas. Adems, cinco estados – Delaware, Alaska, Nuevo Hampshire, Montana y Oregà ³n  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ no cobran impuesto a las ventas, por lo que deben tenerse en consideracià ³n a la hora de decidir en quà © estado comprar si se quiere ahorrar en impuestos. Cabe destacar que como en EE.UU. los impuestos sobre las ventas no es una competencia del gobierno federal no es posible para un turista internacional reclamar lo pagado en este concepto cuando sale del paà ­s, sino que se ha de ajustar a las reglas de cada estado. Es decir, hay una gran diferencia en este aspecto en relacià ³n a otros paà ­ses, por ejemplo, a la recuperacià ³n del VAT cuando un turista no comunitario sale de un paà ­s de la Unià ³n Europea. Puntos Clave: cà ³mo pueden los turistas reclamar un tax refund en EE.UU. Estados Unidos es, despuà ©s de Francia y Espaà ±a, el paà ­s que ms turistas internacionales recibe anualmente.Estados Unidos es el paà ­s donde los turistas internacionales ms dinero gastan.El impuesto a las ventas no es competencia federal, por lo que o es posible reclamarlo al salir del paà ­s.Solamente dos estados –Louisiana y Texas– reintegran el impuesto a las ventas a los turistas internacionales.En algunos estados es posible recuperar el impuesto a las ventas en compras mayores como, por ejemplo, yates, autos o camiones.En 16 estados existen vacaciones de impuesto a las ventas por 3, 5 à ³ 7 dà ­as. Texas Tax Back o cà ³mo reclamar en ese estado el reembolso del impuesto a las ventas En Texas el impuesto a las ventas es, con carcter general, del 6,25 por ciento. Sin embargo, ciudades y condados pueden incrementarlo de tal modo que puede llegar a pagarse un mximo del 8,25 por ciento de impuesto. Texas es junto a Louisiana los à ºnicos estados que permiten reclamar la devolucià ³n del pago de impuesto por compras menores como electrà ³nica, ropa, juguetes, etc. Para que un turista extranjero pueda presentar la solicitud de un tax refund por sus compras en el estado de Texas debe cumplir con los siguientes requisitos: Pasaporte de otro paà ­sVisa vlida o pertenecer a  Programa de Exencià ³n de Visas (VWP)Un I-94 vlido, que se puede imprimir onlinePresentarse en un Tax Refund CenterPresentar los recibos de las compras realizadas en los à ºltimos 30 dà ­asBoleto de avià ³n de salida de Estados Unidos o itinerarioLa tarjeta de crà ©dito con la que se efectuaron las comprasLa mercancà ­a de las  compras realizadas Adems, hay que tener en cuenta que solamente se admiten los recibos de tiendas que participan en el programa. Por ejemplo, Macy ´s, Saks, Neiman Marcus, Victoria ´s Secret, etc. Antes de comprar se puede consultar la lista completa de establecimientos partà ­cipes. Asimismo, para que los recibos puedan calificar para la devolucià ³n de impuestos es necesario pagar en cada tienda un mà ­nimo de 10 dà ³lares de impuestos.   El dinero ser reembolsado de una de las dos siguientes maneras: en primer lugar, se puede escoger un tax refund al momento, pero se paga una comisià ³n que puede llegar a ser la mitad del importe. En segundo lugar, en un plazo de seis u ocho semanas, mediante depà ³sito a la cuenta de Paypal del turista o mediante envà ­o de un cheque o reembolso a la tarjeta de crà ©dito. Los Tax Refund Centers pueden encontrarse en centros comerciales, outlets, aeropuertos e incluso grandes almacenes como Macy ´s. La gestià ³n llevar aproximadamente unos treinta  minutos. Finalmente, cabe destacar que el Texas Tax Back, que es la institucià ³n del gobierno estatal que maneja estos trmites, cobra 3 dà ³lares por la gestià ³n ms el 2,75% del total de las compras. Devolucià ³n de impuestos a turistas internacionales en Louisiana En este estado sureà ±o el impuesto a las ventas general es del 4,45 por ciento sobre el valor de la cosa o servicio comprado. Sin embargo, con el sobrecargo de ciudades o condados pueden llegar a un mximo del 11,45 por ciento. Las reglas para los turistas internacionales para obtener el reintegro de los impuestos son distintas a las de Texas . En Louisiana los requisitos son los siguientes: Compra en tiendas en programa Louisiana Tax Free Shopping.Mostrar pasaporte extranjero en momento de la compraSolicitar el folleto tax refund voucher Para obtener el reembolso los turistas deben presentarse en un Refund Center en el Aeropuerto internacional Louis Armstrong  de Nueva Orleans, el The Riverwalk Marketplace, en el banco Capital One en Lafayette y Shreveport. Al acudir en persona a los Refund Centers los vouchers entregados en cada una de las tiendas participantes en las que se hicieron compras, el pasaporte extranjero con visa vigente a menos que se pertenezca a un paà ­s en el VWP. En todo caso es imprescindible estar legalmente como turista en el paà ­s. Finalmente, debe mostrarse el ticket de avià ³n ida y vuelta para estancia en EE.UU. por un mximo de 90 dà ­as. Los reintegros de menos de 500 dà ³lares se entregarn al momento en efectivo. Por cantidades mayores se enviarn por cheque al domicilio del turista en su paà ­s de residencia. Finalmente, tambià ©n es posible solicitarlo por correo electrà ³nico escribiendo a LTFSrefunfinfobellsouth.net y seguir las instrucciones sobre adà ³nde enviar los recibos. Estados con vacaciones del impuesto a las ventas Ni en todo los estados se paga el mismo porcentaje de impuesto a las ventas, ni los mismos artà ­culos son gravados en todos los estados que tienen este tipo de impuestos. Adems, 16 estados tienen todos los aà ±os vacaciones del impuesto a las ventas, conocido en inglà ©s como sales tax holidays. Durante esas vacaciones, entre 3 o 7 dà ­as, no se pagan impuestos cada vez que se compra un artà ­culo incluido en la lista de cada estado y por el importe mximo autorizado. Est pensado para los residentes locales, pero tambià ©n pueden beneficiarse los turistas internacionales. Entre los artà ­culos incluidos en esas vacaciones destacan ropa, material escolar, electrà ³nica, computadores, electrodomà ©sticos eficientes y materiales de preparacià ³n para eventos como huracanes. Tax refunds para turistas internacionales cuando se compran autos, yates, etc Las reglas dependen de cada estado e, incluso, de detalles precisos del negocio. Por esta razà ³n se recomienda consultar directamente con la autoridad impositiva del estado en el que se realice la compra. Es tambià ©n una buena prctica asesorarse con un fiscalista de buena reputacià ³n con experiencia en exportaciones. Por à ºltimo, siempre es conveniente hacer las cuentas sobre si sale realmente ms barato al comprar en EE.UU. porque en artà ­culos como autos o yates si no se paga en ese paà ­s, se paga impuesto de importacià ³n en el paà ­s del turista. Consejos para turistas que disfrutan comprar en EE.UU. Si se viaja a Nueva York una de las formas de comprar barato ropa y accesorios de marca es enterndose de dà ³nde se realizan los sample sales. Y si el interà ©s de un turista internacional es comprar una propiedad como inversià ³n o para disfrutarla en cualquier parte de los Estados Unidos puede hacerlo pero es recomendable que conozco quà © comportamientos podrà ­an poner en peligro su visa de paseo. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal para ningà ºn caso concreto.