The rapid expansion of social assistance has been a feature of developing countries in the new century. Large-scale programmes providing direct transfers in cash and /or in kind to households in poverty are now widespread. Social protection or assistance interventions are often justified by reference to society`s responsibility to ensure basic levels of need satisfaction (White, 2010). Social assistance programmes and institutions are legitimate, and therefore justifiable, if supported by legislation. The major welfare programs are EITC, Housing Assistance, SNAO, SSI, and TANF.social welfare is an important tool for redistribution, social cohesion and solidarity.
n a democracy, people vote for the leader they feel will best represent them; in a dictatorship, citizens hope their leader will represent them well. Ideally, citizens like to believe a person in power makes choices based on logic and rational thinking. In actuality, however, politicians aren’t always “rational.” Rational is often defined as, “the condition in which values, beliefs, and techniques are believed to be based on logical, explicable principles” (Encarta World Dictionary). Citizens of every nation depend upon their leaders to make decisions deemed lucid. Most believe logical mind is a very important trait for a world leader to have because a bad decision could risk the safety of their citizens. Unfortunately, most political leaders don’t seem to possess a rational mind. As most political realists will note, politicians seldom go through the rational decision make process while making choices regarding their nation.
When formulating a rational decision there are several steps that must be taken in order to ensure the choice made is the most beneficial the nation. The first step is to recognize the problem. Gather all the possible information from every different perspective. The second step is to determine the objective. In other words, what is the goal? Without a goal there is no purpose to the action. The third step in rational decision making is determining other alternatives. It is very important that the rational decision maker evaluate all possible alternatives and weigh them against all others. Finally, a choice has to be made. Only after going through this process can a decision be considered logical.
As most realists will point out, that process is idealized and not generally followed. Part of the reason political leaders can’t make decisions based on rationality is that rationality requires certain criteria that leaders don’t always have. Rational decision making requires quite a bit of time, which isn’t always an available luxury. It also requires a significant amount of information. In a situation like the one that arose immediately after September 11, 2001, the United States government had virtually no information about who attacked America. This made making a traditionally logical decision almost impossible. Even when there is available information, it is often distorted and incomplete. The idealist’s rational procedure makes the assumption that all knowledge, especially regarding objections and alternatives, of the situation are complete, true and unchanging. If such were the case, grave political decisions, like deciding to invade Iraq in 2003, may have been avoided.
Most citizens also like to believe those in power are basing decisions on national interests and objectio
