Human Resources Management in Health Care Operations

Questions: 1. Explain the factors that need to be considered when planning the recruitment of individuals to work at St. Patricks Nursing Home. 2. Explain how relevant legislative and policy frameworks of the home country influence the selection, recruitment and employment of individuals to work in St. Patricks Nursing Home. 3. Evaluate the different approaches that may be used to ensure the selection of the best individuals, and make recommendations for St. Patricks Nursing Home. 4. Explain the theories of how individuals interact in groups in relation to the types of teams that work in health and social care. 5. Evaluate the approaches that may be used by staff at different levels to develop and promote effective team working at St. Patricks Nursing Home. 6. Explain the ways in which the performance of individuals working in health and social care can be appraised. 7. Assessment of how individual training and development needs can be identified at St. Patricks Nursing Home. 8. Analyse the different strategies for promoting the continuing development of individuals in the health and social care workplace. 9. Explain theories of leadership that apply to the health and social care workplace. 10. Analyse how working relationships may be managed at St. Patricks Nursing Home. 11. Evaluate how your own development has been influenced by management approaches that you encountered in your own experience. Answer: Introduction: There is an important role played by the activities of the human resources management in the different operations of the healthcare organization. The significance of the human resources management was realized in the 2000 B.C. Despite considering the type of the operations, the use of human resources was applied to any type of organizational activities (Armstrong 2014). In this essay, there is a detailed discussion of the recruitment process of individuals in health care, strategies for the effective building of social care, promoting and monitoring of the individual in the health care and approaches taken for the management of people engaged in health care. 1. Factors that is to be Considered when Considering the Planning and the Recruitment of the Individual at St. Patricks Nursing Home: The important factors that is looked into when there is recruitment in the organization for the positions that are vacant involves a very comprehensive policy of the recruitment, overall aim of the recruitment , the main objectives of the organization , policies of organizational personnel , government policies , post legislation , cost of recruitment and implication of finances (Armstrong and Armstrong 2011). For St. Patricks Nursing Home, the factor that is considered very important is the defining of the requirements for the candidates to be recruited. Some opportunities are present that can replace the employee for achieving the requirements of the hospital (Valentine, Mathis and Jackson 2013). There is a need for the nursing home to justify and clarify it. There is a need for the vacant spaces to be filled by setting out of the person specification and the role of job. With the role of the profile, the capabilities and the skills with the working experience and the profile of th e job will help in the effective evaluation of the individual at the time of the interview. When the candidates are recruited in hospital then there is a need for understanding the technical skills and knowledge, overall behaviour, past experience, manual handling of the capabilities (Byars and Rue 2011). There is a need for the internal recruitment needs to be considered as crucial for the St Patricks Nursing Home. There is a need for the nursing home St Patricks to advertise in the newspaper, internet and many job centers. St. Patricks Nursing Home should make sure that it attracts more candidates that are capable. 2. Ways through which the Legislative and the Policy Framework Helps in Influencing Recruitment of the Individuals in St. Patricks Nursing Home There are different countries in the world they have their own policy and the legislative guideline for the recruitment, selection and employment of the individuals in the organization (DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst 2013). St Patricks Nursing Home is also strictly following this type of rules and the regulations. Under the UK law, there is equal opportunities and the rights provided regardless of the religion, race , language and gender. Some of the major law that is concerned with the process of recruitment are Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Employment Act 2008, The Race Relation Act 1976, Employment Policy and Legislation Employment Relations Act 2004. Employment Policy and Legislation Employment Relations Act 2004 helps in covering the resolution at the place of work. This helps in enhancing the tribunal methods and there is equal wage for all (Tracy 2014). Sex Discrimination Act 1975 helps to resolve discrimination against the individual. There are many time the job searchers they are faced with the direct and the indirect discrimination. Direct type of discrimination involves deciding not to hire, rejecting with the training and not providing with promotion for what they deserve. The Indirect type of discrimination arises from the procedures, practices and the policies of the organization. There are many issues under the UK labour law that has been reformed by the Employment Act 2008. This will help in the resolution of the conflict, strengthening of the standards of the minimum levels of wage and standards of the employment. The St Patricks Nursing Home helps in the recruitment of a diverse workforce (Torrington 2011). As a Human Resources Officer, there is a need for implementing all the above acts along with the Equality Act 2010 so that there is fair recruitment, selection and retention of the staffs in St Patricks Nursing Home. 3. Different Approaches to Ensure Selecting Best individual and Recommendation for the St Patricks Nursing Home: The selection of the candidates by St Patricks Nursing Home is done as per the ability to perform the job efficiently. There are three steps that is used for interview, psychometric test and assessment centers. Interview: The first step that is involved when there is selection of the candidate involves conducting of the interviews. The interviews can be done through the structured or the unstructured form like the common face-to-face interview or one to one interview (Dessler, 2013). This would be helping the recruiter to get a suitable candidate and then matching the curriculum vitae of the candidate with that of the job description. All the candidates they are given the equal opportunities so that they are shown suitability to the job (Rothwell et al. 2012). Interviewer during the time of interview talks about the impression of the candidate and then it can amend any type of the superficial elements. Psychometric Test: The numerical and literacy are used as the trait which is seen to use critical reasoning and intelligence which is not revealed through the interview. There is a fair assessment of the candidate is done for the suitability of the job as all of them are tested through the standardized test (Werner, Schuler and Jackson 2012). There can be increasing retention of the employees when the employers they can predict the performance of the future (Dessler 2013). There is a difficulty that the candidates they can write anything in order to please the employees. There is a problem of language barrier, which can create misinterpretation of the results. It is recommended that St Patricks Nursing Home should be selecting the individuals through the structured interview. This would help in following some type of criteria and would be helping in getting the right type of candidate. There is also a scope for the candidates to ask questions regarding the job profile, prospects of the job and training of the organization. 4. Theories on the Way Individuals Interact in the Groups in Comparison to the type of the Teams that is Working in the Health and the Social Care: A team mainly involves a number of persons who are working for the common goal. There are several theories that help the individuals to work as a team. There are a number of theories on the way the individuals they interact with the team namely Belbin and Tuckman. The development of the team at the first stage involves forming as per the Bruce Tuckman theory (1978). This is the stage when there is no identification of the role of the members. There is identification of the role but the progress is little and when they are tested, the leaders will be answering the questions (Price and Price 2011). There are arguments and differences involved during the time of brainstorming. The members who are competing for it take the positions. There is a struggle for the power and there is difficulty in making decisions. Norming is another step through which the group members the members they are frankly exchange of ideas and views and there is behavioral pattern adjustment and the attitude to towards each other for the developing of the work habit (Belbin 1993). In this particular type of phase, the team members they agree and work towards rules and values, professional attitude, exchange of the methods and others (Stone 2011). The supervisors and the mana gers they are seen to contribute more. The members they are able to understand the others better through this phase. The team development was analyzed through the mature team, consolidated team, experiment team and undeveloped team as per the theory of Wood Cock (1979). St Patricks Nursing Home can use the theory for the development of the team from a group of strangers to the making the member focus towards the common goal. The development of the team will be starting when the feeling of the members will be avoided. The leader will be take most of the decision. As a team of experimenting, the long hours of working and favoritism will be discussed openly and the members would be listening to each other. The team would be more self-examining. With a consolidated team, there will be interaction with the members in the cooperative bases, which would helps in enhancing the interpersonal skills. The opinions of the others will be respected. There would be clear objective of the tasks and would be defined properly. During the stage of the maturity, it is evident that there is higher degree of productivity , methods of working style and leadership contributory. The team would be recognizing the duty with rest of the organizations. Through the theory there will be development of a productive team which would be delivering high quality service which would help in the retention of the staff and the enhancing of the quality of care. 5. Approaches that could be Used by the Staff as the Different Levels to Promote and Develop Team Working in the St Patricks Nursing Home: Several types of approaches work collaboratively in a group or team. There is uniqueness in every team so there is a need for a collaborative process of working. The following are the approaches that can be taken by St Patricks Nursing Home, which is concerned about the working of the teams in the organization: There is a need for diversity in the personalities and the skills for the effective working of the team. The members of the team need to use their strengths so that the weak points are covered (Dessler 2014). There is a need for the core objective of the team is understood and is explicit. This needs to be learnt by the members (Wilton 2013). There is a need for transparency and understanding of the responsibility of every member.There is a need for the development of trust among the members of the team, which is done through spending of quality time in the open environment. The members should be given the space to talk on the different type of subject and making a conclusion on the topic. There is a need for providing additional opportunities of social time with the others in the open sort of communication environment (Dowling, Festing and Engle 2013). The concerns that helps to deeply rely on the pledge and group agreement, will help in trying to engage all the members of the group in the decision making process and the implementation. There is a need for the members of the group to be engaged in the activities of health and social care. While the group is managed, there is a need to see that there is no communication barrier (Gilmore and Williams 2013). There is need to recognize the interactive, relational and the social issues. This all issues need to be identified and recognized early.There is a need for authorising the members. There is a need to provide appreciation to the best work (Prescott and Rothwell 2012). There is a need for leading and arranging meetings in a group on the nursing home. There is a need for the development of different team for the various tasks. For example, Team A would arrange for the meetings, Team B for the maintenance, the supply, and many more. 6. The ways Through which the Performance of the Individuals in the Health and Social Care can be Appraised: There are a number of steps for the measurement of the performance of the individuals in the social and health care organization. The main type of approaches involves level of performance, finding for the domains where candidate improvement is weak, marking the level of performance of the individual and the fixing of the standards that would be helping in the accomplishment of the standards (Harzing and Pinnington 2011). The performance management helps in preparing of the plan by the employees and the managers to monitor and review of the contribution of the employees for the objectives and the targets (Ivancevich and Konopaske 2013). The management of the performance can be appraised through the observation, appraisal of performance, management through the objectives and 360-degree feedback. The performance appraisal in a six-month or the yearly evaluation helps in understanding the contribution of the employees to their present job and their potential for a good performance (Mondy and Mondy 2012). This will be helpful in the communication of two types, improves the level of the performance , there is equal effort made by all in the setting of the objectives and the goals , identifying the needs of training and support for a better type of job. The performance appraisal will be helping the workers of St Patricks Nursing Home to improve their overall performance, which would be evaluated against the set of objectives and targets. The performance of the employees from the various sources will help in getting views on the performance of the employees. 7. Assessing the Individual Training and Development needs can be identified at St Patricks Nursing Home: The performance management would involve where the employees and the manager they prepare to review and monitor the employees contribution to the objectives and the target. Performance management can be done through the 360-degree feedback, observation, appraisal of performance and management through the objectives. Performance appraisal is a six months or a yearly evaluation of the contribution of the employees to the present job and the potential to perform better. This would help in the two way communication, improvement in the performance, joint effort for setting up the goals, identification of the training needs and support required for better job (Noe 2014). The performance appraisal will help in benefiting the St Patricks Nursing Home in the overall performance will evaluate the set of the objectives and targets. The performance management will be done through the 360-degree feedback. The feedback provided and the view of the performance of the employees performance will be made from the different sources. This will help in the accurate and the genuine feedback. The 360 degree feedback tool will be used by the St Patrick Nursing Home so that there is unbiased views on the performance of the employees. The problem like the poor communication, lack of teamwork and poor attitude needs to be dealt. This will help in improving the quality of the work and enhancing the performance. Under management by objective performance is evaluation against the extent to which the goals are agreed by the employee and the manager to achieve. As the employees will be involved in the process so the utilization of the improved satisfaction and self-appraisal as they would be involved in the process. 8. Analysing the Strategies for Promoting the Development of the Individuals in Health Care and Workplace When there is continuous, development there would involve variety in the activities of learning. The strategies for the promoting of the development of the individual involve the following: On the job training is a type of training that is gathered in the place of work. An experienced individual in the working environment gives the training (Mondy and Mondy 2014). There is a need for the appropriate type of training and this will help in acquiring of enough skills before the carrying out of the work. The human resources officer should be choosing the most appropriate form of on the job training for the employees of SPNH. The employees can use the knowledge, learners decide how they want to learn and increase the productivity as the employees they will learn as they work. The quality of the training will be done based on the knowledge and skills of the work. Coaching will help in the identification of the individual capabilities and the skills and this gives them the support to use them for the achievement of the goals. There is also need for the manager to possess the necessary skills for coaching the members for the development of the team. The benefits of the coaching is that the person who will be able to identify the goals and way of achieving them through, inquiry, reflection and discussion. Coaching will help in the acquiring of the skills. The lack of the resources will affect the development of the individuals. Mentoring: This helps in the continuous development. There is a long-term relationship established between the employees who are less experienced and the experienced employees through mentoring. The level of productivity also increases (Mondy and Mondy 2013). The high performing team will be established when the manager they have mentoring skills. Mentoring will help in enhancing the growth and productivity through the assessment of the feedback, which gives the mentee the sense of achievement. 9. Theories of Leadership Healthcare Applicable to the Health and Social Care Workplace: There are two types of leadership theories that can be used and they are Situational and the Functional Theory Model. Functional Theory: The functional theory focuses on the working of the leaders towards meeting the needs of the team. The leader will be aiming at achieving the cohesion and effectiveness of the team. The leader in such a case function participates actively, coaches the subordinates , motivates the others , organizes the task and monitors. This theory will be applicable for SPNH as there is no team work present. Through the active participation, the manager will be able to identify the weakness of the members of the team. Motivation will help in the retention of the staff and the through the system of monitoring. The errors will be will be identified and eliminated. Situational Leadership Model: The patterns and styles of the leadership depend on the level and the position. The situational theory helps in ascertaining the best leadership patterns. It has been believed that there are certain types of leadership applicable to the different situations. When the leader deals with the skilled expert groups then the authoritarian leadership is applicable to the less skilled workers. The style of leadership will be determined by the situational variable. This theory would be applicable for SPNH as the problems related to the staff turnover, poor teamwork, communication and quality would be resolved. 10. Managing of Working Relationship at St Patricks Nursing Home: Ivancevich and Konopaske (2013) has argued that the individuals they are able to achieve better results for the work done through participative , collaborative and person centred approach. The ground rules , respect and rights will be used for managing the work in SPNH. This would help in the resolving of the bad behavior and resolving the conflicts. The promotion of the rights by the members must be done for example the right to be respected. The members need to work in cooperation so that there is effective communication. There is a need for the employees to listen. A member will be only listening attentively through the body language, good eye contact, giving feedbacks and asking questions to the mentor (Valentine, Mathis and Jackson 2013). The views of the other staff will be accepted and staff will not impose their opinion in the others. The relationship at work can be better managed through the when there is allocation of the task done suitably in the organization. There is a need for all the members in the organization to understand and be fully aware of the responsibilities and the jobs .Apart from this there are some features and attributes that is to be incorporated through the working of the relationship. The people who share their opinions very honestly about their failure and the successes will be helping the co-workers to be motivated. St Patricks Nursing Home employees should consider and be aware of the relationship at work, as this will help in opening of the concept and new thoughts. When there is respect among the co-workers, there would be a valuable approach for managing the work relationship at St Patricks Nursing Home. The managing of the workplace relationship can be done through the interaction of the skills and communication. The managing of the conflict will help in resolving the friction and the disagreements among the employees which will be threatening the relationship at work. The differences in the opinion of the team members must be resolved within the team (Gilmore and Williams 2013). The staff will be able to bring in productive outcomes when they will be developing situational sensing. 11. Influence of the Management Approaches on own Development Encountered while Working: There are different types of skills and knowledge acquired though the development and training. This has led to meeting of individual need of the user. I gained the confidence for running my own duties. I was able to work well with the others when giving training to the workers. It helps me to build a strong relationship with the colleagues. There were times when I could not learn during the short phase of time. Training is also funded in my organization so that the cost can be cut. My manager helped me to learn about the approaches of training. I have developed myself throughout the course of my work as my manager allotted tasks to me. The experience and the knowledge that she held was passed on to me, which developed my profession. I clarified by queries along the course of my work. There were times when I received the criticism for my opinions. I have developed tremendously. My manager was approachable and flexible. There has been proper training and coaching received by my mentor. Working in the team has helped me to identify my fallacy. Team members have helped me to learn in group. Working independently has made me learn more from the experiences but it would be even better to work under someone for the proper guidance. For starting of a business, I would be recruiting the person who is capable for the post and proper training and guidance would be provided so that they turn out to be productive for the organizations (Gilmore and Williams 2013). I would be transformational leader who would be incorporating the changes in the organization as per the changes in the current scenario. Conclusion: Thus, it can be concluded that the management of the human resources is very important for the health and social care. The goals of the organization are dependent upon the people working in the organization. Human resource is one of the three principles of the inputs with the other two types of major inputs being the consumables and physical capital. There is a lot of planning and the controlling of the activities of the human resources so that efficient level of performance is done while meeting the objectives of the organization. References: Armstrong, M. (2014).Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page. Armstrong, M. and Armstrong, M. (2011).Armstrong's handbook of strategic human resource management. London: Kogan Page. Belbin, R. (1993).Team roles at work. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Byars, L. and Rue, L. (2011).Human resource management. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. DeCenzo, D., Robbins, S. and Verhulst, S. (2013).Fundamentals of human resource management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons. Dessler, G. (2013).Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. Harlow: Pearson Education. Dessler, G. (2013).Human resource management. Boston: Prentice Hall. Dessler, G. (2014).Fundamentals of human resource management. Boston: Pearson. Dowling, P., Festing, M. and Engle, A. (2013).International human resource management. Andover: Cengage Learning. Gilmore, S. and Williams, S. (2013).Human resource management. Harzing, A. and Pinnington, A. (2011).International human resource management. London: SAGE. Ivancevich, J. and Konopaske, R. (2013).Human resource management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Mondy, R. and Mondy, J. (2012).Human resource management. Boston: Prentice Hall. Mondy, R. and Mondy, J. (2013).Human resource management. Mondy, R. and Mondy, J. (2014).Human resource management. Boston: Pearson. Noe, R. (2014).Fundamentals of human resource management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Prescott, R. and Rothwell, W. (2012).The encyclopedia of human resource management. Hoboken: John Wiley Sons. Price, A. and Price, A. (2011).Human resource management. Andover: Cengage Learning. Rothwell, W., Prescott, R., Lindholm, J., Yarrish, K., Zaballero, A. and Benscoter, G. (2012).The encyclopedia of human resource management. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. 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presidio trust essays

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Web Activity 2 Twelve Tips for Team Building - Essay Example d it pretty nicely, as to how to manage these things with workable strategies and by involving all members in team discussions and giving right and opportunity to everyone to convey opinion, to come to a solution that is appropriate for the issue and group. A quick illustration of the 12 tips would give the idea that it is extremely rare that each member of the team feels as excited about the goal as the other team members. The difference is also present in the form of creativeness and innovativeness. It is thus necessary to know the expertise and the area of interest of each individual so to assign the task accordingly to maximize the team’s output (Heathfield). Moreover, the communication and collaboration among the team members, as described in the article, also have a significance value when we talk about mutual understanding and collective efforts. It is to me, not possible for a team to prosper in the long run, if the members are not in active contact with each other and cannot work jointly for problem solving or for the development of the team. So it is essential to make the social bond strong among the team member so they can work for the team’s goal and not their own! Another highly essential tool to make people feel more comfortable working in the team or as a part of any organization is, to make the environment more People friendly rather than a dictator type. That is to the change in the traditional Culture or attitude by which a team governs. If exceptional performances are not rewarded, people are not praised for their admirable conduct and zest, and the team lead fails to find a motivating factor for the team members, i t is quite possible that people would not put any extra efforts in their tasks and would feel de motivated, resulting in a decline in their passion and interest for the work (Heathfield). According to my understanding of this article, amongst the 12 C’s, the one that is the most imperative in the team building is the Control

Hispanic American Diversity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hispanic American Diversity - Research Paper Example Mexican Americans are the largest Hispanic group living in the USA. It constitutes 14 million people of Mexican ancestry, or 64% of the Hispanic population living in America. The main areas of their settlement include Southwestern part of the USA. Also, there are big Mexican Americans communities living in Chicago and New York, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama. Economically and socially, Mexican Americans represent cheap labor employed in service sectors. Most of them occupy blue-collar occupations such as manufacturing and farm workers, service workers and craftspeople, restaurant workers, drivers, gardeners, etc. Mexican Americans of both genders find considerable barriers to entering the labor market at the higher (and higher-paying) levels. With rapid social change comes also a whole range of problems associated with the provision of health and other social services for Mexican Americans. Today, there are insufficient funds for education programs and health care services for the Mexican American population. Most of them do not receive government support and social welfare living in total poverty. A family is the most important social institution for this Hispanic group. A father or husband plays the main role while women obtain a secondary social role. Most Mexican Americans are Christians, Roman Catholics. "The turnout among Mexican Americans is low (less than 40% vote). Of those who vote, large majorities vote for Democratic candidates in most states except Texas (where the Democrats win narrowly)" (Mexican American, 2006). Linguistically, Mexican Americans represent a bilingual group who speaks Spanish at home and English at work. Family traditions and values are crucial for Mexican Americans. At home, the main language is Spanish, and at work, they speak English. The group of Latin Americans includes Spanish people from Latin America but excludes the Spanish immigrants. This is a Spanish-speaking community. Although, immigrants came from Brazil speak Portuguese. Similar to Mexican Americans this Hispanic group confesses Roman Catholicism as the primary religion, but include followers of protestant, Evangelical, Mormon, and Islamic traditions. Culturally, this group represents a mixture of the Spanish and the Portuguese, the English and the French traditions. The biggest Latin American community lives in Boston.  

Religion and Politics Essay Example for Free

Religion and Politics Essay In the world today, there are several pillars of trivial issues that hold it together in spite of the several challenges. Issues like humanitarianism, peacekeeping, politics, religion, international negotiations or even conflict resolution have been on the frontline of such important tenets. However, the ever growing influence of politics and religion since time immemorial has made it one of the most outspoken subjects of all time with much spotlight being continuously placed on these two â€Å"twin† issues. Epley (40-48) articulates that the advancements in both religion and politics have astoundingly shot sky high over the recent times. This has led to an increased interest of scholars and researchers in issues to deal with religion and politics. As of today, a wide range of researches have been conducted to this effect and several volumes of academic material written so as to clearly define the relationship between the two aforementioned precepts. In a different study, Lerman supports Epley’s sentiments by saying that most of these researches tend to focus on the relationship between religion and politics with much emphasis being made on how the two can concurrently run together. He however goes ahead and opines that in as much as such studies have been quite informative, very little has been done by these researchers to fundamentally outline the elementary issue of whether the two should be interrelated and viewed together in the first place—as most scholars have done in the previous studies. It is therefore from this concern by Lerman that this study is going to not only focus on vigilantly highlighting whether both religion and politics should interchangeably influence each other-as they have been doing- but also on projecting on how such a study could be conducted if funds are made available. Theme for the study As partly glimpsed by the above writings, the theme for this proposed study is going to be Religio n and Politics. From the several research materials used in this study, most scholars amass that religion has had a great influence on politics just in the same way that politics also affects religion. To begin with, Cox (2) says that â€Å"Religion has influenced politics in America from the very beginning, religion continues to influence politics, and religion will continue in one way or another to influence politics for as long as we can anticipate.† Delcore adds that both religion and politics have greatly impacted one another. This has however come with the main challenge of pluralism since America is a pluralist state that allows freedom of worship, freedom of association and freedom to choose what to believe in (Murrin). In addition, there has been constant struggle between forceful religions like Christianity and Islam on who is the most domineering. As per the United States’ constitution, democracy fundamentally functions to protect both the minority and majority. However, it is common knowledge that the majority normally gets more decisions going their way based on numbers. And based on the alleged 55% Christian population in America, other religions have been silently complaining that most decisions seemingly favor them (Lormel). This problem is however not just faced in America; many other countries attest to challenges regarding religion and politics. The constant struggles between the Sunni and Shiite in Iraq or the religion versus politics conflict in Sudan are just but a few examples of such. Several other examples exist in many other areas around the world. It is therefore with great urgency that this subject is addressed; and that is the main purpose of our theme. In spite of the many achievements by law (whether religious or civil), a balance needs to be established so as to ensure that this dual partnership gives ultimate output (Murrin). Similarly, there have been numerous concerns raised on the use of religion to exert control over others. This is exhibited by the allegation of the wide involvement of the church in various campaigns both in the U.S and other countries (Simon). Based on the many positive issues associated with the religion-political relationship, Zeleny documents that Senator Barrack Obama, in his bid to woe voters, expanded George Bush’s program of investing federal money in religious institutions. This money was targeted at the low income earners and to help in alleviating the high levels of poverty by performing community aid work. This move greatly paid off as later indicated by the huge support Barrack O bama received from the religious background thus propelling him into power as President. On the other hand, it is important to note that it has not been a smooth ride for the relationship between politics and religion. According to Mella, most of the religious people who claim to be ardent followers of particular religions do not even have confidence in their religions. From the most elementary level of perception, this lack of confidence in one’s religion primarily discredits the church’s role in politics as being false. Again, there has been an escalating accusation of governmental institutions using their collaboration with various religions as a cover-up for their hidden agendas. For example, Zeleny documents that Obama’s involvement with the Christian community was considered as a fraudulent way of obtaining votes since his background clearly state that he is a Muslim. 2. Analytical question: Should religion influence politics or should the two facets be viewed independently Several questions can be raised from the theme. However, our focus is going to be on answering the question â€Å"Should religion influence politics or should these two facets be viewed independently?† in answering this, it is important to get a background knowledge on the relationship between religion and politics; then from there on we can focus on getting the appropriate answers. Preliminarily, Religion is an abstract concept and thus cannot be viewed as an entity on its own (Lerman). In order to ardently define religion, it is vital that we circumspectly view the context of definition, which people we are making reference to, among many other considerations. According to Connelly, the most representative definition of religion is: A mysterious manifestation of power and presence that is experienced as both primordial and transformative, inspiring awe and rapt attenti on. This is usually an event that represents a break or discontinuity from the ordinary, forcing a re-establishment or recalibration of perspective on the part of the experience. Connelly further adds that religion can be something done in an ordinary way but astoundingly leads to a large following of believers. In most cases, some mystique kind of perception is felt by the members who are then propelled into belief. On the other hand, Politics according to BrainyQuote.com is: The science of government; that part of ethics which has to do with the regulation and government of a nation or state, the preservation of its safety, peace, and prosperity, the defense of its existence and rights against foreign control or conquest, the augmentation its strength and resources, and the protection of its citizens in their rights, with the preservation and improvement of their morals. In relations to the question, different views are advanced by different scholars in trying to give a way forward. First, there are those of the opinion that religion and politics should both relate and help one another like they have been doing in the other past. Second, there are those who totally oppose this relationship and advocate for separation of the state politics and religion. Third and lastly, there is a group of scholars who are somehow in the middle and advocate for a balance between the two facets. We are therefore going to view all these arguments one by one. Starting with the group that propionate influence of religion to politics and vice versa; Lerman says that religious people have the right to offer their genuine opinion on politics. In U.S for example, freedom of speech and religion is protected and legalized under the constitution. This, however, should be done in a cautious way to avoid conflicting with other groups. With respect to this, a religious group like Buddhism, should behave in a way tantamount to their group, but still not be in conflict with either the constitution or openly condemn other religions. In addition, neither of the religious groups should use the authority and freedom bestowed to them to impose their rule on others. The scenario of imposing one’s authority is allegedly common with Islam states as well as Christian states. An example is the domineering influence of Catholic influence in the Roman Empire which has been alleged to overstep its boundaries just in the same way Islam is said to impose-through jihad- its religious fundamentals to people in the Middle East (Cox 6-8). Cox (3) further advances that there should be an increased influence of religion on politics since politics-by itself- cannot adequately stamp moral authority which is very essential for a country’s g rowth. This, he exhibits with the various cases like that of Martin Luther junior who-in spite of not directly routing for a particular political figure- greatly cultivated morality in politics through his numerous inspirational speeches (4-5). In making his contribution to this debate, Lormel asserts that the democracy in United States stipulates freedom of religion and this should not be deterred by any political authority-or individual for that matter- since it is a constitutional right. However, it is not clearly stipulated on whether religion should or should not affect politics; and in his interpretation, Lormel sees this as a go-ahead for the influence of religion on politics (3). Additionally, religion’s influence on politics is a moral obligation of keeping the politicians in check. It also serves a voice for the voiceless in the society who-more often than not- are always at the mercy of superior political classes and thus get frequently downtrodden on. Cox (7) strongly supports this idea by saying that: There is a larger moral purpose to public policy which goes far beyond brokerage and has to do with seeking a justice which is measured by how this society deals with those who are most vulnerable, its weakest members, and how they are dealt with. This is why it is not only the right but the responsibility of religious leaders, and of lay people in religious communities for whom this tradition is the basis of their lives, to remind those in power of this vision and to do so in such a way that the pretentiousness which is often present in kings and emperors and in public policy makers is punctured. The important role played by religion in various elections-like in the aforementioned case of President Barrack Obama’s catapult to office- is seen as very fundamental by many scholars and thus greatly encouraged by them Montanaro. To such political scientist, religion plays a fundamental role in vesting of power and should therefor e this role should not be stemmed out by alienating politics from religion. Lormel (4) says that religion provides platform for building a morally upright political environment just in the same way politics present a forum for instituting laws governing a country. This dual partnership is very healthy and essential for a country and therefore, doing away with this bond through separation of powers can be very detrimental not just to a country as an entity but even to the globe as a whole. In highlighting the views of those opposed to the relationship between politics and religion, Lormel (1-3) articulates that in spite of being religious, the founding fathers of America-who were responsible for creation of constitution- saw the need for separation of religion and politics no wander they ensured that the constitution allowed for pluralism. This, they did, despite the fact that most of them were religious. Again, to the proponents of separation of politics from religion, this independence ensures that both of these key aspects of the state run autonomously and thus ensuring maximum output from them (Shattuck 16-30). Epley (44-55) explicates that the separation also creates an ample environment for growth by the separate units since they themselves know how to handle their problems. In other words, religious organizations best know how to solve their problems just in the same way that political organizations know how to ardently solve their challenges or problems. Moreover, Simon reiterates that â€Å"There are many countries whose governments see religious resurgence posing a serious challenge to the future shape of their societies.† As a point of caution therefore, separation of religion and politics would consequently inhibit the threat for this alleged challenge. Shattuck says that the issue of separation of the church from politics is not a new thing. Based on his circumspective studies that involved various subjects, Shattuck documents that issues like the state funding religious organizations has been greatly objected as it is viewed as inhibiting liberty and encouraging favoritism. Simon goes ahead and exemplifies this alleged favoritism by saying that in spite of George Bush’s funding of religious groups was said to be fair, most of it was-indeed- fraudulent since there is surmountable evidences that the policy greatly favored some particular people who were allied to the president—George bush. Lastly, there is the group of scholars who tend to believe that striking a professional balance between religion and politics is the ultimate solution. Proponents of this idea propose two ways of making this happen. First, they opine that there should be a balance in the intrinsic relationship between the various religious movements. For example, there should be a balance in the way Hindus treat Christians and similarly, M uslims should also treat atheists with the same kind of respect they would treat their Muslim brothers. By ensuring a balance between the various religious affiliations, the perilous competition between them will be toned down and thus making them able to speak in one voice when addressing the political arena. History abounds with several examples where people of different religious backgrounds have come together and thus resulting in a unified resounding voice from them which has many times led to positive change in politics. Generally speaking, the church (whether Pentecostal or catholic) have always come out strongly in United States to oppose the implementation of laws like gay marriages which is an abomination in most religions. Lauritzen exemplifies this mutual relationship between different religions by citing the Evangelicals and Catholics merger-commonly abbreviated as ECT-in the fight against the institution of the volatile law on abortion. In spite of the political class shortchanging the religious organizations in the fight against legalization of abortion, it can be duly noted that-for once-, a clear and unified stand was taken by the pious world. Secondly, the balance between religion and politics is proposed to take shape inform of a mutual relationship between the two facets. So while religion will be charged with the responsibility of offering moral guidance in the political word, politics will on the other hand function to ensure freedom of religious organizations while encouraging unity between them. This should be done in a fair way rather than discriminating against a particular religious group or imposing a religion just because of the relative dominance it enjoys in a region. This type of imposition-as cited earlier-is very characteristic of Christian and Islamic states. In effect, the very essence of democracy and freedom of worship or choice gets corroded away by such actions. If the abovementioned guidelines are observed, there will be positive output from both ends without necessarily getting into each others’ way but rather complimenting the growth of one another (Shattuck 12-14). In summary, most scholars and researchers that I studied tend to support the continuity in the relationship between politics and religion. A good percentage of this proponents advocate for balance, while the rest believe that there has been a relatively good relationship between the two facets in the past and this should just continue in the same way. Of course there is the group that opposes the mutual relationship between politics and religion through the separation of roles between the two. In as much as this proposition has not landed on deaf years or has not been greatly opposed by their counterparts; the alleged positive results associated with continuity of the mutual effect of religion and politics tends to outweigh the positives associated with separation of po wers thus making the latter option less popular. 3. Importance of the research This research not only offers immense insights into politics and religion, it pans further into highlighting several other essential issues which-in effect makes it very important. A number of the significances of this research have been in-part mentioned or addressed above. Some other significance includes: Fundamentally, this study mentions and offers insights key issues like abortion, gay (same sex) marriages, terrorism, religiously branded killings e.g. Jihad among other essential subjects which are in great contention in the current world and have been threatening to tear the victims-like America-apart (Shattuck17-18). This is far much better than just burying our heads in the sand-like the proverbial Ostrich-hoping that the problems will fade away instead of wisely dealing with them head-on! In fact, it is by highlighting such challenges that it becomes easy to find a way of getting forward. According to the Manila Bulletin, issues to do with religion and politics were swept below the carpet by most people and thus making it difficult for a way forward to be found. But based on the ever increasing urgency and prolificacy of these two facets with regards to other current fundamental issues; it is the duty of everybody to contribute towards fostering a better world—be it by separation of the two or their continuity. With that in mind, this study addresses this issue of politics and religion in an in-depth way thus laying a platform for others to follow suit. In addition, Simon documents that â€Å"The end of the cold war left the world without an overarching narrative of good and evil and created a free market in ideas in which any group that is sufficiently assertive and has access to media can communicate its prescriptions for the common good.† As a result, some religious and political organizations have been enjoying unchecked freedom. This research therefore highlights methods in which this regulation can be done—with a balance between the two facets being the most proposed solution. This study therefore does not stop at showing where the problem is but goes further into proposing a solution thus making the research inherently vital. Finally, this research is richly endowed with authoritative facts, examples and even opinions which lay a foundation for future studies to be conducted by other people.   Education is a continuous process and based on this proposed study, someone else might just decide to pick up on a par ticular area and continue with researching thus fostering an academic empowerment. 4. How does the research connect to the literature? A wide variety of literature was used in this research. Different styles are employed in each piece of literature that is used. Some tend to take a laid-back position by talking on a general way about the concerned theme. Others however go ahead and opine of what should or should be done based on evidences which they present. Yet still, some literatures are purely factual and the writers base their arguments on attested concepts. In order to exemplify the ultimate connection between the study and the literature, it is inherent to note that most of the materials used here either emanated from political scientists or religious circles. As a result, most of the writers tend to support what they subjectively view as ideal to them and only a handful of them circumspectly address the theme of politics and religion. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that modernism has paved way for paradigm shifts; with more complex paradigms replacing the simple ones that were previously held. This shift has also had an effect on the literature with most of the current writings being more informative, incorporative and taking a certain pattern. Gabler tries to aptly represent this alleged change by noting that: Perhaps the single most profound change in our political culture over the last 30 years has been the transformation of conservatism from a political movement, with all the limitations, hedges and forbearances of politics, into a kind of fundamentalist religious movement, with the absolute certainty of religious belief. In exemplifying those who take a laid-back position, Shattuck (9) says that people should not worry about the mutual relationship between religion and politics since everything done by both of the facets have to be passed through the constitutional sieve which rarely goes wrong. Mella (2008) also softly contributes to the issue of religious influence in politics and social issues by saying that â€Å"There is a wide range of views on this, but our take is that the application of precepts such as sacred Scripture or the Catechism of the Catholic Church to our politics and society is healthy to the degree it isnt manipulated or distorted in service to a political end.† To the second category of those offering their opinion, Senator Danforth is quoted by Shattuck (8) saying â€Å"I don’t think people who have deep religious faith are expected to check their faith at the door when they leave their church or mosque or synagogue. Religion is something that infuses all of our lives, hopefully our personal lives, our family lives, our business lives, and our political lives.† The third group that represents the factual scholars is the most the trusted source of information. This is because facts are normally from authoritative sources thus giving more credibility and accuracy to the information. An example of factual material analyzed and used in this research is the verity that a good balance between religion and politics leads to an overall goodwill in the society (Orens 20-23). Shattuck (56) also taps into the use of facts by authoritatively stating that Martin Luther King greatly changed America in spite of never endorsing any politician from the various pulpits he was in. 5. How I would conduct the research Coffey denotes that religion and politics is a fundamental pair not just in America but also in other parts of the world. It is therefore not just enough to highlight the problems associated with politics and religion but also look at the prospects of making the dream of making both percepts fully actualized. If I had funds, time and opportunity to meet the sources relevant to my study, this is how I would conduct the research: My studies would mainly be focused on circumspectly highlighting the theme in question from a worldwide perspective. I would therefore select at least 5 countries from each continent and do an in-depth analysis of the various religious and political systems in place. In addition, I would ensure that amongst the five countries, there is a good representation of developed and developing countries. This is very important in knowing what roles religion and politics have played in such countries. Yet still, I would make sure that the countries selected are polytheists or have several religious groups so as to ardently get accurate, informative and representative results. In Africa for example, I would select South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. With the exception of Zimbabwe, all these countries are still developing with South Africa being the most developed. The choice of a country like Nigeria is based on the many religious factions that are present in the country and the constant debates that have been allegedly going there in the recent past so as to either join or separate religion and politics. The political system of governance in such countries is also very important for the studies i.e. whether dictatorial, authoritarian or autocratic. In Zimbabwe for instance, the political leadership of Mugabe has been greatly criticized for negatively impacting social and religious aspects of the country; the choice of such a country for this study would therefore provide a very interesting analytical angle for the research. There are various data collection methods that are normally used in various studies. However, since this research is highly prolific and requires substantial answers, it is very important that the methods used for data collection are highly inclusive. Primarily, I would conduct a survey on the countries in question so as to get adequate knowledge and information that will help me in the study. These interviews would be focused on religious and political leaders as well as historians who are viable and credible sources of information. The reason for the preference of interviews and questionnaires during the survey is because they allow for easy referencing and sufficient future analysis (Cano). Of course the nature of questions used in data collection will be simple so as to elicit lucid answers from the interviewees. Secondarily, I would use library materials-books, articles, journals-, online resources, governmental and non-governmental archives among many others. In order to ensure that the research gives as much information as possible to readers, I would make certain that neutrality and objectivity is ardently observed throughout the study duration. This is because any minor lapse in concentration can interfere with whole process thus jeopardizing the success of the study. Conclusion In my opinion, both politics and religion play important roles to each other and thus delinking them would rather destroy rather than build countries. Of course the collaboration between the two also has some relative negative effects (Simon). This should however not stand in the way of the immense benefits that the mutual relationship between the two precepts. In addition, despite the norm in life that the majority always gets things done their way, a balance should exist between the various religious factions just in the same way a balance should exist between the dealings of politics and religion. If this is done, there will be ultimate respect between all he involved parties thus fostering an environment for growth in each country.