Preventing Social and Political Corruption: The Declaration of Caracas as an Innovation by C.

Gallagher

Preventing Social and Political Corruption Table of Contents

Considerations: the Kind of Research that Will Solve a Problem in My Company ....................... 3 The Selected Problem that will be addressed through Applied Research ...................................... 4 A Short Introduction to the Research: Why this Topic Is Important; My Role.............................. 4 Literature Review: In Respect to Interviews about the Declaration of Caracas ............................. 5 Knowledge: Deweys InfluenceYale University and the Declaration of Caracas ...................... 6 Application of Deweys Influence and the Declaration of Caracas ................................................ 6 References ....................................................................................................................................... 8

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Preventing Social and Political Corruption The Declaration of Caracas as an Innovation Considerations: the Kind of Research that Will Solve a Problem in My Company Interviews conducted informally from our literature table and by phone have provided information that is the focus of a literature search, a related literature review, and further informal interviews. The informal interviews have already resulted in an article that we are circulating in our periodical about current applications of the Declaration of Caracas to prevent social and political corruption, and that involve the mandatory inseparability of education and government. The research that will benefit my company will instruct students and their communities about problems that exist about the (1) knowledge and (2) application of the Declaration of Caracas. Pertaining to educational and cultural programs that strive to surmount obstacles in disadvantaged regions, the Declaration of Caracas embraces ideals that form humanitarian and political policies, which are the focus of the Yale Law Schools Avalon Project ( Sklar, Hagen, & Yale Law School, 2008) that began through the derivation of the document on March 28, 1954. However, the importance of the document as guiding policy in law, history, and diplomacy ( Sklar, Hagen, & Yale Law School, 2008) remains rather esoteric, as informal interviews indicate. Therefore, Applied Research in this area is substantiated by the value of this research to correct imminent reactions of students and their communities to the current technological revolution, a sign of social instability and corruption that impedes their well-being, and that they believe should be corrected. Work that strives to prevent social and political corruption is important to the students and communities that this applied research will address. Thus far, the distributed and promoted literature about the document and related literature has resulted in a precedent of donated equipment and instruction to our company and to the disadvantaged communities that it serves. Although application of the Declaration indicates an effective solution to the struggles of technologically deprived communities, the levels of knowledge and effective application of the values and policy that the document upholds vary considerably among the company and associated members. Research methods will continue through informal interviews that may also include a brief questionnaire and survey. Interviewees do unanimously voice the need for a solution to social corruption, which today is evident as media terrorism and a digital divide as a consequence of disadvantaged areas in Africa, for example, and in Latin America and other deprived regions where penal systems need to be enforced effectively, and where drug traffic must be prevented. The applied research should result in a solution in the Bay Area, where public relations involve higher education, literacy, knowledge, and access to news, issues that are not valued by those who may be distracted by more immediate disadvantaging needs. Reports about the Declaration of Caracas involve Applied Research in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of statistical data as described in Practical Research (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010), which improve understanding about the integrity and socio-economic development that relate to instructional and publishing occupations. Because the solution to the problem involves knowledge and application of the Declaration, short-term outcomes of related

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research support the theory that one malignant side of computer dependency compels a digital divide between those with computer access and those in disadvantaged areas where computers are virtually nonexistent (Enders, 2006). This digital divide is a form of social and political corruption that conscientious scholars in law, philosophy, political science, and the humanities strive to correct. The research will be like action research because it includes the collection, analyses, and interpretation of data relevant to effective intervention that extends beyond the banner of qualitative and quantitative research, which excludes remote and under-represented populations as described in Enhancing the Worth of Instructional Technology Research through Design Experiments and Other Development Research Strategies (Reeves, 2008). The informal interviews, brief questionnaire, and survey will involve several issues that pertain to the concepts and the application of the Declaration. Will the interviews, questionnaires, and surveys result in increased percentages of individuals who are knowledgeable about the Declaration and its foundation? If we apply this action (knowledge and application of the Declaration) to our communications and public/learner relations, will value for our work improve? Will reactive problems associated with social and political corruption begin to subside? If we act according to the knowledge, related procedures, and actions of the Declaration (SPECIFIC ACTION), we should achieve a better result (GENERAL EFFECT). This inductive reasoning will follow our implementation of the Declaration in our collaboration, writing, and negotiations with customer/learner relations through our Applied Research. The Selected Problem that will be addressed through Applied Research The selected problem involves the knowledge and application of the Declaration of Caracas as follows: (1) Knowledge: The level at which individuals are educated in the Declaration of Caracas varies critically. I have conducted informal interviews to determine the varying levels of knowledge of those who might be acquainted with the topic; (2) Application: The level of success that individuals achieve as they apply their knowledge of the Declaration does vary considerably. Because application involves concepts that may correct consequences of social and political corruption, follow-up interviews are important to determine its impact and any need for further application, related research, and instruction. A Short Introduction to the Research: Why this Topic Is Important; My Role Functioning as a precedent, information already exists to substantiate the validity of further Applied Research in this area. Important groups such as the National Organization on Disabilities and the Latin American Journalists Federation (FELAP) have reviewed problems in disadvantaged areas where they have consequently provided controlled computer access, instruction, and improved educational standards. Access to news and information is essential to effective public policy; however, policy involves conditions that, when uncontrolled, lead to the inability of deprived individuals to access important information, another sign of social corruption. During Katrina, for example, when victims of national disaster were unable to access news, important communications systems, food, and rest, they looted and pillaged stores and homes, many which had been devastated--another sign of social and political dysfunction that

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many regard as corruption. Applied Research in respect to the Declaration of Caracas refers to knowledge and applications of the values and policy that promote humanitarian social policy. The research will reveal other applied research in disadvantaged regions (Kaye, 2000). If FELAP is exemplary of successful levels of knowledge and application of the values and policies of the document, my company and its communities should exemplify similar results. This topic is important to my organization because it involves access to web-based news; therefore, research of the Declaration of Caracas remains developmentalit includes action goals and constructive principles essential to future design; furthermore, the research involves interpretation and observations of interviewee reactions as defined by the course author (Smith, 2010). As the researcher and reporter systematically canvass the components of question or scrutiny, he/she develops refined questions, action plans, and methods, as well as new understandings (Cunningham, 2008, 3). The Declaration has influenced not only FELAP; it has motivated diplomats and engineers to the industrial programming of power sources, including petroleum, solar, and wind turbine. Because it focuses on the improvement of living standards and the correction of problems that compel destitution, such as the inability to be informed about important news and policy and the associated lack of computers, the Declaration is essential to the integrity of the reporting and publishing industry, and to associated educational systems and standards. The Declaration refers to the improvement of external conditions and the maintenance of dignity, qualities that researchers easily assess through questionnaires and surveys; therefore, the problem involving social and political corruption is being measured and corrected through standards defined by the Declaration of Caracas. Through the primary Editor of a Berkeley based company that is experiencing the current economic depression due to cutbacks in education and downfalls about the current technological revolution, I have learned of the need to distribute copies of the document, its foundation, and applications of it, and to conduct further informal interviews, brief questionnaires, and brief surveys about it. Literature Review: In Respect to Interviews about the Declaration of Caracas From its literature table and phones, I began to conduct casual interviews in the vicinity of Cabrillo College, UCSC, UCSB, and UCB Boalt Law School, Burrows Poly Science building, and near Sproul Plaza Student Union, while I was studying issues in sociology, philosophy, and psychology. Having completed several years in those fields, I began conducting applied research regularly that have compelled my discovery of two related problems pertaining to (1) knowledge and (2) application of the Yale University Avalon Project's Declaration of Caracas. Both focus on the importance of the work of Dr. John Dewey (1859-1952) to prevent social corruption. The literature review involves results of the interviews and related literature search--accurate knowledge that overwhelming percentages of individuals should know in respect to the relationship of education and government, which Dewey and Yale University address (Dewey, 1938, 1997; Dewey & Small, 1897; 2006; Sklar, Hagen, & Yale Law School, 2008; Westbrook, 1993; Berube, 2000; Stuhr, 2006). The results of the interviews indicate a fallacy that misinformed individuals maintain about the relationship between education and governmentjournalism, political science, and law that Deweys work clarifies (Dewey, 1938, 1997; Ryan, 1997; Westbrook, 1993). A problem directly pertains to the ability to apply that knowledge, and corresponds with the 2.56% of the UCB student body (UC Regents, 2011) and less than 1% of the entire populace that are

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knowledgeable about the value of the Avalon Project. In fact, the Project directly supports Deweys work that compels institutional stability and higher education as a lifelong solution to political corruption (Westbrook, 1993; Ryan, 1997; Berube, 2000; Stuhr, 2006). My organization is circulating an article that addresses this literature review, and that should result in increased knowledge within our communities about Dewey and the Avalon Project's Declaration. Knowledge: Deweys InfluenceYale University and the Declaration of Caracas Less than 1% of Americans have learned of the trials of WWI and WWII that motivated psychologists, philosophers, humanists, and educators such as Dewey to further educationalgovernmental reform. Yale University recognized him as an innovative mentor, and awarded him the Doctor "honoris causa" just before his death (Westbrook, 1993), and shortly before Yale Law School derived the Avalon Project's Declaration of Caracas. Resulting in a paradigm shift to educate the entire individual intellectually, morally, socially, and aesthetically, Deweys work was instrumental in the overall restructure of our educational system (Berube, 2000), which was based in part on the joint participation of an individual with the rest of nature (Dewey & Bentley, 1949). Interviews reveal that most communities are unaware of Deweys work about the social forces that each individual must create and manage through an empirical method and an inquiry into human affairs to ensure individual happiness and community cooperation (Stuhr, 2006). A problem prevails about the fallacy involving the state and academic institution that Dewey did address as he compelled others to focus on issues that directly involve effective diplomatic relations, which are important to higher education because they require studies in law and political science. Many psychology students are introduced to Deweys research and observations; yet, they do not learn how he influenced journalism and civil society, especially through his investigation of the 1936-37 Moscow Trials (Dewey, 1938; 1997) and his participation in American laboratory schools when Stalin had compelled many to flee Europe (Westbrook, 1993). In fact, as he indicates, even Confucianism, the Ancient Greeks, and the Roman Cicero addressed the importance of education and a related governmental structure (Dewey, 1938; 1997) to maintain a conscientious and stable society parted from the ethics of class-divided society (Ryan, 1997). Contesting "isms," the inchoate curriculum, excessive individualism, and related spontaneity as a deceptive index of freedom, (Dewey, 1938; 1997, 10), Dewey innovated reform of the institution to unify both education and government to prevent social and political corruption (Westbrook, 1993). Application of Deweys Influence and the Declaration of Caracas Directly associated with knowledge of the Declaration is the application of it. The application of the Declaration involves political and philosophy-psychology scholars who have influenced effective outcomes, such as the prevention of social corruption (Berube, 2000). Numerous examples are addressed; for example, the individual right to enjoy the environment and its optimal development free from drug traffic; and a beneficial penal system (IASCT, 1998). Numerous related applications have developed in respect to the articles established in the Declaration, which reaffirm the fundamental principles and goals of the Charter of the Organization of American States, The American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the "resolutions of the Organization that refer

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to those principles and aims (Skar, Hagen, & Yale Law School, 2008, para. 1). Applications of the Declaration include model agreements to achieve peace in Southern Africa where political and economic destabilization has been influenced by apartheid as aggressive actions from surrounding and frontline states (Masri, 2000). Additionally, applications have resulted in the beneficial cooperation among OPEC national oil companies, and in the states of the Free Software Foundation in Latin American (FSFLA) (MESACN, 2005). Furthermore, supporters of the Declaration discourage totalitarianism, and they support the National Organization on Disabilities and the Latin American Journalists Federation (FELAP) (Fuller, 2012), where Applied Research has resulted in controlled computer access in disadvantaged areas (Kaye, 2000).

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References Berube, M. R. (2000, January 30). Eminent educators: Studies in intellectual influence (contributions to the study of education). Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood/Praeger. Cunningham, B. M. (2008). Using Action Research to Improve Learning and the Classroom Learning Environment. Issues in Accounting Education, 23(1), 1-30. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Dewey, J. (1938; 1997). Experience and education. New York: Touchstone Rockefeller Center. Dewey, J. & Small, A.W. (1897; 2006, February 17). My pedagogic creed and the demands of sociology upon pedagogy. Digitalized form retrieved from the University of Michigan at http://books.google.com/books/about/my_pedagogic_creed.html?id=gZq6NB6R-P8C Enders, A. & the University of Minnesota Rural Institute (2006, August). Rates of computer and internet use: A comparison of urban and rural access by people with disabilities. Ruralfacts. Retrieved from http://dsc.ucsf.edu/pdf/report13.pdf Free Software for Latin America (FSFLA) Board Observers. (2009, July 29). Caracas declaration: Need for international and community cooperation in Latin America in favor of free software. Retrieved from http://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/anuncio/2009-07declaracion-de-caracas.en Fuller, D. (2011, Summer). The declaration of Caracas. Pressing Times, 12. Berkeley, CA: Bay Area Alternative Press. Ibero-American Supreme Courts and Tribunals (IASCT). (1998, March 4-5). Ibero-American summit of presidents of supreme justice tribunals and courts. Retrieved from http://www.tsj.gov.ve/informacion/eventos/caracasdeclaration.html Kaye, H.S. (2000, March). Computer and internet use among people with disabilities. Disabilities Statistics. Retrieved from http://dsc.ucsf.edu/pdf/report13.pdf Leedy, P. & Ormrod, J. (2010). Practical research. N.J.: Pearson Education. Masri, R. (2000, September 29). The OPEC Caracas declaration. Retrieved from http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2000/msg01013.html Ministers of Energy of the South American Community of Nations (MESACN). (2005). Declaration of Caracas on the occasion of the meeting of ministers of energy of the South American community. Retrieved from http://www.comunidadandina.org/ingles/documentos/documents/casa_2005_7.htm Reeves, T. C. (2000). Enhancing the worth of instructional technology research through design experiments and other development research strategies. University of Georgia, College of Education. Retrieved from http://it.coe.uga.edu/~treeves/AERA2000Reeves.pdf Ryan, A. (1997, February 17). John Dewey and the high tide of American liberalism. N.Y., London: W.W. Norton Sklar, B. & Hagen, V. M., & Yale Law School (2008). The Avalon Project: Declaration of Caracas; March 28, 1954; Inter-American relations, collection of documents, legislation, descriptions of inter-American organization, and other material pertaining to interAmerican affairs. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. Retrieved from http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/intam11.asp

Preventing Social and Political Corruption Smith, C. R. (2010). Module 1, theme 4, step 7. EDU 522: Research Methods, Improving Learning Organizations. Retrieved from http://www.jiu.edu Stuhr, J. (2000, April 1). John Dewey: Knowledge products (giants of philosophy). Ashland Oregon: Knowledge Products. UC Regents (2010). Facts at a glanceUC Berkeley. Retrieved from http://berkeley.edu/about/fact.shtml. Westbrook, R.B. (1993, February). John Dewey and American democracy. New York: Cornell University Press.