Bienvenue en France: Chapter 3!!! Roskin

I was completely unaware that the Romans had such a huge influence on France. I was also unaware of the fact that France had been mostly Catholic since 496 when Louis, their chief, was baptized. King Louis XI who had ruled from 1461 until 1483 "doubled the size of France until it neared it's present-day shape." He developed a royal bureaucracy to increase taxation as well. This left France highly centralized for three whole centuries! I was a little shocked to read that Protestant Huguenots were massacred! If you were a Protestant Huguenot or had family or friends that were Protestant Huguenots must have been the worst feeling in the world! It makes me question that maybe they would either have to lie about their religion if they really wanted to stay in France otherwise they would have to relocate. I had no idea river were considered economic arteries, but it's completely understandable. I thought reading the little excerpt about geography and rivers was extremely interesting. They were important and allowed trade to happen outside and throughout the country!  Rivers were like today's highways! Isn't that an interesting concept? A different way at looking at the past! How interesting and intelligent people were to use such a natural resource to their advantage, yet so little minded to fight over a religion and science! An interesting concept Alexis de Tocqueville said was that revolutions occur when things are getting better. I thought this was both true and false. True because in my opinion it means that people are fighting for a change to make things better for themselves and others. False because many people die for something that may or may not happen. Just because you fight for it doesn't mean that it will always happen. I had heard of the term "Reign of Terror", but had never known the meaning behind it. After reading about it and what happened it's very scary to even begin to think about how horrible it mus have been like to live in those times. I cannot believe more than 20,000 people were beheaded! I thought it was funny to learnt hat Napoleon only ruled for 10 years before he was exiled to the Elba. I also thought it was sad at how little I knew about him. I only knew that he once ruled France. I never knew the background story behind his ruling. There was so much to talk about in the chapter because it was filled to the brim with information about the country, the culture, and the government. I was shocked to learn that France has 59 nuclear power stations!!! Nuclear power is of high interest to me not only because of what happened in Japan, but because it's so dangerous to humans and wildlife! I was also shocked by the reading on unemployment in France! I never knew that it was such a pressing issue. I thought we had it bad in the U.S. but apparently not. It's sad when you hear about other countries that have it much worse than your own, when your own country itself could be doing much better. I also didn't know there was any racial problems in France either. I guess no matter where you go racism will forever exist in different ways against different people. To sum it all up France has many ongoing issues including unemployment, education, and the list goes on. It's sad and I can't wait to learn more in class since I will be visiting this summer.

The following link will lead you to an article and video on tens of thousands protesting against gender equality teaching in schools and fertility treatments for same-sex couples! A current ongoing issue in the country.
http://www.france24.com/en/20140202-thousands-french-conservatives-march-family-http://www.france24.com/en/20140202-thousands-french-conservatives-march-family-values/values/http://www.france24.com/en/20140202-thousands-french-conservatives-march-family-values/

Chapter 2: Britain!

I enjoyed reading the impact of the past! I thought it was really interesting that the Polish student would change the geographical location of her country. At first I was confused until I read more and understood that if my country was surrounded by hostile countries I would want to change the location of my country also. I also never knew the full history of England and that it was invaded so many times! I also liked the thought of how parliament was created and formed. It’s very interesting. I never knew the Vatican and London had tension at one point. I thought that was extremely interesting as well. I never knew anything about King Henry VIII to be honest. It was very interesting to learn that he wanted to get the pope to grant him a divorce from his wife because she never gave him a male heir to the throne. I never knew that King Henry VIII tried to break England away from Catholic influence. That was also an interesting fact that I learned while reading this chapter. I discovered so much in the first four pages which was really cool. He had six wives and never got a male son! The common law system is also cool and we practice it in the US now too, with the exception of Louisiana. I never really understood the role of the prime minister until I read about it in the book. It’s amazing that it’s like a president, but t the same time it’s not. I believe the Prime Minister has a lot of power which can be both good and very bad. It’s good that they are unable to turn into dictators though. I’ve only heard of Winston Churchill as the Prime Minister I had no idea who the other prime ministers were. It’s good that we are able to read and have the internet to look up information if we have questions the book can’t answer as well. I also like how it compared the presidential system to the parliamentary system. It was more understandable. Even though reading it can be understandable pictures help as well. I also enjoyed reading about the educational system. Extremely informational and interesting as well. I went to England once and had the opportunity to go to school for a day, which was awesome to say the least. I prefer the schooling there than in the US. I was shocked about the race information given in the chapter. I never knew anything about it. Overall the chapter was extremely informational, filled to the brim with knowledge. I now know more about Britain than I ever knew or thought I knew before!

Chapter 1: The uses of Comparative Government

In reading chapter 1 of the book countries and concepts, I discovered a lot of information I never knew before. I also learned a few definitions. It explains what the book will be about and includes quarrels and of course comparisons. It also states what international relations are and has a short paragraph about it. I never knew the difference between comparative politics and international relations either. Who would know that without having to do work to look it up. After all we do live in a very lazy country with drive-thru windows and such. The books states why comparative politics and international relations can be confused with each other. "Comparative politics studies political interactions within countries, whereas international relations studies what happens among countries. It goes back and refers to Aristotle and how he found that the best- governed city-states had large middle classes. In the short reading about Aristotle it talks about "demagogues" and in the corner it defines the term as well. It also talks about three different types of government. It then leads to talk about democracy. In my opinion democracy cannot always be seen as a good thing. It is complex and very difficult to understand and not everyone knows the true definition of a democracy. The book also includes six definitions of democracy, some include competition and equality. It weird because most people look at a democracy as a way of freedom, but in reality there are invisible chains there withholding those who think they are free. It also talks about nations and states. A state is governmental institution. I was surprised by the books definition of a nation. I wasn't so surprised on how it described a nation is formed. It then proceeds to talk about geography, what made the modern state, the modern state, nationalism, how the past has impacted the present, political culture, key institutions, and ideology. It also talks about political culture. The first chapter consists of definitions and explanations and what the book will bring forth.

Mission Accomplished!

I have made my first blog!