IHSS Blog 2018-2019

Charlie McGill Mr. Roddy IHSS 10.31.18 Where Voting Matters: Brazil Brazil just had their presidential election, and Jair Bolsonaro has won. Jair Bolsonaro is a far right candidate who has often been compared to Donald Trump. The difference between them is that Bolsonaro has said even more hateful things than Trump has. He has been very hateful towards minorities, but especially towards Brazil’s indigenous population. They are who might be most affected by his election, and they are why voting matters so much. Bolsonaro has been very clear on his wish to get indigenous Brazilians out of Brazil, saying things like “It’s a shame that the Brazilian cavalry wasn’t as efficient as the Americans, who exterminated their Indians.” If he enacts his campaign promises, indigenous people could be facing catastrophe, or at worst, genocide. Bolsonaro wants to take away their protected land, saying that if he becomes president (he is president now) that they won’t have a single cenemit...

Brazil uses two different systems being the majority and proportional, to define the winners of the election depending on the office being elected. All Executive positions (the president, governors, and mayors) and Senate races are decided according to the majority system, in which the candidate with the most votes wins. The remaining votes, i.e. those for the Chamber of Deputies and municipal and state legislatures, are decided according to the proportional system. President and governor races also follow the two-round system, in which a run-off election occurs when no candidate obtains more than half of all valid votes, this will happen October 28th this year. Voters choose a specific candidate for each position to be filled and their choice is kept confidential, all votes are strictly confidential. The two candidates running are Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party and Fernando Hadad of the Workers Party. One of the major reasons the Brazil election is being so talke...

Brazil is currently in the midst of an important election season. The previous president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was put in jail for corruption and money laundering. His supporters urged him to run from jail, but due to legal difficulties he had to back out. Instead of running directly, Lula got his running mate, Fernando Haddad, to run in his place. Soon, “Haddad = Lula” campaigns started appearing, urging all Lula supporters to vote for Haddad. How exactly Lula plans to run through Haddad isn’t exactly clear. He may be planning to communicate with Haddad through jail or he may be planning to directly take Haddad’s place once he gets out of jail (if he can do so legally). Haddad, of the liberal party, is running against Jair Bolsonaro of the conservative party and is currently seventeen points behind in the polls. Bolsonaro has extreme right- wing views on gay rights and women's rights but is still leading in the polls due to the corruption of his opponent. The election ev...

Voting is important all over the world but arguably the most important vote of at least the 21st century is Brexit. This “referendum” decided whether or not Great Britain would leave or stay in the EU. The votes decided to leave and past this point many negotiations have started between the British government and the rest of the EU. At this point the government says they will leave the EU under most circumstances. Negations are now being had on how close ties the two organizations/governments should keep mostly regarding trade and immigration laws. The two main differing opinions on this are some people want lose ties to a point almost as if they were still in the EU. Others want to cut all ties and countries in the EU we be like any other country in the world trade with tariffs and visas becoming the norm. Voting ended very close with 51.8% of people for and 48.2% against. People from all over the UK voted with a 71.8% voter turnout. The elections were a very democratic process wh...

Gabriel Han Brazilian Elections The general elections in Brazil are right around the corner, on October 28, and these are important. These elections are for president of Brazil. The reason this vote is important is because the winner of the election could be extremely influential on Brazil, and could cause problems for Brazil and the US. The first round occured on October 7, with the winner being Jair Bolsonaro with 49.2 million votes, he won the first round. The second round on October 28, will be between Jair and Fernando Haddad. On September 6, 2018, Jair was stabbed. This is thought as a political attack as it occurred while he was campaigning. The way that the Brazilian elections are conducted is in a two round system, with one round determining which candidates go into the second round, and also thinning the herd, with the second round determining the winner. But if anyone receives more than 50% of the votes in the first round, they are elected. The second round is only he...

Blake Peterson Mr. Roddy IHSS 25 October 2018 Cameroonian election         In Cameroon there was an election that was between eight different candidates. The candidate that is most likely to win is a man named Paul Biya, who has been the president since 1982. The other political parties tried to work together to overcome the leading political party, which has been leading for 32 years. People voted in the election with the hope that Paul Biya would lose the vote and there would be a new president. Many people in the country do not like Paul Biya and say that the abundance of candidates is proof the people are worried about their future. The election took place on October 7 and Paul Biya was the winner by 71 percent of the votes. In places that would have most likely voted for a different candidate there were low turnouts. Days after the election there were protests in the streets by people that said the election was rigged and that a man nam...

      Next year, 2019, during April and May, Egypt will be holding their first local elections in a decade. They are hoping to enter a time of consistency after six long years of unrest. After an uprising that ended the 30 year rule of Hosni Mubarak, the government ran local affairs without the aid of a council. This has been going on since 2011 and now in 2019, the Parliament must pass laws that will allow for the local polls to take place. Supposedly, last year there was mentions from authorities and they were going to hold several municipal elections throughout the year, but this never happened. Elections not taking place was due to legislatures not passing the administrating law on time. The last local elections took place in 2008 and the democratic party mostly won these elections- the most dominant party, that is, until the overthrow of Mubarak. Mubarak was overthrown after three decades of ruling. He was overthrown as a part of the Arab Spring Uprising.   ...

Izabella Curtis Mr. Roddy IHSS 24 October 2018 Voting in the USA Voting is a huge deal in America. Choosing one person who YOU think will do his/her best for your community is a BIG DEAL. Unfortunately America is a bit of a joke when it comes to voting. Does anyone else remember when a chunk of the population voted for a dead gorilla to be our president? Currently our Country is about to go threw the voting process on November 6. Especially for Texas we have the election for our state senate. Cruz (republican) Vs. Beto (demarcate). A close race indeed, now let me tell you about a very special system america has.            Electoral College. Electoral College is made up of 538 electors who cast votes to decide the President and Vice - President of the United States  of America.   The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes (270) wins the Presidency. The number 538 is the sum of the nation’s 435 Representatives, ...

This past March, The Republic of Cuba held their first election in the Post-Castro era. In Cuba elections and appointment of political figures work differently from most other countries and is a complicated process that has many steps. This election that took place in March was the election for the National Assembly of Cuba. This year there were 605 representatives that ran for one of the 605 seats in the assembly. This means that only one person ran for each seat. However, in order to run for the seat, the candidates were chosen by locals to become municipal representatives. These representatives would later appoint the new president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel. Surprising to me was that 53% of the new representatives are women which places Cuba as one of the top threes countries with female representation. However, even though Castro stepped down and Cuba has a new president, Castro still has power in Cuba because he is still the leader of the Communist Party. The new president of ...

         Madagascar is in the midst of their upcoming mid-term elections, hoping to result in the start of a more inclusive government. Christian Ntsay, Prime Minister of Madagascar, announced on Friday the official dates of the election which will be November 7th (first round) and December 19th (second round). Under the rule of President Hery Rajaonarimampianini, the political situation of Madagascar has not developed or strengthened and is still similar to their government in the year 2009. President Hery Rajaonarimampianini has not announced whether or not he will be running for his second term.           Chaos began in April 21, 2018 when the parliament put out a new set of laws. These laws were then denounced, meaning declared to be wrong, by the opposition. Many protests began and continued with support from independent parliamentarians and on May 3, after protesting approached the High Constitutional Court, it was decid...

The Voting and Elections in Jammu and Kashmir If there is one place in the world that should be talked about a lot more right now, it's Jammu and Kashmir, which is also known as J&K. Just to give a little information to where Jammu and Kashmir is located in the world, it is a state located in northern India, in the divide between Pakistan and India. It is located mostly in the Himalayan Mountains and shares borders with the states of Himachal, Pradesh, and Punjab to the south. The voting that is currently going on there is more specifically going on in the Indian part of Kashmir, as there are two parts of Kashmir, the Pakistani part and the Indian part, while Jammu is separated entirely from all of Kashmir. The elections for local government body, ULB (urban local bodies), began 2 weeks ago and went from October 8th to October 16th, while the actual counting for these polls ended just 3 days ago, on October 20th and these elections are being held after a gap fo 13 years....

Very recently in America, we have seen milleninals taking charge and deciding to vote. Since recently we’ve seen a lot of school shootings, the younger generation is really pushing to put more restrictions on who can buy and use guns. As well as that, in Houston we are seeing a big debate with ted Cruz and beto. Once again, there is so much pressure on the younger generations to vote, since they can have the biggest impact. They both have very opposing views. Beto is mainly for gun control and pro- choice, which are very important issues that millennials are looking for. From the estimated voting result, we see how close the 2 candidates are. Beto is up by a little, but if many of the younger voters cast their vote, Beto is the estimated winner.

The 2018 Italian General Election The Five Star Party The Italian general election took place on March 4th, 2018, and it was a very big event in Europe. The Five Star Party, which is said to be contreversial, has been leading the polls since it was created in 2009. This party's approach doesn't fit the customary "left - right" political scale, which was a very important factor in the general election. Since the party's new leader came on board, the Five Star Party has become even more popular than it already was.  How the Election Works Italy's government is run by the combination of First Past the Post and Proportional Representation. In the Italian Government, there is something called the Chamber of Deputies. It has a total of 630 seats, and 232 of them are elected by the FPTP. Then, there are 386 seats held by the PR, and 12 seats given to politicians voted on by Italian people who are living in other countries. Each Italian citizen gets one vot...

Ashwin Dev Mr. Roddy IHSS 24 October 2018 Where Voting Matters - El Salvador The Salvadoran presidential elections are going to be held on February 4, 2019 with a second round in March if no candidate wins an outright majority. El Salvador has a limit for a single 5-year term which means that the current president,  Sánchez Cerén  will not be able to run for this election. This election is different from most in the past due to the new political parties law, which says that a single candidate from each party must be chosen before the date of the election. The two parties at the moment are apart of El Salvador's multi-party system which include the National Republic Alliance (ARENA, right wing) and the Farabundo Mart í National Liberation Front (FMLN, left wing) as well as 2 other new parties.  Arena has been out of power since 2009 however they have chosen a man named Carlos Calleja to represent them. Calleja is a 42 year old businessman who owns a chain of sup...

In Maldives they just recently had an election for their president on the 23rd of September. The two most important candidates were the ruling president, Abdulla Yameen, and the opposition trying to kick him out of offices’ candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Maldives has only been an independent country since the 60’s, and it’s only really had democracy for a decade. Previously, Maldives had been under a strict dictatorship for thirty years from Maulmoon Abdoon Gayoom, until he was voted out. The reason why the election was so important though, was because it would determine whether or not democracy would continue in Maldives. The presiding President elected in 2013, Abdulla Yameen, has been on a track for destroying the Maldivian democracy. Since his election, Yameen has taken out tons of loans from the Chinese for infrastructure, making up over ¼ of Maldives’ deficit, which other diplomats find concerning, and they are worried that it would enable china to influence Maldives. Througho...

In Ireland on October 26th people will be heading to the polls. This year there are 5 candidates running against the incumbent Michael D Higgins. The polls in recent weeks have project Higgins with a 66-71% of the vote. If Higgins were to win again he would be serving yet another 7-year term. The two main candidates in the election this year seemed to be Higgins and the Sinn Féin, Liadh Ní Riada. Many Believe Higgins will win this year because of his very positive and successful previous 7 years. Some of the reasons people are voting for Higgins is because of his actions on some of the more recent topics as well as some of the things he has done such as the Eastern Rings, Abortion and Gay Marriage. The way he has voted on these is what some believe how he can pull in the younger voters. I believe this is were voting really does matter because in Ireland, once a candidate elected, he will be there for the next seven years. In this election voting matters, yet if you are not Higgins you ...

Adrian Perez Mexico entire system has always been complicated. With many different elected officials being corrupted, not necessarily the president, but some of their officials. It is safe to say for some time, he country of Mexico has been corrupted. For many time they have had the money to be able to control the news medias, putting in at least a few million to change the way they are viewed. As of right now, the President of Mexico is Enrique Pena Nieto, he has been the president for almost six years. He was not eligible for the 2019 presidential term so the next president will be Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The voting system is semi-similiar to ours. The people vote for a president for a six year term. No president can be eligable for the second term so after the six years its over. All the elections in Mexico are no- incubenr.  Now talking about the voting system in Mexico, like i said before its corrupted. Many of them use their higher power to be able to keep that power....

Tyler Holland Mr. Roddy IHSS Madagascar Presidential Election The Madagascar elections are held using a two round voting system. If one candidate has the majority of total votes by the end of the first round there will be no second round and he will be elected president. If no one has the majority of the votes, then they will move on to the second round of voting and whoever has the most votes will be elected. This year, the voting will take place on November 7th, and December 19th. Some noteworthy candidates (out of the 36) include four of the past five former presidents of Madagascar, one of whom resigned in 2009 because he was involved in a political scandal involving a coup. This is typical of Madagascar since there are so many candidates, usually candidates who are eliminated in the first round would usually vote for certain candidates in the second round in return for their support in the future. Many people were concerned about how it would work out with so many candida...

Libya is in the midst of a Civil War so this will be one of the most important elections in their countries history. For nearly a decade, Libya has had problems within their government and they have struggled to unite the country. The country has been severely divided to the point where there are two different governments within the country and they are fighting for power and control over Libya. Due to the many issues, there are doubts that the election will even happen and many people are opposed to the election actually happening. People opposed to the election believe that it will cause more harm then good and they think that it doesn't matter who wins the election because the opposite side will rebel and that it will spark an even larger problem than before. Currently, Libya is working on a new Constitution and they are trying to reform their legal system. Many people think that they are not ready for an election but if it does happen, there are a lot of effects it could have o...

            Cuba has undergone a drastic change. For the first time in 60 years, Cuba will not be occupied by a member of the Castro family. Over 8 million citizens voted for the new president. Raul Castro has been the countries president since 2008. He announced in 2013 that this will be his last 5- year term as Cuba's president. The new president was to be chosen in April.  Vice President Miguel Díaz-Canel is one of the favorites for the job according to Cubans. People will cast their votes for one of the 612 members of the National Assembly of People's Power. The Assembly members will be elected for 5 - year terms.  Vice President  Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected as president. Cuba's economy is struggling, because of Raul Castro. Although, there will be a significant change in the  economy because of the new president. Cubans are not expecting anything to happen immediately. Miguel Díaz-Cane...

This month in only a few days, the second round of voting for the Brazilian election is going to take place. The current candidates being Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party (PSL), and Fernando Hadad of the Workers Party (PT). The way that the Brazilian election works is using a two round system. The first round of the election is held on the first Sunday of October (October 7th this election) and if a candidate wins over 50% of the vote in the first round, then they are declared president. However if a cadidate does not win over 50% of the vote, then it will advance to the second round of elections, where only the two most voted candidates are on the ballot.  This election has been incredibly controversial, mainly due to the controversy surrounding Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro has been in the Brazilian congress since the 1990's, and is a known racist, misogynist, homophobe, xenophobe, and has raised a alarmingly high amount of support from the Brazilian people. Despite saying that ...

Cidette Rice October 22nd, 2018 IHSS Venezuela Voting On May 2nd, 2018, Venezuela had their presidential election. The two main campaigners were Nicolás Maduro and Henri Falcón. Falcón was previously governer of Lara State, and Maduro was running for his second term as president. This 2nd term would immediately follow his previous one. Maduro was first in office in 2013, taking on the role of President after President Chavez’s death. There would then be an election for a new president that he would win, all the while making claims that beloved President Chavez endorsed his campaign. He had talked much of President Chavez, including an incident where he said President Chavez appeared to him as ‘a little bird’. During the 2013 elections, Maduro swayed voters by giving gifts to those who were loyal supporters, and ended up winning 50.2% of the Venezuelan people’s votes. During his Presidency, Venezuela’s economic crisis from 2013 worsened, and there were years of riots, looting,...

In 1994 the country of South Africa became a democracy. The first president elected to represent South Africa as such was Nelson Mandela, a famous peace activist and longtime leader of the country. When Mandela was elected it was a very important moment because he was the first black head of state for the country. Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa was the most recently elected president of South Africa. He was elected in February of 2018 and will have a 5-year term, and after that will have the option of another 5-year term. Ramaphosa is part of the African National Congress (ANC) which is the main governing party in South Africa. In South Africa, there is a National Assembly consisting of 400 elected members each serving a 5-year term. The NA is a part of the Legislative branch of the government in South Africa. In order to be elected the candidate must currently hold a spot in the NA, however, once you are elected as president you lose your spot so you can serve your term. As the president,...

Jack Gross The freedom to vote was one of the biggest founding principles that shaped our country on its path to get to how it is today. The idea of having everyone be able to vote, was one of the big reasons that America broke off in the first place. However, even though the idea of giving everyone the right to vote, was such a central part of the foundation of this country, often people don’t use it. A common problem that occurs during elections is the ideas that people get, thinking that their votes don’t matter. This is a huge problem because many people just don’t vote because of this, and it’s not just a few people, often thousands and thousands of people don’t show up to vote which can dramatically change the results of elections. In the United States we have some very important elections coming up soon, and in all likelihood many people will not show up to show their support for their favored candidate. The elections that will take place soon will have a h...

Based on the six different categories here are my political views. I go to a private high school and am more educated in science which influences thoughts on gay marriage, it’s not a choice you’re either born gay, straight, bi,etc. so it should be legal. I also have a high family income which goes towards me going to private schools and which leads into what I just said before about my knowledge of science. And where I live influences my belief in climate change because Houston floods at least twice a year and it keeps getting worse and this isn’t just in Houston there’s pretty much a new hurricane every month. I am white, but that doesn’t really play into my political beliefs, I do believe in immigration but regulated because America is technically almost entirely made of immigrants, the only people that weren’t immigrants were Native Americans. I’m not religious what so ever, that said thats what influences my political beliefs the most. Abortion should be completely legal no questi...

John Mazziotti October 23rd, 2018 IHSS Mr. Roddy Where Voting Matters Voting is an exercise that has been around for hundreds of years, in a government, this act depicts what candidates are elected into a position of power. The United States is a great example of this, and has been electing candidates since it was first established in 1776. The country has stayed that way since, and there have been 45 presidential candidates elected. The USA also elects: Mayors, Judges, Senators, Governors, and many more occupations. There are some countries like North Korea that have a “Democratic Election”, but in reality the votes only go to one candidate. These individuals belong to the Kim family, and the elections have been the same ever since the communist country was established in 1948. Other Countries like Australia and Argentina have mandatory voting styles. This means that when a citizen turns 18 in these 2 example countries, are forced to vote by law. Saudi Arabia’s voting sys...

Justin Patera Mr. Roddy IHSS October 23rd, 2018 Where voting matters Michael D Higgins will be running for his second 7-year term this coming fall. The election will take place on October 26th. He has been president of Ireland since he was elected for his first term back in 2011, he beat 7 other candidates, this was an all-time high. During his previous election (2011) he swept the floor with roughly 57% of the vote. Within Ireland he is a very popular “left-wing” politician and has done many great things for Ireland including; being in the first Irish State visit to the UK, “He has also been president during a period of great social change in Ireland, namely with the landmark referendums on marriage equality and abortion.” He has also been able to rise above all the politics, meaning he’s kept the peace by not saying the wrong things when publicly speaking. This is a very important election within Ireland because this is their president and because the country has seen such great ...

I have grown up a liberal. My mother grew up in Houston, my dad in upstate New York. They met in New York City and lived there for fifteen years before they moved to Houston and had my brother and I. I think by living in NYC they were exposed to a liberal way of thinking that formed their political views. Growing up in Houston myself, I think this city has had a major impact on my political ideals, especially last year going to a public school. I had always been interested in politics. My eighth grade year I attended a conference at Donald Trump's inauguration, and watched him being sworn in. At the conference itself we learned about different political views, and heard speakers like Malala Yousafzai long with a handful of politicians. This peaked my interest in politics, and I feel it really helped to define and establish my political view on many important subjects, such as abortion, gun laws, and immigration. Abortion rights and gun laws are two topics I am very passionate abou...

First, some facts about Malawi. Malawi is a landlocked country on the southeastern side of Africa. It has a population of around 18.62 million. They speak mostly in Chichewa, a national recognized language, along with English. The major religions of Malawi is Christianity (80%) and Islamic (20%). They gained their independence on July 6, 1964. The most common exports are tobacco, radioactive chemicals, and sugar. Most people of Malawi (84%) live in rural areas, while the 16% of people who don't live in small towns.  Malawian people live in small houses and not many have cars. They mostly get around using mini-buses and single-cab pick-up trucks. It's a place that is making efforts to overcome a history of decades of underdevelopment. More than half of the population of Malawi is living below the poverty line and the turbulent politics have hampered the government, which continues to be a concern. The 2019 presidential election in Malawi is due to take place soon and it...

Henry Quillin Mr. Roddy IHSS 22 Oct 18 Sierra Leonean Democracy          Sierra Leone is a country that has around six million citizens. It is located on the west coast of Africa and almost sixty percent of its population live in rural areas.  Sierra Leone has a long history of violence. There was a devastating civil war that lasted eleven years (1991–2002).  During this war, it has been very hard for a stable democracy to take place. Since the war has ended in 2002 there have been four general elections. The latest elections were held on the seventh of March 2018. People were voting to elect the President, Parliament and local councils. There were sixteen candidates that ran in the presidential election.  Julius Maada Bio won against Samura Kamara, with 51.8% of the votes.  The Sierra Leonean elections are held nationally to elect the President and the Parliament. Like most countries, voting is done by...

I grew up with a father in business and a mother in social working. My dad now owns his company and is pulling in enough money to have both me and my sister in private schools. For this, I am very grateful. We don't talk a whole lot about politics in my family because all of us our very stubborn and don't give into each others political views. While I don't have the ability to vote, I do think about it every time an election comes around. I have biased views on the education throughout our country. Education is a big factor that I believe everyone should be able to get. Getting a job with education is hard, but having little to no education makes getting a good, steady job almost impossible. I think that every child should be able to go to school and learn. Every child, from any religion, country, or background, should have a chance to learn and get an education.

The first category that I'll be covering will be the government limiting abortions. It seems that those of lower education and income say yes. While those of higher status say no. The west seems to prefer choice the most, and the central north seems to dislike it more. To my suprise, mostly blacks and hispanics say that abortions should be controlled. Also, those who are more religious are in favor of controlling, while those that aren't are pro-choice. For males and females the difference is in the decimals. The next category is government provided jobs. Those of lower education and status want it to happen, while those of higher education and income dislike the idea. Mostly the northeast wants it and it's equal for every other place. Mostly minorities want government provided jobs, while whites dislike it. The bible is more equal, but those in favor of it are also in favor of jobs. For sex, females want it more than men.

In Israel elections for the new Knesset are to be held in 2019. The Knesset is the country's legislative body, similar to that of the US House of Representatives and the Senate. Generally the elections take place every fours years, but in 2019 there are hints of there being an early election. This is due to a disagreement in military, one sought after by Hasidic Jew. The prime minister of Israel is threatening to replace the Knesset early in order to get a revised law passed that would increase the amount of ultra- orthodox civilians being enlisted into the military. Men and women in Israel are usually drafted at age 18 and serve a compulsory two years in the military. However the Hasidic Jews and Jews that are ultra-orthodox have been exempt from the mandatory military service. This has caused a rift in the Jewish communities in Israel, and Prime Minister Nethanyauh has been pushing for reform. There is favor among citizens to have an early election to help resolve the issue. The ...

Sarah Powers 10-23-18 Issues we want to explore further One of the issues we had discussed in our presentation, and are using in our questionnaire is whether or not abortions should be legal. I for one, think abortions should be legal. It should be the Woman's choice whether or not she should keep the baby. I know Donald Trump is not pro-choice, and he has influenced many people not to be either. I want to explore this issue more because I want to learn more about the exact reason these people believe women should carry children they can't or won't keep. As well as that, Id really love to learn more about the zoning issues Houston faces, since my house flooded. It will be interesting to learn more about how it could've been prevented with where houses have been built.