The Role of Culture in Conflict Resolution

The Role of Culture in Conflict Resolution CASE OF DAGBON IN GHANA The inter-relativity and connectivity of human endeavor has made conflict something unavoidable as it has come to eventually be part of the normal routine of human social interaction. Ethnic conflicts and civil wars continue to plague many African countries especially in the last two decades. There are growing concerns about the impacts of these conflicts on sub-regional and regional stability as well as security, with adverse implications on economic growth, environment and development. The impacts of these conflicts have been severest on the vulnerable groups such as the aged, women and children reversing many development efforts in conflict zones (John Kusimi; Julius Fobil; Raymond Atuguba; Isabella Erawoc; Franklin Oduro Abstract: Conflicts in Northern Ghana a Mirror of Answers to Sub-Regional Stability and Security Questions). Conflict has both a colloquial meaning and a discouragingly long list of specific definitions. The list includes four rather different usages if the term: (1) antecedent conditions to some overt struggle (2) affective states (tension or hostility) (3) cognitive states (for example the perception that some other person or entity acts against ones interest and (4) conflictful behavior, verbal or non verbal ranging from passive resistance to active aggression. According to Wiktionary, conflict is an incompatibility of two things that cannot be simultaneously fulfilled. In simple terms conflict denotes a situation when two or more organizations or persons are in a contradiction between them.. Conflict is more expansive than normally perceived. The conflict is a contradiction, a war, maybe a competition exist but the real conflict condition is more greatest way to express violence, and where this take place and violence take effect, it generate more and more conflicts. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning â€Å"to cultivate†) is a term that has different meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of â€Å"culture† in Culture: a Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. However, the word â€Å"culture† is most commonly used in three basic senses: Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group (Harper, Douglas (2001). Online Etymology Dictionary and Kroeber, A. L. and C. Kluckhohn, (1952). Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions) When the concept first emerged in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe, it connoted a process of cultivation or improvement, as in agriculture or horticulture. In the nineteenth century, it came to refer first to the betterment or refinement of the individual, especially through education, and then to the fulfillment of national aspirations or ideals. In the mid-nineteenth century, some scientists used the term â€Å"culture† to refer to a universal human capacity (C. Kluckhohn, (1952). Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions) Although largely ignored as being a key element in the generation of conflicts, culture is an essential part of conflict and conflict resolution (LeBaron, Michelle Conflict and Culture: Research in Five Communities in British Columbia, Canada). Culture, mostly acting within the parameters of a toothless bulldog, it permeate all spheres of the normal daily occurrences and it does so in the least expected ways. It serves as collating avenue which sends us messages that shape our perceptions, attributions, judgments, and ideas of self and other. Cultures are powerful, they are often unconscious, influencing conflict and attempts to resolve conflict in imperceptible ways. For the single individual, cultures are a shifting, dynamic set of starting points that orient us in particular way and away from other directions. Each of us belongs to multiple cultures that give us messages about what is normal, appropriate, and expected. When others do not meet our expectations, it is often a cue that our cultural expectations are different and thought or projected as un-respected. We may mistake differences between others and us for evidence of bad faith or lack of common sense on the part of others, not realizing that common sense is not cultural. What is common to one group may seem strange, counter intuitive, or wrong to another. In the dividing circles of two groups, culture projects a huge sense of uniqueness; something most individuals would prefer to die for than to witness it degraded by the opposing group. Whether a conflict exists at all is a cultural question, and by way of mutual illustration and interconnection between culture and conflict; cultures are embedded in almost every conflict because conflicts arise in human relationships. Cultures affect the ways we name, frame, blame, and attempt to tame conflicts. On the contrary, when any of the above is diverted by one cultural group vis-à  -vis the other, conflicts are the emerging consequences. Most people especially in Africa and other parts of the globe take pride in engaging in activities with a cultural sense than advancing the course of the general good. Conflicts between teenagers and parents are shaped by generational culture, and conflicts between spouses or partners are influenced by gender culture. In organizations, conflicts arising from different disciplinary cultures escalate tensions between co-workers, creating strained or inaccurate communication and stressed relationships. Culture permeates conflict no matter wha t, sometimes pushing forth with intensity, other times quietly snaking along, hardly announcing its presence until surprised people nearly stumble on it. For this reason, this essay seeks to reconcile the role of culture in the Dagbon conflict in Northern Ghana and how these same two connections of conflicts are again intertwined for the purposes of conflict and conflict resolution. The challenge is that, given cultures important role in conflicts, it is given little thought and consideration as it mostly labeled in the unconscious circle of human behavior vis-à  -vis conflicts and some approaches cultural resolution to the management and resolution of the conflict compound this problem because they minimize cultural role and influences in the tensed situation. We will consider the Dagbon conflict in and try to fit it within this frame of neglect. This is because the Dagbon conflict although largely considered ethnic has a huge cultural dimension which goes largely unattended to. Culture is always a factor in conflict, whether it plays a central role or influences it subtly and gently. Geographically and historically, Ghana lies between latitudes 50 and 110N and longitudes 10 and 30E with a landmass of 23.9million hectares. Ghanas estimated total population is 19.5 million (GSS, 2002:1), comprising a vast mosaic of several ethnic groups speaking over hundred local languages. Northern Ghana on which this paper focuses is co-terminus with a vast acreage of land that spans the White Volta, Black Volta and Oti River Basins. The area is divided into three political/ administrative regions comprising the Upper West (18,476km2) and the Upper East(8,842km2) regions bordering Burkina Faso in the extreme northern limits of Ghana and the Northern Region (70,384km2) to the south of Upper East and Upper West. Populations in these areas witness deep poverty levels and low literacy rates, with low school enrolment rate and inadequate health care services. Over 90 percent of the population in this area is engaged in subsistence agriculture and animal rearing (GSS, (2002). Populati on and Housing Census 2000: Summary of Final Results). Therefore, land ownership determines to a large extent, the nature of social and power relations among the ethnic groups inhabiting these three regions and has also been a major source of conflicts among them. The three regions harbor inconceivable heterogeneous groups of people speaking over 30 local dialects. The hidden truth is that, most of these heterogeneous groups have historical connections dating back to the sixteenth century. The sociocultural organization of most of these peoples of the northern belt is patrilineal with a strong tradition of centralized administration under the lordship of a powerful king such as the Mossi-Dagbani Kingdoms. In recent national political discussions, the Mossi-Dagbani groups are referred to as the ‘major tribes in Northern Ghana. However, there are also stateless or acephalous groups such as the Konkomba and the Tallensi. Therefore politically and administratively, there are a lot of historical and present day commonalities. This is what causes and infact possesses the bane of shock when it comes to the issue of conflicts and the most effective tools in dealing or handling them. The past 25years have witnessed a number of destructive ethnic conflicts in Northern Ghana. The very explosive ones are those of 1980 (Konkombas against Nanumbas) and the Guinea Fowl War of 1994 (between the Konkombas on one hand and Nanumbas, Dagombas and Gonjas on the other hand) (Brukum J. N. K, The Pito, Mango and Guinea Fowl Wars: Episodes in the History of Northern Ghana, 1980-1999). In 1980/86 and 2000, Mamprusis and Kusasis went to war in Bawku. Dagombas also fought among themselves; these and more are the most recent (and of which this essay critical look) of these intra-Dagbon clashes were those between the Andani and the Abudu Gates in Yendi, in 2002 (Brukum J. N. K, The Pito, Mango and Guinea Fowl Wars: Episodes in the History of Northern Ghana, 1980-1999). There has been much similar communal violence among the Gonjas and other ethnic groups in the Northern Region of Ghana. A critical assessment of the causes of most of these conflicts can be traced to colonial and post-colonial actions of governments. This certainly is no news as the impedes of colonialism is still being felt in Africa today. Certain actions and in-actions of governments have led to the marginalization, deprivation, exploitation and the exclusion of the ‘minority groups in many decision-making processes and governance issues that affect them. This has led to dissatisfaction among the ‘minority, hence any little dispute between the ‘majority and ‘minority explodes into ethnic conflict. With these analysis deduced, let us now try to envisage how the presence of culture among the people in the northern hemisphere of Ghana is contributing to conflicts among the people using the silent pistol. Culture, as already noted, forms the core around which most individuals normalize their relations with others but this relationship does take a different dimension when one gets the slightest hint of foul play in the unique identification of the other individual. This however differs from ethnocentrism, where people openly act and portray the supposedly uniqueness of their traditional origin and heritage over that of others and to some extent cause others to follow their fray. It is important to state unequivocally that culture has a canny way of taking on the characteristics of ethnocentrism but however does with a gradual pace. Due to the heritagecal and ancestral dimension of culture, conflicts resulting from culture and cultural practices do occur undetected for a very long time. Conflict of this nature sometimes begin from a mere proclaim which is interpreted to downgrade or cast the other sides image into disrepute. At times it start with a poorly resolved dispute (in our case the Andani and the Abudu Gates in Yendi) which forces the youths of the opposing party to rise up in arms against their foes after several years of the poorly settled dispute, which obviously one party wasnt satisfied with. When this happens, all possible gates of negotiations are closed due to the lengthy or at times the generational nature it usually takes to emerge in full scale. Recent political events and expression also mean the relaxation in conflict in one side and subsequent uprising in other with political transitions. In other words, the envisioned premise is ignoring the cultural dimension of conflicts by most Ghanaian governments with the impression that Ghana is the most peaceful nation on earth. Similarly, the lay magistrate often without really solving the dispute to any sides satisfaction ended up taking sides. Culture, with the trait of a silent killer largely goes undetected due the stable political climate Ghana is reputed for but the critical thing that most conflict analysts fail to take into consideration is that conflicts of this nature are intra-tribal rather than taking on the general good or in the form of civil wars, which has stalled the core of most African countrys government setup and social development. In exact terms, a cursory look at all historical conflict on the African region reveals tremendous ethnic and religious inclinations, albeit many of them also have subtle causal relationship with land and resource use, which could be a core of protest of one group against the other. The concept of nationhood/statehood is misplaced in many African nation state building contexts. Nations on the African continent, unconsciously motivated by the great diversity of ethnic groups, continue to trivialize national homogeneity and ethnic unification thus allowing for powerful disaggregated ethnic formations. The inevitable tendency of this phenomenon is that, many national policies by governments tend to be ethnocentric and is some unconscious instances cultural, which create suspicion, rivalry, discontent, mistrust and enmity among different ethnic groups or even within the same group of people as is the case in northern Ghana, resulting in ethnic conflicts and civil wars in extreme cases. In the case under discussion, most analysts in conflict prevention turn to focus solely on the tribal or ethnic sentiments forgetting that there cultural influences even on professional judgments vis-à  -vis the heated situation and culture prevent people from giving accurate feedback. Causes of conflict in northern Ghana. The Dagbon chieftaincy dispute is a good example of the passions that chieftaincy issues can inflame in Ghana, and of the extent to which these matters have become politicised. In the Dagbon case, a traditional matter has become the main subject of local politics as well as an issue of national politics. The Dagomba people or Dagbamba as they call themselves, constitute the single largest ethnic group in Northern Ghana. They speak the Dagbani language, a subgroup of the Mole-Dagbani family of languages, which belongs to the much larger Gur with starting the Dagbon migrations from Mali to what is now the Upper East Region of Ghana. Here he married Sihisabigu, the daughter of a Tindana in a place known as Bion, and eventually replaced the Tindana after assassinating him. Kpagunimbu and Sihisabigu had twin sons called Nyamzisheli and Nyarigili, who are believed to be the ancestors of the Talinsi and Nabdam ethnic groups of the Upper East Region. Following his exploits as a warrior, the King of Grumah, Abudu Rahamani married off his daughter, Suhuyini, to Kpagunimbu. Suhuyini gave birth to Gbewaa, two of whose sons Tohugu and Sitobu founded the Mamprugu and Dagbon kingdoms respectively. Sitobus son, Nyagsi, who reigned between 1416 and 1432, expanded the Dagbon kingdom through wars against aboriginal peoples throughout what is now present-day Dagbon. Thus the Dagbamba came to the area they now occupy as conquerors and established the traditional state of Dagbon, bringing with them the institution of chieftaincy, which had not been found among the original inhabitants. The Dagbon capital is Yendi where the King, whose title is Ya Na, resides. The Dagbamba are strongly attached to the institution of chieftaincy, which partly accounts for the intensity with which conflicts over chieftaincy are carried out. Conflicts tend to revolve around questions of succession, since the rules for succession tend to be rather flexible and allow for a number of candidates. Part of the current dispute (known variously as the Dagbon conflict or the Yendi chieftaincy affairs) hinges on whether or not it is a rule of tradition that succession to the throne should alternate between two rival sections of the royal family. These two sections originated in the late nineteenth century, following the death of Ya Na Yakubu who was succeeded first by his son Abudulai and then by another son Andani. Since the death of Andani in 1899, there has been in some measure an alternation between descendants of the two brothers, and the extent to which this rotation constitutes another rule for determining the succession remains unsettled. In addition to the question of rotation between the two families, there is also disagreement over who has the right to select a successor, and over which particular act in the installation ceremony makes one a Ya Na. Formally, the selection of a successor rested in the hands of four kingmakers. In 1948, the membership of the kingmakers was expanded to eleven with the addition of seven divisional chiefs to form a selection committee. The legitimacy of the Committee, which probably represented a final attempt by the British to codify the rules and procedures of succession to the Yendi skin, has been in dispute. In the 1940s, the educated elite of Dagbon most of whom were from its royal families played a major role in the setting up of the controversial selection committee. The institution of the selection committee coincided with the era of active pre-independence politics, and the pioneer-educated elite was poised to exploit the situation. Having a king who was more amenable to their political ambitions was of vital importance to them. By 1954, there were complaints that the committee system was adopted to protect the interest of the Abudulai family and ultimately eliminate the Andani family from the contest (Sibidow, 1970). One major source of conflict in modern times is the tradition that â€Å"you do not destool a Ya Na†. In former times, a Ya Na who proved unacceptable was simply killed. As this is no longer a practical alternative, once installed a Ya Na cannot be destooled even if he is found to have violated customs. Thus Dagbon custom as a whole is ambiguous on this point if not outright contradictory (Ladouceur, 1972). Such an implicit ambiguity facilitates the intervention of an outside power to settle outstanding disagreements as to the correct interpretation of tradition. It also serves not only to foment disputes but also to sustain them. Another source of the Dagbon conflict is intergenerational in nature. Intergenerational conflict arises because of the exclusion from succession of the senior sons of a king by his junior brothers. Conversely, the junior brothers in the older generation could find themselves excluded by the sons of their senior brother. According to Ferguson et al. (1970), the critical nature of exclusion is apparent. By virtue of the Dagbon rule that no son may assume a higher rank in society than his father, a candidates failure to attain office carries with it the implication that none of his descendants may ever aspire to it. Intergenerational conflict appears then to be a structural feature for succession to higher office in Dagbon. There is, however, probably a contingent association between such conflicts and the polarization between rival factions that is also a characteristic feature of the conflict. The candidates from the senior generation may tend to attract the support of the more conser vative factions and those from the junior generation, that of the more radical. The Dagbon conflict gradually spilled over into the national political arena over the years as each side mustered what forces it could with politicians taking an increasing interest in this and other chieftaincy disputes. Each side in the Dagbon dispute has articulate well-educated spokesmen and, since 1954, prominent national political figures as well. It was largely through their activities that the dispute became a political issue shortly after independence. On the Abudu side was Alhaji Yakubu Tali, Tolon Na, while the Andani side had J.H. Alhassan. Both men had become prominent figures in both Dagbon affairs and in the emerging modern political system in the early 1950s. Both were elected to the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly in 1951 and to Parliament in 1954, the former on the opposition regional NPP ticket and the latter to the governing CPP.11 If politicians can make use of their power base in the modern political system to interfere in traditional affairs, some traditional rulers are also quite capable of seizing opportunities presented by national politics to consolidate their own positions. Ya Na Abudulai III, sensing that he might be destooled, withdrew his support for the opposition and together with his followers, including Alhaji Yakubu Tali, joined the then ruling party, the CPP, en bloc in 1958. Political interference in the Dagbon conflict continued with changes in government. The overthrow of the Kwame Nkrumah government in 1966 marked radical changes in official ideology and priorities. In general terms, the policy of the National Liberation Council (NLC), the military regime, in traditional matters was to restore chieftaincy to its former position and reduce government interference. However, chieftaincy affairs took on an added importance in post-coup Ghana and government interference increased instead of dimi nishing. In the case of the Yendi dispute, government interference was taken to new heights when in September 1969, the selection and enskinment of Ya Na Andani III was declared null and void by the NLC government. It was felt that a factor in this decision that had objectively benefited the Abudulai family was the presence of B. A. Yakubu, a family supporter, in the NLC government. Thus the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II in March 2002 took place during a time when the NPP government, successor to Prime Minister K. A. Busias party which succeeded the NLC, was in power was seen as significant. It succeeded in evoking memories of the killings in the Gbewaa palace in 1969. Zamfara state of the early Hausa kingdom. Drum history9, however, traces the origin of the Dagbon kingdom to ancient Mali whose king had been so impressed with the exploits of Toha-zhie, a wandering hunter, that he recruited him into his service. Toha-Zhie eventually married one of the daughters of the King of Mali called Paga-wobga, who bore him a son Kpagunimbu. Kpagunimbu is credited In trying to capture the role of culture in conflict especially in the Ghanaian context, it becomes imperative to trace the root cause of the conflict, taking a cue from the cultural dimension and gradually interpreting it in the resolution process. The idea is that, conflict no matter the ferocity, scholarship must seek to stop it occurrence owing to it unenviable consequence on the larger populace. Thus there are two principal lines being the prime movers behind the culture-led conflicts among the northern hemisphere of Ghana. The first of such, which has been partially discussed on the geographical notations in starting this conflict, is without doubt actions of earliest colonial governments. Many ethnic groups in Northern Ghana hitherto the introduction of indirect rule in Ghana in 1932 peacefully co-existed. The indirect rule system of administration introduced in 1932 by the colonial governors (Britain) vested political and administrative powers in the hands of some selected chiefs who had better organized systems of traditional administration (the chiefly people, i.e. Dagomba, Nanumba, Gonja etc.). For instance, the Ya-Na of East-Dagbon was given traditional cum administrative authority over the Konkomba and Chokosi who is quite culturally different ethnic from the Dagomba. The north-eastern Province (present day Upper East) was constituted into the Mamprugu Kingdom with f ive sub-divisions as Mamprugu, Kusasi, Frafra, Gurensi and Builsa all under the Lordship of the Nayiri as the paramount chief of Mamprusi. Similarly, the Nawuri, Nchumuru, Mo and Vagala were put under the Yagbonwurura of Gonja kingdom. This administrative initiative was implemented by Chief Commissioner Armitage. This was done for political and administrative expediency because the colonial administration at the time did not have sufficient logistics and personnel to govern the entire colony, especially the protected territories in Northern Ghana. Subsequently, there was the introduction of local police called â€Å"Nana Kana†, who constituted tribunals and for the collection of taxes and tried general cases except criminal ones. This enhanced the loyalty of the stateless ethnic groups to the paramount chiefs. The creation of the National Territorial Council (NTC) in 1938 for chiefs further increased the administrative authority of these chiefs. According to colonial writers such as Blair, Rattray, Tait, Cardinalland Manoukian, although the colonial administration imposed chiefs for administrative purposes, the acephalous people never accepted them, thus, they were never ‘ruled by the chiefly peoples, but were only raided periodically. The chiefly groups extorted monies from the stateless groups as fines, especially through the chiefly court system. The implication of these developments are that, with time emotional sentiments and passions are brought to bear with general official arrangements which gradually leads one side to call for changes. If the call is not heeded by the authorities involved, one side feels cheated and with the lapse of time lead to ethnic based but largely culture oriented conflict. According to Tait, Dagomba ‘rule was limited to sporadic raids to obtain slaves needed for the annual tribute to the Ashanti. From time to time, local tax collectors were sent to Konkomba territory to collect foodstuff such as millet, sorghum, yam, and maize, which was sold in the markets to raise money for the local chief. In 1950, some Konkombas were stopped by Dagombas on their way to Yendi market and their head-loads of new yam taken (which was valued at  £18), and in the same year when the Ya Na was fined in the District Commissioners court, two lorry loads of sorghum were collected in Saboba region alone on the grounds that, ‘The European says that it has got to be paid. Also according to Skalnik (1983 in Katanga,1994, pp21), Konkomba marriage disputes accounted for a large source of income for the court of the Bimbilla-Naa. Thus it became very rare for a Konkomba to appeal to the District Commissioner on cases of injustices, though instances of this sort of extor tion were frequent. Similarly, the lay magistrate often without really solving the dispute to any sides satisfaction took bribes from both parties. The cumulative effect of this was total allegiance of these non-chiefly tribes to the chiefly groups. The Konkombas for instance were compelled to give some days as free labor annually in the farms of Nanumba/Dagombas chiefs and the compulsory donation of a hind leg of any big animal killed wild or domesticated to Nanumba chiefs. Probably the most unfair of these injustices was that, Konkombas were not allowed to settle even petty quarrels among themselves including matrimonial ones, even as late as the 20th century. These conditions compelled Konkombas to request for their own tribunal under Ali, an ex-soldier, domiciled in Bimbilla, to settle petty disputes particularly marriage cases. This proposal was vehemently rejected and attempts were made to eject Ali from Bimbilla, culminating into a heated atmosphere (Brukum, 1999:11-12). Another crucial notation is post colonial government arrangements both internal and external in Ghanas northern region. Several uncharacteristic and unscrupulous actions of post-colonial governments saw a further deterioration in the social friction between the chiefly and non-chiefly ethnic groups which were largely operated by land administration policies. All lands in Northern Ghana were protected and were under the custody ownership of the Tendaanas (Earth-shrine Priest) and not chiefs. The chief (Na or Ubor) in the north wielded only political power. The Tendaana was the highest office held by the autochthonous tribes, and consisted legitimate ownership of the land which even extended over chiefs. The Na/Ubor never dared to arrogate to himself, the duties of the Tendaana. Infact, the Na/Ubor humbled himself before him and appeared disguised as poor when occasions arose for him to visit the Tendaana. This is because the Tendaana not only owned the land, but he is the only person known to the spirit of the land. Hence it was the Tendaana that had the right to give out lands. It was believed that, the Chief did not grant farming lands to individuals. He is considered not to have any right over farms. Tindaamba (another name for Tendaana) still have power over chiefs and are feared. During this era, land was not a scarce resource and according to Goody under such conditions neither individuals nor kin groups bother to lay specific claims to large tracts of territory, since land is virtually a free good (Katanga, 1994:21). Land ownership in northern Ghana came under the custody of chiefs in 1978 during the Acheampong regime when a law was passed vesting all northern lands into the hands of selected ethnic groups chiefs (notice the connection of the emergence of the intra-ethnic conflict between the Abudu and Andani Gates which will take several years to assume full scale) and left out most other groups. The criteria for vesting the lands in the hands of these few chiefs were based on the recommendations of Alhassan Report of 1978, which were backed by the Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, both Dagombas (another watchful area, dealing with cultures involvement in conflict). Indeed the Alhassan Committees Report twisted the truth about the land tenure arrangements in Northern Ghana in favor of the chiefs and his tribesmen and the other chiefly people. These reforms in Northern Ghana Land administration were implemented by the then Government to solicit for political support from the Northern Chie fs for the UNIGOV System (Unity Government). With the failure of the Acheampong government however, these legislations were abrogated as the reins of government was overtaken by another military regime. The ceasure of the reins of government and the subsequent decree rule reversed this trend of land principles laid down by the previous administration and has ever since been the bane of confrontation between brothers in the different sides of the same group as is the case of the Dagbon conflict. The Konkomba Youth Association (KOYA) contested the Alhassan Report and has repeatedly pointed out that, the report has been the root cause of the three major ethnic conflicts and twenty minor ones between the chiefdoms. The jejune with these quack legislations is that they turn to outlive their significance with the transition of government, something that is purely not in the interest of the rural Ghanaian. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to conflict resolution, since culture is always a factor. Cultural fluency is therefore a core competency for those who intervene in conflicts or simply want to function more effectively in their own lives and situations. Cultural fluency involves recognizing and acting respectfully from the knowledge that communication, ways of naming, framing, and taming conflict, approaches to meaning-making, and identities and roles vary across cultures. In retrospect, culture as a key factor in conflict generation and orientation it that of a silent creeper. The kind that is in no way given premise by conflict analysts as being the prime cause in conflict situations. In the other words, the largel The Role of Culture in Conflict Resolution The Role of Culture in Conflict Resolution CASE OF DAGBON IN GHANA The inter-relativity and connectivity of human endeavor has made conflict something unavoidable as it has come to eventually be part of the normal routine of human social interaction. Ethnic conflicts and civil wars continue to plague many African countries especially in the last two decades. There are growing concerns about the impacts of these conflicts on sub-regional and regional stability as well as security, with adverse implications on economic growth, environment and development. The impacts of these conflicts have been severest on the vulnerable groups such as the aged, women and children reversing many development efforts in conflict zones (John Kusimi; Julius Fobil; Raymond Atuguba; Isabella Erawoc; Franklin Oduro Abstract: Conflicts in Northern Ghana a Mirror of Answers to Sub-Regional Stability and Security Questions). Conflict has both a colloquial meaning and a discouragingly long list of specific definitions. The list includes four rather different usages if the term: (1) antecedent conditions to some overt struggle (2) affective states (tension or hostility) (3) cognitive states (for example the perception that some other person or entity acts against ones interest and (4) conflictful behavior, verbal or non verbal ranging from passive resistance to active aggression. According to Wiktionary, conflict is an incompatibility of two things that cannot be simultaneously fulfilled. In simple terms conflict denotes a situation when two or more organizations or persons are in a contradiction between them.. Conflict is more expansive than normally perceived. The conflict is a contradiction, a war, maybe a competition exist but the real conflict condition is more greatest way to express violence, and where this take place and violence take effect, it generate more and more conflicts. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning â€Å"to cultivate†) is a term that has different meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of â€Å"culture† in Culture: a Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. However, the word â€Å"culture† is most commonly used in three basic senses: Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group (Harper, Douglas (2001). Online Etymology Dictionary and Kroeber, A. L. and C. Kluckhohn, (1952). Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions) When the concept first emerged in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe, it connoted a process of cultivation or improvement, as in agriculture or horticulture. In the nineteenth century, it came to refer first to the betterment or refinement of the individual, especially through education, and then to the fulfillment of national aspirations or ideals. In the mid-nineteenth century, some scientists used the term â€Å"culture† to refer to a universal human capacity (C. Kluckhohn, (1952). Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions) Although largely ignored as being a key element in the generation of conflicts, culture is an essential part of conflict and conflict resolution (LeBaron, Michelle Conflict and Culture: Research in Five Communities in British Columbia, Canada). Culture, mostly acting within the parameters of a toothless bulldog, it permeate all spheres of the normal daily occurrences and it does so in the least expected ways. It serves as collating avenue which sends us messages that shape our perceptions, attributions, judgments, and ideas of self and other. Cultures are powerful, they are often unconscious, influencing conflict and attempts to resolve conflict in imperceptible ways. For the single individual, cultures are a shifting, dynamic set of starting points that orient us in particular way and away from other directions. Each of us belongs to multiple cultures that give us messages about what is normal, appropriate, and expected. When others do not meet our expectations, it is often a cue that our cultural expectations are different and thought or projected as un-respected. We may mistake differences between others and us for evidence of bad faith or lack of common sense on the part of others, not realizing that common sense is not cultural. What is common to one group may seem strange, counter intuitive, or wrong to another. In the dividing circles of two groups, culture projects a huge sense of uniqueness; something most individuals would prefer to die for than to witness it degraded by the opposing group. Whether a conflict exists at all is a cultural question, and by way of mutual illustration and interconnection between culture and conflict; cultures are embedded in almost every conflict because conflicts arise in human relationships. Cultures affect the ways we name, frame, blame, and attempt to tame conflicts. On the contrary, when any of the above is diverted by one cultural group vis-à  -vis the other, conflicts are the emerging consequences. Most people especially in Africa and other parts of the globe take pride in engaging in activities with a cultural sense than advancing the course of the general good. Conflicts between teenagers and parents are shaped by generational culture, and conflicts between spouses or partners are influenced by gender culture. In organizations, conflicts arising from different disciplinary cultures escalate tensions between co-workers, creating strained or inaccurate communication and stressed relationships. Culture permeates conflict no matter wha t, sometimes pushing forth with intensity, other times quietly snaking along, hardly announcing its presence until surprised people nearly stumble on it. For this reason, this essay seeks to reconcile the role of culture in the Dagbon conflict in Northern Ghana and how these same two connections of conflicts are again intertwined for the purposes of conflict and conflict resolution. The challenge is that, given cultures important role in conflicts, it is given little thought and consideration as it mostly labeled in the unconscious circle of human behavior vis-à  -vis conflicts and some approaches cultural resolution to the management and resolution of the conflict compound this problem because they minimize cultural role and influences in the tensed situation. We will consider the Dagbon conflict in and try to fit it within this frame of neglect. This is because the Dagbon conflict although largely considered ethnic has a huge cultural dimension which goes largely unattended to. Culture is always a factor in conflict, whether it plays a central role or influences it subtly and gently. Geographically and historically, Ghana lies between latitudes 50 and 110N and longitudes 10 and 30E with a landmass of 23.9million hectares. Ghanas estimated total population is 19.5 million (GSS, 2002:1), comprising a vast mosaic of several ethnic groups speaking over hundred local languages. Northern Ghana on which this paper focuses is co-terminus with a vast acreage of land that spans the White Volta, Black Volta and Oti River Basins. The area is divided into three political/ administrative regions comprising the Upper West (18,476km2) and the Upper East(8,842km2) regions bordering Burkina Faso in the extreme northern limits of Ghana and the Northern Region (70,384km2) to the south of Upper East and Upper West. Populations in these areas witness deep poverty levels and low literacy rates, with low school enrolment rate and inadequate health care services. Over 90 percent of the population in this area is engaged in subsistence agriculture and animal rearing (GSS, (2002). Populati on and Housing Census 2000: Summary of Final Results). Therefore, land ownership determines to a large extent, the nature of social and power relations among the ethnic groups inhabiting these three regions and has also been a major source of conflicts among them. The three regions harbor inconceivable heterogeneous groups of people speaking over 30 local dialects. The hidden truth is that, most of these heterogeneous groups have historical connections dating back to the sixteenth century. The sociocultural organization of most of these peoples of the northern belt is patrilineal with a strong tradition of centralized administration under the lordship of a powerful king such as the Mossi-Dagbani Kingdoms. In recent national political discussions, the Mossi-Dagbani groups are referred to as the ‘major tribes in Northern Ghana. However, there are also stateless or acephalous groups such as the Konkomba and the Tallensi. Therefore politically and administratively, there are a lot of historical and present day commonalities. This is what causes and infact possesses the bane of shock when it comes to the issue of conflicts and the most effective tools in dealing or handling them. The past 25years have witnessed a number of destructive ethnic conflicts in Northern Ghana. The very explosive ones are those of 1980 (Konkombas against Nanumbas) and the Guinea Fowl War of 1994 (between the Konkombas on one hand and Nanumbas, Dagombas and Gonjas on the other hand) (Brukum J. N. K, The Pito, Mango and Guinea Fowl Wars: Episodes in the History of Northern Ghana, 1980-1999). In 1980/86 and 2000, Mamprusis and Kusasis went to war in Bawku. Dagombas also fought among themselves; these and more are the most recent (and of which this essay critical look) of these intra-Dagbon clashes were those between the Andani and the Abudu Gates in Yendi, in 2002 (Brukum J. N. K, The Pito, Mango and Guinea Fowl Wars: Episodes in the History of Northern Ghana, 1980-1999). There has been much similar communal violence among the Gonjas and other ethnic groups in the Northern Region of Ghana. A critical assessment of the causes of most of these conflicts can be traced to colonial and post-colonial actions of governments. This certainly is no news as the impedes of colonialism is still being felt in Africa today. Certain actions and in-actions of governments have led to the marginalization, deprivation, exploitation and the exclusion of the ‘minority groups in many decision-making processes and governance issues that affect them. This has led to dissatisfaction among the ‘minority, hence any little dispute between the ‘majority and ‘minority explodes into ethnic conflict. With these analysis deduced, let us now try to envisage how the presence of culture among the people in the northern hemisphere of Ghana is contributing to conflicts among the people using the silent pistol. Culture, as already noted, forms the core around which most individuals normalize their relations with others but this relationship does take a different dimension when one gets the slightest hint of foul play in the unique identification of the other individual. This however differs from ethnocentrism, where people openly act and portray the supposedly uniqueness of their traditional origin and heritage over that of others and to some extent cause others to follow their fray. It is important to state unequivocally that culture has a canny way of taking on the characteristics of ethnocentrism but however does with a gradual pace. Due to the heritagecal and ancestral dimension of culture, conflicts resulting from culture and cultural practices do occur undetected for a very long time. Conflict of this nature sometimes begin from a mere proclaim which is interpreted to downgrade or cast the other sides image into disrepute. At times it start with a poorly resolved dispute (in our case the Andani and the Abudu Gates in Yendi) which forces the youths of the opposing party to rise up in arms against their foes after several years of the poorly settled dispute, which obviously one party wasnt satisfied with. When this happens, all possible gates of negotiations are closed due to the lengthy or at times the generational nature it usually takes to emerge in full scale. Recent political events and expression also mean the relaxation in conflict in one side and subsequent uprising in other with political transitions. In other words, the envisioned premise is ignoring the cultural dimension of conflicts by most Ghanaian governments with the impression that Ghana is the most peaceful nation on earth. Similarly, the lay magistrate often without really solving the dispute to any sides satisfaction ended up taking sides. Culture, with the trait of a silent killer largely goes undetected due the stable political climate Ghana is reputed for but the critical thing that most conflict analysts fail to take into consideration is that conflicts of this nature are intra-tribal rather than taking on the general good or in the form of civil wars, which has stalled the core of most African countrys government setup and social development. In exact terms, a cursory look at all historical conflict on the African region reveals tremendous ethnic and religious inclinations, albeit many of them also have subtle causal relationship with land and resource use, which could be a core of protest of one group against the other. The concept of nationhood/statehood is misplaced in many African nation state building contexts. Nations on the African continent, unconsciously motivated by the great diversity of ethnic groups, continue to trivialize national homogeneity and ethnic unification thus allowing for powerful disaggregated ethnic formations. The inevitable tendency of this phenomenon is that, many national policies by governments tend to be ethnocentric and is some unconscious instances cultural, which create suspicion, rivalry, discontent, mistrust and enmity among different ethnic groups or even within the same group of people as is the case in northern Ghana, resulting in ethnic conflicts and civil wars in extreme cases. In the case under discussion, most analysts in conflict prevention turn to focus solely on the tribal or ethnic sentiments forgetting that there cultural influences even on professional judgments vis-à  -vis the heated situation and culture prevent people from giving accurate feedback. Causes of conflict in northern Ghana. The Dagbon chieftaincy dispute is a good example of the passions that chieftaincy issues can inflame in Ghana, and of the extent to which these matters have become politicised. In the Dagbon case, a traditional matter has become the main subject of local politics as well as an issue of national politics. The Dagomba people or Dagbamba as they call themselves, constitute the single largest ethnic group in Northern Ghana. They speak the Dagbani language, a subgroup of the Mole-Dagbani family of languages, which belongs to the much larger Gur with starting the Dagbon migrations from Mali to what is now the Upper East Region of Ghana. Here he married Sihisabigu, the daughter of a Tindana in a place known as Bion, and eventually replaced the Tindana after assassinating him. Kpagunimbu and Sihisabigu had twin sons called Nyamzisheli and Nyarigili, who are believed to be the ancestors of the Talinsi and Nabdam ethnic groups of the Upper East Region. Following his exploits as a warrior, the King of Grumah, Abudu Rahamani married off his daughter, Suhuyini, to Kpagunimbu. Suhuyini gave birth to Gbewaa, two of whose sons Tohugu and Sitobu founded the Mamprugu and Dagbon kingdoms respectively. Sitobus son, Nyagsi, who reigned between 1416 and 1432, expanded the Dagbon kingdom through wars against aboriginal peoples throughout what is now present-day Dagbon. Thus the Dagbamba came to the area they now occupy as conquerors and established the traditional state of Dagbon, bringing with them the institution of chieftaincy, which had not been found among the original inhabitants. The Dagbon capital is Yendi where the King, whose title is Ya Na, resides. The Dagbamba are strongly attached to the institution of chieftaincy, which partly accounts for the intensity with which conflicts over chieftaincy are carried out. Conflicts tend to revolve around questions of succession, since the rules for succession tend to be rather flexible and allow for a number of candidates. Part of the current dispute (known variously as the Dagbon conflict or the Yendi chieftaincy affairs) hinges on whether or not it is a rule of tradition that succession to the throne should alternate between two rival sections of the royal family. These two sections originated in the late nineteenth century, following the death of Ya Na Yakubu who was succeeded first by his son Abudulai and then by another son Andani. Since the death of Andani in 1899, there has been in some measure an alternation between descendants of the two brothers, and the extent to which this rotation constitutes another rule for determining the succession remains unsettled. In addition to the question of rotation between the two families, there is also disagreement over who has the right to select a successor, and over which particular act in the installation ceremony makes one a Ya Na. Formally, the selection of a successor rested in the hands of four kingmakers. In 1948, the membership of the kingmakers was expanded to eleven with the addition of seven divisional chiefs to form a selection committee. The legitimacy of the Committee, which probably represented a final attempt by the British to codify the rules and procedures of succession to the Yendi skin, has been in dispute. In the 1940s, the educated elite of Dagbon most of whom were from its royal families played a major role in the setting up of the controversial selection committee. The institution of the selection committee coincided with the era of active pre-independence politics, and the pioneer-educated elite was poised to exploit the situation. Having a king who was more amenable to their political ambitions was of vital importance to them. By 1954, there were complaints that the committee system was adopted to protect the interest of the Abudulai family and ultimately eliminate the Andani family from the contest (Sibidow, 1970). One major source of conflict in modern times is the tradition that â€Å"you do not destool a Ya Na†. In former times, a Ya Na who proved unacceptable was simply killed. As this is no longer a practical alternative, once installed a Ya Na cannot be destooled even if he is found to have violated customs. Thus Dagbon custom as a whole is ambiguous on this point if not outright contradictory (Ladouceur, 1972). Such an implicit ambiguity facilitates the intervention of an outside power to settle outstanding disagreements as to the correct interpretation of tradition. It also serves not only to foment disputes but also to sustain them. Another source of the Dagbon conflict is intergenerational in nature. Intergenerational conflict arises because of the exclusion from succession of the senior sons of a king by his junior brothers. Conversely, the junior brothers in the older generation could find themselves excluded by the sons of their senior brother. According to Ferguson et al. (1970), the critical nature of exclusion is apparent. By virtue of the Dagbon rule that no son may assume a higher rank in society than his father, a candidates failure to attain office carries with it the implication that none of his descendants may ever aspire to it. Intergenerational conflict appears then to be a structural feature for succession to higher office in Dagbon. There is, however, probably a contingent association between such conflicts and the polarization between rival factions that is also a characteristic feature of the conflict. The candidates from the senior generation may tend to attract the support of the more conser vative factions and those from the junior generation, that of the more radical. The Dagbon conflict gradually spilled over into the national political arena over the years as each side mustered what forces it could with politicians taking an increasing interest in this and other chieftaincy disputes. Each side in the Dagbon dispute has articulate well-educated spokesmen and, since 1954, prominent national political figures as well. It was largely through their activities that the dispute became a political issue shortly after independence. On the Abudu side was Alhaji Yakubu Tali, Tolon Na, while the Andani side had J.H. Alhassan. Both men had become prominent figures in both Dagbon affairs and in the emerging modern political system in the early 1950s. Both were elected to the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly in 1951 and to Parliament in 1954, the former on the opposition regional NPP ticket and the latter to the governing CPP.11 If politicians can make use of their power base in the modern political system to interfere in traditional affairs, some traditional rulers are also quite capable of seizing opportunities presented by national politics to consolidate their own positions. Ya Na Abudulai III, sensing that he might be destooled, withdrew his support for the opposition and together with his followers, including Alhaji Yakubu Tali, joined the then ruling party, the CPP, en bloc in 1958. Political interference in the Dagbon conflict continued with changes in government. The overthrow of the Kwame Nkrumah government in 1966 marked radical changes in official ideology and priorities. In general terms, the policy of the National Liberation Council (NLC), the military regime, in traditional matters was to restore chieftaincy to its former position and reduce government interference. However, chieftaincy affairs took on an added importance in post-coup Ghana and government interference increased instead of dimi nishing. In the case of the Yendi dispute, government interference was taken to new heights when in September 1969, the selection and enskinment of Ya Na Andani III was declared null and void by the NLC government. It was felt that a factor in this decision that had objectively benefited the Abudulai family was the presence of B. A. Yakubu, a family supporter, in the NLC government. Thus the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II in March 2002 took place during a time when the NPP government, successor to Prime Minister K. A. Busias party which succeeded the NLC, was in power was seen as significant. It succeeded in evoking memories of the killings in the Gbewaa palace in 1969. Zamfara state of the early Hausa kingdom. Drum history9, however, traces the origin of the Dagbon kingdom to ancient Mali whose king had been so impressed with the exploits of Toha-zhie, a wandering hunter, that he recruited him into his service. Toha-Zhie eventually married one of the daughters of the King of Mali called Paga-wobga, who bore him a son Kpagunimbu. Kpagunimbu is credited In trying to capture the role of culture in conflict especially in the Ghanaian context, it becomes imperative to trace the root cause of the conflict, taking a cue from the cultural dimension and gradually interpreting it in the resolution process. The idea is that, conflict no matter the ferocity, scholarship must seek to stop it occurrence owing to it unenviable consequence on the larger populace. Thus there are two principal lines being the prime movers behind the culture-led conflicts among the northern hemisphere of Ghana. The first of such, which has been partially discussed on the geographical notations in starting this conflict, is without doubt actions of earliest colonial governments. Many ethnic groups in Northern Ghana hitherto the introduction of indirect rule in Ghana in 1932 peacefully co-existed. The indirect rule system of administration introduced in 1932 by the colonial governors (Britain) vested political and administrative powers in the hands of some selected chiefs who had better organized systems of traditional administration (the chiefly people, i.e. Dagomba, Nanumba, Gonja etc.). For instance, the Ya-Na of East-Dagbon was given traditional cum administrative authority over the Konkomba and Chokosi who is quite culturally different ethnic from the Dagomba. The north-eastern Province (present day Upper East) was constituted into the Mamprugu Kingdom with f ive sub-divisions as Mamprugu, Kusasi, Frafra, Gurensi and Builsa all under the Lordship of the Nayiri as the paramount chief of Mamprusi. Similarly, the Nawuri, Nchumuru, Mo and Vagala were put under the Yagbonwurura of Gonja kingdom. This administrative initiative was implemented by Chief Commissioner Armitage. This was done for political and administrative expediency because the colonial administration at the time did not have sufficient logistics and personnel to govern the entire colony, especially the protected territories in Northern Ghana. Subsequently, there was the introduction of local police called â€Å"Nana Kana†, who constituted tribunals and for the collection of taxes and tried general cases except criminal ones. This enhanced the loyalty of the stateless ethnic groups to the paramount chiefs. The creation of the National Territorial Council (NTC) in 1938 for chiefs further increased the administrative authority of these chiefs. According to colonial writers such as Blair, Rattray, Tait, Cardinalland Manoukian, although the colonial administration imposed chiefs for administrative purposes, the acephalous people never accepted them, thus, they were never ‘ruled by the chiefly peoples, but were only raided periodically. The chiefly groups extorted monies from the stateless groups as fines, especially through the chiefly court system. The implication of these developments are that, with time emotional sentiments and passions are brought to bear with general official arrangements which gradually leads one side to call for changes. If the call is not heeded by the authorities involved, one side feels cheated and with the lapse of time lead to ethnic based but largely culture oriented conflict. According to Tait, Dagomba ‘rule was limited to sporadic raids to obtain slaves needed for the annual tribute to the Ashanti. From time to time, local tax collectors were sent to Konkomba territory to collect foodstuff such as millet, sorghum, yam, and maize, which was sold in the markets to raise money for the local chief. In 1950, some Konkombas were stopped by Dagombas on their way to Yendi market and their head-loads of new yam taken (which was valued at  £18), and in the same year when the Ya Na was fined in the District Commissioners court, two lorry loads of sorghum were collected in Saboba region alone on the grounds that, ‘The European says that it has got to be paid. Also according to Skalnik (1983 in Katanga,1994, pp21), Konkomba marriage disputes accounted for a large source of income for the court of the Bimbilla-Naa. Thus it became very rare for a Konkomba to appeal to the District Commissioner on cases of injustices, though instances of this sort of extor tion were frequent. Similarly, the lay magistrate often without really solving the dispute to any sides satisfaction took bribes from both parties. The cumulative effect of this was total allegiance of these non-chiefly tribes to the chiefly groups. The Konkombas for instance were compelled to give some days as free labor annually in the farms of Nanumba/Dagombas chiefs and the compulsory donation of a hind leg of any big animal killed wild or domesticated to Nanumba chiefs. Probably the most unfair of these injustices was that, Konkombas were not allowed to settle even petty quarrels among themselves including matrimonial ones, even as late as the 20th century. These conditions compelled Konkombas to request for their own tribunal under Ali, an ex-soldier, domiciled in Bimbilla, to settle petty disputes particularly marriage cases. This proposal was vehemently rejected and attempts were made to eject Ali from Bimbilla, culminating into a heated atmosphere (Brukum, 1999:11-12). Another crucial notation is post colonial government arrangements both internal and external in Ghanas northern region. Several uncharacteristic and unscrupulous actions of post-colonial governments saw a further deterioration in the social friction between the chiefly and non-chiefly ethnic groups which were largely operated by land administration policies. All lands in Northern Ghana were protected and were under the custody ownership of the Tendaanas (Earth-shrine Priest) and not chiefs. The chief (Na or Ubor) in the north wielded only political power. The Tendaana was the highest office held by the autochthonous tribes, and consisted legitimate ownership of the land which even extended over chiefs. The Na/Ubor never dared to arrogate to himself, the duties of the Tendaana. Infact, the Na/Ubor humbled himself before him and appeared disguised as poor when occasions arose for him to visit the Tendaana. This is because the Tendaana not only owned the land, but he is the only person known to the spirit of the land. Hence it was the Tendaana that had the right to give out lands. It was believed that, the Chief did not grant farming lands to individuals. He is considered not to have any right over farms. Tindaamba (another name for Tendaana) still have power over chiefs and are feared. During this era, land was not a scarce resource and according to Goody under such conditions neither individuals nor kin groups bother to lay specific claims to large tracts of territory, since land is virtually a free good (Katanga, 1994:21). Land ownership in northern Ghana came under the custody of chiefs in 1978 during the Acheampong regime when a law was passed vesting all northern lands into the hands of selected ethnic groups chiefs (notice the connection of the emergence of the intra-ethnic conflict between the Abudu and Andani Gates which will take several years to assume full scale) and left out most other groups. The criteria for vesting the lands in the hands of these few chiefs were based on the recommendations of Alhassan Report of 1978, which were backed by the Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, both Dagombas (another watchful area, dealing with cultures involvement in conflict). Indeed the Alhassan Committees Report twisted the truth about the land tenure arrangements in Northern Ghana in favor of the chiefs and his tribesmen and the other chiefly people. These reforms in Northern Ghana Land administration were implemented by the then Government to solicit for political support from the Northern Chie fs for the UNIGOV System (Unity Government). With the failure of the Acheampong government however, these legislations were abrogated as the reins of government was overtaken by another military regime. The ceasure of the reins of government and the subsequent decree rule reversed this trend of land principles laid down by the previous administration and has ever since been the bane of confrontation between brothers in the different sides of the same group as is the case of the Dagbon conflict. The Konkomba Youth Association (KOYA) contested the Alhassan Report and has repeatedly pointed out that, the report has been the root cause of the three major ethnic conflicts and twenty minor ones between the chiefdoms. The jejune with these quack legislations is that they turn to outlive their significance with the transition of government, something that is purely not in the interest of the rural Ghanaian. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to conflict resolution, since culture is always a factor. Cultural fluency is therefore a core competency for those who intervene in conflicts or simply want to function more effectively in their own lives and situations. Cultural fluency involves recognizing and acting respectfully from the knowledge that communication, ways of naming, framing, and taming conflict, approaches to meaning-making, and identities and roles vary across cultures. In retrospect, culture as a key factor in conflict generation and orientation it that of a silent creeper. The kind that is in no way given premise by conflict analysts as being the prime cause in conflict situations. In the other words, the largel

Evaluation of Differential Research Methods Essay

In this essay we will look at the positive and negative aspects of the group presentation of remit 1. We will also look into the different research methods we took on to gather relevant information that we needed. Then recommendations we want to include for improvement from our verbal feedback alongside with any constraining factors we, as a group encountered. The essay will then look into the use and analysis of theory that we used that assisted us in making our final campaign. Once our group was given the idea of the university application we began to group ideas together as to what will work most effectively. We chose to use the campaign idea of viral marketing. To do this we took on a semantic and semiotic approach, whereby used signified linguistics to identify what we wanted to communicate and how. Semantic is better defined as ‘the study of linguistic development by classifying and examining changes in meaning and form’ [Semantics 2, 1994] our campaign idea was developed around the concept of transferring different meanings, for example in our campaign we developed the idea from the message we wanted to transfer across, which was the ease of use of the application along with the ability to make the video viral. Taking a semantic approach can allow the user to interpret form and meaning for them, the implementation of the meaning is posed but is left entirely to the user to self-interpret. Our campaign did however briefly touch over on semantic advertising, as we aimed the campaign as an viral video aimed at the social networking side of things we implemented the thoughts of just how effective it can be to specific target audiences to advertise on particular mediums. Our campaign idea could of better utilised the semantic concepts by identifying key phrases or words and adapting those words to create alternate meanings. Many semantic campaigns today are internet based, with a high increase of internet cookie tracking data being used by companies to then forward on products to consumers with similar search data. We decided to stay away from this concept as it falls into the category of anonymity and as an academic foundation we felt it more reputable to remain known. Semiotics is better defined as ‘The study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation’ [U, Eco, 1979] in our campaign we used many semiotic concepts and in fact it is arguably what our final idea was based around. In our storyboard campaign we decided to use the cartoon to real like to cartoon to real life effect which we used to indicate different scenarios, for example when the person first starts off he is a real life person standing with the application in his hand representing real life. The user then enters the University College Birmingham application whereby he is taken into another dimension and we see the use of different symbols and signs to recreate a fictional dimension. The use of this was to indicate exciting ways to being able to receive the information you need. In the cartoon storyboards the use of colours that we used were primary colours, which were used to indicate simplicity while portraying the ability to enjoy the application. It is also important to mention the signified and signifier model which we briefly used in the construction of our campaign, using key word associations it quickly gave us access to relevant wording which tied in with the possible campaign ideas. Finally to talk about the last concept that was used in the campaign we chose is rhetoric, better defined as ‘Language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience’ [G,Tom & Eves, A 1999] in our campaign we opted for the viral video, in hope that this would tap into our target market which were young students. In the campaign with the concepts we used by interacting on social networking sites we intending to create a persuasive advertising campaign that attempted to eliminate any preconceived ideas that university information was complicated and hard to get a hold of. The use of language we used in the campaign was simplistic while informative; we left no vital pieces of information out of the campaign while also making the thought of this information entertaining. The overall effect we intended to make on our target audience was to leave a lasting impressive imprint that the viral video we had created was informative, fun and appealing to our audience. In a highly competitive market it is essential for students to understand exactly what they seek and for it to be easily accessible, by creating the viral campaign with the use of social networking sites it allows the audience to access the information they need directly or through friends. To conclude, with the campaign we ran with and the concepts we took on board to get to the final decision we used a variety of different models, in particular the semiotic model whereby we used a variety of different colours, forms and meanings to portray different emotions to the user to engage them. We then took on board some semantic concepts by allowing the campaign to become a viral video and publishing this online it acted not only as a source of information but in turn an advertisement of the application and university. To recommend what could have changed with the campaign final idea or what could have been done instead to better our chances of the campaign idea being successful there would be a few recommendations. The implication further of semantic concepts could have been implemented in to the campaign idea of using social networking. The application draft idea picked up little criticism other than the presentation of the application and its data. If the project was to be undertaken again the use of rhetoric alongside semantic would be heavily prevalent to tap into the internet advertising market alongside the use of websites which creating platforms to share videos, blogs and articles.

Political Parties and Unfair Elections Essay

This party system was the first ‘truly national system’, consisting of the Democrats (followers of Jackson) and Whigs (opponents of Jackson) fairly balanced in most regions (Wilson and DiIulio, Jr. 196). The Civil War split the political parties in several ways. There was a deep difference in opinion between the parties over the issue of slavery and sectionalism. Both parties tried to ‘straddle the issues’ to avoid dividing their followers and losing the election to their rival (Wilson and DiIulio, Jr. 196). But the old parties divided and new ones emerged. As a result of the Civil War the modern Republican Party began as a third party. The Republican Party’s strength lay in the North; Abraham Lincoln did not receive a single electoral vote from a Southern state in 1860. The Democrats in the North divided into War Democrats, who supported the war effort but claimed the Republicans were doing a poor job of leading the Union, and the Peace Democrats, or Copperheads, who opposed the war and were suspected of disloyalty to the Union. To win the election of 1864, the Republicans reorganized themselves as the Union party to attract votes from the War Democrats and nominated War Democrat Andrew Johnson for vice president. When Lincoln was assassinated, Democrat Johnson became president. Following the Civil War, Republicans moved quickly to consolidate their control of the United States government. They quickly added a series of Western states to the Union, states that they expected would remain firm in their support for Republicans. The Republican Party’s pro-business positions played well in the industrial North and Midwest, while the Democrats held the â€Å"solid South. † The large number of immigrants who came to the United States, together with the growing industrial workforce, laid the basis for strong, largely Democratic political machines in New York, Chicago, and other large cities (CliffsNotes. com). So at this point there were basically two political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. The Democrats dominated national politics for the next 20 years. Democratic dominance collapsed in the 1960s in response to the Vietnam War. There was unprecedented rioting against the principles of the war and Democrats blamed their party for the riots and the rise in unlawful behavior and protests. Due to that fact, support of the Democratic Party sharply declined. From the 1968 election of Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton’s 1992 victory, only one Democrat attained the White House: Jimmy Carter, whose term spanned 1976 to 1980. The Electoral College is a major factor in sustaining a majority two-party system, but does not necessarily keep elections fair. If the popular vote in a state is very close, the winner gets all of the state’s electoral votes. This makes it extremely difficult for a third party to win, i. e. the two-party system is reinforced. In many cases the Electoral College system has failed so far as keeping elections fair. Two instances in particular reveal the inadequacy of the Electoral College procedure. An example of a popular third party candidate that was denied any serious validation as a Presidential candidate would be Ross Perot in the 1992 election. Perot garnered almost 20 percent of the popular vote across the country but did not receive a single electoral vote due to the Electoral College rules. This discrepancy between electoral and popular votes has led to many wanting to put an end to the Electoral College system and replace it with popular voting. Another example of the failure of the Electoral College system was exemplified in the 2000 election, when Al Gore was not chosen to be president although he had the popular vote of the country. A systematic conspiracy to heavily manipulate the vote in the critical state of Florida to favor Bush in the 2000 Bush-Gore presidential election ultimately resulted in a Bush victory. The blatant manipulation methods used were enough to swing the election to Bush and away from Gore. The evident fraud in the voting process and the failure of the courts to intervene in a proper and non-partisan manner cost Gore the Presidency. When it became apparent on November 8, 2000 that neither Gore nor Bush had the majority of the electoral votes required to win the Presidency, the state of Florida became the focus of attention. Both candidates needed a majority in Florida to win the White House, but voting irregularities prevented the final tally from being reached for over five weeks. What voters didn’t realize was that the voting procedure wasn’t the only problem in Florida, but that the process to insure George W. Bush’s victory had been in place for over two years before the election. Florida Governor Jeb Bush, George W. Bush’s brother, was elected in 1998. He immediately put a plan into action that would help his brother gain the Florida electoral votes in the 2000 election. Gov. Bush let special interest groups know that they expected political donations of $2 for every $1 donated to Democrats or defaulters would lose access to the governor and the legislative leadership, and their businesses would tank. The Governor also began replacing   Ã‚   Democrats throughout Florida state government, his first purge of Democratic voters. Governor Jeb Bush’s next step to eliminate Democratic power in Florida was to appoint staunch Republicans to control Florida’s educational system, including state senator Jim Horne as Florida’s first Secretary of Education and most of the individual university presidents. He accomplished this feat by eliminating the Florida Board of Regents. The board was replaced by separate boards of trustees at all ten of the state universities According to Lance deHaven-Smith, in his book entitled The Battle for Florida, â€Å"the governor was given the power to make all the trustee appointments†. This created an enormous source of new patronage and also undermined the political neutrality of the state universities. With the Board of Regents out of the way, Republicans quickly replaced many of the university presidents with political insiders. (deHaven-Smith, 2005) The Florida Republican Party then began a drive to disenfranchise Democratic voters. They paid a private company to purge the voter registry of all ex-felons, even though Florida courts twice ruled that ex-felons whose civil rights had been restored before they came to Florida were entitled to vote. This would benefit the Republicans because blacks made up more than 50% of the ex-felon list and 9 0% of the black Florida population voted Democratic. In 1999, newly-elected Secretary of State Katherine Harris paid Data Base Technologies (DBT) $4. million to compile the most extensive scrub list possible. Race was a big factor in compiling matches for the list. After the election, DBT testified before a congressional committee that Florida officials had ordered them to eliminate voters by making incorrect matches. The information was gathered from the Internet and no verifying telephone calls were made. Five months before the election, Harris (who coincidentally was co-chairing the Bush presidential campaign) sent the list of 57,700 names to all the precincts with instructions to remove those voters from the rolls. Greg Palast revealed the story of the scrub list in The Observer, London, November 26, 2000. The story was ignored by American mainstream press. Palast has since provided irrefutable, hard evidence of fraud. His most recent estimate of qualified Florida voters barred from casting a ballot in Election 2000 stands at 90,000. On January 10, 2001, NAACP lawyers sued and won their case against DBT, Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and Bush loyalist Clay Roberts, Director of the Division of Elections. (Palast, 2003)   On Election Day 2000 in the state of Florida, however; Republican voters stood in short ines and used up-to-date equipment. The machinations of the Republican Party paid off in black districts. Highway patrol officers flagged down voters at roadblocks and checked their drivers’ licenses while others waited in long lines to vote on ancient machines. Innocent citizens were turned away and informed that their names appeared on the ex-felons list when they showed up to vote. Republicans found other ways to disenfranchise opposition voters. Two-page ballots with misleading directions were printed in Austin, Texas (the center of the George W. Bush presidential campaign), returned to Florida, and distributed in black districts. Some votes were simply later trashed by ballot handlers. In Duval County, 27,000 ballots were discarded, over half of them from black precincts in Jacksonville. No official challenges were filed within the 72-hour time limit, so thousands of mostly Democratic votes were lost. Sixteen-thousand votes for Gore disappeared overnight from the ongoing Volusia County tally and were reinstated only when an election supervisor questioned the subtraction of already registered votes. No voting machine company representative or election official was able to explain what happened. (Dover, 2002) Around 8 p. m. on Election Day exit polls from Voter News Service projected a Gore victory, but Bev Harris uncovered an CBS news report revealing that the erroneous subtraction of Gore’s votes in Volusia caused the election to be called for Bush. For several hours the race was too close to call, but shortly after midnight, Bush’s numbers plunged rapidly and Gore gained the lead. Despite Gore’s numbers, at 2:16 a. m. Fox News announced that Texas Governor George W. Bush had won Florida and the other television networks repeated Fox’s false information. (Harris, 2004) Gore heard the fake news of his defeat, phoned his congratulations to Bush and was prepared to deliver his concession speech to the nation. At that point, Gore’s chief advisors in Florida told him it was much too early to concede formally and advised him to hold off since there were still 360,000 uncounted votes. Out of 6 million votes cast in Florida, Bush’s lead was reported to be a mere 537 votes. The Florida Constitution had no provisions for a statewide recount, so Gore asked for a partial recount in four southern counties where glaring irregularities had shown up. The last thing the Bush team wanted was a fair recount. They complained to the press that Gore was a sore loser, and the press largely agreed. (Posner, 2001)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On December 8, the Florida Supreme Court overturned a circuit court decision and ordered a manual recount. Based on findings in the circuit court trial, Gore was awarded 393 votes, reducing Bush’s lead to only 154 votes. That’s when the Bush camp went ballistic. (Simon, 2001)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The National Party sent out-of-state operatives to intimidate Republican county clerks to amend over votes in Republican counties, to amend incomplete absentee ballot applications, and to accept late-arriving military ballots lacking signatures. When the recount actually began they became more radical, charged into the county administration building, threatening county canvassers, and halted the recount of Miami-Dade ballots. Despite court orders, eighteen counties never attempted a recount. The Bush campaign team and lawyers circulated misinformation about Florida’s election laws, about the reliability of manual recounts (both Jeb and George W. claimed that only machines could count accurately), and about the likelihood of a constitutional crisis. (Zelden, 2010) The Florida Constitution specifies that the intent of the voter be paramount during ballot recounting. Because electronic machines had repeatedly failed to read, discern intent, and count ballots accurately, manual recounting was mandated. The law was actually quite clear and no constitutional crisis was imminent. That did not stop the Bush team from pressing the issue, for they wanted the U. S. Supreme Court to intervene and prevent the recount. Republican leadership called the legislature into special session while the judiciary branch still addressed election issues, an extraordinary move. Speaker of the House Tom Feeney, Jeb’s bosom political buddy, took the podium and criticized the Florida Supreme Court decisions. He warned that if the dispute continued to December 12, Florida’s electoral slate would be excluded from the Electoral College vote. Florida had submitted its election results as they were certified, so the electoral slate was never really in danger. The Bush legal team, determined to delay or stop the recount, appealed to the U. S. District Court of Appeals, the Florida Supreme Court, and the U. S. Supreme Court. The justices had no business interfering in the election. The U. S. Constitution authorizes Congress to settle election disputes, not the Supreme Court. The first two courts denied the appeal. Then the U. S. Supreme Court gave them the nod. From that moment, the fix was in. Zelden, 2010) Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas had close relatives working for Republican organizations and should have recused themselves. Antonin Scalia’s son Eugene is a Washington law partner of Theodore B. Olson, the attorney who twice argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of George W. Bush. Scalia’s son John is an attorney with the Miami law firm that represented Bush in Florida. Clarence Thomas†™s wife, Virginia, worked for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and had been helping to collect applications from people seeking employment in the Bush administration. But they, along with the three other right-wing judges on the court, issued a ruling instructing the Florida courts to find a recount method that would apply â€Å"equal standards. † The decision came down at 10 p. m. on December 12, 2000, two hours before the deadline to submit voting results. In short, the U. S. Supreme Court ran the clock out on American voters and handed Florida’s electoral votes and the presidency to George W. Bush. (Thoreau, 2007) Reviewing the actual results of the statewide examination of 175,010 disputed ballots, on November 12, 2001 Robert Parry, www. consortiumnews. om, cleared away the media fog: â€Å"So Al Gore was the choice of Florida’s voters — whether one counts hanging chads or dimpled chads. That was the core finding of the eight news organizations that conducted a review of disputed Florida ballots. By any chad measure, Gore won. Gore won even if one doesn’t count the 15,000-25,000 votes that USA Today estimate d Gore lost because of illegally designed ‘butterfly ballots,’ or the hundreds of predominantly African-American voters who were falsely identified by the state as felons and turned away from the polls. Gore won even if there’s no adjustment for George W. Bush’s windfall of about 290 votes from improperly counted military absentee ballots where lax standards were applied to Republican counties and strict standards to Democratic ones, a violation of fairness reported earlier by the Washington Post and the New York Times. Put differently, George W. Bush was not the choice of Florida’s voters anymore than he was the choice of the American people who cast a half million more ballots for Gore than Bush nationwide. † Although the 2000 election was a travesty, one positive outcome was the renewal in the nation’s interest in The National Popular Vote bill.

Bank of England Monetary Policy Affecting Inflation Rates - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2599 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Cause and effect essay Did you like this example? Introduction The intention of this essay is to explain how Bank of England monetary policy has affected inflation rates within Great Britain, we will take data for the time period 2009-the present, the reasoning for this is this was the time-period that Quantitative Easing was introduced. It will state recent developments in regard to interest rate policies and highlight what Quantitative Easing is and how it forms part of monetary policy. It will use recent data in regard to the setting of interest rates and inflation and how inflation and interest rates affect businesses and individuals. What is the Bank of England? The Bank of England is the Central Bank of the United Kingdom. The mission of the bank is to promote the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability; she is sometimes referred to as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street and was founded in 1694 (Bank of England, 2015). A Central Bank is nowadays primarily an agency for monetary policy. It usually also has important financial stability functions, and those become more prominent during times of financial turmoil, (Ortiz and Yam, 2009, pp.17) and although it has many differing functions dependant on which country the central bank operates in one could infer that the objective underlying all functions was for the economic interests of the nation, consistent with government economic policy (Ortiz and Yam, 2009, pp.18). The Bank of England is engaged in all of these functions, however the purpose of this essay is to highlight monetary policy and inflationary matters; as such we will now con centrate on the monetary policy function of the Bank of England. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Bank of England Monetary Policy Affecting Inflation Rates" essay for you Create order What is Monetary Policy? Monetary Policy has been defined as the macroeconomic policy laid down by the central bank. It involves management of money supply and interest rate and is the demand side of economic policy used by the government of a country to achieve macroeconomic objectives like inflation, consumption, growth and liquidity (Economic Times, 2015). Within the United Kingdom, the Bank of England has a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), The MPC sets an interest rate it judges will enable the inflation target to be met, (Bank of England, 2015) this target is defined by the Government set inflation target of a 2 per cent year-over-year increase in the Consumer Prices Index (Bank of England, 2015). Monetary Policy is important as it is used to maintain and engineer stable prices and confidence in the currency through the setting of interest rates, again this is defined by the governments inflation target. A central bank has two tools it can use to try to influence the economy in terms of monetary po licy; the setting of interest rates and the expansion and contraction of the money supply. One of the key elements of monetary policy is how a central bank tries to keep the supply and demand for goods in some form of equilibrium by changing its official interest rate. This is known as the Base Rate or Bank Rate, and it signals and attempt to influence the overall level of activity in the economy. When demand for goods and services in the economy exceed supply, inflation tends to rise above the Banks target rate of 2%. On the other hand, when supply exceeds demand, inflation tends to fall below the Banks 2% target (Bank of England, 2015). By changing the interest rate the bank is able to influence other banks and building societies in their borrowing and lending activities and therefore affect spending in the economy. It does this in an attempt to keep inflation in line with its pre-determined target of 2%. A reduction in interest rates makes saving less attractive and borrowing more attractive, which stimulates spending. Lower interest rates can also affect consumers and firms cash-flow à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a fall in interest rates reduces the income from savings and the interest payments due on loans. (Bank of England, 2015) Another, more unconventional, form of monetary policy is that of Quantitative Easing. This is when a Central Bank creates new money electronically to buy financial assets, like government bonds. This process aims to directly increase private sector spending in the economy and return inflation to target. (Bank of England, 2015) This was first used in the UK in March 2009 and involves the cash injection [which] lowers the cost of borrowing and boosts asset prices to support spending and get inflation back to target. If inflation looks like being too high, the Bank of England can sell these assets to reduce the amount of money and spending in the economy. (Bank of England, 2015) Considering the current state of the British economy with a transition from a majority of full-time to part-time workers (see Fig.2), a decrease in the real wage growth (see Fig.3) and a decrease in real average weekly earnings (see Fig.4) it can be stated that the Banks current monetary policy is acting against its own interests; Promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability (Bank of England, 2015). (Fig.2) (Fig.3) (Fig.4) What is Inflation? Inflation has been defined in a number of ways, one of these definitions is that it is the rate of increase in prices for goods and services [and] there are a number of different measures of inflation in use. The most frequently quoted and most significant one [is] the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) (BBC, 2015) CPI is the speed at which the prices of the goods and services bought by households rise or fall. Consumer price inflation is estimated by using price indices. The price index estimates changes to the total cost of this basket. Most ONS price indices are published monthly. (ONS, 2013) Inflation is of great significance as it affects the prices of all goods and services, and as mentioned above it has an effect on real wages and their growth, its affects on businesses and therefore their employment policies i.e. full time as opposed to part-time employment, consumption and an ability to save. Recent Monetary Policy We have established that Monetary Policy consists of a setting of an Interest Rate or Bank Rate and also a relatively new form of monetary policy called Quantitative Easing. Since Quantitative Easing is new and was first introduced in 2009 we will use policy and the relevant interest rates relating to this time-period. The following is an extract taken from the Bank of Englands website: The previous change in Bank Rate was a reduction of 0.5 percentage points to 0.5% on 5 March 2009. A programme of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves was initiated on 5 March 2009. The previous change in the size of that programme was an increase of  £50 billion to a total  £375 billion on 5 July 2012. (Bank of England, 2015) As we can see the Bank has kept its interest rate policy at a constant for the last 6 years, a record-low. Recent Inflation Using the same time-period as above we can show the inflation rate and how it has fluctuated: (Fig 1.) As can be seen from the graph above the level of inflation began to appreciate with the setting of the 0.5% interest rate which is in conjunction with economic theory as individuals tend to borrow therefore spend more which leads companies to raise prices. However, during 2012 other factors came into effect and we have seen depreciation in inflation. Of late one such factor could be the decrease in oil prices which has lead to significant revenue shortfalls in many energy exporting nations, while consumers in many importing countries are likely to have to pay less to heat their homes or drive their cars. (BBC, 2015). This is of importance as consumers use oil and other natural resources and it makes up part of their essential consumption, for example, if oil prices decrease then the cost of travelling, heating and lighting becomes cheaper. As can be seen from the grap h and the monetary policy that has been implemented by the Bank of England we can see the bank has entered into an unknown territory in that it has encountered an inflation level very close to 0% and also have an interest rate policy close to 0%. The level of inflation is below its desired target of 2% and therefore they, ideally, would like to be in a position to lower the interest rate to generate an increase in inflation, however, should the Bank of England begin to increase interest rates we would see an increase in the payments of debt. This remains true for governments also, with Britains debt rapidly increasing as a percentage of GDP (see Fig.5) this would ensure if not increase the probability of the government itself defaulting on its debt. With many other factors such as lowering oil prices, high unemployment, and a decrease in consumers disposable income aiding in the depreciation of inflation it will be interesting to see the Bank of Englands next change in monetary poli cy and to observe its implications. (Fig.5) The Effects of Inflation Inflation has many different effects on a variety of different practitioners such as businesses and individuals. For businesses high levels of inflation can lead to higher sales revenue and therefore higher profit margins, however, this can be a short-lived occurrence as the cost of sales will also be affected increasing business costs and lowering profit margins. It is also likely that employees will at some-point request an increase in wages to keep pace with the raising costs of goods and services. Business will also need to be aware of the changing conditions within central and commercial banks as if inflation is raising beyond a pre-determined level then the central banks will alter their interest rate to ensure they meet their targets. This in turn will affect commercial banks and therefore the general cost of borrowing; this can also effect debt repayments and eventually profit-margins. Low levels of inflation can also lead to higher sales revenue as customers take advant age of an increase in purchasing power and are therefore more likely to make rapid purchases, however, when inflation levels are low this suggests that interest rates are high and therefore saving becomes more attractive however this is not always the case. This could then lead to lower sales revenue as consumers will tend to favour savings over spending. For individuals, high levels of inflation mean that prices of goods and services are increasing therefore individuals on a fixed income are proportionately spending a larger amount of their income on essentials, leading to a lower amount of disposable income. This means that interest rates are low and therefore saving becomes unattractive leaving consumers at the behest of the macroeconomic environment. However, dependant on the levels of inflation it is quite likely that the central banks will adjust interest rates accordingly and raise them, allowing consumers to benefit from the possibility of saving. There are some other external factors which are out of the control of the Bank of England which also have an effect on British consumers and inflation such as currency exchange rates, other countries interest rates and oil prices. (Ramady, 2009, pp.10) Conclusion In conclusion, we have discussed the Bank of England and its monetary policy and how the setting of interest rates has an effect on inflation and how this in turn affects businesses and individuals. We have seen that there are numerous different ways in which interest rates and inflation can be adjusted given the economic environment and how the central bank and commercial banks control monetary policy to meet a pre-determined inflationary target à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" this target is 2% within the United Kingdom. We have also used data and recent policy to illustrate the affects, which has brought us to an interesting point in economic history in that the central bank, commercial banks, businesses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" large and small à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and consumers have entered into a predicament in that we have a situation where both inflation and interest rates have reached near or exactly 0%. The central banks, various other large financial and political institutions must now crea te and adapt to a different strategy as it seems they have exhausted the use of their monetary policy tools and although Quantitative Easing tends to boost the economy short-term, we have still seen this new tool used on multiple occasions. It seems that if their current strategy was working, why all around the world are we continuing to observe economic instability in various forms such as high unemployment, highly volatile inflation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and deflation in some areas -, a reduction in real wages and a shift from mainly full-time to part-time working hours, these different negative economic consequences of a policy that results in more instability whilst the stated of objective of the institution is Promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability(Bank of England, 2015). Bibliography Bank of England. (2015). About the Bank. Available at: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/Pages/default.aspx Bank of England. (2015). Bank of England maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the size of the Asset Purchase Programme at  £375 billion. Available at: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/news/2015/004.aspx Bank of England. (2015). How does monetary policy work? Available at: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/Pages/how.aspx Bank of England. (2015). Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Available at: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/Pages/overview.aspx Bank of England. (2015). Promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/Pages/home.aspx Bank of England. (2015). What is Quantitative Easing? Available at: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/Pages/qe/default.aspx Bank of England. (2015). What we do. Available at: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/Pages/onemission/default.aspx BBC. (2015). Falling Oil Prices: Who are the winners and losers? Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29643612 BBC. (2015). QA: Inflation Explained. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12196322 Economic Times. (2015). Definition of Monetary Policy'. Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/monetary-policy Ortiz, S. And Yam, J. (2009). Issues in the Governance of Central Banks, Central Bank Governance Group, pp.17, [PDF]. Available at: https://www.bis.org/publ/othp04.pdf Telegraph. (2015). Inflation: RPI, CPI and RPIJ explained. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9792480/Inflation-RPI-CPI-and-RPIJ-explained.html Bank of England. (2015). QE à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Quantitative Easing (QE) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Injecting Money Into The Economy. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/Documents/resources/postcards/qecomp.pdf Office of National Statistics (ONS), (2013). Consumer Price Indices à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" A Brief Guide https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/prices/cpi-and-rpi/consumer-price-indicesa-brief-guide.pdf Bank of England. (2015). Quantitative Easing (QE) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Injecting Money Into The Economy [PDF] https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/Documents/resources/postcards/qecomp.pdf Ramady, M. (2009). External and Internal Determinants of Inflation: A Case Study of Saudi Arabia, Middle East Journal of Economics and Finance, pp.10 [PDF] Available at: https://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/FINEC/ramadyma/articles/External%20%20Internal%20Determinants%20of%20inflation-A%20Case%20Study%20of%20Saudi%20Arabia.pdf Illustrations Figure 1. United Kingdom Inflation Rate (1915) [Image] Available at: https://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/inflation-cpi Figure 2. Three month average for the percentage of people working full and part time respectively, September-November 2000 to September-November 2013 [Image] pp.9 Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_351467.pdf Figure 3. AWE real wage growth and the range of real wage growth estimates using other ONS wages and price series, Q1 2001 to Q3 2013, per cent change on the same quarter a year ago [Image] pp.5 Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_351467.pdf Figure 4. Real Average Weekly Earnings and Real Average Hourly Wage, Index 2005=100 [Image] pp.8 Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_351467.pdf Figure 5. UK National Debt % GDP [Image] Available at: https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/334/uk-economy/uk-national-debt/