Management 4900 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Management 4900 - Essay Example It should state the result, its significance and any other conclusion(s), which may be relevant. Introduction: A novel mouse mutant and the corresponding protein, mKIAA058 (in the following ‘KIAA’), was identified and further analysed. In order to understand the functions of this gene/protein, a mouse strain containing a non-functional allele (mKiAA058-; Null-allele) was successfully established. First data indicated an autosomal recessive inheritance as heterozygous (KIAA+/-) as well as homozygous knockout (KIAA-/-) animals were identified. The deficiency of this protein (‘Knockout KIAA’) affects multiple tissues, including skeletal defects (delayed/reduced development of bone and cartilage; growth retardation) as well as a progressive form of vascular degeneration. Later, a corresponding disease in humans was found in a small number of very young patients. The prospects of the patients are not clear at the time and the analysis of the mouse model may provide some hints for the severity of the disease. The analyses of the molecular mechanisms underlyi ng the disease are still ongoing and some problems and experiments linked to these studies are given in the following. Statistical tests may be used to answer some of the questions. In order to define potential effects of the presence/absence of the KIAA protein on the inheritance patterns, a number of breedings were performed. The genotypes of the parents were known and the genotypes of the litters (age: 14-16 days) were analysed by allele-specific PCR reactions. In three parallel experiments (1.1, 1.2, 1.3), crossings of 5 wildtype males (KIAA+/+) with 10 heterozygous females (KIAA+/-) were started and all litters (given as total number of mice) were genotyped and the numbers of all possible genotypes are given in the following Table 1. All tested mice appear normal and show no altered phenotype at the tested age (day 14-16). In three parallel

Dear Phyllis Essay Example for Free

Dear Phyllis Essay Im writing to you to say goodbye. Im in the prison now. I am sad to say Ill be executed tomorrow because I escaped from the camp. I know you will feel so sad and miserable. But I hope you do not to feel too unhappy. Being shot is the same as letting me successfully escape that hateful camp, hateful country. However, its to be regretted that I will let my mother be alone again. Im so sorry about that I couldnt go back to Germany; that I cant look after her in the future. My death will regret by her. And much to my regret let Christoph die accompany me. Phyllis, my beloved, I despaired when you decided not to go with me and had changed your mind when I met you on the highway at that night. Im not sure why my beloved so easily changed her mind. I think you have your reasons. Anyway, I think you must be anxious to know why we have been captured. We according to our plan and with two other comrades had sailed in safety across the channel. But mistaking our bearings we steered into Jersey, think that the island was the French coast. Unfortunately, we were perceived in that island, and they delivered up to the authorities. The death punishment is being reserved for Christoph and me; the sentence for two was accordingly commuted to flogging because we interceded for them when we were captured. I know I will be dead tomorrow, but I will remember you and love you forever. You are always my beloved, you all be always in my mind. At least I hope you wouldnt feel too broken heart when I die. Dont blame yourself. Forget me, live happily and well in the future. Goodbye! My beloved. Love from Matthaus Tina

Analysis of Richard Wrights Black Boy

Analysis of Richard Wrights Black Boy Black Boy Essay In Richard Wright’s autobiography of Black Boy, Richard is determined to leave his family to move to the north because they do not provide the necessities for him to be successful. Richard’s bold and stubborn personality negates him success. This runs parallel to the abuse and manipulation that Richard receives that limits his relationships with others around him. Wright also shows how reading frees a soul suffering from discrimination. The US constitution states that â€Å"All men are created equal,† but in the Jim Crow law era, blacks were always looked down upon. Jim Crow promoted segregation and dehumanization amongst blacks and whites, creating the â€Å"wall† that separates whites from blacks. Racial prejudice, hate and discrimination were everywhere; blacks could be punished in any manor, from being arrested and getting a beating, to being slain based on a white person’s judgment on the action perform by the black individual. Throughout the n ovel we can see Richard’s alienation from the white community as well as the black community. Richard grew up in the south bound by rules and regulations formed by the whites. Secluded within their own confines of living, their struggle to survive in such a harsh environment seemed infinite and hopeless. Richard had to take charge when his mother falls ill and must provide for her and the family; disregarding this own health and focusing on keeping up with the rent and bills that needed to be paid. Richard’s father deserted his family leaving him and his mother to be on their own. Nathan, Richard’s dad was a peasant, and a share cropper. He did what the whites commanded him to do, follow the rules with no desire to succeed or progress in life, and repeat each and every demeaning and menial task day by day just to get by. This is the kind of society which ‘trained’ Nathan to be what the whites forced him to be, a dull and dumb individual with no sense of perception of what’s actually going on around him. Being counted as a subspecies, Richardà ¢â‚¬â„¢s father was conditioned to have no sense of hope, his entire life was based upon one thing, and that is falling in line with all other blacks and follows through with all the commands given by the white with no questions asked. This worked on every level imaginable, using sheer force and fear to tear down any sense of hope or positive thinking which blacks had. Just the thought of blacks surpassing a white individual was unthinkable. Why is this? It’s because it was deemed that way, it was how the society worked at that time. No one could question or challenge what whites could or can’t do, all of their thoughts are final. The ideas of being superior amongst the blacks were socially acceptable. And this included dehumanizing and cruel treatments. Richard wasn’t like the other kids that were in the black society. He was more free willed and ambitious. Richard was an independent individual from the start; not getting attached to anyone or in need of assistance of any sort. Richard was fond of education and learning. His quest for knowledge seemed, in the other black people’s eyes as a waste of time and energy, deemed to be helpful. But in some cases, Richard’s knowledge gets him in trouble, even worse getting hurt. An example from the book, is when Richard has to go to the store and buy groceries, but gets robbed numerous times by a gang of boys. The final time that Richard failed to get the groceries his mother told him, â€Å"Don’t come in here†¦You just stay right where you are, I’m going to teach your this night to stand up and fight for yourself†¦Don’t you come into this house until you’ve gotten those groceries.†(pg.24-25). One of Richard’s top quali ties was taught that night by his mother was perseverance. On the other hand we see the opposite, Shorty. Basically this amplifies my point of doing whatever possible to survive in this dreadful environment. He gets kicked in the gut just to get a quarter. My ass is tough and quarters is scarce.(end of ch12) At what point does a person go to violate self-ethics and morals, and go through with it just to survive. How far are you willing to go until you break? There is a delicate bond between the white people and white people, as humans we have limitations on how much we can handle mentally and physically. We can see from this example that Shorty is willing to degrade himself in order to get a quarter per kick. Shorty and Richard go off on a tangent about how to avoid being dehumanized and do something else. Richard offers to help him but Shorty’s hard headedness prevents him from to take heed the information given by Richard. But in Shorty’s remarks, he states that he is lazy to do anything and won’t change his ways of ho w he earns money. The readers recognize that Shorty has accepted the fact of being caught in the white power web of inferiority; he sees that there is no way out of this terrible situation. He went to school for half of his learning, and the half he was self-taught; by reading little bits and pieces he manages to learn quite a bit. Having knowledge and education grants Richard to be ahead of all the other black people. Wanting to be a writer, Wright pursues his dreams of moving North and writing novels. He takes the challenge by getting any job he can to raise money for himself to move to the north once and for all, and freeing himself from the clutches of racial prejudice and white rule. His ability to persevere also guided Richard toward his prosperity. Richard was a fighter and no matter what obstacle he faced, he manages to knock it down and march forth with his duties. Richard was always rebellious, from when he was really young to young adulthood. For example, when the principal at Richard’s school had asked him to give a speech to the audience of whites and blacks, Richard refused to read the principal’s pre-written speech. Just by reading the principal’s speech he was relieved at the same overly stressed out. He had the will and courage that other black individuals lacked to commence forth with this own speech. Richard was willing to leave school without a diploma just because of this unjust action. The whites knew that Richard was different; they knew that he challenged the â€Å"system† and he wasn’t afraid like the rest of the black people. The readers can sense fear coming from the whites, due to Richard’s attitude towards the whites and the boundaries that surround him. The white’s try to cover up their fear and pushing racism by being cruel and demeaning towards the entire black population. We can see in the scene where Richard gets a new job at the optical place, and his co-workers mistreat him just because the boss is kind to Richard. Later Richard leaves the job knowing that his co-workers would ‘kill’ him if told the boss what happed to him. The hostility portrayed by his co-workers was so great that Richard couldn’t handle it anymore, and was forced to leave his job. All of these events mold Richard into the hardy character he is known for. Wright’s intellect was unmatched by the blacks, and well as his rebellious features and conduct. These were a few reasons that he was able to overcome his background of being black individual, and becoming a successful writer. Based on the fact that he was smart and independent, and his perseverance guided him to reach this status, to which all blacks should uphold to. By reading Black Boy it becomes very clear to the reader how life as a black minority is very difficult. We can recognize all the struggles they faced and how Richard challenged and managed to surpass what no blacks ever did.

Value of the Biopsychosocial Model of Health

Value of the Biopsychosocial Model of Health Various approaches of rehabilitation based on scientific models are implemented to cope with disabilities, impairments, diseases (Lorenzo, M, 1999, p.1). Before the implementation of Biopsychosocial model, Biomedical model was traditionally practised and heavily used upon assessing patient. (Engel, 1977, p.130). Engel (1977, p.131) states that biomedical model illustrates the alteration of particular biochemical is commonly assessed in a specific diagnosis in relevant to the pattern of the disease. He also mentioned that additional concepts and frames of reference should be taken into account. Biopsychosocial model is said to be an improved model than biomedical model as it is a way of examining patients at the two important interlinked systems: mind-body connection. (Engel, 1977, p.132). This model was proposed by psychiatrist George Engel in a 1977 article in Science. This biopsychosocial model treats patients from biological, psychological and sociological aspects of body (Lakhan, 2006). Unlike biomedical model, psychological and sociological was not being emphasised as it solely examine the biological aspect (Erskine et al, 2003, p.173). The most obvious dissimilarity of Biopsychosocial model than Biomedical model is that Biopsychosocial model encourages patients active participation whilst Biomedical model is not much a model which promotes patient-centred care in terms of appreciating the individual needs and right of patients, understanding patients illness and health care experiences, and embracing them within effective relationships which enable patients to participate in clinical reasoning more (Ersser, 2008, p.68). Biopsychosocial model approach was used during a clinical placement; Mdm. C went for her first treatment in physiotherapy department after being referred case from an orthopaedics doctor to a physiotherapist. Mdm. C is a 56 years old housewife who is diagnosed with shoulder osteoarthritis. Shoulder osteoarthritis typically affects patients over 50 years old and it is more common in patients who have a history of prior shoulder injury as well as genetic predisposition (Cluett, 2009). Mdm. C was having language barrier with the physiotherapist responsible, Mr. S as she is incompetent in speaking English and Malay. Immediately, Mr. S finds another assistant who is able to communicate to her in Mandarin (Chinese). Despite the barrier faced, Mdm. C was greeted nicely by the Mr. S. Based on the physicians report, Mdm. Cs condition fulfilled the symptoms of shoulder osteoarthritis: inflammation and degeneration of cartilage, pain with activities, limited range of motion, stiffness of the sh oulder, swelling of the joint, tenderness around the joint, and a feeling of grinding or catching within the joint (Cluett, 2009). Both objective and subjective assessment is carried out to initiate the treatment as well as to identify and confirm the biological aspects. (Petty, 2004) While assessing Mdm. C subjectively, Mr. S communicates with Mdm. C whole-heartedly, questioning her about her background, her career, social life, daily habitual routines. Petty and Moore (2007, p. 130) states that this would ease the physiotherapist to investigate more about the initial cause of the deformity as well as to treat her effectively in achieving the short-term and permanent goal in rehabilitation. Physiotherapist practised active listening while listen with heart of compassion, patience and without any judgmental view. Physiotherapist should also choose words carefully and meaningfully without stepping into patients borderline by using open-ended questions to search for information until full understanding is achieved. Sensitive verbal and non-verbal communication is witnessed throughout the session (Petty and Moore, 2007, p.130). Physiotherapists attempt to enquire more about Mdm. C is successful as Mdm. C became more comfortable in exposing and describing more about her complains of pain. This indirectly allows the physiotherapist to gather more information for a better rehabilitation outcome at ease. Engel (1977, p.130) states that more information needs to be gathered during consultation as physiotherapists need to find out about the patients biological signs, psychological state, their feelings and beliefs about the illness, and social factors such as their relationship with families and larger community. Thus, the interview process acts as a mean for the patient to give as much information as possible not solely based on physical symptoms, but how the illness affects the patient. (Engel, 1977, p.130) Physiotherapist started the objective assessment with the examination of posture of Mdm. C in sitting and standing, noting the posture of the shoulders, head and neck, thoracic spine and upper limbs. Physiotherapist notes bony and soft tissue contours around the region. He checked the alignment of the head of humerus with the acromion as this can give clues about the possible mechanical insufficiencies. Mr. S pinch-grips the anterior and posterior aspects of the humerus, passively corrects any asymmetry to determine its relevance to the Mdm. Cs problem (Petty, 2006, p. 212). Objective assessments are accompanied by other tests and after all been carried out, Mr. S had drafted out the treatment plan for Mdm. C. Mr. S then carefully and slowly explained the treatment to Mdm. C and set a short-term goal for her as it would not be a burden for Mdm. C in short duration. Mdm. C also benefits from getting a better idea of her conditions, treatment alternatives, and expected improvements. Sullivan (2007, p.11) states that anticipated goal and expected outcome can address in predicted change in overall health, risk reduction, and prevention and optimization of patient satisfaction. He also states that this would further encourage faster recovery. Mr. S then applied hot packs on Mdm. Cs shoulder as heat helps to prepare the tissues for stretching and should be performed prior to any exercise sessions (Anderson, 2009). Time duration for 10-15 minutes are used for the treatment and several layering were used to wrap to hot pack to avoid burning of skin. Thermo therapy is believed to relax muscle tightness and to relief pain, reduce muscle spasm, and increases blood circulation (Inverarity, 2005). Mr. S then teaches Mdm. C simple exercises to facilitate her restricted movements. Before starting the treatment, Mr. S demonstrated the exercise slowly and gave short, clear and easy-to-understand instructions and explanations about the treatment without using scientific jargons and labels to enhance the understanding of Mdm. C as wells as to minimize the emotional distress (O Sullivan and Precin, 2007, p.56). This consider patients empowerment into account as physiotherapist informed and explained the treatment options to patients before commencing the exercise onto patient herself. The exercises given are: finger walk, towel stretch, and armpit stretch. The goal of these exercises is to stretch the shoulder to the point of tension without pain (Anderson, 2009). Mr. S monitored Mdm. Cs psychological aspects properly by observing Mdm. Cs facial expression and body language. Facial expressions act as an indicator of patients psychological affection(Petty, 2004). It would somehow affect the quality of exercises performed by patient. By observing patients facial expression, it tells physiotherapist how they are feeling while doing exercises and whether they are comfortable doing it or not (Petty, 2004). For instance, if Mdm. C feels like giving up due to fatigue and disappointment doing exercises, Mr. S would act as a motivator to motivate her to continue her efforts by encouraging and supportive words like, Dont stop, youre almost there, Keep going, youre doing very well, You can do it, its easy, Hang in there, just a while more, Youre doing very good, come lets finish it together, this indirectly would comfort the patients psychological discomforts and motivate her to be on the right track. Mr. S enquired again, if Mdm. C is comfortable with t he given exercises to ensure that Mdm. C knows what she is doing and why is she feeling this way, and how does she cope with it if she feels like giving up due to tiredness. These covered the psychological aspects (Petty and Moore, 2007, p. 131). Though Mdm. C came alone for this treatment, she was encouraged by both Mr. S and his assistant who are competent in Mandarin throughout the session. Thus, Mdm. C knows that she is not doing it alone. When the treatment session is over, Mr. S gave Mdm. C few sheets of paper containing the exercises she did earlier. Mr. S contacted Mdm. Cs nearest kin, her daughter to stress the importance of home exercises and to ensure that Mdm. C constantly does that at home, as well as to encourage the family members to participate in the exercises in helping Mdm. C to improve her muscle strength and relieve the symptoms. Mr. S educates the family members about precaution and safety at home. Mr. S strongly encouraged family members to accompany Mdm. C for her next scheduled treatment so to overcome the language barrier and to make the family involved. These cover the sociological aspects of treatment. Sullivan, (2007, p. 52) states that Social support helps the increased of self-esteem, adjusting and adapting oneself with disability. Biopsychosocial model takes into consideration of patients involvement in treatment, patients needs, and patients relationship with clinician during a clinical practise as this model comprises the biological, psychological, sociological aspects of a patient. To conclude, biopsychosocial model is practical, applicable, and agreeable as it brings enormous improvements on patients condition. (1497 words)

Autism: A Disorder of Conflicting Causes and Treatments Essay examples

Autism: A Disorder of Conflicting Causes and Treatments Despite its 50 year-old diagnosis, autism is still one of the mostly commonly contracted and rarely treated childhood diseases. Studies suggest that as many as 1 in 500 children may display autistic symptoms. Manifestations of this disability include the stereotypical physical contortions and hand-flapping motions commonly associated with autism, as well as inability to relate to the outside world, limited social skills, lack of concentration, and hypersensitivity to certain stimuli-particularly noise (1). Perceived causes include poor fetal development, genetics, allergies, and a lack of crucial enzymes. Because for many years the disorder was thought to be a result of poor parenting, only recent studies have begun any attempts to identify the causes of childhood autism. Many diagnosis and potential treatments have been tried only by the parents of autistics; undergoing research is still slow and often under-funded. Eric Courchesne (2), a leading scientist whose studies of the cerebellum have opened a new field of belief for the region's potential functions, suggested that autistics have a marked propensity for cerebellar lesions and Purkinje neuron loss, leading to an inability to "rapidly and accurately" change attention from one focus to another, particularly in the areas of visual and auditory stimuli. Dr. Margaret Bauman, (Dept. of Neurology, Harvard Medical School and a child neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston), and Dr. Thomas Kemper (Depts. of Neurology, Anatomy, and Pathology, Boston University School of Medicine) have a different hypothesis (3) which nonetheless correlates with Courchesne's theory. They believe that a dysfunctional ne... ...improve concentration and awareness. Rimland suggests using a B-complex vitamin and magnesium to attempt to control some of the more physically apparent symptoms of autism. However, although many websites advocated the use of various vitamins and minerals to treat autism, none portended to have found a cure, or even plausible reasons for the benefits. Although research is still in the beginning stages, and many treatments are mere shots in the dark, autistics and their families continue to hope that cures and qualified treatments are not far-off. There are many available resources including group home projects (10), family support (11), and a wide-range of literature (12), much of it written by survivors themselves. Internet Sources: 1) http://www.autism.org/tunvsn.html 2) http://www.autism.org/limbic.html 3) http://www.autism.org/overview.html#causes

Medicine in the Civil War :: essays research papers fc

Medicine and Hospitals in the Civil War The Civil War had more deaths than all previous wars combined. Most people think those soldiers in the Civil War died of wounds or amputations, but the truth is that most died from common diseases that they never had been exposed to. Twice as many soldiers died from diseases than those soldiers who died in battle. Most people in the beginning of the war; thought it was only going to last a few weeks or months, so not much effort was put into recruiting doctors or surgeons. Even so, surgeons really didn’t have formal training in medicine. They did not know much about bacteriology and were ignorant of what caused diseases. Most Civil War surgeons also had never treated a gun shot wound or performed surgery, which led to the fact that they were not qualified at all. They would usually have 2 years of schooling, with only bookwork in the first year, and the second year would usually just be a repeat. However, doctors tried the best they could at treating the wounded and injured, and knowledge of medicine improved a little bit more each year. Most qualified surgeons started off as litter bearer and would carry men off the battlefield. If any of them showed interest in the medical field, they could become a Steward. A Steward's job was to take care of patients with minor wounds such as, scratches, and bumps. The other duties of a Steward were to pull teeth and take care of medicines for the surgeons. The Steward would also guard the medicinal stores, because often soldiers would try to break into the medicinal stores where the morphine, opium, and whisky were stored. If a Steward completed these duties, then he might be allowed to assist a surgeon in an operation, which could lead to becoming an assistant surgeon. He could then later on become an experienced and qualified surgeon. Soldiers faced diseases like measles, small pox, malaria, pneumonia, camp itch, mumps, typhoid and dysentery. However, diarrhea killed more soldiers than any other illness. There were many reasons that diseases were so common for the causes of death for soldiers. Reasons include the fact that there were poor physicals before entering the army, ignorance of medical information, lack of camp hygiene, insects that carried disease, lack of clothing and shoes, troops were crowded and in close quarters and inadequate food and water.

Federalism and Separation of Power

Democracy as a system of political administration has been termed over years as a product of several institutions working together to ensure the sustainability of an exclusive political system. Democratic institutions in a state are saddled with the responsibility of sustaining a nation’s democratic process such institutions like legislature, judiciary and the executive are the major institutions that guarantee efficiency in a democratic system. ( Ologbenla 1996) Basically, the legislative arm is the major institution that guarantees such because it represents the generality of the people’s interest.The doctrines of separation of power and checks and balances are two major tenets of democracy. Both doctrines provide basic principles that should be upheld in any democratic state. The adherence to these democratic tenets depends largely on the level of political adherence that follows the basic rules and regulations that guides the conduct of both the ruler and the ruled in an exclusive political community. Such rules and regulation are codified in a document known as constitution. A constitution is a legal framework that spells out the composition, function, and jurisdiction of government officials. Almond et al. 1966) It is a body of fundamental rules guiding the affairs of state. It states the relationship between the governors and the governed. Separation of powers is a doctrine propounded by Baron de' Montesquieu which stipulates that in order to avoid arbitrary use of power, power should be decentralised and shared among the organs of government such that no organ becomes too powerful. (Neumann 1949) The principle of checks and balances states that an organ of government should act as a watchdog on the other organs of government so as to curb their excesses.In a democratic system all governmental powers are derived from the constitution, it also spells out the functions and relationship of major governmental institutions such as the executive, judiciary and the legislature such that no organ of government can interfere in the affairs of the other. The constitution makes each arm of government to be an independent and coordinate unit, independent in terms of its sphere of influence and coordinate in its inter-governmental relationship with other arms of government.With cognisance to the American democratic structure, the constitution provides for separation of powers by stipulating the functions of the various arms of government and also the jurisdiction of the different tiers of government, whereby the executive cannot meddle in the affairs of the legislature and vice-versa. The primary function of the legislature is the making of laws ;( Easton 1961) it would be a total negation of the principle of separation of power if such function is being exercised by the executive.Although, the executive can propose a bill after much deliberation by the legislature can be passed into law but the power to make laws lie in within th e jurisdiction of the legislature. But in recent times the principle had been challenged due to the overwhelming power and personality of the executive. For example, President George Bush after the Sept 11 attack on the world trade centre proposed a bill to the congress to invade Iraq. Before the house could pass the bill he had sent troops to wage war in Iraq.This was contrary to the constitutional provisions which states that before United State would engage in a war it must be ratified by the congress in a joint session. Checks and balances on the other is to serve as a balance between the various organs of government in such a way that an arm of government serve as the watchdog over the other arms of government. (Neumann 1949) This function is majorly that of the judiciary this is the done through judicial reviews which help scrutinize both activities of the executive and the legislature.For this function to be performed to the optimum level there is the need for an independent judiciary that is free from executive manipulation. A bill is a proposed law that is not yet law until it is passed by the law making body in the country and received the executive or presidential assent. (Easton 1961) There are several stages that are involved in the passing of a bill before it becomes law. The first stage of the bill is the first introduction of the bill to the house. The introduction of bill could either be a private member bill or it originates from the lower house depending on the type of legislative chamber in operation.In a two chamber legislative house, bills originate from the lower house and are deliberated on in a joint session. This stage marks the first reading of the bill to the house. The second reading marks a stage where the bill is fully deliberated upon by lawmakers and it represents a crucial stage in the passing of such bill into law, because this stage determines whether such bill would become law. After the bill had successfully passed through the second reading then a committee would be constituted to critically examine and analyse the bill, give recommendations and possible impact of the bill if passed into law.This stage represents the committee stage. After constituting the committee, the next stage is the report stage where the committee presents their report to the house on the bill. After the committee stage the bill is presented to the lawmakers for adoption. It should be noted that at this stage the bill can still be rejected if the lawmakers refuse to adopt the bill by voting against it. But if the bill was accepted by the lawmakers then it can now proceed to the third stage which requires the president’s assent.If the bill passed by the legislature was not assented to by the executive, the legislature can constitutionally veto such bill into law after a period of 14 days. Federalism is a political system in which governmental powers are shared among the different tiers and organs of government such that each tier and organ is coordinate, independent, and exclusive in its own sphere of authority. (Leslie 1954) With reference to the debate on whether state power had been reduced or increased in a federal structure, cognisance would be given to emerging democracies mostly in third world countries where democratic structures are still growing.In Nigeria, state powers are gradually reduced as the constitution vested much power in the exclusive legislative list which only allows the federal government to legislate. (Ologbenla 1996) Matters such as currency, defence, health, mining, state creation, local government creation, boundary adjustment, leaving the state with little area to exercise its sphere of control. Unlike other federal structures like the United State of America where states have the autonomy on state police, the Nigerian federal structure did not provide for such provisions even at the agitation of states to have their autonomy on the issue.In 2003, the Lagos state gover nment embarked on the creation of local government which was later regarded as unconstitutional and led to a legal matter between the state and the federal government. (Tadese 2012) The judgement was later passed in favour of the federal citing that states do not have the constitutional right to create such establishment. In the American federal structure allows for state power to be shared between the central, state, and municipal governments in such a way that each state has its own constitution where it derives it powers from.Although when such laws clashes with national constitution the latter prevails. Federalism has been the major factor sustaining the democratic values as it has it functionality in both the principle of separation of powers and checks and balances which is maintained through the efficacy of institutions that guarantees a smooth democratic process.References Almond Gabriel, Gabber Powell. (1966). Comparative Politics: A developmental approach; Little Brown ; C o, Boston. Print. Easton David. (1961). A framework of political analysis, Yale University Press, New Haven. Print. Leslie Lipson. (1954). The Great Issues of Politics (5th edition) Prentice-Hall, New Jersey. Print. Neuman Franz. (1949). Introduction to Montesquieu’s Spirit of Laws. Translated by Thomas Nugent: Halfner publishers, Chicago. Print. Ologbenla Derin. (1996). Introduction to political science, Olucity Press Limited, Lagos. Print. Tadese. Oyeniyi. A battle of legal supremacy; Lagos State faces FG on creation of local government. Vanguard Newspaper. Web 30 September 2012.