WRITINGS

Article Review: "Reconciling Normative and Positive Theories of Government", by Joseph J.Cordes

The article thoughtfully discusses how it is possible to combine both the positive and normative traditions of public finance could go with each other. The article begins by describing the conventional normative theory of public finance, which seeks to explain how the government should use the monetary and legal tools at its disposal. In contrast, the positive theory of government, which forms part of the public-choice viewpoint, seeks to understand how the conduct of largely self-integrating influences the context, nature and form of public finance. He affirms the normative and positive theories not only as useful sites for realising public policies but also holds that both the theories 'complements rather than as substitutes to each other in the evaluation and design of a variety of public policies.' In the article, Cordes was quick to recognise the value of normative tradition, as policy proposals will be accepted to the degree that they are seen as advancement, and whether a move is beneficial is a normative question. The focus in normative public economics on identifying the economic role of the government in terms of its capacity for achieving Pareto benefits (trade gains) that are not manipulated in voluntary exchange is distinctive in several ways within public-policy disciplines. Cordes sees the normative model as "individualistic", and because of this, the normative theory of government is viewed as conservative in terms of its prescriptions among the policymakers. In terms of the normative paradigm, there is, in theory, a socially optimal amount of existing social bads, such as noise or smoking, and it is the government's legitimate function to formulate strategies that push resource allocation back to this standard. Cordes used the punitive taxes for external costs as an argument to justify this statement. For instance, while the presence of external smoking costs supports taxing cigarettes over an absolute scale, it also does not at any point grant lawmakers leave to tax tobacco products, regardless of the level of external costs currently levied.

Nevertheless, given the many insights that the government's normative theory might make, it is the beginning but hardly the end of the debate about what the role of government should be. And so, Cordes pointed out the normative theory's numerous shortcomings. First, normative policy models focus mainly on defining acts that might be adopted by governments. There is usually quite a jump between optimal legislation and what in fact can be formulated.

Even if optimal strategies could be expressed, a mutual preference mechanism would ultimately determine the nature and magnitude of the allocative and distributive practices pursued by the government. Furthermore, it is not enough merely to suggest that the recommendation's intended consequences are beneficial. A full substantive guideline for reform, therefore, needs to include a positive theory of government which indicates that the proposed change is compatible. A positive theory will demonstrate how the suggested modification would cause the expected impacts to occur.

But perhaps the most glaring shortcomings of Cordes's wide-ranging narrative on reconciling both the theories was that there was not so much information provided in the article as to how the positive model of government could actually 'reconcile' together with the normative theories of government so that it could act as a useful analytical framework for a government. But instead, he only mentioned the limitations of normative theory without actually showing how the positive theory of government is helpful in any way. Perhaps Cordes may show readers that a positive theory of government can seek to explain the universe as it is, help forecast future occurrences, or better understand past experiences. For instance, a long tradition of real understanding of the nature of taxation exists in public finance.

All in all, Cordes did an excellent job in outlining the differences between the normative and positive theories of government. The knowledge and understanding the differences between this two may help a government in allocating its public finance efficiently and developing a better public policy if it is driven by a mixture of factual data (positive theory) and opinions (normative theory). Overall, it is a good, well-written article

with an important message that instead of viewing both the approaches as contradicting each other, it is possible to see them as complements rather than as substitutes.

Written by,

Ammar Zikry

---

HOW COVID-19 HAS CHANGED MY PERCEPTION

By Hafiqah Ali

Before the rise of COVID-19 cases, it has never occurred to me about the act of giving back to the community at my age. Growing up, I did not really feel the need to do good things which could not be much of a help to others. When I was a kid, I even used to debate with myself every time I went to the night market with my family; whether or not to donate my crippled RM1 note to the disabled man with a box of tissues in his hands - thinking that my donation would be worthless if I am the only person donating to him. Therefore, without myself knowing, I have been creating a perception that my 21-years-old self, who had acquired driving license at 18 but has never driven a car since, could not possibly contribute to the society when I am a disappointment to myself at times. But amusingly, ever since we have been living days to days following the Restricted Movement Order (RMO) from the government, it suddenly came to my realization that I do not necessarily need to have a list of achievements or to be wealthy, as a type of verification to offer kindness towards another person in this world.

Amid the eruption of this pandemic disease, all of us are struggling to overcome the boredom at home by discovering new things we have never done before; making the viral Dalgona Coffee as well as meticulously listing great movies and dramas to be watched during this quarantine period. Both of the activities seem to be rather simple and do not render huge impact but, if we take a moment to look at the bigger picture, they had somehow managed to instill and encourage the spirit of contentment for us along with the others. Who knows that there might be a 30-year-old lady who is suffering from low self-confidence but gain a tad bit of self-assurance upon successfully recreating the Dalgona Coffee on her own? Perhaps there is a patient who has been tested positive for COVID-19 at a hospital who can finally take his mind off from the uncertain future of his health condition for a while by watching one of the movies recommended by his Twitter followers? Small deeds are good deeds too, as long as they are accompanied with good niyyah (intention) - is what I have been missing out all this while.

Ironically speaking, the widespread of this dangerous virus has been both a disaster as well as a blessing in disguise for me, in a way that it finally made me realize that from this moment on, I should not be wasting my youth again, thinking I am not good enough to be an asset for the society while out there, retired nurses are willing to take the risk and volunteered to provide their services for the community. Come to think of it, the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W advice to the humankind which was to take benefit of five before five; your youth before your old age, your wealth before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before you are preoccupied, and your life before your death - by some means, resonate quite precisely with our ambiguous state at this moment. From various non-governmental organizations or NGOs have been donating essentials to needy people and varsity students at campus who are volunteering to sew Personal protective equipment (PPE) for the front-liners, to celebrities who made Instagram Live reciting the Quran and all of us practicing extra care to our health now more than ever - each one of these illustrates that even though human beings are lacking here and there, it does not unqualified us from giving back to the society in our own way.

To sum up, now that we have 24 hours all to ourselves and with Ramadan coming up soon, let us all do our best to take benefit of five before five as a source of motivation to not dwell in sadness during this bleak time but instead, to come up with a better version of ourselves. Together, let us all do our parts to flatten the curve of new virus cases because, at the end of the day, we are stronger than we seem and braver than we think. 2020 might not be the year that we can finally see flying cars but at least, we now know how to make coffee as great as Starbucks, right? Or at least… perhaps?

---

POLITICS AND K-POP IN CROSSING EACH OTHER'S PATH

By Hafiqah Ali

Originated in South Korea, K-pop or Korean pop is no longer a foreign term among the world’s population, not only in this current decade since it can be traced back to the early 2000s as the beginning of this popular music genre started to explode. By firstly making its way into the market of nearby Asean countries such as Japan, China and Taiwan, the emergence of K-pop gave birth to not only worldwide fans of its music but towards other Korean-related entertainment as well namely dramas or famously known as K-dramas.

In relating K-pop with the current world’s political landscape, those who might not have any, or little interest in this type of music may find it difficult to connect the dots between the two. However, it should be realized by now that K-pop revolution does not reflect its achievement on winning awards at the Grammy stage only; it is a whole lot bigger than that.

Referring to the massive turnout at the weekend’s rally of the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, during his presidential election campaign in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a lot of media and politicians from both sides of the aisle are bewildered and confused as how the K-pop fans managed to sabotaged the numbers of people who should be attending the rally by reserving the tickets en masse for more than a million and then leaving a demeaning low turnout of only 6200 people who have been reported to attend the said gathering.

As a K-pop fan myself, this kind of thing; making the favorite idol’s name to trend globally on Twitter for 3 days straight or hijacking a racist hashtag from any individual no matter how influential they are; is a walk in the park. But many misunderstood the meaning of being a K-pop fans as to be mostly made up of young teenagers only, which is a very out of date interpretation on the image of K-pop. As years went by and the K-pop waves are growing more gigantic then ever, today’s fans of Korean pop music consist of people in their 20s to 30s and even older, with wide-ranging racial spectrum across different languages and includes huge numbers of Black fans as well, especially in the United States; , which was the reason behind the successful $1 million donations to the Black Lives Matter movement under the name of BTS’s k-pop fandom; ARMY. Note that this donations was collected in a span of 24 hours, as to prove the fact that K-pop fans do invest their time and money for the betterment of the world’s issues and politics and do not only revolve themselves on their idol-related matter only.

Even though BTS or any other K-pop groups do not have any says on any political matter, be it in the South Korea or in the U.S, the empowerment message or figure displayed by those idols develop a sense of unity for the K-pop fans in a positive way, as one of the method to create a personal connection to the idols that they like. Participating in a fandom, in my experience, has made me more open and expressive in almost all aspect of my lives, and since all fandom are mostly connected through social medias, we are more than capable to dominate the social network buzz, or media coverage or even voting drives in a matter of hours, thus it can be conclude that it is necessary to start to gain awareness and to follow the evolution of K-pop industry, for the sake of determining the future world’s political landscape.

---

UNVEILING CAMPUS POLITICS

By Syazwani Mohd Nasir

"Pemuda harapan bangsa, pemudi tiang negara" is one of the profound adverbs in our community. As plain as it sounds, it is bound up with significant meaning and inspiration. Youth is a noun that is currently marketed as a change in society or the country's hope and aspirations. In order for youth to truly become the evolving symbol of the country, young people first need to have the power to do so. Youth and students are extremely inter-connected and inter-connected, and higher education students somehow bear more of this responsibility than they are considered to be educated with high political consciousness. In addition, university students pursue a variety of fields and pass on to the facts of the world through courses that help them see the world in impartial ways. Thus the language is scattered around political discourses, news, social media, and literature, but what is the ground reality of it?

The University offered a great deal of exposure in presenting and enriching the students in the preparation for the outside world, which was considered to be quite different from the current ground. A lot of clubs, associations, and secretaries for students to participate and develop their skills. Despite the many outlets and resources that students have, they are assumed to have a boundary or wall that was constructed with a view to perceived stability and prosperity. Some claim that the constraints that were set are in effect, a hindrance to more democratic change, realizing how strong the students could mobilize society once they had set their minds.

Not until recently, in 2018, the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, or known as the AUKU, opened a new door and challenged students. After nearly 50 years of being a 'yes man' to the authorities, students are finally granted the freedom that they once died and can openly speak and move in the interests of students without being warned. Repeal of the act has created a new climate at the university and a road to more critical change, and ideas are about to begin. Taking the near example of our own university, IIUM set an example to the others by creating the first student union as an official institution with a pyramid packed with student leaders ready to respond to the needs of the student.

The Student Union and other groups are now beginning to build a new dynamic under the name of the students. Students who had previously been casually branded as quality, important and educated are now beginning to reclaim the title and might be able to reveal it to the reality that seemed previously unreachable. Overall, this small change has become the most useful method for students to address alienated problems and to fill the void that was previously unrealized.

---

SECURITY COUNCIL AND VETO POWER

By Syazwani Mohd Nasir

The establishment of the Security Council under the United Nations functioning as a council in maintaining international peace and security using collective efforts and measures of prevention in countering any conflict or threats that could trigger international spheres. The emergence of the United Nations itself was to stop other wars from exploding and to call for a cooperation in resolving conflict, by those means, the Security Council can be described as the most important organ in the body as it holds the same principle and goals in why this international organisation was established. In order to recognise the presence of a threat to international security and the right to decide effective steps to resolve these threats ranging from various economic sanctions to a full-range military action, the Security Council has the authority to investigate situations.

The rationality of the veto power and the success behind it must first be seen. In the principle of unanimity behind this council, all actions of the United Nation must be unconditional, in order to guarantee the enlistment in the United Nation's key goals of peace and protection of the international fields that are guided by the super power. According to the United State, who highly think that Veto power is an important element in order for the Security Council to function, perceived Veto power as a key factor for the United Nations to outlast. The representatives of the United State and Soviet Union are in the same shoes agreeing in this matter, saying that the formation of veto power imposed significant positive results in securing international peace as well as effectively countering any threats that could harm the international spheres.

For the veto-supporting view, the veto power is a very successful mechanism in combating and preventing action declined compared to the Cold War Era, in which seems to be used very frequently and abusively to the degree it dysfunction the Security Council. The veto has now been used more effectively and its drawbacks have now been low relative to the consequences of a massive 240 vetoes between 1945 and 1990 on the international environment. Furthermore, extreme ideas of abolishing the veto power could actually bring more harm than what we think. As we know, the 5 super powers were granted veto privilege because to stop another destructive war to happen again and control the security and peace on the international level. According to this claim, eliminating the veto power will force the United Nation to end up like the League of Nations and let the superpower leave the organization when they have significant roles inside the organisation.

As much as the veto power holder claims the effectiveness of it, they are increasing in debate and views of how this veto powers are being abuse by the way members using in persuading their interest and the use of veto power by the members seems like not under control to the extent that most of international decision are controlling by only this permanent members since the establishment of United Nations. A lot of debates call for reformation of the Security Council and some are radical enough to call for total abolishment of the Veto powers. The ideas behind the abolishment of veto power are believe can bring a new air in the organisation and the Security Council, by getting rid the veto power, most probably they are more room for international conflict could be resolved without any biding from those permanent members and solely based on the majority vote with in depth discussion and concerns without any personal interest in the solution process.

The Security Council furthermore should be able to stand in it owned and have it owned though on the mission without clashing with the superpower. This is one of the main reasons why after all this time, the veto powers are being used carelessly by the members and it seems like the organisation let them behave that way, is mainly because the organisation could not afford to have a clash or war with the super power countries. This long standing-issue on the veto power was discussed for a very long time and some even express it as old as the council itself. This reform is always one of the controversial topics and most problematic topics to ever exist together with proposals from complete abolishing and restriction used of the veto powers are making these issues more prominent in the council.

---

‘COCO’ MOVIE REVIEW

By Hafiqah Ali

Walt Disney has once said, “Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the idea and objectives of normal adulthood.” It is true after all, because every movie or film we have been watching all this while must have brought impacts to us, be it the small or big ones. Let us take a look at the Coco movie which is about the inner battle of a boy named Miguel with his family’s tradition which was set in Mexico, a country full of history. It might not be obvious to some people but the main character had perfectly symbolized the reality of youngsters nowadays who sometimes make irrational decisions without prioritizing the most important group of people in their life; family. Throughout this movie, each and every one of us could get a grasp of knowledge about the significance of family’s blessing in our life.

The dilemma faced by Miguel is actually a huge interpersonal conflict between himself and the fate he was born with. Miguel’s burning passion to be an accomplished musician had been portrayed to be almost impossible for him to achieve in the earlier scene of the movie due to the family’s generation of old-ban music ever since his great-great-grandfather left the family in order to pursue his musical career. Any forms of music were forbidden at all cost in the house and even at his family workshop for making shoes; Rivera Workshop. There was this one time when Miguel was just idly blowing into a glass soda bottle and suddenly his Abuelita or grandmother took away the bottle from him and said “No music!” which indicates her intense dislike towards music. At that age where one’s raging passion towards their abilities and talents are usually shown to improve themselves, Miguel felt it was hard to find himself torn between obeying his family’s wish to not continue learning music or rebelling against them in order to chase his dream.

However, the predicament that happened to Miguel in this movie would not be that serious if Miguel was standing by his own self-belief as the fact that he was heavily influenced by his famous singer idol named Ernesto De La Cruz who made all of this chaos to occur in Miguel’s hard row to his journey on becoming a successful musician. De La Cruz stated, “I had to have faith in my dream. No one was going to hand it to me. It was up to me to reach for that dream, grab it tight, and make it come true” which had added another reason for Miguel to keep on walking down the path his family were strongly opposed to. To be unwillingly trapped in a mess situation when he is just merely 12 years old, that one moment where his makeshift guitar was shattered into pieces by his own grandmother had prompted Miguel to choose his dream rather than family by running away from home. As a young boy who will soon become a teenager, it is understandable for Miguel to manage his dilemma fallaciously as the only support he had was not from his family members but the people in the music world which his family hated so much.

Judging by Miguel’s reckless decision to disobey his family, there is no doubt that the consequence for his action would be worse. As soon as he stepped out of his comfort zone, Miguel had become someone else; an ignorant and senseless boy, and it was all because he was alone and there was no one he could ask for help especially from his family members which he actually needed. As his guitar had been ruined by his Abuelita, Miguel decided to break into De La Cruz tomb and stole the renowned guitar owned by his idol which had caused him into another trouble when he suddenly thrust into The City of the Dead and in order to get back to the land of the living, he must receive the blessing from his deceased ancestors. During those exasperating situations, Miguel should have realized that without his family blessing, the step he took had led him to nothing but continuous trouble.

In my opinion, there are other effective and pleasant ways to overcome Miguel’s tangled dilemma. As the younger member of the family, the first thing Miguel could do is to confront his family as politely and ethically as he can in order to build their trust towards him. It is not easy to change his family’s judgmental perception towards music ever since before he was born but that was because Miguel never had the chances to prove his skills and abilities in playing music in front of their eyes. If Miguel had the audacity to speak up about his dear passion along with agreeable arguments and evidence that works well between the both parties, his dream to be a remarkable musician might come true together with the utmost support from his family.

To conclude, there is nothing wrong in turning our vision to be a reality but we do not need to lose ourselves for that. By being a person who is not the one our family had raised us up to is a total shame because nothing good will come out of that. There will always come a time when we will be in need of help, and there is no better group of people to help us than those who we consider and sees us too, as family. This movie had taught us to never make our way to achieve a dream by betraying our loved ones just to get there as at the end of the day, the most valuable thing would be the journey and not the destination. Blood is thicker than water, so even though we might make mistakes and fail in every attempt, as long as our family got our back together with an endless encouragement from them, nothing could really go wrong no matter how intricate our problems are.