Sunday, September 13, 2009
Representations in Political Cartoons and Corruption of Public Servant
Representations in Political Cartoons - “The lobby or special interest groups, as an exchange to their respective strong efforts in supporting a public servant or a political party/candidate to win, expect returns on the favors they have done. At times the groups can even go further than little favors returned from the officials they have supported and "not only decided not to compromise but also pursued a strategy for gaining a decisive role in reshaping the foundation" (Deis, and Bauman) of some government bodies.
Looking at the cartoon presented, the following can be noted:
1) symbolism is clear. The special interest groups have garnered implied power courtesy of the "support" they have done to make political candidates win. This can be seen as represented by the various groups' cars taking over the parking space alloted to congressmen. Looking at the details, the cars respective models identify the group which can have better power because of greater monetary machinery. In this case, the limousine of the Big Business group.
2. A politically aware reader can see the author's vision clearly. The details are clear and the meaning is very understandable. However, some fine details and meanings may be missed out by readers who are not politically inclined and not keen to details. The representation of the car models are easy to be missed out but the dollar signs are very clear and the notion of power of the various groups in congress is also very clear.
3. The author of the cartoon wants to depict the fact that congress' or government bodies' decisions, are swayed by those who have supported them heavily. There is no impartiality and independence because of the inherent expectations the special interest groups have had when they supported a candidate. This means that whoever has greater monetary machinery has greater power.
4. Generally speaking, political cartoons are an interesting way to represent the painful fact and can catch the readers' attention at a glance. Although these cartoons can give information to the general public, the fact that some fine details can be missed out by some readers, and the fact that they are "cartoons", they cannot be that "serious" source of information for the general public. They can be a "starting point" to grasp the real serious information.
Works Cited
Deis, Robert, and Larry Bauman. "How a Special Interest Tried to Change Our Form of Governance." Public Management Feb. 1999: 12+.
Looking at the cartoon presented, the following can be noted:
1) symbolism is clear. The special interest groups have garnered implied power courtesy of the "support" they have done to make political candidates win. This can be seen as represented by the various groups' cars taking over the parking space alloted to congressmen. Looking at the details, the cars respective models identify the group which can have better power because of greater monetary machinery. In this case, the limousine of the Big Business group.
2. A politically aware reader can see the author's vision clearly. The details are clear and the meaning is very understandable. However, some fine details and meanings may be missed out by readers who are not politically inclined and not keen to details. The representation of the car models are easy to be missed out but the dollar signs are very clear and the notion of power of the various groups in congress is also very clear.
3. The author of the cartoon wants to depict the fact that congress' or government bodies' decisions, are swayed by those who have supported them heavily. There is no impartiality and independence because of the inherent expectations the special interest groups have had when they supported a candidate. This means that whoever has greater monetary machinery has greater power.
4. Generally speaking, political cartoons are an interesting way to represent the painful fact and can catch the readers' attention at a glance. Although these cartoons can give information to the general public, the fact that some fine details can be missed out by some readers, and the fact that they are "cartoons", they cannot be that "serious" source of information for the general public. They can be a "starting point" to grasp the real serious information.
Works Cited
Deis, Robert, and Larry Bauman. "How a Special Interest Tried to Change Our Form of Governance." Public Management Feb. 1999: 12+.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment