Respond to each peer initial post with 3-4 sentences long

Peer #1

Having a divided government means that a state has a governor that is one party and a chamber of its legislature that is of the opposite party. The chambers of legislature are the House and Senate and each can have members that are from both parties but in the case of a divided government one of these chambers would dominated by the opposing party. In previous years dating back to 1988 divided party control was more prominent with 31 states having division in their legislature. In more recent years divided governments were not as popular and states that had this type of legislature were very few. However, over the past year divided government started to come back and now 19 states have a divided government (Ehrenhalt, 2015).

My state the state of Georgia the governor is Republican, both of its senators are Republican and all of the statewide elected officials are Republican. In the Legislature a majority of the House seats are Republicans and a majority of the Senate are Republicans. Out of the 180 House seats 115 are Republican and out of the 56 Senate seats 36 are Republicans so when a say a majority it is not by a small difference the difference is very significant (Georgia Government, n.d.).

I think that divided government would make it a more difficult and drawn out process when it comes to policy and decision making due to the obvious reasons. This can be a good thing because it means both sides have a say and a majority of the population of that state will be represented and considered when those policies and decisions are being made. On the down side with such contrast in the way that both parties make decisions some policies may never see the light of day due to a stalemate or disagreement in the process of developing policies or making decisions on legislature.

I do believe that the pros in this case outweigh the cons. It is better to have all or most of the people represented during the process of developing and implementing policies. This is better because policies will directly and indirectly affect the lives of all the people in a state. Those policies or decision made by the government could have a negative impact on the lives of many citizens in a state. If the two parties are in control, then that might make it easier for those citizens to accept the policy if they believe that someone involved in the decision making process has the same political view or affiliation as they do. Even though most people do not trust the government no matter what I believe that having a division of party control is beneficial.

Peer #2

Over the pass three days, I have observed the following while attempting to communicate non verbally (laughing). When event planning and persuading supporters to donate goods for an upcoming community bingo night fundraiser. I noticed that the introduction of recent campaign photos stimulated a positive response from prospective supports. In addition, when completing the shoot, I noticed that holding up signs with statistical data that supported the need to save 1 life every 17 mins. from the likelihood of suicide proved to illicit thought provoking questions and caused absolute strangers to participate in the shoot! From an entirely different aspect, presenting the event schedule to other members of the organization, seemed to promote the fact that the impending dates were important to focus on prior to mentioning a word about the upcoming events and during case management, having clients to sign off on the goals for restoration and care planning after they read them entirely, motivated consumers to accept patient education and accountability for tasks.

When applying this principle to my home environment, it was an entirely different ball game. NO ONE completed chores without being asked and no one offered to help no matter how much I smiled and stared in a wide eyed manner (laughing). This reaction was rather predictable. However, the one at work; was not it took me completely by surprise. The type of responses received from volunteers, coworkers, supporters and also many others. Reinforced the fact that productivity and accountability within an organization are learned behaviors and that employees and those who further initiatives should be recognized for their actions. Because, of the fact that the team had confidence in me as a manager and they were equally motivated to meet the objective of the project. The non verbal method of communication proved to be a success.

Peer #3

Non-verbal communication is a form of expressing what you want to say without using words. Non-verbal communication is used in many ways. Non-verbal communication, or body language sends a message that are just as important as those transmitted orally or in writing. Any movement of your body can communicate something to the outside world and may do so more honestly than spoken words (Denhardt, Denhardt & Aristigueta, 2012). This week I observed family members and also co-workers in normal activities to see what non-verbal communication they would use. This week I observed my mother, children and also my spouse using non-verbal communication or body language to express what they wanted to say to others. Here are some of the forms of communication I observed amongst my family: My mother stopped by to see her grandchildren and to see how we all were doing. When she came into the house she hugged me and said hello to my spouse. My youngest son was drinking some water so he waved at his grandmother to say hello. She smiled back to acknowledge his hello. My spouse asked my mother a question but she was on the phone, therefore she held up one finger to non-verbally let him know to wait a moment while she was on the phone. These are some of the non-verbal communication methods that were used.

Non-verbal communication is becoming an especially important topic as from different cultures interact more frequently and have different culturally approved ways of expressing themselves nonverbally (Nahvandi & Malekzadeh, 1999). In the world we live in, some of the gestures of body language we use to communicate may be interpreted differently based on the culture. For example, in the United States, if a person is upset or angry they frown. Some people may ball up their fist, fold their arms, or even throw things to show their anger. In Arabic cultures, if you throw a shoe at someone it is a sign of anger or disrespect. It is very important that when interpreting non-verbal communication that you pay attention so that you can respond to the clues correctly. At my work place, I also had the liberty of observing co-workers and customers using non-verbal communication. We interact with each other and the public a lot. In the eye of the public you definitely have to be careful how you utilize non-verbal communication. Some of the ways non-verbal communication were used are described below:

1. General manager folding arms during meeting (he was not withdrawn, is showed he was frustrated)

2. Customer squinting their eyes and shaking their head (customer was displeased with service received from staff)

3. Customer slamming their fist on the desk and smiling (customer was shocked by the amount of points the clerk saved them on their stay)

4. Customer tucking their body close to the desk (moved to let someone by but did not want the person to physically touch them)

Throughout the last couple of days, I observed so many people using non-verbal communication to express how they felt or things they wanted to say. Non-verbal communication may be interpreted in many ways, therefore depending on the culture you have to be careful as to how you use non-verbal communication.