An Overview of the Book Democracy in America

An Overview of the Book Democracy in America Democracy in America, written by Alexis de Tocqueville between 1835 and 1840, is considered one of the most comprehensive and insightful books ever written about the U.S. Having seen the failed attempts at a democratic government in his native France, Tocqueville set out to study a stable and prosperous democracy in order to gain insight into how it worked. Democracy in America is the result of his studies. The book was and still remains, so popular because it deals with issues such as religion, the press, money, class structure, racism, the role of government, and the judicial system – issues that are just as relevant today as they were then. ​Many colleges in the U.S. continue to use Democracy in America in political science and history courses. There are two volumes to Democracy in America. Volume one was published in 1835 and is more optimistic of the two. It focuses mainly on the structure of government and the institutions that help maintain freedom in the United States. Volume two, published in 1840, focuses more on individuals and the effects that the democratic mentality has on the norms and thoughts that exist in society. Tocqueville’s main purpose in writing Democracy in America was to analyze the functioning of political society and the various forms of political associations, although he also had some reflections on civil society as well as the relations between political and civil society. He ultimately seeks to understand the true nature of American political life and why it was so different from Europe. Topics Covered Democracy in America covers a vast array of topics. In Volume I, Tocqueville discusses things such as: the social condition of Anglo-Americans; judicial power in the United States and its influence on political society; the United States Constitution; freedom of press; political associations; the advantages of a democratic government; the consequences of democracy; and the future of the races in the United States. In Volume II of the book, Tocqueville covers topics such as: How religion in the United States avails itself to democratic tendencies; Roman Catholicism in the United States; pantheism; equality and the perfectibility of man; science; literature; art; how democracy has modified the English language; spiritual fanaticism; education; and equality of the sexes. Features of American Democracy Tocqueville’s studies of democracy in the United States led him to the conclusion that American society is characterized by five key features: 1. Love of equality: Americans love equality even more than we love individual liberty or freedom (Volume 2, Part 2, Chapter 1). 2. Absence of tradition: Americans inhabit a landscape largely without inherited institutions and traditions (family, class, religion) that define their relations to one another (Volume 2, Part 1, Chapter 1). 3. Individualism: Because no person is intrinsically better than another, Americans begin to seek all reasons in themselves, looking not to tradition nor to the wisdom of singular individuals, but to their own opinion for guidance (Volume 2, Part 2, Chapter 2). 4. Tyranny of the majority: At the same time, Americans give great weight to, and feel great pressure from, the opinion of the majority. Precisely because they are all equal, they feel insignificant and weak in contrast to the greater number (Volume 1, Part 2, Chapter 7). 5. Importance of free association: Americans have a happy impulse to work together to improve their common life, most obviously by forming voluntary associations. This uniquely American art of association tempers their tendencies towards individualism and gives them a habit and taste for serving others (Volume 2, Part 2, Chapters 4 and 5). Predictions for America Tocqueville is often acclaimed for making a number of correct predictions in Democracy in America. First, he anticipated that the debate over the abolition of slavery could potentially tear apart the United States, which it did during the American Civil War. Second, he predicted that the United States and Russia would rise as rival superpowers, and they did after World War II. Some scholars also argue that Tocqueville, in his discussion of the rise of the industrial sector in the American economy, correctly predicted that an industrial aristocracy would rise from the ownership of labor. In the book, he warned that â€Å"friends of democracy must keep an anxious eye peeled in this direction at all times† and went on to say that a new found wealthy class may potentially dominate society. According to Tocqueville, democracy would also have some unfavorable consequences, including the tyranny of the majority over thought, a preoccupation with material goods, and isolating individuals from each other and society. Source: Tocqueville, Democracy in America (Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop, trans., ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000)

Frankenstein Essays - Frankenstein, English-language Films

Frankenstein Essays - Frankenstein, English-language Films Frankenstein In the story Frankenstein, written by the author Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein decided that wanted to create a being out of people that were already dead. He believed that he could bring people back from the grave. Playing with nature in such a way would make him play the role of God. With Victor Frankenstein feeling that he had no true friends, the only relief he had of expressing his feeling was through letters to Elizabeth. Elizabeth was not Victors true sister but he loved her very dearly, making sure to always write her when ever he had the chance. Yet, when Victor left something strange came over him. Already being interested in subjects such as natural philosophy and chemistry, he fall upon the question of how to bring someone back to life. He became very involved in this project and worked on it for days on end. The project had to do with defying the laws of nature. Victor believe wholeheartedly that he could bring the dead back to life. He felt that the dead were not ready to die and they were just resting. Victor became so self absorbed into his project that he seem to forget all that was important to him. He even disengaged himself from all the people he loved in his life. People like his father, Elizabeth, and other loved ones. Victor began to write less and less. Yet, it was not until Elizabeth got a discouraged letter from Victor, did his love ones start to wary about him. Though, the letter was full of words, it gave no relief to Elizabeth, because the words meant nothing to her. However, they meant a lot to Victor, because he felt the project in which he was working on was so important to him, in his own delirious world. He felt that with bring people back to life he would not only better man kind, but also establish a name for himself. With this type of attitude, he did not even take into consideration that he might make the world a worse place. This part in the story shows the irony. The irony being that Victor Frankenstein feels he is doing something good for the world, but we later find out just how bad this creation could be. Though Elizabeth wanted to pull Victor away from his project, he was unwilling to leave until it is complete. After Victor found how to bring his creation to life, he also found out just how evil his invention could be. His creation was strong and evil. With the escape of the monster, Victor Frankenstein had to come to realization of what his creation might do and the consequences that Frankenstein, himself would have to deal with. With the murder of his brother weighing the guilt on his shoulders, Frankenstein know he had to do something. So he went looking for the monster. Upon their meeting each other, the monster confessed that when he found out that William as Victors brother he killed him. He then proceeded to tell him that he killed his brother due to the fact that he was trying to get back at his creator for bringing him to life and allowing him to be an out cast in society. This killing prove to Victor that the monster did not know right from wrong or how to cope with his anger. This aggression made Frankenstein's creation violent. While talking with the monster, the monster demanded from Frankenstein to create a partner that he could be able to live with away for society. At first, agreeing to the demand, but later realized that if his first creation came out to be a killer so could the second one. With this in mind Frankenstein revoked his agreement and decided against creating another monster. Though, knowing that this decision could be dangerous to him and his loved ones. Yet, he had to think of what was truly best for man kind. Bringing the dead to life or saving the lives of the living. Another peace of irony in this story is, just like Victor Frankenstein who had no friends and was different from the rest of society so was the monster. Also, when Frankenstein decided to play God and bring the dead to life, his creation took on the same role when he decided to take away some ones life. All in all, both

Nursing curricullum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Nursing curricullum - Essay Example the clinical setting entails role modelling, influencing others, improving care and considering situational leadership particularly when in communication with different parties in all situations1. Practice based learning, on the other hand, helps in providing experience and serves a pivotal role in development of skills among students in interacting with their families and patients2. The students assist in interpersonal, technical, psychomotor and communication skills. Practice based learning gives students an opportunity to link practice and theory while promoting professional identity development. By ensuring that specific standards are dully met alongside the assessment in practice, practice based learning, effectively ensures students are well informed for practice before registration. Because of the vocation nature of the nurses’ jobs, practice based learning serves a crucial role in the professionalism of nursing and it helps in safeguarding the public, as well as in ass essment of the clinical competency of the nurses. This study analyses the factors that impact on how students integrate into the practice setting, as well as the assessment and accountability processes in the learning practice. There are five factors that impact on how students integrate into the practice settings. These are orienting the learner to the practice setting, encouraging the patient acceptance of the learner and the role of the practice as a teaching facility, adapting the patient schedule while working with the learner, keeping the flow going, and finding some time to teach the students3. The efficient and effective orientation includes the establishment of a system that can orient learners to help assure the teacher that he or she will be able to cover all the relevant points with each learner. Some preceptors tend to use checklist in reminding the learners of the topics that are to be covered while clarifying his or her expectation4. If learners are made to be available

Whether Online-Only Degrees Would Be as Effective as Campus-Based Research Paper

Whether Online-Only Degrees Would Be as Effective as Campus-Based University Education - Research Paper Example Online enrolment has grown over the years by almost one million students as compared to previous years. Surveys made in about 2500 colleges have revealed that approximately 5.6 million students were enrolled in online courses in the year 2009 and by 2010 the number went on to 6.1million students. However there might exit some clouds but the sluggish economy continues to drive the growth of enrolment (The Sloan Consortium, 2012). While the growth of online enrolment is substantial but since 2006 the increase in an online course has increased only by 9.7% as compared to 21.1% in 2009. The report by Sloan Survey of Online learning acknowledges that the dip in the growth rate speculates that the increase in online education may lead to ultimate slowing. However, the growth of online enrolment exceeds the growth of overall higher education. Certain disciplines in online education system experienced gains and losses between 2010 and 2011. A major proportion of psychology and education prog rams saw a major decline in enrolment whereas engineering which had the highest proportion of declining enrolment in the year 2010 experienced improvement in the previous year. Online education has become an integral part of most of the education system, colleges, and universities (Lytle, 2011). However, it is true that online programs are flexible and also provides various kinds of benefits but all courses in the education system cannot be enrolled for online courses. Thus the online system education has both benefits as well as drawbacks for the students and the education system as a whole. Power/Knowledge Campus-based education has always had an edge over online education system because of the power it had and the knowledge that it aimed to provide its students. As stated above, everything cannot get online; there still exists subjects which require training and knowledge from the professors and practical training made available by campus-based learning. Although with the rise of internet campus-based education system has not been completely transformed but it is definitely going to have an immense impact in the near future (Scagnoli, 2005).  

Decision Making Process Model in Real Life Marketing Essay

Decision Making Process Model in Real Life Marketing - Essay Example The process involves a number of factors that influence the decision making of an individual and includes the various stages that a shopper goes through while purchasing a product thus outlining the flow of activities (both physical and psychological) from the beginning to the end. The interview conducted in this certain scenario was that of an individual who had decided to buy a new pull-out sofa to add to the furniture in their house. The individual needed the sofa for visiting individuals who wanted to spend the night and thus the subject was very particular about getting this particular type of sofa. By studying the decision making process that took place one is able to identify the various variables that were taken into consideration as well as other influences that a played a part in the formation of the final decision. The stages that the consumer went through during this process included: This was the first stage and the consumer identified the problem that they were faced with (the need that they had) and what was required in order to solve the issue once it has been pointed out (Blythe, 2008). In this case the main need of this particular consumer was the provision of a place to sleep for overnight guests that would not take up too much space due to the size of the individual’s living quarters. This could effectively rule out the need for a bed as another one would not be able to fit in the apartment and thus a pull-out sofa arose as the best alternative option on offer. The main issue was ensuring that the needs of the consumer will be satisfactorily met by the purchase of the product that they had in mind (Cheng, Luckett & Schulz, 2003).

Business operational plan of Apple Inc

Business operational plan of Apple Inc Apple Inc. designs manufactures and markets the personal computers along with other mobile communication services, music and digital players. It also provides hardware, software and networks solutions and peripherals. Apple Inc. sells its products throughout the world on its retail stores, online stores, through the third party wholesalers and its direct sales force. It also deals with the variety of Macintosh i.e. iPhone iPod etc. It provides the services of the complete software solutions on its iTunes stores. Its consumers are those who purchase its products directly, enterprises, educator and governments. This company is California based and founded in 1977. It has capability to design and manufacture its own operating system. Business operational plan of Apple Inc. Strategic plan sets up the business plan of a company while business plan in turn establishes the business operation plan. Operational plan is the key to run the entire business of company. Operational business plan covers the all areas of company including the finance, manufacturing, internet, operations, RD, human resources and marketing. Apple Inc. was known because of its lenient business thinking. Apple Inc. has the design, marketing and manufacturing services. Company develops designs and markets the musical players with important accessories. The business of Apple Inc. is managed on geographic basis. There are five operating segments of Apple Inc. such as America, Europe, Japan, retail and others. In US, Canada, UK and Japan Apple owned stores are currently operating. Like other organizations Apple Inc. all the departments are formed by the placing the similar functions in the groups. As described before the main divisions of Apple Inc. human resource, finance, marketing and productions are adopted by the functional approach. In each division the functional subsystem and departments create hierarchies. Operational management is linked with the production divisions activities. The people in Apple Inc. are grouped together on the basis of their expertise and resources. It enabled the Apple Inc. to learn from its functions. The present structure in Apple Inc. has focused upon those activities which reduce the costs and increase the flexibility in its operations. The managers in Apple Inc. have a greater control of the organizational activities and avoiding the tall and other several hierarchies. A relative flat structure of the Apple Inc. has decentralized the authorities and responsibilities of its management. The managers and employees at lower levels are encouraged to take part in fostering the companys strengths. The advantages of decentralization are numerous i.e. enhancing the planning, decision making and control processes. Apple Inc. has focused on its marketing operations on the major business areas like iPod and iTunes. The marketing department shows a great responsiveness to the outside world. The finance treasury division of Apple Inc. provides the financial policy to company. This department is responsible to handle the international capital transactions of company, liquidity guaranteeing and risk management. In Apple Inc. the role of the financial manager is crucial for the strategic management. The capital required for the RD is raised by the Finance division which maintains the innovation position of the Apple Inc. Internal problems of Apple Inc. were in the form of the sale force accessing directly to corporations. Apple Inc. relied on the 300 manufactures while IBM had 6000 to 7000 direct salesman. However the Apple Inc. has focused to establish more sales staff. Many issues concerning to these sales person were noted regarding the prices of products. Apple Inc. has also marketing problem as it failed to communicate the Macintoshs business image in market. The fact that marketing strategy was not according to requirements and did not make it more famous in market; i t also did not focus upon the technology. Products are manufactured on the basis of customers needs. Apple Inc. needed the fundamental importance of getting close to market. Apple Inc. possessed the organizational structure which too had the management problems. The production and shipment problems exist in Apple Inc. as the IBM its supplier experienced the manufacturing problems and delayed the shipment of various products. In a market the speedy delivery of products is critical. Due to the Apples key dependency on other companies put it at the competitive disadvantage. Human Resource in Apple Inc. has administrative tasks such as meetings, conferences, special projects and seeks the solution for the fast paced store environment. Discuss both the internal and external factors that impinge on the business operations plan. Apple Inc. has faced the serious challenges during the last 30 years but recovered from those serious situations with advent of innovation. Apple Inc. faces the threat of competition because of free services in market. A good business achieves the market share by creating better legal services to customers. It can be compared with the bottle water which is better in quality as compared to tape water which is in approach of every person. However there is legal competition ahead in market. No company was successful to attach the market the before the Apple Inc. did so. Better service is directly related with the new and better technology. Roxio was the first company which followed the Apple Inc. to produce the products on the concept iTunes Music Store. Sony and Microsoft are other big players of market to download the services. On the other hand Dell Computers are partnering with MusicMatch. Traditional retailers like Amazon and Wal-Mart have presented their own plans. Apple Inc. is f acing the competition from these competitors and profiting the leading position in market. Copy rights issues are also concerned with Apple Inc. Apple Inc. faces the issues of jobs as a part of their system. Sales force for the direct access to corporation is required for the success of business operation plan. IBM has the direct salespeople more than 6000 while Apple Inc. relied only on the 300 manufacturers representatives. The reason behind the small number of sales force may be the selling Macintoshes at lower prices as compared to dealers (Brady, 1989). Economic Conditions Apple Inc. Economic conditions of world impact directly on the performance and financial results of Apple Inc. investor must not consider the historical trends for the future performance of Apple Inc. there are several reason behind this which pose the risks on business of Apple Inc. Uncertainty about the current global economic conditions are also posing threats because business could not continue due to tight credits, negative news about finance, decline in asset values. Apple Inc. sets the prices of its products to consolidate the Dollars value. Macroeconomic factors along with other factors affect Apples business operation plan. The demand can be influenced by the increase in prices of fuel and energy, condition of mortage real states markets, consumers confidence and health labour costs. These economic factors adversely affect the demand for companys product. It also affects the operating results and financial conditions of Apple Inc. Impacts of environmental and technological changes on the business plan of Apple Inc. Apple Inc. has made efforts to satisfy its stakeholders in various ways. It included all the environmental issues for its corporate governance. It has satisfied the employees, local communities and general public by minimizing the environmental impacts on its entire business operations; integrated the sound environmental, safety management and health practices. The environmental mission statement of Apple Inc. has integrated all above mentioned practices into all business operations to ensure that it offers technologically innovative products. Apple Inc. aims to communicate on the policy which provides the benefits of environmental consciousness, safety maximization, energy efficiency and health protection to its various stakeholders. In the HRM objectives Apple Inc. has adopted the strategies because of the consumers preferences as the external environmental force. The HRM of Apple Inc. has established the partnership agreements to keep the trust and fairness. The recruitment policy of the HRM is modified in the ways to adapt the external changes in environment. Therefore the higher number of skilled staff is recruited in the area of web development; web is considered a preferred medium for the technology professionals for applications. A positive work environment has proved that Apple Inc. is outstanding for the visionary products. The organizational competency of Apple Inc. is increased by the HRM. Apple the Inc. is in an exclusive position. It has produced both software and hardware; it cannot be analyzed only the PC manufacturing company. It is also providing the software solutions, server producer and online contents. Technology Advancement The changes in technology has affected the barriers of entry and impacted the business operations of Apple Inc. The changes in digital music industry are working now on common format to make them available for the music players. The reason behind the limiting the download contents is to determine the users acceptance of Apples product. Bundle of solutions are provided by the Apple Inc. with refined and good products. By providing high quality products to end users the technology sector is making changes rapidly. These are the diversified efforts which Apple Inc. keeps its design and innovation more focused with the use of best performance and prices according to the external and internal environmental changes. Due to its distinctive competencies like product design, innovation, educational skills and digital entertainment; company has acted as a leader in the digital lifestyle. Apple Inc. has used its strengths for the purposes of creativity, technological development and innovation. It has gained competitive advantage over other companies in the industry because it offers multiple products with lower values. Organizational structure and control system of Apple Inc. improved the information and knowledge availability. For the Apple Inc; innovation and technology are the key driving forces of its mission and strategy (Morden, 1993). For the effective operation management system IT is a driving factor and management information system is the basic requirement for the strategic development. Efficiency of operation management is improved by the use of IT as it increases the quality and availability of information and leads to cost saving (Ibid, 1993). Apple Inc. is using the SAP and ERPs systems to speed up the customers orders. Apple Inc. has implemented the i2 technologies (www.industryweek.com/currentarticles). Importance of good business operations planning to the overall success of the business at Apple Inc. Apple Inc. has many successful factors that determine its success in key areas of the operations. An important factor that is apparent is about the vision of the organization. It is true that creative energy always begins with vision. These organizations impact significantly on the world (Collins Porras, 2004). Apple has a very clear and purposeful vision which can be seen through the innovative products for the last many years (Senge, 2006). The main purpose of the Apple Inc. was to develop the computers for the world and making contribution to the world by its advance technology products. Beside this vision Apple Inc. takes further steps of actions which are practiced throughout the organization. In the Apple Inc. employees were able to lay the foundations to achieve the long term goals. They were able to start the business at small scale and contributed at a higher level. The company acted upon the Kotters model and understood the potential uses. The success of the Apple Inc. is attributed to the capability of the company making refinements and building the more powerful products. The company has changed the core nature of the business. The Apple Inc. innovated the (GUI), file folder and desktop metaphor. Kotters 7th step manifests by using the credibility to make changes in system, policies and structures (Kotter, 2007). Apple uses the core competencies which the employees have acquired through redefining the market segmentation. Apple has met many successes and overcome the challenges. Apple Inc. has made changes and implemented new policies because of changing trends of computer markets. Apple Inc. is a computer technology which is best known due to its innovative structure. It is focusing upon the production of personal computers. In the advent of evolving technology it has shifted into the electronic market. Apple Inc. operates its business in more than 170 retail stores in US, Japan, UK and Canada. It has produced more friendly computers for the consumers. All of the achievements at Apple Inc. are attained through the people who design and develop the products and staff at the retail stores. Why is the business operation plan important at Apple Inc? This business operation plan is important because it generates the steady increasing revenues and sending its products in the big markets of the world. Due to its good leadership the Apple Inc. achieved the high profile. Three manufacturing facilities are shaping the foreign operation in countries like Ireland and Singapore. Due to its internal strengths and successful business operation Apple Inc. has become a competi tive company. It has footed in the computer market with an innovative style in the computer market. It production system is well handled as the operating system is free of all tangles of the Microsoft operating systems. In the physical appearance, usability and specifications; it has given a large degree of control to company. Apple Inc. encourages the RD environment and constantly releasing the products as seen in the latest Mac mini and iPod. It has made the Apple Inc. a big innovative company and brings the creative and new ideas in the computer market. Capital Structure: Corporate policy has yielded good results. Apple has paid all the debts which suggested that desired operations of company and growth of company by equity and not by the debt. Managerial qualities and resources necessary for effective business operation planning The issues in quality of products attracted the attention of business. The management concept is rendered by the wave of successful entrepreneurship. Top managers are committed to make decisions before communicating fully with all those who are involved in it. When subordinates ask for the decision the top managers think about the organizational response towards the decision for strategic plan. Ways of decision making enhance the business operations and credibility throughout the organization Apple Inc. People love to purchase the products of Apple Inc. because of power, easier way to use and reliability. The business managers at Apple Inc. ensure the delivery of the products to companies according to their requirements. Business customer contacts the business managers and long term relationships are established between them (http://www.apple.com/jobs/us/retail.html#business). Apple Inc. management has the ability to sell its products having no supply chain system. It earn the revenu e by the selling the iPod devices and Mac computers. Its iTunes virtual stores are generating the revenue more than $ 1 billion every year (David, 2010, p: 72). The managers at Apple Inc. face the incentives of using the strategies to control the earnings in many traded companies. The managers are allowed to purchase the stocks. In this way the staff at Apple Inc. is encouraged (www.sec.gov). The management system of Apple Inc. has policies and procedures, responsibilities and roles of its managers. For example a best health management system is maintained by the concerned managers to ensure the safety and health of its employees. If any inadequacy is seen in this system then top managers adopt the corrective actions including the verification through audit processes. Apple procurement managers are responsible to manage the business relationship with suppliers and coordinate the Apples supplier responsibility auditor. Apple Inc. has five divisions to manage the products and marketing departments of the company. These five divisions are responsible to evaluation and manufacturing of the devices, software and hardware of computer system. The four support divisions also work to handle the marketing and post sale products. A new position of Chief Operation Officer was created by Scully to centralize the operations and involving the senior management in the daily business decisions (Annual Report, 1988). Human Resource (HR) is responsible for the safeguarding the most valuable assets of the Apple Inc. It handles the many programs of the company to achieve the companys goals. Human resource at Apple Inc. is also responsible to reach at the needed resources. The Apple Inc. has six important valued creation functions including the marketing, RD, finance, Human resource management, information systems and operations and logistics. The chain of activities required to transform the inputs into outputs are pr imarily concerned with actual design, manufacturing, delivery, marketing of products and customer support activities. The ultimate task of the RD resource at Apple Inc. includes the new innovation and use of technology which meet the customers requirements (Hill Jones, 2004). Information system at Apple Inc. is an important asset which provides the business assisting facility. For the success of the business operation plan the information system is a core to keep the business run online without any obstacles. Other valuable resources which have potential powers for the customers as well as the management at Apple Inc. include the servers which distribute the information about Apples products and create new internet resources for the mailing list, online feedback and further open the communication lines. From the above discussion it can be concluded that Apple Inc. is a well known development and business company of the world. Its success lies in its business operation plan which indeed depends upon the various necessary actions taken from the design of the product to sale of the product.

How the Catholic Church Held Up During the Middle Ages Essay -- Histor

The Middle Ages was a long period of time. It started in about the 500 A.D. and ended in about 1500 A.D. Not many things can last for this long period of time, but at least one thing did, and that was the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church consists of Popes, Bishops, Clergy, and Monks, and Nuns were also part of the Church. Also during the Middle Ages, it also produced many great philosophers (Funk & Wagnall’s, 275). From the Middle Ages to the 13th century, the church played important role as authority, influence. The Catholic Church held up due to the power of the Pope, Pope Gregory’s policies, and the Church was a part of the citizen’s daily lives. In the Middle Ages houses of the poor and wealthy were often alike, except for the wealthy because they could occupy all their floors of the house. Their business would be on the first floor, living quarters on the second, and servant’s quarters on the third. If they family were poor they might have several families living under one roof, which makes the house very crowded (Gies, 243). Among the village, the only stone building was the church. The entire village was mostly made out of sticks, mud and such objects. The churches were built and paid for by the people (thinkquest). It was a nice centerpiece of a town. Inside the Church, you will not find any sort of warmth. Many people came with hand-warmers, because the church was often cool year round. Churches also did not have pews for people to sit on; they had to bring their own chairs. The church was a public building in which the town’s business life is often occurring around a town’s church (Gies, 291). The Church provided services to the poor, care of the sick, helpless, and travelers (Frem... ... new heights. Christendom to take up arms to re-conquer Jerusalem, it was urged on by soldiers, monks, popes, and others. â€Å"The Church encouraged uniformity during the Crusades and efforts to recapture territories lost to aroused and militant Islamic powers† (Funk & Wagnall’s). The Roman Catholic Church went through some tough times during the Middle Ages, but they did hold up. Each member played an important part in the Church. Each part of the hierarchy had an important role to play. They had to be a firm believer in the Church. Pope Gregory created policies, and strengthened many parts of the Church. Each Pope had the power to influence the kings that were in power. If it had not been for the people, and the hierarchy of the Church, the Church might have died. The Catholic Church did hold up during the Middle Ages due to the people and events that took place.