The Good Governance In Public Sectors Politics Essay

The Good Governance In Public Sectors Politics Essay Principles of good governance in the public sector are very important because it builds a relationship with people in the community. These principles are based on support, respect, communication, fairness, predictability and competence. The first section of this essay will discuss all of them in detail because they all lead into each other. Support is a good principle because if you do not support the public they could turn on you and put someone else in power that will support them and listen to their needs. Support helps build confidence in the public sector by giving the people what they need and want. If the people are happy with you, you will gain their respect, which leads to my next point. Respect begets respect because without it, you could be put out of power, but if you respect the public, the public will respect you and the decisions you have made. You could also get ideas from the public if you listen to and respect their input, which helps you tend to their needs and wants. This could also help you in staying in power for a longer period because you are communicating with the public, which brings in my next point communication. Communication is the interaction of people, who create meaningful interaction together as a team. This is very important in the public sector because you need to communicate with th e public and receive feedback from them before you can make decisions on any matter. The reason for this is so you can make the right decisions. In this way, the communities are happy and know that they are being treated fairly. Fairness is my next point. Fairness is important because you have to treat everyone equally. You do this because it is right to give everybody an equal say in what is happening because they are the ones who have to live with the choices made. Furthermore, if the community gives an idea that you use, give the community the credit and recognition that they deserve. In this way, the community will say that you are fair in your decision-making processes. So, always consider what everyone has to say and be fair to all of them by giving everyone a fair chance. My next point is predictability. Predictability means that you know what someone is going to do before thy do it. In the public sector, it is good because if you know what problems are going to arise, you ca n have an effective plan to deal with the problem before it becomes severe. You can predict what the peoples needs and wants are and supply it to them without wasting any time. This leads into my final topic, which is competence. Competence is the ability to do something very well. It is important because you have to know what you need to do for your job and you need to do it right. If you are competent, the community will see that you know what you are doing and they will trust you and the decisions that you make because they will believe that you have their best interests at heart. There are three separations of powers in the government. They are legislative authority, executive authority and judicial authority. They all have different responsibilities and duties to the public and this section will discuss all of them. To start, legislative authority is going to be discussed. The legislative authority in a democratic society is responsible for the orderly conduct of that society. Legislative authority plays a leading role in the process of state administration, by means of the law of the country and the budget of the rising expenditure and revenue. Parliament is the legislative authority of South Africa. Therefore, the legislative authority has the power to create laws for the country in accordance with the Constitution. It consists of the National Assembly, the National Council of provinces and sittings are open to the public. These laws apply only in the boundaries of the province. The following are some of the functional domains with regard to which the prov inces can make laws: agriculture, environment and local government. The legislative authority at local government level is vested in the municipal council which has the power to make bylaws. Such bylaws may not be inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:146) This ends legislative authority and continues with judicial authority. Judicial authorities main goal is to guarantee the rights and freedoms of the individual and to preserve the sovereignty of the lawà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Judicial authority of the Republic vests in the courts. The judiciary is independent, impartial and subject only to the Constitutions and the law. No person and no organ of state may interfere with judicial officers in the performance of their functions. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:147) The judicial authority of the Republic vests in the courts, the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, the Magistrates Court and other courts. The judicial authority has the power to give more rights to the people. Some of the rights they gave are the right to life, the right to human dignity, the right to privacy and many more. Judicial authority has a definite influence on the Public Protector. The executive authority is the next and final power. The executive authority consists of a variety of public executive institutions established by some law or government decision and which are financial either wholly or partly from state funds. These executive institutions are referred to as the public service. The public has to execute the laws of the country and function as part of the public sector. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:153) All the powers are different and the have there own goal in mind but all are linked to one greater goal and that is to make South Africa a better place. Every government institution makes an indispensable contribution to the ultimate goal of the state, namely the advancement of the general welfare of society. For this reason, there is a relationship of interdependence between the respective government structures and institutions. This relationship of interdependence implies interaction between the respective government structures and institutions. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:161) Coordination and liaison between the respective authorities and executive institutions, is of great importance. To date, a number of intergovernmental structures have been told to promote and facilitate co-operative government and intergovernmental relations between the respective spheres of government. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:162) These include an Intergovernmental Forum (IGF), Ministerial Forums, Intergovernmental Forums and the Department of Constitutional Development. Approaches to governmental relations are Constitutional or legal approach , Democratic approach, Financial approach and Normative operational approach. Vertical intergovernmental relations can be divided into three. They are relations between the central government and provincial governments, relations between the central government and local governments and relations between the provincial government and local governments. Horizontal relations between government institutions refer to relations between institutions at the same level, and they are particularly important for public managers. At local government level, horizontal relations take place mainly through, among others things, municipal associations and cooperation agreements. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:164) Extra-governmental relations are relations between government institutions and external institutions. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:164) The categories of relations that can be distinguished are social, politics, economics and institutional. There are four factors that may influence go vernmental relations, they are organisation of government institutions, decentralisation, fiscal and financial variables and personnel and human resources problems. Public versus private management. The differences and similarities. Private businesses are run for a profit and public institutions are not, but they are run for the general welfare. In the private sector, the various businesses compete with one another but the public institutions are basically monoplies. Private businesses can become involved in any activity not prohibited by legislations, while public institutions may only carry out functions or exercise competencies expressly delegated to them by the laws of our country. The nature and scope of services or products provided by the public sector are smaller in extent than those provided by government institutions. The transactions of private institutions usually known only to the owner or shareholder and are not divulged to the public while the actions of public institutions should always take place in the open.(Southern Business School, 2007:73) The differences are that legislation plays a prominent role; it is financed by the pub lic funds and is not non profit-oriented; it is directed by politics; accountability to the public is of prime importance; the focus in the public sector; the principles of public administration plays an important role and the method of allocating functions in the public sector is frequently based more on political considerations that on pure efficiency. The similarities are both comprise people and fixed personnel regulations are therefore required, work programmes methods and systems are the same, organisational arrangements and structures for providing time and staff functions delegation of authority coordination and communication are more or less the same, management principals, techniques, functions and skills are generic to both sectors, both follow standard accounting principals and control measures are applicable to both to ensure that predetermined objectives are achieved. Those are the differences and similarities of public and private management. Although there is a broad spectrum of disciplines which can be involved with considerable success. We will focus only on those disciplines that seem more approachable. They are Political Science, Economics, Developmental Administration/ Management, Etnology, Management Science and Sociology. Political Science can be defined as the scientific study of politics. Fields and subfields of Political Science include political theory and philosophy, national political systems, international politics, public administration, political institutions and political behaviour. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:61) Political Science studies the public or government sector in terms of its political context, as opposed to Public Administration, which concentrates on the internal functioning of executive government institutions (Cloete, 1986 in Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:61). Economics studies individuals as economic entities and their behaviour in economic affairs that is how they use scarce resou rces (Cloete, 1986, in Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:61). According to Cloete, Public Administration and Economics are inextricably linked. Development Administration developed as a specialised field of study from Public Administration. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:61) Public Administration may well be concerned with the overall improvement of living standards. It implies development but a need nonetheless exists for a discipline specialising developmental principles and morals. Ethnology aims at creating a better understanding of developing communities. In this way, insight is gained into the way of life and institutions of different racial groups, including the way in which they conduct their public affairs. (Cloete, 1986 in Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:61) According to Cronje, Neuland and van Reenen (1987 in Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:62), management science studies private enterptises in the search for ways to improve their functioning. Sociology involves the study of numerous institutions and other phenomence encountered in human society. (Cloete, 1986 in Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:62) There are various disciplines in Public Administration and new theories and approaches develop as a result of the interaction between academics and practitioners who study and practice the individual disciplines. Successful management of an institution is closely related to the way people are managed in that institution and it is important that managers understand the individuals in the institution. A manager has to be a psychologist, sociologist, anthropologist and political scientist all at the same time to understand and motivate your employees. There are three guidelines a manager needs to follow. They are guidelines from the body politic, guidelines from community values and prescribed guidelines. Guidelines from the body politic includes political supremacy which is ministers are the political head of public institutions and therefore have authority over the actions of officials, public accountability which includes the public responsibility of the legislative judicial an executive authorities with regard to service delivery and conduct which is in the public interest and tenets of democracy which implies that those who govern must not abuse the power vested in them in their personal in terest or in the interest of one population group only and that deliberations and consultations with the community must take place. Guidelines from communities values include religious doctrines and values systems, fairness and reasonableness, balanced decision-making, thoroughness, probity and honesty, and efficiency and effectiveness. Prescribed guidelines includes legal rules which is every action of a public official must be within the limits of enabling provisions of Acts and regulations, fundamental rights which are binding on all legislative and executive organs of state at all levels of government and it provide for equality, the right to life and respect for protection of dignity, Code of ethics or conduct which specialist unit within the public sector has a set of guidelines governing conduct, the conduct usually do not have any legal authority, but are simply guidelines that have been formed over time, right to information held by the state which is provided in terms of s ection 32 of the Constitution is also important with regard to internal ethical conduct, Just administration action is the normative principles of Public Administration. Measures to prevent unethical conduct are training and development of officials by means of courses, among other things, control measures and checkpoints, participation in departmental decision making, the elimination of excessive secrecy, media coverage of unethical conduct, politically dishonest officials can be removed during elections, the public service commission, the auditor general in his / her capacity, the public protector who looks after the interest of the public, administrative law and legal rules and a code of ethics or conduct for every profession, occupational group and field of activity. There are three different environmental levels in the public institution. The levels are macro-level or general level, the intermediate level and the micro-level or specific level. Micro-environment or internal environment is defined in more specific operational terms. Kast and Rosenzweig (1974 in Van der Walt and Du Toit, 1999:102) define the internal level as an attempt to classify and describe the focus that have an influence on the institution specifically. (Schwella 1983 in Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:102) describes the micro-environment as that part of general environment that is potentially relevant for the setting of objectives. The specific environment is thus more concrete than the general environment. It may directly influence the availability of resources to be the organisational unit. The influences it may have include supplying, withholding, decreasing or increasing the recourse used by the institution (Van der Waldt, 1992 in Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:102). Th e core components of micro environment is mission, goal, strategy, resources, institutional culture, inter regulars, external regulators and information. The intermediate environment or task or client environment induces al institutions, groups, individuals and influences with which the institution has direct outward interaction because public institutions are essentially providers of services. The community should be the most important component of the intermediate environment. Another intermediate environmental component is regulators that control and regulate the relationship between an institution, its suppliers, clients and competitors. Regulators include policy, laws, procedures and standardsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Opportunities and threats in the intermediate environment pg102 have a direct implication for the functioning and management of an institution.(Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:102) Intermediaries or facilitation acts as agents linking the macro and micro-environment. Another factor that plays a significant role in the provision of services is ethical norms and standards that are derived from the community. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:102) According to Schwella (1991 in Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:100) the macro- or general environment level consists of political, economic, legal, social, cultural and technological components. It includes influences outside the boundaries of the institution that is all factors external to the institutions micro- and intermediate environments that influence the functioning of both these environments. It is important to note that these environmental components are interdependent and that there are no absolute distinctions between them. Events in one environment can lead to changes in environments. (Van der Waldt and Du Toit, 1999:101) Before, public managers were expected to present good ideas about which director the state should take, to decide on courses of action or goals to be accomplished and to use their influence or control to sway the opinions and the views of the staff in that certain direction. A more modern approach indicates that the future leader will be someone who assists the organisation in understanding its needs and potential combines and formats the vision of the group and catalyses the occurrence of group action. The leader will also not just be the head, but will play out every ones roles. Future public managers will need to be able to do certain things by utilising, among others, the following skills and abilities: leadership, deliberation and the skills associated with it viz. mediation, teamwork, negotiation and problem-solving etc. in various cultural settings; communication skills such as written, graphic, oral, technological and foreign languages; the skill of gathering, analysing and evaluating information; being able to critically (using different views and opinions), creatively (having the ability to come up with different ideas) and ethically (not infringing on anyones rights and moral obligations) reason; human relations i.e. dealing with staff, clients etc., which is vital for attaining success in a world that is so diverse in culture and ever changing; commit themselves to their own physical, emotional and psychological wellness, as well as that of others around them; have the ability to appreciate the human experience as being diverse which includes activ ities that are aesthetic and creative; display behaviour that is in accordance with the ethical principals and civic virtues normally displayed by good and responsible citizens of the immediate community, the state or province, the nation and ultimately the world; thinking critically, creatively as well as ethically; interpersonal (with themselves), intra-group (within a specific group) and inter-group (amongst different groups) skills which are important for attaining success in a world so complex; etc. According to Fox et al. (1991) and McCurdy (1995), a public manager has to adopt some new attitudes, which go against the rigid and bureaucratic inclinations of the past. (Southern Business School, 2007:118 119) They suggest that a public manager should become a crusader, an organiser, a pro-active policy formulator, a social change agent, a crises manager, a humanitarian, an interest broker, etc. for this they will need to be critical and honest about themselves and their own positions and allow personal change.

The Afterlife of Frankenstein

The Frankenstein myth has produced over 2,600 pieces of derivative work and 100 films. Post-publication it was critiqued but not heavily. William Godwin, an old radical, was dedicatee on the anonymously published work and so association with him garnered rejections from conservative publications. There were questions over aspects of the novel reflecting preoccupations and values of the time. It was praised in some essays. All in kind showed some respect initially. Lawrence published his work and gained notoriety. Through being or fear of being associated with his work Mary Shelley revised her work n 1831 where se removed signs of his ideas. The first play appeared in 1823, Presumption, making three key changes from the novel: Frankenstein's religious remorse, the monster being mute and a comic servant called Fritz. It is a cautionary reading followed by The Demon of Switzerland. Before her own changes had been made, she had lost control over her own plot. Her edits were damage limitation. Conservative writers were interpreting it however they wanted knowing their readers agreed. She cut what The Quarterly wanted removed from Lawrence's work. The novel is the first in the mad-scientist genre. Victor has now become more corrupt. The creature is more sensationalised and dehumanised. Playwrights recognised problems in translating the play. The internal reasonings of Victor and the monster were cut. Walton's framing narrative couldn't be portrayed. The story became more visual. The monster became the star with more visual violence. There were also comic versions. The plays stay a lot truer to the original than most of the films. Silent films found it hard to translate the story onto screen. Thomas Edison's company created the first film version. James Whale arguably changed the story the most so far, basing his version on Peggy Webley's play. His monster supersedes all others. He introduces the image of Dr. Frankenstein, the Igor character, and the sensational creation scene which is rarely mentioned in the text. Victor is an arrogant grown man and not an unknowing youth. ‘Whale's sequel Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and later sequels Son of Frankenstein (1939), and Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) all continued the general theme of sensationalism, horror, and exaggeration, with the newly-dubbed Dr. Frankenstein and his parallels growing more and more sinister.' (Tourney) Later films became more diverted from the original meaning. He is a sexual pervert, a necrophiliac, opens up transsexual debate, bringing the focus back to the scientist, but not as the scientist of the original text. These films show us about its nature and how the populace views of science have evolved. How time changes our ideas and priorities to garner meaning from the text. Frankenstein has become a doting father in The Munsters, moved to television, become a household icon, As one of the famous Universal Monsters his recogniseable image has been transferred to all sorts of merchandise. He has appeared in comics and games and been referenced in music. The mad scientist trope has become familiar in science fiction. The name Frankenstein has spawned words, Frankensteinian and Franken- prefix can indicate something assembled out of parts or scientifically modified. He is a prominent figure at Halloween and other tropes such as creations falling out of one's control and rebirth through assembling parts are apparent in various mediums. Questions of Science are still resonant. How far should we go? This afterlife raises interesting questions over the nature of adaptation. In an age where most of us are exposed to images of the monster before ever reading the original text, how then does that affect our own interpretations of the myth? Questions arise over meaning through adaptation, but that is its nature. It is by definition of the Oxford English Dictionary ‘The action or process of adapting, fitting, or suiting one thing to another.' The medium has an effect on the message but so does the time period. Cinema is visual and the story has to be modified to suit this, but elements are also foregrounded or hyperbolised if they work well on screen. The adapter(s) interpret the original in a certain way and critics can also play a hand in this by influencing them also, emphasising certain ideas that the adapter may want to portray at the expense of others. My view is that a text's original meaning can never be fully understood and in an adaptation carries less importance because adaptations, like originals, are a reflection of their place in time. By reading a story we allow it to take shape within our minds, conceptualising it and instantly creating our own reproduction of it. Frankenstein means something different to everyone, all are reproductions. Criticism can alter that meaning and history can foreground certain ideas for it is always evolving. Interpretation is never static. We are the monster, he evolves with us. Adaptations are an amalgamation of views. A singular vision constructed through the collective consciousness, through the many people working on them, the critics that influenced them, society that imparte values onto them, the media and government that re-order their priorities. By its nature adaptation can never stay true to the original and that is a good thing. Were it even possible, would films be as interesting to us if it followed Shelley's text word for word and faithfully recreated all events? What is more interesting to us as students of literature is context. The context of a novel or a play or a film are the same, A text or interpretation gains meaning through where it lives historically.

Men and Women Eating Disorders

Modern society’s inclination to appreciate thin people has led to a significant increase in the incidence of eating disorders. While eating disorders are highly associated with women, the condition is not gender oriented and as such, can inflict both sexes. This paper discusses eating disorders that occur to both men and women. What is an Eating Disorder? Eating disorder is a condition where victims generally make use of food to achieve physical or emotional objective. This means that people with eating disorders may deprive themselves of food so they will become thin, or use starvation as a means to deal with unwanted feelings or emotions. Eating disorder is   popularly associated with   two conditions,   the anorexia nervosa and bulimia, both of which, can be generally defined as the extreme concern to body weight and image although such other conditions as rumination disorder and pica, which primarily occur among infants are also considered as eating disorders. Another form of eating disorder is binge eating which is most common among people who are on a diet. Psychologist Kelly Bemis described anorexia nervosa as â€Å"a complex physical, emotional, and behavioral changes occurring in individuals who starve themselves because of an aversion to food or weight gain† (Lucas, 2004). Those who suffer from anorexia nervosa are characterized by a false perception about their body size. This perception leads to self inflicted starvation or refusal to eat and which consequently results in severe weight loss that has devastating health and mental implications. Other weight loss strategies include vomiting several times in a day, using laxatives and over exercising. People who suffer from bulimia, on the other hand, are also characterized by the same extreme weight and image consciousness but they have a craving for food, which causes them to go for binge eating. Bulimics generally feel guilty when they overeat and to prevent themselves from gaining weight, use risky weight loss strategies similarly employed by anorexics. People  inflicted with bulimia and anorexia are both characterized with feelings of depression and anxiety. Unlike bulimia where victims overeat and purge themselves after by vomiting or using laxatives, people with binge eating conditions eat large amounts of food but do not purge themselves. They do not use laxatives nor vomit habitually but merely abstain themselves from eating or they go on a diet. A recent study conducted in Harvard Medical School showed that binge eating is now more prevalent than anorexia and bulimia (Stein, 2007). Among the symptoms of eating disorders include extreme weight loss; starvation or refusal to eat; frequent vomiting; obsession with exercise; and depression. Eating disorder is both a physiological and psychological condition, victims of which, do not only lose weight but also suffer from other psychological conditions such as depression. Eating Disorder among Women The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) (1995) reported that ninety percent of the people who are inflicted with anorexia and bulimia are women. Eating disorder among women is reported to begin during the teen years, which when left untreated, can persist through adulthood. The onset of eating disorders among some girls are said to follow after traumatic and stressful life experiences such as leaving home or   death of a loved one. In the case of anorexia, women are usually within the range of 90 percent of ideal body weight before they develop the illness (Blinder, 2001). Eating disorders are also most prevalent among teen-age girls. The National Women's Health Report (1995) accounted that   Ã‚  girls who are at risk of developing eating disorders are highly successful individuals who have feelings of insecurity and who may resort to controlling their food intake and weight to make them feel powerful. Eating disorder among women is highly attributed to the society’s preferential treatment to slim women. One distinct symptom of eating disorder among women is the loss of monthly menstrual cycle, which is the result of being extremely undernourished causing impairment of normal bodily functions such as that of the reproductive organs. Eating Disorder among Men The reason why eating disorders have been greatly associated with women is because more women suffer from the disease than men. For this reason, eating disorders, such as anorexia in   men may become under-diagnosed because most people, even anorexics, are generally unaware that eating disorders can occur to both men and women (Blinder. 2001). Eating disorders, however, are not gender biased conditions and as such, there are also cases of men suffering from eating disorders. It is, in fact,   estimated that ten percent of the eight million people in the United States who suffer from eating disorders are men (â€Å"Issues for Men†, 2006). While symptoms, conditions and implications of eating disorder among men and women are generally almost similar, there are aspects that vary between men and women. For example, eating disorders are more likely to occur in girls who are achievers. In men, most likely sufferers are those who come from lower socioeconomic groups; those who feared competition, and those who were not successful in their academics and in their profession (Blinder. 2001). If culture dictates that men should be big and strong, why is it that eating disorders occur in some men? According to Blinder (2001), males with eating disorders experience â€Å"sexual isolation, sexual inactivity and conflicted homosexuality†. Gays, who are also pressured in becoming physically and professionally successful,   are thus most likely victims of eating disorder. As such, eating disorders is prevalent among male homosexuals. This, however, does not mean that heterosexual males do not develop eating disorders because they do. Male runners and jockeys, for example, who are involved in activities that necessitate low weight and who suffer from too much stress and pressure can develop eating disorders (â€Å"Issues for Men†, 2006 ). Unlike women who develop the condition because they perceive themselves  to be fat, most men who develop the disease are actually overweight prior to being inflicted with the condition. Conclusion While eating disorders have always been associated with women, a number of men also suffer from the condition. There are general similarities in eating disorders between men and women, both sexes primarily use food to lose weight and to deal with emotions. There is however some discrepancy in the characteristics of victims; physical perception and weight prior to illness; and symptoms such that girls lose their menstrual cycles as an effect of starvation. Because the condition is highly associated with women, treatment of males with eating disorders has been difficult. Some male bulimics and anorexics do not realize they suffer from eating disorders because they are not aware that the illness can strike both men and women. References Adolescent and Eating Disorders. (1995, Nov. 1). National Women's Health Report, 17, 3. Blinder, B (2001). Anorexia in males. Retrieved March 8, 2007 from http://www.ltspeed.com/bjblinder/anmales.htm Lucas, A. (2004). Demystifying Anorexia Nervosa: An Optimistic Guide to Understanding and Healing. New York: Oxford University Press Stein, R. (2007, Feb 1.). Bingeing Now Seen As Most Common Eating Disorder. Washington Post, A02

Can Hot Water Freeze Faster Than Cold Water

Hot water can freeze more quickly than cold water. However, it does not always happen, nor has science explained exactly why it can happen. Although Aristotle, Bacon, and Descartes all described hot water freezing faster than cold water, the notion was mostly resisted until the 1960s when a high school student named Mpemba noticed that hot ice cream mix, when placed into the freezer, would freeze before ice cream mix that had been cooled to room temperature before being placed in the freezer. Mpemba repeated his experiment with water rather than ice cream mixture and found the same result: the hot water froze more quickly than the cooler water. When Mpemba asked his physics teacher to explain the observations, the teacher told Mpemba his data must be in error, because the phenomenon was impossible. Mpemba asked a visiting physics professor, Dr. Osborne, the same question. This professor replied that he did not know, but he would test the experiment. Dr. Osborne had a lab tech perform Mpembas test. The lab tech reported that he had duplicated Mpembas result, But well keep on repeating the experiment until we get the right result. Well, the data is the data, so when the experiment was repeated, it continued to yield the same result. In 1969 Osborne and Mpemba published the results of their research. Now the phenomenon in which hot water may freeze faster than cold water is sometimes called the Mpemba Effect. Why Hot Water Sometimes Freezes Faster Than Cold Water There is no definitive explanation for why hot water may freeze faster than cold water. Different mechanisms come into play, depending on the conditions. The main factors appear to be: Evaporation - More hot water will evaporate than cold water, thus reducing the amount of water remaining to be frozen. Mass measurements lead us to believe this is an important factor when chilling water in open containers, though it isnt the mechanism that explains how the Mpemba Effect occurs in closed containers.Supercooling - Hot water tends to experience less of a supercooling effect than cold water. This makes it more likely to become solid when it reaches the freezing point of water.Convection - Water develops convection currents as it cools. Water density usually decreases as temperature increases, so a container of cooling water typically is warmer on top than on the bottom. If we assume water loses most of its heat across its surface (which may or may not be true, depending on the conditions), then water with a hotter top would lose its heat and freeze faster than water with a cooler top.Dissolved Gases - Hot water has less capacity to hold dissolved gases than cold water, which may affect its rate of freezing.Effect of the Surroundings - The difference between the initial temperatures of two containers of water may have an effect on the surroundings that could influence the rate of cooling. One example would be warm water melting a pre-existing layer of frost, permitting a better cooling rate. Test It Yourself Now, dont take my word for this! If you are doubtful that hot water sometimes freezes more quickly than cold water, test it for yourself. Be aware the Mpemba Effect will not be seen for all experimental conditions, so consult the references in this post to see what might work best for you (or try making ice cream in your freezer, if youll accept that as a demonstration of the effect).