Do elections lead to reform? Assessing the institutional limits of representative bodies in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Al-Ghanim
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
The Political ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Political Liberalization ◽  
The Past ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Significant Step ◽  
Set Up

Over the past decade, the states of the Arabian peninsula have taken strides to liberalize their political systems. They have convened elections for different types of representative bodies and have liberalized their economies more than ever before. Some countries have even systematized these elections over time. While the political science literature views elections as a significant step towards political liberalization, it remains unclear whether or not elections in authoritarian settings actually lead to more meaningful reforms. This paper considers the institutional set-up and limits that are placed on representative bodies in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and how these inhibit manifestation of additional reforms.

Influence of external and internal factors on the political system of Saudi Arabia

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (12-3) ◽  
pp. 59-67
Author(s):  
Abdullah Hazaa Othmann ◽  
Oleg Grishin ◽  
Olga Nesterchuk
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Political System ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Oil Reserves ◽  
Strategic Location

The article includes internal and external changes in the Saudi political system. Since King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz took over the reins of power in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the end of January 2015, and questions have increased about the nature of the changes occurring in the country of the Two Holy Mosques, both internally and externally, which marks an era of transformation from stability and stagnation in foreign policy to an era of change and adaptation to the crises of the current circumstances and dealing with dangerous transformations at the regional level, and especially since the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the countries at the heart of the regional Arab order and is the center of leadership in the Islamic world with its spiritual and religious stature and Its influential strategic location in the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab and Islamic worlds. At the international level, the economic situation of the Kingdom and it’s being the owner of the largest oil reserves in the world and the largest country in terms of the volume of oil exported daily, as well as its distinguished relations with the United States, Russia, and other Western countries gave the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a position on the global level.

Ideological Confrontation and the Manipulation of Oral History: a Zambesian Case

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 257-273
Author(s):  
Matthew Schoffeleers
Keyword(s):  
Oral History ◽  
Scarce Resource ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Origin Myths ◽  
The Moment ◽  
At Will ◽  
Original Event

Ever since Malinowski formulated his concept of myths as charters, there has been a tendency among anthropologists to regard origin myths more or less as post factum constructs designed to legitimize existing privileges and positions. A classic example of this pragmatist view is Leach's study of political systems in highland Burma, in which he attempts to demonstrate that origin myths change with clocklike regularity in response to shifts in the political constellation. More recently, however, voices have been raised, particularly among historians, which insist that a society's past cannot always be manipulated at will, but that under certain conditions it has to be treated circumspectly in the way one deals with any scarce resource.My own interpretation of this view is that accounts of the past, when they concern important aspects of a society, are often (or perhaps always) constructed in such a way that the original event is somehow preserved and recoverable. The qualification “somehow” is added on purpose to make clear that the phrase ‘oral history’ refers to such a wide range of genres and mnemonic techniques, and that the methods at our disposal to extract the original event are still so rudimentary--despite the progress made over the past dozen years or so--that for the moment one cannot do more than express belief in our ultimate capability to discover what happened in actual fact.

Return to Empire: The New U.S. Imperialism in Comparative Historical Perspective

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Steinmetz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
British Imperialism ◽  
The Past ◽  
Imperial Power ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Political Spectrum

The widespread embrace of imperial terminology across the political spectrum during the past three years has not led to an increased level of conceptual or theoretical clarity around the word “empire.” There is also disagreement about whether the United States is itself an empire, and if so, what sort of empire it is; the determinants of its geopolitical stance; and the effects of “empire as a way of life” on the “metropole.” Using the United States and Germany in the past 200 years as empirical cases, this article proposes a set of historically embedded categories for distinguishing among different types of imperial practice. The central distinction contrasts territorial and nonterritorial types of modern empire, that is, colonialism versus imperialism. Against world-system theory, territorial and nonterritorial approaches have not typi-cally appeared in pure form but have been mixed together both in time and in the repertoire of individual metropolitan states. After developing these categories the second part of the article explores empire's determinants and its effects, again focusing on the German and U.S. cases but with forays into Portuguese and British imperialism. Supporters of overseas empire often couch their arguments in economic or strategic terms, and social theorists have followed suit in accepting these expressed motives as the “taproot of imperialism” (J. A. Hobson). But other factors have played an equally important role in shaping imperial practices, even pushing in directions that are economically and geopolitically counterproductive for the imperial power. Postcolonial theorists have rightly empha-sized the cultural and psychic processes at work in empire but have tended to ignore empire's effects on practices of economy and its regulation. Current U.S. imperialism abroad may not be a danger to capitalism per se or to America's overall political power, but it is threatening and remaking the domestic post-Fordist mode of social regulation.

scholarly journals THE ISSUE OF LEGITIMACY OF THE LATVIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
Gunārs Ozolzīle
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Diffuse Support ◽  
Sufficient Resource

A democratic political system can be sustainable and stable only if it has society’s support that is based on legitimacy. So far, the attention of Latvian researchers has mostly been devoted to the so-called “ratings” of separate political institutions and politicians, but no attempt has been undertaken to investigate the political system as a whole through the prism of legitimacy. The aim of the present article is to explore whether there is a sufficient resource of legitimacy of the Latvian political system in order to provide stability and efficiency of the regime. The empirical basis of the research mostly consists of the results of the sociological research conducted in Latvia during the past six years (2011–2016). The data analysis of the present research is based on David Easton and Pippa Norris’ conceptual approach to the study of legitimacy of political systems. One of the conclusions that can be made is that the political system of Latvia is characterised by insufficient diffuse support, which then indicates that the political system experiences the problem of legitimacy. As there is a divided society in Latvia, both communities lack a shared national identity, which could connect the society. In addition, it can be stated that around half of the society is not satisfied with the functioning of the political regime. The analysis performed in the article allows concluding that the trust in political institutions is extremely low and the assessment of the political authority performance is highly negative.

scholarly journals Iraq's foreign policy and the regional context, the input of instability and mechanisms of normalization

2019 ◽  
pp. 97-112
Author(s):  
أ.م.د.اسامة مرتضى باقر ◽  
أ.م.د.اسامة مرتضى باقر
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
The Political ◽  
Islamic Republic ◽  
Regional Environment ◽  
The Past ◽  
Syrian Arab Republic ◽  
The Status ◽  
Islamic Republic Of Iran ◽  
Arab League ◽  
Economic Developments

Iraq has suffered since 1991 from international sanctions imposed on it by the dictatorial regime that existed at the time, invading Kuwait, which led to the decline of the status of Iraq and the isolation of international and regional (Arab) and clear Iraq as a strange entity living within its regional environment, after April 2003 did not change much In fact, there were no signs of détente before the Arab League summit in Baghdad in 2011, and the signs of a break in the stalemate in inter-relations over the past years have become evident. Disruption and refraction was not high (Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey, Syrian Arab Republic, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait). Each side is governed by perceptions about Iraq, especially after 2003, and the political and economic developments taking place.  

scholarly journals ‘Moving in concentric circles’? The history and politics of press inquiries

Legal Studies ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-278
Author(s):  
Michael Harker ◽  
John Street ◽  
Samuel Cross
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
The Political ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Policy Cycle ◽  
The Past ◽  
Narrative Device ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Concentric Circles

In this paper, we consider the Leveson inquiry's use of a narrative device – the policy cycle – to justify the need for a break with the past. We challenge that narrative, which runs through much of the literature, and posit a more nuanced and complex account of the politics and history of press inquiries, drawing upon the political science literature. We then reflect upon the implications of our findings for the future of press regulation.

scholarly journals VICTOR T. LE VINE

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (04) ◽  
pp. 804-805
Author(s):  
Ruth Iyob
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
The United States ◽  
Professor Emeritus ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Participant Observer

Victor T. Le Vine, professor emeritus of political science, analyst, and commentator, died on May 7, 2010, after a brief illness. Le Vine, an only son, was born in Berlin in 1928. His family fled Nazi Germany and lived in France until they immigrated to the United States in 1938. A polyglot, fluent in French, German, and Russian, he was a rigorous researcher, a dedicated teacher, and an encyclopedic repository of classical works in politics, history, literature, and music. He mentored hundreds of graduate and undergraduate students in his 47 years as an academic and was known for using his multilingual skills and photographic memory to make every class lecture come alive—at times accompanying them with his vivid newspaper clippings that he collected from his travels. In his classroom, the politics of the postcolonial world were peppered with vignettes of his experiences as a participant observer in the heyday of Africa's decolonization. He shared with his students the emergence of the political systems of diverse countries such as Benin, Cameroon, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Eritrea, Ghana, France, Israel, the PRC, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Zaire (DRC).

Soviet Elite Participatory Attitudes in the Post-Stalin Period

1968 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 827-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milton Lodge
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Attitudinal Change ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Relationship

This paper, part of a larger study, is a comparative analysis of five Soviet elites—the central Party apparatchicki, and four specialist elites: the central economic bureaucrats, the military, the literary intelligentsia, and the legal profession. By content analyzing representative periodicals for each elite, data are collected on elite attitudes toward participation in the political system. The overall goal is to gain a measure of the direction and scope of Soviet elite attitudinal change since Stalin; more specifically, (1) to measure the extent to which the elites perceive themselves as participants in the policy-making process, (2) to determine whether the elites perceive their participatory role as expanding over time, and (3) to demark changing patterns of Partyspecialist elite relations from 1952–65.To ground this study in a theoretical framework, analytical categories and hypotheses—derived in part from Brzezinski and Huntington's Political Power: USA/USSR—are formulated to test the perceived extent of elite participation in the Soviet political process. Synoptically, models of political systems may be built by reducing to essentials the mode of interaction between the regime and society. A key variable in analyzing this interaction between superstructure and base is the role and efficacy of societal groups in influencing policy formation and implementation. Following this tack a descriptive continuum may be set up for classifying political systems. At one end of the continuum are ideological systems (e.g., the USSR), at the other “instrumental” systems (e.g., the United States). In instrumental systems the relationship between the political and social system is characterized by “access and interaction.”

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The World ◽  
Authority Structures

This introductory chapter establishes the importance of studying the Gulf monarchies, while noting that relatively little attention has been paid to contemporary statecraft and the ways in which underlying authority structures might be changing. It describes how recent and possibly interconnected shifts have been taking place deep inside the political systems of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, particularly in the wake of the conspicuous strengthening of personal powers in the hands of MBS and MBZ. Given that these states now indisputably serve as major components of the global economy and are increasingly influential members of international organizations, it identifies an urgent need to recognize that major ruptures in the structural logic of their regimes could well end up having a direct impact--for better or worse--on policies, economies, and individual livelihoods all around the world.

The Christian and Politics

Worldview ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 11-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Riga
Keyword(s):  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

After centuries of discussions and disputes over the church-state relationship, it would seem that there is little to say about the “Christian and politics.” The reality is that the relationship is more disputed today than it has ever been. Nor has the theology of the secular, so extensively developed over the past few years, increased the area of agreement about the perspective from which the Christian should look at the political order, how he can speak to it and to what extfent the emphasis should be placed on “Christian” or on “politics.”There have been few political systems in man's history which have not appealed to God in one way or another for their justification or foundation or mission.

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