The Democratic Struggle in the Sahel

2021 ◽  
pp. 386-404
Author(s):  
Mamadou Bodian ◽  
Leonardo A. Villalón

The countries of the Sahel found themselves under intense domestic and international pressures to undertake political reforms in the name of democracy in the early 1990s, and indeed all of them launched efforts to do so. This chapter surveys the variations and the similarities in how the struggle to build and strengthen democratic institutions has played out in the Sahel. It examines some initial fundamental questions related to the nature of a democratic state that were raised by the transitions, before turning to a discussion of the core institutional debates that have defined the struggle. Subsequent sections discuss the political dynamics and the similarities and variations across countries in the institutions for organizing and administering elections and electoral systems; presidential term limits; the structure of legislatures; and the provisions for women’s representation.

Author(s):  
Alessandra Bonci ◽  
Francesco Cavatorta

This chapter discusses the evolution of the politics of term limits in Tunisia, from independence in 1956 until the approval of the 2014 democratic constitution. Through the observation of the manipulation of term limits, we can retrace the political history of the country. It is interesting to examine how Bourguiba and Ben Ali managed to achieve their goals by stretching term limits, how and in which conditions they were prevented to do so and finally, whether there are some recurring patterns. This study then places in historical perspective the analysis on how term limits in Tunisia today have been discussed and implemented. Tunisians today are still coping with the recent political turmoil, which may lead them not to pay attention to creeping but substantial constitutional changes that might occur in light of the return to presidential practices in what is a semi-presidential system.


2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIC C. C. CHANG ◽  
MIRIAM A. GOLDEN

The relationship between electoral systems and corruption in a large sample of contemporary democratic nations is analysed in this article. Whereas previous studies have shown that closed-list proportional representation is associated with greater (perceived) corruption than open-list PR, it is demonstrated here that this relationship fails to hold once district magnitude is considered. The theory underlying this study draws on work on ‘the personal vote’ that suggests that the incentives to amass resources – and perhaps even to do so illegally – increase with district magnitude in open-list settings but decrease in closed-list contexts. Extending this insight, it is shown that political corruption gets more (less) severe as district magnitude increases under open-list PR (closed-list PR) systems. In addition, once district magnitude exceeds a certain threshold – the estimates here are that this is as low as fifteen – corruption is greater under open lists than closed lists. Only at small district magnitudes (below fifteen) is closed-list PR associated with more corruption, as conventionally held. These results hold for alternative measures of corruption, for different sets of countries analysed, for different measures of district magnitude and regardless of whether the political system is presidential or parliamentary, and of the number of parties.Using an objective measure of corruption in public works contracting, corroborating evidence is also presented from Italian electoral districts. In Italy's open-list environment in the period prior to 1994, larger districts were more susceptible to corruption than smaller ones.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Lucas de Moura Palotti ◽  
Pedro Luiz Costa Cavalcante

Presidents face a dilemma of whom to appoint for cabinet positions. They need to secure legislative support for their government and at the same time achieve their goals in terms of public policy. This work analyzes the portfolio allocation of Brazilian presidents in Brazil’s multiparty system. This study tests some hypotheses using multinomial logistic regression to identify appointment strategies adopted by the presidents in four different governmental sectors from 1990 to 2016. To do so, first, we create an index of ministerial politicization (IMP) and aggregate the ministries in these four sections, employing cluster analysis. The results show that appointments to the core positions in government tend to be less politicized. Moreover, the president’s personal nominations were greater in the presidential units that carry out the political coordination and typical functions of the State.


Author(s):  
M. Safa Saraçoglu

This chapter presents the general conclusion of this book: Although the highest tier of Vidin’s local dynasties gradually lost their power vis-à-vis the imperial administration by the beginning of the nineteenth century, the lower-tier elite benefited from cooperation with the Ottoman administration. The Ottoman transformation during the long nineteenth century focused on legitimating the imperial order by establishing limits to governance. Part of this change was the establishment of provincial councils by 1840 as part of an Ottoman governance, which aimed to protect the ‘natural’ market order through civil law. The 1864 and 1871 regulations organised the provincial administrative and judicial councils as separate bodies where the elite’s influence was restrained with term-limits. Yet the notables dominated Vidin’s councils by moving between offices. This led to a connected judicio-adminisrative sphere, dominated by the local elite and reflecting the political dynamics among them. Different agents/groups problematized issues pertaining to security, territory and population within this sphere using technologies of Ottoman governance to pursue their strategies. These councils and Ottoman governance was not serving the elite alone but provided a negotiation platform for different people and alliances in Vidin county in conjunction with economic liberalization of the long-nineteenth century.


1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Frazer ◽  
Nicola Lacey

This paper is a critical discussion of a number of related themes in John Rawls' Political Liberalism. First, it considers whether Rawls' recent statement of his position proceeds from an adequate methodology for political theory. In particular, it questions whether Rawls has succeeded in accommodating both universalist, analytic and particularist, interpretive aspects of the political theoretical enterprise. Second, it engages in critical analysis of the conceptions of the political and the public which lie at the core of Rawls' theory. In this part of the paper, an important though not exclusive focus will be certain questions raised by Susan Moller Okin and other feminist critics of Rawls about the internal consistency of his conception of justice. It is argued that Political Liberalism neither addresses these questions explicitly nor, contrary to Okin's view, provides implicit conceptual tools which could allow a sympathetic interpreter of Rawls to do so. The direction of the argument will suggest certain preconditions for the development of a more substantively and methodologically adequate approach to political theory.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 10-22
Author(s):  
Teresa S. Encarnacion Tadem

Introduction. The article is devoted to political and socio-economic processes in the Philippines in the context of re-defining and re-understanding of the “Good Governance” concept.The term “good governance” in the Philippines is generally defined politically. As noted by the University of the Philippines Diliman National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP NCPAG), “good governance” is mainly concerned with improving the quality of government (QOG) which it perceives plays a key role in reclaiming democratic space. Thus, the main thrust is “to address the issues of anti-corruption, ethical public service service, efficient and effective delivery of public services by concerned Philippine institutions” (Forum Concept of the CLCD2018).Material and methods. To address meaningful governance for UP NCPAG therefore is to assess the country’s democratic institutions. This all leads to the major aims to assess the country’s democratic institutions and whether democracy has led to meaningful governance reforms in the Philippine context. This definition of governance has generally characterized the assessment of the post-martial law administrations of Corazon C. Aquino (1986-1992), Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1998), Joseph E. Estrada (1998-2001), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (2001-2010), Benigno S. Aquino (2010-2016) and Rodrigo R. Duterte (2016present).Results. Although political reforms to strengthen the quality of government is indeed pertinent, this paper will, however, argue that these political reforms will only have a substantive impact on the democratization process in the country if it is coupled with policy reforms which address the growing socio-economic inequalities in Philippine society. In particular, there is a need for socio-economic policies which will address redistribution. Without this, not only will the economic but also the political gap between the rich and the poor remain wide, but it will also make the implementation of political reforms close to impossible.Discussion and Conclusions. The first part of this paper will, therefore, define how the term “governance” has generally been applied to the Philippines. It will elucidate how its definition has been generally limited to the political sphere and why there is a need to expand on this to include the socio-economic domain. It will highlight this concern in the post-martial law administrations. The second part, on the other hand, will elaborate on this issue in the current Duterte administration.


2005 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Halloran

Modern accounts of the battle of Brunanburh have generally suggested a location in the Northumbrian-Mercian borderlands east or west of the Pennines, a conclusion based in part on analysis of the aims and strategy of Anlaf Guthfrithson, Viking king of Dublin. This article re-examines the political dynamics of the coalition against Athelstan, taking account of the territorial and political ambitions of the kings of Alba and Strathclyde, and proposes a radically different interpretation of the campaign of 937. It also questions the reliability of the variant form Brunanburh as a guide to the battle's location and concludes that the most likely site was Burnswark in Annandale.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-183
Author(s):  
Mary L. Mullen

This article considers the politics and aesthetics of the colonial Bildungsroman by reading George Moore's often-overlooked novel A Drama in Muslin (1886). It argues that the colonial Bildungsroman does not simply register difference from the metropolitan novel of development or express tension between the core and periphery, as Jed Esty suggests, but rather can imagine a heterogeneous historical time that does not find its end in the nation-state. A Drama in Muslin combines naturalist and realist modes, and moves between Ireland and England to construct a form of untimely development that emphasises political processes (dissent, negotiation) rather than political forms (the state, the nation). Ultimately, the messy, discordant history represented in the novel shows the political potential of anachronism as it celebrates the untimeliness of everyday life.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Van Dung ◽  
Giang Khac Binh

As developing programs is the core in fostering knowledge on ethnic work for cadres and civil servants under Decision No. 402/QD-TTg dated 14/3/2016 of the Prime Minister, it is urgent to build training program on ethnic minority affairs for 04 target groups in the political system from central to local by 2020 with a vision to 2030. The article highlighted basic issues of practical basis to design training program of ethnic minority affairs in the past years; suggested solutions to build the training programs in integration and globalization period.


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