The Role of the M.P. in Tanzania

1970 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 754-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond F. Hopkins

The study of politics in “developing” countries has tended to focus on the less formal organs of government, such as political parties, the military, the bureaucracy, and even the educational system. National legislatures have often been ignored or rated of little significance in the political processes of these states. This practice contrasts markedly with the attention paid to legislatures in Western states. The most obvious explanation for it is that legislatures in new states tend to have little influence. Important decisions and shifts in power are usually made or recorded elsewhere in the political system.The Bunge, or National Assembly, of Tanzania is no exception to this general phenomenon. Nevertheless, an examination of the role of M.P.'s in Tanzania can be illuminating. The Bunge contains most of the major political leaders and has, at least constitutionally, broad authority. As a consequence, if the Assembly is to be only a weak political body, then informal norms limiting the powers of the M.P.'s role must exist. Moreover, these norms should prescribe authority relationships between the legislature and other policy shaping bodies in the political system, particularly the Party. Thus, an analysis of the roles of these men can provide important insights not only into the functions of the Bunge, but also into the elite political culture of Tanzania and the pattern of politics which this culture supports.

Author(s):  
Oren Barak

Since Lebanon’s independence in the mid-1940s, its military—the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)—has played a pivotal role in the country’s politics. The political role of the LAF in Lebanon might seem surprising since the Lebanese state did not militarize, and its political leaders have continuously managed to keep their military relatively weak and small. Indeed, in this respect Lebanon has been markedly different from its close neighbors (Syria and Israel), but also from several other Middle Eastern states (especially Egypt and Iraq), where the military, which was large and powerful, was continuously involved in politics. Additionally, both Lebanon and the LAF have persistently striven to distance themselves from regional conflicts since 1949, particularly in relation to the Palestinian issue, albeit not always successfully. Still, and despite these ostensibly unfavorable factors for the military’s involvement in politics in Lebanon, the LAF has played an important political role in the state since its independence. This role, which has been marked by elements of continuity and change over the years, included mediation and arbitration between rival political factions (in 1945–1958, 2008, 2011, and 2019); attempts to dominate the political system (in 1958–1970 and 1988–1990); intervention in the Lebanese civil war (in 1975–1976 and 1982–1984); attempts to regain its balancing role in politics (in 1979–1982 and 1984–1988); and facilitating the state’s postwar reconstruction (since 1991). The political role of the military in Lebanon can be explained by several factors. First, the weakness of Lebanon’s political system and its inability to resolve crises between its members. Second, Lebanon’s divided society and its members’ general distrust towards its civilian politicians. Third, the basic characteristics of Lebanon’s military, which, in most periods, enjoyed broad public support that cuts across the lines of community, region, and family, and found appeal among domestic and external audiences, which, in their turn, acquiesced to its political role in the state.


1988 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Opoku Agyeman

Praetorianism has been authoritatively defined as a situation in which ‘the military class of a given society exercises independent political power within it by virtue of an actual or threatened use of military force’.1 A praetorian state, by elaboration, is one in which the military tends to intervene and potentially could dominate the political system. The political processes of this state favor the development of the military as the core group and the growth of its expectations as a ruling class; its political leadership (as distinguished from bureaucratic, administrative and managerial leadership) is chiefly recruited from the military, or from groups sympathetic, or at least not antagonistic, to the military. Constitutional changes are effected and sustained by the militaty, and the army frequently intervenes in the government.2


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-76
Author(s):  
Oleh Tkach

Formulation of the problem: The features of model of presidencialism in modern terms, possibility of application of presidencialism in democracy are analysed in the article. Analis of concept: politics, decision of political conflicts. The political factors of political strategies of presidencialism are considered, of institute of the president, as subject of conceptual power and democratic political system, as its object is investigated. It is shown, that the real model of political system contains oligarchic and antiolygarchic components, each of which can become prevailing. Purpose of the research: The purpose of the article is to carry out a theoretical and methodological analysis of the essence of the presidency as a subject of conceptual power in democratic political systems, to identify the structure of conceptual power, its role and place in the political system of society, to identify trends and to analyze the role of the processes of oligarchization in the functioning of democratic political systems, to uncover conceptual functions of the institution of presidency in western democratic political systems. The conceptual management of political system, preservation its of democratic definiteness, is a major task of presidential power. Using theoretical models D. Easton, E. Sedov, theory of needs A. Maslow and theory of social mobility of P. Sorokin has allowed to reveal static and dynamic parameters of political system, which optimization enables to support evolutionary character of political development.There are several alternative concepts of democracy. At the same time, one of them is legally codified and reigns. That is why political power is usually forced to act in an anti-democratic way on an alternative concept. Institutions of state power, thanks to sustainability, mobility and resource intensiveness, can support and even impose those norms and goals that are not entirely in the interests of society as integrity, or vice versa – the interests of individual, usually the most active individuals and social groups are not taken into account and even sacrificed in general. There is a significant imbalance of interests that threatens the existence of a democratic social system. Consequently, the task arises to develop objective indicators, which should be guided by the head of state, in order to assess the favorable or unfavorable tendencies in the political system.The purpose of the article and the task. Research methods: The following research methods were used to address the issues set in the article: general scientific methods – descriptive, hermeneutic-political, systemic, structural-functional, comparative, institutional-comparative; general logical methods – empirical, statistical, prognostic modeling and analysis; special methods of political science. The preference was given to the method of political-system analysis, by which the common and distinctive characteristics of the basic components of soft power strategies were identified, reflecting existing political, public, information and other challenges and global development. For empirical research, the factual basis was used, which was compiled by an expert survey of Ukrainian specialists-political scientists. Practical and systematic methods were used to analyze the system of relations from four perspectives: influence presidents power. Functional and general historiographical methods were also used. Methods of analysis and synthesis allowed exploring the features. In order to implement these methods, such methodological techniques as analogy, comparison, generalization and extrapolation were used. The method for analyzing the situation (studying documents, comparing, etc.) was used to study international and political processes in the USA, exploratory methods (in particular, content analysis) for the analysis of high-level documents and speeches, which in turn helped identify and outline the trends in foreign policy of the countries of the region. Conclusions. The experience of western (Western, liberal-democratic) political systems suggests that the function of supporting the democratic model of the political system is the responsibility of the president. In this case, the president plays the role of either the head of the executive (political manager of the higher rank), or the formal head of state, or these functions combine. In the context of the political crisis, the president takes steps to preserve the democratic system of society. The complex of these activities includes the function of supporting the democratic nature of the political system.


1961 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucian W. Pye

Only a few years ago it was generally assumed that the future of the newly emergent states would be determined largely by the activities of their Westernized intellectuals, their socialistically inclined bureaucrats, their nationalist ruling parties, and possibly their menacing communist parties. It occurred to few students of the underdeveloped regions that the military might become the critical group in shaping the course of nation-building. Now that the military has become the key decision-making element in at least eight of the Afro-Asian countries, we are confronted with the awkward fact that there has been almost no scholarly research on the role of the military in the political development of the new states.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. p35
Author(s):  
Igor Janev

Times After a logic-based foundation of Dialectic Relationism, as a holistic doctrine and a comprehensive systemic-dialectic methodology, in which the relations between the elements (units) constituting a system play the dominant role in its behavior, and even determine the very existence of the elements (units), we demonstrate its applicability to the political arena of international interactions of states and, in particular, to the dissolution of complex state entities and the emergence of new states. Then, we examine in more detail the processes leading to the dissolution of Former Yugoslavia and the emergence of new states following its break up. We elucidate the role of both internal and external factors in the dissolussion process and the role of international relations and environment in the political recognition of the new states. This Relationism concept provides a general framework for description and understanding of socio-political processes and regimes in individual states and international system as a whole.


Politologia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 5-36
Author(s):  
Paweł Laidler

This article analyses the phenomenon of judicial activism in the American electoral process. It tries to estimate whether the political system of the United States of America has become hostage to the law-making role of the judiciary, which actively controls the compliance of election laws with the Constitution, thus drawing courts into purely political processes, or whether the nature of the disputes settled by judges rather makes it impossible for them to avoid being influenced by and influencing issues of a political nature. The article analyses various legal acts and court decisions, mostly concerning the current status of federal campaign finance in the United States, and demonstrates that more spheres traditionally reserved for other branches of government are being appropriated by the judicial branch.


1970 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-564
Author(s):  
Stephen L. Rozman

The following description and analysis of the role of the military in the Peruvian political system and its development from independence to the most recent military supplanting of a civilian government in 1968 should serve a twofold purpose: first, to provide information necessary to the understanding of Peruvian political development; and second, to manifest the claims and demands of a politically relevant (institutional) interest group and its manner of satisfying them. During the course of this article, it should become evident to the reader that it would be impossible to offer even the most general history of Peruvian political development without giving considerable attention to the role of both military personalities and the military as an institution.It is the author's contention that the evolution of the Peruvian military's political role may be divided into nine phases, each with significance for the country's political system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
Laylo Begimkulova ◽  

In this article, the author, on the basis of historical primary sources, highlights the role and influence of the great emirs Shaikh Nuriddin and Shokhmalik on the political processes that took place after the death of Amir Temur and the subsequent development of events.


Author(s):  
Timur Gimadeev

The article deals with the history of celebrating the Liberation Day in Czechoslovakia organised by the state. Various aspects of the history of the holiday have been considered with the extensive use of audiovisual documents (materials from Czechoslovak newsreels and TV archives), which allowed for a detailed analysis of the propaganda representation of the holiday. As a result, it has been possible to identify the main stages of the historical evolution of the celebrations of Liberation Day, to discover the close interdependence between these stages and the country’s political development. The establishment of the holiday itself — its concept and the military parade as the main ritual — took place in the first post-war years, simultaneously with the consolidation of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Later, until the end of the 1960s, the celebrations gradually evolved along the political regime, acquiring new ritual forms (ceremonial meetings, and “guards of memory”). In 1968, at the same time as there was an attempt to rethink the entire socialist regime and the historical experience connected with it, an attempt was made to reconstruct Liberation Day. However, political “normalisation” led to the normalisation of the celebration itself, which played an important role in legitimising the Soviet presence in the country. At this stage, the role of ceremonial meetings and “guards of memory” increased, while inventions released in time for 9 May appeared and “May TV” was specially produced. The fall of the Communist regime in 1989 led to the fall of the concept of Liberation Day on 9 May, resulting in changes of the title, date and paradigm of the holiday, which became Victory Day and has been since celebrated on 8 May.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
abdul muiz amir

This study aims to find a power relation as a discourse played by the clerics as the Prophet's heir in the contestation of political event in the (the elections) of 2019 in Indonesia. The method used is qualitative based on the critical teory paradigm. Data gathered through literary studies were later analyzed based on Michel Foucault's genealogy-structuralism based on historical archival data. The findings show that, (1) The involvement of scholars in the Pemilu-Pilpres 2019 was triggered by a religious issue that has been through online social media against the anti-Islamic political system, pro communism and liberalism. Consequently create two strongholds from the scholars, namely the pro stronghold of the issue pioneered by the GNPF-Ulama, and the fortress that dismissed the issue as part of the political intrigue pioneered by Ormas NU; (2) genealogically the role of scholars from time to time underwent transformation. At first the Ulama played his role as well as Umara, then shifted also agent of control to bring the dynamization between the issue of religion and state, to transform into motivator and mediator in the face of various issues Practical politic event, especially at Pemilu-Pilpres 2019. Discussion of the role of Ulama in the end resulted in a reduction of the role of Ulama as the heir of the prophet, from the agent Uswatun Hasanah and Rahmatan lil-' ālamīn as a people, now shifted into an agent that can trigger the division of the people.


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