Sympathy for the Rich

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Mayville
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The Political ◽  
Scottish Enlightenment ◽  
John Adams ◽  
Final Volume ◽  
The Rich

This chapter turns to the question of how, precisely, John Adams understood wealth to translate into political influence. It shows that Adams was a careful student of the Scottish Enlightenment. More than any other Founding Era American, he engaged with the long tradition of thought that emphasized the psychological bases of social and political power. The fruit of his efforts was the series of essays entitled Discourses on Davila, a work that Adams would describe as the fourth and final volume of his Defence. The chapter draws from Discourses on Davila and other writings an understanding of oligarchic power that traces the political power of wealth not to the capacity of the rich to buy influence but instead to public admiration and sympathy for the rich.

John Adams and the Fear of American Oligarchy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Mayville
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
The Political ◽  
American Founding ◽  
Founding Father ◽  
John Adams ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The One ◽  
The Way

Long before “the one percent” became a protest slogan, American founding father John Adams feared the power of a class he called simply “the few”—the wellborn, the beautiful, and especially the rich. This book presents the first extended exploration of Adams' preoccupation with a problem that has a renewed urgency today: the way in which inequality threatens to corrode democracy and empower a small elite. By revisiting Adams' political writings, the book draws out the statesman's fears about the danger of oligarchy in America and his unique understanding of the political power of wealth—a surprising and largely forgotten theory that promises to illuminate today's debates about inequality and its political consequences. Adams believed that wealth is politically powerful in modern societies not merely because money buys influence, but also because citizens admire and even sympathize with the rich. He thought wealth is powerful in the same way that beauty is powerful—it distinguishes its possessor and prompts reactions of approval and veneration. Citizens vote for—and with—the rich not because, as is often said, they hope to be rich one day, but because they esteem the rich and submit to their wishes. This book explores Adams' theory of wealth and power in the context of his broader concern about social and economic inequality, and also examines his ideas about how oligarchy might be countered. The book also has important lessons for today's world of increasing inequality.

Introduction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Mayville
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
John Adams ◽  
American Enlightenment

This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of events surrounding John Adams' decision to write the Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, which would eventually be hailed as “the finest fruit of the American enlightenment.” It then sets out the book's purpose, which is to present Adams as a student and critic of the political power of elites. It suggests that Adams has much to teach us about teach us about wealth and power in our own times. Specifically, he can help us as we attempt to comprehend and respond to one of today's most urgent problems: the outsized influence of wealth in our politics.

State Violence and Buddhist Monks

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Jerryson
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
State Violence ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Political Legitimation

In the twenty-first century, nation-states such as Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka rely on Buddhist monks for political legitimation. Some of these Buddhist-influenced governments are dictatorial and/or autocratic. While this state-sangha relationship has been well researched on the ways in which these governments exert overt and subtle Buddhist influences, very little work has been on the political power of the Buddhist monks in these countries. This chapter explores the ways in which Buddhist-influenced governments provide monks with potent political influence to support to destabilize autocratic governments. Buddhist scriptures emphasize the political influence of Buddhist monks, but they provide very little space for lay political power. The lack of a lay model for political influence does not support the advent of democracies. Rather, this doctrinal background provides conditions for autocratic governments and their state violence in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Inefficient Redistribution

2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daron Acemoglu ◽  
James A. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The Political ◽  
Redistributive Policies ◽  
Factors Of Production ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
Redistribute Income

There are many well-developed theories that explain why governments redistribute income, but very few can explain why this often is done in a socially inefficient form. In the theory we develop, compared to efficient methods, inefficient redistribution makes it more attractive to stay in or enter a group that receives subsidies. When political institutions cannot credibly commit to future policy, and when the political influence of a group depends on its size, inefficient redistribution is a tool to sustain political power. Our model may account for the choice of inefficient redistributive policies in agriculture, trade, and the labor market. It also implies that when factors of production are less specific to a sector, inefficient redistribution may be more prevalent.

The New Terrain of International Law

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Alter
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The Political ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Delegation Of Authority ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law

In 1989, when the Cold War ended, there were six permanent international courts. Today there are more than two dozen that have collectively issued over thirty-seven thousand binding legal rulings. This book charts the developments and trends in the creation and role of international courts, and explains how the delegation of authority to international judicial institutions influences global and domestic politics. The book presents an in-depth look at the scope and powers of international courts operating around the world. Focusing on dispute resolution, enforcement, administrative review, and constitutional review, the book argues that international courts alter politics by providing legal, symbolic, and leverage resources that shift the political balance in favor of domestic and international actors who prefer policies more consistent with international law objectives. International courts name violations of the law and perhaps specify remedies. The book explains how this limited power—the power to speak the law—translates into political influence, and it considers eighteen case studies, showing how international courts change state behavior. The case studies, spanning issue areas and regions of the world, collectively elucidate the political factors that often intervene to limit whether or not international courts are invoked and whether international judges dare to demand significant changes in state practices.

The Gallic Singularity and the Royal Mistress

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-66
Author(s):  
Christine Adams
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Marie Antoinette ◽  
Louis Xvi ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Political Realm

The relationship of the French king and royal mistress, complementary but unequal, embodied the Gallic singularity; the royal mistress exercised a civilizing manner and the soft power of women on the king’s behalf. However, both her contemporaries and nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historians were uncomfortable with the mistress’s political power. Furthermore, paradoxical attitudes about French womanhood have led to analyses of her role that are often contradictory. Royal mistresses have simultaneously been celebrated for their civilizing effect in the realm of culture, chided for their frivolous expenditures on clothing and jewelry, and excoriated for their dangerous meddling in politics. Their increasing visibility in the political realm by the eighteenth century led many to blame Louis XV’s mistresses—along with Queen Marie-Antoinette, who exercised a similar influence over her husband, Louis XVI—for the degradation and eventual fall of the monarchy. This article reexamines the historiography of the royal mistress.

Information Component of Disintegration Processes in Spain and Great Britain: the Comparative Aspects

2019 ◽  
pp. 142-154
Author(s):  
Vasyl Karpo ◽  
Nataliia Nechaieva-Yuriichuk
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Practical Interest ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
World Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Propaganda ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The World ◽  
Ancient Times

From ancient times till nowadays information plays a key role in the political processes. The beginning of XXI century demonstrated the transformation of global security from military to information, social etc. aspects. The widening of pandemic demonstrated the weaknesses of contemporary authoritarian states and the power of human-oriented states. During the World War I the theoretical and practical interest toward political manipulation and political propaganda grew definitely. After 1918 the situation developed very fast and political propaganda became the part of political influence. XX century entered into the political history as the millennium of propaganda. The collapse of the USSR and socialist system brought power to new political actors. The global architecture of the world has changed. Former Soviet republic got independence and tried to separate from Russia. And Ukraine was between them. The Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine was the start point for a number of processes in world politics. But the most important was the fact that the role and the place of information as the challenge to world security was reevaluated. The further annexation of Crimea, the attempt to legitimize it by the comparing with the referendums in Scotland and Catalonia demonstrated the willingness of Russian Federation to keep its domination in the world. The main difference between the referendums in Scotland and in Catalonia was the way of Russian interference. In 2014 (Scotland) tried to delegitimised the results of Scottish referendum because they were unacceptable for it. But in 2017 we witness the huge interference of Russian powers in Spain internal affairs, first of all in spreading the independence moods in Catalonia. The main conclusion is that the world has to learn some lessons from Scottish and Catalonia cases and to be ready to new challenges in world politics in a format of information threats.

John Adams, Klinghoffer and The Transmigration of Souls: Musical Responses to Terrorism

Public Voices ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
John Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Modern World ◽  
The Political ◽  
John Adams ◽  
Political Dialogue ◽  
The Way

This paper explores the way in which the music of John Adams responds to terrorism and looks at some of the controversies surrounding his work. It represents a reflection on how the musical and the political can interact in the modern world, engaging his work on the level of political dialogue.

Introduction National Liberalisms in Illiberal States

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark I. Vail
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Economic Reform ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Financial Policies ◽  
Neoliberal Reform ◽  
Theoretical Approaches

This chapter situates the book in theoretical and empirical contexts. It provides a brief overview of competing theoretical approaches to explaining trajectories of economic reform in continental Europe in the era of austerity and transnational neoliberalism since the early 1990s. Since standard analyses of “neoliberal” reform fail to capture these dynamics of economic reform in continental Europe, as do conventional institutionalist and interest-based accounts, it argues for an approach that emphasizes the political power of ideas and highlights the influence of national liberal traditions—French “statist liberalism,” German “corporate liberalism,” and Italian “clientelist liberalism.” It provides a brief overview of the remainder of the book, which uses a study of national liberal traditions to explain trajectories of reform in fiscal, labor-market, and financial policies in France, Germany, and Italy, three countries that have rejected neoliberal approaches to reform in a neoliberal age.

China's Western Horizon

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Markey
Keyword(s):  
Political Influence ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Regional Politics ◽  
National Wealth ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Infrastructure Investments

This book explains how China’s new foreign policies like the vaunted “Belt and Road” Initiative are being shaped by local and regional politics outside China and assesses the political implications of these developments for Eurasia and the United States. It depicts the ways that President Xi Jinping’s China is zealously transforming its national wealth and economic power into tools of global political influence and details these developments in South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Drawing from extensive interviews, travels, and historical research, it describes how perceptions of China vary widely within states like Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Iran. Eurasia’s powerful and privileged groups often expect to profit from their connections to China, while others fear commercial and political losses. Similarly, statesmen across Eurasia are scrambling to harness China’s energy purchases, arms sales, and infrastructure investments as a means to outdo their strategic competitors, like India and Saudi Arabia, while negotiating relations with Russia and America. The book finds that, on balance, China’s deepening involvement will play to the advantage of regional strongmen and exacerbate the political tensions within and among Eurasian states. To make the most of America’s limited influence along China’s western horizon (and elsewhere), it argues that US policymakers should pursue a selective and localized strategy to serve America’s aims in Eurasia and to better compete with China over the long run.

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