scholarly journals Ethno-Religious Conflicts and the Restructuring of Nigeria Debate: Issues, Trends and Perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Ifeanyi Ede ◽  
Ozioma Faith Chiaghanam
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Federal System ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Religious Conflicts ◽  
Political Decisions

One of the burning national issues in Nigeria in recent times is the issue of political restructuring. Nigeria’s ethnic and religious diversities have always influenced political decisions since the amalgamation in 1914. Several administrations, both colonial and post-independence, have fashioned out different political structures for the country. Currently, Nigeria operates a unique federal system in which the federal government wields enormous powers while the federating units are mere subordinates. In recent times, there has been clamour from different quarters for the political restructuring of the country. This paper examined the restructuring debate in the light of the country’s ethnic and religious diversities which have given rise to ethno-religious conflicts which have led to loss of lives and destruction of property in recent times. Political restructuring in the context of this study is the decentralization of political power in the country to ensure political balance among various ethnic and religious groups. Findings show that the fundamental issues that gave rise to the call for restructuring include ethnic diversity, religious pluralism and marginalization in the political equation of the country. These have fuelled ethno-religious conflicts which have ravaged most parts of the country. The paper recommends among others a form of political structure in which the federating units should be given the powers to manage their affairs in line with their ethnic and religious affiliations. It is believed that this will reduce the level of ethno-religious conflicts in the country.

scholarly journals THE FUNCTION OF INFORMAL GUANXI CIRCLE IN ANCIENT CHINA POLITICAL STRUCTURE

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 80-87
Author(s):  
Ruihui Han
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ancient China ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Previous Researcher ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Common

Guanxi circle play a critical role in ancient China politics. Based on guanxi, two kinds of guanxi groups formed: formal guanxi circle and informal guanxi circle. The former refers to the group centered the emperor; the latter refers to the groups with the powerful and charismatic figures as the core, except for the emperor. In order to consolidate the political power, the emperors in different periods would try to prevent the informal guanxi circle in political structure. Besides, various scriptures also denounce the informal guanxi circle, deeming such circle as harmful. The judgement of informal guanxi circle appeals to research, as there is no previous researcher has address such problems. This study set out to examine whether the informal guanxi circle is harmful to the whole political structure. Results show that the informal guanxi circle, in the antecedent of satisfactory communication, can be extremely meaningful to the whole political structure. This study implies that the fact of informal guanxi circle is on the contrary of the common sense derived from the scriptures and the superficial ancient political activities, such as the emperor’s order to prevent the informal guanxi circle. The findings can contribute a better understanding of the ancient informal guanxi circle in ancient political structure in China.

Revolutionary Politics and Theater of Semiotics

2016 ◽  
pp. 349-359
Author(s):  
Esther Nyam
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
Quality Education ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Conflicts ◽  
Revolutionary Politics ◽  
Present Trend ◽  
Social Amenities ◽  
Election Violence

In recent times, statistics have shown that the northern parts of Nigeria are poorer today than they were in the 1970s. Federal government of Nigeria is seen to be lacking in providing adequate security, quality education, good health facilities, agriculture, unemployment, infrastructure, social amenities and the like. Frustrated youths find themselves engaged in deadly politics, ethno-religious conflicts, political thuggery which has grown into political unrest and insurgency to be precise. The situation seems to be beyond repairs as seen in the present trend of the political campaigns, ethno-religious conflicts which is characterized by bombings, kidnapping, genocidal attacks, loss of lives and poverty, assassinations, hired killers, political blackmail, pre- and post-election violence. The thrust of this paper is to outline the recurring challenges and possible solutions of these revolutionary violent politics using varying semiotics with a view to finding a lasting solution for Nigeria's fragile democracy to progress to higher heights.

Citizenship, Migration, and Confessional Democracy in Lebanon

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thibaut Jaulin
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Political Decisions ◽  
Citizenship Regime ◽  
The Way

No major citizenship reform has been adopted in Lebanon since the creation of the Lebanese citizenship in 1924. Moreover, access to citizenship for foreign residents does not depend on established administrative rules and processes, but instead on ad hoc political decisions. The Lebanese citizenship regime is thus characterized by immobilism and discretion. This paper looks at the relationship between citizenship regime and confessional democracy, defined as a system of power sharing between different religious groups. It argues that confessional democracy hinders citizenship reform and paves the way to arbitrary naturalization practices, and that, in turn, the citizenship regime contributes to the resilience of the political system. In other words, the citizenship regime and the political system are mutually reinforcing.

scholarly journals POLITIK PEMBERLAKUAN SYARI`AT ISLAM DI ACEH DAN KELANTAN (1993-2014)

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-70
Author(s):  
Khamami Zada
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Family Law ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Main Factor

The application of Islamic rules in Aceh and Kelantan is also related to the political power. There is a significant difference about political treatment on the application of Islamic law in Aceh and Kelantan. In Aceh, the central government (Indonesia) thinks that it is needed to apply jinâyah law in Aceh as a strategy to solve conflicts. This political rule has been applied in the republic of Indonesia since the leadership of Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Soekarno Putri to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The main factor that influences the Indonesian political government rule is the central conflict with the Acehnese in the leadership of Soeharto presidential to the Helsinski Agreement 2005. Some vertical conflicts happened between the central government and the Acehnese were solved by giving special autonomy in applying the Islamic rules. Not only family law and economic law which are given autonomy to be applied in Aceh, but also the autonomy to apply jinâyah Law. In Kelantan, Federal government (Malaysia) did not have political wish to apply Jinayah Law in Kelantan since the leadership of Mahathir Muhammad, Abdullah Badawi to Najib Razak. Moreover the federal government made the issue of the application of jinâyah law as the political commodity to get the political sympathy from the people, who are the partner of non Moslem voters in the national ranks and some Moslem voters who are not affiliated with PAS. This political needs factor is kept by the Federal Government to respond the Kelantan’s government wish to apply Islamic rules.Copyright (c) 2015 by Al-Ihkam. All right reserved DOI : 10.19105/al-ihkam.v10i1.588 

scholarly journals Federalism in Pakistan: A Conflict Management Tool to Manage Ethnic Diversities (2002-2012)

2020 ◽  
Vol V (III) ◽  
pp. 96-104
Author(s):  
Muhammad Imran ◽  
Mughees Ahmad ◽  
Zab Un Nisa
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Management ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Dimensional System ◽  
Federal System ◽  
Federal States

Federations can be different at the level of centralism and in practices of governance. Due to such idiosyncratic features, states can be considered as centralized on the basis of the powerful federal government at the centre or decentralized because of the implementation of the theory of devolution of power and majoritarian federations due to the influential position of majority ethnic groups of the society. Certain federal states can apply a multi-dimensional system of governance, power and authority, while some other states can ascent more centralized and powerful governance. Some scholars alleged that the capability of the Federal state to meet the issue of ethnic diversity diverges transversely to its commitments and different structures. The aforementioned is further claimed that “a formal federal system functions in practice as a unitary system; the system's capacity is not according to the needs to accommodate ethnic and national cleavages” (Kohli, 2004). On the basis of such suggestions, this research paper endeavors to examine federalism as a tool to manage ethnic diversities in Pakistan. This paper argues that a more effective paradigm of the power sharing mechanism can be fruitful to enable federalism in Pakistan to manage ethnic diversities more exclusively.

scholarly journals Are knowledgeable voters better voters?

2022 ◽  
pp. 1470594X2110650
Author(s):  
Michael Hannon
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Intellectual Virtue ◽  
The Other ◽  
Epistemic Virtue ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Thinking ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Informed Citizenry ◽  
The One ◽  
Political Decisions

It is widely believed that democracies require knowledgeable citizens to function well. But the most politically knowledgeable individuals tend to be the most partisan and the strength of partisan identity tends to corrupt political thinking. This creates a conundrum. On the one hand, an informed citizenry is allegedly necessary for a democracy to flourish. On the other hand, the most knowledgeable and passionate voters are also the most likely to think in corrupted, biased ways. What to do? This paper examines this tension and draws out several lessons. First, it is not obvious that more knowledgeable voters will make better political decisions. Second, attempts to remedy voter ignorance are problematic because partisans tend to become more polarized when they acquire more information. Third, solutions to citizen incompetence must focus on the intellectual virtue of objectivity. Fourth, some forms of epistocracy are troubling, in part, because they would increase the political power of the most dogmatic and biased individuals. Fifth, a highly restrictive form of epistocracy may escape the problem of political dogmatism, but epistocrats may face a steeper tradeoff between inclusivity and epistemic virtue than they would like.

Politics, Personalities, and the Federal Trade Commission, I

1934 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1016-1029 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Pendleton Herring
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Federal Trade Commission ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Special Interests ◽  
Administrative Procedure ◽  
Statutory Authority ◽  
Administrative Experience

The Federal Trade Commission has been the object of more scholarly examination and critical discussion than any other administrative commission in the federal government. The statutory authority, the internal organization, and the administrative procedure of the Commission have all been studied. More specialized researches have thrown light on its regulation of competitive practices and its relations with the courts. Our purpose here is to view the Commission in its relations with business and with Congress and the President, in order to achieve some understanding of the political and economic factors that have influenced its activities.Underlying both sets of relationships are the conflicts of economic groups and special interests which attempt to convert their force into political power when they touch the legislator or the President. The attempt here will be to explore some of these rather intangible aspects of the Commission's administrative experience.

Teaching the Constitution

2019 ◽  
pp. 158-172
Author(s):  
Michael J. C. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Political Decisions

The Constitution of the United States is the essential document of the American Republic. It not only sets the legal perimeters under which the federal government operates, but it also creates a balance in the political relations between the federal government and the individual states. The Bill of Rights, the initial 10 amendments to the document, ratified in 1791, provide both civil rights, as well as the guarantee of criminal procedures for individual citizens. Therefore, its careful study is critical to produce an educated citizenry capable of making knowledgeable political decisions. This chapter puts forward a mode of study for the document at the heart of our republic.

Defining the Nature and Limits of Presidential Powers in the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan: A Politically Contentious Matter for the New Nation

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A W Deng
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Power ◽  
South Sudan ◽  
The Political ◽  
Federal System ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
New Nation ◽  
Democratic Constitution

AbstractThis article reflects on the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan and the political tumult in which it has landed the country. In particular, it looks at the contentious provisions of article 101(r) and (s) of the constitution, which give the president powers to remove an elected state governor and appoint a new governor, upon the occurrence of a crisis whose nature is undefined in the constitution and remains intellectually inconceivable. The article argues that these provisions concentrate political power in the hands of president, to the extent that they undermine the development and maintenance of democracy and the rule of law in the country. In conclusion, it argues for the adoption of a democratic constitution and a federal system of government as the solution to the concentration of political power in Juba.

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