scholarly journals Does Conscience Have to be Free? A Multiple Crossroads of Religious, Political, and Diplomatic Arguments: 1868-1874

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 35-44
Author(s):  
Kōichirō Matsuda
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
The Government ◽  
Religious Sects ◽  
The Individual ◽  
New Generation

This article will focus on the conundrum of building the political legitimacy while institutionalizing religious freedom which the newly established goisshin 御一新 government confronted. Liberation of "evil sects", which not only meant Christianity but also other religious sects such as fujufuse-ha of Nichiren school, was an issue which the Meiji state wanted to dodge. Western states demanded the lifting of the ban on Christianity but Japanese political leaders were vigilant against the idea. Reluctantly the Meiji state lifted the ban on Christianity in 1873 but they had started the institutionalization of Shinto as the state religion in advance. The government officials viewed that Christian faith and churches in Western countries were devised to prevent public mind from dissolution. They strived to establish an alternative version of religious authority in Japan instead of introducing the principle of conscientious freedom. However, on the other hand, a new generation of intellectuals raised the protection of the individual right of religious freedom as an urgent issue. I will analyze the diplomatic negotiations between the Western countries and the Meiji government officials, reports on the Western religious and educational systems in the Iwakura Mission records, voices of Buddhist and Shinto groups, and publications by leading intellectuals such as Nakamura Masao and Katō Hiroyuki so as to build a picture of how the concept of conscientious liberty was treated in such entangled contexts.

scholarly journals Indices of Bad Governance by African Political Leaders: The Case Study of Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1506-1514
Author(s):  
Blaise Ngambinzoni Kombeto ◽  
Romain Bakola Dzango ◽  
Modeste Ndaba Modeawi ◽  
Gédéon Bongo Ngiala ◽  
Muhammad Ridwan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The People ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

Marcel SONY LabouTansi, the author of the novel "The Shameful State", denounces the dictatorial system often practiced by most African leaders in the management of the "res publica". He paints the barbarity of man in relation to his fellow man. It also presents the duality between the traditional society characterized by democracy, peace ... and the modern society based on dictatorship in which the government behaves as a state, as absolute master, and the governed in the eternal "- mute", "voiceless". It invites the recipients to renounce to the bad principle in order to establish democracy, a system that respects the individual freedom of the people, that of human rights, of professional promotion for the harmonious development of a sovereign and democratic State. The novel "The Shameful State" unfolds the spiral of the unpleasant reign of a megalomaniacal, criminal and lustful president, Colonel Martillimi Lopez, who "shamefully" manages power and ends with the crying and gnashing of his constituents' teeth. After having committed: pedophilia, adultery, assassination of opponents, he was deposed by his relatives who created an insurrection and was forced to hand over power to civilians to return to his native village.

scholarly journals Supporting Individual and Society as One of the Principles of Citizenship Rights in Islamic Republic of Iran

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Mohammad Saeed Shafiei ◽  
Meysam Nematollahi
Keyword(s):  
Political Rights ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
The Social ◽  
Islamic Republic Of Iran ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
International Conventions

Citizenship rights is an obvious issue and one must defend the rights of citizens; but at the same time, we must consider the social realities of a society. When one speaks of the rights of citizens in a society, it does not mean to abide it and this right must be respected especially by government officials. To achieve this objective, the emphasis on understanding, implementation, and observance of citizenship rights should become as a culture and the government should do its supportive measures and efforts fairly and accurately so that social anomalies that are rooted in the lack of abiding citizenship rights, do not spread in the society. Therefore, it should be said that citizens, society, and the government are the three vertices if citizenship rights triangle, as the existence of all vertices is necessary. In this article, we discuss the concepts of citizenship rights and evaluate and assess the supporting principles of the individual and society which are considered as the government’s duties. The reason for studying this issue is to find out why to support individual and society rights? Is this support a citizenship right? The aim of this study is to review citizenship rights including socio-political rights, economic rights and social welfare, judicial and cultural rights as well as supporting principles of the individual and society. To do this study, articles, and various books were studied and fundamentals of supporting the individual and society were developed and extracted. This review showed that supporting individual and community are including citizenship rights, and has been emphasized in all laws and international conventions.

scholarly journals Noises in communication: “double bind” during the epidemic of COVID-19 in Serbia

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-608
Author(s):  
Mladen Stajic ◽  
Bojan Zikic ◽  
Marko Pisev
Keyword(s):  
Public Perception ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Double Bind ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Restrictive Measures

In this paper, through the application of the concept of double bind, formulated by the British anthropologist Gregory Bateson and his associates, the communicative contradiction of messages and instructions related to behavior in circumstances of epidemiological danger, announced by the government officials, doctors and the Crisis Staff during the corona virus epidemic in Serbia will be considered, as well as the consequences of such communication dissonance on the public perception of preventive and restrictive measures. The concept of double bind, which implies communication during which an individual or group from the position of authority continuously receives two or more conflicting messages that are mutually exclusive, without the possibility of feedback and resolving contradictions, is applicable to any type of cultural communication where it is important, although difficult, to correctly distinguish the obtained information. During the COVID-19 epidemic in Serbia, public messages concerning the degree of danger posed by the virus, contagion and mortality, vulnerable groups, the possibility of acquiring collective immunity, effective prevention measures, etc., were often accompanied by contradictory statements from policy makers or their actions, behavior and non-verbal communication that were contrary to what was verbally communicated and recommended. Since the communication was mostly oneway during the epidemic, because information was announced from the position of authority, through the media and at press conferences that were suspended for a certain period, without the possibility of clarifying the dilemmas, the collective dissatisfaction of recipients caused by misunderstandings and contradictions often manifested itself through humor, satire, refusal of obedience, protests, etc. This paper will consider the way in which double bind can represent a form of control and a shift of responsibility not only at the individual or family level, but also at the level of the society as a whole.

scholarly journals Education Rights for Stateless Bidoon Children in Kuwait: The Voice of Government Officials

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Abdullah Mansoor
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Illegal Immigrants ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
Limited Government ◽  
Central Agency ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Stateless Person

According to the United Nations, a stateless person is someone who has no legal identity in any nation whatsoever. In Kuwait, there are almost 110,000 stateless people who are known as Bidoon, which literally means “without”. Since 1991 Bidoon children have been shut out of the public school system as they are considered illegal immigrants. The only point of contact for legal interaction between the government of Kuwait and the Bidoon is the Central Agency for Remedying Illegal Immigrants’ Status. This complex bureaucracy has two conflicting responsibilities: (1) to investigate claims of citizenship by the Bidoon; and (2) to provide limited government services, including financial support to attend private schools. This research seeks to better understand the government’s position regarding Bidoon education, and present the individual voices and beliefs behind the government policies. Seven government officials were interviewed, including the head of the Central Agency. Their responses, arranged here around specific themes of visibility/invisibility, inclusion/exclusion, and denial/access, suggest some possible explanations for the government’s seeming lack of ability to resolve a situation that has continued for decades. By exploring the multitude of opinions that are impacting government policy, the present study aims to enhance understanding of the political and procedural roadblocks that are preventing the Kuwaiti government from resolving problems around educational access, legal status, and the rights of Bidoon children.

Engaged Study of the Qur'an: Gauging its Effect on the Life of the Individual and of Society

2003 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-207
Author(s):  
Ruqayya Ṭā Hā Jābir al-cUlwānī
Keyword(s):  
Social Conflict ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Social Advancement ◽  
Freedom Of Thought ◽  
The Individual

An engaged and perceptive contemplation of the Qur'an forms one of the most important bases for the cultural and social advancement of Muslims in all walks of life, and the absence of such study is one of the reasons behind the general cultural attenuation in the modern world. Reflection is one of the means of the construction and formation of a civilised society. The applied faculty of intellect creates an environment which allows reflective and considered thought to be developed from a functional perspective for the general well-being of society. Meanwhile the effective neglect of such study leads to the proliferation of superstition, dissent and social conflict. Indeed it can even be argued that it diminishes the significance of the laws and conventions which serve as the backbone of society. This paper reveals a number of factors which can impede the achievement of such an engaged study of the text: thus, for instance, thoughtless obedience to societal conventions; shortcomings in educational systems and syllabi; and a failure to encompass the significance of the Arabic language. Furthermore this paper presents several effective suggestions for nurturing students' potential, encouraging an environment which allows freedom of thought, and its refinement.

The Emancipation of Europe's Muslims

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Laurence
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
Muslim Immigrants ◽  
European Democracy ◽  
The Government ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
Integration Problems ◽  
Muslim Minorities

This book traces how governments across Western Europe have responded to the growing presence of Muslim immigrants in their countries over the past fifty years. Drawing on hundreds of in-depth interviews with government officials and religious leaders in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Morocco, and Turkey, the book challenges the widespread notion that Europe's Muslim minorities represent a threat to liberal democracy. The book documents how European governments in the 1970s and 1980s excluded Islam from domestic institutions, instead inviting foreign powers like Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Turkey to oversee the practice of Islam among immigrants in European host societies. But since the 1990s, amid rising integration problems and fears about terrorism, governments have aggressively stepped up efforts to reach out to their Muslim communities and incorporate them into the institutional, political, and cultural fabrics of European democracy. The book places these efforts—particularly the government-led creation of Islamic councils—within a broader theoretical context and gleans insights from government interactions with groups such as trade unions and Jewish communities at previous critical junctures in European state-building. By examining how state–mosque relations in Europe are linked to the ongoing struggle for religious and political authority in the Muslim-majority world, the book sheds light on the geopolitical implications of a religious minority's transition from outsiders to citizens. This book offers a much-needed reassessment that foresees the continuing integration of Muslims into European civil society and politics in the coming decades.

Making It Count

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arunabh Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Great Leap Forward ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Statistics ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Great Leap Forward

In 1949, at the end of a long period of wars, one of the biggest challenges facing leaders of the new People's Republic of China was how much they did not know. The government of one of the world's largest nations was committed to fundamentally reengineering its society and economy via socialist planning while having almost no reliable statistical data about their own country. This book is the history of efforts to resolve this “crisis in counting.” The book explores the choices made by political leaders, statisticians, academics, statistical workers, and even literary figures in attempts to know the nation through numbers. It shows that early reliance on Soviet-inspired methods of exhaustive enumeration became increasingly untenable in China by the mid-1950s. Unprecedented and unexpected exchanges with Indian statisticians followed, as the Chinese sought to learn about the then-exciting new technology of random sampling. These developments were overtaken by the tumult of the Great Leap Forward (1958–1961), when probabilistic and exhaustive methods were rejected and statistics was refashioned into an ethnographic enterprise. By acknowledging Soviet and Indian influences, the book not only revises existing models of Cold War science but also globalizes wider developments in the history of statistics and data. Anchored in debates about statistics and its relationship to state building, the book offers fresh perspectives on China's transition to socialism.

How to Tell the Truth without Outraging the Press?

MedienJournal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Li Xiguang
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Stories ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Chinese News Media

The commercialization of meclia in China has cultivated a new journalism business model characterized with scandalization, sensationalization, exaggeration, oversimplification, highly opinionated news stories, one-sidedly reporting, fabrication and hate reporting, which have clone more harm than good to the public affairs. Today the Chinese journalists are more prey to the manipu/ation of the emotions of the audiences than being a faithful messenger for the public. Une/er such a media environment, in case of news events, particularly, during crisis, it is not the media being scared by the government. but the media itself is scaring the government into silence. The Chinese news media have grown so negative and so cynica/ that it has produced growing popular clistrust of the government and the government officials. Entering a freer but fearful commercially mediated society, the Chinese government is totally tmprepared in engaging the Chinese press effectively and has lost its ability for setting public agenda and shaping public opinions. 

Development and destruction of the liberal prison system in Spain: a general framework for studying the topic

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 424
Author(s):  
Luis Gargallo Vaamonde
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Prison System ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Second Republic ◽  
Social Harmony ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

During the Restoration and the Second Republic, up until the outbreak of the Civil War, the prison system that was developed in Spain had a markedly liberal character. This system had begun to acquire robustness and institutional credibility from the first dec- ade of the 20th Century onwards, reaching a peak in the early years of the government of the Second Republic. This process resulted in the establishment of a penitentiary sys- tem based on the widespread and predominant values of liberalism. That liberal belief system espoused the defence of social harmony, property and the individual, and penal practices were constructed on the basis of those principles. Subsequently, the Civil War and the accompanying militarist culture altered the prison system, transforming it into an instrument at the service of the conflict, thereby wiping out the liberal agenda that had been nurtured since the mid-19th Century.

THE VALUE OF LOVE IN THE SYSTEM OF FORMATION OF THE PROFESSIONAL MATURITY OF THE EDUCATOR

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (10(79)) ◽  
pp. 12-18
Author(s):  
G. Bubyreva
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
The State ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

The existing legislation determines the education as "an integral and focused process of teaching and upbringing, which represents a socially important value and shall be implemented so as to meet the interests of the individual, the family, the society and the state". However, even in this part, the meaning of the notion ‘socially significant benefit is not specified and allows for a wide range of interpretation [2]. Yet the more inconcrete is the answer to the question – "who and how should determine the interests of the individual, the family and even the state?" The national doctrine of education in the Russian Federation, which determined the goals of teaching and upbringing, the ways to attain them by means of the state policy regulating the field of education, the target achievements of the development of the educational system for the period up to 2025, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 4, 2000 #751, was abrogated by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 29, 2014 #245 [7]. The new doctrine has not been developed so far. The RAE Academician A.B. Khutorsky believes that the absence of the national doctrine of education presents a threat to national security and a violation of the right of citizens to quality education. Accordingly, the teacher has to solve the problem of achieving the harmony of interests of the individual, the family, the society and the government on their own, which, however, judging by the officially published results, is the task that exceeds the abilities of the participants of the educational process.  The particular concern about the results of the patriotic upbringing served as a basis for the legislative initiative of the RF President V. V. Putin, who introduced the project of an amendment to the Law of RF "About Education of the Russian Federation" to the State Duma in 2020, regarding the quality of patriotic upbringing [3]. Patriotism, considered by the President of RF V. V. Putin as the only possible idea to unite the nation is "THE FEELING OF LOVE OF THE MOTHERLAND" and the readiness for every sacrifice and heroic deed for the sake of the interests of your Motherland. However, the practicing educators experience shortfalls in efficient methodologies of patriotic upbringing, which should let them bring up citizens, loving their Motherland more than themselves. The article is dedicated to solution to this problem based on the Value-sense paradigm of upbringing educational dynasty of the Kurbatovs [15].

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