Is the Political Class Corrupt?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Formisano
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Political Class ◽  
The Public

Is the political class corrupt or decent and just “well dressed”? Among the public, the perception of corruption persists.

Democrazy—Dem Go Craze, O: Monitoring the 1999 Nigerian Elections

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Darren Kew
Keyword(s):  
Transition Program ◽  
The Political ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Soccer Match ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Military

In many respects, the least important part of the 1999 elections were the elections themselves. From the beginning of General Abdusalam Abubakar’s transition program in mid-1998, most Nigerians who were not part of the wealthy “political class” of elites—which is to say, most Nigerians— adopted their usual politically savvy perspective of siddon look (sit and look). They waited with cautious optimism to see what sort of new arrangement the military would allow the civilian politicians to struggle over, and what in turn the civilians would offer the public. No one had any illusions that anything but high-stakes bargaining within the military and the political class would determine the structures of power in the civilian government. Elections would influence this process to the extent that the crowd influences a soccer match.

Democrazy—Dem Go Craze, O: Monitoring the 1999 Nigerian Elections

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Darren Kew
Keyword(s):  
Transition Program ◽  
The Political ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Soccer Match ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Military

In many respects, the least important part of the 1999 elections were the elections themselves. From the beginning of General Abdusalam Abubakar’s transition program in mid-1998, most Nigerians who were not part of the wealthy “political class” of elites—which is to say, most Nigerians— adopted their usual politically savvy perspective of siddon look (sit and look). They waited with cautious optimism to see what sort of new arrangement the military would allow the civilian politicians to struggle over, and what in turn the civilians would offer the public. No one had any illusions that anything but high-stakes bargaining within the military and the political class would determine the structures of power in the civilian government. Elections would influence this process to the extent that the crowd influences a soccer match.

scholarly journals Social Media as Valuable Anti-Corruption Assets in the Public Sphere in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
B. Babasanya ◽  
L. Ganiyu ◽  
U. F. Yahaya ◽  
O. E. Olagunju ◽  
S. O. Olafemi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Class ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Individual

The issue of corruption in Nigeria has assumed a monumental dimension in such a way that it has become a household song and practice. Thus, adopting a rhetoric definition may not be appropriate instead a succinct description will suffice. The dimension of corruption is monumental because it started from pre-independence in the First republic with the first major political figure found culpable and investigated in 1944 and reach its peak recently with the evolvement of ‘godfatherism’ in the political landscape of the country. Therefore, corruption in Nigeria is more or less a household name. Using Social Responsibility Media Theory as a guide, this paper undertakes an examination of the right of the media to inform the public, serve the political system by making information, discussion and consideration of public affairs generally accessible, and to protect the rights of the individual by acting as watchdog over the governments. This discourse analysis is backed up with the presentation of documented materials on tracking corruption through the use of social media. Since the use of mainstream media only is disadvantageous owing to its demand-driven nature, social media stands as a veritable and result-orientated asset in tracking corruption across the public sphere. This paper found that complimented with mainstream media, social media and civic journalism have exposed corrupt tendencies of contractors and public office holders including the political class in the provision and handling of infrastructural development projects thereby make public officials accountable and create an open access to good governance.

scholarly journals Television and politcs: Spain and France

Comunicar ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (25) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomás Pedroso-Herrera
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Important Conclusion ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Economic Profit ◽  
Medios De Comunicacion

The television has turned into the center of the reflections of the contemporary societies due to its presence and power. The political class from different countries has elaborated a series of documents that offer solutions to the problems raised by the use of the television. The Council of Europe in 1986 suggested in the document «The future of public service broadcasting» that the television had to serve for the democratic and cultural development of the Europeans. The French Senate elaborated another document («L'entrée dans the société of l'information») in 1996 in which it was warned that the television did not have to be ruled only by the market and that it had to be controlled for the state. The Spanish government entrusted a report («Informe para la reforma de los medios de comunicación de titularidad del estado») to several intellectual for the restructuring of the public audio-visual sector. The most important conclusion consists of the fact that the purpose of this sector is the public service that must not be measured up exclusively for the economic profit. La televisión se ha convertido en el gran referente social y cultural de las sociedades contemporáneas. Idolatrada y denostada a partes iguales, ocupa gran parte del tiempo de los ciudadanos de las sociedades avanzadas. No hay clase social o cultural que se sustraiga a la seducción de las imágenes y mediatiza la vida de adultos y jóvenes en la misma medida. Pero, incluso reconociendo todas las virtudes que este avance tecnológico tiene, la televisión se ha convertido en la caja de Pandora a la que todo el mundo culpa de la mayor parte de los males que aquejan a los ciudadanos. Intelectuales, filósofos, comunicólogos, profesores, sociólogos, padres y madres reflexionan sobre el poder de la televisión. Y las conclusiones a las que arriban son bien distintas. En una nueva versión de «apocalípticos» o «integrados» hay una frontera que separa a los que resaltan lo bueno del medio (sus posibilidades de conocer el mundo en directo, sus usos en educación, su capacidad para entretener y divertir…) y los que opinan que el conocimiento superficial, la incultura y el aburrimiento se introducen en el seno de las familias por medio de este ingenio tecnológico cada día más perfeccionado. La reflexión ha llegado hasta el punto de interesar a la clase política que ha percibido que debe dar respuesta a todos los interrogantes que plantean los ciudadanos: ¿Hay manipulación informativa en todas las televisiones (públicas y privadas)? ¿Es realmente necesario que existan televisiones públicas? ¿Cómo deben ser financiadas estas televisiones públicas? ¿Es necesario regular el sector o es preferible dejarlo según las necesidades del mercado? En este sentido ha habido en Europa dos interesantes intentos por regular (o no) la televisión. Así el Senado francés a finales de 2002 emitió un documento que era al mismo tiempo reflexión y advertencia: por un lado se indagaba en el peso que las nueva cultura de la información tenía sobre el ciudadano, haciendo especial hincapié en la televisión, y por otro se concluía que era necesario un cierto control que tuviera como consecuencia una televisión de calidad. De la misma manera en 2004, el gobierno de Rodríguez Zapatero reunió lo que se vino en llamar un «consejo de sabios» para que reflexionara y apuntara soluciones sobre el fenómeno televisivo. Sobre los contenidos de ambos documentos, sobre sus consejos y sobre las soluciones apuntadas trata la presente comunicación.

Technological Illusions and Educational Resistances

2016 ◽  
pp. 428-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Villanueva-Mansilla
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Class ◽  
The Public ◽  
One Laptop Per Child ◽  
Counter Narrative ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The One

OLPC, the One Laptop Per Child initiative, was accepted by just a few countries, including Peru. The largest acquisition of computers has produced a fairly low impact in education and is now being quietly phased-out. Peru's government decision to adopt the computers, back in 2007, was not contested or questioned by the political class, the media or even teachers, with just a rather small number of specialists arguing against it. This chapters discussed the political and argumentative processes that brought OLPC into the public sphere, through the use of a specific narrative, that of hackerism, i.e., the hacker attitude towards computers, and how social and political validation resulted in adoption. An assessment of the process of framing OLPC as a hacker product and the perils of such reasoning lead to discuss the need for a counter-narrative about the role of computers in society.

Spanish Democracy and 15-M

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-42
Author(s):  
Cristina Flesher Fominaya
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Political ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Political Class ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Collective Actors ◽  
Bank Bailouts

Chapter 1, “Spanish Democracy and 15-M,” explores the political opportunities provided by the historical, cultural, and economic context in which the movement emerged. It argues that translating economic grievances into sustained mobilization and protest requires the concerted effort of collective actors, as the variance in levels of mobilization across different European countries similarly affected by the crisis/austerity shows. It shows how in Spain one of the key strategies of the 15-M movement was to contest hegemonic narratives about the inevitability of the crisis and austerity, and the necessity of passing the costs of private bank bailouts onto the public. By framing the “democratic deficit” (i.e., the corrupt and uncaring political class) as responsible for both the crisis and its effects, the movement provided a powerful impetus for mobilization against both the economic-financial crisis and the legitimation crisis of “really existing” democracy. This ability to mobilize counter-hegemonic narratives helps explain different collective responses to similar material and political contexts; in other words, it helps make sense of why effective contestation can be found in some contexts (e.g., Spain) but not in others hit equally as hard (e.g., Ireland).

scholarly journals Socio-political Turmoil in Mali: The Public Debate following the Coup d'État on 22 March 2012

2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 111-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sten Hagberg ◽  
Gabriella Körling
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Officers ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
The Public ◽  
The North ◽  
Intense Mass ◽  
Political Turmoil

During the night between 21 and 22 March 2012, a group of young military officers overthrew Mali's president, Amadou Toumani Touré. The group justified the coup by citing the inability of the regime to both deal with the crisis in the North and provide the army with the appropriate material and manpower to defend the national territory. The coup plunged Mali into violence, and caused a de facto partition of the country. The socio-political turmoil pitting different political and armed factions against each other has continued unabated and has been accompanied by intense mass media debates. In this report we focus on the Malian public debate. By looking at the political class, the international community, and the partition of the country, we analyse representations and stereotypes prevailing in this debate.

Dissatisfaction and mistrust in West European democracies

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTEI DOGAN
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Big Business ◽  
The Public ◽  
Alternative System ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
State And Society

An important proportion of citizens do not manifest confidence in many basic institutions (parliaments, parties, unions, army, public bureaucracies, big business, courts, ecclesiastic hierarchy, police) nor in the political class. Such a deficit of trust is attested by a wealth of empirical data. Nonetheless, the legitimacy of democratic regimes is not challenged: European citizens do not conceive realistically of an alternative system of government. A new counter-power is playing an increasing and crucial role in advanced pluralist democracies – that of magistrates and journalists combined. France and Italy are considered as typical cases, concerning in particular corruption at the highest level of the State and society. What types of citizens are needed in advanced democracies? Ignorant, naive, deferential, credulous, believers in myths or well informed, rationally distrustful citizens? Today, democracy is permanently under the supervision of the public, as attested by surveys conducted periodically.

scholarly journals Public Office as a Stepping-Stone? Investigating the Careers of Ministerial Advisors

2020 ◽  
pp. 147892992090699
Author(s):  
Jostein Askim ◽  
Rune Karlsen ◽  
Kristoffer Kolltveit
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
The Political ◽  
Stepping Stones ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Stepping Stone ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
Essential Aspect ◽  
Bibliographic Data ◽  
Elite Interviews

Ministerial advisors have become an essential aspect of executive branches worldwide, thus making the ministerial advisor office a potential route for young politicians aspiring to an expanding political class. The article studies which professions ministerial advisors migrate to following their ministerial careers, how ministerial advisors’ post-ministerial careers compare to their pre-ministerial careers, and if the variance in careers can be explained by the resources that ministerial advisors obtain while in government. Empirically, the article draws on a cohort of 139 ministerial advisors in Norwegian governments between 2001 and 2009; it covers positions in the political sphere and the public, private and voluntary occupational sectors over a period from each ministerial advisor’s youth to the end of 2017. The bibliographic data are combined with surveys and elite interviews. The results show that more than expanding the political class as a recruitment ground for future Members of the Parliament and ministers, ministerial advisor appointments serve as stepping-stones to careers outside of politics. Most ministerial advisors experience shifts between occupational sectors and upwards to higher positions. However, ministerial advisors’ attractiveness in the labour market is surprisingly unaffected by what they actually did in office; rather, it rests on resources such as insider knowledge and networks.

scholarly journals The Nigerian State and Public Sector Management: A Political Economy Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 5376-5383
Author(s):  
Igbokwe-Ibeto Chinyeaka Justine ◽  
Nwobi Fidelia ◽  
Nnaji Ifeoma Loretho
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Public Sector Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
Material Condition ◽  
And Shifts

The colonial state emerged to serve the economic and political interests of the colonizing power. This state was created to formally organise the exploitation of the colonised territory in the interest of the metropolitan entity. Within the framework of political-economy theory, this article examined the Nigerian state and public sector management at the theoretical level with the aim of understanding the Nigerian state in terms of its integration into the global economy as a peripheral entity. The article relied on the political economy paradigm to explain the dynamics and shifts in the management of the public sector. The political economy approach is predicated on the primacy of material condition. The analysis of the economic sub-structure assists to account for, and explain the power politics behind the public sector management. This approach also elucidates on the character of the state, nature of its governing class and the mechanisms of domination. It concludes that, the Nigerian state and its actors have been major impediments to the deepening of the public sector management. The Nigerian state requires reconstituting in the sense that would make it humane, benevolent and less vulnerable to hijack by the political class.

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