Political Finance Assessment of Fiji

Fiji, being a transitional democracy with fragile institutional and regulatory mechanisms, is susceptible to the negative effects of money in politics. Yet for a very long time, regulations related to the funding of political parties, candidates and election campaigns, commonly known as political finance, were largely absent in the South Pacific country. Biased political appointments, corruption in the awards of public procurement tenders, cronyism and capture by business elites are some of the challenges that Fiji is vulnerable to, which thrive in an environment with insufficient institutional and legislative regulation of political finance. This report, which is the first of its kind, has undertaken a systematic study of the political finance regulatory framework in Fiji using an internationally developed, and tried and tested, analytical framework. The study is part of a larger International IDEA initiative to review political finance systems in selected countries in order to advance an evidence-based global policy debate on money in politics.

[Muhammad Ibn Abi ‘Amir’s Political Involvement According to The Chronicle Of Ibn Hayyan Al-Qurtubi] Penglibatan Politik Muhammad Ibn Abi ‘Amir Menurut Catatan Ibn Hayyan Al-Qurtubi

Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir was a de facto leader of al-Andalus during the Umayyad rule based in Cordoba. Caliph al-Hakam II had appointed him to hold some political positions to strengthen Umayyad rule in Cordoba (al-Andalus) and al-Maghrib (North Africa). Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir’s political appointment was seen as a special position in Cordoba administration. This analysis is seen through the readings of the authoritative primary source written by Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi. Hence, the purpose of this article is to scrutinize Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi’s biography as an al-Andalus historian in the 5H/11AD Century in his work, al-Muqtabas fi Akhbar Balad al-Andalus. In addition, this research also describes the involvement of Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir in the Umayyad administration in Cordoba during the reign of Caliph al-Hakam II based on the chronicle of Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi. On the whole, this article is a qualitative research using historical study and content analysis in gathering and analyzing data from relevant primary and secondary sources. Based on Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi’s description in al-Muqtabas, this research argues that Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir was an authoritative political figure in 4H/10AD Century of the Umayyad rule in Cordoba. His political appointments were held in the fields, of administration, judiciary, military, security, international relations and finance. This research also concludes that Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi was a preeminent historian in al-Andalus through his work, al-Muqtabas fi Akhbar Balad al-Andalus, which is seen as his biggest contribution in the corpus of knowledge on Islamic history and civilization in al-Andalus. Keywords: Political history, al-Andalus, Cordoba, Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir, Umayyad Caliphate, Caliph al-Hakam II, Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi Abstrak Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir ialah seorang pemimpin de facto al-Andalus pada zaman pemerintahan Kerajaan Umawiyyah di Cordoba. Pihak Khalifah al-Hakam II telah melantik beliau untuk menjawat beberapa jawatan politik utama bagi memperkukuh pengaruh Kerajaan Umawiyyah di Cordoba (al-Andalus) dan di al-Maghrib (Afrika Utara). Pelantikan politik Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir ini turut memperlihatkan kedudukan istimewa yang diterima beliau dalam pemerintahan di Cordoba. Pencerakinan tersebut dilihat menerusi penelaahan terhadap sumber primer berwewenang yang ditulis oleh Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi. Oleh itu, penulisan ini bertujuan untuk meneliti biografi Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi sebagai tokoh sejarawan al-Andalus pada abad ke-5H/11M melalui karyanya, al-Muqtabas fi Akhbar Balad al-Andalus. Di samping itu, kajian ini turut memerihalkan penglibatan Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir dalam Kerajaan Umawiyyah di Cordoba pada era pemerintahan Khalifah al-Hakam II berdasarkan catatan Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi. Secara keseluruhannya, artikel ini merupakan kajian kualitatif dengan menggunakan reka bentuk kajian sejarah dan analisis kandungan dalam mengumpul serta menganalisis maklumat daripada sumber primer dan sekunder yang relevan. Berasaskan pemerian Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi dalam al-Muqtabas, kajian ini menghujahkan bahawa Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir ialah seorang tokoh politik berwibawa abad ke-4H/10M era Kerajaan Umawiyyah di Cordoba. Antara penglibatan politik yang disandang oleh Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir adalah meliputi bidang pentadbiran, kehakiman, ketenteraan, keselamatan, hubungan antarabangsa dan juga kewangan. Kajian ini turut menatijahkan Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi sebagai seorang tokoh sejarawan terulung di al-Andalus menerusi hasil karyanya, al-Muqtabas fi Akhbar Balad al-Andalus yang dilihat sebagai sumbangan terbesar beliau dalam korpus kelimuan sejarah dan tamadun Islam di al-Andalus. Kata kunci: Sejarah politik, al-Andalus, Cordoba, Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Amir, Kerajaan Umawiyyah, Khalifah al-Hakam II, Ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi

The Political Dynamics of Corporate Tax Avoidance: The Chinese Experience

In China's political selection system, officials capable of growing local economies are reward-ed with promotions. Eager to demonstrate economic achievements, newly appointed local lead-ers may raise tax revenues to expand fiscal expenditures on infrastructure projects. Against this backdrop, we study how political appointments influence local firms' tax planning. Based on a sample of locally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs), we find firms decrease their tax avoidance after new leaders take office. The political-turnover effect on these firms' tax positions is more evident when the incoming leaders have more political clout over SOE managers, the incentives to divert resources are stronger, or politician-manager networks are present, and subsides following the launch of the anticorruption campaign. Furthermore, firms with higher post-turnover tax payments subsequently receive more government contracts or subsidies. Overall, our findings suggest political incentives shape the tax-planning activities of SOE managers in a "two-way favor exchange" manner.

The King’s Men and His Kinsmen

Politics of patronage based on primordial identity is not a new phenomenon in Nigeria. The impact of such patterns of politicking has been obviously untoward. This study interrogates the apparent manifestation of ethno-clannish patronage in the politics of political appointments under Muhammadu Buhari’s civilian administration (2015-date). Relying on a descriptive analysis of secondary data, as well as a selective application of prebendal theory, the study observes that members of Buhari’s ethno-communal grouping tend to have been favored rather disproportionately in terms of the allotment of political appointments at the federal level. The study posits that such an ethno-clannish posture smacks of the politics of exclusion, which negates the spirit of national integration. The study further contends that not only had President Buhari favored his kinsmen and tribesmen in his appointments, but he has also appointed many of his family relations into strategic positions, thus entrenching nepotism in the process of statecraft. The study submits that such an approach to statecraft holds negative implications for good governance and national integration in Nigeria.

The politics of senior bureaucratic turnover in the Westminster tradition: Trust and the choice between internal and external appointments

The extent to which new governments appoint and dismiss senior public servants is widely claimed to be influenced by their country’s underlying administrative tradition. This is particularly the case within the Westminster tradition where such turnover is limited in nature, with most appointees coming from within the ranks of the public service. This article challenges the assertion that turnover in the Westminster tradition is homogeneously internal. Theorizing that new governments appoint senior public servants to increase their control over the bureaucracy, and that the desire for control is negatively correlated to trust, this article develops hypotheses between the trust new governments harbour towards the bureaucracy and whether they appoint and dismiss bureaucrats from within or outside the public service. The hypotheses are tested with longitudinal data measuring internal and external appointments and departures to the senior public service in Canada’s provincial governments over a period of 18 years. The results from various multinomial regression models suggest that political appointments to the public service are not as homogenous as frequently suggested. Although a transition in the governing party and a newly elected premier from the same party of the previous government both lead to an increase in bureaucratic turnover, a newly elected first minister has a greater incidence of internal turnover than a change in party, meanwhile the level of external turnover does not meaningfully differ between these two political events.

Ministers, Gender and Political Appointments

This study examines whether the sex of the selector matters for advancing women's inclusion in politics and how the political context shapes selectors’ preferences and behaviour. It focuses on an under-researched area – the political appointments ministers make in their ministerial departments – and thus sheds light on the conditions under which women access appointed office. It analyses six governments in Spain between 1996 and 2018, using a mixed methods approach that includes statistical analyses of political appointments and interviews with former ministers. It finds that women ministers, as individuals, did not appoint more women than men ministers did at any time. However, women's presence is highly relevant. In more gender-balanced political contexts, men and women ministers appointed more women. Moreover, the context changed, in part because critical political actors pushed for it. This imbued a new political sphere, subcabinet-appointed offices, with representational significance.