Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Milestone

Back in May 2006, I posted my first thoughts to this blog. I wrote, "Teaching is essentially a process that is cooperative. Even if you're learning while reading a book, you're virtually collaborating with the author. This blog should facilitate a collaborative process." My concept was to post links to articles that would help teach the concepts and facts that are included in the Comparative Government and Politics curriculum. I've posted 3,498 items since then. And while I was enjoying some holiday time this week, people kept reading things on the blog. Today, somebody was the 500,000th person to view a page of the blog. I'm impressed. I hope you are too. And don't be shy about asking questions. Ken Wedding College City Publications Northfield, MN USA

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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

in·ter·mit·tent

INTER + +  


Pronunciation: \-ˈmi-tənt\ Function: adjective Etymology: Latin intermittent-, intermittens, present participle of intermittere Date: 1601 : coming and going at intervals : not continuous ; also : occasional — in·ter·mit·tent·ly adverb Source: Mirriam-Webster Online Dictionary http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Intermittent Retrieved 15 May 2015

There was an ulterior motive for suggesting other blogs to look at. I won't be in attendance here daily.

 OR  

Remember that nearly all the over 3,700 entries here are indexed. Use the search box in the right hand sidebar to find a country or a concept that you're interested in. And, if your web browser allows it, there's a search box at the top left corner of the blog that will sort through key words. (The search box shows up on my Safari and Netscape browsers on my desktop computer but not on my laptop.) 
 
If you find a bit of information that might be useful for teaching comparative politics, post it at the AP Comparative Government and Politics Facebook page or send me a note with the information.

I'll be back in regular attendance in 2016!

Monday, December 21, 2015

Government has so much to do

If you've ever found a blurry blank spot on a Google Earth map, you've probably come across something Google is not allowed to display. Who disallows it? Probably a government. Even in China.

China unveils new rules on maps, regulating online map services
China released new regulations on maps…

Included in the new regulations… is a new chapter on online map services, as well as new rules on compiling, checking and publishing maps.

Blurry spot?
Geographic maps are of great political, scientific and legal importance, as it draws the territory of a country, directly reflecting its national sovereignty and political views, a statement released by the State Council, China's cabinet, said…

[S]ecurity supervision must also be strengthened as violations, such as errors in compilation, leaks of secret geographic information and personal information, have occurred frequently in recent years.

Replacing the 1995 regulations on map drawing and publication, the new document upholds the basic principles of safeguarding national sovereignty and geographic information security, as well as improving public services, said the statement.

The regulations state China encourages internet map service providers to develop applications of geographic information science and technology and offer value-added services in people's daily life.

However, the providers must possess proper qualifications, must house servers storing geographic data within Chinese territory and must develop measures to ensure data security…

Databases of providers must not store or record information that is, in accordance with China's laws and regulations, prohibited from being shown on maps. Service providers are required to stop transmitting map information and report to mapping, publishing or internet security authorities when illegal content is detected…

Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. . It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

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What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


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Friday, December 18, 2015

Capitalism at work in China

Way back about the time the United States was founded, Adam Smith maintained that economic resources had to be flexible for greatest efficiencies. One of the key resources is labor, and flexibility of labor meant that people had to be able to learn new skills and move to where labor was most needed.

Much of China's growth in the past few decades has been facilitated by millions of peasants learning new job skills and moving to urban areas where their labor was needed.

But most of the movement was technically illegal. The authoritarian government maintained a system of residency permits (hukous) which determined where a family could live, what schools children could attend, and what health care people were eligible for.

So peasants moved to the cities, lived in migrant labor camps, left their children at home with grandparents, and made do without medical care as much as possible.

For several years Chinese leaders have mentioned the need to reform the hokou system. It's not fully functional, yet, but it seems that official change (as well as words) is in the offing.

China to ease restrictions on living in cities for millions
China will loosen its stringent regulations on urban residency to allow more people to enjoy public services such as housing, education and healthcare beginning next year.

Chinese citizens have for decades been limited in public services they can access by their household registration, known as a hukou (“who-co”). The problem is especially acute for the millions of migrant workers who are often forced to either leave their children in the countryside or place them in unregistered and often sub-standard schools in the city…

Details of the plan were not immediately released, although a statement posted on the cabinet’s official website said they would take effect from 1 January…

The move reflects the president, Xi Jinping’s, campaign to allow more citizens to take part in what is termed the “Chinese Dream” of middle-class prosperity and household security…

Along with creating a generation of “left-behind” children, the hukou system is blamed for restricting the prospects of educated young people from the countryside…



Beijing mulls relaxing residency rules for migrants
Beijing has issued a draft regulation to allow migrants to claim permanent resident permits or hukou based on a points system, local authorities said Thursday.

According to the draft, applicants should be under 45 years old, have a Beijing temporary residence permit and have paid social security premiums in Beijing for at least seven consecutive years.

Under the points system, employment, accommodation, educational background, skill level, tax payments, credit records, etc. will be converted into points. Migrants can transform their household registration status to local residence after reaching a specified amount of points…

Beijing's permanent population exceeded 20 million, about two and half times that of London and New York. The city has been challenged by a string of "urban diseases", such as air pollution and congestion.

People with Beijing hukou enjoy better educational opportunities, employment support, care for senior citizens and social welfare. The new system will allow migrants to have the chance to become a real part of the city.



Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. . It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

Amazon's customers gave this book a 5-star rating.






What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


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What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.











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Thursday, December 17, 2015

Whose Internet?

A very prominent presidential candidate in the USA wants to prevent terrorists from using "our Internet." China's president wants "cyber sovereignty." Whose Internet is it? Is sovereignty involved?

Xi Jinping calls for 'cyber sovereignty'
China's President Xi Jinping has called on countries to respect one another's "cyber sovereignty" and different internet governance models.

Mr Xi said countries had the right to choose how to develop and regulate their internet…

China has been criticised for its strict internet regulations where it blocks major sites and censors posts…

His message is that China, with 650 million internet users, should have a say in drawing up the global rules and that they should include the right to decide what to censor and block…

The idealistic internet pioneers - most of them American - saw the internet as a global community without borders, a space for free exchange of ideas untrammelled by national laws.

But whether it is China determined to shore up its Great Firewall, the US wanting to curb communications between terror groups, or indeed Europe debating at what age children should be allowed online, local politicians are asserting their right to bend the internet to their will…

Mr Xi also reiterated a call for countries to work together on internet security.

He said no country should pursue "cyber hegemony" or engage in activities that undermine others' national security…
Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. . It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

Amazon's customers gave this book a 5-star rating.






What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


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What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.











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Standards of excellence

Imagine being graded on standards like these.

Write an essay promoting "advanced aesthetics." Don't create anything that "violates… public order."

This all sounds very much like the socialist realism of the old Soviet Union.

That’s entertainment: The party says celebrities must behave
IT IS getting harder to be a bad-boy, or bad-girl, pop star in China…

A new “Joint Pledge of Self-Discipline in Professional Ethics” for the press, publishing, broadcasting and film industries has recently been signed by 50 official media and entertainment organizations… Works must refrain from vulgar words or images, instead promoting “healthy” and “advanced” aesthetics, whatever they are. More to the point, the pledge commands support for the Communist Party’s leadership, the national interest and “socialist core values”. It prohibits the voicing of opinions that defame the party or country. It’s a blast.

Also out is behaviour that “violates morals or public order”. Pornography, drugs and gambling are spelled out… Organisations that have signed the pledge are now bound to blacklist violators for up to three years.

In October… China’s top official in charge of ideology and propaganda, Liu Yunshan, held a gathering with leading figures in art and literature with the aim of promoting the “prosperous development” of those fields. Mr Liu wanted to encourage works embodying the “Chinese dream” and “positive energy”.

These terms come straight from the dogma factory of Xi Jinping, China’s president…

He has… helped turn the term “positive energy” into a catchphrase, one that is repeated in the entertainers’ pledge. Mr Xi used the phrase in October 2014, during a speech on the appropriate role of art and culture. That speech evoked a famous talk about culture given in 1942 by Mao Zedong…

Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. . It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

Amazon's customers gave this book a 5-star rating.






What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


Order the book HERE
Amazon's customers gave this book a 4-star rating.









What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.











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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Political change through smog

Will air quality be the downfall of the Party in China?

China’s Polluted Skies Take On a Darker Meaning for Its Leaders
Red has been considered the color of prosperity and good fortune in China for centuries, and it is also the color of the Communist Party. But this week, the color took on a darker meaning here, as it began to symbolize the failure of the party to rein in toxic smog that regularly endangers the health of hundreds of millions of people in the country’s north.

The Beijing government sounded its first-ever air pollution red alert Monday night, prompting many of the city’s 22 million residents to take precautions through Thursday, when strong winds blew the smog away. The emergency measures ended at noon...

Behavior changed, and so did the mind-set, in another of the touchstone moments that have occurred regularly since 2012, when the party began relaxing its tight control over information on air quality.

Since then, crucial decisions made every few months by senior Chinese officials have broadened the public’s understanding of the environmental degradation afflicting the nation, and they have given people more tools to gauge methods for protecting themselves. But those decisions — the red alert being the latest — have also raised questions about whether the party is up to the herculean challenge of cleaning up China’s environment.

On no other issue are President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders forced to walk such a fine line, between controlling information that has the potential to undermine their legitimacy and doling it out to increasingly anxious citizens who consider such disclosures essential…

[The] mayor of Beijing, Wang Anshun, has acknowledged that public environmental awareness, while perhaps leading to more criticism of China’s development path and weak regulatory efforts, is needed to help solve the crisis.

“We must take effective measures and enforce them with no reductions,” he said at a meeting on Dec. 4, according to an official news report. “We must accept supervision from the public and the media, in order to win the battle against the imminent heavy air pollution.”

Mr. Wang made earlier remarks that showed he knew what is at stake — perhaps nothing less than the faith of the people in the party…

Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. . It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

Amazon's customers gave this book a 5-star rating.






What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


Order the book HERE
Amazon's customers gave this book a 4-star rating.









What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.











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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

A promising bit of civil society in Nigeria

 A determined political leader cannot make big changes all by him/herself. V2P looks promising as a small start.

The article was written by Temitope Fashola, who is governance manager for Christian Aid Nigeria, one of the sponsors of V2P, so the article might depict things through rose-colored glasses.

Keep your eyes open, speak out: we can fight the menace of corruption in Nigeria: A pioneering grassroots project in Anambra state is building confidence among local citizens to hold leaders to account over bribery and dishonesty
Transparency International and Afrobarometer published a poll last week of people’s experiences and perceptions of corruption in 28 African countries – People and Corruption: Africa Survey 2015.

The findings certainly make challenging reading. But in Nigeria there is also good reason for hope that the tide may be starting to turn, through grassroots voices and accountability programmes focused on participatory and responsive governance.

The Voice to the People (V2P) project in Anambra state, in south-eastern Nigeria, is working with poor and marginalised citizens by fostering a sense of potential, ownership and resolve to tackle issues like corruption head-on.

V2P, funded by the UK government’s Department for International Development and managed by Christian Aid and Nigerian civil society partners, is building the capacity and confidence of Anambrarians so that their voices can be heard and they can hold their leaders to account. There is no doubt that this, in turn, is helping to reduce the menace of corruption.

The People and Corruption survey found that in Nigeria bribery was most prevalent when it came to obtaining documents from government officials, including voters’ cards…

Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. . It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

Amazon's customers gave this book a 5-star rating.






What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


Order the book HERE
Amazon's customers gave this book a 4-star rating.









What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.











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Monday, December 14, 2015

Another blog to recommend

Daniel Aaron Lazar and I started our blogs in 2006. He teaches at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin.

Lazar's blog is worth looking at because, as you should suspect, his perspectives are different from mine. Look at his blog and the recent entries. I think you'll find ideas and resources that are valuable.

Note that he blogs about all the courses he teaches, not just Comparative Government and Politics.

Daniel Aaron Lazar
This is a forum to post articles and to share ideas about my historical and political interests. I hope to provide a valuable resource for my students and to contribute to the marketplace of ideas.
  • So much worse than Auschwitz
  • Nuremberg Trial Bore Witness to the Nazis’ Worst Crimes
  • Boko Haram Ranked Ahead of ISIS for Deadliest Terror Group
  • Lecture – The One China Myth: Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong
  • Iranians Reclaim Public Spaces and Liberties
  • Lecture: The Enlightenment: Constructing a New Paradigm of Man and Society
  • Election 2015 – Why The Conservatives Won
  • “Death to America,” Explained (by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei)

Another blog I've recommended before is Kevin James' blog from Albany High School in California. He started his a couple years after I started mine and we rely on many similar sources. But we don't choose the same contents. Check it out as well.

AHS Comparative Government
  • Commons Vote to Authorize Strikes against ISIS in Syria Reveals Division in Labour Party
  • Xi Does Not Take Kindly to Criticism
  • Neo-Imperialism with Chinese Characteristics
  • British Conservatives to Reduce Share of GDP Spent by Government
  • "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
  • At Long Last, Buhari Appoints Cabinet to Lead Nigeria

Don't forget Ken Halla's blog about comparative gov pol and teaching. (Don't be misled by the title of the blog.)

US Government Teachers Blog
  • Nigeria Pain and Promise
  • Nigeria, a country of pain, promise and complexity
  • Can Nigeria’s booming economy lift its poorest people?
  • How a cancer of corruption steals Nigerian oil, weapons and lives
  • Gay Nigerians face beatings, harsh prison sentences, even death
  • The Way to Incorporate Technology in the Classroom
  • The GAO, Interest Groups and Gun Control
  • NY Regents DBQs
  • Flipping and Grouping to a Better Learning Enviornment



Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. . It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

Amazon's customers gave this book a 5-star rating.






What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


Order the book HERE
Amazon's customers gave this book a 4-star rating.









What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.











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Friday, December 11, 2015

Organizing for Eurasia

First China was instrumental in organizing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which looks like an Asian alternative to NATO. Now comes the Chinese "World Bank."

China Creates a World Bank of Its Own, and the U.S. Balks
As top leaders met at a lush Bali resort in October 2013, President Xi Jinping of China described his vision for a new multinational, multibillion-dollar bank to finance roads, rails and power grids across Asia. Under Chinese stewardship, the bank would tackle the slow development in poor countries that was holding the region back from becoming the wealth center of the world.

[T]he Obama administration began a rear-guard battle to minimize the bank’s influence.

The United States worries that China will use the bank to set the global economic agenda on its own terms, forgoing the environmental protections, human rights, anticorruption measures and other governance standards long promoted by its Western counterparts…

But the administration suffered a humiliating diplomatic defeat last spring when most of its closest allies signed up for the bank, including Britain, Germany, Australia and South Korea. Altogether 57 countries have joined, leaving the United States and Japan on the outside…

The calculation for joining is simple. China, with its vast wealth and resources, now rivals the United States at the global economic table. That was confirmed this week when the International Monetary Fund blessed the Chinese renminbi as one of the world’s elite currencies, alongside the dollar, euro, pound and yen…

The Chinese-led institution, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, is now in the process of picking its first projects. The choices, expected to be announced in coming months, will provide insight into how China plans to wield its power…

China is taking direct aim at the current development regime, the Bretton Woods system established under the leadership of the United States after World War II to help stabilize currencies and promote growth…

A newly assertive Beijing felt that it had been unfairly treated for years by the United States. President Obama did not invite China to join the American-driven Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, insisting that Beijing should not be allowed to write the rules for 21st-century commerce.

During the 2008 financial crisis, China’s economy had continued to perform well, serving as a stabilizing force for the world when the United States was on the verge of a collapse…

Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

Amazon's customers gave this book a 5-star rating.






What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


Order the book HERE
Amazon's customers gave this book a 4-star rating.









What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.











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Thursday, December 10, 2015

A sign of greater civil liberties

Sometimes jokes can be a sign of improved civil liberties. That wasn't true in the Soviet Union, where the best jokes had to carefully told from one person to another trusted person. In Nigeria, stand up comedy is new and jokes seem to be a good sign. (Just don't make jokes about Buhari yet.)

Nigeria’s Comics Pull Punch Lines From Deeper Social Ills
"Ali Baba"
The armed robbers were having a field day, [famed comedian] Ali Baba exclaimed to a large auditorium of lawyers. It was so bad that the thieves struck every car along a deeply potholed road — that is, until a former governor came along.

“They looked at him, and said he should drive on,” he said as the crowd grew silent. “The other armed robber said, ‘Why? Why did you let that car go?’ ”

“ ‘Esprit de corps’ ” — a camaraderie among brothers — he said, delivering the punch line and unleashing roars of laughter throughout the audience.

Forget crooked politicians, daily blackouts, long lines at gas stations or even the scourge of Boko Haram here in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. Despite the litany of social ills and troubles — or maybe because of them — Nigeria has never laughed harder.

Comedy here is booming. Top comics have become, in a few short years, among Nigeria’s most successful entertainers and now perform throughout Africa.

Stand-up comedy, which emerged with Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, has become the country’s third-biggest form of entertainment after movies and music, industry experts say…

So quickly has the art form caught on that stand-up comics have become fixtures at social events, like the lawyers association that hired Ali Baba for its dinner here recently. Securing a talented comic for a wedding, company event or political gathering has now become de rigueur in Nigeria’s higher social circles…

Working in such public spheres, the comedians are challenging deeply rooted social and political mores. Socially, Nigeria remains an extremely hierarchical country where powerful individuals are treated with fawning respect. For the second time since military rule ended in 1999, Nigeria finds itself governed by a former general, President Muhammadu Buhari, evidence of the military’s lingering influence…

“During military rule, you couldn’t go and start cracking jokes about the head of state,” said Barclays Ayakoroma, a cultural critic who has written about the rise of stand-up comedy in Nigeria, “That night, they would have come for you. So we can say that civilian rule opened the way for people to make jokes about our leaders without fear of being arrested.”…

Ali Baba, whose real name is Atunyota Alleluya Akporobomerere, is considered the pioneer of stand-up comedy in Nigeria. Now 50, he recalled how, with no Nigerian models to emulate, he researched the distinctly American art of stand-up comedy by combing through old copies of Reader’s Digest and reference materials like “10,000 Jokes, Toasts and Stories.”…

He also frequented a cultural center run by the American government, studying its videos of Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor…

When Olusegun Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military ruler between 1976 and 1979, he had shown little tolerance for criticism…

But under democracy, Mr. Obasanjo championed comedians like Mr. Akporobomerere, who roasted him regularly, and recommended him for performances.

Mr. Akporobomerere’s success helped popularize other comedians and bring stand-up comedy into the mainstream.

“Companies wanted to use our services, and young people wanted to take up comedy as a career,” said another popular comedian, Okey Bakassi, whose real name is Okechukwu Anthony Onyegbule. “That changed everything.”

Still, comics can never be too careful.

“There are certain people in government who do not have a sense of humor,” Mr. Akporobomerere said…

“Some [politicians] will come up to me and say, ‘Talk about me,’ ” Julius Agwu, another top comedian, said. “It’s like hype for them.”

Mr. Buhari may not be one of them…

“So far, he’s not known as a type that will host parties,” said the comedian known as Basketmouth. “He’s a pretty serious guy, which is what we need for now. We don’t need to party. We need to fix the country right now.”

Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

Amazon's customers gave this book a 5-star rating.






What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


Order the book HERE
Amazon's customers gave this book a 4-star rating.









What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.











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Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Attempted civil society in China

Independent civil society is an anathema to China's Communist Party. If the groups attempting to be independently active are feminist, they seem to be even more objectionable.

China's feminists undeterred by detentions
The detentions came right before International Women's Day.

Five women who all worked as activists for various feminist causes and had organised public events to raise awareness of a host of issues…

Few predicted the women would ever become targets of the authorities, since their causes seemed relatively unobjectionable.

That is, until last March, when the women were planning a multi-city protest to call for an end to sexual harassment on public transport.

The size of their networks and their determination to speak out in public appeared to unnerve the authorities. One by one, they were detained by police…

A global campaign to push for their release ensued, and there was an outpouring of relief on Twitter when the #FreetheFive group were released.

Months later, the women remain under police surveillance. The group are pushing for their case to be withdrawn…

Where does the wider women's movement stand after the Feminist Five detentions?

In some ways, this is a very dark time for anyone who wants to shape Chinese government policy, to change the way things work from outside of the Communist Party's machinations…

Chinese civil society has suffered under the rule of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Thousands of activists, dissidents and defence lawyers have been targeted by the authorities. Many non-governmental organisations have been forced to shut their doors, or dramatically scale back their activities…

The detentions and subsequent release of the Feminist Five have also resulted in positive changes for the women's movement in China.

According to Beijing based writer and commentator Zhang Lijia, the movement has become more cohesive since the Spring.

"Before there were different pockets of women activists. For example, those working on LGBT issues, or promoting gender equality.

There were some connections among the associations, of course, but that hadn't worked together. Now they have a common enemy in some sense," she explains…

On 19 November, for example, Li Tingting [one of the Feminst Five]joined activists from ten other cities to demand more women's toilets in China.
Li Tingting

Ms Li appears to be cautiously optimistic for the future.

"Before [the detentions], many outside China didn't know we had women's rights activists in China. It's a good thing in some ways," she says…

Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

Amazon's customers gave this book a 5-star rating.






What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


Order the book HERE
Amazon's customers gave this book a 4-star rating.









What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.











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Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Teaching aids

Gapminder World has long been one of my favorite resources for teaching about specific topics. I never fail to learn something from it.

Hans Rosling, creator of Gapminder
The dynamic charts you can produce with Gapminder are wonderful and wonderous.

There are hundreds of factors (environmental, health, energy, education… ) that you can choose to display on the Gapminder World graph and look for relationships between the factors.

Countries are displayed on the graph by circles whose size is dependent upon population and whose color is determined by location. You can choose to display all countries or just selected ones.

You can choose to see comparisons for nearly any year in the past two centuries (or more in some cases).

If you or your students have the hardware, set them to work evaluating hypotheses they make or describing changing relationships over time.

Many Gapminder demonstrations are available at YouTube as well.

Gapminder World


Gapminder For Teachers
Featured examples of Gapminder in education:
  • Gapminder and Worldmapper
  • Gapminder course at the NYC iSchool
  • Gapminder World
  • Gapminder World Offline
  • Teacher’s guide: Lesson on 200 years that changed the world
  • Life Expectancy PowerPoint
  • Teacher’s guide: Quiz about Global Development
  • Human Development Trends 2005
  • Gapminder’s card game


Gapminder Answers
A fact-based worldview starts with getting the big picture right. Each of these videos answer a common fact-question about global proportions and macro trends, in less than 90 seconds. We've left out any distracting details in order to make the big picture as clear as possible and easy to remember. Enjoy!

  • How Did The World Population Change?
  • How Did Babies per Woman Change in the World?
  • How Reliable is the World Population Forecast?
  • How Did Babies per Woman Change in Different Regions?
  • How Does Income Relate to Life Expectancy?
  • Will Saving Poor Children Lead to Overpopulation?
  • How Can the World Population Forecasts Be So Good?
  • How Many are Rich and How Many are Poor?
  • What Makes the World Population Continue to Grow?
  • Where Do People Live?
  • The Rapid Growth of the World Population, When Will it Slow Down?

Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.

The Comparative Government and Politics Review Checklist.



Two pages summarizing the course requirements to help you review and study for the final and for the big exam in May. It contains a description of comparative methods, a list of commonly used theories, a list of vital concepts, thumbnail descriptions of the AP6, and a description of the AP exam format. $2.00. Order HERE.

Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.


Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE.

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What You Need to Know 7th edition is ready to help.


Order the book HERE
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What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.











Labels: ,