200 years of cultural and political change
In the USSR, the Communist leaders proudly pointed to former churches that had been turned into museums, warehouses, and grain terminals. These examples demonstrated the official atheism of Marxism-Leninism.
But the Communism, a product of Western political culture never fit well in Russia. The populist belief was that Russian culture (and political culture) was unique and the
only true one (exceptionalism).
 |
| Peter the Great |
The conflict between the Russian traditonalists (
Slavophiles) and those who wanted to modernize and westernize Russia (
Zapadniki) has been going on for at least 200 years. Peter the Great was one of the most famous
Zapadniki. The last of the Romanov Tsars, who opposed democracy and Communism, were among the most famous
Slavophiles.
In the current politics of Russia, Putin has appealed to the
Slavophile populists to maintain his power. His open Christianity and his efforts to include the Russian Orthodox Church in the power elite demonstrate these efforts. Twenty-first century
Zapadniki find themselves isolated, censored, and jailed.
Over 2,000 People Rally Against Russian Cathedral Handover
Over 2,000 people rallied in St. Petersburg on Saturday to protest plans by the city authorities to give a landmark cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church amid an increasingly passionate debate over the relationship between the church and state.
"We won't give St. Isaac's to the church. We want to save it as a museum," Boris Vishnevsky, a local official, told protesters in central St. Petersburg…
A few dozen counter-protesters gathered in the same place to support the plans. "The return of the cathedral to the church is a return to our national roots," said Yelena Semyonova, 52, a professor…
St Isaac's, one of the most visited tourist sites in Russia's old imperial capital, has been a museum since 1917…
The handover has been seen as part of the growing power of the Orthodox Church and a trend of social conservatism in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has appealed to traditional values as opposed to Western liberalism to help tighten his grip on society.
See also:
"Slavophiles and Zapadniki"
Slavophiles and Zapadniki
The Slavophiles and Zapadniki were two contrasting Russian philosophical camps that took shape in the early 19th century. Fierce debate raged between the two sides as each addressed a very important question; what path should the nation of Russia take in its development, and what was its place in world history?… Today, with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the debate has gathered new interest as a new Russia once again searches for its identity in relationship to its neighbors in an ever changing world…
The debate between the two sides continued to develop throughout the 20th century and continues to be applicable to the political environment of contemporary Russia. Modern-day westernizers trumpeted the fall of the Soviet Union to be the ultimate confirmation of their philosophy. However, as Russia continues to develop its new identity on the world stage, it is impossible to ignore certain elements that bear a resemblance to the Slavophile doctrines, such as the belief that Russia’s destiny is unique among the nations of the world and the resurgence of the Eastern Orthodox Church…
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Labels: history, political culture, politics, Russia
When cleavages extend beyond national borders
Borders are nuisances to pastoralists.
["pastoralist: a person who raises livestock, esp. a nomadic herder" -Webster's New World College Dictionary]
So, if my cattle or goats or sheep graze on land across a national border, do I become an illegal immigrant if I follow them?
Pastoralists are nuisances to farmers. So, if your livestock grazes on my crops, you and I are going to have problems.
Not only does Nigeria have conflicts between "indigene" [people native to a place] and "settlers" [migrants who have moved into a place] and conflicts between people of different ethnic groups and conflicts between pastoralists and farmers, it turns out that some of settler/pastoralists are from other countries. Does it matter if these cleavages coincide with one another? Does it matter if they are cross-cutting? How does Nigeria address these problems?
Fulani Herdsmen Attacking Nigerians Are From Senegal, Mali - Northern Governors
The Northern Governor's Forum... says it has resolved to work with relevant stakeholders to secure Nigeria's borders and register Fulani immigrants entering into the country to rear cattle.
[T]he governors observed that most of the herdsmen involved in issues of insecurity are immigrants from Senegal and Mali.
 |
| Pastoralist and cattle |
"We also mapped out new strategies that would be used by the local Fulani herdsmen to rear their cattle without having to move across the country," the Chairman of the Forum, Kashim Shettima of Borno said...
On the indigene/settler dichotomy, the governor said that there was a push by the forum towards national integration and cohesion so that every Nigerian could conveniently settle in any part of the country without suffering any form of discrimination…
The joint meeting, which had northern traditional council of emirs and chiefs in attendance, discussed issues of insecurity, the management of common assets and measures to move the region to greater heights.
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Labels: cleavages, Nigeria, regime
More on Labour divisions
Labour MP Jo Stevens quits shadow cabinet over article 50 vote
The shadow secretary for Wales, Jo Stevens, has resigned from her post, saying she could not reconcile herself to voting to trigger article 50 as she still believed leaving the EU would be “a terrible mistake”…
Tulip Siddiq resigned as shadow early years minister on Thursday, saying she intended to vote in line with her strongly pro-remain constituents in Hampstead and Kilburn…
Two Labour whips, Jeff Smith and Thangam Debbonaire, have also said they will not vote for the bill, as have their fellow shadow ministers Daniel Zeichner and Catherine West, though it is not yet clear if they will be forced to resign in order to do so…
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Labels: Labour, politics, UK
Quick quiz
The disintegration of Labour continues. What evidence do you see here for that?
What is a "three-line whip?" (And what do the origins of that term tell us about the political culture of the UK?)
Why would frontbenchers consider resigning over that "three-line whip?" (BTW, what's a frontbencher? Or for that matter, what's a shadow cabinet?)
Article 50: Labour MPs consider resigning over Corbyn's three-line whip
Jeremy Corbyn will impose a three-line whip on MPs to vote in favour of triggering article 50 when the bill comes before parliament… with frontbenchers Clive Lewis and Tulip Siddiq understood to be considering resigning in protest.
Several shadow cabinet ministers are understood to have argued for a free vote, given the difference of opinion in the party, during a tense shadow cabinet meeting…
 |
| Recent shadow cabinet meeting |
One senior Labour source said Lewis, the shadow business secretary, said he would vote against the bill and suggested he could even campaign against it. It is not clear if he would be able to remain a member of the shadow cabinet…
Corbyn told Sky News: “It will be a clear decision that we want all of our MPs to support the article 50 vote when it comes up next week. It’s clearly a three-line whip.”
But Corbyn also acknowledged that this would be difficult for some MPs. He added: “I fully understand the pressures and issues that members are under, those who represent leave constituencies and those who represent remain constituencies. Labour is in the almost unique position of having MPs representing constituencies in both directions, and very strongly in both directions…
Rebels estimate about 60 Labour MPs are preparing to defy any party order to vote in favour of article 50. Several frontbenchers whose constituencies are in areas that are strongly pro-remain have publicly said they would also vote against when a bill is introduced…
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Labels: leadership, politics, regime, UK
Sounds like the UK has an effective Supreme Court
Belonging to the EU might have helped create an independent supreme court in the UK. Getting out of the EU might have helped create a powerful supreme court.
Brexit: Supreme Court says Parliament must give Article 50 go-ahead
Parliament must vote on whether the government can start the Brexit process, the Supreme Court has ruled.
The judgement means Theresa May cannot begin talks with the EU until MPs and peers give their backing - although this is expected to happen in time for the government's 31 March deadline.
But the court ruled the Scottish Parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies did not need a say.
Brexit Secretary David Davis promised a parliamentary bill "within days"…
 |
| UK's Supreme Court |
Reading out the judgement, Supreme Court President Lord Neuberger said: "By a majority of eight to three, the Supreme Court today rules that the government cannot trigger Article 50 without an act of Parliament authorising it to do so."
He added: "Withdrawal effects a fundamental change by cutting off the source of EU law, as well as changing legal rights.
"The UK's constitutional arrangements require such changes to be clearly authorised by Parliament."…
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Labels: EU, judiciary, regime, UK
Just when you thought you had all this figured out
There has to be a reason for this besides making it more difficult for you to draw an organizational chart of the Communist Party of China. What do you think that reason is?
Xi to head central commission for integrated military, civilian development
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will head a new central commission for integrated military and civilian development, according to a decision by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Sunday.
The decision was made at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which was chaired by Xi.
The commission will be the central agency tasked with decision-making, deliberation and coordination of major issues regarding integrated military and civilian development.
The commission will report to the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
In a statement released after the meeting, the political bureau called for efforts to uphold the authority of the CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping as the core, adhere to its centralized and unified leadership, and fully implement major policies of the committee…
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Labels: China, Communist Party, leadership, regime
A dark corner of Iranian civil society and political culture
Most Muslims believe that all the people "of the book" are on the right track toward following the last prophet, Muhammad. Most of them are not tolerant of people of all of the books, the
Bahai, who do not believe that Muhammad was the last prophet. Though the movement was begun in Persia (Iran), the Bahai are still persecuted in the country of its origin.
Studying at the Bahai secret university
The largest non-Muslim minority in Iran, the Bahais, are persecuted in many ways - one being that they are forbidden from attending university. Some study in secret, but for those who want to do a postgraduate degree the only solution is to leave their country and study abroad…
Since the creation of the Bahai faith in the mid-19th Century, the Iranian Shia establishment has called them "a deviant sect", principally because they reject the Muslim belief that Mohammed was the last prophet.
On official websites they are described as apostates, and as "unclean".
But it is when a student has finished school that the problems really begin.
Bahai… could not enter university. [The] only option was to secretly attend the Bahais' own clandestine university - the Bahai Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), set up in the mid-1980s by Bahai teachers and students who had been thrown out of Iranian universities after the revolution…
Lectures took place in improvised classrooms in private homes all around Tehran. It [takes] six years to complete [the] course, and it was then that [students] hit an impenetrable wall. There was no scope to do an MA or a PhD, and there was no scope for employment…
Soon afterwards, a wave of crackdowns on the Bahai intelligentsia began, with raids on clandestine classrooms and the arrest of many BIHE teachers…
The US is home to one of the largest Bahai populations in the world, their presence dating back at least to 1912, when Abdul Baha, the son of the faith's founder, Baha'u'llah, spent 11 months in the country, promoting the religion.
The BIHE degrees are accepted by most US universities… and many BIHE volunteers are based in the US.
"Students and instructors in Iran can end up in jail just for being students and instructors. So they are not only doing something that is hard for them to do, but dangerous to do," says Prof Thane Terril, a convert to the Bahai faith who now runs online teacher training courses for post-graduate students…
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and
a description of the AP exam format
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Labels: civil society, Iran, political culture
More on China's judiciary
Don't expect China's judges to rule against the Party or the government anytime soon.
China’s Chief Justice Rejects an Independent Judiciary, and Reformers Wince
 |
| Zhou Qiang |
Chief Justice Zhou Qiang, China’s top judicial official, is hardly a radical reformer. But to liberal-minded watchers of the country’s evolving court system, he has nonetheless been an encouraging figure.
In recent years, he has spearheaded an effort to make China’s judiciary, which is subordinate to the ruling Communist Party, more professional…
So when the chief justice used warlike language… to denounce the idea of an independent judiciary and other cherished liberal principles, warning judges not to fall into the “trap” of “Western” ideology, observers in China and abroad were shocked and dismayed…
The speech was widely seen as a bow to the strict political climate that President Xi Jinping has established in China, as a major Communist Party conclave approaches this year…
While his position is prestigious, Chief Justice Zhou is not a member of the Communist Party’s ruling Politburo…
Now he is showing his fealty to Mr. Xi, [Jerome A. Cohen, director of the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at New York University]… said in a telephone interview. He said the speech appeared to be a bid for political survival before the Communist Party Congress set for late this year, which will determine who serves directly under Mr. Xi for the next five years.
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Labels: China, judiciary, leadership, politics
Optimal number of parties
What is the optimal number of parties for representative government? Should there be minimum thresholds? What should they be? Is party competition necessary for representative government?
Too many parties can spoil politics
TO ENTER parliament, a Dutch political party need only win enough votes for one seat. With no minimum threshold, there are lots of parties. Eleven succeeded in 2012, including two liberal parties, three Christian ones and one that cares about animal rights. In the next election, this March, polls suggest the total could rise to 13, with the addition of a pro-immigrant party and an anti-immigrant one…
As with the Netherlands, so with Europe. The ideologies that held together the big political groupings of the 20th century are fraying, and the internet has lowered the barriers to forming new groups. So parties are multiplying. Some see this as cause for celebration. A longer menu means that citizens can vote for parties that more closely match their beliefs. This is good in itself and also increases political engagement. Countries with proportional-representation systems, which tend to have more parties, have higher voter turnout than first-past-the-post countries like America and Britain.
Yet excessive fragmentation has drawbacks. As parties subdivide, countries become harder to govern. A coalition of small parties is not obviously more representative than one big-tent party. Big parties are also coalitions of interests and ideologies, but they are usually more disciplined than looser groups, and so more likely to get things done.
Having too many parties is often unwieldy. Coalitions become harder to form and often include strange bedfellows… [I]n Denmark the centre-right government needs the support of the Liberal Alliance, which wants to cut social spending, and the Danish People’s Party, which wants to raise it… Spain’s recent shift from two major parties to four produced a stand-off that left it without a government for most of last year. Its citizens had more choices when they voted, but then spent ten months under the rule of unelected caretakers—not a clear gain in democracy…
Far from increasing real choice, multiplying parties can allow politicians to hide the fact that what matters is patronage…
Sometimes, new policies need new parties to champion them. For all their flaws, the left-wing Podemos party in Spain and the populist, anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats represent voters whose voices were not being heard. But some politicians form new parties for selfish reasons. Candidates… hunger for the subsidies and free broadcasting time that many countries grant to each party…
Parties are middlemen between government and voters, organising a multiplicity of policies into a simpler menu of options. That menu can be too short (as in China). But it can also be so long and confusing that voters can’t tell what they are ordering—and probably won’t get it.
See also:
Europeans are splitting their votes among ever more parties
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Labels: concepts, democracies, multiple parties, thresholds
Will there be a political price for this tragedy?
The Iranian president has ordered a government investigation. Does he suspect there might be a political aspect to this fire?
Tehran fire: Many feared dead as high-rise collapses
About 25 firefighters are missing and feared dead after a high-rise building in Iran's capital, Tehran, caught fire and collapsed, officials say.
Two hundred had battled the blaze in the landmark 17-storey Plasco building for several hours before it fell to the ground in a matter of seconds…
Completed in 1962, the building was once Tehran's tallest and contained a shopping centre and clothing workshops…
President Hassan Rouhani ordered Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli to investigate the incident, calling it "extremely sad and unfortunate".
The Plasco building was built by the prominent Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian and was named after his company. He was executed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution after being convicted of charges including spying for Israel.
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Labels: civil society, Iran, political culture
Bombing your own people
Humanitarian issues aside, another question to be answered is who will bear the blame and pay the price for this horrendous mistake. Everyone seems to be loudly proclaiming that it was a terrible accident and "not my fault."
Death Toll in Mistaken Bombing of Camp in Nigeria Climbs to 70
The number of people killed in an accidental military bombing at a Nigerian camp for displaced people has increased to 70, aid groups said on Wednesday, with at least nine of them humanitarian workers. The mistaken attack came after a military plane targeted an area crowded with people fleeing Boko Haram militants.
Medical workers were scrambling on Wednesday to assemble equipment to treat dozens of severely injured people who were still awaiting evacuation from the camp in Rann, in northeastern Nigeria…
In the wake of the bombing, human rights groups were trying to assess how the military could have mistaken such a crowded camp for Boko Haram fighters. A terrorism and counterterrorism researcher for Human Rights Watch circulated on Twitter an aerial view of the encampment dotted with tents and other structures. It is situated near a Nigerian military post…
On Tuesday, [President] Buhari said he regretted the error, and Nigerian military officials also expressed remorse, acknowledging they had targeted the wrong spot.
The governor of Borno State said friendly fire incidents have occurred in wars throughout history. “It is gratifying that nobody made any effort to hide anything or sweep things under carpet,” Gov. Kashim Shettima said…
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Labels: Nigeria, terrorism
Does this make it official?
And if official, does the president's declaration indicate new policies or actions?
Corruption, Worst of All Nigeria's Problems - Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari… said corruption was the "very worst" of all the problems facing Nigeria.
The President said the ruling political party, All Progressives Congress, had identified three major challenges facing the nation as insecurity, poor economy, and corruption, noting that corruption was the most debilitating of all the ills.
"Nobody disputed the fact that they were the major problems of Nigeria, and we campaigned on those three planks. As a government, we believe you cannot administer a country you have not secured, so we focused on security.
"The economy is also down, therefore, we are not sparing any effort to revive and diversify it, so that our people, particularly the youths, can get jobs. The third problem, and the worst of them all, is corruption," the President declared…
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Labels: corruption, leadership, Nigeria
Vocabulary and concepts
Procuratorates approve arrest of 19,000 telecom fraud suspects
Chinese procuratorates at all levels in 2016 approved the arrest of 19,345 suspects involved in telecom or cyber fraud.
The information was released at a national meeting attended by chief prosecutors…
The authorities pledged to continue applying "high pressure" on those who commit telecom and cyber fraud this year…
Procuratorates?
It's important to remember that the inquisitorial legal system of China, Russia, and Mexico are not common law (adversarial) systems of many Western democracies. (The Sharia system in Iran is altogether different.)
The procuratorate is that part of the regime that is responsible for investigating violations of statute law and determining which suspects should be taken to court for final determination of guilt and sentencing. Those 19,000 telecom fraud suspects mentioned above were nearly all guilty — that's why the procuratorate took them to court.
The inquisitorial system is primarily based on Roman and Napoleonic systems. Even the Chinese legal system, which can be traced to the 19th century, is based in part on a Germanic version of the Napoleonic Code (and in part on the Russian and Soviet systems).
The common law/adversarial system most familiar to the British and Nigerians is based on legislation and the precedents of court decisions.
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Labels: China, civil law, common law, procurator
Leaving the EU while retaining free trade, travel, international cooperation, and…
Leaving the EU while retaining free trade, travel, international cooperation, and…
What are the British leaving?
Brexit: UK to leave single market, says Theresa May
Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all".
But the prime minister promised to push for the "freest possible trade" with European countries and to sign new deals with others around the world…
"It should give British companies the maximum possible freedom to trade with and operate within European markets and let European businesses do the same in Britain. But I want to be clear: what I am proposing cannot mean membership of the single market."…
She delivered a message to the remaining 27 EU member states: "We will continue to be reliable partners, willing allies and close friends. We want to buy your goods, sell you ours, trade with you as freely as possible, and work with one another to make sure we are all safer, more secure and more prosperous through continued friendship."…
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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.
Labels: Brexit, EU, UK
A one-party state?
How many viable political parties are there in the UK? Two? Three? Four? One?
This chart from the 17 January edition of
The Economist, suggests that the UK is a one-party state. What arguments would your students make in agreement or disagreement with this thesis in an FRQ? (click on the chart for a larger version)
Assessing the first six months of Theresa May
Labels: parties, UK
Primer on Chinese party governance
Remember, this is all about the Communist Party. Government stuff comes later.
Xi Jinping is busy arranging a huge reshuffle
Every five years China holds a selection process that can change national policy and unseat many decision-makers. Communist Party officials tout it as evidence of a well-ordered rhythm in their country’s politics. This year it may turn out as unpredictable as America’s election in 2016.
 |
| Great Hall of the People |
The people up for re-selection are the 350-odd members of the party’s Central Committee, the political elite, along with its decision-taking subsets: the Politburo, the Politburo’s Standing Committee (a sort of inner cabinet) and the army’s ruling council. The choice of new leaders will be made at a party congress—the 19th since the founding one in 1921—which is expected to be held in Beijing in October or November, and at a meeting of the newly selected Central Committee which will be held directly afterwards.
Party congresses, which are attended by more than 2,000 hand-picked delegates, and the Central Committee meetings that follow them, are little more than rubber-stamp affairs. But they are of huge symbolic importance to Chinese leaders. They matter for three reasons. First, they endorse a sweeping reshuffle of the leadership that is decided in advance during secretive horsetrading among the elite… If the coming meetings are like those earlier ones—a big if—they will give a strong clue to Mr Xi’s choice of successor and start the transition from one generation of leaders to another.
Second, congresses can amend the party’s constitution. China’s leaders like the document to give credit to their favourite ideological themes (and Mr Xi is particularly keen on ideology)…
Third, congresses are the setting for a kind of state-of-the-union speech by the party leader, reflecting an elite consensus hammered out during the circulation of numerous drafts. In the coming months, Mr Xi will be devoting most of his political energy to ensuring that his will prevails in all three of these aspects…
Preparations for the gatherings are under way. They involve a massive operation for the selection of congress delegates. On paper, this is a bottom-up exercise. Party committees down to village level are choosing people who will then choose other representatives who, by mid-summer, will make the final pick…
It may sound like a vast exercise in democratic consultation, but Mr Xi is leaving little to chance. Provincial party bosses are required to make sure that all goes to (his) plan. Over the past year, Mr Xi has appointed several new provincial leaders, all allies, who will doubtless comply…
Those chosen to attend the congress will follow orders, too, especially when it comes to casting their votes for members of the new Central Committee… The processes that lead to its selection of the party’s and army’s most senior leaders are obscure… But an account in the official media of what happened in 2007 suggests that at some point in the summer, Mr Xi will convene a secret meeting of the current Central Committee and other grandees for a straw poll to rank about 200 potential members of the new Politburo (which now has 25 members). This is called “democratic recommendation”, although those taking part will be mindful of who Mr Xi’s favourites are…
By August, when Mr Xi and his colleagues hold an annual retreat at a beach resort near Beijing, the initial lists of leaders will be ready. Probably in October, the Central Committee will hold its last meeting before the congress to approve its documents… The first meeting of the new Central Committee will take place the next day, followed immediately by the unveiling before the press of Mr Xi’s new lineup (no questions allowed, if officials stick to precedent).
The process is cumbersome and elaborate, but over the past 20 years it has produced remarkably stable transfers of power for a party previously prone to turbulent ones. This has been helped by the introduction of unwritten rules: a limit of two terms for the post of general secretary, and compulsory retirement for Politburo members if they are 68 or over at the time of a congress. Mr Xi, however, is widely believed to be impatient with these restrictions…
Until late in 2016 there was little to suggest any deviation from the informal rules. But in October Deng Maosheng, a director of the party’s Central Policy Research Office, dropped a bombshell by calling the party’s system of retirement ages “folklore”—a custom, not a regulation.
The deliberate raising of doubts about retirement ages has triggered a round of rumour and concern in Beijing that Mr Xi may be considering going further. The main focus is his own role. Mr Xi is in the middle of his assumed-to-be ten-year term. By institutional tradition, any party leader must have served at least five years in the Standing Committee before getting the top job. So if Mr Xi is to abide by the ten-year rule, his successor will be someone who joins the Standing Committee right after the coming congress.
But there is widespread speculation that Mr Xi might seek to stay on in some capacity when his term ends in 2022. He might, for instance, retire as state president (for which post there is a clear two-term limit) but continue as party general-secretary. He faces a trade-off. The more he breaks with precedent, the longer he will retain power—but the more personalised and therefore more unstable the political system itself may become. Trying to square that circle will be Mr Xi’s biggest challenge in the politicking of the year ahead.
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Labels: China, Communist Party, elections, leadership, rule of law
Politics of name calling in Iran
The
New York Times analysis sees the death of Rafsanjani as a defeat for the hopes of moderates. The
Al Arabiya analysis describes Rafsanjani as a stalwart conservative. Either way, his death seems to have started name calling and maneuvering for the next election. But the "Big Game" referred to in this article might be the selection of a new Supreme Leader as well as a new president.
‘Corruption’ in Iran ignites war of words between Rowhani, Larijani
A war of words, unlike any since the spread of the Iranian revolution in 1979, has erupted between Iranian President Hassan Rowhani and judiciary chief Sadeq Amoli Larijani in which each one accused the other of "corruption"…
Rowhani announced through his Twitter account his willingness to reveal the presidency accounts, calling Larijani, who is close to Supreme Leader Khamenei to show details of all accounts of the judiciary.
Rowhani wrote… on his Twitter account that “his government is ready to reveal all income and expense accounts, provided that the judicial authority does the same thing.”
This statement comes in response to Larijani’s accusation two days ago, where he accused the president of receiving financial support in the last election campaign in 2013 from Zanjani Babak, whohas been accused of stealing money up to billions of dollars.
Iranian media are split between supporters and opponents around the flaming war of words between the two, which was highlighted in local newspaper Shahrvand in which it described what is happening in the country as "the beginning of the Big Game."
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Labels: Iran, leadership, politics
Iranian stability threatened?
Heshmat Alavi, writing for
Al Arabiya offers some analysis of the effects of Rafsanjani's death.
Will Rafsanjani’s death trigger Iran regime upheaval?
The Iranian regime was dealt a significant blow as former president and senior cleric Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani died…
Known for his influential role in shaping the regime’s politics following the 1979 revolution, Rafsanjani will leave a power vacuum in his wake as he dies less than four months prior to crucial presidential elections.
During the past 38 years Rafsanjani maintained a top role in the regime’s measures of domestic crackdown, export of terrorism and extremism abroad, and pioneering Iran’s effort to obtain nuclear weapons through a clandestine program.
There is no doubt Rafsanjani was part and parcel to the religious establishment in Iran, especially considering his close ties to the regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini, who died in 1989. However, the pro-appeasement camp in the West believed him to be a “pragmatic conservative” willing to mend fences with the outside world, especially the US.
While Rafsanjani’s power had waned considerably in recent years, his last post was head of the Expediency Council, a body assigned to apparently resolve conflicts between the regime’s parliament (Majlis) and the Guardian Council. The latter is an ultra-conservative entity with close links to Khamenei, known mainly for vetting all candidates based on their loyalty to the establishment before any so-called elections…
Parallel to his political endeavors, Rafsanjani also used his position to carve himself and his family an economic empire from the country’s institutions and natural resources in the past decades…
“One brother headed the country’s largest copper mine; another took control of the state-owned TV network; a brother-in-law became governor of Kerman province, while a cousin runs an outfit that dominates Iran’s $400 million pistachio export business; a nephew and one of Rafsanjani’s sons took key positions in the Ministry of Oil; another son heads the Tehran Metro construction project (an estimated $700 million spent so far),” states a 2003 Forbes analysis.
The report also alludes to the billions cached in Swiss and Luxembourg bank accounts by the Rafsanjanis. Despite portraying himself as an adequate broker to the West, Rafsanjani was on par with his “hardline” counterparts in suppressing dissidents…
He also played a presiding role in the 1988 massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners…
Rafsanjani has through four decades of mullahs’ rule in Iran played the role of the regime’s No. 2 figure and a balancing element, always securing the regime’s higher interests. His death will significantly weaken the mullahs’ regime in its entirety and will trigger major upheavals across the regime’s hierarchy.
If past is any indication, the mullahs will most likely resort to further violence and the export of terrorism and extremism to prevent this newest crisis from spiraling out of control…
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Labels: Iran, leadership, politics
Rafsanjani and Iranian politics
Thomas Erdbrink, the
New York Times reporter in Iran offered this analysis of the political meaning to the death of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Look for changes in politics leading up to the next presidential election and the possible selection of a new supreme leader.
Death of Iran’s Rafsanjani Removes Influential Voice Against Hard-Liners
 |
| Rafsanjani |
With the death of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani… Iran’s political factions knew immediately that any space by reformers to maneuver had just significantly decreased.
Change had come, and it did not favor those seeking to turn Iran into a less revolutionary country with more tolerance and outreach to the West — especially the United States.
Mr. Rafsanjani, a former president who helped found the Islamic republic, had been the one man too large to be sidelined by conservative hard-liners. Now he was suddenly gone… and with no one influential enough to fill his shoes…
Mr. Rafsanjani said things others would not dare to say, all agreed, and his voice had at least created some tolerance for debates…
“It is a very powerful reminder that Iran is at the beginning of a major leadership transition that will play a very psychological role in Iran’s politics,” said Vali R. Nasr, a Middle East scholar who is dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies…
Two of Mr. Rafsanjani’s most important protégés — Hassan Rouhani, the current president, and Mohammad Khatami, a former president — both owe their political careers to him. But Mr. Rouhani, up for re-election this year, is fighting for his political life. Mr. Khatami, who has been sidelined by conservative adversaries for years, is now even weaker…
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Labels: Iran, leadership, politics
Rating media biases
I doubt we'd get unanimity about these ratings, but I think the following are generally good. Students should get used to evaluating the biases of sources and this list is a good beginning. Perhaps you could assign students to evaluate the ratings.
Media Bias/Fact Check
Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC News) is an independent online media outlet. MBFC News is dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices.
MBFC News’ aim is to inspire action and a rejection of overtly biased media. We want to return to an era of straight forward news reporting.
Funding for MBFC News comes from site advertising, individual donors, and the pockets of our bias checkers.
MBFC News follows a strict methodology for determining the biases of sources…
The sources that are evaluated are sorted into eight categories:
- Left Bias
- Left-Center Bias
- Least Biased
- Right-Center Bias
- Right Bias
- Pro-Science
- Conspiracy-Pseudoscience
- Satire/Fake News
The first five on the "Left Bias" list are Addicting Info, Advocate, All That’s Fab, Alternet, and Amandla.
The first five on the "Left-Center Bias" are ABC News, Al Jazeera, Al Monitor, Alan Guttmacher Institute, and Alaska Dispatch News.
The first five on the "Least Biased" list are ABC News Australia, AFP (Agence France Presse), Ahram Online, Al Arabiya, and Al Majalla.
The first five on the "Right-Center Bias" list are Against Crony Capitalism, American Action Forum, American Council on Science and Health, American Foreign Policy Council, and Arab News.
The first five on the "Right Bias" list are 100 Percent Fed Up, Accuracy in Media (AIM), Allen B. West, Allen West Republic, and American Enterprise Institute.
The first five on "Pro-Science" list are Air & Space Magazine, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Journal of Archaeology, Archaeology Magazine, and Ars Technica.
The first five on the "Conspiracy-Pseudoscience" list are 21st Century Wire, 369News, A Sheep No More, ACN Latitudes, and Activist Post.
The first five on the "Satire/Fake News" list are 70 News, AbcNews.com.co, Amplifying Glass, Atomic Monkey, and Borowitz Report.
Hopefully there's lots of critical thinking ahead.
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Labels: critical thinking, pedagogy
Checking for facts about political issues in the UK
When reading about Brexit, I came across an organization in the UK called Full Fact. It's an independent charity organization (organization, in the UK) that seeks to publicize facts about important public issues. (It's similar in some ways to
Project Vote Smart in the USA.)
It could be a great resource which students could use to evaluate news articles they see in this blog. We'd expect differences of opinion and interpretation in articles from
The Guardian and
The Economist. With Full Fact, students could evaluate those reports.
We all should be aware that new articles are not published daily. Be sure to check the dates of articles to put them into context.
Full Fact is the UK’s independent factchecking charity
Among the topics recently:
- Not all of Britain’s lawyers are “raking it in”
- Age, motherhood and the gender pay gap
-
House building in England
-
Prime Minister's Questions, factchecked
And the report that might be most relevant right now, How the EU works: leaving the EU
"The government has accepted that it is under a 'democratic duty to give effect to the electorate’s decision' in the EU referendum on 23 June.
"The prime minister told parliament in February that 'if the British people vote to leave there is only one way to bring that about—namely to trigger Article 50 of the treaties and begin the process of exit—and the British people would rightly expect that to start straight away.'
How exactly would that work?...
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Labels: fact checking, politics, UK
Facing external and internal crises
Porfirio Díaz was head of state and head of government in Mexico for most of the 35 years after 1876. Today, he's best remembered for saying, "Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States." Mexican leaders might be repeating that phrase today.
For Mexican Leaders, a Turbulent Start to the New Year
Six days into the new year, Mexico already has little to be happy about.
 |
| Looting in Mexico City |
This week a jump in gasoline prices unleashed widespread protests that spiraled into looting. The country received an ominous warning that President-elect Donald J. Trump’s protectionist rhetoric could have concrete effects when Ford Motor canceled a $1.6 billion investment. The peso fell to its lowest level ever…
Protests continued on Thursday, as demonstrators blocked highways and gas stations. Scattered looting continued, and marches are planned for this weekend to demand a reversal of the price increases…
Uncertainty has roiled Mexico as the government waits to see how far Mr. Trump will go to keep his campaign promises to renegotiate or tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement, deport Mexican migrants and build a border wall.
On Tuesday, Ford announced that it was canceling its planned investment to build a small-car plant in the state of San Luis Potosí…
In response to the Ford announcement, the peso sank to a record low, prompting the central bank to intervene in markets on Thursday. The peso’s recovery proved short-lived after Mr. Trump took aim at Toyota…
Talk of economic sobriety sits poorly with Mexicans, disgusted by a series of political scandals. “This is a government with a terrible record of corruption,” Mr. Romero said. “State, federal — everything smells of corruption.”…
The gas-price increase was approved last year by Congress as part of an austerity budget designed to insulate Mexico from the market uncertainties of Mr. Trump’s rise… “The incredible thing is that the government didn’t expect the reaction,” said Ignacio Marván, a political analyst at CIDE, a Mexico City university…
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Labels: corruption, economics, international relations, Mexico
No EU, no Euro court
Sovereignty. Some politicians have always resisted diluting their nation's sovereignty. In the footsteps of the Brexit vote, some in the UK want to free the country from the scrutiny of foreign courts.
Ministers put British bill of rights plan on hold until after Brexit
 |
| Cameron |
The government has accepted that it will have to put David Cameron’s plan to publish a British bill of rights on hold until after Brexit.
But senior Conservatives are pressing Theresa May to go further, and fight the 2020 general election on a pledge to pull Britain out of the European convention on human rights.
Cameron, May’s predecessor as PM, had planned to repeal the Human Rights Act, passed by the last Labour government to enshrine the ECHR in domestic law, and replace it with a distinct, and more limited, British bill of rights…
Leaving the ECHR would mean a british bill of rights would be enforced by the supreme court in London, rather than the European court of human rights in Strasbourg…
The ECHR, set up to safeguard basic human rights across the continent in the wake of the second world war… Britain as a founder member, and inspired by a proposal by the Conservative prime minister Winston Churchill, for “a charter of human rights, guarded by freedom and sustained by law”.
But some Conservative MPs, including many Brexiteers, believe the ECHR has overstepped its original purpose, and interferes too much in domestic policy…
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Labels: human rights, International Organizations, judicial review, UK
Religious cleavage and political cleavage
The Muslim-Christian cleavage in Nigeria is being played out in politics again.
Nigeria's Sultan of Sokoto rejects gender equality bill
Nigeria's most senior Muslim cleric has rejected a new gender equality bill, which proposes that women and men inherit an equal share.
 |
| Abubakar |
The Sultan of Sokoto, Mohamed Sa'ad Abubakar, said Muslims would not accept the violation of Islamic law guaranteeing men a greater share.
Nigeria's main Christian body has welcomed the bill, saying its religion permitted equal inheritance.
Activists have pushed for the bill to end discrimination against women.
Nigeria is a deeply religious society with roughly the same number of Christians and Muslims…
[T]he Sultan… added: "Islam is a peaceful religion; we have been living peacefully with Christians and followers of other religions in this country. Therefore, we should be allowed to perform our religion effectively."…
Lawmakers say they will consider public opinion before a decision is taken on which aspects of the bill to approve and which aspects to reject…
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Labels: cleavages, gender, Nigeria, religion
Protecting civil society
Civil society requires limits on individual freedom. How far should those limits extend? (No word yet on exactly what the limits will be or how the restrictions will be implemented.)
Clash of Clans mobile game 'blocked' in Iran
 |
| Clash of Clans |
Iran has put limits on who can play the popular Clash of Clans mobile game.
A government committee called for restrictions citing a report from psychologists, who said it encouraged violence and tribal conflict.
The app could also negatively affect family life if teenagers got addicted to the game, warned the committee that polices cyberspace.
Statistics gathered earlier this year suggested that about 64% of mobile gamers in Iran played the game…
Fan sites in Iran reported that many players began having problems accessing the title…
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.
Labels: civil society, individual liberties, Iran
Generations of protest
One of Iran's older opposition leaders pulls himself out of the conflict.
Mehdi Karroubi, Iranian Cleric Under House Arrest, Quits Political Party
 |
| Karroubi |
Mehdi Karroubi, an Iranian cleric who ran for president in 2009 in an election that was followed by protests and a brutal crackdown, has resigned from his political party, according to the Iranian news media.
Mr. Karroubi, 79, has been under house arrest since 2011 for his role in the Green Movement, which helped lead widespread antigovernment protests after the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009…
The letter to Mr. Rouhani revealed a division in the reformist movement in Iran between members of an older generation like Mr. Karroubi, who want to aggressively challenge the system, and mainstream moderates now in ascendancy, who want to focus on reviving the sluggish economy and to avoid a confrontation with Ayatollah Khamenei.
In his April letter, Mr. Karroubi complained about corruption, mismanagement and blind political ambition in Iran’s religious and political establishment, portraying himself as fearless and outspoken.
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Labels: dissent, Iran, leadership, parties
