Sorting out government, state, rule of law, and politics
Be very glad you're not trying to analyze Saudi Arabia.
In Saudi Arabia, Where Family and State Are One, Arrests May Be Selective
King Salman’s close relatives not only rule Saudi Arabia. They are also in business with it.
A major Saudi investment firm founded by one of the king’s sons, and now chaired by another, owns a significant stake in a conglomerate that does extensive government business… A smaller firm founded by another of his sons says it invests in health care, telecommunications, education and other regulated or state-funded fields.
None of that apparent conflict of interest seems to be against the law.
But now their brother, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is leading a sweeping crackdown against what he has labeled “corruption”… But his immediate family’s complicated and mostly undisclosed business interests are raising questions about what that accusation means in a kingdom where the law has so far included little or no regulation of what other countries have labeled and outlawed as self-dealing.
Saudi laws, issued by royal decree or derived from Islamic law, have so far included little or no regulation of the sprawling royal family and its closest clients. The family has never disclosed the sources of its income, how much its members might take from the country’s oil revenues, how much they earn from state contracts or how they afford their lavish lifestyles…
The kingdom, an absolute monarchy, has also never attempted to create an independent court system to adjudicate claims…
And it was unclear which branch of the court system might hear the cases — the main Shariah court system or the more specialized board of grievance courts that handle administrative complaints.
“The law is not meant to govern the ruling family in any meaningful way, or to govern the relations between the ruling family and the state,” said Nathan J. Brown, a scholar at George Washington University who studies Arab legal systems.
“Ultimately, the king and some high members of the royal family can do what they want and make it legal later,” he said, and the lack of regulation over royal self-dealing “opens the door wide to what would be considered corruption in other systems.”…
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Labels: concepts, corruption, government, judiciary, legislation, rule of law, state
Details, details
There are thousands of details to be taken into account when the UK leaves the EU.
Brexit: UK sets out plans to replace all EU laws
Thousands of EU laws on everything from workers' rights to the environment are to be transferred into UK law as the country gears up for Brexit.
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| Davis |
Brexit Secretary David Davis said the Great Repeal Bill would allow the UK Parliament and Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland administrations to scrap, amend and improve laws.
It would also end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
But Labour warned it was being done without proper Parliamentary scrutiny…
In a statement to MPs, David Davis said the repeal bill would allow businesses to continue operating on the day after UK leaves the EU "knowing the rules have not changed overnight".
He said it would also mean that workers' rights, environmental protection and consumer rights currently enshrined in EU laws would continue as UK laws - although Parliament would be free to change them later.
The repeal bill will also "end the supremacy" of EU law in the UK, "delivering" on the result of last year's referendum, he added.
"Our laws will then be made in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast and interpreted not by judges in Luxembourg but by judges across the United Kingdom," he told MPs…
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Labels: Brexit, EU, legislation, UK
Well, if the queen says it's okay…
The final step of making a law in the UK
Brexit: Queen gives Royal Assent to Article 50 bill
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| Queen Elizabeth II |
The Queen has given Royal Assent to the Brexit bill, clearing the way for Theresa May to start talks to leave the European Union.
The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill was passed by MPs and peers on Monday.
It allows the prime minister to notify Brussels that the UK is leaving the EU, with a two year process of exit negotiations to follow…
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Labels: Brexit, legislation, UK
Begin budgeting
Iran has begun the project of planning government spending. But can it get $40 for a barrel of its oil?
Iran's parliament approves $97 billion budget
Iran's official IRNA news agency is reporting that the country's parliament has approved a $97 billion budget for the current year.
The Tuesday report says that the new budget allows the government to set the price of oil at $40 a barrel and to export 2.25 million barrels per day.
Iran says it has increased its crude export to 2.1 million barrels per day, almost double the production levels before a nuclear deal with world powers…
The bill needs ratification by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, to become law.
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Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.
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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.
What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.
Labels: budget, Iran, legislation, regime
What are we voting on?
As if the governing procedures of the EU weren't complex enough, journalists seem to be unsure of what the real issue is.
- Can you identify who drafted the legislation the MEPs voted on?
- Can you hypothesize who lobbied on these issues?
- Which issue, net neutrality or roaming charges, do you think the MEPs thought was most important? Why?
- Who is going to write the regulations that will implement the new law?
- Why will places like the Netherlands have to change their laws now?
- Is there a court that could interpret this law for specific cases?
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| European Union Parliament |
Mobile phones: Data roaming charges will be abolished
The ban on data roaming charges from 15 June 2017 has received a final green light in the European Parliament.
Roaming charges are added by mobile operators for calls, texts and internet browsing when phone users are abroad.
An interim cap on charges will take effect from 30 April next year, prior to the full ban across the EU…
Some 665 MEPs voted in favour of the deal…
From 15 June 2017, users within the EU will be charged the same as they would in their home country.
Critics of the ban suggest the loss of revenue for mobile phone companies could push up prices in general, including prices for non-travellers…
European Parliament votes against net neutrality amendments
The European Parliament has voted against a set of rules intended to safeguard "net neutrality" in the EU.
A series of amendments to a regulation on how internet traffic is managed in Europe were all rejected by MEPs.
Proponents of net neutrality, who demand that web traffic be treated equally by networks, have already criticised the move.
The existing legislation, which was accepted, will be developed into regulations…
The Body of European Regulators (BEREC) would now have nine months to issue guidelines to bodies like Ofcom [Office or Ministry of Communications] in the UK, he added…
Besides a host of net neutrality campaigners, inventor of the world wide web Sir Tim Berners-Lee had added his voice to those supporting the amendments…
And a string of tech companies signed a letter to the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, asking MEPs to adopt the amendments.
The firms included Netflix, Tumblr, Vimeo, Kickstarter and Reddit…
Interestingly, three countries within the EU - Netherlands, Slovenia and Finland - already have a range of net neutrality rules enshrined in law.
These laws might have to be altered depending on how the new, EU-wide rules are interpreted by regulators later…
Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.
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.
Labels: EU, legislation, regime, regulation
Beware of textbook generalizations
Well, at least recognize that generalizations are not without exception. Textbooks (generally) describe parliamentary government as easily enacting the plans of the legislative majority.
Two issues this week in Commons demonstrate that is not the way things work all the time.
Fox-hunting: SNP forces Cameron to delay planned Commons vote
Ministers shelved Wednesday's vote on relaxing hunting laws in England and Wales after the SNP said it would vote against the changes…
Downing Street said it was "disappointing" that the vote had to be postponed, and said new proposals on the Hunting Act would be introduced "in due course"…
The government now plans to tighten up restrictions on Scottish MPs voting on matters in England and Wales before holding a vote on hunting regulations.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister, said the decision to delay the hunting vote showed "David Cameron can't carry his own parliamentary group", and that he only had a "slender and fragile" majority.
She said he had also been forced to pull his English votes for English laws plans, showing that he was "not master of all he surveys in the House of Commons".
She said if he "had any sense", he would come back with proposals based on "fairness and reasonableness" that "work in both directions"…
With two strategic retreats in the space of a week, the intersection of Hunting and English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) is generating some really interesting politics.
Last week, the government paused its attempt to bring in EVEL, replacing a vote on Wednesday with a consultative debate…
The government plans to change Commons rules to allow English, or English and Welsh, MPs a "decisive say" on legislation only applying there.
However, the current proposals would not prevent SNP MPs from voting against the changes.
This is because the statutory instrument ministers want to use to change the law would require the support of the whole of the House of Commons…
Meanwhile, a poll for the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show has suggested almost three in four British adults are against making fox hunting legal.
The poll, conducted by ComRes, asked 1,005 people if the practice "should or should not be made legal again?".
Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry.
What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.
What You Need to Know 6th edition is ready to help.
Amazon's customers gave this book a 4-star rating, and that's the only place to get copies right now.
Just The Facts! is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.
New edition coming in August.
Labels: legislation, politics, UK
"Normal" legislative process
The New York Times account of the passage of a new environmental protection law in China offers a perception of a legislative process that is very similar to one practiced in the UK or Mexico or the USA.
China’s Legislature Votes to Toughen Environmental Protection Law
The Chinese legislature decided Thursday to revise the country’s environmental protection law…
The legal revisions were approved Thursday by the National People’s Congress [NPC], a legislative body that generally agrees to policies already made by Communist Party leaders. Li Keqiang, China’s prime minister, has said that China is ready to “declare war” on pollution…
You know what's misleading about that account.
The New York Times reporter makes it sound as if the NPC is meeting in Beijing like Parliament does in London, and on Thursday it passed important revisions to environmental protection legislation.
What's wrong with that impression? If you were asked that question on an exam, what would your answer be?
Here's the account by the Chinese news agency
Xinhua:
China's NPC adopts revised Environmental Protection Law
The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, has voted to adopt revisions to the Environmental Protection Law…
The bill was passed with a solid majority of votes…
And the difference between the two accounts?
You should recognize right away that the ±3000 delegates to the NPC are not in session at this time of year. They meet earlier in the spring (March 5-15 in 2014).
You should also know about how political bodies in China regularly have "executive" committees to do the work of larger groups and ask for approval for those actions later. The Communist Party has a Politburo and within that a Standing Committee.
In a system of democratic centralism, policy decisions are made at the very top of the system by very small groups of people. The Party politburo is a group of about 25; the Party Standing Committee has 7 members. Similarly, the 3000-member NPC (meeting yearly) has a standing committee of about 150 (meeting every other month) and the chairman and about 14 vice-chairmen (probably meet weekly or as needed) serve as the executive committee for the NPC Standing Committee.
So, as with the care you must take with Nigerian journalists who carelessly toss around terms like government and regime, we must take care, even with respected journalists like those who write for the
New York Times, when they describe political processes in terms that sound familiar. Comparative politics is not easy to get right.
Teaching Comparative blog
entries are indexed.
Just The Facts! is a concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam.
What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools, the original version and v2.0 are available to help curriculum planning.
Labels: China, legislation, political culture, regime
