...Future of Democracy in Africa With the aid of the book, State, Conflict, and Democracy in Africa, I will try to come up with some type of conclusion to the future democracy in Africa. These Africanists that I will mention in my paper have assessed that contemporary Africa has struggled to deal with false starts, unsatisfactory attempts to reconfigure power and varies political reforms. The first theoretical essay is written by Crawford Young on the Third Wave of Democratization in Africa. Young is a Political Scientist, who received a PhD from Harvard and he specializes in development and politics in developing countries, particularly Africa. His works are “The Politics of Cultural Pluralism” , “Ideology and Development in Africa” , and “The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State”. In his essay, Young offers insight on Africa's experimentation on political liberalization. Young starts off by talking about the “third wave” of democratization which hit Africa in 1989 which was seen as a global dynamic. Factors such as modernization, diffusion and power politics helped shaped this transition. In Africa there were deeper structural factors which started first with the economical field. “In dramatic contrast to the aggressive assertion of economic nationalism in the 1970s, a decade peppered with sweeping indigenization programs and widespread nationalism, the 1980 Organization of African Unity Lagos Plan of Action, and the blistering critique of African development performance...
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...The essence of this essay is to explore democracy, democratic consolidation and democratization. It further explains why democratization takes different ‘flight trajectories’ in different developing countries. It is difficult to reach a consensus on the definition of democracy. However, the main idea of democracy is widely accepted to have originated from Athens in the 5th century BC. The Webster New Encyclopedic Dictionary (1995) defines democracy as a government in which supreme power is invested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through representation. According to Lindel, and Scott (1999), the term originates from the Greek word (demokratia) which simply means “rule of the people” and it was coined from (demos) “people” and (kratos) “power” or “rule” in the 5th century B.C. It is important to note that the political system postulated by the Athenians was such that democratic citizenship was exclusive to an elite class of free men only. Slaves and women were excluded from participation. Furthermore, in a lecture titled “What is Democracy”? Diamond (2004) gave an overview of what in his opinion is democracy. He describes democracy as a system of government with four key elements: a system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections; active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life; protection of the human rights of all citizens; and a rule of law in which the laws and procedures apply equally...
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...experience a period of democratic progress, times during which authoritarian regimes or political systems based on undisputed segregation came to an end. From the military coupes of Latin America, to the apartheid regime in South Africa and, most important, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, democracy has spread around the world. As successful as these events might have been, democracy is still vulnerable; the main reason behind this situation is the fact that, unlike other forms of governing, democracy cannot be installed by force and maintained without the support of the people. Competitive free elections, combined with gradual institutionalization and the construction of a political system which appraises the universal values of democracy have proven to be challenging to deliver. As mentioned by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, “no nation is born a democracy”, but democracy has proven to be the key success factor towards building peace, ensuring economic growth and development, consolidate judicial systems and protect human rights (Current Challenges to Democracy). This essay sets to discuss the main current challenges and problems that young democratic government are facing. While democracy, as a concept, has been widely analysed by political analysts, the events of the last decade have raised awareness of a potential reversion of democracy towards government which make excess use of authoritarian power. According to Scott and Steele (2011) and the Council on...
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...Sexism in Politics As far as the politics goes, there has been, without fail, discrimination, sexism and stereotyping. Many of those that do not fit into the desires of the mainstream, for example, women who have endeavoured to break that handicap in society as well as the political sphere. Modern times have shown greater acceptance and tolerance towards groups that do not meet requirements of circumscribed circles. In this essay, the issue addressed is the lack of equality in this particular circumscribed circle called politics on an international level. There is still the need to define discrimination, stereotyping and prejudice among groups and race. In modern times, psychologists and scholars have focused their attention to human behaviour, the human mind as well as gender based issues within the political sphere and even within that area, issues of discrimination, stereotyping, prejudice especially gender do not cease to exist. Sexism has, in the modern era, gained much academic and social legitimacy. Scholars and feminists have thoroughly examined the politics of identification as follows: (a) Gender shapes not only who we are but the world(s) we live in (b) Resistance to changing our personal (gender) identities obstructs feminist movement (c) The identity of the modern subject is not gender neutral but masculine (and typically European) (d) Feminist identity is itself problematic given the diversity (non-identity) among women. (e) Identity...
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...Democracy and Development Democracy and Development By: Sanders (SB) Collins Week 2 First Essay Assignment Professor: Don Anderson Strayer University SOC 300 The Challenge of Third World Development July 12, 2013 By discussing the relationship between democracy and economic development in this assignment we will attempt to compare the ways Howard Handleman, Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel all define the prerequisites argued or implied that are necessary for a working democracy. Is the emphasis centered on economics, cultural values, political values, or a combination of all three? Each author has their own perspective on the subject and we begin with a brief synopsis of each to better clarify our discussions. Howard Handleman spent much of his career with the International News Service and U.S. News and World Report as a correspondent and editor. In his text in Chapter 2, Handleman focuses on the political shifts that have taken place in much of the Third World. Governmental authoritarian regimes have fallen due to the call for democracy and freedom in many of the more than 150 countries that together make up the Third World. Probably the most notable example of this type of regime to collapse would be the end of the Cold War. After the Russian fall of power and the resulting loss of both economic and military support from the USSR many of its allies fell from grace and the call for democracy began to become more...
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...* ortfolio * Help * FOUN1301 Law, Governance, Economy and Society | S3 15/16 Page path * Home / ► * Semester 3 15/16 / ► * FOUN1301 | S3 / ► * General / ► * Graded Discussion 2 ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form SearchSearch forums Bottom of Form Graded Discussion 2 Second graded discussion question: Graded Discussion 2: Opens June 13 closes June 17, 2016 @ 3:30 pm (EC Time) (15 marks). Question: Evaluate whether the Westminster model system of government adopted by English speaking Caribbean countries accommodates corruption Graded Discussion 2 by Sophia De La Rosa Williams - Wednesday, 15 June 2016, 9:05 AM Westminster system of Government can be defined as a democratic,parliamentary system of Government modelled after that of the United Kingdom system , as used in the Palace of Westminster (the Parliament of the United Kingdom).This system is a series of procedures for operating a legislature.It is used in most commonwealth nations.Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It can be classified as grand,petty and political,depending on the on the amount of money, lost and the sector where it occurs.According to Arnold Heidenheimer corruption is "perversion or destruction of integrity in the discharge of public duties by bribery or favour".I think it is safe to say that corruption and the Westminster system go hand in hand, the Westminster system has an inbuilt lack of checks and balances...
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...Democracy & Constitutionalism in South Asia: The Bangladesh Experience Gowher Rizvi Ash Institute for Democratic Governance & Innovation Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Today democracy is a universal aspiration. Even the military dictatorships and authoritarian communist regimes seek to cloak themselves with democratic trappings and pretensions. To judge by the list of countries those that have held some sort of ‘popular elections’ to validate their regimes, there are very few governments around the world that would not be termed democratic. Under the rules of electoral head counting it would perhaps be impossible not to accord democratic status even to states like Iraq or Pakistan or North Korea. The leaders in all of these countries and numerous others have sought to legitimize their rule through varying degrees of popular ‘mandates’ and ‘endorsements’. Yet very few of these countries would actually be considered democratic if they were subjected to the more rigorous tests of constitutionalism. Popular elections and renewal of popular mandates are essential, but not sufficient, conditions for democracy. At best, a free and fair popular election is one step in the process of a constitutional democratic government. Constitutionalism, like democracy, is a dynamic and complex concept that is constantly evolving. Although there have been changes in emphases and its nuances, the core of constitutionalism has remained constant over time: constitutionalism is about...
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...24 July 2010 Essay Exam Commerce in the post-Renaissance World Commerce, throughout the post-renaissance era has become increasingly more important. In the seventeenth century, the idea of Technological Project (control of nature for human benefit) was introduced by Bacon and Descartes. This was very important because at the time, many people thought in terms of conformity to nature, not in terms of transforming nature for human benefit. Thinking in terms of conformity constrains individual freedom as far as innovation, which is the opposite of what TP is trying to accomplish. Inner-directed individuals are required for TP in order to produce innovative ideas that are both scientific and technical, in order to understand and control natural processes. Such individuals are considered to be autonomous thinkers. Free market economy is essential to the idea of TP. Free market society is a system in which goods and services are exchanged, and privately owned. The reason this is essential is because free market society creates and involves competition. Having a free market society, that is competitive, leads to innovation. Competition is in my mind, the basis for innovation. People would not be driven to innovate or think in such creative ways if they were not being challenged, or competing against others is such an economy. Innovation (which is derived from free market economy and its competition) is very important in terms of TP. In the Wealth of Nations, Adam...
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...conform to the ruling body, often a dictator. 2."Nothing outside the state". The country must grow and the implied goal of any fascist nation is to rule the world, and have every human submit to the government. 3."Nothing against the state". Any type of questioning the government is not to be tolerated. If you do not see things our way, you are wrong. If you do not agree with the government, you cannot be allowed to live and taint the minds of the rest of the good citizens. The use of militarism was implied only as a means to accomplish one of the three above principles, mainly to keep the people and rest of the world in line. Fascist countries are known for their harmony and lack of internal strife. There are no conflicting parties or elections in fascist countries. Nazi Germany was extreme Fascism, better...
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...effective participation, and voting equality at the decision stage (Dahl 1989). In addition to Dahl’s criteria, there are a number of other characteristics that make a country democratic. A democratic government allows adult citizens to elect their representatives - essentially the ability to fire and hire the representatives. Another important aspect in the democratic system is that majority rules in the election process, but individual rights are still protected. Next, a democracy must have individual rights. These rights include things such as freedom of religion and equal protection under the law. Another main criteria for a democratic country is free and fair elections. Free and fair elections must be held regularly for all levels of government with the opportunity to vote given to each adult citizen. For a country to be considered democratic, it must have citizen participation. Citizen participation is the key to democracy, with citizens having the right to express themselves and vote. Citizens living in a democratic society are the guardians of their own freedom (Dahl 1989). This essay will argue that Indonesia could be considered a democracy, but a very troubled one. Indonesia meets the basic principles of democracy as outlined by Dahl’s, but is struggling to maintain its grips on democracy Indonesia is located in Southeast Asia with 17,000 islands and a population of 249 million people. The largest...
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...French Nationalism The notion of nationalism plays a critical role in the development on domestic and international politics. There are cases around the globe of how ethnically related politics, or ethnopolitcs, have infiltrated the international political arena. One such case, and the focus of this essay, is the case of Basque nationalism in Spain. In order to tackle a subject of this complexity, this essay will review a brief history of the Basque people, including: historical ties to the land, language and literature. Furthermore, the political situation in both during the times of General Franco’s regime and post-Franco Spain are examined in order to analyze the politics of Basque Nationalism. The notion of nationalism plays a critical role in the development on domestic and international politics. There are cases around the globe of how ethnically related politics, or ethnopolitcs, have infiltrated the international political arena. One such case, and the focus of this essay, is the case of Basque nationalism in Spain. In order to tackle a subject of this complexity, this essay will review a brief history of the Basque people, including: historical ties to the land, language and literature. Furthermore, the political situation in both during the times of General Franco’s regime and post-Franco Spain are examined in order to analyze the politics of Basque Nationalism. While the history of the Basque people has been littered with political and social unrest, the Basque...
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...On the 17th July 1936 a coup was launched by the army generals in attempt to overthrow the Popular Front government that had only been elected into power in February 1936. The coup was ordered by General Mola on this date because of the assassination of a leading monarchist, Jose Calvo Sotelo by the Assault Guard. However the outbreak of civil war also had underlying long-term causes such as social divisions in Spain and more short-term ones such as a lack of political consensus during the time of the Second Republic. This essay will consider the extent to which the different factors were responsible for the outbreak of civil war in 1936. The assassination of Calvo Sotelo, a leading monarchist who opposed the Popular Front, by the Assault Guard was responsible for General Mola ordering his instructions for the coup to go ahead that ultimately led to civil war. On 13th July 1936, in reprisal for the murder of a Jose Castillo, a left-wing member of the Assault Guard, his colleagues drew up a list of prominent right-wing targets, arrested Sotelo and later murdered him. The assassination made up Mola’s and the other army general’s minds over whether to launch the coup and on the 17th July 1936, just five days later the coup was launched in Morocco. The assassination of Sotelo was partially responsible for the outbreak of civil war because it gave Mola the justification he needed to launch the coup and thus plunge Spain into civil war. Mola could now argue that the army had a responsibility...
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...Machiavelli's Tiger: Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore's Authoritarian Regime By Uri Gordon (student at the Department of Political Science, Tel Aviv University, Israel) Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I’m meaningless. Lee Kuan Yew, 6.10.1997 Introduction ‘History’, observes Adorno, ‘is the unity of continuity and discontinuity’. Even a basic awareness to this reality should be enough to prevent anyone – especially the new sojourner into the realm of political science – from making coarse comparisons between past and present. And yet, sometimes the picture is so compelling, so painfully clear, that it simply cannot be ignored. Faced with it, all one can do is carefully explore the contours of the ancient and the new, hoping to retain enough responsibility to open his eyes to the differences when they manifest themselves. This is what the current paper sets out to do. Though hundreds of years and thousands of miles stand between 16th century Italy and 20th century Singapore, between the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli and the statecraft of Lee Kuan Yew, the similarities are extraordinary. This paper will argue that the political views and actions of Singapore’s ruling elite – more precisely, those of the country’s ‘founding father’ Lee Kuan Yew – can be powerfully interpreted through an application of Machiavellian principles. This interpretation takes place on two levels. First, the political actions of Singapore’s...
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...As usual, before I direct you to the week's assignment questions, there are a few remarks I would like to make regarding important, related issues and/or background material. Please consider the comments below, which touch upon a number of topics addressed in our text and which include a number of related observations taken from my own research. Purposes of Elections Firstly, one key point to remember is that elections, originally designed in order to allow citizens to select their own leaders, are also used by governments in order to build support for their policies. This is particularly true of parliamentary governments, which generally require simple plurality votes in order to pass sweeping legislation. In parliamentary governments, political parties are represented in direct proportion to the percentage of votes that they receive in general elections. Therefore, parliamentary majorities usually enjoy the implicit consent of a large percentage of the population whenever passing laws or implementing policies. However, if support is waning, a parliamentary government will sometimes call for a new, general election to hopefully gain more legislative seats, hence more support for their policies. Types of...
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...A revolution is a radical change of an established government, political system, or social structure often accompanied by violence. Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule of an empire or nation over other countries or acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. Both of these concepts were key during the Cuban revolution held in the XXth century. The Cuban revolution was an armed revolt led by Fidel Castro’s 26th of july movement and allies against the authoritarian government of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista. The revolution started in 1953 and lasted 5 years and a half until 1959 when the rebels finally ousted Batista, however the causes to it weren’t just short term but also long term ones. The purpose of this essay is to analyze both of this types of causes which led together to start the revolution. The long term causes started with the Cuban ten years war also known as the great war in 1868 to 1878. This war was part of Cuba’s fight for independence from Spain due to that it was the first of 3 wars between the 2 countries. In October 10 1868 sugar mill owner, Carlos Manuel Cespedes and his followers proclaimed independence beginning the conflict. The Cuban people demanded 4 main things to the Spanish parliament: Tariff reform, Cuban representation in parliament, judicial equality with Spaniards and full enforcement of a slave trade ban, however the Spanish government denied all of this demands which caused discontent among Cubans and ended in a conflict...
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