The roads to parliamentarianism. Models of political inclusion and exclusion between Spain and Mexico, 1810–65

The Cadiz courts symbolize the foundational episode of the liberal revolutions that took place in Spain and Latin America, and from this starting point, this article undertakes a comparative analysis of the different roads in political experimentation implemented in Spain and post-independent Mexico, during the first decades of the nineteenth century, in applying and consolidating liberal state models. In this case, emphasis is given to the debate arising around the representation and idea of political inclusion and exclusion put forward by the different legal frameworks in both countries, as essential cornerstones for modulating the different typologies of parliamentarianism, of the electorate and of the parliamentarian ideal, where a direct link is underlined between elitism and parliamentarian representation.     

The strange case of a national anthem without lyrics: music and political identities in Spain (1785–1913)*

Over the course of the long nineteenth century, between 1785 and 1913, Spain underwent processes of national construction similar to those experienced in other European countries. This phenomenon can be analysed through the crucial aspect of national symbols. Music played a leading role in these processes and engendered two opposing models, the product of internal political divisions. One, influenced by the style of the French Revolution, gave rise to a great many popular songs and was represented most of all by the Himno de Riego or “Riego Hymn,” the preferred anthem of the liberal and democratic left. The other, following a monarchist template inspired by the United Kingdom, was embodied in the Marcha Real or Royal March, a piece of ceremonial music without words that was promoted by conservative sectors opposed to popular political mobilization. The struggle between the two resulted in the adoption of the latter march as Spain’s official national anthem, although its association with the monarchy and the Catholic religion impeded the formation of a broad consensus around it. Contrary to the arguments maintained by many historians until a few years ago, the case of Spain cannot be considered as exceptional, although it did have certain peculiarities deriving from conflicts between different versions of Spanish nationalism and between the nationalism of the state and the sub-state nationalist movements that emerged towards the end of this period.     

Yucatecan–Mexican Relations at the Time of Independence: The Yucatecan Pronunciamiento of 1821

This article will explore local Yucatecan politicking and the Yucatecan–Mexican relationship at the time of independence, using Yucatán's pronunciamiento for independence in September 1821 as a case study. This examination will highlight the fact that, while local ambitions played a significant role in Yucatán's bid for independence, this did not necessarily detract from Yucatecans' attempts to not only engage with national political movements, but also to unite with Mexico. This in turn will take further historians' recent attempts to revise the traditional perception of Yucatán as one of the more pro‐autonomous and isolated states of early nineteenth‐century Mexico.     

To Bowl a Mexican Maiden Over: Cricket in Mexico, 1827–1900

The Mexico City Cricket Club was founded in 1827 by a mixed group of British and foreign nationals. This article traces its origins, rules and regulations, membership, progress and activities through to the 1870s and again in the revival of the 1880s and 1890s. It reveals that although the game of cricket was adopted by few Mexicans, it was enthusiastically played by the British community in Mexico throughout the nineteenth century. The Club continues to the present time in Mexico City.     

Engagement with empire as norm and in practice in Kazakh nomadic political culture (1820s–1830s)

This article offers an analysis of the Kazakh nomadic political culture of the 1820s–30s with focus on two issues: (1) service and loyalty as elements of Kazakh engagement with the Russian Empire; and (2) the place in local political practice of the regional administrative offices (diwans) created for Middle Horde Kazakh nomads in 1822. While Russia’s goal was ‘bureaucratization’ and creation of ‘order’ in the steppe, in part through directing nomads to engage with the diwan and its elected Kazakh officials, Kazakh political actors variously embraced and rejected formal structures, and continued to define relevant norms and practices of governance. The analysis challenges both statist and nationalist narratives of nineteenth-century Kazakh steppe history by acknowledging the complexities of the Kazakh nomadic experience of empire-building. The ultimate purpose is to suggest new approaches for interpreting historical change throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth.     

Permanence of the Family Farm Questioned: Rural Mobility in the Nineteenth-Century Estonia and Sweden

The family farm has symbolic significance in many parts of the world. In this paper we argue that the “rooted” identity of the farmer emerged as a reaction to rapid modernization in society and that, in actual fact, the nineteenth century rural communities were both geographically and socially mobile. We examine how kinship ties were expressed in spatial terms with the help of two examples from Harjumaa in north Estonia and Västergötland in south Sweden. These micro-histories are taken both to illuminate and subvert some of the key ideas about identity, belonging, and mobility of the nineteenth-century farmer.     

Intractable Policy Failure: The Case of Bovine TB and Badgers

The failure to eliminate bovine TB from the English and Welsh cattle herd represents a long-term intractable policy failure. Cattle-to-cattle transmission of the disease has been underemphasised in the debate compared with transmission from badgers despite a contested evidence base. Archival evidence shows that mythical constructions of the badger have shaped the policy debate. Relevant evidence was incomplete and contested; alternative framings of the policy problem were polarised and difficult to reconcile; and this rendered normal techniques of stakeholder management through co-option and mediation of little assistance.     

A sublime,yet disputed,object of political ideology? Sufism in Pakistan at the crossroads

Muslim symbolic politics in Pakistan has been a much studied topic even though little is known about the specific role of Sufism, the mystical trend within Islam, in these complex dynamics. This article argues that this highly ambiguous and ambivalent category of Islamic discourse, covering a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices, has often been tapped as a political resource, instrumentalised as a legitimising tool by both state and non-state actors and played a major role in the ideological debates on the place of Islam in Pakistani state and society, especially since the beginning of the ‘War on Terror’.     

Coloured Judgements? The Work of the Thai Constitutional Court, 1998–2016

Created in 1997 as part of a major constitutional reform, Thailand’s Constitutional Court has since become embroiled in several high-profile political controversies. Since the 2006 coup, because a number of such decisions have favoured one political camp and considering obvious close and long-standing relations between judges and political elites, questions have arisen about the court’s ability to act as an independent arbiter. Is this view justifiable? To answer that question, this article first analyses how the court has behaved across political administrations in 32 high-profile cases since 2001. It then turns to the socio-biographic profile of the bench, the politics of nominations and changes to its composition, particularly since 2006. Finally, the article considers data on participants in classes offered by the Constitutional Court, which makes it possible to better understand the links between Thai political and judicial networks. The analysis finds evidence of politically biased voting patterns and increasingly partisan nominations to the court, though formally appointment procedures are apolitical, which suggests the politicisation of the court and growing ties between judicial and political elites. These findings raise new questions about the public’s perception of the Constitutional Court’s legitimacy and prospects for the rule of law.     

结构性地区主义与开放性地区主义——西欧与东亚的比较

全球化浪潮下,地区主义伴随区域一体化得到迅速发展。在西欧一体化过程中,西欧国家通过重视合法协定、强调功能整合以及超国家机构的建设形成了结构性地区主义;而在东亚一体化发展中,东亚国家则强调不干涉原则,突出国家主权至上,抵制和质疑超国家机构,从而形成了弱机制化的开放性地区主义。两种性质的地区主义的成因主要在于:西欧和东亚的历史发展体系不同,导致其各自成员国之间的经济政治制度同质性程度不同,成员国之间的集体认同以及对民族国家主权的价值观存在差异。就发展趋向而言,自金融危机后,欧洲债务危机频现,暴露了规范严谨的结构性地区主义的僵化弊病,而东亚一体化过程中,东盟、10+1、10+3、东亚峰会等对话形式层出不穷,则表明了缺乏规范机制下的地区合作效率的不足。     

Growing Without Pains? Explaining Liberal Democrat MPs' Behaviour

Recent academic studies and wider commentary on the behaviour of Liberal Democrat MPs have recognised their relatively high level of cohesiveness on whipped votes when compared to that of Labour and the Conservatives, and to the Liberal Democrats' own reputation; but while this trend continues, few studies have focused upon its causes. This article uses the MPs' voting records, personal papers, interviews and wider contextual data to chart the extent of that unity over time, and to explore its origins, including group composition, structure, patronage, relations with the extra-parliamentary party and other parties as well as national party image. It finds the key to this unity in a combination of medium and long-term features of the Liberal and Liberal Democrat group of MPs, rather than a short-term singular determinant.     

日本政治中的“世袭”现象及潜规则

日本在明治维新后废除了身份制度,贵族制度也随之消失。但封建时代的许多旧俗仍然不可避免地残存下来,并在现代日本的政治生活中发挥着不可小视的影响。其中,“世袭议员”现象就是最为典型的政治文化遗产,折射出日本政治中某些传统的潜规则。日本政坛长期以来存在的“家族世袭”现象,在某种意义上对过去几十年日本的经济发展和政治稳定都起到了积极作用。但同时,“世袭”现象也使日本政坛的关系过于复杂化,权钱交易丑闻时有发生,增加了政治和经济改革的难度。日本大选使得民主党和自民党在这一问题上展开了激烈的斗争。“世袭议员”制度的政治传统面临着改革的压力,然而日本民族文化深远的影响力同样不容忽视。关注2009年日本大选背景下日本有关“世袭议员”现象的争论,从制度成因变化的角度分析日本政治的传统与变革之争,并尝试对“世袭议员”现象的前景做一展望。     

“Per la conservació de la raça catalana”: The Catalan Eugenics Society (1935–1937)

This article expands on existing work done on the Catalan Eugenics Society and its focus on Josep Vandellós, a demographer and organiser of the Society. It places the Catalan Eugenics Society within the growing volume of work on the international, particularly “Latin” eugenics movement. In doing so, it explores discourse on questions of “race,” immigration and “national” identity as refracted through the nascent eugenics movement and the political concerns of the time in Catalonia. In particular, the article assesses the question of “racial mixing” between Catalans and Spaniards from other regions and argues that, rather than rejecting miscegenation outright, Vandellós valued certain mixes as part of a eugenic project to fortify and maintain the Catalan “race” in the face of population loss and the dissolution of Catalan identity.     

“自由国际秩序”、多极化与俄罗斯的“2024议程”

在国际秩序构建问题上,伊肯伯里的"自由国际秩序"理论、普里马科夫的多极世界思想、基辛格的国际秩序演变观,是三种来自不同思想谱系、取向与功能各异、对国际秩序延续和转型有着各自思考的理论。虽然三种立场之间有时看似对立,存在着相互冲突与逆转的可能,但是不排除彼此接近、展开对话,乃至探寻共识的空间。从物理学意义上的外在结构,或简单引用历史先例,来寻找未来世界秩序演进的轨迹,显然已经不够。关注上述不同立场间的争议与各自在互动中的调整,研究各大国间很不相同的国内进程与"全球转型"之间的相互作用,具有重要的理论与现实意义。2020年初俄罗斯开启了"2024议程"。俄罗斯政府改组和普京提出宪法修正案等一系列重要部署与相关的广泛讨论,不仅旨在解决社会经济的紧迫挑战,同时也指向2024年现总统任期届满之后的中长期政治经济安排。像俄罗斯这样将当下困难问题的处理与长远发展战略部署加以联系,将本国内部事务的转型与未来世界发展的潮流相互衔接的做法,值得学界关注。