Extension des privilèges constitutionnels de la Douma russe dans les ‘interstices de la procédure’ 1906–1917

Summary

The nobility and the Netherlands Senate 1815–1830

From 1815 to 1830 the northern and southern Netherlands formed a single kingdom under Guillaume I. In this kingdom the nobility was the only social order to enjoy special political rights. The political influence the nobility could exercise as an order was primarily at the provincial level. The Corps Equestres had a role as a sort of electoral college for the Provincial Estates of the separate provinces. In 1815, after the States General had been divided into two chambers, the influence of the provinces made itself felt particularly through the elections for the Second Chamber, the members of the First Chamber, the Senate, being appointed by the king. Despite the fact that over ninety percent of them belonged to the nobility, the nobility as an order never became a political group exercising power at the national level.     

Preferring Rome to Brussels: Mapping Interest Group Europeanisation in Italy

ABSTRACT

How much do Italian interest groups undertake their advocacy/lobbying activities at the EU level? How often have groups gained access to different EU level institutions? This paper presents an original conceptualisation for the concept of ‘interest group Europeanisation’, which takes into account both the percentage of EU lobbying and access to EU institutions, and assesses the role of national centrality (i.e. access to national institutional venues and self-perceived influence in national policy-making) in determining whether there is more or less interest group Europeanisation. Original data from a national survey conducted on around 500 Italian interest groups are provided. Groups that are at the core of the national interest system are less likely to undertake a large part of their lobbying activities at the EU level, but more likely to gain EU access.     

Maximising small party potential: The effects of electoral system rules on the far right in German sub‐national elections

Drawing on a data base of election results at national, regional and sub‐national level, this paper examines the impact of the German electoral system on the representation of far right parties. While the electoral threshold of five per cent is a hindrance to small parties at all levels, low district magnitude at sub‐national level tends to exacerbate under‐representation and the minority status of small parties while high district magnitude may result in over‐representation, in particular if a party secures around ten per cent. The paper concludes that electoral representation of small parties with limited resources is affected by votes gained, district magnitude and seat distribution at a given electoral level. Depending on the combination of these factors, the system of translating votes into seats may favour or disadvantage small parties.     

Citizenship status and social exclusion in Estonia and Latvia

Abstract

Findings from the Norbalt living conditions surveys in Estonia and Latvia are used to examine whether persons without Estonian and Latvian citizenship are at greater risk of social exclusion than citizens in these two countries. the level of integration into the labor market, participation in civil society and political life, degree of social isolation, and the level of economic resources among the two groups are analyzed. In Estonia non-citizens are more at risk of social exclusion compared to Estonian citizens, while in Latvia one finds no statistically significant difference between the groups. In both countries educational level is much more important than citizenship status in explaining social exclusion.     

Soviet boarding schools as a forge of national professionals and intellectuals in Soviet Tajikistan in the 1950s and 1960s

ABSTRACT

The study focuses on the institution of boarding schools (Russian: internat) in Soviet Tajikistan in the 1950s and 1960s and its role in the education and training of the new national generations of skilled professionals in the fields of industry, science, culture, art and healthcare, which in turn contributed to the development of their country. Along with the de-Stalinization of education and subsequent polytechnization, as well as flexibility in the use of Soviet institutions, the internats were transformed from a purely Soviet project into a more inclusive Soviet-Tajik project at the national level for the training of new young national-Sovietized professionals. These professionals combined the qualities of Sovietized and local (national), with their distinctive norms, traditions and values, into a totally new form. The boarding school system turned into a factory for bringing up national-Sovietized specialists and cadres.     

Islam and politics in a Malay state: Kelantan 1838–1969

Abstract

The contention of this book is that it is necessary to study political activity at the level of the common individual. This position is in clear contrast to the common assumption that individuals are ineffectual in asserting their political rights, unaware of political issues and unimportant in the course of national history. Bowen has aimed his study deliberately at the actions and associations of the commoners involved in the Meiji popular rights movement. He focuses upon three gekka jiken (“incidents of intensified violence”)—the Fukushima Incident of 1882 and the Kabasan and Chichibu incidents of 1884—seeking “to learn why they happened; what they tell about general social, economic, and political conditions; and what consequences they had for society and politics as a whole” (p. 6).     

The EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership: Waning affection,persisting economic interests

ABSTRACT

Ten years after the coming into force of the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership, this article takes stock of this partnership. Our aim, within this special issue, is to assess the EU’s perspective on its strategic partnership with South Africa, and in particular to look at economic and development cooperation within the partnership and to what extent European expectations of closer engagement have been met. Our analysis shows that economic interests have remained central to bilateral relations and the strategic partnership, even if some potential for economic engagement has remained unexploited. At the same time, the relationship has been quite tense in recent years, as bilateral ‘affection’ at the political level has waned. The implications for the partnership are weighed.     

SPD and PDS relationships

This article examines the mutual relationship of SPD and PDS. In the past, the relationship between Communists and Social Democrats has been tense, even if the 1970s and 1980s saw a slight improvement. After the collapse of the GDR and the onset of German unity ‐ the SED had meanwhile become the PDS ‐ a coalition between the two parties was unthinkable. The SPD at least was strictly opposed to it. Even at the eve of the 1998 federal elections, nobody seriously considers a coalition at national level but some forces in the SPD have begun to advocate coalitions with the PDS at regional level in the new Lander. This strategy enjoys the backing of the PDS. It is argued that for the SPD to choose this ‘French way’ of ousting the CDU from government is a serious error, both with regard to the functioning of democracy and to SPD strategy.     

Democracy in a bottle: Attitudes towards alcohol regulation in the post-communist Baltic Sea Region

Abstract

In a democracy policy measures aimed at reducing alcohol-related harms are dependent on acquiring some level of public support. This study presents findings from a survey in the Baltic countries and Poland regarding public opinion on alcohol control and the perception of alcohol-related problems. Overall, support for alcohol control measures was high, although varying between countries, sub-groups and policy items. As has been found in previous studies, gender, age, and drinking pattern were particularly important predictors of restrictive attitudes. In an analysis of inter-country variation Latvia stood out as most pro-regulation. Such variation may indicate underlying socio-cultural patterns affecting the propensity to favour collective regulations, or simply reflect variations in the prevalence of alcohol-related problems.     

Zimbabwe: continuities and changes

ABSTRACT

November 2017 will forever be etched in the minds of Zimbabweans, as the moment involving the end of Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule and the beginning of a post-Mugabe ‘era’ under the leadership of Emmerson Mnangagwa. It also might be considered as a watershed moment in Zimbabwean history, or at least as having the potential to be so. However, identifying key moments in Zimbabwe’s history, and continuities and changes over time, involves engaging in historical periodisation. Periodising the past is never straightforward and leads to contestations at an analytical level. Further, periodisation often has a pronounced political dimension, such that Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF is engaged in periodisation in seeking to distance itself from Mugabe’s rule. This opening article addresses these points, and it seeks to show how the following articles (mainly written, unknowingly, at the cusp of Mugabe’s endgame) facilitate reflection on continuities and changes in contemporary Zimbabwe.     

Towards understanding the contextual role of traditional leadership in the establishment of cyber communities amongst rural people in South Africa: The case of Dr J.S. Moroka Municipality

Abstract

ICT policies instituted over a number of years by the South African government have failed manifestly in establishing cyber communities amongst rural people in South Africa. The authors of this article argue that for rural South African communities to reap the benefits of ‘cyber citizenship’ and Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) initiatives, it will be necessary for communities to enable themselves and to take ownership of initiatives to participate in the anticipated South African information society. The authors argue that the success of ICT4D initiatives depends very strongly on an understanding of the interaction of such initiatives with the social context at the local community level. One of the significant aspects of the social context at community level is the role of traditional leaders in these communities. This article examines the role of traditional leadership, with specific reference to the literature on traditional leadership in South Africa and the literature on the role of traditional leadership in ICT4D initiatives, as well as empirical findings from a case study that serves as an example of a ‘typical’ rural community in Mpumalanga, South Africa.     

On exceptional stress assignment in Latvian: the case of prefixes

ABSTRACT

In this article, we examine some previously understudied exceptions to the generalization that Latvian assigns stress to the left-most syllable in a prosodic word, specifically those that involve prefixation. We will show that these apparent exceptions in stress assignment follow from the internal structural properties of the word and are a result of attaching the prefix outside the domain where stress is assigned, which is up to the first functional head inside the hierarchy. Our treatment combines the syntactic structure of a neoconstructionist approach to word formation with an optimality theory formalization at the phonological level.     

Comments on Andre Gunder Frank's “The centrality of central Asia”

Abstract

To the cultural geographer specializing in Central Asia, Frank's survey of the historical place of Central Asia in the world system is highly suggestive. It needs only a few clarifications, perhaps, before we address the level of historical relevance of such an area.     

“A filmmaker and his film”

Abstract

I'm writing this review as a new-found devotee of filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik and as an old friend of Eric de Guia. I say this to lay out my prejudices and at the same time to try to explain my amazement at the transformation of Eric de Guia into Kidlat Tahimik.     

A real electoral duel between the P.J.D. and the P.A.M.? Analysing constituency-level competitiveness in the 2016 Moroccan elections

ABSTRACT

This article examines electoral competitiveness between the two main contenders in Morocco’s 2016 legislative elections, i.e. the Islamist Party of Justice and Development (P.J.D.) and the pro-monarchy Party of Authenticity and Modernity (P.A.M.). In contrast with electoral results at the national level, which reflect a high parliamentary competitiveness between these two parties, the analysis of competitiveness at the local constituency level (92 electoral districts) leads to quite different conclusions. The degree of local standard competitiveness between the P.J.D. and the P.A.M. was generally very low and, in most of the districts, the Islamists held a large advantage over the P.A.M. Other third parties also played a significant role and became the voters’ first or second choice in some districts, with the effect of increasing parliamentary fragmentation and decreasing competitiveness between the P.J.D. and the P.A.M. Thus, the proportional system used in a large number of districts contributed to achieving the monarchy’s aim of avoiding a predominant party. Also, the central role played by the loyalist National Rally of Independents (R.N.I.) in blocking the coalition government talks after the elections questions the idea that the Moroccan party system is becoming polarized between the P.J.D. and the P.A.M.     

The present state and future prospects of the German Volksparteien

Party performance in the 1994 ‘super'‐election year led many observers to conclude that the major parties had managed to stabilise their position. However, subsequent Land elections show a continuing downward trend in their support, evident since the 1980s, and party membership is also falling. None the less, the major parties will retain their predominance at the parliamentary level in government. In consequence there is a widening gap between their control of the party state and the basis for their legitimation in society. This development may be intensified in view of the economic and social problems faced by the Federal Republic.     

Reviews

Arabic Edition of the British Council Map of Europe and the Middle East. Scale 1: 11,000,000. Royal Geographical Society

Iraq Irrigation Handbook: Part I. Euphrates. Compiled by Ahmed Sousa, under the direction of J. D. Atkinson. Published at Baghdad by the Government of Iraq, 1944. 10” × 7”. Pp. in, with 35 tables, 18 figures and 1 plate, also, in a portfolio 15” × 14”, 16 other plates. Price not stated.

Jenghis Khan. By W. Yan. Hutchinson International Authors, Ltd. 9s. 6d.

From Tunisia to Normandy. By Major‐General H. Rowan‐Robinson, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. Hutchinsoh.

Defence is Our Business. By Brigadier J. G. Smyth, V.C., M.C. Hutchinson and Co. 10s. 6d.

Anna and the King of Siam. By Margaret Landon. Illustrated by Margaret Ayer. John Day Co., New York. Pp. 391.

The Modern Prison System of India. By Lieut.‐Colonel F. A. Barker, C.I.E., O.B.E., M.A., M.D., B.C., I.M.S. (Retd.).

Fabian Colonial Essays. With an Introduction by A. Creech Jones, M.P., and edited by Dr. Rita Hinden. Geo. Allen and Unwin. Pp. 261. 8s. 6d. 1945.

Modern Exploration. F. Kingdon Ward. 124 pp. Published by Jonathan Cape at 6s.     

The village institutes of Turkey

Persia and the Defence of India, 1884–1892. By R. L. Greaves. The University of London. The Athlone Press. 1959. Pp. 301; 5 maps; index. 42s.

The Springing Tiger. A Study of a Revolutionary. By Hugh Toye. Cassell. Pp. 184. Appendices; plates; maps and indices. Foreward by Philip Mason. 25s.

Orde Wingate. By Christopher Sykes. Collins. Pp. 546; maps; plates and index. 35s‐

Ahmad Shah Durrani. By Sardar Ganda Singh. Asia Publishing House. Pp. 457; maps; illustrations; appendixes and index.

Political Leadership among the Swat Pathans. By Fredrik Barth. The Athlone Press. Pp. 143 and index. 25s.

A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar. By K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, M.A. Second Edition. O.U.P. 1958.

Pilot Project, India: The Story of Rural Development at Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. By Albert Mayer and Associates in collaboration with McKim Marriott and Richard L. Park. With a Foreword by Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, Home Minister, Government of India. University of California Press. 1958.

The Heart of India. By Alexander Campbell. Constable. 18s. 6d.

The Yellow Wind. An excursion in and around Red China with a traveller in the Yellow Wind. By William Stevenson. Cassell, London. Pp. 368. 111.; map. 30s. net.

The Economic Growth of Hong Kong. By Edward Szczepanik. Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute of International Affairs. 1958. Pp. 186. Charts; tables; map. 25s.

Missionaries, Chinese and Diplomats. The American Protestant Missionary Movement in China (1890–1952). By Paul A. Varg. Princeton University Press.

Buddhist Cave Paintings at Tun‐Huang. By Basil Gray and John B. Vincent. Published by Faber and Faber, Ltd., at £6 6s.

Britain and the Arabs. A Study of 50 Years, 1908–1958. By Lieutenant‐General Sir John Bagot Glubb, K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., O.B.E., M.C. Published by Hodder and Stoughton. 30s.

St. Antony's Papers No. 4. Middle Eastern Affairs, No. 1. Chatto and Windus. 1958. Pp. 141. 16s.

The Reconstruction of Iraq: 1950–57. By Fabian I. Qubain. Foreign Policy Research Institute. Series No. 6. University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Atlantic Books, London. Pp. 276; index. 35s.

Nuri as‐Said: A Study in Arab Leadership. By Lord Birdwood, M.V.O. Cassell, London. Pp. 306. 30s.

The Arab Federalists of the Ottoman Empire. By Hassan Saab. Pp. xii‐f 322. Biblio. Djambatan, Amsterdam. £2 2s.

Turkish Nationalism and Western Civilization. Selected Essays of Ziya Gokalp. Translated and edited with an introduction by Niyazi Berkes. London. 1959. Pp. 336. 35s.

Rivers and Man. By Robert Brittain. Published by Longmans. Pp. 288. Index; ill.; map. 21s.

Babylon. By Albert Champdor. Translated from the French and adapted by Elsa Coult. London Elek Books. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. Pp. 184 Index; ill. 30s.

Armed Diplomat. By Brigadier J. V. Davidson‐Houston. Published at 21s. by Robert Hale, Ltd.

Smelling the Breezes. A journey through the High Lebanon. By Ralph and Molly Izzard. Hodder and Stoughton. 8J"x5i”. 1959. Pp.253. Map; 24 illustrations. 18s. net.

Elephant Kingdom. By H. N. Marshall. Robert Hale. 1959. 8f"x5t”. Pp.190. 21 illustrations; index. 18s. net.

Beds in the East. By Anthony Burgess. Heinemann. 1959. 8” x 5I”. Pp. 237. 15s. net.

The Kurds and their Country. A History of the Kurdish People from the Earliest Times to the Present. By Major Sheikh A. Waheed. Lahore: University Book Agency, 2nd edition. 1958. Pp. 190. Sketch map. 6 Rupees.

Khirbat al Mafjar. An Arabian Mansion in the Jordan Valley. By R. W. Hamilton. With a Contribution by Dr. Oleg Grabar. Palestine Archaeological Museum. Clarendon Press. Oxford University Press. Pp. 350. Illus.—9 in colour. 8 guineas.

No Friends for Travellers. By A. J. Wightman. Robert Hale, Ltd., London. 16s. net.

India and Modern Art. By W. G. Archer. George Allen and Unwin, London. Pp. 143; 61 plates, index. 35s. net.

Classical Sinhalese Sculpture, c. 300 b.c. to a.d. i.ooo. By D. T. Devendra. Alec Tiranti, Ltd., London. 1958. Pp. 48, 128 plates, index. 30s. net.

Nehru: A Political Biography. By Michael Brecher. Oxford University Press. 42s.

Indo‐Pakistan Relations 1947–1955. By Dr. Jyoti Bhusan Das Gupta. Djambatan, Amsterdam. 35s.

The Diplomacy of India: Indian Foreign Policy in the United Nations. By Ross N. Berkes and Mohinder S. Bedi. Oxford University Press. 30s.

The Message of Milarepa. By Humphrey Clarke. Wisdom of the East Series. John Murray. Pp. 104. 8s. 6d. net.

Hinduism. By Swami Nikhilananda. Allen and Unwin. Pp. 189. 16s. net.

Tao TS Ching. A translation by Ch'u Ta‐Kao. George Allen and Unwin. 1959. Pp. 95. 10s. 6d.

Lu Hsiin and the New Culture Movement in China. By Dr. Hang Sung K'ang. Djambatan, Amsterdam. 1957. Pp. 158.

Stalin's Failure in China, 1924–1927. By Conrad Brandt. Harvard University Press and O.U.P. 1958. Pp. 224. Index and bibliography. 25s.

The Wisdom of Lao Tse. Pp. 237. 21s.

The Wisdom of Confucius. Translated and edited by Lin Yutang. Michael Joseph. 1958. Pp. 302. 21s.

Accounts of Western Nations in the History of the Northern Chou Dynasty. Translated and annotated by Roy Andrew Miller. University of California Press. 1959. Pp. 84.

Documents on International Affairs, 1956. Selected, edited and introduced by Noble Frankland. Oxford University Press; issued under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Pp. 768. 84s.

Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines or Seven Boo\s of Wisdom of the Great Path according to the late Lama Kazi Dawa‐Samdup's English rendering. Arranged and edited with Introductions and Annotations to serve as a commentary, by W. Y. Evans‐Wentz. With forward by Dr. R. R. Marett and Yogic Commentary by Translator‐Professor Chen‐chi Chang. Oxford University Press, 2nd edition. 1958. Pp. xlii + 389. 9 illustrations. Price 42s. net.

The Doctrine of the Buddha. By George Grimm. Geo. Allen and Unwin. Pp. 536. 42s.

Call to Istanbul. By Constance E. Padwick. Longmans. 1958. Pp. 209. Five illustrations. 16s. 6d.

The Siege of Peking. By Peter Fleming. Rupert Hart Davis. Pp. 273; index; ill.; 25s.

Archaeological Discoveries in South Arabia. By Richard leBaron Bowen Jnr., Frank P. Albright and others. American Foundation for the Study of Man. Baltimore, the John Hopkins Press. 1958. Pp. 315. $10.00.

Archaeology and the Old Testament. By James B. Pritchard. London: Oxford University Press. Princeton University Press, N.J. Pp. xvi + 263. 77 illustrations. 30s.

All Things Made New. By John Ferraby. George Allen and Unwin. 30s.     

‘We have chased Blaise,so nobody can resist us’: Civil society and the politics of ECOWAS intervention in Burkina Faso

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the limits of ECOWAS’ top-down approach to mediation, based on a case study from Burkina Faso in 2014 and 2015. It shows the growing importance of ordinary citizens in the regulation of political arenas, both at the domestic and the regional level, as well as citizens’ impact on ECOWAS mediation in Burkina Faso. It thereby argues that mediation in ‘revolutionary’ situations is hardly feasible. In Burkina Faso, the 2014 popular uprising created a new kind of citizenry who felt ‘sovereign’ and expressed its grievances through mass mobilisations. In such political contexts, regional mediation, which aims at re-establishing stability and power-sharing agreements, becomes problematic because it contradicts the spirit ‘from the streets’. Moreover, the top-down approach also erodes the legitimacy of the mediators, who are perceived to work against ‘the people’s will’. The reflection draws attention to the tensions between international mediators and actors from below and highlights the need to craft new strategies for conducting mediation in the context of popular uprisings.     

The five shades of grey: party systems and authoritarian institutions in post-Soviet Central Asian states

ABSTRACT

This article overviews and seeks to explain the processes of party system formation in the post-Soviet Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) by focusing on a crucial party-system property, fragmentation. The analysis reveals that to a much greater extent than in democracies, where party systems are largely shaped by societal factors, the level of party system fragmentation in autocracies is determined by the scope of presidential powers, as entrenched in the formal institutional order and reflected in the national constitution. The level of authoritarianism is largely inconsequential for party system fragmentation, while the role of electoral rules is secondary. Institutionally weak and institutionally strong autocratic presidents have a preference for fragmented party systems, while presidents with an intermediate range of powers seek and obtain low levels of party system fragmentation.