State of the Art: Divided by a Common Language: Political Theory and the Concept of Power

Power is probably the most universal and fundamental concept of political analysis. It has been, and continues to be, the subject of extended and heated debate. In this article I critically review the contributions of Bachrach and Baratz, and Lukes to our understanding of the multiple faces of power. I suggest that although the former's two-dimensional approach to power is ultimately compromised by the residues of behaviouralism that it inherits from classic pluralism, the latter's three-dimensional view suggests a potential route out of this pluralist impasse. To seize the opportunity he provides, however, requires that we rethink the concept of power. In the second half of the paper I advance a definition of power as context-shaping and demonstrate how this helps us to disentangle the notions of power, responsibility and culpability that Lukes conflates. In so doing I suggest the we differentiate clearly between analytical questions concerning the identification of power within social and political contexts, and normative questions concerning the critique of the distribution and exercise of power thus identified.     

Seeing Canada Through the Referendum: Still a House Divided

On 26 October 1992, a majority of Canadians in a majority ofprovinces rejected the Charlottetown Accord in a national referendum.The accord capped the "Canada round" of constitutional negotiationsand attempted to satisfy Quebec, while also addressing otherpan-Canadian issues. The accord was defeated for different reasonsin different parts of the country. In Quebec, the "No" sideargued that the agreement did not meet their demands for greaterjurisdictionalautonomy within the federation. In the rest of Canada, the "No"side was particularly successful in demonstrating that the agreementdeviated from the principle of equality in the treatment ofindividuals and provinces. These critiques, inspired by differentvisions of the federation, lead in different directions. Inlight of these divisions, many commentators have suggested thatintergovernmental elites ought to abandon efforts of wholesaleconstitutional change. However, political developments in Quebecmay force these questions back onto the agenda.     

Japan and the Gulf crisis: Still searching for a role

Neither the major assumptions of developmental statist theories nor their revised arguments (e.g. network and internal organization theories) can persuasively elucidate the South Korean state's strong autonomy vis‐à‐vis the capitalist group in establishing and implementing economic/ industrial policies. A more relevant elucidation can be made by attending to the following three points: 1) one can more clearly show the former's autonomy in relation to the latter by examining discordant rather than amicable aspects of the relationship between them; 2) the strength of the East Asian state's autonomy lies not in its inherent, absolute cohesiveness but in its ‘political integrating power'; 3) in interpreting the state's strong autonomy vis‐à‐vis society, more research on political and administrative factors (rather than economic ones) need to be conducted. Also important are the behaviour of political and administrative agents who operate institutions and various interactions among them. To enforce these points, this article analyzes the political aspects of the state‐capital relationship while the South Korean government established anti‐chaebôl policies to restrict economic concentration via big businesses.     

Japan: Still searching for a role

Japan's Rise to International Responsibilities: The Case of Arms Control, by Reinhard Drifte. Athlone Press, London, 1990. xi + 112 pp. £25. ISBN 0–485–11385–6.

Japanese Defence: The Search for Political Power, by S. Javed Maswood. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1990. ix + 113 pp. US$12.00. ISBN 981–3035–39–0.

The Emergence of Japan's Foreign Aid Policy, by Robert M. Orr Jnr. Columbia University Press, New York, 1990. x + 178 pp. $32.00. ISBN 0–231–07046–2.

Same Bed, Different Dreams: America and Japan—Societies in Transition, edited by Alan D. Romberg and Tadashi Yamamoto. Council on Foreign Relations Press, New York, 1990. xi + 138 pp. $14.95 paperback. ISBN 0–87609–082‐X.     

The Limits of Control: The Market State,Divided Power,and the Response to 9/11

ABSTRACT

The 9/11 attacks demanded a response from the U.S. government, but designing and executing that response was not easily done. The United States is an advanced market society in which power is highly dispersed. Federal policymakers were confronted with challenges that we now regard as typical of the network form of governance. Their ability to act decisively was constrained by public law, by the political influence and superior knowledge of private industry, and by widespread skepticism about the legitimacy of federal authority. While many commentators worried about the excessive concentration of power in the federal executive branch after 9/11, it might be more accurate to say that the post-9/11 period was typified by a prolonged, and often unsuccessful, effort to induce cooperation and coordination by a range of public and private actors.     

Military Space Cooperation: Aligning the Balance of Power and Building Common Interest

The strengthening of alliances through cooperative military activities is a long-established tradition for land, sea and air forces. With the rise of spacepower over the last 50 years, and the growing number of spacefaring and space-using nations, military space programs provide new opportunities for military-to-military cooperation. Military space programs often represent the most technical and secretive of capabilities and there may be risks in sharing the inner workings of these capabilities, even with trusted allies. Is there a way to share the benefits of these strategically and tactically important capabilities in a manner that enhances the peace, justice and security of all stakeholders? Many nations around the world are answering ‘yes’ to this question as they enter into agreements on cooperative space projects for commercial, environmental and military security. More and more they are using their space programs to realign the old balance of power and create new common interests. As the number of spacefaring nations increase and the number of space users grow around the globe, the traditional space powers, such as the United States, need to reconsider how to integrate military space cooperation in their strategies of strengthening alliances and building common interest.     

Measuring Preferences for Divided Government: Some Americans Want Divided Government and Vote to Create It

Political Behavior - Tests of theories of the electoral origins of divided government hinge on the proper measurement of voter preferences for divided government. Deriving preferences for divided...     

The Common Root of Commitment,Resistance and Power

Abstract

This essay responds to some of the questions raised by Infinitely Demanding from the perspective of tragic conflicts. On this view, the struggle for power cannot be disentangled from the freedom at stake in liberalism and capitalism, nor from the efforts of individuals and groups to resist the powers that be. I suggest, moreover, that this entanglement threatens to divide from within not just the ethical subject, but groups and institutions as well.     

Divided Government and the Fragmentation of American Law

We investigate institutional explanations for Congress's choice to fragment statutory frameworks for policy implementation. We argue that divided party government, which fuels legislative‐executive conflict over control of the bureaucracy, motivates Congress to fragment implementation power as a strategy to enhance its control over implementation. We develop a novel measure of fragmentation in policy implementation, collect data on it over the period 1947–2008, and test hypotheses linking separation‐of‐powers structures to legislative design of fragmented implementation power. We find that divided party government is powerfully associated with fragmentation in policy implementation, and that this association contributed to the long‐run growth of fragmentation in the postwar United States. We further find that legislative coalitions are more likely to fragment implementation power in the face of greater uncertainty about remaining in the majority.     

Competitive Government in the United States: Policy Promotion and Divided Party Control

Divided party control of the executive and legislative branches of American government has traditionally been thought to contribute to the system's tendencies toward policy stalemate and paralysis. Based on a series of brief case studies over the past twenty-five years, this article argues that, under certain circumstances, divided party government may promote rather than hinder the enactment of legislation. It sketches an analytical framework that suggests a range of policymaking outcomes may result from party competition under conditions of divided government, including stalemate, neglect, accommodation, and promotion.     

Transitional Justice in the Twenty-First Century: Beyond Truth Versus Justice, Naomi Roht-Arriaza and Javier Mariezcurrena * Reconciliation in Divided Societies: Finding Common Ground, Erin Daly and Jeremy Sarkin

It took a long time to get there but, near the close of thelast millennium, humanity embraced measured accountability –instead of the extremes of impunity or vengeance – asthe appropriate fate for perpetrators of mass atrocity. Thisembrace has prompted the construction of institutions, suchas the International Criminal Court and the various ad hoc internationalor internationalized tribunals, to actualize this accountabilityimperative. But this institution-building is only the start of the justicematrix. It is not the end point. A newer second generation ofscholars and activists presses on. Agreeing on the need foraccountability does not mean that existing methods of accountabilityshould become insulated from study or critical inquiry withregard to their progress toward justice goals. Transitional Justice in the Twenty-First Century and Reconciliationin Divided Societies are bold trendsetters for this second-generationliterature. Edited by Naomi Roht-Arriaza and