The Debate on Annual Parliaments in the Early Seventeenth Century

SUMMARY

In this article Pauline Croft examines the change in English feelings about the survival of their parliaments on the accession of the Stuarts. In the last parliament of Elizabeth, confidence was expressed in the vitality and usefulness of the institution. From the first parliament of James VI and I in 1604 there was a collapse of confidence. The future of Parliaments was seen as being at risk in the changed political atmosphere in England and against the background of the observed decline of representative assemblies on the Continent. The article traces the development of references to the statutes of Edward III which prescribed annual sessions of parliament. These are referred to in the House of Commons in 1610, and this was the beginning of a continuing campaign for a statutory assurance of regular parliamentary sessions. This reached its climax in the Short Parliament of 1640, where there was a petitioning campaign calling for guarantees, probably encouraged by developments in the Scots' parliament after 1638. The campaign came to a succesful conclusion in the passing of the Triennial Act of 1641, the first major legislative achievement of the Long Parliament.     

Sino-Indian Security Predicaments for the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

This article considers various security predicaments affecting relations between India and China. These Sino-Indian security predicaments include their territorial dispute, their nuclear arms race, their encirclement and alignment scenarios, their trade and energy issues, and their future prospects. International relations (IR) theory is deployed around these varied security predicaments, with power and perception particularly evident in IR realism, geopolitics, constructivism, and security dilemma dynamics. Balance-of-power theory is complemented by balance-of-threat considerations. India's hedging strategy towards China and China's own strategy of transition point to each country looking to their own respective rise for the mid century.     

Framing Exclusion in the Public Sphere: Far-Right Mobilisation and the Debate on Charlie Hebdo in Italy

While the January 2015 Paris terrorist attacks presented a crucial opportunity for far-right mobilisation, the focus on liberal democratic values and Charlie Hebdo’s non-conformist progressive profile presented challenges for right-wing discourse. Taking Italy as a paradigmatic case of public controversies on cultural and religious affairs, this article examines the opportunities and constraints generated by multicultural crises for far-right framing choices. A qualitative frame analysis analyses the discourse of three types of far-right actors. While the populist radical right, extreme right, and ultra-religious right groups disagree on crucial criteria for outgroup exclusion, they collectively employed the Charlie Hebdo controversy to redefine their exclusionary discourse on liberal grounds with the goal of gaining legitimacy in the mainstream public sphere.     

The Contemporary Sino-Russian Strategic Partnership: Challenges and Opportunities for the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Today many aspects of the Sino-Russian relationship are positive. The “strategic cooperative partnership” is supported by the Treaty for Good Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation, as well as membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and a shared commitment to a multipolar world. Nevertheless, the economic foundation of the relationship is weak, energy cooperation has not reached its potential, and the two states have competing interests in Central Asia. Thus, this article argues that although the Sino-Russian relationship is multifaceted and based on practical considerations, there are nevertheless factors that limit the relationship. China and Russia have links with the West that sometimes interfere in their relationship with each other. Moreover, the legacy of history remains in the background of the relationship. Finally, Russia's demographic decline, combined with China's economic growth, creates questions for Russians regarding their long-term security vis-à-vis China.     

Taiwan’s Economic Diplomacy in Vietnam from the 1990s to the Early Twenty-First Century

In Vietnam, Taiwanese (In this article, 'Taiwanese' refer to all the citizens in Taiwan, although Taiwanese may not be a perfect usage for all the inhabitants in Taiwan. For example, some 400,000 natives of JinMen County live and work in Taiwan Province who might not identify with Taiwan Province. Also, many Vietnamese women in the ROC marry 'Taiwanese.' Perhaps it will take a few decades, if not longer, for all the inhabitants in Taiwan to identify with "Taiwanese.") businesses have led the Taipei government in the movement to ??Go South.?? They have served as pioneers, surrogates and middlemen for Taiwan??s economic diplomacy in Vietnam. Vietnam's 'Doi Moi' (Open Door) policy, inaugurated in December 1986, encouraged greater openness to economic investment from abroad. Compared with China, Vietnam enjoys the privilege of better access to the European market. Vietnam has become the only country in Southeast Asia that can parallel China in terms of trade and investment at the turn of the century.     

The Reelection Debate in Latin America

The debate over presidential reelection reappeared in Latin America in the last decade, and promises to continue in the years ahead. Arguments in favor contend that the possibility of immediate reelection increases politicians' responsiveness to citizen demands and allows voters the freedom to retain popular incumbents. Arguments against emphasize the danger of abuse of power by incumbents who seek to prolong their tenure. This article illustrates the parallels between these arguments and those made historically regarding the issue. It also suggests that the means by which provisions to allow reelection are adopted can provide valuable signals of their consequences.     

The Commonwealth in the 21st Century

The Commonwealth in the Twenty-First Century finds itself in a difficult predicament. Neither in the 'Global North' nor the post-colonial 'South' do its stakeholders invest in the organisation as a key instrument for international governance. The space which it once occupied as a mediator between rich and poor nations has either closed or been taken over by other entities. But might the Commonwealth find a new role for itself by returning to its roots as a vehicle for the exploration of the commonweal, in particular as a focus of contemporary attempts to democratize the international system? The story of the Commonwealth itself, from its origins as project for a racial imperial oligarchy in the nineteenth century to struggles for its renegotiation as a space of equality, first of 'white dominions' with Britain, and second in the era of Decolonization, is a parable of how rights and participation can be widened. Might the Commonwealth in the Twenty-First century not drive new global conversations about inequality, social and economic rights, and different cosmopolitan futures?     

Federal or Unitary? The Power-sharing Debate in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

Sri Lanka’s power-sharing debate is focused on the labels ‘federal and ‘unitary’. A recent Judgment of the Supreme Court recognising the fluidity of these terms, and a creative reform proposal defining Sri Lanka as a ‘aekiya rajyaya/orumitha nadu’, present opportunities for consensus. Yet there are also powerful obstacles, including the virtual collapse of Sri Lanka’s coalition government and exclusivist nationalist ideologies. Regardless of the outcome of this round of reform, however, reformers must focus on the political if Sri Lanka is to ever reach a just and equitable solution to the ethnic conflict.     

The Changing Spaces of Local Governance in Nicaragua

This article considers the new spaces for the participation of civil society organisations (CSOs) in local governance that have emerged in Nicaragua between 2000 and 2009, and how government and CSOs interact in these spaces. It discusses the significant changes that have taken place in Nicaraguan local governance during this period, and highlights the challenges for CSOs to engage with these spaces at different points in time. It finds that grassroots CSOs in Managua that based their engagement with the Bolaños government through these spaces on citizenship have been drawn into a more clientelist relationship with Ortega's government.     

The unitary state and federalism in Italy

SUMMARY

In this article, Carlo Ghisalberti discusses the role of federalist and confederationalist ideas in the history of the development of a united Italy. The issue was always on the agenda after 1815 as a legacy of the Napoleonic era, which had introduced broadly similar institutions through the peninsula. At first federalist models had some support, culminating in the neo-Guelph movement of the 1840s, based on the idea of a federation presided over by Pope Pius IX, though this was already strongly challenged by Mazzini's programme for establishing a unitary republic. The actual unification of the 1860s was based on the unitary concept, and federalist alternatives were increasingly associated with conservative-clericalist factions. The article concludes that the liberalization of the unitary Kingdom of Italy, particularly under Giolitti, gave the unitary model of the state a credibility which made federalist or regionalist alternatives redundant.     

The North Korea Problem: Perspectives on the Nuclear Debate,Economic Reforms and Beyond

ABSTRACT

Despite a plethora of research on North Korea, understanding and managing the challenges posed by the country have long been complicated with no simple solution to put an end to this decades-long security and economic predicament on the Korean Peninsula. With the potential for international conflict, attention must be given to the converging messages emerging from the scholarly works reviewed in this article: Glyn Ford, Talking to North Korea: Ending the Nuclear Standoff, Van Jackson, On the Brink: Trump, Kim, and the Threat of Nuclear War and William Overholt’s collection North Korea: Peace? Nuclear War? These works speak to the need to: take seriously the risk of nuclear war; consider the connectedness of the North’s decades-long security and economic reform dilemmas; and to acknowledge that the mistrust that is deeply rooted on all sides must be mitigated to bring peace. These books are published at a critical juncture of increased tensions following a highly publicised but remarkably short-lived effort at a breakthrough on the Korean nuclear issue, Pyongyang’s rapidly evolving security posture and its perennial domestic challenges. Each of these volumes provides valuable insights on these challenges for North Korea and internationally.