The contested capacity of the Indian state

State capacity is often seen as simply the resources and capabilities of state organizations to perform those functions that are seen as essential to monopolizing coercion, maintaining legitimacy, and providing key public and social goods. As such, it is often conceptualized as value-neutral and comparable across national contexts. By contrast, this article posits that in the Indian context, state capacity is a politically contested concept, because there is deep and enduring political conflict in India over the appropriate roles and related capabilities of state power. This conflict is grounded in disagreements between those who wish to use the state as a tool to transform society and those who see it as a means to preserve and protect social relations. As a result of this conflict, the state in India is not weak or captured but internally divided and thus disarticulated. This article demonstrates these dynamics through an examination of state intervention in the statist and post-liberalization political economy of India.     

The unfinished village police unit: a contested local development initiative

Community self-help has been the principal strategy for creating social infrastructure in rural Malawi since independence. One rural community in Balaka district, southern Malawi, embarked on a project to construct a police unit as a response to rising incidents of crime. Begun in 1999, the project remains unfinished. There seems to be no interest in completing the work. This paper finds the explanation in the manner the project was initiated and how the village community was involved in its execution.     

The politics of Hegemony and the politics of development: The 1994 elections in South Africa's Eastern Cape

Following the first multi‐racial, democratic elections in South Africa, in April 1994, the new leadership and the country are confronting the dual task of political transformation and economic redistribution having won a clear popular mandate on the basis of a populist, Reconstruction and Development Programme. In government, however, the former liberation movement is now under pressure to adjust its policies and its developmental strategy in the light of new economic constraints, both domestic and international. The choice is between the politics of compromise, suggesting adoption of a corporatist (and elitist) model of policy‐making, with the co‐optation of various constituencies, or adherence to a more radical style of direct popular political participation, akin to the ‘mass action’ of recent decades. Nowhere is this contradiction clearer than in the Eastern Cape Province, with a long tradition of militant mass action, strong trade unions and industrial action and a history of popular involvement in the liberation struggle.     

The politics of IO performance: A framework

Some international organizations (IOs) are subject to constant criticism for producing poor results while others are praised for accomplishing difficult tasks despite political and resource constraints. Indeed, IO performance varies substantially over time and across tasks, and yet the international relations literature has devoted little attention to why this occurs. This article provides a framework for studying IO performance. After addressing some of the distinct challenges of conceptualizing and analyzing performance in the context of IOs, we discuss the tradeoffs of using different performance metrics—from process indicators to outcome indicators—and present a typology of factors that influence performance. Finally, we discuss research strategies for those interested in studying performance rigorously. The policy relevance of studying IO performance is clear: only if we understand why some IOs perform better than others can we begin to improve their performance in a systematic way. As many organizations come under pressure to reform, while at the same time taking on new and more complicated tasks, scholars should be actively engaged in debates surrounding IO performance and its role in effective governance at the international level.     

South Africa: The politics of racial terminology

Survey of racial terminology employed in southern Africa since 1652 is discussed     

International politics: The continuing search for theory

The decline of the search for a general theory of international politics during the past two decades is generally conceded by scholars. Disillusionment with the search developed out of the conviction that the ambitious efforts of the 1950's proved to be inadequate and unsatisfactory in explaining the complexity of international politics. In recent years scholarly interest has shifted to the development of inductive approaches involving the increasing use of quantitative methods and techniques as an aid to the understanding of international behavior. These efforts have also prompted criticism and dissatisfaction but they continue to dominate research. To correct or reverse this trend and to revive interest in explicit theorizing, Kenneth Waltz in Theory and International Politics has attempted the formulation of a systems theory of international politics using a philosophy of science approach. His purpose is to indicate the relative influence of international system and state forces on international behavior, the variation of causes and effects in different types of international systems and the specification of the elements of international systems. A critical examination of Waltz's work reveals that he has achieved only the last objective primarily because of a pronounced tendency to neglect or minimize the influence of states on the international system and to attribute too much influence to international systems on the behavior of states. The result is at best a theoretical framework but not a rigorously developed systems theory. The writer has modestly attempted a reformulation of Waltz's framework taking into account the increasing importance of the regional level in systems theory. Hypothetical relationships between the global system, regional systems, and states are suggested to draw attention to the interrelationship of levels of analysis in the study of international politics in an effort to promote theoretical coherence if not a general theory of international politics.     

Malay press and Malay politics: The Hertogh Riots in Singapore

During the morning of Monday 11 December rioting began outside the Supreme Court of Singapore, where a largely Moslem crowd had gathered to hear the court’s decision in a case where the custody of a young Dutch girl, Maria Hertogh, was being contested. This riot was the first and only one of its kind directed against the British and Eurasians in Singapore by the Malay-Moslem community. Both the violence itself, as well as the circumstances which precipitated this Moslem protest, became the focus of a tangle of cultures and religions which aroused worldwide interest. The riot was considered to be the fault of the British colonial authorities, who had been guilty of racial and religious discrimination, and seen as an indication of anti-colonial feeling among the people of Singapore. The events in Singapore also aroused strong feelings of anger among the Malay political parties who felt that the Moslem religion had been humiliated by the judgement of the Singapore Supreme Court. As a result, British rule in its predominantly Moslem colonies, already under threat from the various pressures for decolonisation, faced a further challenge. Despite the significant impact which the Moslem riots had both in Singapore and elsewhere, they have understandably been overshadowed by the more systematic and enduring violence emanating from another quarter, the Communist presence in Malaya. This study therefore sets out to understand inter-racial problems after the Second World War which was also related to problems relating to security, religious and inter-racial relationship. During the war period social and racial relationship seemed to be tied closely due to the suffering and the majority of the people were trying to help each other however after the war when everybody were liberated, political and racial relationship seemed to be divided and fragmented.

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The ghosts of state terror: knowledge,politics and terrorism studies

Employing a discourse analytic approach, this paper examines the silence on state terrorism within the broader terrorism studies literature. An analysis of this literature reveals that state terrorism is noticeable mainly for its absence as a subject of systematic academic study. Following the textual analysis, the main finding – the silence on state terrorism within terrorism studies – is subjected to both a first- and second-order critique. A first-order or immanent critique uses a discourse's internal contradictions, mistakes and misconceptions to criticise it on its own terms. In this case, the absence of state terrorism is criticised for its illogical actor-based definition of terrorism, its politically biased research focus, and its failure to acknowledge the empirical evidence of the extent and nature of state terrorism. A second-order critique entails reflecting on the broader political and ethical consequences of the representations enabled by the discourse. It is argued that the absence of state terrorism from academic discourse functions to promote particular kinds of state hegemonic projects, construct a legitimising public discourse for foreign and domestic policy, and deflect attention from the terroristic practices of states. The exposure and destabilisation of this dominant narrative also opens up critical space for the articulation of alternative and potentially emancipatory forms of knowledge and practice.     

The Naga dream and the politics of peace

A section of Naga tribes-people in northeastern India are engaged in an insurrection against the government on the premise that they had been an independent people until the British brought the areas where they lived under its control after the signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 with the Burmese. The Burmese were defeated by the British and this treaty brought the curtains down on the first Anglo-Burmese War. Even before the seeds of the Naga insurgency movement were sown in 1946, the Nagas had petitioned the British authorities, in the wake of the possibility of India gaining independence, saying they should not hand over the Naga areas to India when they leave after granting Delhi freedom. The Nagas wanted London to let them revert back to their way of life before the signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo. This was not to be and Naga areas became a part of India as they were in any case a part of British India before that. The Naga insurrection was shaped in 1946 and since then has undergone a massive transformation. Today, the Naga insurgency movement is faction-ridden, with four groups on the scene, pushing the dream of an independent Naga homeland. The dominant among these groups, the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland or the NSCN-IM has been engaged in peace talks with the Indian government ever since a ceasefire was reached between the two sides in 1997. A solution is nowhere in sight although dozens of rounds of parleys have been held. The problem is compounded by the emergence on the scene of other Naga rebel players, formed mostly by break-away groups from the NSCN-IM. Factional wars have become the order of the day, resulting in the authorities focusing their attention to ending the turf battles among the factions rather than pushing the peace process forward. The situation is hazy to say the least and the politics of peace has assumed different dimensions, posing newer challenges to peace-makers.     

The politics of deep integration*

Abstract

Efforts to pursue ‘deep integration’—agreeing to international rules governing domestic policies to mitigate their adverse trade effects—have been pivotal to the politicization of trade policy. The contributions to this special issue focus on different political dynamics associated with recent high-profile efforts at deep integration. Collectively, they analyse the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) and the Japan–European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (JEEPA) negotiations. The special issue, therefore, focuses on extreme examples of deep integration in order to illuminate new political dynamics. This introductory article introduces the concept of ‘deep integration’ and explores how it has been pursued in historical and contemporary trade negotiations. It also relates recent attempts at deep integration to the rise of populist anti-globalization movements. In light of these discussions, this article introduces the contributions to the issue. It concludes by considering whether the politics associated with TTIP and CETA in Europe represent the future of trade policy.     

Japan: the contested boundaries of alien suffrage at the local level

The provision of local level electoral rights in Japan for tokubetsu eijūsha (special permanent residents) and eijūsha (permanent residents) has sparked an ongoing controversy between opponents and proponents of extending the boundaries of suffrage. Periodically igniting for over a decade, the debate has involved politicians from across the political spectrum as well as local authorities, non-governmental organizations and academic scholars, yet remains locked into a cycle in which a period of optimism is followed by inaction and stagnation. In January 2008 the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan reignited the issue once more. Against this background, the goal of this paper is to highlight and trace the way in which the mainstream debate for and against electoral rights is being played out in the public arena. In so doing this paper makes two claims. First, we need to recognize the way that certain historical–social influences emanating from the processes of state-building since 1945 influence the current debates. Second, this must combine awareness of both legal/constitutional and normative aspects, as well as a sense of intra-party and inter-party political contestation.