Model or deterrence? The United States presidential election campaigns and the bundestag election campaigns

This article focuses on the election of the President of the United States of America in 2004 and on the premature election of the Bundestag in Germany in 2005. The main questions which are discussed are: Where can we currently discern central similarities in campaigning, which remain functionally powerful despite the considerable differences in system and context? What can be learned from the United States 2004 presidential election campaign for future Bundestag election campaigns in Germany? Can we observe developments in the USA which we have already seen in the 2005 Bundestag election? Could these trends be useful for the German parties in the future? This contribution argues that there are some developments in the United States which may prove useful to the German parties in future Bundestag campaigns.     

Changes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union: The effects on China

The rapidly changing political, economic, and security policies in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in late 1989 and 1990 have added to the complications faced by Chinese leaders since they decided to suppress the unprecedented large-scale pro-democracy demonstrations in Chinese cities in spring 1989. These changes had an obvious “ripple effect” in China, encouraging prodemocracy forces and alarming Chinese leaders. They attracted strong positive attention from the developed countries of the West and Japan, and international financial institutions and businesses. This came at the indirect expense of China. And they accelerated changes in world politics (especially in U.S.-Soviet relations) and in the politics of government decision making in the West that promised to reduce China’s relative influence in world affairs in the 1990s. The prospect of reduced influence abroad and curbed economic contacts did not appear to be sufficient cause for Beijing leaders to markedly change existing policies. Chinese leaders in mid-1990 appeared focused on issues of internal political power at a time of leadership transition. Significant changes in policy appeared most likely to await leadership changes as Deng Xiaoping and other aged leaders die or are incapacitated.     

IRAN’S STRUGGLE FOR STRATEGIC DOMINANCE IN A POST-ISIS IRAQ

Iran's influence and presence in Iraq have increased significantly in recent years. The collapse of the Saddam's dictatorship in 2003, after the US invasion, served to inflate Iran's influence in Iraq, particularly in the post-ISIS era. In this connection, Iran has used various means and tools to develop its strategy in Iraq. This article argues that Iran's current strategy in Iraq stems from a Realpolitik agenda rather than an ideological one, concerned more with political, economic, and security interests than pursuing revolutionary objectives per se. To this end, Tehran has largely relied on long-established relationships with several pro-Iranian political parties and militia groups. These relationships are often couched in religious ideological terms as a foundation and justification for its future strategy in post-ISIS Iraq. The questions that this paper will address are the following: what was Iran's role in defeating ISIS in Iraq? How has Tehran benefitted from its long-term relationships with Iraqi political parties and militia groups? What are the Iranian sources of power in Iraq and how do they help Iran gain strategic dominance in Iraq?     

In Search of Strategies to Face the Economic Crisis: Evidence from Greek Farms

This study examines the strategies – defensive or aggressive, individual or collective – undertaken by sheep farms in a Greek rural area in order to face the repercussions of the economic crisis and their effects on the productivity and economic performance of these farms. The article presents the results of a farm management survey conducted in 2010 and repeated in 2014 in northern Evros, Greece. The mix of strategies – mainly passive – adopted by farmers shows their confusion in the face of crisis conditions, which has resulted in reduced productivity, more use of family labour and a rise in collective actions.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Lockhart, Of Things of the Indies: Essays Old and New in Early Latin American History
Barman, Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–91
Harding, A Refuge in Thunder: Candomblé and Alternative Spaces of Blackness in Brazil
Buffington, Criminal and Citizen in Modern Mexico
Ochoa, Feeding Mexico: The Political Uses of Food since 1910
Clarke, Class, Ethnicity, and Community in Southern Mexico: Oaxaca's Peasantries
Rovira, Women of Maize: Indigenous Women and the Zapatista Rebellion
Assies, The Challenge of Diversity: Indigenous peoples and reform of the state in Latin America
Tulchin and Garland, Social Development in Latin America. The Politics of Reform
Gelles, Water and Power in Highland Peru: the Cultural Politics of Irrigation and Development
Starn, Nightwatch: the Politics of Protest in the Andes
Payne, Uncivil Movements: The Armed Right Wing and Democracy in Latin America
Silva, The Soldier and the State in South America: Essays in Civil-Military Relations
Roniger and Sznajder, The Legacy of Human Rights Violations in the Southern Cone, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay
Smith, Inevitable Partnership: Understanding Mexico-US Relations
Roniger and Sznajder, (eds.) Constructing Collective Identities and Shaping Public Spheres: Latin American Paths
Larraín, Identity and Modernity in Latin America
Caister, Mexico City: A Cultural and Literary Companion     

The majority as minority: women and contemporary politics in Scotland,New Zealand and Finland,c. 1960–96

SUMMARY

In this article, Catriona Burness seeks to establish the current potential for increasing significantly the level of women's participation in politics in Scotland and the United Kingdom in the light of the experience of their representation in Scotland, New Zealand and Finland since 1960. The comparator countries have been selected because they are small countries of comparable size, with advanced political cultures, in which women have been eligible to vote and be elected to parliaments for a considerable period of time. The article reviews the history of women's representation in each of these countries and seeks to identify patterns in the developments that have taken place. It then discusses the prospects for further advances on the current position, in particular in the light of the probable introduction of a devolved assembly in Scotland.     

The Palestinian Issue as Constructed in Jordanian School Textbooks, 1964–94: Changes in the National Narrative

This article will discuss the school textbooks in history and civic in the elementary and secondary schools of Jordan between 1964 and 1994 and will show that the changes in the narrative manifested in the school textbooks in the course of these years were influenced by the political, ideological and national needs of Jordanian regime in this period and especially in the light of the Palestinian component in the Jordanian society that presented not only a national-ideological, but also a physical and existential challenge to the integrity of the kingdom. The article will show how, in view of the developments in the Palestinian arena, the school textbooks reflect an attempt on part of the Jordanian regime to forge a national Arab and Jordanian-Palestinian identity up to the end of the 1960s whereas since the beginning of the 1970s, the emphasis is placed on a separate Jordanian territorial identity.     

From terror to public diplomacy: Jibril Rajoub and the Palestinian Authorities’ uses of sport in fragmentary Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Focusing on sport as an arena of struggle in the Israel/Palestine conflict, the current study traces, conceptually and historically, the way in which the Palestinian Authority in general, and Jibril Rajoub in particular, have shifted efforts toward the sporting arena in order to promote global awareness of the Palestinian case. In the current case study, the Palestinians were not successful at drawing attention to their political goals or in suspending Israel from Fédération Internationale de Football Association. However, their attempt emphasizes the ways in which conflicts had changed and the importance of images in the information age we live in. Conflicts today are very much battles of ideas and the information designed by the media. Alongside the military confrontations, an Image War is taking part in which each side tries to justifies its ideas, beliefs and actions.     

Frozen in the Centre,Melting at the Edges?1 The Landtagswahlen in Hesse and Lower Saxony,January 2008

It is rare that two Land elections, taking place on the same day in neighbouring Western Länder, both run by the CDU (in a coalition with the FDP in one), provide such sharp contrasts in both campaigns and outcomes as the Land elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony in January 2008. This election note draws out these contrasts and sets the results in the wider context of their potential impact on the ‘long campaign’ towards the next federal election scheduled for autumn 2009.     

民主在东南亚的前提条件和发展趋势

20世纪50、60年代民主政体在东南亚国家的实行均以流产而告终,威权主义代替民主政体对东南亚国家的稳定和发展起到了巨大的作用.本文认为"民主"之树移植容易,但是开花结果却需要许多前提条件.本文从经济、文化和社会基础三个角度分析东南亚国家实行"民主"所需的相应条件.并对"民主"在东南亚的发展趋势作了简短预测.     

文莱华人现状分析

文莱现有华人3.76万,集中在城镇居住,是文莱城市化水平最高的族群.在"马来、回教、君主"政治制度框架下,华人的公民权受限制,加入其国籍非常难,没有政治诉求的机会;在经济领域里马来人优先,但华人有较大发展空间;在社会生活领域,华人可组建社团,参与公众活动,政府允许华文教育生存发展;华人宗教信仰自由,可维持华人意识和华族认同,但必须效忠苏丹;华人和马来人能和睦相处,没有种族纠纷.     

“Send Them a Shipload of Rice”: Australia's Food Aid to Indonesia, 1960s–1970s

This paper asks why it took ten years after a major famine in Indonesia in 1957 for Australia's food aid to increase in greater amounts, and why food aid was so significant in Australia's foreign aid to Indonesia during the late 1960s and 1970s. Indonesia's reluctance to apply for food aid under the Colombo Plan is the reason for the delay. A combination of humanitarian, commercial and international relations interests converged to shape Australia's rapidly growing food aid to Indonesia after 1966. Food aid contributed to alleviating food shortages and famines in Indonesia. It also supported Australian firms in regaining their share in the growing market for wheat-based products in Indonesia, and in building market share for Australian rice exports, in competition with United States (US) producers and the US PL480 food aid program. Food aid also allowed Australia to expand its foreign aid program to Indonesia rapidly after 1966, in support of the government of new President Soeharto and improved bilateral relations.     

The new constitutions of east Germany

The restoration of the Lander in the former GDR in 1990 and the unification of Berlin called for a round of constitution drafting in the east that resulted in considerable discussion and controversy within the attentive public and, especially, among legal scholars in all of Germany. Controversy focused on two general issues: direct democracy and certain constitutional provisions such as social rights and state goals. Direct democracy is nothing new for the Länder, since most West German Land constitutions provided for referenda long before the Wall collapsed. But the three‐step process adopted in the east, and in particular the relatively low signature requirements for initiatives and petitions, both of which were in fact first introduced by Schleswig‐Holstein in 1990, did not meet with universal approval. Even more controversial were certain provisions in the Land constititions, for example, Brandenburg, that probably violate the Basic Law, and a number of unenforceable social rights and state goals that raise questions about feasibility and false expectations. This leaves us with questions about just how different from their western counterparts the constitutions in the new Lander really are and whether, given the relatively weak position of the Lander in the policy‐making process in the German federal system and the EU, their constitutional provisions matter that much.     

Russian Hegemony in Dagestan

Two experts on Dagestani politics examine the evolution of Dagestan's political system from the era of its first post-Soviet constitution in 1994 to the present. The complicated role played by ethnicity in a political system designed to maintain balance in an ethnically heterogeneous society is considered in light of the changes in the relationship between the federal center and Dagestan over the past 10 years. Paying particular attention to changes in Dagestan's fundamental political structure and Moscow's role in such changes, the authors also consider the implications of recent changes.     

Uganda in Regional and International Peacekeeping Operations

Since attaining independence in 1962, Uganda has only seriously contributed to regional and international peacekeeping on two occasions—in Liberia and Somalia. Due to the internal political upheavals that rocked the country in the 1960s through 1980s, Uganda’s capacity to engage in international peacekeeping was seriously curtailed. As a result of engaging in the Liberia and Somalia peace operations, the country has built capacity to engage in peacekeeping. However, recently Uganda has used its participation in peacekeeping missions, especially that in Somalia, as a leverage to fend-off criticisms for its involvement in conflicts in the Great Lakes region.     

The State-Society Interaction in the Process of Taiwan’s Democratization from 1990 to 1992

This paper examining the process of Taiwan’s democratization introduces a special mode of democratization which involves cooperative interactions between reformists in the state and oppositionists in society. Focusing on the years 1990 to 1992, a key period of Taiwan’s democratization during which key authoritarianism-supporting institutions were destroyed, the paper demonstrates that a tacit coalition of the reformists in the state and the oppositionists in society began to loom in Taiwan in July 1988 and was solidified in June 1990, and, from June 1990 to December 1992, this coalition successfully forced the conservatives in the state to accept its demand that key authoritarianism-supporting institutions had to be destroyed.     

Turkish minority rights regime: Between difference and equality

This article explores the relationship between agricultural development and population growth in Iran in the nineteenth century. Had there been any national census data, the issue under consideration could have been examined in detail, but no such data is in existence. The article therefore offers historical evidence in support of the view that in Iran, population could not grow without sufficient investment in the provision of water, being essential for settled agriculture. Following from this, as this investment was not forthcoming, it is most likely that Iran experienced a downward demographic trend for most of the nineteenth century. The northern provinces, free from this constraint, seemed to have had a different experience. However, evidence is offered in the text indicating that even in these provinces the growth of population was unlikely to have been substantial.     

The democratic experience in divided societies: The Baltic states in comparative perspective

Abstract

The process of democratization in the Baltic states has been coloured by the question of the political integration of the formerly-dominant Russian-speaking communities. This paper compares the extent of ethnic differences in the experience of democracy in these three states with those in ten other East European societies in the mid-1990s. It examines how polarized ethnic groups are in terms of their satisfaction with the democratic process, representation and responsiveness and where the Baltic states stand in terms of the extent of such ethnic polarization compared with the range of situations found in former-communist Eastern Europe. The Baltic states are shown to be distinct from each other, with Estonia having the most polarized experience of democratic processes, and the findings generally undermine notions of Baltic exceptionalism with regard to democracy and ethnic relations. Finally, we consider the possible implications for membership in the European Union of the experience of unequal involvement in the democratic process in these societies.     

The Media Salience of Germany's Bilateral Relations to the United States,France and Britain

This article provides a comparative analysis of the salience of Germany's bilateral relations to the United States, France and Britain in the German media since the end of the cold war. It offers a media content frequency analysis which identifies long-term similarities and differences in media reporting across the three relationships as well as short-term upswings of media interest in each of them individually. This is relevant because the media salience of bilateral relations is a measure of their underpinnings in public discourse and speaks to the significance of domestic drivers in conducting such relationships. The article finds that media reporting on Germany's three bilateral relations under study has significantly increased in the post-9/11 period and that US–German and Franco–German relations attract far more attention in the German media than Anglo–German relations. Short-term upswings in media coverage are triggered by specific types of events, in particular crises in European integration and international military missions.     

Antonio Rosmini and representative institutions

SUMMARY

In this article, Georgio Campanini draws attention to the political ideas of the Italian philosopher Antonio Rosmini, who was an active participant in political debate in Italy in the first half of the nineteenth century. The article concentrates on Rosmini's most original idea, his insistence that in a representative system of government it is necessary to separate the securing of the political rights of the citizen from the ordinary processes governing the material interests of the society. Rosmini, who was orthodox in advocating an elected representative system, based on tax and property qualifications, to manage the ordinary business of the state, proposed a special institution, a Political Tribunal elected by universal male suffrage, with an open remit to intervene in government to defend the rights of the citizen. He held that the defence of individual rights could not be left safely in the hands of the state, but must be in the hands of independent representatives of every citizen, regardless of his place in society. Although Rosmini was able to put forward his ideas in the constitutional debates in Italy in 1848, they were not taken up. But his ideas anticipate current interest in Europe into setting up constitutional or supreme Courts to protect individual rights against the state, and Campanini suggests that, in this connection, the idea of their being elected by universal suffrage is worth serious consideration.