The Judicial Role in Defining National Security and Access to Information in South Africa

This article argues that judicial and other institutions concerned with legal interpretation are playing an increasing role in regulating and defining the concept of national security for South Africa, particularly in the realm of national security information. Part I surveys the post-apartheid evolution of accountability of South Africa’s national security agencies with particular attention to the treatment of national security information. Starting from a low base, intelligence agencies in South Africa have become more accountable, in part through the greater degree of access to national security information. Part II portrays the placement of access to national security information within South Africa’s legislative framework, taking into account the keys laws underpinning both secrecy and disclosure regulation. Here, with no definition of national security on the secrecy side, it is on the disclosure side of South Africa’s legislative framework that the judiciary and other legal actors are crafting an operative definition of national security. Part III covers three recent developments, arguing that they demonstrate the increasingly important regulatory role played by the judiciary and other legal institutions. These include two key Constitutional Court decisions and an ongoing legislative reform effort.     

Trade‐Offs,Limitations, and Promises of Big Data in Social Science Research

The promise of “big data” is a grand one. The collection and aggregation of massive datasets and the development of analytical tools by which to study these data is part of cutting‐edge efforts across scientific disciplines, with social, behavioral, and economic sciences leading the way in many of these efforts. There has been a recent rise in National Science Foundation funding for “big data” research across directorates that coincides with scholarly, public, and governmental attention to the topic. Nonetheless, there are limitations and trade‐offs to “big data” research, particularly as it corresponds to scientific modes of inquiry and the limited range of topics that fall under its umbrella, that must be recognized and incorporated into the general understanding of its long‐term promise.     

从衡阳贿选案看地方人大选举制度的改革与完善

地方人大贿选的本质是金钱政治、权钱交易,它给国家和社会造成的危害是严重的。衡阳贿选案是地方人大贿选中较为典型的案例,深刻地暴露出我国地方人大选举制度的设计缺陷,如候选人提名制度不合理、缺乏相应的竞选机制、监督机制和处罚机制不完善等。推进地方人大制度的健全和完善,要建立规范的代表候选人提名制度,扩大选民和代表联合提名候选人的比例;在选举中切实落实差额选举制度,引入正当竞选机制;健全监督机制,加大处罚力度。     

深入贯彻落实党的十八大精神 开创党校科研工作新局面

党的十八大对党校事业特别是党校科研工作提出了一系列新的要求和任务。当前,努力把十八大精神转化为开拓党校各方面工作新局面的新理念和新实践,是各级党校的一项重要政治任务。     

近代转换期韩国汉文学家的中国体验研究——以“满洲”地区①为中心

本文针对19世纪下半期至20世纪早期,韩国汉文学作家流亡中国满洲时的体验及其如何将体验从文学角度加以形象化,并就其意义进行探讨。目前,对这一主题的综合研究还几乎处于空白,这是因为研究者们认为这一时期是韩国汉文学的结束期。特别值得一提的是,作家们在日记中详细地记载了其在满洲的生活感受,其间对本民族有了新的认识,同时也将当时满洲的生活状况生动、形象地勾画出来。特别是对于儒教复古与革新的描述,使我们可以充分了解那个时代的思想风向及作家们的顾虑所在。     

National identity in the contemporary Baltics: comparative quantitative analysis

This paper is about contemporary national identity attitudes in the three Baltic states as ethnic democracies. It presents the results of a quantitative comparative study using data from the International Social Survey Program, collected in 2013. The parameters of comparison include the perceived importance of various national identity criteria and the pride in a nation’s achievements in various spheres. The results show that Baltic national identity focuses not on ethnic homogeneity, but on commitment and loyalty, to reflect upon the current situation more than the historical past, and to have the potential for the integration of ethnic minority members.     

India after the 2014 general elections: BJP dominance and the crisis of the third party system

ABSTRACT

This article critically assesses claims that India has entered a new party system after the 2014 general elections, marked by renationalisation with the BJP as the new ‘dominant’ party.’ To assess these claims, we examine the electoral rise of the BJP in the build-up to and since the 2014 general elections until the state assembly elections in December 2018. Overall, we argue that despite the emerging dominance of the BJP, a core feature of the third party system -a system of binodal interactions- has remained largely intact albeit in a somewhat weaker form. Furthermore, by comparing the post 2014 Indian party system with key electoral features of the first three party systems, we conclude that the rise of the BJP has thrown the third-party system into crisis, but does not yet define the consolidation of a new party system.     

Science-women: arcane knowledge and African spirituality in independent African-American cinema of the 1990s

ABSTRACT

This article explores the significant role played by arcane knowledge and expressions of African spirituality in the iconography of powerful black women in three films directed by independent African-American filmmakers in the 1990s: Sankofa (Haile Gerima, 1993, USA), Mother of the River (Zeinabu irene Davis, 1995, USA), and Eve’s Bayou (Kasi Lemmons, 1997, USA). My discussion draws on the orature and legendary tales of West African-based cosmologies in the African diasporas of the Americas and the concept (and practice) of ‘conjure’ in African–American cultures. It argues that heroic black women characters possessing extraordinary or supernatural powers not only predate the current vogue of cinematic superheroism, but that the iconography of such ‘science-women’ is embedded in culturally specific, African-rooted cosmological, epistemological and spiritual contexts. I argue that the feminine power celebrated in the films by the independent African-American filmmakers discussed here draw on legendary and historical accounts of women in African diasporic oral, literary and spiritual traditions for their cinematic storytelling to construct an affirmative and paradigmatic model of black female heroism based on empowering African spiritual beliefs and arcane knowledge.     

The ‘African gangs’ narrative: associating Blackness with criminality and other anti-Black racist tropes in Australia

ABSTRACT

This article explores and theorizes anti-Black racist discourses that shape the ways in which the Australian media and other mainstream Australian institutions talk about and view Black Africans. It argues that the long-standing racist trope of synonymizing Blackness with criminality is widespread in Australia. Thus, among other things, this paper theorizes the Australian media narrative of ‘African gangs’ who are supposedly causing havoc in the State of Victoria, Australia. It argues that the January 2018 media reporting about the so-called ‘African gangs’ is a good example that illustrates how the long-standing racist trope of conflating Blackness with criminality is employed in Australia. The discussion is framed within a Black/African Diaspora theoretical framework that allows this study to conceptualize and connect the lived experiences of Black people globally.     

Political transitions and commissions of inquiry: the politicisation of accountability in Ghana

Abstract

What role does a commission of inquiry (COI) play in delivering accountability? In theory, when the public delegates power to political leaders to formulate and implement policies, they seek political accountability in return. Using Ghana as a case study, this study examines how the operations of COIs may deliver accountability. Principal–agent theories of accountability and African conceptions of legitimacy are incomplete on their own and need to be integrated into an explanation of political accountability that takes into consideration political transitions and the role of COIs in delivering a minimalist form of accountability. This study argues that a COI is an instrument of regime legitimatisation. The demands by citizens for political accountability in Ghana correlate with political transitions. Accompanying each power alternation was a different model of political accountability. To understand the predominant applications of accountability, we emphasise the politicisation of accountability.