Issues of Women’s Political Participation and Decision-Making in Local Governance: Perspectives from the Central Region of Ghana

This article suggests that although women participate in voting during district assembly elections and are very active in voluntary associations where the majority of them exhibit their leadership skill, they are marginalized in local governance politics. Their leadership qualities have not been translated into leadership opportunities in local governance because of factors such as patriarchy, poverty, lack of access to financial resources, and illiteracy. The study recommends that more attention should be paid to more training at the grassroots level using women’s voluntary associations to improve women’s agency in contesting for, and participating in, local governance elections.     

Decrees,Laws, and Inter-Branch Relations in the Russian Federation

A UK-based political scientist presents a systematic analysis of the basic philosophical arguments and intellectual origins of fundamental conservative thought in Russia. Positing that fundamental conservatism seeks to displace interpretations of Western modernity in Russia with a culturally specific Russian version, she then probes more deeply into the methods and tasks of fundamental conservatism, before examining its main theoretical arguments. The fact that such thinking is increasingly prominent in Russia, including within political circles, is noted as a basis for the need to better understand it as a search for new forms of rationality and new forms of citizenship rooted in the Russian sociohistoric context.     

Combating racism and the issue of reparations

ABSTRACT

This paper looks at previous Pan-Africanist attempts to combat the legacy of slavery and colonialism, and concludes that one of the lessons that can be learned from the Africanists of the 20th century is the necessity for unity, internationalism and placing working people at the centre. In terms of the need for the kind of repair that is now required, the paper highlights the continuing impact of Eurocentrism and racism in all its forms. In particular it stresses that the countries of Africa and the Caribbean must reject the so-called ‘universal values of the major powers’ and develop their own political institutions and paths of development, based on their own traditions. There is still the need to reclaim the history and heritage of those who are of African and Caribbean descent, but most importantly to reclaim the sovereignty of the peoples of Africa and the Caribbean. This requires that the people empower themselves, and that they become the decision makers.     

Limited but Evolving: The Political Economy of Social Protections in Nepal

Nepal’s awakening to growing social protection needs occurred only lately with most policies introduced in the 1990s. While comparable by Asian and particularly South Asian standards, these protections are limited and inconsistent. This article takes stock of social protection policies in Nepal with particular emphasis on the extent of coverage relative to needs. It explores the political economy, demand and political contexts to explain why social protections have developed the way they have in Nepal’s modern history. The understanding of Nepal’s struggle with this globally contested issue also helps draw parallels to other low-income countries.     

Stabilization and symbolism: language and regional politics in the Chuvash Republic

The government of the Chuvash Republic, an ethno-federal region of the Russian Federation, used a targeted and symbolic language policy in an attempt to stabilize the position of the republic's titular language while avoiding conflict with local Russophones and the Russian federal government. The resulting policy allowed the republic's government to frame the existence of an autonomous Chuvash republic – as well as the local elite's form of governance – as being essential to the preservation of the Chuvash language and thus the Chuvash people. In this way, it used language politics to strengthen its position vis-à-vis both local constituents and the Russian federal government. However, the limited nature of the government's program has made its gains tenuous in the face of continuing Russian political and cultural recentralization.     

“Soviet mentality?” The role of shared political culture in relations between the Armenian state and Russia's Armenian diaspora

Russia's Armenians have begun to form diaspora institutions and engage in philanthropy and community organization, much as the pre-Soviet “established” diaspora in the West has done for years. However, the Russian Armenian diaspora is seen by Armenian elites as being far less threatening due to a shared “mentality.” While rejecting the mentality argument, I suggest that the relationship hinges on their shared political culture and the use of symbols inherited from the Soviet Union in the crafting of new diaspora and diaspora-management institutions. Specifically, “Friendship of the Peoples” symbolism appears to be especially salient on both sides. However, the difference between old and new diasporas may be more apparent than real. The Russian Armenian diaspora now engages in many of the same activities as the Western diaspora, including the one most troublesome to Armenia's elites: involvement in politics.     

Dual citizenship and sovereignty

Multiple and dual citizenship in the past decades have become widely accepted worldwide. Leading scholars in citizenship studies claim that the growing tolerance of dual citizenship signals the weakening of state sovereignty and the emergence of transnational, post-national or cosmopolitan norms. This paper argues that multiple citizenship standards are neither universally accepted, nor normatively compelling. The cases referred to are intended to demonstrate that contrary to the above assessments, dual citizenship is also used by states to increase their sovereignty, for example promoting national interest abroad through expatriates and trans-border minorities. It is also argued that, in addition to the classical territorial sovereignty- and security-related dilemmas, dual-citizenship policies may violate the norms of democratic equality and popular sovereignty. The paper concludes that the inevitably growing toleration of non-monogamous state-citizen relationships should not be interpreted as a normative justification of promiscuous citizenship policies.     

Representing minorities in the city. Education policies and minority incorporation in the capital cities of Estonia and Latvia

This article explores the relationship between minority city-level and state-level political representations through the analysis of the contested implementation of state education policies in Tallinn and Riga. Referring to the US debate on this issue, the article asks what role minority incorporation into city-level power structures can play for its substantive representation. The comparison between Tallinn and Riga reveals two potential answers to this question. The case of Riga illustrates how city-level representation can be an alternative representative channel through which the minority can put pressure on state government and magnify its political voice within the country's democratic space. On the contrary, the case of Tallinn illustrates how a municipality can be an alternative locus of representation, which does not guarantee minority empowerment but rather entraps the minority at the local level within the implicit understanding that the minority (or at least the parties that get the minority vote) can “have its share” locally, but it cannot hope to influence state policies. The comparison between the two cases reveals different levels of legitimacy of the minority's voice in the democratic debate of Estonia and Latvia, and shows the risks and opportunities linked to the two models of minority city-level incorporation.     

Domestic actors and liberalization: a case study of internal and external pressures in Moi's Kenya

The diffusion of political and economic liberalization to countries all across the world over the last 30 years has raised questions about the influence of domestic and international actors. Most scholars have given credit to international actors such as the USA, Western European countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank for the spread of liberalization or any political openness and/or market-oriented reform. Their external-actors-focused explanations have been almost exclusively at the expense of domestic actors. They have essentially viewed domestic actors as simply receivers of liberalizing change or incapable of initiating reform. As a result, international development policies and programs have tended to focus on what these external actors can do to force other countries to liberalize. While recognizing the influence of these external actors, this article reverses this emphasis and notes that the focus should be on internal actors and factors, primarily social movements/groups and opposition political polities that are agitating for reform. This article is a case study on Kenya that shows how domestic factors and actors pressured the Moi government to embrace reform starting in the 1980s.     

Choosing Coalition Partners in Belgian Local Government

Government formation is a crucial phase after elections. This article focusses on coalition formation in Belgian local government after the elections in 2006. Coalition theories have mainly been developed at the national level, but they are also applicable to the local level where there is no shortage of coalitions. This level offers the opportunity to not only test rather classic coalition theories such as minimum size theories or the coalitions’ incumbency status. In a federal state like Belgium we can compare the local coalitions with coalitions made at higher levels. The results show that the local political parties prefer to form minimal winning and minimum parties coalitions, but not the smallest coalition that is possible. Coalitions are also more likely to form when they represent the incumbent coalition. Finally, political parties prefer congruent coalitions with the federal and regional government.