Comparative Governments 2023
In Britain legitimacy is based on Traditional legitimacy-hereditary ruling family had the right to rule.
The church doesn't challenge the authority of the government.
Britain has never had written constitution. They have common law and important documents that is called Constitution of the Crown.
By the end of 17th century it was based on Rational-legal authority- a system of well established laws and procedures, common law
The Constitution of the Crown includes:
Magna Carta-basis of limited government that placed restrictions on monarchs.
Bill of rights-lists rights retained by parliament.
Common law based on local customs and precedent.
Thatcher - prime minister was conservative
Tony Blair was from labour party
Winston Churchill was from the conservative party
Insularity:feeling of separation from continent of Europe.In 2016, British citizens voted in referendum to leave European union.
Noblesse Oblige- duty of the upper classes to take responsibility for the welfare of the lower classes.
Welfare state:a way of governing in which the state or an established group of social institutions provides basic economic security for its citizens.
In 1980's Margaret Thatcher, cut social services.
There is a religious differences between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland which remains a major conflict today.
Crimes are based on individual violence not strikes and assassinations.
Gradualism is the main principle of how changes occur in Britain
The Industrial Revolution created two new social classes, the business middle class, and the laborer.
Great reform act of 1832:many men gained the right to vote and the House of Commons gained more power in relation to the House of Lords.
Reform Act of 1867:many working class people were given the right to vote.
Women's suffrage: all women 21 and over were allowed to vote
Labour party: created in 1906 to represent the rights of newly-enfranchised working men
Conservative party: drew most of its members from middle-class merchants and businessmen.
The Trade Union Council: the coalition of trade unions that became a major force in British politics.
Beveridge report: provided for a social insurance program that made all citizens eligible for health, unemployment, and other benefits.!!!!!
National health service: NHS, created by the Labour Party.
OPEC: organization for petroleum exporting countries.
She privatized business and industry
she cut back social welfare programs
strengthened national defense
returned to market force controls on the economy.
she was prime minister for 11 years.
she was called -iron lady-
neoliberalism- term that describes the revival of classic liberal values that support low levels of gov regulation, taxation and social expenditures.
Gordon brown: came when tony Blair stepped down from the labour party.
David Cameron: prime minister, initiated Big Society conservative party
Theresa May:Cameron was forced to resign, Theresa May was appointed conservative party
Brexit is an abbreviation of two English words: 'Britain' and 'exit' and refers to the withdrawal process of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU)
Social cleavages:such as Protestant-Catholic split in Northern Ireland. Also, major cleavages were race and ethnicity.
Political culture in Uk- Characterized by trust and defence to authority.
They have parliamentary system, which means that prime minister and cabinet ministers are actually members of the legislature.
Linkage institutions are well-developed
Whigs- Scottish bandits (liberal)Tories- Irish bandits (conservative)
They have single-member plurality election system.
People: Neli Kinnock(1980), John Smith(1993-1994), Tony Blair(1994-2007), Gordon Brown(2007-2010), Es Miliband (2010-1015), Jeremy Corbyn.
The largest party on the left is the Labour Party.
Began in 1906 as an alliance of trade unions and socialist groups that was strengthened by the expansion of rights for the working class during the 19th century.
It proclaimed a socialist party whose principles included a guaranteed minimum standard of living for everyone, nationalization of industry, and heavy taxation of large incomes of wealth.
Main party on the right
The Party supported a market-controlled economy, privatization, and fewer social welfare programs during the 1980s under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, Conservative moved back toward the center under Prime Minister John Major(1990-1997)
Characterized by Noblesse oblige.
The organization of the party is viewed as elitist, with the MPs choosing the party leadership.
—>Deep divisions between 2 groups weakened the Conservative Party:
The traditional wing (one-nation Tories) values Nobles oblige, they generally support Britain’s membership in the EU.
The Thatcherite Wing strict conservatives who want to roll back gov controls and move to a full free market. they do not want the EU.
The goal was to establish a strong party in the middle as a compromise to the politics of 2 major parties: Thatcher’s extremely conservative leadership and labor’s leftist views.
leader: Paddy Ashdown, Charles Kennedy, Nick Clegg
David Cameron invited the Liberal Democrats to help form coalition government and nick clegg became deputy prime minister
LD generally being more supportive of the EU and Conservatives not.
smaller parties are in Wales, Scotland and Northern Irland.
Plaid Cymru in Wales
Scottish National Party in Scotland
parties fortunes were strengthened after labour’s return to power in 1997 when the Blair leadership created regional assemblies for Scotland and Wales.
Northern Ireland has always been dominated by regional parties such as Sinn Fein and Democratic Unionist Party
The only national officials that British voters select are members of Parliament.
Prime minister is not elected as prime minister but as an MP from a single electoral district
Elections must held every 5 years, but traditionally the prime minister could call for them ealier.
Fixed-term Parliaments Act of 2011: Parliamentary elections must be held every 5 years beginning in 2015.This act limits prime minister to call for elections except in the case of a vote of no confidence, and if 2/3 of the MPs vote to do so.
Vote of no confidence: a formal vote by which the members of a legislature or similar deliberative body indicate that they no longer support a leader, government,
winner-take-all all system with no runoff elections.
each party selects a candidate to run for each district post, minor parties dont always run candidates in all districts.
the person that wins the most votes gets the position
However, if no single party wins an outright majority of seats, a situation known as a "hung parliament" occurs. 2018
Good Friday Agreement: Britain agreed to give Northern Ireland a regional government in which all parties should be represented on a proportional basis.
According to later agreements with Scotland and wales their regional parliaments also are based on proportional representation.
British politics are characterized by neo corporatism in which interest groups take the lead and sometimes dominate the state
The greatest influence of Britain's interest groups comes thought —> Quangos, or policy advisory boards appointed by the government.
Quangos weakened while Margaret Thatcher was prime minister.
today they have been abolished by conservative plans to reduce the overall budget deficit.
BBC had a clash with the Blair government in 2003 over support for the war in Iraq. conflict grew into a crisis when weapons inspector Michael Kelly committed suicide.
papers employees hacked the cell phone of a murdered 13-year-old. scandal snowballed as it became apparent that phone hacking was a common practice
The British government has 3 branches of gov and a bureaucracy.
Legislature is divided into 2 houses
They have a parliamentary system, meaning that the executive branch is fused with the legislative branch because the prime minister and the cabinet are leaders of parliament.
Separation of powers does not exist.
Lack of judicial review in the Judicial branch
Unitary state, political authority centralized in London
The cabinet consists of the prime minister and the ministers, each of which heads a major bureaucracy of the gov.
Collective cabinet is the center of policymaking and the prime minister has the responsibility of shaping decisions into policy.
National question: Dilemma which is known for conflict of how a country should be governed, or even if Nigeria should remain as one nation.
First constitution was written in 1914, since then we have 8 more.
Military and civilian leaders have felt free to disobey the constitution.
National question is a major source of lack of legitimacy.
Fragmentation: tendency to fall apart
The country’s history is full of examples of ethnic and religious conflicts, economic exploitation by the elite and use of military force.
Despite all these, the Military still has been the most important source of stability in an unstable country.
Citizens have little or no trust in their leaders' abilities to run an efficient state.
As a British colony, Nigerians learned to rely on Western rule of law.
Corruption associated with General Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993) and General Sani Abacha( 1993-1998) because taxes people paid all went in their banks. —1985-1998
An important source of Legitimacy has been in the north has been Sharia, especially since the fall of military rule in 1999.
Hisbah is a police force charged with enforcing Islamic morality.
2008 Federal gov cracked down on Hisbah.
Their elections are characterized by rigging, intimidation, fraud and violence.
Historical influences may be divided into 3 eras: pre-colonial era, the colonial era, and the era since independence.
Influences from this era include :
Trade connections
Early influence of Islam
Kinship-based politics—>the traditional pattern of bequeathing political power among family members.
Complex political identities
Democratic impulses- rulers were expected to govern in favor of people
The Group Fulani came to the north though jihad established the Sokoto caliphate, a muslim state.
The Caliphate traded with Europeans and eventually succumbed to British colonial rule by 1900.
Authoritarian rule- not responsible to people
Interventionist state- no checks and balances—>the practice of governments that interfere in the political affairs of other countries, staging military or trade interventions
Individualism- chiefs thought about personal benefits for governance rather then good for whole community
Christianity- split between christians and muslims
Intensification of ethnic policies- Hausa fulani, Igbo and Yuruba.
The British imposed indirect rule in which they trained natives to fill the European style bureaucracy.
Parliamentary style government replaced by presidential system- because of ethnic divisions they couldn't identify the majority party or allow the prime minister to have proper authority.
Intensification of ethnic conflict
Military rule
Personalized corruption
Federalism- theoretically power was shared, but it wasn’t because military presidents didn’t allow sub governments to have their separate sovereignty
Economic dependence on oil- oil money only unreached the elite.
In 1966, the parliamentary government was replaced by a military dictatorship. There were several military coup d'etats.
Patron-clientelis(prebendalism): just as in China and Mexico,The patron builds loyalty among his clients by granting them favors that are denied to others. In Nigeria, in exchange for their support a president may grant to his clients a portion of the oil revenues.
State control/rich civil society: government never succeeded in totally dominating civil society.
Tension between modernity and tradition:there is a religious conflict between christians and muslims.muslims believe in sharia christians don't.
Northwest-muslim people, Hausa-fulani
Northeast-muslim smaller people, kanuri
Middle Belt- smaller ethnic groups, mix of muslims and christians.
Southwest: yoruba 40% Christians 40% and others 20%
Southest-Igbo people,Catholics
The Southern Zone-minority
The colony established a mercantilist role of providing raw materials like oil to industrialized nations
One of the cleavages of Nigeria is elites becoming more separate from people because they were more educated.
Other cleavages were between the north and south because most of the British schools were located in the south, but eventually they got over it.
→ Example of corruption in Nigeria- About ⅔ of revenues coming from oil went in the hand of the elite ←
Gap between rich and poor- like Mexico, the distribution of income is very unequal. Few people are very wealthy and most are very poor.
Health issues- Nigeria has high rates of HIV/AIDS
Literacy
Ethnicity- 400 separate ethnic groups with their own customs and religions. Hausa fulani, igbo, yoruba.
Religion- about half of Nigeria is Muslim and 40% are christians. Differences between muslims and christians.
North vs South- Again Muslims and Christians.
Urban and Rural
Social class- division between elites and normal people.
Nigeria has a good civil society.
Even under military rule, presidents allowed free press and interest groups to be maintained.
One group that has managed to do both is the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, or MOSOP, founded by dissident Ken Saro-Wiwa in the 1990s. MOSOP has worked to apply national laws to secure financial benefits for the Ogoni in the Niger Delta and to hold foreign-operated oil companies to environmental standards.
Low level of trust in government
Nigerians think elections are not fair
A Widely occupied Chevron-texaco’s Nigerian operations 10 days. The siege ended when chevron Texaco's officials agreed to provide jobs for the woman's sons and set up a credit plan to help village women start businesses.
2006 groups organized to attack foreign-based oil companies.
!Boko Haram! carried out almost daily shooting trying to undermine Jonathan's authority -they dont like sharia law.
Nigeria's Protests have been the most brutal out of all countries.
2015 Boko haram stepped up the attacks and gained international attention with kidnapping and disappearance of 276 schoolgirls from chibok
The survival of the Ogoni people in Nigeria's Niger Delta is threatened by environmental degradation, socio-economic marginalization, and human rights abuses due to oil exploration. In response, Ogoni activists have organized protests to demand justice, environmental remediation, and community development. Despite facing repression from authorities and multinational corporations, the Ogoni people continue to mobilize and advocate for their rights and the protection of their homeland.
At first they had authoritarian rule until their independence and then slowly they changed into democratic regime
Formally federalist and democratic but has not operated as such
Nigeria did not develop a one party system unlike Mexico in 20th century that contributed to political stability
Factionalism led to the development of many parties.
→ Since 2015 we have 2 major parties
The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP): party of Obasanjo, in 2003 received a majority.------dominant party although they had low legitimacy because of high fraud.
JONATHAN’S PARTY
All ProgressiveCongress(APC): formed as an alliance of 4 opposition parties.
BUHARI’S PARTY
On the national level they vote for the president, representatives to the house of the representatives and for senators from their states.
Presidential elections: if a presidential candidate does not receive an outright majority a second ballot may take place.a president also must receive at least 25% of all the votes cast in ⅔ of the states.in other words a purely regional candidate cannot win the presidency.
Legislative elections - The Senate has 109 senators, three from each of 36 states, and one from the federal capital territory, Abuja. They are elected by direct popular vote. The 360 members of the House of Representatives(lower house) are elected from single-member districts by plurality vote.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (!INEC!), with outside pressure, made an attempt to cleanse the electoral process when it declared almost six million names to be fraudulent.
The elections of 2011, however, were considered by most observers to be a big improvement over 2007, at least partly because of reforms initiated by the INEC. Goodluck Jonathan (from the south) won almost 59% of the vote, and Muhammadu Buhari (from the north) won 32%.
Boko Haram attempted to disrupt the elections by attacking voting centers, killing 41 people, and an opposition politician, Umaru Ali, was gunned down in one attack. However, the elections were generally peaceful and orderly, according to observers
The Nigeria Labor congress called a strike of workers in cities across nigeria.it was organized to protest the government's hike in fuel prices and taxes.
Nigeria is in theory a federal political system with government organizations on local, state, and national levels. Its various constitutions have provided for three branches of government, but in reality its executive branch has dominated policymaking.
Nigeria has had a presidential system, with a strong president theoretically checked by a bicameral legislature and an independent judiciary. Each of the 36 state governments and 774 local governments has an executive and a legislative branch, and a network of local, district, and state courts exists.
Nigeria follows Presidential system with 2 term limit for the chief executive
Nigeria's seven military leaders did not all rule in the same fashion. All promised a "transition to democracy," but only two gave power over to elected leaders: General Obasanjo in 1979, and General Abubakar in 1999.
Generals Buhari (1983-1985), Babangida (1985-1993), and Abacha (1993-1998) were known for their use of repressive tactics during their rule,
Corporations owned by the state and designated to provide commercial and social welfare services. Their boards are appointed by gov ministers. Provide public utilities such as water electricity and public transportation—state corporatism
A parliamentary system was in place until 1979, when it was replaced by a presidential system with a bicameral legislature, known collectively as → the National Assembly.
Both representatives and senators serve four-year renewable terms, and elections are held the week preceding the presidential election.
The Senate - Currently the upper house is composed of 109 senators, three from each of 36 states and one from the federal capital territory Abuauja. Senators are elected directly by popular vote. Its equal representation model for states is based on that of the United States Senate, so some senators represent much smaller populations than others do. However, the ethnic and religious diversity of the 36 states means that senators are also a diverse lot.
The House of Representatives - The House of Representatives has 360 members from single-member district. They are elected by plurality, and like the senators, represent many differeethniciti ethnicities. After the elections of 2015, only 20 representatives were women, as were only 7 of the 109 senators, giving Nigeria one of the lowest rates of female representation in the legislature in the world.
They had great deal of autonomy
Operating independently from executive
Today the judiciary is charged with interpreting the laws in accordance with the Constitution, so judicial review exists in theory.
Two notorious cases from the 1990s indicate to many people how deeply the Nigerian judiciary fell under the sway of military rulers:
Mshood Abiolao, the winner of the 1993 election annulled by Babangida, was detained and eventually died while in custody. The presiding judges for his detention changed often, and critics of the government believe that justice was not served. In 1995, activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogonis were detained and hanged under orders from a court arranged by the military, consisting primarily of military officers.
The military has been a strong force behind policy-making in Nigeria. Yet by becoming so active in political affairs, the military lost its credibility as a temporary, objective organization that keeps order and brings stability.
Although the military is a strongly intimidating force in the Nigerian political system that has often blocked democratic reforms, it is important to understand that it is one of the few institutions in the country that is truly national in character.
When the deep ethnic cleavages within Nigerian society have threatened instability, the military has been there to restore order. Nigeria's best, brightest, and most ambitious have often made their way by rising through the military, a fact particularly important for the ethnic Muslims of northern Nigeria who have not had the same opportunities that many in the south have had. Because of these factors, generals had the ability to keep control of the government for many years, and it helps to explain why democracy has been so fragile so far.
Loyalty Pyramid:those in the pyramid get the spoils and they alone have access to wealth and influence.
Like iran Nigeria is a rentier state,while state receives rent from other countries these counties receive income by exporting their oil and leasing out oil fields to foreign companies.
During eras of low oil prices nigeria has amassed great debt
Despite all its problems, Nigeria shows some signs that democracy may be taking root in its presidential system, including these:
Some checks and balances between government branches
Some independent decisions in the courts
Revival of civil society
Independent Media
Peaceful succession of power
China is by some standards a less developed country, but on the other hand the country is now a major world power, partly because of recent dramatic improvements in GNP and standards of living
Its leaders claim membership in the World Trade Organization!!!
Until 20th century China’s history was characterized by dynastic cycles: long periods of rule by a family punctuated by times of chaos
Power was determined by the mandate of heaven, or the right to rule as seen by the collective ancestral wisdom that guided the empire from the heavens above
China is technically governed by the constitution that grants formal authority to both parties and the state executive and legislative offices.
Under dynastic rule legitimacy was established through mandate of heaven and power passed from one emperor to next though hereditary connections.
The Revolution of 1911 gave birth to the Chinese Republic with western-educated sun yat-sen as its first president
The People’s Republic of China was established in 1949 and Mao led the Communist party.
Maoism was idealistic and egalitarian-all are considered equal, regardless of gender, race, religion, or age.
it endorsed centralized power though top leaders of the party it also stressed the importance of staying connected to the peasants though a process called mass line
Mass line required leaders to listen to and communicate with ordinary folks
Organizing principle for both ideologies was democratic centralism It essentially means that while decision-making within the party is democratic, once a decision is made, it must be followed by all members without question. This principle allows for a centralized leadership structure where decisions made by the top leadership are binding on all party members.
Party said to be corrupt and irrelevant, holding authoritarian power over an increasingly market-based economy
!!!!An important source of power in PRC has been military, which played an important role in the rise of the communist party and it is represented in the government by the Central Military Commission.!!!!!
The head of this commission plays an important role in policymaking
Authoritarian power: Chinese citizens have traditionally been subjects not participants in their political system.The tendency toward decentralization is apparent in the modern regime as a centralized Politburo attempts to control its vast population and numerous policies
Confucianism: It emphasized the importance of order and harmony, encouraged Chinese citizens to submit to the emperor’s power and reinforced the emperor’s responsibility to fulfill his duties conscientiously. Communist belif in a small group of leader who make decisions for the people
Bureaucratic hierarchy based on scholarship: emperors surrounded themselves with highly organized bureaucracies that formed an elite based on confucian scholarship.Gov job were extremely competitive.exams were knowledge based and bureaucrats had to be well-versed in Confucianism. The Communist Party exercises authority over all aspects of government and society, and bureaucratic institutions are expected to implement party directives and policies.
The “Middle Kingdom”: Chinese have referred to their country as middle kingdom or the place that is the center of civilization.
Communist ideologies: early 20th century brought a new influence of Maoism that emphasized the “right thinking” and moralism of Confucianism. late 20th sencutry brought Deng Xiaoping Theory: a practical mix of authoritarian political control and economic privatization
Collectivism: Valuing the good of the community above that of the individual suited the peasant-based communities that have existed throughout Chinese history
Struggle and activism
Mass line:communication between party leaders, members, and peasants.leaders would communicate their will and direction to the people but the people in turn would communicate their wisdoms to the leaders through the mass line
Egalitarianism: Hierarchy was the key organizing principle in their society before 1949, and maos egalitarian society was complete opposition to it. all are considered equal, regardless of gender, race, religion, or age.
Self-reliance: Instead of relying on the elite to give directions pleople under maoist rule were encouraged to rely on their own talents.
Deng Xiaoping Theory→ “It doesn’t matter whether a cat is white or black as long as it catches mice”he did not worry too much about whether a policy was a capitalist or socialist as long as it improved the economy. he has combination of socialist planning and the capitalist free market
Long March( 1934-1936 ): cross-country trek led by Mao as Chiang’s nationalist army pursued his communist followers
Hu Yaobang: a reformer whose death was mourned by the students that led the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989 .
The identity of Han Chinese-predominant ethnic group in China, during late 19th century, chinese nationalists fought hard against the western imperialist that dominated china and eventually won their countries independence. Mao encouraged his people to ignore the outside world and concerntare on growing the country from whithin but during Deng Xiaopings rule China has been increasingly involved in the world politics and trade
Tibetans and other minority groups are seen as inferior people by some strong nationalists and their pride in being Hans Chinese is often apparent.
When British statesman Earl Macartney arrived in china in the late 1700s seeking trade, Chinese emperor rejected his overtures, beliving that China had little to earn from the less wealthy and cultured British.
During 20th century a major source of tension among Chinese leaders was between those who promoted Chinese self-reliance and those seeking modernization though contacts with the West
Mao zendog rejected Western nations of human rights and electoral democracy and banished most foreign residents.
In 2012 Xinhua the state run news agency ran an editorial that accused other govs of using reporters from their countries to control Chinas’s image in the overseas news medias
People’s Daily the ruling Communist Party paper described wetern efforts to export democracy and human rights to china as a new form of colonialism.
Unlike Russia, China rose to regional hegemony( control of surrounding countries) very early in its hirtory
dynastic cycle was interrupted by Mongoles in13 th century when thier leaders conquered China and ruled until the mandate was recaptured by Ming who restored Han Chinses control.
Manchu were also conquering people from the north who established the Qing
( pure )dynasty
During 19th century the weakened Qing dynasy fell to imperialist nations: England, Germany, France and Janpan
Major revolutions occurred in China in 1911 and 1949
Nationalism: Chinese wished to recapture strength and power from imperialist nations that dominated them during 19th century. the revolution of 1911 led by Sun yat-sen was a successful attempt to reestablish China as an independent country
Establishing a new political community: Chiang kai-shek founded the Nationalist party and other from Mao Zendong the founder of the Chinese Communist Party
Socioeconomic development: A major problem of the 20th century has been the reestablishment of a strong economic and social fabric after the years of imperialist control. Chiang Kai-shek became the president of China and Mao and his communist were left to form outlaw party.
Strenght for Mao’s Commuist Party was gained by the Long March (1934-36)
Mao led his troops on the Long March to escape the persecution of the Nationalist party and the forces of Chiang Kai-shek. The communists were attacked while they occupied southeastern China before the Long March.
Mao eluded him until finally Chiang had to turn his attention to invading Japanse.Mao emerged as a hero of the people and many of his loyal friends on the march lived to be prominent leaders of peoples republic of china after its founding in 1949
After the WWII ended the forces of Chiang( Nationalist) and Mao met in civil war and Mao proved to be more powerful
In 1949 Chiang fled to Taiwan and Mao established People’s Republic of China under communist rule.
Chiang claimed that his headquarters in Taiwan formed the true government.
Two Chinas was created
→The Soviet model (1949-1957)- Soviet union had supported Mao’s efforts since 1920s. in 1949 with his victory it began pouring money and experise into PRC. With this help Mao focused on country’s social problems
Land reform:campaign redistributed property from the rich to the poor
Civil reform: greatly enhanced woman’s legal rights, they were allowed to free themselves from unhappy marriages.this measures helped to legitimise Mao
Five-Year Plans: 1953-1957 CCP launched plans to nationalized industry and collective agriculture, implementing step forward socialism
→The Great Leap Forward (1958-1966)- Mao changed directions to free China from Soviet domination.The Great Leap Forward was a utopian effort to transform China into a radical egalitarian society. It emphasis was mainly economic, and it was based on 4 principles.
All-around development: not just heavly industry but almost equal emphasis on agriculture
Mass mobilization
Political unanimity and zeal: an emphasis on party workers running government, not bureaucrats. Cadres-party workers at lowest levels.The word cadre most broadly refers to the staff that are tasked with the management of state and/or party affairs.
Decentalization: encouraged more government the local levels, less central control.
It did not happen.
Between 1960 and 1966 Mao allowed Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping to implement market-oriented policies that would revive economy.
Mao instituted the Cultural Revolution: it encompassed political and social change as well as economic. The main goal was to purify the party and the country thought radical transformation. Important principles were:
the ethic of struggle
mass line
collectivism-giving a group priority over each individual in it
egalitarianism
unstinting service to society
A primary goal of Cultural Revolution was to remove old china and its hierarchical bureaucracy and emphasis on inequality.
Emphasis was put on elementary education: all people should be able to read and write, but any education that created inequality was targeted for destruction.
Mao died in 1976 leaving his followers divided into factions
Radicals-this group was led by Mao’s wife Jiang Qing, one of the Gang of Four, who supported radical goals of Cultural Revolution
Military-Powerful group led by Lin Biao who died in airplane crash
Moderates- led by Zhou Enlai, they emphasized economic modernization and limited contact with other countries. Zhou influenced Mao to invite President Nixon to China.
the gang of 4 was arrested by new CCP leader Hua Guofeng.
Zhou’s death opened the path for leadership from the moderate faction. and the new leader from 1978 was Deng Xiaoping.
Four modernization: Industry, agriculture, science, military.
under deng’s leadership China experienced economic liberization and these policies have helped to implement the new direction:
Open door trade policy:trade with everyone
Reforms in education: higher academic standards
Institutionalization of the Revolution: restoring legal system adn bureaucracy of the old China. decenralizing gov.
Mao→ Deng → Jiang Zemin → Hu Jintao → Xi Jinping
Under Mao no civil society was allowed and gov controlled every facet of citizen’s lives.
after market based economy began in 1978 party leaders realize that most citizens no longer see communist ideology as central to their lives. as a result CCP now appeals to patriotism in being Chinese
China’s ethnic population is primarily Han Chinese, people that historically formed the basis of China’s identity.
Minority groups now comprise about only 8%. but their autonomous areas like Tibet and Xinjiang make up more than 60% of China’s territory.
There are 55 officially recognized minority groups
Most minorities live on or near China’s borders with other countries
China does have about 100 million citizens who are members of minorities groups.
Most of Chinas minorities are in 5 autonomous regions of Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet, Xinjiang.
Chinese constitution grants autonomous areas the right of self-government in some matters, such as cultural affairs, but it is very limited.
has been especially problematic since Chinese army conquered it in early days of CCP.
The former government of Tibet never recognized Chinese authority and many Tibetians today campaign for independece while other demand autonomy under Chinese sovereignty.
spiritual leader fled to india in 1959 where he set up Tibetian government in exile that the CCP never recognized.
A series of riots and demonstrations took place in Tibet in march of 2008 on 49th anniversary of the failed uprising a situation that increased tensions between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama
2013 Chinese gov announced its intesion to intensify a crackdown again in publications in Tibetan regions in an attamot to control pro-Dalai Lama litereature and publicity. 1.3 million illegal publications and promotional items were confiscated from 2011 to 2013 in Tibet.
Muslims of Turkish decedent living in Xinjaing.
some Uyghur militant want to create a separate Islamic state and have used violence to support their cause.
Chinese have become very concerned with these Muslim dissidents and soon their fears were confirmed, in 2009 riots broke out in Urumqi the capital city of Xinjiang. the riots were sarked by Uyghur dissatisfaction with the Chinese central gov’s handaling of the deaths of 2 Uyghur workers during previous disruptions— but the violence was on going thnic tensions between Han and Uyghurs.
Even among Hans there is great linguistic diversity.
since communist regime has tried to make Mandarin the official language of Government and education.
rule required most people in the public sector including teachers and members of the broadcast media to use Mandarin when addressing the public.
in 2008 the education minister of Hong Kong lifted restrictions that forced many secondary schools to teach in Cantonese.
motivation was the result of a study that showed that students from english-speaking schools did far better in getting into school than did those from Cantonese-speaking schools.
important divide in Chinese society is between rular and urban areas.
Gap between urban and rular incomes has groun so much that observer indicate it as Two Chinas this time as rular and urban one.
Protest in rular areas where some belive that gov is not looking out for their interests.
for example Hunan Province, thousands of angry farmers marched on the towenship gov to protest excessive taxes and corruption of local officials.shortly after 9 people leaders of protest were arrested.
“A new socialist countryside” a program to lift the lagging rular economy
The communist state redefined political participation by creating a relationship between the communist party and citizenship.
In recent years popular social movements that support democracy, religious belifs, community ties over nationalism have influenced Chinese politics
Chinese Communist Party CCP is the largest political party
its members make up only small minority of county’s populations- about 6% of total population are members of the CCP
Youth League: 109 million Chinese youths belong to it
during the Maoist revolutionary era Cadres whose careers depended on party loyality and ideological purity led the CCP at all levels and few were intellectuals or professionals.Since Deng’s reforms “technocrats” people with technical training who climbed the ladder of the party beureaucracy led the party increasing
An important new development is the growth of civil society-the appearance of private organizations that do not directly challenge the authority of the state but focus on social problems such as environment, AIDS, and legal reform.
for example recently activist organizations have protested gov sponsored dam projects that would flood the farmland of millions of peasants.
citizens complain that gov lacks transparency because they reveal its plans too late and in very obscure places
such attitudes sparked demonstrations in early 2008 in shanghai when gov extended its train lines without notifying people whose property would be affected by the project.
today Christianity and Buddhism are rebounding after years of communist resupression of religion.
Tinanamen Square massacre of 1989.
in recent years religiour groups such as Falon Gong have staged major protests but none have risen to the level of conflict apparent in 1989.
Riots in Tibet and Protests to the Torch Relay.
recently protest occurred in Tibet and Xinjiang both autonomous regions in western china.
In Tibet series of riots and demosntrations took place in Lhasa Capital city. on March of 2008 on the 49th anniversary of the failed uprisings against china in 1959.
Riots in Xinjiang
2009. riots broke out in Urumqi the capital city in northwest china.riots were sparked by Uyghur dissatisfaction with chinese central governments handeling of the deaths of 2 Uygur workers. internet sevices were shut down and cell phone services were restriced.
part of unrest has to do with Hukou, China’s traditional household registration system that makes it difficult to move from one place to another. Largest cities now find themself overcrowded and so they are shutting down shelters for workers who have recently migrated fro rular areas and erecting other barriers to entry.
in Shanghai migrant workers are divided into classes: Class A - most educated and talented get shanghai Hukou and the slightly less talented- Class B - might get a Hukou after 7 years of paying into social security system.
Authoritarian
decisions made by Political Elites: those who hold political power without much input from citizens.
economic decision-making is now decentralization or devolution of power to subnational govs.
Local govs often dey or ignore the central government by setting their own tax rates.
CCP intergrates its military into the political hierarchy.
Head of the Central Military Commission is often most powerful leader in China
Society is best led by elite vanguard party with a superior understanding of the Chinese people and their needs
organized hierarchically by levels - Village/township, country, province, nation.
at the top of the system is the supreme leader.
the party has separate constitution from the government’s constitution of 1982 and its central bodies are:
National Party Congress:this body consists of more than 2000 delegates chosen primarily from congresses on lower levels.meets every 5 years so its not important in policymaking.its main importance remains the power to elect members of the Central Committee
Central Committee:has 340 members that meet annually for about a week. their size and infrequent meetings limit their policymaking powers. their meetings are called plenums.they are gatherings of the political elites and from their midst are chosen the politburo and the standing committee
Politburo and standing committee: most powerful political organization. they are chosen from the central committee, their decision dictate government policies.the politburo has 25 members and standing committee chosen from politburo membership has only 7.they meet in secret.
China has one-party system but CCP does allow existence of 8 democratic parties.
Each party has a special group that it draws from such as intellectuals or businessmen.
they are tightly controlled by the CCP.
they do not contest the CCP for the control of the gov but they serve an important advisroy role to the party leaders
loyal non-opposition
PRC hold elections for legitimacy of gov and CCP
Party controls the commissions that run elections and it reviews draft lists of proposed candidates to weed out those it finds politically objectionable.
The National People's Congress is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China.NPC is the only branch of government in China
since 1980s party has allowed more than one candidate to run for country positions, most candidates are nominated by people
Mao zendong was a charismatic leader
his compatriots that made the journey with him became known as the “Old Guard” a group of friends that networked with one another for many years though Guanxi-personal connections
China like ussr recurits its leaders though Nomeklatura a system of choosing cadres from lower levels of the party hierarchy for advancement based on their loyalty and contributions to the well being of the party.
Chinese leaders communiate with also patron-client network called guanxi
Factionalism in the years of Mao is demonstrated in splits among radicals (led by Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four) the military under Lin BIao and the reformers under Zhou En-lai, All 3 men where part of the old Guard that went to long march in 1930s.
Deng xiaoping emerged as a new leader of China because he was able to unite the factions in a course toward economic reform
even before deng’s death fational strife was apparent within the leadership mostly notably during tinanamen square incident. in general the factions split in 2 ways:
Conservatives: all factions supported the economic reform but conservatives worried that power of the party and central gov has eroded too much. they were concerned about any movement toward democracy and generally support crackdowns on organziations who acted too independently. Li Peng
Liberals:they were more accepting of political liberties and democratic movements.they supported economic and political reform. Hu Yuobang and Zhao Ziyang
Other factions that have emerged in recent years include:
Princelings: many of Chinas leaders come from princelings class, an aristocracy or families with revolutionary credentials from days of Mao. their policy prefenrences arent always clear
Chinese Communist Youth League: led by former president Hu Jintao. ages for 14-28.promoters of the concerns of the urban and rular poor.
the faction follow the process of Fang-shou- a tightening up and loosening up cycle
Combination of guanxi and economic boom brought corruption.
Bribes are common
president Jiang Zemin acknowledged in 1997 “the fight against corruption is a grave stuggle “
in 2007 the Chinese government was embarrassed by the international publicity about tainted food, health productions and drugs. in reaction the head of Beijing’s most powerful food and drug regulating agency was arrested and executed. in his confession he said that he had accepted more than $850, 000 from 8 drug companies.because chinses media hardly ever report corruption cased without official approval many thought that this was a warning from the government.
2012 one of the top party officials in china Mr. Bo Xiali’s wife Gu Kailai war arresetd for the murder of a business partner neli heywood because of didderences over a business deal. Mr.Bo was jailed for his role in covering up events with charges incloded bribert, rorruption and abuse of power.
2012 Xi Jinping announced a new anti-corruption program.
in 2015 Chinese government released a wanted list of 100 people.
interest groups and social movements are not permitted to influence the political process unless under the party-state authority
In urban areas the party maintains social control though Danwei- social units usually based on a person’s place of work, people have depended. ot the units for their jobs, incomes, promotion, medical care, housing
1949-1980s all media were state tun
since then little independencehas emerged.
the official press agency of the gov is Xinhua
The People’s Daily the official newspaper of Central Committee of CCP. which also depends on Xinhua
heavy censorship
3 parallel hierarchies:
communist party
the state of gov
people’s liberation army
party dominates the 3 yet they are separate
3 branches legislature, executive, judicary all are controled by 1 party so they are not independet and there is no checks and balaces
National peoples congress at top and continues in hierarchical levels down through provincial, city and local congresses.
National peoples Congress chooses the president and vice of china but there is only one party-sponsored candidate for each position.
on their meetings politburos decisions are announced.
president and vice serve for 5 years 2 terms must be at least 45 years old.
Premier is the head of the government, appointed by president, positions is always held by a member of the standing committee.
premier directs state council today Li Keqiang
Bureaucracys lower levels are held by cadres
people’s court
People’s procuratorate:acts as a public prosecutor by handling both the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases in court
rule of law has been established in the people republic of china.
army is huge with 2.3 million active personnel and about 12 million reserves.
2 of the 24 members of the politburo are military officers.
PLA representatives make up over 20% of the central committee membership.
one improtant trend since 2012 has been the growing concentration of power in the hands of president.
China;s leadership has recently evolved from collective decision making by the standing committee to more control by one man - Xi Jinping
implementing military policies and managing the armed forces. It oversees the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is the unified military organization of all land, sea, and air forces of the People's Republic of China.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA), on the other hand, is the actual military force of China, consisting of various branches such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force. It operates under the leadership and direction of the Central Military Commission.
In essence, the CMC is the supreme military administrative body, while the PLA is the operational military force. The CMC provides strategic direction and oversight to the PLA, ensuring that military policies are implemented effectively.
tensions within the system both economic and political are evidenced in fang-shou a letting go, tightening up cycle evident even under mao
cycle consists of 3 types of actions/policies- economic reform, political movements (letting go) and tightening up by the CCP
issues are put in four categories: democracy and human right issues, populatioon issues, economic issues, foregin policy and international trade issues
Democracy and human rights
Jiang zemin was general secretary of CCP and then president from 1993 to 2003 he was critized for being weak leader
Hu Jintao leader from 2003-2012 most part held to the path defined by deng -economic reform and resistance to political reform
Xi Jinping leader since 2012 most part held to the path defined by deng
began as a grief demonstration for the death of Hu Yaobang- a liberal who had earlier resigned from politburo under a pressure form conservatives. demonstrators were intellectuals and students and turned into democratic protest they critized corruption and demanded democratic reforms
Deng sent the People’s Liberation Army to shut down protests using whatever means necessary.
rule of law associated with liberal democracies.
early communist leaders then never acknowledged rule of law as a legitimate principle.
two-child family campaign
government provided services incuding abortions
Deng Xiaoping- one child policy
1949-1978 command economy directed by a central government based on democratic centralism
Mao zedong called this policy Iron rice bowl: policy was a term used to describe the system of guaranteed lifetime employment and benefits that existed in China's state-owned enterprise
Deng Xiaoping began a series of economic reforms that make up the socialist market economy
1979 revolution in Iran is seen as the beginning of a great modern conflict between western and islamic civilizations
Deep attachment to Islam
theocracy: a government rules strictly by religion
secularization:belif that religion and government should be separated
Iran is second largest oil producer in middle east.
its economy may be labeled as developing rather than less developed
Ancient Achemenian Empire (called Persia by Greeks) that existed as the world’s largest empire.
Iran’s greatest rival was ancient Greece — West vs.East
both were conquered by Macedonian
Persian sovereigns were always hereditary military leaders.
King Darius built a magnificent Capital at Persopolis. his title was “ The Great Kings, King of Kings, King in Persia, King of countries”
Kings authority was supported by a strong military and a state-sponsored religion-Zoroastrianism
from the 7th - 16th centuries the geographical region of Iran had little political unity and experienced numerous invasions, including that of Arabs who brought Islam to the area
religion held the Persians together. even when their capital was defeated by Mongols in the 13th century religion survived.
Shiism was established as the state religion in the 16th century by Ismail the founder of the Safavid Empire.
Ismail and his qizilbash were supporter of this sect of the Islam that had disagreement with Sunni Muslims for centuries
Sunnies favored choosing the Caliph( leader) but Shiites argued that the mantle should be hereditary and should pass to Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali— who later was killed
Shiits kept their belief that true heir of Islam were descedants of Ali— Imams, in 12th century dissapeared a descendant child — hidden imam
Ismail distinguished Iran as a Shiit state from all Sunni states around him, and gave political legitimacy to tho belif that hidden imam would eventually return.
Pahlavi shahs (“ King of Kings “): authoritarian leaders ruled from 1925-1979. their attempts to secularize the state were done by a charismatic leader Ayatollah Khomeini- leader or revolution, founder of Islamic Republic.
Khomeini led the Revolution of 1979.
Most important document that legitimizes the state today is the Constitution of 1979.
document has 40 amendments and is mixture of theocracy and democracy.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!during presidency of Muhammad Khatami (1997-2005) reformers who supported a democratic government came to the forefront, but with the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 the conservatives who endorsed a theocracy took control→ conservatives and reformers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shiite clerical leaders came to be main interpreters of Islam, and separation between religion and politics developed.
Authoritarianism, but not totalitarianism:beginning with the Safavid Empire the central leaders did not control all areas of individuals’ lives
Union of political and religious authority: from days of the ancient Persians, political and religious leaders were often one and same. however starting the rule of the Qajars (1794-1925) 2 types of authority were separated later brought back together by the revolution of 1979.
Shiism and Sharia as central components: 90% are Shiite. islamic law Sharia is an important source of legitimacy
Escape from European colonization:Iran was nerver officially colonized by the Europeans.
Geographical limitations: great deal of iran’s land scape is unusable for agriculture because of the deserts,mountains to the north and notheast.today most population live in northwest.
Politically Persia established itself as the first large empire in the world.
a gradual separation of religion from the politics resulted in declining centralization of political power over time before 20th century.
20th century saw 2 revolutions:
1905-1909: that set democratic impulses in place
1979: that reunified religion with politics in the modern theocracy
Lack of arable land has meant that the agriculture basis of the empire was never secure, and geographical location also caused iran to emphasize trade by land
then world commerce turned to sea-based powers beginning in th 16th century Iran was marginalized meaning that it was isolated and not fully accepted by the dominant society or culture, and therefore frequently disadvantaged
oil has brought its own set of economic problems to iran.
Safavid tolerated the Sunnis as well as smaller numers of Jews, Zorostians and Christians— People of the Book.
safavids ruled from Isfahan a persian speaking city
Trade routes from the Iran to the ancient Silk Route had broken up and world trade had shifted to the indian and Atlantic Oceans
These economic probles have affected the Safavids’ ability to rule, since they did not have money for large bureaucracy or a standing army, so they had to relay on local rulers to keep order and collect taxes.
many clerics lived safely outside of the reach of the government which caused separation of monarchy and society.
kurds in the northwest
Turkmen in the northeast
Baluchis in the southeast
Arabs in the southwest
The Safavid Empire ended when Afghan tribesmen invaded Isfahan in 1722
land was conquered by Turkish Group the Qajars, who moved the capital to Tehran.
retained Shiism as the official state religion
wheres Safavids claimed to be descedants of the 12 imams the Qajars could not tie their legitimacy to such thing. as a result Shia clerical leaders could claim to be main interpreters of the Islam, and separation between government and religion widened.
Qajars ruled during the era of European Imperialism and they suffered the land losses, they sold oil-drilling rights in the southwest to Britain, and they borrowed heavily from European banks. by the end of the 19th century the shah had led the country into serious debt.
these problems caused constitutional revolution of 1905-1909: revolution began with business owners and bankers demonstrating agains Qajars move.middle-class people were fed up.
1906 the mechants and local industrialists, affected by the British Liberalism demanded a written constitution from the Shah.
The Constitucion of 1906 was modeled after Western ones, and uncluded such democratic features as:
Direct elections
separation of powers
laws made by an elected legislature
popular sovereignty
A bill of right guaranteeing citizens equality before the law.
The revolution sparked debate about separation of the religion from the government.The consisution retained the monarchy, but it created a strong legislature to balance executive power.
→ New assembly was called the Majles and seats were guaranteed to the “people of the book”- Jews,Christians and Zorostians←
Majles had authority to make and pass laws, also controlled cabinet ministers
By constitution of 1906 Shiism was decalred the official state religion, and only Shiites could hold cabinet positions
The constitution also created a Guardian Council of clerics that had power to vet any legislation passed by the Majles
World events of the early 20th century led to Iran’s division into 3 parts: one to themselves, another piece occupied by Russia and another by Britain during WWI
Cossack brigade was the only force that resembled a real army in the days of Qajars:This brigade was known for its discipline, training, and effectiveness, making it arguably the only force in Iran at the time that resembled a modern army.
Brigade’s commander Colonel !Reza Khan! carried out successful coup against weakened political state in 1921 and declared himself shah-in shah(king of kings) in 1925 establishing his own pahlavi dynasty
under Reza shah the Majles lost its power and authoritarian rule was reestablished in Iran
he tuned over power to his son Muhammad Reza Shah in 1941.
pahlavis reestablished order in iran but democratic experimentation resulting from consitution of 1906 was not forgotten and second sash had to confront some demcoratic opposition.
one group that challenged the shah was the communist Tudeh(masses) party that gained most of its support from working class trade unions | second group was National Front led by Muhammad Mosaddeq who drew its support from the middle-class people who emphasized Iranian nationalism!
mosaddeq wanted to take armed forces out from under shah’s control.
Mosaddeq was elected prime minister in 1951 and his power grew so that shah was forced to flee the country
Britain and us overthrew Mosadeq and restored the Shah to full power again.
economy was transformed into a rentier state under Pahlavis because of the increasing amount of income in from oil.
→Iran received an increasing amount of income by exporting its oil and leasing oil fields to foreign countries.
→ Income became so great by the 1970 that government no longer had to rely on internal taxes for its support meaning that government did not need its people anymore ←
Shah adopted Import substitution industrialization by encouraging domestic industries to provide products that the population needed.ISI focus on building up their own industries to make the things they need instead of buying them from other countries. They might put taxes on imported goods to make them more expensive, which encourages people to buy locally made products. This can help create jobs, boost the economy, and make the country less dependent on imports.
2 Pahlavi shahs built a highly centralized state- state controlled banks, the national radio-television network and National Iranian Oil Company.
The central bureaucracy gained control of local government and Majles became a rubber-stamp legislature that let the shash rule as he pleased—simply approves or endorses decisions made by a more powerful authority, without exercising independent judgment or meaningful oversight
courts became fully secularized with european-style judicial system and law codes in place.
White revolution: focused on land reform with government buying land from large absentee owner and selling it to small farmers at affordable prices.purpose was to ecourage farmers to became moder entrepreneurs with irrigation canals, dams, and tractors.
both Pahlavi bolstered their own personal wealth first by seizing other people’s property and eventually through establishing the tax-exempt Pahlavi Foundation- a patronage system that controlled large companies that fed the pocketbooks of the shah and his supporters
1975 Muhammad Reza announced the formation of Resurgence Party and decalred Iran to be a one-party state which he headed
Iran’s revolution is unique in that it was almost completely religious in nature.
dominant ideology was religion-shiism and most important revolutionary leader was a cleric who in turn ruled Iran for 10 years after this.
most significantly Iran’s revolution resulted in the establishment of a theocracy while in other countries revolutions often tried to break religious control of gov
clerical elite rose to oppsoe the shah lead a revolution and eventually take over the government he also had charisma and he was ayatollah Khomeini
ayatollah gave new meaning to an old shia term jurist’s guardianship the principle originally gave senior clergy broad authority over the unfortunate people, but khomeini claimed that true meaning of jurist’s guardianship gives clergy authority over the entire Shia community
2 factors led to revolution
oil prices decrease in late 1970s at the same time that consumer prices increased.
theory of the revolution of the rising expecatations: revolutions are more likely to occur when people are doing better then they once were but tome type of setback happens.
US put pressure on the shah to loosen his restraints on. the opposition jimmy carter was fan of human rights and iranian civil control made him have nightmares. once reins loosened many groups supported the revolution.
→ in late 1978 hundred of unarmed demonstrators were killed in a central square in Tehran and oil workers had gone ons strike.people called for the abolition of the monarchy.khomeini ended his goverment
In April 1979, a national referendum was held in Iran, in which an overwhelming majority of Iranians voted to establish an Islamic Republic, effectively ending the monarchy and formalizing Khomeini's leadership. Khomeini returned to Iran from exile in February 1979 and assumed the role of Supreme Leader, the highest political and religious authority in the new Islamic Republic of Iran.
until the pahlavis shahs of th 20th century the authoritarian ruler had very little power to reach into citizens’ everyday lives.
democratic experiment after the constitucion of the 1906 created an elected legislature the Majles but the new government was so unable to solve country’s problems that chaos followed authoritarian rule.
Religion:90% iranians are Shia Muslims, 10% Sunni and 1% are combination of Jews, Christians, Zorosatrians and BAha’i. constitucion recognizes religious minorities and grants them with basic civil right but still many have left the country after the founding of the republic of 1979. Baha’i faith have been particular object of religious persecution. its leaders have been executed, impresoned. thats why many have imigrate in canada.
Ethnicity:52% Persian, 24% Azeri, 8%Gilaki and Mazandarani, 7% kurds, 3% Arabi.Azeris are strongly Shiite khameini is Azeri. Kurds and Arabs tend to be Sunni Muslin.
Social class:peasantry and lower middle class are sources of support for regime because they have benefited from government’s social progrms that have provided them with electricity. however middle and upper-middle class people are largely secularized and they tend to be critical of the clerics.
Refromers vs Conservatives: theocracy vs democracy. conservatives want to keep the regime as it is under control of clerics and sharia law and reformer would like to see more secularization and democracy.
Pragmatic conservatives vs radical clerics: divisions among the clergy that have led to many important disagreements at the top levels of policymaking.pragaatic conservatives are clergy who favor liberal economic policies and encourage foreign trade, free markets, direct foreign investment same thoughts as middle class merchants.Conservatives argue that private property and economic inequality is protected under islamic law.radicals are more numerous among yunder and more militant clerics, they call for measures to enhance social justice they endorse state sponsored wealth redistribution and price controls!!!!!!!!!!!
major sourse of unhappiness with the rule of pahlavies was the government incursion into private lives of citizens the civil society
university proferssors with reputations for western preferences were fired and replaced with people that clearly supported the regime.
however disre to preserve civil society did not disappear
→under Muhammad Khatami(1997-2005) iranians experienced the “Tehtan Spring” a period of cautious political liberalization, with a lososening of freedom of speech and press and more open economy and friendlier stance towards the outside world.
when Muhmoud Ahmadinejad became president in 2005 the governemnt closed down newspapers, banned and censored books and websites and did not tolarate peacful demonstartions and protests←
civil society is alive and well in Iran which can be found among Iran’s growing number of young people
these younger population seemed to be attracted towards western culture which Khatami has tolarated but Ahmadinejad did not→ there was a crackdown against western dress and arrests of woman who showed too much hair under their headscarves or wore makeup
depite the fact that guarantees for civil liberties and rights were written into constitution of 1979 the Islamic Republic from beginning closed down newspapers, private organizations and political parties. many were imprisoned without trials, political reformer were executed.
1999 protests erupted in universities all across the country when government shut down a reformist newspaper.
In late 2002 similar demonstartions broke out among students when courts ruled a death sentance for a reformist academic.
2003 student demosntrations escalated into mass protests over privatization of the university system, protesters called for overthrow and even death of Iran’s religious and political leaders.
factory workers also tend to participate in rallies against government.their concerns are high unemployment rates, low wages.
when ahmedinejad became president in 2005 government renewed its crackdown on protests and emonstations.
january 2007 security forces attacked striking dus driversin Tehran and arrested hundreds of them.
when in 2009 election results were announced supporters of opposition candidates to ahmadinejad cried foul.
winning of ahmedinajad and losing of Mir Hossein Mousavi caused opposition candidates to call for the elections to be annulled —- protestors called themselfs Green movement
veil has become a symbol of oppression but probably more for westerners than for Iranian woman themselves.’
traditionally woman in islamic cultures have stayed home with little education or opportunity to work outside the home.
20th century Iran is something of an exception because women have had better access to education.
Islamic Republic calls its policy toward women “equality-with difference” meaning that divorce and custody laws now follow ilamic standarts that favor males.
Iranian woman are not well represented in Majles
blend of theocracy and democracy
theocracy is represented by the national government by the supreme leader-commander in chief
Two national bodies are:Guardian Council and Expediency Coucil.
President, Assembly of religious Experts and national assembly ( majles) are democratically elected
Constitution provides for political parties but government did not allow them until the Muhammad Khatami’s election as a president in 1997.current parties are highly unstable and very likely to change in the near future.
Executives of Contruction Party:reformist party
Moderation and Development Party:moderate
Combatant Clergy Association:refrmist —-Khamenei
Islamic coalition Party:conservative coalition
party system reflects factionalism, slpintering of the political elites based not just ponts of view but also on personalities
over age of 18 may vote for member of assembly of religious experts, representatives of majles and president of republic.
elections to majles and presidency are conducted according to plurality or winner-take-all,no proportinal representation is used.
2004 took place after the Guardian Council banned thousands of candidates from running, manly from reformist parties.
they can run for 2 terms
Guardian Council disqualified about 1000 candiates leaving only 7 to run.
close round of : Akbar Hasemi Rafasanjani and Muhmound Ahmadinejad— he won on second round he was known for his populist views
Charges of election fraud were make after the presidential elections of 2005 but they were dismissed.
one reason for his voctory was thar many reformist did not vote since they rejeted both major canidates.
close race between ahmadinejad and mousavi
protests in favor of mousavi broke out in Tehran
Supreme leader Khamenei agreed to an investigation into fraud, votes were recounted but ahmedinejad won.
tension between supreme leader Khamenei and president Ahmedinejad— election-contest between two men, with khamenei supporter winning large majoirty of seats
United Front Principlists UFC - supporters of supreme leader 101 seats
Resistance Front FSP supporters of ahmedinejad 50 seats
2013 presidential elections Rouhani won
2017 Rouhani was reelected
since political parties are ill-defined in Iran, it is difficult to draw the line between parties and interest groups
an important interest groups for factory worker is called Workers’ House that operates with the help of its affiliated newspaper Karva Kargar.
Workers house holds a May Day rally most years and in 1999 rally turned into a protest when workers marched to parliament, most of Tehran was shut down
A bus drivers protests was crushed by the government in 2007
over 20 newspapers were shut down shortly after the revoultion in 1979 and by 1981 an additional seven were closed
1981 Majles passed law making it a criminal offense to use “pen and speech” against government"
freedom of press is still a major issue between conservatives and reformatives.
large-scale student demonstrations in 1999 were sparked by newly imposed restrictions on the media.
2000 majles elections many reformists were elected and outgoing majles approved a press control law which Council of Guardians ruled could not be overtunred by new legislature. 60 newspapers were shutdown in 2002
Radio and televisions are government-run by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) but many newspaper s and magazines are prinately owned.
Highly centralized Unitary state
Constitution of 1979 promises elected councils on each level of administration and it requires governors and other regional officials to consult locak councils.
attempt to bled democracy with theocracy.
Supreme leader, Gurdian Council, the Assembly of Religious Experts and,Expediency Council do not fit into 3 branch arrangment of gov insititucions.
all three have broad executive, legislative and judicary powers that allow them to supersede all other positions and bodies.
they rule by Khomeini’s principle- Jurist’s guardianship in that they have all-encompassing authority over the whole community based on their ability to understand sharia.
supreme leader and the gurardian council have final say regarding interpretation of law
top position
he is HEAD OF STATE
head of government is president
supreme leader is seen as the imam of the whole community, and he represents pinnacle of theocratic principles of state.
Khomeini is in position for life and after his death to ALI khameini
he is faqih or the leading islamic jurist to intertret meaning of religous documents and sharia islamic law
he links 3 branches of gov together
His many powers include:
Elimination of presidental candidates
Disminssal of president
Command of the armed forces
declaration of war and peace
nomination of 6 gurardian council
body that represents theocritical priniples
consists of 12 male clerics
6 appointed by supreme leader and other 6 nominated by the chief judge and approved by majles.
billed passed by majles are reviewed by guardian council to ensure that they conform to sharia
86 man house directly elected by people every 4 years
assembly of religious experts, surpreme leader and gurdian council all together can interprate constitution.
assembly chose ali khamenei as a new sumpreme leader and they were also able to dissmis him if he did not meet criterias
because Gurian council can overturn decision for law made by th Majles, two bodies argued fierecely so khomeini created a body to referee their disputes.
began with 13 clerics incuding president, chief judge, speaker of majles and 6 jurists from Guardian cuncil.
today it consists of 32 members
it can originate its own legislation
not all members today are clerics
they are appointed by supreme leader
Iran does not have presidential system so executive does not have same authority as presidents( Mexico, Nigeria )
president is head of government and is the chief executive and highest official after supreme leader.
he can prpose legislation to the majles, supervise economic matters and divise the budget
has expanded over the years to provide jobs for college and high school graduates.
some new minsitries incude: Culture and Islamic Guidance that censures the media,Intelligence that serves as the chief secularity organization reconstruction that expands social services.
clergy dominates bureaucracy
these groups are theoretically autonomous, but they are directed by clerics appointed by supreme leader.
they were called foundations
because they are run by people with strong connections with the governemnt they are colled parastatals or bonyads.
iran has. had unicameral legislature- majles however in some ways the assembly of religious experts has functioned as an upper house since 1989
both directly elected by people
has 290 seats all directly elected through single member districts by citizens over 18
consititution of 1989 weakened the Majles in relationship to presidenct but it is still an important political institution with significant powers which are:
enacting or changing laws( with approval of gardian council)
interpreting legislation
appinting 6 of 12 members of guardian council
removing cabinet ministers
approving budget
judiciary is headed by chief justice, who must have understaning of sharia so he is cleric
appointed by supreme leader for 5 year term
overseeing appointing and removal of judges
we have supreme court
2 types of law sharia and qanun
judicial review does not exist
two types of laws are:
Sharia, islamic law. divine law derived from god
Qanun, ulike sharia it doesnt have Holy foundation. passed by majles
khomeini established the Revolutionary Guards an elite force, whose commanders are appinted by the supreme leader
the shah had built the regualar army, navy and air forces so revolutionary guards was created as a parallel force with its own budgets, weapons, uniforms to safeguard the republic from any subterfuge within military.
regular army defends the boarders
revolutionary guards protect republic
Basij is a loosely-oragnized military that if formally part of revolutionary guards
guard is becoming increasingly independent and takes active role in policymaking.
a large number of former guards sit in majles
conservative vs. reformist: conservatives uphold the principle of the regime as set up in 1979 with its strick sharia law.modernization may threaten shiism. Reformists belive that political system needs significant reform, most support shiism.
statists vs free-marketers: statists belive that government should take actvie role in controlling economy- redirtibuting wealth and land, eleminating unemployment, financing social walfare programs. free-marketers want to remove price controls, lower buisness taxes,encourage private owunership.
Qom-desert city 60 miles south of Tehram.
it was from qom that khomeini degan denounce the shah
Mexican miracle: described a country with a rapidly increasing GNP in orderly transition from an authoritarian to demcoratic governemnt
leading presidential candidate was assassinated and top poilitical officials were arrested for bribery and drug pedaling.
mexico was ruled by viceroy or a governor put in place by the spanish king.
rule was centralized and authoritarian.
after independece this ruling style continued and all of the mexico president until mid 20th century were military leaders.
citizens consider their governement legitimate.
sourse of legitimacy is revolution of 1910-1911
revolutions have been accepted as a path to change and charisma is highly valued as a leadership characteristic
revolution was legitimized by the formation of the institutional revolutionary party PRI in 1929
PRI was intended to stabilized politicial power in hands of its leaders, then PRI served as an important sourse of gov legitimacy
2018 presidency was won by andres manuel lopez obrador a populist who established morena a new political party
3 stages: colonialism, chaos of 19th and early 20th century and emphasis on economic development during its recent history
authoritarianism: both from the colonial structutre set up by spain and stron-arm tactics by military political leaders such as Porfirio Diaz mexico has strong tradition of authoritaran rule
Populism: democratic revolutions of 1810 and 1910 had signifiant peasant bases led by charsimatic figures that cried out for more rights for ordinary Mexicans, particulary Amerindians. modern zapatista movement is a reflection of this historical tradition-The Zapatista movement in Mexico fights for indigenous rights, land reform, and social justice, primarily in the state of Chiapas. Led by the EZLN, it gained prominence in 1994 with a rebellion against the Mexican government.
Power plays/divisions withing the elite:examples of competative splits among the elite is elites who led dissenters during the revolutions of 1810 and 1910- warlords and caudillos and politicos vs tecnicos of the late 20 th cenury
Instability and legitimacy issues:1994 a major presidential candidate was assassinated, gang related violence especially in the north
The importance of religion: until 1920s the Catholic Church actively participated in politics and priests were often leaders of populist movements.during the revolutionary era of early 20th century the government developed anti-cleric positions and today the politicsl infuelce the church hsa declined.
patron-clientelism:you scratch my back i’ll scratch yours. network of camarillas( patron-client networks) extended from political elites.corruption is result from this.
Economic dependency:whether as a spanish colony or a southern neighbor of the US, mexico has almost always been under the shadow of more powerful country.
mountains and deserts: communication and transportations is difficult
varied climates
Natural resources:oil, silver. struggle to manage them wisly
131 million people
urban population: mexico has urbanized rapidly.3/4 of all mexicans live in cities
mexico experienced authoritarian government first under the colonial control of spnish then under military dictatorships during 19th century.
19th century saw populist movements influenced by democratic impulses, accompanied by violence
first decades of 20th century was charectrized by violence,chaos, instability, rapid turn over of political authority.
most of the time mexico’s economy eas based on agriculture and other primarlt sector activities such as mining.
Under dictatorship of Porfitio Diaz, US busness interest were encouraged to develop in Mexico and strong dependency on us was put in place.
Mexico industrialized rapidly with its rich natural resource of oil serving.
mexico has struggled to break its dependency on one product
today mexico has moved from agriculture society to industrial one
1519-1821 spain controlled Mexico.the Spanish palced their subjects in an elaborate social status hierarchy. colonialism left several enduring influences:
Cultural heteregenety: when spanish arrived in 1519, area was well populated with natives and when spanish took control population soon mixed, particulary when spanish soliders where not allowed to bring their families from spain to new world. today 60% of all Mexicans are Mestizo (blend of 2 people)
Catholicism: most Spanish Catholic priests settled far and wide as rhey converted the population to Christianity.
Economic dependecy
Mexican parish priest named Miguel Hidalgo led a popular rebellion against spanish rule in 1810, after 11 years of turmoil spain finally recognized mexicos independence in 1821
However stability and order did not follow independence with a 36 presidents serving between 1833-1855
Instability and legitimacy issues: when spanish left they took their hierarchy with them and reorganizing the government was a difficult task
Rise of Military:instability invited military control
Domination by the US: Us chose to challenge Mexican land claims. by 1855 Mexico had lost half of its territory
Liberal vs conservative struggle:impulses of the 1810 revolution toward democracy came to clash with the military’s attempt to establish authoritariansm.constitucion of 1857 was set up on democratic priciples and a liberal president, Benito Juarez is one of the Mexican feros
Porfitio Diaz staged a military goup in 1876 and instituted himself as the preisdent of Mexico and that he would not serve for more then 1 term, which he ignored and ruled mexico for 34 years. he brought with him the Cientificos a group of young advisors who belived in bringing scientific and economic progress in mexico
influences of Porfiriato are:
stability: his dictatorship brought a stable government to Mexico
Authoritarianism: no sharing of political power beyond small closed elite
Foreign investment and economic growth: Cientificos encouraged entreprenuership primaly for us resulting in growth of business and industry
Growing gap between the rich and the poor
revolution of 1910 marked the end of the porfitiato and the begining of instability
1910 conflict broke out as the reformers sought to end the Diaz dictatorship.
the revolution of 1910 began with the movement by the other elites to remove Diaz from the office
patron-client system: int their efforts to unseat Diaz, caudillos-political and military strongmen from different areas of the country rose to challenge one another for power. two popular leaders- Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa emerged to lead peasant armies and establish another dimension to the rebellion.around leader a patron-client system emerged that encompassed large number of citizens. many caudillos were assassinated
constitution of 1917: although it represents th end of the revolution the constitution did not bring and end to the violece.it set up structrue for democratic government-3 branches and competitive elections, but political asssassinations continued into 1920s
Conflict with the Catholic Church:Cristero rebellion broke out in the 1920s as one of the bloodiest conflicts in Mexican history, with hundreds of thousands of people killed included may priests.liberals saw the church as a guard of conservatism and put laws in place that forbid priests to vote, restricted church-affiliated schools and suspended religious servies.priests around the country led a rebellion against the new rules
Establishment of PRI: president Calles brought Caudillos to gather for and agreement in 1929.his plan was to bring all caudillos under one big political party, intended to bring stability though agreement to pass around power from one leader to next as the presidency changed hands. president could only have one 6 year term and must let another leader have his term. meanwhile other leaders would be given majior positions in the gov to establish their influences.this giant umbrella party PRI institutionalized the revolution by stabilizing conflict between leaders
Lazaro Cardenas began sexenio that both stabilzed and radicalized mexican politics.cardenas gave voice to the peasant demands from revolution of 1910 and brought meny changes:
Redistribution of the land:land was taken away frombig landlords and foreigners and redistributed as ejidos-collective land grants-to be worked by peasants
Nationalization of industry:foreign buisness owners who had been welcomed since the time of diaz were kicked out from the country. and much more insutry was put under the control of the state. for exaplme PEMEX a giant governemnt controlled oil company was created
Investment in Public Works:gov built roads,provided electricity and created public services.
Encouragement of peasant and union organizations:cardenas welcomed the input of these groups into his government and they formed their own camarillas(group of unofficial often secret and scheming advisers) with leaders that represented peasants and workers on the president’s cabinet
concentration of the power in the presidency
Import substitution industrialization: employs high tariff ro protect locally produced goods from foreign comepetiton.
state corporatism:State corporatism is a political system where the government works closely with organized interest groups, such as labor unions and business associations, to make policy decisions and manage the economy.
after cardenas Miguel Aleman became president starting Pendulum Theory
aleman rejected many of Cardenas’s socialist reforms and set Mexico on a path of economic development, though economic liberalization, again encouraging entrepreneurship and foreign investment.
then he was followed by president who shifted back to cardenas-style economic development, socialist reform to free market economic development and back again.
As Mexico reached 1970 the pendulum appeared to stop and new generation of Tecnicos educated, business-oriented leaders- took control of the government and PRI with moderate free-market approach to politics.
By 1980s Mexico practiced neoliberalis a startegy that calls for free markets, balanced budgets, privatization, free trade, limited government intervation in the economy.
by 1950s mexico was welcoming foreign investment and country’s GNP began a spectacular growth—mexican mirical based largely on huge supplies of natural gas and oil
with PRI division between the Politicos-old style caciques who headed camarillas and the tecnicos-began to grow wider
because camarillas are so interwoven in the fabric of mexican politics most people have had at least some contact with the government during their lifetimes.
howeven it was mostly clientalism too
social class, Urban vs rular, mestizo vs ameridian, north vs south.
crosscutting:different divisions emerging as the issues change:if a society contained two ethnic groups that had equal proportions of rich and poor it would be cross-cutting.
coinsided:cocial divisions within a society that align with each other, meaning that individuals who share one type of division also tend to share another.
Urban vs Rular: in 20th century most population lived in rular areas.today more than 75% live in urban and literacy rate is 95%. and clientalism is struggling because urban voters are less inclined to support PRI
Social class: Mexico Gini coefficient is 0.48 which means that economic inequality is high.in 2010 the richest 10% earned 37% of all incomes. in recent years mexicos middle class has been growing.some are from informal economy( buisnesses not registered with government)until m2018 middle and upper class supported PAN
Mestizo vs Amerindian: The main ethnic cleavage in Mexico is between Mestizo (blend of european and ameridian) and ameridian.ameridians are more likely to live in rular areas in poverty
North vs South: north is very dry and mountanious but its population is more prosperous partly because many are involved in trade with us.the north has substantial middle class with high levels of education they generally suppport market based economy.south areas are largely subtropical and its people are ameridian who live in rular places.
revolution, protest
elections
clientalism
after the 1968 students protests in mexico city ended in government troops killing estimated 200 people in Tlateloco plaza
poor souther mexican state sponsored the uprising representing ameridians that felt disaffected from the more prosperous mestizo populations
president Vicente Fox (2000-2006) made some efforts to incorporate Zapatista into political system, currrent government supplies electricity and water to villages the Zapatistas still control
some protests have been staged by drug gangs. for example May Day 2015, the Jalisco New Generation new organization defied the deferal government by burining builidings,creating road blocks, shooting down army helicopter.
before 1990s PRI controlled elections.
voting rates were very high because the patron-client system required them to
despite PRI’s control of electoral politics, completing parties have existed since 1930s and once they began pulling support away from PRI, some voting patterns emerged.
some factors that influenced voter behavior in recent elections are:
region:PRI dominated in North/northeast, PRD in south PAN in North
Poverty/marginalization
mexico had large number of groups who have refused to cooperate, this groups have formed the basis for a lively civil society.
atmosphere where public protests are acceptable
PRI practiced state corporatism
PRI formally divided interest groups into 3 sectors:labor,peasnts and middle class(popular)
Confereration of Employers of the mexican republic ( a labor group) was autonomous group that vocally and publically critized the governemnt.
2000 PAN’s Vicente Fox challenged PRI
PRI Enrique Pena Nieto won in 2012
2018 Morena
for many years government was highly authoritarian with the president serving virtually as a dictator for 6 year term
Mexico has had state corporatist structure-central authoritarian rule that allows input from interest groups outside of government.
camarilla system:leaders of important groups, including business elites, workers,peasants accually served in high gov officies
before democratization linkage was mass media, this linkage top place under the umbrella of PRI elite rulers so that true independet civil society did not exist.
for most of 20th century Mexico was one party state, until 2000 all president belonged to PRI
over pas 20 years other parties gained power so today we have competative elections.
until 2018 - PRI PAN PRD
in power from 1920-2000
was founded as a coalition of elites who agreed to work out their conflicts though compromise rather than violence.
by forming a political party that encompassed all political elites they could agree to trade favors and pass power around from one cacique to another.
corporatis structure:interest groups are woven into the structrue of the party
parton client system
founded in 1939 making it one of the oldest opposition parties.
created to represent business interests opposed to centalization and anti-clericism(PRIs practice of keeping the church out of politics)
strongest in North
regional autonomy
less government intervention in the economy
fair and clean elections
won in 2000 and 2006 vicente fox
presidential candidate in 1988 and 1994 was cauhtemoc cardenas, son of lazaro cardenas
social justice and populism,rejected from PRI
critized for poor organization
2012 andres manuel lopez obrador popular mayor of the mexico city that barely lost the presidential elections in 2006 and 2012,however obradors refusal to accept the results of 2006 split PRD into fractions- those that support obrador and those who oppose him
directly elect president, champer of deputy representatives and senators
PRI-small town or rular, less educated, older , poorer
PAN-buisnessmens, professionals,urban,north,better educated,religious
PRD-younger,politically active,from central states,some education, small towen or urban
PAN felipe calderon and PRD obrador were tied PRI roberto madrazo failing.
calderon was announced to be ahead which obrador challenged into corruption and fraudulent.
PRI Erique Pena Nieto won
Obrador’s newly established Moren PArty won
first past post (plurality)
members of congress are elected though dual system of first past post and proportional representation.
each of mexicos 31 states elects 3 senators, 2 of them determined by plurality and one whichever party recives the second highest number
of votes.
32 seats are determined nitionally though proportional system
lower house- chamber of deputies 300 seats plurality with SMD and 200 by proportional
political tensions among major interests have rarely escalated into kinds of serious conflict that have threaten stability
when there was conflict there was solution
because private organizations have been linked for so long to gov mexicos development of separate civil society has been slow.
state corporatism
political leaders have listened to and responded to their demnads
one important interest group is the Educational Workers union latin america’s largest trade union, nagotiate salaries for teachers each year many see as neo corporatism group that has a great deal of power over gov decisions in education
media had little power to citize goc or influence public opinion during PRI
gov rewarded newspapers and media if they suported gov
media became more independet in 1980s at the same time when PRI began to lose its hold in other areas
CNN BCC
federal republic
3 branches of government theoretically check and balance one another.
1 million people work in federal bureaucracy.
more government employees staff the school,state owned industries, semi-autonomous agencies, hundres of thousands of bureaucrats fill positions in state and local governemnt
under PRI they were tied to patron clientalism
under PRI para-statal sector: composed of semiautonomous or autonomous governemnt agencies was huge
best known parastatal was PEMEX-petroleum company
bicameral
500 members chamber of deputies 3 year term - 300 who are elected from SMD and 200 proportional by
128 senate 6 year term- 3 senators from each 31 states and federal district, with remianing senators selected by proportional representation.
all directly elected
parties must run at least 30% woman for both lists for proportional as well as SMD then it got 50%
doesnt have independet judicary nor judicial review
code law
has both federal and state courts
supreme court on paper it has judical review but in reality almost never overrules an important gov action or policy.
Ernestro Zedillo (1994-2000) tried tos trengthen the courts by emphasisng the rule of laaw
in areas of mexico where drug wars currently rage many judges are afraid to rule against gang leaders for fear or reprisal others are bribed.
Soviet union collapsed in 1991
Boris Yeltsin former member of soviet politburo - Shock therapy-pointed country in the direction of democracy and free-market economy. but he was uneven and reverted to auhtoritarain rule whenever he pleased.
their family run country as an oligarchy—courrpution
Putin eleted in 2000 and 2004, didnt like oligarchs
2008 stayied as a prime minister under president Medelev
2012-2018 president again
politburo was a small group of men who climed the ranks of the party though nomeklatura,an ordered path from local party soviets to commanding heights of leadership.
tsars-autocratic rule
under communist rule marxism-leninism provided legitimacy with ideology of democratic centalism
stalinism changed the regime to totalitarianism
after stalism 2 reformer nikita khrushchev and Gorbachov tried to loosen the party’s stenglehol on power.
power of the president is checked by popular election and by the lower house of legislature the Duma
Russian federation reflects this diversity with countless republics and autonomous regions based on ethnicity
Gorbachov initiated Glasnost- a new emphasis on freedom of the speech and press.
Russians admire Baltic people and they express disdain for Muslim-Turkish people’
Joseph stalin’s five-year plan called for rapid abrupt economic change to establishment of soviet union as one of 2 superpowers
Tsars headed Russian Orthodox Church so they have been seem as both political and religious leaders
Decembtist Revolt of 1835-western thought influenced russian intellectuals who s aw no room for western political institucions to grow under the tsars absolutism and this erupted which was crushed ruthlessly ny nicholoas I
most immediate casue of russian revolution of 1917 was russias ineffectivness in fighting the russo-japanese war and WWI
1905 riots broke out in protest to russian looses in war with japan
Lenins followers came to called Bolsheviks 1917-1922
1918 civil was between white army(military leaders) and red army(lenin) reds won and 1920 lenin institutied his new economic policy which allowed a great deal of private owenership to exist under centralised rule
democratic centalism-lenin
plasced communist party at center of control and allowed no other parties to cmpete with it
could join party by nomeklatura process of party members seleting promising recruits from lower levels.
most top gov officials belonged to Central committee- a group og party leaders who met twice a year
central committee was politburo the heart of communist party
Politburo had 12 men and ran the country and their decisions were carried out by the government agencies and departments.
head of politburo was general secretary, who asummed full power as dictator of the country— STALIN
stalins economic plan for USSR had 2 parts: Collectivization and industrialization
stalin replaces the small private farms of the NET with Collective farms that were state run and supposedly more efficient.
some peasants resisted particulary those who had larger farms they were know as Kulaks and they were forced to move to cities or to labor camps
in cities people worked for industrialization of the country
stalin establsihed 5 year plan with goals for production of heavy industry such as oil steel and electricity.
Gosplan:the central state planning commisson—nerve center for economy
1930 stalins primary focus was internal development.
advocated socialism in one contry-to emphasize his split with traditional marxist emphasis on international revolution
excution of millions of citizens
secret speech of khrushchev in which he revealed the existence of a letter written by lenin before he died the letter was critical of stalin
deStalinization-looseing government censorship of press,economic decisionmaking and restructuring of collective farms.
khurshchev was replaced my more conservative Leonid brezhnev and after he died Gorbachov
he was more open to wetern style reforms
his program was 3-pronged: 1)Glasnost(openness):allowed more open discussion of political and economic issues as well as open criticism of gov.2)democratization:he wanted to keep old soviet structure and communist party contorl by add some democracy too, so he created a new congress of people’s deputies and a new position of president that was selected by congress.3)Perestorika:economic reform.authorization of some privately owned companies, penalties for under-performing state factories,leasing of farm land outside collective farms,price reform
conservatives (those who wanted to abond Gorbachev’s reforms) several high-ranking communist party and gov officials led coup to remove gorbachov from office.
qoup failed when popular protests broke out (led by yeltsin)
he was removed
russian federation has many cleavages : nationality, social class, rular and urban divisions
80% Russians
country inculdes: Tarts,Ukranians,Armenians,Chuvashes,Bashkis,Byelorussians,moldavians
these determined organization of counry into a federation with autonomous groups, republics and provines
exception is Chechnya:muslim region that has fought for years for its freedom 178
in recent years chechnes have been inolved in terrorist act- 2004 seizure of a school in southern russia , gunfire and explosions that killed more than 350 people
for legitimacy russia held referendum to vote on anew consistucion for region.
kadyrov became president of chechny in 2007 with its 20000 stron army,his own tax system and religious laws
still by them killing and kidnapping is common
chechnya with chechen group involved in Beslan school seige taking responsibilty for attack.
Tsarist russia was Orthodox, with tsars serving as spiritual head of the church.
soviet union prohibited religious practices during 20th century
yeltsin encoruaged russian orthodox church to reestablish itself
other religions are represented in small percentages-roman catholics,jews,muslims,protestants
sooo manyy musliiims 20 million????
Caucasus-in this area many ethnicities incuding chechnes are muslims-hot spot for truble
they are also in Moscow
also in Bashkortostan and Tatarstan
attempts to destroy social class differences.
old noble/peasant districts in tsarists russia was destroied
cleavge: members of communist party-7% and non-members
economic favors were granted to party members particulary members of central committee and politburo.
egalitarian more
market economy
industrialization since stalin led to increasingly urban population with 73% in it more in west
conomic divide between rural and urban is wide
during societ union belifs and attutes towards their gov were molded by communist party doctrines-Marxinism
mistrust of government:most people support democratic ideals including free elections and civil liberities, however most do not trust gov officials or insititutions to convert these ideals to reality.low level of participation in interest groups
statism:russian citizens still expect state to take an active role in their lives.
economic belifs:yeltsin’s market reforms created divisions in public opinion regarding market reform.
westernization:divide of slavophile vs westernizer.some political parties emphasize nationalism and defese of russian interest and slavic culture and some reform parties strongly support intergration of russia in world
they vote 100% because they faced serious consequences if they stayed home
until gorbachov eletions were not competitive
after economic crisis of late 2008 a series of protest were organzied around russia criticizing govs economic policies
protest in Vladivostok where 1000 protesters marched though streets in january 2009
russian communist party organized rally in moscow and called for a return of centralized economic policies of soviet union which authorities approved
putin’s decision to run for presidency in 2012 sparked some largest protests in recent years,protests broke out after parliamentary elections in dec 2011 with accusations that russia had rigged eletions..they in may 20000 people protested in moscow,many were angry that putin was extending hi 12 year domination of russia —russia without putiiiiiiin
putin ignored protests and since then no major protest have been allowed
russias involmvent in ukranian cirisis caused much controversy, 2014 Boris Nemtsov leaders of Russian liberal opposition was shot dead on bridge by walls of kremlin.ealier boris had been handing out anti war rally to protest russias support of rebels in ukrine
voter turnout is high
participation in other forms of political activities is looooowww
undeveleoped civil society,private organizations and associations outside of politics.
russians did not attent ruch on regular basis nor do they belong to sports clubs'
but many read newspapers watch news and discuss wpolitics with family
civil society is growing i russia
although since 2012 govv seems to be imposing new restictions
glasnost in 1980s slowly began to emerge and since that time many organizations have formed to express points of view of different issues
Nashi-all are part of an effort to build following of loyal patriotic young people.
Nashi (putinis nashebi) organized mass marches in support of putin and staged demonstrations over goreugn policy issues.
federal gov sturcture
89 regions - republics
some regions are much stronger than others so power is developepd unequally-asymmatric federalism
putin cracked down on regional autonomy
creation of super districts
removal of governors:allows president to do it
appintment of goverorns:allows president to do it
changes in federal council
elimination of single member district seats in duma:pure proportinal system
not strong
1999 number of parties who ran duma candidates had shrunk to 26 but many of the parties were new ones, including putins unity party
parties required to win a minimum of 7% of national vote in order to win any seats.
2001
united party was put together by boris Berezovsky to support prime miniter putin in presidential elections of 2000
renamed to united russia
second strongest party in duma
from soviet union
old regime style
vladimer zhirinovsky
he regulary attacks reformist leaders and aprticulary disliked yeltsin
referendum:consistution of 1993 allowed president to call for national referenda by popular vote on important issues.yeltsin called for referendum on his job perfromance.second refrendum was held later in a year and people voted in favor of new consisituiton.regional refrendum was held in chechny in 2003 to approve consititution for the area
duma elections:has 450 seats half proportional half SMD.parties must get 7& of total vote to reduce number of parties
presidential elections:2 round model should recive more than 50 precent of vote
interest groups were only allowed in soviet union under state corporatism
decision making too place within central committee and politburo
under putin’s leadership state corporatism where the state determines which groups have unput into policy making, has been well esatblished
this interest group controls more than crime like oligarchs they gained power during chaotic time after recovlution 1991, they control local businesses,natural resources and banks
official newspaper of the soviet union’s communist party was PRAVDA which only printed what government wanted to so it became an important prooaganda tool for communist party.
after 1991 it became independet with more freedom
under putin gov again tightened its hold on press
executive brach separates the head of state(president) and head of government (prime minister)
president dominates prime minister
presidential elections every 6 years 2 terms
anyone who gets million signatures ca run for presidentpresident has power to appoint prime minister and cabinet, duma must approve the prime minister and if they rejecct nominnee 3 times presdient may dissolve duma
federation of council 2 memebers from each 89 federal regions one representative selected by govenor and onther by regional legislature, rerpesnt regions, delay legislation
duma passes bills aproves budget and confirms presidents appointments
no independent judicary exists
constitutional court:19 members appointed by president confirmed by federaion council
mikhail khodorkovsky and platon lebedev formere controlling shareholders of yukos oil company indicate that courts are still under political control of putin.
putin declared that crime had been proven in court and sentenced khodorkocsky until 2019
in 2013 pussy riot were sentenced 2 years each i prison for an anti-putin sunt in moscow
In Britain legitimacy is based on Traditional legitimacy-hereditary ruling family had the right to rule.
The church doesn't challenge the authority of the government.
Britain has never had written constitution. They have common law and important documents that is called Constitution of the Crown.
By the end of 17th century it was based on Rational-legal authority- a system of well established laws and procedures, common law
The Constitution of the Crown includes:
Magna Carta-basis of limited government that placed restrictions on monarchs.
Bill of rights-lists rights retained by parliament.
Common law based on local customs and precedent.
Thatcher - prime minister was conservative
Tony Blair was from labour party
Winston Churchill was from the conservative party
Insularity:feeling of separation from continent of Europe.In 2016, British citizens voted in referendum to leave European union.
Noblesse Oblige- duty of the upper classes to take responsibility for the welfare of the lower classes.
Welfare state:a way of governing in which the state or an established group of social institutions provides basic economic security for its citizens.
In 1980's Margaret Thatcher, cut social services.
There is a religious differences between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland which remains a major conflict today.
Crimes are based on individual violence not strikes and assassinations.
Gradualism is the main principle of how changes occur in Britain
The Industrial Revolution created two new social classes, the business middle class, and the laborer.
Great reform act of 1832:many men gained the right to vote and the House of Commons gained more power in relation to the House of Lords.
Reform Act of 1867:many working class people were given the right to vote.
Women's suffrage: all women 21 and over were allowed to vote
Labour party: created in 1906 to represent the rights of newly-enfranchised working men
Conservative party: drew most of its members from middle-class merchants and businessmen.
The Trade Union Council: the coalition of trade unions that became a major force in British politics.
Beveridge report: provided for a social insurance program that made all citizens eligible for health, unemployment, and other benefits.!!!!!
National health service: NHS, created by the Labour Party.
OPEC: organization for petroleum exporting countries.
She privatized business and industry
she cut back social welfare programs
strengthened national defense
returned to market force controls on the economy.
she was prime minister for 11 years.
she was called -iron lady-
neoliberalism- term that describes the revival of classic liberal values that support low levels of gov regulation, taxation and social expenditures.
Gordon brown: came when tony Blair stepped down from the labour party.
David Cameron: prime minister, initiated Big Society conservative party
Theresa May:Cameron was forced to resign, Theresa May was appointed conservative party
Brexit is an abbreviation of two English words: 'Britain' and 'exit' and refers to the withdrawal process of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU)
Social cleavages:such as Protestant-Catholic split in Northern Ireland. Also, major cleavages were race and ethnicity.
Political culture in Uk- Characterized by trust and defence to authority.
They have parliamentary system, which means that prime minister and cabinet ministers are actually members of the legislature.
Linkage institutions are well-developed
Whigs- Scottish bandits (liberal)Tories- Irish bandits (conservative)
They have single-member plurality election system.
People: Neli Kinnock(1980), John Smith(1993-1994), Tony Blair(1994-2007), Gordon Brown(2007-2010), Es Miliband (2010-1015), Jeremy Corbyn.
The largest party on the left is the Labour Party.
Began in 1906 as an alliance of trade unions and socialist groups that was strengthened by the expansion of rights for the working class during the 19th century.
It proclaimed a socialist party whose principles included a guaranteed minimum standard of living for everyone, nationalization of industry, and heavy taxation of large incomes of wealth.
Main party on the right
The Party supported a market-controlled economy, privatization, and fewer social welfare programs during the 1980s under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, Conservative moved back toward the center under Prime Minister John Major(1990-1997)
Characterized by Noblesse oblige.
The organization of the party is viewed as elitist, with the MPs choosing the party leadership.
—>Deep divisions between 2 groups weakened the Conservative Party:
The traditional wing (one-nation Tories) values Nobles oblige, they generally support Britain’s membership in the EU.
The Thatcherite Wing strict conservatives who want to roll back gov controls and move to a full free market. they do not want the EU.
The goal was to establish a strong party in the middle as a compromise to the politics of 2 major parties: Thatcher’s extremely conservative leadership and labor’s leftist views.
leader: Paddy Ashdown, Charles Kennedy, Nick Clegg
David Cameron invited the Liberal Democrats to help form coalition government and nick clegg became deputy prime minister
LD generally being more supportive of the EU and Conservatives not.
smaller parties are in Wales, Scotland and Northern Irland.
Plaid Cymru in Wales
Scottish National Party in Scotland
parties fortunes were strengthened after labour’s return to power in 1997 when the Blair leadership created regional assemblies for Scotland and Wales.
Northern Ireland has always been dominated by regional parties such as Sinn Fein and Democratic Unionist Party
The only national officials that British voters select are members of Parliament.
Prime minister is not elected as prime minister but as an MP from a single electoral district
Elections must held every 5 years, but traditionally the prime minister could call for them ealier.
Fixed-term Parliaments Act of 2011: Parliamentary elections must be held every 5 years beginning in 2015.This act limits prime minister to call for elections except in the case of a vote of no confidence, and if 2/3 of the MPs vote to do so.
Vote of no confidence: a formal vote by which the members of a legislature or similar deliberative body indicate that they no longer support a leader, government,
winner-take-all all system with no runoff elections.
each party selects a candidate to run for each district post, minor parties dont always run candidates in all districts.
the person that wins the most votes gets the position
However, if no single party wins an outright majority of seats, a situation known as a "hung parliament" occurs. 2018
Good Friday Agreement: Britain agreed to give Northern Ireland a regional government in which all parties should be represented on a proportional basis.
According to later agreements with Scotland and wales their regional parliaments also are based on proportional representation.
British politics are characterized by neo corporatism in which interest groups take the lead and sometimes dominate the state
The greatest influence of Britain's interest groups comes thought —> Quangos, or policy advisory boards appointed by the government.
Quangos weakened while Margaret Thatcher was prime minister.
today they have been abolished by conservative plans to reduce the overall budget deficit.
BBC had a clash with the Blair government in 2003 over support for the war in Iraq. conflict grew into a crisis when weapons inspector Michael Kelly committed suicide.
papers employees hacked the cell phone of a murdered 13-year-old. scandal snowballed as it became apparent that phone hacking was a common practice
The British government has 3 branches of gov and a bureaucracy.
Legislature is divided into 2 houses
They have a parliamentary system, meaning that the executive branch is fused with the legislative branch because the prime minister and the cabinet are leaders of parliament.
Separation of powers does not exist.
Lack of judicial review in the Judicial branch
Unitary state, political authority centralized in London
The cabinet consists of the prime minister and the ministers, each of which heads a major bureaucracy of the gov.
Collective cabinet is the center of policymaking and the prime minister has the responsibility of shaping decisions into policy.
National question: Dilemma which is known for conflict of how a country should be governed, or even if Nigeria should remain as one nation.
First constitution was written in 1914, since then we have 8 more.
Military and civilian leaders have felt free to disobey the constitution.
National question is a major source of lack of legitimacy.
Fragmentation: tendency to fall apart
The country’s history is full of examples of ethnic and religious conflicts, economic exploitation by the elite and use of military force.
Despite all these, the Military still has been the most important source of stability in an unstable country.
Citizens have little or no trust in their leaders' abilities to run an efficient state.
As a British colony, Nigerians learned to rely on Western rule of law.
Corruption associated with General Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993) and General Sani Abacha( 1993-1998) because taxes people paid all went in their banks. —1985-1998
An important source of Legitimacy has been in the north has been Sharia, especially since the fall of military rule in 1999.
Hisbah is a police force charged with enforcing Islamic morality.
2008 Federal gov cracked down on Hisbah.
Their elections are characterized by rigging, intimidation, fraud and violence.
Historical influences may be divided into 3 eras: pre-colonial era, the colonial era, and the era since independence.
Influences from this era include :
Trade connections
Early influence of Islam
Kinship-based politics—>the traditional pattern of bequeathing political power among family members.
Complex political identities
Democratic impulses- rulers were expected to govern in favor of people
The Group Fulani came to the north though jihad established the Sokoto caliphate, a muslim state.
The Caliphate traded with Europeans and eventually succumbed to British colonial rule by 1900.
Authoritarian rule- not responsible to people
Interventionist state- no checks and balances—>the practice of governments that interfere in the political affairs of other countries, staging military or trade interventions
Individualism- chiefs thought about personal benefits for governance rather then good for whole community
Christianity- split between christians and muslims
Intensification of ethnic policies- Hausa fulani, Igbo and Yuruba.
The British imposed indirect rule in which they trained natives to fill the European style bureaucracy.
Parliamentary style government replaced by presidential system- because of ethnic divisions they couldn't identify the majority party or allow the prime minister to have proper authority.
Intensification of ethnic conflict
Military rule
Personalized corruption
Federalism- theoretically power was shared, but it wasn’t because military presidents didn’t allow sub governments to have their separate sovereignty
Economic dependence on oil- oil money only unreached the elite.
In 1966, the parliamentary government was replaced by a military dictatorship. There were several military coup d'etats.
Patron-clientelis(prebendalism): just as in China and Mexico,The patron builds loyalty among his clients by granting them favors that are denied to others. In Nigeria, in exchange for their support a president may grant to his clients a portion of the oil revenues.
State control/rich civil society: government never succeeded in totally dominating civil society.
Tension between modernity and tradition:there is a religious conflict between christians and muslims.muslims believe in sharia christians don't.
Northwest-muslim people, Hausa-fulani
Northeast-muslim smaller people, kanuri
Middle Belt- smaller ethnic groups, mix of muslims and christians.
Southwest: yoruba 40% Christians 40% and others 20%
Southest-Igbo people,Catholics
The Southern Zone-minority
The colony established a mercantilist role of providing raw materials like oil to industrialized nations
One of the cleavages of Nigeria is elites becoming more separate from people because they were more educated.
Other cleavages were between the north and south because most of the British schools were located in the south, but eventually they got over it.
→ Example of corruption in Nigeria- About ⅔ of revenues coming from oil went in the hand of the elite ←
Gap between rich and poor- like Mexico, the distribution of income is very unequal. Few people are very wealthy and most are very poor.
Health issues- Nigeria has high rates of HIV/AIDS
Literacy
Ethnicity- 400 separate ethnic groups with their own customs and religions. Hausa fulani, igbo, yoruba.
Religion- about half of Nigeria is Muslim and 40% are christians. Differences between muslims and christians.
North vs South- Again Muslims and Christians.
Urban and Rural
Social class- division between elites and normal people.
Nigeria has a good civil society.
Even under military rule, presidents allowed free press and interest groups to be maintained.
One group that has managed to do both is the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, or MOSOP, founded by dissident Ken Saro-Wiwa in the 1990s. MOSOP has worked to apply national laws to secure financial benefits for the Ogoni in the Niger Delta and to hold foreign-operated oil companies to environmental standards.
Low level of trust in government
Nigerians think elections are not fair
A Widely occupied Chevron-texaco’s Nigerian operations 10 days. The siege ended when chevron Texaco's officials agreed to provide jobs for the woman's sons and set up a credit plan to help village women start businesses.
2006 groups organized to attack foreign-based oil companies.
!Boko Haram! carried out almost daily shooting trying to undermine Jonathan's authority -they dont like sharia law.
Nigeria's Protests have been the most brutal out of all countries.
2015 Boko haram stepped up the attacks and gained international attention with kidnapping and disappearance of 276 schoolgirls from chibok
The survival of the Ogoni people in Nigeria's Niger Delta is threatened by environmental degradation, socio-economic marginalization, and human rights abuses due to oil exploration. In response, Ogoni activists have organized protests to demand justice, environmental remediation, and community development. Despite facing repression from authorities and multinational corporations, the Ogoni people continue to mobilize and advocate for their rights and the protection of their homeland.
At first they had authoritarian rule until their independence and then slowly they changed into democratic regime
Formally federalist and democratic but has not operated as such
Nigeria did not develop a one party system unlike Mexico in 20th century that contributed to political stability
Factionalism led to the development of many parties.
→ Since 2015 we have 2 major parties
The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP): party of Obasanjo, in 2003 received a majority.------dominant party although they had low legitimacy because of high fraud.
JONATHAN’S PARTY
All ProgressiveCongress(APC): formed as an alliance of 4 opposition parties.
BUHARI’S PARTY
On the national level they vote for the president, representatives to the house of the representatives and for senators from their states.
Presidential elections: if a presidential candidate does not receive an outright majority a second ballot may take place.a president also must receive at least 25% of all the votes cast in ⅔ of the states.in other words a purely regional candidate cannot win the presidency.
Legislative elections - The Senate has 109 senators, three from each of 36 states, and one from the federal capital territory, Abuja. They are elected by direct popular vote. The 360 members of the House of Representatives(lower house) are elected from single-member districts by plurality vote.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (!INEC!), with outside pressure, made an attempt to cleanse the electoral process when it declared almost six million names to be fraudulent.
The elections of 2011, however, were considered by most observers to be a big improvement over 2007, at least partly because of reforms initiated by the INEC. Goodluck Jonathan (from the south) won almost 59% of the vote, and Muhammadu Buhari (from the north) won 32%.
Boko Haram attempted to disrupt the elections by attacking voting centers, killing 41 people, and an opposition politician, Umaru Ali, was gunned down in one attack. However, the elections were generally peaceful and orderly, according to observers
The Nigeria Labor congress called a strike of workers in cities across nigeria.it was organized to protest the government's hike in fuel prices and taxes.
Nigeria is in theory a federal political system with government organizations on local, state, and national levels. Its various constitutions have provided for three branches of government, but in reality its executive branch has dominated policymaking.
Nigeria has had a presidential system, with a strong president theoretically checked by a bicameral legislature and an independent judiciary. Each of the 36 state governments and 774 local governments has an executive and a legislative branch, and a network of local, district, and state courts exists.
Nigeria follows Presidential system with 2 term limit for the chief executive
Nigeria's seven military leaders did not all rule in the same fashion. All promised a "transition to democracy," but only two gave power over to elected leaders: General Obasanjo in 1979, and General Abubakar in 1999.
Generals Buhari (1983-1985), Babangida (1985-1993), and Abacha (1993-1998) were known for their use of repressive tactics during their rule,
Corporations owned by the state and designated to provide commercial and social welfare services. Their boards are appointed by gov ministers. Provide public utilities such as water electricity and public transportation—state corporatism
A parliamentary system was in place until 1979, when it was replaced by a presidential system with a bicameral legislature, known collectively as → the National Assembly.
Both representatives and senators serve four-year renewable terms, and elections are held the week preceding the presidential election.
The Senate - Currently the upper house is composed of 109 senators, three from each of 36 states and one from the federal capital territory Abuauja. Senators are elected directly by popular vote. Its equal representation model for states is based on that of the United States Senate, so some senators represent much smaller populations than others do. However, the ethnic and religious diversity of the 36 states means that senators are also a diverse lot.
The House of Representatives - The House of Representatives has 360 members from single-member district. They are elected by plurality, and like the senators, represent many differeethniciti ethnicities. After the elections of 2015, only 20 representatives were women, as were only 7 of the 109 senators, giving Nigeria one of the lowest rates of female representation in the legislature in the world.
They had great deal of autonomy
Operating independently from executive
Today the judiciary is charged with interpreting the laws in accordance with the Constitution, so judicial review exists in theory.
Two notorious cases from the 1990s indicate to many people how deeply the Nigerian judiciary fell under the sway of military rulers:
Mshood Abiolao, the winner of the 1993 election annulled by Babangida, was detained and eventually died while in custody. The presiding judges for his detention changed often, and critics of the government believe that justice was not served. In 1995, activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogonis were detained and hanged under orders from a court arranged by the military, consisting primarily of military officers.
The military has been a strong force behind policy-making in Nigeria. Yet by becoming so active in political affairs, the military lost its credibility as a temporary, objective organization that keeps order and brings stability.
Although the military is a strongly intimidating force in the Nigerian political system that has often blocked democratic reforms, it is important to understand that it is one of the few institutions in the country that is truly national in character.
When the deep ethnic cleavages within Nigerian society have threatened instability, the military has been there to restore order. Nigeria's best, brightest, and most ambitious have often made their way by rising through the military, a fact particularly important for the ethnic Muslims of northern Nigeria who have not had the same opportunities that many in the south have had. Because of these factors, generals had the ability to keep control of the government for many years, and it helps to explain why democracy has been so fragile so far.
Loyalty Pyramid:those in the pyramid get the spoils and they alone have access to wealth and influence.
Like iran Nigeria is a rentier state,while state receives rent from other countries these counties receive income by exporting their oil and leasing out oil fields to foreign companies.
During eras of low oil prices nigeria has amassed great debt
Despite all its problems, Nigeria shows some signs that democracy may be taking root in its presidential system, including these:
Some checks and balances between government branches
Some independent decisions in the courts
Revival of civil society
Independent Media
Peaceful succession of power
China is by some standards a less developed country, but on the other hand the country is now a major world power, partly because of recent dramatic improvements in GNP and standards of living
Its leaders claim membership in the World Trade Organization!!!
Until 20th century China’s history was characterized by dynastic cycles: long periods of rule by a family punctuated by times of chaos
Power was determined by the mandate of heaven, or the right to rule as seen by the collective ancestral wisdom that guided the empire from the heavens above
China is technically governed by the constitution that grants formal authority to both parties and the state executive and legislative offices.
Under dynastic rule legitimacy was established through mandate of heaven and power passed from one emperor to next though hereditary connections.
The Revolution of 1911 gave birth to the Chinese Republic with western-educated sun yat-sen as its first president
The People’s Republic of China was established in 1949 and Mao led the Communist party.
Maoism was idealistic and egalitarian-all are considered equal, regardless of gender, race, religion, or age.
it endorsed centralized power though top leaders of the party it also stressed the importance of staying connected to the peasants though a process called mass line
Mass line required leaders to listen to and communicate with ordinary folks
Organizing principle for both ideologies was democratic centralism It essentially means that while decision-making within the party is democratic, once a decision is made, it must be followed by all members without question. This principle allows for a centralized leadership structure where decisions made by the top leadership are binding on all party members.
Party said to be corrupt and irrelevant, holding authoritarian power over an increasingly market-based economy
!!!!An important source of power in PRC has been military, which played an important role in the rise of the communist party and it is represented in the government by the Central Military Commission.!!!!!
The head of this commission plays an important role in policymaking
Authoritarian power: Chinese citizens have traditionally been subjects not participants in their political system.The tendency toward decentralization is apparent in the modern regime as a centralized Politburo attempts to control its vast population and numerous policies
Confucianism: It emphasized the importance of order and harmony, encouraged Chinese citizens to submit to the emperor’s power and reinforced the emperor’s responsibility to fulfill his duties conscientiously. Communist belif in a small group of leader who make decisions for the people
Bureaucratic hierarchy based on scholarship: emperors surrounded themselves with highly organized bureaucracies that formed an elite based on confucian scholarship.Gov job were extremely competitive.exams were knowledge based and bureaucrats had to be well-versed in Confucianism. The Communist Party exercises authority over all aspects of government and society, and bureaucratic institutions are expected to implement party directives and policies.
The “Middle Kingdom”: Chinese have referred to their country as middle kingdom or the place that is the center of civilization.
Communist ideologies: early 20th century brought a new influence of Maoism that emphasized the “right thinking” and moralism of Confucianism. late 20th sencutry brought Deng Xiaoping Theory: a practical mix of authoritarian political control and economic privatization
Collectivism: Valuing the good of the community above that of the individual suited the peasant-based communities that have existed throughout Chinese history
Struggle and activism
Mass line:communication between party leaders, members, and peasants.leaders would communicate their will and direction to the people but the people in turn would communicate their wisdoms to the leaders through the mass line
Egalitarianism: Hierarchy was the key organizing principle in their society before 1949, and maos egalitarian society was complete opposition to it. all are considered equal, regardless of gender, race, religion, or age.
Self-reliance: Instead of relying on the elite to give directions pleople under maoist rule were encouraged to rely on their own talents.
Deng Xiaoping Theory→ “It doesn’t matter whether a cat is white or black as long as it catches mice”he did not worry too much about whether a policy was a capitalist or socialist as long as it improved the economy. he has combination of socialist planning and the capitalist free market
Long March( 1934-1936 ): cross-country trek led by Mao as Chiang’s nationalist army pursued his communist followers
Hu Yaobang: a reformer whose death was mourned by the students that led the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989 .
The identity of Han Chinese-predominant ethnic group in China, during late 19th century, chinese nationalists fought hard against the western imperialist that dominated china and eventually won their countries independence. Mao encouraged his people to ignore the outside world and concerntare on growing the country from whithin but during Deng Xiaopings rule China has been increasingly involved in the world politics and trade
Tibetans and other minority groups are seen as inferior people by some strong nationalists and their pride in being Hans Chinese is often apparent.
When British statesman Earl Macartney arrived in china in the late 1700s seeking trade, Chinese emperor rejected his overtures, beliving that China had little to earn from the less wealthy and cultured British.
During 20th century a major source of tension among Chinese leaders was between those who promoted Chinese self-reliance and those seeking modernization though contacts with the West
Mao zendog rejected Western nations of human rights and electoral democracy and banished most foreign residents.
In 2012 Xinhua the state run news agency ran an editorial that accused other govs of using reporters from their countries to control Chinas’s image in the overseas news medias
People’s Daily the ruling Communist Party paper described wetern efforts to export democracy and human rights to china as a new form of colonialism.
Unlike Russia, China rose to regional hegemony( control of surrounding countries) very early in its hirtory
dynastic cycle was interrupted by Mongoles in13 th century when thier leaders conquered China and ruled until the mandate was recaptured by Ming who restored Han Chinses control.
Manchu were also conquering people from the north who established the Qing
( pure )dynasty
During 19th century the weakened Qing dynasy fell to imperialist nations: England, Germany, France and Janpan
Major revolutions occurred in China in 1911 and 1949
Nationalism: Chinese wished to recapture strength and power from imperialist nations that dominated them during 19th century. the revolution of 1911 led by Sun yat-sen was a successful attempt to reestablish China as an independent country
Establishing a new political community: Chiang kai-shek founded the Nationalist party and other from Mao Zendong the founder of the Chinese Communist Party
Socioeconomic development: A major problem of the 20th century has been the reestablishment of a strong economic and social fabric after the years of imperialist control. Chiang Kai-shek became the president of China and Mao and his communist were left to form outlaw party.
Strenght for Mao’s Commuist Party was gained by the Long March (1934-36)
Mao led his troops on the Long March to escape the persecution of the Nationalist party and the forces of Chiang Kai-shek. The communists were attacked while they occupied southeastern China before the Long March.
Mao eluded him until finally Chiang had to turn his attention to invading Japanse.Mao emerged as a hero of the people and many of his loyal friends on the march lived to be prominent leaders of peoples republic of china after its founding in 1949
After the WWII ended the forces of Chiang( Nationalist) and Mao met in civil war and Mao proved to be more powerful
In 1949 Chiang fled to Taiwan and Mao established People’s Republic of China under communist rule.
Chiang claimed that his headquarters in Taiwan formed the true government.
Two Chinas was created
→The Soviet model (1949-1957)- Soviet union had supported Mao’s efforts since 1920s. in 1949 with his victory it began pouring money and experise into PRC. With this help Mao focused on country’s social problems
Land reform:campaign redistributed property from the rich to the poor
Civil reform: greatly enhanced woman’s legal rights, they were allowed to free themselves from unhappy marriages.this measures helped to legitimise Mao
Five-Year Plans: 1953-1957 CCP launched plans to nationalized industry and collective agriculture, implementing step forward socialism
→The Great Leap Forward (1958-1966)- Mao changed directions to free China from Soviet domination.The Great Leap Forward was a utopian effort to transform China into a radical egalitarian society. It emphasis was mainly economic, and it was based on 4 principles.
All-around development: not just heavly industry but almost equal emphasis on agriculture
Mass mobilization
Political unanimity and zeal: an emphasis on party workers running government, not bureaucrats. Cadres-party workers at lowest levels.The word cadre most broadly refers to the staff that are tasked with the management of state and/or party affairs.
Decentalization: encouraged more government the local levels, less central control.
It did not happen.
Between 1960 and 1966 Mao allowed Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping to implement market-oriented policies that would revive economy.
Mao instituted the Cultural Revolution: it encompassed political and social change as well as economic. The main goal was to purify the party and the country thought radical transformation. Important principles were:
the ethic of struggle
mass line
collectivism-giving a group priority over each individual in it
egalitarianism
unstinting service to society
A primary goal of Cultural Revolution was to remove old china and its hierarchical bureaucracy and emphasis on inequality.
Emphasis was put on elementary education: all people should be able to read and write, but any education that created inequality was targeted for destruction.
Mao died in 1976 leaving his followers divided into factions
Radicals-this group was led by Mao’s wife Jiang Qing, one of the Gang of Four, who supported radical goals of Cultural Revolution
Military-Powerful group led by Lin Biao who died in airplane crash
Moderates- led by Zhou Enlai, they emphasized economic modernization and limited contact with other countries. Zhou influenced Mao to invite President Nixon to China.
the gang of 4 was arrested by new CCP leader Hua Guofeng.
Zhou’s death opened the path for leadership from the moderate faction. and the new leader from 1978 was Deng Xiaoping.
Four modernization: Industry, agriculture, science, military.
under deng’s leadership China experienced economic liberization and these policies have helped to implement the new direction:
Open door trade policy:trade with everyone
Reforms in education: higher academic standards
Institutionalization of the Revolution: restoring legal system adn bureaucracy of the old China. decenralizing gov.
Mao→ Deng → Jiang Zemin → Hu Jintao → Xi Jinping
Under Mao no civil society was allowed and gov controlled every facet of citizen’s lives.
after market based economy began in 1978 party leaders realize that most citizens no longer see communist ideology as central to their lives. as a result CCP now appeals to patriotism in being Chinese
China’s ethnic population is primarily Han Chinese, people that historically formed the basis of China’s identity.
Minority groups now comprise about only 8%. but their autonomous areas like Tibet and Xinjiang make up more than 60% of China’s territory.
There are 55 officially recognized minority groups
Most minorities live on or near China’s borders with other countries
China does have about 100 million citizens who are members of minorities groups.
Most of Chinas minorities are in 5 autonomous regions of Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet, Xinjiang.
Chinese constitution grants autonomous areas the right of self-government in some matters, such as cultural affairs, but it is very limited.
has been especially problematic since Chinese army conquered it in early days of CCP.
The former government of Tibet never recognized Chinese authority and many Tibetians today campaign for independece while other demand autonomy under Chinese sovereignty.
spiritual leader fled to india in 1959 where he set up Tibetian government in exile that the CCP never recognized.
A series of riots and demonstrations took place in Tibet in march of 2008 on 49th anniversary of the failed uprising a situation that increased tensions between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama
2013 Chinese gov announced its intesion to intensify a crackdown again in publications in Tibetan regions in an attamot to control pro-Dalai Lama litereature and publicity. 1.3 million illegal publications and promotional items were confiscated from 2011 to 2013 in Tibet.
Muslims of Turkish decedent living in Xinjaing.
some Uyghur militant want to create a separate Islamic state and have used violence to support their cause.
Chinese have become very concerned with these Muslim dissidents and soon their fears were confirmed, in 2009 riots broke out in Urumqi the capital city of Xinjiang. the riots were sarked by Uyghur dissatisfaction with the Chinese central gov’s handaling of the deaths of 2 Uyghur workers during previous disruptions— but the violence was on going thnic tensions between Han and Uyghurs.
Even among Hans there is great linguistic diversity.
since communist regime has tried to make Mandarin the official language of Government and education.
rule required most people in the public sector including teachers and members of the broadcast media to use Mandarin when addressing the public.
in 2008 the education minister of Hong Kong lifted restrictions that forced many secondary schools to teach in Cantonese.
motivation was the result of a study that showed that students from english-speaking schools did far better in getting into school than did those from Cantonese-speaking schools.
important divide in Chinese society is between rular and urban areas.
Gap between urban and rular incomes has groun so much that observer indicate it as Two Chinas this time as rular and urban one.
Protest in rular areas where some belive that gov is not looking out for their interests.
for example Hunan Province, thousands of angry farmers marched on the towenship gov to protest excessive taxes and corruption of local officials.shortly after 9 people leaders of protest were arrested.
“A new socialist countryside” a program to lift the lagging rular economy
The communist state redefined political participation by creating a relationship between the communist party and citizenship.
In recent years popular social movements that support democracy, religious belifs, community ties over nationalism have influenced Chinese politics
Chinese Communist Party CCP is the largest political party
its members make up only small minority of county’s populations- about 6% of total population are members of the CCP
Youth League: 109 million Chinese youths belong to it
during the Maoist revolutionary era Cadres whose careers depended on party loyality and ideological purity led the CCP at all levels and few were intellectuals or professionals.Since Deng’s reforms “technocrats” people with technical training who climbed the ladder of the party beureaucracy led the party increasing
An important new development is the growth of civil society-the appearance of private organizations that do not directly challenge the authority of the state but focus on social problems such as environment, AIDS, and legal reform.
for example recently activist organizations have protested gov sponsored dam projects that would flood the farmland of millions of peasants.
citizens complain that gov lacks transparency because they reveal its plans too late and in very obscure places
such attitudes sparked demonstrations in early 2008 in shanghai when gov extended its train lines without notifying people whose property would be affected by the project.
today Christianity and Buddhism are rebounding after years of communist resupression of religion.
Tinanamen Square massacre of 1989.
in recent years religiour groups such as Falon Gong have staged major protests but none have risen to the level of conflict apparent in 1989.
Riots in Tibet and Protests to the Torch Relay.
recently protest occurred in Tibet and Xinjiang both autonomous regions in western china.
In Tibet series of riots and demosntrations took place in Lhasa Capital city. on March of 2008 on the 49th anniversary of the failed uprisings against china in 1959.
Riots in Xinjiang
2009. riots broke out in Urumqi the capital city in northwest china.riots were sparked by Uyghur dissatisfaction with chinese central governments handeling of the deaths of 2 Uygur workers. internet sevices were shut down and cell phone services were restriced.
part of unrest has to do with Hukou, China’s traditional household registration system that makes it difficult to move from one place to another. Largest cities now find themself overcrowded and so they are shutting down shelters for workers who have recently migrated fro rular areas and erecting other barriers to entry.
in Shanghai migrant workers are divided into classes: Class A - most educated and talented get shanghai Hukou and the slightly less talented- Class B - might get a Hukou after 7 years of paying into social security system.
Authoritarian
decisions made by Political Elites: those who hold political power without much input from citizens.
economic decision-making is now decentralization or devolution of power to subnational govs.
Local govs often dey or ignore the central government by setting their own tax rates.
CCP intergrates its military into the political hierarchy.
Head of the Central Military Commission is often most powerful leader in China
Society is best led by elite vanguard party with a superior understanding of the Chinese people and their needs
organized hierarchically by levels - Village/township, country, province, nation.
at the top of the system is the supreme leader.
the party has separate constitution from the government’s constitution of 1982 and its central bodies are:
National Party Congress:this body consists of more than 2000 delegates chosen primarily from congresses on lower levels.meets every 5 years so its not important in policymaking.its main importance remains the power to elect members of the Central Committee
Central Committee:has 340 members that meet annually for about a week. their size and infrequent meetings limit their policymaking powers. their meetings are called plenums.they are gatherings of the political elites and from their midst are chosen the politburo and the standing committee
Politburo and standing committee: most powerful political organization. they are chosen from the central committee, their decision dictate government policies.the politburo has 25 members and standing committee chosen from politburo membership has only 7.they meet in secret.
China has one-party system but CCP does allow existence of 8 democratic parties.
Each party has a special group that it draws from such as intellectuals or businessmen.
they are tightly controlled by the CCP.
they do not contest the CCP for the control of the gov but they serve an important advisroy role to the party leaders
loyal non-opposition
PRC hold elections for legitimacy of gov and CCP
Party controls the commissions that run elections and it reviews draft lists of proposed candidates to weed out those it finds politically objectionable.
The National People's Congress is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China.NPC is the only branch of government in China
since 1980s party has allowed more than one candidate to run for country positions, most candidates are nominated by people
Mao zendong was a charismatic leader
his compatriots that made the journey with him became known as the “Old Guard” a group of friends that networked with one another for many years though Guanxi-personal connections
China like ussr recurits its leaders though Nomeklatura a system of choosing cadres from lower levels of the party hierarchy for advancement based on their loyalty and contributions to the well being of the party.
Chinese leaders communiate with also patron-client network called guanxi
Factionalism in the years of Mao is demonstrated in splits among radicals (led by Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four) the military under Lin BIao and the reformers under Zhou En-lai, All 3 men where part of the old Guard that went to long march in 1930s.
Deng xiaoping emerged as a new leader of China because he was able to unite the factions in a course toward economic reform
even before deng’s death fational strife was apparent within the leadership mostly notably during tinanamen square incident. in general the factions split in 2 ways:
Conservatives: all factions supported the economic reform but conservatives worried that power of the party and central gov has eroded too much. they were concerned about any movement toward democracy and generally support crackdowns on organziations who acted too independently. Li Peng
Liberals:they were more accepting of political liberties and democratic movements.they supported economic and political reform. Hu Yuobang and Zhao Ziyang
Other factions that have emerged in recent years include:
Princelings: many of Chinas leaders come from princelings class, an aristocracy or families with revolutionary credentials from days of Mao. their policy prefenrences arent always clear
Chinese Communist Youth League: led by former president Hu Jintao. ages for 14-28.promoters of the concerns of the urban and rular poor.
the faction follow the process of Fang-shou- a tightening up and loosening up cycle
Combination of guanxi and economic boom brought corruption.
Bribes are common
president Jiang Zemin acknowledged in 1997 “the fight against corruption is a grave stuggle “
in 2007 the Chinese government was embarrassed by the international publicity about tainted food, health productions and drugs. in reaction the head of Beijing’s most powerful food and drug regulating agency was arrested and executed. in his confession he said that he had accepted more than $850, 000 from 8 drug companies.because chinses media hardly ever report corruption cased without official approval many thought that this was a warning from the government.
2012 one of the top party officials in china Mr. Bo Xiali’s wife Gu Kailai war arresetd for the murder of a business partner neli heywood because of didderences over a business deal. Mr.Bo was jailed for his role in covering up events with charges incloded bribert, rorruption and abuse of power.
2012 Xi Jinping announced a new anti-corruption program.
in 2015 Chinese government released a wanted list of 100 people.
interest groups and social movements are not permitted to influence the political process unless under the party-state authority
In urban areas the party maintains social control though Danwei- social units usually based on a person’s place of work, people have depended. ot the units for their jobs, incomes, promotion, medical care, housing
1949-1980s all media were state tun
since then little independencehas emerged.
the official press agency of the gov is Xinhua
The People’s Daily the official newspaper of Central Committee of CCP. which also depends on Xinhua
heavy censorship
3 parallel hierarchies:
communist party
the state of gov
people’s liberation army
party dominates the 3 yet they are separate
3 branches legislature, executive, judicary all are controled by 1 party so they are not independet and there is no checks and balaces
National peoples congress at top and continues in hierarchical levels down through provincial, city and local congresses.
National peoples Congress chooses the president and vice of china but there is only one party-sponsored candidate for each position.
on their meetings politburos decisions are announced.
president and vice serve for 5 years 2 terms must be at least 45 years old.
Premier is the head of the government, appointed by president, positions is always held by a member of the standing committee.
premier directs state council today Li Keqiang
Bureaucracys lower levels are held by cadres
people’s court
People’s procuratorate:acts as a public prosecutor by handling both the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases in court
rule of law has been established in the people republic of china.
army is huge with 2.3 million active personnel and about 12 million reserves.
2 of the 24 members of the politburo are military officers.
PLA representatives make up over 20% of the central committee membership.
one improtant trend since 2012 has been the growing concentration of power in the hands of president.
China;s leadership has recently evolved from collective decision making by the standing committee to more control by one man - Xi Jinping
implementing military policies and managing the armed forces. It oversees the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is the unified military organization of all land, sea, and air forces of the People's Republic of China.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA), on the other hand, is the actual military force of China, consisting of various branches such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force. It operates under the leadership and direction of the Central Military Commission.
In essence, the CMC is the supreme military administrative body, while the PLA is the operational military force. The CMC provides strategic direction and oversight to the PLA, ensuring that military policies are implemented effectively.
tensions within the system both economic and political are evidenced in fang-shou a letting go, tightening up cycle evident even under mao
cycle consists of 3 types of actions/policies- economic reform, political movements (letting go) and tightening up by the CCP
issues are put in four categories: democracy and human right issues, populatioon issues, economic issues, foregin policy and international trade issues
Democracy and human rights
Jiang zemin was general secretary of CCP and then president from 1993 to 2003 he was critized for being weak leader
Hu Jintao leader from 2003-2012 most part held to the path defined by deng -economic reform and resistance to political reform
Xi Jinping leader since 2012 most part held to the path defined by deng
began as a grief demonstration for the death of Hu Yaobang- a liberal who had earlier resigned from politburo under a pressure form conservatives. demonstrators were intellectuals and students and turned into democratic protest they critized corruption and demanded democratic reforms
Deng sent the People’s Liberation Army to shut down protests using whatever means necessary.
rule of law associated with liberal democracies.
early communist leaders then never acknowledged rule of law as a legitimate principle.
two-child family campaign
government provided services incuding abortions
Deng Xiaoping- one child policy
1949-1978 command economy directed by a central government based on democratic centralism
Mao zedong called this policy Iron rice bowl: policy was a term used to describe the system of guaranteed lifetime employment and benefits that existed in China's state-owned enterprise
Deng Xiaoping began a series of economic reforms that make up the socialist market economy
1979 revolution in Iran is seen as the beginning of a great modern conflict between western and islamic civilizations
Deep attachment to Islam
theocracy: a government rules strictly by religion
secularization:belif that religion and government should be separated
Iran is second largest oil producer in middle east.
its economy may be labeled as developing rather than less developed
Ancient Achemenian Empire (called Persia by Greeks) that existed as the world’s largest empire.
Iran’s greatest rival was ancient Greece — West vs.East
both were conquered by Macedonian
Persian sovereigns were always hereditary military leaders.
King Darius built a magnificent Capital at Persopolis. his title was “ The Great Kings, King of Kings, King in Persia, King of countries”
Kings authority was supported by a strong military and a state-sponsored religion-Zoroastrianism
from the 7th - 16th centuries the geographical region of Iran had little political unity and experienced numerous invasions, including that of Arabs who brought Islam to the area
religion held the Persians together. even when their capital was defeated by Mongols in the 13th century religion survived.
Shiism was established as the state religion in the 16th century by Ismail the founder of the Safavid Empire.
Ismail and his qizilbash were supporter of this sect of the Islam that had disagreement with Sunni Muslims for centuries
Sunnies favored choosing the Caliph( leader) but Shiites argued that the mantle should be hereditary and should pass to Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali— who later was killed
Shiits kept their belief that true heir of Islam were descedants of Ali— Imams, in 12th century dissapeared a descendant child — hidden imam
Ismail distinguished Iran as a Shiit state from all Sunni states around him, and gave political legitimacy to tho belif that hidden imam would eventually return.
Pahlavi shahs (“ King of Kings “): authoritarian leaders ruled from 1925-1979. their attempts to secularize the state were done by a charismatic leader Ayatollah Khomeini- leader or revolution, founder of Islamic Republic.
Khomeini led the Revolution of 1979.
Most important document that legitimizes the state today is the Constitution of 1979.
document has 40 amendments and is mixture of theocracy and democracy.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!during presidency of Muhammad Khatami (1997-2005) reformers who supported a democratic government came to the forefront, but with the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 the conservatives who endorsed a theocracy took control→ conservatives and reformers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shiite clerical leaders came to be main interpreters of Islam, and separation between religion and politics developed.
Authoritarianism, but not totalitarianism:beginning with the Safavid Empire the central leaders did not control all areas of individuals’ lives
Union of political and religious authority: from days of the ancient Persians, political and religious leaders were often one and same. however starting the rule of the Qajars (1794-1925) 2 types of authority were separated later brought back together by the revolution of 1979.
Shiism and Sharia as central components: 90% are Shiite. islamic law Sharia is an important source of legitimacy
Escape from European colonization:Iran was nerver officially colonized by the Europeans.
Geographical limitations: great deal of iran’s land scape is unusable for agriculture because of the deserts,mountains to the north and notheast.today most population live in northwest.
Politically Persia established itself as the first large empire in the world.
a gradual separation of religion from the politics resulted in declining centralization of political power over time before 20th century.
20th century saw 2 revolutions:
1905-1909: that set democratic impulses in place
1979: that reunified religion with politics in the modern theocracy
Lack of arable land has meant that the agriculture basis of the empire was never secure, and geographical location also caused iran to emphasize trade by land
then world commerce turned to sea-based powers beginning in th 16th century Iran was marginalized meaning that it was isolated and not fully accepted by the dominant society or culture, and therefore frequently disadvantaged
oil has brought its own set of economic problems to iran.
Safavid tolerated the Sunnis as well as smaller numers of Jews, Zorostians and Christians— People of the Book.
safavids ruled from Isfahan a persian speaking city
Trade routes from the Iran to the ancient Silk Route had broken up and world trade had shifted to the indian and Atlantic Oceans
These economic probles have affected the Safavids’ ability to rule, since they did not have money for large bureaucracy or a standing army, so they had to relay on local rulers to keep order and collect taxes.
many clerics lived safely outside of the reach of the government which caused separation of monarchy and society.
kurds in the northwest
Turkmen in the northeast
Baluchis in the southeast
Arabs in the southwest
The Safavid Empire ended when Afghan tribesmen invaded Isfahan in 1722
land was conquered by Turkish Group the Qajars, who moved the capital to Tehran.
retained Shiism as the official state religion
wheres Safavids claimed to be descedants of the 12 imams the Qajars could not tie their legitimacy to such thing. as a result Shia clerical leaders could claim to be main interpreters of the Islam, and separation between government and religion widened.
Qajars ruled during the era of European Imperialism and they suffered the land losses, they sold oil-drilling rights in the southwest to Britain, and they borrowed heavily from European banks. by the end of the 19th century the shah had led the country into serious debt.
these problems caused constitutional revolution of 1905-1909: revolution began with business owners and bankers demonstrating agains Qajars move.middle-class people were fed up.
1906 the mechants and local industrialists, affected by the British Liberalism demanded a written constitution from the Shah.
The Constitucion of 1906 was modeled after Western ones, and uncluded such democratic features as:
Direct elections
separation of powers
laws made by an elected legislature
popular sovereignty
A bill of right guaranteeing citizens equality before the law.
The revolution sparked debate about separation of the religion from the government.The consisution retained the monarchy, but it created a strong legislature to balance executive power.
→ New assembly was called the Majles and seats were guaranteed to the “people of the book”- Jews,Christians and Zorostians←
Majles had authority to make and pass laws, also controlled cabinet ministers
By constitution of 1906 Shiism was decalred the official state religion, and only Shiites could hold cabinet positions
The constitution also created a Guardian Council of clerics that had power to vet any legislation passed by the Majles
World events of the early 20th century led to Iran’s division into 3 parts: one to themselves, another piece occupied by Russia and another by Britain during WWI
Cossack brigade was the only force that resembled a real army in the days of Qajars:This brigade was known for its discipline, training, and effectiveness, making it arguably the only force in Iran at the time that resembled a modern army.
Brigade’s commander Colonel !Reza Khan! carried out successful coup against weakened political state in 1921 and declared himself shah-in shah(king of kings) in 1925 establishing his own pahlavi dynasty
under Reza shah the Majles lost its power and authoritarian rule was reestablished in Iran
he tuned over power to his son Muhammad Reza Shah in 1941.
pahlavis reestablished order in iran but democratic experimentation resulting from consitution of 1906 was not forgotten and second sash had to confront some demcoratic opposition.
one group that challenged the shah was the communist Tudeh(masses) party that gained most of its support from working class trade unions | second group was National Front led by Muhammad Mosaddeq who drew its support from the middle-class people who emphasized Iranian nationalism!
mosaddeq wanted to take armed forces out from under shah’s control.
Mosaddeq was elected prime minister in 1951 and his power grew so that shah was forced to flee the country
Britain and us overthrew Mosadeq and restored the Shah to full power again.
economy was transformed into a rentier state under Pahlavis because of the increasing amount of income in from oil.
→Iran received an increasing amount of income by exporting its oil and leasing oil fields to foreign countries.
→ Income became so great by the 1970 that government no longer had to rely on internal taxes for its support meaning that government did not need its people anymore ←
Shah adopted Import substitution industrialization by encouraging domestic industries to provide products that the population needed.ISI focus on building up their own industries to make the things they need instead of buying them from other countries. They might put taxes on imported goods to make them more expensive, which encourages people to buy locally made products. This can help create jobs, boost the economy, and make the country less dependent on imports.
2 Pahlavi shahs built a highly centralized state- state controlled banks, the national radio-television network and National Iranian Oil Company.
The central bureaucracy gained control of local government and Majles became a rubber-stamp legislature that let the shash rule as he pleased—simply approves or endorses decisions made by a more powerful authority, without exercising independent judgment or meaningful oversight
courts became fully secularized with european-style judicial system and law codes in place.
White revolution: focused on land reform with government buying land from large absentee owner and selling it to small farmers at affordable prices.purpose was to ecourage farmers to became moder entrepreneurs with irrigation canals, dams, and tractors.
both Pahlavi bolstered their own personal wealth first by seizing other people’s property and eventually through establishing the tax-exempt Pahlavi Foundation- a patronage system that controlled large companies that fed the pocketbooks of the shah and his supporters
1975 Muhammad Reza announced the formation of Resurgence Party and decalred Iran to be a one-party state which he headed
Iran’s revolution is unique in that it was almost completely religious in nature.
dominant ideology was religion-shiism and most important revolutionary leader was a cleric who in turn ruled Iran for 10 years after this.
most significantly Iran’s revolution resulted in the establishment of a theocracy while in other countries revolutions often tried to break religious control of gov
clerical elite rose to oppsoe the shah lead a revolution and eventually take over the government he also had charisma and he was ayatollah Khomeini
ayatollah gave new meaning to an old shia term jurist’s guardianship the principle originally gave senior clergy broad authority over the unfortunate people, but khomeini claimed that true meaning of jurist’s guardianship gives clergy authority over the entire Shia community
2 factors led to revolution
oil prices decrease in late 1970s at the same time that consumer prices increased.
theory of the revolution of the rising expecatations: revolutions are more likely to occur when people are doing better then they once were but tome type of setback happens.
US put pressure on the shah to loosen his restraints on. the opposition jimmy carter was fan of human rights and iranian civil control made him have nightmares. once reins loosened many groups supported the revolution.
→ in late 1978 hundred of unarmed demonstrators were killed in a central square in Tehran and oil workers had gone ons strike.people called for the abolition of the monarchy.khomeini ended his goverment
In April 1979, a national referendum was held in Iran, in which an overwhelming majority of Iranians voted to establish an Islamic Republic, effectively ending the monarchy and formalizing Khomeini's leadership. Khomeini returned to Iran from exile in February 1979 and assumed the role of Supreme Leader, the highest political and religious authority in the new Islamic Republic of Iran.
until the pahlavis shahs of th 20th century the authoritarian ruler had very little power to reach into citizens’ everyday lives.
democratic experiment after the constitucion of the 1906 created an elected legislature the Majles but the new government was so unable to solve country’s problems that chaos followed authoritarian rule.
Religion:90% iranians are Shia Muslims, 10% Sunni and 1% are combination of Jews, Christians, Zorosatrians and BAha’i. constitucion recognizes religious minorities and grants them with basic civil right but still many have left the country after the founding of the republic of 1979. Baha’i faith have been particular object of religious persecution. its leaders have been executed, impresoned. thats why many have imigrate in canada.
Ethnicity:52% Persian, 24% Azeri, 8%Gilaki and Mazandarani, 7% kurds, 3% Arabi.Azeris are strongly Shiite khameini is Azeri. Kurds and Arabs tend to be Sunni Muslin.
Social class:peasantry and lower middle class are sources of support for regime because they have benefited from government’s social progrms that have provided them with electricity. however middle and upper-middle class people are largely secularized and they tend to be critical of the clerics.
Refromers vs Conservatives: theocracy vs democracy. conservatives want to keep the regime as it is under control of clerics and sharia law and reformer would like to see more secularization and democracy.
Pragmatic conservatives vs radical clerics: divisions among the clergy that have led to many important disagreements at the top levels of policymaking.pragaatic conservatives are clergy who favor liberal economic policies and encourage foreign trade, free markets, direct foreign investment same thoughts as middle class merchants.Conservatives argue that private property and economic inequality is protected under islamic law.radicals are more numerous among yunder and more militant clerics, they call for measures to enhance social justice they endorse state sponsored wealth redistribution and price controls!!!!!!!!!!!
major sourse of unhappiness with the rule of pahlavies was the government incursion into private lives of citizens the civil society
university proferssors with reputations for western preferences were fired and replaced with people that clearly supported the regime.
however disre to preserve civil society did not disappear
→under Muhammad Khatami(1997-2005) iranians experienced the “Tehtan Spring” a period of cautious political liberalization, with a lososening of freedom of speech and press and more open economy and friendlier stance towards the outside world.
when Muhmoud Ahmadinejad became president in 2005 the governemnt closed down newspapers, banned and censored books and websites and did not tolarate peacful demonstartions and protests←
civil society is alive and well in Iran which can be found among Iran’s growing number of young people
these younger population seemed to be attracted towards western culture which Khatami has tolarated but Ahmadinejad did not→ there was a crackdown against western dress and arrests of woman who showed too much hair under their headscarves or wore makeup
depite the fact that guarantees for civil liberties and rights were written into constitution of 1979 the Islamic Republic from beginning closed down newspapers, private organizations and political parties. many were imprisoned without trials, political reformer were executed.
1999 protests erupted in universities all across the country when government shut down a reformist newspaper.
In late 2002 similar demonstartions broke out among students when courts ruled a death sentance for a reformist academic.
2003 student demosntrations escalated into mass protests over privatization of the university system, protesters called for overthrow and even death of Iran’s religious and political leaders.
factory workers also tend to participate in rallies against government.their concerns are high unemployment rates, low wages.
when ahmedinejad became president in 2005 government renewed its crackdown on protests and emonstations.
january 2007 security forces attacked striking dus driversin Tehran and arrested hundreds of them.
when in 2009 election results were announced supporters of opposition candidates to ahmadinejad cried foul.
winning of ahmedinajad and losing of Mir Hossein Mousavi caused opposition candidates to call for the elections to be annulled —- protestors called themselfs Green movement
veil has become a symbol of oppression but probably more for westerners than for Iranian woman themselves.’
traditionally woman in islamic cultures have stayed home with little education or opportunity to work outside the home.
20th century Iran is something of an exception because women have had better access to education.
Islamic Republic calls its policy toward women “equality-with difference” meaning that divorce and custody laws now follow ilamic standarts that favor males.
Iranian woman are not well represented in Majles
blend of theocracy and democracy
theocracy is represented by the national government by the supreme leader-commander in chief
Two national bodies are:Guardian Council and Expediency Coucil.
President, Assembly of religious Experts and national assembly ( majles) are democratically elected
Constitution provides for political parties but government did not allow them until the Muhammad Khatami’s election as a president in 1997.current parties are highly unstable and very likely to change in the near future.
Executives of Contruction Party:reformist party
Moderation and Development Party:moderate
Combatant Clergy Association:refrmist —-Khamenei
Islamic coalition Party:conservative coalition
party system reflects factionalism, slpintering of the political elites based not just ponts of view but also on personalities
over age of 18 may vote for member of assembly of religious experts, representatives of majles and president of republic.
elections to majles and presidency are conducted according to plurality or winner-take-all,no proportinal representation is used.
2004 took place after the Guardian Council banned thousands of candidates from running, manly from reformist parties.
they can run for 2 terms
Guardian Council disqualified about 1000 candiates leaving only 7 to run.
close round of : Akbar Hasemi Rafasanjani and Muhmound Ahmadinejad— he won on second round he was known for his populist views
Charges of election fraud were make after the presidential elections of 2005 but they were dismissed.
one reason for his voctory was thar many reformist did not vote since they rejeted both major canidates.
close race between ahmadinejad and mousavi
protests in favor of mousavi broke out in Tehran
Supreme leader Khamenei agreed to an investigation into fraud, votes were recounted but ahmedinejad won.
tension between supreme leader Khamenei and president Ahmedinejad— election-contest between two men, with khamenei supporter winning large majoirty of seats
United Front Principlists UFC - supporters of supreme leader 101 seats
Resistance Front FSP supporters of ahmedinejad 50 seats
2013 presidential elections Rouhani won
2017 Rouhani was reelected
since political parties are ill-defined in Iran, it is difficult to draw the line between parties and interest groups
an important interest groups for factory worker is called Workers’ House that operates with the help of its affiliated newspaper Karva Kargar.
Workers house holds a May Day rally most years and in 1999 rally turned into a protest when workers marched to parliament, most of Tehran was shut down
A bus drivers protests was crushed by the government in 2007
over 20 newspapers were shut down shortly after the revoultion in 1979 and by 1981 an additional seven were closed
1981 Majles passed law making it a criminal offense to use “pen and speech” against government"
freedom of press is still a major issue between conservatives and reformatives.
large-scale student demonstrations in 1999 were sparked by newly imposed restrictions on the media.
2000 majles elections many reformists were elected and outgoing majles approved a press control law which Council of Guardians ruled could not be overtunred by new legislature. 60 newspapers were shutdown in 2002
Radio and televisions are government-run by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) but many newspaper s and magazines are prinately owned.
Highly centralized Unitary state
Constitution of 1979 promises elected councils on each level of administration and it requires governors and other regional officials to consult locak councils.
attempt to bled democracy with theocracy.
Supreme leader, Gurdian Council, the Assembly of Religious Experts and,Expediency Council do not fit into 3 branch arrangment of gov insititucions.
all three have broad executive, legislative and judicary powers that allow them to supersede all other positions and bodies.
they rule by Khomeini’s principle- Jurist’s guardianship in that they have all-encompassing authority over the whole community based on their ability to understand sharia.
supreme leader and the gurardian council have final say regarding interpretation of law
top position
he is HEAD OF STATE
head of government is president
supreme leader is seen as the imam of the whole community, and he represents pinnacle of theocratic principles of state.
Khomeini is in position for life and after his death to ALI khameini
he is faqih or the leading islamic jurist to intertret meaning of religous documents and sharia islamic law
he links 3 branches of gov together
His many powers include:
Elimination of presidental candidates
Disminssal of president
Command of the armed forces
declaration of war and peace
nomination of 6 gurardian council
body that represents theocritical priniples
consists of 12 male clerics
6 appointed by supreme leader and other 6 nominated by the chief judge and approved by majles.
billed passed by majles are reviewed by guardian council to ensure that they conform to sharia
86 man house directly elected by people every 4 years
assembly of religious experts, surpreme leader and gurdian council all together can interprate constitution.
assembly chose ali khamenei as a new sumpreme leader and they were also able to dissmis him if he did not meet criterias
because Gurian council can overturn decision for law made by th Majles, two bodies argued fierecely so khomeini created a body to referee their disputes.
began with 13 clerics incuding president, chief judge, speaker of majles and 6 jurists from Guardian cuncil.
today it consists of 32 members
it can originate its own legislation
not all members today are clerics
they are appointed by supreme leader
Iran does not have presidential system so executive does not have same authority as presidents( Mexico, Nigeria )
president is head of government and is the chief executive and highest official after supreme leader.
he can prpose legislation to the majles, supervise economic matters and divise the budget
has expanded over the years to provide jobs for college and high school graduates.
some new minsitries incude: Culture and Islamic Guidance that censures the media,Intelligence that serves as the chief secularity organization reconstruction that expands social services.
clergy dominates bureaucracy
these groups are theoretically autonomous, but they are directed by clerics appointed by supreme leader.
they were called foundations
because they are run by people with strong connections with the governemnt they are colled parastatals or bonyads.
iran has. had unicameral legislature- majles however in some ways the assembly of religious experts has functioned as an upper house since 1989
both directly elected by people
has 290 seats all directly elected through single member districts by citizens over 18
consititution of 1989 weakened the Majles in relationship to presidenct but it is still an important political institution with significant powers which are:
enacting or changing laws( with approval of gardian council)
interpreting legislation
appinting 6 of 12 members of guardian council
removing cabinet ministers
approving budget
judiciary is headed by chief justice, who must have understaning of sharia so he is cleric
appointed by supreme leader for 5 year term
overseeing appointing and removal of judges
we have supreme court
2 types of law sharia and qanun
judicial review does not exist
two types of laws are:
Sharia, islamic law. divine law derived from god
Qanun, ulike sharia it doesnt have Holy foundation. passed by majles
khomeini established the Revolutionary Guards an elite force, whose commanders are appinted by the supreme leader
the shah had built the regualar army, navy and air forces so revolutionary guards was created as a parallel force with its own budgets, weapons, uniforms to safeguard the republic from any subterfuge within military.
regular army defends the boarders
revolutionary guards protect republic
Basij is a loosely-oragnized military that if formally part of revolutionary guards
guard is becoming increasingly independent and takes active role in policymaking.
a large number of former guards sit in majles
conservative vs. reformist: conservatives uphold the principle of the regime as set up in 1979 with its strick sharia law.modernization may threaten shiism. Reformists belive that political system needs significant reform, most support shiism.
statists vs free-marketers: statists belive that government should take actvie role in controlling economy- redirtibuting wealth and land, eleminating unemployment, financing social walfare programs. free-marketers want to remove price controls, lower buisness taxes,encourage private owunership.
Qom-desert city 60 miles south of Tehram.
it was from qom that khomeini degan denounce the shah
Mexican miracle: described a country with a rapidly increasing GNP in orderly transition from an authoritarian to demcoratic governemnt
leading presidential candidate was assassinated and top poilitical officials were arrested for bribery and drug pedaling.
mexico was ruled by viceroy or a governor put in place by the spanish king.
rule was centralized and authoritarian.
after independece this ruling style continued and all of the mexico president until mid 20th century were military leaders.
citizens consider their governement legitimate.
sourse of legitimacy is revolution of 1910-1911
revolutions have been accepted as a path to change and charisma is highly valued as a leadership characteristic
revolution was legitimized by the formation of the institutional revolutionary party PRI in 1929
PRI was intended to stabilized politicial power in hands of its leaders, then PRI served as an important sourse of gov legitimacy
2018 presidency was won by andres manuel lopez obrador a populist who established morena a new political party
3 stages: colonialism, chaos of 19th and early 20th century and emphasis on economic development during its recent history
authoritarianism: both from the colonial structutre set up by spain and stron-arm tactics by military political leaders such as Porfirio Diaz mexico has strong tradition of authoritaran rule
Populism: democratic revolutions of 1810 and 1910 had signifiant peasant bases led by charsimatic figures that cried out for more rights for ordinary Mexicans, particulary Amerindians. modern zapatista movement is a reflection of this historical tradition-The Zapatista movement in Mexico fights for indigenous rights, land reform, and social justice, primarily in the state of Chiapas. Led by the EZLN, it gained prominence in 1994 with a rebellion against the Mexican government.
Power plays/divisions withing the elite:examples of competative splits among the elite is elites who led dissenters during the revolutions of 1810 and 1910- warlords and caudillos and politicos vs tecnicos of the late 20 th cenury
Instability and legitimacy issues:1994 a major presidential candidate was assassinated, gang related violence especially in the north
The importance of religion: until 1920s the Catholic Church actively participated in politics and priests were often leaders of populist movements.during the revolutionary era of early 20th century the government developed anti-cleric positions and today the politicsl infuelce the church hsa declined.
patron-clientelism:you scratch my back i’ll scratch yours. network of camarillas( patron-client networks) extended from political elites.corruption is result from this.
Economic dependency:whether as a spanish colony or a southern neighbor of the US, mexico has almost always been under the shadow of more powerful country.
mountains and deserts: communication and transportations is difficult
varied climates
Natural resources:oil, silver. struggle to manage them wisly
131 million people
urban population: mexico has urbanized rapidly.3/4 of all mexicans live in cities
mexico experienced authoritarian government first under the colonial control of spnish then under military dictatorships during 19th century.
19th century saw populist movements influenced by democratic impulses, accompanied by violence
first decades of 20th century was charectrized by violence,chaos, instability, rapid turn over of political authority.
most of the time mexico’s economy eas based on agriculture and other primarlt sector activities such as mining.
Under dictatorship of Porfitio Diaz, US busness interest were encouraged to develop in Mexico and strong dependency on us was put in place.
Mexico industrialized rapidly with its rich natural resource of oil serving.
mexico has struggled to break its dependency on one product
today mexico has moved from agriculture society to industrial one
1519-1821 spain controlled Mexico.the Spanish palced their subjects in an elaborate social status hierarchy. colonialism left several enduring influences:
Cultural heteregenety: when spanish arrived in 1519, area was well populated with natives and when spanish took control population soon mixed, particulary when spanish soliders where not allowed to bring their families from spain to new world. today 60% of all Mexicans are Mestizo (blend of 2 people)
Catholicism: most Spanish Catholic priests settled far and wide as rhey converted the population to Christianity.
Economic dependecy
Mexican parish priest named Miguel Hidalgo led a popular rebellion against spanish rule in 1810, after 11 years of turmoil spain finally recognized mexicos independence in 1821
However stability and order did not follow independence with a 36 presidents serving between 1833-1855
Instability and legitimacy issues: when spanish left they took their hierarchy with them and reorganizing the government was a difficult task
Rise of Military:instability invited military control
Domination by the US: Us chose to challenge Mexican land claims. by 1855 Mexico had lost half of its territory
Liberal vs conservative struggle:impulses of the 1810 revolution toward democracy came to clash with the military’s attempt to establish authoritariansm.constitucion of 1857 was set up on democratic priciples and a liberal president, Benito Juarez is one of the Mexican feros
Porfitio Diaz staged a military goup in 1876 and instituted himself as the preisdent of Mexico and that he would not serve for more then 1 term, which he ignored and ruled mexico for 34 years. he brought with him the Cientificos a group of young advisors who belived in bringing scientific and economic progress in mexico
influences of Porfiriato are:
stability: his dictatorship brought a stable government to Mexico
Authoritarianism: no sharing of political power beyond small closed elite
Foreign investment and economic growth: Cientificos encouraged entreprenuership primaly for us resulting in growth of business and industry
Growing gap between the rich and the poor
revolution of 1910 marked the end of the porfitiato and the begining of instability
1910 conflict broke out as the reformers sought to end the Diaz dictatorship.
the revolution of 1910 began with the movement by the other elites to remove Diaz from the office
patron-client system: int their efforts to unseat Diaz, caudillos-political and military strongmen from different areas of the country rose to challenge one another for power. two popular leaders- Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa emerged to lead peasant armies and establish another dimension to the rebellion.around leader a patron-client system emerged that encompassed large number of citizens. many caudillos were assassinated
constitution of 1917: although it represents th end of the revolution the constitution did not bring and end to the violece.it set up structrue for democratic government-3 branches and competitive elections, but political asssassinations continued into 1920s
Conflict with the Catholic Church:Cristero rebellion broke out in the 1920s as one of the bloodiest conflicts in Mexican history, with hundreds of thousands of people killed included may priests.liberals saw the church as a guard of conservatism and put laws in place that forbid priests to vote, restricted church-affiliated schools and suspended religious servies.priests around the country led a rebellion against the new rules
Establishment of PRI: president Calles brought Caudillos to gather for and agreement in 1929.his plan was to bring all caudillos under one big political party, intended to bring stability though agreement to pass around power from one leader to next as the presidency changed hands. president could only have one 6 year term and must let another leader have his term. meanwhile other leaders would be given majior positions in the gov to establish their influences.this giant umbrella party PRI institutionalized the revolution by stabilizing conflict between leaders
Lazaro Cardenas began sexenio that both stabilzed and radicalized mexican politics.cardenas gave voice to the peasant demands from revolution of 1910 and brought meny changes:
Redistribution of the land:land was taken away frombig landlords and foreigners and redistributed as ejidos-collective land grants-to be worked by peasants
Nationalization of industry:foreign buisness owners who had been welcomed since the time of diaz were kicked out from the country. and much more insutry was put under the control of the state. for exaplme PEMEX a giant governemnt controlled oil company was created
Investment in Public Works:gov built roads,provided electricity and created public services.
Encouragement of peasant and union organizations:cardenas welcomed the input of these groups into his government and they formed their own camarillas(group of unofficial often secret and scheming advisers) with leaders that represented peasants and workers on the president’s cabinet
concentration of the power in the presidency
Import substitution industrialization: employs high tariff ro protect locally produced goods from foreign comepetiton.
state corporatism:State corporatism is a political system where the government works closely with organized interest groups, such as labor unions and business associations, to make policy decisions and manage the economy.
after cardenas Miguel Aleman became president starting Pendulum Theory
aleman rejected many of Cardenas’s socialist reforms and set Mexico on a path of economic development, though economic liberalization, again encouraging entrepreneurship and foreign investment.
then he was followed by president who shifted back to cardenas-style economic development, socialist reform to free market economic development and back again.
As Mexico reached 1970 the pendulum appeared to stop and new generation of Tecnicos educated, business-oriented leaders- took control of the government and PRI with moderate free-market approach to politics.
By 1980s Mexico practiced neoliberalis a startegy that calls for free markets, balanced budgets, privatization, free trade, limited government intervation in the economy.
by 1950s mexico was welcoming foreign investment and country’s GNP began a spectacular growth—mexican mirical based largely on huge supplies of natural gas and oil
with PRI division between the Politicos-old style caciques who headed camarillas and the tecnicos-began to grow wider
because camarillas are so interwoven in the fabric of mexican politics most people have had at least some contact with the government during their lifetimes.
howeven it was mostly clientalism too
social class, Urban vs rular, mestizo vs ameridian, north vs south.
crosscutting:different divisions emerging as the issues change:if a society contained two ethnic groups that had equal proportions of rich and poor it would be cross-cutting.
coinsided:cocial divisions within a society that align with each other, meaning that individuals who share one type of division also tend to share another.
Urban vs Rular: in 20th century most population lived in rular areas.today more than 75% live in urban and literacy rate is 95%. and clientalism is struggling because urban voters are less inclined to support PRI
Social class: Mexico Gini coefficient is 0.48 which means that economic inequality is high.in 2010 the richest 10% earned 37% of all incomes. in recent years mexicos middle class has been growing.some are from informal economy( buisnesses not registered with government)until m2018 middle and upper class supported PAN
Mestizo vs Amerindian: The main ethnic cleavage in Mexico is between Mestizo (blend of european and ameridian) and ameridian.ameridians are more likely to live in rular areas in poverty
North vs South: north is very dry and mountanious but its population is more prosperous partly because many are involved in trade with us.the north has substantial middle class with high levels of education they generally suppport market based economy.south areas are largely subtropical and its people are ameridian who live in rular places.
revolution, protest
elections
clientalism
after the 1968 students protests in mexico city ended in government troops killing estimated 200 people in Tlateloco plaza
poor souther mexican state sponsored the uprising representing ameridians that felt disaffected from the more prosperous mestizo populations
president Vicente Fox (2000-2006) made some efforts to incorporate Zapatista into political system, currrent government supplies electricity and water to villages the Zapatistas still control
some protests have been staged by drug gangs. for example May Day 2015, the Jalisco New Generation new organization defied the deferal government by burining builidings,creating road blocks, shooting down army helicopter.
before 1990s PRI controlled elections.
voting rates were very high because the patron-client system required them to
despite PRI’s control of electoral politics, completing parties have existed since 1930s and once they began pulling support away from PRI, some voting patterns emerged.
some factors that influenced voter behavior in recent elections are:
region:PRI dominated in North/northeast, PRD in south PAN in North
Poverty/marginalization
mexico had large number of groups who have refused to cooperate, this groups have formed the basis for a lively civil society.
atmosphere where public protests are acceptable
PRI practiced state corporatism
PRI formally divided interest groups into 3 sectors:labor,peasnts and middle class(popular)
Confereration of Employers of the mexican republic ( a labor group) was autonomous group that vocally and publically critized the governemnt.
2000 PAN’s Vicente Fox challenged PRI
PRI Enrique Pena Nieto won in 2012
2018 Morena
for many years government was highly authoritarian with the president serving virtually as a dictator for 6 year term
Mexico has had state corporatist structure-central authoritarian rule that allows input from interest groups outside of government.
camarilla system:leaders of important groups, including business elites, workers,peasants accually served in high gov officies
before democratization linkage was mass media, this linkage top place under the umbrella of PRI elite rulers so that true independet civil society did not exist.
for most of 20th century Mexico was one party state, until 2000 all president belonged to PRI
over pas 20 years other parties gained power so today we have competative elections.
until 2018 - PRI PAN PRD
in power from 1920-2000
was founded as a coalition of elites who agreed to work out their conflicts though compromise rather than violence.
by forming a political party that encompassed all political elites they could agree to trade favors and pass power around from one cacique to another.
corporatis structure:interest groups are woven into the structrue of the party
parton client system
founded in 1939 making it one of the oldest opposition parties.
created to represent business interests opposed to centalization and anti-clericism(PRIs practice of keeping the church out of politics)
strongest in North
regional autonomy
less government intervention in the economy
fair and clean elections
won in 2000 and 2006 vicente fox
presidential candidate in 1988 and 1994 was cauhtemoc cardenas, son of lazaro cardenas
social justice and populism,rejected from PRI
critized for poor organization
2012 andres manuel lopez obrador popular mayor of the mexico city that barely lost the presidential elections in 2006 and 2012,however obradors refusal to accept the results of 2006 split PRD into fractions- those that support obrador and those who oppose him
directly elect president, champer of deputy representatives and senators
PRI-small town or rular, less educated, older , poorer
PAN-buisnessmens, professionals,urban,north,better educated,religious
PRD-younger,politically active,from central states,some education, small towen or urban
PAN felipe calderon and PRD obrador were tied PRI roberto madrazo failing.
calderon was announced to be ahead which obrador challenged into corruption and fraudulent.
PRI Erique Pena Nieto won
Obrador’s newly established Moren PArty won
first past post (plurality)
members of congress are elected though dual system of first past post and proportional representation.
each of mexicos 31 states elects 3 senators, 2 of them determined by plurality and one whichever party recives the second highest number
of votes.
32 seats are determined nitionally though proportional system
lower house- chamber of deputies 300 seats plurality with SMD and 200 by proportional
political tensions among major interests have rarely escalated into kinds of serious conflict that have threaten stability
when there was conflict there was solution
because private organizations have been linked for so long to gov mexicos development of separate civil society has been slow.
state corporatism
political leaders have listened to and responded to their demnads
one important interest group is the Educational Workers union latin america’s largest trade union, nagotiate salaries for teachers each year many see as neo corporatism group that has a great deal of power over gov decisions in education
media had little power to citize goc or influence public opinion during PRI
gov rewarded newspapers and media if they suported gov
media became more independet in 1980s at the same time when PRI began to lose its hold in other areas
CNN BCC
federal republic
3 branches of government theoretically check and balance one another.
1 million people work in federal bureaucracy.
more government employees staff the school,state owned industries, semi-autonomous agencies, hundres of thousands of bureaucrats fill positions in state and local governemnt
under PRI they were tied to patron clientalism
under PRI para-statal sector: composed of semiautonomous or autonomous governemnt agencies was huge
best known parastatal was PEMEX-petroleum company
bicameral
500 members chamber of deputies 3 year term - 300 who are elected from SMD and 200 proportional by
128 senate 6 year term- 3 senators from each 31 states and federal district, with remianing senators selected by proportional representation.
all directly elected
parties must run at least 30% woman for both lists for proportional as well as SMD then it got 50%
doesnt have independet judicary nor judicial review
code law
has both federal and state courts
supreme court on paper it has judical review but in reality almost never overrules an important gov action or policy.
Ernestro Zedillo (1994-2000) tried tos trengthen the courts by emphasisng the rule of laaw
in areas of mexico where drug wars currently rage many judges are afraid to rule against gang leaders for fear or reprisal others are bribed.
Soviet union collapsed in 1991
Boris Yeltsin former member of soviet politburo - Shock therapy-pointed country in the direction of democracy and free-market economy. but he was uneven and reverted to auhtoritarain rule whenever he pleased.
their family run country as an oligarchy—courrpution
Putin eleted in 2000 and 2004, didnt like oligarchs
2008 stayied as a prime minister under president Medelev
2012-2018 president again
politburo was a small group of men who climed the ranks of the party though nomeklatura,an ordered path from local party soviets to commanding heights of leadership.
tsars-autocratic rule
under communist rule marxism-leninism provided legitimacy with ideology of democratic centalism
stalinism changed the regime to totalitarianism
after stalism 2 reformer nikita khrushchev and Gorbachov tried to loosen the party’s stenglehol on power.
power of the president is checked by popular election and by the lower house of legislature the Duma
Russian federation reflects this diversity with countless republics and autonomous regions based on ethnicity
Gorbachov initiated Glasnost- a new emphasis on freedom of the speech and press.
Russians admire Baltic people and they express disdain for Muslim-Turkish people’
Joseph stalin’s five-year plan called for rapid abrupt economic change to establishment of soviet union as one of 2 superpowers
Tsars headed Russian Orthodox Church so they have been seem as both political and religious leaders
Decembtist Revolt of 1835-western thought influenced russian intellectuals who s aw no room for western political institucions to grow under the tsars absolutism and this erupted which was crushed ruthlessly ny nicholoas I
most immediate casue of russian revolution of 1917 was russias ineffectivness in fighting the russo-japanese war and WWI
1905 riots broke out in protest to russian looses in war with japan
Lenins followers came to called Bolsheviks 1917-1922
1918 civil was between white army(military leaders) and red army(lenin) reds won and 1920 lenin institutied his new economic policy which allowed a great deal of private owenership to exist under centralised rule
democratic centalism-lenin
plasced communist party at center of control and allowed no other parties to cmpete with it
could join party by nomeklatura process of party members seleting promising recruits from lower levels.
most top gov officials belonged to Central committee- a group og party leaders who met twice a year
central committee was politburo the heart of communist party
Politburo had 12 men and ran the country and their decisions were carried out by the government agencies and departments.
head of politburo was general secretary, who asummed full power as dictator of the country— STALIN
stalins economic plan for USSR had 2 parts: Collectivization and industrialization
stalin replaces the small private farms of the NET with Collective farms that were state run and supposedly more efficient.
some peasants resisted particulary those who had larger farms they were know as Kulaks and they were forced to move to cities or to labor camps
in cities people worked for industrialization of the country
stalin establsihed 5 year plan with goals for production of heavy industry such as oil steel and electricity.
Gosplan:the central state planning commisson—nerve center for economy
1930 stalins primary focus was internal development.
advocated socialism in one contry-to emphasize his split with traditional marxist emphasis on international revolution
excution of millions of citizens
secret speech of khrushchev in which he revealed the existence of a letter written by lenin before he died the letter was critical of stalin
deStalinization-looseing government censorship of press,economic decisionmaking and restructuring of collective farms.
khurshchev was replaced my more conservative Leonid brezhnev and after he died Gorbachov
he was more open to wetern style reforms
his program was 3-pronged: 1)Glasnost(openness):allowed more open discussion of political and economic issues as well as open criticism of gov.2)democratization:he wanted to keep old soviet structure and communist party contorl by add some democracy too, so he created a new congress of people’s deputies and a new position of president that was selected by congress.3)Perestorika:economic reform.authorization of some privately owned companies, penalties for under-performing state factories,leasing of farm land outside collective farms,price reform
conservatives (those who wanted to abond Gorbachev’s reforms) several high-ranking communist party and gov officials led coup to remove gorbachov from office.
qoup failed when popular protests broke out (led by yeltsin)
he was removed
russian federation has many cleavages : nationality, social class, rular and urban divisions
80% Russians
country inculdes: Tarts,Ukranians,Armenians,Chuvashes,Bashkis,Byelorussians,moldavians
these determined organization of counry into a federation with autonomous groups, republics and provines
exception is Chechnya:muslim region that has fought for years for its freedom 178
in recent years chechnes have been inolved in terrorist act- 2004 seizure of a school in southern russia , gunfire and explosions that killed more than 350 people
for legitimacy russia held referendum to vote on anew consistucion for region.
kadyrov became president of chechny in 2007 with its 20000 stron army,his own tax system and religious laws
still by them killing and kidnapping is common
chechnya with chechen group involved in Beslan school seige taking responsibilty for attack.
Tsarist russia was Orthodox, with tsars serving as spiritual head of the church.
soviet union prohibited religious practices during 20th century
yeltsin encoruaged russian orthodox church to reestablish itself
other religions are represented in small percentages-roman catholics,jews,muslims,protestants
sooo manyy musliiims 20 million????
Caucasus-in this area many ethnicities incuding chechnes are muslims-hot spot for truble
they are also in Moscow
also in Bashkortostan and Tatarstan
attempts to destroy social class differences.
old noble/peasant districts in tsarists russia was destroied
cleavge: members of communist party-7% and non-members
economic favors were granted to party members particulary members of central committee and politburo.
egalitarian more
market economy
industrialization since stalin led to increasingly urban population with 73% in it more in west
conomic divide between rural and urban is wide
during societ union belifs and attutes towards their gov were molded by communist party doctrines-Marxinism
mistrust of government:most people support democratic ideals including free elections and civil liberities, however most do not trust gov officials or insititutions to convert these ideals to reality.low level of participation in interest groups
statism:russian citizens still expect state to take an active role in their lives.
economic belifs:yeltsin’s market reforms created divisions in public opinion regarding market reform.
westernization:divide of slavophile vs westernizer.some political parties emphasize nationalism and defese of russian interest and slavic culture and some reform parties strongly support intergration of russia in world
they vote 100% because they faced serious consequences if they stayed home
until gorbachov eletions were not competitive
after economic crisis of late 2008 a series of protest were organzied around russia criticizing govs economic policies
protest in Vladivostok where 1000 protesters marched though streets in january 2009
russian communist party organized rally in moscow and called for a return of centralized economic policies of soviet union which authorities approved
putin’s decision to run for presidency in 2012 sparked some largest protests in recent years,protests broke out after parliamentary elections in dec 2011 with accusations that russia had rigged eletions..they in may 20000 people protested in moscow,many were angry that putin was extending hi 12 year domination of russia —russia without putiiiiiiin
putin ignored protests and since then no major protest have been allowed
russias involmvent in ukranian cirisis caused much controversy, 2014 Boris Nemtsov leaders of Russian liberal opposition was shot dead on bridge by walls of kremlin.ealier boris had been handing out anti war rally to protest russias support of rebels in ukrine
voter turnout is high
participation in other forms of political activities is looooowww
undeveleoped civil society,private organizations and associations outside of politics.
russians did not attent ruch on regular basis nor do they belong to sports clubs'
but many read newspapers watch news and discuss wpolitics with family
civil society is growing i russia
although since 2012 govv seems to be imposing new restictions
glasnost in 1980s slowly began to emerge and since that time many organizations have formed to express points of view of different issues
Nashi-all are part of an effort to build following of loyal patriotic young people.
Nashi (putinis nashebi) organized mass marches in support of putin and staged demonstrations over goreugn policy issues.
federal gov sturcture
89 regions - republics
some regions are much stronger than others so power is developepd unequally-asymmatric federalism
putin cracked down on regional autonomy
creation of super districts
removal of governors:allows president to do it
appintment of goverorns:allows president to do it
changes in federal council
elimination of single member district seats in duma:pure proportinal system
not strong
1999 number of parties who ran duma candidates had shrunk to 26 but many of the parties were new ones, including putins unity party
parties required to win a minimum of 7% of national vote in order to win any seats.
2001
united party was put together by boris Berezovsky to support prime miniter putin in presidential elections of 2000
renamed to united russia
second strongest party in duma
from soviet union
old regime style
vladimer zhirinovsky
he regulary attacks reformist leaders and aprticulary disliked yeltsin
referendum:consistution of 1993 allowed president to call for national referenda by popular vote on important issues.yeltsin called for referendum on his job perfromance.second refrendum was held later in a year and people voted in favor of new consisituiton.regional refrendum was held in chechny in 2003 to approve consititution for the area
duma elections:has 450 seats half proportional half SMD.parties must get 7& of total vote to reduce number of parties
presidential elections:2 round model should recive more than 50 precent of vote
interest groups were only allowed in soviet union under state corporatism
decision making too place within central committee and politburo
under putin’s leadership state corporatism where the state determines which groups have unput into policy making, has been well esatblished
this interest group controls more than crime like oligarchs they gained power during chaotic time after recovlution 1991, they control local businesses,natural resources and banks
official newspaper of the soviet union’s communist party was PRAVDA which only printed what government wanted to so it became an important prooaganda tool for communist party.
after 1991 it became independet with more freedom
under putin gov again tightened its hold on press
executive brach separates the head of state(president) and head of government (prime minister)
president dominates prime minister
presidential elections every 6 years 2 terms
anyone who gets million signatures ca run for presidentpresident has power to appoint prime minister and cabinet, duma must approve the prime minister and if they rejecct nominnee 3 times presdient may dissolve duma
federation of council 2 memebers from each 89 federal regions one representative selected by govenor and onther by regional legislature, rerpesnt regions, delay legislation
duma passes bills aproves budget and confirms presidents appointments
no independent judicary exists
constitutional court:19 members appointed by president confirmed by federaion council
mikhail khodorkovsky and platon lebedev formere controlling shareholders of yukos oil company indicate that courts are still under political control of putin.
putin declared that crime had been proven in court and sentenced khodorkocsky until 2019
in 2013 pussy riot were sentenced 2 years each i prison for an anti-putin sunt in moscow