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Owen, David A. "MASS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPING DEMOCRACIES: A STUDY OF POLITICAL CLIENTELISM IN THAI PROVINCES." OpenSIUC, 2011. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/437.
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Over the last four decades, many developing countries transitioned to democracy with populations aspiring to break from authoritarian tradition for more representative government. While this wave of democratization was encouraging initially, observers came to realize that the break from tradition was anything but complete. The traditional clientelistic relations that pervaded political systems during authoritarian periods have been eroded by democratization in some countries, while in other countries, clientelism is thriving and continuing to impact political participation, primarily through vote-buying between patrons and clients. Therefore, the extent to which democratization erodes clientelism as widely expected, could not be assumed. The questions of what are the causal effects of clientelism on political participation, how does the vote-buying process unfold, how effective are the efforts to combat vote-buying, and what is the debate over the ethics of vote-buying motivate this dissertation; I draw on the experiences of Thai provinces to answer them. The objective of this dissertation is to examine the impact of clientelism, measured by vote-buying, on political participation using a multi-method approach. Using new primary and secondary data sources, I make several important original contributions with this study. First, I answer the question regarding the causal effects of clientelism on political participation by testing the resource theory and the theory of clientelism. I find that the poor, who are most likely to be enmeshed in clientelistic networks, voted just as often as the rich in two of the three general elections and both the national and local level elections. People in the countryside, the poor, vote more than their urban counterparts in both the national and local level elections. The poor also participate in the other forms of politics just as much as the rich. I find those with less education vote just as much as those with more education in all three general elections and the national level election, however, those with higher education voted more in the local level election. Those with higher education also boycott, demonstrate, and sign petitions more than those with lower education. I find that clientelism is the reason lower socioeconomic status rural individuals participate in politics as without clientelism, they would not be expected to participate as much as their richer and more educated urban counterparts. Second, I answer the question regarding how the vote-buying process unfolds by exploring original primary interview data collected by the author of elite and mass views of vote-buyers, sellers, intermediaries, and the vote-buying process. I find that all the actors involved have their own reasons and motivations for participating in the vote-buying process: vote-sellers are predominantly poor and poverty drives their need for the compensation provided through vote-buying, while vote-buyers and their intermediaries are very much aware of the needs of potential vote-sellers and they intentionally exploit these needs. Even though the poor are driven to become vote-sellers, we cannot readily assume that vote-buying is successful for vote-buyers, or in other words, we cannot assume that vote-buying results in votes for the vote-buyer. Prior to my study, scholars have made such an assumption, whether directly stated or inferred, which may lead to erroneous conclusions about the effectiveness of vote-buying resulting in votes for the vote-buyer. To overcome this, I developed a model of the vote-buying process where vote-buying is divided into specific steps: the offer to buy votes, the acceptance of the offer, the compensation, the showing up at the polls, and the casting of a vote for the vote-buyer. By employing my model of the vote-buying process, we see that sometimes voters act in a manner that is consistent with the vote-buyer's demands and others times they do not at virtually all the steps of the vote-buying process for very specific reasons, including poverty. Third, I answer the question regarding the effectiveness of efforts to combat vote-buying by exploring elite and mass views of the effectiveness of institutional constraints and civic education in combating vote-buying. My findings suggest that institutional constraints, namely the Election Commission, have some impact on reducing vote-buying, though the Election Commission is plagued with far-reaching limitations. I find attempts at civic education, however, are not really measurable. Even if these attempts at civic education were measurable, I do not believe there is any reason to suspect they would be effective considering they do not address the poverty issue. Finally, I answer the question regarding the debate over the ethics of vote-buying by exploring elite and mass views of the justifications for vote-buying. I then analyze the impact of vote-buying on the legitimacy of the Thai political system. I find that some Thais perceive vote-buying as unethical because it is illegal and dishonest, while others do not necessarily perceive vote-buying as unethical because of poverty and vote-buying norms Thais use to justify selling their votes. Moreover, I find that poverty and vote-buying norms impact the legitimacy of the Thai political system, especially for the rural poor, to the point where I argue that vote-buying does not necessarily negatively impact legitimacy of the Thai political system. Overall, this dissertation has answered the important questions about clientelism and the vote-buying measure. This study is important because clientelism is one of the most important informal institutional obstacles to free and fair elections and the findings in this study offer clarity of the impact of clientelism, and the vote-buying measure, on political participation in the Thai context.
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Mohd, Hed Norhafiza. "The dynamics of youth political participation in Southeast Asia : the case of Malaysia." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2017. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/18997/.
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The decline of youth political participation in established democracies has long been researched by scholars and it is often viewed as signalling a crisis of democracy. However, research from the UK and other democracies suggests young people still engage in other non-mainstream political activities closer to their everyday lives. While scholarship from semi-democratic regions has traditionally neglected this line of enquiry, limiting itself to electoral participation, by applying these theoretical insights this thesis explores the diverging patterns of youth political participation in Malaysia and argues that young people are not apathetic towards politics but rather that they tend to practice low-risk, more diffused forms of everyday engagement like online activism, political discussion, etc. The research thus also sheds light on whether patterns of youth political participation in Malaysia are linked to the type of political system and semi-democratic setting or whether they are similar to those for political participation in established democracies. To carry out this investigation, the thesis applies a mixed-methods approach encompassing the quantitative analysis of existing survey data from the World Values Surveys (WVS) and Asian Barometer as well as the qualitative analysis of interviews with academics, political leaders, youth activists and youth non-participants. Evidence from the survey data analysis shows that young Malaysians participate in both conventional and unconventional forms of participation less than their older counterparts. The findings from the qualitative interviews complement these insights by indicating how young people in Malaysia explain and make sense of their own participation in politics, mainly in the form of low-risk channels such as online activism, popular cultural representations, and political discussion more generally. The study thus concludes that while the engagement of young people in politics could contribute to reinforcing the process of democratisation in Malaysia, draconian laws currently in place limit their wider political activism.
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Thapar-Björkert, Suruchi. "Reconstructing the history of women's participation in the nationalist movement in India, 1905-1945." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1997. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/36330/.
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The nationalist struggle in India against British colonial rule brought about the political mobilisation of both men and women. The nationalist leaders required the participation of women in the nationalist movement because the movement's importance and success was dependent on women's contribution to and involvement in it. While the existing research has contributed to my understanding of women's interaction with political life in India, this study attempts to reconstruct the dominant interpretations on women's political involvement. In doing so, it deconstructs concepts such as 'active', 'private', 'public' and 'political'. The argument in this thesis is shaped through three inter-related themes. First, it problematises women's emergence into the public sphere from a purdah-bound domestic existence. Secondly, it locates the domestic as an equally important site of nationalist activities as the public sphere. Thirdly, in the light of the above themes, it is suggested that dichotomous concepts such as public/private do not help to explain the interaction between these spheres, which facilitated the complex process of women's emergence in the public sphere. Moreover, the associated concepts of political/apolitical do not take into account women's political contributions from within the domestic sphere. Within the domestic sphere, women's nationalist identities were continuously re-negotiated to accommodate values of ancient Indian culture and the new Western influences. These identities shifted from an educated domestic woman to a nonviolent and non-antagonistic public woman to a public woman aware of challenging Western ideas, yet primarily confined to the domestic sphere. The nationalist movement also served as an important vehicle for encouraging middle-class women to engage in activities and to adopt new role models. The representations of women constructed by the nationalist project enabled women to play a political role through the avenues they opened, in both the public and domestic domains. However, women's political past and their varied contribution to the struggle was not effective in undermining gender inequalities or improving their status in society. The ideas in this historical study are shaped primarily through oral narratives and Hindi vernacular literature. The interviews with Indian activists, as a non-Western researcher, made me aware of the negotiable category 'Other'. Official and unofficial sources provided an initial framework for the study of this historical period.
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Tambe, Elvis Bisong. "Electoral participation in new democracies : applying existing models of turnout to new democracies in Africa, East Asia and Post-Communist Europe." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2018. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/73256/.
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Nosova, Anastasia. "The merchant elite and parliamentary politics in Kuwait : the dynamics of business political participation in a rentier state." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2016. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3445/.
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When applied to the Gulf region in general and Kuwait more specifically, the rentier state theory stipulates that the political relations between state and business are determined by the rent. Thus, business essentially ceases to represent a strong political force and withdraws from the formal political field in exchange for wealth provided by the state. However, the evidence from Kuwait’s recent history suggests that there is great variation between the patterns of political engagement in Kuwait’s merchant families. Some families have been continuously active in the country’s parliamentary politics and political field more broadly; their political action has not always been pro-government and, in general, the merchant community in Kuwait still possesses powerful means to negotiate government distribution patterns and to influence political decisionmaking. Thus, the main research question posed in the Thesis is the following: why do we observe merchants’ active political engagement in Kuwait counter to the prediction of the rentier state theory, and what can explain the variation of merchants’ political activity? The Thesis will analyse and compare Kuwait business politics along the dichotomies of passive versus active engagement and voice versus loyalty towards the government. Through this analysis I will define the factors which explain why some merchant families engage in parliamentary politics, while others do not, and why at times the merchant community allies with the opposition, and at others with the government. I will further examine what impact this political engagement by business has on the country’s economic reform policies. The analysis will establish that, although rent matters, the political action of business in Kuwait and its variation is defined by the country’s semi-parliamentary political system, while factors such as rent-seeking, ascriptive features, relations with the ruling powers and the changing nature of the country’s political field are essential intervening variables.
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Asaduzzaman, Mohammed. "Governance in practice : decentralization and people's participation in the local development of Bangladesh /." Tampere : Department of Management Studies, University of Tampere, 2008. http://www.niaslinc.dk/gateway_to_asia/nordic_webpublications/x506055123.pdf.
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Das, Ritanjan. "History, ideology and negotiation : the politics of policy transition in West Bengal, India." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2013. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/614/.
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The thesis offers an examination of a distinct chapter in the era of economic reforms in India - the case of the state of West Bengal - and narrates the politics of an economic policy transition spearheaded by the Left Front coalition government that ruled the state from 1977 to 2011. In 1991, the Government of India began to pursue a far more liberal policy of economic development, with emphasis being placed on non-agricultural growth, the role of the private sector, and the merits of foreign direct investment (FDI). This caused serious political challenges for the Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPIM), the main party in the Left Front. Historically, the CPIM was committed to pro-poor policies focused on the countryside and had spoken out strongly against privatisation and FDI; however it could not ignore the stagnating industrial economy of the state, and was thus compelled to court private investment and take advantage of the liberalised policy environment. The nature of this dichotomy – one that characterised the political economy of West Bengal over the last two decades – is studied in this research as a set of why-how questions. Firstly, why did the CPIM/Left Front take upon itself the task of engineering a transition from an erstwhile landreform and agriculture based growth model to a pro-market development agenda post-1991? And secondly, how was such a choice justified to/negotiated with the various stakeholders (the rank and file of the CPIM itself, other coalition member parties, trade unions, the industrial class, etc.) while sustaining the party’s traditional rhetoric and partisan character? In examining the second part, the thesis also ventures into the recent cases of huge opposition to land acquisition for industrial plants at Singur and Nandigram, and demonstrates how the mandate of the top brass of party leadership in Calcutta was being implemented, translated or contested at the local levels. On the whole, this thesis attempts a reappraisal of the politicaleconomic history of the Left Front regime and particularly that of its majority partner, the CPIM, over the last two decades. It also places the case in a broader Indian context and contributes to wider debates on the changing nature of federalism in India and the politics of economic reforms
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Vadan, Paul. "Ephesos after Alexander: Socio-Political transformations in Western Asia Minor during the early Hellenistic period." Thesis, McGill University, 2011. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=103651.
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The present study deals with the socio-political transformations in the city of Ephesos in the early Hellenistic period. It shows that during the tumultuous months after the death of Alexander the Great, the Ephesian community sought to re-establish internal and regional stability by appealing to the Macedonian Successors for support. This was achieved at the meeting of Ephesos in the summer of 322 BC, as attested by a detailed epigraphic study of a series of local inscriptions (I. Ephes. 1430-1437). The meeting addressed issues over Ionian democracy and privileges, as well as Macedonian hegemonia, in conformity with the precedents set by Alexander. Its successful conclusion saw Ephesos emerge as the leading and representative member of the Ionian koinon.<br>La présente étude a comme sujet les transformations sociopolitiques dans la cite d'Ephesos dans la haute période hellénistique. Elle montre que pendant les mois tumultueux après la mort d'Alexandre le Grand, la communauté d'Éphèse a cherché à rétablir la stabilité interne et régionale en appelant aux Successeurs Macédoniens. Ce but a été atteint lors de la réunion a Ephese pendant l'été de 322 av-JC, comme il est atteste par un étude épigraphique détaillé d'une une série des inscriptions locales (I. Ephes. 1430-1437). La réunion a abordé des questions concernant la démocratie et privilèges Ioniennes, aussi que la hegemonia Macédonienne, en conformité avec les précédents mis pas Alexandre. Son succès a vu émerger Ephese en tant que membre dirigeant et représentant du koinon Ionienne.
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Eikås, Elisabet. ""It is open, but not so open" : gaining access to participation among Kabuli youths /." Oslo : Department of Social Anthropology, Universitetet i Oslo, 2007. http://www.duo.uio.no/publ/sai/2007/53789/xitxisxopenxxbutxnotxsoxopenxx-xgainingxaccessxtoxparticipationxamongxKabulixyouths.pdf.
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Giles, Nathaniel W. "The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: The Failure of Japan's "Monroe Doctrine" for Asia." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/295.
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By 1942, the Japanese occupied nearly all of East and Southeast Asia and their influence even spread as far as British controlled India. This occupation, known as The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, was an ideological unity of Asia under the facade of mutual benefit and welfare of Japan and the other nations within the Sphere. However, The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere failed because of the inability of the Japanese to form this mutual benefit between the nations within the Sphere. This work evaluates the events that led to The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, life within the Sphere, and the reasons for its failure.
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Rolls, Mark Gregory. "The 'arms dynamic' in South-East Asia during the second Cold War." Thesis, University of Hull, 1999. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:3867.
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Juwono, Vishnu. "Berantas Korupsi : a political history of governance reform and anti-corruption initiatives in Indonesia 1945-2014." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2016. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3381/.
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This thesis examines the efforts to introduce governance reform and anti-corruption measures from Indonesia‘s independence in 1945 until the end of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's (SBY's) presidency in 2014. It is divided into three main parts covering Sukarno‘s 'Old Order', Suharto's 'New Order', and the reform period. The first part discusses how the newborn state of Indonesia balanced asserting its independence with efforts at institution building. It analyzes the power struggle between the diametrically opposed nationalist camp led by Sukarno and the administrator camp led by Vice President Hatta. It also examines Army Chief General Nasution's push for anti-corruption initiatives under Sukarno's guided democracy. The second part analyzes the roots, causes and development of corruption under President Suharto. It looks at how, in the early period of the New Order, Suharto enacted a number of anticorruption policies in response to demands especially from students, how this political alliance ended as Suharto was able to consolidate his political authority, and how this undermined the checks-and-balances system. It also analyses the impact of the increasing corruption on Suharto‘s political capital as the Indonesian middle class demanded greater transparency and accountability, ultimately – along with 1997 Asia Financial crisis – leading to Suharto‘s downfall in May 1998. The third part of this thesis examines the efforts by the post-Suharto presidencies to tackle the legacy of corruption from the New Order period. It discusses the dynamics between the reformists within the executives and legislatures who worked together with civil society and the conservative/pro-status quo groups and oligarchs, as well as the impact of a more democratic political governance structure, the emergence of a free media, the greater freedom of expression, and the functioning of the most effective anti-corruption agency in Indonesia‘s modern history – the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). This thesis advances three arguments: First, that despite all the rhetoric in championing the cause, governance reform was never seen as a long-term endeavor and therefore was never applied consistently from independence to the SBY era. Second, the anti-corruption drives predating the KPK in 2004 were mostly arbitrary, with limited impact, selective in nature, and politicized. Third, the establishment of the KPK changed the sense of impunity among the political elites, albeit only in a limited sense. On the one hand, that allowed the KPK to sustain and even accelerate the anti-corruption drive during the two terms of SBY's presidency but, on the other, it left the overall political, economic and social structure and with it the persistent institutional failure that induced and incubated the wave of corruption largely intact.
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Metcalf, Mark Leslie. "Warring states political rhetoric and the Zhanguo ce persuasions." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278770.
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The persuasive speeches of the Zhanguo ce, "The Intrigues of the Warring States," are considered by many to have been written for the purpose of training Warring States political advisers in the rhetorical style of the Zongheng rhetorical school. In contrast to earlier Chinese persuasive styles, the persuasions of the Zhanguo ce were apparently crafted to incorporate manipulative techniques in order to improve the effectiveness of the presentations. This thesis analyzes persuasive speeches from Zhanguo ce in order to identify the types of rhetorical devices used by Warring States rhetors. It also evaluates another reputed Warring States text, the Guiguzi, that openly advocates the use of psychological manipulation in persuasions. Lacking evidence that the received Guiguzi is a valid Warring States text, this thesis compares the Guiguzi teachings and Zhanguo ce persuasions to identify similarities that may indicate general Warring States attitudes toward using psychological manipulation in political persuasions.
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Hudson, Geoffrey Stephen. "The Evolution of American Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia." Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 1990. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1373975377.
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Zhandos, A. "Internet history and it’s perspectives in central asia – internet for sotial and political development: community building." Thesis, Вид-во СумДУ, 2006. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/11601.
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Fang, Zihan 1962. "Chinese city parks: Political, economic and social influences on design (1949-1994)." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278614.
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This thesis is an attempt to understand the purposes of modern Chinese park design. The goal of this work was to identify the social, economic, and political factors influencing contemporary park design. The primary approach was analysis of case studies. By analyzing characteristics of parks constructed at different stages in urban park history and in the cultural history of China, the results provide strong support for important political, economic, and social influences on park design.
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Kwon, J. Jihae. "Drastic choices and extreme consequences| Concerning Korea 1945-1953." Thesis, Corcoran College of Art + Design, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1556120.
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<p> Decisions have both short and long-term consequences. Sometimes we cannot see the consequences and do not know the outcomes, but we take a step and make a choice. Some after-effects are irrevocable, and some are fixable. Some decisions affect us immediately and exclusively while others have consequences that are global. When we make decisions, we sometimes doubt our decisions and ask ourselves what might have happened if another choice was made. We make choices daily, small or great, for good or bad. After World War II, South Korean president Rhee Syngman put many alleged Communists in a rehabilitation program known as the National Guidance League. Many of them were executed between 1945 and 1953 to prevent them from joining the Communist north. Rhee's decision affected many families including my own. What we choose to do has intentional and unintentional consequences. Extreme choices produce dire consequences that can subsequently influence future generations and, on a larger scale, an entire nation for decades.</p>
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Krairi, Khalid Abdullah. "John Philby and his political roles in the Arabian Peninsula, 1917-1953." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2017. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/7675/.
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This thesis departs from the traditional historiographical views that portray Philby as having no political influence either while he was serving his country or after his resignation from government service when he was settled in Saudi Arabia. It also departs from picturing him as a man who tended to undermine British policy, arguing that he was loyal to his country, as was plain during his years of service. The thesis examines his background, from his early years to the work he did for his country in India, Iraq and Transjordan and takes an analytical and historical approach. It seeks to present a more comprehensive understanding of Philby’s mission to Arabia, its objectives and outcomes, focusing on his political work in Arabia and his efforts to solve problems which otherwise might have threatened British interests. This thesis deals with Philby’s efforts in the conflict between Najd and Hejaz and his actions in the border dispute between Ibn Sa‘ūd and his rival, Hussain, and assesses whether Philby played a major part in the collapse of the Hejazi kingdom. It considers Philby’s contribution to the American recognition of Saudi Arabia. It examines Philby’s method of settling political conditions after the Idrisi revolt against Ibn Sa‘ud. It asks why Philby visited Yemen and if it would somehow have enhanced Ibn Sa‘ūd’s position. It focuses on Philby’s role in the Buraimi crisis between Britain and Saudi Arabia and illustrates the persuasive arguments by which Philby upheld the Saudi opposition to Britain’s demands over Buraimi.
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Luan, Duo. "Political history TV dramas and the representation of Confucian China : the regulation, emergence and politics of a new genre." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2017. http://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/744/.
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In order to bridge the knowledge gap noted between Western and Chinese approaches to analysis of China’s TV media, this thesis sets out to propose an alternative methodological framework for investigation of the emergence, development and significance of a distinctive television genre categorised as ‘political history TV drama’ (PHTD), produced in Mainland China since the 1980s. Situating the genre in its historical and political contexts of production, I make particular reference to the orchestrating role of the Chinese state, the political re-articulation of Confucian values, and the reinventing of Chinese national identity. The thesis is composed of three parts. Part one includes the literature review of both Chinese and Western genre theory, followed by a discussion of further useful constructs to put in place the theoretical scaffolding for the study. In part two, the historical review concerns the production and political contexts of Chinese TV and TV drama in general. The third part applies this methodological framework to PHTD when contextualised in its Chinese setting, analysing its definitions, conventions, generic and cultural verisimilitudes, and hybridity. The third part is the core of the research, which investigates its rise to maturity, utilising a cultural and discursive account that encompasses: textual analysis; the study of its political and historical contexts; Chinese moral ideology and linguistics. A number of examples and case studies are examined as evidence for my perspective on questions of nationalism and Confucianism embedded in PHTD. The significance of this genre is in its reconstructed portrayal of the revived concept of a ‘patriarchal Confucian society’. Therefore, the thesis sets out the political, social and cultural landscape in which the genre is embedded in recognition of its representation of much more than just repackaged traditional narratives. In turn, this investigation helps to achieve a fuller understanding of the relation between political and intellectual forces, and the key role of nationalism combined with Confucianism in the media strategy of the Chinese authorities up until the first ten years of the 21st century.
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Nishiyama, Hidefumi. "Race, biometrics, and security in modern Japan : a history of racial government." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2015. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/77741/.
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This thesis is an historical study of biopolitical relations between racism and biometric identification in Japan since the late nineteenth century to the present day. Adopting Foucault’s historical method, it challenges progressive accounts of the history of racism and that of biometrics. During the nineteenth century, practices of biometric identification emerged as constitutive of the knowledge of race wherein imperial power relations between superior and inferior races were enabled. Progressive accounts proclaim that colonial practices of biometrics were not scientific but politically intervened, which has since been discredited and replaced by a ‘true’ science of biometrics as individualisation. Contra progressivist claims on postraciality, the thesis concretely historicises the ways in which subjectification and control of race is conducted through the interplay between the epistemic construction of race and the technology of identification in each historical and geographical context. It analyses three modalities of racial government through biometrics in Japan: biometrics as a biological technology of inscribing race during Japanese colonialism; biometrics as a forensic technology of policing former colonial subjects in post-WWII Japan; and contemporary biometrics as an informatic technology of controlling a newly racialised immigrant population. The thesis concludes that despite a series of de-racialising reforms in the twentieth century, biometrics persist as a biopolitical technology of race. Neither racism nor biometrics as a technology of race is receding but they are continuously transforming in a way that a new mechanism of racial government is made possible. Race evolves, it is argued, not in the sense of social Darwinism but because the concept of race itself changes across time and space wherein a new model of racism is empowered. The thesis contributes to existing literature on the biopolitics of security and biometrics by extending the scope of analysis to a non-Western context, explicating historical relations between racism and biometrics, and problematising biometric rationality at the level of racialised mechanism of knowing and controlling (in)security. It also makes contributions to Foucaultian studies by advancing the analysis of biopolitical racism beyond Foucault’s original formulation and by offering a critique of rationality in the field of biometrics.
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Ng, Pak Sheung 1958. "The continuity of Chinese cultural heritage in the T'ang-Sung era: The sociopolitical significance and cultural impact of the civil administration of the Southern T'ang (937-975)." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/288707.
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The migration towards the center uprooted the great clans from their local areas and encouraged the rise of local ruffians to power during the late T'ang. This historical background shaped the social and political climate of the Wu regime in South China, which had been characterized by its military flavor. By enhancing the civil administration and adopting various ways of recruiting the literati and encouraging the cultural growth, Hsu Chih-kao and his successors were able to achieve complete bureaucratization of the regime, which in turn diminished the military influence and revitalized the neglected cultural tradition of their domain. South China thus became a haven of culture, and its role was particularly important as the cultural development in North China was subsequently devastated by civil wars and foreign invasions during the Five Dynasties. After the collapse of the Southern T'ang, the preservation of culture in South China allowed it to become a major source in shaping the cultural features of the Sung. Compared with other states, the Southern T'ang enjoyed considerable peace and stability, and scholar-officials had a peaceful and comfortable environment in which to develop a special style of living. Some tastes and habits had a great impact on the daily life of the Sung scholar-officials. However, cultural polices adopted by the Southern T'ang caused the decline of national strength, for many military clans who underwent the process of civil transformation were eventually deprived of the military vitality necessary to defend the country. Also, because of the cultural inferiority, some of the Sung rulers and scholar-officials were eager to seek revenge by humiliating and oppressing the "subsidiary" officials from the south. Although the Sung adopted repressive and discriminatory measures when appointing "subsidiary" officials, some were in fact employed by the new dynasty due to the heavy demand for qualified officials. Eventually, the "subsidiary" officials could improve their prospects for promotion and favorable treatment by taking the civil service examinations. Their literary ability and knowledge of rituals also enabled them to gain imperial favor, which was vital to strengthening their position in the Sung bureaucracy.
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Luo, Yinan. "Ideas in Practice: the Political Economy of Chinese State Intervention During the New Policies Period (1068-1085)." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:14226107.
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I take the New Policies period (1068-1085) to be a critical juncture in Chinese history during which, for the first time, the Chinese state initiated systematic intervention into the market. This period witnessed the failure of plans to shape the collective action of bureaucrats and coordinate market actors through a host of organizing mechanisms. I explain why the policy makers in this historical process failed to incorporate and organize the ideas and interests of social actors, political elites and relevant bureaucracies into the state’s authoritative action.
I argue that this failure was an outcome of the interaction between the political philosophy of the drafters of the New Policies and their historical context. In particular, it was a result of the incapacity of the drafters’ worldview to correctly explain and resolve unexpected problems in the policy environment, including the influence of political philosophies that were in fundamental conflict with the ideas of Wang Anshi, as well as the reaction of political elites to the New Policies, the rationales and behavioral modes of bureaucrats in financial markets and state monopolies, and unpredictable changes in the marketplace that bedeviled bureaucrats.
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Ryu, Yongwook. "Identity and Security: Identity Distance Theory and Regional Affairs in Northeast and Southeast Asia." Thesis, Harvard University, 2011. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10046.
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The dissertation explores the relationship between identity and international security, and tests the effect of the former on the latter by analyzing a set of puzzling phenomena in East Asia—the emergence of mutual threat perception in Sino-Japanese relations; increasingly conflictual relations between Korea and Japan after Korea’s democratization; the establishment of a regional human rights mechanism by ASEAN; and the settlement of key territorial disputes by Southeast Asian nations. Coupled with the diverging frequency of militarized interstate disputes between both regions, these phenomena suggest that Northeast Asia (NEA) has become a region of conflict with high tensions, while Southeast Asia (SEA) has increasingly developed into a region of peace with decreasing tension. The dissertation advances a new theoretical framework, namely, identity distance theory, to understand these puzzling phenomena. Identity distance refers to perceived socio-psychological differences between groups, and its widening (narrowing) is hypothesized to increase (decrease) the likelihood of intergroup conflict. Using a variety of methods—content analysis of newspapers; political elite survey; and a controlled case study on territorial disputes—the dissertation shows that it is the contrasting evolution of identity distance in the two regions that is the key to explaining the cross-regional differences. The root cause of the widening identity distance in NEA is the rise of the so-called history problem (lishi wenti) in the 1980s, influencing China’s threat perception of Japan and altering the effect of Korea’s democratization on its relations with Japan. In contrast, the narrowing identity distance in SEA due to the construction of a regional identity and community since the 1990s enabled thorny issues such as human rights to be discussed more freely by raising the comfort level among regional countries, and resulted in the resolution of two key territorial disputes in SEA through the arbitration of the International Court of Justice. Identity distance theory proposes a connection between identity and security, and contends that identity-related issues are an important factor affecting different regional dynamics. The findings of the dissertation suggest that the relations of enmity and amity between states are socially constructed through interactions between actors, which engender certain social identities and relations favorable for peace or conflict.<br>Government
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Li, Danyang. "Li Hanjun and the early Communist movement in China." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2011. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/27335/.
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This thesis explores the role Li Hanjun played in the initial stage of the Communist movement in China. It describes Li’s early life, including his family background, his upbringing, his schooling and the environment he grew up in. It analyses some of Li’s early writings to demonstrate his philosophical predispositions and political orientation, as well as his character and temperament. It examines Li’s understanding of Marxism and his endeavours to disseminate it and to introduce various socialist theories into China. It describes his contacts with socialists of other countries and his cooperation with Korean socialists and Soviet agents in China, which helped open up the Communist movement in East Asia. The research focuses on Li Hanjun’s activities in establishing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the opinions he expressed at the Party’s founding congress. It also deals with his ideas and actions in directing labour movements in China. Li Hanjun was a dissident within the CCP and later left the Party. This study clarifies the divergence of views between him and other Party leaders, and shows that his rejection of the Bolshevik doctrines of centralism and dictatorship and of unconditional receipt of financial aid and orders from the Communist International (Comintern) were the main causes of the conflicts and his expulsion. The thesis discusses Li’s vision of socialism, and shows that his ideal socialist society was not one in which a centralist government and the dictatorship of a Communist élite should control and intervene in everything but a collectivity of associations of free and autonomous working people organised in cooperatives. The thesis ends with a critical assessment of Li as a historical figure. It recovers historical facts that have sunk into oblivion, and thus differs from comparable studies published both in China and abroad. It fills important gaps in the history of the early Communist movement in China.
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Whittow, Mark. "Social and political structures in the Maeander region of Western Asia Minor on the eve of the Turkish invasion." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1988. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b7b5a641-80b4-46cb-8b41-21e53af80054.
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The thesis is a contribution to two of the crucial problems of middle Byzantine history: the social and political structure of the provinces, and the explanation of the rapid fall of Asia Minor to the Turks at the end of the llth century. These problems are approached through a study of the Maeander region of western Asia Minor.Part one describes the geography of the region and shows it to have been a naturally fertile area, of great potential importance to the Empire. In the Roman period it had been very prosperous; the subsequent decline cannot be explained by geological or climatic factors. Part two surveys the archaeological evidence. The ancient city sites remained occupied at a sometimes very low cultural level through the early (7th -8th century) and middle (9th-llth century) Byzantine periods. A general move of settlements to apparently more secure sites with natural defences did not take place until the 12th-13th centuries in the face of the Turks. Up to the end of the llth century the city sites remained the focus of what was most active in the provincial society of the Maeander region. Part three looks at the region's elites. The strategoi and judges who ruled the theme of the Thrakesioi, which makes up the western two-thirds of the region, were outsiders appointed by the Imperial government in Constantinople and only in the region on short term appointments. Several major figures at the Imperial court owned land in the region but only as absentee landlords. When crisis came between 1071 and 1080 these outsiders abandoned the Maeander to the Turks. The church played an important role, but the resident local elite were a comparatively humble group, isolated from Constantinople, and lacking the influence to force the Imperial government into defending their interests.
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Liang, Ziting. "Incremental democratization with Chinese characteristics." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2011. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3247/.
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This thesis is centrally concerned with the ‘democratic debate’ and assessing the prospects for democratic transition in contemporary China. The first part of the thesis (including Chapters 1 and 2) reviews the (primarily) Western academic literature on democracy and democratisation. It is argued that while this literature is useful-up to a point-in understanding how the debate of democratisation is unfolding in China, and the processes that are generating political reforms and other changes that are conducive to democracy, it has wholly neglected the specificity of the Chinese case. The third chapter of the thesis duly embarks on a discussion of both the history of debate and discussion in China historically, arguing that this debate and discussion has to be understood in the context of Chinese history and culture specifically. This chapter identifies two strands of thought about democracy among academic commentators in China: first those who foresee a swift transition to democracy and the ‘gradualists’, who are primarily concerned with how problems of attendant social and political instability will impact on the prospects for democratisation. The second half of the thesis assesses the impact of Chinese economic reforms since the late 1970s, along with contemporary globalization and China’s growing integration into the global economy on the trajectory of political change in China. It explores important political changes within the regime, the emerging civil society forces, focusing specifically on changing state-society relations evidenced in growing village autonomy, changes in press media, and in other areas. The thesis combines the technique of discourse analysis (‘reading’ and analysing the changing discourse among state and civil society actors, including official political documents and speeches; and media -television and newspapers- and NGO sources) with an assessment of institutional changes within the party (elite), changes in power structures (the limited diffusion of power to civil society through electoral reform and changes in media operation and control), and changing state-society relations.
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Lee, Chang-Gon. "Understanding the politics of welfare reform in Korea : a study of the National Health Insurance and National Pension Reforms, 1998-2003." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2015. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/6294/.
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This is my thesis that I explored the dynamic process and peculiarities of Korean welfare politics during the Kim Dae-Jung government of 1998-2003, which was the first administration to come to power through a peaceful turnover of political power. To this end, the research focused on the policymaking processes of National Health Insurance and National Pension reforms during that period. The thesis analysed these welfare reforms from a more rigorous theoretical framework in order to uncover the key characteristics of welfare politics in Korea. In particular, the key role played by stake challengers including civil organisations in such policymaking process was addressed in detail because these Non-Governmental organisations emerged as an influential player against the established stakeholders representing vested economic and political interests. In contrast to the situation in many western democracies, the influence of political parties in the reform process was minimal and those parties did not play any significant part in the debates and conflicts surrounding the welfare reforms during the Kim Dae-Jung era. It was noteworthy fact that stake-challengers coalition led by civil organisations was able to overcome stakeholder coalition’s interests and objections to win the battle for health insurance integration and public pension reforms.
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Tanji, Miyume. "The enduring myth of an Okinawan struggle: the history and trajectory of a diverse community of protest." Thesis, Tanji, Miyume (2003) The enduring myth of an Okinawan struggle: the history and trajectory of a diverse community of protest. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2003. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/334/.
Full textAbstract:
The islands of Okinawa have a long history of people's protest. Much of this has been a manifestation in one way or another of Okinawa's enforced assimilation into Japan and their differential treatment thereafter. However, it is only in the contemporary period that we find interpretations among academic and popular writers of a collective political movement opposing marginalisation of, and discrimination against, Okinawans. This is most powerfully expressed in the idea of the three 'waves' of a post-war 'Okinawan struggle' against the US military bases. Yet, since Okinawa's annexation to Japan in 1879, differences have constantly existed among protest groups over the reasons for and the means by which to protest, and these have only intensified after the reversion to Japanese administration in 1972.
This dissertation examines the trajectory of Okinawan protest actors, focusing on the development and nature of internal differences, the origin and survival of the idea of a united 'Okinawan struggle', and the implications of these factors for political reform agendas in Okinawa. It explains the internal differences in organisation, strategies and collective identities among the groups in terms of three major priorities in their protest. There are those protesters principally preoccupied with opposing the US-Japan security treaty and for whom the preservation of pacifist clauses of the Constitution and the utilisation of formal legal and political processes are paramount as a modus operandi. There are also those primarily concerned to protect Okinawa's distinctive lifestyle and natural environment, as well as an assortment of feminist groups fundamentally opposed to the presence of US bases due to concerns about patriarchy and exploitation of women, fostered by militarism. In these last two perspectives, protest tends to be conducted much more via informal, network-oriented processes, and includes engagement with international civil society groups.
The increasing range of protest groups derived from the expansion of these last two perspectives, diversifying beyond the traditional workers' unions and political parties, is consistent with the 'new social movement' theory. This theory's emphasis on the importance of socio economic change for the emergence of groups with post-materialist reform agendas and a stronger predisposition towards informal political processes resonates with the Okinawan experiences. However, the impact of this has been, especially after the reversion in 1972, to hinder effective coalition building among the Okinawan protest groups and organisations, weakening their power to bring about political reforms, particularly towards the removal of the US military bases from the island.
Crucially, though, the idea of an 'Okinawan struggle' has endured in the community of protest throughout the post-war period. Ideas about marginalisation of, and discrimination against, Okinawans constitute a powerful myth of an 'Okinawan struggle', which has a long history of being redefined, used and exploited differently by a wide range of protest actors, adjusted to their particular and historically specific struggles. Indeed, in the event that the US military bases were withdrawn from Okinawa, the ability and appeal of the myth of an 'Okinawan struggle' would therefore not necessarily expire, even if it will increasingly be joined by other protest perspectives as a result of the flowering of new social movements.
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Tanji, Miyume. "The enduring myth of an Okinawan struggle : the history and trajectory of a diverse community of protest /." Tanji, Miyume (2003) The enduring myth of an Okinawan struggle: the history and trajectory of a diverse community of protest. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2003. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/334/.
Full textAbstract:
The islands of Okinawa have a long history of people's protest. Much of this has been a manifestation in one way or another of Okinawa's enforced assimilation into Japan and their differential treatment thereafter. However, it is only in the contemporary period that we find interpretations among academic and popular writers of a collective political movement opposing marginalisation of, and discrimination against, Okinawans. This is most powerfully expressed in the idea of the three 'waves' of a post-war 'Okinawan struggle' against the US military bases. Yet, since Okinawa's annexation to Japan in 1879, differences have constantly existed among protest groups over the reasons for and the means by which to protest, and these have only intensified after the reversion to Japanese administration in 1972.
This dissertation examines the trajectory of Okinawan protest actors, focusing on the development and nature of internal differences, the origin and survival of the idea of a united 'Okinawan struggle', and the implications of these factors for political reform agendas in Okinawa. It explains the internal differences in organisation, strategies and collective identities among the groups in terms of three major priorities in their protest. There are those protesters principally preoccupied with opposing the US-Japan security treaty and for whom the preservation of pacifist clauses of the Constitution and the utilisation of formal legal and political processes are paramount as a modus operandi. There are also those primarily concerned to protect Okinawa's distinctive lifestyle and natural environment, as well as an assortment of feminist groups fundamentally opposed to the presence of US bases due to concerns about patriarchy and exploitation of women, fostered by militarism. In these last two perspectives, protest tends to be conducted much more via informal, network-oriented processes, and includes engagement with international civil society groups.
The increasing range of protest groups derived from the expansion of these last two perspectives, diversifying beyond the traditional workers' unions and political parties, is consistent with the 'new social movement' theory. This theory's emphasis on the importance of socio economic change for the emergence of groups with post-materialist reform agendas and a stronger predisposition towards informal political processes resonates with the Okinawan experiences. However, the impact of this has been, especially after the reversion in 1972, to hinder effective coalition building among the Okinawan protest groups and organisations, weakening their power to bring about political reforms, particularly towards the removal of the US military bases from the island.
Crucially, though, the idea of an 'Okinawan struggle' has endured in the community of protest throughout the post-war period. Ideas about marginalisation of, and discrimination against, Okinawans constitute a powerful myth of an 'Okinawan struggle', which has a long history of being redefined, used and exploited differently by a wide range of protest actors, adjusted to their particular and historically specific struggles. Indeed, in the event that the US military bases were withdrawn from Okinawa, the ability and appeal of the myth of an 'Okinawan struggle' would therefore not necessarily expire, even if it will increasingly be joined by other protest perspectives as a result of the flowering of new social movements.
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Biaggi, Cecilia. "Catholics in Northern Ireland : political participation and cross-border relations, 1920-1932." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:eeb511c0-ff08-4843-9d8b-bad91046351d.
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Wang, Xueliang 1956. "Taiwan and the Bush administration's Mainland China policy, January 1989-December 1992." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278339.
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This thesis divides Taiwan's impact on the Bush administration's Mainland China policy into three stages. The first period was from January 1989, when George Bush entered the White House, to June 3, when the Tiananmen Massacre took place in Beijing. The second period was from June 1989 to July 1991. The third period was from July 1991 to the end of 1992. Through examining the Bush administration's Mainland China policy, this thesis argues that Taiwan's impact on the administration's China policy evolved a tract from unimportant to important in the years between 1989 and 1992. It further argues that Taiwan has become an independent factor, whose China policy was not under the control of the United States. Sometimes it undermined American Mainland China policy.
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Vogler, Pia Maria. "Translocal identities : an ethnographic account of the political economy of childhood transitions in northern Thailand." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2010. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:046dc27e-fa91-4f1d-9e1f-0ce057db6ebb.
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This thesis examines Karen childhood transitions in a context of expansion of the cash economy, formal education and modern institutions. Since the 1960s, Thai state development has had a significant impact on the organisation of work and learning among highland populations. Today, household economies largely depend on cash income and children aspire towards an adult life in which paid work is central. Formal education is highly valued as a means to reach this goal. Children often migrate for education to better-resourced locations and access scholarships provided by national and international institutions. On the basis of 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork undertaken between October 2007 and September 2009, the thesis seeks to understand the effects of globalisation on politically and economically marginalized children in northern Thailand through the lens of changing modes of production and learning. Findings indicate that children’s migration for education reflects broad political economic inequalities among Karen households as well as between them and mainstream Thai lowland populations. International dimensions of unequal relations are revealed in local peoples’ collective negotiations with Japanese and Catholic Christian NGOs. Although socio-cultural constructs like ‘gender’, ‘generation’, and ‘ethnicity’ shape Karen childhoods, this study found that their economic and political status are more fundamental in shaping all aspects of their social lives, including their socio-cultural identities. Childhood transitions emerge as multidimensional learning processes towards mastery of ‘translocal identities’, the skill to manage identities and relationships across multiple spaces and institutions. This is a culturally valued skill evidenced when minority children tactfully negotiate differing modes of compliance, resistance, and adaptation, especially in the domains of work and education. Thus, children participate in the moulding of local versions of the modern political economy of northern Thailand.
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Du, Jing. "Political connections in China : determinants and effects on firms' exporting behaviour and financial health." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2016. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/7038/.
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Using a comprehensive firm-level dataset from the National Bureau Statistics (NBS) of China over the period 2000-2007, this thesis studies political connections, intended as the \(lishu\) relationship between Chinese manufacturing firms and central, provincial or local governments. Although extensive studies have investigated firms’ political connections, the \(lishu\) relationship has not been explored. Besides, the literature has generally overlooked an important question: what are the determinants of political connections? To fill this gap, we firstly investigate the determinants of the \(lishu\) relationship. We find that firms’ characteristics, ownerships, financial variables, profitability, and sales growth significantly affect the probability of having a \(lishu\) relationship. We then examine the link between the \(lishu\) relationship and firms’ exporting propensity and intensity. By examining the unobserved firm heterogeneity and the initial conditions problem, we find that the \(lishu\) relationship has a negative impact on firms’ exporting. Furthermore, firm size, productivity, financial health and age are the significant determinants of firms’ exporting. Finally, we explore the links between the \(lishu\) relationship and financial constraints, demonstrating that firms’ financial constraints can be alleviated through a \(lishu\) relationship. This effect is pronounced for firms affiliated with high level of government, foreign firms and firms in financially constrained regions.
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Millard, Jeffrey Paul 1967. "Chinese involvement in Cambodia, 1978-1991." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/291845.
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The years 1978 and 1979 were critical in shaping mainland China's foreign policy towards Cambodia during the 1980s up until the international peace treaty of 1991. For China, this involved utilizing Cambodian forces to halt the spread of Vietnamese hegemony in Southeast Asia while countering an increased Soviet presence on its southern periphery. Unfortunately, China's policy of supporting both Prince Sihanouk politically and the Khmer Rouge militarily was instrumental in reestablishing the Khmer Rouge as the most powerful faction in Cambodia's uncertain future. Therefore, the Khmer Rouge became something of a Chinese enigma, nurtured by Beijing to fight the Vietnamese but completely free from PRC control or responsibility.
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Morita-Jaeger, Minako. "Services trade integration in East Asia and political economy impediments in domestic decision-making : a case study of Japan-ASEAN bilateral free trade agreements." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2016. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3517/.
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In East Asia, services trade integration, both in market and policy, lags far behind goods trade integration. In spite of a proliferation of ASEAN plus one type FTAs in the Region since the early 2000s, policy-led services integration has not happened in East Asia. The aim of this research project is to investigate the reasons why the Japan-ASEAN bilateral FTAs, which were concluded in the 2000s, resulted in the shallow GATS-plus FTAs. Since barriers in services trade lie in domestic regulations, we examine how domestic determinants, namely interests and institutions in domestic decision-making, shaped the negotiating positions of Japan and ASEAN. From our empirical work, we found the following: (i) The services trade policy-making structure, which involves a wide participation of domestic regulatory authorities in the decision-making process, constituted horizontal fragmentation of power. Because of horizontal fragmentation of power, the domestic regulatory authorities with strong regulatory autonomy and regulatory concerns were able to exercise a veto power against changes in the status-quo and pushed backward the lead ministry’s negotiating positions. (ii) In terms of interests, no strong proliberalisation interests existed either on the policy demand or supply sides. On the policy demand side, while there existed very limited exporting interests, the import-competing services suppliers were afraid of the erosion of rents and adjustment costs caused by preferential market liberalisation. On the policy supply side, there was few incentives to lock in domestic services reforms by using the Japan-ASEAN bilateral FTAs. In addition, (a) pressure for speedy conclusion of an FTA to win the political competition of creating FTAs in the Region and (b) the strong economic and political motivation of FTAs to enhance regional supply chains in the manufacturing sector undermined the countries’ negotiating positions on services trade. From the findings above, we conclude that services trade integration in East Asia lags far behind goods trade because of the double layered political economy impediments. The first layer of impediment, which is the horizontally fragmented domestic decision-making structure, reflects the heterogeneity of services. The second layer of impediment, which is interests, mostly reflects the distinctive characteristics of East Asia.
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Myeni, Sithembiso Lindelihle. "History matters : exploring women's political representation in post-apartheid KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2012. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/history-matters-exploring-womens-political-representation-in-postapartheid-kwazulunatal-south-africa(084ef508-f5fc-43e7-a8dc-4aeee2cc0575).html.
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The main aim of this thesis is to examine the processes and procedures for promoting local government democracy in post-apartheid South Africa. This study principally investigates the extent to which local government reforms empower women in local politics, given the context, constraints and contested discourses in the historical meaning of „women‟, as well as the history of institution making in South Africa. In order to achieve this, the study explores local government reforms processes‟ contribution to the nature of women‟s political participation and representation in local politics. The study further explains the relationship between political parties‟ and that of government in the participation of women in local politics. Lastly, the study identifies ingrained factors shaping women‟s participation in local politics prevalent in spite of reforms. The study has adopted an institutionalist approach and uses critical theory in order gain deeper insights about women‟s participation and representation in local politics. The study adopts a qualitative research strategy, due to the fact that it favours particular instruments that are suited to explore some of the experiences and practices of the main actors involved in local politics. It triangulates both secondary and primary sources of data gathered in South Africa. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 interviewees from two selected municipalities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, and two sampled political parties as an endeavour to obtain a diversity of viewpoints about the political reforms. Furthermore, the secondary data from government sources and political parties‟ sources was used. Archival research was complemented with municipal reports and policies in order to establish the relationship between national directives and local implementation on institutional development. These methodological approaches were used due to the fact that they highlight the multiplicity and diversity of political institutions that exist even at local level. The findings show that there are political spaces opened through reforms for women to participate in political processes in local government politics. The study found that there are local municipalities led by women mayors and some were under women‟s political leadership from the beginning -- following the second reorganisation of local government. Nonetheless, the levels of state (national, provincial and local) and diverse interests of societal actors in local politics challenged the democratisation processes. Basically, the government has contradictory dominant roles in the reform processes. However, societal actors, which comprise political parties and traditional authorities influence reforms (in) directly. Further findings show contradictions among institutions, which favours other actors in local politics, while restricting women‟s long-term political careers. Overall, this study concludes that the reform process has achieved the objective in opening political spaces for women in local politics. However, these new spaces in a post-apartheid society seem to be depoliticised, which eclipses how the political system remains prone to the influence of multiple discourses of liberation, as well as the partial historical convergence of interests at the local political level.
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Soon, Simon Sien Yong. "What is Left of Art? The Spatio‐Visual Practice of Political Art in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, 1950s–1970s." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/14186.
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What is Left of Art? begins with a simple question about the place of art during a period of great socio-political transformation. How did artists respond to the upheaval brought about by modern political changes? Where was art located in times of moral and political crises? In my research, I take the left-leaning political art movements in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines as case studies, looking at the period from 1950s – 1970s. This thesis makes an original contribution to the critical inquiry of left-leaning political art through a comparative study that posits discursive affinity of this form of art practice across four countries that have hitherto not been considered collectively. Instead of focusing on analysing the meaning behind the works of art or simply providing a descriptive historical account of these movements, I have identified three domains of political art for productive inquiry. These are the organisation, the text and the street. While these components, and the artistic strategies explored within them, were not exclusive to Southeast Asian modern art, as demonstrated by the social art histories in many other different contexts, the specific conditions of post-war Southeast Asia produce a common historical experience. It underlines the significance of historical structure in shaping the character of politicisation of art in Southeast Asia. My thesis explores how these domains of political art could be understood as strategies explored by the cultural left to rethink received discourses and institutions of modern art in order to engender a different aesthetic paradigm centered on the commitment towards the people. Often these include re-imagining how art constituted a spatio-visual practice that shaped or intervened in modern urban spaces. The street in this sense represents a significant trope and site of engagement with a broader public. Through this reading, I hope to demonstrate the terms of artistic production through which I am able to make visible an archaeology of political and ideological pressures that shape the artistic modernities of post-war Southeast Asia.
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Pal, Deep. "India-China Relationship Since 1988 -- Ensuring Economics trumps Politics." Thesis, The George Washington University, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1586663.
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<p> The Sino-Indian relationship marked by mutual mistrust for the last six decades has seen definitive changes since the late 1980s. Though considerable issues remain unresolved, the two have begun establishing mechanisms to establish a certain level of trust that began with the visit of Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to Beijing in 1988. The paper analyzes recent literature on this relationship and finds them predicting two outcomes primarily - either one where India admits Chinese supremacy and kowtows to it, or one that foresees increased clashes between the two. Neither outcome takes into account the complex association that the two nations are building guided by a series of frameworks, mechanisms and agreements. This paper posits that in the evolutionary arc of interstate relations, Sino-Indian relations have not reached a point where only one of the two options - cooperation and competition, will be chosen. This paper argues that economic interests of the two rising powers is behind the present behavior where the two are courting each other but at the same time, preparing for the other's rise. Both countries consider their economic identity to be primary and do not want to be distracted from the key national goal of economic development. They are particularly careful that their disagreements with each other do not come in the way of this goal. The paper analyzes the various frameworks and suggests that they are created with this end in consideration. Both India and China aim to continue collaboration in economic matters bilaterally or in international issues of mutual interest even when they don't see eye to eye on disputes left over from history. It is likely that competition will at times get the better of cooperation, driven by factors like strategic influence in the neighborhood, finding newer providers of energy as well as markets for their goods and services. But periodic flare-ups notwithstanding, in the absence of serious provocations, the two countries will avoid clashes that can escalate. The paper also analyzes certain black-swan events that might disturb the balancing act. Incidents like the death of the Dalai Lama creating a vacuum within the Tibetan leadership is one such scenario; a terrorist attack on India planned and executed form Pakistan like the one in Mumbai in 2008 is another. However, the presence of multiple bilateral platforms will continue to automatically insulate alternate channels of communication even in these situations. In conclusion, the paper suggests that as they grow, India and China will continue to engage each other at several levels, competing and cooperation, deterring and reassuring each other at once.</p>
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Hirsiaho, Anu. "Shadow dynasties : politics of memory and emotions in Pakistani women's life-writing /." Tampere : University of Tampere, 2005. http://acta.uta.fi/pdf/951-44-6265-3.pdf.
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Kolpakova, Vera. "The political implications of regional cooperation in Northeast Asia: Russia's changing role in the region, and the potentials of the Tumen River Project." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278350.
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This paper discusses the political implications of creating a Northeast Asian system of regional cooperation, as the current global political changes now make it possible, and the security and economic measures that have to be taken to implement these new developmental projects. The Tumen River Project is one of the developmental projects designed to bring together former political and ideological adversaries, such as China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Due to the economic regionalism in the world, and to the subsequent need to create some sort of regional structure in the Asia-Pacific, these countries are striving to promote regional cooperation and overcome such serious problems as the reunification of the two Koreas, the security issues on the Korean Peninsula, the Russo-Japanese territorial dispute, and others.
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Tsang, Shui-lung 1960. "War and peace in northern Sung China: Violence and strategy in flux, 960-1104 A.D." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/282422.
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This dissertation focuses on a critical factor in historical transformation of medieval China-the dilemma between war and peace. Not only does this dissertation provide a brief and comprehensive account on conflicts, battles, and treaties, but it observes the attitude toward violence and the track of searching peace during Tenth and Eleventh Century China as well. Borrowing the concept of peace by modern scholars studying grand strategy, strategic culture, and pacifism, I regard peace as realistic strategic option, institutionalized establishment, consent behavior mode, and multi-oriented culture. My discussion begins with the exhausting campaigns of the T'ang in Central Asia and the ensuing civil war during the Ninth and Tenth centuries, arguing the Sung non-active posture in external adventure as a conscious avoidance of excessive violence. The relative success of the Sung policy saw in the peace annexation of the Wu-Yueh Kingdom and the conclusion of the Peace of 1005 between the Sung and Liao with modest cost. In addition, the early Sung rulers firmly controlled the military machinery and prevented war-making by internal and institutional causes. Nevertheless, the existing institutionalized peace between the Sung and Liao did not create a norm of behavior and prevent violence proliferation. Unable to contain the Tangut expansionism, the Sung was compelled to reinstate aggressive grand strategy, relieving constrain on its war machinery. Strategic imperative stimulated career military service of the Sung civil officials and gave room to the voice of pragmatic expansionism. Sung military achievement culminated in the success of rearmament during the reform of Wang An-shih. However, the ensuing war eventually ravaged the Sung empire, its opportunity for a great leap toward a pre-modern world missed.
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Shochat, Sharon. "Oil and women's political participation : a sub-national assessment of the role of protests and NGOs in Nigeria." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2014. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1029/.
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The resource curse literature, which links natural resource abundance with negative political and economic outcomes, is largely based on large-N cross-national studies. This thesis examines the effects of oil production on women’s political participation at the sub-national level, comparing the 36 states in the Nigerian federation, of which some are oil-producing. Shedding new light on the negative effects of oil production at the local and community level, and exploring the gender-related dimensions of the resource curse, I argue that the effect of oil varies across different forms of political activity: while oil production may have a negative impact on women’s legislative participation, it can also have a positive impact on non-formal types of political participation, specifically protest and NGO activity. I further suggest that the underlying trigger for both of these effects is oil’s impact on women’s work, which is manifested differently at national and local levels. The analysis is based on a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative tools, including original datasets on oil production and legislative participation, women’s protests, and women-led NGOs across Nigeria’s states. The combination of evidence offers a wide-ranging repertoire of the impact of oil on women. Drawing on historical evidence and women’s testimonies, this thesis suggests that oil production has negatively affected women’s labour force participation in Nigeria, while women’s work in oil-producing states has been further diminished due to environmental degradation and regional militarisation. The extremely low levels of female legislative participation in Nigeria at both the national and state levels are linked with the negative impact of oil on women’s work. Analysing a dataset of press reports and a directory of Nigerian NGOs to compare oil and non-oil producing states in the Nigerian federation, this thesis finds strong evidence for the impact of oil on women’s non-formal political participation at the local level, in oil-producing states. Thus, evidence from Nigeria suggests that oil production may have a dual effect on women’s political participation – undermining formal participation while increasing non-formal participation,a finding that adds to our understanding of the resource curse, women’s political participation, and the link between the two.
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Wambali, Michael Kajela Beatus. "Democracy and human rights in Tanzania Mainland : the Bill of Rights in the context of constitutional developments and the history of institutions of governance." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1997. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/4207/.
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This thesis is an examination of human rights and constitutional development in Tanzania Mainland. The colonial and post-colonial history is used to analyse the development of human rights struggles, as well as institutions such as the Bill of Rights in the recent development of multi-party democracy. The thesis intends to establish that in spite of global factors such as pressure for democratisation from international institutions, the achievement of the Bill of Rights in Tanzania Mainland is part of a wider rights struggle of the people of Tanzania. The effective legal and political implementation of specific rights such as the right to vote, freedom of association and assembly reflect the state of that struggle. The thesis further seeks to establish that while the government sponsored the enactment of the Bill of Rights in 1984 and the re-introduction of multi-partism in 1992, it has always preferred to exercise extreme control over the enjoyment of political rights. This has often involved curtailing the establishment and free operation of institutions of popular democracy. The thesis goes on to suggest that unless a democratic culture and civil society are restored in the country, the success of the rights struggles of the people will be far-fetched. Together with the above it is argued that the struggle for rights could be enhanced by working from what is provided as legal rights, all interested parties pushing for the expansion of the human rights field. This can only be attained if the majority of Tanzanians are made aware of the existence of such rights through legal literacy programs.
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Davutoglu, Mustafa. "The privatisation of state economic enterprises : an economic and political analysis of the Turkish case." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1997. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/106917/.
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This study is an economic and political analysis of the privatisation of state economic enterprises (SEEs) in Turkey between 1986-1996. A radical shift from planned to a market economy is observed in Turkish economic policy which occurred during the 1980s as a response to the crisis of the late 1970s. Privatisation has been one of the major elements of this new economic policy. The initial impetus towards privatisation sprang from dissatisfaction with the performance of SEEs. Attempts have been made to change the nature and the role of the public sector in the Turkish economy. It was hoped that privatisation would improve the economic performance of the SEEs by freeing them from direct state intervention and exposing them to the market forces. Within the above perspective, this thesis provides a case study of the Turkish experience with privatisation by examining the concept based on an analytical framework. After a decade of privatisation efforts, the results of the Turkish privatisation look disappointing. The study identifies political, economic and social factors as the major influences that determined the outcome of privatisation in the Turkish context. This work suggests that the implementation of successful privatisation policies hinges on the ability and capacity of the political leadership to control the bargaining process. It appears to be essential for governments to form a strong coalition which embraces support from the public and various interest groups to promote and implement the privatisation programme smoothly. The Turkish case shows that the government’s failure to control the process combined with other factors such as an unfavourable macroeconomic environment and an inefficient institutional framework all contributed to the unsuccessful outcome of its privatisation policy. In the empirical part of the research, the efficiency of the privatised firms in terms of their profitability and productivity are evaluated. The findings from the case studies show that there are significant improvements in the performance of the privatised enterprises in Turkey following privatisation. Though some poor financial performance is observed in the eight privatised enterprises studied, in general all of them have recorded significant improvements in labour productivity. There is also evidence that attempts to reduce the role of the public sector as the supplier of goods and services in Turkish cement, airline catering and telecom equipment manufacturing sectors have been largely successful. Hence, it is now widely acknowledged that the private sector can perform in these areas more efficiently and at a lower cost and offer better quality goods and services than the public sector. The study has two major conclusions. The first is that privatisation is an economic and political issue. As the Turkish case illustrates, politics plays the most important role in deciding whether or not to privatise and the outcome of privatisation policies. However, the economic justification of privatisation, which rests upon the potential improvements in efficiency, which come from greater competition, appear to be the main objective of most privatisation programmes. The second conclusion is that privatisation is not a panacea for all the economic problems that governments face, but as the successful privatisation examples show it is a way forward to promote economic efficiency at the both enterprise and macroeconomic levels. Most important of all, a radical privatisation programme can significantly reduce the state intervention in the management of the economy and eliminate the issues of political patronage, rent-seeking and favouritism especially in developing countries.
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Avlijaš, Sonja. "Explaining variation in female labour force participation across Eastern Europe : the political economy of industrial upgrading and service transition." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2015. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3341/.
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This thesis proposes a theoretical model to explain the variation in female labour force participation (FLFP) across post-socialist Eastern Europe. The model is then tested empirically on 13 post-socialist Eastern European countries during the period 1997- 2008 using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Embedded in insights from economics and comparative political economy literature, my theoretical model moves beyond linear causal relationships and suggests how different components of post-socialist economic restructuring in Eastern Europe have affected one another and have translated into specific FLFP outcomes. The model specifies the following three components: industrial upgrading, educational expansion and growth of knowledge intensive services and theorises their relationship to each other and to FLFP as the dependent variable. The model suggests that those countries that embarked on the trajectory of economic development driven by re-industrialisation and industrial upgrading created a vicious cycle for FLFP. This took place because industrial upgrading that was driven by foreign direct investment led to the defeminisation of manufacturing. Such a trajectory of economic restructuring also shaped these countries’ education policies and impeded the development of knowledge intensive services, which would have been more conducive to female employment. The virtuous cycle of FLFP, on the other hand, occurred in those Eastern European countries that turned to reforming their educational sector towards general skills and expansion of tertiary education, with the aim of transforming themselves into knowledge economies. Such a transformation required an active social investment state and growth of knowledge-intensive public and private sector employment, which provided greater employment opportunities for women. This development path created a positive causal loop for FLFP.
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Jensen, Andrew. "Bridling the Black Dragon: Chinese Soft Power in the Russian Far East." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:26519856.
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This paper considers the efforts of the Russian government to counter the growth of China’s soft power in the Russian Far East in the context of the dramatic rise in trade between the two nations in the 15 years of the “Putin Era,” from 2000 to 2015. The Amur (or “Black Dragon”) River watershed forms the core of the Russian Far East, Russia’s last territorial acquisition from the former Chinese empire and the key to Moscow’s efforts to connect with the burgeoning Asia-Pacific economies. This study investigates which federal- and provincial-level policies the Russian government has implemented to counter the growth of Beijing’s influence in the Russian Far East, and analyzes the effectiveness of these policies in the area’s three most populous sub-regions: Amur Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, and Primorsky Krai. Though initially hypothesizing that the Russian government had no coordinated strategy to counter China’s soft power in the region, this study concluded that policymakers in both the Kremlin and the Russian Far East have successfully discouraged a large-scale Chinese demographic or economic footprint along the Russian side of the Amur. However, Moscow’s failure to both encourage sufficient ethnic Russian immigration to the Far East and to effectively stimulate local economies in need of Chinese labor and investment has paradoxically strengthened Beijing’s regional soft power. Russia’s citizens in the Far East increasingly look south across the Black Dragon River towards China for a brighter future.
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Wallis, Joanne Elizabeth. "Laying strong foundations : does the level of public participation involved in constitution-making play a role in state-building? Case studies of Timor-Leste and Bougainville." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.610442.
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Marshall, Eric. "Playing His Own Game: Ernest 'Dutch' Morial's 1977 Mayoral Campaign for Citizen Participation in New Orleans." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2017. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2343.
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Ernest “Dutch” Morial’s 1977 grassroots mayoral campaign disrupted the political status quo in New Orleans with his message of citizen participation. Morial’s citizen-driven campaign reached over the constituencies of established Black Political Organizations, capturing an eager audience with his message of political, social, and economic equality. With the help of volunteers and other community organizations, Morial created a grassroots campaign that focused on making city government more inclusive. Unattached to the traditional patronage structure, Mayor Morial empowered the black community, reducing the constraints of their political access. Although his legacy is difficult to discern in New Orleans current political realities, Morial’s first campaign and administrations represent a departure from the political status-quo and the powerful patronage structures critical to their status.
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Verney, Eric. "Indonesie, terre d'avenir." Thesis, McGill University, 1996. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=27468.
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The history, culture and ethnic diversity of the Republic of the Indonesia make it a highly complex country. With an area as vast as the whole Europe, at the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific oceans, having abundant natural resources, a dynamic population which is the fourth in the world, Indonesia also benefits from a very resistant economy.<br>Economic take off is supported by a strong political regime that has been led by President Suharto for thirty years now. Foreign investors are attracted by this new, very magnetic and promising market. Faced with a high demand for investments approvals, the government is liberalizing regulations dealing with direct and portfolio investments.<br>In 1995, Indonesia was the first host country for foreign investments, before the Chinese People's Republic, which amounted to 39.9 billions of dollars.
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Al-Tarawneh, Alaaeddin. "Topics on financial crises in emerging countries case of Jordan." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2012. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3636/.
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This thesis investigates the effect of monetary policy on financial stability and part of the real side of the Jordanian economy over the time period 1976-2009. It uses a number of empirical methodologies including: a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) to investigate the relationship between monetary policy and financial stability in Jordan; A Logit model and Markov switching model to study the currency crisis in Jordan; and an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) to estimate an investment function for the Jordanian economy. Findings of the VAR models confirmed the relationship between monetary policy and financial stability in Jordan. However, a number of indictors were found to have a significant effect on the currency crisis in Jordan. These indictors included the real exchange rate, money supply-reserves ratio, and growth rate of domestic credit. On the other hand, a stable long-run investment function exists. Real income and real credit were found to have a positive impact on real investment. However, the user cost of capital has had a negative impact on real investment.