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International audience ; This article examines Hariri's role in the convergence of politics and property development in Greater Beirut following the globalisation of the post-civil war economy.

International audience ; This article examines Hariri's role in the convergence of politics and property development in Greater Beirut following the globalisation of the post-civil war economy.

International audience ; This article examines Hariri's role in the convergence of politics and property development in Greater Beirut following the globalisation of the post-civil war economy.

International audience ; This article examines Hariri's role in the convergence of politics and property development in Greater Beirut following the globalisation of the post-civil war economy.

Why do some authoritarian states have competitive elections? This study shows that whenever there is a balance of power between candidates, competitiveness will ensue. Electoral fraud is often widespread in autocratic states, but if no single candidate or party is in a position to monopolize electoral support the result will be competitive. The contribution here is to analyze the relative strength of all the actors involved in a parliamentary election and to show that electoral returns reflect the district level balance of power, even in autocracies. Three main sources of candidate-level electoral power are identified: state, market, and society. State affiliated candidates in authoritarian states perform well due to favorable treatment by state institutions. Market actors perform well due to financial resources. These actors arise when market reforms create a class of entrepreneurs that defend their interests by running for public office, often challenging state sanctioned candidates. The strength of candidates using social cleavages, here mainly 'clan' and ethnic, is found to be exaggerated in the literature. The study also confirms that competitiveness did not result from an active civil society. Competitive elections matter because they can severely destabilize the regime, as was the case in Kyrgyzstan in 2005. However, electoral competitiveness that is the result of an intra-elite balance of power should not be confused with democracy. This form of self-interested competitiveness where clientelism is pervasive and accountability mechanisms are weak is an affront to the democratic ideal. For those of us who advocate democracy and genuine political participation competitive authoritarian regimes can be used as an informative cautionary tale. Power matters, and especially so in authoritarian states. Understanding the logic behind competitive authoritarianism helps us revise strategies for lasting democratic reforms.

The main purpose of this essay was to study whether niche parties that were represented in municipal councils in Sweden during the 2007-2010 term of office were politically relevant. Furthermore, factors that might facilitate political relevance for niche parties were studied. Political relevance was studied using two theoretical perspectives. The objective model of political relevance presents four categories of relevance based on the relations between political parties in a political assembly; governing parties, coalition parties, blackmail parties and isolated parties. The subjective model of political relevance relies on the party representatives' own judgments of the relevance of their parties. To study objective and subjective political relevance, party representatives were interviewed. The results showed that seven out of eight niche parties were politically relevant according to the objective model, and six out of eight niche parties were relevant according to the subjective model. For the study of possible facilitating factors, a comparative table was formed using statistics and official data. Percentage of seats and type of majority coalition seemed to affect the possibilities for niche parties to become governing parties. A large percentage of seats and being represented on the municipal executive board and committees seemed to facilitate subjective political relevance.

Sustentamos un sentido de Teoría crítica y de acción política que yendo de Freud a Castoriadis, pasando por la Escuela de Frankfurt, reivindica que para la comprensión de las formas de subjetividad y de sociedad que se acuñan hoy, es necesaria una crítica al capitalismo contemporáneo, a sus significaciones imaginarias, a las formas en que produce la subjetividad, a la crisis que genera en los procesos de identidad del individuo y de un sentido del nosotros. Pero al tiempo, y en tensión con la primera parte de la tesis, sostenemos que el sujeto con su capacidad de imaginación, reflexión, transformación, no ha sido borrado y que la acción política como creación de nuevas formas de subjetivación y la democracia como régimen, como teoría crítica, tienen un decisivo papel en la constitución de sociedades razonables y sujetos autónomos. / Abstract. Defend a sense of critical theory and political action going from Freud to Castoriadis, through the Frankfurt School, claims that to understand the forms of subjectivity and society that are minted today, we need a critique of contemporary capitalism, to their imaginary meanings, to the ways in which subjectivity occurs, to the crisis generated for the processes of individual identity and for a sense of us. But at the time, and in tension with the first part of the thesis, sustains that the subject with their capacity for imagination, reflection, transformation, has not been deleted and that political action such as creating new forms of subjectivity and the democracy, as critical theory, have a decisive role in the formation of societies reasonable and autonomous subjects. ; Doctorado

Male parliamentary dominance, rather than the corresponding female parliamentary underrepresentation, is the object of study in this thesis. This shift in focus implies a gendered analysis centered on men and men's practices. The thesis contributes to our understanding of how male dominance is maintained and reinvented by empirically studying male parliamentary dominance in clientelist settings. Worldwide trends of parliamentary representation are analyzed statistically and constitute the starting-point for a case study of male political networks in Thailand. Clientelism is a strategy used by political actors to increase predictability in politically unpredictable settings. The thesis shows that clientelism is an informal political practice that requires the building and maintenance of large and localized networks to help distribute services, goods and/or money in exchange for political support. Where political parties also use candidate selection procedures that are informal, exclusive and localized, there are ample openings for clientelist practices to translate into political power and ultimately parliamentary seats. This study also coins and develops a new concept: homosocial capital. It shows that clientelist networks are and continue to be male dominated because homosocial capital, a political capital accessible only to men, is needed for electoral success. Homosocial capital has two main components: a perceived pragmatic necessity to build linkages to those with access to important resources in society and a more psychological desire to cooperate with individuals whose behavior can be understood, predicted and trusted.

[Resumen] En contra del modo usual de escribir las historias del pensamiento político colocando a los autores en un cuadro unitario y evolutivo del proceso histórico, parece necesario, para acercar a los autores clásicos, poseer una conciencia histórico-conceptual. Esto significa saber comprender no tanto el contexto histórico en el que éstos operan, sino más bien el contexto conceptual en el que razonan y escriben y por el cual se hallan asimismo condicionados. Pero hacer historia de los conceptos quiere decir también y sobre todo interrogar críticamente a los conceptos que se utilizan en la lectura y en la interpretación, entender cuál es su génesis así como sus aporías. De este modo elaborar una historia del pensamiento con atención a lo histórico-conceptual implica traer a escena una dimensión del pensamiento que es filosófica. ; [Sommaire] Contrairement à l'usage d'écrire les histoires de la pensée politique en plaçant les auteurs dans un cadre unitaire et évolutif du processus historique, il semble nécessaire d'avoir une conscience historique et conceptuelle pour comprendre les auteurs classiques. Cela signifie qu'il y a lieu de saisir savoir non seulement le contexte historique dans lequel ceux-ci oeuvrent mais aussi le contexte conceptuel dans lequel ils raisonnent et écrivent et qui les conditionnent. Toutefois, faire l'histoire des concepts veut dire aussi et surtout s'interroger de façon critique sur les concepts qui sont utilisés dans la lecture et l'interprétation ; connaître quelle en est sa genèse ainsi que ses apories. Élaborer une histoire de la pensée de cette façon avec l'attention à porter à la dimension historique et conceptuelle implique à mettre en scène une dimension de la pensée qui est philosophique. ; [Abstract] Against the usual way of writing the histories of political thought by placing the authors in an unitary and evolutive board of the historical process, seems necessary, in order to bring the classical authors closer, to have a historical-conceptual awareness. That means that the understanding of the historical context in which these authors work is not so important as the understanding of the conceptual context in which they reason and write and by which they are condicionated. But doing history of concepts means also and mainly a critical question to the concepts that are used in the reading and in the interpretation. It means the understanding of their genesis and of their apories. Doing a history of thought by paying attention to the historical-conceptual aspect involves taking into consideration a dimension of thought which is philosophical.

The PhD thesis questions the impacts of the higher education period on one's relations with politic. It demonstrates, in the case of French students of the beginning of the 21st century, that student career, as interactionnists mean it, conditions political socialization. If variables related to heritage still divide, the study must consider other data linked to the schooling. Throughout the university period, various contexts, positionments and displacements, as well as the steps that mark out its developpement, step in the activation and acquisition of favourable aptitudes. The more student career, at the origin of identity crisis, is determinative for the future the more it will have influence. Based on quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (interviews, observations) data three kinds of political behaviours are studied: politization, political attitudes and militancy. ; Cette thèse interroge les effets de la période des études supérieures sur le rapport à la politique. Elle montre, auprès des étudiants français du début du XXIème siècle, que la carrière étudiante, au sens interactionniste du terme, détermine la socialisation politique. Les variables de l'héritage demeurent certes très clivantes. Néanmoins, l'explication doit prendre en compte d'autres éléments liés à la scolarité. Les contextes d'études traversés, les placements et déplacements au cours de la scolarité, ainsi que les étapes qui jalonnent son déroulement interviennent dans l'activation et l'acquisition de dispositions favorables. La carrière étudiante, génératrice de crises identitaires, a d'autant plus de chances d'influer qu'elle est décisive sur les parcours. À partir de données quantitatives (questionnaires) et qualitatives (entretiens et observations), trois types de comportements politiques sont étudiés : politisation, orientation politique, et militantisme.

Contents: Call for amnesty for PKI prisoners -- The clandestine front a major threat -- Interview with Domingos Alves -- Fernando de Araujo, NUS Vice-President -- Students go on trial -- Suharto's visit to Germany -- Bintang, the Dresden scapegoat -- Persecution of independent journalists -- Pakpahan released -- May Day celebration -- Alternative Kartini Day - Security violence in Maumere -- Peace activist jailed

How far may Americans properly rely on their religious beliefs when they make and defend political decisions? For example, are ordinary citizens or legislators doing something wrong when they consciously allow their decisions respecting abortion laws to be determined by their religious views? Despite its intense contemporary relevance, the full dimensions of this issue have until now not been thoroughly examined. Religious Convictions and Political Choice represents the first attempt to fill this gap. Beginning with an account of the basic premises of our liberal democracy, Greenawalt moves to a comparison between rational secular grounds of decision and grounds based on religious convictions. He discusses particular issues such as animal rights and abortion, showing how religious convictions can bear on an individual's decisions about them, and inquires whether reliance on such convictions is compatible with liberal democratic premises. In conclusion, he argues that citizens cannot be expected to rely exclusively on rational, secular grounds. ; https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/books/1228/thumbnail.jpg

Contents: New arrests in West Papua: paracommandos in charge -- Huge transmigration planned for Merauke -- Transmigration threatens land ownership -- A personal account of political detention in Jayapura -- A glimpse of Indonesian policies at work -- Killings and disappearances : Murdani shifts blame and rejects "outside interferences" -- Disappearances -- New law on internal exile in preparation -- Armed troops keep thousands away from trial -- New offensive spreads death and disrupts food -- Concern grows in Washington and London -- Going against the stream -- More on the offensive

Anti-corruption campaigns have been part of Chinese governance for decades. In the late 1990s, the government began to transform its anti-corruption efforts into a permanent institution, and the effect on corruption control caused by budget reforms started to emerge. Some studies have discussed and explained how the transformation of government's financial structure and performance would reduce rent-seeking motives and control corruption at the provincial and central level. Whether those financial changes could also affect corruption perception at the individual level still needs to be verified. This study uses Chinese data (2010–2012) from the third wave of the Asian Barometer Survey (ABS) to explore how objective performance achieved by budget reforms affects subjective corruption perception. It also examines the citizen empowerment effect and its interaction effect with financial variables on corruption perception. The conclusion suggests that budgeting has a larger influence on the corruption perception of local government than on the corruption perception of central government. As budget transparency and audit have improved, local government should be perceived as less corrupt. Furthermore, budget transparency will gradually develop a new and different means for the public to supervise local government activities rather than through a formal political process like an election. Those citizens with low citizen empowerment will get more information from budgeting disclosures and may not think the government is corrupt. In addition, the budget deficit has non-linear effects on the corruption perceptions of both the local and the central governments.