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Postcommunist elites play rational power games throughout East Central and Eastern Europe today. But their games differ according to the structure, behavioral codes, and informal orientations associated with the paths of elite change. Although democratic institutions and procedures are in place just about everywhere, the differing elite power games account for major differences in extra-electoral politics and, thus, for wide variations in the quality of postcommunist democracies. The extent of the particularisms - clientelism and patronage, blurred functional autonomies and boundaries, violations of horizontal accountabilities, manipulations of the media and judiciary, harassment of Opposition elites, personal vendettas, persecutions of minorities - define these power games, and they can be linked systematically to the patterns of elite unity, differentiation, and circulation. We view combinations of these patterns as constituting the critical elite conditions for different types of political regimes, including consolidated democracies.

This article presents a qualitative empirical study of elite collusion and its influence on village elections and rural land development in China. Drawing on ethnographic data collected from two Chinese villages, it investigates how village cadres collude with other rural elites, using bribery, gift-giving and lavish banquets, to establish reciprocal ties with township officials and other public officials. Meanwhile, the officials make use of formal organizations to corruptly obtain profits and form alliances with village elites. The article examines how rural elites, especially village cadres, use this collusion to profit from the misuse of villagers' collectively owned assets, the manipulation of village elections and the suppression of anti-corruption protests. It also offers new descriptive evidence of how recent reforms designed to strengthen the Party's overall leadership in rural governance may have actually facilitated elite capture and grassroots corruption. (China Q/GIGA)

Transnational capitalist class power elite: a seventy-year history -- Giants: the financial core of global capitalism -- Managers: the global power elite managers of the financial giants -- Facilitators: power elite policy planning center of the transnational capitalist class -- Protectors: power elite and the US military NATO empire, intelligence agencies and private military companies -- Ideologists: corporate media and public relations propaganda firms -- Facing the juggernaut: democracy movements and resistance -- Postscript: a letter to the global power elite

Intro -- cover -- Title Page -- Copyright page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Quotes over the Centuries -- Introduction -- The CONSTRUCTION of a DELUSION -- A NEED for DECEPTION? -- A WORD ABOUT the WORD "CONSPIRACY" -- FORMAT of the BOOK with ALLUSIONS to METHOD -- RESEARCH and EMPATHY -- REFERENCES -- Books/Essays -- Natives, Puritans, Voodoo, and Founding Fathers: Religious Freedom in God's Own Country -- PAST MEETS PRESENT, or PRESENT is PAST -- A NEW WORLD for GOD'S OWN COUNTRY -- "PARADISE, WE'VE got a PROBLEM" -- MANAGING the HEATHENS -- The FOUNDERS' VIEWS: BENIGN MONOTHEISM with a FREEMASONIC TWIST -- REFERENCES -- Books/Essays: -- Government Documents -- Evolution vs Creation, the Battle for the Country's Body and Soul -- Quotes -- DARWINISM or SOCIAL DARWINISM? THAT is the QUESTION -- A CRUEL WORLD at the TURN of the PREVIOUS CENTURY -- NECESSITY and the MOTHERS of INVENTION -- The POWER of COINCIDING EVENTS -- The WARNING FROM the PAST -- REFERENCES -- Books/Essays -- The Cold War Rhetoric of Atheism -- Quotes -- NO RELIGION (and RELIGION) As CULTURAL MEANS of COERCION -- SELLING an EXPENSIVE THREAT to the AMERICAN PEOPLE -- SEEKING a BETTER UNDERSTANDING of RELIGION for the SAKE of CIVIL SOCIETY: the CRITICAL THEORY of RELIGION -- NAVIGATING the BIPOLAR WORLD of RELIGION and NO RELIGION in a MOSTLY-FREE COUNTRY, WHAT is the CITIZEN to do? -- UNITED THEY (elites) STAND, DIVIDED WE (civil society and culture) FALL -- REFERENCES -- Books/Essays -- Films, Documentaries, Internet Discussions -- Jesus and the Palestinians: Christian Zionism -- Quotes -- The 1988 COUNTDOWN -- A WORLD of WINNERS and LOSERS: ISRAEL/U.S. WINNERS, PALESTINIANS, WELL... -- REGARDING SIGNS of THINGS to COME (a): WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE -- REGARDING SIGNS of THINGS to COME (b): WE DON'T HAVE to GO THERE AGAIN.

An analysis of the org of pol'al & military elites as a crucial mechanism in the understanding of war & war-making, distinguishing between 4 models of pol'al-military elites: aristocratic democratic, totalitarian & garrison state. The continuous development of the technology of warfare has led to a vast proliferation of military establishments. Concomitant with this development are the following changes: (1) a larger amount of the nat'l income is spent for preparing & executing war, (2) there is more nearly a total popular involvement in the consequences of war & war policy, (3) the rate of technological changes has become accelerated & a wider diversity of skill is required to maintain the military establishment, (4) the military has become more permanent & expansive, (5) internal conflicts between segments of the military elite have been multiplied, (6) diversification & specialization of military technology have made the temporary citizen army less important & a completely professional army more vital, & (7) the org line between the military & non-military has been weakened. These factors lead to changes in the military profession such that the military elites have been shifting their recruitment from a narrow, relatively high-status to a broader, low-status, & more representative base; military command involves an extensive shift from domination to manipulation as a basis of authority; & the profes. sional soldier is required more & more to acquire skills & orientations common to civilian administrators & even pol'al leaders. 'To achieve the objectives of the democratic elite model, it is necessary to maintain & build on the differentiation betweei civilian & military roles.' I. Taviss.

This research is a field research that tries to discribe and map social relation between society and government and how society participation to government itself. Data collected by observation, interview and document then analyzed with qualitative approach with analytical descriptive method. The results of this study indicate that the wheels government are still full of manipulation by a group of elites who with its power make society as the object of policy. The power of elite creates dominance where society does not have sufficient access to influence or feedback on government policy. This happens because the government doesn't use democratic means, or doesn't become a "father" for the people in organizing the government. The government is only an administrator rather than a leader so that relations and participation between the community and the government is a relationship of dominance, pseudo-participation, manipulative and co-optative. Public participation becomes negative and the deterioration of social relations is a manifestation of society's disillusionment with the elite (elite in power) and the reality is exacerbated by insensitivity and lack of government attention to the objective conditions of society.Keywords: Relation, Power, Elite, Government, Participation

AbstractThis article presents a qualitative empirical study of elite collusion and its influence on village elections and rural land development in China. Drawing on ethnographic data collected from two Chinese villages, it investigates how village cadres collude with other rural elites, using bribery, gift-giving and lavish banquets, to establish reciprocal ties with township officials and other public officials. Meanwhile, the officials make use of formal organizations to corruptly obtain profits and form alliances with village elites. The article examines how rural elites, especially village cadres, use this collusion to profit from the misuse of villagers' collectively owned assets, the manipulation of village elections and the suppression of anti-corruption protests. It also offers new descriptive evidence of how recent reforms designed to strengthen the Party's overall leadership in rural governance may have actually facilitated elite capture and grassroots corruption.

Persuading political party elites such as legislators and political staff to agree to a research interview is difficult. One successful technique to get past gatekeepers and increase willingness to participate in an interview is to work with an intermediary. This case study demonstrates that a senior colleague of potential interview participants can play a formidable role in establishing trustworthy connections and vouching for the main researcher. The research method was successfully used to collect insider information about an agreement to merge two major Canadian political parties. The newly constituted Conservative Party went on to form government, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper who had a controlling communications style. Years later, Harper's former campaign manager agreed to my request to help recruit interview participants for a research study of the party merger that they collectively negotiated. Consequently, most of the senior political personnel involved with the merger negotiations agreed to be interviewed. Moreover, they spoke freely about the experience. While vouching can be a successful technique, it must be supplemented with more random ways of securing interviews. The case study also features a concrete example of media manipulation and why caution is warranted when relying on news reports for political research.

This paper analyzes the sources of and problems arising from Cambodian nationalism. It considers four different political regimes: French colonial rule, the reign of Prince Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge regime and the UNTAC period. Each of these periods demonstrated that nationalist sentiments can easily be transformed and influenced by political players. The paper also points to the role nationalism plays in internal and external conflicts. In analysing these periods it establishes the pillars of Cambodian nationalism as the burden felt by the modern Khmer to live up to the glories of the ancient Angkorian empire and the concept of the morally superior ethnic Khmer. It concludes that Cambodian nationalism has been vertically imposed on the general population by powerful elites to negative ends.

AbstractThis article conceptualizes regionalism in historical perspective as repeated schemes of translocal inter-groups' allegiances and studies dynamic transformation of political elites in present Kyrgyzstan in broader social context and international change. The article starts with historical reference to the Soviet delimitation policies in Central Asia in the 1920-30s and reveals how the competition among political groups within the prospective Kyrgyz SSR took the form of regional separation. On the basis of field interviews taken in the southern and northern areas of Kyrgyzstan, parliamentarians' biographies and statistics on inter-regional migration and entrepreneurship, the country's present south-north opposition is deconstructed as manipulation of political groups and individuals in competition for resources, power and social status. Post-socialist institutional innovations, including parliamentary system, election code and territorial-administrative reform are analyzed as flexible function of transregionalizing political rivalry. Finally, formation of the new pro-presidential party Ak Zhol and discussions on privatization of energy sector are interpreted as an attempt to establish corporate elite according to the Kazakh and Russian model.

This research aims to explain the hoax phenomenon with the concept of electoral manipulation in the form of information on the holding of 2019 Presidential and Vice Presidential General Election. Hoax problems in elections are often found in several countries such as Venezuela, France, the United States, and Indonesia. This research is qualitative research by combining primary and secondary data. Primary data was obtained through interview techniques with several institutions concerned about elections and hoaxes. Meanwhile, secondary data was obtained through literature, news, and documentation which support this research. As Alberto Simpser's view in this research expresses, electoral manipulation aims to increase the influence of groups of political actors on citizens as voters. Electoral manipulation was seen as a tool to win the upcoming elections and as a tool to influence people's behavior - elites, citizens, bureaucrats, organizations, politicians, and others - with excessive and blatant manipulation seeming logical. Therefore, this research found that by linking hoaxes as a form of informational electoral manipulation, it is found that hoaxes do not only attack political opponents. However, hoaxes as a part of electoral manipulation in the form of information have implications for efforts to delegitimize public trust in electoral organizers, especially the General Election Commission (KPU).