Suchergebnisse

Film can communicate, educate, inform and entertain. These are the major functions of mass media. But more than any form of the mass media, film possesses the strength both in audio-visual and duration, to be adopted for societal change and crusade of any cause. Adopting film in Nigeria for political change amidst the countrys historic crises evident in imperialism, military rule, ethnicity and religion, the researchers set out to mirror the countrys past through a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of two historic Nigerian films, October 1 and 76 and a Key Informant Interview (KII) of ten persons chosen based on their relevance to the issues under discourse. The study employed Post Colonial and Technological Determinism theories. The researchers discovered that the aforementioned issues were what have held the country down for so many years and that the informants still remembered each event vividly. The findings showed that ethno-religious crises in the country were offshoots of manipulations by leaders of those groups or their followers. Also, the military rule to an extent was because of bad governance, ethnic underpinnings and craze for power. The findings also showed that the coming of whites to the country was a blessing as well as a curse for the country. As such, the researchers recommended that government should brace up and correct these activities from the past and create policies that could make the law supreme and free from influence from ethnic and religious leaders.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-377) and index. ; Introduction -- Arguments about immigrants -- Whether to exclude -- Whom to exclude : the Quota Acts -- Whom to exclude : the McCarran-Walter Act -- Whom to exclude, whom to prefer : the Immigration Reform Act of 1965 -- Whom to exclude, whom to prefer : IRCA and the 1990 reforms -- Domestic interests as explanations -- Structural theories as explanations -- Conclusion: sovereignty, things, and people. ; Mode of access: Internet.

It is increasingly common for social scientists to describe political processes as "path dependent." The concept, however, is often employed without careful elaboration. This article conceptualizes path dependence as a social process grounded in a dynamic of "increasing returns." Reviewing recent literature in economics and suggesting extensions to the world of politics, the article demonstrates that increasing returns processes are likely to be prevalent, and that good analytical foundations exist for exploring their causes and consequences. The investigation of increasing returns can provide a more rigorous framework for developing some of the key claims of recent scholarship in historical institutionalism: Specific patterns of timing and sequence matter; a wide range of social outcomes may be possible; large consequences may result from relatively small or contingent events; particular courses of action, once introduced, can be almost impossible to reverse; and consequently, political development is punctuated by critical moments or junctures that shape the basic contours of social life.

It is increasingly common for social scientists to describe political processes as "path dependent". The concept, however, is often employed without careful elaboration. This article conceptualizes path dependence as a social process grounded in a dynamic of "increasing returns". Reviewing recent literature in economics and suggesting extensions to the world of politics, the article demonstrates that increasing returns processes are likely to be prevalent, and that good analytical foundations exist for exploring their causes and consequences. The investigation of increasing returns can provide a more rigorous framework for developing some of the key claims of recent scholarship in historical institutionalism: Specific patterns of timing and sequence matter; a wide range of social outcomes may be possible; large consequences may result from relatively small or contingent events; particular courses of action, once introduced, can be almost impossible to reverse; and consequently, political development is punctuated by critical moments or junctures that shape the basic contours of social life. (American Political Science Review / FUB)

This article explores the interactions between the memories of Belgian peacekeepers killed in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the weight of the colonial past, and the Belgian foreign policy. Using interviews with Belgian politicians and diplomats, families of peacekeepers, former blue helmets, as well as a corpus of official speeches, this article finds that the memorialization of blue helmets has influenced Belgian political choices on three levels, namely: domestic politics, its bilateral relationship with Rwanda, and more broadly its position in international peacekeeping. In doing so, this article contributes to interdisciplinary debates on the role of collective memory in domestic and international politics.

Immanuel Kant's views on politics, peace, and history have lost none of their relevance since their publication more than two centuries ago. This volume contains a comprehensive collection of Kants writings on international relations theory and political philosophy, superbly translated and accompanied by stimulating essays. Pauline Kleingeld provides a lucid introduction to the main themes of the volume, and three essays by distinguished contributors follow: Jeremy Waldron on Kants theory of the state; Michael W. Doyle on the implications of Kants political theory for his theory of international relations; and Allen W. Wood on Kants philosophical approach to history and its current relevance. --

Anne M. Cohler (1940–1989) was an instructor in the Basic Program in Continuing Education at the University of Chicago and received her doctorate in political philosophy from Harvard University. She is the author of Rousseau and Nationalism and co-edited the first modern translation of Montequieu's The Spirit of the Laws; this was her second and final book. Sarah Burns is associate professor of political science at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is the author of The Politics of War Powers: The Theory and History of Presidential Unilateralism. With a New Foreword by Sarah Burns ; This Kansas Open Books title is funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program. ; "American republicans," notes Forrest McDonald, "regarded selected doctrines of Montesquieu's as being virtually on par with Holy Writ." But exactly how the French jurist's labyrinthian work, The Spirit of the Laws, with was published in 1748, influenced the eighteenth-century conception of the republic is not well understood by historians or theorists. Anne M. Cohler undertakes to show the importance of Montequieu's teaching for modern legislation and for modern political prudence generally, with specific reference to his impact on The Federalist and Tocqueville. In so doing, she delineates Montequieu's contribution to political philosophy and suggests new ways to think about the formation of the American Constitution. To analyze the comparative politics found in the Spirit of the Laws, Cohler focuses on four fundamental principles underlying Montesquieu's view of government: spirit, moderation, liberty, and legislation. In this endeavor she is guided by the conviction that the philosopher hews to the spirit of the laws rather than to the laws themselves—that is, to internal rather than external principles. Montesquieu, in Cohler's argument, addresses the problem posed by the tendency to see human beings in light o universal abstractions at the expense of ...

The roles of politics & wealth as determinants of public policy have been misconceived theoretically & misspecified empirically. Politics & wealth should be regarded not as sufficient causes of policy differences, but as facilitators or inhibitors of the extent to which preferences become policy. A general model for analysis based on this approach is formulated. 3 Figures. Modified HA.

A review essay covering books by 1) Roman David, Lustration and Transitional Justice: Personnel Systems in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (2011), 2) Monika Nalepa, Skeletons in the Closet: Transitional Justice in Post-Communist Europe (2010), and 3) Myra A. Waterbury, Between State and Nation: Diaspora Politics and Kin-State Nationalism in Hungary (2010).