Abstract: This project uses panel regression analyses to investigate the relationships between geography, institutions, and economic development, as guided by the theories of the 18th century French philosopher Montesquieu. Contemporary scholars of political economy perpetually misinterpret Montesquieu’s theories on climate, and in doing so they miss what could be the key to resolving the geography vs. institutions debate. There is a conspicuous gap in this literature, in that it does not consider whether geography and institutors might have an interactive, dynamic effect on economic development. This project seeks to bridge that gap. Data are used for all available countries over the years 1980-2013. Two interaction terms between geographic and institutional variables are employed within the empirical analyses, and these offer a unique contribution to the ongoing geography vs. institutions debate within the political economy literature. This study finds that there is indeed an interactive effect between geography and institutions, and that this interaction has a statistically significant effect on economic development. Democracy (as measured by Polity score) and rule of law and property rights (as measured by the Fraser index) have positive effects on economic development (as measured by GDP per capita), yet the magnitude of these effects are stronger in contexts where a low percent of the national population lives in the geographical tropics. This has implications for promoting economic development, and it highlights the importance of understanding geographical context.
Abstract: With the viral factor on social media, the sense of persuasion is generated by repetition and popularity. When users’ interest is captured, political awareness increases to spark political enthusiasm, but, the level of user’s political participation and political attitude of those active users is still questionable. An online survey on 250 youth and in-depth interview on two politicians are conducted to answer the main question in this paper. The result shows that Facebook significantly increases political awareness among youths. Social media may not be the major trigger to political activism among youths as most respondents opined that they would still vote without Facebook. Other factors could be political campaigning, political climate, age, peer pressure or others. Finding also shows that majority of respondents did not participate in online political debates or political groups. Many also wondered if the social media was the main power switch that triggers the political influx among young voters. The research finding is significant to understand how the new media, Facebook, has reshaped the political landscape in Malaysia, creating the Social Media Election that changed the rules of the political game. However, research finding does not support the ideal notion that the social media is the major trigger to youth’s political activism. This research outcome has exposed the flaws of the Social Media Election. It has revealed the less optimistic side of youth political activism. Unfortunately, results fall short of the idealistic belief that the social media have given rise to political activism among youths in the 13th General Election in Malaysia. The research outcome also highlights an important lesson for the democratic discourse of Malaysia which is making informed and educated decisions takes more commitment, proactive and objective attitude.
Abstract: This article provides a conceptual framework of the freedom of media and its correlation with democracy. In a democracy, media should serve the publics’ right to know and reflect human rights violations and offer options for meaningful political choices and effective participation in civic affairs. On that point, the 2013 events at Gezi Park in Turkey are a good empirical example to be discussed. During the events, when self-censorship was broadly employed by mainstream Turkish media, social media filled the important role of providing information to the public. New technologies have made information into a fundamental tool for change and growth, and as a consequence, societies worldwide have merged into a single, interdependent, and autonomous organism. For this reason, violations of human rights can no longer be considered domestic issues, but rather global ones. Only global political action is an adequate response. Democracy depends on people shaping the society they live in, and in order to accomplish this, they need to express themselves. Freedom of expression is therefore necessary in order to understand diversity and differing perspectives, which in turn are necessary to resolve conflicts among people. Moreover, freedom of information is integral to freedom of expression. In this context, the international rules and laws regarding freedom of expression and freedom of information – indispensable for a free and independent media – are examined. These were put in place by international institutions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the European Union, which have aimed to build a free, democratic, and pluralist world committed to human rights and the rule of law. The methods of international human rights institutions depend on effective and frequent employment of mass media to relay human rights violations to the public. Therefore, in this study, the relationship between mass media and democracy, the process of how mass media forms public opinion, the problems of mass media, the neo-liberal theory of mass media, and the use of mass media by NGOs will be evaluated.
Abstract: This paper investigates the role of vested interests and its impacts on anti-corruption agenda in Indonesia following the collapse of authoritarian regime in 1998. A pervasive and rampant corruption has been believed as the main cause of the state economy’s fragility. Hence, anti-corruption measures were implemented by applying democratization and market liberalization since the establishment of a consolidated democracy which go hand in hand with a liberal market economy is convinced to be an efficacious prescription for effective anti-corruption. The reform movement has also mandated the establishment of the independent, neutral and professional special anti-corruption agency namely Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to more intensify the fight against the systemic corruption. This paper will examine whether these anti-corruption measures have been effective to combat corruption, and investigate to what extend have the anti-corruption efforts, especially those conducted by KPK, been impeded by the emergence of a nexus of vested interests as the side-effect of democratization and market liberalization. Based on interviews with key stakeholders from KPK, other law enforcement agencies, government, prominent scholars, journalists and NGOs in Indonesia, it is found that since the overthrow of Soeharto, anti-corruption movement in the country have become more active and serious. After gradually winning the hearth of people, KPK successfully touched the untouchable corruption perpetrators who were previously protected by political immunity, legal protection and bureaucratic barriers. However, these changes have not necessarily reduced systemic and structural corruption practices. Ironically, intensive and devastating counterattacks were frequently posed by the alignment of business actors, elites of political parties, government, and also law enforcement agencies by hijacking state’s instruments to make KPK deflated, powerless, and surrender. This paper concludes that attempts of democratization, market liberalization and the establishment of anti-corruption agency may have helped Indonesia to reduce corruption. However, it is still difficult to imply that such anti-corruption measures have fostered the more effective anti-corruption works in the newly democratized and weakly regulated liberal economic system.
Abstract: This article interrogates the question of leadership in the context of the antidemocratic tendencies of Africa’s political leaders. The African continent has continued to struggle behind other continents of the world as a result of the failure of leadership to address the political and socio-economic challenges of the continent. Thus, bedevilled with the challenges of development, the African continent is in need of people-centred leadership. However, as the continent struggles to overcome its political and development predicaments, it is stuck in the dystopia of demagoguery that promises nothing but apocalyptic future for its teeming population. Thus, despite the enormous resources available in Africa, leadership failures have made progress difficult to achieve. At the centre of this leadership failure are demagogues: a set of leaders who have influence over a large number of people but take advantage of that influence to undermine democracy and good governance. Citing various examples across Africa, the article describes how demagogues, especially in democratic countries, have become the problem of the African continent in its quest to achieve democratic progress, development and peaceful progress.
Abstract: The growth of Thai society in western style in the
middle of Rattanakosin period can be defined as modernization
/civilization. These terms had an influence on the development of the
country in the reign of King Rama V owing to the governance
reform, and cultures influenced by the West. Those were passed on
until the reign of King Rama VI. The preference was not only for the
renovation of architecture and arts based on Thai customs reflecting
the prosperity and beauty of handicrafts but also for the acceptance of
westernization. The remain of this acceptance includes the concept of
such value as gentlemanly behavior like that in Victorian Era of the
United Kingdom, and the support of women’s status. Moreover, the
wide spread of modernization leads to the movement to change the
country’s governance system from absolute monarchy to democracy
by a group of people called Rattanakosin Era (R.E.) 130 party.
Abstract: Political participation involves voluntary and
deliberate efforts by the members of a political system to determine
the kinds of political institution and individuals that will govern them
and equally influence the mobilization and allocation of the available
societal resources. Over the years, youths in Nigeria participate
actively in political party rallies and voting to elect their leaders and
representatives in governance. This paper examines categories and
nature of participation in politics as well as factors that drive youths
into politics in Sokoto State. A survey conducted, through focus
group discussions, interviews and questionnaire, in the six sampled
Local Government of Sokoto State identifies three category of
political participation; namely, active, moderate and apathetic
participation. The findings reveal that 63.57% of respondents are
apathetic to politics in the State and unemployed youth constitutes
34.74% of the entire responses. The paper establishes that lack of
attainment of need (63.22%) is one of the reasons that make youths
engage into participatory activities that encourage political thuggery
and manipulation of electoral outcomes. The paper recommends that
youths should be engaged into positive rational participatory
activities that ensure inclusiveness and promotion of good
governance in Nigeria. It is hoped that this will enlighten youths and
policy implementers on the constructive strategies in controlling
youths’ negative participation in politics in Nigeria.
Abstract: The Green Urban Lab took the form of public
installations that were placed at various locations in four cities in
Cyprus. These installations - through which a series of events,
activities, workshops and research took place - were the main tools in
regenerating a series of urban public spaces in Cyprus. The purpose
of this project was to identify issues and opportunities related to
public space and to offer guidelines on how design and participatory
democracy improvements could strengthen civil society, while
raising the quality of the urban public scene. Giant inflatable
structures were injected in important urban fragments in order to
accommodate series of events. The design and playful installation
generated a wide community engagement. The fluid presence of the
installations acted as a catalyst for social interaction. They were
accessed and viewed effortlessly and surprisingly, creating
opportunities to rediscover public spaces.
Abstract: This study utilizes a frequency domain approach over
the period of 1996 to 2013 to examine the causal relationship between
governance and economic growth in ten Asian countries, which have
different levels of democracy; classified as “Free”, “Partly Free”, and
“Not Free” countries. The empirical results show that there is no
Granger causality running from governance to economic growth in
“Not Free” countries and “Partly Free” countries with the exception of
Singapore. As for “Free” countries such as South Korea and Taiwan,
there is a one-way causality running from governance to economic
growth. The findings of this study indicate that policy makers in South
Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore could use governance index to improve
their predictions of the future economic growth.
Abstract: In this paper, an experiment was conducted to assess
the impact of online deliberation on citizens’ attitudes. Specifically,
this research compared pre and post deliberation opinions of
participants who deliberated online via an asynchronous platform
regarding the issue of political opinion polls. Results indicate that
online deliberation had a positive effect on citizens’ attitudes since it
was found that following deliberation participants changed their
views regarding public opinion polls. Specifically, online deliberation
improved discussants perceptions regarding the reliability of polls,
while suppressing their negative views about the misuse of polls by
media, polling organizations and politicians.
Abstract: Socio-economic development, which is seen around
the world today, has contributed to the emergence of new problems
of a social nature. Different political, historical, geographical or
economic conditions cause that, in addition to global issues of social
policy such as an aging population, unemployment, migration,
countries, regions, there are also specific new problems that require
diagnosis, individualized approach and efficient, planned solutions.
These should include, among others, digital addiction, peer violence,
obesity among children, the problem of ‘legal highs’, stress,
depression, diseases associated with environmental pollution etc. The
central authorities, selected most often with the tools specific to
representative democracy, that is, the general election, for many
reasons, inter alia, organizational, communication, are not able to
effectively diagnose their intensity, territorial distribution, and thus to
effectively fight them. This article aims to show how in Poland,
citizens influence solving problems related to the broader social
policy implemented at the local government level and indicates the
possibilities of improving those solutions. The conclusions of
theoretical analysis have been supported by empirical studies, which
tested the use of instruments of participatory democracy in the
planning and creation of communal strategies for solving social
problems in one of the Polish voivodeships.
Abstract: The article proposed intends to analyze the possibility
(and conditions) of a media regulation law in a democratic rule of law
in the twenty-first century. To do so, will be presented initially the
idea of the public sphere (by Jürgen Habermas), showing how it is
presented as an interface between the citizen and the state (or the
private and public) and how important is it in a deliberative
democracy. Based on this paradigm, the traditional perception of the
role of public information (such as system functional element) and on
the possibility of media regulation will be exposed, due to the public
nature of their activity. A critical argument will then be displayed
from two different perspectives: a) the formal function of the current
media information, considering that the digital age has fragmented
the information access; b) the concept of a constructive democracy,
which reduces the need for representation, changing the strategic
importance of the public sphere. The question to be addressed (based
on the comparative law) is if the regulation is justified in a
polycentric democracy, especially when it operates under the digital
age (with immediate and virtual communication). The proposal is to
be presented in the sense that even in a twenty-first century the media
in a democratic rule of law still has an extremely important role and
may be subject to regulation, but this should be on terms very
different (and narrower) from those usually defended.
Abstract: In this study, firstly democratic thoughts which
directly or indirectly affect economic development and/or the
interaction between authoritarian regimes and the economic
development and the direction and channels of this interaction were
studied and then the study tried to determine how democracy affects
economic development. It was concluded that the positive
contributions of democracy to economic development were more
determinant than the effects that were either negative or restrictive in
terms of development. When compared to autocracy, since
democracy is more successful in managing social conflicts, ensuring
political stability and preventing social disasters such as famine, it
contributes more to economic development. Democracy also
facilitates delegation of authority, provides a stable investment
environment and accelerates mobilization of resources in accordance
with economic growth/development. Democracy leads to an increase
in human capital accumulation and increases the growth rate through
reducing income inequality. It can be said that democratic regimes
are the most appropriate ones in terms of increasing economic
performance and supporting economic development through their
strong institutional structures and the assurance they will ensure in
property rights.
Abstract: This paper argues nation-building theories that
prioritize democratic governance best explain the successful postindependence
development of Botswana. Three main competing
schools of thought exist regarding the sequencing of policies that
should occur to re-build weakened or failed states. The first posits
that economic development should receive foremost attention, while
democratization and a binding sense of nationalism can wait. A
second group of experts identified constructing a sense of nationalism
among a populace is necessary first, so that the state receives popular
legitimacy and obedience that are prerequisites for development.
Botswana, though, transitioned into a multi-party democracy and
prosperous open economy due to the utilization of traditional
democratic structures, enlightened and accountable leadership, and an
educated technocratic civil service. With these political foundations
already in place when the discovery of diamonds occurred, the
resulting revenues were spent wisely on projects that grew the
economy, improved basic living standards, and attracted foreign
investment. Thus democratization preceded, and therefore provided
an accountable basis for, economic development that might otherwise
have been squandered by greedy and isolated elites to the detriment
of the greater population. Botswana was one of the poorest nations in
the world at the time of its independence in 1966, with little
infrastructure, a dependence on apartheid South Africa for trade, and
a largely subsistence economy. Over the next thirty years, though, its
economy grew the fastest of any nation in the world. The transparent
and judicious use of diamond returns is only a partial explanation, as
the government also pursued economic diversification, mass
education, and rural development in response to public needs.
As nation-building has become a project undertaken by nations
and multilateral agencies such as the United Nations and the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, Botswana may provide best practices
that others should follow in attempting to reconstruct economically
and politically unstable states.
Abstract: This research study is an exploration of the selfdirected
professional development of teachers who teach in public
schools in an era of democracy and educational change in South
Africa. Amidst an ever-changing educational system, the teachers in
this study position themselves as self-directed teacher-learners where
they adopt particular learning practices which enable change within
the broader discourses of public schooling. Life-story interviews
were used to enter into the private and public spaces of five teachers
which offer glimpses of how particular systems shaped their
identities, and how the meanings of self-directed teacher-learner
shaped their learning practices. Through the Multidimensional
Framework of Analysis and Interpretation the teachers’ stories were
analysed through three lenses: restorying the field texts - the self
through story; the teacher-learner in relation to social contexts, and
practices of self-directed learning. This study shows that as teacherlearners
learn for change through self-directed learning practices,
they develop their agency as transformative intellectuals, which is
necessary for the reworking of South African public schools.
Abstract: Each of the countries around the world has different
ways of management and many of them depend on people to
administrate their country. Thailand, for example, empowers the
sovereignty of Thai people under constitution; however, our Thai
voting system is not able to flow fast enough under the current
Political management system. The sovereignty of Thai people is
addressing this problem through representatives during current
elections, in order to set a new policy for the countries ideology to
change in the House and the Cabinet.
This is particularly important in a democracy to be developed
under our current political institution. The Organic Act on Political
Parties 2007 is the establishment we have today that is causing
confrontations within the establishment. There are many political
parties that will soon be abolished. Many political parties have
already been subsidized. This research study is to analyze the legal
problems with the political party establishment under the Organic Act
on Political Parties 2007.
This will focus on the freedom of each political establishment
compared to an effective political operation. Textbooks and academic
papers will be referenced from studies home and abroad.
The study revealed that Organic Act on Political Parties 2007 has
strict provisions on the political structure over the number of
members and the number of branches involved within political
parties system.
Such operations shall be completed within one year; but under the
existing laws the small parties are not able to participate with the
bigger parties. The cities are capable of fulfilling small political party
requirements but fail to become coalesced because the current laws
won't allow them to be united as one. It is important to allow all
independent political parties to join our current political structure.
Board members can’t help the smaller parties to become a large
organization under the existing Thai laws.
Creating a new establishment that functions efficiently throughout
all branches would be one solution to these legal problems between
all political parties. With this new operation, individual political
parties can participate with the bigger parties during elections. Until
current political institutions change their system to accommodate
public opinion, these current Thai laws will continue to be a problem
with all political parties in Thailand.
Abstract: Since women obtained the right to vote in 1893 for the first time in New Zealand, they have tried to participate actively into politics but still the world has a few women in political leadership. The article asks which factors might influence the appearance of women leadership in politics. The article investigates two factors such as political context, personal factors. Countries where economic development is stable and political democracy is consolidated have a tendency of appearance of women political leadership but in less developed and politically unstable countries, women politicians can be in power with their own reasons. For the personal factor, their feminist propensity is studied but there is no relationship between the appearance of women leaders and their feminist propensity.
Abstract: Television news has gained a new dimension in terms
of ideological approaches as a result of such factors as globalization,
cross monopolization, presence of international companies etc. and
certain strategies have been developed at the production, presentation
and distribution stages of news. In this study, television news about a
process called “settlement process” was investigated. In this
framework, news about the settlement process on TV channels of
TRT 1, ATV, FOX TV, NTV, HABERTÜRK, TRT HABER and
STV was investigated using the content analysis method in terms of
the strategies the ideology construction, attitude towards the party in
power, attitude towards parties in opposition and attitude towards
BDP (Peace and Democracy Part) and Imrali (the island where
Abdullah Ocalan, head of PKK, is kept). First, the aforementioned
TV channels were selected randomly from 3 groups in order to be
able to reveal the representational capacity of commercial, news and
public channels.
The study covers 557 news items broadcast in the main news
bulletins between the dates of 15 March 2013 and 15 March 2013.
While there was a positive attitude towards the government in a
sizable portion of the news about the settlement process (63.6%), the
attitude of 25.3% of the news was impartial towards the government
and 11.3% had a negative attitude. On the other hand, there was a
negative attitude towards the Opposition in a considerable portion of
the news about the settlement process (56.1%). The attitude of 35.9%
of the news towards the Opposition was impartial whereas 8.0% had
a positive attitude. While 34.9% of the news about the settlement
process used the legitimization strategy from among the ideology
construction strategies, 22.8% used the unification strategy, 15.7%
the reification strategy, 15.6% fractional and 11%
concealment/mystification strategy.
Abstract: The objectives of this research were to study the management of local towns and to develop a better model of town management according to the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy. This study utilized qualitative research, field research, as well as documentary research at the same time. A total of 10 local towns or Tambons of Supanburi province, Thailand were selected for an in-depth interview. The findings revealed that the model of local town management according to Philosophy of Sufficient Economy was in a level of “good” and the model of management has the five basic guidelines: 1) ability to manage budget information and keep it up-to-date, 2) ability to decision making according to democracy rules, 3) ability to use check and balance system, 4) ability to control, follow, and evaluation, and 5) ability to allow the general public to participate. In addition, the findings also revealed that the human resource management according to Philosophy of Sufficient Economy includes obeying laws, using proper knowledge, and having integrity in five areas: plan, recruit, select, train, and maintain human resources.
Abstract: E-governance is an emerging and challenging initiative in developing countries. It is not only concerning the provision of services through the use ICT but rather entails building external interactions with citizen and businesses, enhancing democracy and trust of the political institutions of government. It embraces among other principles, openness, accountability and citizen engagement in public policy process. This study aims at finding users’ satisfaction with three chosen dimensions of e-governance, namely: openness, collaborative governance, and participation. These dimensions of e-governance are neither studied before in the context of Arab countries and nor explored earlier in relation to some demographics variables. A study of 900 users of e-government in United Arab Emirates (UAE) was undertaken to examine how gender, age, education, nationality, and employment affect their satisfaction with e-governance. Generally, satisfaction ratings vary significantly with these variables. However, the overall level of satisfaction with the three attributes was less favorable. Knowing the differences of citizen’s perceptions towards e-governance services would help policymakers in the design of effective e-governance strategy.