Download or read book Responsible Parties written by Frances Rosenbluth and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How popular democracy has paradoxically eroded trust in political systems worldwide, and how to restore confidence in democratic politics In recent decades, democracies across the world have adopted measures to increase popular involvement in political decisions. Parties have turned to primaries and local caucuses to select candidates; ballot initiatives and referenda allow citizens to enact laws directly; many places now use proportional representation, encouraging smaller, more specific parties rather than two dominant ones.Yet voters keep getting angrier.There is a steady erosion of trust in politicians, parties, and democratic institutions, culminating most recently in major populist victories in the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. Frances Rosenbluth and Ian Shapiro argue that devolving power to the grass roots is part of the problem. Efforts to decentralize political decision-making have made governments and especially political parties less effective and less able to address constituents’ long-term interests. They argue that to restore confidence in governance, we must restructure our political systems to restore power to the core institution of representative democracy: the political party.
Download or read book Reproducing Sectarianism written by Paul W. T. Kingston and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2013-06-01 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the politics of civil society in modern Lebanon.
Download or read book Democratic Dilemmas written by Angela K Bourne and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-07-11 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines how democratic communities resolve dilemmas posed by anti-system parties or, more specifically, the question of why democracies take the grave decision to ban political parties. On the one hand, party bans may ‘protect’ democracies, usually from groups deemed to undermine the democratic system or its core values, territorial integrity or state security. At the same time, banning parties challenges foundational democratic commitments to political pluralism, tolerance and rights to free speech and association. The book probes the deliberative processes, discursive strategies and power politics employed when democratic communities negotiate this dilemma. It examines discourses of securitization and desecuritization, preferences of veto-players, anti-system party orientations to violence, electoral systems and the cordon sanitaire as alternatives to party bans, and incentives for mainstream parties to cooperate, rather than ban, parties to achieve office and policy goals. It does so with reference to case studies of party bans, legalizations and failed ban cases in Spain (Herri Batasuna and successors), the United Kingdom (Sinn Féin and Republican Clubs) and Germany (Socialist Reich Party and National Democratic Party of Germany).
Download or read book Dilemmas of Democracy and Political Parties in Sectarian Societies written by Nazih Richani and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 1998 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume, Nazih Richani examines the intricacies of Lebanese political life and provides an in-depth study of the Progressive Socialist Part (PSP), on of Lebanon's most important political parties.
Download or read book Party Society and Government written by David L. Hanley and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2002 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to received wisdom parties have played a mainly destructive role in French political development. Of questionable legitimacy, pursuing narrow sectarian goals, often corruptly, they have brought about division, weakness and the collapse of regimes. A proper reading of history suggests differently. By combining historical research and contemporary political science theory about party, the author shows that for over a century party has irrigated French democracy in often invisible ways, brokering working compromises between groups divided strongly along social, political and cultural lines. The key to this success is the party system, which allowed for a high degree of collusion and cooptation between political elites, rhetoric notwithstanding. This hidden logic has persisted to this day despite the advent of presidentialism and remains the key to the continuing prosperity of French democracy.
Download or read book Winning Lebanon written by Dylan Baun and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-22 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A cultural and political history of youth culture and youth-centric organizations in Lebanon from 1920-1958.
Download or read book Syria s Terrorist War on Lebanon and the Peace Process written by M. Deeb and published by Springer. This book was released on 2003-07-03 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study demonstrates that Syria's role in the Middle East has been, since 1974, an unabated terrorist war against all attempts to resolve peacefully the Arab-Israeli conflict. Marius Deeb provides evidence that Syria's role in Lebanon, since 1975, has been to perpetuate the conflict among the various Lebanese communities in order to keep its domination of Lebanon.
Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Lebanon written by Tom Najem and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-06-15 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historical Dictionary of Lebanon, Second Edition covers the long history of Lebanon, from before the Ottoman era through the Ottoman Era, the French Mandate, Independence, the long civil war and the recent protests for democratic reform and the aftermath of the explosion in the port area. It features lengthy entries on major historical/political events as well as the major people, sectarian groups and political parties. It contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 800 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Lebanon.
Download or read book When States Fail written by Robert I. Rotberg and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-28 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1990, more than 10 million people have been killed in the civil wars of failed states, and hundreds of millions more have been deprived of fundamental rights. The threat of terrorism has only heightened the problem posed by failed states. When States Fail is the first book to examine how and why states decay and what, if anything, can be done to prevent them from collapsing. It defines and categorizes strong, weak, failing, and collapsed nation-states according to political, social, and economic criteria. And it offers a comprehensive recipe for their reconstruction. The book comprises fourteen essays by leading scholars and practitioners who help structure this disparate field of research, provide useful empirical descriptions, and offer policy recommendations. Robert Rotberg's substantial opening chapter sets out a theory and taxonomy of state failure. It is followed by two sets of chapters, the first on the nature and correlates of failure, the second on methods of preventing state failure and reconstructing those states that do fail. Economic jump-starting, legal refurbishing, elections, the demobilizing of ex-combatants, and civil society are among the many topics discussed. All of the essays are previously unpublished. In addition to Rotberg, the contributors include David Carment, Christopher Clapham, Nat J. Colletta, Jeffrey Herbst, Nelson Kasfir, Michael T. Klare, Markus Kostner, Terrence Lyons, Jens Meierhenrich, Daniel N. Posner, Susan Rose-Ackerman, Donald R. Snodgrass, Nicolas van de Walle, Jennifer A. Widner, and Ingo Wiederhofer.
Download or read book The Long War Insurgency Counterinsurgency and Collapsing States written by Mark T. Berger and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rise and fall of the Cold War coincided with the universalization and consolidation of the modern nation-state as the key unit of the wider international system. A key characteristic of the post-Cold War era, in which the US has emerged as the sole superpower, is the growing number of collapsing or collapsed states. A growing number of states are, or have become, mired in conflict or civil war, the antecedents of which are often to be found in the late-colonial and Cold War era. At the same time, US foreign policy (and the actions of other organizations such as the United Nations) may well be compounding state failure in the context of the post-9/11 Global War on Terror (GWOT) or what is also increasingly referred to as the ‘Long War’. The Long War is often represented as a ‘new’ era in warfare and geopolitics. This book acknowledges that the Long War is new in important respects, but it also emphasizes that the Long War bears many similarities to the Cold War. A key similarity is the way in which insurgency and counterinsurgency were and continue to be seen primarily in the context of inter-state rivalry in which the critical local or regional dynamics of revolution and counter-revolution are marginalized or neglected. In this context American policy-makers and their allies have again erroneously applied a ‘grand strategy’ that suits the imperatives of conventional military and geo-political thinking rather than engaging with what are a much more variegated array of problems facing the changing global order. This book provides a collection of well-integrated studies that shed light on the history and future of insurgency, counterinsurgency and collapsing states in the context of the Long War. This book was previously published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.
Download or read book The Druze Community and the Lebanese State written by Yusri Hazran and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-11 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the fundamental questions of Middle Eastern, and Lebanese studies in particular, is the history of the relationship between the Druze community and the state in modern Lebanon. Arguing that the Druze community has been politically alienated from the Lebanese state, this book explores the historical and political origins of this alienation. The Druze Community and the Lebanese State contends that the origins of this alienation lie in the state’s national ideology, its political confessional system, and the Druze’s historical background during the medieval period. Moreover, this book examines the extent to which the Druze’s attitude vis-à-vis the Lebanese state has been influenced by their historical rivalry with the Maronites. Particular emphasis is placed on the political and ideological practices adopted by the Druze leadership and intelligentsia as they dealt with the changes taking place in their community’s political status following the political settlements of 1920 and 1943 (the establishment of Greater Lebanon and the National Pact, respectively). A welcome addition to existing literature on Lebanon, this book will be an essential reference tool for students and researchers with an interest in nationalism, identity and Middle East Politics more broadly.
Download or read book Martyr Cults and Political Identities in Lebanon written by Sabrina Bonsen and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-24 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sabrina Bonsen sheds light on political cults of martyrs in Lebanon and reconsiders the context of their emergence, development and distinct characteristics since 1920. She examines how the honouring of martyrs became an established practice in Lebanese politics and is crucial to grasp the logic of violence and conflict. Drawing on the case of the Amal movement, the author analyses central narratives to the group’s discourse and practices concerning martyrdom to show how identity construction and strategies of legitimizing power are intertwined. Moreover, the book provides insides into political competition strategies, especially in regards to the two major Shiʿite political actors, Amal and Hizbullah, and takes a new look on martyrdom by going beyond cultural-religious explanations.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle Eastern and North African History written by Jens Hanssen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-30 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle-Eastern and North African History critically examines the defining processes and structures of historical developments in North Africa and the Middle East over the past two centuries. The Handbook pays particular attention to countries that have leapt out of the political shadows of dominant and better-studied neighbours in the course of the unfolding uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. These dramatic and interconnected developments have exposed the dearth of informative analysis available in surveys and textbooks, particularly on Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria.
Download or read book Systems of Violence Second Edition written by Nazih F. Richani and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2013-07-10 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the political, economic, and military factors that have contributed to thirty-seven years of protracted violent conflict in Colombia. Using four years of field research, and more than two hundred interviews, Nazih Richani examines Colombia's "war system"—the systemic interlacing relationship among actors in conflict, their respective political economy, and also the overall political economy of the system they help in creating. Several key questions are raised, including when and why do some conflicts protract, and what types of socioeconomic and political configurations make peaceful resolutions difficult to obtain? Also addressed are the lessons of other protracted conflicts, such as those found in Lebanon, Angola, and Italy. In this expanded second edition Richani contributes new chapters looking at developments in Colombia since the book's initial publication a decade ago and a look at the challenges for peace that lie ahead.
Download or read book Lebanon written by Tom Najem and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-03-12 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation In a time of great political change and unrest in the Middle East, this highly topical text offers a succinct account of the contemporary political environment in Lebanon. Tom Najem provides both a developed understanding of the pre-civil war system and an analysis of how circumstances resulting from the civil war combined with essential pre-war elements to define politics in Lebanon. Systematically exploring Lebanons history, society and politics, the author stresses the importance of the crucial role of external actors in the Lebanese system. The analysis encompasses:the formation of the stateweaknesses and dynamics of the Lebanese statethe civil warpost-war government and changethe Lebanese economyforeign policy. Written in a clear and accessible manner, this book fills a conspicuous gap in the existing academic literature on Lebanon. It will be of interest not only to students of international politics and Middle East studies, but also to anyone travelling in or wanting to learn more about the region.
Download or read book Religion Social Practice and Contested Hegemonies written by Armando Salvatore and published by Springer. This book was released on 2005-06-03 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays examines how modern public spheres reflect and mask - often both simultaneously - discourses of order, contests for hegemony, and techniques of power in the Muslim world. It builds on scholarship that re-imagines theories and practices of the public in modern and contemporary societies. While examining disparate time periods and locations, each contributor views modern and contemporary public spheres as crucial to the functioning, and understanding, of political and societal power in Muslim majority countries.
Download or read book Lebanon written by Tobias Schwerna and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2010 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As sectarian and political tensions rose after March of 2005, scholars and journalists began to speculate that Lebanon was heading back into civil war. Much academic literature, in fact showed that the probability of regressing into such a state was very high. Although tensions did escalate and violence broke out on a number of occasions (culminating in several days of fighting in May 2008) the Doha agreement provided a peaceful political solution to the country's crisis. This book offers an answer to the question of why no renewed civil war occurred in Lebanon as well as to the larger question of why civil wars do - or do not - break out. The author accomplishes this by developing and presenting a model of informal elite agreement, which he terms «consociational conflict».